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Florian Schneider: the enigma whose codes broke open pop music

The Kraftwerk co-founder remained a mystery even after death, but there is no doubting the impact he made with his group’s sublime, visionary music

Florian Schneider’s death came shrouded in a degree of secrecy. Gossip among fans about his health was first provoked at the end of April, when his fellow former Kraftwerk member Wolfgang Flür posted a sweet photo on social media of him and Schneider together in a bar, without explanation.

It had apparently been taken in 2016 – a decade and a half after Schneider and fellow founder member Ralf Hütter had served Flür with a lawsuit provoked by his autobiography I Was a Robot – and was subsequently deleted from Flür’s Facebook page. Then, a week later, another electronic musician based in Germany, the Manchester-born Mark Reeder, posted a brief eulogy; one commenter claimed that Schneider had died “several days ago”.

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Car Seat Headrest: Making a Door Less Open review – cult indie star in middle of the road | Alexis Petridis' album of the week

(Matador)
Will Toledo’s alt-rockers have emerged out of lo-fi fuzz, but seem unsure of where to turn as they drift toward the mainstream

Anyone wondering how things have changed in the world of lauded US alt-rockers Car Seat Headrest might consider the four years that separate Making a Door Less Open from their last album of new material. Ordinarily there would be nothing unusual about that gap – but in the first four years of Car Seat Headrest’s existence, its mastermind, Will Toledo, released seven albums (one of them a two-hour double), four EPs (one of them as long as an album) and two compilations of outtakes. That’s more than 150 songs and 12 hours of music: a lo-fi spewing forth of ideas that won Toledo a cult following, which then grew exponentially, both in size and rabidity, when he recruited a band and signed to the august US indie label Matador.

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Drake: Dark Lane Demo Tapes review – rap’s whingeing king hits a dead end

OVO
There are flashes of skill and rawness in this odds-and-ends mixtape but it feels like a clumsy lunge at commercial success

In a world where the boundary between mixtapes and albums is becoming ever more blurred, the title of Drake’s latest album highlights its interstitial nature. That said, it’s still slightly misleading. There are tracks here that sound like demos – the mopey James Blake-isms of Chicago Freestyle are audibly unpolished – but for the most part, it ’s a way of collecting up leftovers and leaks, spare tracks he apparently has lying around the studio.

Those inclined to view Drake’s career with a cool eye might be surprised he has any spare tracks lying around the studio, given the state of his last album. Listening to Scorpion, 25 songs long, required a certain degree of mental stamina: you needed to steel yourself against the panicky sensation that you might die of old age before it ended. But it wasn’t the sheer quantity that was the problem so much as the quality of what was there. Scorpion had its moments but was so hopelessly uneven that it was easy to buy into the theory that its length was not due to its author’s teeming multiplicity of fantastic ideas, but an attempt to game the streaming services: more songs means more streams, more streams means a higher chart placing.

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Kim Petras's lockdown listening: 'My fans have truly kept me sane'

The cult pop star shares her self-isolation favourites, including Dua Lipa’s disco and Daft Punk’s dystopias

Isolation has definitely been a test, but I’m really lucky: I’m able to work on new music while quarantined with my best friends in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles. I’ve been super active on Twitter and Instagram, and playing Animal Crossing and Mario Kart with my fans after sharing my Nintendo Switch codes online – it’s really important for me to check in on my fans as I worry about them a lot. They have truly kept me sane, so I’m keeping an eye open for anybody that needs to talk.

Related: Belle and Sebastian's lockdown listening: 'I have a dance-off with my kids every night'

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Malls across America resemble ghost towns as they reopen...


Malls across America resemble ghost towns as they reopen...


(Third column, 2nd story, link)





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Panicked over 'murder hornets,' people killing native bees we desperately need...


Panicked over 'murder hornets,' people killing native bees we desperately need...


(Second column, 8th story, link)






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San Antonio passes resolution declaring 'Chinese virus' hate speech...


San Antonio passes resolution declaring 'Chinese virus' hate speech...


(First column, 23rd story, link)





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Can't decipher Trump-speak? Meet Margaret, the computer bot...


Can't decipher Trump-speak? Meet Margaret, the computer bot...


(First column, 19th story, link)








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Don Shula, coach who led Dolphins to NFL's only perfect season, dies aged 90

  • Head coach died ‘peacefully at home’ say Dolphins
  • Shula recorded only two losing seasons in long career in Miami

Don Shula, the head coach with the most wins in NFL history, has died at the age of 90.

Shula is most famous for leading the 1972 Miami Dolphins to the only undefeated NFL season in history. The team said in a statement on Monday that Shula had “died peacefully” at home.

Related: Favre says Packers 'burned a bridge' with Aaron Rodgers in NFL draft

The Greatest.

Thank you for everything, Coach Shula. pic.twitter.com/7eXY4ZOKn6

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Heavily restricted NBA practices expected to resume on Friday

NBA teams are expected to get the go-ahead to reopen practice facilities for limited use as early as Friday, less than two months after the coronavirus outbreak forced the suspension of the season.

With head and assistant coaches barred and scrimmages forbidden, the workouts are unlikely to resemble business as usual for the NBA but would nonetheless be a step towards normalcy for a league whose season was upended in dramatic fashion in March.

Related: My favourite game: Iverson stuns Kobe's Lakers in the 2001 NBA finals | Bryan Armen Graham

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NFL tells teams to have facility reopening protocols in place by next week

  • Goodell’s memo outlines protocols for reopening team facilities
  • NFL set to release full regular-season schedule on Thursday

The NFL has set protocols for reopening team facilities and has told the 32 teams to have them in place by 15 May.

In a memo sent by league commissioner Roger Goodell and obtained Wednesday night by the Associated Press, several phases of the protocols were laid out. The first phase to deal with the coronavirus pandemic would involve a limited number of non-player personnel, initially 50% of the non-player employees (up to a total of 75) on any single day, being approved to be at the facility. But state or local regulations could require a lower number.

Related: Why is it always the white NFL players who get a second chance?

Related: Eli Manning predicts 'tough' start for Tom Brady with Buccaneers

Local and state government officials must consent to reopening

The team must implement all operational guidelines set by the league to minimize the risk of virus transmission among employees

Each club must acquire adequate amounts of needed supplies as prescribed by the league

An Infection Response Team with a written plan for newly diagnosed coronavirus cases

An Infection Control Officer to oversee all aspects of the implementation of the listed guidelines

Each employee who returns to work at the club facility must receive Covid-19 safety and hygiene training prior to using the facility, and agree to report health information to the ICO

The response team must consist of a local physician with expertise in common infectious disease principles; the team physician can fill that role. Also on the response team will be the infection control officer, the team’s head athletic trainer; the team physician, if he or she is not serving as the local physician; the human resources director; the team’s chief of security; its mental health clinician or someone with equivalent clinical expertise; and a member of the club’s operations staff such as the facility manager

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NFL great Brett Favre to repay $1.1m he received for speeches he didn't make

  • State auditor says Favre will repay money for no-show speeches
  • Hall of Fame quarterback faces no criminal charges after report

Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is repaying $1.1m in welfare money that he received for multiple speeches where he did not show up, the Mississippi state auditor said Wednesday.

Auditor Shad White said his office received $500,000 from Favre on Wednesday, plus a commitment that Favre will repay the other $600,000 in installments over the next few months.

Related: NFL tells teams to have facility reopening protocols in place by next week

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NFL 2020 schedule: Chiefs kick off title defense against Texans in season opener

  • NFL releases 2020 schedule despite coronavirus concerns
  • Chiefs host Texans on 10 September in annual kickoff game
  • Brady to make Buccaneers debut on 13 September at Saints

The Kansas City Chiefs will open defense of their Super Bowl championship by hosting Houston on 10 September in the NFL’s annual kickoff game – pending developments in the coronavirus pandemic, of course.

The Texans won a regular-season game at Arrowhead Stadium in 2019, then blew a 24-0 lead in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Related: Ravens' Earl Thomas held at gunpoint by wife over alleged affair, police say

.@nflcommish on the release of the 2020 schedule pic.twitter.com/Mch0lgXkf8

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How Coronavirus Has Helped to Clear the Air

Satellite data shows just how much air quality has improved during the coronavirus crisis, from China, India, Italy and beyond.




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Sausage surprise! 10 unexpected ways to cook with bangers and frankfurters

Lockdown Britain has embraced the sausage, with sales up 33%. But there’s much more you can do with them than fry-ups, sandwiches and casseroles

When you Google famous quotes about sausages (say you need an opener for an article), one of the first comes from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who apparently once said: “Sausages are just funny. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it.”

Waller-Bridge is not wrong. Sausages are inherently funny. But their comedic value is also what holds them back. In the kitchen, no one takes sausages seriously. You very rarely see anyone serving sausages on Come Dine With Me; it would be an act of self-sabotage. You cannot win with sausages. They’re a culinary joke, unrefined, a bit naff.

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Asic looking at new investment product offered by Dunk Island developer Mayfair 101

Corporate watchdog’s move comes after a court earlier banned Mayfair 101 from advertising two other products

The corporate watchdog is looking into a new investment product issued by Mayfair 101, the group that has bought the cyclone-ravaged Dunk Island resort, after alleging in court that it had misled people by comparing its previous offerings to bank term deposits.

On Thursday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission issued a general warning against advertisements that compare fixed-interest products to bank term deposits as part of a broader crackdown on potentially misleading marketing by investment groups.

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Rupert Murdoch gives up his bonus as News Corp loses US$1bn in three months

Huge losses driven partly by fall in valuation of Australian pay TV service Foxtel and decline in news advertising revenue

Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire, News Corp, lost US$1bn in the three months to the end of March and is expecting more financial pain as the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis continues.

The chief executive, Robert Thomson, said there was a fresh wave of cost-cutting ahead for the group, including a “strategic review of our Australian newspaper holdings” that could signal further job losses at the company’s smaller mastheads.

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Melbourne Airbnb superhost jailed for at least five years for raping guest

Nicholas David Weston found guilty of four counts of rape of 19-year-old woman during her 2017 stay at his city apartment

An Airbnb superhost has been jailed for raping a young woman in Melbourne while she was visiting the city with her friend.

Nicholas David Weston was found guilty of four counts of rape of the 19-year-old woman over the horror stay at his Melbourne CBD apartment in November 2017.

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Early access to superannuation paused as police freeze $120,000 in allegedly stolen funds

‘Sophisticated’ identity theft attack leads to Australian Tax Office stopping early super withdrawals until Monday

Allegations of identity theft involving 150 Australians have forced the government to pause the early release of superannuation, after police froze $120,000 believed to have been ripped off from retirement savings.

On Friday the assistant treasurer, Michael Sukkar, announced the Australian Tax Office would pause requests for early access of superannuation until Monday “out of an abundance of caution” to consider further anti-fraud protection.

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Australian government stops listing major threats to species under environment laws

Exclusive: Documents show department has stopped recommending assessment of ‘key threatening processes’ affecting native wildlife

The federal government has stopped listing major threats to species under national environment laws, and plans to address listed threats are often years out of date or have not been done at all.

Environment department documents released under freedom of information laws show the government has stopped assessing what are known as “key threatening processes”, which are major threats to the survival of native wildlife.

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Pubs pivot to digital: 'We hope that people feel that the world outside is still there'

Weekly meat tray giveaways, craft beer deliveries and trivia held over Zoom. As pubs stand empty, those that run them look to the internet

Across Australia, pubs stand empty because of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Some venues have shut entirely, others have pivoted to takeaway businesses, and the majority have had to make changes to their staffing.

While the future of physical pubs remains very uncertain for the coming months, the entertainers, brewers and chefs that rely on pubs for their livelihood are finding ways to recreate pub experiences in patrons’ homes.

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Experience: I found a stranger in my front room

My immediate reaction was fear. I bent down and shouted at him. He bolted upright, spluttering and looking a bit wild

It was early on a Monday morning, about 5.30am, and I’d got up to use the toilet. Afterwards, I nipped into the kitchen to get a drink. As I stood at the sink, I could hear snoring from the living room. At first I thought it was the dog. Then I realised it wasn’t. I went into the room to find a stranger asleep on the sofa. He was wearing a grey Adidas tracksuit and, bizarrely, only one shoe. I stood there in my shorts and T-shirt, staring at him.

My immediate reaction was fear. I live in a modern block of four flats on a busy road in Kilmarnock, about 20 miles south of Glasgow. The main door to the block is a buzzer-entry, secure entrance. My front door is also locked and the dog, a labradoodle called Molly, normally barks like anything when anyone comes through the door. You’d have to really know what you were doing to break in.

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Australia We're Full Party or an Independent? Who will win the Eden-Monaro by-election? | First Dog on the Moon

Is it all moot because of the deadly virus infecting Australia and no I don’t mean the National party ahahaha

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Ronaldo Souza dropped from UFC 249 card after testing positive for Covid-19

  • Ronaldo Souza pulled from event after positive coronavirus test
  • UFC 249 scheduled for Saturday night with no fans in building

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has withdrawn a bout from Saturday’s card in Jacksonville after middleweight Ronaldo ‘J’acare’ Souza and two of his cornermen tested positive for coronavirus, the mixed martial arts promotion said.

Related: UFC 249: Ferguson faces Gaethje as Dana White touts only game in town

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Desperate times call for desperate measures: how far sport will go to resume play | Scott Heinrich

From hosting the remainder of the Premier League season in Perth to the UFC Fight Island concept, ideas have ranged from bold to crazy

“When you’re going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill might not have had the coronavirus pandemic in mind when trotting out that particular gem, but trust him to find the right words almost a century before the fact. The Churchillian equivalent of “keep calm and carry on” is a mantra embraced by much of society right now, and sport is no different.

While health remains the primary concern in all walks of life, sporting bodies the world over have found themselves engaged in sessions of radical thinking to stave off looming economic ruin. In what predicament other than a global crisis could the term “NRL Island” be anything other than a genius concept for reality television?

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The three-step plan for reopening Australia after Covid-19 and what Stage 1, 2 and 3 looks like

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has detailed a gradual opening up of society with the timing the stages to be determined by the states

Scott Morrison and the chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, have laid out a three-step plan to reopen Australia after the coronavirus crisis. Morrison said he hoped step three could be achieved in July, but it would be up to each state and territory when they moved from one step to the next.

Below are some of the areas that will be opened up at each stage, according to the plan – and you can see the timeline for easing restrictions in each state here.

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‘Why didn’t he help those little boys?’: how George Pell failed the children of Ballarat

The cardinal maintains he didn’t know about the Victorian town’s notorious paedophile priests, a claim the royal commission found ‘implausible’

“Why isn’t all of Australia talking about what happened here in Ballarat?”

That’s the question Clare Linane remembers asking her husband, Peter Blenkiron, 12 years ago as they were sitting in the kitchen talking about his abuse. Linane’s husband, brother and cousin had all been abused when they were children between 1973 and 1974 by Christian Brother and now convicted paedophile Edward “Ted” Dowlan. They knew they were among thousands of people living in and around Ballarat – Victoria’s largest inland city – who had been affected by child sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy.

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Already in this crisis we are slipping into over-optimism about the economy and over-pessimism about debt | Wayne Swan

Deep recessions have long shadows and already there is a gaping hole opening up in our pandemic response

The great recession was followed by Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the rise of authoritarianism particularly in Europe.

Big economic events have big political consequences.

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Covid-19 competence has given Australian governments some political capital. But there's a flipside | Katharine Murphy

Politicians have set a high bar for themselves – success on coronavirus has created community expectations that will be challenging to shift

“Let’s not give everything back, let’s not throw away all the progress we’ve made by letting our frustration get the better of us.” This was Daniel Andrews on Friday afternoon, shortly after national cabinet resolved to gradually restart economic and social activity by July.

The Victorian premier wanted people to understand he’d be hastening slowly – the message being here in the Massachusetts of Australia, we decide how quickly we’ll remove coronavirus restrictions. We don’t apply an arbitrary national average.

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Has the new coronavirus mutated to be more contagious? Experts weigh in

Scientists are cautioning that it’s still too early to know how the novel coronavirus mutates after a preliminary study in the U.S. claimed that a new strain of the virus has emerged that is more dominant and contagious than the original.




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Bug experts dismiss worry about U.S. 'murder hornets' as hype

Insect experts say people should calm down about the big bug with the nickname "murder hornet" -- unless you are a beekeeper or a honeybee.




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European Space Agency: Human urine could help make concrete on Moon

The European Space Agency said Friday that human urine could one day become a useful ingredient in making concrete to build on the moon.




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Experts agree this hurricane season will be above-average, maybe even extremely active

Hurricane season is fast approaching and it is likely to be active -- maybe even an extremely active -- season.




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Kate Garraway says husband Derek Draper is 'still very ill' in intensive care as she speaks of 'torture' over 'horrific virus'

"I am very aware that I'm not the only one going through this torture" Read our live coronavirus updates HERE




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Harry Potter star Rupert Grint announces he is expecting first baby with partner Georgia Groome

Harry Potter star Rupert Grint has announced he and partner Georgia Groome are expecting their first child together.




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Joe Wicks wins Guinness World Record for YouTube views as 'nation's PE teacher'




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Ellie Goulding helps provide phones for homeless people

The singer and her management company have worked with the charity Crisis




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The Bourne Isolation: Matt Damon hangs out with locals as he spends lockdown in Irish town

The Hollywood star was filming The Last Duel in Dublin when lockdown measures kicked in




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Beyoncé dedicates When You Wish Upon a Star to healthcare workers in surprise Disney singalong performance

Beyoncé was a surprise addition to the TV fundraiser for America's coronavirus relief effort




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Kate Garraway says husband Derek Draper is still in a 'deeply critical condition' in hospital

Draper is one of the thousands of people in the UK to have been diagnosed with coronavirus




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Taylor Swift cancels all appearances and live performances for the rest of the year

The singer has announced she will no longer be touring her Lover album this year




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Peter Kay asks fans to help remake Amarillo video for Big Night In charity special

Kay's original Amarillo video featured an eclectic line-up of celebrity cameos




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Rochelle and Marvin Humes reveal they're expecting a baby boy in super sweet Instagram video

The baby will be the pop couple's third child




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Martin Clunes' pyjama-clad Good Morning Britain appearance delights viewers

The Doc Martin actor appeared via videolink from his Dorset home




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James McAvoy reveals the NHS 'saved' his life as campaign for health workers' PPE continues

James McAvoy has praised the NHS for saving his life when he suffered a botched surgery.




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Apprentice star Thomas Skinner and girlfriend expecting first child

Skinner joked that Lord Sugar could be in the running to become a godfather