You’d think during a pandemic we’d all have gained a little perspective – but policing female bodies and appetites is a timeless trend

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The UK may no longer be an EU member but, as the current health crisis shows, cooperation continues to be essential

• Coronavirus shows British–EU solidarity vital, say ambassadors

On Saturday, for the first time in almost 50 years, we observe Europe Day without the United Kingdom as a member state of the European Union. As ambassadors and high commissioners representing the EU and its 27 countries in the UK, we are nonetheless very keen to mark the date with all the citizens of this great country and with the millions of EU nationals who live and work in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We celebrate Europe on 9 May because on this same day in 1950, exactly 70 years ago, in the aftermath of the devastating second world war, Robert Schuman, the Luxembourg-born foreign minister of France, laid the foundations of our collective endeavour. He said then: “Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.”

Charlie I’Anson’s contract in the third tier has been terminated but the lockdown has left him unable to travel

Charlie I’Anson spent Thursday packing up boxes in the small flat he rents near Madrid, finalising the details of his dismissal from the football club for whom he played, and trying to contact the police to request permission to travel home. The night before, the news slipped out: two months after the last match, and on the day the first and second division players returned to work, the football federation decided to cancel the rest of the season in Spain’s third and fourth tiers. Like thousands of footballers, the English centre-back’s season was over with 10 matches remaining.

Related: Covid-19's impact on football: 'It could take 10 years to get where we were'

When a group of schoolboys were marooned on an island in 1965, it turned out very differently from William Golding’s bestseller, writes Rutger Bregman

• Interview: ‘Our secret superpower is our ability to cooperate’

For centuries western culture has been permeated by the idea that humans are selfish creatures. That cynical image of humanity has been proclaimed in films and novels, history books and scientific research. But in the last 20 years, something extraordinary has happened. Scientists from all over the world have switched to a more hopeful view of mankind. This development is still so young that researchers in different fields often don’t even know about each other.

When I started writing a book about this more hopeful view, I knew there was one story I would have to address. It takes place on a deserted island somewhere in the Pacific. A plane has just gone down. The only survivors are some British schoolboys, who can’t believe their good fortune. Nothing but beach, shells and water for miles. And better yet: no grownups.

Repatriation flights and naval warships help return some citizens after long delays

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

Relieved Indians are arriving at airports across the country on the first flights to bring home those stranded abroad, and others are en route on naval warships, in an extensive repatriation effort labelled the vande mataram (long live the motherland) mission.

Photos from inside a plane landing at Chennai airport showed the flight crew, who were tested for Covid-19 beforehand, wearing protective suits and smiling behind masks and visors.

They believed insurance would cover the pandemic but have received demands for thousands

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

Couples who have been unable to get married because of the coronavirus lockdown have had their wedding insurance claims rejected – in some cases despite being assured they were covered before buying their policy.

The Guardian has heard from people who have lost thousands when claims were turned down by provider WeddingPlan Insurance.

We’ve passed our goal and greenlit one more episode of Multiplex 10: The Web Series, so we’ll get back into production as soon as the Indiegogo campaign ends. But we’re not done yet! We have exactly one stretch goal: for every $2,500 over the base goal, we will produce at least two more minutes of … Continue reading Multiplex 10: The Web Series is FUNDED on Indiegogo!

The floods that submerged one-fifth of Pakistan's territory took more than six months to recede.

One of the most affected regions was the Sindh region, located in the western corner of South Asia. 

At their peak, the floodwaters were up to 20 feet deep. About 20 million people were displaced.

But apparently, people were not the only ones seeking shelter from the devastating floods. 

One of the unexpected side-effects of the flooding has been that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising floodwaters, turning them into futuristic-looking trees cocooned in spiders' webs.

The people living in that area claimed they have never seen this phenomenon before but were glad to discover that those cocooned trees were actually significantly reducing the numbers of mosquitos and thereby, the risk of malaria. 

It is thought that the mosquitoes were getting caught in the spiders' webs which would be one blessing for the people of the area, facing so many other hardships after the floods. 

Check out some of the stunning photos, released by the department of international development.

Once a week, your cuteness prescription will always be automatically refilled for your viewing pleasure!

Nothing -- and we mean nothing brings on those warm mushy feeling like a huge dose of animal cuteness! We scoured the internet to bring you the cutest animal pictures of the week! Bringing you cuteness every week - stay tuned for next week's dose! If you missed last week's dose, and you need a cuteness overload, check out last week's here.

Once a week, we will be featuring an extraordinary animal account on Instagram! Their story, the adorable pictures, and pawesome videos! This week's spotlight goes to wild cat Fiona! 

Fiona is insta-famous with a following of over 100k and we have a suspicion it has something to do with those stunning emerald eyes of hers! Seriously, every single picture of this cat is the most beautiful picture, it was terribly difficult to sum up their beauty into a short list. 

Fiona isn't just a pretty face, she is a registered emotional support animal who has taken to Instagram to emotionally support the internet! Fiona's owners have created this beautiful idea called "Eterneva." Eterneva is a site in which you can turn your beloved pets ashes into diamonds that you can carry with you everywhere and every day. 

Pretty beautiful idea! Now, prepare to be mesmerized by Fiona's eyes! 

28-years-old model, Emily Ratajkowski, and her husband are the loving owners of Colombo, the cutest good boy.   

They have all spent their quarantine days with their close friends, Josh Ostrovsky, founder of the Fat Jewish meme account, his wife, Caitlin King, and their dog, Happy.

On Saturday, Emily decided to hosts a special wedding ceremony for Colombo and happy - 'quarantined together so why not marry our children".  
Ratajkowski shared plenty of behind-the-scenes footage on Instagram from the ceremony, including individual images of Colombo and Happy posing while wearing dog cones as the "the groom" and "the bride", respectively.

Congrats, Colombo and Happy! 

Huzzah! It's the moment we've all been waiting for -- Cheezburger's classic LOLCats! 

Your ultimate source for the newest, and cutest, cat memes! All of which are created by our very own users! If you want to check out more cat memes that we know will make you laugh, check out Lolcat. If you have some funny ideas and would like to submit them, take a look at our Meme Builder. 

We love our user's original cat memes! 

Ready to smile? Each week we are featuring the newly adopted pets of the week! Is there a lovelier sight than an animal being adopted?! We wholeheartedly thank those who have adopted, providing animals with a loving, comfortable and warm home. There's literally nothing better. 

We're seeing a lot of new furry faces being adopted due to the new regulations, and while we absolutely adore seeing so many adopted faces, please remember that a pet is for life. The decision to adopt one is one that should be thought through thoroughly.  

For those of you who are thinking about getting a pet, just remember; adopt, don't shop. 

If you recently adopted a pet, shoot us an email to be featured in next weeks list! 

Here at Hackaday, we love a good clock project. And if it’s an artistically executed freeform sculpture, even better. But tell us that it’s also a new spin on a classic project from two decades ago, and we’re over the moon for it. Case in point: [Paul Gallagher’s] beautiful recreation …read more

The post We’re doing our best, such as it is. appeared first on Indexed.

There's no denying that a Wendy's roast is not like the rest of them. They just hit different. These roasts pulled zero punches, and for that we are grateful. 

Man, this is a fine example of why it pays to be a reasonable, good human being, and not mess with your servicemen. This plumber was just doing his job, to the requirements asked of him, and the clients decided to make a mess of the whole peaceful operation. Clearly, they were trying to skip out on paying the whole bill. So, the plumber was extra sweet with finishing up the job. What might seem like a petty revenge on the surface, really evolves to be more of a cold and calculated pro revenge that likely haunted the folks for a long while after the job was "done."

Get ready to soak up all this random knowledge about just how wild medieval battle tactics were. It's a true rollercoaster. 

This guy got challenged to make music with bricks, so he went ahead and played The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" with bricks. Um, that's amazing. Had no idea that was possible. 

via http://www.volkmarweiss.com/

The incredible benefits of strength training are only just becoming apparent. That's good timing, when working out indoors is beneficial to everyone's health

Artificial intelligence can tell whether a human or a bot is posting on Twitter based on how regularly they post and how much they reply to others, which could help identify fake accounts

People born prematurely may have weaker hearts that recover less well after exercise, potentially explaining their increased risk of heart disease

Climate models show that as the world warms, tropical cyclones will travel more slowly, dumping more rain in one place and making high-speed winds batter buildings for longer

Satellites have revealed the fracking heartland of the US is leaking methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, at a record-breaking rate.

A bunch of asteroids near Jupiter and Neptune with orbits perpendicular to the plane of the solar system may have come here from a different star system

Srinivisa Ramanujan’s ideas seemed to come from a parallel universe and mathematicians are still getting to grips with them today, say Ken Ono and Robert Schneider

Robots made of 3D-printed muscle and rat spines could help us understand conditions like motor neurone disease and the technique may eventually be used to build prosthetic devices

Trials of experimental coronavirus vaccines are already under way, but it’s still likely to be years before one is ready and vaccination may not even be possible

A robot that uses artificial intelligence to find and remove weeds could eventually be used as an alternative to chemical insecticides

We are already seeing the pandemic's effects on mental health, and we need to act urgently to avoid a full-blown crisis, says Sam Howells  

Hyperconsumption adds to environmental destruction that brings people into contact with animal viruses that can spark pandemics. We have to avoid the temptation to rely on it to get us out, writes Graham Lawton

Slow-moving underwater currents are leading to build ups of microplastics in biologically rich areas on the sea floor

We tend to overestimate our height and underestimate our weight to fit society’s ideals, or because we think we're still the same as our younger selves

Weird blasts of radio waves from space called fast radio bursts have been baffling astronomers since they were discovered, but after finding one in our galaxy we may finally know what creates them

SpaceX’s first crewed launch is planned for 27 May and will be run from a mission control with desks set six feet apart to comply with social distancing protocols

The UK government will begin trials of its coronavirus contact-tracing app this week, but what impact it will have on slowing the spread of covid-19 is unclear

Our best mathematical theory of consciousness is sparking a rethink of one of science’s hardest problems – how simple matter gives rise to a complex mind

We’ve found a 200-metre cliff in Mars's Hellas basin, the first evidence of a river that flowed on the planet for more than 100,000 years

Brain implants have revealed that we replay conscious experiences while we sleep, with the same patterns of neurons firing during sleep as in waking life

Many countries are focusing coronavirus testing on people who have covid-19 symptoms. But regularly testing all essential workers would have more of an impact

A small increase in water temperature near a Japanese nuclear power plant allowed tropical fish to colonise the area, suggesting global warming will drastically alter some marine ecosystems

Finland’s two-year test of universal basic income has concluded that it doesn't seem to disincentivise working, and improves recipients’ mental and financial well-being

Many ancient monuments are claimed to be aligned to celestial phenomena, but we now have the first statistical evidence this is the case for the Egyptian pyramids

Like Minneapolis, the city of Mississauga is allowing mosques to broadcast the call to prayer during Ramadan, which seems reasonable, since 12% of the population is Muslim. The only problem is that some people are objecting, for bogus reasons. An open letter attached to three petitions, two of them hosted on Change.org, calls on Mississauga […]

This story is a bit on the nose. Hello, Peter Ludlow here, CEO of InGen, the company behind the wildly successful dinosaur-themed amusement park, Jurassic Park. As you’re all aware, after an unprecedented storm hit the park, we lost power and the velociraptors escaped their enclosure and killed hundreds of park visitors, prompting a two-month […]

Up pretty betimes and out of doors, and in Fen Church street met Mr. Lovett going with a picture to me, but I could not stand to discourse or see it, but on to the next hackney coach and so to Sir W. Coventry, where he and I alone a while discoursing...