Astronomers believe they have found a super-massive black hole that has been flung out of a distant galaxy at high speed. Normally each galaxy, like our own Milky Way, contains a super-massive black hole at its centre. The material that falls into black holes heats up dramatically on its final journey and often means that black holes are strong X-ray sources. The red circle indicates where scientists believe the black hole to be. It is far from the galaxy’s centre Such objects are visible to astronomers as star-like points because X-rays penetrate through obscuring dust and gas. Student Marianne Heida … Continue reading Super-massive black hole is flung out of distant galaxy

As business secretary Cable will have real influence, which shows the Tories are serious about reining in the banks Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk George Osborne and Vince Cable – then political opponents, now cabinet colleagues – during the election leaders’ TV debate, 29 April 2010. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA Update: 6.30pm Vince Cable has control of banks. Or perhaps he doesn’t. Talk of a new era of collaboration to replace the sterlile old politics looks a bit wide of the mark now, amid confusion as to just who has responsibility for cleaning up Britain’s financial sector. After a day in which the story … Continue reading City is right to fear Vince Cable

Reports of Holocaust denial fail to reflect the many Arabs who believe the genocide bears lessons for all persecuted peoples Gilbert Achcar guardian.co.uk The issue of Holocaust denial in the Arab world has been widely covered in the media. Every public display of Holocaust denial by an Arab source is prominently reported and construed as further evidence of the pro-Nazi inclinations that Arabs, or Muslims, hold in their deepest hearts, especially when they are hostile to Israel. The deliberate provocations that the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stages regularly contribute considerably to fostering this image. There is no dispute that Holocaust … Continue reading Arabs have a complex relationship with the Holocaust

Stop portraying breast cancer patients as victims Celebrity cancer stories don’t tell the whole story – the media must show people living with cancer, rather than dying from it Heather Lawrence guardian.co.uk I have been living with incurable breast cancer that has spread to my liver and bones for nearly two years. Thanks to two types of chemotherapy and a whole host of drug regimes and surgeries, my disease is under control. I work four days a week, see friends, go to the gym and generally have an active life like any other woman in her thirties. When I tell … Continue reading Celebrity cancer stories don’t tell the whole story – the media must show people living with cancer

Following the lead of Islamists, Egyptian Christians are trying to ban an award-winning novel because it ‘insults’ Christianity Khaled Diab guardian.co.uk I am no fan of fanaticism and I wish fundamentalists would just have some fun, or at the very least learn to live and let live. But, in Egypt, they have gone from being a nuisance to becoming a real threat, not only to freedom of speech and expression but also to the country’s very cultural heritage. This was demonstrated in recent weeks when a group calling itself (without a hint of irony) Lawyers Without Shackles tried to shackle … Continue reading So what if Egypt’s Copts find a book insulting?

HIV infections are on the rise, yet activist Maxim Popov has been given a seven-year jail sentence for his prevention work Paul Canning guardian.co.uk In Uzbekistan it seems that promoting condoms and sterile needles to stop the spread of HIV is “immoral” and deserving of imprisonment in its notorious jails. The country, ruled by dictator Islam Karimov – and recently lambasted by the UN Human Rights Committee – has given one of its leading Aids workers a seven-year sentence. Maxim Popov is the founder of the now-closed non-governmental Aids organisation, Izis. The group had support from international donors including USAid … Continue reading Uzbekistan’s Aids shame

Leaving 70,000 prisoners disenfranchised is morally inexcusable – and breaches the European convention on human rights Juliet Lyon guardian.co.uk Prison inmates are not allowed to vote. Photograph: Ian Waldie/Getty Images The chaotic scenes of hundreds of people turned away from polling stations unable to vote on 6 May were not the only democratic scandal of the general election. A further invisible 70,000 people were denied even the possibility of exercising their democratic right, after the government failed to overturn the unlawful blanket ban on sentenced prisoners voting. In March 2004, the European court of human rights ruled that it is … Continue reading End this ban on prisoners voting

Liberty, the tie that binds The coalition’s proposals come as a huge relief: this could end 13 years’ erosion of civil rights by Labour Henry Porter guardian.co.uk “The parties agree to implement a full programme of measures to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties under the Labour government and roll back state intrusion.” This sentence, published in the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition agreement, is one that civil libertarians have been waiting a long time for, and to hear David Cameron and Nick Clegg talk about their government handing back privacy and curbing the powers of the state was certainly a … Continue reading Liberty, the tie that binds

Theresa May will be nobody’s stooge The press will portray Theresa May as totty set up to fail, but her achievements make her far from the token woman in the cabinet Anne Perkins guardian.co.uk Theresa May, the new home secretary, visits Braeside nursing home, Edinburgh, during the general election campaign. Photograph: Murdo Macleod Theresa May is going to get a bucket load of condescension in tomorrow’s papers: the lone (so far) woman in cabinet sent off to the Home Office, traditional graveyard of political ambition – in short, totty set up to fail. And it’s true the new Home Office, … Continue reading Theresa May is not a totty set up to fail, her achievements make her far from the token woman in the cabinet

Mother’s phone call as comforting as a hug, says oxytocin study US scientists believe hearing your mother’s voice on the telephone has same stress-busting effect as a cuddle James Meikle guardian.co.uk Hearing your mother’s voice on the telephone has the same stress-busting effect as a cuddle, say US scientists. Photograph: Dougal Waters/Getty Images Children know that mum’s got the words when life seems to be getting too much. Now it seems her voice on the phone can work the same soothing magic as when she is there to give her offspring a comforting cuddle. US scientists believe hearing mother down … Continue reading Mother’s phone call as comforting as a hug!