In bloom … heather and gorse on the Quantock Hills, looking towards the Bristol Channel. Photograph: James Osmond/AlamyIn bloom … heather and gorse on the Quantock Hills, looking towards the Bristol Channel. Photograph: James Osmond/AlamyLet's go toSomerset holidaysEngland’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty offers scenic walks, fossil hunting and, as you’re never more than 1.7 miles from a pub, pints aplenty
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‘It’s always an expression of control’: Grace Neutral. Photograph: Suki Dhanda/The Observer‘It’s always an expression of control’: Grace Neutral. Photograph: Suki Dhanda/The ObserverThe ObserverTattoosTattooing is constantly evolving and the most-sought after artists are superstars. Here, five of the best reveal what the craft means to them
Grace Neutral, LondonInstagram has transformed tattooing. There was an old white man biker mentality when I started out – they were the gatekeepers. There was sexism, racism and an old boys’ club.
The fight for democracyUS news This article is more than 2 months oldOhio purged 26,000 voters days before abortion referendum deadlineThis article is more than 2 months oldVoting rights groups say move by Republican secretary of state lacked transparency and did not follow established practice
Mistruths and outright lies: misinformation mounts ahead of Ohio vote Ohio’s Republican secretary of state quietly canceled the voter registrations of more than 26,000 voters in late September, less than two weeks before the deadline to register to vote in next week’s hotly contested abortion referendum in the state.
Ophelia by John Everett Millais, 1851-52. Photograph: Tate, London 2018/Supplied: NGAOphelia by John Everett Millais, 1851-52. Photograph: Tate, London 2018/Supplied: NGAArtTogether outside the UK for the first time, what can Millais’s Ophelia and Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott tell us about shifting standards of female beauty?
Her lips are parted, her hands grasp the air and her eyes are half-open, as if in sublime submission. The tragic heroine Ophelia – as represented in John Everett Millais’s 1852 painting – lies in a near orgasmic state at the moment of her death.
Ibogaine comes from Gabon’s iboga plant, which has incentivized poaching. Photograph: Marta ParszeniewIbogaine comes from Gabon’s iboga plant, which has incentivized poaching. Photograph: Marta ParszeniewDrugsClinics and scientists around the world aim to turn a profit from a powerful Gabonese plant – but it’s an ethical and legal wild west
Lynn Smith was lying in a bed on the third floor of a beachfront house, unable to move her body from the neck down.
Pass notesDoctor WhoMattel’s limited edition doll of Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor – including ‘signature suspenders and lace-up boots’ – has provoked protests over objectification
Name: Doctor Who Barbie.
Age: About a week old.
Appearance: Like Barbie, if she went to a Halloween party as the Doctor.
This is a doll we’re talking about, is it? Yes. The “Doctor Who Barbie doll is sculpted to the likeness of the 13th Doctor and comes dressed in her iconic look.
UkraineFive killed in Russian attacks on Kherson as Ukraine marks Christmas on 25 December for first timeBirth of Christ was formerly celebrated on 7 January, but has moved in symbolic shift away from Russia
Russian shelling in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region has killed five people, including an 87-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife who died after a strike on their apartment building.
The barrage on Sunday injured nine other people, including a 15-year-old, sparked fires in homes and at a private medical facility, and set a local gas pipeline alight, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said.
EconomicsObituaryGiovanni Arrighi obituaryPolitical economist and historian of global capitalismThe Italian scholar of political economy and sociology Giovanni Arrighi, who has died of cancer aged 71, was an outstanding teacher and mentor. He will be best remembered for his trilogy of works analysing global capitalism, The Long Twentieth Century: Money, Power and the Origins of Our Times (1994); Chaos and Governance in the Modern World System (with his wife, Beverly Silver, 1999); and Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the Twenty-First Century (2007).
Race This article is more than 14 years oldGolliwog began as beloved children's characterThis article is more than 14 years oldStorybook creation of American author Florence Kate Upton enchanted children of early 1900s – but came to carry racial baggageThe golliwog was originally the creation of the American author Florence Kate Upton, who moved to Britain in the late 19th century and wrote a series of bestselling children's books.
Inspired by a minstrel doll she had as a child, Upton illustrated 13 golliwog stories published between 1895 and 1909, set to verse written by her mother, Bertha.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev This article is more than 10 years oldTamerlan Tsarnaev buried in Virginia cemetery, says suspect's uncleThis article is more than 10 years old'Compassionate' Virginia woman provided necessary assistance to bury Boston Marathon bombing suspectBoston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been buried in a cemetery in Virginia, infuriating some members of the area's Islamic community who say they weren't consulted and flooring at least one neighbor who said she didn't even know she lived near a burial ground.