aThe United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,a the US militaryas Central Command said

Paul Scruton, Lucy Swan, Iona Serrapica and Alex Olorenshaw have created a visual guide to Fridayas events in Iran via graphics, video and satellite images.

You can take a look at it here:

Aipac and other groups targeting candidates critical of Israelas war in Gaza a but progressives are not going down without a fight

Pro-Israel groups are pumping millions into this yearas heated congressional races, singling out progressives who have voiced criticism of the Israeli government and its relentless campaign in Gaza.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) is betting that $100m will be enough to fight back a wave of progressive dissent over Israelas war in Gaza this election cycle. After investing heavily in the 2022 midterms, Aipac is now doubling down on its electoral efforts.

Man identified by police as Max Azzarello, from Florida, declared dead after incident outside lower Manhattan courthouse

A man has died after setting himself on fire outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trumpas hush-money trial is taking place.

The New York City police department said on Saturday the man had been declared dead by staff at an area hospital.

Actor and wife Katherine Schwarzenegger dismantle 1950 Zimmerman house designed by architect Craig Ellwood

Chris Pratt has drawn ire from architecture aficionados after news broke that the actor and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, had razed a historic, mid-century modern home to make way for a sprawling 15,000-sq-ft mansion.

Last year, the couple purchased the 1950 Zimmerman house, designed by the architect Craig Ellwood, in Los Angelesas Brentwood neighborhood for $12.5m. The residence, with landscaping by Garrett Eckbo a who has been described as the pioneer of modern landscaping a had previously been featured in Progressive Architecture magazine.

The enigmatic former first lady to appear at fundraiser on Saturday, marking a return to her husbandas side as he seeks re-election

Her biggest fashion statement as first lady was a green jacket emblazoned with the words aI really donat care, do u?a More recently, Melania Trump has given the impression that she doesnat care whether her husband, Donald, returns to the White House. That is about to change.

On Saturday Melania, 53, will appear at a fundraiser at Trumpas Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, for the Log Cabin Republicans, the biggest Republican organisation dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives. It will be her first appearance at a political event since Trump, 77, launched his bid to regain the presidency.

Influenza is still the biggest threat to global health as WHO raises fears about the spread of avian strain

Influenza is the pathogen most likely to trigger a new pandemic in the near future, according to leading scientists.

An international survey, to be published next weekend, will reveal that 57% of senior disease experts now think that a strain of flu virus will be the cause of the next global outbreak of deadly infectious illness.

Majority leader Chuck Schumer says approving bill was aright thinga for Democrats and Republicans to do

The US Senate voted late on Friday night to approve the reauthorization of the controversial Fisa surveillance program, narrowly preventing its midnight expiration.

The reauthorization secures what supporters call a key element of the United Statesa foreign intelligence-gathering operation.

Vote makes Chattanooga factory first auto plant in US south to unionize via election since the 1940s

Volkswagen workers at the carmakeras Chattanooga plant in Tennessee have voted to unionize with the United Auto Workers, a historic victory for the union and the labor movementas efforts to expand to the southern United States.

The vote was the first union election to be held as part of the UAWas ambitious organizing drive aimed at unionizing 150,000 workers at non-union auto plants around the US.

Tunde Onakoya, who beat previous record of 56 hours, hopes to raise $1m for childrenas education in Africa

A Nigerian chess champion has broken the record for the longest chess marathon after playing the game nonstop for 58 hours.

Tunde Onakoya, 29, hopes to raise $1m for childrenas education across Africa from the world record attempt, which took place in Times Square in New York.

University says it is aredesigninga commencement plans days after it decided to prevent Asna Tabassum from speaking on 10 May

The University of Southern California is aredesigninga its entire commencement plans a just days after making the controversial decision to cancel the valedictorian speech of a Muslim student a and will also cancel the keynote speech by film-maker Jon M Chu.

The Los Angeles universityas provost, Andrew Guzman, said on Monday that it took the unprecedented step of canceling valedictorian Asna Tabassumas speech at the 10 May ceremony because because the aalarming tenora of reactions to her selection as valedictorian a along with athe intensity of feelingsa surrounding Israelas military strikes in Gaza a had created asubstantial risks relating to securitya. They did not cite any specific threats.

US House of Representatives moves closer to passing Ukraine aid; bureaucracy delays APS500m in foreign assistance channelled through UK Ministry of Defence. What we know on day 787

• See all our Ukraine war coverage

Russia came under attack from Ukrainian drones Friday night and into Saturday morning, the defence ministry in Moscow said. It claimed there were 50 Ukrainian UAVs detected: 26 over the Belgorod region, 10 over Bryansk, eight over Kursk; two over the Tula region and one each over the Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga and Moscow regions.

Various reports suggested Ukraine mounted a wave of attacks on Russian electrical and petrochemical facilities. One of the attacks left an oil facility burning in Kardymovo a about 100km from the Ukrainian border inside Russiaas Smolensk oblast, the regionas governor said on Saturday morning.

Russian officials said Ukrainian drones also attacked an electrical substation in Bryansk oblast, about 50km inside Russia. Unconfirmed videos and pictures online showed a large fire. In line with Moscowas usual information tactics, the ministry claimed all the drones were shot down, while local officials said any damage was only done by falling debris from the intercepted UAVs. There was no independent confirmation.

Ukraine said it shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber from a distance of 308km (191 miles) after it took part in a long-range airstrike that killed eight people including two children in Dnipro. aI can only say the plane was hit at a distance of 308km, quite far away,a said Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraineas military spy agency, the GUR.

An intelligence source told Reuters the plane was hit with a modified S-200 Soviet-era long-range surface-to-air missile system. Unconfirmed social media footage showed a warplane with its tail on fire spiralling towards the ground. The Russian defence ministry confirmed the crash in Russiaas southern Stavropol region but claimed it appeared to have been caused by a technical malfunction. Four aircrew ejected with one dead, two rescued and another missing, the Russian regional governor said.

Ukraineas president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited the site of the strike in Dnipro and again called on Ukraineas allies to rush in more air defences. Zelenskiy said Russian missiles also struck the Black Sea port of Pivdennyi in the southern Odesa region on Friday afternoon, destroying grain storage facilities and the food inside.

In the US, the House of Representatives has pushed ahead through procedural hurdles towards passing a foreign aid package that includes $61bn for Ukraine, Joanna Walters writes. The House is expected to vote on Saturday on the legislation. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic party leader in the Senate, has told senators to be prepared to return this weekend if the package passes the House and goes back to the Senate. If passed by the Senate, it must be signed into law by president Joe Biden a after which the US would ship arms to Ukraine aright awaya, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters on Friday.

More than half of an international APS900m military fund for Ukraine run by the British Ministry of Defence has not been used because of bureaucratic delays in handing out contracts, Daniel Boffey reports. Critics claim slow provision of weapons to the frontline by the International Fund for Ukraine, with just APS404m spent and ministers admitting some of the equipment is not expected to reach Ukraine until spring next year.

The fund was set up in August 2022 and was designed to be aflexiblea and alow-bureaucracya. Delays are said by MoD officials to have been caused by a need to assess each of the huge number of defence companies that have tendered for contracts. An MoD spokesperson said: aThousands of responses have been received from industry to International Fund for Ukraine requirements, each of which have had to be individually reviewed. We make no excuses for having made sure this was done properly and in a way that most effectively helps Ukraine.a

Threats lean toward sexual or domestic violence, attacks on their families and criticisms that they canat do their jobs

Carly Koppes kept her pregnancy hidden from the public as long as she possibly could, fearing the potential harassment that could come from those who frequently attack the Republican elections clerk.

When Koppes, who runs elections in Weld county, Colorado, did media interviews, she asked the people behind the camera to position her so her growing belly wasnat visible, fearing her harassers would see the images or videos and make comments about her future child. She anever in a million yearsa anticipated that shead have to hide her pregnancy, she said.

Pro-Palestinian students interrupted a dinner held by a top free speech defender at Berkeley. A polarized and very public controversy has followed

During a dinner for students that the dean of the University of California, Berkeley law school held in his houseas backyard earlier this month, a woman wearing a hijab and checkered Palestinian scarf suddenly stood up with a microphone and amplifier. What followed lasted only a couple of minutes, but has led to a fierce debate about the limits of free speech, drew death threats to those involved, and created a amedia firestorm,a as the dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, has put it.

Some short and chaotic viral videos illustrate part of what happened. One of them shows the woman, Malak Afaneh, as she gives a Ramadan greeting; she is accompanied by a small group of other student protesters. As Afaneh begins reading a speech about the Israel-Gaza war, Chemerinsky and his wife, the law professor Catherine Fisk, quickly cut Afaneh off.

Moas staff evacuate 80% of critically wounded soldiers from regionas battlefield, where medics say morale is falling

It is around midnight in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, and the first emergency ambulance of the night is charging 75mph down a single carriageway road from the frontline. Inside, under the care of two watchful medics, is Ihor, an unconscious soldier wounded from the battle of Chasiv Yar, with shrapnel, perhaps from a mine, in his abdomen.

The medicsa task is to complete the last leg of evacuation from the battlefield, which involves Ihor and tonightas most serious casualties being taken to a hospital in the safe central city of Dnipro. Four ambulances are following on a bumpy high-speed run that takes three hours down roads largely deserted because of the 9pm curfew, the full single beds creaking and bouncing as they go.

I used to think open relationships were a recipe for heartbreak a or just a bit tacky. Then we began to experiment. Could seeing other people be the secret to a happy home life?

I settled back into the train seat and pulled a notebook out of my bag: something extraordinary had happened, and I needed to process it by writing it down. Speeding along the south coast, past Arundel Castle and on towards Bristol, I made notes about the night Iad spent near Brighton with a man Iad known for years, but seen again in a whole new context. About how delighted I felt, how hot, how incredibly free.

My body, which had been pregnant in the Covid pandemic, given birth and then dragged itself through several house moves with a baby and a three-year-old, seemed to be renewed, on fire. My mind was blown, and my lips were bruised. I bought a beer and ate crisps. I texted friends, caught eyes with strangers: I wanted to talk to everyone about how I was feeling. Most of all, I wanted to tell my husband.

How do I know what soil I have? Do bulbs come back? And how did people garden before Google? As the growing season gears up, our experts are here with a barrowful of advice

Few domestic gardens need work every weekend a whisper it, but theyare quite good at looking after themselves. Broadly speaking: new growth on twiggy, brown (or woody) stems is a fair sign to prune old growth back to encourage the new growth into a neater, fuller shape; a shift to spring and summer signals a need to feed plants; if your plants are romping away, your weeds probably will be too a pulling them out while theyare small is easier a and planting or sowing things late is better than not at all. Mulch whenever you think about it. Alice Vincent

Tourists have been descending on Achill ever since Heinrich BAPll wrote effusively about its inhabitantsa customs and idiosyncrasies

In 1954, the German writer Heinrich BAPll landed in Ireland for the first time, headed west and kept going till he reached the Atlantic Ocean. He was seeking a refuge from the brash materialism of postwar Germany, and found it on Achill Island, where waves crashed against cliffs, sheep foraged in fields and villagers went about their business of fishing, farming and storytelling.

The following year he returned with his family and began to observe and chronicle the customs, idiosyncrasies, sorrows and joys of its inhabitants. So began a literary love affair between Germany and a windswept corner of County Mayo that endures 70 years after the Nobel laureateas first visit.

Violet and Oliver met in their 70s a and are both revelling in their uninhibited, experimental sex life

• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

I used to have trouble taking my clothes off with the lights on. Now Iam perfectly happy to hang naked from the ceiling

I want Violet to have an orgasm with me in the room, but I donat mind how we achieve that

(Republic)
On her 11th album, the American singer-songwriter picks apart her romantic travails in typically unsparing fashion, while her ability to turn sorrow into songwriting gold remains unparalleled

In a time of so many upended certainties, Taylor Swiftas 11th album arrives as a tale very much foretold. Itas no genre bolt from the blue like BeyoncA(c)as recent country album; it delivers not just what Tayloristas have been speculating about furiously for months, but more: a surprise second album, The Tortured Poets Department: the Anthology, dropped at 2am the night after the first albumas release. When the LPas title was announced in February, and the track listing in March, the question was never if, but merely how hard, Swiftas most recent exes a specifically, British actor Joe Alwyn, but also Matt Healy from the 1975 a were going to be hung out to dry. As aWilliam Bowerya, Alwyn had songwriter credits on three Swift albums a Folklore (2020), Evermore (2020) and Midnights (2022) a and itas pretty safe to assume he is receiving a great many of the demerits here as Swift gnashes, accuses, mourns, self-flagellates, likens her time with him to a prison (Fresh Out the Slammer) and longs to be taken away in a spaceship (Down Bad) and calls for an exorcist (the sombre bonus piano ballad, how did it end?).

Speculating is, of course, all part of the package; a Swiftie-an safe space, you might call it. Her first song widely understood to be about Alwyn was London Boy (on Lover, 2019). One track here is called, pointedly, So Long, London; it doesnat take an ultra stan to read it as Swiftas Brexit. It only gets messier from there on in. Healy is likely the subject of the Smallest Man Alive, probably the albumas sickest burn, and perhaps handful of other caustic putdowns.

As younger and younger people buy anti-ageing products, we look at the influences behind the trend

Younger generations are known for sharing their extensive skincare habits online. Generation Z, those born between the mid-1990s and early-2010s, and the cohort succeeding them, known as Generation Alpha, appear to be obsessed with trying to halt the ageing effects of time. Even children as young as 10 are putting pressure on their parents to buy them expensive, anti-ageing products.

In the latest example of this fascination, gen Z has adopted another technique to stop wrinkles: a quirky-shaped straw. The trend has gone viral on TikTok.

You need to consider why this bothers you so much and if you should bring it up. Without asking directly, itas hard to know his motivation
aC/ Every week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a family-related problem sent in by a reader

Over a few drinks, a good friend of mine recently let slip that he keeps a spreadsheet of his friends, which he uses to rank them in tiers. Initially I laughed it off as drunken ramblings, but he then proceeded to show me the actual document, saved on his phone with comments next to peopleas names.

I learned that he keeps a running score of his friends based on how often they WhatsApp him, take the time to call him or go to the pub or on a trip abroad together.

Late-night hosts discuss the first week of Trumpas trial, strange election polls and the media playing Guess Who? with jurors

Late-night hosts talked Trump jurors, the former presidentas complaints about his trial and some strange polling before the 2024 election.

From films about Play-Doh and Barbie to the Shrek aexperiencea, consumer capitalism has run out of ideas

When it was announced last week that Margot Robbie will follow up the success of Barbie with a film based on Monopoly, my heart sank, did not pass go, and did not collect APS200. Robbieas production company will partner with Hasbro, just as the Barbie film was an initiative from rival toy company Mattel. Barbie was criticised for being little more than a 114-minute toy ad, but it did so well at the box office a buoyed, significantly, by a $150m marketing budget, which was larger than that spent on making the film a that a glut of similar titles are planned: a Barney film produced by Daniel Kaluuya, a Polly Pocket film written and directed by Lena Dunham, and a film based on the card game Uno. Robbie is also making a film version of The Sims video game, while Hasbro has licensed a Play-Doh feature film, a cinematic adaptation of an inert substance.

Where does it end? Why not make Alpro vegan yoghurt into a series of detective novels? Why not write an opera about the Adidas Predator football boot? Or, for that matter, why not aimagineera your way to full 360, helicopter-vision integrated brand synergy and make a football boot inspired by Wagneras Ring cycle, or a Raymond Chandler-themed yoghurt? It is almost as if the gatekeepers of popular culture have completely run out of ideas. All that remains is a kind of infinite consumer ceilidh, where brands line up and take it in turns to partner with one other for 15 minutes of coverage and social media consternation. Weare told that capitalism is all about innovation, disruption and the unbridled individual genius of the human mind. So why do I now turn a corner in Londonas West End and half expect to see a billboard for Marmite: The Musical, next to a pop-up shop selling Nespresso x Nike limited edition streetwear?

Dan Hancox is a freelance writer, focusing on music, politics, cities and culture

Both seem keen to limit hostilities, and key Arab states are ready to resist Tehran. But real change will require new Israeli leadership

When it comes to the Middle East, itas the pessimists who look smartest. Predict the worst and youall rarely be proved wrong. If you are, itas usually because your forecast was insufficiently bleak.

So put on your gloom-tinted spectacles and assess the events of the last week. Youall see the dawn of a grim new era, in which the regionas two strongest powers, Israel and Iran, trade blows directly. Last weekend, Iran crossed what had previously been a red line, aiming a barrage of missiles and drones directly at Israeli territory for the first time. In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel responded with a series of drone strikes on targets inside Iran, including Isfahan, site of an airbase and the countryas burgeoning nuclear programme. You donat have to be Clausewitz to know that two regional powers, one an aspirant nuclear state, the other already there, engaged in a tit-for-tat exchange of fire aimed at each otheras sovereign terrain spells danger.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

Guardian Newsroom: Crisis in the Middle East
On Tuesday 30 April, 7-8.15pm BST, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont, Emma Graham-Harrison and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast-developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Both Iran and Israel are calibrating their responses. That does not mean the region should breathe easy

The danger facing the Middle East is not from wild or impulsive action, but from the considered decisions of men who believe they know what they are doing and how their opponents will respond. Their confidence is not reassuring when their judgment has previously fallen short.

On Friday, Iran was quick to play down the overnight strike by Israel, suggesting that it was unclear who was responsible and indicating that there would not be immediate retaliation. Israel had chosen to launch a limited attack on Isfahan, the home of a major nuclear site, without targeting the facility itself. The aim was apparently to send a message about what it could do, not to cause significant damage now. If this is the extent of its response to Iranas weekend attack, it is far from the worst that many had predicted. The optimistic view is that both sides feel, or at least feel they can claim, that they have restored deterrence to some degree. A moment of respite is welcome. But relief would be premature.

Other fields are plagued with famous peopleas offspring too, yet musical genius seems particularly difficult to pass down the generations

Talent, sang Russell Mael of the band Sparks, is an asset. And that asset can be handed down from generation to generation. However, there is almost invariably an almighty inheritance tax at play, depleting the genius of the parent so that by the time it reaches the offspring it is, at best, mere competence.

In music, it is vanishingly rare for the heir to outshine the ancestor. To use a football analogy, for every Erling Haaland or Frank Lampard Jr there are a dozen Paul Dalglishes and Jordi Cruyffs. Which brings me to Primrose Hill, which James McCartney released in collaboration with Sean Ono Lennon last week. An instantly forgettable pastoral number about a pleasant day spent at a London beauty spot, it only received its moderate flurry of interest because it revives the songwriting credit Lennon-McCartney. (Itas marginally better than the Beatlesa own AI-enhanced dirge Now and Then, but thatas a low bar.) It isnat outright awful, but itas three minutes of your life youare never getting back.

The president of Columbia University testified about her administrationas handling of campus unrest. Hereas what I would have said

Surely Iam not the only person who has wondered what I would say if I were one of the college presidents who has been summoned to testify before the House committee on education and the workforce. How would I answer their unmistakably hostile questions about how the war in Gaza has been affecting campus life a and about how the university administration is dealing with the divisive and threatening atmosphere that the conflict has created among students and faculty?

After two presidents a Harvardas Claudine Gay and the University of Pennsylvaniaas M Elizabeth Magill a lost their jobs this winter, at least partly because of their responses to the committeeas interrogation, I imagined that I might have tried to sound more thoughtful, more human, less lawyered up, more cognizant of the difficulties and complexities inherent in these issues. But both women seemed to be repeating what theyad been instructed to say. They claimed that their response to an openly antisemitic statement would depend on context, a word that a they must have known a was wide open to the misinterpretation, dissatisfaction and mockery it almost instantly engendered. I even imagined appealing to the lawmakersa decency and intelligence, to their sense that we were all working to find a way to end this brutal war. But, as time has shown, that would have been an absurd idea.

Francine Prose is a novelist. Her memoir, 1974: A Personal History, will be published in June

• World champion beat Hamilton by 13 seconds in Shanghai Sprint
• Red Bull driver now leads Formula One standings by 15 points

Red Bullas triple world champion Max Verstappen won the first sprint race of the Formula One season at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday. Verstappen beat Mercedesa Lewis Hamilton by 13.043 seconds in the 19-lap race at the Shanghai International Circuit to extend his championship lead over teammate Sergio Perez, who finished third.

Verstappen passed Hamilton on the ninth of 19 laps and then stretched out his lead to continue his F1 dominance in all formats. Ferrarias Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth.

• Garcia weighed 143.2lbs on Friday, 3.2lbs above division limit
• Fight at Barclays Center will go forward as non-title bout
• Garcia to honor deal to pay Haney $500k for each pound over
• Garciaas erratic behavior in spotlight before Haney showdown

Ryan Garcia has spectacularly failed to make weight for his world super lightweight championship fight with Devin Haney, prompting a series of last-minute negotiations between the camps to enable Saturdayas bout at Brooklynas Barclays Center to be staged as a non-title bout.

Garcia weighed 143.2lbs behind closed doors on Friday morning, an eye-popping 3.2lbs above the division limit, ahead of a ceremonial weigh-in open to the public later in the day.

Pineapple pachadi is a traditional south Indian accompaniment that combines sweet as well as savory taste in coconut and yoghurt base. This is often served as part of a Kerala meal (sadhya). Let's see how to make this simple and easy dish in this post. You can make it as part of Onam sadhya or...

Read More

The post Pineapple Pachadi Recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Fruit custard is a rich and creamy, milk based dessert with your favorite collection of fruits. It usually has a mild colour and flavour from fruits and the custard. Let's see how to make this treat perfectly with step by step images. This is basically a chilled dessert, so perfect in summer as well as...

Read More

The post Fruit Custard Recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Ghee coffee recipe or bulletproof coffee is a popular beverage among those who follow ketogenic diet as well as paleo diet. But recently it is getting popular in India for weight loss as well. In this post, I am sharing two ways to prepare, with the potential health benefits. Perfect to prepare yourself for the...

Read More

The post Ghee Coffee Recipe | Bulletproof Coffee appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Ulundu murukku also known as urad dal murukku is a super light and crispy snack prepared with cooked urad dal instead of the regular flour. Murukku is a popular south Indian snack prepared at households with various methods. In this blog post, let's see how to make ulundu murukku with step by step pictures and...

Read More

The post Ulundu murukku recipe | Urad dal murukku appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Thalagam recipe with medley of vegetables, fresh roasted ground spices and coconut. Learn how to make it with step by step images and video. This is also known as thalagam kuzhambu or thiruvathirai thalagam widely. Thalagam is made during festivals like Thiruvathirai, Pongal and during Tamil month of Aadi along with manjal pongal. You can...

Read More

The post Thalagam recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Thirupagam is a south Indian delicacy prepared with gram flour, cashew powder, ghee and sugar as main ingredients. It is popular in Thirunelveli district in Tamilnadu. This sweet can be prepared on special occasions and festivals like Deepavali or as prasadam on auspicious days like Kandha sashti. Check out my Badam halwa and 7 cup...

Read More

The post Thirupagam recipe | Deepavali Sweets appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Ragi dosa batter recipe, made by grinding whole ragi and no rice, in fermentation method. A nutritious south Indian breakfast, a healthy alternative to regular dosa. Make it for breakfast on a weekend or weekday morning and enjoy as a family, kickstarting the day with a healthy note. Check out my Instant version I posted...

Read More

The post Ragi Dosa Batter Recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Kadambam rice recipe for the Navaratri season, you can prepare this as prasadam. Kadambam is a medley of flavors and textures prepared with rice, toor dal and mixed vegetables and fresh ground spice mix. A no onion no garlic recipe, perfect for this festive season. Kadambam can be enjoyed throughout the year, but mainly popular...

Read More

The post Kadambam recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Gujiya is a traditional Indian sweet/ pastry, is a crescent shaped pastry with filling made up of khoya (mawa - Milk solids) along with dry fruits and nuts. Let's see how to prepare this at home with step by step images. Gujiya is mainly prepared during festivals like Holi, Diwali etc, aslo during special occasions....

Read More

The post Gujiya Recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Pumpkin paratha or kaddu paratha is a nutritious, tasty, soft flatbreads made with wheat flour, yellow pumpkin and simple ingredients. In this post, let's see how to incorporate this vegetable in fun way that will be a great choice for your or your kid's lunchbox and tiffin. You can make this anytime of the year...

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The post Pumpkin Paratha Recipe | Kaddu paratha appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Aadi paal is a sweet drink with jaggery and coconut milk as main ingredients, prepared especially on the 1st day of Tamil month Aadi. It is very simple recipe that you can try for the festive month. Though aadi paal is typically made to mark 1st day of aadi, it can also be made to...

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The post Aadi Paal Recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Sodhi is a flavorful, rich coconut milk based dish from Tirunelveli region of Tamil Nadu. It is a mild creamy gravy with moong dal, mixed vegetables. It is also called mappillai Sodhi widely. Though you can make this throughout the year, it is specially made during festivals, family gatherings and typically served to the newly...

Read More

The post Sodhi Recipe | Tirunelveli Sodhi Kuzhambu appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Pineapple pachadi is a traditional south Indian accompaniment that combines sweet as well as savory taste in coconut and yoghurt base. This is often served as part of a Kerala meal (sadhya). Let's see how to make this simple and easy dish in this post. You can make it as part of Onam sadhya or...

Read More

The post Pineapple Pachadi Recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Fruit custard is a rich and creamy, milk based dessert with your favorite collection of fruits. It usually has a mild colour and flavour from fruits and the custard. Let's see how to make this treat perfectly with step by step images. This is basically a chilled dessert, so perfect in summer as well as...

Read More

The post Fruit Custard Recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Ghee coffee recipe or bulletproof coffee is a popular beverage among those who follow ketogenic diet as well as paleo diet. But recently it is getting popular in India for weight loss as well. In this post, I am sharing two ways to prepare, with the potential health benefits. Perfect to prepare yourself for the...

Read More

The post Ghee Coffee Recipe | Bulletproof Coffee appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Ulundu murukku also known as urad dal murukku is a super light and crispy snack prepared with cooked urad dal instead of the regular flour. Murukku is a popular south Indian snack prepared at households with various methods. In this blog post, let's see how to make ulundu murukku with step by step pictures and...

Read More

The post Ulundu murukku recipe | Urad dal murukku appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Thalagam recipe with medley of vegetables, fresh roasted ground spices and coconut. Learn how to make it with step by step images and video. This is also known as thalagam kuzhambu or thiruvathirai thalagam widely. Thalagam is made during festivals like Thiruvathirai, Pongal and during Tamil month of Aadi along with manjal pongal. You can...

Read More

The post Thalagam recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Thirupagam is a south Indian delicacy prepared with gram flour, cashew powder, ghee and sugar as main ingredients. It is popular in Thirunelveli district in Tamilnadu. This sweet can be prepared on special occasions and festivals like Deepavali or as prasadam on auspicious days like Kandha sashti. Check out my Badam halwa and 7 cup...

Read More

The post Thirupagam recipe | Deepavali Sweets appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Ragi dosa batter recipe, made by grinding whole ragi and no rice, in fermentation method. A nutritious south Indian breakfast, a healthy alternative to regular dosa. Make it for breakfast on a weekend or weekday morning and enjoy as a family, kickstarting the day with a healthy note. Check out my Instant version I posted...

Read More

The post Ragi Dosa Batter Recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Kadambam rice recipe for the Navaratri season, you can prepare this as prasadam. Kadambam is a medley of flavors and textures prepared with rice, toor dal and mixed vegetables and fresh ground spice mix. A no onion no garlic recipe, perfect for this festive season. Kadambam can be enjoyed throughout the year, but mainly popular...

Read More

The post Kadambam recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Gujiya is a traditional Indian sweet/ pastry, is a crescent shaped pastry with filling made up of khoya (mawa - Milk solids) along with dry fruits and nuts. Let's see how to prepare this at home with step by step images. Gujiya is mainly prepared during festivals like Holi, Diwali etc, aslo during special occasions....

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The post Gujiya Recipe appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

Pumpkin paratha or kaddu paratha is a nutritious, tasty, soft flatbreads made with wheat flour, yellow pumpkin and simple ingredients. In this post, let's see how to incorporate this vegetable in fun way that will be a great choice for your or your kid's lunchbox and tiffin. You can make this anytime of the year...

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Aadi paal is a sweet drink with jaggery and coconut milk as main ingredients, prepared especially on the 1st day of Tamil month Aadi. It is very simple recipe that you can try for the festive month. Though aadi paal is typically made to mark 1st day of aadi, it can also be made to...

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Sodhi is a flavorful, rich coconut milk based dish from Tirunelveli region of Tamil Nadu. It is a mild creamy gravy with moong dal, mixed vegetables. It is also called mappillai Sodhi widely. Though you can make this throughout the year, it is specially made during festivals, family gatherings and typically served to the newly...

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The post Sodhi Recipe | Tirunelveli Sodhi Kuzhambu appeared first on Raks Kitchen.

aThe United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,a the US militaryas Central Command said

Paul Scruton, Lucy Swan, Iona Serrapica and Alex Olorenshaw have created a visual guide to Fridayas events in Iran via graphics, video and satellite images.

You can take a look at it here:

Aipac and other groups targeting candidates critical of Israelas war in Gaza a but progressives are not going down without a fight

Pro-Israel groups are pumping millions into this yearas heated congressional races, singling out progressives who have voiced criticism of the Israeli government and its relentless campaign in Gaza.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) is betting that $100m will be enough to fight back a wave of progressive dissent over Israelas war in Gaza this election cycle. After investing heavily in the 2022 midterms, Aipac is now doubling down on its electoral efforts.

Man identified by police as Max Azzarello, from Florida, declared dead after incident outside lower Manhattan courthouse

A man has died after setting himself on fire outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trumpas hush-money trial is taking place.

The New York City police department said on Saturday the man had been declared dead by staff at an area hospital.

Actor and wife Katherine Schwarzenegger dismantle 1950 Zimmerman house designed by architect Craig Ellwood

Chris Pratt has drawn ire from architecture aficionados after news broke that the actor and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, had razed a historic, mid-century modern home to make way for a sprawling 15,000-sq-ft mansion.

Last year, the couple purchased the 1950 Zimmerman house, designed by the architect Craig Ellwood, in Los Angelesas Brentwood neighborhood for $12.5m. The residence, with landscaping by Garrett Eckbo a who has been described as the pioneer of modern landscaping a had previously been featured in Progressive Architecture magazine.

The enigmatic former first lady to appear at fundraiser on Saturday, marking a return to her husbandas side as he seeks re-election

Her biggest fashion statement as first lady was a green jacket emblazoned with the words aI really donat care, do u?a More recently, Melania Trump has given the impression that she doesnat care whether her husband, Donald, returns to the White House. That is about to change.

On Saturday Melania, 53, will appear at a fundraiser at Trumpas Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, for the Log Cabin Republicans, the biggest Republican organisation dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives. It will be her first appearance at a political event since Trump, 77, launched his bid to regain the presidency.

Influenza is still the biggest threat to global health as WHO raises fears about the spread of avian strain

Influenza is the pathogen most likely to trigger a new pandemic in the near future, according to leading scientists.

An international survey, to be published next weekend, will reveal that 57% of senior disease experts now think that a strain of flu virus will be the cause of the next global outbreak of deadly infectious illness.

Majority leader Chuck Schumer says approving bill was aright thinga for Democrats and Republicans to do

The US Senate voted late on Friday night to approve the reauthorization of the controversial Fisa surveillance program, narrowly preventing its midnight expiration.

The reauthorization secures what supporters call a key element of the United Statesa foreign intelligence-gathering operation.

Vote makes Chattanooga factory first auto plant in US south to unionize via election since the 1940s

Volkswagen workers at the carmakeras Chattanooga plant in Tennessee have voted to unionize with the United Auto Workers, a historic victory for the union and the labor movementas efforts to expand to the southern United States.

The vote was the first union election to be held as part of the UAWas ambitious organizing drive aimed at unionizing 150,000 workers at non-union auto plants around the US.

Tunde Onakoya, who beat previous record of 56 hours, hopes to raise $1m for childrenas education in Africa

A Nigerian chess champion has broken the record for the longest chess marathon after playing the game nonstop for 58 hours.

Tunde Onakoya, 29, hopes to raise $1m for childrenas education across Africa from the world record attempt, which took place in Times Square in New York.

University says it is aredesigninga commencement plans days after it decided to prevent Asna Tabassum from speaking on 10 May

The University of Southern California is aredesigninga its entire commencement plans a just days after making the controversial decision to cancel the valedictorian speech of a Muslim student a and will also cancel the keynote speech by film-maker Jon M Chu.

The Los Angeles universityas provost, Andrew Guzman, said on Monday that it took the unprecedented step of canceling valedictorian Asna Tabassumas speech at the 10 May ceremony because because the aalarming tenora of reactions to her selection as valedictorian a along with athe intensity of feelingsa surrounding Israelas military strikes in Gaza a had created asubstantial risks relating to securitya. They did not cite any specific threats.

US House of Representatives moves closer to passing Ukraine aid; bureaucracy delays APS500m in foreign assistance channelled through UK Ministry of Defence. What we know on day 787

• See all our Ukraine war coverage

Russia came under attack from Ukrainian drones Friday night and into Saturday morning, the defence ministry in Moscow said. It claimed there were 50 Ukrainian UAVs detected: 26 over the Belgorod region, 10 over Bryansk, eight over Kursk; two over the Tula region and one each over the Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga and Moscow regions.

Various reports suggested Ukraine mounted a wave of attacks on Russian electrical and petrochemical facilities. One of the attacks left an oil facility burning in Kardymovo a about 100km from the Ukrainian border inside Russiaas Smolensk oblast, the regionas governor said on Saturday morning.

Russian officials said Ukrainian drones also attacked an electrical substation in Bryansk oblast, about 50km inside Russia. Unconfirmed videos and pictures online showed a large fire. In line with Moscowas usual information tactics, the ministry claimed all the drones were shot down, while local officials said any damage was only done by falling debris from the intercepted UAVs. There was no independent confirmation.

Ukraine said it shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber from a distance of 308km (191 miles) after it took part in a long-range airstrike that killed eight people including two children in Dnipro. aI can only say the plane was hit at a distance of 308km, quite far away,a said Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraineas military spy agency, the GUR.

An intelligence source told Reuters the plane was hit with a modified S-200 Soviet-era long-range surface-to-air missile system. Unconfirmed social media footage showed a warplane with its tail on fire spiralling towards the ground. The Russian defence ministry confirmed the crash in Russiaas southern Stavropol region but claimed it appeared to have been caused by a technical malfunction. Four aircrew ejected with one dead, two rescued and another missing, the Russian regional governor said.

Ukraineas president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited the site of the strike in Dnipro and again called on Ukraineas allies to rush in more air defences. Zelenskiy said Russian missiles also struck the Black Sea port of Pivdennyi in the southern Odesa region on Friday afternoon, destroying grain storage facilities and the food inside.

In the US, the House of Representatives has pushed ahead through procedural hurdles towards passing a foreign aid package that includes $61bn for Ukraine, Joanna Walters writes. The House is expected to vote on Saturday on the legislation. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic party leader in the Senate, has told senators to be prepared to return this weekend if the package passes the House and goes back to the Senate. If passed by the Senate, it must be signed into law by president Joe Biden a after which the US would ship arms to Ukraine aright awaya, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters on Friday.

More than half of an international APS900m military fund for Ukraine run by the British Ministry of Defence has not been used because of bureaucratic delays in handing out contracts, Daniel Boffey reports. Critics claim slow provision of weapons to the frontline by the International Fund for Ukraine, with just APS404m spent and ministers admitting some of the equipment is not expected to reach Ukraine until spring next year.

The fund was set up in August 2022 and was designed to be aflexiblea and alow-bureaucracya. Delays are said by MoD officials to have been caused by a need to assess each of the huge number of defence companies that have tendered for contracts. An MoD spokesperson said: aThousands of responses have been received from industry to International Fund for Ukraine requirements, each of which have had to be individually reviewed. We make no excuses for having made sure this was done properly and in a way that most effectively helps Ukraine.a

Threats lean toward sexual or domestic violence, attacks on their families and criticisms that they canat do their jobs

Carly Koppes kept her pregnancy hidden from the public as long as she possibly could, fearing the potential harassment that could come from those who frequently attack the Republican elections clerk.

When Koppes, who runs elections in Weld county, Colorado, did media interviews, she asked the people behind the camera to position her so her growing belly wasnat visible, fearing her harassers would see the images or videos and make comments about her future child. She anever in a million yearsa anticipated that shead have to hide her pregnancy, she said.

Pro-Palestinian students interrupted a dinner held by a top free speech defender at Berkeley. A polarized and very public controversy has followed

During a dinner for students that the dean of the University of California, Berkeley law school held in his houseas backyard earlier this month, a woman wearing a hijab and checkered Palestinian scarf suddenly stood up with a microphone and amplifier. What followed lasted only a couple of minutes, but has led to a fierce debate about the limits of free speech, drew death threats to those involved, and created a amedia firestorm,a as the dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, has put it.

Some short and chaotic viral videos illustrate part of what happened. One of them shows the woman, Malak Afaneh, as she gives a Ramadan greeting; she is accompanied by a small group of other student protesters. As Afaneh begins reading a speech about the Israel-Gaza war, Chemerinsky and his wife, the law professor Catherine Fisk, quickly cut Afaneh off.

Moas staff evacuate 80% of critically wounded soldiers from regionas battlefield, where medics say morale is falling

It is around midnight in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, and the first emergency ambulance of the night is charging 75mph down a single carriageway road from the frontline. Inside, under the care of two watchful medics, is Ihor, an unconscious soldier wounded from the battle of Chasiv Yar, with shrapnel, perhaps from a mine, in his abdomen.

The medicsa task is to complete the last leg of evacuation from the battlefield, which involves Ihor and tonightas most serious casualties being taken to a hospital in the safe central city of Dnipro. Four ambulances are following on a bumpy high-speed run that takes three hours down roads largely deserted because of the 9pm curfew, the full single beds creaking and bouncing as they go.

I used to think open relationships were a recipe for heartbreak a or just a bit tacky. Then we began to experiment. Could seeing other people be the secret to a happy home life?

I settled back into the train seat and pulled a notebook out of my bag: something extraordinary had happened, and I needed to process it by writing it down. Speeding along the south coast, past Arundel Castle and on towards Bristol, I made notes about the night Iad spent near Brighton with a man Iad known for years, but seen again in a whole new context. About how delighted I felt, how hot, how incredibly free.

My body, which had been pregnant in the Covid pandemic, given birth and then dragged itself through several house moves with a baby and a three-year-old, seemed to be renewed, on fire. My mind was blown, and my lips were bruised. I bought a beer and ate crisps. I texted friends, caught eyes with strangers: I wanted to talk to everyone about how I was feeling. Most of all, I wanted to tell my husband.

How do I know what soil I have? Do bulbs come back? And how did people garden before Google? As the growing season gears up, our experts are here with a barrowful of advice

Few domestic gardens need work every weekend a whisper it, but theyare quite good at looking after themselves. Broadly speaking: new growth on twiggy, brown (or woody) stems is a fair sign to prune old growth back to encourage the new growth into a neater, fuller shape; a shift to spring and summer signals a need to feed plants; if your plants are romping away, your weeds probably will be too a pulling them out while theyare small is easier a and planting or sowing things late is better than not at all. Mulch whenever you think about it. Alice Vincent