How to pack the perfect hand-luggage holiday wardrobe

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This article titled “How to pack the perfect hand-luggage holiday wardrobe” was written by Jess Cartner-Morley, for The Guardian on Tuesday 31st July 2018 15.24 UTC

The most glamorous woman at the airport is no longer the one who flies in spike heels and white jeans, and has a Joan Collins-worthy pile of Vuitton or Goyard trunks. She is probably wearing trainers – Fila Disruptors or Reebok Classics – and may well be in a culotte jumpsuit that cost £60 from Warehouse. She may give herself away by wearing a huge sunhat that has no obvious function on the 6am flight to Split or Catania – other than having a wingspan wider than her Away carry-on suitcase. That case, crucially, is the only one she has.

Forget about whether you turn left or right when you get on to the plane. The new travel one-upmanship is all about whether you are one of the enviable few who stride straight from passport control to the car-hire kiosk, wheeling your bijou luggage and bypassing an anxious 20 minutes wondering if your luggage fell off the side of a trailer somewhere back in Luton and avoiding the 45-minute queue that will have built up at Hertz by the time it finally arrives.

The smartest 2018 holiday wardrobe is one that fits into a case small enough to take on your flight. Frankly, if your holiday is a week or less, and the daytime temperature is north of 22C, then checking in a case is about as modern as taking traveller’s cheques. The cult luggage brand Away, which revolutionised the sleepy suitcase market when it launched two years ago (affordable, hard-wearing cases with sleek, Silicon Valley curves and a built-in phone-charging port to ensure you have enough juice to Google-map your way from the arrivals hall to your Airbnb), reports that 70% of sales in the UK are of carry-on size cases.

Monsoon Helena kaftan dress and Josette maxi skirt. Embroidered belted kaftan dress from & Other Stories. Photograph: Guardian design team

A hefty price tag on checking in a case is no longer limited to budget airlines – British Airways now sells a cheaper “basic” hand-baggage-only fare on many long-haul tickets – and packing a case can be even more costly if you get it even slightly wrong, since tipping the scales just a bit over your weight allowance will cost you about £10 a kilo for each leg of the journey.Also, anyone who has braved the early morning queues for the Ryanair bag drop at Stansted will try pretty much anything to avoid repeating the experience. (Imagine 500 stressed people who all got up at 4am doing a Tough Mudder circuit, mostly while wearing espadrilles and holding their boarding cards in their teeth, and you get the idea.)

But your holiday wardrobe doesn’t just need to be small, it needs to be perfectly formed. This is not about how your week off looks on someone else’s social media feed, although it is true that out of office is no longer out of sight nor out of mind. Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat make you more visible to the world when you have clocked off than you are when you are on duty. Of course, if any week should be lived IRL instead of through your phone screen, your holiday time should. But don’t think that lets you off the fashion hook. Since you are living your best life, why would you be doing that in ribbed cotton vests that have seen better days and that flowery knee-length skirt with an elastic waistband that you bought 15 years ago in the Gap sale?

The perfect holiday wardrobe is neither all fantasy nor all practicality, but requires a balance of the two

The good news, if you have observed Love Island with increasing alarm, is that an up-to-the minute poolside look does not mean swimwear with weird cutouts, wedge heels and crochet minidresses. On the contrary, in fact. To upgrade your look, your clothes need to get longer, not shorter; your shoes lower not higher. A knee-length, short-sleeved linen dress with a mid-height espadrille is the holiday wardrobe of a harassed mum who spent all her money on cute towelling stuff from Mini Boden and didn’t think about her own clothes until 10 o’clock the night before the holiday. Don’t be that woman, even if that woman is you. A kaftan-style dress – loose, a bit dreamy, a bit grand, a bit off-grid – is instant holiday attitude the moment you put it on. The long, floaty ones may be less practical for long days spent trudging up and down steep flights of steps while sightseeing than sensible, fitted mum-on-hols dresses are, but can anyone honestly, hand on heart, say they enjoy sightseeing more than they do lying in the shade reading a book and eating figs?

Loose dresses with a little skin coverage make light work of carry-on-only packing because they work across a greater temperature range than smaller, tighter clothes (so you need fewer warm things) and they look good with flat shoes (so no need to pack heavy, bulky heels). & Other Stories is an excellent source of kaftan styles that look much more expensive than they really are: if I could possibly justify one more purchase, I would snap up their embroidered black square-neck number for £69.99. Monsoon Beach is worth a look, too. I succumbed to their Helena kaftan dress (£22.50 in the sale), a beach cover-up that would work for a nice lunch, and to their Josette maxi skirt (also £22.50), which could be very Mykonos-clifftop-villa-party hostess with a silk T-shirt (take one on holiday; you can hand-wash it and it will dry in moments).

Rae Feather basket bag. Classic ‘H’ sandal from Hermès. Away carry-on case. Photograph: Guardian design team

The perfect holiday wardrobe is neither all fantasy nor all practicality, but requires a balance of the two. Fantasy, for me, means I get to take 14 pairs of earrings – it still only fills a small pouch, after all – and that I refuse to leave behind my monogrammed Rae Feather basket bag (from £130), even though the lack of a shoulder strap means it isn’t that practical. Sorry, but I spend enough evenings with my dull-but-practical tote bag filled with Tesco Metro on-the-way-home-from-work shopping; on holiday, I am going to waft around the market with my basket. Just try and stop me.

Practical on holiday means something very different from what it does at home. For instance, if you are sharing a self-catering holiday villa with lots of people, you will spend 75% of your time emptying the dishwasher in your bikini, so it’s good to have a bikini that your boobs don’t fall out of when you bend over. If you have small children who get up early then, even if you don’t wear anything in bed, you will need something to wear while making coffee and man-marking them. A playsuit that doubles as beachwear is handy – River Island has a very pretty one, reduced to £15. The trainers you wear on the journey will enable you to kid yourself you are going running (a sports bra weighs nothing and takes up no space) and you can probably get away with one pair of shoes if you make them an elegant pair of flat mules. (You can wear the same outfit to travel home as you did on the way out.) The Hermès “H” classic sandal has spawned a million imitators, including the £80 Loupe sandal by Dune, which has just been restocked after selling out for the fifth time.

Dermalogica daily microfoliant. Travel mascara from Benefit. Anti-mosquito band. Photograph: Guardian design team

I know what you’re thinking: what about the washbag? Doesn’t the liquid allowance of 10 100ml bottles make a checked bag essential? Not if you are smart about it. For a start, children come in really useful here, as do partners who haven’t fully embraced skincare regimes, as you can cuckoo their allowance. Dermalogica’s daily microfoliant (£13.50) is a great face cleanser and, being a powder, not a liquid, doesn’t count. Anti-mosquito wristbands work as well as sprays, I find – you can wear them around ankles and wrists. You don’t need nail polish – I quite like a simple, scrubbed clean nail on holiday myself, but you can have a gel mani-pedi before you go instead. Have your eyebrows threaded so that your favourite tweezers don’t get confiscated. Travel-size mascaras are better than normal size because they don’t have a chance to dry out; I like the Benefit one. Pack small versions of your favourite scent, hair conditioner and styling products, but leave sunscreen until you are through security – any airport will have a good selection.

Roll everything up tight and you’ll find, if you have followed my instructions, you will still have some room. This is where your desert-island-discs luxuries come in: extra books, if you haven’t migrated to Kindle-world; a speaker so you can have music; an inflatable flamingo drinks holder for the pool; Yorkshire Gold teabags. The best things in life fit in cabin-sized packages.

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Before the Kiki: a history of dangerous dance crazes

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This article titled “Before the Kiki: a history of dangerous dance crazes” was written by Martin Belam, for The Guardian on Tuesday 31st July 2018 16.49 UTC

The reaction to the Kiki challenge, which involves people posting videos of themselves jumping out of slow-moving cars while dancing to Drake’s In My Feelings, is just the latest example of a risky dance craze attracting official condemnation on safety grounds.

Moves have often been accompanied by moral panics – and social media also gets a share of the blame for encouraging people to film themselves in ever riskier versions. Here are some others that sparked concern:

Daggering

A couple daggering at Notting Hill carnival. Photograph: Corbis via Getty

A dancehall move where a woman bends over and her partner enthusiastically thrusts from behind, it fell foul of authorities in Jamaica, where such moves were banned from broadcast – it didn’t stop people sharing ever more athletically ambitious versions on YouTube. In 2009, the Jamaica Star reported that the dance craze had led to a “rise in broken willy”, quoting urologists saying that incidences of penile fracture had increased, which medics anecdotally ascribed to the rise of the dance.

The Charleston

Dancers demonstrating the Charleston in 1926. Photograph: Getty

Proving this is not just a 21st-century phenomena, when the Charleston was all the rage, there were those who disapproved of the fact that the new dancing style allowed women to dance on their own without partners, with all the moral risk that entails. And like the Jamaican dagger artists, participants’ health was also deemed to be at risk. “Charleston knee” – damaging the limbs by flinging them out too enthusiastically during the dance – was a fate to be avoided.

The Jitterbug

Jitterbugging in Harlem in the 1930s. Photograph: Bettmann Archive

The craze for “jitterbug marathons”, a curious mix of genuine endurance event and staged performance, saw couples in the 1920s and 30s dance non-stop for hours on end to compete for prize money. It was made all the more attractive due to the economic downtown, but often the cash was won by professional dancers who travelled from town to town competing. Participants were allowed brief toilet breaks and the occasional nap, so that the events could last for more than 1,000 hours. Partners even took it in turns to hold each other upright and continue dancing while one slept. In 1923, a man named Homer Morehouse died of exhaustion during one such marathon, and Seattle banned the events in the late 20s after a reported suicide attempt by a competitor who had narrowly missed out on winning. By the mid-1930s, the events were outlawed in many states due to moral objections.

Related: Keep on moving: the bizarre dance epidemic of summer 1518

‘Dancing plagues’

Perhaps the strangest dance craze of all were these medieval occurrences. Contemporary reports suggest more than a dozen people died from exhaustion in one outbreak of mass non-stop dancing in Strasbourg in 1518. Suspected culprits include food contaminated with a species of mould that causes LSD-like effects, or a mass psychogenic illness. We can, at least, rule out the influence of social media on that particular craze. Why can’t people just stick to the simple pleasures of the Floss?

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Zimbabwe election: tensions rise amid vote rigging fears

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This article titled “Zimbabwe election: tensions rise amid vote rigging fears” was written by Jason Burke in Harare, for The Guardian on Tuesday 31st July 2018 16.50 UTC

Tensions are rising in Zimbabwe as opposition fears intensify that the election count will be rigged, monitors warn of possible violence if the results are contested and authorities brace for protests.

Millions of people voted peacefully on Monday in the first election since the army removed Robert Mugabe from power last year. Long queues of voters formed outside polling stations and turnout was recorded at 75%.

The opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, said early on Tuesday that he was “winning resoundingly”, a claim repeated by senior officials over the course of the day. His supporters gathered at their party’s headquarters in the capital during the afternoon, celebrating victory despite the lack of official results.

Supporters danced to music blaring from speakers mounted on a truck in the street outside the offices of the Movement for Democratic Change, which said it conducted its own count.

Related: Zimbabwe votes in first post-Mugabe election – in pictures

Samson Muneptsi, 35, a technician and volunteer polling agent for the MDC, said: “We have won easily and totally. We are just waiting for the announcement.

“We will never accept losing this election. We will protect our votes. We will protest.”

Police vehicles equipped with water cannon drove past the crowd.

Obert Mpofu, the home minister, said the government was concerned by “high levels of incitement to violence … by certain individuals and some political leaders who have declared themselves winners”.

“Such mischievous actions … leave the police with no option but to investigate and arrest if there is any breach of the law,” Mpofu told reporters.

The election pitted Chamisa, 40, a lawyer and pastor whose only previous experience of power was a stint as a minister in a coalition government several years ago, against Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, a longtime Mugabe aide and head of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Chamisa said in a 5am tweet that the MDC had “done exceedingly well”, according to results from a majority of polling stations. There was no confirmation of his claim.

The Zimbabwe electoral commission began announcing results during the afternoon, but only of seven parliamentary constituencies. Six were won by the ruling party, one by the MDC.

Voters also elected lawmakers and local representatives. The final result in the presidential poll is due by 4 August, but expected sooner.

Andrew Makoni of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), a coalition of civil society groups that deployed 6,500 election monitors, said: “The fear is that people are going to be disgruntled to the point where they go into the streets, and then there is a worry what the response will be from the security forces in the country.”

Officials are legally obliged to publish results from each of the 10,985 polling stations. Several civil society groups are collating these, though they are not allowed to release full results before the official tally is known.

People look at results placed outside a polling station in Harare. Photograph: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP

Makoni said the ZESN was working to confirm reports from activists in the field that up to one-fifth of polling stations had not published results. This would mean as many as 1 million ballots cannot be independently verified.

Mnangagwa tweeted on Tuesday morning that he was “delighted by the high turnout and citizen engagement so far”, adding: “The information from our reps on the ground is extremely positive.”

Supporters said the president had won “a landslide victory”.

“The MDC are just extremely bad losers,” said Bright Matonga, a businessman and former ruling party minister. “They can protest but they will have to follow the law. It has to be peaceful. I am confident the law enforcement agencies will keep them under control.”

The two presidential candidates represent dramatically different ideologies and political styles, as well as generations. Pre-election opinion polls gave Mnangagwa, a dour former spy chief known as “the Crocodile” for his reputation for ruthless cunning, a slim lead over Chamisa, a brilliant if sometimes wayward orator.

Support for Zanu-PF historically has been deepest in rural areas, particularly the party’s Mashonaland heartland, where more than two-thirds of Zimbabwe’s 17 million people live.

Chamisa’s claims of imminent victory are consistent with a strategy over several weeks that has sought to put Zanu-PF on the defensive and make vote rigging more difficult.

Senior MDC officials accused the ZEC of deliberate delaying the release of full results.

If no candidate wins more than half the votes, there will be a runoff in five weeks. In 2008, dozens of people were killed before a runoff between Mugabe and the MDC’s founder, Morgan Tsvangirai, who died of cancer in February.

Another possibility is negotiations to form a coalition government.

Although the campaign has been free of the systematic violence that marred previous polls, the MDC has repeatedly claimed it has been hindered by a flawed electoral roll, ballot paper malpractice, voter intimidation and handouts to voters from the ruling party.

Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe casts his vote in Harare. Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

The party has repeatedly accused the electoral commission of bias and many of their allegations have been supported by independent analysts and experts.

Zimbabwe’s rulers know a fraudulent election would block the country’s reintegration into the international community and deny it the huge bailout package needed to avoid economic meltdown.

Almost four decades of rule by Mugabe has left Zimbabwe with a shattered economy, soaring unemployment and crumbling infrastructure.

For the first time since Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980 after a brutal guerrilla war against a white supremacist regime, Mugabe was not on the ballot paper. On Sunday the former president said he would not vote for his former party, Zanu-PF, or the current president, and endorsed Chamisa.

David Moore of the University of Johannesburg said he doubted there would be significant violence when the official result is announced.

“There is some truth in the cliche that Zimbabweans are a peace-loving people. Polls have shown a desire for a coalition or some kind of settlement that would help the economy. I don’t think there is any appetite for a battle in the streets,” Moore said.

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Canada's richest 87 families have same wealth as 12 million people, report says

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This article titled “Canada’s richest 87 families have same wealth as 12 million people, report says” was written by Ashifa Kassam in Toronto, for theguardian.com on Tuesday 31st July 2018 17.50 UTC

Canada’s richest 87 families have roughly the same amount of wealth as that held by 12 million of their compatriots, or about a third of the country’s population, according to a new report.

The report, published on Tuesday by the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, found that in 2016 the net worth of the richest was 4,448 times that of the average Canadian.

The collective net worth of the country’s richest families is just shy of what is owned by everyone in the east coast provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, the report found.

“Canada’s dynastic families have got it all – more wealth, more inheritance, and are as lightly taxed as they were the last time we looked in 2014,” the author of the report, economist David Macdonald, said in a statement.

Based on wealth rankings compiled by Canadian Business magazine and data from Statistics Canada, the report found that Canada’s most affluent families are worth $3bn on average, while the median net worth in Canada sits at just over $295,000.

Inheritance figured prominently in their wealth. In 1999, 46 of the 87 families were nouveau riche, a number that had dropped to 39 by 2016, suggesting that a slim majority of those on the list today were born into wealth.

Nine of the 20 wealthiest families also included a top-paid CEO among their ranks. “In other words, not only do these families control vast wealth, but their members are disproportionately likely to be among the highest-paid people in Canada,” said Macdonald.

According to his calculations, the gap between the net worth of these families and everyone else in the country is growing. Between 2012 and 2016, the average net worth of the wealthiest rose by 37%, while the median net worth of Canadians grew by 15%.

The report argues that country’s acute – and growing – wealth inequality is being exacerbated by the country’s tax system. “Canada is the only country in the G7 without an inheritance, estate or gift tax on tremendous family wealth,” said Macdonald, citing countries such as the UK, United States and Japan, where inheritances can be taxed at rates of 40% or more.

What’s more, income from capital gains and dividends is taxed at lower rates than income from wages in Canada, a loophole that often benefits the country’s wealthiest, according to research done previously by Macdonald.

Related: Justin Trudeau is waging a phony war against inequality | Luke Savage

The report also argued that unlike all other G7 countries, Canada also tolerates what was described as “aggressive” accounting – the use of private corporations and tax havens.

“You’d expect Canada’s tax regime would try to counteract this concentration of wealth at the very top, where it’s needed the least, but in fact, federal policies encourage it,” said Macdonald.

Along with outlining the issue, Macdonald suggested possible reforms, such as a 45% estate tax on estates valued at more than C$5 million.

Such a tax would bring Canada in line with the rest of the G7, he noted, as well as add $2bn to federal coffers to fund public programs that help chip away at inequality, such as education and childcare.

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Terrawatch: Earth's spin creates uneven sea level rise

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This article titled “Terrawatch: Earth’s spin creates uneven sea level rise” was written by Kate Ravilious, for The Guardian on Tuesday 31st July 2018 20.30 UTC

Which cities are at greatest risk from sea level rise? Satellite measurements give us the general picture of where waters are rising fastest, but they can’t capture the local detail. Now a study reveals that the way the Earth rotates causes river outflow water to pile up more in some locations than others.

Chris Piecuch, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and colleagues gathered decades worth of river level and tidal gauge data from eastern US locations, along with measurements of water density, salinity and the Earth’s rotation. Their results, published in PNAS, show that, due to the combined effects of Earth’s rotation and fresh river water being less dense than salty ocean water, in the northern hemisphere the river discharge flows to the right-hand side out of the river, and in the southern hemisphere to the left-hand side. This effect raises sea level more in one direction along the coast than the other.

The Mississippi river spills out of its banks near Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, in December 2015. Photograph: Jeff Roberson/AP

“For example, our findings suggest that coastal communities to the west of the Mississippi river mouth – along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas – will be most influenced by outflow from that particular river,” said Piecuch. In low-lying areas this could help to identify which communities might be most at risk when a big storm sweeps through.

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Apple reports new sales record for third quarter as it eases toward $1tn mark

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This article titled “Apple reports new sales record for third quarter as it eases toward $1tn mark” was written by Edward Helmore in New York, for The Guardian on Tuesday 31st July 2018 22.10 UTC

Apple Inc reported better than expected sales figures for the third quarter, pushing shares of the iPhone giant higher and easing the value of the company up from $935bn toward the symbolic $1tn threshold.

“Growth was strong all around the world,” Apple finance chief Luca Maestri said.

Related: US cities and states give big tech $9.3bn in subsidies in five years

After the markets closed in New York on Tuesday, the Cupertino, California-based iPhone giant reported a $11.5bn profit for the three months ending in June, up 32% from the same period a year ago. Sales increased 17% to $53.3bn, a new record for its fiscal third quarter.

The company said it expects fiscal fourth quarter revenue to be between $60bn and $62bn, against analyst estimates of $59.5bn. “Apple gave the Street and tech investors finally some good news,” noted GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives.

After last week’s investor-led beating of Facebook – on Thursday, Facebook had the single worst day in stock market history, losing more than $120bn from its market cap as its stock tanked over 20% – Apple’s numbers are likely to give a measure of relief to FAANG-wary investors. Apple stock rose 2.5% in after hours trading Tuesday following the earnings report.

The figures show that Apple sold around 41.3m iPhones during the quarter, little changed from the 41m it sold in the same period a year ago, as consumers shrugged off higher prices for Apple’s flagship iPhone X model.

Apple’s figures also reflect increasing demand for “other products”, including Apple Watch, once considered a weak offering, but which sold around 3.5m units during the quarter. Overall, “other products”, which also includes AirPods earphones, Apple TV and HomePod speaker systems, recorded a sales increase for the quarter of 37% year-on-year.

The results “were driven by continued strong sales of iPhone, services and wearables, and we are very excited about the products and services in our pipeline”, Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. Maestri added: “Growth was strong all around the world.”

The company also reported strong growth in its fastest-growing services division, which includes Apple Music, now the largest music streaming services in the US. Along with various online TV, news and publishing, gaming and cloud-hosting services, Apple is targeting $50bn in annual services revenues by 2020.

“Over time, it is inevitable that ‘other products’ will become the third-largest revenue line item for Apple,” notes Neil Cybart, Apple analyst at Above Avalon, ultimately overtaking Macs and iPads, while still behind iPhones and services.

However, analysts said that a more relevant picture of Apple’s health won’t come until September with the launch of three new iPhone models, including a large-screen iPhone X, a more affordable model with a lower cost LCD display and a number of ancillary products.

While Apple’s iPhones and computers are exempt from tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese imports, Apple’s “other products” unit could be affected.

Still, as of Tuesday’s close, Apple’s stock only needs to rise around 7% to reach the trillion-dollar threshold.

Related: I tracked my iPhone usage for a week and this is what I learned

It’s a calculation that becomes more complicated because the company is using its massive cash reserves and profits repatriated under Trump tax break schemes to buy back its own shares.

Nor is Apple is the only tech giant closing in on a $1tn mark. Amazon is edging over $870bn; Google owner Alphabet has a market valuation of nearly $845bn; and Microsoft’s is just under $815bn.

With new products imminent and a $267bn stockpile of cash, Apple hitting $1tn could be imminent.

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Peru train crash near Machu Picchu injures 10 tourists

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This article titled “Peru train crash near Machu Picchu injures 10 tourists” was written by Dan Collyns in Lima, for theguardian.com on Tuesday 31st July 2018 23.28 UTC

Several foreign tourists have been injured in a collision between two passenger trains near Peru’s most popular tourist site – the Inca citadel Machu Picchu.

The accident on Tuesday took place when trains operated by two competing rail companies crashed on the principal route to the ruins from the village of Ollantaytambo, near Cusco, in southern Peru, said local police.

At least 10 people were injured in the collision, five of them seriously, said Peru’s civil defence institute.

Witnesses said a train operated by PeruRail hit from behind a train operated by IncaRail, another rail operator which takes tourists to the Unesco world heritage site.

Social media posts showed the two trains shunted together on a railway track.

Other images showed shattered glass on a leather seat and another set of seats hanging outside a carriage.

IncaRail said only one of its passengers, a Chilean woman, had been injured in the accident and the rest would continue their trip to Machu Picchu.

PeruRail said injured people were taken away in ambulances and it was investigating the cause of the incident.

Related: Machu Picchu to trial timed entry tickets in bid to control tourist numbers

However, at least one passenger on the IncaRail train told local news outlets that the train had stopped because of a protest which had blocked the railway tracks.

“We stopped for an hour, then the protest was cleared, the train continued its route, and five minutes later we felt a strong impact on the back. It was a PeruRail train that hit us,” Valeria Lozana told the state news agency Andina.

Police are investigating whether the protest was carried out by a group of Peruvian tourists who were not able to board the train at a point where it is reserved for local communities who pay a discounted fare.

Visitor numbers have boomed to Machu Picchu in recent years, topping 1.4 million people in 2017 – an average of 5,000 people a day during July and August, double the 2,500 visitors recommended by Unesco.

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Swedish royal jewels stolen from cathedral

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This article titled “Swedish royal jewels stolen from cathedral” was written by Kate Lyons, for theguardian.com on Wednesday 1st August 2018 01.36 UTC

Jewel thieves are on the run from police in Sweden, after stealing some of Sweden’s royal jewels from a cathedral, before fleeing in a motorboat.

The theft occurred at about noon on Tuesday in Strängnäs, west of Stockholm, while the church was open to visitors, and a lunch fair was being held nearby.

Portrait of King Charles IX of Sweden. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Local news channel Aftonbladet reported the thieves stole two crowns and an orb, adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls that come from the funeral regalia of Charles IX and Kristina the Elder, dating back to the early 1600s.

Witness Tom Rowell who is getting married in the cathedral next week, told Aftonbladet he saw two men run from the building, jump into a small white motorboat and speed away.

“We contacted the police and told them and they told us that something had been taken from the cathedral,” he said. “I knew immediately they were burglars because of the way they were behaving.”

“It’s despicable that people would steal from a holy building and a historical building,” said Rowell.

Police have mobilised a huge search operation to find the men and recover the items but have so far been unsuccessful. “It’s 1-0 to them right now,” Thomas Agnevik, a police spokesman, told Aftonbladet.

Aerial view of the cathedral, with the river nearby. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Police and cathedral officials said they did not know the value of the objects that were stolen. “It’s too difficult to translate these things into some kind of value. It’s such a unique object,” said Agnevik.

Catharina Fröjd, who works at Strängnäs cathedral, called the theft “an enormous loss in cultural value and economic value”.

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Stephanie McMahon announces WWE Evolution

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WWE’s first all-women pay-per-view event will take place on Sunday, Oct. 28, streaming live on WWE Network. Get your first month of WWE Network for FREE: http://wwenetwork.com

Stephanie McMahon announces WWE Evolution

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Hot Cheetos are getting their own biopic, but might land you in hospital

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This article titled “Hot Cheetos are getting their own biopic, but might land you in hospital” was written by Arwa Mahdawi, for theguardian.com on Friday 27th July 2018 10.00 UTC

A teenager in Memphis, Tennessee, recently had her gallbladder removed, and her love of hot chips may be to blame. Rene Craighead, 17, ate around four bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Takis, another spicy snack, every week – until she was hospitalized for stomach pains. Her doctor reportedly told her that snacking habits were the reason she is now missing a gallbladder.

Craighead’s mother now wants to warn other spicy chip fans of the potential dangers they face. “When my daughter had to have this surgery, I knew I had to tell everybody about it,” she told WREG, a local Memphis TV station.

Related: Food firms could face litigation over neuromarketing to hijack brains

Dr Cary Canvender, a gastroenterologist, told WREG that Craighead isn’t the only victim of hot chips. “We do see tons of gastritis and ulcer-related stuff due to [spicy snacks],” he said. “We probably see around 100 kids a month, easily.” He noted that while hot chips alone probably weren’t to blame for the stomach problems he was seeing, they likely contributed.

You can live relatively normally without a gallbladder, but it can be harder to digest food.

Frito-Lay and Takis have released statements claiming their snacks are safe, but should be enjoyed in moderation.

This isn’t the first time that Hot Cheetos and Takis have fired up debate. In 2012, a number of schools across California, New Mexico and Illinois banned the spicy snacks. The main reason cited was the lack of nutritional value, but another concern was the messiness. One middle school teacher complained students were leaving a trail of sticky red fingerprints everywhere they went.

The Hot Cheetos & Takis music video.

In the past decade, hot chips have become something of a hot property in school. Such is their popularity that a 2012 music video called Hot Cheetos & Takis, produced by children in Minnesota, has racked up more than 16m views.

Hot Cheetos were invented by Richard Montañez, the son of migrant farm workers, while working as a janitor at a Frito-Lay factory in California. According to Montañez, his Eureka moment came when a technical malfunction caused a batch of Cheetos to go un-powdered. According to a 2016 interview with Inc, Montañez thought, “What if I add chili to a Cheeto?” The rest is history.

Earlier this year it was announced that a feature film is being made about Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, celebrating its origin story. Fox Searchlight won the rights to the project, in beating off competition from multiple studios who wanted to produce the film.

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Five of the best under-the-radar Greek islands

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This article titled “Five of the best under-the-radar Greek islands” was written by Chris Moss, for theguardian.com on Friday 27th July 2018 10.49 UTC

Paxos

Just 7 miles long and 3 miles wide, Paxos nonetheless crams in much of the magical beauty and topographical variety of the Ionian chain: there are some 30 sheltered beaches on the east coast, spectacular cliffs on the west, olive trees and lofty pines inland, and the clearest seas surround the coast, which is studded with caves, grottoes and unpopulated islands.

About half of the island’s population of about 3,000 live in the three villages of Gaios, Loggos and Lakka, where you’ll experience the conviviality of the local people. Elsewhere you’ll encounter mainly goats, farmers and a lot of empty space and serenity.

Related: Easy does it: the slow travel guide to the Peloponnese, Greece

See and do
Gaios, the largest village, has a little flagstoned platia – town square – right on the water’s edge – a rare feature in the Greek islands. Behind the church is a maze of narrow streets lined with an assortment of shops, tavernas and bars. A host of attractive bays and coves lie nearby.

The most attractive fishing village is Loggos, which is largely unmodernised, with just 30 little houses around the old platia. Olive groves cloak the hills surrounding the village; the Venetians planted olive trees in their thousands in the 16th century. There’s good bathing from beaches and rocks within five minutes’ walk.

One of the most popular boat trips is across to the satellite islet of Antipaxos – two of its beaches are routinely voted among the best in the Mediterranean. Vrika has pure white sand while Voutoumi is sandy below the water. It’s almost uninhabited apart from the locals employed in tavernas and vineyards; its wines have no labels.

Home from home: The Olive Press
A narrow track leads inland from the Gaios waterfront to a landscape of verdant valleys and hillsides. Here sits The Olive Press, a carefully renovated stone house with exposed beams, a wood burning stove and a pretty garden with table, chairs and sun-loungers; the property still has the original olive pressing floor underneath the sitting room – visible through a panel of safety glass. A romantic spot and a cosy house, it will appeal to couples seeking a quiet retreat.

Alonissos

Old town Alonissos – the island is popular with holidaying Athenians. Photograph: Getty Images

All of the islands in the Sporades, east of Volos and north of Evia, are gorgeous, green and pretty laidback. But Alonissos, the largest and only permanently inhabited member of a mini-archipelago at the eastern end of the chain, is wilder, more rugged and utterly peaceful.

While the beaches are pleasant – and the sea among the most pristine in Europe – it’s inland that the topography gets really interesting. The south is taken up by fruit groves and almond and olive trees, while the north is known for its moorland aspect, with oak, arbutus and heather.

There are ferries here, but not too many, so most foreign tourists choose to stay on neighbouring Skopelos or Skiathos. Summering Athenians do love Alonissos, but outside of the peak months it’s a great off-radar option for families, solo travellers or couples.

See and do
Ferries arrive at Patitiri. From here it takes about 45 minutes via a goat track to walk to the Old Town – destroyed in an earthquake in 1965, but largely restored. Its traditional houses, Byzantine churches, Venetian walls and narrow, paved streets make it a picturesque place to potter awhile. There are a dozen tavernas, a pizzeria, several cafes and bars, and two mini markets. The beach of Megalo Mourtia is about half an hour away from the Old Town; the downhill trek is quite a challenge, but the reward of a swim is waiting.

If you want more of the same, walking trails run all along the narrow island’s backbone. Fifteen routes have been surveyed, numbered and signposted: you can choose between short walks from a beach to a village – jumping in a cab to get back to your accommodation, or do longer circular treks; these are more enjoyable in the cooler months, as shade is limited in some areas.

The rocky limestone coast is dotted with dozens of hidden beaches and deep caves carved out of the steep cliffs. The surrounding waters are part of a national marine park, protecting Mediterranean monk seals and a host of seabirds – including the Audouin’s gull – as well as migratory waders and raptors. Dolphins are often spotted on excursions.

Home from home: Limani Cottage
Limani Cottage is a sweet, very Greek property with terracotta floor tiles and blue and white decor. On a hill above the pretty port of Steni Vala, it’s a two-minute walk from the shops, cafes and tavernas on the quayside. You’ll find a small beach at the foot of a staircase of 30 steps. A little further along are the white pebbles and crystal waters of Glyfa beach. A wide covered terrace runs the length of the house, from which guests have lovely views over the port and the island of Peristera. The small garden has olive, pomegranate and citrus trees.

Ithaca

Ithaca’s coastline is dotted with small fishing villages. Photograph: Super Stock

As the legendary island of Odysseus, it may strike you as strange that Ithaca is one of the least known – and this, despite its proximity to popular Kefalonia, a little over 1 mile north-east.

Perhaps the Gods have had a hand in it – or, more prosaically, it’s because this island, with a name that even sounds a bit like “myth”, isn’t really about beaches. Just 18 miles from top to tail, it has a cave, a spring, a ruinous castle and – thanks to winter rains – some of the most verdant landscapes in all Greece; indeed there are trees that only grow here.

Surrounded by blue-green waters that lap white-pebbled beaches, Ithaca is dotted with small fishing villages. At dusk, you’ll see the boats returning with their fresh catch, quickly delivered to the tavernas and markets along the harbours at Kioni and Frikes. In the morning, other senses are stimulated: enjoy the smell of freshly baked bread and the sound of distant goat bells.

See and do
Vathy, the capital port of Ithaca, has a beautiful horseshoe-shaped waterfront overlooking a deep-blue bay, flanked by green hillsides. Rebuilt in the 1950s, all the buildings are cream, yellow and pink-coloured, marking a colourful departure from classic blue-and-white Greek island towns. There are barely any cars and there’s only human traffic around dusk, when locals and visitors come down to the town square and quayside to dine, drink and shoot the breeze. The town has a maritime and folklore museum and an archaeological museum; boat hire is available to visit beaches.

Alternatively, you can walk to the water. There’s a lovely path through perfumed pine forests to Gedaki beach on the far side of town. Inland, the geography is hilly, with plenty of hiking and mountain bike trails through olive, cypress and carob trees up on the hills.

Scuba diving and sea kayaking are popular on Ithaca; the Cave of the Nymph is said to be where Odysseus hid the gifts he had brought along from the land of the Phaeacians.

Home from home: Costa’s House
A hundred steps lead from the Kioni waterfront to Costa’s House, set in a private, hillside position above the bay. Bedrooms open out on to private balconies with sweeping views across Kioni Bay; the sitting room leads to a veranda with a pergola, a gorgeous spot for dining and relaxing above the sea.

Ikaria

The church on the beach at Gialiskari. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

If you’ve heard of Ikaria, chances are it’s because of its long-lived residents. If you believe in the much-publicised Blue Zone idea of good food and habits ensuring longevity, you won’t be surprised by the number of 80- and 90-plus-year-olds you meet here. The whole pace of the island seems to say: slow down, stretch things out.

Retirees can be seen tending their gardens in the morning and chatting over coffee or wine in the evening. Between, they grab a siesta. They eat well – lots of organic greens, pulses, fine oil and not too much red meat. They also fish and walk a lot. Money is not an obsession. The island is famous for its panigyria festivals, where the whole community gets together for a knees-up. The chances are that, if you visit from mid-June to mid-September, there will be one taking place at a nearby village during your stay – all are welcome! Ikaria is also said to be the birthplace of Dionysus, god of wine; in general the generations mix naturally here and that too, no doubt, plays a major part in fostering a healthy outlook.

See and do
Armenistis is a small fishing village with a picturesque harbour, its parish church dedicated to Agios Nikolaos, patron saint of sailors. Nearby are some of the densest pine forests on Ikaria, and an abundance of rivers and streams.

A walkers’ favourite, Ikaria boasts untamed lunar rockscapes and densely forested gorges. There are also totally empty beaches all along the coast. Armenistis, as well as being a sort of social and tourism hub, is a great starting point for walking excursions.

Some of the best beaches are also nearby; Gialiskari, Messakti and Livadi have fine sand and are surrounded by pine trees right down to the sea. A couple of miles west of Armenistis lies the pebbled beach of Nas at the mouth of a river, close to the ruins of an ancient Temple of Artemis.

Home from home: Muses Cottages
Staying in one of the five Muses Cottages, you will be blessed by the sound of waves when you wake in the morning. Standing directly above the sea on a stepped hillside, they enjoy panoramic sea views – and spectacular sunsets – and are a five-minute walk from Nas beach, reached by a rough path and steps down. The cottages feature traditional decor (predominantly blue and white), with high wooden ceilings and tiled floors. Owner Dimitris runs an excellent local seafood restaurant.

Lemnos

The harbour at Myrina. Photograph: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Lemnos is a very traditional Greek island, where the priorities remain agriculture and fishing. Relatively isolated in the north-eastern Aegean, it appeals most to those looking for an island that’s relatively unaffected by modern tourism. As well as the attractive port town of Myrina, it has many miles of uncrowded sandy beaches – ideal for a very Greek chill-out. If you get the urge to to explore, there are 160 miles of coast – as the eighth-largest Greek island, there’s lots of scope for driving day-trips.

As the uplands are treeless – due to the particular climactic conditions – it’s wisest to do coastal walks, hopping from ancient site to beach to village. There’s a thriving watersports scene on Plati beach, and the northern beaches are famed for their kite surfing. The eastern lakes are a habitat for flamingos and, in spring, the central plain is filled with wildflowers.

See and do
The capital, Myrina, is a classic Greek fishing-harbour, and a grand Genoese castle provides a dramatic backdrop. Lovely sandy beaches lie nearby, and there are lots of other seaside options up and down the island; Plati beach has a coveted Blue Flag.

At Poliochni, the remnants of four cities have been found – the most ancient predates Troy and is a site of world significance, believed by some archaeologists to be the oldest known town settlement in Europe. Another important ruin, Ifestia, was once a major religious centre; the site contains the remains of a theatre, palace, cemetery and baths.

For hikers, there are good footpaths from Agios Giannis beach to the impressive sand dunes of Pachies Ammoudies, near Gomati. Afterwards, enjoy a dip in the cool water off Gomati beach – or a soak in the hot springs just outside Myrina. If you want to rest your legs, horse riding is available at Plati.

There’s a good water sports scene here, including water skiing and windsurfing; motorboats can be hired and there’s a Padi dive school.

Home from home: Villa Afrodite hotel
Surrounded by flower-filled gardens, this stylish 30-room boutique hotel is tastefully decorated and has a freshwater pool, poolside restaurant and bar. Many rooms have spacious balconies with sea views; ground-floor rooms, some of which have been adapted for disabled use, have garden views. Fresh local lobster is a speciality of the in-house restaurant and there’s a weekly Greek barbecue night. Myrina is easily reached by the free hotel transfer service, if requested (morning and early evening), taxi (inexpensive) or on foot (30 minutes).

Find last-minute summer holiday deals at sunvil.co.uk/offers. For personal, expert travel advice to a host of destinations and more, call Sunvil on 020 8232 9788 or visit sunvil.co.uk/guardian

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Enjoy the blood moon while you can. Donald Trump has plans for it

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This article titled “Enjoy the blood moon while you can. Donald Trump has plans for it” was written by Philip Ball, for The Guardian on Friday 27th July 2018 10.55 UTC

There’s plenty that’s atavistic in the buzz about tonight’s lunar eclipse, which will turn the moon blood-red. It’s not just about the apocalyptic associations of this astronomical phenomenon itself, mentioned in the Book of Revelation (6:12, if you’re curious). The whole business of moon-gazing is an ancient impulse, its effects more culturally transformative than we might realise.

The moon landings, which have their 50th anniversary next year, were the culmination of a narrative that began when Galileo trained his telescope on the moon in the early 17th century. Discerning shadows along the boundary between bright and dark, he concluded that the moon had mountains – quite unlike the smooth sphere of Aristotle’s cosmos. It was a world like our own, to which the astronomer Giovanni Riccioli added “seas” in 1651. (Apollo 11 landed in one, the Sea of Tranquillity.)

Related: Lunar eclipse 2018: when to see the blood moon – and the science behind it

When Galileo announced his discovery in The Starry Messenger in 1610, poets as well as philosophers were entranced. John Milton, who is thought to have visited Galileo when he was under house arrest in Arcetri and looked through his telescopes, evoked the vast expanses of space that the Italian opened up in Paradise Lost. But in that age of exploration, others immediately thought of the “new world in the moon” as a place to journey to – and colonise. Galileo was compared to Columbus, and the vision of space travel that took off in the 17th century was built explicitly on the new genre of travel writing, and had the same eye on profiteering that took Columbus to the Americas.

Ah yes, them. “Space is the ‘next great American frontier’ – and it is our duty – and our destiny – to settle that frontier with American leadership, courage, and values,” announced vice -president Mike Pence last December on the signing of President Trump’s Space Policy Directive 1, which reorients Nasa’s priorities towards returning humans to the moon – where no person has been since the Apollo 17 mission of 1972. The wording of the directive would not have looked out of place, mutatis mutandis, in the agreement signed in 1492 between Columbus and his Spanish sponsors Ferdinand and Isabella: it instructs Nasa to “lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities”.

The acting Nasa administrator at the time, Robert Lightfoot, insisted that “Nasa looks forward to supporting the president’s directive strategically aligning our work to return humans to the moon”. And the policy will face no resistance from the current administrator, Jim Bridenstine, a Republican Trump ally with no background in space science, who is enthusiastic about commercial exploitation of lunar resources. But this determination to assert American values on the moon – as Trump put it, “This time, we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprints … we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars” – has naturally led to concerns that it will sap funding for real space science from elsewhere in Nasa.

Perhaps those concerns are best directed towards Nasa’s climate monitoring programs, rather than its objectives on other worlds. Bridenstine has in the past questioned the idea of human-induced climate change, and there is talk of Nasa employees being discouraged from talking of global warming. Plans to axe Nasa’s participation in a scheme for monitoring carbon dioxide emissions by satellite have already been announced.

Related: Lunacy? Far from it – you really could live on the moon | Chris Hadfield

But it’s hard to see how an expensive obsession with going to the moon won’t also affect unmanned space missions too. Following in the glorious footsteps of the Voyager missions of the 1970s, Nasa has provided many of the most inspiring – and scientifically rewarding – journeys into the cosmos, from the sojourns of the plucky Mars landers Curiosity and Opportunity to the New Horizons probe that revealed the frozen-nitrogen mountains and methane-ice dunes of Pluto. Quite aside from the riches that these missions have conferred on planetary science, they are every bit as sublime and uplifting as the Apollo 11 landings.

In contrast, the scientific case for a return to the moon is equivocal. Sure, there are some things humans might do there that robotic landers can’t – but artificial intelligence and robotics are capable of rather more now than they were when the Beatles released Abbey Road. Advocates of human exploration of the moon have yet to make a scientific case that would justify the tremendous cost and risk it would incur.

More often now – as Trump’s directive implies – the argument is couched in terms of material benefits. Take with a liberal pinch of salt the claim that we will bring back vast quantities of helium-3 as a fuel for nuclear fusion. The real issue is that this entire notion of space prospecting is in a febrile place. It was partly the looming inevitability of a lunar landing that prompted the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which stipulated that “the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries” and that space “is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty”. The US began tearing up that idea under the Obama administration in 2015 by allowing firms property rights to resources mined from space.

So enjoy the blood moon while you can. At this rate, we might one day find ourselves gazing up at land owned by Elon Musk or Facebook.

• Philip Ball is a science writer

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Twitter share price tumbles after it loses 1m users in three months

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This article titled “Twitter share price tumbles after it loses 1m users in three months” was written by Rupert Neate, for theguardian.com on Friday 27th July 2018 12.44 UTC

More than $6bn (£4.6bn) has been wiped off the market value of Twitter after the social media service reported a drop of 1 million users after it finally took action to delete fake and offensive accounts.

Twitter’s shares fell by 20% in pre-market trading on Friday in New York, before recovering slightly to be down 16%, as investors were spooked by news that the number of active monthly users fell from 336 million to 335 million over the last three months.

The San Francisco-based company warned investors to expect user numbers to fall further as it took greater action to block fake and offensive accounts. The company told investors in its second-quarter earnings announcement that the drop in users reflected “impact from decisions we have made to prioritise the health of the platform”.

“We are confident that this is in the best long-term interest of the platform and will enable long-term growth as we improve the health of the public conversation on Twitter,” the company said.

Twitter said it was committed to cleaning up the site, addressing the issue of “problem behaviours” such as trolling.

“We are proud of the tangible improvements people are seeing on Twitter,” the firm said. “We believe Twitter’s value as a daily utility is enhanced when the conversation on the platform is healthy and people feel safe expressing themselves freely and openly.”

Twitter deleted more than 70m fake or offensive accounts in May and June, and has continued to delete accounts at a rate of 1m a day, according to research by the Washington Post.

The company had come under pressure from the US Congress to take action against bots and Russian-run accounts, which had been used to influence the 2016 Presidential election.

Earlier this year Twitter admitted that more than 50,000 Russia-linked accounts used its service to post automated material about the 2016 US election. The company said the posts had reached at least 677,000 Americans.

More than 3,800 accounts had been traced back to Russian state operatives, including an attack on Hillary Clinton’s performance in a presidential debate. Posts by one Russian state propaganda account were retweeted by senior advisers to Trump, including his son Donald Jr.

The company admitted that the Russian activity on its platform “represents a challenge to democratic societies everywhere, and we’re committed to continuing to work on this important issue”. Many of the accounts were run from a “troll farm” backed by the Russian government, it said.

The 20% fall in Twitter’s share price is equivalent to $6bn being wiped off its market value, which had stood at over $30bn on Thursday night. The shares recovered slightly to $36.10 at 12.30pm BST (7.30am ET).

The drop in Twitter’s share price comes a day after Facebook’s shares fell 19% when it revealed it had lost 3 million users in Europe since the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal and the introduction of strict EU privacy laws.

“Have we reached a social media tipping point? Twitter shares tumbled 18% in pre-market trading before paring losses amid a brutal selloff that mirrored Facebook’s nosedive earlier this week,” said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.

“General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) seems to have had some impact on Twitter, but the main causes attributed by the company to the decline in users was not moving to paid SMS carriers and ‘prioritising the health of the platform’, which is to do with cutting out fake accounts.

“Everyone knew that Twitter was full of fake accounts – why their removal should be impacting the share price in this way is unclear – investors may be better advised to keep a check on earnings and revenue growth instead.

“Both Facebook and Twitter have been affected badly by fake news, fake accounts and accusations of Russian meddling. But arguably Twitter looks in better shape as the efforts to monetise the platform are working, whilst we see fundamental concerns about Facebook’s advertising model.”

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Weatherwatch: how aircraft protect themselves against rain and dust

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This article titled “Weatherwatch: how aircraft protect themselves against rain and dust” was written by David Hambling, for The Guardian on Wednesday 25th July 2018 20.30 UTC

If you travel on an airliner this summer, you may notice a series of metal prongs projecting from the trailing edge of the wings. These are often misidentified as lightning rods; in fact, they provide protection against static electricity.

Anyone who regularly walks on a nylon carpet knows that you can pick up static charge by a process of frictional charging. This can give you an unpleasant electric shock when you touch a metal door handle. Something similar happens to an aircraft flying through rain or dust particles, as it picks up a tiny amount of charge from contact with each one.

This effect is known as precipitation static. Because the aircraft is not earthed, the charge has nowhere to go, so it keeps building up. When the charge becomes sufficiently powerful, it will spontaneously discharge through aerials and other extremities in a series of giant sparks – technically known as “corona discharge”. The sparks cause radio interference, which may affect the aircraft’s navigation and communication equipment.

Hence those metal prongs on the wings. Known as static discharge wicks, they provide a path for electric charge to leak away gradually back into the atmosphere, without any sparks or radio interference.

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Britain's largest gold nugget found on Scottish riverbed

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This article titled “Britain’s largest gold nugget found on Scottish riverbed” was written by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent, for theguardian.com on Thursday 26th July 2018 10.27 UTC

An amateur prospector has discovered the UK’s largest gold nugget while lying face down in a Scottish river.

The British man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, described how he found the 85.7g (3.02oz) lump of gold through a process known as sniping, in which a snorkel is used to search the riverbed.

Named the Douglas Nugget, it is thought to be the biggest discovered in British waters for 500 years.

Leon Kirk, a gold panning expert based in Dumfries and Galloway, said the find was unprecedented and that the nugget’s rarity made it hard to put a price on it. “I would say it is worth at least £50,000 but, as it’s rarer than an Aston Martin or a Fabergé egg, a billionaire could easily come along and pay a lot more for it. Historically, it is off the Richter scale.”

The unnamed man, who is in his 40s, found the nugget two years ago, but the exact location had been kept secret to avoid a gold rush.

“I was following a crack in the bedrock and found around 2g in fine gold,” he said. “This then led to a pocket, where I uncovered the nugget. I called over my friend to have a look and we both assumed it to be around 5-7g in weight. It wasn’t until I removed it that we realised just how big it was.

“I took off my glove and picked it up, jumped out of the water and screamed ‘bingo!’ to my friend. We were both stunned and couldn’t believe it. I’ve never seen anything like it in my lifetime.”

He has stored the nugget in a safety deposit box. Found gold and silver is usually classed as belonging to the crown, and it is not clear whether the finder has received permission to remove it.

The largest gold nugget previously found in British waters was discovered in Cornwall in 1808 and weighed 59g.

Interest in Scottish gold is booming, according to Kirk, who runs gold panning courses at the Museum of Lead Mining in Wanlockhead, Dumfies and Galloway, one of Scotland’s three “gold belts”. Hundreds of people attended the recent Scottish and British gold panning championships in the village.

Amateur prospectors also head to Tyndrum in Perthshire and Helmsdale in Sutherland.

The first commercial gold mine in Scotland received full planning permission earlier this year. The company Scotgold hopes to extract an estimated 5,700kg of gold from Cononish mine near Tyndrum.

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