Forever flimsy and ineffective at cleaning greasy fingers, the servilletas of the Iberian peninsula resist the relentless ‘optimisation’ of our age. A new photo book recognises them as cultural treasures in miniatureIf you have ever eaten a meal in a bar, cafe or restaurant in Spain and grabbed a napkin from the…

‘The beauty of the useless’: Spain’s super-thin restaurant napkins are throwaway art treasures
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‘The beauty of the useless’: Spain’s super-thin restaurant napkins are throwaway art treasures

The Guardian

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Week in wildlife: a hungry hoopoe, a hot croc and a snoozing otter pup
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Week in wildlife: a hungry hoopoe, a hot croc and a snoozing otter pup

The Guardian

Ahead of the band’s first new album in 16 years, the hugely influential guitarist will be taking your questions for the Guardian Film & Music reader interviewAt the end of July, the Durutti Column will release their first new music in 16 years: the stunningly beautiful Renascent. It’s a prime time for Vini…

Post your questions for Vini Reilly of the Durutti Column
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Post your questions for Vini Reilly of the Durutti Column

The Guardian

Fifteen centuries of south and south-east Asian art has been devoted to Vishnu. The Hindu god is depicted in many forms, from the man-lion Narasimha to blue-skinned Krishna.Sydney’s Art Gallery of NSW is displaying hundreds of ancient and modern interpretations of Vishnu’s image through a landmark exhibition…

The many forms of Vishnu: the Hindu god depicted across 15 centuries of art – in pictures
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The many forms of Vishnu: the Hindu god depicted across 15 centuries of art – in pictures

The Guardian

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S; EA Vancouver/Electronic ArtsMicromanaging your fighter is a little tedious, but the action is thrilling in this authentically detailed sporting simulationBecoming a professional fighter takes years of repetition, drilling techniques and training footwork until everything is instinctual…

UFC 6 review: a bloody, brilliant MMA fighting game
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UFC 6 review: a bloody, brilliant MMA fighting game

The Guardian

After the billion-dollar company’s leaders sent staff a memo saying the brand had ‘over-extended’, game studios may be in the firing lineDon’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereIn March 2000, Bill Gates stood onstage at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco and, to a packed…

Fears for Xbox as it puts its developers on the chopping block once again
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Fears for Xbox as it puts its developers on the chopping block once again

The Guardian

PlayStation 5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch 2, PC; Team Asano/Square EnixUpbeat, charmingly retro RPG full of treasure-hunting, temple-roaming, monster-slaying and princess-saving is an absolute blast to playYou can’t help but wonder if developer Team Asano is in a private competition with itself to come up with the most…

The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales review – a playable love letter to Zelda
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The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales review – a playable love letter to Zelda

The Guardian

When a company decided to shut down an online game’s servers, there wasn’t much the players who had bought that title could do – until a group called Stop Killing Games began lobbying for new consumer protection lawsYou can never be sure how long an online video game will last. Developer BioWare shut off sci-fi…

‘They kill games, we fight back’: the activists campaigning to keep video games playable
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‘They kill games, we fight back’: the activists campaigning to keep video games playable

The Guardian

In the latest autofictional instalment of his family saga, the French writer makes sense of his sibling’s violent homophobia and short life At 33, the French writer Édouard Louis has already seen all seven of his slim novels translated into English. In his breakout debut, The End of Eddy (2017), and again in Change…

Collapse by Édouard Louis review – coming to terms with a brother’s death
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Collapse by Édouard Louis review – coming to terms with a brother’s death

The Guardian

With its echoes of Miranda July’s All Fours, this tragicomic tale of an American woman’s illicit romance is also a gripping murder mysteryThe plot of A Little Bit Bad sounds like the setup for a joke: “Like, this white lady lusting after her hot Chicano roofer?” Perdita Jungfrau, the narrator, is describing…

A Little Bit Bad by Cassandra Neyenesch review – a sparkling, subversive debut
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A Little Bit Bad by Cassandra Neyenesch review – a sparkling, subversive debut

The Guardian