SwayBlog

OpinionFarming This article is more than 6 years oldDairy is scary. The public are waking up to the darkest part of farmingThis article is more than 6 years oldChas Newkey-BurdenThe photo of calves in cramped pens will shock many, and with so many non-dairy alternatives now, consumers have a choicePhotographs of industrial rows of cramped pens, each imprisoning a solitary calf, will shock those who still believe in the fairytale of the pastoral dairy farm, where blushing maidens milk smiling cows.

Global developmentMS Swaminathan, ‘visionary’ father of India’s green revolution, dies at 98Pioneering plant geneticist and agronomist whose work revolutionised farming and brought self-sufficiency in food production to India The year was 2005. There had been a wave of farmer suicides in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The mainstream press paid scant attention, but MS Swaminathan rushed to the scene with a team of officials. “He was in tears listening to the families of those who had ended their own lives,” says journalist P Sainath in a tribute.

Oscar Pistorius holds his sister Aimee Pistorius as he leaves the High Court in Pretoria, on July 6, 2016 after beeing sentenced to six years in jail for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty ImagesOscar Pistorius holds his sister Aimee Pistorius as he leaves the High Court in Pretoria, on July 6, 2016 after beeing sentenced to six years in jail for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty ImagesOscar Pistorius This article is more than 7 years oldOscar Pistorius's sister 'grateful' for athlete's six-year sentenceThis article is more than 7 years oldAimee Pistorius thanks judge Thokozile Masipa for recognising that ‘this is not a gender-based violence situation’

Peaky Blinders: episode by episodeTelevisionA day at the races, a return to the Chinese Quarter, and a rather ungallant escape for Grace – Peaky Blinders continues, and at last we meet a real BrummieBack to Brum’s sooty terraces this week, but not for long, as Tommy and Grace are heading to the races at Cheltenham with Billy Kimber.Tommy doesn’t know she’s on a secret mission to “get close to him” thanks to Chief Inspector Campbell, and Billie Kimber doesn’t know that Tommy is secretly planning to move in on his business with the added carrot of Grace in a new dress.

Readers recommendPop and rockNina Simone, Warren Zevon and Corb Lund are among the artists stuck in various states of mire for this week’s reader-curated playlist Here is this week’s playlist – songs picked by a reader from hundreds of suggestions on last week’s callout. Thanks for taking part. Read more about how our weekly series works at the end of the piece. Sometimes, to extricate oneself from a sticky situation, it’s necessary to grasp the nettle and press boldly on without fear of let or hindrance.

Toronto film festival This article is more than 14 years oldUS actor Jane Fonda backs away from Israel row at Toronto film festivalThis article is more than 14 years oldDispute over festival's City to City spotlight on Tel Aviv causes rift among major Hollywood namesJane Fonda has stood with North Vietnam and against the war in Iraq. But Israel has proven to be a protest too far as the veteran actor and political activist backs away from an increasingly bitter dispute among Hollywood names over a film festival that has been variously branded as an Israeli propaganda stunt and a showcase for the achievements of the Jewish state.

SweePee Rambo and owner Jason Wurtz celebrate winning the 2016 World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. Photograph: Peter Dasilva/EPASweePee Rambo and owner Jason Wurtz celebrate winning the 2016 World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. Photograph: Peter Dasilva/EPADogs This article is more than 7 years oldWorld's Ugliest Dog winner is blind chihuahua with bowed legsThis article is more than 7 years old Owner will use $1,500 for removal of tumor on SweePee Rambo’s gum Himisaboo, ‘dog that looks like Donald Trump’, fails to place Worst in show: how the world’s ugliest dogs get competition ready A 17-year-old Chinese crested chihuahua with legs bowed out like a frog won the 2016 World’s Ugliest Dog contest on Friday night.

A letter to ...Parents and parenting‘You did something you probably don’t remember, but to me was so kind and so big, I’ll never forget’: the letter you always wanted to write I remember the very first time I met you, I wanted to hate you. You stole my mum away from my dad – at least that’s what I believed at 10 years old. I was wrong, but I wouldn’t learn for a while that someone cannot steal anyone else’s affection; they choose to go.

Israel-Gaza war Gaza City before and after: footage shows destruction wreaked by war – video Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel triggered a declaration of war and a military response by Israel that has reduced large parts of Gaza to rubble. Apartment blocks, shops and streets lie in ruins amid a humanitarian catastrophe that has displaced at least 1.5 million people from their homes and left more than 11,000 Palestinians dead, according to officials in Gaza