Four humans recently looped around the Moon. Their vessel, an Artemis capsule, was a thin metal shell whose life-support system kept them alive: it provided a carefully balanced atmosphere, a closed water loop, a finite supply of food and a means for disposing human waste. The life support was not optional. It was a necessity.

Consider this: not once in the history of human spaceflight has an astronaut been known to tamper with their life support system. No one has ever decided to vent some oxygen for fun. No one has argued for a personal right to increase their CO₂ output. Sabotage is unthinkable – socially intolerable. Their fellow crew members and mission control would intervene immediately.

Now consider Earth.

We are doing to our planetary life support what no astronaut has done to theirs. We are damaging it – venting carbon, acidifying the oceans, stripping topsoil and collapsing biodiversity – not maliciously, but with a shrug. It is legal. It is profitable. And in most circles, it is entirely socially acceptable.

The Victorian novelist George Eliot would have understood why. In Middlemarch, she showed us a town that preferred a satisfying, simple myth (that a charismatic quack can cure ills) over difficult, complex truths (the role of germs, statistics, slow systematic change). Humans, she argued, do not naturally reach for what is true. We reach for what is near, simple and emotionally rewarding.

Climate science is the anti-myth. It is delayed, diffuse, impersonal and global. It asks us to change behaviour today for a benefit that will arrive decades away, elsewhere on the planet, for people we will never meet.

This psychological distance is a severe challenge for a brain evolved to flinch at a rustle in the grass, not a graph showing rising parts per million of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

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The myths that let us ignore the truth are familiar.

If I recycle, I’m doing my part. (This is insufficient but feels good.)

Technology will save us before it’s too late. (Comforting but improbable, and it delays action.)

It’s already too late, so nothing matters. (This is fatalism as absolution.)

We will adapt. (The laws of nature set hard limits.)

These stories are false, but they are functional. Psychologists call them the “dragons of inaction” – the mental barriers that let us know the truth without feeling its weight. Along with disavowal (knowing something but ignoring it), they allow us to keep flying, driving, consuming and investing, without the discomfort of cognitive dissonance (the stress of simultaneously holding conflicting beliefs).

The Artemis crew members live by a different narrative. They are guided by a simple, undeniable truth. That they are in a small, fragile vessel. The life support is essential. Damaging it is not an option.

Earth is a vessel too. It is just larger, its support systems less visible, and the consequences of damage slower to arrive. As the economist Kenneth Boulding argued 60 years ago, we must learn to see our planet as a closed system – not an open frontier.

What narrative could protect Earth like it protects astronauts?

Not a policy paper. Not a carbon tax (though we need those). A story.

We have candidate myths already. None is perfect, but each is more powerful than the cold scientific facts.

The one pane of glass narrative outlines that Earth is not a planet we live on. It is a pressurised cabin with a single irreplaceable window. Every tonne of CO₂ scratches a crack in that glass. You wouldn’t hammer the Artemis capsule window. Why do it here?

The blood of the body myth portrays the biosphere not as nature but as the collective and extended organ system of humanity. Deforesting the Amazon and burning oil are not business as usual, they are acts of self-harm.

The crew of the damned narrative hinges on the concept that you are not a consumer. You are a temporary tenant on a multi-generational voyage. Nature and the previous shift built the vessel. The next shift will inherit it. To degrade Earth’s systems is to defile the ancestors and curse the children. That is not a crime. It is a sin that will outlast your name.

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To address the environmental polycrisis, the first step is to demand more honesty

None of these stories will work if they remain metaphors. They become common sense only when they are visibly, socially and economically enforced – when a CEO who opens a new coal mine is treated with the same universal horror as an astronaut reaching for the oxygen valve.

Imagine every human decision – personal, professional, political – tested against one simple question: “If we were in a capsule looping around the Moon, would this be a safe use of our shared life support?”

Repeated sufficiently, the right conclusion would become habitual. For those resisting, the rest of the crew would intervene. On Earth, there is no mission control – only us.

The act will introduce six key changes to the way renting works in the UK, affecting both renters and landlords.

The new law also introduces tougher enforcement powers for councils, with fines of up to £40,000 for landlords who break the rules, ensuring that rogue operators can no longer evade accountability.

These changes are:

1. Prevention of rent ‘bidding wars’
2. Changes to up-front rent requirements
3. Abolition of ‘no-fault’ evictions
4. An end to fixed-term tenancies
5. More rights for people’s pets
6. An increase in necessary notice periods

The changes will affect all tenants and all renters throughout the country (Image: Newsquest)

1 – Bidding Wars

The new act will discourage bidding wars on rental properties by making it illegal for landlords to request, encourage, or accept offers above the set price.

Renters outbidding one another for the same property drives rental prices up – this change is intended to do the opposite.

2 – Up front rent

The Renters Rights Act will prevent landlords from asking for more than one month of rent upfront.

Up until April 30, Landlords could ask for five weeks’ rent upfront on properties up to an annual rental value of up £50,000, and six weeks for properties with an annual rental value of more than £50,000

3 – Abolition of ‘no-fault’ evictions

Until May 1, landlords could present tenants with section 21 ‘no-fault eviction’ notices.

This gave landlords the right to evict tenants even if those tenants had not fallen behind on rent or caused damage to the property.

4 – An end to fixed-term tenancies

Renters will no longer have to sign up for fixed-term rental contracts, meaning all tenancies will be organised as rolling, one-month contracts.

The previous industry standard was a six-month contract, in which tenants had to pay rent for a property for at least six months, with some contracts rising to one year.

Tenants will now be allowed to leave a property whenever they like without continuing to be liable for rent payments due to unfulfilled contract obligations.

5 – Pets Rights

Landlords can no longer give blanket refusals to tenants having pets.

If a tenant wants a pet, they can make a request to their landlord. If the landlord cannot provide a good reason for saying no, they must say yes.

6 – Notice period

Landlords who wish to sell a property must give tenants four months’ notice in order to give them time to find alternative accommodation.

However, this only applies to tenants who have lived in a property for more than a year. Tenants who have lived in a property for less than a year cannot be evicted by a landlord at all if the landlord’s reason for eviction is the desire to sell.

Under the new rules fixed-term contracts have become a thing of the past (Image: Newsquest)

Reactions

Reactions have been mixed to the changes, with praise levelled at the perceived increase in fairness the new rules will bring with them, but criticism of the potential confusions and complications.

“The act started under the conservative government, actually,” said Sarah Morris, a business development consultant who does a lot of work in the property market.

“It’s been a bit of a nightmare for agents to keep track of all the changes.”

Sarah believes there will be a period of confusion for both tenants and landlords before people get used to the new rules.

“I think the biggest issue will be for the smaller landlords, because despite the changes being quite widespread, a lot of people don’t seem to know about them.

“Getting the message out is important, and if people don’t understand what is changing, they need to get support.”

There are large fines for people who break the new rules, which will start coming into effect around the end of May, according to Sarah. Starting at £7,000, fines can reach up to £40,000 for repeat offenders.

Some landlords are already selling up in an effort to avoid the new strictures. I asked Sarah if any landlords had been putting last-minute eviction notices in before the new rules ban no-fault evictions.

“Yes, absolutely,” said Sarah. “I know that there were people who were doing that to get ahead of the act.

“You no longer have a fixed-term contract, so all six-month tenancy agreements will have to become ‘assured period agreements’.”

‘Assured period agreement’ is the technical term for the new type of rolling contract that landlords must offer tenants, described above in section four.

“For new tenants just getting into the rental market, they might face more stringent checks from landlords, as they know it will be harder to evict them if anything goes wrong.

“I know some people now require guarantors for all contracts, even in circumstances where they wouldn’t previously have needed them.

“Properties will be held to higher standards than previously, so tenants might see their landlords around and their properties more often for repairs or inspections.”

All landlords must sign up to the new ombudsman database, which makes it easier for tenants to lodge complaints. Failure to do so will result in fines starting from £7,000.

“Ultimately, the plan is to make it a fairer market for everyone; there’s just going to be a bit of an adjustment period.”

Bolton West MP Phil Brickell also commented: “This is fantastic news for renters.

“Around 6,190 renters across Bolton West will have stronger protection due to these reforms brought about by this Labour government.

(Image: Office of Phil Brickell MP)

“Having spoken to people across Blackrod, Bolton, Horwich and Westhoughton these reforms are long overdue.

“These reforms give more stability to renters and prevent Landlords from being able to evict people just so that they can increase their rental income by renting to someone else.”

“Too many renters in Bolton West have been living with the constant fear of losing their home through no fault of their own.

“These historic reforms will make a real difference to people locally – giving renters the security they deserve, protecting them from unfair practices, and helping families put down roots in their communities.

“I’m proud that this Labour government is delivering the biggest upgrade to renters’ rights in a generation.”

Please see the Government website for more information, which provides more details on all the points listed here.

Kirstie Allsopp made an admission ahead of the new series of Location, Location, Location

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Kirstie Allsopp made a surprising revelation on ITV’s This Morning.

The 54-year-old host is due to return to television tonight (Wednesday, May 6) for a fresh series of Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location, alongside Phil Spencer.

Kirstie and Phil are marking 26 years presenting the programme together, so audiences may be astonished to discover that they weren’t initially intended to be matched as a hosting partnership.

While appearing on This Morning, Kirstie disclosed to presenters Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley that she was required to audition alongside other prospective female candidates before securing the presenting role back in 2000.

“I look at the two of you now and you can’t imagine one without the other… I didn’t realise, Kirstie, that Phil made you fight for your place alongside him. You had a screen test with other women,” Ben said, reports the Mirror.

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Kirstie revealed: “There was an Italian girl with legs up to here [makes tall gesture]. Legs like Cat’s. Phil really, really wanted her, but the problem was the accent was so strong.”

Phil replied: “That’s not quite true!” before Kirstie continued: “And there was a really sweet girl who was an estate agent, but I think that she was probably intimidated by the whole thing.

“So, he sort of ended up with me by default. We did a non-transmissible pilot. Thank god that will never come to air.”

She added: “We both thought, ‘Oh, that was fun, but we’ve got real jobs.’ And then they commissioned the show, and they asked us to present it.”

The pair went on to confirm that the first three series of Location, Location, Location were filmed while they both held down their regular jobs.

“It was a busy time,” Phil remarked, with Kirstie quipping: “We had no belief in this telly rubbish!”

The latest series of Location, Location, Location returns to Channel 4 at 8pm tonight, with Kirstie and Phil once again steering prospective buyers through an ever-shifting property market.

The series kicks off in Surrey, a popular commuter belt for London workers and a county steeped in quintessential English character. Emily and Jack have postponed their wedding until they secure a home, having so far been disappointed by properties that fail to live up to their brochure images.

Elsewhere, Jane, who has spent her career working across the globe, is eager to settle down in Farnham. Despite Phil residing nearby, it quickly becomes apparent that his local knowledge is no guarantee of a straightforward house hunt.

Location, Location, Location is available to stream on Channel 4

The abuser was bumped off after a week of dramatic episodes of the ITV soap

Coronation Street fans have made a major prediction about Theo Silverton’s killer – and they’re sure there isn’t just one person involved in bumping off the abuser.

There were jaw-dropping scenes in the ITV soap last week as Theo was among five Weatherfield villains in mortal peril, with one of them confirmed to be being killed off at the end of a dramatic week of episodes that left fans guessing as to who the victim would be.

Fans will recall that the ‘who is it’ storyline was initially confirmed back in February in a flashforward episode of Corrie, in which Betsy Swain was revealed as the one to discover the dead body of one of her neighbours.

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At the time, the shocked teen was seen being interviewed by the police after discovering the dead body of someone she knew, before it was revealed that it could be Theo, Carl Webster, Jodie Ramsey, Maggie Driscoll or Megan Walsh.

The shocked teen was heard explaining that she had been at her mum, Lisa Swain, and Carla Connor’s wedding, and that it was when she decided to head into town that she made the discovery. While the wedding took place in April, it wasn’t until last week that Corrie was seen revisiting that day, with each episode seen from the perspective of a different potential victim.

It was right at the end of the fifth and final episode of the week that Corrie revealed abuser Theo’s time on the cobbles had come to a permanent end, which comes after Todd Grimshaw bravely reported him to the police over the abuse he had subjected him to for months.

In the nail-biting episode, Todd played a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse to outsmart a vengeful Theo. Todd managed to hide, and he called Christina Boyd to let her and George know what had happened. It wasn’t long before Christina set off to go and find him, warning George to stay at the house.

Meanwhile, Summer Spellman found herself caught in the crossfire when she came face-to-face with a sinister Theo, who forced her to hand over her phone, which he then chucked out of the window. Soon, outside, a jovial Betsy was given the shock of her life as she stumbled across the villain’s lifeless body.

A ‘whodunnit’ has since got underway, with the six possible killers being confirmed as Todd (Gareth Pierce), George (Tony Mauldsley) and Gary Winass, who are this week seen facing interrogation from DS Lisa Connor-Swain and DC Kit Green, while in the coming weeks, Summer, Christina Boyd and Theo’s ex-wife, Danielle Silverton will follow in their footsteps. But who was responsible for Theo’s demise?

Well, Corrie fans are now predicting it’s a joint effort. One asked: “What if Theo’s death was the result of a group effort? #Corrie.” Another replied: “I’m thinking the same, they all had a go at him.” A third admitted: “That would be an amazing twist!”

Another fan shared: “Melanie is annoying and needs to avoid staircases when Maggie is discharged from hospital. Swain will charge George because DNA will match Theo. Think Summer with Gary’s help murdered Theo. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was a group killing. #Corrie.” A fifth viewer added: “Theo got hit by Carl, then George, then maybe a 3rd time by Summer (or Gary). My guess? A dazed Theo climbed onto the scaffolding to spot Todd from above the street, and a push from a mystery person (Miles) sent him over the edge. Unintentional group effort. #Corrie.”

The row centres around the closely contested Halliwell ward, currently held by Labour, where Green Party candidate Baggy Khan, 25, is amongst the challengers.

Over the last week, two emails were sent out to Green Party members, the first claiming Mr Khan had been deselected as a candidate over a video where he appeared to film himself driving.

But just days later, a second email, signed by Green Party chair and Halliwell Councillor Hanif Alli, claimed that the first had been “unauthorised” and represented a “serious data breach”.

Cllr Alli said: “This information contained false and misleading information and constituted an unacceptable attack on our Halliwell candidate.

Bolton Green Party chair Cllr Hanif Alli (Image: Newsquest)

“Such conduct falls below the standards we expect and will not be tolerated.

“I apologise to all members for this breach and for the distress it has caused.

“A full investigation is underway, and decisive action will be taken against those responsible.”

He added: “Baggy Khan has my full support. He is a talented young man with a good moral compass who will make an excellent Green Party councillor for Halliwell.”

The email sent out by Cllr Hanif Alli (Image: Public)

Cllr Alli, who became chair of the Bolton Green Party in March, said he and the Bolton Green Party’s treasurer had asked their data officer to report the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The footage appeared to have been posted to Mr Khan’s public Instagram account, showing him sitting in a driver’s seat.

The camera flips to show the steering wheel as the car drives down the motorway.

It is unclear when the video was filmed, but other videos still on his Instagram appear to show him recording while driving in October 2022 and June 2023.

At the time, Mr Khan said the video was “very old” and that he would not be posting anything similar in the future.

But he faced calls at the time from Labour to withdraw as a candidate.

The first unsigned email addressed to Green Party members that went out last week claims that a committee meeting on April 8 this year had voted to deselect Mr Khan.

The email received by Green Party members in Bolton (Image: Public)

It said they took this decision after The Bolton News published an article about Mr Khan’s driving, and says further social media footage emerged of him “using guns”.

But the email said that since the deadline for nominations was at 4pm the very next day, April 9, this meant deselecting him was “not attainable”.

It said: “The committee continue to be in conversations about how we deal with this, and if we are in agreement, the remaining funds for the Halliwell ward’s campaign instead will be reallocated to other target wards.”

The video referred to in the email appeared to show Mr Khan filming himself driving (Image: Social media)

It added: “Furthermore, road safety is a key area the branch will be campaigning on due to the tragic loss of our branch secretary Vicki Attenborough in a road accident in December.”

In response, Mr Khan has said he believes his opponents within the Green Party have been trying to “demonise” him.

He said: “I am a young person entering politics for the first time as I feel my values align with the Green Party and especially their stance on Palestine.

“From day one, I feel that certain opposition parties felt threatened by my candidacy, as I grew up in Halliwell and know so many people, and the attacks against me began very quickly.

“However, more surprising to me was that a very small faction within our own local Green Party has also been very aggressive towards me, and I am still trying to figure out if that is to do with my being Asian, Muslim or something else?

“It has come to a head now as in my opinion, they have clearly broken data protection law in their unruly quest to demonise me.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the many great wider members of the Green Party who have reached out to support me through this whole episode, which has been invaluable to me.”

The national Green Party has been approached for comment.

Also standing in Halliwell are Philip Booth for Reform UK, Conservative Elizabeth Anne Elliott, Labour’s Safwaan Patel and Liberal Democrat Caroline Anne Turner-Preece.

The election will be held on Thursday, May 7.

DeChambeau’s LIV contract is up at the end of this season and he was looking to sign a lucrative new deal before Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced it was set to pull its financial support, with reports, external suggesting he wants $500m (£370m) to stay.

The two-time US Open winner said he was “completely shocked” by the PIF announcement as he believed it would finance LIV Golf until 2032.

“I haven’t had any communication. And unfortunately, things are moving on in a different direction. Obviously, they wanted to move on,” he said on Tuesday.

LIV Golf, which caused a major split in 2022 when it started luring star names away from the PGA Tour with the offer of huge pay increases, is now searching to find replacement financial investment under a new independent board.

DeChambeau, who joined LIV in 2022, turned down the chance to return to the PGA Tour earlier this year under a returning member programme.

“The egos need to get dropped,” DeChambeau said.

“Everybody needs to come in with a level-headed playing field, with an opportunistic mindset to grow the game of golf.

“That’s why I came over here. That’s why I do what I do on YouTube.”

The 30-year-old was a ‘temporary resident’ in Vietnam at the time of his death

A Cambridgeshire man died of ‘traumatic injuries’ after a crash in Vietnam, an inquest has heard. Luke Khushil Vaja, aged 30, died on April 16, 2025 in Da Nang City, Vietnam. A written inquest into his death, carried out by Coroner Elizabeth Gray, concluded he died of “multiple traumatic injuries”.

The inquest read that Vietnam Police were called to a single-vehicle crash at the intersection of Tran Hung Dao, Le Van Duyet, Van Don, Nai Hien Dong Ward, Son Tra District, Da Nang City, Vietnam at around 6.25am on April 16. Mr Vaja was found dead by police at the scene, next to a two-wheeled motorbike.

A police report said the incident was a “self-inflicted traffic accident”. The motorbike found next to Mr Vaja was noted to be “slightly damaged”.

After his death, Mr Vaja was brought back to the UK for a CT post mortem to be carried out. This post mortem confirmed his cause of death which was “consistent with reports of a single-vehicle collision”.

The inquest also read that Mr Vaja’s family requested more details from Vietnam Police, including CCTV footage, images of the crash and blood test results. The family has not yet received this.

The family were also advised by the police force that an “investigation is still in progress”. Coroner Gray expressed her condolences to the family and friends of Mr Vaja.

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