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How to dress better for the planet – and your budget

Buying vintage and bespoke is great, but when you do need to buy off the rack, start with a few UK brands making sustainable and affordable garments

Last year, in the interest of sustainable fashion, I joined a pledge only to buy five new pieces of clothing. Despite thinking of myself as someone who doesn’t really shop, I found the restriction a real chore. Unless you’re buying vintage or spending a fortune, the dilemma of how to engage in the fun and newness of fashion without contributing to its environmental footprint is, it turns out, nearly universal: data in a new report reveals 74% of people want to dress more sustainably but most don’t know how to go about it.

The report – released by multi-brand retailer Zalando – found that 39% of consumers find sustainable garments too expensive and 27% say they are hard to identify. It’s little wonder sustainable fashion remains plagued by vague claims, convoluted supply chains and a call-out culture that’s left brands reluctant to promote initiatives to customers on the lookout for greenwashing.

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Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for bubble tea ice-cream sundaes | The sweet spot

You’ll have fun assembling the layers of intriguing flavours and textures for this Asian-inspired dessert

I absolutely adore bubble tea: it’s such a fun drink. I find it impossible to be anywhere near Chinatown in London without ordering one, and the brown sugar milk tea flavour is my go-to. The “bubble” refers to the balls of tapioca that are cooked until chewy, a texture I find so pleasing; if you like mochi, this will be right up your street.

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Denmark to tackle deepfakes by giving people copyright to their own features

Amendment to law will strengthen protection against digital imitations of people’s identities, government says

The Danish government is to clamp down on the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes by changing copyright law to ensure that everybody has the right to their own body, facial features and voice.

The Danish government said on Thursday it would strengthen protection against digital imitations of people’s identities with what it believes to be the first law of its kind in Europe.

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‘We just want to stop people being murdered’: Kneecap on Palestine, protest and provocation

Exclusive: The Irish rap trio have recently faced censure and a court case, but have also had support for their pro-Palestine stance. Ahead of a Glastonbury appearance deemed ‘inappropriate’ by Keir Starmer, they argue the backlash against them is a deliberate distraction

In April, the Irish-language rap trio Kneecap performed two sets at Coachella, the California music festival attended by 250,000 people. As is commonplace at the group’s shows, Kneecap displayed a message stating: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” and the words “Fuck Israel. Free Palestine”. Mo Chara, one of the group’s members, told the audience: “The Palestinians have nowhere to go. It’s their fucking home and they’re bombing them from the skies. If you’re not calling it a genocide, what the fuck are you calling it?”

Within a week, Kneecap’s US booking agent had dropped them, Fox News had likened the statements to “Nazi Germany”, a handful of summer shows had been cancelled, and two videos from 2023 and 2024 had resurfaced of the group on stage saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory,” and “Up Hezbollah, up Hamas”. The former statement attracted criticism from the families of murdered MPs Jo Cox and David Amess, leading the band to apologise – “we never intended to cause you hurt” – and to reject “any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual”. While saying “we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah”, they also described the recirculation of the videos as a “smear campaign” against them, with the footage “deliberately taken out of all context”.

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