• Bash F5 or use or auto-refresher for the latest updates • Send your chit-chat to paul.doyle@guardian.co.uk • Follow Barcelona v Shakhtar Donetsk here 30 min: Nice play by Torres! Folowed by rubbish play by Torres! First he tricked his way cannily past Rafael and offloaded to Zhirkov, then he took the Russian’s return pass on his chest 10 yards from goal … and volleyed the ball backwards to safety. 28 min: Many feared United would be overpowered in midfield (er, I may even have indicated such myself) but the opposite has been true: Chelsea have looked jaded from the start … 26 min: It’s all too frantic from Chelsea. They lack cohesion and creativity. United look comfortable. GOAL! Chelsea 0-1 United (Rooney 24′) That’s a marvellous goal! Carrick picked out Giggs with a raking pass out to the left and the Welshman eliminated Bosingwa with a wonderful first touch before pulling the ball smartly back for Rooney, whose low sidefooter from 10 yards bounced in off the butt of the post. You have to say that’s magnificent. 21 min: Like Torres virtually every time he has got the ball so far, Rooney has just squandered a potential chance with a goofy first-touch. Far too many elementary errors in this dull fare so far. 19 min: A decent move by Chelsea! It culiminated in Ramires feeding Drogba, who had peeled away to the right-hand side of the box before blasting a ferocious shot at goal. Van der Sar tips over acrobatically. 18 min: Like a skunk in the throes of child-birth, Torres is having a stinker. 17 min: Torres and Cole get in a dither on the left, allowing United to nick the ball and hurtle forward. The visitors are starting to look the more coherent side … 15 min: After a bright spell of possession by United, Evra wins a corner. Giggs delivers an out-swinger, Drogba wafts to the edge of the box, where Park seizes upon it and drives for goal. It deflects off Bosingwa and out for another corner. 13 min: Decent play by Carrick to track back and dispossess Drogba. So far the midfielder has belied those pre-match fears about his softness. 11 min: It’s high-energy stuff so far but mostly predictable and imprecise. A good avert for not letting English teams play each other in Europe … 9 min: Bosingwa’s speed and attacking intent is causing United plenty of bother down the right, but most of the Portuguese’s crosses have been wayward so far, which has reprieved United. 7 min: Evra dozily gives the ball away to Torres, who sprints down the left but decides against taking on the covering Carrick, and instead sends a tame shot into Van der Sar’s arms from 20 yards. 5 min: Drogba unleashes what may very well be the worst shot of his career. The ball lands among the United fans, who don’t bother to try to contain their laughter. 4 min: Giggs lumps it long towards Hernandez. Terry heads it easily clear. United are going to have to come up with something better than that if they’re to grab an away goal. 2 min: Bosingwa skins Park down the right and flips a fine cross towards the near post. Torres is poised to meet it but Ferdinand intervenes with a superb tackle to divert it away. United then tip down the other hand but their progress is halted by a late tackle from Essien on Rooney. 1 min: Vidic perpetrates his first foul on Torres after 37 seconds. More will surely follow. How many will the bull-runner tolerate? 1 min: United kick-oof and immediately launch it towards Valencia on the right. Cole wins the aerial duel. 7:42pm: “I’m sure I am one among many United fans who are pleased to see Nani on the bench tonight after his recent comments on lack of freedom,” squelches Michael Hardiman. “I’ve seen all united’s games and he has plenty of freedom. Fergie is making sure his flat track bullies, Nani and Berbatov, are going to be up for it v. Fulham on Saturday, arguably a more important game given the fact that 19 league tites puts us at the top of the heap. He really is a master.” 7:38pm: The teams are in the tunnel. All of them silent and stony-faced. 7:35pm: “Tough one this,” spurts Grame Neill. “Who do I want to lose more? Chelsea, with the preening tedious macho humbug of England’s Brave John Terry and his one man mission to personify testosterone? Or United, starring the preening tedious macho humbug of self appointed Big Man Wayne Rooney and his big box of sweary tricks?” Preamble: [Adopt Barry Davies-esque tone] Look at those teams … just look at those teams! Manchester United have conceded fewer goals than any of the teams remaining in the tournament but Chelsea know they are defensively dodgy nonetheless and may go for the jugular tonight: Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba start together and attempting to contain them will be Nemanja Vidic – who has frequently seemed overwhelmed in recent weeks, including when he was sent off on his last visit to Stamford Bridge – and Rio Ferdinand, who may or may not be fit but, either way, is a safer option than Jonny Evans; whether Chris Smalling would have been a better inclusion, on the other hand, remains to be seen – then again, given Torres’s tendency to float like a butterfly and sting like a former frontman of The Police (every little thing he does is pap), perhaps United are confident they can survive whatever the hosts can hurl at them and perhaps plunder a goal on the counter, especially with Chelsea shorn of the magnificently-coiffed David Luiz? Mandatory deployment of the one sentence that can be uttered before every single football match at any level without the slighest fear of contradiction: Midfield is going to be a key battleground here. The TV folks are predicting that Park will be stationed on the left but he will surely spent a lot of his time in-field, otherwise Carrick and Giggs, haradly a dynami duo, will certainly be overrun by Essien, Lampard and Ramires (who continually cuts in from the right). Teams: Chelsea: Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Lampard, Essien, Zhirkov; Drogba, Torres Subs: Turnbull, Benayoun, Mikel, Malouda, Ferreira, Kalou, Anelka United: Van der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Giggs, Carrick, Park; Hernandez, Rooney Subs: Kuszczak, Berbatov, Smalling, Nani, Scholes, Evans, Gibson Referee: Alberto Mallenco (Spain … in fact, he’s from Pamplona, so, in the event of him making a bad decision, feel free to accuse him of being full of bull) Champions League Chelsea Manchester United Paul Doyle guardian.co.uk
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Libyan leader condemns Nato action and says his opponents are al-Qaida members in three-page letter to US president Muammar Gaddafi has appealed directly to Barack Obama to halt what the Libyan leader called “an unjust war”. In a rambling three-page letter obtained by the Associated Press, Gaddafi implored Obama to stop the Nato-led air campaign, which he called an “unjust war against a small people of a developing country”, and wished the president luck in next year’s election. “You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action,” Gaddafi wrote in the letter, which was sent to the US state department and forwarded to the White House. “I am sure that you are able to shoulder the responsibility for that.” The letter continued: “To serving world peace … friendship between our peoples … and for the sake of economic, and security cooperation against terror, you are in a position to keep Nato off the Libyan affair for good.” The White House press secretary Jay Carney confirmed that a letter from Gaddafi had been received – and appeared to dismiss the Libyan’s appeal for a ceasefire. “The conditions the president laid out are clear,” Carney told reporters who were travelling with Obama to New York. Addressing Obama as “our son” and “excellency”, Gaddafi said his country had been hurt more “morally” than “physically” by the Nato campaign and that a democratic society could not be built through missiles and aircraft. He also repeated his claim that his foes, particularly those now in control of the city of Benghazi, are members of al-Qaida. Gaddafi said his country had already been unfairly subjected to US and international sanctions, and in 1986 to “a direct military armed aggression” ordered by Ronald Reagan, who called the leader the “Mad Dog of the Middle East”. Although he listed a litany of complaints, Gaddafi said he bore no ill will toward Obama. “We have been hurt more morally [than] physically because of what had happened against us in both deeds and words by you,” he wrote. “Despite all this you will always remain our son whatever happened. We still pray that you continue to be president of the USA. We Endeavour and hope that you will gain victory in the new election campaign.” The letter, dated 5 April 2011 in Tripoli, is signed “Mu’aumer Qaddaffi, Leader of the Revolution”. Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Nato Arab and Middle East unrest United States Barack Obama Obama administration US politics guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Stu Varney Feigns Outrage Over Affordable Care Act Provision Benefitting Koch Industries
April 6, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Watch Stu Varney get all conspiratorial with Megyn Kelly over the early retirement health care reinsurance provisions in the Affordable Care Act and laugh. In classic Varney-esque fashion, he tries to paint it as some secret government subsidy for unions and other left-wing organizations, completely ignoring the fact that some of his own conservative heroes have availed themselves of it much because — wait for it — it’s a reinsurance provision, easing some of the burdensome costs for corporations who maintain health insurance on early retirees between age 55 and 65. Here’s an easily accessible fact sheet published by the White House which would have helped Stu not to look like a raving idiot on TV yesterday morning. Even the Republico Politico did a better job of it than Megyn and Stu, and he surely could’ve put a call into Koch Industries. They were approved for the program last year so they can save a few extra bucks at taxpayer expense, too. Horrors. Obamacare doing something good for Koch Industries. Perish the thought. The ERRP program has provided more than 1,300 employers with nearly $1.8 billion in reimbursements to help ensure access to health benefits for early retirees, according to the CMS memo. If Stu can’t be bothered to check any facts before he spews, why should we trust anything he reports on business?
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Four-part ITV drama, scripted by Julian Fellowes, will be screened in 2012 to coincide with centenary of disaster Linus Roache and Geraldine Somerville are to head the cast of Julian Fellowes’s dramatisation of the Titanic story. Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey, is scripting a series to be screened by ITV next year, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the “unsinkable” ship’s disastrous maiden voyage. Roache, who has appeared in US series Law & Order and films such as Batman Begins, recently appeared in Coronation Street alongside his father William Roache (Ken Barlow). Somerville is known for her role in the Harry Potter films , playing the young wizard’s mother Lily, as well as appearing in BBC1′s Survivors. The cast for the four-part series also includes Celia Imrie, Toby Jones and Perdita Weeks. It begins filming in Hungary later this month, made by Bafta-winning producer Nigel Stafford Clark, whose successes have included Bleak House and Warriors. Television industry The Titanic Drama Television ITV guardian.co.uk
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Haddock flakes keep their shape and make the perfect partner for peppery watercress When we talk about comfort food, fishcakes are always mentioned. Tasty lumps of potato and fish, gently fried – what’s not to like? Salmon is the classic filling, but haddock works just as well. It has a juicy texture and the dense flakes don’t get too mushy when bound with other ingredients. Haddock comes into season at the beginning of May; if you can’t find it in your local fishmonger yet buy it frozen, or use hake instead. I have also added in watercress, which is currently in peak season. It has a delicious, peppery bitterness, which contrasts well with the haddock, and is enhanced by the lemon rind, another ingredient I like to use in fish- cakes. Like most recipes, you can adapt this one by adding other fish and herbs depending on your preference. These fishcakes can be frozen for up to three months, so if you have time make a big batch. They are really moist so you don’t need any sauce – just a squeeze of lemon, or a spoon of mayonnaise if you must. Serve with a watercress or tomato salad. Serves 4 300ml of milk A sprig of thyme 1 clove of garlic 500g haddock fillet 300g floury potatoes eg Désirée, peeled and diced Salt and pepper Lemon rind from half a lemon 1 large handful of watercress leaves, chopped. Extra for salad 3 tbsp plain flour for dusting 3 tbsp breadcrumbs for coating 1 egg, beaten Olive oil In a pan, add the milk, thyme and garlic and bring to the boil. Add the haddock. Lower the heat and simmer for three minutes, then leave to one side – the fish will continue to cook as it cools. Bring the potatoes to the boil in salted water and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain well and mash lightly with a fork so the texture is still coarse. Discard the milk liquid and flake the haddock. Then add it to the crushed potatoes. Mix gently so you do not make everything mushy. Add some seasoning, the lemon rind and chopped watercress, and mould into eight fishcakes. Allow to sit in the fridge for five minutes. Place the flour, breadcrumbs and beaten egg mixture separately on three plates. Dip both sides of the fishcakes into the flour, then the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs. Shake off any excess. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the fishcakes in batches, turning every couple of minutes to evenly colour. They should take around five minutes. Check they are heated through by sticking a skewer into the middle and feeling on removal if it is hot. If necessary, flash through a hot oven for a couple of minutes. Serve with a squeeze of lemon. • Angela Hartnett is chef patron at Murano restaurant and consults at Whitechapel Gallery and Dining Room, London Fish recipes Food & drink Angela Hartnett guardian.co.uk
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A new exhibition reveals the astonishing habits of butterflies – including one that drinks a caiman’s tears The sandy-bottomed puddle in a tent on the Natural History Museum ‘s front lawn in London does not look the most alluring of aphrodisiacs. But this shallow pool filled with an elixir of water, salts and minerals will be lapped up by hundreds of male butterflies eager to impress their mates. Bundles of minerals extracted from the puddle will be presented to females, helping them lay more eggs in Sensational Butterflies , a new exhibition showing how these insects taste, smell, emit surprising squeaks – and are daring enough to drink the tears of a caiman. The swallowtails, blue morphos and other live tropical butterflies will be joined for the first time at the museum by the common birdwing, a spectacular black-and-yellow creature and one of the largest butterflies in the world. The very largest of the birdwings, the Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing – named in honour of Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII – is critically endangered, and could not be brought to the exhibition. Another birdwing caused Victorian entomologist Alfred Russell Wallace such excitement that he “felt much more like fainting than I have done when in apprehension of immediate death” when he first caught one, forcing him to retire with a splitting headache for the rest of the day. Luke Brown , the manager of the butterfly house, said it was a great thrill rather than a headache to release the common birdwing into the exhibition after being satisfied for the first time that he could obtain specimens from a sustainable farm. All the tropical butterflies in the museum’s butterfly house are bred from common species in their country of origin including Belize, Costa Rica and parts of Africa and Asia. Their chrysalises are packed in cotton wool and flown to Britain, whereupon Brown and his colleagues painstakingly glue each one to a branch in the hatchery. Visitors can then watch the butterflies struggle from their chrysalises, slowly pump up their crumpled wings and take flight. “I love butterflies because they always tickle,” said Sabina O’Harvey, aged 5, one of a group of children from Nightingale primary school in Hackney given a preview of the exhibition, which opens on 12 April. “One landed on my nose and it was ticklish. They were all beautiful.” “I like all of them. I like them when they fly on to my hand, and I like them when they drink,” said six-year-old Hannah. “I’d like them in my home. I’m going to get two and I’m going to feed them every day.” Obsessed with butterflies ever since he walked into a butterfly house as a six-year-old 30 years ago, Brown admitted he still struggles to comprehend the wonder of metamorphosis, and the fact that in as little as one week caterpillars break down and rebuild themselves into butterflies. “To create a completely different creature from this biological gloop is just a natural wonder of the world,” he said. The exhibition reveals there is more than just the miracle of metamorphosis in a butterfly’s life. Scientists are still learning how butterflies use their senses and communicate with each other through sight, smell and sound. Butterflies feed off blood, sweat and tears. Although there are no live butterflies or moths that feed on blood at the museum, there are some tear-drinkers, including Dryas iulia , which will deliberately plunge its proboscis in the eye of a caiman to irritate it and cause it to produce tears, which it then drinks. As the exhibition reveals, butterflies taste with their feet, patting leaves to establish if they are suitable for laying their eggs on. Butterflies can see more colours than any other animal and the exhibition allows visitors to experience what it is like to see through a compound eye. In the butterfly house, visitors can crawl through a tunnel as if they were caterpillars becoming a butterfly and listen to the strange noises emitted by pupae. If disturbed, some pupae will squeak loudly, a defensive mechanism to scare off potential predators. The exhibition reveals that the noisiest butterfly is the cracker butterfly, which makes its cracking sound to communicate with others as well as to warn off predators. Blue morpho butterflies, which are flying in the exhibition, have ears at the base of their wings which, when magnified, look a bit like fried eggs. A scientist is currently investigating whether these ears are used to detect prey: the spectacular morpho is often eaten by bats. Among the first visitors were children who were amazed to learn that lemons grow on trees, while several said they had never seen a butterfly in the wild or in their parks or gardens at home. For some, however, the miraculous sensory powers of butterflies were a bit alarming. Samuel Jacob, five, concluded: “I think they’re scary.” Butterflies Endangered species Wildlife Conservation Animals Insects Museums Natural History Museum Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Mike Pence made no secret of where his priorities are when it comes to governing. Pandering to the extremists in the religious right comes before the reproductive health of women, especially poor women and he’d prefer to shut down the government to funding Planned Parenthood. Just shameless. Media Matters Political Correction has more — Would Rep. Pence Shut Down The Government Over Planned Parenthood Funding? “Of Course” : This morning on MSNBC, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) restated his commitment to his moral crusade against Planned Parenthood, once again letting down the Americans who voted for Republicans in hopes they would focus on job creation. There’s no clearer evidence of the GOP’s misplaced priorities than Pence’s declaration today that “of course” he would be willing to “hold up this entire budget” — which would result in a government shutdown — over the defunding of Planned Parenthood. WILLIE GEIST (CO-HOST): Are you willing to hold up this entire budget over defunding Planned Parenthood? PENCE: Well— well of course I am. I think the American people have begun to learn that the largest abortion provider in the country is also the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X, and they want to see that come to an end . I think there’s a broad consensus in this country, regardless of where you stand on the subject of abortion, there’s a broad consensus for decades now opposing public funding of abortion and abortion providers. … We’re going to dig in and we’re going to fight for the principle that taxpayers should not have to subsidize the largest abortion provider in the country, namely Planned Parenthood of America. And as they noted, or course Mike Pence is lying here: The funds Planned Parenthood receives through Title X go to family planning and health services other than abortion — things like pap smears and birth control. Pence’s defunding efforts have nothing to do with separating federal tax dollars from abortion funding, since they’re already separate; his amendment will undermine the ability of Planned Parenthood to provide any services because they also provide abortions — a much more radical objective. Perhaps that’s why he’s had to manufacture the “broad consensus” he claims support him; in fact, a majority of voters oppose cutting off federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Being willing to shut down the government in the name of a rather meaningless moral crusade is such an extreme position that co-host Joe Scarborough (a former Republican congressman) incredulously asked Pence to clarify — twice.
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Artists inhabit the borders between fact and fiction – no wonder their works and lives have inspired writers from Vasari to Dan Brown I recently read Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray for the first time since I was a teenager. I understood what was going on a lot better than I did when I was 14 and had not heard of a gay subtext. But it also triggered me to think about why art inspires so many good stories. In Wilde’s scintillating novel, a painter creates a portrait of a young man he is in love with. All his unrequited, indeed unspoken, passion goes into the painting, which somehow makes it more than a passive work of art. It takes on magical, mysterious properties, and when young Dorian wishes for the portrait to age and decay while he is preserved in his pristine beauty, he gets his wish. This story belongs to a particular class of art fictions – tales about works of art. Other examples include The Unknown Masterpiece by Balzac and The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allan Poe. If writers can tell such stories about works of art, imagine what they can do with the lives and milieux of artists. From Emile Zola’s The Masterpiece , a dark portrait of the French 19th-century avant-garde, to Michel Houellebecq’s La Carte et le Territoire , which satirises the contemporary art world, novelists have had their fun with artists. This goes back to the very origins of artistic celebrity. The first great work of art criticism and art history, Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists , published in 1550 with an expanded second edition in 1568, is sometimes dismissed by pedants as nothing more than a collection of sensational anecdotes about artists and their works. In fact it is nothing less than a collection of great stories about art. Vasari saw art as an adventure, its creators as heroes or anti-heroes whose travails make terrific tales. Have you heard the one about Andrea del Castagno murdering Domenico Veneziano? He relates the story of these 15th-century artists who took their rivalry to the point of actual murder. It is not true: the supposed killer predeceased his victim. But Vasari’s compelling murder mystery says a lot about the obsessive rivalries of the Renaissance, so it remains artistically true. Dorian Gray would have understood. Vasari created the modern image of the artist by telling stories that hover on the borders between fact and fiction. His contemporary Benvenuto Cellini, sculptor and criminal, told his own life in a way that just as richly weaves reality with fantasy. It is no wonder that writers have continued to recognise in art and artists a tantalising subject matter that lingers between truth and lies, between the plausible and the fabulous. Cellini’s life was turned into an opera by Berlioz; Vasari’s life of Michelangelo was spun into Irving Stone’s bestseller The Agony and the Ecstasy , which was filmed with Charlton Heston. Since then we have had the life of Vermeer in Girl with a Pearl Earring and the commercial king of them all, The Da Vinci Code. All these fictions exist in the enigmatic borderland between art and life. If life is real and art is an illusion, does the life of an artist glide between illusion and truth? Do artists take on the unreality of their works? Or perhaps, as in The Picture of Dorian Gray, it is a two-way relationship, and art reveals truths that the illusion of everyday life conceals. Either way, art is easily strange enough to inspire many more stories. Art Dan Brown Oscar Wilde Jonathan Jones guardian.co.uk
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Rewards for World Cup victory over Sri Lanka include big bonuses, free travel, luxury homes … and a road for captain’s ancestral village For one small Indian village, the nation’s cricket World Cup win last weekend means more than a boost to national pride. It means a paved surface on the dirt track that currently leads to the nearest road, three miles away. Since beating Sri Lanka in Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium on Saturday night, the Indian cricket team has been showered with gifts: Indian cricketing authorities announced a 10m Indian rupees (£143,000) bonus for each player. Sheila Dikshit, chief minister of Delhi, also announced an award of 20m rupees (£286,000) for the captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and additional sums for the four players from the Indian capital. Now Dhoni’s ancestral village is finally getting a paved road to replace the dirt track that links it to the nearest highway, according to Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, the state’s chief minister. The road to Lwali in northern Uttarakhand state – population: “60 families” – will be built within four to five months, officials said. Celebrations have continued throughout the week since India’s first World Cup win since 1983, and the players have been amply rewarded. The winning players and their families will be allowed to travel free in first class air-conditioned cabins on the Indian railways for the rest of their lives. One private airline has pledged a lifetime of free travel on domestic and international flights for all 15 players in the team, along with their wives and children. Dhoni has been made an honorary officer – a lieutenant-colonel – in the Indian army and the government of Jharkhand state, one of the poorest in the country, said it would give a plot of land to the captain to set up a cricket academy there. “The Jharkhand government has decided to allot the land to help Dhoni to fulfil his long-cherished dream to set up a cricket academy,” the deputy chief minister, Sudesh Mahto, said. One major property company announced it was presenting the whole team with homes worth a total of £1.2m in a new development in a satellite town of Delhi. A spokesman said the company was not planning on renegotiating its deal with Dhoni, who already acts as its “brand ambassador”, in the light of the win. He said that the 29-year-old sportsman, who currently endorses around a dozen brands, was “not business-minded”. Industry analysts say that Dhoni, who previously charged around £1m to endorse a brand, can now charge at least twice that. Dhoni’s father left the village of Lwali 30 years ago, for the town of Ranchi in the state of Bihar. “We have heard that there will be [a] road for Lwali,” Dhanpat Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain’s uncle told one reporter who visited the village. “But I am not impressed as many such announcements come to nothing.” Indian politicians frequently promise such developments for immediate publicity or political gain. Currently villagers face a three-mile walk. The capital is 200 miles and seven hours’ drive away. Another problem is water and sanitation. Since the victory, a local member of parliament has pledged £1,500 worth of government funds for toilets and a well. India Cricket World Cup 2011 Cricket Jason Burke guardian.co.uk
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The disappearance of Becky Godden-Edwards makes one wonder about the people in one’s own life who simply wisp away Some parents joke about the missing-child moment as a rite of passage, but when it actually happens, it doesn’t feel particularly amusing. From the first instant of missing them, every moment of the child’s absence cranks the agony a little higher. At one minute, you’re scanning the surrounding area; at two, you’re eying up exits and road crossings; at three, you become fearful of strangers; at four, you’re wondering if it would be excessive to scream for help; at five, you’re not wondering any more. It isn’t the separation that makes these moments so dreadful, of course. It’s the not knowing. As long as your child is out of sight, the only thing you can imagine are the possibilities. How far could they have got, and who could be with them? Do they know how to look after themselves in this or that situation? Did you tell them everything they need to know? And in the rush of terrible fates, the thread of hope that wherever they are, they’re OK and they’ll find their way back to you. And mostly, they do – although the older they get, the longer they might take to do it, with broken curfews and unplanned sleepovers all part of the teenage toolkit for causing parental anguish. Sometimes, horrifically, they don’t. This, of course, is the distressing case for the family of Becky Godden-Edwards , who went missing eight years ago after becoming estranged from her family, and whose body was finally found in a shallow grave and identified this week. (Taxi driver Chris Halliwell, who has already been charged with the murder of Sian O’Callaghan, will be questioned over the discovery.) The family were informed on what would have been her 29th birthday. Godden-Edwards had been dead for several years while her family continued to look for her. They discussed hiring a private detective and last year, her mother posted what is in retrospect a devastatingly poignant notice on the Missing You website: “Karen Edwards is trying to trace the location of Becky she has been missing for 8 years, and I need to contact her urgent or just to know that she is ok! can anyone help?” They approached the police, but Godden-Edwards was never officially reported as missing. Her relatives, no doubt, went through just the same contemplation of what-ifs as anyone in a similar situation, but Godden-Edwards was an adult rather than a helpless infant, and that thread of hope would surely have remained throughout the near-decade that she was missing. There is something exceptionally cruel about the thought of living every day in the faint expectation of a loved one’s return, only to be informed that they have in fact been buried for years, and nobody else noticed. Because the other part of this story is that Godden-Edwards was not seemingly missed by anyone but her relatives. Whatever friends or associates had replaced her family, they seem to have let her slip from their lives without thinking her loss worth reporting. The police have appealed for anyone who knew her after 2002 to come forward with information that could help them reconstruct her life – and, hopefully, help discover how she died. In such cases, I imagine that the investigation is a bit like trying to catch a ghost, tugging at the worn fibres of memories in an effort to weave an existence back together. After all, how much do you know about the many people who pass through your life? The ones you’ve chatted to, maybe even socialised with, and who then seem to simply wisp away. Would you realise they had gone? Would you wonder if anyone else was looking? Because, sad as Godden-Edwards’s case is, at least someone was waiting for her. Out there, somewhere, maybe near to you, are the people so lost than no one will know when they’re gone. Crime Sarah Ditum guardian.co.uk
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