Robert De Niro: Me & My Gay Dad

The legendary actor shares the story of his father, an artist who struggled for recognition as the city changed around him

Many of us think we know Robert De Niro. We know him as Travis Bickle or Vito Corleone or any number of other gangsters or bad guys. His ability to combine corrupted virtue with deep sorrow and wit — along with a fearsome sensuality — has made him a film hero with a tough exterior. Perhaps that’s why it’s so shocking to see him shake and sob as he talks about his late father, who lived openly as a gay man.

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Thomas Tait Wins LVMH Young Designer Prize

Canadian designer Thomas Tait wins a €300,000 prize and a year of coaching at LVMH

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Liberia Goes from War Zone To Surfing Mecca

Forget surfing favorites like Cape Verde and Thailand - the best kept secret in the world of riding waves is on the West African coast

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Rio's hottest place to eat – the favelas

Rio de Janeiro's favelas have long been lawless no-go zones – but now that some have driven out the drug gangs, their restaurants are attracting increasing numbers of tourists

A steaming pot of seafood rice arrives at the table with a glass of chilled rosé. The owner, who would be looking dapper in his chef's whites if it weren't for the shorts and flip flops on his bottom half, spoons a generous helping of squid, mussels, plump prawns and a langoustine on to my plate. There's just one thing that sets the scene apart from the cliches of a touristy lunch in Rio de Janeiro – I'm in the middle of Rocinha, Brazil's biggest favela, sitting in a narrow alleyway outside a restaurant with no name and no menu. There were no street signs to follow either. As soon as I strolled into Rocinha I needed directions to find Travessa Gregório 5. Happily, a vendor in a nearby market abandoned his stall to lead me.

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Per-Anders Jörgensen photographs staff meals at top restaurants

It’s not just what the customers eat that matters. Behind the scenes, staff and chefs sit down for the most important meal of the day

As a documentary photographer, the most important thing for me has always been the human story. This project has been particularly fascinating because it is a window on to a hidden side of the people who make the restaurant industry happen.

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Nepal's bogus orphan trade fuelled by rise in 'voluntourism'

Poor parents routinely duped into sending children to homes where owners use them to extract money from foreign visitors

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The science of inequality

INTRODUCTION—Science's special section on the science of inequality uses fresh waves of data to explore the origins, impact, and future of inequality around the world. [Read the full introduction]

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Bhutan's forgotten people

A two-part series follows ethnic Nepalese after they were expelled by Bhutan and found themselves stateless.

In the early 1990s, Bhutanese of Nepali origin suddenly found themselves stripped of their citizenship. Bhutan enacted a royal decree of single national identity, forcing more than 100,000 ethnic Nepalese to leave. For the next two decades, they lived in refugee camps in eastern Nepal. Almost two decades later, Bhutan remains silent on their repatriation
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Chelsea 2014 - a designer's view

Garden designer Tom Hoblyn picks his favourite planting combinations from this year's Chelsea flower show

Coming up with new and exciting plant combinations is always a challenge at Chelsea, not least because of the finite palette to draw from. The third week of May can be tricky: in a normal year, the spring bulb season is all but over and grasses have barely got going. Yes, there are all sorts of trickery one can pull to con the poor flower, but let's face it, it isn't going to be a happy plant and that could put your scheme at unnecessary risk.

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Entire Devonshire seaside village of Bantham will go on sale 'for £11.5m'

An entire seaside village and surfing beaches in Devon are expected to be put on sale by the current owners Evans Estate this weekend with an estimated asking price of £11.5 million.

Bantham village, near Kingsbridge, has a pub, harbour and over 40 homes, with about 750 acres of land expected to be included in the sale.

Bantham beach is one of the most popular surfing sites in Devon and regular visitors to the area are said to include businessman Richard Branson

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SCRUBLANDS

In 2006, while he was backpacking in Australia, the French photographer Antoine Bruy signed up with an international exchange program for volunteers who want to work on organic farms. The experience prompted a fascination with self-sufficient life styles, and, in particular, with people who have adopted them after having spent years in cities. From 2010 to 2013, Bruy travelled across a number of European mountain ranges, including the Carpathians and the Pyrenees, to document people who are trying to gain, in his words, “greater energy, food, economic, or social autonomy.” Next year, Bruy plans to continue his project, which he calls “Scrublands,” in the United States.

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Woman Monk's Fight for Equality in Thailand

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Europe goes to the polls

Although economies around Europe may be on the mend, voters’ disillusion could cause a new crisis

AFTER five gruelling years, many of Europe’s citizens must wish they could dispatch the entire political class to hellfire and torment. As it happens, the ballot for elections to the European Parliament from May 22nd to 25th does not include that option, so a record number will probably not bother to turn out. Many of those who do will back populists and extremists. Broadly anti-European parties may take well over a quarter of the seats. The French National Front, the Dutch Party of Freedom and the UK Independence Party are likely to win their highest vote ever. This will cause domestic political ructions, but it is also an indictment of the European Union, a project that millions of voters have come to associate with hardship and failure.

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The Playlist: pop

Listen to pop's latest and greatest, from 5 Seconds Of Summer's euphemism riddled romp, Mikky Ekko's Michael Jackson impersonation and a remix of Beatrice Eli's coming out anthem

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• Listen to last month's pop playlist

A GREEK MIRACLE- ANAVRA VILLAGE
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 Video:How to Make Garam Masala

Garam masala is a delicious finishing spice used in Indian cooking. See how to make your own garam masala using just a saute pan and a spice grinder.

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veg  fried rice recipe, how to make vegetable fried rice | rice recipes

Veg  fried rice recipe – one of our favorite indo chinese recipe. whenever we order an indo chinese menu then veg fried rice is always there. along with fried rice we usually order different indo chinese vegetables recipes or snacks as we like to explore food. however vegetable fried rice has always stayed permanent in our choice of menu for indo chinese take aways or in restaurants.

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World News in Picture

 A Large White-faced Darter (Leucorrhinia pectoralis) rests on a flower in New Delhi

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No Place to Hide review – Glenn Greenwald's compelling account of NSA/GCHQ surveillance

This powerful account of the Edward Snowden case reveals the threat posed by spying

 Before Glenn Greenwald appeared on Newsnight last October to argue the case for the Snowden revelations on a link from Brazil, the presenter that evening, Kirsty Wark, popped into the green room to have a word with the other guests on the show, one of whom was Pauline Neville-Jones, formerly chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee. The interview, she apparently told them, would show that Greenwald was just "a campaigner and an activist", a phrase she later used disparagingly on air.

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 UJKER(Bus Station) HUNGARY

NELLIE BLY’S LESSONS IN WRITING WHAT YOU WANT TO

 There are certain nonfiction writers—often critics, sometimes journalists—whose particular talents and tastes seem especially well matched to their era. One thinks of George Orwell, intellectually and morally lucid just when the world needed someone to be; Joan Didion, naturally paranoid, primed to sense and to describe societal doom; Pauline Kael, a critic whose influential career, not by accident, coincided with a golden age of American cinema.

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Falafel recipe, how to make falafel recipe | falafel with chickpeas

Falafel recipe with step by step photos – falafel is a lebanese deep fried balls or patties made from white chickpeas/kabuli chana and/or fava beans. they are usually stuffed in pita bread with tahini, hummus or a vegetable salad or a assortment of veggies. absolutely wonderful and awesome snack…

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 Call for killing of birds deemed health hazard splits conservationists

Some of Britain's most familiar species, such as the robin and starling, could end up in the firing line under new measures to allow destruction of nests and eggs if they present a danger

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Why doctors hide their own illnesses

Simon breathalysed himself before surgery. Johnny operated on one hour's sleep. As an increasing number of doctors feel the strain, we find out why the experts don't get help.It was the summer of 2012 when Simon, then a 37-year-old anaesthetist, found himself one morning drunk and sobbing in a London pub. Questions filled his head, foggy with booze: "How did it come to this? How did I throw it all away?"

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My Favorite Avocado Recipes

Creamy, delicious avocados are a healthy way to add tons of nutrients and flavor to your meals, from breakfast to dessert. Full of monounsaturated fat, fiber, and vitamins, this versatile super fruit can be used in so many ways, both in and out of the kitchen, as these recipes prove.

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HBW World Bird Photo Contest - Second Edition

Lynx Edicions, publisher of the Handbook of the Birds of the World and the Internet Bird Collection, together with the sponsors Avistar and Swarovski Optik, announced the winners of the Second Edition of the HBW World Bird Photo Contest on May 5, 2014.

This contest is widely regarded as one of the most important bird photography competition at world level. It aims to encourage and disseminate knowledge about birds, while at the same time inspiring creativity in the art of photography. To these ends, its focus is on photography that is ethical, grounded in the utmost respect for the conservation of birds and their habitats, and without unnecessary digital manipulation.

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Jack Monroe's potato and courgette curry recipe

Aloo dum is a filling, tasty potato dish, and the addition of courgettes gives it a fresh twist for spring suppers

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Ukrainian borscht with a spring twist – video

Cook and food writer Olia Hercules grew up in Soviet Ukraine, but her family was drawn from all over the region and she grew up eating food from Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Ossetia and Armenia. Here, Olia begins the journey into her rich culinary heritage with the classic comfort food, borscht – with a twist. At a difficult moment for Ukraine, she brings eastern Europeans to her table to celebrate a shared heritage – and pass expert judgement on her borscht

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Top 10 LGBT books for pre-teens

The last place any child should feel isolated, unwelcome or afraid is the library. Author Susie Day picks her favourite LGBTQ books for 8-to-12-year-olds

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Welcome to the Museum of the History of Science

MHS houses an unrivalled collection of early scientific instruments in the world’s oldest surviving purpose-built museum building, the Old Ashmolean on Broad Street, Oxford. We are both a department of the University of Oxford and an active public museum, offering a programme of family-friendly events, gallery tours, table talks and much more, along with taught sessions for schools.

For an introduction to the Museum and its collections, come along to one of our regular tours. Led by our award-winning volunteer guides, they take place every Thursday at 2.30 and 3.15pm and every Saturday at 11.15am and 12 noon

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Exclusive: Found after 500 years, the wreck of Christopher Columbus’s flagship the Santa Maria

More than five centuries after Christopher Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, was wrecked in the Caribbean, archaeological investigators think they may have discovered the vessel’s long-lost remains – lying at the bottom of the sea off the north coast of Haiti. It’s likely to be one of the world’s most important underwater archaeological discoveries.

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The Best Astronomy Photos of 2014 from the Astronomical League

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Fell running in the Lake District: six routes to try

The Lake District's fells offer some of the finest running trails in the UK. The authors of the new guide Wild Running, published this week, select six of their favourites

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Can Britain's food markets make a comeback?

Though squeezed by supermarkets and high street homogeny, new initiatives are helping revitalise food stalls across the UK

Foodie Fridays, morris dancers, teenage markets, stalls for just £5 for a day – over the next fortnight markets around the country will be hosting all sorts of events as part of a celebration helping to bring our markets into the 21st century.

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Istanbul is an ancient city with modern energies

ISTANBUL’S thumb-shaped landmass known as the “historical peninsula” offers magnificent Byzantine and Ottoman architecture, from the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque to centuries-old bazaars and the sprawling Topkapi Palace. With Turkish Airlines launching the first-ever nonstop Boston-Istanbul flights this week, these myriad attractions are closer than ever.

But there’s much more to Turkey’s largest metropolis than Sultanahmet and the Old City. These days, the rapidly developing area along the Bosporus between Besiktas and Karakoy, just north of the Golden Horn, offers a bit of almost everything the city’s more touristed districts are known for — history and museums, but also dining, shopping, and accommodations — along with a welcome infusion of artistic and cosmopolitan flair

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THE STRANGE TRIUMPH OF “THE LITTLE PRINCE”

Of all the books written in French over the past century, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “Le Petit Prince” is surely the best loved in the most tongues. This is very strange, because the book’s meanings—its purpose and intent and moral—still seem far from transparent, even seventy-five-plus years after its first appearance. Indeed, the startling thing, looking again at the first reviews of the book, is that, far from being welcomed as a necessary and beautiful parable, it bewildered and puzzled its readers.

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VIDEO: DAVID REMNICK INTERVIEWS PUSSY RIOT

 On Friday afternoon, during the third annual Frieze Art Fair, on Randall’s Island, David Remnick spoke with Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina, of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot. Watch the full conversation:

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13 Mexican Indigenous Words You Didn't Know You Were Using

Many Americans mistakenly view Mexicans as foreign. In fact, the indigenous people of Mexico have called North America home for a whole lot longer than the Europeans who first started populating the Americas at the close of the fifteenth century. As a reminder, here's 13 words in Nahuatl, the language of the Mexica people of Central Mexico, that English speakers use all the time -- many without knowing it.

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Michael Fassbender: five best moments

Our pick of Michael Fassbender's greatest performances to date. What others would you add to the list?

 Michael Fassbender is one of the most highly regarded actors of his generation – and seems to choose one quality film after another. He was part of a stunning ensemble cast in last year's 12 Years a Slave, is a fantastic addition to the X-Men films as Magneto, and can currently be seen starring alongside Domhnall Gleeson and Maggie Gyllenhaal in Frank.

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Stay Crafty: Etsy's HQ Reflects Billion-Dollar Site

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- If you're a struggling artist looking to cash in -- Etsy is the place to go. Last year artists sold $1.35 billion worth of goods on the site. Bloomberg's Stephanie Ruhle went inside Etsy's Brooklyn headquarters to find out if the office is just as crafty as its venders.

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Spring flowers reveal their true selves in extreme close-up – in pictures

Flowers are one of the great joys of spring, but viewing them under a scanning electron microscope uncovers a surreal, alien beauty. These images were created by the award-winning German microscopy team Eye of Science, comprising photographer Oliver Meckes and biologist Nicole Ottawa

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MasterChef 2014: Meet the semi-finalists Jack, Ping, Michael, Angela, Luke and Robert

As the MasterChef semi-finals kick off this week, we meet the six amateur cooks in the running to win the coveted title.

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10 World’s Most Beautiful National Parks

 Hortobagy, Hungary

Hortobagy National Park was the first national park in Hungary. It was established as a national park in 1973. In 1999, the Park was elected among the World Heritage sites. Hortobagy is rich with unique folklore and interesting cultural history. It’s an official refuge for wild horses and home to a number of endangered birds. The Park provides habitat for over 342 species of birds and is a bird watcher’s paradise, with pleny o fmigratory waterfowl, too.

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7 Exercises That Will Transform Your Body

This powerful exercise helps tone your glutes, strengthen your body and burn a lot of calories. To boost your calorie expenditure and raise your heart rate, you can try to do jump squats. Or stay in a squat hold with dumbbells in the hands to increase the resistance as well as feel the burn. Doing squats regularly is one of the best ways to transform your body.

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Scotland stories: Liz Sim in her secondhand wedding dress shop

As the Scottish independence referendum draws near, the Guardian's Murdo MacLeod travels around Scotland to document the lives of its diverse population. Here he meets Liz Sim, an Oxfam shop manager in Glasgow, who has set up a secondhand wedding dress shop to cater for the needs of local brides-to-beScotland stories: Liz Sim in her secondhand wedding dress shop

As the Scottish independence referendum draws near, the Guardian's Murdo MacLeod travels around Scotland to document the lives of its diverse population. Here he meets Liz Sim, an Oxfam shop manager in Glasgow, who has set up a secondhand wedding dress shop to cater for the needs of local brides-to-be

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MCA-DAY "Buddhist Monks"

Unconventional promotion for MCA-DAY-an annual tribute to musician & humanitarian, Adam "MCA" Yauch of the Beastie Boys. MCA was a devout Buddhist who fought for Tibetan independence.

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Waitrose teams up with McGough in the hope verses will open purses

Poet hopes displaying work throughout branches of the retailer will show poetry 'can be at home on the supermarket shelf'

Waitrose is to unleash an unlikely weapon in the supermarkets' cut-throat battle for business when it anounces plans to display poetry throughout its stores as part of a year-long campaign which, it says, is aimed at reducing the drudgery of the regular shop.

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Those monogamous birds? Another casualty of climate change.

As it gets hotter here on Earth, they're more apt to start cheating on each other, according to the U.S. National Climate Assessment, released today.

Scientists have said for years, decades even, that climate change is going to be rough. Storms, fires, heat extremes -- the works. The research tends to get more solid and detailed every year. It's all laid out in the Assessment, and it's mostly a bummer.

But this bird-divorce bit is an angle few saw coming. Everything is easier in hindsight.

"Climatic fluctuations increase the probability of infidelity in birds that are normally monogamous."

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The best of Provence

It's France's poster region for l'art de vivre - but where do you start? Here's our insider pick of the best places to stay, eat and visit in its cities and picturesque towns and villages

• Have we missed your favourite or do you have a tip you'd like to share? Join in the discussion in the comments below

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