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ShortcutsMen's facial hairA survey claims bearded men carry more germs in their facial hair than dogs carry in their fur. Follow this guide to keep your bristles in top condition Beards have a mixed reputation – men with beards are more attractive, said one study last year, yet 43% of women would not sleep with a man with a beard, according to another. Now, a report says men with beards carry more germs in their facial hair than dogs carry in their fur.

Talking HorsesHorse racing tipsAn accomplished rider in the eventing field, Galpin suffered fatal injuries in a fall while riding work on Tuesday The name of Natasha Galpin will have been in the thoughts of stable staff and racing professionals around Britain on Thursday morning, following the awful news on Wednesday that the 22-year-old had been killed by a fall on Iain Jardine’s gallops. Galpin was riding there on Tuesday morning when her mount suffered a ruptured artery and fell, causing her to sustain injuries from which she did not recover.

Saxophonist and jazz musician Evan Parker in 2007. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The GuardianPioneered in the 1950s by musicians breaking the rules of jazz and composition, free improvisation is still as difficult – and potentially transcendent – as it ever was. A Guardian documentary takes you inside its world by Noah Payne-Frank“There are people that hear it once and think: never again!” says Evan Parker of free improvisation, a musical style that some might compare to a jazz band falling down the stairs – and others find transcendental.

ObituaryLon McCallisterChild and teen actor: 'the cutest boy the movies hauled up out of obscurity'In the 1940s, it seemed every Hollywood horse-racing yarn - such as Home In Indiana (1944) and The Story Of Seabiscuit (1949) - starred Lon McCallister, who has died aged 82. He also appeared in bucolic romances in which animals featured prominently: Thunder In The Valley (1947) - boy falls for sheepdog - and The Big Cat (1949) - boy rescues community from mountain lion.

Redneck Revolt: ‘Our basic message is: guns are fine, but racism is not’. Photograph: AlamyThere are several commonalities between the far left and the far right – including a disdain for liberals – but the biggest divide is on the topic of intolerance by Cecilia Saixue Watt in Harrisburg, PennsylvaniaThe cookout offered free food, a face-painting booth and a “protest sign-making station” – a pile of cut-up cardboard boxes, paint markers and rolls of packing tape.

Nicholas Lezard's choiceMusic booksReviewThis book of Ian Curtis’s notes and crossings out, edited by Deborah Curtis and Jon Savage, is a fascinating companion to his haunting songsThis big, beautiful, austere book, a totemic artefact, is of a piece with every other officially sanctioned Joy Division product: a visual counterpart to their sound, which was otherworldly and intimate, a hitherto unheard mixture of haunting melody and metallic clash. It contains not quite all the band’s lyrics (seven songs are missing, says the editorial note, but I make it more), printed as sung on the recto, with pages from singer and songwriter Ian Curtis’s notebooks reproduced on the verso.

Children's booksChildren's booksThe Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart - review‘A book which will prove to be surprisingly thought-provoking for a range of age groups and worth reading to challenge your judgement about what a high school girl can achieve’ Frankie Landau-Banks is privileged enough to go to one of the most prestigious schools in America: Alabaster Academy. As she starts the school year she quickly attracts the attention of Matthew Livingstone, a senior who becomes her main preoccupation.

Vivid festival 2023 This article is more than 7 months old‘The modern-day gay icon’: Jennifer Coolidge delivers camp and delight to fans at Sydney’s Vivid festivalThis article is more than 7 months oldThe White Lotus star and showrunner Mike White sat down to discuss her career renaissance at 61 and why she’s in a constant state of ‘pure denial’ Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email When Garth Saville heard that Jennifer Coolidge was coming to Sydney: “I think all of our camp little juices sort of overflowed.

LiverpoolBrothers fined over 'depressing, unsafe' Liverpool care homeAmjad and Amer Latif sentenced after Care Quality Commission brought case over conditions at Mossley Manor Two brothers have been fined more than £82,000 after their “depressing, unhygienic and unsafe” care home was shut down by inspectors. Amjad Latif, 56, and his younger brother Amer, 47, ran the Mossley Manor care home in Liverpool until June 2015 when a new resident’s daughter was so appalled by conditions that she took her mother home after two hours and complained to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).