US and Ukraine sign long-awaited natural resources deal
The White House has been pushing for the agreement as a prerequisite for further military assistance.
The White House has been pushing for the agreement as a prerequisite for further military assistance.
The US president blames the first quarterly GDP decline in three years on his Democratic predecessor.
Meta said the negative impact could kick in as soon as the third quarter of this year.
Hundreds of councillors, six mayors and one MP will be elected in polls across England.
Russian drones have killed at least two people and injured another five, the Odesa regional governor said.
Three people died in hospital after being poisoned with death cap mushrooms.
The BBC's Emma Vardy talks through the footage shown in court as two men are accused of illegally chopping down the tree.
King Charles gives a personal message to others facing the anxiety of a cancer diagnosis.
The tech giant had been ordered in 2021 to allow greater competition and open the App Store up to outside payment options.
Temperatures continue to climb with the hottest start to May predicted on Thursday.
Mahdawi was arrested in mid-April when he attended an American citizenship interview in Vermont.
Study provides hope for future of the axolotl amphibian, pushed to the brink of extinction in Mexico.
Voters in parts of England will elect councillors and mayors on 1 May.
The rules on everything from dogs, children, ID and selfies, to voting while drunk.
Everyone voting in person in the May local elections in England must show valid photo ID.
The deal sets up an investment fund to search for minerals, and set outs how revenues would be split.
King Charles shares a message for patients, carers and campaigners on Thursday's front pages.
Chinese exporters tell the BBC if the US doesn't want their goods, "other countries have money" to buy them.
How Chelsea and Sonia Bompastor expanded their dynasty and secured a sixth successive Women's Super League title.
People in Spain and Portugal tell us what got them through a day with no electricity.
The directors of Moorcroft Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent say they are going into voluntary liquidation.
The extent of Scotland's mosquito population is being understood thanks to a successful citizen science project.
The healthy food company's products have disappeared from the shelves of some of NI's biggest supermarkets.
The announcement comes after North Korea confirmed for the first time its soldiers are fighting alongside Russia.
A trial for a waste needle bin in a Belfast city centre car park will be voted on at council on Thursday.
Top stories, breaking news, live reporting, and follow news topics that match your interests
How America’s biggest companies are reacting to Trump’s war on woke.
Plus, President Trump receives bad economic numbers - but blames President Biden.
Yinka Bokinni explores rap mogul Sean Combs's life and the criminal charges he denies.
The Pistols' played their first and last gig in Yorkshire - what influence did punk have?
How Chelsea and Sonia Bompastor expanded their dynasty and secured a sixth successive Women's Super League title.
Lamine Yamal says he would not compare himself to Lionel Messi - and then puts in a performance a 17-year-old Messi could only have dreamed of.
Ronnie O'Sullivan books his place in the World Championship semi-finals with a 13-9 win over Si Jiahui as he maintains his bid for record eighth title in the modern era.
Barcelona come back twice against Inter Milan in a thrilling 3-3 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie.
With England due to name their first Test squad of the summer, former fast bowler Steven Finn compares today's selection process to the 'old school' methods of his career.
Chris Eubank Sr says his shock arrival before his son's unanimous points win over Conor Benn was the "moment of a lifetime".
Barcelona and Inter Milan deliver a night of high drama and superb goals in their Champions League semi-final first leg - BBC Sport takes a look at how it unfolded.
Move seals a deal to create a fund the Trump administration says will begin to repay roughly $175bn provided to UkraineThe US and Kyiv have signed an agreement to share profits and royalties from the future sale of Ukrainian minerals and rare earths, sealing a deal that Donald Trump has said will provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine’s defense and its reconstruction after he brokers a peace deal with Russia.The minerals deal, which has been the subject of tense negotiations for months and nearly fell through hours before it was signed, will establish a US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund that the Trump administration has said will begin to repay an estimated $175bn in aid provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Continue reading...
Labour politicians warn former PM had boosted Tory and Reform climate sceptics on the eve of local electionsTony Blair has been forced by Downing Street to row back from his criticism of the government’s net zero strategy after furious Labour politicians warned he had given a boost to Tory and Reform sceptics on the eve of the local elections.Climate experts also accused the former prime minister of granting political cover to fossil fuel interests and weakening momentum behind the UK’s legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Rival political parties use suggestion of a Reform-Conservative alliance to target votes from centrist ToriesA new wave of tactical voting could hamper progress for Reform UK in Thursday’s local elections, campaigners believe, with even some Conservative voters now saying they will vote Labour or Liberal Democrat.This could particularly affect the Runcorn and Helsby byelection, where Nigel Farage’s party is still the favourite to overturn a Labour majority of almost 15,000, in what would be a significant blow to Keir Starmer. Continue reading...
Chelsea clinched a sixth consecutive Women’s Super League title with two games to spare and continued their relentless dominance of the major silverware in English women’s football as they dug deep to win away at Manchester United, whose own hopes of securing European qualifying suffered a dent as a result.The 1-0 victory, secured by a 74th-minute Lucy Bronze header from a corner, was greeted by jubilant scenes of celebration in the away end and means Sonia Bompastor’s team remain on course to complete an entire league campaign unbeaten, a feat that has not been achieved by any team since the WSL expanded to be a 12-team division. Continue reading...
Firefighters have rushed to control wildfires that have injured several people and prompted the military to deploy troops to helpThe Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has warned that rapidly spreading wildfires near Jerusalem could reach the city, as he declared the situation a “national emergency”.Thick smoke billowed above highways near Jerusalem on Wednesday as firefighters rushed to control wildfires that have injured several people and prompted the military to deploy troops to help. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Chris LaCivita, Trump’s presidential campaign co-manager, tells undercover reporters he advised on ‘structural issues’ related to Peter Dutton; the Coalition denies LaCivita was involved in campaign in any waySee all our Australia 2025 election coverageOne of the architects of Donald Trump’s 2024 victory claims he made an unpublicised visit to Australia to advise the Liberal party about “structural issues” related to Peter Dutton ahead of the federal election.The veteran Republican strategist Chris LaCivita told undercover reporters posing as prospective clients for political consulting work he was working as a private consultant on the visit to Australia, not in an official capacity or as an adviser to the US president. Continue reading...
Healthwatch England says mistakes mean some patients are refused care or given drugs they do not needAlmost one in four patients in England have found mistakes in their medical records such as errors over their illness, drugs they have taken or treatment they have received.The blunders have led to patients missing out on diagnostic tests or treatment, being refused care or being given medication they did not need, research by an NHS watchdog has found.26% related to personal details such as name or date of birth.16% involved medication a patient had taken.9% of errors incorrectly listed a patient as having had a particular illness9% said a patient had taken specific drugs to treat an ailment. Continue reading...
Australian woman has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in South Gippsland in 2023. Follow live updatesWho are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom murders trial?After this, Patterson pushed for the pair to equally split the costs of their children’s school fees.Simon says he had been advised by the “child support people” not to do this because these fees would be covered in his payments to Patterson. Continue reading...
Eddie Redmayne, Katie Leung and Nicola Coughlan among those expressing solidarity after supreme court ruling More than 400 actors and film industry professionals have signed an open letter pledging “solidarity” with the trans, non-binary and intersex communities who have been affected by the recent supreme court ruling. Eddie Redmayne, Katie Leung, Nicola Coughlan, Charlotte Ritchie and Paapa Essiedu are among those to have signed the letter addressing the film and television industry as well as cultural bodies. Bella Ramsey, James Norton, Joe Alwyn, Himesh Patel, Harris Dickinson and the director Ken Loach are also signatories. In mid-April, supreme court judges unanimously ruled the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex. This means a gender recognition certificate (GRC) does not change a person’s legal sex for the purposes of the Equality Act. The ruling has been interpreted to mean that trans women can be excluded from women-only spaces like toilets and changing rooms. The open letter said: “We believe the ruling undermines the lived reality and threatens the safety of trans, non-binary, and intersex people living in the UK.”It added the film and television community had previously come together in response to the Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements by “reflecting” upon working practices and “uplifting” a broad spectrum of voices. Continue reading...
Outage occurred between Maibara and Gifu-Hashima stations after the snake appeared to have climbed an electricity poleJapan’s busiest bullet train line was brought to a halt on Wednesday after a metre-long snake wrapped itself around a power line, shorting the electricity supply and stranding hundreds of passengers.Shinkansen trains running between Tokyo and Osaka were brought to a standstill by the snake, with news reports showing footage of people inside trains waiting for services to resume. Power did not appear to have been cut inside trains, with lights and air conditioning still functioning, according to passengers. Continue reading...
Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties says tortured inmates bypassed amid focus on territory and security guaranteesUkrainian and Russian civil society leaders have called for the unconditional release of thousands of Ukrainian civilians being held in Russian captivity, pushing for world leaders to make it a central part of any peace deal.Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties, which won the 2022 Nobel peace prize, said most of the discussion on ending the conflict, led by Donald Trump’s administration, focused solely on territories and potential security guarantees. Continue reading...
People share their experiences of Monday’s massive power outage across Spain, Portugal and parts of France that upended modern life“It felt like chaos,” said Iñigo, a doctor at a hospital in northern Spain.With no electricity from noon on Monday, the building’s emergency generators were kept for the critical areas, leaving staff without access to patient data, broken communications due to no telephone signal or email, and colleagues unable to carry out some of their duties, he said. Continue reading...
Cecot, a secretive 40,000-capacity facility built to house alleged gang members, ‘is meant for permanent exile, permanent punishment’“Don’t stop,” said the local in the backseat. “Just slow down and you’ll see it.”Soldiers watched the vehicle as it passed the turn-off and the checkpoint. Then a white building flashed through a gap in the trees, a few kilometres from the road. Continue reading...
When the gallery opened in 2000, it transformed the artistic life of Britain – and the world. We look back at spiders, splinters, sexual dependency and sunsetsFrances Morris, then head of displays Continue reading...
Anna Hall’s unflinching exposé reveals the years of abuse girls as young as 11 endured from grooming gangs, the misogyny that allowed so many blind eyes to be turned – and how little has changed today‘Chantelle … was misusing cannabis and alcohol and … placing herself at risk of sexual exploitation” is a staggering sentence to find in a council’s case summary about a child in its foster care system. Here’s another one, from an assessment record by children’s services on the subject of 14-year-old Erin (not her real name). “Erin … is being exploited into prostitution. She hangs around with a number of men who take her money. She is a very promiscuous girl.”I could go on. Groomed: A National Scandal is full of them. Film-maker Anna Hall has decades’ worth of material to choose from. Her 2004 film Edge of the City was the first television exposé of what we now call grooming gangs, born of research she had begun after a chance meeting five years before with a senior director at Barnardo’s children’s charity who told her that they had noticed a new pattern of child abuse. Groups of men were targeting vulnerable children – almost always white girls, usually in the care system – befriending them, giving them drink and drugs, becoming their “boyfriends”, then having sex with them and offering them round to other men. Continue reading...
Of course she didn’t. Gifted on climate policy, she used all six of her questions to call for another child abuse inquiryOn days like these, Keir Starmer might come to believe there is a God after all. Fair to say the prime minister has been under the cosh recently. His popularity ratings tanking as people continue to feel fed up that nothing still appears to be working as it should. The local elections on Thursday are unlikely to provide any joy for Labour with Reform ahead in several polls. Even the election of Mark Carney has been a mixed blessing. A reminder that some politicians get rewarded for taking a tough line on Agent Orange. The Lib Dems have declared themselves honorary Canadians.To cap it all, Tony Blair had just published a report on climate policy that even his best friends might consider to have been “unhelpful”. Tony is a former politician who is unable to go gently into the dark night. Eighteen years after stepping down as prime minister, he still yearns for relevance. Continue reading...
The narrative of ancient tribes around the world regularly using ayahuasca and magic mushrooms in healing practices is a popular one. Is it true?Beginning in 2001, the Austrian anthropologist Bernd Brabec de Mori spent six years living in the western Amazon. He first arrived as a backpacker, returned to do a master’s thesis on ayahuasca songs, and eventually did a PhD on the music of eight Indigenous peoples in the region. Along the way, he married a woman of the local Shipibo tribe and settled down.“I did not have a lot of money,” he told me, “so I had to make my living there.” He became a teacher. He built a house. He and his wife had children. That rare experience of joining the community, he said, forced him to realise that many of the assumptions he had picked up as an anthropologist were wrong. Continue reading...
Aldeas – A New Story documentary to examine work of organisation pontiff founded to connect young people around the worldMartin Scorsese has made a documentary with the late Pope Francis that will feature conversations between the pontiff and Scorsese, including what the film-makers say was the pope’s final in-depth on-camera interview.Aldeas – A New Story will detail the work of Scholas Occurrentes, a non-profit, international organisation founded by the pope in 2013 to promote what it termed “Culture of Encounter” among youth. Continue reading...
The first few months have seen record-breaking use of executive powers – here are some of the outlying trendsTrump 100 days: inside Trump’s whirlwind start to his second presidencyWhen reading a chart, an outlier is often the first thing you notice. The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term has been full of them: immigration arrests spiking. Markets falling. Emission trends reversing. Hundreds of day one pardons to insurrectionists. Record-breaking use of executive powers. Continue reading...
Netflix series Turning Point: The Vietnam War goes back to retrace a devastating history from multiple perspectivesThis Wednesday, 30 April, marks a full half century since the fall of Saigon. The takeover of the South Vietnamese capital, renamed Ho Chi Minh City, by North Vietnamese forces reunited a country riven by a decades-long civil war that killed more than 3 million civilians – a triumph of one vision of Vietnam’s future at the violent expense of another, with many caught perilously in between.For the US, the fall of Saigon was an indisputable humiliation and the end to what was then its longest war, one that killed more than 58,000 servicemen, divided a nation and has only grown more ignominious with time. Fifty years on, the picture is clear: the Americanization of the Vietnam war was an unfathomably costly, poorly run, incomprehensibly horrific folly based on political lies and dubious intelligence. It is taught as a brief but upsetting chapter in American schools – if it’s taught at all. Continue reading...
Few people think yellow suits them, but try this soft shade with a golden-hour mellownessWhat’s up, buttercup? Yes, I’m talking to you in that delightful yellow you are wearing. Please tell me you are indeed wearing yellow? Because unless you have been hiding underneath a rock for the past two months, you can’t have failed to notice that butter yellow is the new black.The “new black” narrative is one of fashion’s most familiar plotlines. Big explosions, dramatic music, and – bam – we all stop wearing the nice normal blue jeans and black jackets that we (a) like and (b) actually own, and start wearing a completely different colour instead. This is fundamentally a bit implausible on many levels. But then, so is the story of Cinderella, and that hasn’t stopped “rags to riches with a side order of fairy godmother” from being the plot of a million films. Continue reading...
The former PM has form when it comes to pushing corporate interests and meeting populists halfwayWhen Tony Blair came out this week to say current net zero policies were “doomed to fail”, there was something familiar in his arguments: phasing out fossil fuels wouldn’t work because people perceived it as expensive, arduous and not their problem. Stop banging on about renewables; won’t someone think of the things we don’t know how to do, like carbon capture and such wizardry as is still locked in tech bros’ imaginations? Basically, net zero had lost the room, according to the former prime minister. And if anyone knows where the room is, and how to get it back, it must be him.The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) issued a statement on Wednesday saying that, in fact, it believes the government’s net zero policy is “the right one”. But this is a familiar trajectory for the former prime minister. He said something similar about “woke”, which sadly lost the room in 2022. “Plant Labour’s feet clearly near the centre of gravity of the British people,” Blair advised Starmer. “[They] want fair treatment for all and an end to prejudice, but distrust and dislike the ‘cancel culture’, ‘woke’ mentality.” What exactly does “woke” mean, if not an end to prejudice? Just how effective is cancel culture if Blair himself could work as a lobbyist for a Saudi oil firm in 2016, advise the government of Kazakhstan after it brutally suppressed public protests in 2011, and yet still walk among us as the voice of the progressive left? Memo to my fellow cancellers: we are bad at this.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
We are tottering on the edge of dictatorship. Powerful voices across institutions, from politics to academia and religion, must speak outWe have witnessed the first 100 days of the odious Trump regime.The US constitution is in peril. Civil and human rights are being trampled upon. The economy is in disarray.If today the Executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home? And what assurance shall there be that the Executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies? The threat, even if not the actuality, would always be present, and the Executive’s obligation to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’ would lose its meaning.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...
Mark Carney’s win isn’t as comforting as it should be, especially when we look at all the events leading up to itAfter a snap election, weeks of breathless campaigning and a surprisingly close race, Mark Carney has been elected prime minister of Canada. It’s a win for Liberals, who were rightly nervous that former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s poor performance and late-stage missteps might cost them this election. But Carney’s win isn’t as comforting as it should be, especially when we look at all the events leading up to it.It’s no secret that over the last decade, Canada’s image as a welcoming, pacifist, melting pot has completely unravelled, revealing a rightwing underbelly that has seen the rise of the “manosphere” and a deepening of its influences on young people, as well as a sharp increase in anti-immigrant sentiment and hate crimes. When it came down to this election, it was Trudeau’s forced resignation and people’s ability to credibly accuse the Liberal party of spending a decade basically twiddling their thumbs while the cost of living soared, that pushed Canadians to the right and helped the Conservative party coast to a near win. Continue reading...
For years, artificial dyes have been linked to health issues and even ADHD in children, but the US is only now looking at banning themOne of my favourite memories as a child growing up in Miami was going to the local fair and having bright-blue cotton candy – candy floss, as you’d call it in Britain. My siblings and I would stick out our tongues to compare how blue they were. Sometimes as blue as the milk in our Lucky Charms cereal bowls, where the marshmallows shaped like blue moons, horseshoes and rainbows coloured anything that got in contact with them. Candy corn was a staple on Halloween, and corn syrup jugs were ubiquitous at Thanksgiving to bake pumpkin and pecan pies. These were rare treats – we were an immigrant family who largely ate traditional Indian food – and for that caution, I’m grateful.We now know how artificial food colourings affect the cognitive, behavioural, metabolic and nutritional development of children, and how they are linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This includes my favourite brilliant blue dye. A 2024 scientific review of the evidence titled Synthetic Colors in Food: A Warning for Children’s Health refers to the possible toxicity levels of these additives, and suggests substituting dyes from completely natural sources instead. Continue reading...
Even a summer holiday isn’t straightforward any more - and all across the US, millions of people are having to make calculations like mineLet me start with a message to my wife. SORRY!!! I apologise in advance for everything you are about to read.My more sensible half, you see, is a US citizen, who keeps telling me (a green card holder) that I should stop making jokes about getting sent to a detention centre or deported.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Why does sharing the road with bikes cause so many drivers to lose their cool? It’s partly ignorance, but politicians don’t helpMy local area has a thriving community website mainly based around things such as recommendations for plumbers and restaurants, or people selling sofas. But every now and then I feel the need to scan its pages to make sure a near-neighbour hasn’t libelled me. Why? Cycling, of course.As Jeremy Vine has found out, there is something very peculiar about riding a bike. It seems to make otherwise sensible people on the roads around you lose all reason and perspective. Vine has spent years posting informative and amusing video vignettes of his bike commute, pointing out the many and frequent ways that some drivers seem oblivious or, at times, openly homicidal to those on two wheels.Peter Walker is senior political correspondent for the Guardian Continue reading...
The vestiges of the US’s democracy are crumpling to the ground. We don’t yet know what will be erected in its placeIt’s possible that later, when we know more about how the Trump regime reshapes the US and about how it ultimately comes to an end, we will look back at this moment in 2025 and conclude that we were already living under an autocracy. Checks on executive power seem to have all but vanished; the Trump administration is not acting like either the courts, the judiciary or the people have any prerogatives that they must respect.Science is suffering: massive cuts to federal funding of research into medicine, climate change or anything that might include a word on a long list of banned ones – like “transition” – has decimated research, made the US a global laughingstock, and set the cause of human thriving back by years. The economy is in chaos, and the bribery is all but out in the open; it no longer seems to occur to many Americans that their politicians should not be on the take.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Sir Tony Blair’s ill-conceived contribution to the climate debate was a political gift to Nigel Farage. But public support for the green transition remains strongThe Climate Change Committee’s latest report on the UK’s response to unprecedented environmental challenges makes for grim reading. Recalling the extreme weather swings of the last few years – which delivered both the wettest 18 months on record and the largest number of wildfires – the report’s authors deplore the current inadequacy of provision to protect the nation against risks which are now a lethal reality. The threat represented by flooding, said the chair of the committee’s adaptation group, Lady Brown, “is not tomorrow’s problem. It’s today’s problem. And if we don’t do something about it, it will become tomorrow’s disaster.”An assessment so scathing, from such a source, deserved to be at the centre of political discussion ahead of Thursday’s local elections. Instead, Wednesday’s front pages were dominated by a considerably less useful contribution to the climate debate. In a foreword to a report from his eponymous Tony Blair Institute (TBI), Sir Tony Blair suggested that governments should dial down efforts to limit the use of fossil fuels in the short term, or risk alienating voters allegedly put off by the “irrationality” and cost of green policies. Politicians’ focus, he insisted, should shift to investing speculatively in technologies for the future such as carbon capture and storage.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
The deal with Javier Milei shows how America-first dealmaking is bending global finance to serve authoritarian and extractive endsIt is famed for hard-nosed bargaining with crisis-hit countries, so why did the International Monetary Fund throw a $20bn lifeline to the serial defaulter Argentina – despite alarm on its board? The answer is that the country’s rightwing leader, Javier Milei, is Donald Trump’s “favourite president”. Amid unease over handing a third of the IMF’s global lending to its largest debtor, the deal passed with $12bn upfront. The IMF has long been intellectually compromised – promoting stability while enforcing neoliberal orthodoxy. Under Mr Trump, it is ethically compromised too.Mr Milei’s bailout marks the second Trump-era rescue for Argentina. In 2018, the fund handed Buenos Aires a record $57bn – but cut it off when its then president, Mauricio Macri, a Trump family friend, was not re-elected. That deal now looks nakedly political. With the US holding an effective board veto, the fund’s independence was always fragile. It’s now completely subordinated. A US takeover of the IMF threatens deeper instability than any Argentinian default.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Thousands of doctors who applied to train as GPs are rejected each year due to lack of training posts, says one expert, while Dr David Jeffrey says doctors want more patient contactIn your editorial on the value of face-to-face contact in healthcare (27 April), you say that there are “ongoing difficulties in recruiting enough GPs”. This may be the historic line, but currently, the crisis is not in recruitment but frozen recruitment. In 2024, there was a 44% reduction in jobs available, which is likely to be worse now. The reality is a huge and worsening unemployment crisis for fully qualified GPs, particularly those who have recently completed their (extensive and exhausting) training.The Royal College of General Practitioners identifies this unemployment crisis, the BMA reports that unemployment is prompting GPs to move abroad, and some GPs remaining in the UK are taking up other work – for example, working as Uber drivers. Continue reading...
The LGBTQ+ rights charity’s former head Ben Summerskill and the parent of a trans-identifying young person respond to coverage of the recent supreme court rulingBoth Gaby Hinsliff, in her typically thoughtful piece (If Britain is now resetting the clock on trans rights, where will that leave us?, 18 April), and your correspondent who says “All sensible, two-way discussion of this topic has been prevented” (Letters, 22 April) highlight the risks that both trans people and many other individuals and organisations face from continuing uncertainty over an important area of public policy.Sadly, a significant contribution to the prevention of sensible, two-way discussion of this sensitive issue was Stonewall’s 2015 decision to adopt an approach of “no debate” – online, on public platforms and in the broadcast media. This has now had huge reputational and financial consequences for the charity, where dozens of staff have since faced redundancy. Continue reading...
Lamine Yamal had said that he left fear behind in the park in Mataró when he was little and there was no sign of it here as Barcelona and Inter produced an astonishing night at Montjuïc. As the final whistle went at the end of a noisy and hugely enjoyable semi-final with the score at 3-3, there was a feeling of missed opportunity for Barcelona, of what might have been, yet having been a goal down after 30 seconds and trailed 2-0 and 3-2, it might also have been worse. And it was actually pretty special, an exhilarating occasion that resolved nothing but won’t be easily forgotten.The same could be said of Denzel Dumfries, scorer of two goals and forever tearing into Barcelona, and of Lamine Yamal. They were the most outstanding of many outstanding players on a wild and wonderful occasion in which Barcelona twice came from behind to equalise but couldn’t turn it around entirely, left lamenting their vulnerability at the back. Inter, meanwhile, left satisfied and very much alive, their first task completed. This was a revival they needed, the greatest prize of all still within their reach. Continue reading...
Blues clinch sixth straight domestic title‘I always look for ‘perfect’ … I’m focused on the treble’Chelsea’s manager, Sonia Bompastor, immediately turned her attention towards the prospect of completing a domestic treble as her side celebrated winning a sixth consecutive Women’s Super League title.The Frenchwoman’s team, who had already won the League Cup in March, clinched the title in her first season in English football with Wednesday’s 1-0 victory at Manchester United as they capitalised on second-placed Arsenal dropping points earlier on Wednesday evening with their 5-2 loss at Aston Villa. Continue reading...
New service refers quarter of those seen for treatmentConcern over high numbers of participants dropping outA significant number of former elite players who have participated in World Rugby’s new brain health service programme have been identified as being “at risk” of cognitive problems in later life.So far 131 former rugby union players have registered to take part after last April’s launch, although only 65 have completed the process. Of those, one quarter were referred for specialist treatment. The service is not designed to provide a diagnosis, only to provide a risk assessment for former players. Continue reading...
‘I think this surface could be amazing for my tennis’Struggling Djokovic pulls out of Italian OpenJack Draper took a significant step forward on his journey to becoming a top clay-court player as he recorded the biggest win of his career on the surface, producing a supreme performance to dismantle the 11th seed, Tommy Paul, 6-2, 6-2 and reach the last eight of the Madrid Open.This victory marks the first time Draper has reached a Masters 1000 quarter-final on clay and it is his first win over a top-30 opponent on the surface. Draper had not previously won three consecutive clay-court matches at ATP level. He will next face Matteo Arnaldi, conqueror of Novak Djokovic in round two, for a place in the semi-finals. Arnaldi defeated the 16th seed, Frances Tiafoe, 6-3, 7-5. Continue reading...
Trump blasts past Brecel 13-8 to set up Williams clashO’Sullivan beats Si 13-9 and now faces Zhao XintongJudd Trump charged into the semi-finals, beating Luca Brecel in a high-quality match, while Ronnie O’Sullivan repelled a stirring fightback from Si Jiahui at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.Trump will face Mark Williams in the last four after the Welshman’s epic 13-12 victory over John Higgins, which went to the final black. O’Sullivan will meet the Chinese sensation Zhao Xintong in what promises to be a mouthwatering clash. Continue reading...
Manager says addressing wider problems matters more Amorim confident United ‘are prepared’ for Athletic tieRuben Amorim has said even winning the Europa League will not save Manchester United’s season, the head coach stating that only “good decisions” can transform his side in the long term.United are at Athletic Bilbao for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first leg, conscious that claiming the competition will conclude a troubled campaign with silverware and Champions League qualification. With United in 14th and certain to finish in their lowest position in the Premier League, it would also give Amorim a trophy after taking over in late October. However, the Portuguese is clear it would not make the campaign a success. Continue reading...
Tottenham face Bodø/Glimt in semi-final first leg‘It hurts me a lot that we’re having a poor season’James Maddison wants to reward Tottenham’s long-suffering supporters by winning the club’s first trophy since 2008 and has said a dismal Premier League campaign has made the players more determined to succeed in the Europa League.Spurs host the Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt in the first leg of the semi-final on Thursday after suffering a record-equalling 19th league defeat at Liverpool on Sunday. Although Spurs have reached this stage of the Europa League for the first time since they won its predecessor, the Uefa Cup, in 1984, they have beaten only Southampton in the Premier League since the end of February and are on course for their lowest finish since its formation in 1992. Continue reading...
Former manager made comments at event in MarchSaudi Arabia is ‘a great place for a World Cup’Harry Redknapp says his description of England’s head coach, Thomas Tuchel, as a “German spy” was a “joke that badly backfired”.The 78-year-old former manager, who had successful spells at Spurs, West Ham and Portsmouth but never landed the England job, also talked up Eddie Howe’s credentials as the best man to lead the Three Lions. Continue reading...
Likelihood of potentially devastating quake above 8.0 magnitude in next 50 years is 15%, study statesA massive earthquake in the Pacific north-west could rapidly transform areas of the coast from northern California to Washington, causing swaths of land to quickly sink, “dramatically” raising sea level and increasing the flood risk to communities.That’s according to a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examining the potential impact of the “big one”, a powerful quake along the Cascadia fault that stretches from Canada to California. Continue reading...
Charity shops won’t take them. Councils incinerate them. Retailers dump them on the global south. We’re running out of ideas on how to deal with our used clothes – and the rag mountain just keeps growingIn February, a threadbare polycotton bedsheet landed on the desk of Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury’s. A “protest by post”, it had been sent by the Sheffield-based designer, maker and eco activist Wendy Ward. “I purchased this from Sainsbury’s at least 10 years ago,” she wrote in the accompanying letter. “It has served me well. However, I have no sustainable options available for what I should do with it.” Beyond repair, it was too damaged to donate to a charity shop, she explained. She couldn’t compost it as it had been blended with polyester, and she couldn’t repurpose it as cleaning cloths, as, being polycotton, it wasn’t absorbent. And, she added, “I don’t want to put it into a textile recycling collection as the likelihood is that it will be shipped overseas or incinerated and not recycled.” Ward qualified her assertions with links to respected sources – as a sustainable fashion PhD student, she is well informed on such matters.“The only action I can personally take,” she continued, “is to put it into my general waste bin. I don’t want to do this, as in Sheffield all general waste is incinerated as ‘energy recovery’. This isn’t a sustainable option as such processes have been shown to be as damaging to local air pollution as burning coal.” So, she concluded, “as Sainsbury’s is responsible for designing and manufacturing this product, making decisions to use polycotton with no consideration for what could be done once it reaches the end of its life, I have decided to return it to you. I would really love to hear what you decide to do with it.” Continue reading...
Forecasters say temperature could soar to 30C later this week, the earliest date the high would have been reachedThe UK experienced its hottest day of the year so far on Tuesday and temperatures could reach 30C at the earliest point on record later this week, forecasters said. The highest temperature recorded on Tuesday was 24.9C in Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, according to the Met Office. The previous hottest day this year was 24.5C recorded in St James’s Park, London, on Monday. The Met Office, which warned last month that the climate crisis is pushing temperature extremes to new levels, said temperatures could hit 27C or 28C on Wednesday in southern England and the Midlands. In a further sign of the changing climate, Wales could also set a new record for its highest April temperature – currently 26.2C. Meteorologist Craig Snell said the most likely places to see the warmest weather on Wednesday were “in a line from London over towards the West Country and into the Midlands”. Snell told the PA news agency: “The central southern parts of the UK are probably going to be where the highest temperatures will be tomorrow.” He said Thursday would be “the peak of the heat”, adding: “We are likely to see 28C or 29C, and again it’s going to be a corridor from the west of London over towards Bristol which will probably be the most likely places to see the highest temperatures.” The meteorologist said the high temperatures on Thursday would result in one of the “warmest starts to May on record”. Met Office chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said April temperatures in the mid-20s were “not particularly unusual” but added: “It is more unusual to see temperatures reach the high 20s, and if we see 30C this week, it will be the earliest point in the year in which we have achieved that threshold.” Temperatures are forecast to drop across much of the UK on Friday as the high pressure starts to pull away. The highest recorded April temperature was in 1949, when Camden Square, London, recorded 29.4C. The London fire brigade (LFB) has urged caution around open-water swimming after last month saw a 32% increase in water-related incidents compared with the same period last year. Craig Carter, the LFB’s assistant commissioner for prevention and protection, said: “Even when the sun is shining, water temperatures can be dangerously cold. Cold water shock can affect anyone, no matter how fit or experienced they are. “It can lead to water inhalation and, in the worst cases, drowning. Be particularly careful near the water’s edge – it’s easy to slip and fall unexpectedly. And think twice before jumping into open water.” Research this month found that the number of UK homes overheating in summer quadrupled to 80% over the past decade. The study also found that the use of air conditioning soared sevenfold to 21% of homes between 2011 and 2022. The researchers warned that continuation of this trend could put strain on the national electricity grid, increase carbon emissions and fuel social disadvantage among families unable to afford air conditioning. The research was prompted by extreme heatwaves in 2022, when temperatures in the UK rose above 40C for the first time. The past two years have been the hottest on record globally, driven by the burning of fossil fuels. More than 10,000 people have died as a result of summer heatwaves from 2020 to 2024, data from the UK Health Security Agency shows. The huge rise in overheated homes and air conditioner use was “a shocking result”, said Dr Mehri Khosravi at the University of East London, who led the study. She added: “Over the heatwaves experienced in 2022 we had nearly 4,500 dead, but this excess mortality is hidden.” Continue reading...
Temperatures south Asians dread each year arrive early as experts talk of ever shorter transition to summer-like heatThe summer conditions south Asian countries dread each year have arrived alarmingly early, and it’s only April. Much of India and Pakistan is already sweltering in heatwave conditions, in what scientists say is fast becoming the “new normal”.Temperatures in the region typically climb through May, peaking in June before the monsoon brings relief. But this year, the heat has come early. “As far as Asia and the Indian subcontinent are concerned, there was a quick transition from a short window of spring conditions to summer-like heat,” said GP Sharma, the meteorology president of Skymet, India’s leading private forecaster. Continue reading...
Charles reveals his experience has deepened his admiration for charities supporting the 390,000 cancer cases each yearKing Charles has reflected on his experience with cancer, saying it brought into “sharp focus the very best of humanity”, while acknowledging that each new case is “a daunting and at times frightening experience” for those receiving a diagnosis and for their loved ones.In a personal written message, released to coincide with a Buckingham Palace reception celebrating organisations that help people with the disease, he described himself as one of the “statistics” among the 390,000 who “sadly” receive a cancer diagnosis in the UK each year. Continue reading...
Youth Endowment Fund says specialised lessons needed to tackle issues such as abuse, consent and coercionA thinktank is calling for schools to appoint relationship violence prevention leaders, modelled on the success of mental health coordinators, as teachers say they are ill-equipped to advise on the complex issues involved.A study by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), supported by the Home Office, wants young teenagers in England and Wales to be taught “relationship violence prevention lessons”, aimed at tackling emotional, physical and sexual violence, psychological abuse, stalking and harassment. Continue reading...
Focus on overuse contributes to antibiotics reaching less than 7% of people with drug-resistant infections in poorer countries, say researchersLess than 7% of people with severe drug-resistant infections in poorer countries get the antibiotics they need, a new study suggests, with researchers warning that not only is this causing suffering and deaths, but is also likely to be driving antimicrobial resistance (AMR).With AMR forecast to cause 1.9m deaths a year by 2050, they are calling for urgent action, akin to the fight earlier this century to get HIV drugs to Africa’s virus hotspots. Continue reading...
Two permanent members of UN security council could make move at conference in June on two-state solutionThe UK is in discussion with France and Saudi Arabia over the recognition of a Palestinian state at a June conference convened by the two countries on keeping alive the political path to a two-state solution in the Middle East, the UK foreign secretary has said.David Lammy’s comments mark the first time the UK has acknowledged that a discussion with France about a recognition process around the conference is under way. Continue reading...
Police watchdog says Martyn Blake, who shot 24-year-old in south London in 2022, will have gross misconduct hearingThe Metropolitan police armed officer cleared of murdering Chris Kaba should face a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct, where he could face the sack for using excessive force, the police watchdog has decided.The decision will provoke fury among Met firearms officers and among the force’s leadership. Continue reading...
Boss confirms policy change as businesses move to comply with recent supreme court rulingThe boss of Barclays has said the bank will prohibit trans women from using female bathrooms in its buildings in the wake of the recent supreme court ruling.The bank’s chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, told reporters that the group would not allow trans women to use female bathrooms, to ensure that it complies with the law. Continue reading...
Individuals at British firm Blu-3 alleged to have paid more than £3m to people at Mace Group construction companyUK fraud investigators have made three arrests in dawn raids targeting alleged bribery by a British company during the construction of a Dutch datacentre for Microsoft.The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said on Wednesday that it was targeting the UK company Blu-3 and former associates of the global construction firm Mace Group. Individuals at Blu-3 are suspected of paying more than £3m in bribes to the people linked to Mace Group. Continue reading...
Surgical menopause occurs on average 19 months earlier, while natural menopause happens five months earlier, new global research showsWomen with endometriosis face a higher risk of premature and early menopause and are seven times more likely to experience surgical menopause, a study has found.Surgical menopause occurs when a woman has both ovaries removed before reaching natural menopause, and may be done to treat endometriosis if other treatments fail. Continue reading...
FCA says Instagram and Facebook owner takes up to six weeks to act on warnings about finfluencer postsThe owner of Instagram and Facebook is the slowest social media company to take down content posted by finfluencers and fraudsters running financial scams, taking up to six weeks to respond to requests from the City watchdog.Lucy Castledine, director of consumer investments at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said that while the regulator has “reasonable powers” when identifying scammers, the takedown requests it sends to big tech companies are voluntary. Continue reading...
Up to 15,000 could be given nivolumab in injectable form to treat 15 cancers including lung, bowel and skin cancerUp to 15,000 cancer patients a year could be treated with a quick injection, NHS England has announced.It is the first health service in Europe to offer patients the injectable form of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab. Continue reading...
Drop comes amid a huge fall in consumer sentiment, which in April dropped 32% to lowest level since 1990 recessionThe US economy shrank in the first three months of the year, according to official data, triggering fears of an American recession and a global economic slowdown.Donald Trump, who returned to the White House promising to “make America great again”, sought to blame Joe Biden for the figure. Continue reading...
Democratic presidential candidate to speak in San Francisco after keeping low profile since election defeatKamala Harris will step back into the political spotlight on Wednesday night to deliver a sharp critique of Donald Trump, warning that his presidency has put the US at risk of a constitutional crisis.The former vice-president has mostly kept a low profile since leaving the White House in January following her bitter defeat to Trump. Now, a day after Trump celebrated 100 days in office with a rally in Michigan, she is expected to deliver a forceful renunciation of the president’s stunning power grabs that have prompted warnings of creeping authoritarianism. Continue reading...
Aomar Aït Khedache, 68, has admitted involvement in armed robbery of reality TV star but denies being ringleaderA retired restaurant owner alleged to have been the ringleader of an armed robbery of American reality TV star Kim Kardashian in Paris, has told a court he was in part driven by a taste for easy money.Aomar Aït Khedache, 68, known as “Old Omar”, has admitted to police that he took part in the robbery in which Kardashian was tied up and held hostage at gunpoint in her Paris hotel bedroom during Paris fashion week in 2016. But he has denied the prosecution’s accusation that he was the organiser or ringleader of the jewel heist in the early hours of 3 October 2016, which was the biggest robbery of an individual in France in 20 years. Continue reading...
Politicians say Yoweri Museveni is prosecuting opponents on politically motivated charges before 2026 electionUgandan opposition politicians have accused the president, Yoweri Museveni, of attempting to quash dissent by prosecuting opponents on politically motivated charges in military courts in the run-up to presidential and legislative elections next year.The government is pushing to introduce a law to allow military tribunals to try civilians despite a supreme court ban on the practice. Continue reading...
Cyril Ramaphosa sets up inquiry as victims’ families allege interference from ‘highest levels of government’South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is setting up an inquiry into whether past ANC governments interfered with the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes, amid criticism from the families of victims.A group of 25 relatives and survivors of apartheid-era deaths and violence sued the government in January, claiming that interference from “the highest levels of government” blocked investigations into cases referred to the National Prosecuting Authority by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Continue reading...
Spain’s environment minister Sara Aagesen promises ‘complete audit’ into causes of power outageEurope live – latest updatesSpain’s environment minister has warned against attempts to blame Monday’s unprecedented blackout across the Iberian peninsula on the increasing use of renewable energy, defending the reliability of the national grid and promising a “complete audit” to establish the causes of the outage.Speaking on Wednesday afternoon as a specially designated committee prepared to meet to investigate the blackout, Sara Aagesen pushed back at opposition parties’ claims that the socialist-led government’s drive to embrace renewable energy had compromised the grid’s stability. Continue reading...
Judge says executive told ‘outright lies’ when he gave testimony in antitrust case from Fortnite maker Epic GamesApple violated a United States court order that required the iPhone maker to allow greater competition for app downloads and payment methods in its lucrative App Store and will be referred to federal prosecutors, a federal judge in California ruled on Wednesday.The US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland said in an 80-page ruling that Apple failed to comply with her prior injunction order, which was imposed in an antitrust lawsuit brought by Fortnite maker Epic Games. Continue reading...
Mohsen Langarneshin is accused of being ‘senior spy’ for Mossad, but human rights groups say he was innocentIran has executed a 36-year-old man it accused of helping the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, kill a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in Tehran in 2022. Iranian state media said Mohsen Langarneshin was hanged, the usual method of execution in Iran, at Ghezel Hesar prison early on Wednesday morning.Langarneshin’s family and human rights groups insisted the former IT consultant was innocent of the charges against him and that any reported confessions were obtained by torture or blackmail. Continue reading...
Joshua Simmons tells international court of justice that Israel’s concerns about Unwra are ‘credible’Israel’s urgent security needs override its obligations to provide aid to Palestinians in Gaza, a US state department lawyer has told the international court of justice (ICJ).Joshua Simmons spoke as the United Nations’ top court hears a case on Israel’s ban on cooperation with Unwra, the UN’s main agency for Palestinians. Continue reading...
Tech giant has committed to investing $80bn in artificial intelligence this fiscal year as it reveals revenue of $70.07bnMicrosoft released its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday after the New York stock market closed, beating Wall Street’s expectations for the fourth quarter in a row amid a financial boom for artificial intelligence businesses.The company revealed revenue of $70.07bn and earnings of $3.46 per share. The result exceeded analyst predictions that revenue would grow to $68.42bn, or 10.6% year-over-year, and that earnings-per-share would come in at $3.22. Continue reading...
Videos will share author’s tips on everything from story structure and plot twists to the art of suspenseAspiring crime writers now have the chance to be taught by “Agatha Christie”, thanks to a course of online video lessons by BBC Maestro.The videos “starring” the author, who died in 1976, have been made using AI-enhanced technology, licensed images and carefully restored audio recordings. Continue reading...
Mercedes-Benz stadium, AtlantaThe record-breaking Grand National tour brings together two stylistically opposed stars and continues an internet-breaking feudJust when it seemed as if Kendrick Lamar had dropped his grudge against Drake, it turns out his “game over” coda to the Super Bowl half-time show was just the end of regulation. On the Grand National tour, a four-month stadium circuit for the Grammy-sweeping album GNX and SZA’s reissue album Lana, Lamar takes the music industry’s most bitter rivalry match into overtime.The score-keeping has not stopped. The Grand National tour’s opening date in Minneapolis last week totaled more than $9m from more than 47,000 spectators, giving Lamar claim to the highest-grossing hip-hop concert of all time – surpassing the record Eminem set after playing Melbourne, Australia, in 2019. That’s what you get when you pair the hottest rapper in the game with an R&B queen who is coming off the critical and commercial success of the buddy comedy One of Them Days, SZA’s film acting debut. Continue reading...
When Bethesda surprise-released a remake last week, I revisited its world with my son to see if the magic was still thereFor a 10-day period the summer of 2006, in between handing in my resignation at my first job on a games magazine and returning to Scotland to start university, I did almost nothing except eat, sleep and play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on my Xbox 360. I hauled my TV from the living room of my small, unpleasantly warm flatshare into my bedroom so I could play uninterrupted; it was all I could think about. My character was a Khajiit thief, a kind of manky lion in black-leather armour with excellent pickpocketing skills. One afternoon, I decided to see whether I could steal every single object in the smallish town of Bravil, and got caught by the guards a couple of hours in. I did a runner, dropping a trail of random plates, cheese wheels and doublets in my wake, and the guards pursued me all the way to the other side of the map, where they finally got entangled with a bear who helpfully killed them for me.I bet a lot of you will have had a similar experience with a Bethesda game – if not Oblivion, then Skyrim or perhaps Fallout 3. There’s something intoxicating about these role-playing games, the way they lay out their worlds for you like a buffet, inviting you to gorge. Go where you like! Learn some weird spells and try them out on bandits! Nip into a cave to fight a necromancer and end up getting ambushed by vampires! Open-world games such as this are exhaustingly common now but Oblivion was the first one I ever played. Lately I’ve been devouring it all again, after Bethesda surprise-released a remake last Friday. Continue reading...
Frontman and songwriter of the Alarm, the Welsh rock group with devoted fans around the world Emerging in the post-punk era at the start of the 1980s, the Welsh rock group the Alarm came to embody an almost evangelical belief in the power of rock’n’roll that won them hordes of devoted fans around the world. Mike Peters, who has died aged 66 from blood cancer, was a tireless and inspiring frontman and songwriter for the group, always ready to expound the virtues of faith, belief and perseverance.The group’s concert performances were ecstatic communal celebrations between band and audience, especially in songs such as the anthemic Blaze of Glory or the Clash-like air-puncher Sixty Eight Guns (1983). At MTV’s Spirit of ’86 concert, the Alarm played to 25,000 fans at UCLA in California in a performance beamed live around the world by satellite. Continue reading...
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have announced they are working on a new outing for the monster in the deep dark wood, due out in September 2026He’s got knobbly knees, turned-out toes, a poisonous wart at the end of his nose … and he’s back, for the first time in more than 20 years: Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have announced they are working on a new Gruffalo book.Due out in September 2026, the as-yet-untitled picture book will return to the world of the bestselling stories The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, which were published in 1999 and 2004 respectively. The books are among the most popular children’s titles in the world, with The Gruffalo having sold 3.2m copies to date, and The Gruffalo’s Child 2.1m copies. Continue reading...
Writers and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the commentsEven though it came out only last year, I was so impressed with Álvaro Enrigue’s You Dreamed of Empires that I am on my second reread. As all around me institutions fall and norms fail, I feel the moment requires audacious re-imaginings of history or possibilities of thought, and on both a political and imaginative level, Enrigue delivers with his wild telling of the meeting between Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma. Continue reading...
From a gluten-free mead to an award-winning white wine, these are the best premixed drinks to crack open• The best low- and no-alcohol beers, wines and spiritsThere is so much to love about a drink in a tin. Cans can be quickly and easily chilled, with their contents staying fresh; they’re widely recyclable, compact, lightweight and portable; there’s no fear of cans smashing into smithereens; you don’t require any gadgets to open them – and they vastly improve any journey or gathering.If you’re heading to the park for alfresco socialising, no longer are your beverage options limited to just a four-pack of lager or a can of Diet Coke. From craft beers and wine to G&Ts, cocktails and an array of soft drinks, choice isn’t an issue. Continue reading...
From scrumptious and slurpable to ghastly and gluey: our Rome correspondent tastes and rates UK supermarket spaghetti• The best kitchen knives for every job – chosen by chefsI’m looking for four things in pasta. First, its ability to hold up during cooking: good pasta retains structure and form, which helps it retain flavour and digestibility, which are the second and third things I look for. If the opposite is true and the pasta is not muscular, there is a good chance it will be flabby one minute and pudding-like the next, which adversely affects flavour, digestibility and – the fourth thing I look for – its ability to hold sauce. This fourth aspect is interesting, because, while a more rustic-looking, fine sandpaper-like texture is the visibly good sauce-catcher, some apparently smoother surfaces are surprisingly good with sauce, which is why trying out different brands can be really worthwhile.To test, I looked at the spaghetti raw, for its colour and texture, then I cooked it according to the rule of thumb of a litre of water salted with 10g of salt for every 100g of pasta. I always bring the water to a boil, then add salt, then stir, before adding the pasta and letting it come to a boil again before starting the timer. Continue reading...
A new season doesn’t need to mean a completely new wardrobe. From ballet shoes that last to secondhand shirts, these updates will fit effortlessly into your current lineup• 15 colourful pick-me-ups to elevate your everydaySpring feels like the perfect time to blow away the cobwebs – in life and in your wardrobe. After a winter of wool and heavy boots, the time is ripe for shaking up your look with a warm(er) weather update.That doesn’t mean buying a whole new wardrobe: one of the things I enjoy about getting older is developing a wardrobe for each season that comes back year on year. Put clothes away between seasons: some items that make their way back out of storage were everyday favourites before then, while others may not have felt right for some time but now – lucky for you – they feel right once again. There’s something extra-fun about falling back in love with something from your own wardrobe. Continue reading...
From organic cotton to lace, fancy socks to matching sets, our expert untangles the underwear that’s worth your money – and will stand the test of time• The best bras for every situationI don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the right underwear can mean the difference between a good and bad day. Get it wrong and your day will involve retrieving fallen bra straps, pulling up socks or retrieving knickers sliding towards an uncomfortable spot.My evidence? The moment when, in 2020, aged 35, I put on my first pair of truly comfy pants. It was a warm day in lockdown. The banana bread was cooling, Joe Wicks was lunging, and I slid into my high-rise undies with a “full coverage” seat. That was the day I introduced myself to true underwear contentment (the fact that bras and I were on a break added to the sense of comfort). Continue reading...
For the first six months after arriving in the UK from Romania, Sophie never strayed from behind Rory Cellan-Jones’s sofa – but with patience and love she slowly emerged back into the worldWhen a trembling dog was placed in my arms in the early hours of a December Saturday I was not too concerned by her terrified state. After all, I knew about rescue dogs. Cabbage, our lovely collie cross who had died at the beginning of the year, had come from a Dogs Trust rescue centre 15 years earlier, and had also been pretty nervous at first. I was confident that Sophie, a one-year-old of indeterminate breed (but with a lot of German shepherd), brought to us on a van from Romania, would, like Cabbage, quickly settle down in her new home. How wrong I was.Our new dog seemed frightened of my wife and I, and our house, and desperately searched for the smallest space she could find, eventually settling behind a sofa. The next morning, I was keen to restart the early dog walks which had been a key feature of my exercise regime since I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2019. But Sophie was going nowhere. Continue reading...
The plastic particles are everywhere – here’s what to know about what to avoid, whether they ever leave the body and what to do about plastic pollutionMicroplastics are tiny particles of plastic. Continue reading...
This year’s Met theme is ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ and focuses on Black men’s strategic use of fashion. Author of the text the show is inspired by, Monica L. Miller talks about why it’s being celebrated at this year’s show and galaAfter three decades as a jobbing actor, Colman Domingo finally ascended to the Hollywood A-list in 2023 off the back of Rustin, a biopic of Bayard Rustin, an adviser to Martin Luther King Jr and civil rights icon. But while his performance was brilliant, Domingo’s meteoric rise was also down to something else: his masterful embrace of Black dandyism.Having honed his trademark tight trousers and unbuttoned shirts waiting tables in San Francisco, on the red carpet he set himself apart in suits with Nehru collars, bow ties, dramatic cloaks and sparkling brooches. “I don’t just wear clothes, I wear stories,” Domingo told GQ ahead of his appearance at the Golden Globes in January, before stepping out in a black Valentino mohair wool tuxedo paired with a polka-dot silk shirt and a peacock plume brooch, all chosen to evoke “being at the centre of a three-ring circus” – a playful nod to the performative nature of awards season. Continue reading...
We took a wrong turn on vacation and ended up on a six-hour trek into the rainforest. After my mom flung off her top, my brother was attacked by fire ants and I developed a fiery hot rash, everything began to seem strangely zen …It was the summer of 2001 and I was on the brink of adolescence, embarking on my first journey outside the United States to the tropically convenient American territory of Puerto Rico. I was 11, and already the goofball in my group of friends – but, away from those with whom I was familiar, I was painfully shy. Until a family vacation from hell rid me of all my inhibitions.The chaos began when my well-intentioned parents decided to take my brother and me to see the beautiful rainforest. My mom had her heart set on going to the El Portal de El Yunque National Forest visitor centre; a friend had told her it was “perfect for kids”, with guided, paved pathways, a cafe, and even a gift shop. But when my flustered, monolingual father got lost on the Puerto Rican freeway, he panicked, as my mother flipped through the map trying to direct him. “What’s a salida?!” he cried, sailing past the “exit” signs. Continue reading...
Growing numbers of older people are creating enterprises in everything from baking to biodiversity – but does the freedom make up for the graft?Kari Johnston felt ready to retire after 45 years in nursing when, at 63 years old, she decided to launch her own business – a professional decluttering and organising service.She had read about decluttering and, fascinated, quickly created a website and advertised. Her first clients were friends. Three-and-a-half years later, Johnston, from St Monans in Fife, is now fully retired from nursing, and feels delighted with the success of her new venture. Continue reading...
Leftover cooked lamb is ideal for hard frying, stuffing into tacos and topping with salsaIf you’re anything like me, you love a big roast dinner on Sundays. A joint of meat is a magnificent offering, but it can sometimes be hard to carve cleanly, and you end up leaving chunks of meat and flavoursome fat on the bone. These scraps are perfect for turning into succulent, tasty tacos. Cut any meat and fat off the bone, then shred with two forks. I’ve added black beans to bulk out the meat; if you have less meat, or want to make a vegetarian version, just use an extra tin of beans. Continue reading...
We’d like to hear from small business owners in the UK and elsewhere about any impact of changing tariffs China has raised tariffs on US imports to 125% in an escalation of the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.US tariffs on Chinese goods now total 145%, while most other countries, including the UK, have maintained a 10% tariff on goods following Donald Trump’s announcements on Wednesday pausing “reciprocal” tariffs for 90 days. Continue reading...
We would like to hear what you think is the best book to read aloud with young children and whyNew research has shown a steep decline in the number of parents reading aloud to young children, with 41% of 0- to four-year-olds now being read to frequently, down from 64% in 2012.The survey, conducted by book data company Nielsen and publisher HarperCollins, also found that less than half of parents find it fun to read aloud to their children. Continue reading...
If you or your family have memories, pictures and letters from VE Day, we would like to hear from youOn 8 May 1945 the second world war in Europe came to an end. , Though it was a day for celebration, for many who lost family and friends during the war, rejoicing was muted. It’s estimated that nearly 70 million people died as a direct consequence of the fighting, about two thirds of them were civilians.If you or your friends and family have memories of the end of the second world war in Europe, we would like to hear from you. Do you have stories or photographs of the celebrations? Were you or a family member a child at the time, or still in active service on VE Day, and if so where? Perhaps you have letters or mementos from that period. Continue reading...
We would like to hear the story behind a cooking utensil passed down through generations of your familyAs Bee Wilson writes in her Guardian long read, people can invest objects in their kitchens with strong meanings or emotions:Many people told me that they could still feel the presence of a lost parent or partner in their china cupboard. I met someone who said that the one object belonging to his mother that he and his siblings all wanted when they cleared her house was a glass salad-dressing maker. His mother never rinsed out the garlic at the bottom, just adding fresh garlic before pouring in the oil and vinegar, meaning that this vessel carried the garlicky essence of decades of shared meals. Continue reading...
In Long Beach, city with the largest diaspora of Cambodians in the US, people dance, eat and reflect on the 1975 killings“Sousdey chnam thmey!” a rider shouted in Khmer into a megaphone while sitting atop a float swaddled in US and Cambodian flags. “Happy new year!” parade-goers yelled back from the street.Thousands of Cambodian Americans gathered to celebrate the Khmer New Year in Long Beach’s Cambodia Town district – the heart of the largest diaspora of Cambodians in the United States. Continue reading...
Red and navy hats were strategically placed as Trump’s cabinet gushed over 100 presidential days like no otherThere were navy blue and red baseball caps up and down the table, strategically placed in front of every cabinet member, and each bearing the message “Gulf of America”.Yet the unorthodox collection of headwear, embroidered with Donald Trump’s forced new name for the centuries-old Gulf of Mexico, was far from the most bizarre aspect of an extraordinary White House gathering hosted by the president on Wednesday. Continue reading...
A last-minute supreme court intervention prevented Javier Salazar from getting deported, but the battle is far from overWhen 19-year-old Javier Salazar was loaded on to a bus from an immigrant detention center in northern Texas, he had no idea where he was being taken.He wondered if he was being transferred to another facility or maybe deported back to his native Venezuela. He and the other passengers, their hands and feet shackled, settled into a tense silence. Then a terrifying possibility crept into Salazar’s mind. Continue reading...
Mosab Abushama’s work is an attempt to spotlight what the destruction has meant for ordinary peopleWhen Mosab Abushama returned to his house in eastern Omdurman a year into the war in Sudan it was unrecognisable. Like the other buildings in his neighbourhood, the three-storey property he had shared with his extended family was pitted with bullet holes. Some of the walls had been blown through and the charred shells of burnt-out vehicles were scattered along the street. There was debris everywhere, and no water or electricity.“When we came back, everything had been stolen. There was nothing left – no furniture, no belongings, not even our clothes,” he says. Continue reading...
With well over 100 voting centres across 83 countries and tens of thousands of overseas votes already cast, the AEC’s footprint is bigger than at any previous federal electionElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignPolls tracker; Election guide; Interactive seat explorerParty policies; Micro parties explained; Full election coverageListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastWhen Laura Cross walked out of the Australian embassy in Buenos Aires this week, she celebrated by searching for a “democracy hotdog” – to tide over her cravings for the classic election-day sausage sizzle.Cross, who has been travelling through South America, is one of thousands of Australians voting abroad. In her case, the process was seamless. Continue reading...
Agreements with agencies in 38 states resurrect aggressive tactics shelved more than a decade ago amid alarm about civil rights abusesThe first few months of 2025 have been tumultuous for Sheriff Bill Rogers, the chief law officer of Columbus county in North Carolina. In February, his department settled a lawsuit accusing Columbus jail deputies of neglecting the care of a county inmate who was almost beaten to death in 2023. Then in March, a group of Roger’s deputies were accused of assault during the arrest of a 57-year-old who claimed he was punched in the back of the head and left bloody after allegedly running a stop sign.Those episodes follow years of scandal. Continue reading...
President lashed out at Terry Moran in tense TV interview, which included questions about deportations and tariffsUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump lashed out at an ABC journalist in a tense TV interview to mark 100 days of his second term in office, in which among other confrontations he angrily pushed correspondent Terry Moran to agree with him that a doctored photo was actually real, telling him: “Why don’t you just say yes.”The 40-minute interview in the Oval Office veered off course when Moran pressed Trump on the case of Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadorian man living in Maryland who was deported despite a protective court order. When Moran pointed out that the supreme court had ordered García’s return to the US, and suggested Trump had the power to comply by making a single phone call, the president bristled. Continue reading...
Footage shown in Newcastle trial of two men accused of chopping down tree on Hadrian’s Wall in September 2023A jury has been shown footage of what prosecutors say is the moment the Sycamore Gap tree crashed to the ground after being felled by a shadowy figure wielding a loud, revving chainsaw.A court heard that the video was taken on the Apple iPhone 13 of Daniel Graham, one of two men accused of illegally cutting down the tree on Hadrian’s Wall, described by one witness as “totemic”. Continue reading...
When Jess Davies was 15, a boy leaked pictures she’d shared with him. At 18, she was a glamour model. A few years later, another man violated her trust. Then she fought backJess Davies was a 15-year-old schoolgirl, sitting in an art lesson, absorbed in her fairytale project about a princess and a postman, when her Nokia phone began to vibrate with messages. “Nice pictures,” read one. “I didn’t think you were that type of girl,” said another.To this day, she remembers the racing thoughts, the instant nausea, the hairs prickling up on her legs, the sweaty palms. She had shared a photograph of herself in her underwear with a boy she trusted and, very soon, it had been sent around the school and across her small home town, Aberystwyth, Wales. She became a local celebrity for all the wrong reasons. Younger kids would approach her laughing and ask for a hug. Members of the men’s football team saw it – and one showed someone who knew Davies’s nan, so that’s how her family found out. Continue reading...
Sleep well, swap butter for olive oil, learn a musical instrument – or embrace some other ‘magnificent obsession’. Here is what doctors do themselves to delay the onset of cognitive declineAs we live longer, our risk of cognitive impairment is increasing. How can we delay the onset of symptoms? Do we have to give up every indulgence or can small changes make a difference? We asked neurologists for tips on how to keep our brains healthy for life. Continue reading...
Authorities are still trying to understand what triggered the massive power outage that left the majority of the Iberian Peninsula without electricity on Monday. To understand what might have been at play, and whether there’s any truth to claims that renewable energy sources were to blame, Ian Sample hears from Guardian energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose. And Guardian European community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam explains what it was like to experience the blackout and how people reacted‘Shipwrecked in the 21st century’: how people made it through Europe’s worst blackout in living memorySupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
Guardian journalist Kaamil Ahmed reports on the devastating assault by the Rapid Support Forces on the camp in Darfur and what it tells us about the group’s plans in Sudan’s civil warZamzam, in Darfur, has been a place of refuge for decades. A sprawling camp in western Sudan, some have estimated that it houses up to 700,000 people – a place of relative safety from the violence that has engulfed the region over the last 20 years.It was also one of the last holdouts in Darfur, one of the few places in the region not yet under the control of the Rapid Support Forces. The paramilitary group has fought a devastating civil war with the Sudanese army since April 2023. Continue reading...
Before this week’s local elections, John Harris is on the road in Doncaster – which could prove to be a canary in the coalmine for the government. Labour has been in power here for decades but this time Nigel Farage’s Reform UK fancies its chances. So why are people turning away from Labour? Why are they so disillusioned with politics in general? And what would a Reform-run city actually be like?Please support The Guardian at http://theguardian.com/politicspod The full list of candidates for Doncaster mayor are:David Bettney, Social Democratic party Continue reading...
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Nicky Bandini as Arsenal try and lick their wounds after they failed to gain an edge at home against PSG in the first leg of their semi-final clash in the Champions LeagueRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.On the podcast today: Paris Saint-Germain win 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium. The French champions stunned Arsenal early on with the midfield three of João Neves, Fabián Ruiz and Vitinha dominating and Ousmane Dembélé scoring. You wondered if this was a step too far for Mikel Arteta’s men. Continue reading...
We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.This week, from 2022: Five million payphone calls are still made each year in the UK. Who is making them – and why?By Sophie Elmhirst. Read by Emma Powell Continue reading...
With council and mayoral seats up for grabs in local elections in England on 1 May, Nigel Farage has made Doncaster his prime target. But is it another high-profile roadshow or could his Reform UK party, which picked up five seats in the 2024 general election, take control of the council as the polls suggest? Guardian video producers Maeve Shearlaw and Bruno Rinvolucri spoke to party members, community champions, and prospective candidates from a range of parties to find out Continue reading...
Israel has brought the military tactics of its war in Gaza to the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians are facing mass forced displacements and a sharp rise in violent attacks. Since January the rate of demolitions, raids and Palestinian deaths have significantly increased. The Palestinian activist Alaa Hathleen told the Guardian he woke up to the sound of bulldozers, moments before his home was demolished. He is one of thousands who have been forcibly displaced so far this year. The Guardian’s senior international affairs correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, explains what these military tactics are, how they are used and what this means for the 2.7 million Palestinians who live in the occupied West Bank• This video was amended on 29 April 2025. An earlier version said that "thousands of Israelis were killed" during the 7 October Hamas attack in 2023. In fact, 1,205 people were killed. Continue reading...
They are everywhere – and they may be messing with your body more than you realise. They’re linked to obesity, gut issues, even chronic disease. But how exactly are UPFs making us sick?Neelam Tailor speaks to the food philosopher and former industry insider Prof Barry Smith, who breaks down what UPFs do inside your body, how food companies keep us hooked, and how you can reduce how much UPF you eat Continue reading...
From anxious children unable to cope with school to those with more complex, profound disabilities, support for Send children in England is broken, with underfunded local authorities delaying legal obligations to support families and increasing numbers of parents unable to work, burnt out, judged and even suffering PTSD from attempting to navigate the system. The Guardian meets parents and children from across the country to get a sense of the scale of the issue Continue reading...
At the end of March, the Sudanese army took full control of Khartoum from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which it had been fighting since April 2023. After seizing several key sites across Sudan's capital, the army forced the RSF to retreat, marking a critical turn in the country’s civil war. Footage from the capital shows a city devastated by two years of fighting, which has left many of Khartoum’s most important landmarks badly damaged. The Guardian has collected before and after footage to illustrate the scale of the destructionDeath, displacement and devastation – two years of war in SudanThe siege of Khartoum has lifted. Left behind are scenes of unimaginable horrorSudan in ‘world’s largest humanitarian crisis’ after two years of civil war Continue reading...
Maria Matthes, a lifelong koala conservationist, says loss of habitat and the climate crisis have threatened the endangered species in eastern New South Wales. Almost 2m hectares of forests suitable for koalas have been destroyed since 2011. They are one of more than 2,000 Australian species listed as under threat in what scientists are calling an extinction crisis Continue reading...
As demand for smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles has soared, so has demand for the minerals - such as cobalt and coltan - for the batteries that power them. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has vast reserves of these minerals, and their extraction is fuelling the country's civil war. Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out more about how global demand for tech is causing human suffering in central Africa, and how we, and western powers and companies, are complicit Continue reading...
Four days of shocking violence in north-west Syria left more than 1,500 people dead – including at least 745 civilians – in some of Syria’s deadliest days of fighting since the beginning of the civil war in 2011. Widespread revenge attacks against civilians have mostly targeted Alawites, a minority Islamic sect from which the ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad hailed. The Guardian has put together a visual breakdown of the events which shook Syria's coast Continue reading...
What happens when western billionaires try to ‘fix’ hunger in developing countries? Neelam Tailor investigates how philanthropic efforts by the Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the organisation they set up to revolutionise African farming, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), may have made matters worse for the small-scale farmers who produce 70% of the continent's food. From seed laws that criminalise traditional practices to corporate partnerships with agribusiness giants such as Monsanto and Syngenta, we explore how a well-funded green revolution has led to rising debt, loss of biodiversity and deepening food insecurity across the continent Continue reading...
Net zero is a target that countries should be striving for to stop the climate crisis. But beyond the buzzword, it is a complex scientific concept – and if we get it wrong, the planet will keep heating.Biodiversity and environment reporter Patrick Greenfield explains how a loophole in the 2015 Paris climate agreement allows countries to cheat their net zero targets through creative accounting, and how scientists want us to fix it Continue reading...
As droughts become more prevalent, corporate control over our drinking water is threatening the health of water sources and the access people have to them. Josh Toussaint-Strauss explores how foreign multinational companies are extracting billions of litres of water from natural aquifers to sell back to the same communities from which it came – for huge profits‘It’s not drought - it’s looting’: the Spanish villages where people are forced to buy back their own drinking waterForeign firms taking billions of litres from UK aquifers to make bottled water Continue reading...
The prison population in England and Wales has doubled in the last 30 years, with overcrowding now endemic across the system. But the government's strategy of easing this pressure by granting early release to thousands of offenders has had a knock-on effect. With many lacking stability on the outside, reoffending rates are high, exacerbating the existing problem. The Guardian visited Wales to see this playing out on the streets of Bridgend; and the Netherlands, to find out why the Dutch have closed more than 20 prisons in the past 10 years, seemingly in complete contrast to the struggles in Britain - and despite increasing levels of more serious crime seen across the countryWith thanks to Prison Escape Utrecht and Tap Social Movement Continue reading...
In Sudan, fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, appear to have filmed and posted online videos of themselves glorifying the burning of homes and the torture of prisoners. These videos could be used by international courts to pursue war crime prosecutions.Kaamil Ahmed explains how the international legal system is adapting to social media, finding a way to use the digital material shared online to corroborate accounts of war crimes being committed in countries ranging from Ukraine to SudanRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updates Continue reading...
For many Israelis, military service is a rite of passage that lasts two to three years. Being such a formative part of the social contract in Israel, it is unusual for eligible young people to refuse their draft orders. Every year some ask for exemptions, but only a handful openly declare themselves as conscientious objectors, commonly known as refuseniks. However, since 7 October and the war in Gaza, refusenik organisations say the number of people refusing the draft has risen, even though during wartime punishments are harsher. The Guardian’s Middle East correspondent, Bethan McKernan, spent time with Itamar Greenberg, an 18-year-old who has been in and out of military prison for almost a year as a result of his refusal to serve Continue reading...
Plastics are everywhere, but their smallest fragments – nanoplastics – are making their way into the deepest parts of our bodies, including our brains and breast milk. Scientists have now captured the first visual evidence of these particles inside human cells, raising urgent questions about their impact on our health. From the food we eat to the air we breathe, how are nanoplastics infiltrating our systems?Neelam Tailor looks into the invisible invasion happening inside us all Continue reading...
Mazyouna, a 13-year-old girl from Gaza, lost the right side of her jaw in an Israeli attack on her home in Gaza that killed her brother and sister. She was denied access by Israel to life-altering surgery abroad for more than six months. Only after the publication of a Guardian article condemning her treatment were Mazyouna, her mother and her surviving sibling granted permission to leave - her father was not permitted to join them. Their evacuation and specialist surgery at the El Paso children's hospital in Texas was facilitated by FAJR Scientific, an organisation that evacuates children in need of medical treatment from war zones.Last month, the World Health Organization urged a rapid scaling-up of medical evacuations from Gaza where thousands remain in critical condition Continue reading...
On 21 February, 12-year-old Ayman al-Hammouni was killed, shot by Israeli fire, video footage seen by the Guardian suggests. Two cameras recorded the circumstances of Ayman's death. The Guardian has used this footage to tell the story of the child’s last momentsGunshots and a surge of panic: footage shows last moments of boy, 12, killed in the West Bank Continue reading...
China has dramatically increased military activities around Taiwan, with more than 3,000 incursions into Taiwan's airspace in 2024 alone. Amy Hawkins examines how Beijing is deploying 'salami-slicing' tactics, a strategy of gradual pressure that stays below the threshold of war while steadily wearing down Taiwan's defences. From daily air incursions to strategic military exercises, we explore the four phases of China's approach and what it means for Taiwan's future Continue reading...
A GP surgery in one of the most deprived areas in the north-east of England is struggling to provide care for its patients as the health system crumbles around them. In the depths of the winter flu season, the Guardian video producers Maeve Shearlaw and Adam Sich went to Bridges medical practice to shadow the lead GP, Paul Evans, as he worked all hours keep his surgery afloat. Juggling technical challenges, long waiting lists and the profound impact austerity has had on the health of the population, Evans says: 'We are seeing the system fail' Continue reading...
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every ThursdayStyle, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every ThursdayExplore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you Continue reading...
Be the first to see our latest thought-provoking films, bringing you bold and original storytelling from around the worldDiscover the stories behind our latest short films, learn more about our international film-makers, and join us for exclusive documentary events. We’ll also share a selection of our favourite films, from our archives and from further afield, for you to enjoy. Sign up below.Can’t wait for the next newsletter? Start exploring our archive now. Continue reading...
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. Continue reading...
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideasEach week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner.Sign up below to start receiving the best of our culinary journalism in one mouth-watering weekly email. Continue reading...
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...
Known as the ‘singing photographer’, Arlene Gottfried traversed her home city with a camera, capturing vibrant communities that no longer exist Continue reading...
Why did an unloved two-seater become both an art project and a tourist attraction? Photographer Alex Elton-Wall explains allA sofa was dumped in the middle of Lydbrook, a village in Gloucestershire, and every time Alex Elton-Wall walked past it he found himself smiling. While he’s clear he doesn’t condone fly-tipping, the cream-coloured two-seater looked “really funny,” he says, perched on a patch of waste ground, next to a road, the woods as a scenic backdrop. As an amateur photographer, he spotted an opportunity.At the start of April, a few weeks after the sofa first appeared, the 49-year-old office worker posted a message in the village Facebook group asking for people to come and pose on the sofa so he could take their portraits. That day, he says, “I ended up taking pictures from 10 in the morning until eight o’clock that night. People were just having so much fun, and it was so bizarre what we were doing.” Continue reading...
Playing host to two FA Cup semi-finals less than 24 hours apart, as well as more than 150,000 fans, means a busy time for staff at Wembley. We take a look at the preparationsIt takes a great deal of organisation and a lot of staff, working in a variety of roles, to facilitate these two huge fixtures. More than 12,000 worked at Wembley over the two days. Many worked both days and through the night to ensure everything was in place.Matchday mascots wait to greet the players as they arrive at Wembley for the first of the weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals. Continue reading...
A poetic new exhibition of dreamlike black and white images captures the country’s contemplative beauty, from lonely Torii gates to sprawling temple trees Continue reading...
An unprecedented power outage brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill on Monday, affecting trains and communications and darkening cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and LisbonTens of millions across Spain and Portugal hit by huge power outage Continue reading...