Trump and Meloni talk up chances of US trade deal with Europe
"There will be a trade deal, 100%," Trump said, while Meloni said she was "sure" they could reach agreement.
"There will be a trade deal, 100%," Trump said, while Meloni said she was "sure" they could reach agreement.
The 20-year-old alleged gunman began shooting at around lunchtime near the student union building.
There are concerns around what democracy could look like and the role of Islam in the new regime.
The car had been traversing the 1,100m-high mountain when a cord to one of the cabins snapped say local media.
At the heart of the dispute are the Waste Recycling and Collection Officers, who were paid more than some other bin workers.
A pilot project will test whether it is a useful way of fighting climate change.
The announcement comes after Manchester Arena bomber Hashem Abedi attacked prison officers at HMP Frankland.
The former England cricketer speaks about his recovery from the crash ahead of a new documentary.
Witnesses in al-Mawasi told the BBC that people were burned alive as tents were engulfed in flames.
Earlier this year, King Charles III invited Donald Trump for an unprecedented second state visit.
He bills the battle between Indian-flavoured pizzas and air conditioning as "chilli vs the chiller".
The ruling on the meaning of the term "woman" in law is a "victory for common sense", the EHRC's chair says.
The UK Supreme Court's ruling could have wide implications, including in sport.
Campaigners say the trans community is now worried that "people are coming after their right to exist" as a result of the ruling.
Sir Keir Starmer and other leaders have tied themselves in knots over the question: "What is a woman?"
Could discoveries of alien life ever change the human psyche in how we view ourselves and each other?
A range of stories make Friday's front pages including a drone ban around King Charles estate in Sandringham.
The temporary measure by the government is aimed at stopping the spread of foot and mouth disease.
The Trump administration is headed on a collision course with the judicial branch, a rare and historic scenario.
A Palestinian child coping with amputation and a young Ukrainian girl traumatised by war are among the winning images.
China is encouraging it's retirees to spend their savings on fun initiatives to help boost its economy, as the country's trade war with the US rages on.
It comes after a Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.
Travellers are warned of disruption as workers stage industrial action over pay and conditions.
The chief executive of the company which felled an ancient oak apologises and opens a review.
Steve Witkoff appeared to suggest that a peace deal hinged on the status of five Ukrainian regions.
The woman died in hospital on Tuesday, after being struck by a van involved in a police chase on Friday.
The president of the Board of Deputies says he disagrees with the letter criticising the war in Gaza.
Hundreds of contacts were mistakenly added to a group set up to promote the Tory MP's marathon run.
Top stories, breaking news, live reporting, and follow news topics that match your interests
NHS could be forced to change gender guidance.
El Salvador’s president has become a key White House ally
The story behind Simon and Garfunkel's most famous album, Bridge over Troubled Water.
Ruben Amorim says he used Manchester United's famous 1999 Champions League final comeback win as "inspiration" for Thursday's Europa League triumph over Lyon.
Under-pressure Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou says reporters are "going to have to put up with me for a little bit longer" after his side reached the Europa League semi-finals.
Manchester United complete a remarkable comeback against Lyon to reach the Europa League semi-finals.
Chris Dobey wins his first Premier League night of 2025 with a 6-2 win over Stephen Bunting on an evening of shocks in Rotterdam.
The former England cricketer speaks about his recovery from the crash ahead of a new documentary.
Exclusive: backbenchers may be allowed to abstain, a major climbdown from previous votes when rebels were suspended from the partyMinisters are scrambling to avoid a damaging rebellion this summer when MPs vote on controversial cuts to disability benefit payments, even offering potential rebels the chance to miss the vote altogether.The government is due to hold a vote in June and dozens of Labour MPs are worried it will hurt their constituents and could cost them their seats. Continue reading...
US president and first lady received invitation in February from King Charles for unprecedented repeat tripDonald Trump has said he is expecting to travel to to the UK in September for his second state visit.King Charles is preparing to host the US president and first lady as the UK government tries to bolster transatlantic ties after Trump imposed a series of tariffs on trading partners. Continue reading...
Equality watchdog says health service ‘now has clarity’ as managers draw up new policy for hospitals and surgeriesNHS bosses are scrambling to overhaul guidelines for single-sex spaces in thousands of hospitals and GP surgeries after the equality watchdog warned they would be pursued if they fail to do so.The British Transport Police became the first to change policies on Thursday amid the fallout from the supreme court ruling on the legal definition of a woman, piling pressure on the health service and other organisations to revamp their guidance. Continue reading...
Manchester United unveiled a giant tifo that declared “Never Gonna Stop”, then did precisely this by knocking out 10-man Lyon in an electrifying end to extra time that ranks second in the club’s pantheon of late, late continental finishes.For those here the drama of minutes 114-120 (+34 seconds) will never be forgotten. At this juncture United had gone 4-2 down to a Rayan Cherki strike and an Alexandre Lacazette penalty (on 104 and 109 minutes) that had the French side leading 6-4 on aggregate and apparently dumping Ruben Amorim’s men out of Europe. Continue reading...
One person seriously injured after accident at Monte Faito near NaplesFour people have died and one is seriously injured after a cable car crashed to the ground near Naples in southern Italy on Thursday.A cable broke on the link taking tourists from the town of Castellammare di Stabia, on the Gulf of Naples, to Monte Faito, about three kilometres(1.8 miles) away. Continue reading...
Suspect, charged with four federal counts, faces separate state charges over death of Brian Thompson in ManhattanLuigi Mangione was indicted on Thursday on a federal murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last year, a necessary step for prosecutors to seek the death penalty.The indictment returned by a grand jury in Manhattan federal court also charges Mangione with two counts of stalking and a firearms count. Continue reading...
Paria Veisi was reported missing after leaving her workplace in Canton on 12 AprilPolice have launched a murder investigation following the disappearance of a woman last seen leaving work in Cardiff nearly a week ago.Paria Veisi was reported missing after leaving her workplace in the Canton area of Cardiff at about 3pm on Saturday 12 April. Continue reading...
The pivotal ‘barbarian conspiracy’ of AD367 saw Picts, Scotti and Saxons inflicting crushing blows on Roman defencesA series of exceptionally dry summers that caused famine and social breakdown were behind one of the most severe threats to Roman rule of Britain, according to new academic research.The rebellion, known as the “barbarian conspiracy”, was a pivotal moment in Roman Britain. Picts, Scotti and Saxons took advantage of Britain’s descent into anarchy to inflict crushing blows on weakened Roman defences in the spring and summer of AD367. Continue reading...
Police took in suspect Phoenix Ikner, 20, a Florida State University student and son of a sheriff’s deputyTwo people were killed in a mass shooting at the Florida State University (FSU) campus in Tallahassee on Thursday, and six others were injured, police said.The 20-year-old suspect is believed to be a student and the son of a sheriff’s deputy who had access to one of her weapons, a handgun, which was found at the scene, Sheriff Walt McNeil said at a news conference. Continue reading...
Coroner calls for action to avoid future deaths after four killed by drivers with failing eyesight in northern EnglandAn inquest into the deaths of four people killed by drivers with failing eyesight in northern England has found enforcement of visual legal standards for motorists is “ineffective and unsafe”.The HM senior coroner for Lancashire, Dr James Adeley, has sent a report to the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, calling for action to be taken to prevent future deaths. Continue reading...
The actor will return for a follow-up series on Peacock rejoining the life of Cher Horowitz from the hit 1995 comedyAlicia Silverstone will play Cher Horowitz once again in a new TV series follow-up to the hit 1995 comedy Clueless.The 48-year-old actor has been set as star and executive producer of an episodic sequel at Peacock. The show will be written and produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, best known for Gossip Girl. Continue reading...
The president and Italy’s prime minister spoke a common language – but for a discordant moment over UkraineShe had been welcomed to the White House with open arms as few other foreign visitors had been since Donald Trump’s return, and Giorgia Meloni wanted to assure her host that – at least when it came to their political worldview – they spoke a common language.Italy’s prime minister, whose Brothers of Italy party has roots in neo-fascism, was keen to stress that she shared many things with the man who had just hailed her as a “friend” who “everybody loves … and respects”. Continue reading...
Pope’s surprise public outings after serious illness show he is saying ‘I’m here, and I’m in charge’, a Vatican expert saysLorena Araujo Piñeiro was putting the finishing touches to the restoration of the 17th-century tomb of Pope Urban VIII, a dark bronze and gold monument in St Peter’s Basilica, when she noticed a man wearing a striped poncho-like top, black trousers and no shoes, being pushed in a wheelchair towards her.“It was around noon and the basilica was practically empty,” said Piñeiro, a restorer. “I struggled to recognise who it was … I thought he was a simple pilgrim. It was as if he’d just got out of bed.” Continue reading...
Officials promise to track down and prosecute those who ‘tag’ city’s historic monuments, statues and grand buildingsIn Paris’s central Place de la République, the magnificent lions at the feet of the statue of Marianne are once again covered in graffiti.Along the nearby Boulevard Saint-Martin – part of the Grands Boulevards that bisect the north of the city – the trunk of every plane tree has been crudely sprayed with a name. Continue reading...
Jono Lancaster is a compassionate, authoritative presence – an absolute natural. It’s just a shame that we don’t get more of him in this show about helping people with facial differences overcome their issues with the way they lookThere are two ways to view Love My Face, Channel 4’s latest venture into one of its best-loved terrains – the place where medicine and society meet. The first is as a testament to man’s inhumanity to man, based on the accounts of lives made miserable by bullying and exploitation of the slightest visible difference sported by an individual. The second is as a shining example of the human spirit’s ability to endure adversity and forge a new, better life out of suffering. Over the four hour-long episodes you may find yourself pinging back and forth many times between the two.The format is familiar. At a specialised treatment facility, a group of people are brought together who have varying degrees of facial differences – ranging, for example, from a conventionally handsome young man with a keloid scar growing just noticeably on the back of his earlobe, to a man who was set on fire by his mentally ill uncle and suffered burns over nearly half his body, including his face and scalp. A team of doctors awaits to provide them with their medical options. And presenter Jono Lancaster, who has Treacher Collins syndrome, which means the bones of his face did not develop in the usual way before birth, offers emotional support and ways of thinking about their conditions and situations that may enable them to come to terms with them better – and perhaps avoid physical intervention. Continue reading...
A year after their debut, PJ, Chanyeon and Jiseok talk about the tough times, their global fanbase and what keeps them going“People often ask how we can be a K-pop group with hearing loss,” PJ says in between rehearsals in Seoul. “But we want people to see us perform and be inspired, with our hearing status as almost a side note.”PJ is the main vocalist for band Big Ocean, which made history almost exactly a year ago as the world’s first K-pop group composed entirely of members with hearing loss, a daunting venture in South Korea, a country where conformity is culturally valued. Continue reading...
These are just the US executioners we know. But they are a chilling indication of the executioners we don’t knowBeing an executioner is not the sort of job that gets posted in a local wanted ad. Kids don’t dream about being an executioner when they grow up, and people don’t go to school for it. So how does one become a death row executioner in the US, and who are the people doing it?This was the question I couldn’t help but ask when I began a book project on lethal injection back in 2018. I’m a death penalty researcher, and I was trying to figure out why states are so breathtakingly bad at a procedure that we use on cats and dogs every day. Part of the riddle was who is performing these executions. Continue reading...
Convicted in 1986 of killing five members of his family, he has always maintained his innocence. This week, new evidence could get him another day in courtFor Jeremy Bamber, 17 April is D-day. Today, he hopes his case will be sent back to the court of appeal for the second time, and his many supporters believe this will lead to his conviction for murdering five members of his family being quashed after 40 years in prison. They say this is an unsafe conviction at the very least, but maintain Bamber did not and could not have carried out the horrific crimes. Others, including most of Bamber’s surviving relatives, remain convinced that Bamber murdered his mother, father, sister and her six-year-old twin boys and should never be released.It could also be a huge day for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the body responsible for sending alleged miscarriages of justice back to the court of appeal. When the commission started in 1997, it was a beacon of hope for the wrongfully imprisoned – the first independent organisation set up to investigate and refer miscarriages of justice. But over the years it has fallen into disrepute, widely condemned as tardy, conservative and inept. Continue reading...
Salmon is often marketed as the sustainable, healthy and eco-friendly protein choice. But what you may not realise is that most of the salmon you buy is farmed, especially if you live in the UK, because Scottish salmon producers are no longer required to tell you. Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out why it is important for consumers to know where their salmon comes from, and examines the gap between the marketing of farmed salmon and the reality for our health, the environmental and animal welfareScottish government must do more to control salmon farming, inquiry findsScottish salmon producers allowed to remove ‘farmed’ from front of packagingNorway rules out fish farm ban despite ‘existential threat’ to wild salmon Continue reading...
The star’s insistence on jumping from a 2,722ft skyscraper to up the action ante for Thunderbolts* may not be quite enough to save Marvel’s latest. But her career should flyIf you ever needed definitive proof that Marvel has lost pace with the zeitgeist, just look at the panicky marketing of Thunderbolts*. The film opens in a couple of weeks and, according to the trade press, is tracking to open soft.Had this been six or seven years ago, then fans would be clamouring to see Thunderbolts* simply because it was the latest instalment of the grand MCU soap opera. After all, it’s a film that stars several side characters from older Marvel films and TV shows, and there was a time when audiences would go bananas for this sort of thing. But as the last few MCU films have shown, that approach doesn’t really work any more. Continue reading...
Feel like screen time is sapping your concentration? Take a break from the digital world this Easter with these mindful suggestions• 19 self-care treats for the perfect pick-me-upI’m sure many of us are guilty of relying on our phones to decompress, even when taking some downtime. But if your social media feeds are anything like mine – an endless stream of fad workouts, meal plans and extravagant skincare routines – it’s more likely to whip you into an anxious frenzy than leave you feeling calm and relaxed. Whether you have social media anxiety, insomnia or are just terrified by the idea of “brain rot”, you need a way to de-stress that doesn’t involve a screen, especially when many of us stare at one all day for work or school.I’m sure we’re all familiar with the concept of mindfulness and how the practice can help to reduce symptoms of anxiety and boost concentration. But you might not realise how easy it is to incorporate it into your everyday life – after all, at its core, mindfulness is just about keeping yourself in the present moment. So to help you do just that, I’ve compiled a list of screen-free activities to help you clear your mind, get outside (if the weather allows) and be more mindful, without meditating. Continue reading...
To celebrate the Oscar-winning actor’s birthday this week, we look back at the highlights of a six-decade career, from early classics such as Doctor Zhivago and Billy Liar to later roles in Finding Neverland and Away From Her.There are many things wrong with Kenneth Branagh’s galumphing slab of actor-manager Shakespeare, but Christie as Gertrude is not one of them. Her casting might have been conducive to the Oedipal side of the Danish prince’s feelings towards his mother – if only the director’s bombastic performance had allowed room for it. Continue reading...
Elected leaders from across Europe should join us on the streets. It is critical to democracy – in Hungary, and the EU as a wholeHungary’s parliament has given Viktor Orbán the tools to do what he has long threatened: ban Pride, silence dissent and strip political critics of their citizenship. A constitutional amendment passed on 14 April allows the government to label LGBTQ+ gatherings a threat to children and to revoke the citizenship of dual nationals deemed a risk to “national sovereignty”.This is a purge disguised as law – another step in Orbán’s dismantling of democracy, where the constitution is degraded to a propaganda instrument. He calls it a “spring clean-up” to root out “bugs”, targeting LGBTQ+ people, journalists, critics, civil society and now, dual nationals. As one myself, I could be among the targets.Katalin Cseh is a member of the Hungarian national assembly for the Momentum Movement and a former MEPDo 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...
Allegations of criminality have always been deployed to justify state violence but even ‘imperfect’ victims deserve basic rightsUS politics live – latest updatesLast month, the Trump administration flew 238 Venezuelan immigrants to a brutal prison in El Salvador. Federal officials alleged that the detainees were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, calling them “heinous monsters” ,“criminal aliens”, “the worst of the worst”. The federal government has also revoked visas for a thousand international students over their alleged participation in protests against Israel’s genocide in Palestine. Some were abducted, like Mahmoud Khalil, who has spent more than a month incarcerated in one of the worst jails in the US. Officials alleged that Mahmoud “sided with terrorists … who have killed innocent men, women, and children”.Media reports quickly revealed that the Trump administration is lying about “innocent” people to justify abducting them. But this raises a more important question: if Trump’s victims weren’t “innocent”, does that make them disposable? I worry that emphasizing the innocence of victims creates a rhetorical trap. It’s like carefully digging a pit that the fascists can shove us into. Continue reading...
The supreme court judgment is contradictory and confused. And there seems no prospect of the Labour government sorting this outRobin Moira White is joint author of A Practical Guide to Transgender LawA person has to be tough to be transgender. Given the problems that can be associated with coming out to family, friends and work colleagues, the constant vilification of trans people by certain parts of the media and on social media and the internal emotional turmoil transition entails, it requires mental strength beyond the ordinary. I should know – I have walked that path.Yesterday, transgender people were dealt a blow from a source I would not have predicted when I transitioned 13 years ago – the UK supreme court. In a case concerning representation on the boards of public bodies in Scotland, the supreme court ruled that in the 2010 Equality Act (EA), “sex” should be taken to be “biological sex”, in the sense of the sex recorded on a citizen’s original birth certificate, and does not include “certified sex” where a transgender person has obtained a gender recognition certificate (GRC) by the process set out in the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. This renders a GRC valueless for the purposes of the Equality Act. Continue reading...
It is vital that we give credit to the tireless campaigners who brought us to this pointSusanna Rustin is the author of Sexed: A History of British FeminismSo, after all that, it turns out that under the Equality Act, a woman is an adult human female. A man is an adult human male.The unanimous UK supreme court ruling delivered on Wednesday is a big step towards clearing up the almighty mess created by politicians in Scotland, who got so carried away with promoting transgender rights that they decided transgender women ought to be eligible for seats on public boards on preferential terms that are for women. Continue reading...
If Starmer is serious about bringing young people into his ‘social contract’, then protecting them from the tech giants must be his priorityI remember being 16 in the 1960s. The prime minister seemed geriatric and I was sure he should be in care, while a group of us went to meet our young MP, a certain Margaret Thatcher. She was young, but she didn’t seem as if she was with the times. We could not dream of voting for someone like her. Matter closed.Sixteen-year-olds are great fun but they are not grown up. They cannot marry in England and Wales, drive, smoke, get a tattoo or buy alcohol on their own. They are legally classed as children and are supposed to be in formal education or training to 18. Sixteen-year-olds have not taken to the streets demanding the right to the franchise, like the Chartists or suffragettes did.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
The president’s penchant for the gaudy has been mocked but the menace beneath was clear when he met El Salvador’s leaderThe Oval Office meeting of Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele on Monday was a grotesque spectacle. Both men, elected to lead nominally democratic countries, have described themselves as dictators, and they exuded that sense of smug impunity. While reporters sought answers on the fate of Kilmar Ábrego García, a 29-year-old father of three who was wrongly deported to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot mega-prison, Trump and Bukele disclaimed responsibility, joked about further deportations, and engaged in casual slander of Ábrego García, who is not, and has never been alleged to be, a terrorist.And then there was the gold. So much gold. Continue reading...
The administration dared China, Harvard and the supreme court to blink. They haven’tIt was bound to happen.Encouraged by the ease with which many big US institutions caved in to their demands, the Trump regime – that is, the small cadre of bottom-feeding fanatics around Donald Trump (JD Vance, Elon Musk, Russell Vought, Stephen Miller and RFK Jr) along with the child king himself – have overreached.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...
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Abolishing tariffs would be welcome, but not at the price of reducing high regulatory standards or a reset with the European UnionLooked at objectively, a bilateral trade agreement between Britain and the United States is of relatively small economic significance to this country. Back in 2020, Boris Johnson’s government estimated that a US deal “could increase UK GDP in the long run by around 0.07%” – a figure that is not exactly transformative. The view touted by some Brexiters that a US trade deal would fire up the entire British economy was always a fantasy, the product of deregulatory yearning for which there was little public support, even among leave voters. Any urge of that kind is clearly even more delusional now, in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariff wars.Hopefully, the right’s across-the-board deregulatory horror is now a thing of the past. But global trade has new traumas too. Mr Trump’s protectionism and bullying of US rivals are resetting the terms. There are nevertheless specific reasons why it is in Britain’s interest to pursue freer trade talks with the US. Chief among these is the threat posed by current tariffs, especially on cars and pharmaceuticals, as well as the prospect that a 10% tariff will be reimposed on all UK exports to the US after the current pause ends in July. Continue reading...
From Verdi to Douglas Adams, artists and writers have wrestled with why we are here. The Christian festival gives us pause to reflectChristians are to be envied at Easter. The story of death and resurrection, suffering and rebirth is a beautiful and all-encompassing one. For non-believers, a diet of chocolate and wall-to-wall snooker, and the prospect of a perhaps drizzly bank holiday, do not have the same teleological logic. The religious narrative gives life meaning. The notion that there is a plan and purpose is deeply satisfying.The last line of Kenneth Williams’ diary encapsulates the conundrum we all face: “Oh, what’s the bloody point?” James Bailey’s new book, The Meaning of Life, sought answers to that vexing question from a variety of what Bailey calls “extraordinary people”. Like a philosophically inclined Henry Root, Bailey – “unemployed, heartbroken and living alone in my dead grandad’s caravan” – sent more than a thousand letters to well-known artists and philosophers, and to people who had suffered some tragedy that might, he thought, give them special insight into life’s purpose and meaning. Continue reading...
Readers share their own family experiences of life in Ireland, in response to an article by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett’s article on the enduring pain caused by the church-run mother-and-baby homes in Ireland was a powerful read, leaving me full of anger and indignation (Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes are a stain on the Catholic church – but this latest refusal to atone is a new low, 13 April). The stories resonated with me too. These “homes” played a role in the Dublin childhoods of my aunt and mother. My aunt’s experiences were heartbreaking: in the late 1960s, she was effectively imprisoned in a home for “fallen women”, her baby taken from her for adoption almost immediately after birth. It’s a loss that stayed with her for the rest of her life.My mother’s experiences reflected the general poverty and cruelty of Irish society in the late 1940s. Desperately hungry and neglected, brutalised by her brother who’d returned from the second world war with PTSD, she ran away from home and presented herself at a Magdalene laundry. Although she was subjected to a demeaning medical examination to see if she was pregnant (she wasn’t) and made to work long hours, the laundry provided her with a better standard of living than she’d hitherto known – regular meals, a bed free of vermin and, paradoxically, given the reputation of the laundries, freedom from physical violence. Her life must have been truly miserable if a laundry was preferable to her family home. Continue reading...
Cllr Jonny Crawshaw outlines the financial perils of an education sector that is no longer fit for purposeThere is undoubtedly a crisis of funding hitting classrooms across England’s secondary education sector (Half of England’s state secondaries forced to cut staff in budget squeeze, poll finds, 10 April). It is not as simple as a lack of cash coming into schools, however (though this is a significant contributing factor).A cursory look at the published accounts of the many multi‑academy trusts (Mats), which now control at least 80% of state secondary schools in England, shows an explosion in chief executive pay, with many new ancillary roles – chief finance officers, executive headteachers and trust performance directors – also adding to “central services” bills. Many of these roles didn’t exist a decade ago, yet they leach millions of pounds each year out of the classroom and into the bank balances of the disproportionately white, middle‑class men who fill them. Continue reading...
‘I was watching the 1999 documentary … A great night’United score three goals in extra time to progress in Europa LeagueAfter Manchester United scored three times in the last seven minutes of extra time to knock Lyon out and progress to a Europa League semi-final versus Athletic Bilbao, Ruben Amorim stated he had drawn on the 1999 Champions League final triumph over Bayern Munich.Losing 1-0 going into added time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær claimed European glory for United 26 years ago. Continue reading...
Maybe Ange Postecoglou’s luck has finally turned. After the manager complained that the football gods were against him last week, Dominic Solanke’s penalty after an intervention from the video assistant referee – another of the Australian’s pet peeves – was enough to seal his side’s progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League.Postecoglou has probably regretted his decision to point out back in September after a defeat to Arsenal that he “always” wins trophies in his second year at a club. But after their north London rivals eased past the might of Real Madrid 24 hours earlier, Spurs also still have something to hang on to in a season that has otherwise been filled with disappointment. Continue reading...
Rangers’ resistance lasted for over two hours and then a briefer rebellion brought hope that they could do something extraordinary, but reaching the semi-final of the Europa League was a step too far. Instead, it is Athletic Club of Bilbao who face Manchester United, a unique club still hoping that a first continental trophy in their 124-year history will be won when they host the final.Barry Ferguson’s side were still standing at the end of a first leg that finished 0-0, despite spending most of the night a man down, and they still hadn’t conceded 48 minutes into the second, but a penalty gave the Basques a breakthrough. “This hurts, and I want it to,” Ferguson said. Continue reading...
Chelsea must be the first team in history to be booed into a European semi-final. Such is life for Enzo Maresca at the moment. Losing 2-1 to Legia Warsaw on the night was embarrassing. Chelsea, who seemed intent on giving the fifth-best side in Poland hope of pulling off a comeback for the ages at a disgruntled Stamford Bridge, were shambolic and easily could have crashed out.No wonder Maresca is not feeling the love from the crowd. Nobody celebrated Chelsea squeezing into a Conference League semi-final against Djurgården after winning 4-2 on aggregate. The defending was miserable and the attack was poor. Filip Jörgensen, Robert Sánchez’s understudy, was jittery in goal and the worries around Cole Palmer’s slump are not going away. Continue reading...
Brighton hope their injury problems ease, Palace must stem the tide and Forest could do with Chris Wood fully fitConsidering the length of Brighton’s injury list, Fabian Hürzeler will be desperate to get Kaoru Mitoma back in time for Saturday’s trip to west London. The Japanese winger sustained a heel injury against Crystal Palace, ruling him out of the draw with Leicester. It was the first time he had missed a Premier League game all season after making 31 appearances. Whether he will be available against Brentford is yet to be seen but, with three teenagers on the bench last weekend, the more experience Hürzeler can name on the teamsheet the better. James Milner, Igor Julio, Georginio Rutter, Adam Webster, Ferdi Kadioglu and Tariq Lamptey are all out, while the goalkeeper Jason Steele returned to action for the under-21s this week but Carl Rushworth will remain the backup to Bart Verbruggen for now. If Mitoma can recover in time, it will be a timely boost as Hürzeler’s side fight for a European place. Will UnwinBrentford v Brighton, Saturday 3pm (all times BST)Crystal Palace v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pmEverton v Manchester City, Saturday 3pmWest Ham v Southampton, Saturday 3pm Continue reading...
F1 world champion finished sixth in last race in Bahrain‘I’m happy, I’m just not very happy with our car’Max Verstappen played down concerns that he may leave Red Bull after the world champion was left frustrated and disappointed at the last round in Bahrain but reiterated that he was unhappy with the car and that as things stand it will be hard to defend his title this season.Verstappen finished sixth in Bahrain, unable to make any impression against the frontrunners McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari. The car struggles with balance problems and is proving a handful to drive, with the team identifying a disconnect between their data from the wind tunnel and its real-world performance. Continue reading...
Dobey gets first nightly win in two years‘I’m a fighter and I’ll be here until the end’Luke Littler’s wait for a record-breaking fifth nightly win of a single Premier League season goes on as Chris Dobey reigned on night 11 in Rotterdam.Dobey took his first nightly win in two years with a 6-2 victory over Stephen Bunting, who saw off Littler in the semi-finals. After avoiding a scare to edge out Rob Cross 6-5, Littler fell 3-2 behind to Bunting and then drew the ire of the Dutch crowd when he spent time changing his barrels – to no avail, as Bunting charged into a 5-2 lead. Continue reading...
Serena Williams calls out hypocrisy of Sinner banWilliams says ‘I would have gotten 20 years’ if caughtWorld No 1 Sinner twice tested positive for clostebolSerena Williams says she would have been hit with a 20-year ban if she had failed drug tests like men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner, who received a three-month suspension in February.“I love the guy, love this game,” Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner, told Time magazine this week after being named one of its 100 most influential people. “He’s great for the sport. I’ve been put down so much, I don’t want to bring anyone down. Men’s tennis needs him. Continue reading...
As the first climate summit in the Amazon approaches, a gulf is opening between what the area’s farming lobby wants, and what the world needsRevealed: world’s largest meat company may break Amazon deforestation pledges againThe life and death of a ‘laundered’ cow in the Amazon rainforestYellowstone in Montana may have the most romanticised cowboy culture in the world thanks to the TV drama series of the same name starring Kevin Costner. But the true home of the 21st-century cowboy is about 7,500 miles south, in what used to be the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, where the reality of raising cattle and producing beef is better characterised by depression, market pressure and vexed efforts to prevent the destruction of the land and its people.The toll was apparent along the rutted PA 279 road in Pará state. Signs of human and environmental stress were not hard to find during the last dry season. Record drought had dried up irrigation ponds and burned pasture grass down to the roots, leaving emaciated cattle behind the fences. Exposed red soil was whipped up into dust devils as SUVs and cattle trucks sped past on their way between Xinguara and São Félix do Xingu, which is home to both the biggest herd on the planet and the fastest erasure of forest in the Amazon. Continue reading...
Lawsuit focuses on day-one executive order claiming to ‘unleash American energy’ by boosting oil industryConservationists on Wednesday sued the Trump administration over its attempts to boost the oil industry by rolling back green policies.Filed by the environmental non-profit Center for Biological Diversity, the litigation focuses on Trump’s day-one “unleashing American energy” executive order. In an effort to boost already booming US energy production, the emergency declaration directed federal agencies to identify all policies and regulations that “unduly” burden fuel producers and create “action plans” to weaken or remove them. Continue reading...
Researchers say urgent action needed to inform people about risks of heatwave temperatures and adapt homesThe number of UK homes overheating in summer quadrupled to 80% over the past decade, according to a study, with experts calling the situation a crisis.Heat already kills thousands of people each year in the UK and the toll will rise as the climate crisis intensifies. Urgent action is needed both to inform people on how to cope with high temperatures and to adapt homes, which are largely designed to keep heat in during the winter, the researchers said. Continue reading...
The sector, which had been set a target to reduce spillages by 40%, needs ‘radical reform’, campaigners sayWater companies have missed their targets to reduce pollution with 2,487 incidents recorded in 2024 – twice the limit set by the Environment Agency.Data revealed under freedom of information law shows the companies were collectively set an Environment Agency target of a 40% reduction in pollution incidents, but instead recorded a 30% increase. Continue reading...
Company behind Truth Social accuses London-based hedge fund Qube of alleged ‘suspicious trading activity’Donald Trump’s fledgling media firm has urged market regulators to investigate “suspicious activity” after a London-based hedge fund disclosed a vast bet against its stock.Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of the US president’s Truth Social platform, raised questions over trading by Qube Research & Technologies. Continue reading...
Body of Emily Sherwin was never found after she was separated from her friend near SwanageA university student died after being caught in an “underwater vortex” while diving off the south coast of England, an inquest has heard.Emily Sherwin, 20, who studied marine conservation, was diving off Old Harry Rocks near Swanage, Dorset, when she got caught in the current and became separated from her dive buddy. Continue reading...
This comes after Hashem Abedi injured three officers with hot oil and homemade blades at HMP FranklandThe Prison Service will investigate whether frontline staff should be given protective body armour after an attack on officers by Manchester bomb plotter Hashem Abedi, the justice secretary has said.The guards were attacked with hot oil and homemade weapons at HMP Frankland in County Durham on Saturday. Four prison officers were injured, with three sustaining serious injuries and taken to hospital, Counter Terrorism Policing North East said. One officer remains in hospital. Continue reading...
Toby Carvery owner apologises over tree’s felling as football club faces questions about whether it knew of decisionAn ancient London oak controversially felled earlier this month was assessed to be a “fine specimen” last year by tree experts working for Tottenham Hotspur as part of the football club’s plans to redevelop parkland next to the site.Mitchells & Butlers Retail (MBR), which owns the Toby Carvery in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, apologised on Thursday for the “upset” caused by the felling of the tree. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Mark Bridges of Farrer & Co was trustee for Rifaat al-Assad, who was charged with war crimes in 2024Queen Elizabeth II’s private solicitor spent eight years helping to manage the offshore wealth of the uncle of the recently deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, an investigation has established.Rifaat al-Assad became known as the “butcher of Hama” after allegations he played a key role in a massacre of thousands of Syrians at the city of Hama in 1982. In 2024, Switzerland formally charged him with war crimes. Continue reading...
Lib Dems say not a single all-party meeting on issue has taken place since plan for national care service was unveiledThe government has been accused of “delay and drift” after it emerged crucial cross-party talks aimed at building political consensus for large-scale changes to adult social care have failed to get off the ground.The Liberal Democrats said not a single all-party meeting on the issue had taken place in the four months since the government announced ambitious plans to build a national care service to fix the UK’s growing social care crisis. Continue reading...
Equalities watchdog chair says code of practice will give clarity and adds trans people’s rights ‘must be respected’Updated guidance for public bodies after the UK supreme court’s ruling that a woman is defined in law by biological sex is expected to be issued by the summer, the head of the equalities regulator said on Thursday.Lady Kishwer Falkner, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, described the ruling as “enormously consequential”, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are going to have a new statutory code of practice, statutory meaning it will be the law of the land, it will be interpreted by courts as the law of the land. We’re hoping we’re going to have that by the summer.” Continue reading...
Great Yarmouth MP who now sits as an independent is also suing two other senior party figures amid bullying rowRupert Lowe, the former Reform MP who lost the whip in March, has announced he will be suing Nigel Farage and two other senior party figures for defamation after they accused him of bullying staff and making verbal threats.Lowe, who now sits as an independent, said he was suing Farage, the Reform leader, along with Lee Anderson, its chief whip, and Zia Yusuf, the party chair, for comments he said had “caused serious harm to my reputation”. Continue reading...
Engineering works will bring a cut in services, with roads and airports also expected to be busier than last yearTrain passengers face disruption on Britain’s biggest intercity line over the next four days, with a later Easter bringing a busy bank holiday getaway by road, rail and air.Engineering works will top and tail the west coast main line over the long weekend, with services cut from London Euston to Milton Keynes and replacement buses taking passengers north of Carlisle to Glasgow. Continue reading...
NEU leader tells conference delegates to prepare for industrial action if pay and funding are not satisfactoryThe National Education Union (NEU) has warned that it will campaign against Labour MPs if the government fails to improve its pay offer to teachers in England for next year.Daniel Kebede, the NEU’s general secretary, criticised the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, for “betrayal” of their supporters, and told the union’s annual conference to prepare for industrial action if their pay and funding was not satisfactory. Continue reading...
Fourth circuit court rejects appeal saying it ‘shall not micromanage the efforts of a fine district judge’ who is interpreting supreme court decisionDonald Trump’s administration will ask a US federal appeals court on Thursday to pause a judge’s ruling lifting access restrictions the White House imposed on the Associated Press (AP) for referring to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage.The Trump administration has argued that the lower-court ruling, which mandates AP journalists be granted access to press events in the White House, infringes on the president’s ability to decide whom to admit to sensitive spaces. The White House has asked to put the ruling on hold while it appeals. Continue reading...
Overseas lessons on the power of podcasts informed the party’s ‘new media’ strategy to reach disengaged votersPolls tracker; election guide; full federal election coverageAnywhere but Canberra; interactive electorates guideListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastLabor gathered intelligence from Keir Starmer’s UK Labour and senior US Democrats on the political power of podcasts as it sought an edge on rivals in the emerging campaign battlefront.The party head office used the overseas lessons to help design a “new media” strategy for the Australian election, which included hiring the firm behind satirical newspaper the Betoota Advocate to provide advice on which podcasts the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, should appear. Continue reading...
Two people injured after man took control of plane at knifepoint before being shot by another passengerA US man has been shot dead after hijacking a small passenger plane and injuring two passengers in the Caribbean nation of Belize.Fourteen passengers were onboard the aircraft when the hijacker, identified as Akinyela Sawa Taylor, took control of the flight at knifepoint. Two passengers were injured, including one who was stabbed in the back. Continue reading...
USOPC won’t set transgender eligibility rules for LA28LA28 passes $1bn in sponsorship, confirms key venuesUSA Football certified ahead of flag football’s debutThe United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has said it will not set any policy on transgender athlete eligibility ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games, despite growing political pressure from the Trump administration and increasing scrutiny over access and inclusion in women’s sport.Speaking Thursday after the committee’s first board meeting of 2025, chief executive Sarah Hirshland said the USOPC had no plans to define eligibility criteria, even as US president Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14201 – titled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports – threatens to upend international participation protocols. Continue reading...
Missiles hit encampments for displaced Palestinians as talks on response to Israel truce offer ‘almost complete’A wave of Israeli airstrikes on encampments for displaced Palestinians has killed at least 40 people across Gaza, as Hamas officials said consultations on response to Israel truce offer “almost complete”.Civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal said two Israeli missiles hit several tents in the al-Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Younis, resulting in at least 16 deaths, most of them women and children, and 23 others were wounded. Continue reading...
Wednesday’s outage the latest in series of blackouts to affect Puerto Rico in wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017About 58% of Puerto Rico has has had power restored following an island-wide blackout on Wednesday, the government of Puerto Rico federal affairs administration said on Thursday.It added that current generation stands at 1,439MW. A total of 31 generation units are online, with 16 additional units in the process of being brought back online, it said. Continue reading...
Trump praises Italian PM and accepts invitation that could present chance to meet other European leadersGiorgia Meloni said Donald Trump had accepted her invitation for an official trip to Rome, as the pair met in Washington in an attempt by the Italian prime minister to bridge the gap between the EU and US amid trade tariff tensions.Meloni said Trump’s trip could happen “in the near future” and could present an opportunity for him to meet other European leaders. Continue reading...
Brazilian ranchers in Pará and Rondônia say JBS can not achieve stated goal of deforestation-free cattleBibles, bullets and beef: Amazon cowboy culture at odds with Brazil’s climate goalsThe life and death of a ‘laundered’ cow in the Amazon rainforestThe world’s largest meat company, JBS, looks set to break its Amazon rainforest protection promises again, according to frontline workers.Beef production is the primary driver of deforestation, as trees are cleared to raise cattle, and scientists warn this is pushing the Amazon close to a tipping point that would accelerate its shift from a carbon sink into a carbon emitter. JBS, the Brazil-headquartered multinational that dominates the Brazilian cattle market, promised to address this with a commitment to clean up its beef supply chain in the region by the end of 2025. Continue reading...
Scientists sound the alarm over substances such as arsenic and lead contaminating soils and entering food systemsAbout one sixth of global cropland is contaminated by toxic heavy metals, researchers have estimated, with as many as 1.4 billion people living in high-risk areas worldwide.Approximately 14 to 17% of cropland globally – roughly 242m hectares – is contaminated by at least one toxic metal such as arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel or lead, at levels that exceed agricultural and human health safety thresholds. Continue reading...
Federal judge deals blow to tech giant and paves way for government to break up company’s advertising productsAlphabet’s Google illegally dominated two markets for online advertising technology, a judge ruled on Thursday, dealing another blow to the tech giant and paving the way for US antitrust prosecutors to seek a breakup of its advertising products.The US district judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, found Google liable for “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in markets for publisher ad servers and the market for ad exchanges which sit between buyers and sellers. Publisher ad servers are platforms used by websites to store and manage their ad inventory. Antitrust enforcers failed to prove a separate claim that the company had a monopoly in advertiser ad networks, she wrote. Continue reading...
Former cricketer to appear in Disney+ documentary discussing incident that left him with severe facial injuriesThe former England cricketer Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff has promised to share “what actually happened” in the horrific Top Gear crash in December 2022 that left him with life-altering injuries.In the trailer for a Disney+ documentary about his life and career, which will air next Friday, he says of the accident: “I remember everything about it … it’s so vivid.” Continue reading...
Screenwriter says he has no time for ‘online warriors’ criticising show, which now has two minority ethnic leadsThe Doctor Who screenwriter Russell T Davies has said he has no time for “online warriors” who claim the show is too woke.Speaking to BBC Radio 2, the Welsh writer – who was also behind the hit series Queer As Folk and It’s a Sin – said: “What you might call diversity, I just call an open door.” Continue reading...
Actor to follow Oscar-nominated role in Emilia Pérez with Italian drama described as ‘perturbing, livid and hypnotic’, co-starring Vincent GalloKarla Sofía Gascón, the actor who made history earlier this year as the first trans performer to be nominated for an acting Oscar, has signalled her next project.Gascón, whose hopes of securing the leading actress award (which eventually went to Anora’s Mikey Madison) were dashed after offensive social media posts were unearthed, will star as a psychiatrist who “embodies God and the devil” in Italian drama The Life Lift, reports Variety. Continue reading...
Wigmore Hall, LondonCandlelight set the tone for the ensemble of superb focus, great refinement and real depth of feeling William Christie and Les Arts Florissants marked Holy Week at Wigmore Hall with a selection of Tenebrae Lessons and Responsories by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, written for liturgical use on the evenings before Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The Lessons take their texts from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, while the Responsories use brief extracts of passion narratives from the gospels. Together they form sombre meditations on man’s fallen state and eventual redemption through Christ’s atonement.Charpentier’s music can be extraordinary – austere, beautiful, teetering on sensuous. The forces are small: one or two singers, tenor or baritone, and a handful of instruments, violins, recorders, viola da gamba, theorbo and organ. The vocal writing oscillates between syllabic declamation and passages of greater lyricism, melismatic, at times even operatic. Instrumental lines seem to grieve alongside the singers or wrap themselves round the voices in consolation. Continue reading...
The singer-songwriter answers your questions about 90s gigs with Tori Amos, her ‘humbling’ run in Hadestown and keeping hope alive in the Trump eraPlease talk about growing up in Buffalo, New York – the music scene there, and becoming an emancipated adult at 15. AugustoMAs a child, I befriended Michael Meldrum, a local troubadour. He brought me around to his gigs and coffee houses. That was a cool, unique way to grow up, beside this alcoholic artist who hopped from girlfriend to girlfriend’s house. He he was smart and so well informed when it came to music.I was his shadow between the ages of nine and 13 or 14 or so. Beyond that, we parted ways. So when I was an emancipated minor at 15 and going into the adult world, it was with no protector by my side. I was out there in bars, on my own, running the open mic, playing gigs. I had an after-school job – I was trying to finish high school. I never managed to grow a thick skin; I’m still very open and porous. Somehow I survived all those years without cutting myself off. Continue reading...
The highest grossing Black film-maker of all time is known for his superhero movies and reinventing the Rocky franchise. Now he’s made his most personal film yet – and it’s a vampire thrillerWe’re supposed to be talking about movies, but Ryan Coogler has family on his mind when we have our video call – parents, siblings, twins, ancestors and, most of all, his two children. “It’s all good, kids not up yet,” the director says in his Oakland drawl. He’s speaking from a New York hotel room, the morning after the premiere of his new movie, Sinners. But, sure enough, 10 minutes into our conversation, his five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son come into the room and bundle on to his lap. “Aw, here’s my little ones, bro.” A toy boomerang flies into and out of shot. “Daddy’s gotta work,” he patiently explains. Noises off-screen and doors closing.Anyway, where were we? Continue reading...
We’ve rounded up espresso machines for every budget and skill level, from the cheapest manual models to high-end assisted marvels• The best coffee machines for your home: your morning brew made easyMore espresso, less depresso. To be clear, these weren’t the words of Angelo Moriondo, the Italian inventor who patented the first espresso machine in 1884, but it’s nice to imagine that he shared the sentiment. Without him, and the inventors that refined his creation, our daily lives – the sour-faced commutes and sunny weekend strolls – would be all the poorer.Espresso forms the bedrock of many coffee staples – the latte, the cappuccino, the flat white, the americano – but making the perfect shot, or just a rather good one, is a thrillingly contentious topic. Millions of hours of YouTube videos have been dedicated to the craft, and the associated Reddit threads may one day form a voluminous historical artefact.Best manual espresso machine overall: Lelit Anna PL41TEM£509.95 at AmazonBest budget espresso machine:De’Longhi Stilosa EC230£89 at AmazonBest for temperature control on a budget: ProCook espresso machine£199 at ProCookBest if you can afford it:Sage Dual Boiler£1,059.95 at Origin CoffeeBest assisted espresso machine overall: Ninja Luxe Cafe Premier£499 at John LewisBest assisted machine for beginners: Sage Bambino Plus£349 at John LewisBest high-end assisted espresso machine:Sage Oracle Jet£1,699 at John Lewis Continue reading...
Seek out joy in a turbulent world with these carefully chosen treats (they make great gifts, too)• Say hello to spring! 22 simple ways to refresh your home, wardrobe and routineMuted accessories are all very well and stylish, but as April showers descend – and with the world in turmoil – sometimes you need things that are a little more joyful to elevate your everyday.From a hoodie in a rainbow of colours to a bold, floral enamel tumbler, a bright Birkenstock shoe to a painterly umbrella, these products should provide a much-needed dopamine hit. Many are made by independent makers using recycled materials, so you can feel extra good about that. Continue reading...
This week: top tips for buying preloved; the best secateurs, tested; and genuinely great-smelling diffusersWhile waiting for a show during London fashion week in February, I and a few fashion writers, stylists and editors were admiring each other’s outfits. Surprise, surprise, we discovered that the pieces we loved most were preowned (and largely from charity shops, I might add).It’s no secret that industry insiders love secondhand fashion: Kate Moss is known for her love of vintage; British Vogue recently hosted a vintage sale in collaboration with eBay; celebrities such as Zendaya, Kendall Jenner and Miley Cyrus are turning to archive looks for their red carpet appearances; even Selfridges now offers Reselfridges, a range of preloved designer bags and accessories.The best secateurs to save you time and effort when pruning your garden, testedThe best diffusers for your home: 22 genuinely great-smelling diffusers for every mood and budgetThe best power banks and battery packs for reliable charging on the go, tested‘Very pale and oddly wrinkly’: the best (and worst) supermarket hot cross buns for Easter, tested Continue reading...
Tempted to try teeth whitening and microneedling at home? Which beauty treatments can you DIY (and which should you leave to the professionals)?• Anti-ageing products that actually work: Sali Hughes on the 30 best serums, creams and treatmentsMore and more of us are indulging in at-home self-care. We all leaned into it back in lockdown, and with today’s barrage of terrifying news, it’s unsurprising we still feel in need of extra TLC. The products and gadgets we’ve been trying have sent the value of the UK beauty industry soaring, growing by nearly 10% in 2023 to £9.56bn, which demonstrates how much preening and prep we’ve been doing from our bathrooms.You just have to look at social media to see how big an appetite we have for DIY beauty. The trend for “high maintenance to be low maintenance” routines has seen content creators demonstrate ever-more complicated at-home treatments, from lash lifts to 10-step facials. However, is it all as easy as it looks on TikTok? And is it safe to use all those space-age gadgets and high-strength formulations on yourself without the oversight of an expert? Continue reading...
Questions on general knowledge and topical trivia, plus a few jokes, every Thursday. How will you fare?As the world waited with bated breath to see if anybody could catch the very naughty miniature dachshund Valerie, who has been living her best life for more than 500 days, the Thursday quiz had to contain its excitement and knuckle down to come up with 15 vaguely topical general knowledge and pop culture questions for your pleasure. There are no prizes, but we always enjoy hearing your scores in the comments.The Thursday quiz, No 206 Continue reading...
You have every right to be upset, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, but you should start by finding out why he felt the need to hide thisRead more Leading questionsMy husband completely covered up the fact that he retired two years ago and has been pretending to go to work ever since. He made up stories about work events. I only found out by seeing the pension payments into our joint account. He is 68 and has reapplied on spec to his old company. He hasn’t had any response but continues to wait for one.When asked about what he does, he says he sits in cafes and does crossword puzzles. He is always on his phone. He delays and denies talking about being on the pension and any activities such as volunteering, doing courses etc. How can I reboot open communication?Eleanor says: Oh this makes me sad for you both. It reminds me of people in the Depression who got laid off and didn’t tell their families, just took their lunch in the paper bag and sat on a park bench. Continue reading...
From the rock sea-spurrey, which appears to grow out of solid rock, to the slender centaury that lives on a landslip, these plants exist where they do for good reasonI first encountered coastal wildflowers when I was 11. I was visiting my grandmother’s friend in Devon and a lady said: “Here, dear,” and dug up a clump of Warren crocuses – a rare plant that, at the time, was only thought to grow in the seaside resort of Dawlish Warren. She gave them to me to grow in my garden at home. But of course they didn’t grow away from the sea.That was when I realised there was something special about coastal wildflowers. They fascinate me because, as well as being beautiful flowers, they often grow in tough locations. Take the rock sea-spurrey: a delicate little plant that appears to grow out of solid rock, such as a crevice in a cliff base. It can put up with being splashed with sea spray and baked by the summer sun. And yet it seems to thrive in that difficult, harsh environment. Continue reading...
From bloomer-adjacent designs to full-on flounce, you’ll find this subversive undergarment everywhere this spring We’ve had exposed thongs, pants as pants and boxer shorts as shorts. But now there is a new, arguably even more unexpected underwear as outerwear trend. Welcome to the spring of big, frilly bloomers.The 19th century undergarment has been thrust into the 21st century spotlight with a string of celebrities and influencers channelling their inner Folie Bergere dancer - including the actor Lily James, Alexa Chung and Camille Charrière. Social media is peppered with gen Z and millennials styling Victorian bloomers, found on vintage sites or on the high street with band T-shirts, crop tops and cardigans. Free People’s £88 “forever young pants”, which come in six different colours and are bedecked in a dramatic lace trim, are proving particularly popular. Continue reading...
New iPad has laptop-level power, reliable battery life, great video call camera and a choice of screen sizesApple’s iPad Air continues to be the premium tablet to beat, with the latest version featuring a chip upgrade to keep it ahead of the pack.The new iPad Air M3 costs from £599 (€699/$599/A$999) – the same as its predecessor – and comes in two sizes with either an 11in or 13in screen. It sits between the base-model £329 iPad A16 and the £999 iPad Pro M4, splitting the difference in price and features.Screen: 11in or 13in Liquid Retina display (264ppi)Processor: Apple M3 (9-core GPU)RAM: 8GBStorage: 128, 256, 512GB or 1TBOperating system: iPadOS 18.4Camera: 12MP rear, 12MP centre stageConnectivity: Wifi 6E (5G optional eSim-only), Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C, Touch ID, Smart ConnecterDimensions: 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1mm or 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1mmWeight: 460g or 616g Continue reading...
Data via trackers and sensors can paint an intricate picture of your life – here’s what to know about privacy in your carWelcome to Opt Out, a semi-regular column in which we help you navigate your online privacy and show you how to say no to surveillance. The last column covered how to protect your phone and data privacy at the US border. If you’d like to skip to a section about a particular tip, click the “Jump to” menu at the top of this article.At the press of a button, your Tesla pulls itself out of parking spot with no one behind the wheel using a feature called Summon. It drives itself on highways using Autopilot. When you arrive at your destination, it can record nearby activity while parked with a feature called Sentry Mode. Continue reading...
The Guardian’s Saturday magazine is looking for people who declared their love after being inspired by a certain song, book, TV show or filmThe Guardian’s Saturday magazine is looking for people who declared their love after being inspired by a certain song, book, TV show or film. Did you confess your feelings for your best friend after watching When Harry Met Sally? Did you propose after seeing Four Weddings and a Funeral? Did you decide to have a baby with your partner after reading The Argonauts?We’re looking for funny, unexpected love stories – and they don’t have to have happy endings. Maybe you married the wrong person, and now you realise that all that really held you together was a deep and undying love of The Arctic Monkeys? Perhaps Fleabag made you proposition your priest? Continue reading...
Tell us about a brilliant culinary experience in France – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays breakThere’s no denying great food and drink make a holiday – and we want to know about your under-the-radar finds in France. Perhaps it was the menu du jour in a hidden bistro in a Paris suburb, wine tasting at a family vineyard in Provence, eating oyster from a shack on the Brittany coast, or an outstanding mountain hut restaurant loved by the locals. Tell us where it was, what you ate or drank and why it was so special for the chance to win a £200 Coolstays voucher.If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition. 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’d like to hear from people in the UK who moved to the countryside or coast during the pandemic and have now moved back to the city – or are planning toData analysis from the property website Rightmove has found that London is once again the most searched-for location on the website, and the majority (58%) of people living there are looking to stay rather than to leave.This is a a reverse from five years ago, when in the early months of Covid lockdowns, would-be house buyers were looking for a move to coastal and rural areas as a bigger garden, access to nature and more room for home working became the priorities. Continue reading...
The US president has upset global norms in the space of weeks, spurring a flurry of defence spending, diplomatic overtures and offers to boost tradeDonald Trump’s return to the White House has stoked fears over Washington’s commitment to the security of its allies in the Asia Pacific at a time when tensions are running high in the region, home to several potential flashpoints.Countries across the region are urgently considering their options in a new era where the US president has sided with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, suggested “cleaning out” Gaza in order to redevelop it, and unleashed punishing tariffs on allies and enemies alike. Continue reading...
Illegally diverted rivers, seawater and poorly managed building projects have polluted the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta. But the Unesco site has a vital role to play in fighting climate changeFrom the porch of her family home in Nueva Venecia, Magdalena, Yeidis Rodríguez Suárez watches the sunset. The view takes in the still waters of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta wetlands. Pelicans dip their beaks into the lagoon, ripples breaking the glassy surface. Distant mangroves turn from green to deep purple in the dying light.The 428,000-hectare (1,600 sq mile) expanse of lagoons, mangroves and marshes in Colombia has been a Unesco biosphere reserve since 2000. Yet, for Rodríguez, 27, the natural abundance is little more than an illusion. Continue reading...
Dayton will host the alliance’s parliamentary assembly 30 years after the Bosnian peace accords were signed thereWhen hundreds of Nato delegates and thousands of ancillaries, protesters and security forces descend on Dayton, Ohio, next month, the visitors will see a town that’s clawed its way back from the brink.White flight in the late 20th century and the 2008 Great Recession saw thousands of jobs and residents leave. More recently, the pandemic forced many downtown businesses to allow staffers to work from home, erasing a key daytime customer base for cafes and restaurants. Continue reading...
The Waitangi Tribunal has had a significant impact on Indigenous rights and policy but as it marks its 50th anniversary its role is being questionedIn the 1980s, New Zealand’s department of Māori affairs set aside money for language groups to spend on projects as they saw fit. When Wellington teacher Huirangi Waikerepuru received his group’s share, he used it to challenge the government.He took his complaint to a relatively new body called the Waitangi Tribunal. Formed in 1975 amid a wave of protest, it was designed to address Māori grievances by determining whether the meaning of the country’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was being adhered to. Continue reading...
Justin Trudeau’s resignation as prime minister came amid deep anxiety prompted by Trump’s tariffs threatsCanadians will head to the polls on 28 April to decide who will form the next government. Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre are the most likely candidates to become the next prime minister. Continue reading...
A small Michigan community banded together to help a beloved local bookstore move its stock to a new storefrontResidents of all ages in a small Michigan community formed a human chain and helped a local bookshop move each of its 9,100 books – one by one – to a new storefront about a block away.The “book brigade” of about 300 people stood in two lines running along a sidewalk in downtown Chelsea on Sunday, passing each title from Serendipity Books’ former location directly to the correct shelves in the new building, down the block and around the corner on Main Street. Continue reading...
UK politicians and industry have options if they want steel to make money while minimising emissionsThe government has taken control of British Steel, so averting the closure within days of the UK’s last two blast furnaces. However, the takeover leaves a big question: what next?Steep losses at British Steel prompted its Chinese owner, Jingye, to decide last month to close its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, which would end the production of “virgin” steel in the UK. The government stepped in with emergency legislation, passed in a single day last Saturday, to prevent that. Continue reading...
Online dissent is a serious crime in China. So why did a Weibo censor help me publish posts critical of the Communist party?It is 2013. For four full months, Liu Lipeng engages in dereliction of duty. Every hour the system sends him a huge volume of posts, but he hardly ever deletes a single word. After three or four thousand posts accumulate, he lightly clicks his mouse and the whole lot is released. In the jargon of censors, this is a “total pass in one click” (一键全通), after which all the posts appear on China’s version of X, Sina Weibo, to be read by millions, then reposted and discussed.He logs on to the Weibo management page, where many words are flagged. Orange designates sensitive words that require careful examination – words like freedom and democracy, and the three characters that make up Xi Jinping’s name. While such words regularly appear in newspapers or on TV, that does not mean ordinary citizens can use them at will. Continue reading...
Up and down the country, volunteers are coming together to plant more of these nature-rich reservesThe 30-metre ridge runs across the moor near Yar Tor on Dartmoor, one of several faint lines that crisscross the land like aeroplane contrails. Although the open moorland looks wild, we are standing on some of the UK’s oldest farmland. These ridges, called reaves, are the ghosts of farming’s most wildlife-rich legacy: hedges.“These reaves sadly have no function today other than to delight us. Or some of us,” says ecologist Rob Wolton. But Dartmoor’s reaves are the skeletons upon which more recent hedges were built: hundreds of thousands of miles of them. After Ireland, the UK is believed to be the most hedge-dense country in the world, and Wolton says the majority of them are more than 280 years old. Recent laser scanning shows England has enough hedges to wrap around the world almost 10 times. They are, by far, the country’s biggest nature reserve, which is why community groups, farmers and charities are rallying together to plant hedges of the future that will offer the same support to wildlife as the ancient hedges of the past. Continue reading...
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Philippe Auclair as Arsenal win 2-1 in Madrid to knock the holders out of 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: a brilliant performance from Arsenal at the Bernabéu, winning 2-1 in Madrid and 5-1 across the tie, they were close to perfection with Declan Rice probably the standout performer in a team of standout performers. Continue reading...
As a measles outbreak expands across the US, comments by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr have come under scrutiny. Kennedy has said that the best way to prevent measles is to get vaccinated – but he has also caused alarm among paediatricians, vaccine experts and lawmakers by promoting vitamin A and nutrition as treatments for measles and questioning the safety testing of the MMR vaccine. He also recently announced a US-led scientific effort to establish the cause of what he terms the ‘autism epidemic’, with some experts concerned that this study will support the widely discredited association between autism and vaccines. US health reporter Jessica Glenza tells Ian Sample, the Guardian’s science editor, how these mixed messages are already impacting scientific research.RFK Jr says his response to measles outbreak should be ‘model for the world’RFK Jr contradicts experts by linking autism rise to ‘environmental toxins’ Continue reading...
The future of the steelworks in Scunthorpe has been hanging in the balance after the government stepped in to try and save it from collapse. So what happens next for the UK steel industry and the people of Scunthorpe? And why does it matter for our national security? Kiran Stacey speaks to Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, a national officer for the GMB union in Scunthorpe, and the Guardian’s political correspondent Eleni Courea Continue reading...
As the Washington-Beijing trade war grows deeper, who will blink first? Amy Hawkins reportsAfter a fortnight in which Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs evolved into an escalating trade war with China, a sense of defiant nationalism has been building in the east Asian country. The Chinese foreign ministry has even been sharing historic video clips from the former leader Mao Zedong:“As to how long this war will last, we are not the ones to decide … We’ll fight until we completely triumph!” Continue reading...
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Mark Langdon and Lars Sivertsen as Aston Villa go out swinging 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; so close for Aston Villa. At 2-0 down on the night and 5-1 on aggregate it all looked over before they rallied thanks to goals from Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Ezri Konsa. Marcus Rashford played brilliantly and in the final 30 minutes the hosts had chances to take it to extra-time. 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...
Artists on the moon, gods in the sea, and guns at the ready in America … here are photographs from the overall winners of this year’s professional competition Continue reading...
‘Their lives were getting harder, even with help. They did not want to go to a nursing home and neither wanted to live without the other. So they left this life together’This is a photo of my parents right after their deaths, in Assen, the Netherlands, on 1 May 2024. My father Klaas Roemers was 90, my mother Fenny Roemers-Visser was 86.They had a good life and a very happy marriage, but the last years were difficult. They were both sick and exhausted. Both had heart failure, my mother had a lot of pain. Both were in a really bad shape. They still lived in their own house but life was getting harder and harder, even with help. They did not want to go to a nursing home and neither wanted to live without the other – they wanted to step out of life together. They were afraid one would die naturally and the other would be left behind. They were very close, and did everything together, really everything – so it made sense they would leave this life together. Continue reading...
He was a gin-swilling Scottish-Italian heroin addict who set Argentina’s music scene ablaze – baffling the junta, who would arrest his audiences. As a biopic looms, we look at the fast life and early death of the still-worshipped frontmanIn 1980, a tall, thin man landed in Buenos Aires airport, at the height of Argentina’s military dictatorship. His name was Luca Prodan, a Scottish-Italian rocker, and he had just finished the last of his methadone on the flight over. His arrival would soon send shockwaves through Argentina when he started a band called Sumo, acquainted the country with post-punk, and became a national legend who lives on, his music still earning hundreds of millions of streams. “When I saw Sumo in 1982,” says Prodan’s younger brother Andrea, “I thought, ‘This is more than just a band. This is like the Velvet Underground.’”But, despite Prodan’s strong ties to Europe and his high esteem in Argentina, he is barely known outside of the country. That looks set to change – thanks to a forthcoming biopic called Time Fate Love, produced by Birdman co-writer Armando Bo. “Luca changed music history,” Bo says. “Here, he’s a god.” Continue reading...
Juliette Pavy’s photographs of eco expeditions bring an element of lyrical storytelling to the global impact of invisible pollutants, from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Continue reading...
The country’s average temperature has risen by 0.48C a decade from 2000. Last August, photographer Susan Schulman visited Baghdad and Amarah, to capture the impact of extreme weather on everyday lives Continue reading...