Royals and refugees to come together in Rome for funeral of Pope Francis https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/26/royals-and-refugees-to-come-together-in-rome-for-funeral-of-pope-francis

At least 130 foreign delegations and an estimated 200,000 pilgrims to descend on St Peter’s Square on Saturday

An extraordinary array of invitees, spanning heads of state and royals from around the world, as well as refugees, prisoners, transgender people and those who are homeless will descend on St Peter’s Square on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, the groundbreaking liberal pontiff who led the Catholic church for 12 years.

Francis died at the age of 88 on Monday at his home in Casa Santa Marta after a stroke and subsequent heart failure. He had been recovering from double pneumonia that had kept him in hospital for five weeks.

Continue reading...
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse, dies aged 41 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/26/virginia-giuffre-suicide-dead-aged-41

Giuffre’s family issued a statement confirming she took her own life at her farm in Western Australia, where she had lived for several years

Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein who also alleged she was sexually trafficked to Prince Andrew, has died. She was 41.

Her family issued a statement on Saturday confirming she took her own life at her farm in Western Australia, where she had lived for several years.

Continue reading...
EU may accept 12-month work visas for ‘youth experience’ scheme with UK https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/eu-may-accept-12-month-work-visas-for-youth-experience-scheme-with-uk

Exclusive: Post-Brexit plan would allow British and European 18- to 30-year-olds to travel and work freely

The EU is prepared to make major concessions in negotiations to allow British and European 18- to 30-year-olds to travel and work freely, potentially paving the way for a long-awaited reset with Brussels.

A scheme that would allow thousands of young Europeans to live and work in the UK has been seen as a key EU demand in reaching a post-Brexit pact incorporating defence, energy and migration.

Continue reading...
Son of CIA deputy director was killed while fighting for Russia, report says https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/michael-alexander-gloss-cia-russia

Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, who died on 4 April 2024, was the son of top-ranking US spy Juliane Gallina

An American man identified as the son of a deputy director of the CIA was killed in eastern Ukraine in 2024 while fighting under contract for the Russian military, according to an investigation by independent Russian media.

Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, died on 4 April 2024 in “Eastern Europe”, according to an obituary published by his family. He was the son of Juliane Gallina, who was appointed the deputy director for digital innovation at the Central Intelligence Agency in February 2024.

Continue reading...
Tories urged not to ‘panic’ into uniting with Reform or removing Badenoch https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/apr/25/tories-urged-not-to-panic-into-uniting-with-reform-or-removing-badenoch

Former ministers warn that leader must not be ‘pushed off course’ as Conservatives expect disastrous local elections

Senior Conservatives have warned colleagues against “bloody panic”, urging them not to consider doing deals with Reform or removing Kemi Badenoch as leader, as the party braces for a disastrous set of local election results.

Two former cabinet ministers warned against changing direction regardless of the result next Friday, with Andrew Mitchell saying “talk of deals with Reform is misplaced” and John Glen arguing Badenoch must not be “pushed off course”.

Continue reading...
FBI arrests Wisconsin judge and accuses her of obstructing immigration officials https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/judge-hannah-dugan-milwaukee-arrest

Hannah Dugan apprehended in courthouse where she works after agency says she helped man evade authorities

The FBI on Friday arrested a judge whom the agency accused of obstruction after it said she helped a man evade US immigration authorities as they were seeking to arrest him at her courthouse.

The county circuit judge, Hannah Dugan, was apprehended in the courthouse where she works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at 8.30am local time on Friday on charges of obstruction, a spokesperson for the US Marshals Service confirmed to the Guardian.

Continue reading...
Head at Welsh primary school jailed for assault on deputy over ‘sexual jealousy’ https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/25/head-at-welsh-primary-school-anthony-john-felton-jailed-for-assault-on-deputy-over-sexual-jealously

Anthony John Felton ambushed Richard Pyke with spanner over suspected sex with teacher he had affair with

A headteacher who was caught on video attacking his deputy with a large adjustable spanner, in an assault motivated by “overwhelming sexual jealousy”, has been jailed for more than two years.

Anthony John Felton, 54, concealed the wrench in his jacket pocket as he approached his colleague, Richard Pyke, 51, from behind. Video of the incident showed him taking out the heavy tool and then repeatedly swinging it at Pyke’s head.

Continue reading...
Pedro Pascal calls JK Rowling a ‘heinous loser’ in wake of supreme court gender ruling https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/25/pedro-pascal-calls-jk-rowling-harry-potter-supreme-court-gender-ruling

The actor has long been an activist for LGBTQ+ rights and has a transgender sister who often accompanies him on the red carpet

The actor Pedro Pascal has attacked author JK Rowling on X, calling her a “heinous loser”.

Pascal responded to a comment reporting the words of activist Tariq Ra’ouf in an Instagram video, in which he urged people to boycott Rowling’s work.

Continue reading...
York Minster hosts controversial metal concert as threatened protests fail to materialise https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/25/york-minster-hosts-controversial-metal-concert-as-threatened-protests-fail-to-materialise

Cheering crowd at 800-year-old cathedral enjoy Plague of Angels gig, which had been branded an ‘outright insult’

Protests at one of the most controversial concerts of the year failed to materialise on Friday evening, as a metal act performed to a cheering crowd of 1,400 people at York Minster.

The 800-year-old cathedral hosted a gig by Plague of Angels, which some of its congregation called an “outright insult” to their faith and said they would be protesting if the concert went ahead.

Continue reading...
Valerie the dachshund is found safe and well after 529 days on the run on South Australian island https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/25/valerie-the-dachshund-is-found-safe-and-well-after-529-days-on-the-run-on-south-australian-island

Rescuers on Kangaroo Island say they are ‘overjoyed’ after the dog walked into one of their traps

After 529 days on the run, Australia’s favourite fugitive has been caught at last.

Valerie the miniature dachshund, who went missing on Kangaroo Island way back in 2023, has been rescued by conservationists.

Continue reading...
‘You saw he was listening to you’: people Pope Francis met in their hour of need https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/26/you-saw-he-was-listening-to-you-people-pope-francis-met-in-their-hour-of-need

The late pontiff embraced those traditionally on the margins of the church and society. Here, some of those he met describe his impact

Pope Francis announced his pastoral intentions from the very beginning of his papacy, saying he preferred a church that was “bruised, hurting and dirty” from being on the streets to one that was cautious and complacent. Although he never strayed from doctrine – to the annoyance of many optimistic liberals – his 12 years as pope were marked by a deliberate embrace of those historically on the margins of the church and society. He wanted a church, he said, for “todos, todos, todos” – which translates into: “Everyone, everyone, everyone.”

Here, some of those who met him recall what his pontificate meant to them.

Continue reading...
A carve-up in gift wrapping: Trump’s peace plan puts the sacrifice on Ukraine https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/a-carve-up-in-gift-wrapping-trumps-peace-plan-puts-the-sacrifice-on-ukraine

Redolent of old great power thinking, Trump’s Crimea giveaway could usher a return to international lawlessness

“Crimea will stay with Russia,” Donald Trump told Time magazine in a largely sympathetic profile on Friday. And with that statement, the US president made clear that he wanted to carve up another country, Ukraine, and so legitimise the forcible seizure of land made by Moscow 11 years ago.

From reading the transcript of the interview, Trump’s thinking is hardly coherent. Crimea, he says, wouldn’t have been seized if he had been president in 2014, but “it was handed to them by Barack Hussein Obama” and now Crimea has “been with them [Russia] for a long time” – so it is time to accept the seizure.

Continue reading...
The domestic pressures shaping India’s response to Kashmir attacks https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/domestic-pressures-shaping-india-response-kashmir-attacks-narendra-modi

Narendra Modi must weigh a response that balances domestic fury with strategic restraint

India’s furious response to the terrorist massacre of 26 men in a popular travel destination is being shaped by public rage at the deadliest civilian attack in Kashmir in a quarter-century.

The brutality of the assault in one of Muslim-majority Kashmir’s marquee tourist spots – and its national resonance – leaves Prime Minister Narendra Modi needing to signal strength, but without triggering uncontrolled escalation between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, analysts say.

Continue reading...
‘Protect the Dolls’ T-shirt becomes a fashion symbol for trans rights https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025/apr/25/protect-the-dolls-t-shirt-fashion-symbol-trans-rights

Celebrities including Pedro Pascal are wearing the design as they embrace its message in support of trans women

When the designer Conner Ives took his bow after his London fashion week show this February, he wore a T-shirt that proclaimed “Protect the Dolls”. Two months later, the design – and its message supporting trans women, who are affectionately called “dolls” in the LGBTQ+ community – has become ever more popular.

The singer Troye Sivan wore it to perform at Coachella, and the actor Pedro Pascal wore it for the London premiere of the film Thunderbolts, just days after the supreme court ruled that when the Equality Act referred to women, it only meant biological sex and did not include transgender women.

Continue reading...
The moment I knew: standing on her shoulders, I was impressed she could bear my weight https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/26/the-moment-i-knew-standing-on-her-shoulders-i-was-impressed-she-could-bear-my-weight

After training together for years, acrobats Tristan St John and Asha Colless realised their ability to support one another was more than just physical

In 2021 I was at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne. That’s where I first laid eyes on Asha. She was part of a group of new students joining my cohort. She instantly struck me as someone I wanted to be friends with. At ballet class that afternoon we shared a barre and became fast friends. Over the next couple of years things remained platonic and it wasn’t until our final year that chemistry began to build.

Towards the end of that dark Melbourne winter, Asha asked if I’d work with her on some acrobatics. Every day after school we’d spend an hour or so training as a pair. There was lots of stretching and chatting, trying and failing various tricks and lots of laughs. It wasn’t long before I realised I was seriously enjoying these sessions, and not just in a professional or friendly way. I was falling in love.

Continue reading...
‘People can’t imagine something on that scale dying’: Anohni on mourning the Great Barrier Reef https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/apr/26/people-cant-imagine-something-on-that-scale-dying-anohni-on-mourning-the-great-barrier-reef

The Anohni and the Johnsons singer is collaborating with marine scientists for two special shows at Sydney’s Vivid festival that will show the reef’s plight

Anohni Hegarty is about to go to the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. “I feel like I’m going to Auschwitz,” she says nervously. “On the one hand, I’m so excited to go because the landscape is so beautiful, and I know there’s going to be so much that’s gorgeous. And yet, I’m also scared.”

In a week, the British-born, New York-based avant garde singer of Anohni and the Johnsons is flying to Lizard Island, a paradise of powdery sands on the reef, 1,600km north-west of Brisbane. Its luxury villas and bluest of blue waters are a stark contrast to the grim nature of Anohni’s assignment: documenting the current state of the world’s biggest coral reef.

Continue reading...
The new rules of gym etiquette: don’t film yourself, never mansplain – and keep your top on https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/25/new-rules-of-gym-etiquette

Top personal trainers offer their tips on avoiding fitness faux pas, so you don’t have to sweat the small stuff

If hell is other people, then its ninth circle must be Other People At The Gym. Where else can one experience the full gamut of human depravity – from farting on the treadmill to taking conference calls on the cross trainer? And that’s before we get to “gymtimidation.” A recent survey found that one in four people feel self-conscious at the gym, while 28% worry about using the equipment incorrectly (and, God forbid, suffering the ultimate indignity of starring in a viral “gym fail” video).

But how to ensure you are the hero of your own fitness journey, and not the person other gym-goers have nicknamed “grunt”? We consulted the experts.

Continue reading...
Francis Ford Coppola unveils Megalopolis graphic novel https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/25/francis-ford-coppola-unveils-megalopolis-graphic-novel

In a statement, the 86-year-old director of the critical and box-office flop said the book confirms his feeling that ‘art can never be constrained’

Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola’s $120m passion project, was neither a box office nor a critical success on release last year. Largely funded by the sale of Coppola’s own vineyards, the sci-fi epic starring Adam Driver took around $14m at the global box office amid unconvinced reviews and rumours of abnormal on-set behaviour by its director.

A marketing campaign attempted to leverage bad critical notices by flagging that previous works by Coppola now acclaimed as masterpieces – including Apocalypse Now and The Godfather – had been dismissed by critics at the time. But this backfired after it emerged all of the sniffy historical reviews had been fabricated.

Continue reading...
May the force be with you! How to save every tired TV superfranchise, from Star Wars to Game of Thrones https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/apr/25/may-the-force-be-with-you-how-to-save-every-tired-tv-superfranchise-from-star-wars-to-game-of-thrones

Does anyone know what Marvel multiverse we’re in? And will anything ever happen in Westeros again? The world’s biggest fantasy franchises are in trouble … but we have ways to make them must-see TV once more

It’s amazing to think that, not so very long ago, people were actually excited at the prospect of a new Star Wars show. Or when it emerged that a fresh Lord of the Rings saga was, through some kind of Gandalfian wizardry, being squeezed on to the small screen, the reaction was one of giddy awe. Even the faintest whisper of another trip to Hogwarts would have set the whole internet ablaze. And now? Well, here’s a test: there’s a new Harry Potter series coming out soon. How does that make you feel? Exactly.

There’s no doubt about it – a worrying number of what used to be the world’s most untouchable franchises are in trouble. But how did they arrive at this point of terminal audience ennui? And is there any route for them back into our hearts?

Continue reading...
Women’s spring wardrobe essentials: 27 easy-to-wear pieces to see you through the season https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/apr/25/womens-spring-wardrobe-essentials-uk

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

Spring 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...
Vinterior: meet the boss who quit finance to set up a thriving vintage furniture site https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/25/vinterior-boss-vintage-furniture-site-sandrine-zhang-ferron

Sandrine Zhang Ferron on how she created her online business, from building the website to signing up 100,000 customers

Vinterior may not have any showrooms or shops, but the home of the founder and chief executive, Sandrine Zhang Ferron, has plenty of finds from the classy secondhand furnishings site – from quirky vases to a vintage drinks cabinet.

Zhang Ferron, who was born in China but grew up in France, readily admits that she created the site for herself, ditching her well-paid job in finance, after struggling to find interesting pieces to furnish her London home after a move to the UK.

Continue reading...
Ukraine has exposed Trump’s true identity: as a vandal, an autocrat, a gangster and a fool | Jonathan Freedland https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/25/ukraine-donald-trump-true-identity-vandal-autocrat-gangster-fool

This presidency places authoritarian ambition above all – and now the people of Ukraine are paying the price

To see the true face of Donald Trump, look no further than Ukraine. Laid bare in his handling of that issue are not only his myriad weaknesses, but also the danger he poses to his own country and the wider world – to say nothing of the battered people of Ukraine itself.

Don’t be fooled by the mild, vaguely theatrical rebuke Trump issued to Vladimir Putin on Thursday after Moscow unleashed a deadly wave of drone strikes on Kyiv, killing 12 and injuring dozens: “Vladimir, STOP!” Pay attention instead to the fact that, in the nearly 100 days since Trump took office, the US has essentially switched sides in the battle between Putin’s Russia and democratic Ukraine, backing the invaders against the invaded.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and the host of the Politics Weekly America podcast

100 days of Trump’s presidency, with Jonathan Freedland and guests. On 30 April, join Jonathan Freedland, Kim Darroch, Devika Bhat and Leslie Vinjamuri as they discuss Trump’s presidency on his 100th day in office, live at Conway Hall London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here or at guardian.live

Continue reading...
Is one-nation Toryism dead? Not yet, but it can’t let Reform and the right provide all the answers | Henry Hill https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/25/one-nation-toryism-dead-reform-conservative-party

The complacency of the traditional left of the Conservative party is allowing the voices they abhor to take over

This is not a happy time to be on the one-nation wing of the Conservative party. The final round of last year’s leadership election was between two candidates from the right of the party, and since then it has been Robert Jenrick, the more rightwing of the two, who has emerged as the party’s centre of gravity – a remarkable feat for a man who lost the race.

His recently reported comments about a coalition with Reform UK (or perhaps, as sources close to him insist, its voters) have put the question of the Tories’ future direction back in the spotlight. Is Nigel Farage the herald of a fundamental rightward shift? Is this, as one fellow journalist put it to me, “the final death of one-nation Toryism”?

Continue reading...
We obsess over the angry young men going Reform. But what of the anxious young women going Green? | Gaby Hinsliff https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/25/young-men-reform-women-green-voters

Desire for a politics that cares about global and local injustice is sharpening the political gender divide

Sometimes a political backlash doesn’t take the shape you expect. Though there are times when it goes off like a firework, as young men’s TikTok-fuelled surge of enthusiasm for Nigel Farage did last summer, sometimes it’s more of a long, slow burn. The most underexplored form of revolt against mainstream politics right now is the second kind, involving not angry young men lurching rightwards but anxious young women turning, if anything, more sharply left.

Almost a quarter of women aged 18 to 24 voted Green last July, roughly double the number of young men who voted Reform, though predictably it’s the latter who have since got all the attention. While the big parties chased avidly after so-called Waitrose women, well-heeled home counties matrons considering defecting from the Tories, they had little to say to their daughters. So it was the Greens who ended up cornering the market in a certain kind of frustrated gen Z voter: typically a middle-class student or graduate in her early 20s, whose conscience is pricked every time she opens Instagram by heartrending images of orphans in Gaza or refugees drowning in the Channel, and who can’t understand why nobody seems to care. She’s angry about the rampant misogyny of some boys she knew at school, Donald Trump, greedy landlords and a burning planet, and the Greens’ more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger social media posts attacking Keir Starmer for choosing welfare cuts over wealth taxes strike a chord.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...
Why is Yale University implicitly endorsing Israeli extremist Ben-Gvir? | Arwa Mahdawi https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/25/itamar-ben-gvir-yale-shabtai-israel

Shabtai, a Jewish society based at Yale, hosted the extremist far-right politician convicted of supporting terrorism. Why did Yale allow this?

Let me start with a statement that should be obvious: deliberately starving 2 million people – half of whom are children – is indefensible. It is not complicated, it is not a nuanced situation that requires a PhD to parse. It is not an unfortunate and unavoidable part of war. It is quite simply indefensible. I would say that it is also very much prohibited by international human rights law, but that doesn’t seem to exist any more, does it?

As I write this, no food, water or medicine has been allowed into Gaza for almost two months. It is impossible to know just how bad the situation really is because Israel has imposed a media blackout on the region. However, aid organizations have said: “The Gaza Strip is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months” since the war began. Thousands of children are malnourished. Childhood malnutrition, I can’t stress enough, has long-term consequences. An entire generation’s future has been violently stolen from them.

Continue reading...
Should benefit claimants risk having their bank accounts spied upon and driving licences revoked? I don’t think so | Neil Duncan-Jordan https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/25/spying-benefits-tory-labour-state-support

MPs like me are horrified by my government’s proposals to treat vulnerable people as suspects simply because they need state support

Labour won last year’s general election on a promise to reverse the damage done by the previous Conservative governments, offering a politics that would, in the memorable words of the prime minister, “tread more lightly on our lives”. I won a historic victory in Poole for Labour last July on the basis that things would change – and change for the better.

But my constituents, already fearful of plans for the largest cuts to disability support in a generation, have been getting in touch with me about new legislation that might be news to you: the government is resurrecting Tory proposals for mass spying on people who receive state support.

Neil Duncan-Jordan is the Labour MP for Poole

Continue reading...
In Kyiv, we don’t believe in the fantasy of Trump's ‘peace deal’. Our reality is more dead civilians | Nataliya Gumenyuk https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/25/ukraine-kyiv-donald-trump-peace-deal-vladimir-putin

At the scene of the deadliest attack on our capital this year, I see the war on Ukraine is still very real – and Putin shows no signs of ending it

War teaches you to believe only in what happens, rather than what is merely said or promised. A day after the “peace talks” in London, which the US secretary of state Marco Rubio didn’t even turn up for, Ukrainians were not anxiously waiting for the results of a possible deal, which looked unfeasible anyway. Instead, they were counting their dead.

According to Ukraine’s air force, in the early hours of Thursday morning Russia launched 11 Iskander ballistic missiles, 37 KH-101 cruise missiles, six Iskander-K cruise missiles, 12 Kalibr cruise missiles, 4 KH-59/KH-69 missiles and 145 drones. For Kyiv and Kharkiv residents that night, this was not just a case of reading numbers on a news feed, but hearing and feeling explosions rock their cities. It turned out to be the deadliest night for the Ukrainian capital this year.

Nataliya Gumenyuk is a Ukrainian journalist and CEO of the Public Interest Journalism Lab


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...
Youth centres may seem tame fare for politicians. But I've seen firsthand how they cut crime | Simon Jenkins https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/25/britain-youth-centres-politics-crime

By steering Britain’s young people down a positive path, these centres answer a chronic need. Why doesn’t the government protect them?

At next week’s local elections, few will be voting on how their council is run. They will be passing judgment on Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and other national figures. Local democracy no longer thrives in Britain. An opinion poll would be cheaper.

Cut to the humble youth club. I supported a private charity in my old borough of Camden, north London, that was struggling to turn young people, mostly in their teens, away from a life of crime. The local council-run youth club had been forced to close.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

Continue reading...
Atomfall might have been an apocalyptic classic if it wasn’t for all the walking | Dominik Diamond https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/apr/25/atomfall-apocalyptic-classic-fast-travel-lake-distric-windscale

The Lake District after the 1957 Windscale nuclear disaster is a great setting for a game – and gorgeously rendered. That doesn’t mean I want to endlessly keep traversing it

‘Fast travel”. The greatest two words in gaming. Greater even than “infinite lives”, Clive Sinclair or “moustachioed plumber”. It is to go from one location in a game where you are doing something important to another location in the blink of a loading screen, cutting out the repetitive kerfuffle in between. (Trivia break: Repetitive Kerfuffle might have been the working title for Tetris!)

We’ve had it since the 80s. Dragon Quest had a Return spell and the original Zelda had the recorder to take you to different dungeons, and even they were preceded six years earlier by a certain big fat yellow mouth who had dots for supper and ghosts for dessert. Because that guy could go out of one side of the screen and appear on the other instantly. That’s fast travel isn’t it? My advocacy for this is however tempered by the depression I feel that PacMan may have thought going off the right hand side would mean an escape from his corridor hell, only to return, Sisyphus-like, back where he started.

Continue reading...
The Guardian view on Trump v universities: essential institutions must defend themselves | Editorial https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/25/the-guardian-view-on-trump-v-universities-essential-institutions-must-defend-themselves

Harvard is leading the pushback because it can afford to fight. Others are realising that they can’t afford not to

Enfeebling universities or seizing control is an early chapter in the authoritarian playbook, studied eagerly by the likes of Viktor Orbán in Hungary. “Would-be authoritarians and one-party states centrally target universities with the aim of restricting dissent,” Jason Stanley, a scholar of fascism at Yale, wrote in the Guardian in September. Last month, he announced that he was leaving the US for Canada because of the political climate and particularly the battle over higher education.

It is not merely that universities are often bastions of liberal attitudes and hotbeds for protest. They also constitute one of the critical institutions of civil society; they are a bulwark of democracy. The Trump administration is taking on judges, lawyers, NGOs and the media: it would be astonishing if universities were not on the list. They embody the importance of knowledge, rationality and independent thought.

Continue reading...
The Guardian view on posthumously publishing Joan Didion: goodbye to all that | Editorial https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/25/the-guardian-view-on-posthumously-publishing-joan-didion-goodbye-to-all-that

Would the legendary American writer have welcomed the publication of her therapy notes? It seems unlikely

Joan Didion entered the fray on the publication of Ernest Hemingway’s unfinished final manuscript in an essay titled Last Words in 1998: “You think something is in shape to be published or you don’t, and Hemingway didn’t,” she wrote. You believe a writer’s unpublished work is fair game after their death or you don’t, and Didion – it would seem – didn’t.

Debate about the ethics of posthumous publication has been ignited once more, this time with Didion at its centre. After the writer’s death in 2021, about 150 pages were found in a file next to her desk. These were meticulous accounts of sessions with her psychiatrist, from 1999 to 2003, focused mainly on her adopted daughter Quintana, who was spiralling into alcoholism. Addressed to her husband, screenwriter John Gregory Dunne, this journal has been published under the title Notes to John. “No restrictions were put on access,” we are told in a brief, anonymous introduction, presumably the ghostly hand of her literary estate.

Continue reading...
Prostate cancer, race and the need for tests | Letters https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/25/prostate-cancer-race-and-the-need-for-tests

Suks Minhas and Ben Challacombe say it is important to acknowledge health inequalities faced by Black men and ethnic minorities in the UK

Following the article published about Sir Steve McQueen and his journey with prostate cancer (‘My father’s death saved my life’: director Steve McQueen on grief, gratitude and getting cancer, 5 April, we were disappointed to read the response by Tanimola Martins (Letters, 11 April), which fails to acknowledge health inequalities faced by Black men and ethnic minorities in the UK.

Acknowledging that PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels can be slightly higher in Black men, it still remains a useful screening test, especially if combined with MRI. What is not in doubt is that Black men are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than white men, and twice as likely to die from it. Add a family history of significant prostate cancer and the odds become even worse, bringing diagnosis to one in two and a risk likely greater than one in six with both risk factors, if untreated.

Continue reading...
The death of your dog is hard to bear | Letters https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/25/the-death-of-your-dog-is-hard-to-bear

Readers respond to John Crace’s column about the loss of Herbert Hound and share their own experiences

I have long admired and enjoyed John Crace’s columns, combining as they do his determination to puncture political pomposity, his acerbic wit and gentle sarcasm at the antics of the occupants of the Westminster bubble.

However, in his recent column (Digested week: The house feels less than a house without Herbert Hound, 18 April), Crace’s writing shows a contrasting tenderness in his gentle tribute to his canine pal – a sentiment with which many readers can readily identify, based on their own experience of pet death. Good on him for spelling out the impact of his loss. I hope in his case that time does indeed heal.
Phil Murray
Linlithgow, West Lothian

Continue reading...
First Europe, then the world: Twickenham awaits in year of twin peaks for England https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/25/england-twickenham-womens-six-nations-world-cup-rugby-union

Grand slam clash is vital stepping stone in Red Roses’ quest to reclaim the World Cup crown they last held in 2014

There are two games to think about at Twickenham on Saturday, the one the Red Roses will play in, and the one they want to play in. The first is their grand slam decider against France, which kicks off at 4.45pm. The second – at the same venue, five months and one day later – is the World Cup final which, if everything goes as the team hopes at the Stadium of Light, Franklin’s Gardens, Ashton Gate and the other grounds they will visit between now and then, will be the next game they play at the home of English rugby.

The Red Roses head coach, John Mitchell, has been around long enough to know the smart thing to do is separate the two. “We’ve got to be careful focusing on the World Cup final because we’ve got to earn the right to contest it,” Mitchell said this week. “It’s good to have the chance to be back at our home stadium, but it’s an isolated situation, that’s the way we see it.”

Continue reading...
Real Madrid deny they considered Copa del Rey final boycott over referee https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/apr/25/copa-del-rey-final-referee-breaks-down-in-wake-of-real-madrid-tv-criticism
  • Real Madrid refuse to turn up for pre-match events
  • Club had previously demanded action from RFEF

Real Madrid have denied that they ever considered refusing to play the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona after they boycotted the pre-match activities, prompting uncertainty that the game would go ahead. A statement from Madrid finally confirmed that they would play after 10pm on Friday night, just 24 hours before kick-off.

A previous statement from Madrid had demanded that the Spanish football federation (RFEF) take action after comments made by the referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea in the buildup to the game. That came after Madrid had refused to show up for the pre-match press conference, training session or the managers’ photocall at the Cartuja Stadium in Seville. Amid reports from media close to the club that they were contemplating refusing to play the match, Madrid finally confirmed their participation late on Friday night.

Continue reading...
Emery engineering has Rashford and Aston Villa on the rise for FA Cup https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/apr/25/emery-engineering-has-rashford-and-aston-villa-on-the-rise-for-fa-cup

Manager’s changeable lineups have pushed striker to usurp Ollie Watkins and likely lead the attack at Wembley

Unai Emery keeps his Aston Villa players on their toes. Sometimes he tells his squad the lineup the day before a game, on other occasions half an hour before they depart the team hotel for the stadium on a match day. Training tends to offer some clues but of late there have been surprises. Emery, a hugely emotional character, has been known to make impulsive, snap calls. Morgan Rogers, a rare mainstay and one of Villa’s trio of undroppables, recently described how his manager’s decision‑making can feel like flip‑of-the-coin stuff.

When the teamsheets are released an hour before kick-off at Wembley on Saturday, the eyeballs will jump towards the most intriguing selection dilemma: will Emery favour Marcus Rashford or Ollie Watkins?

Continue reading...
Hard sell of Eubank Jr v Benn fails to disguise ugly fight loaded with danger and spite https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/25/hard-sell-of-eubank-jr-v-benn-fails-to-disguise-ugly-fight-loaded-with-danger-and-spite

Age, weight and whispers have raised doubts over who might triumph on Saturday but once the sound and fury fade we will be left with nothing to show for it

Ben Shalom and Eddie Hearn usually do not like each other but on Thursday evening, at the final press conference for the troubling bout between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn, the promoters were almost breathless in their audacity and unity as they hailed a gift from the boxing heavens.

Shalom, Eubank Jr’s promoter, lauded “the biggest British boxing story ever”, “a monumental event” and “an unbelievable show” which has been “35 years in the making” as he suggested that Saturday night’s showdown completes the trilogy between two families – after the fighters’ fathers, Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn, shared a couple of seismic bouts in the early 1990s. Hearn, who promotes Benn, spoke of “a fight for the generations … an iconic main event … an incredible time for boxing” and urged us to “remember this night … this is what it’s all about.”

Continue reading...
NFL draft: Shedeur Sanders still available in fourth round as stunning plunge continues https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/25/shedeur-sanders-nfl-draft

Shedeur Sanders is still waiting – after three rounds of the NFL draft, 102 picks and five quarterbacks selected ahead of Deion Sanders’s highly touted son.

The Colorado quarterback was widely considered a first-round talent. But his stunning slide continued on Friday night when his name wasn’t called in the second or third round.

Continue reading...
Will Jacob Kiplimo be the first to run a marathon in less than two hours? https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/25/meet-jacob-kiplimo-can-he-be-the-first-to-run-a-marathon-in-under-two-hours

Hugh Brasher, the London Marathon race director, certainly thinks so but the Ugandan faces stiff competition from Eliud Kipchoge and Tamirat Tola

Earlier this year Jacob Kiplimo produced a performance so staggering that it sent the jaws of even seasoned track and field watchers crashing to the floor. It came on the streets of Barcelona, where the 24-year-old Ugandan covered 13.1 miles in 56min 42sec – a half marathon time 48 seconds quicker than anyone else in history.

Little more than two months later, Kiplimo is in London for his full marathon debut and the noise has only grown louder. Could he break the world record on Sunday? Could he even become the first man to break two hours in an official race? It is speculation that the event director, Hugh Brasher, is more than happy to stoke.

Continue reading...
Liverpool will improve next season in search for perfection, warns Arne Slot https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/apr/25/liverpool-will-improve-next-season-in-search-for-perfection-warns-arne-slot
  • Team need point against Tottenham to clinch league title
  • ‘In some moments we have to do much better,’ says coach

Arne Slot has warned Liverpool’s Premier League rivals that he expects the champions-elect to improve next season as they strive to fulfil his vision of the perfect team.

Liverpool require one point at home to Tottenham on Sunday to secure a record-equalling 20th league title and for Slot to become the first Dutch coach to win the Premier League. The head coach admits his team have “a big responsibility” to deliver at Anfield given the club’s last Premier League triumph, in 2020, came behind closed doors during the Covid pandemic. Slot’s family will be in attendance, although he says their visit was planned months ago to coincide with a public holiday in the Netherlands.

Continue reading...
Mark Allen hits 147 then loses as Barry Hearn warns Crucible ‘not fit for purpose’ https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/apr/25/world-snooker-championship-mark-allen-wakelin-williams-higgins-zhao
  • Allen makes history but loses 13-6 to Chris Wakelin
  • Hearn: ‘We love the Crucible but it has to love us’

Mark Allen wrote his name into Crucible history with a maximum 147 break at the World Snooker Championship – but fell to a 13-6 defeat in his second-round match against Chris Wakelin.

Resuming 6-2 behind, Allen endured a nightmare first half of the morning session, losing all four frames to fall 10-2 down and at risk of going out with a session to spare. Wakelin hit breaks of 119, 71 and 75 as his opponent failed to pot a ball for three frames, immediately heading to the practice table at the interval.

Continue reading...
Six things we learned about the future of energy security at UK summit https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/25/five-things-we-learned-about-the-future-of-energy-security-at-uk-summit

Critical minerals, nuclear power and the ‘weaponisation’ of energy supplies were discussed at international conference

The UK and the International Energy Agency gathered ministers and high-level officials from 60 countries to Lancaster House in London for two days of talks on the future of energy security this week. The EU was out in force, the US sent a top official, but China stayed away. Here’s what we learned.

Continue reading...
Britain will find ‘common ground’ with US on energy policy, says Miliband https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/25/britain-will-find-common-ground-with-us-on-energy-policy-says-miliband

Energy secretary says countries must work together during conference at which US delegate called net zero ‘dangerous’

Britain will find “common ground” with the US on energy and the economy including on nuclear power, despite differences over climate policy, the UK energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has pledged.

He was speaking at the close of a two-day, 60-country conference in London on energy security, hosted by the government and the International Energy Agency (IEA), at which the US delegate Tommy Joyce attacked net zero policies as “dangerous” and “damaging”, and said it was in the interests of “our adversaries”.

Continue reading...
Will Cop30 in Belém help or harm the Amazon? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/25/brazil-host-cop30-climate-talks-amazon

Trees are being cleared for rainforest mega-event – but state governor says a ‘new history’ is under way

Fake metal trees have been set into the concrete ground of the Amazonian host city of this year’s climate summit, prompting scandalised contrasts with the once-living vegetation that has been cleared in preparation for Cop30 in Brazil.

But in an unlikely convergence of views, both the centre-right state governor and leftwing social movements insist this is a storm in a plant pot compared with the darkening geopolitical threats to the world’s biggest diplomatic gathering, which will take place in November in Belém.

Continue reading...
‘It shapes the whole experience’: what happens when you build a city from wood? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/25/it-shapes-the-whole-experience-what-happens-when-you-build-a-city-from-wood

Transforming a former industrial area in Sweden will bring psychological benefits for future residents and reduce construction’s climate impact

Although activity is high, it is surprisingly quiet inside the construction site of a high school extension in Sickla, a former industrial area in south Stockholm that is set to become part of the “largest mass timber project in the world” according to the Swedish urban property developer Atrium Ljungberg.

Just a few months remain until students enter the premises, but there is no sound of drilling or pounding against concrete walls. The scent of wood is unmistakable, and signs of the material can be spotted everywhere – from glulam (glued laminated timber) columns and beams in the building’s frame to cross-laminated timber (CLT) slabs in the floors, ceilings and staircases. CLT, made by gluing together layers of planed wood into panels, offers strength and rigidity comparable to concrete but is significantly lighter and quicker to build with.

Continue reading...
Rupert Murdoch’s company ‘actively frustrated’ Met’s phone-hacking investigation https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/apr/25/rupert-murdoch-company-ngn-actively-frustrated-met-phone-hacking-investigation-will-lewis

Exclusive: Court document reveals accusations by former detectives, with one concluding NGN’s Will Lewis could have been arrested

Rupert Murdoch’s company, News Group Newspapers, has been accused by former detectives of having “actively frustrated” their UK investigation into phone hacking, with one concluding a senior executive could have been arrested for perverting the course of justice, according to a newly disclosed court document.

The senior executive, Will Lewis, is now chief executive and publisher of the Washington Post.

Continue reading...
Marks & Spencer pauses online orders as firm struggles with cyber-attack fallout https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/25/marks-and-spencer-pauses-online-orders-cyber-attack-fallout

Contactless payments now restored in stores after week of problems as retailer apologises to shoppers

Marks & Spencer has halted all orders through its website and apps as the retailer continues to battle the fallout from a cyber-attack that began on Monday.

The company apologised to shoppers for “this inconvenience” and paused digital orders “as part of our proactive management of a cyber incident”.

Continue reading...
US food delivery app DoorDash offers to buy UK rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/26/doordash-buy-deliveroo

The London-based company, the second largest food deliver app in the UK, said no ‘firm offer’ had been made yet

DoorDash is offering to buy its UK-based rival Deliveroo for $3.6bn (£2.7bn), Deliveroo said on Friday.

Deliveroo said that its board was in talks with DoorDash over the offer and that a firm offer had not been made, according to statement sent to the Guardian. Should a firm offer of £1.80 ($2.40) a share be made, Deliveroo said, “it would be minded to recommend such an offer to Deliveroo shareholders.

Continue reading...
Man shot dead by police in Milton Keynes ‘called 999 himself’ https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/25/man-shot-dead-police-milton-keynes-called-999-himself

Police watchdog believes David Joyce, who had history of mental illness, wanted to die at hands of officers

A man shot dead by an armed officer at Milton Keynes railway station had called police shortly before he died to report there was a man armed with a gun and acting dangerously, the police watchdog has said.

It is believed that David Joyce, 38, was armed with a knife when he ran at police and was shot by an officer who will claim to have acted in self-defence.

Continue reading...
Brace yourselves, the Ice Bucket Challenge is back https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/25/ice-bucket-challenge-social-media-mental-health

The fundraiser that went viral 10 years ago returns to raise awareness for mental health charities

A decade ago, when the Ice Bucket Challenge became a viral sensation, everybody from world leaders to sports stars and Hollywood royalty filled social media with videos of them having vats of cold water and ice cubes dumped over their heads.

Their videos were often notable for the casual, conspicious luxury of the backgrounds: LeBron James’ sodden discomfort was offset by the superyacht on which he performed his icy ablutions; Donatella Versace let out her unscripted yowl in her glorious garden flanked by equally gorgeous and muscled male helpers. Donald Trump predictably chose the top of Trump Towers for his stunt.

Continue reading...
‘This treasure belongs to the nation’: Miriam Margolyes and Brian Cox join calls to save Wordsworth’s home https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/25/miriam-margolyes-and-brian-cox-join-calls-to-save-wordsworths-home

The actors are lending their supporting to the campaign by Wordsworth’s great great great great granddaughter to keep Rydal Mount in the Lake District open to the public

Actors Brian Cox, Miriam Margolyes and Tom Conti as well as the children’s laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce are among those calling for the home of William Wordsworth to be saved as a site of literary heritage.

The Romantic poet lived at Rydal Mount in the Lake District from 1813 to his death in 1850. The property has five acres of gardens which were designed by Wordsworth.

Continue reading...
UK woman accused of illegal abortion did not look pregnant, friend tells court https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/25/uk-woman-nicola-packer-accused-of-abortion-did-not-look-pregnant-friend-tells-court

Witness says nothing to indicate Nicola Packer was pregnant in weeks before she delivered foetus

There was “absolutely nothing” to indicate that a woman accused of taking abortion pills illegally was pregnant in the weeks before she delivered a foetus, a court has heard.

Nicola Packer, 44, is on trial at Isleworth crown court accused of administering poison with intent to procure a miscarriage in November 2020, during the second Covid lockdown.

Continue reading...
NHS in England failing to record ethnicity of those who sue over maternity care https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/25/nhs-england-failing-record-ethnicity-those-who-sue-maternity-care

‘Shocking blind spot’ in data collection comes despite ‘well-documented racial disparities in maternity care’

The NHS is facing criticism for not recording the ethnicity of people who sue it over poor maternity care, despite black, Asian and minority ethnic women experiencing much greater harm during childbirth.

Health experts, patient safety campaigners and lawyers claim racial disparities in maternity care are so stark that NHS bodies in England must start collating details of people who take legal action to help ensure services improve.

Continue reading...
Man jailed for life for murdering his estranged wife in Plymouth https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/25/man-jailed-life-murdering-estranged-wife-plymouth

Paul Butler stabbed Claire Chick 23 times after she repeatedly reported to police he was stalking and harassing her

A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years for stabbing his estranged wife to death in Devon after she had made repeated allegations to police that he had been stalking and harassing her.

Paul Butler, 53, stabbed Claire Chick 23 times outside her apartment block in Plymouth on 23 January.

Continue reading...
Post Office paid £600m to continue using bug-ridden Horizon IT system https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/25/post-office-paid-600m-to-continue-using-bug-ridden-horizon-it-system

Tony Blair was warned about possible problems with the original Fujitsu deal before it was signed in 1999

The Post Office has paid more than £600m of public money to continue using the bug-ridden Horizon IT system despite deciding it needed to be replaced more than a decade ago.

It has emerged that the government was warned about potential problems with the original £548m deal that the Post Office struck with the Japanese company Fujitsu before it was signed in 1999.

Continue reading...
Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty in federal court to murdering healthcare CEO https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/luigi-mangione-federal-court-hearing

Suspect, charged separately in state court, could face death penalty if convicted over Brian Thompson death

Luigi Mangione on Friday pleaded not guilty to Manhattan federal court charges that he stalked and murdered the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, late last year.

Mangione, 26, walked into court just before 1pm. He was wearing tan jail garb with a white long-sleeved undershirt. He spoke with his lawyers, who sat alongside him, and at one point appeared to smile; he could be seen flipping through papers on the table.

Continue reading...
George Santos given seven-year prison term for fraudulent congressional run https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/george-santos-republican-sentenced

Republican former representative who had lied about his credentials sobbed in court saying he was ‘humbled’

George Santos, the disgraced former representative, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Friday, bringing an end to an extraordinary controversy that began with a fraudulent congressional campaign.

He lied extensively about his life story both before and after entering the US Congress, where he was the first openly LGBTQ+ Republican elected to the body. He was ultimately convicted of defrauding donors.

Continue reading...
Calls for inquiry after German police kill black man outside nightclub https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/calls-inquiry-german-police-kill-black-man-outside-nightclub

Officer suspended after shooting 21-year-old man from behind in Oldenburg in north-west Germany

Civil rights activists in Germany have demanded an independent inquiry into alleged police racism after an officer shot a 21-year-old black man from behind, killing him after an altercation outside a nightclub.

The 27-year-old officer was suspended from duty over the shooting early on Sunday morning in the city of Oldenburg in north-west Germany pending a murder investigation, said state prosecutors. Fatal police shootings are relatively rare in Germany and prosecutors were quoted in local media as saying the suspension and investigation were “routine”.

Continue reading...
US restoring legal status of hundreds of students after abruptly revoking visas https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/student-visa-legal-status-restored

Sudden policy reversal brings relief though some students already lost jobs or left country due to deportation risk

The US government is restoring the legal status of hundreds of international students after a wave of lawsuits challenged the abrupt suspension of their visas.

The sudden policy reversal was announced during a court hearing in Oakland, California, which brought together eight lawsuits filed by international students who argued that the federal government had terminated their right to remain in the US without due process. Attorneys in those cases had asked the court to issue a nationwide injunction covering all students whose official records granting them legal status were terminated since 1 March, and were at risk of deportation.

Continue reading...
California proposes to allow testing of driverless heavy-duty trucks https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/california-self-driving-truck-testing-proposal

Move that opens door for companies to test self-driving technology on trucks over 10,001lb likely to face pushback

California regulators have released a new proposal to allow the testing of self-driving heavy-duty trucks on public roads.

The state’s department of motor vehicles announced proposed regulations on Friday to allow the testing of driverless trucks over 10,001lbs, opening the door for companies to test self-driving technology on vehicles roughly the size of a Ram or Ford super duty pickup truck.

Continue reading...
Archaeologists find wreck of large medieval boat in Barcelona https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/apr/25/archaeologists-find-wreck-of-large-medieval-boat-in-barcelona

Experts hope vessel’s old timbers and nails will help shed light on how boats were built during medieval period

Archaeologists excavating the site of a former fish market in Barcelona have uncovered the remains of a large medieval boat that was swallowed by the waters off the Catalan capital 500 or 600 years ago.

The area, which is being dug up in order to build a new centre dedicated to biomedicine and biodiversity, has already yielded finds ranging from a Spanish civil war air-raid shelter to traces of the old market and of the city’s 18th-century history.

Continue reading...
Brazil’s former president arrested and ordered to begin prison sentence https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/brazil-fernando-collor-arrested

Fernando Collor, who led the country from 1990 to 1992, was sentenced in 2023 after being convicted for corruption

Brazil’s former president, Fernando Collor, has been arrested early and ordered to begin serving a prison sentence stemming from his 2023 conviction for corruption.

Collor was convicted of receiving 20m reais ($3.5m) to facilitate contracts between BR Distribuidora, a fuel distributor formerly controlled by the state-owned oil company Petrobras, and construction firm UTC Engenharia for the construction of fuel distribution bases. In return, he offered political support for the appointment of executives at BR Distribuidora when it was still state-owned.

Continue reading...
Pakistan and India exchange fire as UN calls for ‘maximum restraint’ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/kashmir-attack-pahalgam-india-pakistan-army-chief-visit-srinagar

Countries trade blows across line of control in disputed Kashmir as tensions rise after deadly shooting

Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire overnight across the line of control in disputed Kashmir, officials have said, after the UN urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show “maximum restraint” after Tuesday’s massacre of Indian tourists by Islamic militants.

Relations have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for a quarter of a century.

Continue reading...
Pete Hegseth’s controversial chief of staff leaves post unexpectedly https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/pete-hegseth-joe-kaspar-exit

Exit comes after Joe Kasper was implicated as orchestrator of power grab that led to dismissal of three Pentagon officials

Joe Kasper, the controversial chief of staff to the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who was central to a dramatic power struggle at the Pentagon, has left his post, in an unexpected departure.

Despite Hegseth’s assurances just days ago in a TV appearance on the Fox & Friends show that Kasper would merely transition to “a slightly different role” within the department, Kasper confirmed to Politico in a Thursday interview he will instead return to government relations and consulting, maintaining only limited Pentagon ties as a special government employee.

Continue reading...
US consumer sentiment sees largest drop since 1990 after Trump tariff chaos https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/trump-tariffs-trade-war-consumer-sentiment

Experts warn of slowing economy after score based on Americans’ financial outlooks fell by 32% since January

US consumer sentiment plummeted in April after Donald Trump’s trade war threw the global economy into chaos, according to a new report.

The index of consumer sentiment, a score based on a monthly survey asking Americans about their financial outlooks, fell by 32% since January – the largest drop since the 1990 recession, according to the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.

Continue reading...
Joyous junkyard beauties: how Leilah Babirye fled death to create towering works of togetherness https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/apr/25/leilah-babirye-togetherness-supreme-court-ruling-sculptures

The UK supreme court’s recent gender ruling made me think of the sublime sculptures – created from trash – by this artist who escaped persecution in Uganda. They stand for unity over division

In 2022, two wooden sculptures stood on the riverbanks of Brooklyn. Configured as bodies with multiple heads, the monumental works – part of a larger group titled Agali Awamu, which translates as “Togetherness” – towered over those who interacted with them. They appeared as an antidote to the silver, white or green reflective buildings that stood behind them: hand-carved and human-like, with mouths that appeared to be singing or whistling, and eyes barely open, perhaps to signify a joyous introspection. While one was made up of two bodies conjoined at the hip, the other had billowing hair and carried faces on its back and belly, which seemed to be singing in harmony. The sculptures looked peaceful, and protective of each other and of those who walked past them.

From far away these figures, created by the Ugandan-born, New York-based artist Leilah Babirye, looked regal. They stood tall, adorned with glistening belts and jewellery. But up close, you noticed that their ornaments were made up of rusty chains, old wire, used bolts and bicycle parts – objects once discarded, deemed as meaningless, but whose beauty had been noticed by the artist. She reused them for a celebratory monument of power and protection.

Continue reading...
The Brightening Air review – shades of Vanya as a Sligo family squabble, tease and wrestle https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/25/the-brightening-air-review-conor-mcpherson-chris-o-dowd-rosie-sheehy-old-vic-london

Old Vic, London
Terrific performances from Chris O’Dowd and Rosie Sheehy lead a populous family drama hinging on a broken-down country farmhouse

Conor McPherson’s family dysfunctional drama seems to take its inspiration from numerous sources: the title is a quote from WB Yeats’s poem, The Song of Wandering Aengus, which lends it an air of poetic mysticism. There are shades of Uncle Vanya, a play McPherson has adapted, with a plot involving a family reuniting in the countryside to feud over the ownership of land and inheritance. There are elements of the American family dysfunction drama too, though this is distinctly Irish in its cadence, rhythm and setting. Individually, each influence is valid and every idea is a good one but together the play seems to swing on its hinges, like this family’s clapped out farm-door.

We are in the rural depths of County Sligo in 1981, inside a household run by two siblings: the stoic Stephen (Brian Gleeson), who is existing rather than living, and the eccentric and autistic Billie (Rosie Sheehy). They are marooned on the down-at-heel farm, just about making ends meet until their wealthier brother, Dermot (Chris O’Dowd) drops by. His presence coincides with the arrival of an old blind uncle and former clergyman (Seán McGinley) who has been ejected from church quarters and now shuffles into the family home with his housekeeper, Elizabeth (Derbhle Crotty), with a dispute over the farm’s ownership – though this plot point does not emerge until late on.

Continue reading...
‘It’s Fleabag’s home – the audience is unshockable’: Phoebe Waller-Bridge and more on 25 years of Soho theatre https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/apr/25/25-years-soho-theatre-dean-street-new-venue-walthamstow-phoebe-waller-bridge

The central London institution champions new talent, amplifies LGBTQ+ voices and always takes risks. With a new outpost opening in Walthamstow, artists discuss how the West End venue is not just a place – it’s a philosophy

A fixture on London’s Dean Street for 25 years, Soho theatre has hatched plays that won Oliviers, shows that earned the Edinburgh comedy award and ideas that became TV hits. On any night, across its upstairs studio theatre, its main house and basement cabaret bar, you’ll find plays from new writers, experimentations in clowning, drag performance, standup comedy, or a hybrid of them all.

In those rooms, I’ve watched American clown Natalie Palamides giving such a spirited performance that she vomited on stage, dancer and comedian Adrienne Truscott challenging rape jokes, and performance artist Kim Noble pushing audiences beyond comfort. I’ve sung along to ballads with sketch group Daphne, and folk songs with Sh!t Theatre.

Continue reading...
Oh to Believe in Another World review – Gripping Kentridge and Shostakovich bring Stalin’s age of betrayal to life https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/apr/25/oh-to-believe-in-another-world-review-william-kentridge-film-shostakovich

Multitudes festival, London
The artist’s potent animated film played against a superb live account of the 10th Symphony from Marin Alsop and the Philharmonia Orchestra

The 20th century is a cruel farce performed by puppets in a cardboard museum in South African artist William Kentridge’s grotesquely funny, constantly disconcerting film interpretation of Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony. Lenin and Stalin, their faces’ photographs fixed on jerky figures made from scraps, transforming sporadically into living dancers hidden under collaged costumes, monstrously dominate a puppet cast that also includes the bullish-looking but revolutionary poet Vladimir Mayakovsky along with Trotsky and Shostakovich himself.

It would be stirring in an art gallery with recorded music, but on a big screen in the Royal Festival Hall above Marin Alsop conducting a gripping performance by the Philharmonia Orchestra as part of the Southbank’s Centre’s multidisciplinary Multitudes festival, it became a magic key to both the music and the age of betrayal and mass murder it witnesses.

Continue reading...
Flintoff review – so traumatised he can’t even speak to his ex-Top Gear pals https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/apr/25/flintoff-review-freddie-documentary-disney-plus

The story of the former cricket prodigy and car crash survivor Freddie Flintoff is fascinating … but this documentary shows he has such extreme PTSD that he keeps slamming the shutters down

Freddie Flintoff is numb. As the 98-minute Disney+ documentary Flintoff begins, we find its subject sitting in a hospital room. He can’t feel his lip, the one that was torn from his face in a nightmarish car accident on the Top Gear track in 2022. But more than that, he is mentally checked out. As one doctor after another tells him that he is recovering well and looking good, he stares at the ground dejectedly. He just wants everyone to stop sugarcoating everything and tell him the truth, he says. What he wants to hear is that he looks like “a fucking mess”.

Flintoff was designed as the big unveiling of the new, post-accident Freddie Flintoff. His days as a cricketing prodigy are over and so, it seems, are his days as a permanent light entertainment fixture. He is older, slower and more reflective. He is also plagued, night after night, by looping footage of the accident that ended Top Gear. Ostensibly this is where we’ll get to watch his comeback.

Continue reading...
Add to playlist: Kashus Culpepper’s ‘southern sounds’ and the week’s best new tracks https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/apr/25/add-to-playlist-kashus-culpepper

Welcome to our new series highlighting the best emerging artists – first up, a former firefighter and US Navy recruit who counts Samuel L Jackson as a fan

From Alabama
Recommended if you like Luke Combs, Tony Joe White, Charles Bradley
Up next Supporting Leon Bridges in the US

Kashus Culpepper’s story has something of the Hollywood movie about it. A former firefighter who went on to enlist in the US Navy, he only picked up a guitar five years ago to entertain his fellow troops when they were locked down in barracks during the pandemic. On his return to the US, he began working for a cement company while posting clips of covers and his own songs to social media: one attracted the attention of Samuel L Jackson, who reposted it to his 9 million followers. Within a few months, Culpepper had both a record deal and a co-sign from another navy veteran, country star Zach Bryan. By the end of last year, Culpepper was performing at Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry.

Continue reading...
The best running shoes to take you from trail to road to marathon, tried and tested by runners https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/jan/02/best-running-shoes

Whether you’re a beginner runner, a 5k faithful or a track star, our expert-picked running trainers, from Adidas and Asics to Hoka, will help you beat your PBs

‘How does anyone do this?” I thought as I hobbled home from my first run, a pair of threadbare Converse biting into my heels. It took me a while to connect the dots. Maybe I was just prone to shin splints? Perhaps your calves were supposed to burn with every stride? Or – lightbulb moment – could it be that these post-jog aches and pains were a symptom of my wildly inappropriate footwear?

As with millions of rookie runners before me, my problems melted away when I bought myself a pair of proper running shoes. Fifteen years and countless pairs later, I know just how much difference they can make. However, this isn’t a simple case of one size fits all.

Continue reading...
‘They repaired the zip for free’: 12 companies that went the extra mile, according to Guardian readers https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/apr/24/companies-best-customer-service

You told us who went above and beyond to help fix (and even replace) your favourite things, from broken teapot lids to well-worn shoes

Sometimes, things fall apart: a zip jams, a lid breaks, a seam ruptures. Unless you’re a whiz with a needle or a tube of glue – or have a brilliant repair shop nearby – it can consign the broken item to the back of the cupboard, or worse, to landfill.

But many companies offer repair services, and it may be easier (and cheaper) than you expect. In some cases, as these readers told us, they might replace things altogether. Their stories show that, whether it’s an ancient piece of jewellery or a brand new gift, it pays to ask (and no, none of these people work for, or are associated with, any of these companies; they are just very happy customers).

Continue reading...
The best mascaras for longer, fuller and fluttery lashes: 10 favourites worn and rated by our beauty expert https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/apr/23/best-mascara-uk

Whether you’re searching for volume, length or waterproof warpaint, we tested 30 mascaras (and applied up to 40 coats) to find the best for your makeup bag

Anti-ageing products that actually work: Sali Hughes on the 30 best serums, creams and treatments

If you were allowed to pick only one makeup item to use for the rest of your life, what would you choose? Without a doubt, mine would be mascara. It’s the most transformative beauty staple. Defining your lashes has literally eye-opening results, making them appear bigger and brighter.

If the questions I’ve been asked as a beauty editor are anything to go by, even those who consider themselves low-maintenance usually own a mascara: requests for mascara recommendations are by far the most common. It seems no one is immune to how effortlessly eye-framing a few coats can be.

Best overall:
Giorgio Armani Vertigo Lift mascara
£23.20 at Look Fantastic

Best budget mascara:
L’Oréal Paradise Big Deal mascara
£8.39 at Amazon

Best for length:
Lancôme Lash Idôle Flutter Extension mascara
£28 at John Lewis

Best for volume:
Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara
£25.36 at Sephora

Best brown mascara:
Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High mascara
£12.99 at Look Fantastic

Continue reading...
Essential women’s underwear: the best knickers, bras and socks for every occasion https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/apr/22/best-womens-underwear-uk

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 situation

I 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...
Experience: I went blind after doing 13 cartwheels in a row https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/25/experience-i-went-blind-after-doing-13-cartwheels-in-a-row

An orange blur obscured my vision. By morning it was even worse

It was a cool May afternoon in 2002. I was 19 and had driven to Westport beach in Washington with a few friends to enjoy a day by the ocean.

As a child, I’d been a keen gymnast, always doing backflips and energetic routines. As I got older, I still had a habit of doing cartwheels whenever I found an open space. That day on the beach, on the soft, flat sand, I couldn’t resist.

Continue reading...
‘I had rose-tinted spectacles’: UK city dwellers on relocating during the pandemic https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/25/i-had-rose-tinted-spectacles-uk-city-dwellers-on-relocating-during-the-pandemic

As London once again becomes the most searched-for location on Rightmove, which is better, rural or city life?

London has once again become the most searched-for location on the property website Rightmove, with more than half of the people living there (58%) looking to stay rather than leave.

This comes five years after the start of the Covid pandemic, which prompted many people to seek an escape from city life in favour of more outdoor space to accommodate working remotely. This trend has since reversed with more employers asking workers to return to office working.

Continue reading...
Arguing with your partner? Done the right way it can be a skill for couples, say therapists https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/25/arguing-with-your-partner-done-the-right-way-it-can-be-a-skill-for-couples-say-therapists

Learning to discuss topics in which you differ is something people can get better at and can benefit relationships

Why can’t the dirty plates go straight into the dishwasher? Whose turn is it to pick up the kids? And why do you insist on doing that thing you do when you know how much it annoys me? No honestly, don’t worry, I’m fine.

Perhaps – if you are part of a long-term couple – that kind of conversation sounds familiar. Or perhaps you are George and Amal Clooney and you never, ever argue. That, at least, was the actor’s boast this week to a US morning show: in almost 12 years of marriage, he said, he and his lawyer wife have never had a single argument. “We’re trying to find something to argue about,” he joked.

Continue reading...
Property guardians: caretaker solutions to sky-high city rents https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/apr/25/i-like-the-weird-and-the-offbeat-the-rise-of-the-uk-property-guardians

London professionals are taking advantage of reduced rents in vacant buildings in often unusual spaces

A top-floor, open-plan property in a trendy east London neighbourhood would usually set you back thousands of pounds a month in rent, but Luke Williams is paying a fraction of that.

The 45-year-old programme manager is one of a growing number of professionals turning to property guardianship – a housing arrangement whereby people live in vacant buildings in exchange for reduced rent.

Continue reading...
Quirky converted homes in England for sale – in pictures https://www.theguardian.com/money/gallery/2025/apr/25/quirky-converted-homes-in-england-for-sale-in-pictures

From a Norfolk windmill-watermill to a Sussex oast house with micro vineyard, conversions worth a toast

Continue reading...
From batik-making in Ghana to homestays in Kyrgyzstan: your top ethical trips https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/apr/25/top-ethical-trips-readers

​Readers share their ​favourite experiences that benefit local people, including community cottages in Northern Ireland, an anti-mafia tour of Palermo​ and an eco project in Ecuador

Global Mamas, in the port town of Elmina, creates financial prosperity for local women through the production of handcrafted goods using traditional techniques. We joined them at a batik workshop, where Mavis Thompson showed us how to dip our chosen designs into melted wax, and stamp a length of cream cotton. After dyeing the fabric using natural pigments, we plunged it into boiling water to remove the wax. As the cotton had to be sun-dried between each stage, we sat on low stools and watched the other Global Mamas produce larger, more complex designs. Our vibrantly coloured tablecloths are a reminder of a happy afternoon with Mavis and the mamas.
Helen Jackson

Continue reading...
Share how changing US tariffs may affect your business https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/11/share-how-changing-us-tariffs-may-affect-your-business

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...
Parents: share your experiences of behaving badly during kids’ football matches https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/apr/24/parents-share-your-experiences-of-behaving-badly-during-kids-football-matches

We would like to hear from parents who sometimes get too involved when their children play football

Kids’ football can be emotional. Some parents shout at their own children, others swear at officials, and a few even get into fights. We’d like to hear from parents about the times they’ve become too involved in their kids’ football matches.

What has your experience been like and how did your children react? Have you noticed other parents’ behaviour on the pitch?

Continue reading...
Tell us: do you have a nickname? https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/22/tell-us-do-you-have-a-nickname

If you’ve ever had – or still have – a nickname, we want to hear from you

Nicknames are dying out, according to the Wall Street Journal. Giving someone a catchy or amusing moniker often used to be “a sign of affection” – but nicknames are thought to be becoming less common, thanks to a fear of causing offence or sounding unprofessional.

If you’ve ever had – or still have – a nickname, we want to hear from you. How did your nickname originate? Did you like it – or hate it? Tell us about it below.

Continue reading...
Tell us your favourite YouTube TV shows https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/apr/22/tell-us-your-favourite-youtube-tv-shows

To mark 20 years since the first ever YouTube video, we’d like to hear your favourite YouTube TV shows

The first YouTube video, a 19-second clip posted entitled “Me at the zoo” posted by co-founder Jawed Karim, was uploaded on 23 April 2005. Now the most popular video-sharing platform in the world, YouTube has expanded far beyond short clips and into TV streaming.

To mark the anniversary, we’d like to hear your favourite YouTube TV shows of the moment. You can tell us your favourite and why below.

Continue reading...
Peter Dutton was fired up before the election was called – but has the Coalition wilted in the campaign furnace? https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/26/peter-dutton-coalition-liberal-party-australian-federal-election-campaign-2025

Liberal supporters are worried about policy shifts, outbreaks of ill-discipline and signs of a leader sapped of confidence just as his opponent found his

It was 12 January – 75 days before the federal election would be called – and Peter Dutton was literally feeling the heat.

As the opposition leader addressed a Liberal party rally from a stuffy room in the Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley, visible beads of sweat ran down his forehead.

Continue reading...
Ukraine, Gaza and Iran: can Witkoff secure any wins for Trump? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/ukraine-gaza-iran-witkoff-trump

To solve three conflicts simultaneously would be a daunting task for anyone, but it is especially so for a man entirely new to diplomacy

Donald Trump’s version of Pax Americana, the idea that the US can through coercion impose order on the world, is facing its moment of truth in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran.

In the words of the former CIA director William Burns, it is in “one of those plastic moments” in international relations that come along maybe twice a century where the future could take many possible forms.

Continue reading...
Israelis protest against Gaza war with rare outcry over Palestinian casualties https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/we-have-lost-our-humanity-holocaust-survivors-call-for-end-to-war-in-gaza

Holocaust survivors gathering on Holocaust Memorial Day speak out against Palestinian starvation and suffering

Few days speak so profoundly to the soul of Israel than Holocaust Memorial Day. As the country sat in silence on Thursday to remember 6 million Jews exterminated by the Nazis, the same refrain was, as always, repeated by many: never again.

But for some across Israel, as the war in Gaza continues to ravage the Palestinian people and wipe out entire families, never again had come to hold another meaning.

Continue reading...
‘A sweeping catastrophe’: 20 years after Hurricane Katrina, a photo exhibit honors Mississippi victims https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/hurricane-katrina-mississippi-remembers-photo-exhibit

Hurricane Katrina: Mississippi Remembers captures the grief and resilience of survivors in the Magnolia state

Twenty years ago this August, the United States Gulf coast was irrevocably changed when Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and costliest storms to ever hit the country, made landfall. Making landfall as a strong category 3, the storm, which was so vast it stretched the length of the Mississippi Gulf coast all the way into Alabama, hit the Mississippi-Louisiana coastal border before continuing northward.

Since then, superstorms fueled by the climate crisis have become relatively commonplace in the country, but the impact of Katrina endures to this day. Immediately following the storm, the country and world were enthralled by tragic stories out of New Orleans, where the levees failed to a catastrophic effect and the local, state and federal responses were disastrous. But Mississippi, which received the maximum impact from the storm surge, was largely left out of the national narrative around Katrina.

Continue reading...
From ammunition to ballistic missiles: how North Korea arms Russia in the Ukraine war https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/how-north-korea-arms-russia-in-ukraine-war

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s claims about deadly Kyiv strike highlight Kremlin’s reliance on Kim regime’s soldiers, ammunition and missiles

North Korea’s role in the war in Ukraine has come into sharp focus after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said a Russian missile that killed 12 people in Kyiv had been supplied by the regime in Pyongyang.

“According to preliminary information, the Russians used a ballistic missile manufactured in North Korea,” Zelenskyy said. “Our special services are verifying all the details.

Continue reading...
When is Pope Francis’s funeral, who will be there and what happens next https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/when-is-pope-francis-funeral-who-will-be-there-guide

The late pontiff’s funeral, due to take place on Saturday, will attract dignitaries and worshippers from around the world

Pope Francis, who died on Monday morning at the age of 88, will be laid to rest on Saturday in Rome. His funeral is expected to draw dignitaries from across the world, as well as tens of thousands of faithful. This is what is expected to happen on the day, and what may come next for the Catholic church.

Continue reading...
‘I hate it’: Manchester commuters back ban out-loud music on public transport https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/25/manchester-commuters-lib-dem-ban-out-loud-music-public-transport

Lib Dem move to ban practice is broadly welcomed, though some feel the party should focus on more important things

“Dread” might not be the first word Mancunians reach for to describe their daily commute, but for Ross Kenyon, 45, reluctantly waiting at a tram stop on a cloudy morning in central Manchester, it’s the feeling clawing at his body.

Why? He hates the tram. So much so, he refuses to take it to work, preferring a half-hour walk to his office instead. He says the the buses are even worse. He avoids them completely.

Continue reading...
‘Why do they dislike me so much?’: the trials, trolls and triumphs of Britain’s most divisive barrister https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/apr/24/why-do-they-dislike-me-so-much-the-trials-trolls-and-triumphs-of-britains-most-divisive-barrister

She has been called a ‘brave disruptor’ by campaigners and ‘rabid’ by internet critics. But for Charlotte Proudman, only one opinion matters: that of the women and children she defends in the family courts

At lunchtime, when she is working at her barristers’ chambers in central London, Charlotte Proudman, a specialist in family law, faces a confronting choice. Should she nip around the corner to Pret a Manger or join her colleagues at the Middle Temple dining hall? It’s not so much a question of whether she feels like a sandwich or a sit-down meal, but a more existential decision, requiring her to analyse who she is and where she belongs.

It is 15 years since Proudman qualified as a barrister, but she still feels a sense of alienation when she walks into the formal dining halls. “It’s largely a sea of male, pale, stale figures sitting there, all in their suits. They all look identical, and are probably from similar demographic backgrounds. As a woman, you already stand out,” she says when we meet at her deserted offices on Good Friday. “It feels like a pocket of establishment elitism. In Pret you’ll have a mixture of solicitors, some paralegals, maybe some judges popping in and out; it’s more cosmopolitan.”

Continue reading...
Now comes the ‘womanosphere’: the anti-feminist media telling women to be thin, fertile and Republican https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/24/womanosphere-conservative-women

A crop of conservative personalities such as Brett Cooper and Candace Owens, and outlets like Evie, are convincing young women of a gender-essentialist worldview

On the most recent episode of her YouTube show, the rightwing commentator Brett Cooper joined the rest of the world in jeering Katy Perry, Gayle King and Lauren Sánchez’s brief flight to space.

“These women were completely dependent on men who built this spacecraft,” she said with a cheeky smirk. “Frankly, we all are, because men built civilization. They built the homes that we live in, they built the studio that I am recording in … the spaceships that all of these rich celebrities are flying around in.” The difference between Cooper and feminists, she says, “is I choose to acknowledge that and celebrate it and be grateful”.

Continue reading...
‘One father threatened to stab the referee’: why does kids’ football bring out the worst in parents? https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/apr/24/one-father-threatened-to-stab-the-referee-why-does-kids-football-bring-out-the-worst-in-parents

When they’re not shouting at their own children, many of Britain’s soccer dads like nothing more than swearing at the officials, or even trading blows on the touchline. Isn’t this supposed to be fun?

A chilly Saturday morning on the Astroturf pitches at Coram’s Fields in central London and several youth football matches are under way. I’m watching an under-11s game. The sound is the thud of boot on ball, the shrill interruption of the referee’s whistle, and a whole lot of shouting. From the players (“Mine!”, “Here!”, “Pass!”, “Ref!”, etc). From the two coaches (“Press!”, “Stay wide!”, “Push up!”, “Ref!”, etc). And from the touchline dads. There is one mum here today, but she’s less vocal.

To varying degrees, the dads are part fan, part coach, part personal trainer to their progeny. There is one dad (there’s always one) who’s taking it a bit further, who’s a bit shoutier than the others. “Get rid of it!” he screams at the defence, meaning hoof it upfield, which is the opposite of the coach’s instructions to play it out from the back. “Ref! Seriously?” he shouts at the referee (who’s only about 17 himself).

Continue reading...
In search of the South Pacific fugitive who crowned himself king – podcast https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/apr/25/in-search-of-the-south-pacific-fugitive-who-crowned-himself-king-podcast

Noah Musingku made a fortune with a Ponzi scheme and then retreated to a remote armed compound in the jungle, where he still commands the loyalty of his Bougainville subjects

By Sean Williams. Read by Simon Darwen

Continue reading...
The rule of law in Trump’s America and what it means for Mel Gibson’s guns – podcast https://www.theguardian.com/politics/audio/2025/apr/25/the-rule-of-law-in-trumps-america-and-what-it-means-for-mel-gibsons-guns-podcast

The US justice department says it did not fire a former pardon attorney, Liz Oyer, after she refused to recommend reinstating Mel Gibson’s gun rights.

But Oyer tells Jonathan Freedland a different story, one she believes points to a wider crackdown by the Trump administration on the rule of law in America

Archive: ABC News, Face the Nation, CBS News, CNN, PBS, NBC News, Fox News, WHAS11

Continue reading...
‘They excavated a nightclub!’: uncovering Black British history beyond London – podcast https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/apr/25/they-excavated-a-nightclub-uncovering-black-british-history-beyond-london-podcast

From struggles over miscarriages of justice to groundbreaking music, Lanre Bakare looks at the places and events that shaped Black Britain in the Thatcher years

When Guardian arts and culture correspondent Lanre Bakare was growing up, he learned the same Black British history as many of us did. It was a series of singular events: the docking of the Windrush in 1948, unrest in Notting Hill or Brixton, the murder of Stephen Lawrence. All important, but all firmly focused on the capital.

Now Lanre has written a book about the Thatcher years, looking at the stories that are less often told: those that took place outside London, in Liverpool – with the oldest Black community in the UK – or in his home town of Bradford.

Continue reading...
Liverpool’s title chance, the FA Cup semis … and walkers: Football Weekly Extra - podcast https://www.theguardian.com/football/audio/2025/apr/24/liverpools-title-chance-the-fa-cup-semis-and-walkers-football-weekly-extra-podcast

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Seb Hutchinson and Dan Bardell as Manchester City get a vital win over Aston Villa in the hunt for Champions League football

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today: two midweek Premier League games to review. One more consequential than the other as Manchester City go third with a late win over Aston Villa. In the other fixture, Crystal Palace score two brilliant goals to claim a point at Arsenal.

Continue reading...
Evidence of alien life, a clue about the rise of bowel cancer, and a new colour? – podcast https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2025/apr/24/evidence-of-alien-life-a-clue-about-the-rise-of-colon-cancer-and-a-new-colour-podcast

Madeleine Finlay and Ian Sample discuss three intriguing science stories from the week. From a hint at alien life on a distant planet to a clue in the search for answers over why colon cancer rates are rising in the under 50s, and news from scientists who claim to have found a colour no one has seen before

Are we alone? New discovery raises hopes of finding alien life
Childhood toxin exposure ‘may be factor in bowel cancer rise in under-50s’
Hue new? Scientists claim to have found colour no one has seen before

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

Continue reading...
How ultra-processed foods are making us sick – video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/apr/24/how-ultra-processed-foods-are-making-us-sick-video

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...
The life and legacy of Pope Francis – video obituary https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/apr/21/life-and-legacy-pope-francis-video-obituary

Pope Francis, the pontiff whose popular appeal reached far beyond his global congregation, has died aged 88. During his 12-year papacy, Francis – the first Jesuit pope – was a vocal champion of the world’s poor, dispossessed and disadvantaged, and a blunt critic of corporate greed and social and economic inequality. Within the Vatican, he criticised extravagance and privilege, calling on church leaders to show humility. His death is likely to exacerbate sharp divisions within the curia, with conservatives seeking to wrest control of the Catholic church from reformers

Continue reading...
How children with special educational needs are being failed in England – video https://www.theguardian.com/education/video/2025/apr/22/how-children-with-special-educational-needs-are-being-failed-in-england-video

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...
Khartoum before and after: footage shows destruction wreaked by war in Sudan – video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/apr/15/khartoum-before-after-footage-destruction-wreaked-war-sudan-video

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 destruction

Continue reading...
Endangered koalas and the ecologist documenting their extinction – video https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2025/apr/12/endangered-koalas-and-the-ecologist-documenting-their-extinction-video

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...
How green tech is fuelling a war in Africa – video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/apr/10/how-green-tech-is-fuelling-a-war-in-africa-video

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...
Syria’s March massacres: how sectarian violence targeted Alawites – video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/apr/04/syrias-march-massacres-how-sectarian-violence-targeted-alawites-video

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...
How philanthropists are destroying African farms – video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/apr/03/how-philanthropists-are-destroying-african-farms-video

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...
How countries cheat their carbon targets – video https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2025/mar/27/how-countries-their-net-zero-carbon-targets-video

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...
How bottled water companies are draining our drinking water – video https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2025/mar/20/how-bottled-water-companies-are-draining-our-drinking-water-video

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

Continue reading...
Can the UK fix its broken prison system? – video https://www.theguardian.com/society/video/2025/mar/18/can-the-uk-fix-its-broken-prison-system-video

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 country

With thanks to Prison Escape Utrecht and Tap Social Movement

Continue reading...
How social media is helping catch war criminals – video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/mar/13/how-social-media-can-help-catch-war-criminals-video

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 Sudan

Continue reading...
Refusing to fight: Israelis against the war in Gaza – video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/mar/12/refusing-to-fight-israelis-against-the-war-in-gaza-video

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...
How plastics are invading our brain cells – video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/mar/06/how-nanoplastics-are-invading-our-bodies-video-report

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...
From Gaza to Texas: the race to save Mazyouna’s face - video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/mar/04/from-gaza-to-texas-the-race-to-save-mazyounas-face-video

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...
How a 12-year-old boy was killed in the West Bank – video analysis https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/mar/01/how-a-12-year-old-boy-was-killed-in-the-west-bank-video-analysis

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 moments

Continue reading...
How China uses ‘salami-slicing’ tactics to exert pressure on Taiwan – video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/feb/28/how-china-uses-salami-slicing-tactics-to-exert-pressure-on-taiwan-video

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...
‘Fix poverty, fix health’: A day in the life of a ‘failing’ NHS https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2025/feb/18/fix-poverty-fix-health-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-failing-nhs

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...
Sign up for the Fashion Statement newsletter: our free fashion email https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/sep/20/sign-up-for-the-fashion-statement-newsletter-our-free-fashion-email

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 Thursday

Style, 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 Thursday

Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you

Continue reading...
Sign up for the Guardian Documentaries newsletter: our free short film email https://www.theguardian.com/info/2016/sep/02/sign-up-for-the-guardian-documentaries-update

Be the first to see our latest thought-provoking films, bringing you bold and original storytelling from around the world

Discover 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...
Guardian Traveller newsletter: Sign up for our free holidays email https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/oct/12/sign-up-for-the-guardian-traveller-newsletter-our-free-holidays-email

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...
Sign up for the Feast newsletter: our free Guardian food email https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/jul/09/sign-up-for-the-feast-newsletter-our-free-guardian-food-email

A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideas

Each 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...
Black grouse courtship and first pick of the NFL draft: photos of the day – Friday https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2025/apr/25/black-grouse-courtship-and-first-pick-of-the-nfl-draft-photos-of-the-day-friday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Continue reading...
The week around the world in 20 pictures https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/apr/25/the-week-around-the-world-in-20-pictures

The death of Pope Francis, women mourn the dead in Gaza, Russian airstrikes in Kyiv and emperor penguins in Antarctica: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

  • Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing
Continue reading...
Week in wildlife: wild ponies, a playful jaguar and penguin chicks taking their first swim https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2025/apr/25/week-in-wildlife-wild-ponies-a-playful-jaguar-and-penguin-chicks-taking-their-first-swim

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

Continue reading...
Shot from the hip! A street level view of 1970s New York – in pictures https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/apr/24/shot-from-the-hip-a-street-level-view-of-1970s-new-york-in-pictures

Mark Cohen’s photographs of his daily walks in New York show the world viewed from the height of a child – revealing fresh threats, thrills and perspectives

Continue reading...
Space craft and heavenly respite – readers’ best photographs https://www.theguardian.com/community/gallery/2025/apr/23/space-craft-and-heavenly-respite-readers-best-photographs

Click here to submit a picture for publication in these online galleries and/or on the Guardian letters page

Continue reading...
A dwarf crocodile carried home by a hunter: Thomas Nicolon’s best photograph https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/apr/23/dwarf-crocodile-hunter-thomas-nicolons-best-photograph

‘As a species, these crocs are easy to find and easy to catch. Brice Itoua is the most skilled hunter in his village. But they kill the crocs to eat – not to sell’

The Congo dwarf crocodile is a lovely species. They’re very shy and, unfortunately, very easy to find and catch. Mostly hunted for their bushmeat, these crocs only grow up to a few feet in length and during the dry season, they often spend the daytime hiding in burrows and dens at the water’s edge. Hunters use a long, woody liana vine with a hook on the end to drag them out, before binding their snout with a shorter vine and carrying them away.

Last summer, I shot a story about the Congo dwarf crocodile after being given access to the Lake Télé Community Reserve by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which manages this protected area in the Republic of the Congo with the Congolese government.

Continue reading...