37 minutes ago Don’t be naive about the ceasefire in Lebanon. It may mean more horror and death in Gaza | Simon Tisdall

Netanyahu has not suddenly turned dovish peacemaker. He can redeploy his troops or abandon the peace deal at any timeJoe Biden is making the most of the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon that he helped to broker. “It reminds us that peace is possible,” he declared in the White House Rose Garden, where US presidents habitually preen rather than prune. Yet Biden’s flowery self-congratulation jars at this fragile moment. It sounds like cruel mockery to the beleaguered people of Gaza.With the truce holding for a second day, Lebanon has been spared more death and wanton destruction, for now. Celebrating, many people are heading home to the south despite Israeli warnings. But Biden’s belief that the accord will hasten a Gaza ceasefire, spike the guns of Iran and...

Events

50 minutes ago President Trump and Scotland: Donald Trump’s Scottish heritage and business ties to Scotland explained

The US businessman and media personality is returning to the White House.

Politics

51 minutes ago ‘Holding space’: Wicked has made the term famous. But what does it mean?

In the earnest press tour for the film, actor Cynthia Erivo was in tears at the idea that fans were ‘holding space’ for the song Defying Gravity. But is it more self-help jargon or something more powerful?The journalist Tracy E Gilchrist had just four minutes with the Wicked actors Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande – and she had to make them count. She just didn’t bargain on becoming part of one of the year’s most-used memes as a result of saying the phrase “holding space”. “I just went in and did my job, which was to try to get an authentic answer to a question in a very short amount of time,” she says. “It felt like the right term for what I was trying to get across to Cynthia, which is the idea that you can interact with a work of art like Defying Gravity and feel something within your...

Politics

75 minutes ago Record number of English bathing sites have poor water quality, finds Environment Agency

Of 450 rivers, lakes and beaches in England, 37 did not meet the minimum standard for bathing water quality

Politics

87 minutes ago The 13 most controversial album covers of all time, from The Beatles to Nirvana: ‘We’re all naked really’

From flagrant nudity to cartoon bestiality, there are all sorts of reasons cover art can spark controversy. Kevin E G Perry picks some of the most memorable examples

Politics

99 minutes ago ‘An underlying stillness’: the Yinka Shonibare retreat where artists have space to grow and thrive

The earth-brick barn house nestled among cassava and yam fields in southern Nigeria is one of two artists’ residences established by the British-Nigerian artistPerched on a hilltop and surrounded by a lush 22-hectare (54-acre) farm, the G.A.S. Farm House outside the village of Ikiṣẹ in southern Nigeria is not your average place for an artist residency. For Kosisochukwu Nnebe, who works at the intersection of food and art, it’s the ultimate retreat.The 31-year-old Nigerian-Canadian is one of the first artists to be hosted at the Guest Artists Space Foundation’s barn house near the town of Ijebu Ode in Ogun state. Although she is a late riser, each morning before she has a chance to prepare eggs on agege bread, Nnebe is out of the door, heading to a banana grove five minutes’ walk away to...

Politics

1 hour ago Unite union launches legal action against government over winter fuel payment cuts

With temperatures dropping, Unite has applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the prime minister’s move to means test the payment, which will see it withdrawn from around 10m elderly people

Politics

1 hour ago Review: Charli XCX incites a party riot as she debuts energetic Brat UK tour in Manchester

There’s not many artists who can easily tow the line between obnoxious and charming - but Charli manages it

Society

2 hours ago Charli XCX, Manchester review: After Brat Summer, where does Britain’s most exciting pop star go from here?

No one seems to stay seated, and few dare to ignore Charli’s demands to jump up and scream

Politics

2 hours ago First breakthrough in treating asthma attacks in 50 years hailed as a ‘game

Benralizumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets specific white blood cells

Events