20 h. ago A beacon of hope among the most deprived in London this Christmas

The Christmas party at the Oasis St Martin’s Village hub in Tulse Hill was the first ever ‘Together at Christmas’ community meal – one of a series of pilot events taking place over the 2025 festive season, that organisers hope will become 1,000 meals by next Christmas

Politics

46 h. ago Thousands ring in 2026 – after a year like no other in Manchester

The characteristic Mancunian rain held off for one night so our city, rocked by heartbreak in 2025, could start a new year in hope

Sport

62 h. ago Yes, women’s rights are under threat around the world. But we’ve found hope in unlikely places | Rahila Gupta

From El Salvador to Russia, Iceland and Syria, women are pushing back against the rise of regressive forces. Let’s support their fightRahila Gupta is an anti-racist feminist activist and the co-author, with Beatrix Campbell, of Planet Patriarchy In 2025, the world that had been opened up by women has often seemed to be closing in. The forces behind the rollback of abortion rights in Donald Trump’s US are attempting to do the same in the UK. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has doubled down on its attacks on women and girls. Sexual violence is commonplace in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Mexico, even the president is not safe from sexual assault. A perverse rewilding appears to be taking place.You’d be forgiven for thinking that around the world, women’s rights are being concreted over. But in researching our book, Planet Patriarchy, Beatrix Campbell and I found women’s resistance erupting like green shoots through the cracks. In El Salvador, women can receive sentenc...

Events

62 h. ago ‘Even in the most unlikely places there is beauty’: stories of hope from newsrooms around the world

From the construction worker who won a place at medical school to an art exhibition in a country with no galleries, we asked journalists for their most optimistic tales of the yearFounder of the Migration Story, India Continue reading...

Politics

2 d. ago A rough year for journalists in 2025, with a little hope for things to turn around

By most measures, 2025 was a rough year for those who care about freedom of the press

Politics

4 d. ago Stork of Hope review – Belarusian Holocaust drama paints a flattering portrait of its citizens

Cliche-ridden, excessively sentimental and lacking in historical rigour, this film is a grave act of nationalist self-soothingNothing says happy Hanukah like a Holocaust-themed movie, especially if it ends on a feelgood note of survival and reunion after a run of tragic deaths and lashings of suffering. But this Israeli-Belarusian co-production is so excessively sentimental, cliche-riddled and arguably hypocritical considering its provenance, it’s not easy to forbear.It opens in contemporary Tel Aviv with an elderly man named Ilya receiving news he can barely believe is true: someone dear to him from his childhood is alive. This prompts Ilya to tell his grandsons for the first time about what happened to him during the second world war. Desaturated cinematography then unfolds his story in flashback, showing young Ilya (Andrey Davidyuk) and his little brother Sasha as preteen Jewish boys living in Minsk with their parents, just as the war starts. Dad goes off to the front and is neve...

Events

6 d. ago Afcon 2025: Nigeria hold off Tunisia fightback to secure last

Nigeria 3-2 Tunisia | Tanzania 1-1 UgandaSenegal 1-1 DR Congo | Benin knock out BotswanaNigeria put on an impressive display of attacking prowess but had to hang on in the end for a narrow 3-2 win against Tunisia, becoming the second team to make sure of a place in the last 16.Victor Osimhen netted the opener a minute before half-time, and Wilfred Ndidi and Ademola Lookman scored after the break. But Tunisia staged a late comeback with goals from the defenders Montassar Talbi and Ali Abdi that set up a frenetic finish. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Afcon 2025: First tournament win for Benin keeps hope of progress alive

Yohan Roche scores only goal in first halfBotswana out after second group lossBenin kept alive their hopes of staying in the Africa Cup of Nations with a 1-0 victory over Botswana in Rabat in Group D. It ended a run of 15 games – five draws and 10 defeats – without a win in the competition.Two minutes before the half-hour mark Yohan Roche’s shot from inside the area was deflected in. Botswana hit the bar through Mothusi Johnson but they were unable to avoid a second successive defeat and are now out of the competition.This story will be updated Continue reading...

Society

6 d. ago Afcon 2025: Benin’s first tournament win keeps hope of progress alive

Yohan Roche scores only goal in first halfBotswana are out after second group lossYohan Roche scored a deflected winner as Benin claimed a first-ever victory at the Africa Cup of Nations finals with a 1-0 Group D success against Botswana in Rabat. Benin move to three points from their opening two games, level with Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the table, who were meeting in their second pool fixture in Tangier later on Saturday.Benin took the lead in the 28th minute when Roche played a one-two in the box with his captain, Steve Mounie, and his shot from 10 yards took a wicked deflection off a defender and into the net.This story will be updated Continue reading...

Society

6 d. ago Afcon 2025: Sadio Mané equaliser keeps Senegal on top of group

Mané’s scores his 51st goal for countryBenin win puts Botswana out after second lossSadio Mané scored for Senegal as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday and keep top place in Group D. Cedric Bakambu put DR Congo into the lead in the 61st minute, but Mane equalised eight minutes later with his 51st goal for his country, one of the favourites to win the tournament.The two sides have four points from their opening two games and look set to progress into the last 16 with their final group games on Tuesday. Senegal are ahead of DR Congo on goal difference after they beat Botswana 3-0 in their opening fixture while DR Congo edged past Benin 1-0.This story will be updated Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Afcon 2025: Sadio Mané equaliser keeps Senegal top of group and Benin get first win

Mané levels in 1-1 draw with DR Congo in Group DBenin’s 1-0 victory knocks out BotswanaSadio Mané scored for Senegal as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday and keep top place in Group D. Cedric Bakambu put DRC into the lead in the 61st minute, but Mane equalised eight minutes later with his 51st goal for his country, one of the favourites to win the tournament.The two sides have four points from their opening two games and look set to progress into the last 16 with their final group games on Tuesday. Senegal are ahead of DR Congo on goal difference after they beat Botswana 3-0 in their opening fixture while DR Congo edged past Benin 1-0.This story will be updated Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Ukraine’s best hope may lie elsewhere as Russia inches forward on the battlefield

While it struggles to hold up land advance, Kyiv eyes economic and political fronts to turn around fortunesA depleted – but far from defeated Ukraine – looks to 2026 with few good military options, even though a critical €90bn (£79bn) loan from the EU has been agreed. The financing will help Kyiv to continue defending at its current intensity until late 2027, but it will not lead to a transformation of its battlefield prospects.On land, the pattern of the last two years should, in the first instance, continue. Russia has held the initiative since 2024, but only gaining territory incrementally, largely because it constantly throws people into the “meat grinder” of the frontline. During 2025, Russian advances amounted to 176 sq miles a month to the end of November, but at an estimated cost of 382,000 killed and wounded. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Flamboyant, furious and full of hope: CMAT is the sound of 2025 | John Harris

The Irish singer-songwriter does what the best musicians do: perfectly crystallising their time while inspirationally taking a stand against itWhat has it felt like to be alive in 2025? The basic answer probably touches on a few aspects of the 21st-century experience. One is the horror and conflict that seem to define the news almost every day. Another centres around the material pressures that increasingly grip supposedly peaceful countries: the never-ending cost of living crisis, and the impossibility for millions of people of a secure job, a dependable home and some halfway viable idea of the future.Something else demands a mention: the all-pervading mixture of absurdity, nastiness and anger fostered by the internet. Bigotry runs rampant. What we still rather laughably call social media now seem to operate on the basis that the ideal story mixes wildly improbable elements with the kicking-up of moral outrage (witness that ghoulish “online content creator” Bonnie Blue, who, having...

Politics

1 week ago From Dr Seuss to All Quiet on the Western Front: 19 books to help you find hope, sense and resistance in difficult times

Writers, activists and politicians on the books they turn to for wisdom and perspective – and to restore their faith in human natureAustralia is mired in grief, anger and division over the horrific act of antisemitic terrorism in Sydney. The attack in Bondi has reverberated internationally, tragically bookending a year that already challenged humanity, hope and the future of the planet.Indeed as 2025 ends it is defined by yet more abject and ignoble political, economic, technological and environmental derelictions of dire proportions. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Ashes 2025 live score: Khawaja and Green dismissed to give England hope

The tourists finished the first innings on 286 but trailed by 204 runs by tea after struggling with the ball in Adelaide on day three

Politics

2 w. ago Hong Kong Mixtape review – dissident artists keep hope alive in the face of China’s crackdown

San San F Young’s passionate documentary records a vibrant creative scene that continues to resist Beijing’s repression Dotted with towering corporate skyscrapers, the skyline of Hong Kong attests to its global reputation as a financial hub; this image is profoundly challenged by San San F Young’s passionate documentary. Turning her camera to the streets and taking us into artists’ studios, the film-maker captures the vibrant creative scene of the city. The turmoil of the protests against the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill, along with the draconian laws that followed, hangs heavy over every frame. In the midst of political turbulence, art emerges as a powerful, transformative tool of collective resistance.In an engaging and personable voiceover, Young weaves in stories from her own life growing up in Hong Kong as a rebellious teenager. Surrounded by bankers and financiers, she yearned to follow the footsteps of her film-making idols, such as Spike Lee, in the west. Her youthful dis...

Politics

2 w. ago This year, I have seen a glimmer of hope: people are ditching a life led on screens for the real thing | John Harris

Whether it’s nightclubs banning phones or a drop in online dating, there are signs that we’re rediscovering the joy of being in the momentIt’s only a small rectangular sticker, but it symbolises a joyous sense of resistance. Some of Berlin’s most renowned clubs have long insisted that the camera lenses on their clientele’s phones must be covered up using this simple method, to ensure that everyone is present in the moment and people can let go without fear of their image suddenly appearing on some online platform. As one DJ puts it, “Do you really want to be in someone’s picture in your jockstrap?”Venues in London, Manchester and New York now enforce the same rules. Last week brought news of the return of Sankeys, the famous Mancunian club that closed nearly a decade ago, and is reopening in a 500-capacity space in the heart of the city. The aim, it seems, is to fly in the face of the massed closures of such venues, and revive the idea that our metropolises should host the kind of n...

Politics

3 w. ago Kerry Kennedy honors late father RFK with impassioned plea for US to ‘do better’

Exclusive: ‘The Independent’ spoke with Kerry Kennedy at the 2025 RFK Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award Gala, held to honor the legacy of her father, the late senator Robert F Kennedy

Politics

3 w. ago ‘I’m a prisoner of hope’: Olafur Eliasson on using art to bring us together to save the world

Inside Presence, the Icelandic-Danish artist’s epic new show in Brisbane, what you see changes based on where you stand or how you look – crucial when it comes to tackling the climate crisisI gasp as it comes into view: an enormous sun looming above, its surface roiling with what looks like thousands of tiny atomic explosions. It seems to notice me as well: when I stop, it stops too. It’s both awe-inspiring and unnerving.In the mirrors around the glowing orb, I spot Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson – globally renowned for large-scale installations that challenge your sense of perception – posing for selfies with the crowd. Continue reading...

Events