This powerful new book examines the moral contradictions of the west and asks what liberal values mean in the face of such brutal and sustained obliteration of human lifeLike many people, I have followed the unrelenting horror that has unfolded in Gaza since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 mainly through the medium of social media. The Instagram reels of citizen journalists on the ground have become for me and countless others the most powerful testimony to the slaughter, destruction and trauma visited on the already beleaguered Palestinian population. Recorded at great risk, they are often heartbreaking and enraging: so many dead infants; so many maimed and traumatised children; so many obliterated families and communities.Some of these witnesses have achieved heroic status among their millions of followers, the likes of Motaz Azaiza, a photojournalist who was evacuated to Qatar after 108 days covering the carnage at close hand; Wael Al-Dahdouh, the Al Jazeer...

Politics

Kenya’s economy and healthcare system are reeling from president’s bid to shut down USAID

Events

The closures come as part of a company-wide strategy to shift focus away from high street branches and onto travel hubs. Previously, the retailer said it planned to open 110 new branches in airports, railway stations, and hospitals over the coming years

Politics

The proposed development consists of three luxury treehouse units at Whitehouse Leisure Park in Towyn and each will have access to a private swimming pool

Politics

A hidden gem in the south of Italy features a stunning pink sand beach, but access is prohibited, and fines can reach up to £2,899 for trespassing

Society

A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) review is reportedly underway for 87 conditions, including chronic pain, mobility issues, and musculoskeletal disorders, sparking widespread concern

Politics

This fun, gory tale of women trying to set up a nightclub in the 1918 Soho underworld is lively – even if it tries to cram too much in. Shame about the ropey vocal affectations The Peaky Blinders comparisons have been flying around ever since filming on Dope Girls began, so it sounds as if the BBC was hoping that it might have a successor on its hands. Certainly, there are some superficial similarities between the two. Dope Girls is set in 1918 and deals with the aftermath of the first world war, as the surviving men return. But here, it’s the women who are in the spotlight, as the female workforce of the past four years suddenly find their newfound social status has been relegated once again. In mood and tone, however, it is less a return to Small Heath, and more of a predecessor to Cabaret.Kate Galloway (Julianne Nicholson) is a businessman’s wife and wartime butcher, who falls on hard times after a family tragedy. Destitute and homeless, she heads to London, where Armistice Day i...

Politics

‘I just don’t know how that’s a penalty,’ says head coachSteve Borthwick: ‘They found a way to win the game’Scotland’s coaches and players believe two key officiating decisions potentially denied them another historic Calcutta Cup victory. Gregor Townsend feels his team were unlucky to concede the crucial second-half penalty kicked by Fin Smith that ultimately proved decisive and doubts have also been raised over the solitary English try, scored by Tommy Freeman.Townsend was particularly unhappy about the crucial penalty given against Rory Darge and Tom Jordan for lifting Ben Curry out of a ruck. “I’m going to go through the game two or three times to see whether we could have got better decisions,” said Townsend, the head coach. “I did feel the decision that counted against us for the winning three points where we cleared someone out of the ruck I just don’t know how that’s a penalty. Continue reading...

Politics

Billionaire Mark Cuban candidly revealed his biggest takeaway from supporting Kamala Harris in the wake of the 2024 election last year in a scathing critique about Democrats.

Politics

Fans are too busy laughing at Rangers to need reminded of how much cash sits in the Parkhead coffers

Economics

Membership of 1,800 working men’s clubs and hundreds of Royal British Legion, social, Conservative, Labour and Liberal clubs typically costs from just £20 a year

Economics

Police shuttered off both directions of the M4 and M48 after receiving reports of a "body found on the carriageway", with road users travelling in and out of Wales being warned of travel delays

Politics

The road was shut for nearly 10 hours.

Events

Kyiv ‘must be at the heart of negotiations’ says PM as US threat to block Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites fuels wave of alarmKeir Starmer has raised the stakes before a crucial meeting in Washington with the US president, Donald Trump this week, by insisting that Ukraine must be “at the heart of any negotiations” on a peace deal with Russia.The prime minister made the remarks – which run directly contrary to comments by the US president last week – in a phone call on Saturdaywith Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which he also said that “safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty was essential to deter future aggression from Russia”. Continue reading...

Politics

The Hungarian-English author on addressing what it’s like to be a male body in the world, learning the tricks of literature from Frederick Forsyth, and the feeling of nearly winning the BookerDavid Szalay, 51, grew up in London and now lives in Vienna with his wife, having previously moved in 2009 to Hungary, his father’s birthplace. In 2016 he was shortlisted for the Booker prize with his fourth novel, All That Man Is, nine separate stories “self-assembled in the reader’s mind into a sort of collage-novel” (London Review of Books). His new novel, Flesh, follows the fluctuating fortunes of a young Hungarian ex-convict who makes his life in the UK after serving in Iraq.Tell us how Flesh came to be. I decided to abandon a book I’d started in 2017. It just wasn’t working, so it felt like a weight off my shoulders; nevertheless, I was under contract and had to come up with something. Literally nothing in Flesh is directly autobiographical, but it started with my underlying experience of...

Politics

Cardiff University announced last month that it could axe 400 academic jobs as well as shutting the school of nursing, music and modern foreign languages as the university contends with a deficit of £31m

Events

The lives of Beethoven, Haydn and co enthral; Audrey Gillan updates her award-winning rough sleepers series. Plus, a choir of cicadas and bathtime fun with Amy Adams Facing the Music Radio 3/BBC SoundsTara and George: Last Rights Radio 4/BBC Sounds)Why Is Amy in the Bath? Grab Bag Collab & Because It’s True ProductionsBetween the Ears: A Symphony of Cicadas Radio 3/BBC Sounds“It’s almost midnight,” purrs Dominic West, all honey and velvet, straight after we hear the famously doomy, four-note opening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The wild-eyed composer is in a cart, West tells us energetically, his latest piano sonata getting ruined by the rain, after throwing some coins at the driver and growling his preferred destination. West relishes every syllable of it: “Vi-ennnn-a!” Continue reading...

Politics

The PS5 Pro is much easier to recommend than it was a few months ago, and it might be worth investing as Sony continues to improve older titles.

Politics

Opera stars of the future shine brightly in London Competition Finals  New York Classical Review

Sport

Donald Trump has made several scathing comments against Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and says he will only support Kyiv's war in exchange for access to the country's mineral resources

Politics