1 hour ago Campaigners launch £31k legal challenge to stop festivals like Mighty Hoopla going ahead in Brockwell Park

A Crowdjustice page has been set up which has raised over £31,000 to cover legal costs

Economics

3 h. ago ‘A signal of simplicity’: Pope Francis’s funeral will be his final humble gesture

One of pontiff’s last acts was to simplify papal rites, stripping away elaborate rituals and scaling back processionLatest updates: tributes paid after Pope Francis dies aged 88When the late Pope Francis stepped on to the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to give his first speech as leader of the Catholic church in March 2013, he cast away formality by dressing in simple white robes instead of the regal ermine-trimmed cape usually worn by newly elected pontiffs.The next day, Francis – a name chosen in honour of Francis of Assisi, the Italian saint who renounced a life of luxury to help the poor – returned to the Rome hotel in which he had stayed before the conclave to pick up his luggage and pay his bill. He substituted a plush apostolic apartment for a simple room within the Vatican walls and, unlike his predecessors, did not spend his summers in Castel Gandolfo, an opulent 12th-century fortress close to Rome. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Anas Sarwar says SNP failure is a 'recruiting sergeant' for the rise of Reform in Scotland

The Scottish Labour attached the SNP Government on the eve of a Government summit on the far Right

Events

6 h. ago 'Having an actual castle attached to the hotel was challenging but we got there'

The Castle of Brecon Hotel is back open and although it screams luxury, you won't feel out of place

Politics

6 h. ago Australia’s gen Z men aren’t monsters in the making – they just feel short

Instead of alarmism or shaming, we need to create spaces where young men feel heard, challenged and supportedGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailFor years, we’ve looked at democracies like the US, Germany and South Korea, disturbed by what a nation divided along gender and generation lines could look like. Australia, by comparison, seemed less polarised, but new research hints that something’s starting to shift – slowly, unevenly and with plenty of caveats – among young Australians too.But let’s not jump the gun – because the story is more complicated than it first appears, and framing “young men” as a purely reactionary force isn’t going to get us anywhere helpful. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Lawsuit challenges new restrictions on initiative process in Arkansas

A federal lawsuit has been filed challenging several restrictions on the Arkansas initiative process

Politics

8 h. ago John Higgins fights through emotional turmoil to ignite Crucible challenge

Veteran breaks down after beating Joe O’Connor 10-7Mark Allen looks to past after seeing off Fan Zhengyi Tearful four-time world champion John Higgins overcame overwhelming emotions to beat Joe O’Connor 10-7 at the Crucible.The 49-year-old was out of sorts in losing the morning session 5-4 but returned later in the day to turn things around and admitted afterwards he was battling strong feelings. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago The 'beautiful' Scottish hotel that’s transformed its dining rooms in glamorous £5m makeover

A Scottish hotel that’s known for its beautiful sprawling grounds has unveiled new dining experiences, which have undergone a £5M makeover.

Economics

8 h. ago Forest will ’embrace the challenge’ as Champions League battle hots up – Nuno

Forest saw off Tottenham to move back up to third in the Premier League.

Sport

10 h. ago Inside Iceland's second city's football clubs and the unique challenges from the frozen north

EXCLUSIVE Daily Star Sport recently took a trip to the frozen north and discovered the unique challenges that face football clubs stranded on the edge of the world

Politics

10 h. ago ‘Back where we belong’: Leeds and Burnley savour promotion heroics

Scott Parker says achievement ‘means everything’Daniel Farke lauds his side for delivering ‘in great style’The Burnley head coach, Scott Parker, described his third Premier League promotion as his best yet after taking Burnley up, while Daniel Farke said Leeds are “back where we belong” after securing a top-flight return.Parker has taken Fulham and Bournemouth to the Premier League in previous jobs and will have a third chance to challenge the elite next season after two goals from Josh Brownhill edged Burnley past third-placed Sheffield United to ensure their opponents can no longer catch them or Leeds. Continue reading...

Events

12 h. ago Patriots' Day traffic? No thank you. Red Sox' Walker Buehler spends night at hotel for early start

Walker Buehler wasn’t taking any chances with the early start

Politics

12 h. ago Historic Welsh hotel with huge claim to fame is the setting for top new BBC competition

BBC Two's Chess Masters: The Endgame is filmed in a famous Welsh hotel

Politics

13 h. ago Green Day fire back at Charli XCX’s Coachella dig: ‘Actual headliner’

Charli XCX was pictured wearing a ‘Miss Should Be Headliner’ sash at her Coachella afterparty

Events

13 h. ago The Guardian view on Pope Francis: an outsider who was a force for good in the world | Editorial

The Argentine pontiff was a vital progressive influence on issues such as migration, and fought for a more merciful, less rigid Catholic churchDefying doctors’ orders to rest following his battle with double pneumonia, a weak Pope Francis last week visited Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, where he blew kisses towards inmates and spent half an hour in discussion with some of those incarcerated. Sadly, this Maundy Thursday encounter turned out to be one of the last acts of a supremely hardworking papacy. In retrospect, its location was entirely appropriate.Throughout his 12 years in Saint Peter’s chair, Francis sought admirably to refocus the Catholic church’s energies on the marginalised, while challenging the power of entrenched interests. Coming, as he put it, “from the ends of the earth”, the first non-European pontiff of modern times was an outsider pope and a radical one. Within the church, the Argentine was a sometimes spikily direct reformer; outside it, he was a signific...

Politics

14 h. ago Prince Andrew takes up new hobby after threat of eviction from crumbling Royal Lodge home

The Duke of York is locked in a bitter dispute with King Charles over continuing to live at the 30-room mansion Royal Lodge in the shadow of Windsor Castle where major repairs are needed

Politics

15 h. ago I stayed at the UK’s ‘best beach hotel’ with a surprising Love Island connection

It was just minutes away from the sea

Society

15 h. ago Hugo Viana gets priceless Man City bonus to help Pep Guardiola win

Pep Guardiola has given Nico O'Reilly a new challenge at Manchester City as he embeds himself within the first team.

Politics

16 h. ago ‘Ours was inspired by the Empire State Building!’ The chaotic brilliance of the UK’s biggest self

It is a place where a Disney-ish castle, complete with turrets, sits near a scaly ‘pangolin’ house. But is Graven Hill now straying from the DIY vision that made its anarchic jumble of styles so mesmerising?What would the world look like if Kevin McCloud had his way? What if each of us had the chance to build our very own Grand Design, letting our streets be lined with personal visions, liberated from the identikit brick boxes offered by the usual big housebuilders?A glimpse of this world exists, sort of, on the outskirts of Bicester in Oxfordshire, where the country’s biggest self-build experiment has been under way for 10 years. Graven Hill is a place where rooftops tilt, zigzag and bulge, where windows come in circles, squares and triangles, or poke out from unexpected places. There are balconies fashioned from glass, steel and rustic timber clinging to facades of stone, brick, wood and render, along with every type of fibre-cement board available. Wandering the freshly tarmacked...

Politics

16 h. ago House Democrats land in El Salvador to push for return of Kilmar Ábrego García

Four representatives join effort to challenge the Trump administration’s refusal to facilitate the immigrant’s releaseWho is Kilmar Ábrego García, the man wrongly deported to El Salvador?A delegation of four House Democrats has arrived in El Salvador to push for the release of Kilmar Ábrego García, part of a mission to challenge the Trump administration’s refusal to comply with a supreme court order to facilitate the return of the immigrant to the United States.Representatives Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California touched down in Central America on Sunday, following a visit by the Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen last week. The lawmakers are seeking to meet with Ábrego García, who had lived in the US for more than a decade before being swept up in a 15 March operation. Continue reading...

Politics