13 h. ago King Charles and Prince William set to visit the US in 2026 to woo Donald Trump amid trade talks

The visits are being timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of American independence and come as negotiations continue between the two countries over a trade deal.

Politics

16 h. ago Iconic New Year’s Eve ball to make history in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary

There will be a second ball drop in Times Square in July

Culture

1 week ago Withering slights... or how Radio 4's Nick Robinson left red

Nick Robinson earned the ire of Today programme listeners - and his wife - for seemingly mixing up the author Jane Austen, on the 250th anniversary of her birth, with another literary heroine.

Politics

2 w. ago New coins to commemorate 250th anniversary of American independence. Here’s how they’ll look

The new designs favor traditional America over the more inclusive concepts picked by Joe Biden

Politics

2 w. ago New coins will commemorate 250th anniversary of American independence. Here's how they'll look

The U.S. Mint has unveiled designs for coins commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence

Politics

2 w. ago ‘A producer grabbed me, and I thought, Oh, for God’s sake’: Patricia Hodge on sexual harassment, drugs – and being in her prime at 79

Until she reached her 50s, the actor was a constant presence on stage and screen. Then the offers disappeared. Now, as her renaissance continues, she is taking on Mrs Malaprop in The RivalsAfter six decades as an actor, Patricia Hodge says she still gets nervous before a play opens. “I think nerves are always the fear of the unknown,” she says. “Particularly with comedy, where there is no knowing how the audience will react: you’ve got to surf that.”We meet on a sunny winter morning at the Orange Tree theatre in Richmond, south-west London, where Hodge is about to appear in The Rivals, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Richard B Sheridan play, in which she plays the ironic – sorry, iconic – Mrs Malaprop. “You’re sort of in a tunnel, your entire being is focused on this,” she says. She was here in rehearsals until 11pm the night before. Today, she is sitting at a table with a large coffee. Does she enjoy this bit, the putting together of a play? “I think it’s love-hate actual...

Events

4 w. ago The Guardian view on Turner and Constable: radical in different ways | Editorial

Capturing the changing landscapes of the 18th century, the rivals transformed British art. The climate emergency gives new urgency to their workJMW Turner appears on £20 notes and gives his name to Britain’s most avant garde contemporary art prize. John Constable’s work adorns countless mugs and jigsaws. Both are emblematic English artists, but in the popular imagination, Turner is perceived as daring and dazzling, Constable as nice but a little bit dull. In a Radio 4 poll to find the nation’s favourite painting, Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire – which even features in the James Bond film Skyfall – won. Constable’s The Hay Wain came second. Born only a year later, Constable was always playing catch-up: Turner became a member of the Royal Academy at 27, while Constable had to wait until he was 52.To mark the 250th anniversary of their births, Tate Britain is putting on the first major exhibition to display the two titans head to head. Shakespeare and Marlowe, Mozart and Salieri, Van ...

Politics