67 m. ago My favourite family photo: ‘We’re plainly not allergic to our mother here, as her legend always had it’

Our politically engaged mother loved deriding me and my sister for being stroppy and delinquent. This picture tells another story – and is a testament to our sunny dispositionsMy mother, Gwen, liked to describe things in broad brush strokes. Me and my sister’s teenage years, mid-80s to early 90s, she’d cover with: “Zoe was delinquent, couldn’t get a word of sense out of her.” Or: “1986? That was the year Stacey was awful.” Going through photo albums to make a montage for her funeral, all her pictures from that era were testament to our ill-behaviour: me, sniffing a geranium, sarcastically; Stace, outside a cafe in an indeterminable European city where you can almost lip-read her stroppy “piss off” to camera in the still moment.Gwen was politically engaged – you’d come downstairs on a Wednesday morning to find a handwritten letter starting, “Dear Pérez de Cuéllar, I cannot deplore enough your silence on the matter of the Western Sahara” – and heavily involved in progressive politics:...

Culture

6 h. ago Andrew Clements, Guardian’s classical music critic, dies aged 75

An outstanding critical voice, his deep knowledge and love of music was evident in everything he wroteThe Guardian’s long-serving and much admired classical music critic Andrew Clements died on Sunday aged 75 after a period of illness.Clements joined the Guardian arts team in August 1993, succeeding Edward Greenfield as the paper’s chief music critic. His appointment was clinched by a personal recommendation to the editor from the late Alfred Brendel, who argued for Clements to get the job on account of his deep understanding of contemporary music. For the next 32 years, Clements ranged across all fields of classical music in his writing for the Guardian, and often beyond. Continue reading...

Events

6 h. ago If we silence voices we don’t agree with, we’re doing the work of extremists for them | Peter Greste

I do not need to share Randa Abdel-Fattah’s views to believe that removing her is wrong. This is why I’ve withdrawn from Adelaide writers’ weekIf there has been a bright red thread running through my career, it’s the importance of freedom of speech. It underpinned my life as a journalist and correspondent, became central to the campaign to get me out of prison in Egypt and, perhaps paradoxically, it is why I have reluctantly withdrawn from this year’s Adelaide writers’ week.On Thursday the Adelaide festival board announced it had removed the writer and academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from the program, not because of anything she was proposing to say at the festival but because of things she said previously, reassessed in the aftermath of the Bondi attack.Peter Greste is a professor of journalism at Macquarie University and the executive director for the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Shea Lacey breaks silence on Man Utd red card after Darren Fletcher makes feelings clear

Shea Lacey was sent off in the 89th minute of Manchester United's FA Cup defeat to Brighton, with the 18-year-old receiving his marching orders for dissent after throwing the ball in anger at referee Simon Hooper

Politics

9 h. ago Trump’s military threats risk sabotaging Iran’s moment of change

Editorial: There is a danger that US intervention now could unite the regime, fracture the opposition, derail the uprising and repeat the West’s worst mistakes

Events

9 h. ago Basic CCTV blunder led to arrest of ‘killer’ Michael McKee in murder of ex

COPS have revealed the basic error made on CCTV that led them to arrest Michael McKee in the murder case of his ex-wife and her dentist husband. It comes as shocked neighbors break their silence about the grisly double murder. Monique Tepe, 39, and her husband Spencer, 37, were both found shot dead at their...

Events

9 h. ago EU wants 'Farage clause' as part of future trade deal with UK

The EU is drawing up plans to "Farage-proof" a future trade agreement with the UK

Economics

11 h. ago Love Island's Indiyah Polack admits she made a 'mistake and takes full responsibility of her actions' as video circulates of her kissing Inside co

Indiyah Polack has broken her silence on claims she 'cheated' on ex Dami Hope after a video emerged on social media of her kissing her Inside co-star Marlon Lundgren Garcia.

Politics

11 h. ago Family of murdered dentist and wife break their silence on alleged killer ex as they reveal why they kept their suspicions quiet

Mother-of-two Monique Tepe, 39, and her second husband, Spencer Tepe, 37, were discovered shot dead in their home in Weinland Park, Columbus, on December 30.

Events

13 h. ago Netflix and Paramount deals are both wrong for Warner Bros Discovery – and democracy

A congressional hearing this week underscored the danger a WBD deal would pose to journalism and the American publicDonald Trump wants CNN sold. He has said so repeatedly and publicly, demanding it “should be sold” in any deal involving Warner Bros Discovery. Now one of America’s largest media companies is racing to oblige him, while another looks to consolidate its power. Wednesday’s House judiciary hearing on streaming competition – where lawmakers voiced concern over the Trump administration’s influence and a potential merger’s toll on consumers – made clear just how dangerous both options are for free speech, audiences and democracy itself.Netflix has bid $82.7bn for Warner Bros Discovery, only to be countered by a hostile $108bn takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, son of Trump’s ally Larry. Neither deal serves the public interest, and both are dangerous for the future of free expression. Both would produce an unprecedented concentration of power over wha...

Events

13 h. ago Netflix and Paramount deals are both wrong for Warner Bros Discovery – and democracy | Courtney C Radsch

A congressional hearing this week underscored the danger a WBD deal would pose to journalism and the American publicDonald Trump wants CNN sold. He has said so repeatedly and publicly, demanding it “should be sold” in any deal involving Warner Bros Discovery. Now one of America’s largest media companies is racing to oblige him, while another looks to consolidate its power. Wednesday’s House judiciary hearing on streaming competition – where lawmakers voiced concern over the Trump administration’s influence and a potential merger’s toll on consumers – made clear just how dangerous both options are for free speech, audiences and democracy itself.Netflix has bid $82.7bn for Warner Bros Discovery, only to be countered by a hostile $108bn takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, son of Trump’s ally Larry. Neither deal serves the public interest, and both are dangerous for the future of free expression. Both would produce an unprecedented concentration of power over wha...

Events

13 h. ago Love Island’s Indiyah Polack breaks silence after ‘cheating’ on Dami Hope and says she takes ‘full responsibility’

LOVE ISLAND star Indiyah Polack has broken her silence after claims she cheated on boyfriend Dami Hope and says she’s takes “full responsibility”. Earlier today, a video emerged of the reality star snogging her Inside co-star Marlon Lundgren Garcia amid cheating accusations. Now she’s addressed the viral clip for the first time in a statement...

Politics

14 h. ago Gabriel Martinelli silences Portsmouth boos but Arsenal dilemma remains

PORTSMOUTH 1-4 ARSENAL: An impressive hat-trick from Gabriel Martinelli and more set-piece wizardry helped Mikel Arteta's men ease into the fourth round of the FA Cup

Politics

15 h. ago Aberdeen vs Rangers LIVE as Thelo Aasgaard handed start at Pittodrie

Danny Rohl’s side travel to ice-bound Pittodrie attempting to keep the heat on leaders Hearts but Peter Leven will have other ideas

Politics

15 h. ago Aberdeen vs Rangers LIVE as part two of grudge match sequel prepares to kick off

Danny Rohl’s side travel to ice-bound Pittodrie attempting to keep the heat on leaders Hearts but Peter Leven will have other ideas

Politics

15 h. ago Aberdeen vs Rangers LIVE as Fernandez goal ruled out after Aasgaard opener

Danny Rohl’s side travel to ice-bound Pittodrie attempting to keep the heat on leaders Hearts but Peter Leven will have other ideas

Politics

15 h. ago Aberdeen vs Rangers LIVE as Bojan Miovski given dog's abuse on Pittodrie return

Danny Rohl’s side travel to ice-bound Pittodrie attempting to keep the heat on leaders Hearts but Peter Leven will have other ideas

Events

16 h. ago As the year begins, don’t look away from the headlines, look better and deeper | Justine Toh

It’s important to cultivate a fresh way of seeing – one that isn’t blind to harsh realities but refuses to be cowed by themMaking sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday lifeI once heard that a journalist, stunned by the horrors they’d witnessed while on assignment as a foreign correspondent, was almost equally shocked to find themselves seeking solace in the strangest of places: a church. Not to pray; that wasn’t their thing. But to sit and take stock in silence – perhaps the most appropriate response when processing history’s bloody body count.If we’re news junkies, or just extremely online, we’re a little like that traumatised journalist. A little. More removed from frontline carnage, sure, but subject to a similar onslaught of non-stop bad news: polarisation, the climate crisis, grim domestic violence statistics. The rising cost of living, the rise of the far right, and AI threatening to upend our livelihoods. Continue reading...

Politics

17 h. ago ITV The Masked Singer star admits she was told about one of her co

The Masked Singer UK star broken her silence on the moment she broke a show rule before stepping on the she stage

Politics

18 h. ago Dining across the divide: ‘He agreed with me on a wealth tax, which I thought was unusual for a Reform voter’

They bonded over football and felt the same about taxing billionaires. How did they fare on immigration?Fraz, 22, BradfordOccupation Law graduate, training to become a commercial solicitor Continue reading...

Politics