8 h. ago Joseph Beuys review – the grotesque bathtub containing all the horrors of modern history

Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, LondonThere’s no escape from the torments of the past in this show, which celebrates the German artist at his most Wagnerian, enchanting and sickening you simultaneouslyBorn in 1921, Joseph Beuys was the “perfect” age to fight for Hitler and he did, with the wounds to prove it. The Andy Warhol portraits that complement this exhibition, without actually being part of it, brutally catch his gaunt, ravaged face in the glare of a photo flash under the hat he wore to hide burns sustained in a plane crash while serving in the Luftwaffe. The most haunting portrait turns Beuys into a spectral negative image, all darkness and shadow, his eyes wounded, guilty, lost. This was in the 1970s when Beuys was a charismatic one-man artistic revolution, inspiring young Germans to plant trees, lecturing about flows of ecological and human energy – and, in breathtaking performances, speaking to a dead hare or spending a week locked in a cage with a coyote.All that remains today ...

Events

1 week ago A brutal firefight with 'a lot of gunfire', a spy on the inside and a fleet of stealth drones: The amazing story of how Trump's commandos snatched Venezuela's Maduro

The full details of one of the most audacious military raids in modern history were revealed by Donald Trump and his closest advisers.

Events

2 w. ago TThe royal family is edging toward modernity – but in 2026, the public will expect yet more transparency | Anna Whitelock

Despite Charles’s welcome openness about his cancer, polls show declining support for the monarchy. To survive, the royals now need to lift the curtain on their financesAnna Whitelock is a professor of the history of modern monarchy at City St Georges, University of LondonThis year, as King Charles gathered with the royal family for their traditional Christmas at Sandringham, he had much to reflect on. Certainly, the news that his cancer treatment will be scaled back has come as a welcome personal relief, but it will also present opportunities for further overseas travel next year, likely to include a state visit to the US to mark the 250th anniversary of its foundation.It has been a year that has seen the king grow into the role of a silent but effective diplomat, navigating Donald Trump’s visit while demonstrating the UK’s support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine. Overseas trips have included a historic visit to the Vatican to pray publicly with the pope, and successful visits ...

Events

2 w. ago The royal family is edging toward modernity – but in 2026, the public will expect yet more transparency | Anna Whitelock

Despite Charles’s welcome openness about his cancer, polls show declining support for the monarchy. To survive, the royals now need to lift the curtain on their financesAnna Whitelock is a professor of the history of modern monarchy at City St Georges, University of LondonThis year, as King Charles gathered with the royal family for their traditional Christmas at Sandringham, he had much to reflect on. Certainly, the news that his cancer treatment will be scaled back has come as a welcome personal relief, but it will also present opportunities for further overseas travel next year, likely to include a state visit to the US to mark the 250th anniversary of its foundation.It has been a year that has seen the king grow into the role of a silent but effective diplomat, navigating Donald Trump’s visit while demonstrating the UK’s support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine. Overseas trips have included a historic visit to the Vatican to pray publicly with the pope, and successful visits ...

Events

2 w. ago Ruben Amorim's dilemma is obvious as Man Utd fans make feelings crystal clear

Manchester United will remember 2025 as one of the worst in the club's modern history and right at the end, Ruben Amorim was presented with a problem that could derail their Champions League challenge

Politics

2 w. ago ‘The sight of it is still shocking’: 46 photos that tell the story of the century so far

Did the 21st century begin on 1 January 2000? Or was it that blue sky day in September 2001 when the planes hit the twin towers? These images from the last 25 years chronicle modern history in the makingAt the turn of the century there was a modest debate, mainly conducted on the letters pages of the newspapers – back then, still the prime forum for public discussion – as to when, exactly, the new millennium and the 21st century began. Most assumed the start date was 1 January 2000, but dissenters, swiftly branded pedants, insisted the correct date came a year later. As it turned out, both were wrong.The 21st century began in earnest, at least in the western mind, on a day that no one had circled in their diaries. Out of a clear blue sky, two passenger jets flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 and so inaugurated a new age of anxiety – a period in which we have lived ever since. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Rare footage from trial of Chinese general who defied Tiananmen crackdown order leaked online

Video shows Gen Xu Qinxian explaining why he refused to deploy troops to crush 1989 student-led demonstrationsRare footage of a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) general who defied orders to lead his troops into Tiananmen Square and crush the 1989 student protesters has been leaked online, offering a highly unusual glimpse into the upper echelons of the military at one of the most fraught moments in modern Chinese history.General Xu Qinxian’s refusal to take his troops from the PLA’s prestigious 38th Group Army, a unit based on the outskirts of Beijing, into the capital has been the stuff of Tiananmen lore for decades. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Bondi shooting: what we know about antisemitic terror attack in Sydney | The Latest

Australia suffered one of the deadliest massacres in its modern history on Sunday when two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish celebration at Bondi in Sydney. At least 16 people died, including one of the alleged gunmen, with more than 40 left wounded. The victims include a 10-year-old child, a Holocaust survivor and a London-born rabbi. The alleged gunmen behind the attack are a father-son duo, suspected of using legally obtained firearms to commit the massacre. Naveed Akram, 24, was known to New South Wales police and security agencies and had been linked with an Islamic State cell. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is facing questions about gun law reform and security failings as Australians reel from the attack. Lucy Hough talks to the Guardian Australia senior reporter Ben Doherty Continue reading...

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