46 m. ago What are the polling station opening hours for the 2025 local elections?

Labour's first test since winning the General Election last July gets underway this week

Politics

66 m. ago The Tories have shown Labour exactly how not to fight Farage | Rafael Behr

As local elections loom, it’s clear that years of agreeing with the Reform leader have failed to discourage people from voting for himIn the playbook of election strategies, there are two canonical campaigns. Incumbents say things are going in the right direction; don’t let the opposition screw it up! Challengers say everything is screwed up already; it’s time for change!There is a less orthodox, third option, innovated by the Conservatives in competition with whichever party Nigel Farage happens to be leading: our opponent is right; don’t vote for him.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

1 hour ago A town refuses to give up the school's Native American mascot — and gets Trump's support

A New York City suburb has become the latest flashpoint in the enduring debate over the place of Indigenous imagery in American sports

Politics

2 h. ago Iowa immigrant group is alarmed by a state lawmaker's demand for confidential information

A state lawmaker has demanded that an Iowa immigrant rights organization turn over private details about the nonprofit’s legal clients, donors and list of members

Events

2 h. ago India and Pakistan already sweltering in ‘new normal’ heatwave conditions

Temperatures south Asians dread each year arrive early as experts talk of ever shorter transition to summer-like heatThe summer conditions south Asian countries dread each year have arrived alarmingly early, and it’s only April. Much of India and Pakistan is already sweltering in heatwave conditions, in what scientists say is fast becoming the “new normal”.Temperatures in the region typically climb through May, peaking in June before the monsoon brings relief. But this year, the heat has come early. “As far as Asia and the Indian subcontinent are concerned, there was a quick transition from a short window of spring conditions to summer-like heat,” said GP Sharma, the meteorology president of Skymet, India’s leading private forecaster. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Funding London’s art schools: is this £6mn donation a blueprint for future philanthropy?

Funding London’s art schools: is this £6mn donation a blueprint for future philanthropy?  Financial Times

Economics

2 h. ago ‘I don’t date at all now’: one woman’s journey into the darkest corners of the manosphere

When Jess Davies was 15, a boy leaked pictures she’d shared with him. At 18, she was a glamour model. A few years later, another man violated her trust. Then she fought backJess Davies was a 15-year-old schoolgirl, sitting in an art lesson, absorbed in her fairytale project about a princess and a postman, when her Nokia phone began to vibrate with messages. “Nice pictures,” read one. “I didn’t think you were that type of girl,” said another.To this day, she remembers the racing thoughts, the instant nausea, the hairs prickling up on her legs, the sweaty palms. She had shared a photograph of herself in her underwear with a boy she trusted and, very soon, it had been sent around the school and across her small home town, Aberystwyth, Wales. She became a local celebrity for all the wrong reasons. Younger kids would approach her laughing and ask for a hug. Members of the men’s football team saw it – and one showed someone who knew Davies’s nan, so that’s how her family found out. Contin...

Politics

2 h. ago Headteacher accuses Welsh Government of wasting cash on 'vanity projects' while schools face deficits and job cuts

A survey by NAHT Cymru showed more than half its members predict their schools will be in budget deficit this academic year

Politics

3 h. ago Journalist quips after Michigan rally that ‘schoolchildren’ could fact

The commander-in-chief has repeatedly claimed he won Michigan in the last three elections. He didn’t

Politics

5 h. ago Four girls, aged 7 to 18, killed after car crashes into Illinois school building named as tributes pour in

Marianne Akers, 44, drove a vehicle into a school building on Monday which left four girls dead and six other children injured, one of whom remains in critical condition in hospital

Events

6 h. ago Spruiking, fake tradies and corflute stoushes: how to understand the Australian election

Federal elections bring out a special vocabulary that has become all too familiar to Australian voters, but potentially baffling to outsidersFollow all our Australia 2025 election coverageAustralians pride themselves on their distinctive federal elections. It’s among a handful of nations that enforces compulsory voting, boasting a turnout rate of more than 90%. The preferential voting system, in theory, means no votes are wasted and choice matters. In recent years, Australians even have an emblem for their civic duty – a democracy sausage – the natural conclusion of voting on a Saturday at schools eager to raise funds.Also unique is Australian campaign vernacular, which is, year after year, keenly adopted by the media and politicians alike. From donkey voting to corflute stoushes and spruiking, here are some of the weird idioms you need to know to keep abreast of what’s been happening in the lead-up to Saturday’s federal election, which pitches incumbent Anthony Albanese’s Labor aga...

Events

6 h. ago Free speech row as cartoons are banned: Backlash after venue scraps exhibition of Fleet Street cartoonists

The collection of dozens of artworks from across the political spectrum was due to open to the public after its private view tonight at the Kingston Riverside 'TownSq co-working' venue in Surrey.

Events

6 h. ago Woman baffled by painful periods from the age of nine – until doctors found ‘very big’ ovarian cyst

Valentina Milanova was prescribed the contraceptive pill

Politics

6 h. ago Fewer children than ever learning the recorder at school as instrument’s popularity wanes

Children are opting for different instruments in schools as a wider range are on offer

Culture

6 h. ago Bride facing eye removal has sight saved in time for wedding after cutting

Experts unable to pinpoint the cause of the eye condition for five years

Politics

6 h. ago Headteachers across the UK are facing mental health crisis, new poll reveals

The majority of school leaders said their mental health has been negatively affected in the last year

Society

6 h. ago Why you should beware the perils of using the work WhatsApp group 

Deputy manager Laura Pagnello took action against Barrow Hill Pre-School in St John's Wood in north London after she was referred to as 'witcheypoo' in the group chat.

Events

7 h. ago Labour's promise of 6,500 extra teachers paid for with VAT on private schools 'might not fix shortage', watchdog warns

The National Audit Office (NAO) said it is 'not clear' whether the pledge will solve the problem as there is currently no 'delivery plan'.

Events

7 h. ago Only one in six children learning recorder after drop in popularity over decade

However, a report by the ABRSM, the exam board of the Royal Schools of Music, suggests the range of instruments now being taught is ‘widening’.

Politics

7 h. ago Notorious hackers are 'behind M&S cyber raid': Retail giant calls in Scotland Yard as finger is pointed at gang that blackmails firms for millions

A shadowy group operating under the name Scattered Spider was yesterday said to be behind the attack, which has crippled the retailer for more than a week.

Economics