67 m. ago First orbital rocket launched from Europe crashes after launch

Failure of Spectrum rocket seconds after blast-off deals blow to continent’s effort to build new space economyThe first orbital rocket launched from continental Europe crashed seconds after blast-off on Sunday, dealing a blow to the continent’s effort to build a new space economy.The Spectrum rocket, developed by the German startup Isar Aerospace, tilted over and crashed back to Earth with a powerful boom just after launching from Norway’s Andøya spaceport in the Arctic, in live video broadcast on YouTube. Continue reading...

Events

80 m. ago Marine Le Pen’s future to be decided as embezzlement verdict arrives

Far-right leader could be barred from standing for presidency if she is convicted over alleged fake jobs scamThe future of the far-right leader Marine Le Pen – and France’s political landscape – will be decided on Monday when a court hands down its verdict on charges she and party officials embezzled money from the European parliament.If convicted, the three-time presidential candidate of the National Rally (RN) could be barred from standing against Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 presidential election. Continue reading...

Politics

83 m. ago Sexual assault allegations seem to be a badge of honor in Trump’s America. Was #MeToo an epic failure?

The push to end sexual violence has sparked a revenge campaign setting fire to women’s rights and pushing young men to the right. But organizers can learn from the movement’s lossesDressed in his trademark sunglasses and a skintight black T-shirt, Andrew Tate strode into a Las Vegas arena like a returning king. He was there to watch Power Slap, a UFC offshoot where people slap each other in the face with such force that doctors say it could lead to brain damage and death.Days earlier, Tate and his brother Tristan had been in Romania, their assets seized, awaiting trial on human trafficking charges. But following reported conversations between Romanian officials and the Trump administration, the Romanian government lifted a travel ban on the brothers. Now, as a heavily male crowd watched men slap one another so hard they collapsed, the UFC president, Dana White, warmly embraced the Tates. White, a Meta board member who was once caught on camera slapping his own wife, smiled at the Ta...

Events

83 m. ago Want a limited edition artwork tattooed on your skin? Berlin is the place to go

The city’s tattoo studios are booming while the art world flounders. Under a new initiative, buyers receive exclusive rights to an artist’s new design, and the artist receives 50% of the profitIt may be the oldest art form in the world, practised 5,000 years ago by Ötzi the iceman and his fellow copper age Europeans. But with its more recent associations with red-light entertainment and gangland crime, modern tattooing has long been shunned by the galleries that turn lines on canvas into financial assets.A new initiative in Berlin concedes that the tables have turned. With tattoo studios in the German capital booming but many artists struggling to make a living, the Works on Skin project specialises in selling works by established and emerging contemporary artists that are not to be hung on a wall but to be etched on the human body. Continue reading...

Politics

83 m. ago US House to vote on ‘reckless’ $1bn budget cut to Washington DC

Trump and congressional Republicans attempting to exert control over mostly Democratic capital cityWashington DC has found itself in the crosshairs of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans in recent weeks, with efforts by both to exert more control over the overwhelmingly Democratic capital city.The president on Thursday signed an executive order he said would make Washington DC “safe, beautiful, and prosperous” by stepping up crime fighting, arrests of undocumented immigrants and the processing of permits to carry concealed weapons. Trump separately directed JD Vance to “remove improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, which has many museums in and around the city. Continue reading...

Politics

83 m. ago ‘I would never be able to sing a song that a robot wrote’: Lucy Dacus on her new album’s themes of artistry and intimacy

As the indie singer-songwriter and Boygenius star releases her latest, highly personal solo record, she talks of her weariness of AI and digital art, the pressures of being in a public relationship, and her anger and fears in Trump’s USIn the shadow of a Hogarth painting, accompanied by guitar and violin, Lucy Dacus is singing about disappointment. The painting depicts Thomas Coram, founder of the Foundling Hospital in London’s Bloomsbury district. A shipbuilder by trade, he is portrayed in full baroque garb, a style usually reserved for the aristocracy. But amid the classical architecture and rich fabrics, he is shown as he was: the thread veins on his face, his feet not quite touching the ground. The setting is apt for Dacus’s disquisitions on life and love, and the ways they can exceed, or fall short of, the expectations we place upon them: the moments that feel exalted, idealised, as well as the times when reality intrudes on the fantasy.The Foundling Museum, the setting of toni...

Culture

83 m. ago Revenge review: a luridly fascinating smorgasbord of Trump’s score settling

Pursuit of enemies has quickly emerged as a key theme of Trump 2.0 and Alex Isenstadt is happy to dish the dirtAlex Isenstadt is a senior political reporter at Axios and an alumnus of Politico. For a decade, he has covered Donald Trump and the Republicans. In March 2015, an Isenstadt dispatch blared: “GOP hopefuls rush toward starting gates.” The story made no mention of the man who would win the 2016 election, lose in 2020, then win again in ’24.But like all political reporters, Isenstadt has now mentioned Donald Trump plenty.Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power is published in the US by Hachette Continue reading...

Politics

83 m. ago Moment earthquake victim trapped under rubble is rescued ALIVE after terrifying 40

The man was pulled out from under the rubble of a collapsed building in the capital Naypyidaw by rescue teams from Singapore and Myanmar on Sunday, the country's army-run TV reported.

Events

96 m. ago RB Leipzig sack Marco Rose amid poor campaign in Bundesliga and Europe

Leipzig sixth in table after early Champions League exitClub thought to be interested in Palace’s Oliver GlasnerRB Leipzig have confirmed the sacking of manager Marco Rose amid a disappointing season in the Bundesliga and in Europe.“Marco Rose has been relieved of his duties as RB Leipzig head coach with immediate effect,” said a club statement. “The club will announce who will take over the head coach role on an interim basis in due course.” Continue reading...

Politics

98 m. ago How to avoid the TikTok travel crowds this summer: As influencers swarm British beauty spots, here are the glorious hideaways YOU need to visit

From the 'secret spot' to take an amazing snap of Tower Bridge to the 'quintessential English village you just have to visit' in the Cotswolds, the big new travel trend for 2025 is TikTok tourism.

Events

98 m. ago Government asks MP watchdog to review expenses rules after £900 ‘pet rent’ claim

Dan Jarvis said the Government would urge the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority to change expenses rules.

Politics

1 hour ago Andrea Berta ‘thrilled’ to be named Arsenal’s new sporting director

Former Atlético Madrid executive is replacement for Edu‘I cannot wait to get started in my new role’Arsenal have confirmed the appointment of Andrea Berta as their new sporting director, with the Italian expected to attend their game against Fulham on Tuesday as he begins his new role immediately.Berta emerged as Arsenal’s leading candidate to replace Edu after he resigned from the post in November to join the network of clubs spearheaded by Evangelos Marinakis, the Nottingham Forest owner. Berta left Atlético Madrid in January after 12 years in the Spanish capital and has been credited with being behind a string of successful signings including Jan Oblak (€4m from Benfica in 2014) and Rodri (€25m from Villarreal in 2019). Continue reading...

Sport

1 hour ago Aftershocks cause screams on streets of Myanmar as earthquake death toll tops 1,600

Emergency rescue teams have started trickling into the area of the country hardest hit by Friday’s massive quake

Events

1 hour ago Of Mice and Men review – a tepid revival of Steinbeck’s dust bowl classic

Octagon, BoltonSarah Brigham’s new production is beautifully designed but struggles to capture the drama’s claustrophobic tensionBefore it got into the hands of readers, John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella Of Mice and Men first got into the jaws of the author’s dog. The dog would find less to get its teeth into with this muted theatre adaptation.A pair of itinerant friends find work at a ranch in the Great Depression-era US south. George is brashly confident and protective over timid Lennie who has a mental disability that’s stigmatised by the workers. In Sarah Brigham’s production, Lennie is played by Wiliam Young, who has learning disabilities. There is a softness to his Lennie, calling George’s name like a squeak. His dangerously nervy, busy hands constantly brush his beard or arms, while the production uses puppets for the animals he pets. His posture mirrors theirs: drooping like a sack of barley, folding in on himself.Of Mice and Men is at the Octagon, Bolton, until 12 April Continu...

Politics

2 h. ago Sani Club Hotel: How I combined the perfect weekend getaway with sun, sand and Sir Tom Jones

With no less than 26 restaurants, its own festival headlined by musical legends, and a stunning location across 1,000 acres of nature reserve, this Greek resort is the place to be this summer, says Elliot Wagland

Society

2 h. ago ‘Alcohol became a second self to blame for my desire’: how drinking fuelled my experiences of sex

Since her teens, Anna Beecher used drinking as a gateway to sexual encounters, a mask for both her vulnerability and accountability. It took falling for someone in the sober light of day to realise what love wasI first got drunk at 13 in the upstairs room of a cheap Italian restaurant, sip by sip on other people’s wine. I giggled as the floor lurched, telling my companions, It’s like being on a boat.I first got paralytic at 13, a few months on. Remembering the pleasant, silly sensation I’d experienced, I went to a party and drank a pint of gin. Slipping in and out of consciousness, I was vaguely aware of piss seeping through my trousers and the kids around me debating whether or not to call an ambulance. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Our Beautiful Boys by Sameer Pandya review – teenage lives at the crossroads

A night of violence exposes the dynamics of race, masculinity and privilege at play in America’s schools The Marabar caves in A Passage to India represent the breakdown of order and communication as well as provoking the terrible accusation that drives EM Forster’s story. Sameer Pandya plays with a similar plot device in his compelling US-based novel, including an epigraph from Forster’s classic.It is set in southern California, where three teenage boys on the brink of adulthood – stars of their high school American football team with promising college careers ahead of them – attend a party at an abandoned house in the hills. Vikram is an Indian American, while Diego, who is Latino, lives with his academic mother. MJ is white with wealthy parents. Part of the pleasure of Pandya’s writing lies in his unravelling of identity politics – a theme explored in his debut, Members Only.Our Beautiful Boys by Sameer Pandya is published by Bloomsbury (£16.99). To support the Guardian and Observ...

Politics

2 h. ago Democrats have never been so angry. Who will step up and lead them?

At rallies, town halls and protests, voters are unleashing their fury with Donald Trump, stoking what some believe is a populist backlashDemocrats are furious. And they want their leaders to get mad, too.“I wish you’d be angry,” a constituent told representative Gil Cisneros, a Democrat of California, at a recent town hall. At an event in Minnesota featuring a panel of Democratic attorneys general, an activist voiced a similar sentiment: “Get angry, man,” punctuating the message with a profanity. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago How and why parents and teachers are introducing young children to AI

Guardian readers share the ways and reasons they are preparing their children and students for a future that may necessitate familiarity with generative artificial intelligenceSince the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, generative artificial intelligence has trickled down from adults in their offices to university students in campus libraries to teenagers in high school hallways. Now it’s reaching the youngest among us, and parents and teachers are grappling with the most responsible way to introduce their under-13s to a new technology that may fundamentally reshape the future. Though the terms of service for ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and other AI models specify that the tools are only meant for those over 13, parents and teachers are taking the matter of AI education into their own hands.Inspired by a story we published on parents who are teaching their children to use AI to set them up for success in school and at work, we asked Guardian readers how and why – or why not – others are...

Society

2 h. ago Yoko Ono is now getting acclaim, but why do rock stars’ female partners get so much abuse? | Barbara Ellen

Ono was blamed for splitting the Beatles and taking John Lennon from his true calling. Let’s hope things are getting easier for women who date famous musiciansMore than 50 years after John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 bed-in, protesting against war, Ono finally gets her love-in. David Sheff’s biography Yoko, published last week, seeks to put the record straight about her stellar achievements as an internationally renowned conceptual artist.In recent years there have been retrospectives, including one at London’s Tate Modern. Kevin Macdonald’s docufilm, One To One: John And Yoko, is released in the UK next month. Ono, 92, is seeing reputational rehabilitation on a global scale, and all a long time coming. Continue reading...

Events