14 h. ago ‘I fear for my loved ones’: Russian BBC journalists shaken by ‘foreign agents’ label

Journalists now effectively banished say Kremlin’s aim is to make them ‘toxic’ to anyone thinking of speaking to mediaRussian BBC journalists who have been labelled “foreign agents” by Vladimir Putin’s regime have spoken of being unable to see their children, forced to sell homes and in effect being banished from their home country.They are now meant to report their finances to the state, down to supermarket receipts, while there have already been practical effects for family members inside Russia. The journalists said the label was designed to make them “toxic” to any Russians thinking about speaking to independent media. Continue reading...

Politics

47 h. ago How will Myanmar’s earthquake impact the civil war? – podcast

Myanmar’s military junta has been losing territory for months. Will the earthquake and a new ceasefire help it turn the tide? Rebecca Ratcliffe reports“It took around four to five minutes for the earthquake to shake and then it stopped and shook again. It is the most severe earthquake I have experienced in my life.”Esther J is a reporter based in Bangkok, Thailand, more than 600 miles (966km) away from her home country of Myanmar – the epicentre of last week’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake. Continue reading...

Events

64 h. ago The US men’s national team aren’t just underachievers; they’re unlikeable | Beau Dure

As the 2026 World Cup approaches, the USMNT lack the charisma, underdog charm and striking victories of their predecessorsImagine the 1980 Miracle on Ice, but with the USA on the other side.In this scenario, the US men’s hockey team aren’t a scrappy band of outmatched amateurs playing for the country perceived as the good guys in the cold war. The opponents aren’t an aloof, brutally effective Soviet Union team expected to steamroll their way to a gold medal just as their military were attempting to steamroll their way through Afghanistan. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Easter recipes: Six star chefs share their top tips for a perfect lunch

From braised lamb to hot cross buns cooked into the ultimate banoffee pudding, six of the country’s best chefs share their Easter favourites

Politics

4 d. ago Twitter: Breaking the Bird review – how all the hate speech flooded in

This film shows how a ‘hallucinogenically optimistic’ vision descended into the hellscape we know today. Young, confident men really should not rule the internet It turns out that Mike Judge’s supposed sitcom Silicon Valley was a documentary after all. My bad, as the people young and in touch enough with the world to have known this all along may still say.Twitter: Breaking the Bird is a 75-minute CNN film chronicling the rise, fall and possibly end of the social media site that was launched by a group of eager young things in 2006 amid a widespread belief – at least in the Valley – in the power of the internet to remake the world in radically better ways. This, a co-founder or two has come to consider since, may have been a “hallucinogenically optimistic” view. Well, we were all young once. Although that feels – and in no small measure because of Twitter – like a very long time ago. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Maybe I’m Amazed by John Harris review – a father and his autistic son bond through music

An honest and intensely moving book about the struggle of parenthood and the power of connectionOne of my favourite books growing up was my dad’s copy of The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics. I spent hours flicking through images of an eyeless, trombone-mouthed golden man swallowing naked bodies, and a full-page, black-and-white comic strip by legendary psychedelic artist Rick Griffin. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t yet listened to most of the songs – the surreal visual riffs felt like dispatches from an undiscovered country. Later, the Beatles became my favourite band. I chain-listened to the albums, read endless books, watched the movies and recited Beatles’ lore to anyone within earshot. “Oh dear,” said my mum one morning, as I reeled off an account of how a 40-piece orchestra improvised the rising crescendo in A Day in the Life, “you’ve become a Beatles bore.”Maybe I’m Amazed opens with John Harris’s 15-year-old son, James, ecstatically absorbed in a...

Politics

7 d. ago Gay Malaysian asylum seeker wins right to stay in UK after judge says home country's ban on Pride watches shows he would be persecuted if sent there

The man, who had overstayed his visa, won after Judge Bijan Hoshi ruled that the LGBTQ+ community are subjected to 'serious discrimination' by government and society in the Asian country.

Events

8 d. ago Poland bans migrants from claiming asylum as Donald Tusk says country wants to 'take back control' of borders after influx of people entering from Belarus

Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, announced the right to claim asylum will be suspended for 60 days following an influx at the Belarus border.

Events

9 d. ago The country that has banned Facebook overnight to stop ‘hate speech and porn’

Ban reportedly enforced without informing country’s own IT regulator

Events

1 week ago Violence and sexist harassment against female MPs ‘rife across Asia

Report reveals scale of abuse faced by women in politics from countries including Australia, China, Japan and IndiaSexism, harassment and violence against women are rife in parliaments across the Asia-Pacific region, according to a damning report published on Tuesday that lays bare the scale of abuse faced by women in politics.Based on interviews with 150 female MPs and parliamentary staff across 33 countries across the region – including Australia, Mongolia, India, Indonesia and Micronesia – the study found that 76% of MPs and 63% of staff had experienced psychological gender-based violence, with 60% of MPs saying they had been targeted online by hate speech, disinformation and image-based abuse. An equal number of women were interviewed from each country. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Remember Monday to commemorate Eurovision in very special way – even if they lose

The country girl band already have five identical inkings each and they will add to it if they do particularly well, or badly, in Basel

Politics

1 week ago Video games can’t escape their role in the radicalisation of young men | Keith Stuart

Those of us who spend our lives gaming can no longer deny knowledge that our online communities are awash with disturbing hate speech and violent rhetoricThere is a lot of attention on young men and toxic masculinity at the moment. It’s about time. The devastating Netflix drama Adolescence, about a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering a girl after being radicalised by the online manosphere, has drawn attention to the problem through the sheer force of its brilliant writing and a blistering lead performance from teenager Owen Cooper. This week, former England football manager Gareth Southgate gave a speech about the state of boyhood in the UK, specifically about how young men, lacking moral mentors, are turning to gambling and video gaming, thereby disconnecting from society and immersing themselves in predominantly male online communities where misogyny and racism are often rife. There has been some kickback in the gaming press to the idea that games have provided a less-than-ideal ...

Politics

2 w. ago Judge dismisses copyright suit against Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You

Country singer Vince Vance had alleged Carey copied his band’s 1988 Christmas tune of the same nameA federal judge has dismissed a copyright lawsuit against Mariah Carey and her smash holiday hit All I Want for Christmas Is You.Country singer Vince Vance of the band Vince Vance & the Valiants previously alleged that Carey had copied the group’s 1988 Christmas tune of the same name. Vance, whose real name is Adam Stone, accused Carey of exploiting his “popularity” and “style”. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Prince William hails Ukraine's resilience as he meets refugees on trip to Russia border

On the first of his two-day trip to Estonia, Prince William visited a school in the capital Tallinn that is for Ukrainian refugees and donned a friendship band in the country's colours

Politics

2 w. ago Mapped: Santander to close 95 branches including two in Greater Manchester

Santander has announced sweeping changes that will affect more than a third of branches across the country due to an increase in digital banking

Politics

2 w. ago Hungary bans Pride events and plans to use facial recognition to target attenders

Amnesty International describes legislation as ‘full-frontal attack’ on country’s LGBTQ+ communityMPs in Hungary have voted to ban Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attenders and potentially fine them, in what Amnesty International has described as a “full-frontal attack” on the LGBTQ+ community.The legislation – the latest by the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and his rightwing populist party to target the community – was pushed through parliament on Tuesday. Believed to be the first of its kind in the EU’s recent history, the nationwide ban passed by 136 votes to 27 after it was submitted to parliament one day earlier. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Inside F1's 'latest circuit' as chief meets with Thailand's PM to 'discuss new race'

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali held talks with Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra over the country hosting a Grand Prix in the future, with a Bangkok street race suggested

Politics

2 w. ago Kemi Badenoch is set to ditch legal commitment to reach Net Zero by 2050, claiming hitting the target is 'impossible'

In a major speech today, the Conservative Party leader will say that drastically cutting carbon emissions cannot be achieved without bankrupting the country or hitting living standards.

Events

2 w. ago As cyberwarfare threat looms, cashless Nordic nations go back to banknotes | Miranda Bryant

Nordic countries were early adopters of digital payments. Now, electronic banking is seen as a potential threat to national securityIn 2018 a former deputy governor of Sweden’s central bank predicted that by 2025 the country would probably be cashless.Seven years on, that prediction has turned out to be pretty much true. Just one in 10 purchases are made with cash, and card is the most common form of payment, followed by the Swedish mobile payment system Swish, launched by six banks in 2012 and now ubiquitous. Other mobile phone payment services are also growing quickly. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Chappell Roan: The Giver review – saddle up, there’s a new sheriff in town

The midwest princess embraces her roots with a queer country banger about pleasure that toys with the genre’s gender and class cosplayIt’s easy to forget that in the year that Chappell Roan became one of the world’s biggest pop stars, she only released one single. Good Luck, Babe! came out in April 2024, precipitating the explosion of the US pop star as a live phenomenon who made pop hyper fun and queer again, while also remaining strikingly principled about how far she was willing to go for her art.When streaming demands that pop stars pebbledash releases in order to stay buoyant on playlists, her disinclination to capitalise on Good Luck, Babe!’s success with more material is reflective of Roan’s confidence in her way of doing things, whether persisting with a vision that her previous label rejected – and being totally vindicated for it – or using her recent Grammys win to call for labels to provide musicians with proper healthcare. The tactic has paid off: in the absence of new s...

Politics