8 h. ago The Guardian view on billionaire Britain: tax wealth fairly or face democratic unravelling | Editorial

Without bold reform which makes the rich pull their weight, rising inequality risks eroding public trust and fracturing social stabilityBritain for the last decade has experienced a bleak paradox: rising child poverty alongside a dramatic increase in billionaire wealth. This inequality has been tolerated partly because greed has been rehabilitated as virtue. The Billionaire Britain report, published this week by the Equality Trust, reveals what many instinctively feel but few in parliament will admit: the UK economy has become a machine for the upward redistribution of wealth.Using Sunday Times Rich List data, the report found that the 50 wealthiest UK families now own more than the poorest half of the population combined. Their opulence is no accident. It’s largely built on the labour and consumption of those 34 million other Britons. The gains of society are being hoarded by those least in need. There’s a lexicon that sells it all as “entrepreneurial spirit” and bus...

Economics

8 h. ago The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: a boon to the UK, as well as audiences elsewhere | Editorial

Britain would benefit from pledging more sustained and committed support in this age of disinformation and global turmoilTwo years ago, BBC Arabic radio left the airwaves after decades. Soon afterwards, Russia’s Sputnik service began broadcasting on the frequency left vacant in Lebanon. That detail illuminates a larger picture. China, Russia and others see global-facing media as central to their global ambitions and are investing accordingly – pumping out propaganda to muddle or drown out objective, independently minded journalism. These outlets are state-controlled as well as state-owned.Meanwhile, conspiracy theories and disinformation proliferate online, attacks on press freedom intensify and the Trump administration is dismantling media organisations including Voice of America and Radio Free Asia (RFA), which have been essential sources of information for audiences under repressive regimes. Official Chinese media were gleeful at what RFA’s president, Bay Fang, cal...

Events

11 h. ago Tottenham fans amass for parade; Williams gets suspended jail sentence: football news – live

Premier League: 10 things to look out for on the final dayFixtures | Tables | Sign up for Football Daily | Email TahaThe latest omission of Jack Grealish isn’t a surprise. Grealish is a bit-part player at Manchester City these days and wasn’t used in last weekend’s FA Cup final defeat by Crystal Palace. The match winner in that game, Eberechi Eze, is included. The Palace duo of Marc Guéhi and Adam Wharton miss out, presumably due to injury (although it should be said Tuchel hasn’t seemed entirely convinced by Guéhi).Tuchel has not been able to name Marcus Rashford because of injury; West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen misses out after failing to take his opportunity last time. Newcastle’s Dan Burn gets another go. Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago I'm a nurse, this it the worst baby name I've ever heard that keeps me awake at night

The unnamed woman, who lives in Germany, noted that name rules are stricter in the country, which can decide to block outlandish monikers from being used.

Politics

16 h. ago Ivan Toney recalled to England squad, Spurs head for trophy parade: football news – live

Premier League: 10 things to look out for on the final dayFixtures | Tables | Sign up for Football Daily | Email LukeThe latest omission of Jack Grealish isn’t a surprise. Grealish is a bit-part player at Manchester City these days and wasn’t used in last weekend’s FA Cup final defeat by Crystal Palace. The match winner in that game, Eberechi Eze, is included. The Palace duo of Marc Guéhi and Adam Wharton miss out, presumably due to injury (although it should be said Tuchel hasn’t seemed entirely convinced by Guéhi).Tuchel has not been able to name Marcus Rashford because of injury; West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen misses out after failing to take his opportunity last time. Newcastle’s Dan Burn gets another go. Continue reading...

Politics

17 h. ago Tottenham head for trophy parade, WCL and playoff finals news: football – live

Premier League: 10 things to look out for on the final dayFixtures | Tables | Sign up for Football Daily | Mail TahaArsenal will step on to the pitch at the Estádio José Alvalade on Saturday to face the most almighty challenge in their first Champions League final since 2007. Against a Barcelona side who dominate the ball like no other, opportunities will be limited and for a forward, there are few greater tests, as every fleeting chance matters.Alessia Russo, tasked with leading the line in a stacked Arsenal attack, has the opportunity to make a statement as well as earn a place in history. Continue reading...

Sport

17 h. ago Italy and Denmark lead group of countries pushing back on European rights convention – Europe live

The group say a conversation was needed on how rights were being applied when it comes to migrationOne big story that we will follow today is the expected verdict in the Kim Kardashian robbery trial in Paris.Kardashian was in Paris – a city she said she had “always loved” – for fashion week in October 2016 and was staying in a luxury hotel when the robbers attacked after she returned from dinner. Ten people – nine men and a woman aged between 35 and 78 – are on trial in connection with France’s biggest personal robbery in 20 years. Eight of the accused deny any involvement. Continue reading...

Politics

31 h. ago The Guardian view on the US and South Africa: Trump looks to his base and partners look elsewhere | Editorial

The president’s cynical ambush of Cyril Ramaphosa was not about American interests but racial grievancesThe most telling moment of Donald Trump’s meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa was not the cynical screening of footage promoting false claims of “white genocide” in South Africa. It was when a reporter asked the US president what he wanted his counterpart to do about it. Mr Trump replied: “I don’t know.”Leaders enter the Oval Office uneasily, especially since the kicking administered to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The South African president came armed with gratitude, two golf stars, a billionaire and compliments on the decor – and kept a cool head and a straight face as he was ambushed. Mr Ramaphosa later described it as “robust engagement”. But, in truth, it was a clash of two worlds rather than an interaction.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, ...

Politics

33 h. ago Scots share their 'favourite Scottish towns' and what makes them special

People in Scotland have revealed their top places to live in the country.

Politics

56 h. ago The Guardian view on Russia sanctions: a brittle economy is Putin’s weakness | Editorial

Ukraine’s allies must dial up sanctions to expose the fragility of the Kremlin’s strategy for perpetual warDonald Trump’s pledge to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his second term as US president was a sign of his unsuitability as a peace broker. A clearer sign was his apparent sympathy with Vladimir Putin. Mr Trump’s tone regarding the Russian president has cooled somewhat on the discovery that the conflict cannot be frozen by White House diktat. There are hints of recognition that the peace process is failing because the Kremlin is cynically playing for time. Sadly, any such insight hasn’t evolved into outrage at the criminal aggression that started the war in the first place.Accounts of a telephone call between the two leaders earlier this week indicate no increase in American pressure on Russia. Mr Trump’s impatience with the whole issue seems likelier to result in him walking away. Mr Putin relishes that prospect.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this ar...

Politics

56 h. ago The Guardian view on social cohesion: too many of us are still ‘bowling alone’ | Editorial

Three decades on from Robert Putnam’s account of fraying social ties in the US, new research in Britain identifies similar dangersThirty years after writing Bowling Alone, the famous essay in which he diagnosed a dangerous crisis of social cohesion in the United States, Robert Putnam has a right to feel vindicated. In a lecture this spring, Prof Putnam, now 84, warned his audience that, amid levels of polarisation and distrust higher than at any time since the civil war, the US was “in danger of going to hell in a handcart”.Britain is still, thankfully, a long way from the poisonous toxicity of Trump-era America, notwithstanding the ominous rise of Reform and Nigel Farage. But research published this week by the More in Common polling group paints a worrying portrait of communities in which there is a widespread sense of social disconnection, high levels of distrust among the young and a felt loss of shared spaces and rituals.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in ...

Politics

62 h. ago British Trad Wife Charlie Gray says women thank her for giving them 'permission to be at home'

Mother-of-three Trad Wife Charlie Gray, who lives in a large house in the West Sussex countryside, shares housewifery tips across her social media platform for stay-at-home parents.

Events

66 h. ago LIVE: Crews descend on Cheshire countryside as building fire spreads on grassland

A major response is in attendance

Events

3 d. ago The Guardian view on the calls to save Gaza: Palestinians need deeds, not words | Editorial

Israel faces growing international condemnation. But more is required to restore aid and bring a ceasefireThe UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher fears that thousands of babies are at imminent risk of death in Gaza unless aid reaches them. Benjamin Netanyahu fears that foreign politicians could see too many pictures of Palestinian children like these.Two months after all supplies were cut off, the Israeli government denies the obvious truth: that Gaza is on the brink of famine. But on Monday night the prime minister announced that “minimal” aid deliveries would restart, saying his country’s “greatest friends in the world” had told him that they could not “accept images of mass hunger”. His entirely cynical response saw a handful of trucks permitted to cross; reportedly, 100 a day will now be allowed – grotesquely inadequate given the vast scale of need. Reaching the most vulnerable will be perilous and difficult anyway amid Israel’s intensified offensive. Mr Netanyahu vowed that Isra...

Politics

3 d. ago The Guardian view on protecting the Amazon: forest defenders must have support | Editorial

Dom Phillips’ posthumously published book is an urgent reminder of why this unique landscape matters so muchIt doesn’t start for six months, but the build-up to the UN’s annual climate conference is already well under way in Brazil. Hosting the tens of thousands of delegates who make the trip is a big undertaking for any city. But the decision to host Cop30 in Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon river, has multiplied the complications.After three consecutive Cops in autocratic nations, the stated aim of Cop30’s chair, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, is to make this year’s event a showcase for civil society, including the Indigenous groups and forest defenders who play such a vital role in conservation. But the lack of affordable accommodation and other infrastructure, as well as the distance that must be travelled to reach the Amazon port, mean this commendable ideal will be hard to realise. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago UK politics live: Reeves eyes trade deal with Gulf countries after striking EU Brexit reset pact

The chancellor is hoping an agreement can be secured with countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia

Politics

4 d. ago Netanyahu vows to ‘take control’ of Gaza as UK, France and Canada threaten action against Israel

Key allies call escalation ‘egregious’ and promise ‘concrete’ response if Israel does not end renewed offensive and allow aid into stripBenjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel will “take control” of all Gaza, as three key allies attacked his “egregious” escalation of the military campaign and blockade on humanitarian aid.Britain, France and Canada attacked Israel’s expansion of its war as disproportionate, described conditions in Gaza as “intolerable” and threatened a “concrete” response if Israel’s campaign continues. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago The Guardian view on the EU trade deal: a rational step forward | Editorial

Tangible gains from these negotiations will be limited, but the prime minister has at last set a positive toneSo much remains to be worked out in Sir Keir Starmer’s deal with the EU that it must be regarded as a staging post rather than a final destination. In several key areas, the agreement announced in London on Monday is really a commitment to have more meetings at which negotiators will try to make more agreements.On the issue of visas for young people and the UK’s mooted return to the Erasmus university-exchange scheme, there is little clarity beyond the rebranding of “youth mobility” as “experience”. A decision on the level of fees that European students must pay has also been booted forward. So have some details of how the UK will work with the bloc on policing and security, including the use of controversial facial-recognition technology in tackling drug and people smuggling across borders.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you wo...

Economics

4 d. ago The Guardian view on Romania’s presidential election upset: a vote for stability and the west | Editorial

A stunning comeback victory for the centrist mayor of Bucharest was also good news for Kyiv. But elsewhere in Europe, the far right continues to flourishAs Romanians voted on Sunday in arguably the most consequential election in the country’s post-communist history, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, will have been preparing to welcome a fellow disruptor to the European stage. The first round of a controversially re-run presidential contest had been handsomely won by George Simion, a Eurosceptic ultranationalist who views Donald Trump as a “natural ally” and opposes military aid to Ukraine. On the back of a 20-point lead, Mr Simion, a 38-year-old former football ultra with a taste for violent rhetoric, was so confident of winning that he made a confrontational visit to Brussels in the last days of his campaign.Those expectations were confounded in remarkable fashion at the weekend. In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, Nicușor Dan, the centrist mayor of Bucharest, benefited ...

Politics

4 d. ago Trump makes the Gulf states feel powerful, but the real test is: can they stop Israel’s war? | Nesrine Malik

The US president’s deference to his Middle Eastern allies is hollow if they cannot affect what happens in their own back yardDonald Trump’s visit to the Middle East last week was an exercise in disorientation. Both in terms of rebalancing the relationship between the US and the region, and in scrambling perceptions. In Riyadh, he told the Saudi royals there would be no more “lectures on how to live”. He lifted sanctions on Syria so that the country may have a “fresh start”, and he fawned over the camels and lavish architecture (“as a construction guy,” he said at one Qatari palace, “this is perfect marble”). Never has Trump appeared more in his element, surrounded by the wealth of sovereigns, the marshalling power of absolute monarchies, and their calculated self-orientalisation and over-the-top flattery.The same man who enacted the Muslim ban in his first term was strolling around mosques and shrugging off the radical path to power of the Syrian president: “Handsome guy Tough past,...

Politics