21 h. ago Church of England considers holy communion options for gluten

The Church previously issued a statement to clarify it was not banning gluten-free bread or non-alcoholic communion wine.

Politics

22 h. ago With the world in crisis, many say end globalisation. I say that would be a mistake | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Terms like ‘deglobalisation’ have become commonplace, but what we need is true multilateralism. Erecting walls won’t bring us peace and prosperityLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the president of BrazilThe year 2025 should be a time of celebration, marking eight decades of the United Nations’ existence. But it risks going down in history as the year when the international order built since 1945 collapsed.The cracks had long been visible. Since the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, the intervention in Libya and the war in Ukraine, some permanent members of the security council have trivialised the illegal use of force. The failure to act vis-a-vis the genocide in Gaza represents a denial of the most basic values of humanity. The inability to overcome differences is fuelling a new escalation of violence in the Middle East, the latest chapter of which includes the attack on Iran.Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the president of BrazilDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article...

Events

52 h. ago This column does not express support for Palestine Action – here’s why | Owen Jones

In Britain’s increasingly authoritarian society, any sort of protest can find itself at odds with the law. You might even go to jailThis piece must be carefully written to avoid my being imprisoned for up to 14 years. That’s a curious sentence to say as a newspaper columnist in Britain in 2025. But since the government voted to proscribe the direct action protest group Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act, any statement seen as expressing support could lead to arrest and prosecution.You may justifiably respond that Guardian journalists are not above the law. For example, if I penned a column in support of al-Qaida, you might be sympathetic to incarceration: it did, after all, kill nearly 3,000 people on 9/11, as well as perpetrate multiple terrorist atrocities such as the 2004 Madrid train bombings, and the 7 July London bombings two decades ago. Similarly, you may conclude that a polemic in favour of Islamic State should be met with a hefty prison sentence.Owen Jones is a Guard...

Politics

5 d. ago Maga influencer and de facto national security adviser Laura Loomer holds outsized sway on Trump

The 32-year-old was instrumental in high-profile national security firings, and has cheerled the attacks on IranAfter years of claiming to be the vanguard of a new “America First” isolationist movement rebelling against the neoconservative policies of the George W Bush administration that led to the bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Maga’s online influencers are cheering for another war in the Middle East.And not just any war: they are applauding Donald Trump’s high-risk decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, a move that was considered a war too far even by the Bush administration. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago California mayor on Trump’s immigration raids: ‘It is a campaign of domestic terror’

Former marine Arturo Flores condemns ‘a level of psychological warfare I’ve only seen in theaters of war’As a United States marine, Arturo Flores served in Afghanistan and Iraq, where he worked as a military police officer and trained dogs to find roadside bombs.It’s his experience in the military that has made what he’s seen on the streets of southern California in recent weeks all the more disturbing to him, Flores said. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Church of England preparing for war 'that involves the UK' amid fears over global conflicts

For the first time a serving member of the Armed Forces - who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan - will brief the Church's ruling body on the threats facing Britain when it meets next month.

Events

2 w. ago Donald Trump made 'absurd' mistake after US nighttime attack on Iran nuclear bunkers

The White House has been forced to defend a report issued by the Defence Intelligence Agency, which casts doubt on Trump's claims he "completely and fully obliterated" Iran's Fordo uranium enrichment plant

Events

2 w. ago Why dreams of regime change in Iran will end in a rude awakening | Rajan Menon

It would be naive to believe that the US could take a wrecking ball to the Iranian state and walk away unaffectedDuring his three presidential campaigns, Donald Trump lambasted “forever wars” and “regime change” interventions. More than any candidate, he sensed the war-weariness of Americans after the fiascos in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and especially the dismay of military veterans, 60% of whom voted for him over Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Trump’s maverick, anti-interventionist “America First” narrative also resonated strongly with those in the Maga movement who have never served in the military, particularly blue-collar workers.Now, Trump, once an unsparing critic of military misadventures, has bombed the nuclear enrichment installations of Iran, a country that hadn’t attacked the US, wasn’t preparing to and didn’t even threaten war. Since the bombing, Trump has gone further: he has ruminated about regime change in Iran. His transformation has startled many ...

Politics

2 w. ago Socialist Zohran Mamdani could be New York’s next mayor. This is what the western left could learn from him | Owen Jones

He has used clear messaging to redirect anger from the disenfranchised to the economic elites. That the wealthy are worried shows it’s workingThe Zohran Mamdani phenomenon should not be happening, if received wisdom is a reliable predictor of events. He’s the 33-year-old Muslim leftist and Queens assemblyman running for the New York mayoralty with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the vitriolic campaign against him suggests his momentum has caused panic in gilded circles. His chief opponent for the Democratic nomination, Andrew Cuomo, could not scream party establishment more loudly: he’s New York state’s former governor – just like his father was – and a former cabinet secretary. He married into that classic Democratic royalty, the Kennedys; his endorsements include the former president Bill Clinton; and billionaires such as Mike Bloomberg are pouring millions into his Super Pac.In another age, someone like Mamdani would have been a no-hoper. What changed was...

Politics

2 w. ago House Democratic veterans back moves to limit Trump’s military authority

Letter from 12 members demanding congressional approval for war follows Trump’s unauthorized bombing of IranUS politics live – latest updatesA group of 12 House Democratic military veterans have thrown their weight behind efforts to constrain Donald Trump’s military authority, announcing they will support a War Powers Act resolution in response to the US president’s go ahead for airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.The veterans – some of whom served in Iraq and Afghanistan – were strongly critical of Trump’s decision to launch what they called “preventive air strikes” without US congressional approval, drawing explicit parallels to the run-up to some of America’s longest recent wars. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago 'In a bunker' Iran Supreme Leader must avoid 'catastrophic mistake' of escalating war, warns David Lammy

The Foreign Secretary is stressing that that the Middle East, and beyond, is at a ‘moment of peril’

Events

2 w. ago Iran's Supreme Leader hiding 'in bunker' must avoid 'catastrophic mistake' of escalating war

The Foreign Secretary is stressing that that the Middle East, and beyond, is at a ‘moment of peril’

Politics

2 w. ago US asks China to stop Iran from ‘terrible mistake’ of closing Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian parliament approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 per cent of global oil and gas flows

Events

2 w. ago Lammy says he told Iran it would be a mistake to blockade Strait of Hormuz

The Foreign Secretary said it would be a ‘catastrophic mistake’ for Tehran to fire at US bases in the region.

Politics

2 w. ago Washington tells Trump after Iran strikes: No more ‘forever war’

The two wars launched under the Bush administration, Iraq and Afghanistan, cost thousands of American lives and reshaped the world. Now the possibility of it starting in Iran has lawmakers on all sides concerned

Events

2 w. ago JD Vance warns Iran retaliation to US strike would be ‘catastrophic mistake’

JD Vance has warned Iran that retaliation to the US strikes on three nuclear sites would be a “catastrophic mistake”.

Events

3 w. ago The warmongers were wrong about Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Now watch them make the same mistake about Iran | Owen Jones

Israel is the main source of terror and instability in the Middle East. But the west continually turns away from this realityAs the G7 issues a statement declaring that Israel has a “right to defend itself”, you have a right to ask if you are losing your mind. Israel launched an unprovoked onslaught on Iran. Its excuse – that Tehran may acquire a nuclear weapon – renders its attack illegal under the UN charter, which forbids wars justified by the claim of a future threat.“Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror,” declares the G7 statement. Even though Donald Trump’s intelligence chief testified three months ago that the US intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon”. Even though it’s Israel that actually possesses nuclear weapons, while refusing to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and refusing International Atomic Energy Agency inspections. Even though, as progress was being made in nuclear talks between Ir...

Events

3 w. ago Tributes flood in to 'king' dad and former soldier who died age 39

Nathanael Hill, from Kirkby, was an armour officer in the air force and during his time he completed six tours of Iraq, four tours of Afghanistan and worked on Operation Red Flag

Events