15 m. ago First look at Chester Zoo's huge new African savannah where giraffes and zebras roam

It's billed as a "breathtaking sight" where visitors, for the very first time, will get to see giraffes, zebra, antelopes and ostriches all roaming together

Politics

3 h. ago Adolescence: what teen boys really think of girls, influencers and porn – podcast

From misogynist content creators such as Andrew Tate to the ubiquity of pornography, boys face a barrage of toxic influences. We talk to sixth-formers about the pressures and joys they experienceThe release of the hit Netflix drama Adolescence this month has unleashed a wave of panic around teenage boys. Keir Starmer said the UK “may have a problem with boys and young men”, while parents began worried conversations about their children’s online lives. But how true to life is it?Michael Conroy, who has been going into schools to train teachers and professionals about boys’ personal development for years, says he has seen a shift in what he hears about. “Just 10 years ago, we didn’t have young men speaking in very sexualised ways to female teachers, quite a few in the same school.” He sees the ubiquity of pornography as a huge factor, with boys as young as 11 using it obsessively. “I’m getting invited to work with primary schools now.” The knock-on effect, he says, is an unrealistic a...

Politics

6 h. ago Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's team hit back at Sentebale as fierce row escalates

Sophie Chandauka, the Sentebale chair, took several swipes at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during a brutal interview with Sky News following Harry's decision to step down from the charity

Politics

6 h. ago Pharmacies to provide more frontline health services after £3bn funding boost

After a year of negotiations between pharmacies and Tory and Labour governments, health minister Stephen Kinnock described the new deal as an important step in fixing ‘a broken pharmacy sector’

Economics

6 h. ago Pharmacy funding boost is a ‘step forward’ but still ‘falls short’, say leaders

The health department has announced that it has reached an agreement with Community Pharmacy England for a funding increase over two years.

Politics

8 h. ago Arsenal step up Viktor Gyokeres chase with two preferred targets proving problematic

Arsenal are looking to sign a new striker in the summer and Andrea Berta, who has replaced Edu as the Gunners' sporting director, is said to be a big fan of Viktor Gyokeres

Events

10 h. ago Next Luke Littler, 15, signs new sponsorship deal after winning world title

Archie Self, who has been dubbed as the next Luke Littler, has taken his next step into the world of darts with a new sponsorship deal

Economics

12 h. ago European football: Barça three clear after Lewandowski’s derby double

Striker scores twice in 4-1 win over GironaMoise Kean on target as Fiorentina beat AtalantaBarcelona beat visitors Girona 4-1 in the Catalan derby on Sunday after Robert Lewandowski netted twice in the second half to leave Hansi Flick’s side three points clear at the top of La Liga.Barça took the lead two minutes before the break when Lamine Yamal’s free-kick was deflected in off the Girona defender Ladislav Krejci for an own goal but Girona struck back after the restart when Arnaut Danjuma equalised.This story will be updated Continue reading...

Politics

13 h. ago Matheus Cunha sends transfer message to Arsenal with major summer hint: 'Take the next step'

Cunha is believed to have a release clause of around £62.5m

Sport

13 h. ago DR MAX PEMBERTON: Los Angeles is now a hellscape crawling with deranged psychotics. It's a warning of what we face in Britain if we don't take this crucial step...

I've just returned from Los Angeles, where I spent a few days doing research for my next book. Walking around the city of an evening, I was struck by two things.

Events

14 h. ago Bloom or bust? Superbloom spectacle eludes California after dry winter

Riot of native wildflowers that enthralled visitors in the past several years have failed to sprout due to too little rainIt’s one of the best known rites of spring in California: extraordinary displays known as “superblooms” that coat the hillsides in an abundance of color. Some years the blooms are massive enough to draw tourists from around the world to revel in the fields, such as in 2023 when more than 100,000 people showed up on a weekend to gawk at the poppies in Lake Elsinore, a small city about an hour outside Los Angeles.But this year, not so much. Thanks to a brutally dry winter, the hills around the usual southern California superbloom hotspots have been conspicuously bare. Callista Turner, a state park ranger, could count the number of blooms on two hands as she surveyed the 8 miles of rolling hills at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in the final week of March, which is typically when superbloom season peaks. “We’re still waiting to see what kind of season ...

Politics

15 h. ago Marcus Rashford ends drought as Aston Villa sink Preston to reach semi

Marcus Rashford ended a four-month drought to put Aston Villa one step closer to wiping out a 68-year dry spell after his double against Preston helped to book a Wembley semi-final with Crystal Palace as they seek their first FA Cup silverware since 1957.Rashford is a reigning FA Cup winner, lifting the trophy in May last year to help extend Erik ten Hag’s stay at Manchester United but it did little to reignite either’s Old Trafford career. Continue reading...

Politics

16 h. ago ‘I still have nightmares’: the tourists shackled and jailed for weeks at US borders

Visitors suffer hostile treatment since Donald Trump’s return to the White House

Events

17 h. ago The death of my friend inspired me to follow my standup dreams

For one writer, tragedy led to comedy, the sudden loss of a colleague giving her the nudge she neededThere’s nothing funny about your co-worker being assassinated. But it was the death of my beloved colleague and friend Hisham al-Hashimi that led me into the world of standup comedy. I knew it would trash my hard-won career in international security, but I didn’t care any more.Hisham had run a workshop with me in Iraq six months prior to his death, and I’d taken everything so seriously, marching around the hotel yelling about how everything was going wrong. But Hisham always had a lightness in his step, a smile on his face. Every evening, he’d take me to a café, order me my favourite shisha and proceed to tell the most disgusting jokes. Continue reading...

Events

17 h. ago ‘It reminds you of a fascist state’: Smithsonian Institution braces for Trump rewrite of US history

Normally staid historians sound alarm at authoritarian grasping for control of the premier US museum complexIn a brightly lit gallery, they see the 66m-year-old skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex. In a darkened room, they study the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem. In a vast aviation hanger, they behold a space shuttle. And in a discreet corner, they file solemnly past the casket of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman in the US south.Visitors have come in their millions to the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s biggest museum, education and research complex, in Washington for the past 178 years. On Thursday, Donald Trump arrived with his cultural wrecking ball. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago Rats could 'take over' if you have two things in your garden

Rats are a common problem but there are certain things you may be doing outside that could be inadvertently inviting them to explore your garden

Politics

19 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

22 h. ago Made In Chelsea's Sam Vanderpump engaged to model girlfriend after whirlwind romance

EXCLUSIVE: Sam Vanderpump only met his model girlfriend Alice Yaxley six months ago - but after bonding even more during his near-death hospital dash, he knew she was The One

Politics

22 h. ago Made In Chelsea star Sam Vanderpump reveals he nearly died before proposing to model girlfriend

EXCLUSIVE: Made In Chelsea star Sam Vanderpump has opened up about his engagement to model girlfriend Alice Yaxley after a whirlwind romance - and how he nearly died before popping the question

Events

24 h. ago The Observer view on JD Vance: spurned in Greenland and humiliated at home, the vice

His foolish foreign trip and the response to the Signal chat leak reflect the irresponsibility of White House teamNot for the first time, JD Vance, America’s outspoken vice-president, has made a public fool of himself. He insisted on visiting Greenland despite unequivocal statements by the territory’s leaders and Denmark’s government that he was not invited and not welcome. Vance’s trip was confined to a remote Arctic base, where he briefly spoke to a few Americans. Plans to make a wider tour and speak to Greenlanders were cancelled – because Greenlanders did not want to speak to him.Such hostility is entirely understandable, given the repeated, provocative and disrespectful declarations by Vance’s boss, Donald Trump, that the US plans to annex Greenland and may do so illegally and by force. Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory within the kingdom of Denmark. Election results this month showed the vast majority of local people back expanded self-rule or outright independence. The...

Politics