79 m. ago Legendary voice actor with roles in Dragon Ball Z and Fantastic Mr Fox dies as anime community pays tribute

Legendary voice actor Éric Legrand has died aged 66.

Events

97 m. ago What Rayner’s crackdown on child benefit will really mean for middle

A leaked government memo reveals that Angela Rayner wants to stop child benefit handouts to middle-class mums. The trouble is, says Charlotte Cripps, many on her hit list might have middle-class backgrounds but can no longer match them economically

Politics

5 h. ago The Rehearsal: Nathan Fielder makes genius appointment TV that may spoil you forever

In his twisted and often horrifying reality show, Fielder piles ethical grey areas on top of each other like problematic pancakes. Get stuck in!Schopenhauer defined genius as someone who aims at a target the rest of us can’t see. Which raises a philosophical paradox – how do we know they’ve hit it? I was moved to such musings while watching this week’s pick, a singular piece of art that functions unlike anything else on TV, and calls the medium itself into question. No, it’s not Police Interceptors.In The Rehearsal (Monday, 10pm, Sky Comedy), comedian Nathan Fielder blends documentary, social experiment, performance art and absurdist satire in a devised method all his own. He has ordinary people tackle emotionally fraught situations from their lives, by role-playing them with hired actors in meticulously recreated sets that mirror significant personal locations. It’s arch, but the stakes are real. The first series opened with a man who wanted to apologise to his pub quiz teamma...

Politics

5 h. ago The Rehearsal: Nathan Fielder makes genius appointment TV that may spoil you for ever

In his twisted and often horrifying reality show, Fielder piles ethical grey areas on top of each other like problematic pancakes. Get stuck in!Schopenhauer defined genius as someone who aims at a target the rest of us can’t see. Which raises a philosophical paradox – how do we know they’ve hit it? I was moved to such musings while watching this week’s pick, a singular piece of art that functions unlike anything else on TV, and calls the medium itself into question. No, it’s not Police Interceptors.In The Rehearsal (Monday, 10pm, Sky Comedy), comedian Nathan Fielder blends documentary, social experiment, performance art and absurdist satire in a devised method all his own. He has ordinary people tackle emotionally fraught situations from their lives, by role-playing them with hired actors in meticulously recreated sets that mirror significant personal locations. It’s arch, but the stakes are real. The first series opened with a man who wanted to apologise to his pub quiz teamma...

Politics

6 h. ago Voices: After the winter fuel decision, Labour is now openly at war with itself

Far from defusing the growing unrest within his party, the prime minister’s U-turn has emboldened backbenchers to demand even more sweeteners, says Andrew Grice

Events

7 h. ago Germany trumpets its reckoning with its Nazi past – except when it’s inconvenient | Hanno Hauenstein

From a media prize with a dubious pedigree to the horrors of Gaza, the establishment forgets and remembers what suits it bestGrowing up in Germany, we were taught to believe we had done better. Better than our grandparents’ generation, who swept their complicity under a thick rug of silence. Better even than our parents, whose revolts in the late 1960s rarely led to any serious reckoning with the legacy of the Holocaust.Born in the late 1980s, my generation learned about Auschwitz early on. We visited former concentration camps and studied the Nazi regime not as an alien aberration, but as a warning: this is how democracies die. Today, with the far-right AfD and ethno-chauvinism on the rise, that warning has never felt more urgent.Hanno Hauenstein is a Berlin-based journalist and author. He worked as a senior editor in Berliner Zeitung’s culture department, specialising in contemporary art and politics Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago Bruce Springsteen's lyrical view of America has long included politics — even more so as he ages

Even as his fame and wealth have soared over the decades, Bruce Springsteen has retained the voice of the working class’ balladeer

Politics

17 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

18 h. ago Kari Lake brought back a skeleton crew to Voice of America. They’re ‘angry most of the time’

‘To me, it feels like emotional terror to ensure obedience,’ VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, who is on administrative leave, told The Independent

Events

18 h. ago The number of hate groups in the US is shrinking — but their voice is growing louder

In 2024, there were 533 active hate groups, including those promoting anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigrant, antisemitic and anti-Muslim views

Politics

19 h. ago ‘A new form of mass murder’: the terrifying, twisty unsolved mystery of the Tylenol killer

One of the most shocking true crime stories of the 80s is re-investigated in Netflix docuseries Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders“You’ve got an old one, huh?” asks James Lewis, eyeing the bottle of Tylenol with suspicion.“No, just off the shelf today,” replies a voice off camera. Continue reading...

Events

20 h. ago Former LA Deputy Mayor of Public Safety reaches plea deal over threats to blow up city hall for Israel support

Brian Williams, 31, was in a meeting when he used the Google Voice application on his personal cell phone to make the threat, officials say

Politics

21 h. ago Voices: Criticising Netanyahu is not antisemitic – this Jewish rebellion shows why

Last month’s declaration by 36 members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews against an escalation of the war in Gaza – in which ‘Israel's soul is being ripped out’ – is not only still reverberating through their own community, but has a much wider significance, writes Donald Macintyre

Culture

21 h. ago Olly Murs cancels two UK tour dates after contracting respiratory infection

The singer apologised to fans in Glasgow for walking off the stage on Thursday after he experienced issues with his voice.

Politics

21 h. ago ‘Cheating means the end,’ and eight other relationship myths ruining your love life

Think you need an initial spark, arguing is a no-no or separate beds mean it’s over? Think again, say the expertsFor Toby Ingham, psychotherapist and author of How to Improve Emotional Stability, referring to that sought-after spark as “chemistry” is an interesting analogy. “In dating, it tends to describe an immediate reaction, whereas lots of chemical reactions take time,” he says. Continue reading...

Politics

21 h. ago Voices: I’ve spent decades inside prisons – here’s how I’ll fix them for good

In light of the Gauke sentencing review, prisons minister Lord Timpson explains why, to end the perma-crisis in our justice system, we must now embark on the largest expansion of jail places since the Victorian era

Events

22 h. ago Philippe Coutinho laughs as frightening gunshots halt interview at training ground

Philippe Coutinho was part-way through an interview when he and team-mates heard a series of loud gunshots - but the former Liverpool star simply laughed it off

Politics

22 h. ago Omar Berrada has already explained why Manchester United should not sell Bruno Fernandes

Man United should not entertain any offers for Bruno Fernandes unless they receive one that is simply too good to turn down.

Politics

23 h. ago ‘My legal work sows the seeds of my stories’: International Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq

The author and activist, who was subject to a fatwa in 2000, has won the prestigious prize for translated fiction for her short stories about the lives of Muslim women. She and her translator Deepa Bhasthi explain how Heart Lamp’s themes ‘are universal’• ‘Radical translation’ of Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq wins International Booker prize‘Human beings and their basic nature are the same everywhere,” Banu Mushtaq says. “That is the intention of my writing. The theme is woman, the theme is marginalised people, the theme is to be a voice to the voiceless community.”Mushtaq, from the Karnataka region of southern India, has been “awake all night”, she says, as we speak on the morning after she won the International Booker prize in London for her book Heart Lamp. The prize is shared between Mushtaq and her translator Deepa Bhasthi, who is also present – and also had no sleep. Continue reading...

Politics

23 h. ago Voices: This baffling Chagos deal will forever haunt Keir Starmer

The roll-call of British politicians who put their fingerprints on the decision to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius are no fools – and yet the deal the prime minister has just signed looks foolish, says John Rentoul

Economics