The Guardian

About 422 indie bookshops opened in 2025, up 31%, defying predictions of retail consolidation For years now, we have heard that Amazon and the big chains are crushing small businesses, but independent bookstores are suddenly making a comeback. About 422 new indie bookshops opened in 2025, according to the American Booksellers Association, a 31% rise from 2024. Countless independent restaurants, c…

No deaths reported after latest round of severe weather in the region as officials brace residents for long recovery A trail of damaged homes and buildings dotted a wide swath of the US on Saturday after a burst of destructive winds and reported tornadoes tore off roofs, uprooted trees and rendered rural roads impassable with debris. No deaths were reported after Friday’s storms , which barreled …

Kirk Moore, who was shot while disarming the attacker, received the honor at Pauls Valley high school on Friday Students at an Oklahoma high school crowned their principal prom king after he charged, disarmed and was shot by an armed intruder at their campus. Kirk Moore, the Pauls Valley high school principal, received the honor on Friday night after his students voted to honor him for having def…

Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to ask MPs to back controversial voluntary repatriation scheme Italian lawyers will be paid bonuses if they successfully convince their immigrant clients to return home under a government plan that has been compared to a “wild west-style bounty”. The incentive is in the latest security bill from Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government and goes to the lower hous…

Police say 29-year-old arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and drink driving after collision in Westminster A woman has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car hit pedestrians in central London in the early hours of Sunday morning. A woman in her 30s is in hospital in a critical condition and a man in his 50s suffered life-changing injuries after they were hit by a car in…

Agreements would aim to shield British industry from new steel tariffs and stricter rules on electric vehicles due in 2027 Downing Street hopes to secure deals on steel and electric cars with the EU as it seeks to upgrade the post-Brexit economic relationship. Amid economic uncertainty caused by the conflict in the Middle East and strains in relations with the US, Keir Starmer is seeking closer e…

Book from Josh Owens tells of punishing work for far-right conspiracy theorist who, far from silenced, broadcasts on Donald Trump gave rightwing media provocateurs Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones a shoutout this week, calling them “Low IQs”, “stupid people”, and “LOSERS”. Jones hit back, saying Trump was “committing political suicide on purpose” a…

HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander will this week discuss with chancellor how to limit effects of conflict Middle East crisis – live updates The bosses of Britain’s “big five” retail banks have been summoned to a meeting with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, this week to discuss how to limit the economic impact of the crisis in the Middle East triggered by the US and Israel’s attacks on …

Exclusive: pedant appears in 1635 painting Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of His Wife that hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery A Hamnet-era mourning jewel has been rediscovered four centuries after it was immortalised in one of Britain’s most enigmatic and celebrated 17th‑century family portraits. The heart‑shaped pendant was depicted in Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of His Wife , the 1635 l…

Trump appears to have crossed a line with his Christian supporters. Will it come back to bite him in the midterms? Donald Trump’s depiction of himself as Jesus Christ and recent spat with Pope Leo XIV could come back to bite him and the Republican party in the midterm elections, according to experts, with some newly aggrieved Christian groups set to play an outsized role in key races across the U…

Jeremy Hansen praised for speaking French in space after Air Canada chief’s linguistic snub exposed tensions and drew rebuke from PM Few people foresaw humanity’s quest for the moon as accurately as the 19th-century French author Jules Verne, whose two works –From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon – anticipated many of the features of modern lunar exploration. But Verne’s language had nev…

Actor who worked with the great French auteurs in the 1970s and 80s and starred in Spielberg’s Catch Me if You Can died of Lewy body dementia, says family The French film star Nathalie Baye, who starred in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, has died at the age of 77, her family said on Saturday. Baye, a stalwart of French cinema, starred in about 80 films and took home the best actress César…

Police say poison detected in jar of HiPP carrots and potatoes as maker says items may have been tampered with Rat poison has been found in a jar of HiPP baby food, police in Austria have said, after a recall of the product from more than 1,000 Spar supermarkets in the country over safety fears. Police in Burgenland said in a statement that a sample from one of the 190g (7oz) jars of carrots and …

Eighth election in five years follows government collapse in December, with stability and cost of living among key issues Bulgarians are voting in the eighth parliamentary election in five years, with the clear frontrunner, the pro-Russian former president Rumen Radev, promising to stamp out corruption and end a succession of weak, short-lived governments. Radev, a Eurosceptic former fighter pilo…

Minor smoke damage and no injuries reported at synagogue in Harrow, after spate of similar incidents in recent weeks An attempted arson attack has been reported at a north-west London synagogue, after a spate of similar incidents. The incident at Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow on Saturday night caused minor smoke damage to an internal room but no injuries or significant structural damage, acco…