The Guardian

A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter The playwright Tom Stoppard, whose playful erudition dazzled the theatregoing world for decades, has died aged 88. One of a select band of writers from any discipline to earn his own adjective – “Stoppardian” – in the Oxford English Dictionary, h…

Rightwing activist claimed Commons deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani should be barred because she was born in Pakistan GB News is facing calls to cut ties with a regular contributor who has been accused of racism after claiming that the House of Commons deputy speaker, Nusrat Ghani, should not be allowed in the house because she was born in Pakistan. The comments by Lucy White, a rightwing activist, ha…

Lead FDA vaccine regulator announced new approval process after claiming Covid vaccine had killed 10 children The leading vaccine regulator at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a far stricter course for federal vaccine approvals, following claims from his team that Covid vaccines were linked to the deaths of at least 10 children. Experts suggest the announcement will make the v…

Agreement will also end series of investigations of university over school’s alleged failure to fight antisemitism Northwestern University has agreed to pay $75m to the US government in a deal with the Trump administration to end a series of investigations and restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding. Donald Trump’s administration had cut off $790m in grants in a stando…

At a time when distrust of big tech is high, Silicon Valley is embracing an alternative ecosystem where every CEO is a star A montage of Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, and waving US flags set to a remix of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck blasts out as the intro for the tech billionaire’s interview with Sourcery, a YouTube show presented by the digital finance platform Brex. Over the course of a friendly walk t…

President made declaration in a social media post, after FAA last week warned airlines of ‘worsening security situation’ Donald Trump said on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed in its entirety. Trump, in a Truth Social post said: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE…

Sudden departure of Zelenskyy’s most powerful aide could have tremendous consequences for ending the war Ukraine’s political system is bracing for a “mini-revolution” as president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is forced to adapt to life without his closest adviser, chief enforcer and most loyal associate, Andriy Yermak, who resigned on Friday after his apartment was searched as part of a widening anti-corr…

Delegates to chose between electing a single leader or a collective of lay members to run the leftwing movement The two most prominent figures in Your Party are still divided over how it should be run as its inaugural conference kicked off this weekend. Jeremy Corbyn confirmed to journalists on Saturday that he preferred a single leader and is likely to stand for the role but Zarah Sultana, his c…

Missile and drone attacks come amid Moscow’s campaign to break Ukrainian civil resistance by attacking energy grid Two people were killed and 37 were injured in Kyiv by a Russian drone and missile attack on the capital that cut power to the western half of the city, leaving at least 500,000 residents without electricity. Nearly 600 drones and 36 rockets were fired into the country in an attack th…

Committee highlights allegations including dog attacks and sexual violence, raising concern about impunity for war crimes Israel has “a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture”, according to a new UN report covering the past two years, which also raised concerns about the impunity of Israeli security forces for war crimes. The UN committee on torture expressed “deep concern over…

Staff at human rights body said to be ‘desperate for regime change’ over inertia after court’s legal definition of a woman The ongoing impasse over guidance from the UK’s human rights watchdog on access to single-sex spaces is distracting from other pressing issues, including the rise of the far right, insiders have told the Guardian. Some members of staff at the Equality and Human Rights Commiss…

Venues promoting destruction as stress relief are appearing around the UK but experts – and our correspondent – are unsure If you find it hard to count to 10 when anger bubbles up, a new trend offers a more hands-on approach. Rage rooms are cropping up across the UK, allowing punters to smash seven bells out of old TVs, plates and furniture. Such pay-to-destroy ventures are thought to have origin…

Those who tried to overturn the 2020 election now occupy key federal roles, shaping rules and sowing doubt for 2026 The people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have more power than ever – and they plan to use it. Bolstered by the president, they have prominent roles in key parts of the federal government. Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer who helped advance Donald Trump’s claims of a stolen electi…

Account of visit to Gaza by French professor describes Israeli military attacks on security personnel protecting convoys A historian who spent more than a month in Gaza at the turn of the year says he saw “utterly convincing” evidence that Israel supported looters who attacked aid convoys during the conflict. Jean-Pierre Filiu, a professor of Middle East studies at France’s prestigious Sciences P…

Some small business owners doubt that even strong holiday sales will ease impact of tough year plagued by uncertainty Donald Trump’s tariffs have increased prices on an array of popular holiday goods and driven a “massive” number of small firms out of business, industry leaders have warned. On Small Business Saturday , firms have their fingers crossed that strong holiday sales will ease the impac…