Newspaper
The Observer
Deep water
In the high-stakes sport of freediving, athletes descend as far to the ocean depths as they can on a single breath. They are used to putting their lives at risk. But a new concern is now splitting their community: drug use. Lydia Gard investigates
10+ min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Top-end property market gets a boost as budget brings relief
A 'mansion tax' that turned out to be far less extreme than feared is drawing wealthy buyers back to London and giving shares in traditional housebuilders a boost, writes Emma Haslett
4 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
ScarJo in an Exorcist remake? It’s already making my head swivel
Scarlett Johansson is to star ina remake of The Exorcist, William Friedkin’s 1973 horror movie - news that made me twist in my chair like an angry, hissing cat.
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Modi holds Putin close, but he will make up with Trump
In a year of striking diplomatic images that sum up just how much the world has turned upside down since Donald Trump reentered the White House, the footage of Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi holding hands as they entered the room to meet Xi Jinping was right up there.
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
All fired up: how a mania for antique Delft led to a surprise brush with AI
An obsession with the blue-and-white tiles took Malika Browne to Rembrandt's house in Amsterdam, before modern technology brought the ceramic designs closer to home
4 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Bad opening night reviews, but The Observer saw his brilliance
The Observer review that kickstarted his career
1 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Chancellor has delivered a budget from deep within Labour’s DNA
Ignore the manifesto, this is a budget from deep within Labour's DNA. It raised taxes on ordinary people a lot, and spent money on better public services, including a stronger welfare system. Abolishing the two-child benefit limit is the most cost-efficient way to take children out of poverty - and far more effective than last year’s expensive gimmicks, such as giving free school meals to richer children.
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Lammy plan to slash jury trials criticised by his expert adviser
An expert adviser to David Lammy’s review of racism in the criminal justice system has criticised the justice secretary’s plans to remove jury trials for most crown court cases in England and Wales. Prof Cheryl Thomas KC of University College London found as part of the Lammy review that juries were the only part of the criminal justice system that was unbiased when it came to race and ethnicity.
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
€200bn of frozen Russian assets that could save Ukraine ... and the EU leader blocking its release
Gaining access to the funds held in Brussels is key to Volodymyr Zelensky’s war effort, but the move is facing fierce resistance from Belgium's prime minister
5 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
'I fell in love with a gorgeous girl who worked in a bric-a-brac shop'
When Richard Branson took me on a walk through Notting Hill, west London, a few weeks ago, he was looking forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary of meeting his wife, Joan, in February. “She’s got her plans, I've got mine and we're both supposed to be surprising each other,” he told me. Joan was not ill. There was no reason to worry.
8 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Ousted president urges Bosnian Serbs towards 'Mother Russia'
Fears that separatist Dodik will fracture delicate 30-year peace
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Redwoods take root in UK plan to meet climate crisis targets
Labour's Trees Action Plan featuring resilient woodlands is a boon to timber industry and will 'restore' nature
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
"He redefined Britishness as something freedom-loving
When Tom Stoppard visited the refugee camp in Calais once known as the Jungle, where thousands waited to cross the Channel, he was asked by a journalist whether it was possible that Britain's goodwill was being exploited by would-be immigrants and asylum seekers.
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Jill Freud
Actor and political wife, mother of five and inspiration for CS Lewis's Lucy Pevensie was 'a force of nature'
4 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Labour's holiday homework: solve the problem of special needs education
We spend lavishly on a failing system - but reforming it will be a bruising political battle
4 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Macron's call to arms: France prepares its young to face future Russian threat
President's decision to bring back military service comes after moves by Poland and Germany to send Moscow a message
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Behind every great leader... The rise and fall of the superadviser, and the future of Morgan McSweeney
From Rasputin to Cummings, aides have stepped out of the shadows at their peril. Tom Baldwin asks whether Keir Starmer's has made the same mistake
9 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
That's all, folks! Warner Bros goes up for auction
A century after its founding, Warner Bros is on the block.
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
What is the point of this Labour government? The budget offered no compelling answer
Something else missing from both this budget and the government more generally is a consistent and convincing programme for driving up the productivity of the public sector.
4 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Campbell's loses its cool after an executive bad-mouths the food
\"Shit for fucking poor people\" is not a slogan that Campbell's would choose for marketing its products, which were once made cool by Andy Warhol.
1 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Defending trial by jury is crucial in a society where democracy is being eroded
David Lammy’s proposals to reduce the public’s role in criminal cases will further undermine trust in a justice system already under strain
4 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Nell Gwyn's naughty book pops up at auction
Naked body parts leap off the page of the only book believed to have belonged to the 17th-century courtesan
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Sunday and now every day
Issue No. 12.208
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
I wouldn't touch Starmer with a barge pole. He's completely untrustworthy
In the first of a new weekly series in which we ask a public figure to take us on a walk of significance, Rachel Sylvester, our political editor strolls through London's Stoke Newington with Zack Polanski. The leader of the Greens talks about tax hikes, leaving Nato and why former Labour politicians are welcome to join his party
8 min |
November 23, 2025
The Observer
Short-beaked echidna
Old does not mean primitive. Let's get that straight at once. Sure, we're mammals and sure, we lay eggs, which makes us unusual in the late Holocene but that doesn't mean we're backward.
2 min |
November 23, 2025
The Observer
Help with cost of living to make tax smorgasboard easier to swallow
These have been the leakiest, most fevered pre-budget weeks in modern British political history.
4 min |
November 23, 2025
The Observer
It's not easy being green: high energy costs threaten UK's net zero business endeavours
Missed decarbonisation targets, high prices and political uncertainty are seeing Labour's bid to make the nation a clean utility 'superpower' drift off into the ether.
8 min |
November 23, 2025
The Observer
The trail of bad decisions and delays that led to 23,000 avoidable deaths
As the second official report into Britain's Covid response is made public, a story emerges of a government failing to heed warnings and a first lockdown that was too little, too late.
4 min |
November 23, 2025
The Observer
Europeans rush to foil Ukraine deal favouring Kremlin
Kyiv's allies seek to thwart Trump negotiator's peace plan that gives in to Russian demands and turns the screw on embattled Zelensky
4 min |
November 23, 2025
The Observer
'We saw so many bodies that we lost count': uncovering the hidden horror of El Fasher
Using eyewitness reports, satellite images and social media videos, Isabel Coles and Fred Harter record the carnage when RSF fighters seized the famine-stricken capital of Sudan's North Darfur
10 min |