Newspaper
The Observer
United, undeterred and unafraid, trans people rally over court ruling
After last week's supreme court decision, activists had been worried that trans people might become fearful of going out in public in case they were abused.
2 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Second teachers' union vows to strike
A second teaching union in England has vowed to strike if the government fails to compensate schools in full for next year's teachers' pay award.
1 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
There's a deep ugliness and some slippery ethics behind the snail slime beauty boom
Apologies. As a reasonably attentive student of generational divides, I'm still late to one of the most dramatic divergences yet: the normalisation of snail slime.
4 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Major rebellion hardens over Labour's £5bn benefits cut
Labour MPs opposed to the government's massive £5bn of benefit cuts say they will refuse to support legislation to implement them, even if more money is offered by ministers to alleviate child poverty in an attempt to win them over.
2 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Rent freezes and free subway: can a socialist take New York?
Can a 33-year-old cricket-playing socialist, who wants to freeze rent, make city transport free and once aspired to be a rapper win an already turbulent election to become the next mayor of New York?
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Made in Chipping Norton Reality TV comes to the Cotswolds. Oh, how jolly!
Our obsession with the filthy-rich finds fresh fuel as countryside celebrities get ready for close-ups of their stately piles, writes television critic Barbara Ellen
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
There's only one way to fight the climate greenlash: appeal to the naysayers' self-interest
For a decade, green activists in Britain have been congratulating themselves on their luck.
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
'If it's sunny, we're in the park ... it's a nice environment'
As ministers are attacked over their child poverty strategy, Robyn Vinter visits one of the country's most deprived communities, Manningham in Bradford
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
'It might be gutted' – Boots braces for dose of private equity's bitter medicine
The 176-year-old chemist is preparing to change hands again.
6 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Fears rise that military bases may be leaking toxins into drinking water
Three more MoD sites are marked for urgent investigation into 'forever chemicals' by new risk screening tool
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Trump's political bullying of Harvard will do nothing to foster diversity of thought
Substituting liberal biases with conservative will only serve to subvert academic objectivity
4 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
TikTok choc trend causes shortage of pistachios
Product promotion on TikTok is now powerful enough to influence the vast agricultural economies of the US and Iran at least when it comes to the consumption of high-end confectionery.
1 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
'Their pursuits are cigars and siestas'. How British authors forged our view of Spain
Almost 200 years ago, the pioneering British travel writer Richard Ford offered an observation that has been happily ignored by the legions of authors who have traipsed in his dusty footsteps across Spain, toting notebooks, the odd violin or Bible, and, of course, their own prejudices.
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Oranges are not the only fruit ... try kumquats, yuzu and a host of other tangs
When life gives you pithy cedro lemons and sweet Tacle mandarins, what exactly do you make with them?
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Saturday Night Live lost its bite long ago – and it won't find it over here
A British version of the once fearless, now formulaic, satirical show is on the way. Can it bring back the fun?
4 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
'I love my country but nobody is safe' ... Cameroon's trapped exiles
Amid the sound of children excitedly practising a drama for a forthcoming performance, a yam seller calls to passers by with discounts for their wares.
4 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Puffing into the future: the digital upgrade keeping steam on track
About 500 steam trains run across the UK each year, from Penzance in the south to Inverness in the north, transporting tens of thousands of passengers to a bygone age, bringing joy to the faces of enthusiasts and bemusing commuters.
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
The May elections are a perfect opportunity for Nigel Farage to peddle his politics of grievance
For his next trick, perhaps Comrade Farage will belt out all the verses of The Red Flag and tell us that his favourite book is The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists.
6 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
New radioactive gas scare as prisoners at Doncaster jail fall ill
The government faces further potential legal action over concerns about levels of radon gas at a second prison, after Dartmoor jail was forced to close.
1 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Russia's spies: Uncovering Russia's secret espionage programmes
Exploding weapons factories, assassination attempts and fake news: Vladimir Putin's hybrid war campaign against the West has stepped up several notches since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
1 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
It's not poverty that breeds this populism. It's wealth
Steve Coogan wants people to see his new film, The Penguin Lessons, and think about how they might be living in a wealthy cocoon, disengaged from the world.
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
British Steel must now join the modern economy, not be a prisoner of the old
Lack of investment and vision has dogged UK industry, while China literally forged ahead
4 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Fears that cash-strapped schools are evicting nurseries and claiming funds for early years care
Scheme designed to increase places may have opposite effect, warn private providers
4 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Putin announces surprise Easter ceasefire as a 'test for Kyiv regime'
Remarks on state TV greeted with scepticism after coinciding with air raid alert in Ukraine
2 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
With Labour sliding and the Tories moribund, this is the first true five-party election
A byelection in a normally safe Labour seat was Keir Starmer's first big electoral test as Labour leader. A similar scenario now provides his first test as prime minister. The loss of Hartlepool to Boris Johnson's Conservatives in 2021 provoked the biggest crisis of Starmer's time as opposition leader, forcing sweeping changes in personnel and approach. The loss of Runcorn and Helsby to Nigel Farage's Reform UK could be similarly bruising. Labour ought to start as favourites, having won this socially mixed marginal corner of Cheshire by a massive margin less than a year ago. But with polls showing a Labour slump, a Reform surge and a restive, dissatisfied public, all bets are off.
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
From kitchen staple to design icon: lifting the lid on the humble teapot
The British think the cuppa is their national treasure, but a new interest in tea sets among young people is bringing with it an interest in the international cultural significance of the teatime ritual.
3 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
If our political opponents want a fight about clean energy, then bring it on
The world feels more uncertain and unpredictable just now than at any time in my political lifetime.
2 min |
April 20, 2025
The Observer
Trafficking victims reject help 'due to fear of being deported'
Thousands of trafficking victims have rejected the government's support, many due to fear of the authorities or of being deported, lawyers have said.
2 min |
April 13, 2025
The Observer
Volatile markets fuel savers' anxiety over value of pensions
Some have seen pots lose tens of thousands, report Jedidajah Otte and Alfie Packham
3 min |
April 13, 2025
The Observer
Still the injured pour in as Russia's barbarous war grinds endlessly on
With peace negotiations faltering, battalions — and the medics treating them — are resigned to playing the long game, they tell Dan Sabbagh on the Pokrovsk frontline
5 min |