Newspaper
The Observer
Meta tips Scale with £11bn deal to poach savvy data-labellers
Last year Alexandr Wang, co-founder and chief executive of data labelling firm Scale AI, posted on X that he had been “travelling like crazy”.
1 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Tarantula hawk wasp
I'm a vegetarian. Humans call me docile, though spiders have another view. But I can sting all right, for the sting is the pride and glory of a wasp - and my sting is the most painful of any insect: “Blinding, fierce and shockingly electric,” says Justin Schmidt, a hymenopterist (an expert in bees, ants and wasps), so he should know.
2 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
'He elevated his lonely boy songs into high art': my encounters with the genius Brian Wilson
Nick Kent, rock writer and one-time member of the Sex Pistols, interviewed the Beach Boy twice. Here, he makes sense of the troubled songwriter who died last week
8 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Starmer announces national inquiry into grooming gangs
Sir Keir Starmer has announced that there will be a statutory inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal after accepting the recommendation of a government commissioned report by Baroness Louise Casey.
2 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Big clean-up: Labour gets tough on dirty money
Over the years, the UK has put in place some of the world's toughest anti-corruption and laundering laws, while simultaneously doing very little to enforce them. As a result, London has gained a reputation as a haven for dirty money.
1 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Far from being on their uppers, Britain's upper classes still hold wealth and power
Despite vastly increased competition from other social groups, the gentry remain as influential in this century as they ever were
4 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Tusk force: how Al is deciphering the secret language of African elephants
A groundbreaking observation project may protect herds from poachers and one day allow us to communicate with them. Mélanie Gouby reports from Nouabalé-Ndoki national park in the Republic of Congo
6 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
For richer...
With Venice centre stage, the Bezos wedding will be a pageant of excess.
10+ min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
There to Prevent terror – or free speech? Kenan Malik
If you believe that immigration has destroyed western civilisation, I might think you've become too drunk on Robert Jenrick and Allison Pearson, Douglas Murray and Melanie Phillips. The British state, though, may well mark you down as being on the path to terrorism.
3 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Mothers 'take a pay cut' if their firstborn is a daughter
Mothers could take a bigger pay cut at work if their first child is a daughter rather than a son, a study has found.
2 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
After the panic of air raids, Tehran dares to imagine life without the mulllahs
The failure of the country's air defences and the scale of the Israeli military strikes have done what decades of protest could not - hurt Iran's ruling elite
4 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
The Puffin Club: safe, gentle joy in an envelope Rachel Cooke
In a newspaper, I read an obituary of Rosemary Sandberg, who in 1967, when she was an assistant to Puffin Children's Books' great publisher, Kaye Webb, founded the Puffin Post book club - and I'm overcome with powerful feelings.
1 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Paws and effect: why Sabrina Carpenter's album cover isn’t that deep — it’s just savvy publicity
Art is by nature subject to criticism.
1 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
'The last thing we need is a new war diverting attention'
It was just after midnight on Friday when we heard the missile alarm. My partner and I had got ready for bed - we ran across the hall to our mamad, a metal-reinforced room in homes that doubles as a bomb shelter.
2 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Reeves pressed to invest in people as well as projects – and get more bang for her buck
The chancellor is being encouraged to factor better public health into her spending plans, but the OBR also needs to think longer term
5 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
We've had the doomsday predictions about jobs. Here's how AI could benefit workers
Artificial intelligence is already transforming the world of work as we know it, no matter what industry you work in.
3 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Brazil to put up Amazon oil and gas for auction
The Brazilian government will hold an oil exploration rights auction on Tuesday, only months before hosting the COP30 UN climate summit.
1 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Threat of fintech exodus means the City could lose out on IPO billions
London punches far above its weight when it comes to growing fintech champions. Getting them to stay is another matter.
2 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Unpredictable new judges in Mexico rattle investors
Mexico’s judicial elections have threatened what investors have called “the new Mexican miracle” of seeking to dodge US tariffs by nearshoring to the $2tn export-led economy.
1 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
'We're under siege'
California's elected leaders have not stopped demanding the withdrawal of the national guard and marines, they have also worked to ensure that their role is limited and coordinated with local law enforcement to avoid further inflaming a volatile situation.
1 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Never mind U and non-U. It's outrageous that we still revere the Mitford girls
We need to curb our obsession with the past and celebrate new writers and their stories
2 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
The global plunge in birthrates – and the propaganda and fear it stokes
Most countries are falling short of the population 'replacement' rate, with long-term consequences for economies and world stability
3 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
A new, new economic consensus
For decades, economic policy in much of the world was dominated by the Washington Consensus, a set of neoliberal ideas that emphasised low inflation, free markets and globalisation.
1 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
WPP advertises for new CEO amid AI disruption
Mark Read's exit from the company comes at a pivotal moment when agencies' creativity faces the threat of artificial intelligence, writes Barney Macintyre
2 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Starmer deploys jets to Middle East after Iran threats
Britain is sending additional RAF aircraft to the Middle East to provide “contingency support” as tensions rise in the region.
1 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Welcome to the art market – the perfect forum to wash filthy fortunes clean Orlando Whitfield
As a small boy, every time I saw my grandfather he would remind me of his golden rule: what he called the Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not get found out. Mercifully, my grandfather didn’t live to see me become a failed art dealer (or indeed witness my former business partner, Inigo Philbrick, plead guilty to the largest art fraud in US history), but his tongue-in-cheek directive served me well for over a decade as I navigated the murky waters of the largest unregulated market in the world.
4 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Iran's nuclear brinkmanship cannot mask a regime in decline Jack Straw
Iran and Israel were not always enemies. During the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), Israel was the only reliable and consistent western supplier of materiel to the Iranians. The US, western Europe and the Soviet Union all backed and supplied Iraq. Israel judged that Iraq was a far greater threat to it than Iran - and that Israel's interests lay in prolonging the war and weakening both sides.
3 min |
June 15, 2025
The Observer
Musk starts a new bromance with trapped Telegram founder Durov
A $300m deal proposed between the CEO of the messaging app and the owner of X has far-reaching implications.
5 min |
June 08, 2025
The Observer
Man wrongly deported to El Salvador faces new charges on return to US
A man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador in an administrative error by Donald Trump’s administration will appear in court this week, with officials arguing that he is a “danger to the community” and should be kept in custody.
2 min |
June 08, 2025
The Observer
Exit and then re-enter stage right: Reform's departed chief is back
48 hours after quitting the party, Zia Yusuf is in the fold again. Not everybody is thrilled
3 min |