Newspaper
The Observer
Budget is political mess but with a silver lining
City firms, banks and even smaller companies have been buoyed by emphasis on growth measures, with the FTSE close to an all-time high. Matthew Bishop and Jeevan Vasagar report
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
ChatGPT turns three and is still changing the world
Happy birthday, ChatGPT! Has any three-year-old ever changed the world quite so much?
1 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Resale apps and fast fashion endanger charity shops
Some people take drugs. Others go bungee jumping. I get my highs from scoring charity shop bargains. Ever since I was a teenager in Edinburgh, mooching around Stockbridge for secondhand gear that wouldn't bust my allowance, one of my favourite hobbies has been to dive into the rails and hunt for diamonds in the rough.
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Jared Isaacman
Elon Musk now has an ally in charge of Nasa — a fellow billionaire with a penchant for space travel
5 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Red-bellied piranha
Ima hungry piranha and you know what that means. Yes, I'm longing for a really good piece of fruit: acui berries, or maybe aguaje. Not much about right now: the rainy season won't be here for a good few weeks yet and I'll have to make do with plants, Plus a bit of flesh, of course.
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Ask Reeves*
Hello Britain, this is your chancellor.
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Economic with the truth: the mis-selling of the budget
The argument over the budget was not between 10 and 11 Downing St, but between the economic and the political, reports Rachel Sylvester
10+ min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Immigration judges targeted by far right after Tory MP’s campaign
Judiciary forced to flee their homes following Robert Jenrick’s threats to remove ‘activists’
4 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Our tech sector could be the best in Europe, but this timid budget won’t help
Will Hutton
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Birth rates are falling, staff numbers rising, yet maternity services are at crisis point
Anatomy of Britain Review after review has shown NHS obstetric units are in turmoil as they deal with the problems of older mothers and a presumption towards ‘natural’ deliveries
4 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
The CBI comes in from the cold
Early in 2023, it looked as if the Confederation of British Industry might go out of business, rocked by accusations of sexual harassment and a toxic culture.
1 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Beware the hidden danger of X marking the spot
A new feature lets users see where tweets are sent from, but there are some major drawbacks, writes Xavier Greenwood
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Instead of muddling through, Reeves should emulate our cricketers and take some risks
Watching the England cricket team’s swashbuckling, high-risk batting approach take them to humiliating defeat in the first Ashes test, I couldn’t help wishing that they'd rein it in a bit. Sometimes, when you're in the lead, there’s nothing wrong with playing a couple of defensive strokes, or leaving the trickier deliveries.
3 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Crisis of council tax arrears: 'I couldn't pay £100 bill, then bailiffs wanted £6,000'
Weighed down by £6.6bn of unpaid charges, local authorities have turned to debt agencies — with some shocking results
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
'Guerillas are everywhere': Islamists fix sights on being Somalia's new kings
While the world has been focused on Gaza and Ukraine, al-Shabaab has quietly been seizing much of the country. Following the example of terrorist groups elsewhere, could it soon end up governing it? Jack Denton reports from Awdheegle
7 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Windermere hit by 50bn-litre deluge from sewage plants
More than 50bn litres of effluent from sewage treatment plants in the Lake District have flowed into Windermere and the rivers and smaller lakes which surround it since 2017, new figures have revealed.
1 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Airbus in major plane recall as data corruption issue revealed
Thousands of passengers faced global flight disruption this weekend after the aerospace giant Airbus announced one of the biggest recalls in its 55-year history.
1 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
History is just one more battleground in culture war being fought over the BBC
Samir Shah's selection as chair and the role of Robbie Gibb on the board have prompted a rethink about political appointees at the BBC
6 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Trust and the Treasury
The run-up to the budget was costly; the missed opportunity even more expensive
2 min |
November 30, 2025
The Observer
Loss of chief negotiator could see Zelensky play hardball over peace deal
Just as efforts to end the war in Ukraine were said to be making progress, Volodymyr Zelensky has lost the head of the negotiation team, Andriy Yermak.
3 min |
November 30, 2025
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 |