The Observer

Lawless, disorder

Over the course of the past seven days, it felt as if things – and certainly the idea of the west – were falling apart. It wasn’t just that Donald Trump had taken Venezuela, abducting its president, seizing its oil reserves and promising to run the...

Rule of law

In speaking of the rapid US assault that led to the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilla Flores, President Donald Trump said he had watched the “extremely complex” operation unfold “like I was watching a television show”....

Woman of substance

In the magazine, actress Sheila Hancock reviews Forza Wine, the restaurant at the National Theatre, but wonders what happened to places where you could sit, linger over a drink and talk about the show. “Do I have to accept that we simply don’t stay up...

Great books

Are you sitting comfortably? It may help. Because our 25 best books of the century so far encompass not just mould-breaking language, storytelling superpowers and big ideas, as literary editor Tom Gatti writes by way of introduction, but the inherent...

Addictive and dangerous

What works for the Barnetts doesn’t necessarily work for teenagers. Last week Australia’s social media ban for under-16s came into force on a wave of parental concern. For now, the big platforms are cooperating and the world is watching to see if the...

Order 803

The Irish novelist Sally Rooney has come to the defence of activists locked up in England for supporting Palestine Action. In the process she has put herself at risk of arrest should she travel to the UK because Order 803 of the Terrorism Act deems...

Sunday and now every day

If you’re an eagle-eyed reader, you will have noticed the 12,208th edition of The Observer comes under a new masthead. New for The Observer, but a font of its times. The lettering is Caslon Ionic. It was first used in the 1850s from the foundry...

Green man

This week we launch The Observer Walk, a weekly interview with a difference, in which a public figure follows a route significant to them while speaking to an Observer journalist. On a sleety day in north London the leader of the Green party in England...

Lullaby of London

Does Mamdani’s slam dunk suggest that a young, bearded socialist could win in the UK? Andrew Rawnsley thinks it’s a bit of a stretch. “New York city is not New York state. New York state is not the United States. The United States is not the United...

Invidious Nvidia

It is surely the case that “likely to arouse resentment in others” can be applied to the giant chipmaker Nvidia; as Patricia Clarke and Barney Macintyre report, the company’s valuation has reached $5tn – two decades ago it stood at a mere $6bn. But an...

Advertising

Today, The Observer comes in an advertisement wrapped around the cover. We know some readers find advertising intrusive; others appreciate ads for what they say and, at their best, the beauty of how they say it. We hope that, either way, you understand...

Hunkers down with spiced soups and winter stews Observer Food Monthly inside today

Faulty towers

Government procurement is not a term that sets the heart afire. But hold on: what if you learned that a groundbreaking secure school for young offenders has had to close indefinitely after a purchasing error meant the doors could be kicked in? Each...

The art of cake

Laura Cumming loves the laureate of the lunch counter

Brilliant breakthrough

It’s possible to feel overwhelmed by all that is challenging in the news these days – so it is joyful to report on the progress made by professors Edward Wild and Sarah Tabrizi against the scourge that is Huntington’s disease. Last Wednesday the...

Divided kingdom?

There’s a theory about laces – they can look securely tied, then come suddenly undone – and Keir Starmer might be forgiven for worrying about his. In short order he’s lost a deputy leader and a Trump whisperer and been elbowed aside in Westminster by...

In a class of her own

Politics operates in two realms: the abstract and the mundane. In the abstract, there is the bluster, the proposals and the plans. In the mundane: the actual job of meeting people, talking to them, and making decisions. After a torrid week in which...

Russian attack hits British HQ in Kyiv

Russia’s ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign Office to account for strikes on Kyiv that damaged the British Council building and EU offices. The attacks came during a heavy bombardment of the Ukrainian capital in which at least 23 people...

Frontline protest

As Labour prepares to unveil a plan to circumvent parts of the European Convention on Human Rights, John Simpson heads to Epping to meet the people protesting against the policy of housing asylum seekers in hotels – and those who argue against them....

Mixed martial arts in the ring with streamers

Mixed martial arts fights that used to be viewable only live or on payper-view TV will be exclusively available for at least the next seven years via a streamer. Joe Rogan, the podcaster, said this meant access to the bouts would now be free. Not so....

Germany stops export of arms to Israel

Germany has been one of Israel’s most stalwart defenders, but Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to escalate the war in Gaza have seen that solidarity collapse. Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, suspended arms supplies to Israel on Friday in response to...

Tulip Siddiq MP faces corruption trial

Tulip Siddiq will go on trial in Bangladesh on corruption charges later this month after allegations that she gained a plot of land in the capital, Dhaka, illegally. The Labour MP, who resigned as Keir Starmer’s treasury minister in January, faces...

Zelenskyy U-turns on anti-corruption bill

Volodymyr Zelenskyy amended a controversial bill that would have restricted the independence of two anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine after widespread protests. The president’s law put the bodies under the control of the prosecutor-general, whom he...

Labour tries to avert five-day doctors’ strike

Wes Streeting has offered to cancel the student debts of resident doctors if they agree to call off a five-day strike due to start on Friday. The health secretary met British Medical Association leaders last Thursday and reportedly made it clear that...

Starmer and Macron to pilot ‘one in, one out’

Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron agreed to a pilot scheme for a “one in, one out” policy by which an agreed number of people arriving in Britain on small boats could be returned to France in exchange for the UK taking asylum seekers with family...

The Observer news matrix

Keir Starmer opens up to Tom Baldwin

Dissent over disability benefit cuts brewing

A government whip has resigned over plans to cut disability benefits. Vicky Foxcroft, the former shadow minister for disabled people, acknowledged that the welfare system was in need of reform but said it would be better to find ways to get more...

Gone to war

Israel and Iran are at war. Both countries talk about a battle for survival. Steve Bloomfield, The Observer’s International Editor, explains the new age of impunity and how it risks catastrophe beyond the Middle East. Rana Rahimpour hears from people...

Deep trouble

90% of UK marine reserves bottom-trawled 300 species threatened with extinction China’s fleet dumps more fish than UK eats Attenborough wins support to save seabed + Sylvia Earle • Elif Shafak • Jane Goodall on magic and murder in the ocean

Mary Beard still dislikes Margaret Thatcher

Starmer to scrap child benefit cap

The Triples: why did the SAS abandon Afghan special forces? Fido 2.0: how to clone your dog Jarvis Cocker talks to Miranda Sawyer about Pulp’s return Arsenal beat Barcelona to win Women’s Champions League David Baddiel’s favourite food Nigel...

Kiss and make up

David Sedaris plans to take on Trump (maybe) Charlotte Mendelson plants a city garden Henry Marsh on assisted dying 1- 0: Rory Smith on the Palace coup

The firm

Bono talks to Sean O’Hagan Melanie Reid on the Sycamore Gap Lynn Barber reviews restaurant life Susie Orbach on Melania and Michelle Andrew Rawnsley: Labour’s real deal

Blooming Reform

Nigel Slater’s kitchen diary Florence Pugh is a Marvel, says Wendy Ide Ozwald Boateng dresses for the Met Gala Esther Freud swims in the Hampstead Ponds Michael Ignatieff on the liberal fightback

Renewal

The story goes that Pope Francis was once crossing St Peter’s Square when he was stopped by a group of pilgrims from Argentina. They offered him a cup of mate and he drank it. The Swiss Guards were furious. But when they told him he could have been...

Fear and despair rise in Gaza as seven-week Israeli blockade bites

Gaza has been pushed to new depths of despair, civilians, medics and humanitarian workers say, by the unprecedented seven-week-long Israeli military blockade that has cut off all aid to the strip. The siege has left the Palestinian territory facing...

Reeves calls for global free trade fightback to protect UK economy

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, today sets the case for far-reaching changes to global trade and economic agreements as she admits that Donald Trump’s tariffs will have a “profound” effect on the UK and world economies that require a strong...

Starmer orders economic reset amid Trump tariff mayhem

Keir Starmer is preparing to rethink key elements of the government’s economic policy in an emergency response to Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, amid growing concern in Downing Street that the US president’s trade war could do lasting damage to the...

More than 1,600 dead as Myanmar toll rises

Rescue workers battled for a second night to find survivors of Myanmar’s devastating earthquake , which has killed at least 1,644 people and injured thousands more. Teams with little protective equipment, at times using only their bare hands,...

All families ‘to be worse off by 2030’ as poor bear the brunt

Living standards for all UK families are set to fall by 2030, with those on the lowest incomes declining twice as fast as middle and high earners, according to new data that raises serious questions about Keir Starmer’s pledge to make working people...

PM considers U-turn on cut to benefits for disabled people

Ministers have left the door open to a humiliating U-turn on their highly contentious plans to cut benefits for disabled people, amid mounting uproar over the proposals across the Labour party. Both Downing Street and the Department for Work and...

Britons among hardest hit by Covid fallout five years on

Britain performed worse than most other developed nations in its response to the Covid pandemic, according to an Observer analysis of international data, five years on from the first lockdown. The UK spent more money than most other countries on...

Royal welcome for Zelenskyy after White House meltdown

King Charles will hold an official audience at Sandringham with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy today as the UK and EU demonstrate their “unwavering” support after his humiliation at the hands of Donald Trump and JD Vance in the White...

PM lays down Ukraine peace demand ahead of Trump talks

Keir Starmer has raised the stakes before a crucial meeting in Washington with the US president, Donald Trump this week, by insisting that Ukraine must be “at the heart of any negotiations” on a peace deal with Russia. The prime minister made the...

Starmer set to join Europe crisis summit on Trump Ukraine plan

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, was seeking last night to convene an emergency meeting of European leaders, including the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, as concerns grew over Donald Trump’s attempts to seize control of the Ukraine peace...

Labour to ‘fix benefit system to get people back into work’

Britain’s broken welfare system is fuelling the “greatest unemployment challenge of a generation”, ministers have concluded as they draw up a root-and-branch overhaul designed to counter the spiralling numbers deemed too unwell to work. Rules that...

Betting giants under fire for ads targeting at-risk gamblers

Gambling companies in Britain could be forced to overhaul their advertising practices after a betting firm was ruled to have unlawfully targeted a problem gambler who was bombarded with more than 1,300 marketing emails. In a ruling at the high court,...

Move closer to Europe – not Trump, voters tell Starmer

Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to forge closer economic links with Europe five years on from Brexit, as a major new poll shows voters clearly favour prioritising more trade with the EU over the US. The MRP survey of almost 15,000 people by...

Fears of chaos in Gaza as families begin trek home after ceasefire

Aid agencies in Gaza are bracing for chaotic scenes this week as hundreds of thousands of people try to return to homes in the territory after the expected implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas today. Before the ceasefire, which is...

No negotiation on children’s safety, Labour warns big tech

Britain’s new laws to boost safety and tackle hate speech online are not “up for negotiation”, a senior government minister has warned, after Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg vowed to join Donald Trump to pressure countries they regard as “censoring”...

Fears of unrest as PM considers open prison for more offenders

Ministers are considering relaxing restrictions on inmates who can be sent to open prisons, despite warnings the move could increase the risk of violence, drug abuse and riots. Under an unannounced policy introduced by the Conservatives and expanded...

Patients at risk as NHS urgent repair costs triple in decade

A decade-long failure to address urgent repairs in hospitals across England has led to a dramatic rise in issues posing a “high risk” to patients and staff, ministers are being warned. The cost of dealing with this backlog has almost tripled since...

Magdeburg mourns Christmas market dead

A Saudi national alleged to have carried out a deadly attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, which killed five and injured more than 200, had warned on social media that “something big will happen”. The 50-year- old doctor is in...

‘Their bodies turned black from the chlorine’

For years, residents of Ghouta, an embattled opposition-held region on the outskirts of Damascus, grew used to death loudly announcing its presence. When Syrian and Russian jets or helicopter gunships roared overhead, bombs were never far behind. But...

Million skip meals in winter fuel benefit crisis

The row over the government’s decision to slash winter fuel payments is set to be reignited after new evidence revealed that more than 1 million older people are skipping meals because of financial concerns. The new study also suggested that millions...

Syrian rebels take control of Aleppo

Islamist rebels once exiled to a mountainous pocket of the Syrian countryside now roam the streets of central Aleppo, taking pictures below its ancient citadel and tearing down symbols of President Bashar al-Assad’s rule. The surprise offensive, in...

Assisted dying leads to ‘state death service’, warns minister

MPs will be placing the country on a “slippery slope towards death on demand” if they back legislation on assisted dying in England and Wales this week, the lord chancellor and justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said in a letter to constituents...

Fears grow over children at risk placed in illegal care homes

A shocking increase in the number of vulnerable children deprived of their liberty by the state is leaving more youngsters in illegal accommodation, at eye-watering costs to the taxpayer, a government-backed assessment has warned. The children include...

We will oppose Trump’s plans to slap tariffs on UK – Reeves

The chancellor Rachel Reeves will use a keynote speech this week to promote free and open trade between nations as a cornerstone of UK economic policy, putting the Labour government on direct collision course with president-elect Donald Trump. Reeves...

Labour challenges Badenoch over billions for public services

Labour last night threw down an immediate challenge to the new Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, to back Rachel Reeves’s budget plans for big increases in tax, spending and borrowing, as a huge political divide threatened to open up over economic policy and...

Reeves: my budget will match greatest economic moments in Labour’s history

Labour will launch a new era of public and private investment in hospitals, schools, transport and energy as momentous as any in the party’s history in this week’s budget, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, says today. In an interview with the Observer...

Reeves will tax businesses to plug £9bn gap in NHS funds

Rachel Reeves is set to use one of the most pivotal budgets of recent times to call on businesses to pay more tax to help restore the NHS, amid warnings that the health service has been left with a £9bn hole in its finances. The chancellor is expected...

Starmer steps into cabinet row to rescue global summit

Keir Starmer expressed his full confidence yesterday in the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, after an explosive cabinet row cast fresh doubt over his Downing Street operation and threatened to overshadow a key international investment summit in...

Doubts grow over Labour’s VAT plan for private schools

Government plans to impose VAT on private schools from 1 January next year may have to be delayed because of warnings from unions, tax experts and school leaders that meeting the deadline will cause administrative chaos and teacher job losses, and put...