He was spoken of as an extraordinary talent. A rising star with a million followers on Instagram, who made politics relevant for younger generations. As recently as 2018, Politico ranked him among 28 people who would shape Europe in the years ahead.But earlier... More »
U.S. diplomacy to end the Gaza war and forge a new relationship with Saudi Arabia has been converging in recent weeks into a single giant choice for Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: What do you want more — Rafah or Riyadh?Do you want to mount a fu... More »
The biggest cultural news of the month is that a lot of people are kind of “meh” about Taylor Swift’s latest album (or albums, if you prefer to treat the 31-song release as a twofer). After spending the past few years illustrating how internet-era culture enco... More »
The harmful effects of imprisonment for public protection sentences (IPPs) are well documented. For Tommy Nicol and Francis Williams, whose sisters have both spoken to the Guardian about the impact of punishments with no end-date, the pressure was unbearable. ... More »
Here we go again: Britannia will continue to rule at the Last Night of the Proms. Unveiling a wide-ranging programme for this year’s festival, Sam Jackson, controller of BBC Radio 3 and also director of the Proms, assured audiences that the jingoistic 18th-cen... More »
Beware the friend who is only trying to help. Not, perhaps, as a rule for life but certainly when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict and the clashes that battle provokes around the world. So often those who think they’re doing their bit serve only to ma... More »
Jonathan Liew articulates much of what I have been saying for a while (For Sheffield United and co the Premier League brings a unique brew of misery, 23 April). The Premier League should no longer be viewed as the promised land for Championship clubs. The ofte... More »
Rachel McNulty (Letters, 19 April) is right to emphasise the need for proper funding of integrated mental health care and social support, but wrong to dismiss MDMA based on a single anecdotal case. I can provide a number of counter-anecdotes showing the value ... More »
Eva Ladipo’s article is impressive (My family’s past, and Germany’s, weighs heavily upon me. And it’s why I feel so strongly about Gaza, 19 April).For millennia different people and different groupings have wanted the same thing, which is regarded as desirable... More »
Your report about increases in licence fees for canal boats neglects to mention why the increase in fees is necessary (Fee hikes will price us out of canals, say houseboaters in England and Wales, 19 April). The Canal & River Trust (CRT) has, from its inceptio... More »
Cecilie Hollberg ruffled a few feathers earlier this year, suggesting mass tourism has turned Florence into a “prostitute”, but her piece about the effects of hit-and-run tourism (Opinion, 18 April) is a model of clear thinking and good journalism. By coincide... More »
Emma Beddington’s article amused me (Let’s hear it for the true geniuses: the people who name paints, 22 April). My late husband, the decorative painter John Sutcliffe, who died in September 2022, collaborated very closely with Farrow & Ball to help mix the fi... More »