Skip to main contentSkip to navigation
Print subscriptions
Sign in
Search jobs
Search
The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian

Front page

  • Kendall in Downing Street smiling

    Exclusive
    It’s time to end blame culture over benefits bill, says Labour minister

    Exclusive: Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall pledges to halt Tory ‘salami slicing’ of benefits, but Labour under fire for union pay deals
  • Inside a prison

    Fresh UK prisons crisis as riots lead to fears of overcrowding

News

  • Caroline Bennett, a long scarf around her neck, smiles as she stands in front of plastic boxes, nets and fishing equipment on a deck at Sutton Harbour

    Britain is obsessed with cod, haddock, salmon and tuna. Could the Plymouth fish finger help change tastes?

  • Olivia Dean performs at the Glastonbury festival this year wearing a bubble skirt

    ‘It’s very silly and it feels like fun’: bubble skirts are making a comeback

    On the catwalk and on the street this summer, a new generation has revived the 1950s, 80s and 00s puffball
  • Former Team GB Olympic athlete Sarah Claxton traced her American father through ancestry DNA testing.

    Rise in DNA tests being used to claim citizenship of other countries

    Many people want to uncover their ancestry, but – driven by Brexit – others also hope to regain access to the EU

  • ‘Share government data to boost economy’, says UK statistics watchdog chief

  • Rachel Reeves’ pension plan could damage the north, says ex-minister

  • Male UK university students are ‘less macho’ when sharing flats with women

  • Public approves response to riots but Starmer’s appeal fades, new poll shows

  • Vets extend strike in first industrial action to hit Britain’s pet-care sector

  • ‘I never liked Gail’s but that’s not why I’m opposed’: Walthamstow’s revolt and the awkward paradox for middle-class London

  • Somerset House fire extinguished after 125 firefighters tackle blaze

  • David Lammy warns of rising risk of full-scale regional war in Middle East

Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

World

  • Mao Zedong, in Beijing in 1967

    ‘Monument to history’ battle between US and China over future of Mao’s secretary’s diary

    Beijing believed to be behind court bid to secure account of life inside Communist HQ
  • A group of people standing amid the rubble of destroyed buildings

    Both Israel and Hamas’s leaders believe there is more to gain by fighting on

  • Crowds enjoy the No Art festival in Amsterdam, where organisers asked people to put aside their phones.

    ‘The party is back’: rise in European music festivals banning smartphones

  • A man wearing a brown polo shirt stands with his arms crossed.

    Journalist Jeff German was stabbed to death. Las Vegas watches as the accused politician goes on trial

  • small island made up of hill of red rock, with some green covering, next to a bridge

    No water, no power, hordes of birds: who will buy San Francisco’s $25m private island?

  • Oleg Orlov gestures as he talks sitting in an armchair

    Oleg Orlov: the veteran dissident who accepted jail to ‘show there is resistance inside Russia’

Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

In focus

  • The Stonhenge altar stone lies flush with the ground, hidden beneath two fallen sarsen stones.

    Does Stonehenge stone’s Scottish source reveal a project uniting ancient Britain?

    News that megalith was transported hundreds of miles to England suggests ambitious effort
  • Ukrainian soldiers training at a shooting range in the Sumy region.

    Zelenskiy’s gamble: success of shock Russia offensive hangs in the balance

  • Nobuyuki Matsuhisa in a chef's jacket, with his arm around Robert De Niro, wearing a leather jacket, puts his hand up to De Niro's face as they are seated on high chairs in front of a sushi bar

    Nobu at 30: the abiding coolness of the restaurant that changed UK dining

  • National guard soldiers face off with demonstrators at Grant Park in Chicago on 26 August 1968.

    ‘The world is watching’: 1968 protests set stage for Democratic convention

  • Ukrainian servicemen repair a tank that was damaged during the offensive into Russia.

    Ukraine’s extraordinary incursion into Kursk has changed the narrative of the war – but is a high-risk strategy

  • Residents receive humanitarian aid outside the town of Sudzha in Kursk on 8 August.

    ‘We were sure the Russian army would protect us’: fury after Ukrainian incursion into Kursk

Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

Comment

  • Carole Cadwalladr

    Inciting rioters in Britain was a test run for Elon Musk. Just see what he plans for America

    Carole Cadwalladr
  • Liz Kendall, smiling, with sunglasses on her head.

    Labour is fast discovering that Britain needs more than a Band-Aid to restore it to health

    Isabel Hardman
    The country faces grave and deep-seated problems that only bold – and expensive – policies can address
  • Barbara Ellen

    Behold the new sexy Pirelli calendar, a perfect example of Post#MeToo creep

    Barbara Ellen

  • Defending working-class interests requires more than simply opposing immigration

    Kenan Malik

  • Tom Cruise pulled off the best Scientology stunt ever. If only he could really levitate

    Catherine Bennett

  • Detectorists’ finds rewrite history by unearthing the real story of money

    Torsten Bell

  • A-levels are far from perfect, but in the exam hall every pupil – rich or poor – is equally afraid

    Martha Gill

  • Chris Riddell on how the Democrats are tying the Republicans up in knots – cartoon

  • Ukraine’s invasion has exposed Putin’s messianic vision of Russia as a mirage

    Luke Harding

  • Are studies of great authors doomed as fewer students take English literature at university?

    Rachel Cooke

  • A wave of optimism is sweeping the Democrats – are the good times really about to roll again?

    Michael Cohen
Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

Editorials & Letters

  • Palestinians leaving Khan Younis in Gaza after Israel’s evacuation warning on 16 August 2024.

    The Observer view on the Middle East crisis: Iran and Israel risk sparking all-out conflict

  • A man walks past graffiti saying 'Powell for PM' in 1968, the year Enoch Powell gave his ‘rivers of blood’ speech.

    UK riots: immigration is a boon, not a curse

    After decades of hostility, politicians of all stripes must unite in promoting the many benefits that incomers bring to our nation
  • The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, holds a pen in one hand as she studies some papers on her desk in 11 Downing Street.

    The Observer view on growth: Labour must be prepared to spend

    Public sector pay rises are vital, but raising the revenue to pay for them will be difficult unless fiscally conservative policies are lifted
Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

Business & Cash

  • Adam Chapman at home on sofa

    ‘We’re ready to explode in scale’: Adam Chapman, the Heat Geek founder set on getting Britain decarbonised and warm

  • the Blue Light Card

    Blue Light Card ‘reward’ has now turned into £3,941 loss

  • Ambleside in Cumbria

    Britain’s summer weather has improved, but many holiday operators are still gloomy

  • People boarding a train bound for London

    Have laptop, can travel: the rise and rise of the commuter student

Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

Sport

  • Sidath Wettimuny batting for Sri Lanka in 1984

    Sri Lanka return to Lord’s 40 years after taming Botham and England

  • Football club owner Michele Kang

    London City Lionesses’ owner Michele Kang: ‘This is a serious investment’

    The owner of three women’s teams wants to buy more clubs and create opportunities for girls around the world, she tells Tom Garry
  • Junior Messias celebrates scoring a stoppage-time equaliser for Genoa.

    European football: Inter held at Genoa, Lewandowski inspires Barça fightback

    Junior Messias scored a stoppage-time equaliser for Genoa in a 2-2 draw against Internazionale while Robert Lewandowski struck twice in Barcelona’s 2-1 win at Valencia

  • Maresca hopes Chelsea’s battling attitude will ‘create culture’ he craves

  • Fired-up Guardiola needs no pep talk for Manchester City’s latest challenge

  • Brandon McNulty sees off Mathias Vacek to win Vuelta a España opener

  • ‘He has gained our respect’: Mikel Arteta hails Havertz after Arsenal’s fast start

  • Leicester are a warning of what can go wrong for clubs on limit of budget

    Jonathan Wilson

  • Championship roundup: Rampant Burnley make it nine goals in two games

  • Jhon Durán comes off the bench to hit Aston Villa winner against West Ham

  • Wigan bounce back with Magic Weekend win over St Helens

Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

Reviews

  • Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson in Alien: Romulus.

    Alien: Romulus review – thrillingly gruesome new instalment gets a shot of young blood

  • David Rawlings and Gillian Welch.

    Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: Woodland review – 10 exquisite songs of loss and love

  • Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter stands in a long pink dress and takes the hand of conductor Daniel Barenboim in front of members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

    The week in classical: Prom 31: West-Eastern Divan Orchestra/ Barenboim; GBSR Duo – review

  • Sheeps

    Sheeps: The Giggle Bunch (That’s Our Name for You) review – still crazily funny after all these years

Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

New Review

  • Jenni Fagan and Samantha Morton photographed at the Union Club in London, August 2024

    ‘The hardest thing is to forgive yourself’: actor Samantha Morton and writer Jenni Fagan on the trauma of growing up in care

    Both women have used their work to process childhoods ravaged by neglect and abuse. Meeting for the first time, they discuss survival and anger, Fagan’s new memoir, and the state of the UK’s care system today
  • An alligator lurking in low water at the bottom of the pink-tiled swimming pool

    ‘I wanted my photos to reflect my disorientation’: rising star Anastasia Samoylova on how Florida’s hyperreal streets inspired her work

  • Robert Lindsay sitting in a garden chair, holding his sunglasses and looking thoughtful

    Actor Robert Lindsay on his role in Sherwood and growing up in a mining town: ‘There were terrible confrontations between fathers and sons’

  • Zadie Smith

    On my radar: Zadie Smith’s cultural highlights

  • Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammal.

    ‘Each season we’ve had one mega-fight’: the real-life couple behind hit Aussie comedy Colin from Accounts

  • Thierry Henry, David Rocastle, Ian Wright, Kolo Touré and Nwankwo Kanu, Alexandre Lacazette, Ashley Cole, Patrick Vieira and Sol Campbell, Paul Davis.

    Black Arsenal: how the club and its players set the pace for integration and ‘natural multiculturalism’

  • Beautiful, bruising and complex: what I’ve learned about female friendship

  • Britain burns while liberals check facts

    Stewart Lee

  • ‘Threads is just deathly dull’: have Twitter quitters found what they are looking for on other networks?

  • It’s mating season on X, as Musk courts Trump

    Stewart Lee

  • Actor Rakie Ayola: ‘Amazing things have happened this side of 40’

  • The big picture: a pileup of pugs

  • If Google’s monopoly is broken, it will be good for consumers – and the company too

    John Naughton

  • ‘Nobody ever saw anything like this before’: how methane emissions are pushing the Amazon towards environmental catastrophe

Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

Magazine

  • Beagle, Cute puppy, Cute expression<br>1419639619 (4431c4e511cc298250e7a63a4733f1b702510e2d)

    I wag, therefore I am: the philosophy of dogs

    What makes human existence worth the bother? How can we free ourselves of inner conflict and live with joy? In an extract from his new book, philosopher Mark Rowlands seeks canine counsel in answer to these eternal questions
  • ‘I’m deeply neurotic and think it’s going to end tomorrow’: Morfydd Clark in dress by Erdem.

    ‘I seem to have this uncanny vibe about me’: actor Morfydd Clark on her eerie roles

  • Jordan Stephens sitting on a bench in Greenwich Park, smiling and with his arms spread across the back of the bench and one leg forward, wearing khaki shorts, a white-T-shirt and white trainers

    ‘All this chaos. It’s part of who I am’: Rizzle Kicks’ Jordan Stephens on life after pop stardom

  • Naomi Ackie shot for OM

    ‘I see the world for what it is’: actor Naomi Ackie’s rage-fuelled rising star

  • Eva Wiseman

    Make a playlist, buy in some nice crisps and save the house party from extinction

    Eva Wiseman
  • chef Jon Watts

    ‘The young offenders system worked for me’: the ex-convict turned chef

  • My sister buys posh food, but most of it ends up in the bin

  • Nigel Slater’s recipe for broad beans with dill and bacon

  • Absolutely prefabulous: a vision of the future

  • My dad’s dying gift to me: a love of butterflies

  • 10 of the best regions in Europe for sparkling wine

  • Nigel Slater’s recipes for roast chicken and peach salad and a plum shortcake

  • Holidays with toddlers are so much more relaxing when one parent gets the lurgy…

    Séamas O’Reilly

  • Sunday with Jill Scott: ‘I don’t like to sit still for too long’

Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

Observer Food Monthly

  • Grilled mussels, lime-pickled onions and tomato salsa

    Six great summer barbecue recipes: from grilled mussels to chicken – and peach melba

    Three experts share their tips for the best results and some of their favourite recipes
  • Lunch With Adrian Edmondson illustration

    Adrian Edmondson: ‘I don’t think I ever fell out with Rik. But things became thinner’

  • St John founders Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver photographed for Observer Food Monthly in 2019.

    St John: 30 ways the ‘nose to tail’ restaurant changed the way we eat

  • Hayden Scamp, photographed mid-shift for OFM at Axmouth harbour on 1 August.

    A hard day’s night: life with the food workers who are up all hours

  • 20 best easy summer salads

    The 20 best easy summer salad recipes

  • OFM Nigel Tomato DPS Nigel Slater Observer Food Monthly OFM August 2024

    Nigel Slater’s summer tomato recipes to enrich the soul

  • Welcome to August’s Observer Food Monthly

  • Monica Galetti’s secret ingredient: fennel

  • What makes a neighbourhood restaurant great? Perfection – but in a slightly wonky way

    Rachel Cooke

  • Sharleen Spiteri: ‘Two slices of bread, proper butter, a pack of crisps and squeeze it down’

  • Don’t give me precision in recipe quantities – I like a glug, a splash or a bunch

    Jay Rayner

  • Refreshing, thirst-quenching, distinctive: 20 best wines for the summer

  • Nigel Slater’s recipes for salads to share

  • My search for the perfect veg – from my greenhouse to the Cotswolds and even into orbit

Loads more stories and moves focus to first new story.

Most viewed