Exclusive: National Film and Television School introduces fully accessible accommodation and bursary scheme at its Beaconsfield campusFor a long time, physically disabled students who dreamed of studying at the UK's most prestigious film and TV production school had nowhere to stay in the local area. And when they commuted, they would encounter hundreds of inaccessible areas on campus.In an industry where just 12% of TV employees are disabled, compared with 18% in the labour market as a whole, something had to change. Continue reading...
Grenade-throwing contests replaced PE and denazification' speeches became homework. Pavel Talankin's undercover film about his school's indoctrination drive won a Bafta and is tipped for an Oscar, but has left him in exileIn order to watch the Oscar-nominated documentary in which many of them have starring roles, pupils at Karabash School No 1 have had to source bootlegged copies, viewing the film in private, on their phones or their laptops.Last week's Bafta best documentary win for Mr Nobody Against Putin has been studiously ignored by Russian state media, and the prize the film won at Sundance last year was also met with silence. Staff at the school and government officials in the Kremlin seem united in their desire to pretend that they know nothing about the film. Continue reading...
Tufan Erginbilgic says decision is for the government but German participation remains a possibilityThe boss of Rolls-Royce has said he would welcome Germany helping to build Britain's next-generation fighter jet, arguing that it would bring in more business for the project.The aircraft, designed to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon, is a joint effort between the UK, Italy and Japan. Rolls-Royce is building the engine for the jet, which has attracted fresh attention as plans for a rival Franco-German warplane edge towards collapse. Continue reading...
by Rowena Mason Whitehall editor and Helena Smith in on (#73Y0A)
Within hours of the prime minister's statement, the UK's Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus was reportedly hit by a droneThe UK has agreed to let the US use British military bases to attack Iranian missile sites, Keir Starmer has said.The UK has so far not been involved in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, but in a recorded statement on Sunday evening, the prime minister said that Iran's approach was becoming more reckless and putting British lives at risk, leading to the decision to allow the US to use two of its military bases. Continue reading...
Thinktank's board distances itself from Josh Simons' decision in 2023 to hire lobbying firm to investigate journalistsA Labour thinktank that helped Keir Starmer into No 10 has said it is making a clean break" from the past after its former director, Josh Simons, resigned as a minister over a report falsely linking journalists to a pro-Kremlin" network.The board of Labour Together distanced itself from Simons' decision in 2023 to hire a lobbying firm to investigate Sunday Times, Guardian and independent reporters who were looking into its failure to declare more than 700,000 in donations. Continue reading...
by Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent on (#73XRW)
Regulator says Prof Jacob George will no longer be involved after gender-criticial social media posts from last yearA health official who reportedly intervened to pause a clinical trial on the use of puberty blockers has been removed from any further involvement due to accusations of bias.Prof Jacob George, who was appointed chief medical and scientific officer at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in January, raised concerns that led to the Pathways trial being put on hold by the government, according to the Sunday Times. Continue reading...
Party leader Zack Polanski says surge in numbers proves that the future of progressive politics belongs to the Greens'The Green party said its membership had passed 200,000 this weekend in the wake of its victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection, in which it overturned a huge Labour majority.The party's membership has tripled since September last year, when it was about 68,000, after the announcement of Zack Polanski as its leader. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Police forces argue bean-bag and foam baton rounds are less harmful than firearms, but the projectiles have been linked to deaths around the world
Experts say trusted adults must be brave and discuss issue or risk children looking for answers from unsafe sourcesTeachers and parents in the UK need to be brave and discuss Jeffrey Epstein's crimes with children and young people or risk them looking for answers from dubious or dangerous sources, according to experts who will host the first public seminar for schools on the issue.Thrive, the education consultancy hosting the online seminar on the convicted child sex offender, said: Many children and young people are encountering this material often without context, warnings or adult support, leaving educators to manage the emotional and safeguarding impact in real time." Continue reading...
After byelection defeat and with right-leaning advisers gone, will PM return to his instincts and embrace Labour DNA' on climate?Less than a year ago, Keir Starmer stood in front of an audience of senior officials and business leaders from 60 countries in London to declare climate action was in the DNA of my government".Vowing to go all out" for net zero and to accelerate" while others were slowing down, the Lancaster House speech was his strongest intervention yet on the issue. We're paying the price for our overexposure to the rollercoaster of international fossil fuel markets," he said. Homegrown clean energy is the only way to take back control of our energy system." Continue reading...
Employees say they have heard little from major defense contractor V2X Inc about safety and evacuation protocolsEmployees of major defense contractor V2X Inc on US military bases in Kuwait say they lack adequate bunker facilities and have had their pay reduced amid Iranian missile attacks across the Persian Gulf region, while receiving limited communication from their employer about safety and evacuation procedures.The Guardian interviewed three V2X employees on the US bases Camp Arifjan and Camp Buehring in Kuwait, following Iranian missile strikes on Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan on Saturday. Continue reading...
Antics of RFK Jr, Kristi Noem and others prompt derision - could their erratic behaviour prove president's undoing?Heads bowed, linked by arms across their backs, they gathered in a solemn prayer circle. The quiet moments are often the most important," Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, reflected later on social media. Then Team Trump entered the chamber to cheers and applause for Tuesday's State of the Union address.Democrats gathered on Capitol Hill, however, regarded the people appointed by Donald Trump to his cabinet and other senior positions rather differently. In the past two weeks alone, they saw a health secretary who boasted about snorting cocaine off toilet seats; a homeland security secretary who allegedly fired a pilot for leaving her blanket on a plane; and an FBI director who chugged beer with Olympic hockey players in Italy at taxpayers' expense. Continue reading...
Woman deceived into relationship tells spycops inquiry the trip was not to meet Italian socialists, as Carlo Soracchi claimsAn undercover police officer is facing allegations that he used taxpayers' money to pay for a romantic break in Venice with a woman he was deceiving into a long-term relationship, the spycops public inquiry has heard.Carlo Soracchi pretended to be an activist for six years while he infiltrated socialist and anti-fascist campaign groups. Continue reading...
Investors are shifting toward physical assets that are partially insulated from disruption, says Goldman SachsInvestors have a new mantra as they prepare for AI to shake up the global economy - the Halo trade.Interest in Halo - short for heavy assets, low obsolescence" - has risen as investors seek out companies with tangible, productive assets, which might be insulated from AI disruption, such as energy and transport infrastructure companies. Continue reading...
by Geraldine McKelvie Senior correspondent on (#73XK2)
Labour peer, who was a child refugee, criticises home secretary's response to Gorton and Denton byelection defeatThe home secretary's decision to double down on hardline immigration reforms in light of Labour's byelection defeat to the Green party is disappointing", according to the Labour peer Alf Dubs.Lord Dubs, a child refugee who fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the Kindertransport in 1939, had previously accused Shabana Mahmood of pulling up the drawbridge" on child migrants. Continue reading...
The text mimics a common fraud, but differs in that criminals appear to have hacked a genuine business accountJohn the delivery driver has tried to drop off something at your home from a company called Cleaning Superstore but you missed him, according to the message you have received via WhatsApp.Although you cannot remember buying anything from the company, the text appears to have come from a legitimate WhatsApp account so you try to rearrange delivery by clicking the link provided. Continue reading...
After a heist and the departure of its boss, the French institution wrestles with water leaks, strikes and much-criticised plans for a 1bn renovationJust over a year ago, Laurence des Cars, the intellectually brilliant (if famously prickly) former head of the largest and most-visited museum in the world, wrote a somewhat alarming note to her boss, France's culture minister.Des Cars, who on Tuesday resigned as president of the Louvre, lamented the advanced state of disrepair of the iconic museum's buildings and galleries. Continue reading...
Regional authorities withdraw permit after citing risk of organised crime infiltration linked to a subcontractorIt is one of Europe's most celebrated shorelines, framed by mountains and 19th-century villas and famed for its Caribbean-blue water and white sand.But Mondello beach in Palermo, Sicily, has also been mired in controversy, the subject of complaints stretching back a century from residents and tourists who say its private lidos, cabins and deckchairs have left scant room for public access. Continue reading...
Australian foreign affairs minister says Israel and US should explain the legal basis for the attacks' on Iran and won't say if Pine Gap used during strikes
Olivia Dean tops the winners list with four, while Sam Fender bags two - see all the category winners here News: Olivia Dean sweeps the board at 2026 Brit awards, winning four including artist, song and album of the year
Bystander describes loud crashing sound from the rocks' as light aircraft goes into sea at Lee-on-the-SolentA pilot survived after a light aircraft crashed on to a beach in Hampshire on Saturday.The pilot had exited the aircraft before firefighters arrived and was subsequently assessed by the ambulance service, Hampshire and Isle of Wight fire and rescue service said. Continue reading...
The 26-year-old dominates in Manchester, landing the night's biggest prizes as Rose, Wolf Alice and Mark Ronson also take top honoursOlivia Dean was the big winner at the 2026 Brit awards, taking home awards for artist of the year, pop act, song of the year for her Sam Fender duet Rein Me In, and album of the year for The Art of Loving.In less than a year, Dean has leaped to the forefront of British pop thanks to The Art of Loving, her second album. With songs that get to the heart of the joys and frustrations of casual modern dating, she is enormously relatable, while her sophisticated and cosmopolitan songcraft, deftly finessing styles such as bossa nova, trip-hop, neo-soul and jazz together, has given her an unusually broad and cross-generational appeal. Continue reading...
by Guardian staff, Katie Moore and Danny Monteverde o on (#73X12)
Actor, originally charged on two counts, also accused of shouting homophobic slurs during attacks on 17 FebruaryShia LaBeouf surrendered to New Orleans police after they obtained a new warrant Friday to arrest him again in connection with a case that had already left him facing two counts of battery.The new warrant brought the number of people whom the Transformers film franchise star is accused of battering to three. He turned himself over to police in advance of a bail hearing on Saturday afternoon, after which he posted a $5,000 bond to continue out of authorities' custody while awaiting the outcome of the case. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#73XDE)
Regime could try to retain control of streets as US and Israel have expressed no intention of mounting ground invasionVenezula's Nicholas Maduro was captured. But Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have chosen a different strategy for Iran: to target and aim to kill the country's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and as many other senior regime figures as possible.Though Iranian military sites and its air defence systems were also targeted by coordinated US and Israeli bombing, beginning in the morning, the most significant attack was on Khamenei's compound in Tehran. Continue reading...
Makerfield MP has been under pressure over thinktank's commissioning of PR firm to investigate reportersThe Labour minister Josh Simons has resigned from the government after the Guardian revealed that he falsely linked reporters to a pro-Kremlin" network in emails to GCHQ despite having claimed to be surprised" and furious" about a PR firm's investigation into their journalism.Simons, who had been a Cabinet Office minister, previously ran the thinktank Labour Together. He quit on Saturday, saying his position in office had become a distraction from this government's important work." Continue reading...
Alan Nicolle was already approved for urgent aged care supports, but delays and confusion under a Kafkaesque' system made his final days exhausting and painful
Lucy Powell calls for party to make more use of Greater Manchester mayor after Gorton and Denton defeatAndy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour's deputy leader said as she called for the party to make more use of the Greater Manchester mayor.Labour fell to third in the previously rock-solid seat on Thursday, with the Greens winning a fifth seat in parliament and Reform UK coming second. Continue reading...