CATEGORIES

Notre Dame reopening offers 'shock of hope', says Macron

The restoration of Paris's Notre Dame after its partial destruction by fire five years ago will give the world a \"shock of hope\", Emmanuel Macron has said as he marked the medieval cathedral's imminent reopening with a televised walking tour.

Gisèle Pelicot is not my adversary, says defence lawyer

Béatrice Zavarro, a diminutive figure in a long black robe and heavy red glasses, who has described herself as the \"devil's advocate\", stood up in a packed courtroom in Avignon last week to sum up the defence for Dominique Pelicot, on trial for drugging his wife, Gisèle, and arranging more than 50 men to rape her.

Rebel strikes Why did civil war reignite and what comes next?

Eight years ago, indiscriminate Russian airstrikes helped the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, drive rebels from Aleppo a crucial turning point in the country's civil war, which has largely been in a state of stalemate since 2020.

Tough talk Ceasefire with Lebanon makes peace in Gaza less likely

Joe Biden has revived diplomatic efforts to achieve a truce in Gaza with the hope of building on momentum generated by the newly agreed but now seemingly shaky ceasefire in Lebanon.

Return to ruins and uncertainty, despite ceasefire

Mohammed Bzeeh spent the first hours of the ceasefire cleaning. After the Hezbollah-Israel agreement last Wednesday appeared to have brought 13 months of fighting to a close, Bzeeh and his family found their home in the village of ZibqeenZibqin ruined by an Israeli airstrike.

Flawed framework Democrats need to accept big tech isn't an ally against Trump

As Democrats think about how to counter the Trump administration, they need to accept a very simple lesson from the past eight years. Big tech and big business are part of the political opposition working on behalf of Donald Trump, not the Democrats' allies.

Family values Is Biden's pardon an act of love or just hypocrisy?

Joe Biden's announcement last Sunday that he had pardoned his son Hunter, who was facing sentencing in two criminal cases, is likely to have been the product of a Shakespearean struggle between head and heart.

'Still in this fight'

Bruised by a Trump victory even more alarming than in 2016, the president-elect's opponents are determined to pick their battles - and be tactically smarter this time

If kids get protected from online harm, how about the rest of us?

The Australian government has proposed a ban on social media for all citizens under 16.

'It's not drought - it's looting'

Spain is increasingly either parched or flooded - and one group is profiting from these extremes: the thirsty multinational companies forcing angry citizens to pay for water in bottles.

Life in the grey Zone

Neonatal care has advanced so far that babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived. But is this type of care always the right thing to do?

Out of tune? Band Aid under fire for Africa tropes as it turns 40

Forty years ago this month, a group of pop stars gathered at a west London studio to record a single that would raise millions, inspire further starry projects, and ultimately change charity fundraising in the UK.

Deaths shine spotlight on risks of drinking on party trail

Vang Vieng is an unlikely party hub. Surrounded by striking limestone mountains and caves in central Laos, it morphed from a small farming town to a hedonistic tourist destination in the early 2000s.

Different strokes My strange and emotional week with an AI pet

Moflin can develop a personality and build a rapport with its owner - and doesn't need food or exercise. But is it comforting or alienating?

Strike zone Waking up to the rising threat of lightning

When the Barbados National Archives, home to one of the world's most significant collections of documents from the transatlantic slave trade, reported in June that it had been struck by lightning, it received sympathy and offers of support locally and internationally.

Cheap pints and sticky carpets: the old-school pub is back

In the Palm Tree pub, east London, barman Alf is taking only cash at the rattling 1960s till.

Brain gain Can a radical tax scheme convince the country's brightest to stay?

In the autumn of 2018, I moved to Lisbon for a month-long course at the Universidade .de Lisboa.

Fear and sympathy in small town divided over asylum camp

A year after anti-immigration riots, a site for asylum seekers faces hostility while some locals try to help new arrivals

Collapsing landscapes How climate change is tearing apart an Arctic isle

Last summer, the western Arctic was uncomfortably hot. Smoke from Canada's wildfires hung thick in the air, and swarms of mosquitoes searched for exposed skin.

Cop29 summit Bitter battles could follow controversial $300bn a year deal

It was only on the last scheduled day of two weeks of negotiations at the UN Cop29 climate summit that developed countries put a financial commitment on the table for the first time.

Climate is 'the big loser' in huge year of elections

An unprecedented year of elections around the world has underscored a sobering trend - in many countries the commitment to act on the climate crisis has either stalled or is eroding, even as disasters and record temperatures continue to mount.

John Prescott 1938-2024

The UK's longest-serving deputy PM was a vital bridge between Labour's past and future during the Blair years

Western first PM's war crime charge is landmark moment

The international criminal court's decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza has been welcomed by Palestinians as a landmark moment in their decade-long fight to challenge the Israeli occupation through international institutions.

Rhapsody in red In Trumpworld, radical selections go down a storm

In the American heartland, they're excited. Finally, say voters who put Donald Trump into the White House for a second time, they are about to get the president they wanted all along.

Does lame duck Biden have time to Trump-proof democracy?

The skies above the White House were cold and grey. Joe Biden greeted the championship-winning Boston Celtics team, quipping about his Irish ancestry and tossing a basketball into the crowd. But the US president could not resist drawing a wider lesson.

Change of heart Will the missile crisis affect the course of the war?

In Kyiv, as autumn turns fast to winter, Ukrainians in the government describe a vacuum before the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House on 20 January.

Wire cutters How the world's undersea cables are being targeted

The lead-clad telegraphic cable seemed to weigh tons, according to US navy lieutenant Cameron Winslow, and the weather wasn't helping their attempts to lift it up from the seabed and sever it.

Behind enemy lines

Tensions rose as long-range missiles flew from and into Russia last week. But in truth, the west has been under attack from hybrid warfare since the Ukraine invasion began

Friendship interrupted

They were best mates. Then one had a baby, while the other struggled to conceive. They share their brutally honest takes on what happens when motherhood affects friendship

KERNELS OF HOPE

During the siege of Leningrad, botanists in charge of an irreplaceable seed collection, the first of its kind, had to protect it from fire, rodents-and hunger