New Wolsey theatre, Ipswich Vikki Stone’s freely adapted version of the once notorious seafaring broadcaster’s history is a terrrific premise for delivering a string of 60s hits A pirate radio station is a clever subject for a jukebox musical. And there’s none more famous than Radio Caroline, whose revolutionary broadcasts from a boat off the Essex coast launched a culture war with the British government. Writer Vikki Stone has partly fictionalised the story of that ship, with characters only tangentially based on the people – record-spinner Tony Blackburn, Irish businessman Ronan O’Rahilly – it made famous. Instead we have Robbie, a young man struggling to make his way until his love of pop lands him a DJ job, and his childhood sweetheart Caroline, supporting his dreams until she finds herself losing him to the boat of the same name. At New Wolsey theatre, Ipswich, until 2 May. Then touring until 20 June Continue reading...

Mandated release of files was marred by missed deadlines, leaked victims’ information and excessive redactions US politics live – latest updates The US Department of Justice’s office of the inspector general (OIG) announced on Thursday that it is launching an audit of the justice department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In a news release, the deputy inspector general William M Blier, who the statement said is performing the duties of the inspector general, said that the “preliminary objective” of the internal probe “is to evaluate the [justice department’s] processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act”. Continue reading...

Tensions around US negotiations may reflect mistake of assassinating more pragmatic and experienced figures Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump has claimed that the infighting between moderates and hardliners in Iran’s leadership is so intense that the country has “no idea who their leader is”, but many Iranian experts questioned his analysis, saying that – given the mass assassinations of senior commanders – the country has shown remarkable institutional cohesion. Trump’s allegations of “CRAZY” splits in the Iranian leadership – the second outing for this argument in three days – is remarkable since he has previously said either he has little knowledge of the new Iranian leadership or that there has already been regime change. Continue reading...

Hope Not Hate campaign identifies election hopefuls calling for a ‘white Britain’ and complaining of ‘kowtowing to the black community’ A Reform UK candidate who called for a “white Britain” and said Keir Starmer should be shot is among a number fuelling doubts about the party’s claim to have tightened up its vetting. The past comments of Linda McFarlane and other political hopefuls have been unearthed ahead of the 7 May elections, including one who complained about “constant kowtowing to the black community” and others who endorsed the far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Continue reading...

Police allegedly found images on iCloud account of singer accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez A Los Angeles prosecutor said that the singer D4vd, who was charged this week in the killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, was in possession of a “significant amount of child pornography”. Police allegedly found the images on the iCloud account of the 21-year-old singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke. Continue reading...

Seven-day-old Poppy Hope Lomas died after complications during home birth encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital A mother who lost her baby a week after an “unsafe” home birth that went against medical advice was failed by the NHS, an inquest has found. Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died at University College hospital in London on 26 October 2022 after complications during a home birth that, according to her mother, was encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital. Continue reading...

Study of fossilised beaks shows patterns of wear and suggests some ancient species were up to 19 metres long Giant “kraken-like” octopuses that used powerful beaks to crunch through bones of prey were among the most formidable predators of the Cretaceous oceans, according to research. Analysis of dozens of newly identified fossils reveals that some ancient octopus species reached up to 19 metres in length, meaning they would have rivalled – and possibly even preyed upon – apex predators such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. Continue reading...

More than 200,000 have signed petitions urging the government to break contracts, amid concerns about the company’s ‘supervillain’ manifesto Over 200,000 people have called on ministers to break contracts with Palantir in an apparent groundswell of public concern about the US tech company’s role in the NHS, police, military and councils. Two petitions have attracted 229,000 signatures, one calling for the government to end all public contracts with the firm, whose software is used by Donald Trump’s ICE immigration enforcement programme and the Israeli military, and another urging the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to cancel its £330 patient data contract with the NHS. Continue reading...

National broadcaster confirms it will not broadcast world’s largest live music event National broadcasters in Ireland, Spain and Slovenia will not air the Eurovision song contest this year, after they decided to boycott the event over Israel’s participation. Having already announced it would not submit a national entry, Slovenian broadcaster RTV confirmed on Thursday it would implement a broadcasting blackout of the world’s largest live music event and instead show a series of films about Palestine. Continue reading...

Forecasting service raises alarm over data from Paris airport used to settle Polymarket wagers on temperature French police are investigating alleging tampering with national weather forecasting service equipment after a series of unusual temperature readings coincided with suspicious winning bets made on Polymarket. Data from a Météo-France weather station at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport was used to settle bets between online gamblers on what the temperature would be in Paris for March and the first weeks of April. Continue reading...

WTA chief executive appointed only in June 2024 Tour needs to fine new venue for flagship event A number of top players on the WTA tour expressed their surprise at the abrupt decision by WTA chief executive, Portia Archer, to resign from her role this week after two years at the helm. “I heard literally two minutes ago, so I really don’t know why now and everything,” said Iga Swiatek after winning her first-round match 6-1, 6-2 against Daria Snigur at the Madrid Open. “We always had a good relationship. I felt like she listened to what we had to say and was really open-minded.” Continue reading...

Albert Manifold and his board refused to put a request from investor group on annual meeting agenda – leading to an investor revolt BP has fresh faces in the boardroom and a rigged strategy: it’s pivoting back to oil and gas and away from its low-carbon assets in an attempt to improve a weak share price. One can agree or disagree with the approach. But it was a silly act of overreach for a newish chair to try to stifle debate on such matters. That, in effect, was what Albert Manifold did when he excluded a resolution for Thursday’s annual meeting from Follow This, a Dutch investor group. The proposal itself cannot be described as explosive. It was pitched in investor-friendly terms and would merely have obliged BP to describe how it would protect shareholder value if demand for oil and gas falls. Nor is Follow This some two-bob outfit within the ranks of climate groups. It was claiming support from investors with $1tn under management. Continue reading...

Athlete who collapsed on track in 2024 ready for London Warner-Judd admits hitting ‘rock bottom’ after seizure There are sporting comebacks. And then there is Jessica Warner-Judd’s remarkable return from a focal seizure during the 10,000m at the European Championships in 2024. Those of us in Rome that night watched Judd wander distressingly across the track with 600m to go before collapsing and being carried off and sedated. What we didn’t see was what followed: the trauma therapy, depression and fears she would never run again. Continue reading...

Tech can scale cyber-attacks and defences alike, raising questions about private power, public risk and the future of a shared internet Anthropic announced its latest AI model, Claude Mythos, this month but said it would not be released publicly, because it turns computers into crime scenes. The company claimed that it could find previously unknown “zero-day” flaws, exploit them and, in principle, link these weaknesses in order to take over major operating systems and web browsers. Mythos did so autonomously, writing code and obtaining privileges. The implications are significant. It’s like a burglar being able to target any building, get inside, unlock every door and empty every safe. The Silicon Valley company has so far named 40 organisations as partners under Project Glasswing to help mount a defence – asking them to “patch” vulnerabilities before hackers get a chance to exploit them. All are American, sitting at the heart of the US-led digital system. Anthropic shared Mythos with only Britain outside the US, allowing the AI Security Institute to test frontier models. After seeing it up close, British ministers warned: AI is about to make cyber-attacks much easier and faster, and most businesses are not ready. Banks in Europe are likely to test it next. Continue reading...

The Tories’ flagship scheme has aided higher earners most. The latest analysis of its flaws should lead to a rethink The results are in. The biggest winners from the Conservatives’ help to buy scheme were high-earners who were already likely to buy a house. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) examined who benefited from the policy, and concluded that the top 10% of earners received the largest cash benefit. Rather than helping people to buy, it more likely helped the already fortunate to accumulate wealth quicker (by helping them buy earlier, or more expensive properties). Of course, this distorted the market: pushing prices up in some areas, and largely increasing competition rather than supply. That its flagship housing policy accelerated housing and wealth inequalities during a time when the government insisted deep cuts to public finances were needed is not just shocking – it underlines how deep the Tory project of redistribution went. In the 12 years to 2022-23, net spending by councils on housing, per person, was cut by 35%, while spending on planning and development was cut by a third – but clearly there was some cash to go around. Continue reading...

US president says Tehran hobbled by infighting as Pentagon reportedly briefs mine clearance may take six months Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump has again said that the US has “total control over the strait of Hormuz,” adding that Iran’s leadership was so hobbled by infighting that it was unclear who was in charge. But the US president’s claim seemed questionable in the face of the seizure of two container ships by Iranian commandos and a US report warning it could take six months to clear the strait of mines. Continue reading...

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Readers respond to Alan Milburn’s finding that exam-focused schools are failing to prepare pupils for the real world Alan Milburn is right to warn that an “exam-obsessed” school system is failing to prepare young people for adult life (‘Exam-obsessed’ schools leave pupils unready for work, Alan Milburn says, 20 April). The pendulum has swung too far from personal development towards a narrow fixation on measurable attainment. A broad educational purpose has been reduced to the accumulation of grades. This is not a failure of schools, but the product of an accountability system that overvalues what is easily measured. Attainment data is prioritised, while resilience, communication, collaboration and character are sidelined. The result is a generation leaving education well qualified on paper but less able to apply those qualifications beyond school. This reflects decades of policymaking that has undervalued personal development, including the steady erosion of arts subjects that foster creativity and confidence. Young people have far more to offer than their exam certificates; policymakers’ fixation with the easily measurable is constraining schools from developing the interpersonal skills that matter most in an increasingly complex world. Pete Crockett Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire Continue reading...

John Podmore calls for consistent leadership, clear accountability and purposeful regimes, while Enver Solomon says drugs flourish in conditions shaped by staff shortages and a lack of meaningful activity Your leader on drugs in prisons (16 April) is right about the scale of the crisis, but wrong to suggest the chief inspector has only recently found his voice. Charlie Taylor has been consistent throughout: the prison system is failing by almost every meaningful measure. This is not just about money or overcrowding. It is about leadership, culture and accountability. A system under pressure can still be well led; too often ours is not. The churn of secretaries of state has compounded this, while within the service “lacklustre” performance is too often absorbed rather than challenged – and, in some cases, still rewarded. Continue reading...

We should demand more public toilet facilities – and be sympathetic when we see someone of any gender or age ‘doing a Mandelson’, writes Doug Maughan Let me reassure Melanie Jones (Letters, 21 April) that my sympathy for Peter Mandelson’s plight, when he was caught short late one evening, would extend to women in the same circumstance. If you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go. The serious side to this is that there are people who rarely venture from home owing to bladder problems. So, instead of criticising or sniggering, perhaps we should demand that basic toilet facilities are provided on more of our streets. And we should avoid having a fit of the vapours if, on rare occasions, we see someone (of any gender or age) going to the edge of the pavement and “doing a Mandelson” into a drain. Doug Maughan Dunblane, Stirling • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section. Continue reading...

Responding to an article about a new staging of the controversial opera, Tony Palmer recalls an opening night that brought together Finland’s chief rabbi and a Palestinian official. Plus, letters by Ron Kirchem and Heather Parry Your article on the current production of John Adams’s opera The Death of Klinghoffer in Florence says the opera “has sparked accusations of antisemitism whenever and wherever it has been performed”, and refers to protests against previous productions (‘They said: You’re out of your mind’: Luca Guadagnino on directing controversial opera The Death of Klinghoffer, 19 April). I directed the 2001 production at Finnish National Opera, which was a huge success, playing to capacity houses over several weeks. No protests were anticipated and none happened. Indeed, on the opening night, 3 February 2001, the chief rabbi of Finland sat next to the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (which had an office in Helsinki), together with the recent president of Finland and later winner of the Nobel peace prize, Martti Ahtisaari. Continue reading...

The maverick writer and scholar was a pioneer in 60s avant garde circles, and emerged as a cult figure despite an aversion to publicity, and poetry that was hard to parse Jeremy Halvard Prynne, known as JH Prynne, a maverick figure in British poetry, died on 22 April at the age of 89. “Jeremy was an extraordinary and original human, which is no surprise because he was an extraordinary and original poet,” said Peter Gizzi, the American poet who introduced a reissue of Prynne’s 1969 collection The White Stones. “The word ‘genius’ gets tossed around, but if anyone was, he certainly was.” Continue reading...

Positive talks at City over the former Chelsea manager Guardiola called him ‘one of the best in the world’ Enzo Maresca is the leading candidate to take over at Manchester City as they prepare for the growing possibility of Pep Guardiola leaving at the end of the season. Maresca has been out of work since departing Chelsea in January and it is understood there have been positive talks over him replacing his old mentor this summer. Guardiola has a year on his deal but City know they must be ready for the 55-year-old deciding this is the time to leave. Continue reading...

Amid rising antisemitism and anti-muslim bigotry, community and faith leaders are stressing the need for unity Maurice Ostro, founder patron of the Faiths Forum for London, has been engaged in interfaith work for decades. For much of that time, he said, he was teased by good-natured people who insisted there was little need for it in the UK. “People used to laugh at me for doing this work,” he said, but now, amid record-breaking incidents of antisemitism and anti-muslim hatred, the jokes have stopped. Continue reading...

With the EU approving a €90bn loan for Ukraine, a surprise visit from Prince Harry, and data suggesting Russian troops made almost no territorial gains in March - are there reasons for optimism in Kyiv? Lucy Hough speaks to senior international correspondent Luke Harding Continue reading...