Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88 29. November 2025 (18:12) A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriterTom Stoppard: a life in picturesA brilliant dramatist who always raised the temperature of the roomThe playwright Tom Stoppard, whose playful erudition dazzled the theatregoing world for decades, has died aged 88.One of a select band of writers from any discipline to earn his own adjective – “Stoppardian” – in the Oxford English Dictionary, he delighted in the most improbable juxtapositions: philosophy and gymnastics in Jumpers (1972); early 19th-century landscape gardening and chaos theory in Arcadia (1993); rock music, dissident Czech academics and the love poetry of Sappho in Rock ’n’ Roll (2006). Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Experts say strict new FDA protocol for vaccine approval is ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ 29. November 2025 (18:04) Lead FDA vaccine regulator announced new approval process after claiming Covid vaccine had killed 10 childrenThe leading vaccine regulator at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a far stricter course for federal vaccine approvals, following claims from his team that Covid vaccines were linked to the deaths of at least 10 children.Experts suggest the announcement will make the vaccine approval process significantly more difficult. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
GB News urged to cut ties with contributor accused of racism 29. November 2025 (18:00) Rightwing activist claimed Commons deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani should be barred because she was born in PakistanGB News is facing calls to cut ties with a regular contributor who has been accused of racism after claiming that the House of Commons deputy speaker, Nusrat Ghani, should not be allowed in the house because she was born in Pakistan.The comments by Lucy White, a rightwing activist, have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum amid warnings that explicitly racist language is becoming increasingly normalised in British life. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Northwestern University agrees to pay US government $75m to restore research funding 29. November 2025 (15:42) Agreement will also end series of investigations of university over school’s alleged failure to fight antisemitismNorthwestern University has agreed to pay $75m to the US government in a deal with the Trump administration to end a series of investigations and restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding.Donald Trump’s administration had cut off $790m in grants in a standoff that contributed to university layoffs and the resignation in September of Northwestern’s president, Michael Schill. The administration argued the school had not done enough to fight antisemitism. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
How big tech is creating its own friendly media bubble to ‘win the narrative battle online’ 29. November 2025 (15:18) At a time when distrust of big tech is high, Silicon Valley is embracing an alternative ecosystem where every CEO is a starA montage of Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, and waving US flags set to a remix of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck blasts out as the intro for the tech billionaire’s interview with Sourcery, a YouTube show presented by the digital finance platform Brex. Over the course of a friendly walk through the company offices, Karp fields no questions about Palantir’s controversial ties to ICE but instead extolls the company’s virtues, brandishes a sword and discusses how he exhumed the remains of his childhood dog Rosita to rebury them near his current home.“That’s really sweet,” host Molly O’Shea tells Karp. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Corbyn and Sultana at odds over Your Party leadership as conference opens 29. November 2025 (14:51) Delegates to chose between electing a single leader or a collective of lay members to run the leftwing movementThe two most prominent figures in Your Party are still divided over how it should be run as its inaugural conference kicked off this weekend.Jeremy Corbyn confirmed to journalists on Saturday that he preferred a single leader and is likely to stand for the role but Zarah Sultana, his co-founder, said she would vote for collective leadership and that she does not believe parties should be run by “sole personalities”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Donald Trump says airspace above and around Venezuela is closed 29. November 2025 (14:50) President made declaration in a social media post, after FAA last week warned airlines of ‘worsening security situation’Donald Trump said on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed in its entirety.Trump, in a Truth Social post said: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Zelenskyy faces ‘mini-revolution’ as Yermak’s fall reshapes Ukraine’s wartime power system 29. November 2025 (14:38) Sudden departure of Zelenskyy’s most powerful aide could have tremendous consequences for ending the warUkraine’s political system is bracing for a “mini-revolution” as president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is forced to adapt to life without his closest adviser, chief enforcer and most loyal associate, Andriy Yermak, who resigned on Friday after his apartment was searched as part of a widening anti-corruption probe.Yermak’s resignation could have tremendous consequences for domestic governance, as well as for Ukraine’s negotiating position in talks over ending the war with Russia, where he had served as the head of Ukraine’s delegation to peace talks with the White House. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Russian attack on Kyiv cuts power to half of city and leaves two dead 29. November 2025 (14:24) Missile and drone attacks come amid Moscow’s campaign to break Ukrainian civil resistance by attacking energy gridTwo people were killed and 37 were injured in Kyiv by a Russian drone and missile attack on the capital that cut power to the western half of the city, leaving at least 500,000 residents without electricity.Nearly 600 drones and 36 rockets were fired into the country in an attack that its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said highlighted Ukraine’s need for western help with air defence, as well as other financial and political support. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Israel has ‘de facto state policy’ of organised torture, says UN report 29. November 2025 (14:18) Committee highlights allegations including dog attacks and sexual violence, raising concern about impunity for war crimesIsrael has “a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture”, according to a new UN report covering the past two years, which also raised concerns about the impunity of Israeli security forces for war crimes.The UN committee on torture expressed “deep concern over allegations of repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, waterboarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
