Laid-back clubs proving a hit in London, Birmingham and elsewhere as people look for new ways to socialise
One of the liveliest spots on a Tuesday night in east London’s Brick Lane isn’t a restaurant or a streetwear brand pop-up, it’s a chess club – or chess club-nightclub hybrid, to be exact.
Knight Club is the unlikely crossover between chess and London’s fervent nightlife scene. It was started by Yusuf Ntahilaja, 27, who began his first chess club in August 2023 at a smaller bar in Aldgate, not too far from the current location at Café 1001 on Brick Lane.
After a colleague had the bright idea of a workplace version of the hit BBC show, I lied and cheated with impunity. Then the strain began to show
There aren’t many people who understand the stress that the celebrity Traitors Cat Burns and Alan Carr have been feeling as their stint wearing that famous green cloak draws to an end – but I do. I spent four weeks lying, cheating and murdering friends and colleagues in our office version of The Traitors.
I almost lost my mind.
Ed Campbell is a journalist who reports on British culture, politics and the internet. He also co-hosts the PoliticsJOE podcast
A plan by New Zealand’s government to scrap a legal requirement on schools to incorporate local Māori culture in classrooms has been condemned by teachers, principals and school boards.
Since 2020, school boards have been obligated to “give effect” to the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document signed in 1840 between Māori tribes and the British Crown and instrumental in upholding Māori rights.
When Donald Trump set about dismantling USAID, many around the world were shocked. But on the ground in Sierra Leone, the latest betrayal was not unexpected
Earlier this year, Donald Trump appointed a 28-year-old Doge alumnus, Jeremy Lewin, to oversee his administration’s approach to global aid. Lewin’s primary task has been to gut the US’s aid funding. In an interview with the New York Times, Lewin argued that the traditional approach, which he termed the “global humanitarian complex”, didn’t help poor countries “progress beyond aid”, instead keeping them dependent. The system, he continued, has “demonstrably failed”.
This isn’t just the Trump administration’s view. For decades, there has been a robust debate in academic and policy circles, discussed over drinks by development practitioners, written about by critical economists and postcolonial independence leaders, and percolating into the broader consciousness, that aid isn’t working, or at least not as promised. When the news of Trump’s USAID cuts broke this year, President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia told the Financial Times that cuts in aid were “long overdue” and would force countries such as his to “take care of our own affairs”.
The 22-year-old history student spent almost two years on a popular French quiz show – becoming a multimillionaire in the process. He discusses the importance of curiosity, frugality and 10-11 hours sleep a night
Being a TV general-knowledge quiz champion is a funny kind of fame, because random strangers want to test you on all sorts of trivia. “Sometimes I’ll be walking down the street, a car slows, the window goes down and someone screams: ‘Capital of Brunei?’ I answer and they drive off – it’s amusing really,” says Émilien, a 22-year-old history student who this summer became not only the most successful French gameshow contestant of all time, but the biggest gameshow winner in European history and the world record-holder for the most solo consecutive appearances on a TV quizshow.
And everyone, of course, wants to know how he did it.
The Berlin airlift was a cold war victory that relied on a persuasive story about starving civilians. But was it true?
We in the west used to play dirty – and during the cold war, we were good at it. Nowadays, we leave grey-zone tactics and hybrid warfare to Russia, which is winning the disinformation war. Europe’s pride in playing by the rules might just be democracy’s achilles heel.
The Berlin airlift is a good example of what we once did well – and have since forgotten. The cold war arguably began and ended in Berlin, bookended by the 1948-9 airlift and the fall of the wall in 1989. The former was the largest air reliefoperation in history. It supplied Berlin when Stalin tried to force out the western allies. In parallel, the west used radio (RIAS, or Radio in the American Sector, a precursor to the CIA-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty), and strengthened soft power with cultural missions such as the British-staged Shakespeare in the rubble, and education through American-run libraries and courses.
Joseph Pearson is a historian who lectures at the Barenboim-Said Akademie and New York University in Berlin. His book The Airlift, is out in the UK and comes out in North America as Sweet Victory, in December.
Facing allegations he insists are politically motivated, Pedro Sánchez has cast doubt on independence of some members of judiciary
Despite spending the past 18 months variously defending his wife, his brother, his party, his attorney general and his government against a relentless slew of corruption allegations, Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has not entirely lost his sense of humour.
Three weeks ago, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the opposition conservative People’s party (PP), rattled off the familiar litany of accusations and concluded by suggesting the man sitting opposite him in congress was neither “a decent or worthy prime minister” but rather a seasoned enabler of corruption. After the giddy applause that greeted Feijóo’s speech from the PP benches had died down, Sánchez rose to his feet and uttered two words.
Giorgia Meloni, Sophia Loren and writer Francesca Barra among prominent figures to have ‘nudified’ photos posted on sexist forums
As she reeled from the discovery of a pornographic website featuring AI-generated images of herself naked, the prominent Italian journalist and writer Francesca Barra said the question that struck her the most came from her young daughter.
“She asked me: ‘how do you feel?’,” Barra, 47, said. “But what I heard was another more subtle question that my pre-adolescent daughter perhaps didn’t have the courage to ask, and that was: ‘If it happened to me, how would I handle it?’.”
Construction of 182-metre tall lift has been halted after outrage from locals on the Indonesian tourist island
It is famed for resembling the silhouette of a T rex. But the view of Kelingking beach in Bali will never be the same again, due to the construction of a new, 182-metre tall glass elevator that is meant to increase tourism to the area.
Kelingking Beach sits on the coast of Nusa Penida, an island off Bali about a 45-minute ferry ride from Denpasar. The site is popular on the tourist track, with a breathtaking aerial view of a rock formation resembling a dinosaur and a treacherous path to the beach below.
The musician, who also provided backing vocals on Suspicious Minds and When a Man Loves a Woman, died of cancer in Nashville on Sunday
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a soulful mezzo-soprano who provided backing vocals on such 1960s classics as Suspicious Minds and When a Man Loves a Woman and was a featured singer with the Grateful Dead for much of the 1970s, has died aged 78.
A spokesperson for Godchaux-MacKay confirmed that she died of cancer on Sunday at Alive hospice in Nashville.
Democratic leaders decry ‘unbelievably cruel’ move, saying ‘Trump is using food as a weapon’ during shutdown
Senate Republicans shot down a Democratic-led attempt to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) benefits on Monday during the government shutdown – a move that heightens uncertainty for the 42 million Americans participating in the country’s biggest anti-hunger program.
Jeff Merkley, a Democratic senator, and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, attempted to pass a resolution via unanimous consent that would have forced the Department of Agriculture to fund Snap benefits for the month of November.
Chancellor to promise ‘fairness and opportunity’ but will not repeat manifesto pledge on tax, after PM’s hint at breach
Rachel Reeves will lay the groundwork for a tax-raising budget that could break Labour’s election promise on income tax, in a major speech in which she will be “candid” about the tough choices ahead.
The chancellor will give the speech as the markets open on Tuesday, when she will promise to make fair choices at this month’s budget but decline to repeat her manifesto pledge of no rise in income tax, VAT or national insurance.
Peru's government has severed diplomatic relations with Mexico over the asylum claim of former Peruvian prime minister Betssy Chávez
Peru’s government has announced the country is severing diplomatic relations with Mexico over the asylum claim of former Peruvian prime minister Betssy Chávez, who is under investigation for rebellion.
Peruvian foreign minister Hugo de Zela told reporters that Mexico’s decision to grant Chávez asylum at its embassy in Peru’s capital, Lima, constituted an “unfriendly act” that adds to the existing tensions between the two countries. The office of Peru’s president José Jerí in a statement then accused Mexico’s government of “repeated” interference with the internal affairs of the South American country.
Police are often not equipped to deal with mental health callouts. Alternative first responders are better placed to de-escalate tension and reduce harm
When police tasered and killed Clare Nowland – a 95-year-old aged care resident with dementia – after her nursing home called triple zero for help managing her behaviour, her family were devastated and the public was shocked.
How could a frail and elderly woman on a walking frame, albeit grasping a steak knife, die in such a violent way?
New David Attenborough show’s use of drones and moving cameras creates immersive experience like Adolescence
David Attenborough’s new BBC series Kingdom has broken ground by using elements from TV dramas, such as cliffhangers and drone and moving-camera shots, to immerse viewers “into the action” like the hit Netflix drama Adolescence did.
Since the advent of streaming services, there has been an increase in natural history TV shows thanks to the worldwide appeal of the genre popularised by Attenborough and the renowned BBC Studios natural history unit (NHU).
Zelenskyy says the air defence systems being put into action while in embattled eastern city Russian troops haven’t advanced over past day. What we know on day 1,350
Ukraine has received more US-made Patriot air defence systems from Germany to help it counter Russia’s daily barrages, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.“More Patriots are now in Ukraine and being put into operation,” the Ukrainian president said on social media. “Of course, more systems are needed to protect key infrastructure sites and our cities across the entire territory of our state.” The Patriot systems are the most effective weapon against Russian missiles and Zelenskyy has pleaded with western partners to provide more of them. He thanked Germany and its chancellor Friedrich Merz for the Patriots.
Russian drones hit a house and killed a man as well as injuring five members of his family in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region, authorities said. Two women were also injured in a separate Sumy attack overnight to Monday. “The Russians cynically targeted people – deliberately, at night, while they were sleeping,” regional head Oleh Hryhorov said. Russian missiles started a fire at a business in the central city of Dnipro, injuring one man, and also struck energy infrastructure in the southern Mykolaiv region.
Russia said on Monday its troops had advanced in the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk but Ukraine said its forces were holding on. The Russian defence ministry said its soldiers were destroying what it described as surrounded Ukrainian formations near the railway station and industrial zone of Pokrovsk – a key logistics hub dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk” – and had entered the city’s Prigorodny area and dug in there.
Zelenskyy said Russia was massing troops by the nearby town of Dobropillia, where Kyiv’s forces advanced earlier this year in a counteroffensive. Describing the situation in Dobropillia as complicated, he said Russian forces had lost the initiative in the area but were bringing in more troops. He said Pokrovsk remained under severe pressure but Russian troops had made no gains in the past day. Up to 300 Russian servicemen were still in the city, he said. “About 30% of all combat actions on the front take place in Pokrovsk.” Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said his forces had stepped up pressure on Dobropillia with the aim of forcing Russia to divert its focus away from Pokrovsk. The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.
The Russian army made steady gains in Ukraine in October as it focused attacks on the eastern Donetsk region, an AFP analysis of data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War showed. Russia took 461 sq km (286 sq miles) from Ukraine in the month, the data showed. That pace was in line with the average monthly gain this year, down from a surge in July when Russia seized 634 sq km. Russia now controls 81% of the Donetsk region, while controlling – or claiming to control – 19.2% of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula.
A computer game-style drone attack system has gone “viral” among Ukrainian military units and is being extended to reconnaissance, artillery and logistics operations. Rob Booth has the story.
Ukraine will set up offices for arms exports and joint weapons production in Berlin and Copenhagen this year, Zelenskyy said on Monday. He said naval drones and artillery systems were among the weapons that Kyiv would be able to export, he said. “This is [about] co-production and export … of the weapons that we can allow ourselves to sell, in order to have more money for our internal production of deficit items for which we don’t have the money.”
Zelenskyy said he discussed additional support for Ukraine’s energy sector in a call with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, amid ongoing Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy supply as winter approaches. “We are working to cover the amount needed for gas imports,” Zelenskyy said, adding that von der Leyen promised additional assistance.
Ukraine is showing “remarkable commitment” to joining the EU but must reverse recent negative trends in the fight against corruption and accelerate rule of law reforms, the European Commission has said in a draft text. The text – seen by Reuters on Monday and part of an EU enlargement report expected to be adopted on Tuesday – said that “despite the very difficult circumstances the country finds itself in on account of Russia’s war of aggression, Ukraine continued to demonstrate remarkable commitment to the EU accession path over the past year”. Ukraine has been pushing to make progress on its 2022 application to join the EU, despite the challenges of Russia’s war and EU member Hungary blocking Kyiv from formally moving to the next phase of negotiations.
France opened investigations against the e-commerce giant for selling the items, just days before it was due to open a physical store in Paris
E-commerce company Shein has announced it will ban sex dolls from sale on its sites, after French authorities condemned the company for featuring some that resembled children.
In a statement on Monday, the company said that it was imposing a “total ban on sex-doll-type products” and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. A spokesperson told the AFP news agency the ban applied globally.
Sheffield Hallam University ordered professor to cease human rights study into Uyghurs forced labour in China
An investigation into allegations that a British university was subjected to pressure from Beijing authorities to halt research about human rights abuses in China has been referred to counter-terrorism police.
The Guardian reported on Monday morning that Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC) research institution, had ordered professor Laura Murphy to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in the country in February.
Scientists say almost all have weaknesses in at least one area that can ‘undermine validity of resulting claims’
Experts have found weaknesses, some serious, in hundreds of tests used to check the safety and effectiveness of new artificial intelligence models being released into the world.
Computer scientists from the British government’s AI Security Institute, and experts at universities including Stanford, Berkeley and Oxford, examined more than 440 benchmarks that provide an important safety net.
President backs Cuomo in election eve Truth Social post as Mamdani hits back at Trump’s ‘threat – it is not the law’
On the eve of New York’s well-watched mayoral election, President Donald Trump issued a threat to its voters: stop Zohran Mamdani or pay.
“If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad.”
Lawyers for Patterson, 51, signalled they would be appealing last month, but the deadline for her to lodge the challenge to the court of appeal passed late yesterday.
Australian households in three states will be promised access to at least three hours a day of free solar power, regardless of whether they have rooftop panels, the federal government has announced.
The “solar sharer” offer will be available to homes with smart meters – which is the majority of homes – in New South Wales, south-east Queensland and South Australia from July next year, with other areas to potentially follow in 2027.
Banks was convicted of killing 13 people, including his own children, in 1982 shooting in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
George Banks, one of the most notorious mass murderers in the US, has died.
Banks, 83, died on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix state prison in Pennsylvania, the state department of corrections said. Banks died of complications from renal neoplasm, or kidney cancer, said Montgomery county coroner Dr Janine Darby.
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