Viewpoint with Andrew Brown: What, exactly, is the point of a leader column?
ONE way or another, I have written leaders at least once for every broadsheet newspaper in London, except the Financial Times. For younger readers, “broadsheet” was a style of printing newspapers on large sheets of paper, now represented only by the FT and the Telegraph. To write leaders is a bit like manufacturing a cryptocurrency: they have value only to the extent that people believe that they do. But this was nonsense even in the days when people got their news from physical papers rather than their phone screens. The warrant for thoughtful and well-informed discussions is now no longer the surrounding daily newspaper, but the writer’s byline.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 23:32 UTC
Book review: Preaching for the Planet: Sermons on creation and climate by Jenny Wilson
Jenny Wilson dwells with the earth in this book and finds that, through that lens, new perspectives are found, and the preaching imagination is transformed. Besides drawing deeply from the scriptures, Wilson refers to prophetic voices who also speak up for the earth: St Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis, Sir David Attenborough. Each sermon is attentive to a planet that groans in pain from exploitation and climate catastrophe, longing for rest and renewal. She is preaching here for all things loved by God, who creates, redeems and sanctifies the planet as also humanity. Preaching for the Planet: Sermons on creation and climateJenny WilsonSacristy Press £14.99(978-1-78959-355-6)Church Times Bookshop £13.49
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 23:32 UTC
Andrew Tate Is Accused of Rape and Threatening a Woman With Gun in U.K. Lawsuit
Andrew Tate, the online influencer known for his misogynistic views, has been accused of raping two women and threatening one of them with a gun, in a claim filed in Britain’s High Court. The accusations are part of a civil suit filed by the two women, and two others, last June against Mr. Tate. The four British women are suing Mr. Tate for alleged abuse relating to a period when he was living in England, between 2013 and 2015. All four women accuse him of choking them, and two of them, one of whom was working for him at the time, accuse him of rape. One woman who worked for Mr. Tate’s webcam business in 2015, said in the claim that Mr. Tate, a former kickboxer, raped her and beat her with a belt.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 23:26 UTC
UK weather: wildfire warning as hottest day of the year expected
The UK is set to record its hottest day of the year so far on Friday with temperatures expected to reach 24C in southeast England. Some areas in the southern half of the UK are expected to exceed 21C, while London and parts of the southeast could reach 23C. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) urged caution and warned against using barbecues, saying the wildfire risk was “heightened” due to low rainfall. Dan Stroud, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said the average temperature for this time of the year was about 13C, so temperatures on Friday were expected to be about ten degrees above average. “We’ve got high pressure at the moment which effectively acts like a force field,” he said.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 23:08 UTC
Times letters: Keir Starmer’s promise to give 16-year-olds the vote
Write to letters@thetimes.co.ukSir, The prime minister’s pledge on voting by 16-year-olds smacks of political desperation (“Starmer says 16-year-olds will definitely get vote”, news, Apr 8). Anyone who, like me, has taught this age group will know that they are great fun but not fully formed as adults and hardly to be entrusted with voting rights. I taught at an Oxford college where first-year students (usually aged 18) were regularly described by a colleague as “kiddies”. He was popular and highly respected by students; in no way perceived as condescending. These young people, however bright, are not yet adults and voting for the nation’s future is a serious matter.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 23:04 UTC
Bank of England halts £600m auction of UK government bonds
The Bank of England has halted an auction on long-dated government bonds, making it the first central bank to respond to market jitters caused by President Trump’s erratic tariff policy decisions. In a statement on Thursday, the Bank of England said that “in light of recent market volatility” it had postponed a sale of 30-year UK sovereign bonds that was due to take place on April 14. Instead, the Bank will offload £750 million of short-dated bonds rather than £600 million of long-dated bonds. The Bank of England and other central banks are in the process of unwinding their quantitative easing programmes — buying to stimulate economic growth — where they purchased vast sums of sovereign and corporate bonds during the 2008 financial crisis and
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 20:13 UTC
UK bond yields fall sharply after Trump’s U-turn on tariffs
Britain’s long-term borrowing costs fell sharply from a 27-year high after President Trump paused his aggressive tariff policy in the face of global market turmoil. The yield on the 30-year UK government bond dropped 18 basis points to 5.404 per cent after two days of huge rises that pushed the yield up to its highest level since 1998. The rate on the benchmark ten-year UK government bond dropped by five basis points to 4.744 per cent. The pound strengthened by 0.48 per cent against the dollar to $1.28 and dropped by 0.22 per cent against the euro to €1.16. The downward move in UK bond
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 17:21 UTC
The unlikely town set to become the UK’s answer to Orlando
Now with a moviecentric Universal Studios Great Britain set to be built on an abandoned brickworks just outside of the town, Bedford finally has the chance to become the main character. AdvertisementUniversal Studios Orlando GETTY IMAGESBut Bedford has been overlooked for too long. The opening of Universal Studios Great Britain could be the big break the town deserves. In the town centre, boutiques in the Arcade sell everything from records to upcycled furniture alongside Pop Studio4, a space where local artists work, exhibit and sell (thebedfordarcade.co.uk). The Embankment, running east along the River Great Ouse from the town centre to Russell Park in the Castle Quarter, is a masterpiece of Victorian design.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 17:07 UTC
Inside the STAR WARS that could push countries back to Edwardian times & would take ‘hundreds of years to recover’ from
Unfortunately, space currently resembles America's "Wild West" era, according to Turner, where the "first person to get there sets the rules". 5Orbital weaponryThere are all kinds of orbital weaponry currently being developed, from chemical lasers and particle beams to top-secret military space planes. Moscow is also reportedly developing a nuclear space weapon that could create a massive energy burst and destroy multiple satellites in one wave. Speaking at the 40th Space Foundation Space Symposium in Colorado on Tuesday, Whiting claimed that China had "accelerated their terrestrial and on-orbit space weapons, expanded their space-enabled kill chains and are moving at breathtaking speed". Andrew Turner CBEAnd because of the newfound accessibility of space, warfare is expected to elevate into orbit.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 17:06 UTC
Five times John Lydon proved he was a hypocrite
Five times John Lydon proved his hypocrisyFor as long as he continues to remain in the public eye as a culturally relevant figure, you can always count on John Lydon to make a quotable remark, whether for better or worse. His remarks may have lacked the intellectual nuance of some of his other punk peers, but he was often happy stating things that others were terrified to be so blunt about. However, this Rotten persona that he created for himself would eventually prove to be exactly this: a carefully crafted character who thrived on aggravating everyone around him by rallying against popular opinion. Here are five of the best (or worst) examples of Lydon being a duplicitous fraud. Five times John Lydon proved his hypocrisy:
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 16:57 UTC
Masters LIVE: Rory McIlroy suffers late nightmare as rival humiliated
Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson all picked Rory McIlroy to get his green jacket this week. "I think it's about time that Rory won and I sat down with him last week," Nicklaus said. "I said ‘I know you prepared for Augusta, tell me how you're going to play the golf course.' "We went through it shot for shot, we got done with the round, I didn't open my mouth and I said ‘I wouldn't change a thing'. That's exactly the way I would try to play the golf course.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 15:53 UTC
Scottish NHS pay offer ‘sends powerful message’ to rest of UK
The latest NHS pay offer in Scotland “sends a really powerful message” to other UK countries about what can be achieved through direct pay negotiations, Unison Scotland’s co-lead for health has said. He said: “We welcome the fact that Scottish Government have tabled an offer so soon into the financial pay year. Scotland is the first UK country to table a pay offer for 2025-26. In contrast, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are all facing delays waiting for recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) before an offer can be made. Mr McLaughlin said the deal in Scotland “sends a really powerful message” to the other UK countries about the benefits of direct negotiations.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 15:32 UTC
Everton expect Manchester United target Jarrad Branthwaite to leave Goodison Park this summer - Paper Talk
THE SUNManchester United have been put on alert with Everton expecting to lose Jarrad Branthwaite this summer. Image: Manchester United have been put on alert with Everton expecting to lose Jarrad Branthwaite this summerEthan Nwaneri has been lined up for a huge pay rise after Arsenal opened talks over a new contract for the teen sensation. A Manchester United fan who is charged with assaulting Manchester City ace Jack Grealish at the end of Sunday's Manchester derby has been banned from Old Trafford. DAILY MAILThomas Tuchel has taken to personally letting English players know when he is attending their Premier League game in person out of courtesy. SCOTTISH SUNGreg Taylor's future remains up in the air, with his Celtic contract set to expire in the summer.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 15:04 UTC
'Battling genocide': Hamas asks UK to remove it from 'terrorist list'
Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, urged the British government to revoke its designation of the group as a terrorist organisation.In a detailed witness statement, submitted to a British court this week, Marzouk argued that the offensive was aimed towards military targets and that majority of civilians were targeted by non Hamas members.Marzouk described Hamas as “a Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project,” Times of Israel reported, quoting Drop Site News outlet. He also insisted that the group's actions do not pose any threat to the United Kingdom.The group is represented by a legal team from Riverway Law, pro bono, due to the legal restrictions on financial transactions. He also reaffirmed Hamas’s uncompromising position on the conflict, “Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea,” a position that implies the dissolution of Israel.Taking hostages, which is considered a crime against humanity, remains a key point of discussion as Hamas and other militant groups are still believed to be holding 59 hostages taken during the October 7 attack.According to Hamas’s health ministry in Gaza, over 50,000 people have been killed or are missing since the conflict began, though the figure remained unverified and did not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 combatants in Gaza and an additional 1,600 Hamas fighters during the October 7 incursion.Israel maintained that it seeks to minimise civilian casualties and accuses Hamas of deliberately operating within civilian areas such as hospitals, schools, and residential buildings to shield itself from attacks.Responding to the legal challenge, shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel told the Guardian, “Hamas is an evil Iranian-backed terrorist organization, which kidnaps, tortures and murders people, including British nationals.”The UK designated Hamas as an “Islamist terrorist group” in November 2021. Its military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, had been banned since 2001, but the designation was expanded to include its political wing.
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 14:06 UTC
Head of British military visits China for first time in a decade
The head of Britain’s armed forces has visited China to hold talks on security in an “unstable world” in the first trip by a chief of defence staff in a decade. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin discussed “strengthening military co-operation”, Beijing said. He gave an unprecedented speech to future Chinese military commanders at the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) National Defence University in Beijing on Wednesday. Radakin also held talks with General Liu Zhenli, a member of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of staff of the CMC joint staff department, Beijing confirmed, amid an escalating trade war between the US and China. According to China’s defence ministry, “the two sides
Source:The Times
April 10, 2025 13:59 UTC