Calls for ‘student premium’ to support disadvantaged young people after GCSEs 28. April 2026 (08:00) Social mobility groups say post-16 funding gap risks young people falling out of education, work and trainingA coalition of 14 social mobility organisations is urging the government to fund a “student premium” to support disadvantaged young people post-16 and prevent them from “falling through the cracks” into joblessness.State-funded schools in England currently receive additional pupil premium funding to support children from low-income backgrounds, who are eligible for free school meals. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Jimmy Kimmel defends Melania ‘widow’ joke after the Trumps call for him to be fired 28. April 2026 (07:50) First lady accuses the comedian of ‘hateful and violent rhetoric’ over joke made days before the White House press dinner shootingJimmy Kimmel has refused to apologise for a joke made days before the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting in which he described Melania Trump as glowing “like an expectant widow”, after both Donald Trump and the first lady accused him of inciting violence.On Monday Melania Trump accused Kimmel of “hateful and violent rhetoric” and “atrocious behavior”, and said it was “time for ABC to take a stand” against the comedian, who has long been critical of Trump and his policies. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump fires independent board overseeing National Science Foundation 28. April 2026 (07:29) Positions ‘terminated, effective immediately’, says email to scientists sent on president’s behalf, in move labelled ‘dangerous attack’ on US innovationThe Trump administration has fired members of an independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF).Members of the National Science Board received an email on Friday sent from the Presidential Personnel Office “on behalf of President Donald J Trump” stating that their position was “terminated, effective immediately”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Media freedom ‘under sustained attack’ across EU as public trust drops, report finds 28. April 2026 (07:00) Journalists face rising threats while media ownership is concentrated in fewer hands, leading civil liberties group warnsJournalists in the EU face increasing levels of harassment, threats and violence, while news outlets are owned by a shrinking number of proprietors and public trust in the media has plummeted, a report has found.The Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) said the findings of its fifth annual media freedom report, released on Tuesday, should place EU officials “on high alert”, with media freedom and pluralism “under sustained attack” across mainland Europe. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Welsh Labour faces ‘existential’ change as party braces for May election defeat 28. April 2026 (07:00) ‘Critical debate’ about party’s identity and direction looms if it loses control of Senedd next month after 27 years in powerWelsh Labour is the democratic world’s most successful election-winning machine, coming first in Wales in every general election since 1922 and every devolved election since 1999. Come next month’s Senedd election, however, this history-making run is expected to end.Labour’s collapse has left a vacuum, and former Labour voters are going to opposite ends of the political spectrum. Plaid Cymru and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK are neck and neck in the latest poll, although coalition maths make it highly unlikely Reform would be able to form a government. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Victorian Society publishes list of most endangered buildings in England and Wales 28. April 2026 (06:00) Tees Transporter Bridge and a former working men’s club in Barrow-in-Furness among sites at risk of decay or neglectTeesside’s Transporter Bridge, a disinfecting station in Hackney and a former working men’s club in Barrow-in-Furness have been included on a list ringing alarm bells for Victorian and Edwardian heritage.The Victorian Society has published its annual top 10 endangered buildings list, intended as a way of drawing national attention to at-risk places in England and Wales. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Israel’s direction poses ‘existential threat’ to Judaism, UK’s leading progressive rabbis warn 28. April 2026 (06:00) Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy say criticising Israeli government is not disloyalty but a Jewish obligationThe UK’s most senior progressive rabbis have warned that Israel’s current political direction risks becoming “incompatible with Jewish values”, while insisting that criticism of the country’s government is “a Jewish obligation” rather than an act of disloyalty.Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Rabbi Josh Levy, co-leads of Progressive Judaism – the newly formed movement representing around a third of synagogues in the UK – said Israel’s trajectory could pose an “existential threat” not just to the country itself but to Judaism. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Rachel Reeves’s fiscal rules buffer should be ‘significantly larger’, say peers 28. April 2026 (06:00) Lord committee says chancellor and recent predecessors have allowed themselves too little room for manoeuvreBusiness live – latest updatesRachel Reeves should aim to run a “significantly larger” buffer against her fiscal rules, according to a report from a House of Lords committee that says the UK’s public debt is on an unsustainable trajectory.The chancellor raised taxes at last year’s budget in order to more than double the “headroom”, or buffer, against her fiscal rules to £22bn – some of which is expected to be eroded by the impact of the Iran war. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Sudan paramilitary leaders acquired £17.7m property portfolio in Dubai, investigation reveals 28. April 2026 (06:00) The RSF leadership, accused of committing genocide, used UAE as a ‘safe haven’ for family members and their wealth, records showA network linked to the leadership of a militia accused of genocide has amassed a vast property portfolio in Dubai as part of a sprawling “paramilitary-industrial complex” across Africa and the Middle East, an investigation has revealed.Family members, sanctioned individuals, and entities linked to the leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, have acquired more than 20 luxury properties, worth £17.7m, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the Sentry, a US investigative group. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Humanoid robots to become baggage handlers in Japan airport experiment 28. April 2026 (05:14) Japan Airlines will introduce the robots for trial run at a Tokyo airport amid country’s surge in inbound tourism and worsening labour shortagesJapan’s famously conscientious but overburdened baggage handlers will soon be joined by extra staff at Tokyo’s Haneda airport – although their new colleagues will need to take regular recharging breaks.Japan Airlines will introduce humanoid robots on a trial basis from the beginning of May, with a view to deploying them permanently as a solution to the country’s chronic labour shortage. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
