BBC Proms to celebrate Miles Davis’s centenary and 250 years of US independence 21. April 2026 (15:02) This year’s programme to feature ambitious pieces with lots of notes – and that’s just prog nightThe BBC has announced the 2026 Proms season, the 99th under the broadcaster’s control (the so-called Promenade concerts began in 1895). Seventy-two concerts in the Royal Albert Hall and 14 across the UK – in Bristol, Gateshead and, in a Proms first, Mold – will showcase a vast range of UK classical music talent.Sam Jackson, controller, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Proms, hailed a “creatively bold season that packs a punch when it comes to international orchestras and names”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Requests for US legal aid linked to Palestine activism far surpass pre-2023 levels 21. April 2026 (15:00) Civil rights group logs 300% yearly rise from before war and says ‘authoritarian repression … went into overdrive’A civil rights group dedicated to the defense of pro-Palestinian speech said that requests for legal assistance linked to Palestine-related activism in the US continues to far surpass pre-2023 levels, having logged 300% more requests for support last year than in any year prior to Israel’s war in Gaza.Palestine Legal logged some 1,131 requests in 2025. That was less than the record 2,184 requests it received in 2024, amid the peak of student protests and encampments, but well above its yearly average prior to the October 7 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel’s response in Gaza. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Robbins v Starmer: the key points they disagree on over Mandelson vetting 21. April 2026 (14:51) Sacked civil servant says it was right not to tell PM that Mandelson had failed vetting – a view Starmer rejectsIn the last 24 hours, the two men at the heart of the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal have given their version of events: Keir Starmer, the prime minister, and Olly Robbins, the man he sacked as the head civil servant at the Foreign Office.Robbins’ testimony to the foreign affairs select committee on Tuesday completes much of the picture as to why Mandelson was given security clearance against the advice of vetting officials. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Purdue Pharma expected to forfeit $225m as sentence in criminal opioids case 21. April 2026 (14:40) Under settlement, Sackler family will pay state, local and Native American tribal governments, individual victims and othersSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA judge is expected to sentence OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to forfeit $225m to the US justice department on Tuesday, clearing the way for the company to finalize a settlement of thousands of lawsuits it faces over its role in the opioid crisis.The penalty was agreed to in a 2020 pact to resolve federal civil and criminal investigations it was facing. If the judge signs off, other penalties will not be collected in return for Purdue settling the other lawsuits. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Shabana Mahmood swears at hecklers over Reform UK comments 21. April 2026 (14:37) Home secretary accuses protesters of trying to ‘delegitimise’ concerns people have over immigrationUK politics live – latest updatesShabana Mahmood told “white liberal” hecklers to “fuck right off” after being accused at an on-stage event of copying the policies of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.The home secretary was barracked by a man who said he wanted to “personally thank you for out-Reforming Reform” during a live interview in central London on Monday. Two other audience members shouted “refugees welcome” as the man was removed by security. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Labor to tighten child NDIS eligibility to curb spending as Queensland MP warns change is ‘failing kids’ 21. April 2026 (14:30) Health minister faces backlash from states as he announces major changes to scheme ahead of May budgetGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNational disability insurance scheme service providers will be required to undergo mandatory character checks and eligibility rules will be tightened further for children under 18, as Labor moves to curb growth in the $50bn program.But the health minister, Mark Butler, faces a backlash from state counterparts as he announces major changes on Wednesday, with Queensland accusing federal Labor of walking away from responsibilities to families dependent on long-term care. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump’s latest border barrier plans to slice through Big Bend national park: ‘Our lives are being upended’ 21. April 2026 (14:00) The rural Texas region, long spared, is being fast-tracked for the border wall amid bipartisan oppositionTractors suddenly appeared at the entrance to Chispa Road near the US-Mexico border in rural Big Bend, Texas, in late March. Contractors informed Yolanda Alvarado, a cattle rancher, that they were starting work to upgrade the rough county dirt road there into a “highway” – the first step needed for semi trucks to haul the 30-foot steel pillars used to build Donald Trump’s border barrier.“That fence line, that’s where the wall is going to be,” said Alvarado, hopping out of the front seat of her flatbed truck at the gate to the family property located directly along the path of the proposed wall. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
George Ariyoshi, first US governor of Asian American descent, dies aged 100 21. April 2026 (13:53) Democrat led Hawaii from 1973 to 1986, coinciding with the party’s rise to power in the stateGeorge R Ariyoshi – Hawaii’s former governor and the nation’s first Asian American governor – has died at age 100.Ariyoshi, a Democrat who led the state from 1973 to 1986, died peacefully while surrounded by family on Sunday night, according to a statement Monday from the current governor, Josh Green. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Martin Scorsese’s film about Pope Francis to receive world premiere in Vatican City 21. April 2026 (13:53) Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis is being screened to commemorate the first anniversary of Francis’s deathMartin Scorsese’s documentary about Pope Francis is to have its world premiere in the Vatican today as one of a set of events commemorating the first anniversary of Francis’s death.The screening of the film, titled Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis, is being staged by Scholas Occurrentes, an international organisation aiming to “to encourage social integration and the culture of encounter through sports, arts and technology”, which was set up in Argentina by Francis in 2001 while he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and made into a foundation when he became pope in 2013. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Midtjylland footballer Alamara Djabi seriously injured after stabbing in Denmark 21. April 2026 (13:29) Incident occurred over the weekend in Herning, the central Danish town where the Superliga club are basedThe Midtjylland midfielder Alamara Djabi is in a stable condition after being stabbed and seriously injured, the Danish top-flight club said on Tuesday.The incident occurred over the weekend in Herning, the central Danish town where the club is based, according to Midtjylland. The 19-year-old, a product of the Benfica academy, joined the Danish Superliga club in 2023 and has made two senior appearances. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
