Story of Black British music writ large in first exhibition at V&A East 18. April 2026 (11:00) Museum says The Music is Black is part of a push to reposition scene as central to UK’s cultural historyJacqueline Springer is standing in the middle of the V&A’s new exhibition space looking wistfully at a pair of drainpipe trousers, a tailored suit jacket and a porkpie hat, which create the unmistakable silhouette of Pauline Black, lead singer of the 2 Tone group the Selector.Springer is the curator of the V&A East’s inaugural exhibition, The Music is Black, a landmark survey of Black British music, which opens this weekend. It starts with the early drumbeats in Africa and takes us right up to the latest innovations in pop and drill via jungle, grime, garage and two-tone. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Central bank bosses enlist for war game to gauge threat of Lehman-style bust 18. April 2026 (11:00) Finance chiefs to join exercise in Washington designed to assess how they would handle collapse of significant bankThe bosses of the central banks and treasuries of the UK, US and EU are to take part in a war game in Washington on Saturday to test how they would handle the collapse of a globally significant bank.Amid growing unease over the risks to global financial stability, the most senior officials from the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England – including its governor, Andrew Bailey – are expected to take part. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Venezuela’s Machado to hold Madrid rally as opposition frozen out after Maduro capture 18. April 2026 (10:00) Exiled leader to revive push for change amid US backing of Delcy Rodríguez and delays to democratic transitionVenezuela’s opposition leader, María Corina Machado, will seek to revive her push for political change with a rally in Madrid on Saturday, having found herself sidelined by Donald Trump after the abduction of the president Nicolás Maduro.“Venezuela will be free,” the Nobel peace prize winner insisted in an interview on the eve of this weekend’s demonstration in the Puerta del Sol square, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Russian blogger’s fierce critique of Kremlin goes viral: ‘People are afraid of you’ 18. April 2026 (10:00) Victoria Bonya says authorities too scared to raise issues with Vladimir Putin, whose approval ratings are decliningThe Kremlin is grappling with the fallout from the viral spread of a celebrity blogger’s criticism of Russian authorities, as Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings register their sixth consecutive weekly decline.Victoria Bonya, a household name in Russia who rose to fame in 2006 on Dom-2, the country’s answer to the reality TV show Big Brother, posted a video on Monday warning the Russian president that a string of mounting problems risked spiralling out of control. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Father of man who inspired Super Mario was also named Luigi, researcher finds 18. April 2026 (09:00) Elisabeth Zetland, a senior researcher at MyHeritage, found that the actual Luigi has immigrated to US from ItalyThe Washington state businessman who inspired Nintendo to give the name Mario to its mustachioed, superhero plumber did not have a brother named Luigi like the fictional video game star famously does.But it has only just been determined that Nintendo may have unknowingly named its mascot’s brother after another of the real-life Mario’s close relatives: his father, Luigi, whose biography evokes that of millions of 20th-century US immigrants from Italy. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Young Bulgarians hold out for change in eighth election in five years 18. April 2026 (09:00) Voters broadly split along generational lines as pro-Russian former president leads in pollsAnna Bodakova’s days tend to be rather hectic at the moment. Hopping between meeting voters on the street, political debates and recording videos for social media, the 23-year-old is standing to become an MP in Bulgaria’s general election.Last year she was among the many young Bulgarians who participated in countrywide mass protests over the government’s economic policies and perceived failure to tackle corruption. Those protests ultimately resulted in the resignation of the prime minister, Rosen Zhelyazkov, and his cabinet in December. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Middle East crisis live: Iran warns it will close strait of Hormuz if US blockade continues 18. April 2026 (08:41) Iranian parliamentary speaker also says passage through waterway will depend on Iranian authorisation and accuses Donald Trump of multiple falsehoodsIran says strait of Hormuz ‘completely open’ to commercial vessels as oil prices fallA convoy of tankers was seen departing the Gulf and transiting the strait of Hormuz on Saturday, vessel-tracking data showed.The group comprised four liquefied petroleum gas carriers and several oil product and chemical tankers, with more tankers following from the Gulf, according to MarineTraffic data cited by Reuters. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Winners and judges out of pocket as £20,000 writing awards appear to have closed 18. April 2026 (08:00) The Plaza Prizes offered 10 awards in 2025 but some judges say they were not paid, while a number of winners hit back over AI accusationsA competition for new writers that promised a £20,000 prize fund appears to have shut down, leaving winners and judges, including a Booker prize-winning novelist, out of pocket.Established in 2022, the Plaza Prizes last year offered 10 awards that were judged by the “finest poets and writers in the world”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Green MP: Labour caricatures working-class people over greyhound racing 18. April 2026 (08:00) Hannah Spencer says minister ‘continuously offends people by saying working-class people don’t care about dogs’Labour is “offensively caricaturing” working-class people by saying they do not want a greyhound racing ban in England, the Green party MP Hannah Spencer has said.The sport has traditionally been associated with working-class culture and has historically been popular in so-called red wall areas, which Labour insiders suggest is part of the reason why there are no plans for England to follow bans announced last month in Scotland and Wales. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
