Broadcasters too reliant on vox pop interviews and failing to challenge politicians, says study

Union says emphasis on academic goals conflicts with proposed measures on special educational needs provisionChanges to special educational needs provision in England could be thwarted by “academic attainment at all costs” policies that prioritise exam results and punish inclusive schools, headteachers have said in response to a government consultation.The Association of School and College Leaders said the government’s emphasis on academic goals conflicted with its measures designed to help mainstream schools accommodate more children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send). Continue reading...

England wins highest percentage per entry at International Wine Challenge, with Kent the country’s best regionEnglish wines won the highest percentage of gold medals per entry in a global competition, with experts describing the improvement as remarkable.At the International Wine Challenge, English wines are winning more gold medals than ever. In 2025, the country won 10, but this year it was awarded 25.M&S Champagne Delacourt Vintage Blanc de Blancs 2017, FranceM&S Collection Barossa Valley Shiraz 2024, AustraliaExceptional Botrytis Riesling 2017, Aldi, New ZealandExceptional Asti NV, Aldi, ItalyFletcher’s LBV Port 2021, Aldi, PortugalTesco Finest Picpoul de Pinet 2024 Les Costières de Pomerols, FranceTesco Finest Barolo 2021 Fratelli Martini Secondo Luigi, ItalySainsbury’s Taste the Difference Rioja Gran Reserva 2018, CVNE, Spain Continue reading...

Keisha Lance Bottoms wins Democratic primary outright, while Republicans Burt Jones and Rick Jackson will face offThe Republican primary campaign for Georgia governor will go to a June runoff, with the lieutenant governor Burt Jones facing off against healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson – and locking out Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state and longtime political enemy of Donald Trump who was on track to finish a distant third.The Republican race to challenge the US senator Jon Ossoff remains similarly unresolved, while former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic primary for governor outright. Continue reading...

Millions of litres of sewage have been spilling into the capital city’s waters since February after the catastrophic failure of a Moa Point wastewater plantA fix to stop millions of litres of sewage continuing to pour into the waters off the coast of New Zealand’s capital, Wellington will be in place by November, officials have said, with full repairs at the cost of NZ$53.5m by late next year.More than 100 days since the catastrophic failure of the city’s wastewater treatment plant on 4 February, a mix of raw and partially screened human effluent is still being flushed directly into the Pacific Ocean. Continue reading...

Abrupt exit for charge d’affaires who stood in after Peter Mandelson’s removal as US ambassadorA diplomat in Washington who stood in as interim ambassador after the sacking of Peter Mandelson has abruptly left his post.In a brief statement, a Foreign Office spokesman said: “James Roscoe has left his post.” No further explanation was officially given on Tuesday night for the departure of Roscoe, who had served as deputy head of mission at the British embassy since 2022. Continue reading...

Tom Phillips on life in the country four months after the US abduction of the former president Nicolás Maduro“The last time I flew out of Venezuela was right at the start of August 2024, just after the disputed presidential election,” the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, tells Annie Kelly.“It was a moment of real turmoil. There was a huge wave of repression that was unfolding as Nicolás Maduro tried to silence any kind of dissent to his bogus claim to have won that election. Thousands were thrown in prison, many were going underground, and journalists were racing to get out of the country.” Continue reading...

At annual I/O conference, company debuts a product for everyday consumers to create autonomous AI agentsGoogle announced Tuesday that it would expand its search bar, the centerpiece of the most-visited website in the world, with a heavy dose of artificial intelligence. The tech giant is also trying its hand at hi-tech glasses again, more than a decade after wearers of its first eyewear were dubbed “glassholes” and laughed out of San Francisco.Google executives announced at the company’s annual conference for software developers, Google I/O, that its search box would accommodate longer and more specific queries than before – questions more like those people would ask one another than Search’s idiosyncratic syntax. The changes will direct users to engage directly with Google’s chatbot. The change to search is underpinned by the company’s new artificial intelligence model, Gemini 3.5, announced the same day. Continue reading...

Move brings an end to a 60 day visa-free stay that was agreed with 93 countries, including the UK, US and much of EuropeThailand is drastically cutting the length of visa-free stays for tourists from more than 90 countries in an effort to curb crime involving foreign nationals, officials said on Tuesday.Tourism is vital to the south-east Asian nation’s economy, but foreign arrivals are yet to return to their pre-Covid levels. Continue reading...

Victory for Ed Gallrein, former Navy Seal hand-picked by Trump, shows strength of president’s grip on party Donald Trump displayed his supremacy over the Republican party on Tuesday when voters in northern Kentucky rejected the maverick congressman Thomas Massie in favour of the US president’s hand-picked challenger.Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy Seal and farmer who was recruited into the race by Trump, defeated the seven-term incumbent in a primary election in Kentucky’s fourth congressional district in what the president’s allies framed as a test of whether dissent could still exist inside today’s Republican party. Continue reading...

Single strike on the village of Deir Qanoun al Nahr in the coastal Tyre province killed 10, including three children and three women, health ministry saysIsraeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed at least 19 people, including four women and three children, Lebanon’s health ministry said, the latest in near-daily attacks from both sides that have not stopped despite a fragile, US-brokered ceasefire.Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the casualties or specific incidents, but said that between Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon, it had targeted more than 25 sites of Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon. Continue reading...

The Emirates erupted as the Gunners were crowned champions – with expats, drivers and a boy in pyjamas out to celebrate‘Twenty-two years,” said the father to his son, shaking his head reflectively. “Twenty-two effing years.” Standing outside the Emirates Stadium among an ever-growing crowd, he was not alone in trying to get a handle on his feelings. Arsenal had just won their first league title in a generation, after all.From the moment Eli Junior Kroupi gave Bournemouth a first-half lead over Manchester City, the red part of north London was preparing to party. Arsenal’s only rivals for the title had to win to take their duel to the final day. A half-time deficit was not a good start. The landlord of the gridlocked Gunners pub on Blackstock Road had a glass of champagne in his hand, though it may have been something to do with the prospective takings. Continue reading...