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A rollicking statue, Beryl’s buddies and a swimming pool in a roundabout – the week in art
This week’s Guardian art roundup highlights Tschabalala Self’s new Fourth Plinth statue in Trafalgar Square, described as a joyful, “rollicking” work that critics say echoes the vibrant, saucy energy of the late painter Beryl Cook, whose work is also on show nearby in Bicester. The piece matters as a rare, widely visible piece of public…
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Rocket Report: Europe joins the commercial launch club; a Ravn X sighting?
Europe’s commercial launch industry passed a milestone as German company Isar Aerospace put its Spectrum rocket into orbit on only its second attempt, becoming the first fully commercial European launch provider to reach orbit. The success matters because it positions Isar as the clear frontrunner among several European startups trying to break the continent’s reliance…
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Green Party backlash as members push to end support for Ukraine as leading activist behind amendment says President Zelenskyy is a ‘sacrificial partner’ in ‘NATO’s war’
The Green Party is facing internal turmoil after more than a dozen members and activists tabled an amendment to strip a conference motion of its call to increase military aid to Ukraine, replacing it with language urging a negotiated settlement and a “departure from militarised responses.” The amendment, put forward by activist Ashley Tubb, describes…
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‘Delay the meals’: Mikel Arteta reveals latest maverick Arsenal methods
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed he deliberately sets his players unusual challenges, such as delaying meals before matches and overheating the dressing room, to prepare them for unexpected disruptions on matchdays. The comments follow Arsenal’s flight to Naples for their Champions League opener against Napoli being delayed by more than five hours, forcing Arteta…
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Charli XCX announces 2027 UK and European ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ tour
Charli XCX has confirmed a UK and European arena tour for February 2027, in support of her latest album, ‘Music, Fashion, Film’, which was released in July. The announcement followed her headline set at Reading & Leeds last month and coincided with the North American leg of the same tour opening in Philadelphia, giving fans…
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‘Just worry upon worry’: Europe faces a bleak winter as supply shock pushes factories to the brink
Manufacturers across Europe, from a Shropshire aluminium plant to steel firms in Hamburg, are facing a severe energy crisis this winter after wholesale gas prices doubled in two months. The surge follows renewed fighting between the US and Iran, which has disrupted shipping through the strait of Hormuz, a vital route for a fifth of…
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Moment giant water spout bears down on tourist boat in Italy as country is lashed with deadly flash floods and storms
A giant waterspout swept close to a tourist boat off the coast of northern Italy on Thursday morning, part of a wider spell of severe weather that has left at least two people dead and caused widespread flooding and destruction across the country. Footage captured the towering vortex churning across the sea near Rapallo, narrowly…
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MI5 chief warns Britain faces greater danger now than on 9/11
Sir Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, has used an exclusive op-ed for The Independent marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11 to warn that Britain now faces a more dangerous and complex threat landscape than it did in 2001. He argues that alongside the enduring menace of Islamist terrorism, the UK must now also contend…
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Putin has two years left to fight, says Ukraine’s top spy chief
Ukraine’s foreign intelligence chief, Lieutenant General Oleh Ivashchenko, has said Russia has at most two years of capacity left to continue fighting, with heavy troop losses, low morale and economic strain likely to erode Vladimir Putin’s ability to sustain the war by 2028. The assessment matters because it offers a rare official Ukrainian projection of…