Category Archives: The Observer

Strikes inside Russia with US missiles key to Ukraine’s plan to end war, says Zelenskyy

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Zelenskyy will present ‘victory plan’ to US president during trip to Washington next week, when he is also likely to hold talks with Trump

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to carry out long-range strikes inside Russia with US-supplied weapons, and to earn “a place in history” by “strengthening Ukraine” before he leaves office.

Speaking before a crucial trip next week to Washington, where he will meet Biden and the US vice-president and presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, and address the UN, Zelenskyy said he would present a “victory plan” to end the war.

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Guardian parent company in talks over potential sale of Observer

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Guardian Media Group announces it is in negotiations with Tortoise Media over world’s oldest Sunday newspaper

The Guardian’s parent company has announced that it is in formal negotiations with Tortoise Media over the potential sale of the Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper.

Guardian Media Group (GMG) told staff it was in negotiations with the Observer after being approached with an offer that was significant enough to look at in more detail.

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Hamas’s stealth attack will be remembered as Israeli intelligence failure for the ages

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Israel’s advanced surveillance of Palestinians makes scenes of Hamas gunmen moving through its streets all the more astounding

Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war, will be remembered as an intelligence failure for the ages.

In the space of several hours, dozens of Gaza militants broke through the border fence into southern Israel, surprising local military positions.

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Guardian and Observer photographer Eamonn McCabe dies aged 74

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Tributes paid to one of the most celebrated newspaper photographers and picture editors of his generation

Eamonn McCabe, one of the most celebrated and admired newspaper photographers and picture editors of his generation, has died aged 74.

McCabe was a multi-award-winning sports photographer at the Observer from 1976 and later became a trailblazing picture editor of the Guardian at a key moment in its history. His third act was as a portrait photographer, with 29 examples of his work in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

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Court-appointed expert can be named in ‘parental alienation’ case

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Observer victory after judge rules in transparency battle in family courts in England and Wales

A judge has ruled that a court-appointed expert can be named after their qualifications and conduct were challenged by a mother who claimed key evidence they provided led her children to be removed from her care against their wishes.

The case raises questions about the regulation and use of psychological experts appointed to the family courts, in particular when allegations of “parental alienation” are made – meaning a child has unjustly rejected one parent due to manipulation by the other. The Observer won an application to name the expert in the case after making a series of submissions to the family court.

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Acclaimed foreign correspondent Hugh O’Shaughnessy dies aged 87

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Former Observer journalist was perhaps best known for his courageous coverage of Pinochet’s brutal coup in Chile in 1973

Hugh O’Shaughnessy, the admired journalist known for his reporting on Latin America, has died aged 87.

The former Observer correspondent won a series of awards during an illustrious career largely spent covering the rapidly changing social and political landscape of South America.

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Guardian and Observer climate justice charity appeal raises £500,000

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Nearly 6,000 readers have donated towards causes that will help communities affected by the climate crisis

An incredible £500,000 has been raised for climate justice good causes by generous Guardian and Observer readers, in the space of just over a fortnight since the launch of the 2021 charity appeal.

Nearly 6,000 people have so far donated to the appeal, which will be shared between four charities: Practical Action, Global Greengrants Fund UK, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and Environmental Justice Foundation.

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‘Saddam Hussein’s spies in London laid a trap – and sent my son Farzad to his death’

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Nosrat Bazoft, mother of the Observer reporter executed by the tyrant in 1990, reveals for the first time how the unreported theft of a briefcase of documents on a secret Iraqi weapon may have sealed her son’s fate.

Leaning back in a loose cotton shirt within the lobby of Baghdad’s Royal Tulip Al Rasheed hotel, Farzad Bazoft looks like a man at ease. Despite investigating Iraq’s secret arms programme in the back yard of Saddam Hussein, the Observer journalist knew that the following day he would be gone, back to the safety of London.

Farzad never made it to the UK. The picture chronicles his last night of freedom. Within 24 hours he would be imprisoned in solitary confinement. Then he would be starved and beaten, the start of a chain of events that would culminate, amid international furore, with his execution at the behest of Saddam.

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‘Brilliant and versatile’ Observer and Guardian journalist Sarah Hughes dies at 48

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Hughes’ work ranged from hard-hitting overseas reports, to sport and television writing as well as candid accounts of coping with cancer

Tributes have been paid to Sarah Hughes, the Observer and Guardian journalist who has died from cancer.

Hughes, a mother of two, was a hugely respected journalist whose work ranged from hard-hitting and acclaimed overseas reportage, to the television and entertainment writing that she went on to specialise in.

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Britain is leaving Europe. The Guardian is not

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The editor-in-chief explains why the Guardian is deepening its commitment to European voices, issues and people

Today we are making a renewed and deeper commitment to reporting on every aspect of Europe – the continent, its people, its politics, institutions, economy and culture.

The Guardian is a European news organisation with a close relationship with our large and committed audience in Europe. And we believe readers, from Paris to Porto, Madrid to Munich, want journalism that tries to understand our continent better and to explore hopeful solutions to the crises and challenges facing it. At this critical moment in history, where many are turning to disengagement, introspection and national self-interest, we will stay open to shared perspectives and the public sphere.

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Alex Duval Smith, former Guardian journalist, dies at 55

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Tributes paid to former Africa correspondent, who died in Paris after sudden infection

Alex Duval Smith, the Guardian’s former Africa correspondent and most recently a freelance journalist across west Africa, has died aged 55.

Duval Smith had been undergoing intensive treatment for lung cancer diagnosed in August last year. She died in Paris on Saturday following a sudden and severe pulmonary infection, close friends said.

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