A Russian spy ship has directed lasers at Royal Air Force pilots monitoring its movements near UK waters. What is President Vladimir Putin trying to achieve with this latest provocation? Scotland has qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Can this rare moment of sporting joy help unite the nation? Meanwhile, councils are weighing up the sale of youth and community centres. What consequences could these closures have for local communities?

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Assistant Sports Editor, Jessica Hayden, Data and Graphics reporter, Becky Pinnington, and Contributing Editor on National Security, Bernard Gray, as they battle it out to pitch the top stories of the day. 

Get your ticket for the News Meeting Live HERE 

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
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Host: Giles Whitell

Producer: Amalie Sortland

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore 

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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The Home Secretary has announced a raft of tough immigration controls to make the UK a less attractive destination for illegal migrants. The former Prime Minister of Bangladesh was sentenced to death, how is the UK connected to alleged corruption in her regime? And why does President Donald Trump suddenly want to release the Epstein files?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Cat Neilan, Bex Sander and Serena Cesareo, as they battle it out to pitch the top stories of the day. 

Listen to our Londongrad podcast series HERE

Get your ticket for the News Meeting Live HERE 

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Amalie Sortland

Executive Producer: Katie Gunning

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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Twenty thousand documents from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released. Could emails referencing Donald Trump divide his loyal MAGA base? Has a No. 10 briefing warning backbenchers about a possible coup exposed a vulnerability in Keir Starmer’s leadership? And Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion, but is that even possible?

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Alexi Mostrous, Chloe Hadjimatheou and Poppy Bullard, as they battle it out and pitch the top stories of the day. 

Get your ticket for the News Meeting Live HERE 

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Giles Whitell

Producer: Casey Magloire 

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore 

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why are so many prisoners being released from prison by mistake? What happens if Arts Council England goes under? And what can the Democrats learn from Mamdani’s New York City mayoral election victory?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Deputy Sports Editor, Andrew Butler, Arts and Media Editor, Vanessa Thorpe, and reporter Jon Ungoed-Thomas as they pitch their top stories of the day.

Must Reads:

• Days of wine and noses: the life of a critic

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
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Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Amalie Sortland

Executive Producers: Matt Russell and Poppy Bullard

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will there be any voter suppression in Tuesday’s US elections? Why did a British university prevent one of its academics from researching human rights abuses in China? Are Sudan’s rebels using British-made equipment on the  battlefield?

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Data and Graphics editor, Katie Riley, Senior Audio Producer Katie Gunning, and Senior Researcher Serena Cesareo as they pitch their top stories of the day

Must Reads:

• She Was Ready To Have Her 15th Child. Then The Felony Charges Began.
• The Great Ghosting Paradox
• The Cocaine Kingpin Living It Large In Dubai
• Assata Shakur Obituary

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

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• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
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Host: Giles Whitell

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Jasper Corbett

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do we do with the knowledge that climate change made Hurricane Melissa worse? Why was there such a deadly police raid in Brazil? And why isn’t hospice care treated as an essential part of healthcare? 

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Data and Graphics editor, Katie Riley, and reporters James Tapper and Rachael Healy, as they pitch their top stories of the day.

Must Reads:

• Some People Can’t See Mental Images
• Political Beliefs Dating App Experiment
• Premiere League

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

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• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
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Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Amalie Sortland

Executive Producer: Matt Russell

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The storm caused widespread damage in Jamaica and is making its way to Cuba; is climate change to blame for its power? What - or who - is behind Donald Trump’s obsession with Venezuela? Is it good news that a cargo ship has made it through the North East Passage for the first time?

Jeevan Vasagar is joined by the Observer’s Erica Wagner, Jessica Hayden and Chloe Hadjimatheou as they pitch their top stories of the day, live from the Observer newsroom. 

Must Reads:

• Jumpers
• The House at Number 48
• Iran, Russia and the New Zealand insurer that kept their sanctioned oil flowing

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

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• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
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Host: Jeevan Vasagar

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producers: Rebecca Moore and Matt Russell

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Which international peacekeeping forces might be present in Gaza, and what will their role be? Is the fact that kids on free school meals do worse in their GCSEs a symptom of a failed state? Does the Amazon outage show that the internet is too reliant on a small number of companies?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Stephen Armstrong, Bex Sander and Ruth Michaelson as they pitch their top story of the day. 

You can listen to We Have Notes HERE

Must Reads:

• West End Girl
• Lily Allen On Marriage, Motherhood And Her Music Comeback

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
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Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Gary Marshall

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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Trump imposed what he called “tremendous” sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies. What’s next for the Trump-Putin rollercoaster? 

President Trump is planning to demolish the East Wing of the White House as early as this weekend. Who will pay for this 99,000ft ballroom? 

Two Metropolitan Police officers have been dismissed for gross misconduct following their appearance in a BBC Panorama undercover investigation that caught serving officers making racist and misogynistic comments. 

Giles Whittell is joined by journalist and author Ari Shapiro, former US representative to NATO and foreign policy advisor to Barack Obama Ivo Daalder and The Observer’s Jessica Hayden, as they pitch their top story of the day.

 **Join us at the next News Meeting Live! Get your tickets → HERE 

Must Reads:

• Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, From Revolution to Autocracy by Jullia Loffe
• The Trump Rules for Radical Schools

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Giles Whittell 

Producer: Casey Magloire 

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore 

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who is responsible for breaking the ceasefire in Gaza? How might the Louvre heist thieves get away with selling jewels belonging to Napoleon’s wife? Does Virginia Giuffre’s memoir shed new light on the allegations against Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and  Prince Andrew?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Phoebe Davis and Stephen Armstrong, and the journalist and author Pete Apps, as they pitch their top story of the day.

You can buy Pete’s book Homesick HERE

Must Reads:

• Among Portland Protests, it’s Frogs and Sharks and Bears, Oh My!
• We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
• Sustainability by Numbers

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Jasper Corbett

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.