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
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

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

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

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.

As more and more people turn to AI for news, how should journalists fight back and protect the human by-line? Will Donald Trump’s cosy relationship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino allow him to dictate which cities the World Cup will be held in the US? Will the British Museum win its £3.5 million battle to keep a rare gold Tudor Heart pendant?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Alex O’Connell, Vanessa Thorpe and Jessy Parker Humphreys, as they pitch their top story of the day.

Must Reads:

• Is Nick Fuentes Winning Over Women on the Left?

**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: Casey Magloire

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.

One story is dominating the headlines today: the rapidly unfolding situation in the Middle East. This morning, Hamas released the last 20 living hostages; in return, Israel freed over 1,700 Palestinian detainees. We're devoting the entire episode to the latest from Gaza.

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Narrative Editor Chloe Hadjimatheou and Middle East Correspondent Ruth Michaelson, to answer questions about the first part of Donald Trump’s peace deal in Gaza.

**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: Jasper Corbett 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.

Why has Donald Trump sent hundreds of National Guards to Illinois? Should the UK look to France when it comes to tackling the far-right? Will the US-backed plan for peace in Gaza work?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Katie Riley and Poppy Bullard, and David Runciman, Honorary Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and host of the Past Present Future podcast, as they pitch their top story of the day.

**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: Casey Magloire

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.

Do new oil projects in the Gulf of Mexico signal the end of an international consensus on climate change? Will the Home Office’s new plans to curb protests backfire? Six months on from the Supreme Court ruling, why are the public expected to police each other’s gender?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Jeevan Vasagar, Ada Barumé and Evan Moffitt as they pitch their top stories of the day. 

Find the team’s Must Reads here:

• One Battle After Another
• Rivals
• Infinite Wibble

Pre-order Jeevan’s book The Surge 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: 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 

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

Two Jewish people were killed in a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue. Did President Trump and Pete Hegseth cross the line with their inflammatory speeches to military generals? And what’s behind the surge in profits at soft toy maker Jellycat?

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Erica Wagner, John Simpson and Sam Freedman, as they pitch their top story of the day.

**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.

Will the US ban a safe and legal abortion pill? Is the Met Police full of Freemasons? Can Labour take control of the narrative on immigration?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Francisco Garcia, Serena Cesareo and Phoebe Davis as they pitch their top story of the day.

Find the team’s Must Reads here:

• The Art of the Impersonal Essay
• Softly As I Leave You
• We Have Notes

**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 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.

This weekend marks the first-ever Riyadh Comedy Festival, with Jimmy Carr, Aziz Ansari, and Dave Chappelle on the bill. It’s being reported they are each being paid upwards of $375,000 to perform in a country which severely restricts freedom of speech. What does Trump’s cryptic “good luck to all” at the UN really mean for Ukraine - and should we be worried? Is the breakthrough on Huntington’s disease The News Meeting’s first genuinely good news story? 

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s International Editor, Steve Bloomfield, and reporters Rachael Healy and James Tapper as they pitch the top story of the day

** Listen to The Observer’s new culture podcast We Have Notes HERE

**Join us at the next News Meeting Live HERE

Follow us on Social Media: 

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

Host: Giles Whittell, Deputy Editor-In-Chief

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

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