Dua Lipa launches a book club for your ears: best podcasts of the week
Not content with her Service95 newsletter and At Your Service podcast, the star expands her media empire. But don't expect a vanity project: Lipa's first guest is Jennifer Clement, author of the haunting Widow Basquiat, on the love affair between artist Jean-Michel and his muse Suzanne Mallouk. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly
The current situation of a weak Europe, hyper-aggressive Russia and laissez-faire US is a 'perfect storm', according to Sky's security and defence editor. So why not play the mother of all war games to prove it? An astonishing cast including ex-defence secretary Ben Wallace, Jack Straw and Amber Rudd role play Cobra meetings as they're told of a series of increasingly hostile acts by Russia. It's certainly educational, if less thrilling than you might expect. Alexi DugginsEpisodes weekly, widely available
Investigative journalist Jake Hanrahan has probed militant groups, football hooligans and even QAnon in his work. Not one for a quiet life, his new show is about the sorts of gritty stories that can be risky to witness, never mind report – starting with the underground world of 'no rules' fight clubs. HJD Widely available, episodes weekly
The enduring image of trans pioneer Marsha P Johnson is of a resplendent figure in a bright dress and flower crown. Raquel Willis explores who 'Saint Marsha' really was in this important series, illuminating her humanity and mental health struggles, and getting lost in some intriguing queer culture rabbit holes along the way. HJDWidely available, episodes weekly
Part documentary, part dramatisation, this podcast tells the story of the inventor of a scam that would prove so successful it coined its own term: Ponzi scheme. From interviews with financial experts to descendants of those who knew Ponzi, it shows how a legitimate business plan became a racket. ADWidely available, episodes available from Monday
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The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Labour cutting farming budget in England by £100m a year, figures shows
Labour is cutting the farming budget in England by £100m a year, spending review figures show. Despite the decrease, the budget has been cautiously welcomed by nature and farming groups, as there were fears the Treasury had wanted to reduce the funding further. Farmers have felt squeezed by the Labour government's policies over recent months, with mass protests over the introduction of inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m. Extreme weather and rising input prices have increased financial pressures on the sector, which has meant that a cut to the budget could have serious impacts. Ministers have also indicated that larger farms could be ineligible for the nature-friendly farming fund in future. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs was recently forced to U-turn on a freeze to new applicants for the fund after the National Farmers' Union (NFU) threatened legal action. Previous research by the RSPB has found that a £100m a year cut would lead to 239,000 fewer hectares (590,580 acres) of nature-friendly farmland. Defra said the funding paid to farmers under of environment land management schemes (Elms) would 'skyrocket' from £800m in 2023-24 to £2bn in 2028-29. However, the NFU has called this 'misleading' because after Brexit, farmers were promised that their subsidies would be the same as they were under the EU and were promised a figure of £2.4bn a year. The Elms programme was devised by the conservatives after Brexit: the goal was that rather than being paid per acre, farmers should be paid for improving nature. While the programme was being put in place,the acreage payments known as basic payments schemes (BPS) were kept, and cut each year as Elms increased. BPS is due to be phased out entirely by 2028. Farmers currently get the £2.4bn a year in the two streams as well as a smaller amount of money in grants for things such as robotics trials. Going forward, the government has promised an average of £2.3bn a year up to 2028-29 for the farming budget. By the end of the spending period the budget will shrink to £2.25bn, with £2bn allocated for Elms and the rest paid in productivity grants. Sanjay Dhanda, the NFU's senior economist, has said Defra has been 'misleading' in its claims. He said: 'A key pillar of Defra's budget is the continued investment in Elms, with funding set to rise to £2bn by 2028-29, compared with the £1.8bn earmarked in the Autumn 2024 budget. While the government has framed this as a significant uplift from the £800m spent in 2023-24, this comparison is misleading as Elms was not fully operational at that point, and delinked payments [BPS] absorbed a large share of funding.' However, Defra sources pointed out that although the previous government allocated £2.4bn a year for Elms, the Tories in fact underspent it by about £100m a year. That government had, however, promised that by the end of the spending period, which was cut short by the general election, the full fund was ringfenced and would be allocated to farmers. Tom Bradshaw, the NFU president, said: 'While the Defra secretary of state has listened and managed to maintain the overall funding for farming and nature recovery, from what we can see so far, the £100 million cut to farming means farmers and growers will need to do more with less.' Mark Spencer, a former farming minister who was in charge of issuing the farming budget, said the amount spent on Elms would have been higher than £2bn at the end of the spending period, under the Tories. 'The 2.4bn was meant for Elms. It was always our intention and emphasis to reduce BPS and pour the money into Elms and for the vast majority of it to go to Elms,' he said. Reacting to the cut, Spencer added: 'A part of me is angry, a part of me is just so sad. We made such huge progress and now it is in jeopardy.' Nature groups have credited Steve Reed, the environment secretary, for protecting the majority of the budget. Hilary McGrady, the director general of the National Trust, said the chancellor Rachel Reeves had maintained the budget for nature-friendly farming, adding: 'Steve Reed deserves credit for securing this budget in challenging financial circumstances.' A Defra spokesperson said: 'Contrary to media reports that the farming budget would be slashed by £1.2bn over the next three years, the government is investing a record £5.9bn into nature friendly farming schemes.'
The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Starmer says France needs to co-operate more over migration
Sir Keir Starmer has said France should do more to tackle a rise in small boat crossings in the English Channel, ahead of meeting Emmanuel Macron at a major global summit. The Prime Minister said he wants 'more co-operation' over migration and will raise the issue with the country's president as the number of people making the journey climbed again over the weekend, taking this year's provisional total to 16,317. On the way to the G7 conference in Canada, where leaders from the world's wealthiest countries will meet for talks on global security, Sir Keir said he was determined to 'absolutely bear down' on the crossings. Data from the Home Office indicated 919 people made the journey in 14 boats on Friday and 134 crossed the Channel on Saturday. The highest daily number so far this year was on May 31, when 1,195 people arrived. Asked whether he was satisfied with the response from French border authorities, Sir Keir told reporters: 'One of the things we've worked hard at is improving the relations with the French in relation to the work we both need to do to stop these boat crossings, which I'm determined we will absolutely bear down on. 'Nobody should be making that journey. 'As a result of that we are seeing a much greater co-operation in northern France – I want to see more co-operation in northern France, and it's an issue that I have raised and will raise again with President Macron. 'We have good relations between the Home Secretary and the interior minister now that we're working on jointly. 'It's one of the issues I'll be discussing – not just with Macron, actually, but discussing it with Giorgia Meloni, Freidrich Merz, and others.' Downing Street said the Prime Minister had 'lengthy discussions' about migration with his Italian counterpart during his first bilateral meeting at the summit in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday. 'The Prime Minister raised the UK's world-leading work on people smuggling sanctions, adding that he looked forward to working with other European countries on this approach,' Number 10 said. Sir Keir's Government has pledged to 'smash the gangs' behind people-smuggling operations but has so far struggled to bring down crossings in the Channel, which is one of the busiest and most dangerous shipping lanes in the world. Chancellor Rachel Reeves last week committed £200 million to overhauling the asylum system and said the Government will end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in this Parliament. The 'reset' deal struck between the UK and EU in May this year included commitments to co-operate more on migration, including greater intelligence-sharing. It did not include an EU-wide returns agreement, which the Prime Minister said in 2023 he would seek to secure. Sir Keir's agenda for the G7 summit has not been confirmed but he is expected to hold talks with Mr Macron as well as US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Mr Merz over the course of the conference.
The Sun
30 minutes ago
- The Sun
Stunning Wag and Euro U21 reporter branded ‘queen of Europe' as she turns heads in revealing dress
BRUNETTE beauty Simona Leskovska is turning heads at the Under-21s Euros. The 30-year-old is working as a reporter at the tournament in her native Slovakia. 8 8 8 8 Simona has been spotted pitchside on presenting duties in a range of bold outfits at the Euros so far. Her 206,000 Instagram followers have been in for a treat as she wowed in a stylish white dress before Slovakia 's 1-0 defeat to Italy on Saturday. Simona, who has been called the "Queen of Europe" by fans, takes fans behind-the-scenes with several glam selfies of her from in and around the tunnel. Her partner, who is Napoli star Stanislav Lobotka, even joined her for a recent game. She posted a cute snap of the midfielder kissing her on the cheek alongside the caption: "We support each other in our work. I'm glad you're here." Lobotka played 32 times last season as he helped Napoli to the Serie A title. Before moving into the world of football reporting, Simona was a model. She was a finalist in the Miss Slovakia contest ten years ago. On her unique career path, Simona said in an interview last year: "I have been working for the Slovak Football Federation for three years, I started with the Under-21 team. "They were a good side, I got used to them, and last September I moved on to working with the first-team. "Some people told me that a woman from a modelling background would not make it in football. "But several years have since passed, those people who laughed at me now want to take pictures with me. "You may just see a pretty face, but I've been through a lot of hard times to get where I am now. "There are still a lot of goals I want to achieve. "I learned a lot about football, despite the fact that people thought I wasn't good enough. "When you work hard and follow your dreams, anything is possible." 8 8 8
