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uk politics

Why the Rwanda scheme is a giant distraction

Voters are fed up, so the UK government is talking up a “bullsh*t” deportation scheme to shift the spotlight.

• Read more: Rwanda’s repression campaign in the UK

• Listen: The News Meeting: Sunak’s Rwanda showdown

more from tortoise

The Rwanda Bill explained

Tortoise’s political editor Catherine Neilan explains the government’s controversial Rwanda policy.

• Listen: What is the ECHR?

• Read more: How both main parties came to rely on a few rich men

MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT: Latest

The UN called for an inquiry into mass graves reports at Gaza hospitals.

Pro-Palestinian protests escalated at US universities.

Israeli strikes intensified across Gaza on Tuesday.

See all our coverage
justice

Designer jailed for smuggling crocodile handbags to US

Prosecutors compared Colombian designer Nancy Gonzalez’s smuggling efforts to that of a ‘cocaine kingpin’.

Germany

Aide in EU parliament arrested on suspicion of spying for China

italy

Prison guards arrested over suspected torture of young offenders

britain

Sunak ups defence spending by £75 billion

sensemaker

Britain’s mouldy homes

space

Voyager 1 comes back online after five months

Middle East conflict

Columbia moves classes online over Gaza protests

Tuesday 23 April 2024

Journalist leaves Gaza over fear of being killed

Friday 19 April 2024

How will Israel respond to Iran’s strike?

Thursday 18 April 2024

“Hit them, Israel”: Why some Iranians are on Israel’s side

Tuesday 16 April 2024

See all our coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict
new • slow newscast

Brace, brace: Boeing’s hard landing

Boeing once ruled the skies. Now it’s mired in scandal, losing public trust and the reputation it spent decades building.

This is the story of where it all went wrong.

Listen now on the Tortoise app

Russia’s war in Ukraine

Magic Mike: the US House Speaker who may have saved Ukraine

Monday 22 April 2024

Why Ukraine is investing in superdrones

Monday 22 April 2024

Russian strike on Chernihiv: is it a prelude to a second front?

Wednesday 17 April 2024

Drone attack on Ukraine power plant is ‘false flag’ says report

Wednesday 17 April 2024

See all our coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Behind the headlines

airline safety

Whistleblowers say public still isn’t safe on Boeing planes

courts

UK judge throws out case against climate activist

our planet

Why are ocean temperatures breaking all known records?

war

Sudan: a country in pieces

basketball

The magic of the Caitlin Clark effect

music

Who’s afraid of little old Taylor?

Postcards from America

Join Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, two Pulitzer prize-winning journalists, as they make sense of America in a new fortnightly column for Tortoise.

Click here to read the latest column

UK politics

PM plans to tackle “sick note culture”, but campaigners are worried

Monday 22 April 2024

How UK smoking ban vote split Rishi Sunak’s party

Thursday 18 April 2024

Parliamentary groups disband as transparency rules tightened

Wednesday 10 April 2024

Listen: Westminster’s honeytrap sext scandal

Tuesday 9 April 2024

Visit our Democracy 2024 hub
new episode • every thursday

trendy

What does it mean to be a Londoner today and how does that affect the city’s politics?

Listen to the latest episode of Trendy with John Curtice and Rachel Wolf.

Long reads

festivals

Festivals may bring rain, mud, thieves and terrible toilets, but David Taylor can’t wait

grand national

Red Rum: The horse who became an unlikely hero

horse racing

Rachael Blackmore and the Velvet revolution

tortoise investigates

Who trolled Amber?

It’s the podcast that everybody’s talking about. Amber Heard vs Johnny Depp.

We investigate the shady industry of social media manipulation, and ask a simple question: Who Trolled Amber?

The whole series is available now wherever you get your podcasts and on the Tortoise app.

Listen to full series here

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The slower, wiser way to listen to Tortoise podcasts.

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