Tortoise

Former Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall has just dropped her debut solo album and it’s already reached number three in the charts. For decades, women leaving girl groups have struggled to replicate their success on their own. Has JADE finally broken the curse? Listen to the first episode of We Have Notes now wherever you get your podcasts. Follow the feed so you don't miss an episode! Link in bio.

We're delighted to share that Lucky Boy, our 4-part investigative series, is being featured by @ApplePodcasts as one of the best shows of 2025 so far. Check out the full list on Apple Podcasts. To listen to the series yourself, search for Lucky Boy wherever you get your podcasts or head to the link in our bio.

Penniless and homeless, Raynor and Moth Winn found fame and fortune with The Salt Path: the “true” story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. It became a global bestseller, selling over 2 million copies, and in 2025 it was adapted into a major film. It was a heartwarming story of perseverance and hope. But we can reveal the couple’s tale of endurance was far from the truth. Ros Hemmings, who was friends with the couple more than two decades ago, says that the story told in The Salt Path makes her ‘feel sick’. She knew them then by their real names – Sally and Tim Walker. And the story she remembers is different from the one that’s been sold to the world. Read the full investigation in today's edition of The Observer or head to the link in our bio. Investigation by: @chloehadj Illustration: Observer Design with acknowledgements to Angela Harding / Penguin

'Keir Starmer can be as impenetrable as the front door behind which he now lives. This is made of reinforced steel, has a sealed letterbox, and neither a handle nor a key to open it from the outside. 'Both he and the famous entrance to 10 Downing Street are, however, unlocked from within.' In this interview with Tom Baldwin, the prime minister reveals the quiet grief and inner determination of his first year in office – and why he ‘deeply regrets’ his ‘island of strangers’ speech. Read more on our website. Link in bio.

'Tehran has a smell now – a thick, metallic haze that clings to your clothes, your breath, your memory. “I’ve just come to understand the smell of war,” writes Nazanin, a journalist who fled the city earlier this week. “Air defences have a smell. So do the missiles … It’s been imprinted in my olfactory memory. Now, forever, I know the smell of war.” 'The scent lingers longer than the explosions. It weaves itself into the emptiness of a once-bustling metropolis – 10 million people now adrift. Abandoned pets. Taped windows. Shuttered shops. Petrol queues stretching for miles. Tehran is holding its breath.' Many Iranians seek an end to their repressive regime, but they aren’t clapping for foreign bombs. As Israeli strikes continue and US involvement looms, the message from Tehran is clear: change has to come from within 🖋️ @r.rahimpour Read more via the link in our bio. Photograph by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty

The Observer Issue 12,184: New battle lines UK sends fighter jets to Middle East Tehran threatens to strike UK and US bases Iran retaliates, Israel says 'Tehran will burn' Summit on Palestine statehood postponed Buy your copy of The Observer, available across the country, tomorrow morning. Get the newspaper delivered to your door every Sunday – link in bio. #TomorrowsPapersToday

Russia knows our weaknesses. But do you?⁠ ⁠ In a new podcast, Sky’s Deborah Haynes imagines how a Russian attack on the UK could play out - asking former ministers and experts how they would defend the country.⁠ ⁠ This is The Wargame - listen to episodes 1 and 2 now ⁠ ⁠ 🔗 Click the link in our bio ⁠ ⁠ #Podcasts

Russia knows our weaknesses. But do you? Sky's Deborah Haynes imagines how a Russian attack on the UK could play out and invites real-life former ministers, military chiefs and other experts to figure out how to defend the country 🎙️ The Wargame 📅 Available tomorrow 🎧 /thewargame

The British barrister, the Netanyahu arrest warrant and the sexual assault case that could destroy the International Criminal Court. The world’s war crimes court is facing an existential crisis. As the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants over the war in Gaza, its Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan KC, stands accused of serious sexual misconduct by a junior colleague. Full investigation by @chloehadj . Link in bio.

Russia knows our weaknesses. But do you? 🇬🇧 Sky's Deborah Haynes imagines how a Russian attack on the UK could play out and invites real-life former ministers, military chiefs and other experts to figure out how to defend the country. 🎙️ The Wargame 📅 June 10 🔗 Tap the link in bio for more #TheWargame #War #UK

'Bike racing rarely intrudes �on the national consciousness... It is not immediately apparent why that might be.' Two deaths a fortnight ago have failed to dispel the turbocharged allure of the motorsport for riders. Read more on our website. Link in bio.

‘When another writer at the trial heard I’d proposed to my wife at the tree, she said I was exactly the person the prosecution is invoking. That made me uncomfortable: were the two men facing long prison sentences because people like me attached such meaning to a tree?’ The destruction of the Sycamore Gap tree in September 2023 was one of those events that caused the nation to examine its values. Why had the 150-year old ‘Robin Hood’ tree - beloved of hikers along Hadrian’s Wall, setting for countless selfies - been the target of such apparently senseless violence? Who could possibly have done such a thing? The trial and conviction of two local men Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham last week only added to the outrage - and to the mystery of their motivation. In The Observer today, Andrew Hankinson - who wrote a celebrated book about the murderer Raoul Moat, and who proposed to his wife at Sycamore Gap - turns his forensic attention to Carruthers and Graham, and unearths a must-read story of Britain that goes far beyond the felling of a tree. Pick up a copy today or head to the link in our bio to read on our website. Simon Bradfield/Getty Northumbria Police via AP Dan Kitwood/Getty Owen Humphreys/PA Glen Minikin/the Sun CPS/PA Ian Forsyth/Getty