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Voices

<p>Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis</p>
Sean O'Grady

ICE killing takes America a step closer to George Orwell’s nightmare

The Trump administration’s reaction to the fatal shooting of Renee Good is another dark chapter in its rewriting of history – and has disturbing echoes of the dystopian 1984, writes Sean O'Grady

<p>Elon Musk is under fire after his AI tool Grok was used to ‘digital undress’ photographs of women</p>
Jessica Davies

Grok digitally undressed me on X – it’s time Elon Musk was accountable

The Independent View

Megaphone diplomacy with Trump only makes things worse for Greenland

<p>Nigel Farage with Reform’s candidate for the 2028 London mayoral race, Laila Cunningham</p>
John Rentoul

Sadiq Khan – and Labour – must see that Reform is no longer a bad joke

<p>Alfonso Ribeiro, Will Smith and Daphne Reid in ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' played a dysfunctional family</p>
Dear Vix

A friend has dropped me because of an argument between our kids

<p>According to research, when drinks units are made slightly smaller, people end up consuming less (Yui Mok/PA)</p>
Rosamund Hall

If a pint puts drivers over the limit, it’s time for smaller measures

<p>Iranian authorities have used tear gas to quell the anti-regime protests that continue to grip the entire country</p>
Vahid Beheshti

I had to flee Iran – now my country is on the brink of freedom

<p>Young people not in employment, education or training are paying the price for the national wage increase</p>
James Moore

I’ve always backed the minimum wage – but not anymore

<p>US president Donald Trump has is discussing options for acquiring Greenland</p>
Sean O'Grady

What if Trump’s not bluffing about invading Greenland?

<p>Jonathan Carley, 65, has been fined £500 after admitting to dressing as a navy admiral without permission</p>
Honey Langcaster-James

What a faker! The Fake Admiral’s excuses for dressing as a war hero don't add up

<p>French president Emmanuel Macron and prime minister Keir Starmer at the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ summit</p>
The Independent View

A divided coalition of the willing is no use to anyone

Nigel Farage said he hoped to maintain a winning streak into 2026 and beyond (PA)
Prof Sir John Curtice

Are the Conservatives now the official opposition to Farage’s Reform?

<p>The American-born Pope Leo XIV has been a vocal critic of his country’s president, Donald Trump</p>
Catherine Pepinster

The only person who can stop Donald Trump now is Pope Leo

<p>Health secretary Wes Streeting has hailed the rollout of new NHS online hospitals as ‘everyone wins’</p>
John Rentoul

NHS online hospitals are a good idea – but they can’t save Starmer

<p>Research shows 20 per cent of Mumsnet users intend to vote Reform UK at the next election, which would put the party ahead of Keir Starmer’s Labour</p>
Victoria Richards

If Mumsnet is now backing Reform UK, it’s over for Starmer’s Labour

<p>Keir pressure: ‘Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves, on either side of the prime minister, looked as if they were wondering whether to resign’</p>
John Rentoul

Badenoch had Starmer on the ropes – so why no knock-out blow?

Labour MPs looked thoroughly demoralised at PMQs, not least at Keir Starmer’s failure to reply to a reasonable question – why shouldn’t the Commons have a debate on his pledge to deploy British troops in Ukraine? Did he have another military action on his mind, asks John Rentoul

<p>President Nicolas Maduro was captured by Donald Trump’s US Delta Force in his compound in Caracas and extradited to New York on Saturday</p>
Humberto Parica

Venezuelans like me are too busy celebrating to worry about Maduro

<p>The ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march in London went beyond protest and challenged the moral fabric of our society</p>
Qari Asim

Extremism is tearing Britain apart – we should choose hope over hate

Explore news for you

More Voices

<p>A housing development in Oxfordshire - we need more of these </p>
Voices

Labour’s going to build 1.5 million homes? In their dreams…

Voices

Labour’s going to build 1.5 million homes? In their dreams…

James Moore
<p>A housing development in Oxfordshire - we need more of these </p>
<p>Teetotal? Independent readers have been debating plans to lower the alcohol limit for driving</p>
Motoring News

‘Road safety is more than drink-driving’: Readers debate lower limit

<p>We are still a long way from ‘reversing Brexit’, insists Keir Starmer</p>
Brexit

‘Benefits for everybody but us’: Readers on UK’s post-Brexit struggle

<p>The UK’s FTSE 100 has risen above 10,000 points (John Stillwell/PA)</p>
Voices

Does the FTSE 100 breaking the 10,000 barrier mean a prosperous 2026?

<p>Readers broadly agreed that weight loss is not complicated in theory</p>
Fitness and wellbeing

‘Ban empty calories’: Readers on the UK’s weight loss problem

<p>Readers broadly agreed that weight loss is not complicated in theory</p>
Fitness and wellbeing

‘Ban empty calories’: Readers on the UK’s weight loss problem

<p>China’s president Xi Jinping and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro arriving at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China 2023</p>
China

From Caracas to Taiwan: How Venezuela has changed China’s calculations

<p>Keir Starmer is one of the Western leaders who manages to command Donald Trump’s respect and attention</p>
The Independent View

Even after Venezuela, the West must speak softly to Donald Trump

Most commented

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump approves major Russia sanctions bill

224 comments

Fury after Renee Good is shot dead by ICE agent on Minneapolis street

196 comments

Trump accused of ‘insane plan’ to ‘steal Venezuelan oil at gunpoint’ - Live

403 comments

Minneapolis ICE shooting updates: Renee Nicole Good named as woman killed by agent

663 comments
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More Voices

<p>US president Donald Trump posted over 80 times in the early hours following Nicolas Maduro’s capture</p>
Voices

After Venezuela, does Trump’s social media use hint at what’s next?

<p>According to a survey, one in 10 British workers plan to quit their jobs this month </p>
Voices

It’s ‘resignation day’! But don’t quit your job before you read this…

<p>Many argued that Burnham’s appeal stems from his role outside Westminster</p>
UK Politics

‘Burnham is not the answer’: Readers on Labour’s leadership dilemma

<p>US president Donald Trump capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has triggered alarm among some allies</p>
Voices

After Venezuela, it will be even harder to change Donald Trump’s mind

<p>Keir Starmer was left in the dark over the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela</p>
The Independent View

Starmer’s Venezuela dilemma exposes Britain’s post-Brexit weakness

<p>‘I live in London. I work. I pay taxes. I contribute. I speak, write, explain, justify, contextualise my own grief endlessly so that others might find it comfortable. And yet I remain trapped in a world that demands Palestinians be patient, polite, and silent – even as it excuses the machinery that crushes our lives’</p>
Voices

My new year’s resolution is to hug my parents before they die

<p>US president Donald Trump capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has triggered alarm among some allies</p>
Voices

After Venezuela, it will be even harder to change Donald Trump’s mind

<p>Keir Starmer was left in the dark over the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela</p>
The Independent View

Starmer’s Venezuela dilemma exposes Britain’s post-Brexit weakness

<p>‘I live in London. I work. I pay taxes. I contribute. I speak, write, explain, justify, contextualise my own grief endlessly so that others might find it comfortable. And yet I remain trapped in a world that demands Palestinians be patient, polite, and silent – even as it excuses the machinery that crushes our lives’</p>
Voices

My new year’s resolution is to hug my parents before they die

<p>‘Trump has announced a policy not of blissful isolationism, as his Maga movement yearned for and expected, but of neo-imperialism. America will not only “run” Venezuela, but make the Venezuelans pay for it from their own oil wealth’</p>
Voices

The people of Venezuela are exchanging one old tyrant for another

Voices

The people of Venezuela are exchanging one old tyrant for another

Sean O'Grady
<p>‘Trump has announced a policy not of blissful isolationism, as his Maga movement yearned for and expected, but of neo-imperialism. America will not only “run” Venezuela, but make the Venezuelans pay for it from their own oil wealth’</p>
<p>Venezuelan president Nicolas Madura was captured in a US-led operation</p>
The Independent View

Trump’s Maduro gamble must be turned to Venezuela’s advantage

<p>’How many national leaders will be tempted to ask themselves why, if the US can mount such unilateral action against a sovereign country in pursuit of what it may justify in terms of its own national security, they should not do the same?’</p>
Voices

How the capture of Nicolas Maduro will upend the global order

<p>Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro has been captured during a US operation</p>
Voices

Who is Nicolás Maduro? From Chávez’s heir to Venezuela’s undoing

<p>Nigel Farage has questioned whether the UK would be better off without the OBR</p>
Voices

Scrapping the OBR could be Nigel Farage’s Liz Truss moment

<p>Nigel Farage has questioned whether the UK would be better off without the OBR</p>
Voices

Scrapping the OBR could be Nigel Farage’s Liz Truss moment

<p>‘Was Alaa wrong to make those remarks? Indisputably. But to somehow suggest that he should therefore have his citizenship revoked is the height of political cynicism’</p>
Voices

The Alaa Abd el-Fattah I know is a humanitarian

<p>Actor Claire Foy says she doesn’t have “authority to discuss or proclaim about anything other than what I do as an actor”</p>
Voices

Claire Foy is right – stars should try philanthropy, not deep speeches

<p>In October, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled plans that could see the company spend more than $100bn on AI projects this year</p>
Voices

Zuckerberg is taking a huge bet on AI. The results will be spectacular

<p>‘We’ll hear a lot about American Exceptionalism over the coming year ahead, but it is exceptionalism for all the wrong reasons’</p>
Voices

Why 2026 is the year Trump and Maga could be in trouble

<p>This most stoic of prime ministers must be wondering what he can do to lift his government and his party out of its unprecedented unpopularity</p>
Voices

Keir Starmer’s promise to deliver should have brought results by now

<p>Nigel Farage was visibly campaigning ahead of the Caerphilly Senedd by-election to spread the party’s plans ahead of the Welsh elections next year</p>
UK Politics

‘Tired of broken promises’: Readers on the rise of Reform in Wales

<p>Frieda Hughes hits the gym</p>
Voices

Pumping iron has the power to lift my spirits

<p>Lotte Jeffs has returned to university after a high-flying media career</p>
Voices

Why over-40s like me are quitting careers and heading back to school

<p>People leave flowers in Crans-Montana, the upscale ski resort in southwest Switzerland where 47 people were killed in the New Year’s Day fire</p>
Voices

I use psychics – I’m taking Nostradamus’s 2026 predictions seriously

<p>Protesters march in downtown Tehran, Iran</p>
Voices

Is this the endgame for Iran’s ayatollahs?

<p>‘The close proximity of Christmas to birthday seemed to somehow make both feel less generous. Having two brothers didn’t help. I was once given a left-handed glove for Christmas and the right-hand one for my birthday’</p>
Voices

Winter is the best time to have a birthday. Romance is for the spring

Voices

Winter is the best time to have a birthday. Romance is for the spring

Anne Atkins
<p>‘The close proximity of Christmas to birthday seemed to somehow make both feel less generous. Having two brothers didn’t help. I was once given a left-handed glove for Christmas and the right-hand one for my birthday’</p>
<p>To manage new year anxiety, focus on gentle, realistic goals instead of overwhelming resolutions</p>
Voices

How do I stick to my 2026 resolutions without feeling like a failure?

<p>‘Franz Kafka and Joseph Heller described absurd moral universes of totalitarianism and war that seem a long way from Britain in 2026. Yet there are people in this country, this year, who are trapped in an unjust system as extreme as any in fiction’</p>
The Independent View

The nightmarish catch-22 at the heart of a burning injustice

<p>Over 40 political parties, including the NLD, have been dissolved by the regime and banned from contesting the elections</p>
Voices

The UK must act against Myanmar’s shameful sham election

<p>‘The Queen talked publicly for the first time of her own attack at the hands of a young man on a train when she was just a teenager’</p>
Voices

Queen Camilla’s radical honesty shows the good this monarchy can do

<p>‘The Queen talked publicly for the first time of her own attack at the hands of a young man on a train when she was just a teenager’</p>
Voices

Queen Camilla’s radical honesty shows the good this monarchy can do

<p>Bingo for the future: 2026 looks set to be filled with fireworks</p>
Voices

On my bingo card for 2026? No alarms and no surprises, please

<p>Making new year’s resolutions often leads to guilt</p>
Voices

New year, same me: my resolution for 2026? Not to make any

<p>Between 2020/21 and 2024/25, almost 1.4 million A&E attendances were for a cough, while 1.2 million sought help for a sore throat</p>
Health

‘Only way to be seen early’: Readers on A&E visits for minor problems

<p>‘If anything justified the decision to call a halt, however, it was the history of the appalling project management of a scheme that had become a boondoggle for construction companies and a vast secondary economy of consultants’</p>
The Independent View

The never-ending fiasco of HS2 is a case study in how not to build

<p>‘Putin may be contemplating raising another army of up to one and a half million over two years – and prepared to lose a large part of it’</p>
Voices

The 5 signs Putin is preparing for a bigger war in Europe

<p>’When something happens once, it can be considered unfortunate, but when it happens twice, it looks an awful lot like careless misogyny’</p>
Voices

What the Lionesses’ new year honours list snub tells us about women

<p>The real threat to trust isn’t fake news, it’s the information that spreads without challenge</p>
Voices

Why 2025 was the year trust died

<p>‘The upset of the year will be Labour doing better than expected in the Scottish parliament elections in May, and the Scottish National Party falling so far short of a majority that the Greens cannot not save them’</p>
Voices

Scandal, folly and surprise: My political predictions for 2026

<p>Frankie says relax: Should you dress up for the airport, or prioritise comfort?</p>
News & Advice

‘Treated like cattle’: Readers reject calls for smarter airport dress

<p>The Reform UK leader’s supporters seek to dismiss his behaviour as, in effect, youthful folly that he has long since put behind him</p>
The Independent View

Even Nigel Farage should welcome fierce scrutiny of his school days

<p>Teachers could follow resident doctors and strike next year unless Labour hikes pay and plugs school funding gaps</p>
Home News

‘A recruitment crisis is coming’: Readers on teacher strike threat

Home News

‘A recruitment crisis is coming’: Readers on teacher strike threat

Independent
<p>Teachers could follow resident doctors and strike next year unless Labour hikes pay and plugs school funding gaps</p>
<p>‘Donald Trump seems to assume that Vladimir Putin would want to bask in the glory of a victorious peacemaker, but peace is probably a threat to Putin and his system’</p>
Voices

This ‘drone attack’ shows paranoid Putin will never be a peacemaker

<p>The price of gold will rise to new records in 2026, predicts James Moore</p>
Voices

My 2025 predictions fell short – and six calls for the 2026 economy

<p>‘President Trump, though always upbeat about his own supposed unique diplomatic gifts, no longer even pretends that a truce, let alone a lasting peace settlement, is in sight’</p>
The Independent View

Zelensky can buy Europe 15 years to finally get its act together

<p>Swimming champion Adam Peaty has changed his name on Instagram following his wedding to Gordon Ramsay’s daughter, Holly</p>
Voices

Adam Ramsay Peaty has done the right thing in taking his wife’s name

<p>Swimming champion Adam Peaty has changed his name on Instagram following his wedding to Gordon Ramsay’s daughter, Holly</p>
Voices

Adam Ramsay Peaty has done the right thing in taking his wife’s name

<p>’What began as a quirky Soho sandwich shop has curdled into a beige cathedral of culinary capitalism. Nothing tastes of anything. Everything costs too much. And yet the faithful still file in’</p>
Voices

Why 2025 was the year I finally fell out of love with Pret

<p>Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un photographed together in September at an event to commemorate the end of the Second World War</p>
Voices

Five flashpoints that could spark World War Three in 2026

<p>‘My plans did not include peeling swedes and a fruit pudding until 24 hours before the advent calendars had opened their last tiny glitter doors, and the final delivery of seasonal cards had hit the hallway floor’</p>
Voices

Christmas is not for the birds

<p>‘It seems to be the year of the “Get ready with me” video,’ says William Hanson. I do not want to get ready with you. I’d rather be dead. I don’t even want to get ready with myself, let alone anyone else. So these have to stop’</p>
Voices

William Hanson: 5 ways manners changed forever in 2025

<p>Jailbroken’ devices can be packed with illegal streaming apps – and with malware</p>
Lifestyle

‘Rip-off Britain’: Readers clash over rise of illegal streaming

<p>Late-night marking has become a symbol of the pressures driving teachers out of the profession</p>
The Independent View

Market forces, not militancy, are pushing teachers towards strikes

<p>Could the economy be hit by another black swan event?</p>
Business

From AI to Trump, the biggest threats to the economy in 2026

<p>Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump in Florida to discuss a peace deal</p>
The Independent View

Zelensky still has cards to play in Trump’s Ukraine poker game

<p>Single people are declaring that nobody even fancies anyone any more</p>
Voices

2026 will be the year of the ‘crush recession’ – here’s why

<p>Women responding to anything with anger was taboo - until now</p>
Voices

She-volution: why 2025 was the year women’s rage took centre stage

<p>That a ceasefire was agreed and formally came into effect has by no means stopped either the slaughter or the suffering of those hundreds of thousands of people remaining in Gaza, even if it has diminished them</p>
The Independent View

The shocking brutality behind Gaza’s crumbling ceasefire

The Independent View

The shocking brutality behind Gaza’s crumbling ceasefire

Editorial
<p>That a ceasefire was agreed and formally came into effect has by no means stopped either the slaughter or the suffering of those hundreds of thousands of people remaining in Gaza, even if it has diminished them</p>
<p>‘It became starkly clear early in the new century that liberal democracy was not going to have it all its own way’</p>
Voices

25 moments that have shaped the 21st century

<p>Joy at Christmas is not a spectator sport, so put down your phone</p>
Voices

Breakup with your smartphone for Christmas – and maybe for life

The Independent View

Starmer needs to tell a better Christmas story about Labour

<p>There’s really nothing wrong with allowing yourself to be a little selfish</p>
Voices

Bing! How I learnt to make Christmas magical again as a single parent

<p>There’s really nothing wrong with allowing yourself to be a little selfish</p>
Voices

Bing! How I learnt to make Christmas magical again as a single parent

<p>‘There are some really small tricks and tips that might ease the burden today’</p>
Voices

How do I cope with being alone this Christmas?

The Independent View

Thanks to Independent readers, young people will have a haven to call

<p>Buying Christmas presents leaves many families stressed and in debt</p>
Voices

Why I stopped buying Christmas presents years ago – and you should too

<p>Not every Christmas feels merry, and that’s OK</p>
Voices

Bah humbug? Why I refuse to let Christmas make me miserable

<p>Choosing how to spend Christmas Day with divorced parents came with military-level coordination</p>
Voices

My parents are divorced: here’s how I decide where to spend Christmas

<p>Kate and Gerry McCann take part in the ‘Miles For Missing People’ 10km run in Hyde Park in 2010</p>
The Independent View

The hope and heartbreak of Kate McCann

<p>‘For some, the most elderly and vulnerable, who were trapped by age and an inability to take advantage of gifting rules, this tax was cruel, pernicious, and terrifying’</p>
Voices

Farmers like me took on Labour’s cruel inheritance tax raid – and won

<p>Healthcare professionals listening to patients would transform the NHS</p>
Voices

My biggest health shock? A hospital visit that shows NHS can be saved

<p>Kate and Gerry McCann take part in the ‘Miles For Missing People’ 10km run in Hyde Park in 2010</p>
The Independent View

The hope and heartbreak of Kate McCann

<p>‘For some, the most elderly and vulnerable, who were trapped by age and an inability to take advantage of gifting rules, this tax was cruel, pernicious, and terrifying’</p>
Voices

Farmers like me took on Labour’s cruel inheritance tax raid – and won

<p>Healthcare professionals listening to patients would transform the NHS</p>
Voices

My biggest health shock? A hospital visit that shows NHS can be saved

<p>‘Some experiences never leave; you simply learn to carry them’</p>
Voices

Kate McCann: ‘Life is divided into a before and an after’

<p>’My family story was suffused with secrecy. Unknown to us children, each of my grandparents conducted multiple same-sex relationships throughout their otherwise happy marriage’</p>
Voices

I like sharing a good secret at Christmas...

<p>‘Cash-strapped councils across London, hollowed out by austerity and desperate for revenue, now behave less like custodians of place and more like players in a high-stakes game of Monopoly’</p>
Voices

Rowans bowling alley is loved. Of course the council wants it gone

<p>High prices were the most common complaint</p>
Home News

‘A broken industry’: Readers on why pubs are struggling to survive

<p>‘Each statistic is a real life set back, harmed, potential unfulfilled’</p>
Voices

Can Labour really end homelessness?

<p>For quite trivial sums, millions of lives can be shielded from individual misery, and whole societies in poorer countries saved from collapse</p>
Voices

We are winning the fight against Aids. Now is not the time to retreat

<p>Kat Brown and her dog Sybil, adopted from Serbia’s Forgotten Paws at Christmas in 2020</p>
Voices

I know a dog is for life, but both my pets arrived at Christmas

<p>‘Algorithms may feed us hundreds of happy faces a day, but who are we actually engaging with, in a real and breathing sense?’</p>
Voices

So what if we didn’t see each other before Christmas?

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