Oscar-winning playwright Sir Tom Stoppard dies aged 88

Award-winning playwright Tom Stoppard has died aged 88.

The writer, known for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Arcadia and the film Shakespeare In Love, died “peacefully” at his home in Dorset “surrounded by his family”, United Agents said in a statement.

The statement added: “He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language.

“It was an honour to work with Tom and to know him.”

Stoppard amassed three Olivier Awards, five Tonys, and an Oscar throughout his decades-long career in television, theatre, and film. He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for his contributions to the theatre.

Among those to pay tribute to Stoppard was the King, who described him as “one of our greatest writers”.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, Charles said: “My wife and I are deeply saddened to learn of the death of one of our greatest writers, Sir Tom Stoppard.

“A dear friend who wore his genius lightly, he could, and did, turn his pen to any subject, challenging, moving and inspiring his audiences, borne from his own personal history. We send our most heartfelt sympathy to his beloved family.

“Let us all take comfort in his immortal line: ‘Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else’.”

Born in Czechoslovakia, Sir Tom was forced to flee his home during the Nazi occupation and found refuge in Britain.

After working as a journalist and theatre critic he began writing plays for radio and TV.

His career as a playwright did not take off, however, until the 1960s with Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before going on to the National Theatre and later Broadway.

The play, which focuses on two minor characters from Hamlet, won several awards including four Tonys in 1968.

He went on to write a number of plays including Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Arcadia, and The Coast of Utopia trilogy set in 19th century Russia.

In 2020 he released Leopoldstadt, a play set in Vienna’s Jewish Quarter in the early 20th century. The semi-autobiographical piece won him an Olivier for best new play as well as four Tony Awards.

Stoppard’s plays explored politics, philosophy, and human nature, and were often complex yet thought-provoking. His clever wordplay helped coin the phrase “Stoppardian,” describing works that rely on wit and comedy to advance philosophical themes.

The playwright added an Oscar to his collection in 1999 when he won Best Adapted Screenplay with Marc Norman for Shakespeare in Love. The hit film won seven Oscars in total, including Best Picture.

His other film credits included co-writing the script for Brazil (1985), and several adaptations, including J.G. Ballard’s novel for the 1987 Steven Spielberg film Empire of the Sun, John le Carre’s The Russia House (1990), E.L. Doctorow’s Billy Bathgate (1991), and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (2012).

After finding success with plays, Stoppard also became a sort of script doctor with uncredited roles on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, among others.

Lead singer and co-founder of the Rolling Stones Sir Mick Jagger paid tribute to Sir Tom in a post shared on X, describing him as his “favourite playwright”.

“Tom Stoppard was my favourite playwright. He leaves us with a majestic body of intellectual and amusing work. I will always miss him,” he said.

Rupert Goold, artistic director of the Almeida Theatre, also paid tribute to the “most supportive, most generous man”.

He said: “Tom Stoppard’s magic was present in everything he wrote but he was also the kindest, most supportive, most generous, man.

“With Pinter you always knew you were in the presence of genius but with Tom you somehow felt you might participate in it too. Et in Arcadia est.”

Stoppard was married three times: first to Josie Ingle from 1965 to 1972, then to Miriam Stoppard from 1972 to 1992. He married Sabrina Guinness in 2014.

His four sons survive him.

Aurora: ‘We’re more scared of activists than the world dying or war’

Aurora Aksnes is not naive about her mission to be a musician and an activist. Ten years ago, this was a variant on the cool multi-hyphenate job description in everyone’s Instagram bio. Now, not so much. The current cultural moment is something she describes as a kind of collective dip: a time when public political expression feels unfashionable, even suspect.

“People are more scared of activists than they are of the world dying,” she says, with what sounds like genuine bewilderment. “More scared of activists than of war. Isn’t that interesting?” She pauses and wrinkles her nose, but it’s not a rhetorical question – Aurora is nothing if not curious.

This intersection of activism and music, she says, is made more complicated by who is speaking – look at how people responded to Bob Vylan’s calls for an end to the Israeli military. Most people are generally accepting when a preternaturally youthful white woman talks about Palestine, but not a Black man.

“It’s really sad how scared people are to be in touch with someone who is speaking up against the large forces of the world. It makes us so weak,” says Aurora. “But with Bob Vylan, I was so surprised by how the industry reacted and how the people reacted. Two very different things.” After the duo’s Glastonbury performance, when frontman Bobby Vylan chanted “Death to the IDF” (the Israel Defense Forces), they were dropped by their agent, and their US tour was cancelled after their visas were revoked. Large pockets of the general public were supportive of them, as well as artists like Amyl & the Sniffers, Fontaines D.C. and Massive Attack.

Sitting in the Independent office podcast studio, the 29-year-old Norwegian is pale, bright, and a little otherworldly, like a snow angel. There’s a trace of Björk’s eccentricity in her, that same charge of unpredictability, with the elemental pop sensibility you get from Florence Welch. The offbeat inventiveness of early-career Grimes is there, too, not just in Aurora’s livewire observations but also in her music.

Her vocals on songs, including her most popular, the haunting folk ballad “Runaway”, seem to rise from the mist. In the past couple of years, she has caught the attention of Gen Z for her viral small-screen meditations on life, death and the strangeness of society. But increasingly, music and moral agency are inseparable for her.

To stay silent, as someone who is actually listened to – ie a musician with a public platform – is unthinkable. “To avoid using your voice simply because it’s uncomfortable? It’s just so sad to me, because you’re avoiding a very important part of you and what makes you human.”

Aurora is in London to help promote her intimate charity show at the beautiful Union Chapel on 10 December to raise money for War Child, an organisation that helps children whose lives have been torn apart by war and genocide, ahead of a cold winter. She’s split the show into two parts: Dusk, which will explore activism, humanity and the power of people, and Dawn, which will lift audiences into emotions of hope and renewal. “I admire so much these organisations like War Child, who fight that instinct to go back into your bubble and relax,” she says.

In her mind, numbness is the enemy. “There is so much information that we forget to think about what we’re seeing,” she says softly. Social media – “designed to make people more stupid, more numb” – is the prime culprit, of course. “When you see footage of a real war happening right now, real people burning and dying, in between makeup tutorials – ‘This is how you make a pecan pie’, ‘This is how I do the blah blah’ – and when it’s put like that? The really sad, inhumane things that you can’t even understand what you’re seeing, mixed with completely brain-dead things… Imagine how it makes our brain connect this war, or these inhumane things, with numbness.”

On stage, Aurora has hinted to fans that she has a neurodivergent brain, but hasn’t spoken before about how this impacts her life as a musician. “With age and with time, I’ve become a bit better at managing being neurodivergent, and trying to not completely overwhelm myself until a point of no return. It’s not spoken about so much: neurodivergence and artistry – how they’re so meant for each other, but also so not,” she explains. “The opposite of what you want and need from this world is everything that comes along as a ripple effect from just you making your music.”

For instance, what autism and ADHD communities call “executive function” – the mental skills that help with planning, organising, and managing tasks – can be difficult for her. “It can be really hard when it’s not things that are burning in my chest, where I can go into hyperfocused mode and forget that I have a body,” she says. “When I perform, it’s very easy to forget that I’m tired or sick; it’s just gone, which is very cool. But with things that are more through the head and not the heart, it can be really difficult from day to day.”

She gets overstimulated by people very quickly, which isn’t ideal, given that being an artist means she’s constantly surrounded by them. “I don’t like the connection that happens in my head [where] individuals sometimes become like a large entity, or a wall.” She does, though, love meeting other people, because her neurodivergence means she’s especially open to strangers. “It’s like a superpower, but if it’s too much all the time, this superpower disappears. It makes me sad, because [then] I’m missing out on a lot of good meetings with people.”

Artists spend a lot of time existing in liminal spaces, an observation the pop star Charli xcx made in a recent Substack newsletter. They’re always on the way somewhere: in airport lounges, tour buses, cold warehouses ahead of photoshoots. “I’m quite good at letting all the wishy-washiness of this life trigger good things in me,” says Aurora brightly. “Like, if I travel a lot, I use that time to read a book or draw. I make it cosy. When I feel time is just wasting away, waiting to arrive somewhere or whatever, I escape into my brain and I really like it there. And I find it very easy.”

Unsurprisingly, Aurora’s solution to our activism fatigue is a return to the physical world – to the stubbornly analogue act of gathering. “When people meet in the same room for a cause, it’s so pure,” she explains. “You can see the crowd. You can feel the number. You can understand it.” Statistics become real only when embodied. “One in five children in our world are affected by war or conflict that impacts their will to grow up, to make something of their talents, their thirst to be a human and explore and play,” she says.

As a figure, that certainly sounds horrific, but cross out the face of every fifth child in your school yearbook and it’ll touch your heart. “It’s a good rehearsal to do, to pull statistics that are hard to feel,” she tells me, putting a hand to her chest, “into something that can ground the numbers into reality.” And it can go the other way, too, to help people understand positive change. War Child has helped 180,000 children in Palestine. “That’s the size of my whole city,” says Aurora. “That’s a lot of lives.”

For her global concerns, Aurora remains intensely local. She still lives in Bergen, Norway, a city with mountains for walls and winters that can stretch to eight months. As a child, she didn’t listen to much music – she’s still not sure she likes it – but at home she heard artists like Leonard Cohen, Enya and Nina Simone. Cohen taught her that feminine softness can be a form of political force. Simone taught her that good artists reflect the times they live in. Enya is just Enya (she’s evidently had a huge influence on Aurora). “If you do it right,” Aurora says, “your voice lasts for ever. And it’s a shame if that voice only spoke about useless crap.” She smiles, amused at herself. “But we need useless crap, too. I love that as well.”

Aurora is flying home tonight. It’s snowing in Bergen; she can’t wait. She’ll be moving in her new broken piano, a cheap purchase she’s excited about because it sounds “seasick”. In her home studio, she will continue to nurture an ongoing desire to create something completely shocking, and new: “It’s very clear that, as humans, we always react to either what the generation before us did or what we used to do. That’s what I’m doing, also: just following a predestined pattern of my own, where I’m currently reacting to myself before.”

Between now and when she returns to London in December for the War Child show, fans will see the start of this different phase in her career. “I’m excited to see what it becomes,” she says. Then a tiny smile. “Life can still feel unexpected.”

The only way to watch Aurora’s winter show is by entering the prize draw, in which fans can win a pair of VIP tickets. The more times they enter, the better their chances of winning.

The prize draw for the tickets closes at 11.59pm on Sunday 30 November, but you can still use the draw page to donate to War Child.

Strictly’s Instant Dance segment was pure chaos – and deserves to stay

If you only tuned in to the final 15 minutes of Saturday night’s Strictly Come Dancing, you’d be forgiven for thinking the BBC had accidentally aired a somewhat chaotic dress rehearsal. But no – the frenzied challenge going out live was a new addition to this year’s series. And it was one that I hope stays for good.

Across its 23 series, Strictly bosses have mixed things up, but they’ve never dared to attempt anything on this scale. In a handful of previous years, celebrities and their professional partners have competed in “Dance-a-Thons”, which have involved all remaining couples taking to the floor at the same time, performing the same style. These have had varying success, which is probably why the Dance-a-Thon has never become a regular feature.

On Saturday night, though, bosses introduced the “Instant Dance” challenge. Borrowed from US show Dancing with the Stars, the challenge is designed to mimic what the professionals face in competitive settings. After they’d opened an envelope to reveal the style they’d be performing – guaranteed to be one they’d learnt earlier in the series – the couples had mere seconds to pick outfits and head to the dressing rooms. Once back in the studio, the celebrities and their pro partners were made to wait on separate staircases. They were then given just 10 seconds to confer before the music kicked in.

It was, to put it mildly, chaotic. But in the best way. Tess Daly stood with each pair as they found out what they’d be performing, while Claudia Winkleman helped the celebrities pick their outfits, which largely meant thrusting increasingly jumbled combinations of clothing into their hands.

On the floor, some pairs thrived: Balvinder Sopal and Julian pulled off a convincing paso doble while Lewis Cope and Katya Jones – who were crowned winners – were well-prepared for all eventualities, and even masterminded a spectacular ending for their mini-routine. Others didn’t do quite so well. Alex Kingston and Johannes Rabede played it too safe with their rumba before Karen Carney and Carlos Gu relied heavily on clapping and walking in a circle; it was giving 11pm at a wedding.

Before the Instant Dance challenge, the mood in the Strictly studio was tense. Kingston had kicked off the live show with a mistake-ridden cha cha, which went from bad to worse as she struggled to recover from early footwork errors. Next up was George Clarke, who openly admitted his mistakes to the judges, which he soon regretted as it turned out two of the panellists hadn’t spotted them. Later, Sopal struggled with her jive. “There must be something in the water tonight,” Anton du Beke quipped, though he wasn’t really joking.

Thankfully, Amber Davies and Karen Carney brought the mood up as their routines both landed perfect scores – but even that left the latter’s partner, Carlos Gu, in floods of tears.

The Instant Dance challenge was a much-needed mood booster. With a maximum of just six points up for grabs, the stakes were low (a fact I’m sure the most nervous celebrities were reminded of several times). And even the pairs who scored the lowest looked as though they were having fun. With adrenaline levels running high, it seemed as though the looming dance-off had briefly been forgotten. These final weeks of Strictly can be intense – anything that can inject some fun into the competition gets a 10 from me.

Sultana ‘won’t be pushed out’ of Your Party and slams ‘toxic culture’

A defiant Zarah Sultana has refused to be “pushed out” of Your Party after she boycotted the first day of the conference, accusing people within the organisation of creating a “toxic culture” and citing a “witch hunt”.

In an extraordinary row at the party’s inaugural gathering, Ms Sultana said she would not enter the main conference centre in Liverpool on Saturday after one of her supporters, Kingston councillor James Giles, was claimed to have been denied entry. Other members were expelled on Friday over alleged membership of the Socialist Workers Party.

The criticism comes just hours after Jeremy Corbyn vowed the co-leaders of the crisis-hit party were united.

A spokesperson for Ms Sultana said: “Zarah met members outside the conference and condemned the recent expulsions. This witch hunt is indefensible. We must build a party that welcomes all socialists. She will not be entering the conference hall today.”

But Your Party has hit back, denying claims of a “purge” of members, saying those expelled had broken “clearly stated membership rules”.

A Your Party spokesman said: “These claims are false. Members of another national political party signed up to Your Party in contravention of clearly stated membership rules – and these rules were enforced.”

Ms Sultana expressed her disappointment at the expulsion of people from Your Party on the eve of its founding conference.

She said: “I’m disappointed to see on the morning of our founding conference, people who have travelled from all over the country, spent a lot of money on their train fare, on hotels, on being able to participate in this conference, being told that they have been expelled.

“That is a culture that is reminiscent of the Labour Party, how there were witch hunts on the eve of conference, how members were treated with contempt,” she continued. “We are here to build a democratic party that unites all of the left, all socialists, so they can find their political home in Your Party. So what we have seen this morning has been disappointing and it should be reversed.”

But she insisted the party could work together, even as she accused unnamed individuals of seeking to operate a “top-down” organisation.

She said: “We absolutely have to work together. But what we have to get rid of is this toxic culture of leaks to the right-wing press, of legal threats, of bullying, intimidation and acts of sabotage…

“It is all symptomatic of a group of people who are operating with paranoia and an obsession with control, and what I’m here to do is defend member democracy.”

The latest spat came just hours after Mr Corbyn claimed that infighting was over in Your Party, as he told members he was proud of his co-leader and had sent a message of “support and solidarity” to a rally she held on Friday night.

In his speech to party members in Liverpool on Saturday, he said: “As a party, we’ve got to come together and be united because division and disunity will not serve the interests of the people that we want to represent. So that’s the basis on which we launch the party now.”

The fresh commitment to unity came shortly after Mr Corbyn declined to call Ms Sultana a friend when asked during an interview with Sky News. Instead, he said the pair were “colleagues in parliament, and we obviously communicate and so on”.

Despite expressing her issues with the “witch hunt” she alleged was ongoing in Your Party, Ms Sultana said she would support Mr Corbyn if he were elected leader of the party “despite her advocacy for collective leadership”.

“I am a democrat, I will support whatever the members decide,” she said. “I supported a co-leadership structure. Unfortunately, a nameless, faceless bureaucrat decided the members weren’t allowed to even vote on that option.

“Interestingly, I also supported the ‘Left Party’ as being one of the names for the party that I supported, and that hasn’t also been included as an option for members, which actually is an undemocratic move.”

It follows a chaotic first few months for the party, marred by division, which saw Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana fall out over a botched membership launch.

Ms Sultana complained she had been subjected to a “sexist boys’ club” after supporters were invited to officially sign up and give the party financial backing. But Mr Corbyn described the move as an “unauthorised email” and just hours later warned members in a statement posted on social media not to sign up via the link.

Two MPs who helped to set up the outfit have also since quit; last week, Iqbal Mohamed said in a statement that he had decided to leave Your Party and continue to serve his Dewsbury and Batley constituency as an independent MP.

And earlier this month, MP Adnan Hussain said he was withdrawing from the party’s “steering process”, citing concerns about factionalism and “veiled prejudice” against Muslims.

Later in his speech, Mr Corbyn used Your Party’s supposed newfound unity to criticise the Labour Party’s structure and “bureaucracy”.

The former Labour leader said: “I’ve had enough of top-down parties. I spent a lifetime in the Labour Party, mostly fighting Labour Party bureaucracy. I don’t want to repeat that in Your Party. I don’t want to repeat that experience.”

He took the opportunity to urge members to “campaign forever more” for “real socialism”.

Concluding his opening address to the party’s founding conference, he said: “We are here in Liverpool with a huge responsibility on our shoulders to get this thing underway this weekend, to get the branches going, to get the campaigns going and contest the elections in the future.

“This is our opportunity and our time.

“We are going to seize it with both hands, build that party, build that society, and campaign forevermore for real socialism and real social justice.”

During the conference, members will be able to vote on the party’s new name after months of indecision and confusion. The options include Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance, and For The Many, with the chosen name to be announced on Sunday.

‘Reeves’s Budget has made things worse – I won’t vote Labour again’

Peter Cripps voted for Labour at the last general election because he was desperate to get rid of the Conservatives. But he wouldn’t vote for the party again, not least after the chancellor’s make-or-break Budget on Wednesday.

As he sat outside his shop, Car, Home and Garden in Sheerness on Kent’s Isle of Sheppey, the 76-year-old told The Independent: “I’ve lived on the isle for 50 years, this is the worst I’ve ever known it, and this Budget is not going to turn that around.”

In her fiscal statement on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves unveiled £26bn worth of tax rises in an attempt to plug the gaps in the public finances. The chancellor’s tax hikes will be delivered by freezing thresholds, dragging millions more into paying higher taxes, and a host of other measures, including a new “mansion tax” on properties worth more than £2m and a fresh levy on landlords.

She also announced the government will lift the two-child benefit cap and raise the minimum wage in an attempt to ease the pressures of the cost of living crisis.

Labour will need the Budget to go down well with swing voters in places such as Sheerness if the party is to turn opinion polls around and stand a chance of holding onto power at the next general election.

The port town’s constituency, Sittingbourne and Sheppey, was a Labour gain at the last election, with Kevin McKenna beating Conservative candidate Aisha Cuthbert by a margin of 355 votes, with Reform UK a close third.

Mr Cripps wanted change because he felt his town’s high street had declined, and he hoped Labour would address that. But now, he feels let down by the government and does not trust it to grow the economy.

He explained: “They’ve (Labour) come in, and they’ve made it even worse. I certainly wouldn’t vote for them again.”

Asked why, he said: “I think this country is in such a mess. We need jobs, we need manufacturing. On this island we used to have a steelworks – gone, toilet factory – gone, we had the docks. It’s all gone. We have no manufacturing. Until we get jobs, it won’t change.”

Though Mr Cripps liked some measures of the Budget – he is glad Ms Reeves decided to scrap the two-child benefit cap – he is worried by a rise in the minimum wage. He said it is something a business like his cannot afford to pay.

Similarly unimpressed by the Budget was Stanley Ward, 68, who runs butcher’s shop, Kent Fresh Food, and is also a landlord with three residential properties.

“I’m worried about the landlord tax because they’re going to take money out,” he told The Independent. “You don’t want to keep putting rent up because it’s not fair on the tenant.

“I’ve got good tenants, and I don’t want to upset them by putting the rent up. But I think it could backfire, I think a lot of landlords will sell because it’s ridiculous what they keep doing to us.”

Like Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Ilford North is one of Labour’s slimmest marginal seats – the constituency has swung between Labour and the Conservatives since it was established in 1945.

Wes Streeting has been its MP since 2015, but the health secretary survived a scare to hold onto his seat at last year’s general election as he beat independent candidate Leanne Mohamad by just 528 votes.

But a vote Mr Streeting cannot count on is Stephen Laycock, 64, who owns the Hi-Tide chip shop on High Street in Barkingside, and describes the Budget as “terrible”.

He told The Independent: “I voted Conservative at the last election. I’ve never voted Labour and I never will. I don’t think they’re helping the people they should be helping.”

He used his own business as an example, saying: “I don’t class myself as high-end business-wise. We’re just a family business; we’ve been here 54 years, and we’re certainly not going to be here for 54 more.

“It’s not just the Budget, though I think that was disgusting, I feel like everything is tax, tax, tax.”

Like Mr Cripps, Mr Laycock is concerned about how he will cover a rise in the minimum wage, which Ms Reeves introduced so that “those on low incomes are properly rewarded for their hard work”.

He said: “I’m not getting the footfall, nobody’s got money. National Insurance went up last time. As a business owner, it’s all just gone up.

“We used to pay £74 for a box of cod, they’re £400 now. How do I make money on that? Without tax relief, there will be nothing at all. Potatoes should be £7 a bag but they’re fetching £24. You can’t absorb that.”

Around 20 miles away, in the London constituency of Kensington and Bayswater, Ms Reeves’s mansion tax was a cause of concern. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a quarter of properties hit by the tax are in just three London council boroughs; Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Camden.

Kensington and Bayswater is another parliamentary seat with a thin majority – the new constituency was won by Labour’s Joe Powell in 2024. Kensington resident Caroline was concerned about the tax, citing it as an example of Labour’s approach to the wealthy.

She told The Independent: “Thank God my property is not worth even half of £2m. They’ve already chased away most of the non-doms and well, everybody who’s rich, which I’m not so sure it’s clever to tax the rich even more. They’ll just disappear.

“It’s the old-fashioned Labour thing, just spending, spending, spending and taxing.”

According to fellow Kensington local Helen, the tax’s threshold is too low. She said: “£2m doesn’t buy you much here. I’ve been living here for 40 years, and the prices have gone up, but I, why should I move from my home? Because I can’t afford a wealth tax.

“ I think let’s get people back to work. Our young people are leaving in droves because there’s no future for the hardworking professionals.”

More cheerful about the Budget were Richard and Jean Whitehead in Ilford North. The two retirees are Labour voters and believe Sir Keir Starmer’s government needs to be given more time to turn around the nation’s fortunes.

Jean said: “I think this Budget will put some money into people’s pockets. The two-child benefit cap coming off is really important for some. and the increase in the minimum wage will be beneficial to a lot of people.

“But on the other side, say for hospitality, if they’ve got to pay that increased minimum wage, they might not employ that person because they can’t afford it.”

Richard is concerned by the impact of tax thresholds being frozen and resulting fiscal drag, but he is willing to wait and see how the policies outlined in the Budget play out,

He said: “They can’t turn the tide in a year and a bit. It’s going to take at least two terms for the tide to start turning. It’s going to be hard first of all and I don’t think anyone thought it wasn’t going to be.”

Sir Keir said on Thursday that the Budget “asked everybody to make a contribution” in order to protect public services and help people struggling with the cost of living.

Regarding the tax burden, the prime minister argued that his government had “done the least possible we can” to impact people and had “done it in a fair way”.

The Independent has approached the Treasury for comment.

Black Friday cruise deals – enjoy luxe all-inclusive trips for less

Already dreaming about your next unforgettable escape? Picture this: gazing at a postcard-perfect horizon, margarita in hand, before tucking into delicious, made-to-order dining amid superyacht inspired luxury…

Well, it’s time to make waves, Sailor: Virgin Voyages’ Black Friday offers are here, running from 21 November – 4th December, with epic savings to be made across 2025, 2026, and their newly-launched 2027 sailings. What’s more, you can get 80 per cent off a second ‘Sailor’ and up to $500 in free drinks – find out more at Virgin Voyages.

And these aren’t just any cruises; these are award-winning, exclusively adult cruises, providing a playground at sea for discerning grownups, with no buffets, and certainly no beige (they favour red, instead). There’s over $1,000/£750 in value built right in, from WiFi and group fitness classes to essential drinks and award-winning dining – all with no hidden extras. Prices are all-in, and stay that way, leaving you to focus on pure, effortless indulgence.

Exemplifying the modern luxury and romance of sailing, there are no  lacklustre, elbows-at-the-ready meals to be queued for here: instead you’ll enjoy freshly prepared food from over 20 unique eateries, guaranteeing culinary flair with distinct, delicious flavours. And prepare to have dinner with a view – every single restaurant on board has panoramas out to the ocean.

When you’re not eating (or sipping), explore the ship’s sleek, design-led spaces. Think nautically cool cabins with roomy rain showers and heavenly hammocks made for lazy afternoons. Hit The Manor, Virgin’s sexy, disco-glam nightclub reached through a mirrored corridor straight out of a K-pop video. Or lose yourself in The Red Room, where cutting-edge shows and dance parties keep the energy high till sunrise. Then there’s The Groupie – your private karaoke den for those ‘we’re definitely forming a band’ moments (crafted cocktails highly encouraged).

Need inspo for which cruise to choose? How about this one: 2026 sees the introduction of one of Virgin Voyages’ most highly anticipated routes – the debut of its sailing to Alaska, running from May to September aboard Brilliant Lady.

The ship will take 16 memorable journeys roundtrip from Seattle (with some from Vancouver), lasting from between seven to 12 nights. You’ll experience the region’s wild beauty and authentic ports which most cruise lines skip, from the dramatic fjords of Tracy Arm to hidden gems like Haines (the Bald Eagle capital of the world) Icy Strait Point, an indigenous-owned destination perfect for whale watching and adventure, and Sitka – where you’ll find a blend of Russian and Native heritage – taking you deeper into America’s Last Frontier.

You can also immerse yourself on-land via Virgin Voyages ‘Shore Thing’ experiences, with over 250 excursions crafted for adults, including bear spotting, dog sledding, glacier hikes, and indigenous-led cultural immersions, designed for adults – not busloads. And with longer port times, you’ll be able to explore exciting destinations like Alaska’s capital, Juneau, without feeling rushed; there are no early departures here, so you can spend a generous eight unhurried hours marvelling at the epic panoramas from the Mount Roberts Tramway, watching whales in Auke Bay, or visiting epic natural wonders like the Mendenhall Glacier.

And it’s never too late to think even further ahead; Virgin Voyages has also just launched its new 2027 itineraries, expanding to a range of fresh destinations. Feeling hot, hot, hot? A few of them depart from Miami and take in the Caribbean, such as the St Thomas, US Virgin Islands cruise – a brand new port which also stops at Tortola, Antigua and St Kitts and Nevis – and the shorter Cayman Isles and Bimini Beach cruise, where you can swim with stingrays, bask in the sun, and savour authentic Caribbean cuisine.

If you’re feeling more adventurous, there’s the Greenland & Transatlantic cruise, where you’ll sail from  Iceland’s hip capital, Reykjavik to Greenland’s colourful villages, Qaqortoq and Nuuk, before making your way towards New York City. And the best part? If you take advantage of Virgin Voyages’ Black Friday offers, from 21 November – 4th December 2025, you’ll make significant savings plus get up to $500 in free drinks. Which leaves all the more money to spend on Christmas presents….

Anchors away! To set sail in style, book now at virginvoyages.com

Prince William ‘moved by courage’ of Gazan children under UK care

The Prince of Wales was “moved by the courage” of Gazan children he met, who have been evacuated to the UK for specialist medical care.

Fifty children and their immediate families had arrived in Britain for treatment by 21 November, the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed.

Kensington Palace stated William “wished to offer a moment of comfort” to young people “who have endured experiences no child should ever face”.

The prince previously met Palestinian children during a 2018 visit to a occupied West Bank refugee camp.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “Recently His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales met a small number of children from Gaza who are currently receiving specialist care in the UK.

“The prince wished to offer a moment of comfort to these young people who have endured experiences no child should ever face.”

They added: “The prince was also able to offer his heartfelt gratitude to the NHS teams providing exceptional care during such a profoundly difficult time.

“His Royal Highness was moved by the courage shown by the children and their families and by the dedication of the team who are supporting them with such professionalism and humanity.”

William paid tribute to humanitarian workers last month during a visit to Gunnersbury Park, west London.

At the launch of the first global memorial for humanitarian workers, he said: “We are witnesses to the appalling suffering of those who are victims of war and violence; from Ukraine to Sudan, from Myanmar to Haiti and, indeed, throughout much of the Middle East. And, alas, in so many other places.

“Yet, the presence of humanitarian aid workers, like those in Gaza, runs like a thread of shared humanity through even the grimmest of environments.”

More than seven years ago, William met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, on the West Bank, before travelling a few miles away to the streets of the Jalazone camp, which was home to around 15,000 people at the time.

He visited a school and health clinic and met mothers having their babies vaccinated.

A government spokesperson said on Saturday: “The government worked with partners to carry out medical evacuations from Gaza to the UK over the autumn.

“Fifty patients and their immediate family members are now receiving care in surroundings that are safe and welcoming.

“Following the ceasefire, now is the time to scale-up aid and ensure much-needed medicines and medical supplies are getting into Gaza, so that families can access the healthcare they need.

“We stand ready to continue to provide health-related support to the people of Gaza.”

Trump tells airlines to consider Venezuela’s airspace closed

President Donald Trump told airlines to consider Venezuela’s airspace closed, days after he vowed to take action on land “very soon.”

Following dozens of strikes against alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean that have killed more than 80 people since September, Trump suggested to military service members in a Thanksgiving Day phone call that the U.S. would soon take action “on land.”

On Saturday, he urged the clearing of the airspace near the South American country. “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” the U.S. president wrote on Truth Social Saturday morning.

Over the weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration also warned airlines to “exercise caution” when flying over Venezuela “due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity.”

Several airlines cancelled their flights as a result of the FAA’s warning.

Venezuela’s government criticised Mr Trump’s comments, describing them as a “colonialist threat” against the South American country’s sovereignty and incompatible with international law.

The U.S. president’s post “represents a hostile, unilateral and arbitrary act, incompatible with the principles of international law,” the statement said.

It called on the international community to reject what it described as an immoral act of aggression.

Residents in Caracas called the decision unfair.

“I think it’s unfair because people need to travel to work, to do business, to see their family, and us Venezuelans aren’t at fault for these situations,” said Manuel Romero, a cooking assistant.

Carmen Castillo, a lawyer, said she worried that many people won’t be able to visit their families outside Venezuela for the holidays.

“We’re confined, here in Caracas, in Venezuela. Of course it affects us,” she said.

Last week, the White House was reportedly considering having U.S. military planes drop leaflets — containing details about the $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Nicolás Maduro — over Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, the Washington Post reported.

For months, the U.S. government has been building up a military presence in the region to curb what Trump administration officials call “narco-terrorists” and has also made it clear it wants to oust Maduro.

Maduro has been in power since 2013, following the death of Hugo Chavez. The U.S. is among more than 50 countries that have refused to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s head of state, claiming he lost the 2024 presidential election. The State Department has offered rewards for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the Venezuelan president since 2020; the Trump administration raised the reward to $50 million this year.

The U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, which Trump alleges are fueled by Maduro’s government. Last month, the State Department designated Cartel de los Soles as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” claiming it’s headed by Maduro and other high-ranking members of his “illegitimate” regime.

Days before the State Department designated Maduro to be the leader of a foreign terrorist organization, Trump and Maduro spoke on the phone, suggesting they meet, the New York Times reported Friday. Sources also told Axios this week that Trump is planning on speaking directly with Maduro.

Still, Trump has ramped up threats of military action against the country.

“In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many,” Trump said on his Thanksgiving call to U.S. troops. “Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore.”

“You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon. We warn them: Stop sending poison to our country,” he added.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the series of strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in a Friday social media post.

“The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people. Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization,” he wrote. “The Trump administration has sealed the border and gone on offense against narco-terrorists. Biden coddled terrorists, we kill them.”

Hegseth insisted the strikes were “lawful” as legal experts, former national security officials, and members of Congress have shared their concerns over the president’s claim that he has legal authority to launch extrajudicial killings against the alleged drug traffickers.

“Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command,” the defense secretary wrote.

In September, Hegseth reportedly gave a verbal order to leave no survivors behind during the first such strike. When two survivors emerged from the wreckage, a Special Operations commander overseeing the attack ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions to “kill everybody,” sources told The Washington Post.