Harriet Marsden

1 week ago | theweek.com | Harriet Marsden

For the time time in history, the one in five US adults who identify as Catholic will have a fellow American as their spiritual leader. Although Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, henceforth to be known as Pope Leo XIV, spent much of his religious career in Peru, he was born and raised in Chicago and holds citizenship of both countries.

1 week ago | theweek.com | Harriet Marsden

Today Europe commemorates the 80th anniversary of what is known as Victory in Europe (VE Day): the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of the Second World War. It was so named to "reflect the fact that US and British troops fought on in the Pacific" until the defeat of Japan in August 1945, said The Telegraph. But Donald Trump has announced that the US would "strip any mention of Europe" from its celebration.

1 week ago | theweek.com | Harriet Marsden

The "long-overdue" moment of an Asian player winning the World Snooker Championship for the first time "was supposed to be one of unalloyed joy", said Luke Baker in The Independent. But there is an "air of hesitancy around the celebrations". China's Zhao Xintong "cut a swathe through qualifying and the main stage" in Sheffield to set up a final against Mark Williams, the Welshman "gunning for his fourth Crucible title".

1 week ago | theweek.com | Harriet Marsden

China's marriage rate may have last year, but at least some of the country's singles are saying yes – albeit to a different type of arrangement. A small but growing number of young people are "marrying their best friends", said the . The so-called "friendship marriage" trend involves two people becoming legal spouses, often living together in a relationship based on "shared values and interests" – but without ties of romantic love or sex.

2 weeks ago | theweek.com | Harriet Marsden

"There's not much that the Conservatives, the SNP and Labour agree on", but the band Kneecap has "pulled off the improbable and united political opponents against them", said The Spectator. Criticism of the Irish rappers has been mounting after video footage emerged of a 2023 gig, appearing to show one member of the trio saying, "The only good Tory is a dead Tory.