Japan’s sisterhood in snow: how grief and climate bind two lives – in pictures

The day begins with snow—thick, silent, settling on the shoulders of a nation still learning how to mourn. In a small gallery in Tokyo, Sayuri Ichida’s photographs of her sister, Yuko, hang like fragments of a conversation neither knew they needed. The images, taken over five winters, trace a relationship that only deepened after their mother’s death: two women navigating grief not through words, but through the shared weight of coats, the steam of shared meals, the way snow muffles a city already inclined toward silence.

What makes the series remarkable is not just its intimacy, but its timing. Japan is experiencing winters that are both harsher and more erratic—blizzards that arrive without warning, followed by thaws that turn streets into rivers. The snow in Ichida’s photographs is not just a backdrop; it is a character, one that shapes routines, dictates travel, and, in its absence, leaves a void. "We used to have four distinct seasons," Ichida told The Guardian in an interview last week. "Now, we have two: the season of too much, and the season of not enough." The observation is quiet, almost incidental, but it lingers. The climate crisis is not an abstract threat here; it is the texture of daily life, altering the way families gather, the way they mark time, the way they remember.

The Evergrande verdict: a life sentence for China’s property collapse

Xu Jiayin, the founder of Evergrande, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, a verdict that formalizes the end of an era for China’s property sector. The court in Guangzhou found him guilty of fraud, bribery, and "illegally misappropriating funds," charges that stem from the company’s spectacular collapse in 2021, which left millions of homebuyers in limbo and triggered a liquidity crisis across the country’s financial system.

The sentencing is less about justice than about signaling. Beijing has spent the past three years attempting to stabilize a sector that once accounted for nearly 30% of the country’s GDP, introducing a slew of measures to prop up developers, ease mortgage rules, and reassure investors. Xu’s punishment is the clearest message yet that the old model—of debt-fueled expansion, opaque financing, and the assumption of perpetual growth—is over. What replaces it remains unclear. The government has pushed for a shift toward "common prosperity," a vague but persistent slogan that prioritizes affordable housing and state-led development. Yet with local governments still reliant on land sales for revenue, and homebuyers wary of new projects, the transition is proving messy.

For the UK, the fallout is indirect but real. China’s economic slowdown has already dampened demand for British exports, from luxury goods to industrial machinery. More subtly, the Evergrande saga serves as a cautionary tale for a global economy still adjusting to the end of cheap money. If China’s property bubble could burst with such force, what other sectors—commercial real estate in the US, infrastructure in Europe—might be next?

GCSE results day: the mental health cost of England’s resit policy

Hundreds of thousands of students across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland received their GCSE results on Thursday, but for those who failed to secure a grade 4 in maths or English, the day marked the beginning of a cycle of stress that researchers warn is taking a severe toll on mental health. A study by University College London (UCL), published as results were released, found that students in England—where resits are mandatory—reported significantly lower wellbeing than their peers in Wales and Northern Ireland, where retakes are optional.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence that England’s education system, with its emphasis on high-stakes testing, is exacerbating anxiety among teenagers. "The assumption that forcing students to retake exams will improve outcomes ignores the human cost," said Dr. Emily Tanner, the study’s lead author. "For many, the pressure doesn’t end with one failure. It becomes a recurring nightmare." The government has defended the policy, arguing that literacy and numeracy are essential for employability, but critics point to a disconnect between the rhetoric and reality. Many students who retake the exams still fail, trapping them in a loop of demoralization.

The debate comes at a time when mental health services in schools are already stretched thin. A separate report by the Children’s Commissioner for England, released earlier this month, found that one in five secondary school students is waiting more than six months for mental health support. For those caught in the resit system, the wait can feel interminable.

Miliband’s warning to Israel: a diplomatic gamble with domestic echoes

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned Israel’s ambassador to London on Thursday to condemn a new settlement project in the West Bank, calling it "unacceptable and destructive" in a statement that risked further straining relations between the two countries. The move comes as the Labour government attempts to balance its historical support for Israel with growing pressure from its own backbenches—and from voters—to take a firmer stance on Palestinian rights.

The settlement in question, approved by Israel’s far-right government earlier this week, would see 3,000 new homes built in an area near Jerusalem that Palestinians claim as part of a future state. Miliband’s intervention is the most direct challenge yet to Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies since Labour took office in 2024, but it is unlikely to change facts on the ground. Israel has dismissed similar criticisms in the past, arguing that settlements are a matter of security and national sovereignty.

The diplomatic tightrope is complicated by domestic politics. A recent YouGov poll found that 52% of Labour voters believe the UK should recognize Palestine as a state, a position Miliband has so far resisted. Meanwhile, the Conservative opposition has accused the government of "abandoning Israel," a line of attack that plays well with the party’s base but risks alienating younger voters. For Miliband, the challenge is to appear principled without being seen as reckless—a balance that has eluded many of his predecessors.

The Barbican’s greenhouse closes, but its plants find new homes

Five hundred people queued outside the Barbican Centre on Wednesday to adopt cuttings from its conservatory, a "green lung" in the heart of London that will close for three years for renovations. The scene was equal parts poignant and practical: visitors clutching plastic bags filled with monstera leaves and ferns, a living archive of the building’s history.

The conservatory, a hidden oasis above the brutalist concrete, has been a fixture of the Barbican since 1982, offering Londoners a rare indoor garden where tropical plants thrive beneath a glass roof. Its closure is part of a £150m refurbishment project, but for many, the loss feels symbolic. In a city where green spaces are increasingly privatized or threatened by development, the conservatory was a public good—a place where anyone could wander, free of charge, among banana trees and orchids.

The adoption event was a small act of resistance. "It’s not just about saving the plants," said one visitor, a retired teacher who took home a cutting of a rare philodendron. "It’s about keeping the idea of public space alive." The Barbican has promised that the conservatory will reopen in 2030, but in the meantime, its legacy will live on in living rooms across London.

What to watch

The day’s cultural offering is a study in contrasts. On BBC One, Ludwig, the cosy-crime drama starring David Mitchell as a crime-solving academic, returns for its second series. The show’s appeal lies in its gentle absurdity—a world where murders are solved over cups of tea and the most dangerous weapon is a misplaced library book.

Meanwhile, Late Starter, a new dating show on Channel 4, follows a group of people in their 50s and 60s as they navigate the perils of modern romance. The premise is simple, but the execution is unexpectedly moving, offering a counterpoint to the youth-obsessed narratives that dominate reality TV. In an era when midlife is often portrayed as a time of crisis, the show’s participants treat it as an opportunity—flawed, messy, but full of possibility.

The stories of the day are, in their own ways, about resilience: the resilience of a bond between sisters, of a property market in freefall, of students forced to retake exams, of a city clinging to its green spaces. What they share is a quiet defiance—a refusal to accept that the world, as it is, is the world as it must be. The snow will melt, the settlements will expand, the grades will be posted, but the questions linger. How do we adapt? What do we save? And who gets to decide?