Glastonbury Festival: Five newcomers you don't want to miss

23 minutes ago Share Save Mark Savage Music Correspondent Share Save

Getty Images Catriel Guerreiro, of the Argentinian band Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso, will make his Glastonbury debut on Friday

It's understandable. The main coverage of Glastonbury focuses on big names - which this year means a curious mix of ageing veterans and pop upstarts: Rod Stewart and Charli XCX; Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo; John Fogerty and Doechii. There's also a lot of attention on the 56 slots marked "TBA". The rumour mill has gone into a frenzy, positing everyone from Haim (highly likely) to Pulp (also likely) to Lady Gaga (not a chance) and Daft Punk (because some Glastonbury traditions never die). But one of the best things about Glastonbury is stumbling across an act you've never heard of who instantly become your new obsession. With that in mind, here's a guide to five of the most promising new acts on this year's bill... Watch them now, before they get too big.

1) Alessi Rose: A pop queen on the brink of stardom

Getty Images Alessi Rose will open The Other Stage at 11:30am on Saturday 28 June

On 7 May, Alessi Rose wrapped up her first ever headline tour of the US, playing to 250 people at LA's Moroccan Lounge. Four days later she was in Milan, facing 70,000 people as the opening act on Dua Lipa's Radical Optimism tour. "It was literally people as far as you could see," says the Derby-born singer. "It's always been my dream to play these massive, massive arenas - and, honestly, it's just an incomparable feeling." Rose only released her first single, the self-written and self-produced Say Ur Mine, two years ago. But her confessional lyrics and electrifying vocals have earned the 22-year-old a cult following amongst in-the-know fans of Taylor Swift and Gracie Abrams. "It's such a close-knit community," she says. "I think it's because of how I started as a complete unknown, producing music in my room. "There are songs I've released that were written on a live stream, where everyone was watching me and they know exactly who or what it's about. "I think it's nice to be let into that journey of having no connections to the music industry and kind of just, like, figuring it out and being pushy and eventually getting played on the radio." As an English Literature graduate, Rose pays particular attention to her lyrics. Her latest single, That Could Be Me, is all about fumbling the chance to declare her feelings, and watching her crush walk off with another girl. "I missed every shot," she sings over a crunchy guitar riff. "And they ricocheted, now they're lodged in my brain." "I think it really captures that weird, angry tension you have when you really want someone that you can't have," she says. The song should be a highlight of the setlist when she opens the Other Stage on Saturday morning. "There's not gonna be a chill, nonchalant bone in my body that day," says Rose. "My mum cried when she found out... and she's not crier. She was so happy, because she knows it's my dream festival."

2) MRCY's sun-baked soul anthems

MRCY play the BBC Introducing tent at 16:30 on Friday 27 June

"Our sound is big," declares MRCY's Kojo Degraft-Johnson. "It's a big sound. It's a big vibe." The British duo may have formed during lockdown, but they've turned their live shows into life-affirming celebrations, with up to seven musicians onstage for every show. Although 2025 marks their Glastonbury debut, it's not quite their first rodeo. Johnson sang with Jungle when they headlined the West Holts Stage last year, while his bandmate Barney Lister is an award-nominated writer/producer for acts like Joy Crookes, Celeste, Olivia Dean and Obongjayar. Their sound is stewed with the gritty '70s soul of Isaac Hayes and Marvin Gaye, offset by Johnson's stop-you-in-your-tracks vocals. "There's a feeling you get from soul that's a bit timeless, it taps into your nostalgia," says Lister. "When the world's gone crazy, soul music is a good escape." Like the artists who inspired them, the band aren't afraid to tackle pressing social issues in their music. On Man, Johnson sings about the perceived crisis of modern masculinity, delivering the compelling advice, "lead with light", over a funky, pan-African beat. "It's partially about toxic masculinity," says the singer, "but it's also about taking a look at ourselves as human beings and asking, 'What are our intentions?' "We should be hyper aware of the of the darkness, but we should also try to live in light and move with positivity." That worldview suffuses their mellow, gossamer grooves; resulting in the band being championed by Elton John ("quite surreal") and music bible Rolling Stone, which called them "destined for greatness". "We've put a lot of love into our music," says Lister, "and playing at Glastonbury is going to be a real privilege. So you should definitely come."

3) Drum & bass thrill-seekers Koven

Getty Images Koven play the Lonely Hearts Club stage in Silver Hayes at 23:00 on Saturday 28 June

Koven's Katie Boyle is a drum and bass DJ, but she's not like other drum and bass DJs. After pulling off the perfect mix behind her decks, she drops her headphones, runs to the front of the stage and starts singing live. It's a simple, but surprisingly uncommon, way of amping up the atmosphere. Katie's even built a custom DJ rack to make the transitions smoother - with Spice Girl Mel C asking to road-test the equipment for her own sets. As she discovered, there's a certain amount of skill required. "I have to practice like crazy," says Katie. "I need to know my set from start to finish, and work out exactly when I need to get back to the decks to bring in the next tune." She rehearses obsessively at home, cueing up a song, then running into an adjacent room to sing, so she can't cheat on the mixes. "My neighbours love it," she laughs. "No complaints yet, anyway." All the effort has paid off. Koven have become one of the circuit's most sought-after acts, with a stirring set of euphoric, forward-thinking dance anthems like In Your Arms, About Me and Chase The Sun. This year, they have one of the most coveted dance slots of the weekend - playing at 23:00 on the Lonely Hearts Stage. It's a sign of how far the duo have risen since 2022, when they were scheduled against Diana Ross's Sunday afternoon performance on the Pyramid Stage. "Sunday afternoon's a tough slot for dance music in general," recalls Katie. "I was really surprised, 'cos we did have a good turnout, but let's just say the energy levels weren't what we're used to." If you turn up for their set on Saturday, there's one way to make it even more special for Katie: Bring along a picture of a happy dog. "I've had that on my rider for so long, but no-one really ever delivers it," she laughs. "So when they do, it's really, really sweet."

4) Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso's irreverent Latin fusion

5020 Records Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso play the West Holts stage at 13:00 on Friday 27 June

Until last year, Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso were largely a regional act. Their life-affirming blend of trap, rock, underground electronica and Latin jazz earned them a huge fanbase in their home city of Buenos Aires, but they were virtually unknown elsewhere. Then they were invited to play one of National Public Radio's influential Tiny Desk concerts. Within a week, their Spotify page went from 3,000 daily streams to 220,000. Now they're playing Glastonbury's third-biggest stage, West Holts, on Friday afternoon. The last six months "have been crazy," they say. "We knew the Tiny Desk concert would give us visibility, but never expected to impact our lives in the way it happened." The band address the phenomenon on their recent song Impostor, which reflects on the anxiety of building on that momentum, and the understandable onset of impostor syndrome. "Like we say in the song, 'el Tiny Desk nos jodió' (Tiny Desk screwed us), but in a good way," they laugh. "We really had music producers come at us and [promise] us all kinds of things if we do things by the playbook: Learn English, write catchy hooks and songs, go more pop, change the way we look, hit the gym..." Wisely, the two childhood friends stuck to their guns. Audience numbers might have ballooned, but their music still has the raw, irreverent energy that propelled them to fame. "We get bored easily, so we try new things all the time and we love to make the audience crazy," they promise of their Glastonbury debut. And, with their set ending at 2pm, they've got the rest of the weekend to explore the festival's many offerings. "People told us that Glastonbury is like a whole different world, a 72-hour long party – that's the kind of stuff we like. "It has lots of stages and hidden stories and we hope to be able to get lost there and be found just in time to catch a flight to our next show."

5) Gurriers: Sharp, melodic punk from Dublin

Getty Images Gurriers play the Woodsies tent at 12:30pm on Sunday 29 June

The Telegram channels spreading pro-Russian propaganda in Poland

2 hours ago Share Save Global Disinformation Unit, BBC World Service Share Save

BBC

In a clearing in a forest, two men stand behind a row of wooden poles that have pictures of faces stuck on top of them. The portraits include US President Donald Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk. In front of them hangs the US flag. The men are wearing camouflage clothing with blue markings – the colour often worn by Ukrainian soldiers to identify them on the battlefield. "We don't need allies like you," one of the men says in Ukrainian, as he sets fire to the flag and portraits. But this video, shared with thousands of subscribers of a Polish-language Telegram channel, is staged. The uniforms are generic camouflage ones easily bought online, while the Ukrainian words are heavily mispronounced and spoken with a strong Russian accent. It was shared on the Telegram channel Polska Grupa Informacyjna, one of 22 Polish-language channels, with more than 150,000 subscribers between them, that the BBC has identified as sharing various forms of pro-Russian disinformation and propaganda.

A misleading video appears to show Ukrainian soldiers outraged by US policies

Telegram is not widely used in Poland, but experts say false messages on it are amplified among extremist groups and then spread on to other platforms that have a bigger reach. The 22 channels largely present themselves as Polish news and information services. Two claim to be "impartial" while one promises "unbiased" news. One channel bills itself as offering "reliable and verified information hidden from the public", while another has the slogan "we are where the truth is needed". Most of them frequently cite or replicate content from Russian state media outlets, such as RT and Sputnik, which have been banned in the European Union for manipulating information and spreading propaganda. Poland is a member of the EU. The channels often quote or link to Russian regime figures and supporters. President Vladimir Putin, deputy head of the national security council Dmitry Medvedev, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Russian propagandist TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov and pro-Russian war commentators known as "Z-bloggers" are all cited. Some posts on these channels include outright false information. For example, an image posted by the channel UKR LEAKS_pl shows figures in military clothing applying fake blood to people and is captioned "how the 'Bucha victims' were prepared", implying that the well-documented killings of hundreds of Ukrainians by Russian forces in 2022 did not happen. Some channels frequently refer to Ukrainian leaders and soldiers as "Nazis". In one post, InfoDefensePOLAND called the government in Kyiv a "Nazi regime", claiming it was "controlled by the United States" and others in the West.

UKR LEAKS_pl UKR LEAKS_pl shared this post with images showing fake blood being applied to people, captioned "how the 'Bucha victims' were prepared" - implying well-documented killings did not happen

Often a mixture of true and false information is shared, or channels omit crucial information to give a misleading impression. On 17 June, for example, Russia carried out its deadliest attack on Kyiv in months, hitting residential buildings and, according to Ukrainian authorities, killing at least 28 people. More than half of the channels completely ignored the incident, some of them instead highlighting Russian army advances in Ukraine. A few others, echoing Kremlin narratives, blamed Ukraine for the casualties, claiming Russia's attacks only targeted military sites.

Citing and reposting

By analysing Telegram data, the BBC found that many of the channels emerged around the time of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At least three originally published in Russian before being rebranded as Polish. The Telegram data reveals that most of the 22 channels frequently quote, repost, or mention one another. In 2022 and 2023, this included sharing lists described as "good Polish Telegram sources" and urging followers to subscribe.

Poland has been a crucial player in the alliance of countries supporting Ukraine since Russia's invasion, leading the way in the early months in sending military aid and equipment. Anxious to avoid becoming a target of Russian aggression, Poland has become an increasingly prominent defence partner in the European Union and Nato, and has taken in about a million Ukrainian refugees since 2022.

Telegram a 'starting point'

Since 2022, Russian disinformation and influence operations have become "a consistent element of the Polish digital infosphere", says Aleksy Szymkiewicz of the Polish fact-checking organisation Demagog. He says Telegram functions as a "starting point". "False or manipulative claims are posted there first - then they spread to bigger platforms like X. And then from X, it's going, for example, to discussions in Facebook groups." According to Mr Szymkiewicz, these pro-Russian Telegram channels aim to discourage support for Ukraine, polarise public opinion, and drive a wedge between Polish and Ukrainian societies. Poland is now showing signs of fatigue towards refugees, partly driven by anti-Ukrainian propaganda, he says.

Getty Images Experts say anti-Ukrainian narratives are common on some of the channels and may be affecting support for refugees in Poland

Some of the messages circulating on the channels are overtly pro-Russian or anti-Ukrainian, but others are more subtle. For example, some recent posts suggest that increased military spending in EU countries seeking to counter what they see as a threat from Russia, is driving citizens - including Poles - into poverty. Other common narratives use unsubstantiated generalisations about Ukrainian refugees, portraying them as aggressive, law-breaking and a drain on host countries. Mr Szymkiewicz says messages like these "play on real fears" by tapping into existing economic and cultural anxieties within Polish society. Filip Głowacz, a senior analyst at NASK National Research Institute in Warsaw, says there is a "strong historical resentment to Russia" in Poland, which was in the Soviet sphere of influence for several decades. This can mean that "explicitly pro-Russian messages don't work", and pro-Russian actors sometimes "push pro-Kremlin narratives together with far-right content, conspiracy theories, etc". Telegram is an "ideal platform" for this, he says, explaining it has an outsized influence among far-right communities and conspiracy theorists.

Who is behind the channels?

While the identities behind most channels remain unclear, experts say there are signs of ties to Russia or its ally Belarus. According to Mr Głowacz, the publishing times of many of the channels suggest they follow a shift-based posting schedule aligned with Moscow's working hours. UKR LEAKS_pl is part of the wider UKR LEAKS group - a multilingual web of Telegram channels and affiliated platforms run by Vasily Prozorov, a former officer in the Ukrainian security service, who switched sides to collaborate with Russia. InfoDefensePOLAND belongs to the InfoDefense group, which operates in more than 30 languages, and is linked to Yury Podolyaka, a controversial pro-Kremlin blogger originally from Ukraine. He is now in Russia and has been sentenced in absentia by Ukrainian courts for collaborating with Moscow. The channel told the BBC it had more than 500 volunteers around the world. "There are a lot of people in the world who support Russia. They're helping us. Yuri Podolyaka is one of them," it said.

Getty Images An Kyiv apartment building hit by Russia on 17 June – some channels claim Moscow only targeted military sites or blamed Ukraine for the deaths

Another channel, Pravda PL, is part of the Pravda group - a large international network of pro-Kremlin news websites and social media pages. France's state agency for tackling disinformation, Viginum, says it is linked to a Russian IT firm based in Russian-occupied Crimea. According to Newsguard - a company that rates news and information websites for reliability - Pravda is spreading content so widely that it is "infecting" AI chatbot responses. Newsguard tested 10 chatbots with a sample of false narratives shared on Pravda. It says they sometimes repeated or cited the disinformation, while at other times questioning it. Pravda and UKR_LEAKS did not respond to BBC requests for comment. Polska Grupa Informacyjna, the channel that shared the video of the US portraits being burned, shares a mixture of content, including some that gives a Ukrainian perspective. It told the BBC it was "an independent news channel" and its "overriding principle is impartiality", strongly rejecting claims that it promoted pro-Kremlin narratives. It said content on the channel may be shared "as an example of controversial material circulating on the web, without any approval or assessment from the editorial staff". Material may be removed or corrected if it turns out to be inauthentic, it added. Mr Szymkiewicz says the spread of pro-Russian disinformation on Telegram is concerning, as it allows content from state-media sources such as RT and Sputnik to remain present in the Polish-language media landscape, often reaching a wide audience. "Such content is frequently false, manipulated, or outright fabricated," he says. He adds that anti-Ukrainian posts "legitimise and entrench the perspectives and narratives of the Russian regime in Polish public discourse".

'Giving soldiers faulty ear plugs was a betrayal'

16 minutes ago Share Save Eleanor Lawson BBC Midlands Today Share Save

BBC Dave Pettifer is one of hundreds of UK veterans joining a legal claim

When Dave Pettifer was a Royal Marines commando, he fought in the jungle, endured the Arctic tundra and completed three tours of Afghanistan. He faced many threats - but he never thought hearing loss would be one of them. Mr Pettifer, a father-of-two from Oldbury, is among hundreds of soldiers in the UK taking legal action after allegedly being issued defective ear plugs during his service. "Everyone I speak to in the military has some kind of hearing problem," the 47-year-old told the BBC. "It's probably the most dangerous job in the world and you expect the people that employ you to send you off with the correct kit that's fit for purpose. It's a betrayal."

UK law firm KP Law launched a claim on behalf of the veterans against 3M, the US company that supplied the Ministry of Defence with 400,000 sets of Combat Arms Earplugs between 2003 and 2023. The ear plugs were originally manufactured by Aearo Technologies, a company which was acquired by 3M in 2008. The claim alleges the earplugs suffered from a design defect which meant they were unable to form a complete seal in the soldier's ear. It is also alleged 3M knew the ear plugs were defective, referring to evidence which came out of litigation in the US in which an internal memo acknowledged the ear plugs had problems. 3M - a company best known for being the manufacturer of Post-It notes - did not comment when contacted by the BBC. Mr Pettifer was one of the first veterans to join the claim against the company after years of struggling.

These are the Combat Arms Earplugs at the heart of a legal battle

"I find I have to look at people's faces to hear what they're saying," he said. "If there's some background noise I can't hear anything in my left ear, I have to turn my head to the right to hear. "My wife has to keep repeating things when I mishear. I have often felt embarrassed when I've had to ask people to repeat themselves after not hearing them correctly."

The class action follows a historic $6bn settlement made by 3M regarding the same ear plugs which were supplied to the US military. It is one of the biggest cases of its kind in US history, however, 3M said it accepted no liability. "They had a duty to protect soldiers - they were supplying something that we needed to protect us," Mr Pettifer said. "To think that they would have sold something that they knew was defective is quite reprehensible."

Dave Pettifer Mr Pettifer, from Oldbury, said he knew many veterans with hearing problems

Tom Longstaff, a partner and head of product liability at KP Law, said hundreds of veterans had joined the UK claim and thousands more had damaged hearing because of ear plugs that "don't work". "One of the British military's core values is integrity. By supplying earplugs that were defective, and which 3M knew were defective, 3M showed no integrity," he said. "It is only right that the men and women whose lives have been impacted receive justice and compensation." Mr Pettifer agreed, adding: "What we need to see is some justice handed out. I know guys who are younger than me that have got double hearing aids."

University of Aston Claire Wilkes said employers had a duty of care to provide appropriate ear protection for the job

Claire Wilkes, a teaching fellow in audiology at Aston University, spoke to the BBC about the damage defective equipment can have on hearing when someone is exposed to high levels of noise. "That can lead to a permanent hearing loss, because it will attack the hair cells in the main organ of hearing and unfortunately they're just not able to recover once they've been damaged, so it's really important that people wear the most appropriate ear protection for the job they're doing," she said. "It's essential and employers have a duty of care to provide appropriate ear protection for the job." The Ministry of Defence said it would not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

Children with speech issues risk poor mental health, charity warns

13 minutes ago Share Save Kate McGough Education reporter, BBC News Share Save

Getty Images

Children struggling with their speech and language are at greater risk of developing mental health problems like anxiety and depression, the charity Speech and Language UK has warned in a report seen exclusively by the BBC. The charity says almost half (45%) of all young people referred to mental health services are also dealing with serious speech and language challenges. That can include difficulties with learning new words, understanding non-verbal cues or stammering during speech. The government says it will "ensure thousands more children receive the help they need to overcome challenges with communication" through its Plan for Change.

A record two million children in the UK are experiencing issues with their speech and language, according to Speech and Language UK. And one in five children and young people aged eight to 25 experienced a mental health problem in 2023, according to the NHS. Speech and Language UK's chief executive Jane Harris says children who struggle with talking and understanding words are more likely to develop poor mental health. "Everyone uses words to identify how they're feeling. If you're struggling with language, you can't say to yourself, 'I'm sad, I'm angry.' You can't categorise how you're feeling," she says. "So if we've got more and more children who are struggling with language, we're going to end up with more and more children with mental health problems." The charity wants better training in speech and language for teachers and school support staff, as well as mental health professionals, and better information sharing between schools and mental health teams to spot language issues in children at an early age. In a joint report with the Centre for Mental Health, the authors call for schools and mental health teams to move away from a reliance on talking-based therapies, adding that solutions like art therapy could sometimes be more appropriate.

The government has committed to providing access to mental health support in every secondary school in England by 2030. Speech and Language UK says it's important those mental health teams in schools have mandatory training in spotting speech and language issues too. "They need to spot when a child has both communication and mental health issues, but also they need to make sure that whatever mental health support they're giving them is actually adapted and is suitable for that child." Speech and language is the most common form of support for children in England with special educational needs, according to the latest data. For around one million young people across the UK, speech and language challenges can last a lifetime, due to conditions like cerebral palsy, autism, or hearing impairments. An estimated 800,000 of those have developmental language disorder, known as DLD, a condition where people have long-term challenges talking or understanding words. Siouxsie, 19, has lived with DLD since she was a young child and finds it hard to put her ideas into words. She also has selective mutism, driven by anxiety. She says she didn't get the right support as a child, which has impacted her ability to communicate as an adult.

Family handout Siouxsie says her communication problems have gone hand-in-hand with her mental health issues

'Ceasefire agreed with Iran' and 'war games'

14 minutes ago Share Save Share Save

US President Donald Trump's claim of an agreed ceasefire between Israel and Iran leads The Daily Telegraph. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that the stop to fighting would be "complete and total", although being implemented in increments, starting from 05:00 BST on Tuesday. Also on the Telegraph's front page, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has made a "pledge to spend £40bn on defence", which shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge has called "smoke and mirrors".

Iran's missile strike on US airbases "leaves Middle East on edge", The Guardian writes. The attack in Qatar was a response to the US hitting Iranian nuclear bases. Iranian state media reported that they also launched missiles on Iraq. More details on the conflict are inside the paper as well as the lighter fare of "how Venice rose up against the wedding of Jeff Bezos".

The Times, like most of today's papers, also headlines on Iran's attack, which it describes as "limited". US President Donald Trump thanked the regime for giving "early notice" of the missiles, later saying in a post on Truth Social "congratulations world, it's time for peace". Also on the front page, "millionaires to flee UK in record numbers" with the paper saying "tax increases and falling economic confidence" are to blame.

Iran's strike on Qatar also leads the Financial Times. "Residents heard explosions across Doha" as "air defences intercepted up to 10 missiles", it writes. In other front page news, Germany and Italy face calls "to move their gold out of New York", which the FT says are the result of Trump's "repeated attacks on the US Federal Reserve" and "increased geopolitical turbulence."

The Daily Mail's front page also focuses on the situation in Iran, using the headline "so whose side are you on, Sir Keir?" Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said the UK is prepared to defend its interests in Iran, while urging the country to "dial this thing down".

The i Paper headlines on Foreign Secretary David Lammy's words that the UK is "ready to defend our allies" in the Middle East. The British Government "hardens its language", with the aim of showing a "deterrent" to Iran according to the i Paper.

The Daily Express headlines on Trump's call for peace after what he said was a "very weak" attack from Iran.

The Daily Mirror calls the activity in the Middle East "war games", adding that "dozens of Britons were airlifted out of Israel".

We're all going to have "glummer holidays" says the Daily Star, as holidaymakers "ditch heatwave for big chill".

"Topple the Ayatollahs" headlines Metro, as it reports on Trump's post about "regime change" in Iran on his platform Truth Social on Sunday. The US president has since said Israel and Iran have agreed to a "complete and total" ceasefire.

The Sun leads with its own investigation about whether residents of migrant hotels are working as delivery riders. Deliveroo has said "we have a dedicated team in place who ensure Deliveroo does not work with riders who don't have the right to work in the UK." Uber Eats also denied these claims, saying "all couriers who use the Uber Eats app must undergo checks to ensure they have a legal right to work in the UK." Just Eat told the Sun "we are continuously strengthening our approach to ensure anyone who delivers through Just Eat's platform has the right-to-work in the UK."