When funding to support vulnerable countries is withdrawn, the risk of war and global destabilisation increases

National defence and international development are two sides of the same coin. Our long-term security requires us to invest in both. European nations need to fill any vacuum left by America’s new administration as we ensure there can be no victory for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine and Donald Trump’s decision to shut down USAid.

Before being elected as an MP, I lived in Kenya and saw the vital work done by local charities that help families of children growing up in informal settlements on the outskirts of Nairobi. I met teenagers working on social media projects to tackle disinformation and prevent post-election violence. And I talked to women about the ever-present threat of rape and sexual violence.

Victims commissioner tells chancellor cutbacks and national insurance hike creating ‘existential crisis’ for rape and domestic abuse charities

The government has cut millions of pounds in funding for victims’ services, prompting warnings that “criminals will go unpunished” unless it urgently changes its position.

The Victims’ Commissioner has written a letter to chancellor Rachel Reeves, shared exclusively with the Observer, saying a combination of funding reductions and the upcoming employers’ national insurance increase was creating an “existential crisis” for charities. The commissioner and charities in the sector are calling for an urgent funding increase in the next spending review, which concludes this spring.

Last week’s much-trumpeted Anglo-US meeting has not reduced concerns about Ukraine, Nato or tariffs – or boosted confidence in the UK government

Most people I know were ­concerned about the prospect of a second Trump presidency; but we did not have a vote. However, those Republicans who elected him should have been mindful of the old Chinese proverb: be careful what you wish for.

A classic example has been provided recently in the columns of the New York Times. On 17 December, the rightwing columnist Bret Stephens wrote: “Here’s a thought for Trump’s perennial critics, including us on the right. Let’s enter the new year … by dropping the lurid comparisons to past dictators, by not sounding paranoid about … the ever-looming end of democracy.”

The author’s first novel since 2013 – a stately sisterhood saga about a group of women whose lives haven’t turned out quite as planned – continually reframes our understanding of the quartet, practically offering four books for the price of one

The cute rodent helps combat drought and boosts biodiversity. Its rewilding is welcome and long overdue

The first time I laid eyes on a beaver was a couple of years ago on the Devon farm of Derek Gow, the farmer turned rewilder, who brought the furry rodents back to the UK 30 years ago.

It was magical. Sitting in the June dusk, the pink-and-purple sky was reflected in the still ponds of the beaver habitat. Suddenly, ripples emerged from the lodge and the head of a kit – a baby beaver – popped up from underwater.

This powerful portrait – an imaginary album cover – depicts one of many female Iranian vocalists banned from performing after the 1979 revolution

The Iranian photographer Newsha Tavakolian began her career as a photojournalist but, one after another, the publications in which her pictures appeared in Tehran were banned. In 2002, she switched her focus from news to art, though the boundaries between the two are porous. She took this photograph in 2011 as part of a project that featured professional Iranian female singers who, since the 1979 revolution, had been banned from performing or recording solo because of the regime’s interpretation of Islamic law.

Tavakolian made images of the singers as if they were in recording studios, mouthing their words or, as she described it, “performing in their mind in front of a large audience”; she also made imaginary album covers, like this one, for her muted divas. “For me,” she said, “a woman’s voice represents a power that if you silence it, imbalances society, and makes everything deform. I let Iranian women singers perform through my camera while the world has never heard them.” The project was called Listen. The ban on solo singing is still in place.

Women Power is at Villa Bassi Rathgeb Museum, Abano Terme, Italy from 22 March to 21 September