66 minutes ago BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Nick Knowles supported after 'major' health update

The DIY SOS star took part in the BBC One dance contest's 2024 series but was quickly plagued by injury

Politics

59 minutes ago Kieran Culkin on pranks, parenting and why his famous family doesn’t need therapy: ‘Us siblings, we’re already cooked’

He’s been on screen since he was seven – but only prepares for a scene 10 minutes before. Yet somehow the mischievous Succession star is now tipped for an Oscar. How did the chaotic, charismatic actor do it?Kieran Culkin tries the upright chair first, the one opposite me, high-backed and leather. But no, that’s no good. He can see his reflection in the wall mirror, he’ll be catching himself all interview, thinking how tired he looks with his hooded eyes and beard, how jet lagged. Sleep is always tricky, but he’s been up with the kids – five and three – who weren’t supposed to join him for this publicity tour but there was a last-minute crisis, the short version of which is that the whole family is over from New York (with Culkin, 42, there’s always a long and short version).So, he flumps on the banquette, where he’ll be facing guests drinking afternoon cocktails in the low-lit, high-ceilinged bar here at the Corinthia hotel in London. He tests the firmness of the upholstery. Pa...

Society

3 hours ago ‘The impact has been out of this world’: the stranger who gave away a £100,000 inheritance to his neighbours

When David Clarke’s mother died, it took him 10 years to work out what to do with the money she left him. This year, a panel of locals in Liverpool made the decision for himIt was a quiet act of generosity that briefly captured the news agenda: David Clarke, a researcher in Liverpool, made the extraordinary decision to give away the £100,000 he had inherited from his late mother a decade ago. But instead of donating it to one cause, Clarke did something radical. He wrote to 600 addresses in the L8 postcode, where he lives, inviting people to nominate where the money should go.Clarke lost his mother in a cycling accident. “Her death was a devastating shock to me,” he says. “She had a huge social conscience and was interested in the world and how it worked – a lot of my moral framework comes from her. I don’t believe in holding on to inherited wealth, so I spent a long time thinking about what to do with the money.” Clarke wanted to do something that would speak to his mother’s values...

Economics

60 minutes ago 10 best sporting moments of 2024 as Olympics dominate and British icons make history

From celebrating Olympic gold medals in Paris to standing on top of Formula 1 podiums, it's been a brilliant 2024 for British sport, as we round up the 10 best moments

Sport

59 minutes ago The battle of Cable Street is entwined in my family’s history – and its message of hope still resonates | Tracy

On that day in 1936, members of my Jewish family stood up to the Blackshirts. Their fight against racism inspired our adaptation of The Merchant of VeniceIn the weeks leading up to the battle of Cable Street, Oswald Mosley, inspired by his friend Hitler, sent his Blackshirt militia into the East End of London to whip up hatred against Jewish people. Jewish buildings were daubed, synagogues smashed and posters calling for patriotism and national pride in the face of the “untrustworthy international Jewish Entity” were nailed on walls and doorways.Then, on Sunday 4 October 1936, the fourth birthday of Mosley’s fascist party, he sent more than 3,000 uniformed Blackshirts in four marching columns through London’s East End and its predominantly Jewish community, promising a “Greater Britain” and blaming all society’s ills on these immigrant Jews. He fully expected to be supported by the working-class population of the area and assumed it would be delighted by his rousing speeches of hate...

Events

59 minutes ago ‘I saw the reflection of his back rolls in the glass door’: Spencer Ostrander’s best phone photo

The American photographer on capturing a moment of intimacy between himself and his baby sonOn a sunny Sunday morning in June, Spencer Ostrander returned from the local hardware store to find his wife, Sophie, gardening in their back yard in Brooklyn, New York. “I handed her the supplies she needed, and a hot coffee, and she handed over our son,” Ostrander says. Their boy, Miles, was six months old at the time.“As I was taking him inside, I saw the reflection of my son’s back rolls in the glass door.” Ostrander grabbed his iPhone 14 Pro and turned the front camera on. “He was teething back then; not crying, but not his usual pleasant self either. I was juggling a wiggling baby and my phone, so I could only take two frames.” Continue reading...

Culture

18 hours ago Severe weather threatens US flights during one of busiest travel weekends

Nearly 900 flights have been cancelled already as tornado watches are issued in Texas and LouisianaAs the US braces for one of its busiest travel weekends of the year, the threat of severe weather has already led to hundreds of flight cancellations.Tornado watches were issued in the southern states of Texas and Louisiana on Thursday, CNN reported. In Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered ground stops at two airports, CBS reported. Governor Greg Abbott of Texas activated emergency response resources in the state on Thursday. Continue reading...

Transport

68 minutes ago Last minute Scottish Hogmanay 2024 events you can head to this December 31

Even though Hogmanay is just days away and time is running out to make plans, the Daily Record has rounded up some last-minute ideas for how you can ring in the new year.

Politics

2 hours ago Cheesy anchovy straws and chocolate meringue kisses: Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for party nibbles

Bite-sized treats that are big on flavour and will see out the year in styleHappy 2025 everyone, and may the New Year bring with it the positive changes we all so yearn for. Personally, I will be embracing change in a big way, because, after seven years, this is my final column for the Guardian’s Feast. From March, I will be writing a new, long-form quarterly column packed with recipes, personal experiences and general observations about the food world, so stay tuned. The Feast community is the most engaged and greedy I know, so thank you! And I hope you welcome the New Year with these party nibbles I have lined up for this weekend. Here’s to new beginnings! Continue reading...

Society

4 hours ago Boxing's best star, fight, knockout and prospect of 2024 named as Usyk does awards double

BOXING CLEVER COLUMN: 2024 has been another huge year for boxing with the heavyweight division providing most of the big storylines including two epic showdowns between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury

Sport

93 minutes ago Airport delays live: Gatwick Airport warns of further disruption and London’s two busiest rail stations closed

Fog could limit visibility to just 100 metres with the worst forecast to descend on South East and central England

Events

9 hours ago All the amazing TV shows filmed in Wales in 2024 that showcase our beautiful country

There have been some brilliant series filmed in Wales during 2024

Culture

74 minutes ago Don’t give in to pessimism, says Pope Francis in BBC Thought for the Day

Hope and kindness ‘touch the very heart of gospel’ and show people how to behave amid war and social injusticePope Francis has urged people not to be drawn towards “pessimism and resignation” despite wars and social injustices throughout the world, but to retain a “gentle gaze of hope”.The head of the Catholic church gave the Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, wishing listeners “peace, fellowship and gratitude” for the new year and emphasising the importance of humility. Continue reading...

Politics

8 hours ago Gavin and Stacey star enjoys one superfood snack that's linked to 'better heart health'

Alison Steadman, 79, is known for playing Pam Shipman in BBC's Gavin and Stacey. The series finale aired on Christmas Day, 2024

Society

8 hours ago Puttin' on the Glitz! Taylor Swift inspires fans with her glittering outfits as interest in sequinned dresses surges during superstar singer's UK leg of worldwide Eras tour

As Taylor Swift came to the UK for four stops on her huge world tour, interest in sequinned dresses skyrocketed, with a spike in sales and a surge in online searches

Sport

2 hours ago From Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Pope Francis: the books to look forward to in 2025

New work from Zadie Smith, memoirs from Jacinda Ardern and Bill Gates, plus the third instalment in Rebecca Yarros’s romantasy series - here’s the biggest fiction and nonfiction for the year aheadNonfiction Continue reading...

Events

20 hours ago Our readers on their pick of 2024’s best films, music, TV shows and podcasts

From sci-fi epics to investigate deep-dives, the Guide readers have their say on the year’s finest cultureWelcome to the last Guide of 2024! I hope you all are enjoying your festive break, and have a better handle on which day it is than I do. As is tradition, after our own roundup of the year’s best culture, we are turning things over to you this week. Here are the films, TV shows, music, performances, and podcasts that wowed you in 2024.Thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions and sorry if we weren’t able to include yours. Enjoy the rest of your Christmas break, and see you on the other side of the new year, for our 2025 preview next Friday! Continue reading...

Culture

1 hour ago Israeli forces accused of taking Gaza hospital staff to detention centre for interrogation – Middle East crisis live

Gaza health officials said the IDF detained the director of a hospital, which the WHO said was put out of service by an Israeli raidNearly one in five of the world’s children live in areas affected by conflicts, with more than 473 million children suffering from the worst levels of violence since the second world war, according to figures published by the UN.The UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, said on Saturday that the percentage of children living in conflict zones around the world has doubled from about 10% in the 1990s to almost 19%, and warned that this dramatic increase in harm to children should not become the “new normal”. Continue reading...

Politics

13 hours ago Man United icon Cristiano Ronaldo delivers Ballon d'Or verdict as Rodri victory labelled 'unfair'

Manchester City midfielder Rodri was the winner of the 2024 Ballon d'Or award

Society

12 hours ago Arsenal vs Ipswich LIVE! Premier League result, match stream, latest updates and reaction today

Gunners move up to second behind Liverpool with a third straight victory at the Emirates Stadium

Sport

2 hours ago ITV Emmerdale reveal missing April details as Marlon and Rhona face 'worst nightmare'

Emmerdale viewers have been left fearing the worst for teenager April Windsor after she went missing on Christmas Day

Events

1 hour ago Isabel Allende: ‘My most expensive purchase? A Tesla for my former husband. He didn’t deserve it’

The writer on unattainable studs, erotic fantasies, and why she owes her birth father nothingBorn in Peru, Isabel Allende, 82, worked as a journalist and children’s writer. In 1982, she published her first adult novel, The House of the Spirits, which became an international bestseller. Her titles have been translated into 42 languages, and include a memoir for her daughter, who died at 29. Allende’s accolades include the US presidential medal of freedom and PEN Center lifetime achievement award. Her course, Magical Storytelling, is available on BBC Maestro’s online platform. She lives in California.When were you happiest? When my kids were little – and now, in my old age. Continue reading...

Politics

22 hours ago ‘It’s not just a dancefloor’: the precipitous decline of UK nightclubs

A cocktail of Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis has left larger ‘chrome and carpet’ venues high and dry as struggling chains look to party bars‘A taste of Ibiza in grotty King’s Cross’: memories of closed UK nightclubsWhen the patrons of Watford’s Pryzm nightclub celebrated New Year’s Eve on 31 December 2023, they were marking the end of an era, or rather, the end of seven eras. Like every beloved local club, the venue had been known by multiple names over the years: Top Rank, Bailey’s, Paradise Lost, Kudos, Destiny and Oceana.Now, it will be reincarnated no more, after failing to reach a deal with its landlord. Continue reading...

Society

12 hours ago Pereira hopes rejuvenated Wolves can cling on to ‘special player’ Cunha

Head coach has enjoyed an immediate impact but knows the importance of leading attacker staying put in JanuaryAs Wolves were on Friday night breathing a sigh of relief that Matheus Cunha is set to be available to face Tottenham on Sunday, there are plenty of other positives to be drawn from Vítor Pereira’s first week at the helm alongside their star player’s contributions.Cunha has scored in both of their new manager’s opening games as Wolves have climbed out of the relegation zone for the first time this season following the wins over Leicester and Manchester United. An FA misconduct charge is hanging over Cunha, but the governing body’s disciplinary panel is unlikely to meet before next week. Continue reading...

Sport

2 hours ago ‘We need dramatic social and technological changes’: is societal collapse inevitable?

Academic Danilo Brozović says studies of failed civilisations all point in one direction – today’s society needs radical transformation to surviveFor someone who has examined 361 studies and 73 books on societal collapses, Danilo Brozović’s conclusion on what must happen to avoid today’s world imploding is both disarmingly simple and a daunting challenge: “We need dramatic social and technological changes.”The collapse of past civilisations, from the mighty Mayan empire to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), has long fascinated people and for obvious reasons – how stable is our own society? Does ever-growing complexity in societies or human hubris inevitably lead to oblivion? In the face of the climate crisis, rampant destruction of the natural world, rising geopolitical tensions and more, the question is more urgent than ever. Continue reading...

Events

2 hours ago Seven hot hatches from the 70s, 80s and 90s that have risen in value in 2024

Classic car values have slipped in 2024 following the post-Covid boom. Prices across every type of collectable motor has declined, though 7 hot hatches have bucked the trend.

Politics

23 hours ago My family call it Old Lady Clubbing, but my giddy ‘nights out’ have lit up a dismal 2024 | Gaby Hinsliff

Dance till you drop, then home by 10pm – daytime events offer a glorious escape for those of us bogged down by responsibilityLast Saturday night, I went clubbing with friends. Once upon a time, this wouldn’t have been a remotely odd sentence to type, because it was what I did pretty much every weekend. But a lot has changed since then – let’s just say that in my peak raving years there was a Labour government in power, only it was actually popular – and like most people whose happy place was once on the dancefloor, inevitably with time comes the feeling that you no longer belong. Deep down, you still come to life when the bassline kicks in. But you morph from hardened raver to the kind of person who’s always up for dancing at parties and weddings, and then finally into the kind of person whose friends aren’t getting married any more and who spends their Saturday nights giving their children lifts to parties. So eventually you tell yourself sadly that those days are over now, and tha...

Society

13 hours ago Arsenal vs Ipswich LIVE! Premier League match stream, latest score and updates today after Havertz goal

Gunners would move second behind Liverpool with third straight victory at the Emirates

Sport

3 hours ago ‘I don’t want flowers, I want my Ukraine’: women’s acts of resistance against Russian occupation

Zla Mavka movement – meaning ‘wicked forest spirit’ – drops fake rouble notes bearing pro-Ukrainian images and shares messages of solidarityOn 8 March 2023, International Women’s Day, Russian soldiers were handing out tulips and boughs of mimosa to women and girls in the city of Melitopol, southern Ukraine – a move designed to promote friendly relations between the occupiers and the inhabitants.But the night before, someone had been discreetly sticking posters to walls and lamp-posts. They bore the image of a young Ukrainian woman, dressed in a traditional embroidered shirt, smashing a bouquet over a Russian soldier’s head. “I don’t want flowers,” read the slogan. “I want my Ukraine.” Continue reading...

Events

2 hours ago On the towering cliffs, my family found a sanctuary. It still pulls me back today | Kat Lister

My grandmother called it The Haven – a shack perched high above the beach. Years later, another special woman rekindled my love of that placeIn our end of year series, writers and public figures remember the place or time when they felt most at homeIn the 18th century, physicians went looking for a nostalgia bone, as though a person’s yearning for a past time or place could be assigned to a chunk of tissue. But for me, writing in the 21st, the stimulus can be found not in the body I’m in, but the memories I carry. And in particular, as I edge further into my 40s, the memories of coastland I visited in the 1980s: a four-mile stretch in south-east Cornwall where my family and I summered each year with my grandmother.As a child, I would zigzag down the narrow cliff path with wild abandon, my mother nervously calling out to me as I sprinted down to the white sand below. This is where the roots of so many of my happy memories can be found. Not simply in the towering cliffs themselves, bu...

Politics

24 hours ago The most unusual property sales of 2024 — from a lighthouse to a nuclear bunker

There were no shortage of wacky properties to hit the market this year, including nuclear bunkers, a studio with a cell and a replica of the HMS Endeavour

Society

13 hours ago Arsenal vs Ipswich LIVE: Premier League latest score and updates with hosts in control after Havertz opener

Arsenal are looking to close the gap on Liverpool at the top of the table, but will be without Saka after the England star’s hamstring injury

Sport

3 hours ago Nitish Kumar Reddy century leads India fightback as Australia strike late on day three

All-rounder joins Washington Sundar in critical 127-run standTourists trail by 116 runs with one wicket in hand in fourth Test52nd over: India 180-5 (Pant 22, Jadeja 4) Smokes a pull shot! Pant moves along to the 20s by clattering Boland, then takes a single. Jadeja keeps blocking.Guy Hornsby winds up the crank handle on the email machine. “Morning/evening Geoff. I’m somehow still up in darkest Sale in Manchester, full of port and cheese and wondering if Pant and Jadeja can actually save anything here. Their records suggest there’s a chance, but Pant is Cummins’ bunny of late and India must have felt an absolute gut punch after getting to 153-2 before the calamitous run-out. I’m not going to even attempt to apportion individual blame, just say it was a proper horlicks that took the wind out of India’s sails. Now it’s down to these two and a longish but bullish tail to see how much of a dent they can put into this huge Australian total. Perhaps Bumrah has made clear just how much of ...

Events

2 hours ago The Guardian Footballer of the Year Sofie Junge Pedersen: ‘We wanted to send a message’

The Inter and Denmark player wins the award for her climate activism and being behind an open letter to Fifa regarding Saudi Arabia’s human rights issuesThe Guardian Footballer of the Year is an award given to a player who has done something remarkable, whether by overcoming adversity, helping others or setting a sporting example by acting with exceptional honesty.If the football had not worked out, perhaps Sofie Junge Pedersen could have run away to the circus. When her after-school youth club in Aarhus put on its annual week of performances there was one challenge that struck her in particular: the chance to juggle with fire torches and mock knives. “It was quite serious,” she laughs. “We practised a lot beforehand and I thought it would be fun. I just wanted to be the best.” So it proved and there is no evidence that anyone has beaten the time she set, aged 13, for keeping the two airborne simultaneously. Continue reading...

Politics

25 hours ago Sydney to Hobart yacht race: LawConnect leads after two deaths in wild weather leave fleet rocked

Supermaxi LawConnect in box seat Friday evening to take line honours for second year runningAs at 5.30pm, 22 yachts from the 104-strong starting fleet had retiredThe Sydney to Hobart yacht race has been left reeling after the deaths of two sailors in wild weather that has forced a fifth of the fleet to retire.Supermaxi LawConnect was in the box seat on Friday evening to take out line honours for a second year running after rival Master Lock Comanche pulled the pin with mainsail damage. Continue reading...

Society

14 hours ago Arsenal vs Ipswich LIVE! Premier League match stream, latest score and goal updates today

Gunners would move second behind Liverpool with third straight victory at the Emirates

Sport

6 hours ago ‘Bullets can make a real mess of bones’: the hospital where the war wounded have their lives put together again

At MSF’s pioneering centre in Amman, Jordan, the dedicated team deal with lives that have already been saved. Here they make those lives worth livingAs a sign of commitment to peace, help us support those affected by war | Kath VinerDonate to our charity appeal hereA girl slips through the corridors of the hospital’s fifth floor with her friend, the pair bright-eyed and shy. Today is her last chance to wear her sparkly new shoes, bought for a party last week. Tomorrow, the 12-year-old Iraqi will have a leg amputated.The operation was due two weeks ago but the surgeon, who had tried not to weep as he broke the news that amputation was necessary, agreed to delay surgery. She wanted the chance to wear her new shoes to the party first. Continue reading...

Events

3 hours ago Are modern sports stars still cut out for pantomime season? Oh yes they are | Emma John

Strictly Come Dancing has hit participation but the gymnast Louis Smith is still flying the flag for sporting heroes on stageMerry Betwixtmas, everybody! I’ve a great fondness for this final stretch of December, the weird dead time when Boxing Day obligations to extended family have been fulfilled, and the new year’s party still seems impossibly far in the future. It’s a truly philosophical period, raising questions of mortality, renewal and resolution, and of how long trifle can be left open before it goes off. It’s good for a couple more days, right?You don’t want to go back to work, but you’re also not exactly sure what to do with yourself. Which is, doubtless, why panto exists. This is no slight on the genre, for which I have great respect – the best money my sister ever earned from her acting career was in Aladdin, singing A Whole New World while desperately clinging to a shonky hand-operated flying carpet. Still, there must be a reason people don’t pay to shout “He’s behind yo...

Politics

29 hours ago As a student in London I yearned for home, until I found paradise: a vast old villa with perfect housemates | Andrew Martin

We cooked ragu and listened to records while lying on chaises longues. Then the M11 link road was built – and everything changedIn our end of year series, writers and public figures remember the place or time when they felt most at homeIn the mid-1980s, I was in my early 20s and was reading for the Bar in London. I was living in a mouldy Balham bedsit and returning regularly to the comfort zone of my native York, when a friend told me a room was going in a shared house in Leytonstone.I wasn’t expecting much of E11. I wasn’t expecting trees, for example, but my walk from the attractive art deco tube station took me along roads better described as avenues. The house itself seemed almost the last one in London, an illusion created by the proximity of Wanstead Flats. It was a rangy, detached 1920s house, white with a red roof, and it had a name, but I’ll just call it the villa.Andrew Martin is an English novelist; his latest book is The Night in Venice Continue reading...

Society

14 hours ago Arsenal vs Ipswich LIVE: Premier League latest score and updates as Trossard starts after Saka injury

Arsenal are looking to close the gap on Liverpool at the top of the table, but will be without Saka after the England star’s hamstring injury

Sport

6 hours ago English wildlife ‘could be disappearing in the dark’ due to lack of scrutiny

Conservationists issue warning as figures show three-quarters of SSSI sites have had no recent assessments Conservationists have said wildlife could be “disappearing in the dark” after figures showed that three-quarters of England’s most precious habitats, wildlife and natural features have had no recent assessment of their condition.The warning follows the publication of figures covering assessments of protected natural sites known as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) in the last five years. SSSIs are legally protected because they contain special features such as threatened habitats or rare species, and together they cover more than 1.1m hectares (2.7m acres), about 8% of England’s land area. Continue reading...

Events

3 hours ago That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz by Malachy Tallack review – the joys of country music

A shy man leads a solitary existence until a young girl – and a cat – inveigle their way into his apparently contented life in this big-hearted taleAll Jack Paton ever wanted was to be a famous country singer, but somehow it never happened. Certainly, the odds were stacked against him: cripplingly shy, no self-confidence. And although he considers it “a landscape of country music”, it can’t have helped matters that he was born in one of the more windswept corners of Shetland, far from Texas or Tennessee, and has remained there ever since, keeping his dreams to himself.That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz, Malachy Tallack’s second novel, follows Jack, now approaching his 63rd birthday, as he spends his days pottering about in the cottage he has lived in since he was a child, listening to music, playing guitar and thinking of the past. The narrative flicks between Jack in the present, as he begins to question his life choices, and his parents, Sonny and Kathleen, decades earli...

Politics

30 hours ago Climate crisis exposed people to extra six weeks of dangerous heat in 2024

Analysis shows fossil fuels are supercharging heatwaves, leaving millions prone to deadly temperaturesThe climate crisis caused an additional six weeks of dangerously hot days in 2024 for the average person, supercharging the fatal impact of heatwaves around the world.The effects of human-caused global heating were far worse for some people, an analysis by World Weather Attribution (WWA) and Climate Central has shown. Those in Caribbean and Pacific island states were the hardest hit. Many endured about 150 more days of dangerous heat than they would have done without global heating, almost half the year. Continue reading...

Society

15 hours ago Arsenal XI vs Ipswich: Starting lineup, confirmed team news, injury latest for Premier League game today

Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard both return to Mikel Arteta’s first-choice side with Bukayo Saka out

Sport

6 hours ago Cristiano Ronaldo's latest Ballon d'Or remarks highlight the disrespect toward Man City's Rodri

Cristiano Ronaldo is the latest to speak out on Rodri's 2024 Ballon d'Or triumph

Events

3 hours ago Nitish Kumar Reddy century leads India fightback to frustrate Australia on day three

All-rounder joins Washington Sundar in critical 127-run standTourists trail by 116 runs with one wicket in hand in fourth Test52nd over: India 180-5 (Pant 22, Jadeja 4) Smokes a pull shot! Pant moves along to the 20s by clattering Boland, then takes a single. Jadeja keeps blocking.Guy Hornsby winds up the crank handle on the email machine. “Morning/evening Geoff. I’m somehow still up in darkest Sale in Manchester, full of port and cheese and wondering if Pant and Jadeja can actually save anything here. Their records suggest there’s a chance, but Pant is Cummins’ bunny of late and India must have felt an absolute gut punch after getting to 153-2 before the calamitous run-out. I’m not going to even attempt to apportion individual blame, just say it was a proper horlicks that took the wind out of India’s sails. Now it’s down to these two and a longish but bullish tail to see how much of a dent they can put into this huge Australian total. Perhaps Bumrah has made clear just how much of ...

Politics

16 hours ago Arsenal vs Ipswich LIVE! Premier League match stream, latest team news, lineups, TV, prediction today

Gunners would move second behind Liverpool with third straight victory at the Emirates

Sport

7 hours ago Indonesia receives official request from France to transfer death row prisoner Serge Atlaoui

Minister says request regarding welder arrested in 2005 on drugs charges will be discussed in January amid spate of transfer of high-profile detaineesIndonesia has received an official request from France to transfer a French death row inmate imprisoned on drugs charges since 2005, a senior Indonesian minister said on Saturday.“We have received a formal letter requesting the transfer of Serge Atlaoui on 19 December 2024. The letter was sent on behalf of the French minister of justice,” senior Indonesian law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra told Agence France-Presse. Continue reading...

Events

4 hours ago McCarthyism stalked my family. Its paranoia contains a lesson for Trump’s second term | Richard Sennett

Trump’s eerily familiar evocations of the ‘enemy within’ may be harder to shake off than the man who targeted my parentsThe rise of Donald Trump aroused in me an old fear of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Both McCarthy and Trump rose to power as demagogues who fed on the American public’s fear of “enemies within”. My family had cause to fear on the biggest of these counts: my parents were communists from an early age, although they had quit the party in 1939 after Hitler’s pact with Stalin. In the heyday of US power, families such as mine were persecuted for a cause in which they no longer believed. We developed ways to avoid or resist persecution that worked pretty well, and I think these help to illuminate the combat that is to come with Trumpism.Some connections between McCarthy and Trump are straightforward, both having been charismatic performers with a base of willing believers, both exploiting patriotism, both making up “facts” on the spur of the moment. There is a personal bridge ...

Politics

17 hours ago Arsenal XI vs Ipswich: Predicted lineup, confirmed team news, injury latest for Premier League game today

Gunners will be forced into reshuffle in attack after injury blow

Sport

7 hours ago Search for man missing off NSW north coast amid string of drownings across holiday period

21-year-old Taewoo Kim last seen going for a swim at Moonee beach, near Coffs Harbour, on Boxing Day; police say another man’s body found in sea south of WollongongGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA multi-agency search is under way for a man presumed missing in the ocean since Boxing Day, off the north coast of NSW, as another man’s body has been pulled from the water further south.Taewoo Kim, 21, was last seen around 1pm on Thursday, police said in a statement, going into the water at Moonee beach, north of Coffs Harbour.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Events

4 hours ago Former world’s tallest man calls for more compassion for vulnerable in UK

Hussain Bisad, who has had health problems, says government should do more for people with physical or mental illnessWhen Hussain Bisad first settled in north London as an asylum seeker after fleeing from war in Somalia 23 years ago, he did so in the hope of a new and more settled life. Little did he know that shortly after arriving he would be at the centre of the media spotlight, not for his story of escaping conflict but for something altogether different: his height.Bisad had been in the UK for five months when Guinness World Records measured his height as 2.3 metres (7ft 6.5in), making him then the world’s tallest living man. Continue reading...

Politics

18 hours ago Gavin and Stacey fans in disbelief after spotting massive blunder in Christmas finale

Gavin and Stacey fans expressed their shock after discovering Smithy's full name during the 2024 Christmas special, with one joking they "watch the show too much"

Sport

7 hours ago Ukraine war briefing: ‘Human wave’ of North Korean troops being sent to their deaths, says US

Kyiv reports heavy casualties among Pyongyang’s soldiers in Russia while Washington accuses generals of seeing the troops as ‘expendable’. What we know on day 1,039See all our Ukraine war coverageNorth Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region are suffering heavy losses and being left unprotected by the Russian forces they are fighting alongside, according to Ukraine, while the US says Russian and North Korean generals see the soldiers as “expendable”. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that said Russian troops were sending the North Koreans into battle with minimal protection and that the North Koreans were taking extreme measures to avoid being taken prisoner. “Their losses are significant, very significant,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly video address. “We see that neither the Russian military nor their North Korean overseers have any interest in ensuring the survival of these North Koreans.” Zelenskyy said “several” wounded North Korean soldiers had died afte...

Events

5 hours ago Blind date: ‘The glare of the Christmas lights made his eyes look really beautiful and I just had to tell him’

Ash, 38, a photographer, meets Darren, 39, a TV producerWhat were you hoping for? To meet someone intelligent that I could have good conversation and a laugh with. Continue reading...

Politics

24 hours ago Full round up of the best and worst Wigan Boxing Night fancy dress costumes

From Star Wars and superheroes to groups of pirates or a wide-mouthed frog - Wigan's big Boxing Day fancy dress night out had it all

Sport

7 hours ago ‘A joke’: Jordan Thompson hits out at doping ban for doubles partner Max Purcell

Australian has accepted provisional suspension for anti-doping breachThompson to play with Chris O’Connell at Brisbane InternationalThe doping ban of Australia’s two-time doubles grand-slam winner Max Purcell has been described as “a joke” by his US Open-winning partner Jordan Thompson.The 26-year-old Purcell was provisionally suspended over an alleged violation of tennis’ anti-doping program. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Monday that Purcell had voluntarily accepted the suspension, after admitting to a breach relating to a prohibited method. Continue reading...

Events

5 hours ago Tim Dowling: my year in numbers (yes, most of them involve the new dog)

I’ve had a topsy-turvy year, but the statistics prove beyond doubt that my chief distraction of 2024 was the acquisition of a small furry menaceAs the year barrels toward its end, I feel in many ways as if I have survived a difficult and challenging period, worse than the year before, and the year before that, if possibly better than anything one dares expect from 2025. But impressions can be deceiving, and I find that when I’m reviewing the year gone it helps to rely on nothing but the latest and most verifiable statistics. Here, then, is my look at 2024 in cold, hard numbers.1 New dogs acquired in 2024. Have I mentioned this at all? I’m sorry, I never wanted to become the sort of person who has a very long answer to the question, “So, how’s your dog?”, but that’s what I am. I also have 250 pictures of the dog on my phone, and I am willing to show you all of them. My only defence is that having a puppy is so time-consuming, the havoc it wreaks so comprehensive, ...

Politics

30 hours ago UFC, boxing and golf: what is Donald Trump’s relationship with sport? – podcast

The US president-elect’s ties with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and boxing, as well as World Wrestling Entertainment, might tell us about the kinds of sport he appreciates. But then there’s golf As the US prepares to host the World Cup and the Olympics during Trump’s presidency, Jonathan Freedland and Karim Zidan walk through his history with sport to see if it explains more about himArchive: BBC, WWE, Fox 9 Minneapolis, NBC 10 Philadelphia, PBS Newshour, TMZ, MSNBC Continue reading...

Sport

9 hours ago Driver behind China car ramming attack that killed 35 is sentenced to death

Fan Weiqiu, angry at his divorce settlement, caused ‘great social harm’ when he drove into people as they exercised in the city of Zhuhai, court saysA court in China has sentenced a man to death for killing 35 people last month by driving into a crowd, in an attack that raised national concern about mass killings.Fan Weiqiu was venting his anger because he was unhappy with his divorce settlement, the court in the southern city of Zhuhai said in handing down the sentence on Friday. The victims were exercising at a sports centre at the time of the attack. Fan pleaded guilty to endangering public safety by dangerous means, a court statement said. Continue reading...

Events

6 hours ago Labour must ‘stick to its guns’ on UK employment rights bill, says TUC chief

In new year message, Paul Nowak says ministers must resist pressure from business groups to water down plansKeir Starmer’s government has been urged to “stick to its guns” amid growing pressure from business leaders to water down its plans to improve workers’ rights as the UK economy grinds to a halt.The head of the Trades Union Congress said company bosses were demanding concessions as a “quid pro quo” for accepting tax increases in Rachel Reeves’ autumn budget as they sounded the alarm over Britain’s flatlining economy. Continue reading...

Politics

10 hours ago Man dies after Sydney arrest for allegedly attempting to enter vehicles armed with knife

Critical incident team from Bankstown Police Area Command to investigate circumstances surrounding 33-year-old’s deathGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA man has died after he was arrested while allegedly attempting to enter vehicles armed with a knife in the middle of Sydney traffic.Police declared a critical incident after officers responded to reports of a man trying to stop traffic and enter vehicles on Remembrance Driveway at Tahmoor in Sydney’s south-west at about 1pm on Friday.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Events

6 hours ago How I beat overwhelm: I deleted my email app – and my sleep suddenly improved

Checking my emails at every possible opportunity had become distracting and draining. So I set myself new boundariesAs a freelance writer, the structure of my work day can often vary wildly. Sometimes, it feels as if I have too much to do – other days, too little.Yet no matter the shape of my 9 to 5, one thing remains constant: emails. I receive about 100 a day, ranging from the inane (Tesco Clubcard updates) to the infuriating (the PR who keeps sending me the fluctuating numbers of Taylor Swift’s Instagram following) and the important (editors, often wondering when the piece they have asked me to write might materialise). Continue reading...

Politics

12 hours ago Aston Villa in shock after the FA rejects Jhon Durán’s red card appeal

In-form Villa striker will now be banned for three gamesUnai Emery believes ‘stamp’ on Schär was unintentionalAston Villa are shocked and disappointed after the Football Association rejected their appeal against Jhon Durán’s red card, meaning the striker will serve a three-match ban.The Colombian was given a straight red card by the referee, Anthony Taylor, after being adjudged to have intentionally stamped on the Newcastle defender Fabian Schär when the pair collided in the first half of Villa’s Boxing Day defeat. Continue reading...

Events

6 hours ago Revisited: actor Jeff Goldblum, eccentric as ever at 71; and America’s top pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world – podcast

Fast-talking, finger-jabbing Jeff Goldblum on vanity, mortality and becoming a father in his 60s. Elon Musk (father of 11) supports their cause, thousands follow their ideology: to make it easier for everyone to have multiple children. Enter the unsettling world of Malcolm and Simone Collins, America’s premier pronatalists Continue reading...

Politics

12 hours ago Scottie Scheffler set for PGA Tour break after suffering freak injury on Christmas Day

Olympic champion and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is expected to challenge for more major titles next year after becoming a two-time Masters winner at Augusta in 2024

Events

6 hours ago Man Utd ‘poised for six signings in 2025’ as Ruben Amorim has learned what’s ‘impossible’

Manchester United have struggled in the 2024/25 Premier League season, and Ruben Amorim's Red Devils may look to bolster their squad in next year's summer transfer window as a result

Politics

13 hours ago World No 1 Scottie Scheffler has surgery after freak Christmas dinner injury

American cuts hand on broken glass during festive periodGolfer will now miss the first tournament of seasonThe men’s world No 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler has had surgery on a hand injury he sustained while cooking Christmas dinner. The 28-year-old American has been forced to withdraw from the first tournament of the season, next week’s The Sentry in Hawaii, after cutting his right hand on broken glass.The PGA Tour said: “World No 1 and 2024 FedEx Cup Champion Scottie Scheffler has withdrawn from the PGA Tour’s 2025 season-opening tournament, The Sentry, which will take place next week, 2-5 January at The Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii.” Continue reading...

Events

10 hours ago Uplifting stories of 2024: From Boki the bear’s surgery to Hardest Geezer’s run

Here is a look at some of the most uplifting stories of the year.

Politics

14 hours ago Emmerdale fans 'work out' Joe Tate's reason for returning in Will Taylor death twist

Emmerdale fans have been left concerned for Joe Tate after his return to the village, as they fear he's hiding a dark secret - but what is it?

Events