75 minutes ago In Pictures: Carol service brings some joy at end of difficult year for royals

The King and Princess of Wales revealed they had been diagnosed with cancer during a difficult year for the royal family.

Politics

30 hours ago Scots children left waiting more than 1,000 days for specialist mental health treatment

The Lib Dems warned the Scottish Government had "repeatedly raided tens of millions from the mental health budget".

Society

2 hours ago Personal finance expert shares the five New Year's resolutions Britons MUST make if they want to become better at handling their money

Personal finance expert Joe Lytwyn, from Viva Money, claimed these key financial New Year's resolutions could help the British public improve their situations next year.

Economics

17 hours ago Forget Risk, play Fantasy Football for Fascists: grudge matches, foul play and violent conduct guaranteed | Simon Tisdall

Leading FFF teams include Donald Trump’s Mad Angry Geezers Athletic (Maga) and Vladimir Putin’s Greater Russia United (GRU)It’s been a gloomy old year, often reflected in this space – so maybe it’s time to inject some festive cheer with an exciting new Swiftian parlour game: Fantasy Football for Fascists (FFF). Ideal for dictators, autocrats, strongmen, neo-Stalinists, far-right nationalist-populists or just students of geopolitics, it’s fanatical fun for all the family!Under conventional fantasy football rules, imaginary teams are composed of real-life players from the Premier League. In FFF, the principal players are typically politicians and public figures who exhibit extreme totalitarian tendencies. Leading FFF teams include Donald Trump’s Mad Angry Geezers Athletic (Maga) and Vladimir Putin’s Greater Russia United (GRU). China has the Xi XI. Continue reading...

Sport

57 minutes ago At least three die attempting to cross Channel from France amid rescue operation

A large-scale rescue operation was launched from a beach in Sangatte, in northern France, on Sunday morning

Events

2 hours ago Alison Hammond 'really upset' with Paul Hollywood while filming Bake Off's Scottish special

The Great British Bake Off is back for a New Year's special featuring Scottish contestants battling it out for the crown - but co-host Alison Hammond wasn't impressed during filming

Culture

21 hours ago 'Godfather of AI' shortens odds that new technology will wipe out human race over the next 30 years

British-Canadian computer scientist Professor Geoffrey Hinton has shortened the odds of AI wiping out humans over the next 30 years, warning the technology could one day 'take control'.

Science

79 minutes ago Are you happy with Starmer’s performance this year? Take our poll and have your say

Since taking over in the summer, the Prime Minister's leadership has been a curious mix of bold policy initiatives offset by contentious cost-saving decisions which saw his approval rating plummet. How do you feel about his time at the top so far?

Politics

4 hours ago Inside 'Britain's best restaurant': MailOnline tries the £135 tasting menu at the restaurant Tripadvisor says is the No.1 in the UK for 2024 (and the incredible CHIPS may be the best dish)

MailOnline Travel Editor Ted Thornhill visits Northcote, crowned 'Britain's best restaurant' in Tripadvisor's 2024 Travellers' Choice awards.

Economics

25 hours 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

85 minutes ago Met Office issues two weather warnings as Brits braced for unsettled end to 2024

Snow, rain and strong winds are all on the cards

Events

6 hours ago From climate denial to gothic movies to ‘treat culture’ what to expect in 2025

The new US president will almost certainly bring unpredictability but several themes will dominate the year ahead. Observer writers offer their guide on what lies ahead in politics, film, fashion, sport and moreThe only thing that can be predicted with absolute certainty about Donald Trump’s second term as US president is that it will be unpredictable. Trump does not really know what he wants to do on a range of issues. He talks a good game, which is how he got re-elected. But he often seems to decide policy on the basis of what the last person he spoke to told him. Is he serious about mobilising the military to carry out mass deportations of “illegal” migrants? Will he use the justice department to hunt down political enemies and media critics? Will he impose sweeping tariffs on foreign imports and trigger a global trade war? Or will he act with greater circumspection, using these threats as bargaining tools? Who knows? He doesn’t yet. Continue reading...

Culture

33 hours ago Revealed: How doctors struck off in Britain for permanently disfiguring patients, sexual assault and financial dishonesty are allowed to continue practising medicine

Surgeons who have committed serious misconduct, sometimes ending in death and life-changing injuries for patients, are continuing to operate on unsuspecting patients around the world.

Science

2 hours ago Michael Schumacher's heartbreaking words to wife on day of devastating skiing accident

Formula One legend Michael Schumacher suffered a near-fatal brain injury in a skiing accident in 2013, with his wife Corinna offering a glimpse into their last-known conversation

Politics

11 hours ago Britain to provide £4.5million to help Ukraine track down Russian war criminals

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the money was being provided as part of the UK's 'ironclad' support for Kyiv.

Economics

3 hours ago British families warned to 'stay indoors for 48hrs' as virus spreads in homes

There are ways to protect yourself and other family members if someone in your household falls ill with the highly infectious winter vomiting bug - with advice to stay indoors

Events

2 hours ago 'She should be suffering in a cell, NOT painting': Mother's outrage after her daughter

A British woman who murdered her husband has recieved praise for her prison artwork, causing her furious mother-in-law to say she 'should be suffering'.

Politics

11 hours ago Revealed: Eyewatering £37BILLION cost of Ed Miliband's green crusade to make Britain Net Zero by 2029

The Energy Secretary has said average energy bills could be £300 lower in five years as the country shifts to a greener economy.

Economics

3 hours ago Newcastle slap mammoth price tag on Alexander Isak to ward off interest from Arsenal

Newcastle have made it clear they will not let Alexander Isak leave for anything less than a new British record transfer fee as they look to warn off the interested parties

Events

4 hours ago Britain will never be great again until we stop flogging our top companies to the US | Will Hutton

Tech selloffs not only cost tax revenue and jobs, but are turning the UK into a vassal stateThere is much to admire about the US. The great French social observer Alexis de Tocqueville, nearly 200 years ago, lauded its commitment to civic virtue, individual self-improvement and hard work – legacies of its puritan founders.Those traits are still evident today, but alongside them a darker one has emerged. The US, the hegemon of the 20th century still committed to democracy, has changed. It has transmuted into an imperial power careless of democracy but ever readier to exact economic tribute from its vassal states. Continue reading...

Politics

11 hours ago Rachel Reeves promises state school cash boost as Labour ends tax breaks for private education

Writing for the Mirror, the Chancellor said the change would allow the government to “fix some of the problems in our state schools, where 94% of this country’s children are educated”

Economics

5 hours ago Last Scottish independence policy damaged 'credibility' and SNP needs to get it right

The former Runrig star was optimistic the SNP can get it right

Events

5 hours ago Euan McColm: Why 2024 was the year of 'middle class women of a certain age' and they're not ready to 'wheesht'

Politicians should pay more heed to the group who saw off Gregg Wallace and defied Nicola Sturgeon’s GRA reform

Politics

11 hours ago Starmer hails £1.7bn boost for state schools before VAT raid on private school fees comes into force

Despite warnings from private schools over the impact of the policy, the prime minister is ploughing ahead and will charge 20 per cent VAT on independent school fees from the start of 2025

Economics

6 hours ago Brits asked to learn silverfish warning signs as "infestations likely" during winter

Experts caution that these pests are expected to emerge during the winter months, as they flourish in environments with warmth and humidity

Events

5 hours ago How Marks & Spencer shook off its granny pants image and got genuinely cool

Whisper it but you’re allowed to actually like the clothes in Marks and Sparks these days, even if you’re a millennial. Helen Coffey looks at the British brand’s phoenix-like rise from the ashes

Politics

16 hours ago Outcry over Labour's plans for free weight loss jabs on the NHS as majority of Brits believe people should pay for treatment privately

Health secretary Wes Streeting has backed the prescribing of the drugs to obese patients in the hope it can tackle the nation's bulging waistlines.

Economics

8 hours ago SAQIB BHATTI: Rachel Reeves' Budget is a greedy assault on Britain's beloved heritage and history

SAQIB BHATTI: As analysis from Historic Houses shows, these great symbols of our countryside are now under threat from Reeves' damaging socialist Budget.

Events

5 hours ago The people Man United fans hate most of all are biggest winners from Sir Jim Ratcliffe cost

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made some swingeing cuts to expenses at Man Utd in a bid to get the club's balance sheet looking better, but it's the club's majority owners who are benefitting.

Politics

21 hours ago Private schools attended by Kemi Badenoch's top team sitting on £500 million in cash reserves

Despite Tories complaining private schools are at risk of poverty, the posh schools they went to enjoy fully staffed horse-riding departments, shooting ranges, golf courses and a vineyard

Economics

12 hours ago Labour's 'war on Downton Abbey': Rachel Reeves accused of mounting an 'assault on Britain's heritage' by hiking taxes on the nation's historic country homes

A survey for the Historic Houses association - which includes Highclere Castle where the ITV drama Downton Abbey was filmed - reveals many could be forced to cut staff.

Events

5 hours ago Bake Off's Paul Hollywood has 'severe' health issue and admits he's 'petrified'

The Great British Bake Off star opened up about being told he needed career-saving surgery after experiencing severe pain in his wrists

Politics

24 hours ago People smugglers offer migrants ‘package deals’ to UK as Channel crossings top 150,000 since 2018

Sir Keir Starmer has put international co-operation with law enforcement agencies in Europe at the heart of his bid to cut the number of arrivals

Economics

13 hours ago Woman knocked unconscious on the Tube after being smashed over the head with a glass bottle: Police probing attack

British Transport Police (BTP) said the woman was assaulted on a Central Line train between Shepherds Bush and Liverpool Street on December 2 at around 3.30pm.

Events

6 hours ago Defiant and unwavering: Georgia’s president Salome Zourabichvili is focus for hope

Refusal to leave palace for successor backed by autocratic Georgian Dream party on day of departure stirs protestersIn Georgia’s turbulent political standoff, President Salome Zourabichvili has emerged as a defiant figure.Zourabichvili’s role in Georgia is ceremonial, but far from fading into irrelevance in the twilight of her presidency, she has become a rallying figure for those opposed to the erosion of democracy and the abandonment of Georgia’s European aspirations. On Sunday, she is supposed to step down and hand the Orbeliani Palace to her successor, Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former football player backed by the ruling party, Georgian Dream, but she has said she will refuse. Continue reading...

Politics

26 hours ago Inside Britain's deserted ghost shopping centres littered with boarded

In the Kent commuter town of Dartford, locals say the town has slipped into a decline since the introduction of the sprawling Bluewater Shopping Centre in 1999.

Economics

14 hours ago Man Utd target Prem goalkeeper so Ruben Amorim can ditch calamity Andre Onana

EXCLUSIVE: Brighton's Bart Verbruggen is on the radar of Manchester United boss Rubin Amorim after a difficult few matches for goalkeeper Andre Onana

Events

6 hours ago How I beat overwhelm: I kicked my news addiction – and discovered ways to make a proper difference

When I stopped watching, listening, reading and doomscrolling constantly, I no longer felt I was banging my head against a brick wallFor as long as I can remember, I have been addicted to broadcast news. At least, I used to be. I would wake up to the babble of Radio 4’s Today programme and for the rest of the day subject myself to a bombardment of destabilising sound effects from the Middle East, Trumpland, PMQs and the odd shouty phone-in.It was a habit that was formed long before I became a journalist. My father, a doctor, was a devoted consumer of current affairs. “What’s happening?” he would ask at breakfast. If you started to tell him about your plans for the day, he would listen politely and then say: “I meant, what’s happening in the world?” Continue reading...

Politics

29 hours ago Claims Disclosure Scotland is in 'turmoil' as £100 million temp staff bill revealed

The SNP is being accused of ‘papering over the cracks’ at Disclosure Scotland.

Economics

14 hours ago Leicester’s Cole and Pollard thwart Harlequins in thrilling Big Game draw

Premiership: Harlequins 34-34 LeicesterDan Cole try and Handré Pollard conversion seal drawThere may be a grassroots rebellion soon descending on Twickenham, torches and pitchforks in tow, but here was some festive fun before the bonfire begins. Ultimately, it ended honours even – thanks to Dan Cole’s last-gasp try and Handré Pollard’s conversion via a post – and with a slight sense of anticlimax for the sellout crowd. There can be no mistaking they got their money’s worth, however, a nail-biting encounter after a weekend of whitewashes.This was the third time Leicester were the opponents for this annual festive fixture and remarkably, the two previous clashes, in 2008 and 2019, also ended in draws. All the more astonishing is that it was Cole who scored the try to force the draw. It was no less than Leicester deserved, with Michael Cheika unapologetic his side chose to kick the ball out in the dying seconds rather than push for victory. Continue reading...

Events

6 hours ago The world's most northern town is surprisingly easy to get to from Manchester

The tiny town on a polar bear inhabited island in the high Arctic is not as difficult to get to from Manchester as you might expect

Politics

16 hours ago Jailed without hope: Ministers block 128 prisoners on indefinite jail terms from moving to open conditions

Exclusive: The British government refused to allow IPP prisoners to progress to an open prison in 61 per cent of cases over the past 12 months, figures show

Events

10 hours ago Biden still regrets dropping out of 2024 race and believes he could have beaten Trump, says report

Biden also admitted to aides that he had made other mistakes, including the selection of Merrick Garland as attorney general

Politics

16 hours ago Thousands of British soldiers to take part in NATO war games on border of Ukraine

Thousands of British troops will join a two-month long exercise in Romania, rehearsing rapid deployments to counter Russian threats and showcase NATO's defence readiness

Events

10 hours ago Labour would lose nearly 200 seats with Angela Rayner and Yvette Cooper beaten by Reform, new poll suggests

Keir Starmer is facing a wipeout in many areas where gains were made at July’s general election, according to a new poll

Politics

17 hours ago Britain’s luckiest turkey survived the Christmas Day chop after going on 5k Parkrun

Dave Brooker, 58, takes his beloved pet turkey, Trouble Version Two, or T2 for short, everywhere with him - including to the pub and even to visit the dentist

Events

10 hours ago Labour would lose nearly 200 seats with Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting beaten by Reform, new poll suggests

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a wipeout in many regions gains were made at July’s general election, according to a new poll by think tank More in Common

Politics

18 hours ago Steve Bannon mocks ‘toddler’ Elon Musk after he tells X user to ‘f*** yourself’ over visa bust

Deepening schism over immigration and visas splits MAGA, pitting ‘America First’ cohort against Silicon Valley Trump supporters

Events

11 hours ago Election ‘difficult’ for some MPs as Lucy Powell expresses ‘abuse’ concerns

A committee of MPs led by the Speaker has been established to examine threats against MPs and candidates.

Politics

18 hours ago Janet Yellen warns Congress ‘extraordinary measures’ will be needed to stop US hitting debt limit

Yellen said the treasure will need to take ‘extrodinary measures’ to prevent the nation from hitting the debt ceiling early next year

Events

12 hours ago British high street chain forced to close another major store after 34 years

The Body Shop is set to close a store established over three decades ago, with the business confirming not just the closure of the store but the end of two long-running careers in the company

Politics

18 hours ago PETER HITCHENS: A British video blogger has lost his human rights for criticising Ukraine. Will I be next?

I do not ask you to like Graham Phillips, or even to sympathise with him. But you shouldn't approve of what our Government is doing to him. He is living in a bombed-out, unheated block of flats in Mariupol.

Events

12 hours ago VAR accused of cramping Celtic's style as voice within dressing room annoyed at 'delays' upsetting their rhythm

Luke McCowan says the delays that come with VAR are slowing games down

Politics

20 hours ago Britain's filthiest pubs named and shamed: One in 40 boozers fail hygiene ratings... so is YOURS one of them?

More than 1,200 pubs, bars and nightclubs across Britain and Northern Ireland have failed to reach minimum food safety standards according to analysis conducted by MailOnline.

Events

13 hours ago Dani Dyer issues major wedding update as she opens up on 'difficult' decision

Love Island star Dani Dyer has issued a major update regarding her wedding to Jarrod Bowen and has revealed the one part of the planning process that she found "difficult"

Politics

21 hours ago Union boss’s stark warning to Keir Starmer – 2025 is the time to deliver

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak warns Labour to learn the lessons of Donald Trump’s victory in the US and ensure workers feel better off

Events

15 hours ago Dean Phillips, early Democratic critic of Biden, reflects on party’s presidential loss

Outgoing representative, whose assessment of campaign now feels prescient, saddened to be vindicatedDean Phillips, the Democratic representative from Minnesota who bucked his party to become the only elected official to challenge Joe Biden for the Democratic primary earlier this year, has said he is “saddened” by the accuracy of his prediction at the time that the outgoing president could not win re-election.“If what I feel now is vindication, it’s awfully unsatisfying,” Phillips told Politico, adding: “The fact was, he was not in a position to win. The fact was his approval numbers were historically low. The fact was his physical decline was real.” Continue reading...

Politics

22 hours ago Swinney urges Hogmanay revellers to ‘pay close attention’ to weather warnings

A yellow alert for rain and snow has been issued for most of Scotland on December 30 and 31.

Events