61 minutes ago Britain's three more days in the freezer! Country shivers through coldest January night in 15 years

Cold-weather health warnings were extended until Tuesday as much of the country endured below-zero temperatures, with -18.9C (-2F) recorded in Altnaharra, Scotland on Friday night.

Politics

10 hours ago It's not just Meghan copying recipes! Chefs including Tom Kerridge and James Martin have admitted to being heavily inspired by other cooks

Just hours after Montecito-based Meghan Markle released the trailer for her upcoming Netflix series With Love, Meghan, critics accused her of poaching recipes.

Society

63 minutes ago Crippling five months of rail strikes set to begin today will cost us £1billion and 'paralyse' UK economy, say hospitality chiefs

Train managers at Avanti West Coast will walk out every Sunday until May 25 in an ongoing row over rest-day shifts, bringing another blow to venues which have already lost billions in previous strikes

Economics

28 hours ago ‘Imagine if Messi coached Ronaldo’: how Murray 2.0 will need to adapt to flourish with Djokovic

Five months after retiring, the Scot is throwing himself into his work with the most successful men’s player of all timeAt the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns almost five years ago, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray logged on to Instagram Live for a casual conversation from their homes. As some of their viewers began to send through questions, they were asked to list the first three things they do when they wake up. Djokovic went first: “Gratitude and prayer,” he said. “A couple of long, deep breaths. Hugging my wife if she’s still in bed and running to my children.”Murray, who seemed to be fighting hard to maintain a straight face throughout Djokovic’s response, offered his own contributions: “For me, too much information, but I go for a pee.” Continue reading...

Sport

43 minutes ago Khloe Kardashian calls Los Angeles mayor ‘a joke’ amid ongoing wildfires

The reality star joins celebrities speaking out against Mayor Karen Bass in the wake of destruction

Events

12 hours ago Film that critics voted the ‘best of all time’ is coming back to cinemas

Acclaimed drama remains little-seen by mainstream audiences

Culture

11 hours ago Protection zone set up after bird flu outbreak in Angus area of Scotland

Scottish government stresses risk to public is low, as chief veterinary officer says it is first outbreak since 2023A protection zone has been set up after an outbreak of bird flu in Angus, Scotland’s chief veterinary officer has said.On Friday night, Sheila Voas said a 10km (6.8 mile) surveillance zone had also been declared around the area as well as the 3km protection zone in Kirriemuir after a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was reported. Continue reading...

Science

3 hours ago AC Milan chief Zlatan Ibrahimovic breaks silence on Marcus Rashford with Man United talks update

Manchester United transfer news as Zlatan Ibrahimovic opens up on signing Marcus Rashford after Milan links

Politics

91 minutes ago Rachel Reeves insists she's won £600m of trade deals as critics slam her for going on controversial China trip with a 'begging bowl'

The Chancellor met Vice-Premier He Lifeng in Beijing to discuss trade and investment opportunities, saying she wants a long-term relationship with China in 'our national interest'

Economics

32 hours ago Full list of NHS hospitals declaring critical incidents amid surge in flu cases

NHS trusts have declared critical incidents due to ‘exceptionally high demands’ in emergency departments

Sport

2 hours ago LA's fire chief is at the center of a public spat with City Hall as wildfires rage

Kristin Crowley was elevated to Los Angeles fire chief in 2022 at a time of department turmoil

Events

17 hours ago 'Quintessentially English film' fans call 'a timeless masterpiece' is on TV tonight

Based on Jane Austen's classic novel, the drama is considered a 'cinematic classic' by film fans and critics alike - and it will air on BBC Two today

Culture

34 hours ago Some Greater Manchester hospital patients are 'waiting 24 hours for a bed' as staff make worrying claim

About 20 NHS trusts in England have declared critical incidents this week

Science

3 hours ago Love Island Luca Bish's brutal response when asked about potential Gemma Owen reunion

Luca Bish is heading back into the Love Island villa almost three years after his first stint - as he reveals what he'd do if his ex Gemma Owen walked through the doors

Politics

10 hours ago Has Karen Bass become LA's most hated woman? Tears turn to anger as mayor is blasted by her own fire chief for $17m funding cut

Kirstin Crowley took aim at the city's leadership during an interview with KTTV on Friday, admitting it had failed those affected by the fires and prevented the LAFD from effectively doing its job.

Economics

35 hours ago Michael Keane: Everton players ‘need to take responsibility’ for Sean Dyche exit

The former Burnley boss was dismissed by Everton just hours before their 2-0 FA Cup third round victory at home to Peterborough.

Sport

3 hours ago Los Angeles wildfires: Desperate search for victims as menacing winds forecast to return

Fire chiefs warned of a ‘significant flare-up’ on the blaze's eastern edge, with flames now moving northeast

Events

34 hours ago Zuckerberg approved Meta’s use of ‘pirated’ books to train AI models, authors claim

Sarah Silverman and others file court case claiming CEO approved use of dataset despite warningsBusiness live – latest updatesMark Zuckerberg approved Meta’s use of “pirated” versions of copyright-protected books to train the company’s artificial intelligence models, a group of authors has alleged in a US court filing.Citing internal Meta communications, the filing claims that the social network company’s chief executive backed the use of the LibGen dataset, a vast online archive of books, despite warnings within the company’s AI executive team that it is a dataset “we know to be pirated”. Continue reading...

Culture

36 hours ago Hundreds admitted to Welsh hospitals and dozens critically ill as five viruses savage the NHS

Latest figures show flu cases are 'approaching peak levels' in Wales but hospitals continue to creak at the seams and ambulances have been queuing up outside

Science

5 hours ago Majority of Britons believe Musk having negative impact on UK politics

More voters think tech tycoon’s comments on grooming gangs are unhelpful than those who back himMore than half of voters think Elon Musk is having a negative effect on British politics following his criticism of Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.The South African-born billionaire has spent much of the past week using his social media platform X to attack Starmer and the Labour government for their opposition to another national inquiry into grooming gangs. He accused Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, of being a “rape genocide apologist” and falsely claimed Starmer was “deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes”. Despite strong suggestions that Musk is preparing to make a large donation to Reform UK, he also recently tore into Nigel Farage, saying he was not up to the job of leading the party. Continue reading...

Politics

15 hours ago Darts star suspended after furious response to loss and calling PDC 'a disease'

Patrick Bulen, a previous participant at the World Darts Championship, has been kicked out and suspended after exploding at a qualifying event where he took aim at the PDC

Economics

5 hours ago The Observer view: Donald Trump’s imperial bullying must be nipped in the bud | Observer editorial

Countries that cherish democratic values need to take a stand against the president-elect’s throwback to unabashed American expansionismWatching politicians promise one thing, then do another, is a common experience in all democratic countries. Situations in which voters do not expect a politician to keep his word, and in many instances fervently hope and pray he will not, are rarer. Donald Trump, the US president-elect, fits this latter category. When Trump threatens to subjugate Canada, a Nato ally, by force, unilaterally annex Greenland, the autonomous territory of a friendly EU state, and override Panama’s sovereignty for bogus security reasons, most people assume he is not serious and his remarks carry little real significance. This response, while comforting, is a mistake.It’s entirely possible that Trump, pumped with hype, hot air and testosterone in the lead-up to his 20 January inauguration, is being gratuitously disruptive. He likes to shake things up. It amuses his Make A...

Politics

23 hours ago Britain's Treasury chief is heading to China to revive suspended economic and financial talks

Britain’s Treasury chief is travelling to China this weekend to discuss economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the U.K.‘s Labour government seeks to reset frayed ties with Beijing

Economics

4 hours ago Police Scotland shell out extra £1.7m on Tasers as officer attacks rise

Police chiefs are shelling out £1.7million to replenish their Taser stocks amid soaring rates of attacks on officers.

Events

7 hours ago Fears grow over censorship of secret Queen Elizabeth and Philip papers

Critics flag ‘worrying trend’ of keeping royal files under lock and key as thousands set for release to publicResearchers fear that thousands of government documents about the late queen and Prince Philip due for release in the next two years could be censored.The files are scheduled to be made public in 2026 and 2027, five years after the royal couple’s deaths, and internal discussions have begun in Whitehall about how to process them and what should remain secret. Continue reading...

Politics

23 hours ago Reeves defiant over China trip in face of growing criticism and economic turmoil

Labour chancellor accused of ‘undesirable’ policies and ‘incompatible promises’

Economics

4 hours ago Spencer Pratt slams trolls calling him a 'rich celeb' after losing home in LA wildfires

The Hills villain Spencer Pratt has rounded on his critics after he and wife Heidi Montag lost their home and possessions in the ongoing Los Angeles wildfire disaster

Events

7 hours ago As resolutions go, Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘nothing in moderation’ is a stinker | Alison Phillips

Between Elon Musk, a free-for-all Facebook and Donald Trump, truth and decency are likely to have a hard time of it in 2025How did we get to a week in which the world’s richest man could label our safeguarding minister and women’s rights campaigner Jess Phillips a “rape genocide apologist”, and the boss of the world’s biggest social platforms could abandon moderating even the most despicable content in the US?Let’s go back 30 years. It’s 1995, cargo pants were slung low, Oasis were riding high. We were all going to Live Forever. And then the New York supreme court ruled against a long-forgotten company called Prodigy, which hosted online message boards. An unknown user had posted a message that the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont (which had inspired The Wolf of Wall Street) had committed fraud. Stratton Oakmont sued for defamation and a crucial question was asked: was the site that hosted the comment responsible for it, in the way a traditional publisher would be for a comment on it...

Politics

29 hours ago Leaked memo reveals LA Mayor Karen Bass demanded her fire department cut an extra $49 million just ONE WEEK before wildfires broke out

A leaked memo sent to Los Angeles fire departments revealed Mayor Karen Bass demanded an extra $49M in budget cuts on top of the $17.6million already cut a week before fires.

Economics

5 hours ago Fresh hell for LA residents as chief fire officials issue wind warnings... as the inferno blazes towards Brentwood and Encino: Live updates

Outrage over the handling of the devastating Los Angeles fires is heating up amid reports that city leaders failed to prepare local reservoirs while power grids struggled hours before the blazes.

Events

12 hours ago Prince Harry and Meghan Markle hug victims of Los Angeles wildfires as they take in pals forced to flee their homes

The local mayor said their visit had 'really buoyed the spirits of the first responders'

Politics

32 hours ago Londoners won't have to foot £150m bill to pedestrianise Oxford Street, vows Sir Sadiq Khan

Mayor’s new budget due next week could see his share of council tax bills hit £500

Economics

6 hours ago Los Angeles wildfires force new evacuations as 13 people missing and 22 arrested

Fire chiefs warned of a ‘significant flare-up’ on the blaze's eastern edge, with flames now moving northeast

Events

13 hours ago 'I sang with Robbie Williams on his Better Man biopic – here's what it was really like'

Robbie Williams' critically acclaimed biopic Better Man explored the true story behind the musical legend, now singer Adam Tucker, who sang on the movie as Williams has opened up about it

Politics

35 hours ago Cleaner left mortified after customer points out 'silly' carpet mistake

Karen Royle was left red-faced after her customer pointed out that a 'stain' she had been trying to scrub out of the carpet for five minutes was actually a reflection

Economics

7 hours ago The shocking picture that sums up LA's woeful fire response as fire chief turns on embattled mayor and inferno explodes: Live updates

Outrage over the handling of the devastating Los Angeles fires is heating up amid reports that city leaders failed to prepare local reservoirs while power grids struggled hours before the blazes.

Events

14 hours ago REVEALED: The reason why Kate Middleton felt responsible for Pippa's heartbreak over a relationship ending

Princess Kate's first Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham in 2011 came with mixed feelings.

Politics

35 hours ago Former RFU remuneration chief defends Bill Sweeney’s bonus payments amid record loss

Sweeney remains under serious pressure after uproar around the paying of a bonus of nearly £400,000 in a year that the RFU made a significant loss

Economics

7 hours ago ‘Most of my work is a response to war’: Colombian artist Doris Salcedo on violence, Trump and her crack in Tate Modern’s floor

The artist, famed in the UK for her extraordinary fissure in the turbine hall, has turned her focus to the climate catastrophe and the plight of migrants, but old concerns about her country remainAs the world turns toward another fractured year, Doris Salcedo, the Colombian artist, is at work trying to fathom how to create a house out of human hair. Salcedo, 65, has long made herself a channel of collective trauma, her art expressing profound anger at political crimes and atrocities at home and abroad – as well as creating imaginative spaces for mourning. Her hair project, she says, comes in response to what she has come to think of as “domicide”: the calculated bombing and destruction of places that people call home.“Most of my work is a response of some kind to war,” she says. “And we have all witnessed – of course for decades in Colombia, but also now in Ukraine and Syria and Sudan and in Gaza – this destruction of houses for the sole purpose of escalating human suffering. In Gaz...

Events

16 hours ago Trump's words on Greenland and borders ring alarms in Europe, but officials have a guarded response

President-elect Donald Trump has tossed expansionist rhetoric at U.S. allies and potential adversaries with arguments that the frontiers of American power need to be extended into Canada and the Danish territory of Greenland, and southward to include the Panama Canal

Politics

40 hours ago Rachel Reeves heads to China as pressure mounts as market turmoil derails government’s economic strategy

The Chancellor has been criticised for continuing with a planned visit to China amid rising yields on government bonds

Economics

7 hours ago Khloe Kardashian brands Mayor Bass 'a joke' as stars continue to lose homes in LA wildfires

Khloe Kardashian and Spencer Pratt were among those voiced their concerns alongside Fire Chief Kirstin Crowley, who had hit out at the city's leadership amid LA's dangerous wildfires

Events

16 hours ago Influencers mock people telling them to 'get a job' as they flaunt Louis Vuitton bags

A group of influencers hit back at those who criticise them for not having a 'real job' by posting a funny Instagram reel pretending to cry while holding Louis Vuitton shopping bags

Politics

9 hours ago Mike Leigh hits out at ‘offensive and racist’ criticisms of latest film

Award-winning drama features a mostly Black cast

Events

17 hours ago Trump, Musk and Zuckerberg have declared war on facts and truth. The pushback must start now | Emily Bell

There is a narrow window. Public media and fair reporting must be supported: the rules must be upheldIn early 2017, Mark Zuckerberg was on what might be termed an “apology tour” of the United States. In the tumultuous few months since Donald Trump won his first presidential victory, the young chief executive of Facebook was reeling from his company’s part in serving US voters Russian disinformation, and widespread accusations that the social media platform had disseminated a vast spray of “fake news”. Fighting a rearguard action, Facebook announced changes to its algorithms, and a major initiative to include “third-party factcheckers” as part of the content moderation efforts.Touring the country, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla, stopped off in Selma, Alabama. They posed for a casual photo outside the offices of the iconic local paper, the Selma Times-Journal. Zuckerberg posted a heartfelt “thank you” to journalists “who work tirelessly and sometimes put their lives in danger to s...

Politics

9 hours ago LA fires: Terrifying moment weatherman's live forecast interrupted by urgent phone warning

Fox News 11 chief meteorologist Adam Kreuger was left puzzled after alarms from people's phones started blaring with evacuation orders in the broadcaster's west LA studio

Events

25 hours ago Diogo Dalot admits he disagrees with Ruben Amroim's stinging Man Utd verdict

Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot has responded to Ruben Amorim's criticism of the club's "leaders", with the 25-year-old insisting the Red Devils have some "great leaders"

Politics

9 hours ago Patrick Stewart reveals Rangers January transfer plan as Ibrox chief outlines Hamza Igamane stance

Stewart has promised to back Clement in the January transfer window - but insists the days of quick fixes are over at Ibrox

Events

25 hours ago Rudy Giuliani found to be in contempt of court again for 2020 election lies

It’s the second time this week that the former NY mayor has been found to be contempt for defaming election workersRudy Giuliani was found in contempt of court on Friday for continuing to spread lies about two former Georgia election workers after a jury awarded the women a $148m defamation judgment.Federal judge Beryl Howell in Washington DC is the second federal judge in a matter of days to find the former New York City mayor in contempt of court. Continue reading...

Politics

10 hours ago Every word of Patrick Stewart's first Rangers address as new CEO responds to fan fury and promises root

The former Manchester United chief officially started his work at Ibrox in the middle of December and has now outlined his plans

Events

27 hours ago ECB urges cricket’s leaders to take action over ‘gender apartheid’ in Afghanistan

England face Afghanistan in Champions TrophyICC called on to ‘intervene and show global leadership’The England and Wales Cricket Board has called on cricket’s governing body to show leadership by taking coordinated action to stop “the gender apartheid facing the 14 million women in Afghanistan”.In a letter to the International Cricket Council on Friday, the ECB’s chief executive, Richard Gould, also urged it “to find a solution that provides hope that the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan can be restored”. Continue reading...

Politics

10 hours ago Line of fire: LA mayor Karen Bass faces scrutiny as historic blazes devour city

Seething residents are questioning city’s preparedness, even as hurricane-force winds and climate crisis created unprecedented calamity conditionsAs a series of wildfires in the Los Angeles area grew into raging infernos, the city’s mayor, Karen Bass, was halfway around the world – part of the US delegation attending the inauguration of the new president of Ghana.By the time she returned home on Wednesday, the fires had seared through thousands of acres. They destroyed more than 10,000 structures and killed at least 11. And Bass was facing a barrage of questions and criticism – both from within LA, and outside. Continue reading...

Events

27 hours ago Experts blast 'highly irresponsible' release of Lynx wildcats in Highlands

Dr Neil Anderson, a senior lecturer in conservation medicine at Edinburgh University, condemned the actions of those responsible for releasing a total of four of the wildcats over the past few days.

Politics

11 hours ago Social care chiefs warn vital services could be axed if government hikes National Insurance

Some 18,000 not-for-profit social care providers in England offer a lifeline to elderly and disabled people – but bosses fear vital services could collapse if the government goes ahead with plans to increase National Insurance Contributions

Events

28 hours ago Trump’s conviction is the latest twist in the Maga story | Lloyd Green

The supreme court order may also be a harbinger of what awaits the US over the next four years: litigation that again divides the judiciary and the nationDonald Trump will take the office on 20 January 2025 as a convicted felon. On Thursday night, a sharply divided US supreme court declined to ride to his last-minute rescue. In a one-paragraph order, the majority refused to stay his state court-sentencing whose genesis lay with payments that Trump allegedly arranged to cover up his purported affair with the adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Last May, a Manhattan jury unanimously found the 45th president guilty of 34 counts of conspiracy and fraud.The supreme court order may also be a harbinger of what awaits the US over the next four years: litigation that again divides the judiciary and the nation. Five of the nine supreme court justices, including chief justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, refused to buy what the monarch of Mar-a-Lago was selling. The rest...

Politics

11 hours ago New Orleans attack would’ve had ‘completely different outcome’ if steel barriers were used, inventor says

Peter Whitford says Archer barriers, which the city had stored away, have record of stopping vehicle rammingsThe deadly New Year’s Day truck attack in New Orleans “would have had a completely different outcome” if city officials had put out 700lb (317kg) barriers that they bought years earlier and have a track record of preventing intentional vehicle rammings, the blockades’ inventor has told the Guardian.But the city “did not have a full slate of accessories to help move and deploy” those steel Archer barriers quickly in the way they were designed to be – and how authorities elsewhere have managed to do it, Peter Whitford, the chief executive officer of the Meridian Rapid Defense Group, said in an interview. Continue reading...

Events

30 hours ago Council on trial over claim chief called property agent 'massive Jewish b***end'

Manchester council denies unlawful discrimination

Politics

12 hours ago Grooming gangs row could spark UK version of New Zealand mosque massacre that killed 51 says Labour's Wes Streeting

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has shared his fears over the vilification of Britain's Muslim community in response to grooming gangs, referencing New Zealand's 2019 mosque shootings.

Events

31 hours ago Trump avoids jail in hush money sentence but is set to be first felon president

The president-elect criticized prosecutors and labeled the case a ‘witch hunt’ in his final remarks

Politics

14 hours ago Have YOU been hit by flu? These cheap home remedies actually work, according to science

Clinical pharmacist and chief executive at the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies Dr Leyla Hannbeck says although you can't cure the flu some remedies can help.

Events