70 minutes ago Dogs, cars and chocolate milkshakes: Biden gives unique tour of White House

President Joe Biden has given an up close and personal look at his life at the White House in a touching video.

Politics

6 hours ago Interior secretary nominee Burgum to back expanded oil and gas drilling on public lands – live

Trump’s nominee to lead the interior department will tell senators that he supports expanding drilling on public lands, a reversal from Biden’s policy In his final days in office, Joe Biden is expected to outline steps to better protect the United States from hackers linked to rivals like Russia and China, the Guardian’s Joseph Gedeon reports:The Biden administration is making a final push to fortify America’s cyber defenses against mounting threats from China and Russia, issuing a sweeping cybersecurity executive order just days before leaving office that aims to tackle vulnerabilities from outer space to consumer electronics. Continue reading...

Society

4 hours ago Southwark Council sparks backlash after spending £31m on consultants and agency staff in under 10 months

Figures uncovered by Southwark Liberal Democrats show that council chiefs spent £2 million on consultants alone since April 2024

Economics

13 hours ago Mikel Arteta gives Rio Ferdinand response he wanted to Arsenal transfer question

Arsenal stepped up in attack against Tottenham on Wednesday night as Leandro Trossard scored to inspire a 2-1 win in the North London Derby, but Mikel Arteta will know he still needs more depth up front

Sport

1 hour ago Scientists reveal whether tap or bottled water is safer after reviewing toxic chemicals

Scientists in the US have revealed whether bottled or tap water is safer from harmful microplastics and toxic forever chemicals amid a mountain of recent research comparing the two.

Events

21 hours ago The harrowing accounts of 'Third World' scenes experienced by more than 5,000 NHS nursing staff across the UK

More than 5,000 nursing staff across the UK were quizzed on the state of the NHS in their area. These are just some of their harrowing responses.

Culture

14 hours ago Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket blasts off in challenge to Elon Musk’s SpaceX

Launch of Amazon founder’s New Glenn craft on second attempt ramps up rivalry between tech billionairesBlue Origin’s huge New Glenn rocket has blasted off from Florida on its first mission to space, an inaugural step into Earth’s orbit for Jeff Bezos’s space company as it aims to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the satellite launch business.Thirty storeys high with a reusable first stage filled with liquid oxygen and methane, New Glenn launched at about 2am ET (0700 GMT) from Blue Origin’s launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station under cloudy skies on its second attempt this week. Continue reading...

Technology

26 hours ago 53,000 NHS staff off sick as Wes Streeting says he cannot rule out patients in corridors next winter

Labour health secretary criticised the ‘unacceptable’ care patients have received as soaring flu cases led hospitals across England to declare critical incidents

Science

1 hour ago Trump taps Hollywood ‘ambassadors’ to be his industry ‘eyes and ears’; Official portrait revealed: Live

President-elect says Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight will report to him on movie business

Politics

33 hours ago Gut health expert's 'favourite' Aldi foods as shoppers hail 'amazing' finds

A full time gut health scientist has revealed his favourite foods from the leading supermarket.

Society

4 hours ago Bryan Mbeumo transfer response deals Arsenal brutal reality check for January window

Bryan Mbuemo has starred for Brentford this season in the Premier League and is said to have drawn transfer interest from the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpol

Economics

22 hours ago Mikel Arteta issues immediate response to Arsenal star's transfer plea on live TV

Mikel Arteta continues to be quizzed on Arsenal's transfer plans, which have changed after Gabriel Jesus' injury, with a move for a striker being touted amid their struggles in front of goal

Sport

2 hours ago Chicago zoo sees ‘beloved’ seal and baby flamingo die from bird flu as virus mutates

Teal the Chilean flamingo had just been born last fall and Slater the harbor seal was often seen training with keepers

Events

34 hours ago AP PHOTOS: Tens of millions of Hindu devotees make do with little at Maha Kumbh festival

It’s late evening in the city of Prayagraj and the roadside vendors selling snacks are packing up their wares to shut for the night. Under the large fig trees, between two paved streets, a group of people is unpacking their bedding of brightly printed blankets. Using their bags as pillows and covering themselves from head to toe with the blankets to ward off cold and mosquitoes, they will spend the night there.

Culture

28 hours ago Truth about milk: What Oxford scientists say can fight cancer, the secrets of ultra

Perhaps the pushback began in earnest in 2023, when model Hailey Bieber, wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the dairy industry's campaign logo, 'Got Milk?'

Science

2 hours ago Scientists closer to bringing woolly mammoth back from extinction with scientific breakthrough

A group of scientists says they will bring back the woolly mammoth by late 2028, and they just announced that they raised $200million to do it. The new funding brings them closer to their goal.

Politics

34 hours ago I’m a climate scientist and my house in LA burned down. My work has never been more real

I feel like I am safe in saying that we are not thriving on our changing planet – and we will not in the coming decadesMy house in Altadena burned down in the wildfires on Wednesday. It all happened quickly. On Tuesday around 7pm, my wife and daughters went to a hotel as a precaution. I left the house with the dogs when the mandatory evacuation order came in around 3am. As best as I can put the timeline together, our home burned down around the same time that the sun came up, and I was able to drive in and see the damage around 2pm.Neighbors that went in after said it looked like a “war zone”. I have never been in a war zone thankfully, but I didn’t think so. There was nothing violent or chaotic about it. No one stopped me from driving in. There were no sirens. I stood alone – no one else around – in front of my house that was at that point just a fireplace and chimney. The house across the street was about halfway done with burning down, and the house behind ours had just started t...

Society

7 hours ago US retail sales rose modestly last month amid solid holiday shopping, boosting economy

Americans stepped up their spending at retail stores and restaurants last month in a clear sign that consumers are still able and willing to shop

Economics

3 hours ago The Guardian view on Biden’s warning of oligarchy: Trump and the malefactors of wealth | Editorial

The outgoing president was right, in his farewell address, to warn of the dangers posed by the billionaires around the tableAristocrats are “the most difficult Animals to manage, of anything in the whole Theory and practice of Government. They will not suffer themselves to be governed,” John Adams warned, writing after his presidency. Banning titles was insufficient; a few would still be distinguished by birth or, especially, wealth. The problem was not just their ability to buy political favours but the grip that their money had on people’s minds.Economic and political power entwine everywhere. Fear of the rich’s outsized influence has existed throughout US history. Yet at times the relationship becomes especially stark and threatening. On Wednesday, Joe Biden evoked the 19th-century Gilded Age and the robber barons – who crushed competitors, exploited workers, bought judges and politicians, and flaunted wealth – in his warning against oligarchs. Continue reading...

Events

36 hours ago Energy trading technologies: increasing efficiency and resilience in European energy

THE ARTICLES ON THESE PAGES ARE PRODUCED BY BUSINESS REPORTER, WHICH TAKES SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENTS

Science

34 hours ago I’m a climate scientist and my house in LA burned down. My work has never been more real | Benjamin Hamlington

I feel like I am safe in saying that we are not thriving on our changing planet – and we will not in the coming decadesMy house in Altadena burned down in the wildfires on Wednesday. It all happened quickly. On Tuesday around 7pm, my wife and daughters went to a hotel as a precaution. I left the house with the dogs when the mandatory evacuation order came in around 3am. As best as I can put the timeline together, our home burned down around the same time that the sun came up, and I was able to drive in and see the damage around 2pm.Neighbors that went in after said it looked like a “war zone”. I have never been in a war zone thankfully, but I didn’t think so. There was nothing violent or chaotic about it. No one stopped me from driving in. There were no sirens. I stood alone – no one else around – in front of my house that was at that point just a fireplace and chimney. The house across the street was about halfway done with burning down, and the house behind ours had just started t...

Society

10 hours ago Brad Pitt scammer who conned French woman out of £700,000 is tracked down in Nigeria... and revealed to be posing as another A

Marwan Ouarab, founder of the site Find My Scammer, has been helping victim Anne to find the person responsible for scamming her out of £697,000 using deep fake images.

Economics

3 hours ago The Guardian view on Keir Starmer’s economy: no acute crisis, but chronically weak | Editorial

Labour should ask the Bank of England if it can do more to boost growthRecent days of market turmoil have elicited some extraordinary responses. The fact that investors are demanding higher rates to lend to the UK government apparently puts this Labour government in the same position as Liz Truss in 2022, according to some Labour MPs, or as Denis Healey facing the International Monetary Fund in 1976. Others dub the UK’s current position as stagflation, a term redolent of the 1970s, with their stagnant economy and runaway inflation. The problem with these comparisons is that the latest raft of key economic figures do not bear them out – not quite. The first bit about the stagnant economy is broadly correct: over the three months to November, GDP did not rise at all. But inflation isn’t running away. Indeed, at 2.5%, it’s just above the Bank of England’s target and, crucially, price pressures, both in the service sector and stripping out food and energy, have abated. Seen against thes...

Events

44 hours ago You can be fat AND fit, obesity experts reveal as they say BMI needs to go: More than 15million Britons are 'wrongly labelled overweight' 

Huge numbers of the 17.6million Brits who have been told that they are overweight are in fact perfectly healthy, the scientists have revealed.

Science

3 hours ago Scientists on cusp of scientific breakthrough reveal when they'll bring woolly mammoth back from extinction

A group of scientists says they will bring back the woolly mammoth by late 2028, and they just announced that they raised $200million to do it. The new funding brings them closer to their goal.

Politics

12 hours ago This Gaza ceasefire deal is a fragile thing, beset by strongman egos. But it is our best hope yet | Simon Tisdall

Netanyahu, with Trump waiting in the wings, has no interest in lasting peace. From these beginnings must come political change – and a reckoning At last! The yearned-for Israel-Hamas ceasefire-for-hostages deal is finally happening. It is welcome. Like thin ice covering deep waters, it is scarily fragile, prone to crack under the slightest pressure. And it is desperately, lethally overdue. Tens of thousands of Palestinians, and many Israelis, have died since last May, when US president Joe Biden first set out the parameters of this agreement. Civilians are still being killed in Israeli airstrikes that have actually intensified since the two sides grudgingly initialled the deal in Qatar.Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere are naturally relieved these merciless Israeli bombardments will soon stop. But celebrations are tempered by fears about the future, and by deep grief and anger over the still terrifying present and immediate past. According to Gaza health ministry figures, more than...

Economics

4 hours ago Wendy Williams says P Diddy will spend life in prison after he tried to 'ruin' her

Wendy Williams cryptically told Charlamagne tha God that we 'don't know things' she does about P Diddy as she branded the rapper 'done'

Events

3 hours ago Drug used in federal executions under Trump may cause 'unnecessary pain and suffering,' Garland says

The Justice Department is rescinding its protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital

Politics

13 hours ago Deliveroo sees orders and spending grow after expanding shopping ranges

The boss of the delivery firm said it had been able to ‘bring even more of the neighbourhood to consumers’ doors’.

Economics

5 hours ago Surprise finding sheds light on what causes Huntington's disease, a devastating fatal brain disorder

Scientists are unraveling the mystery of what triggers Huntington’s disease, a devastating hereditary disorder that strikes in the prime of life

Events

3 hours ago RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: If the Democrats are in despair about Trump, they should have thought twice about running a dribbling basket case

At midday on Monday, Washington time, Joe Biden will be put out of his misery. Not a moment too soon, for the free world.

Politics

15 hours ago Economic growth could fall 50% over 20 years from climate shocks, say actuaries

Exclusive: Report by risk experts says previous assessments ignored severe effects of climate crisisGlobal economic growth could plummet by 50% between 2070 and 2090 from the catastrophic shocks of climate change unless immediate action by political leaders is taken to decarbonise and restore nature, according to a new report.The stark warning from risk management experts the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) hugely increases the estimate of risk to global economic wellbeing from climate change impacts such as fires, flooding, droughts, temperature rises and nature breakdown. In a report with scientists at the University of Exeter, published on Thursday, the IFoA, which uses maths and statistics to analyse financial risk for businesses and governments, called for accelerated action by political leaders to tackle the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Economics

6 hours ago Full details of Sadiq Khan's new budget as mayor prioritises crime after Tory 'wrecking ball' to police

Spending plans revealed for Met police, London fire brigade and TfL

Events

4 hours ago Trump recreates mugshot in official portrait; Nancy Pelosi and Michelle Obama to skip inauguration: Live updates

President-elect says estranged first-term veterans like Mike Pence, John Bolton, and Nikki Haley will not be welcome in White House

Politics

15 hours ago Global economy could face 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 from climate shocks, say actuaries

Exclusive: Report by risk experts says previous assessments ignored severe effects of climate crisisThe global economy could face 50% loss in gross domestic product (GDP) between 2070 and 2090 from the catastrophic shocks of climate change unless immediate action by political leaders is taken to decarbonise and restore nature, according to a new report.The stark warning from risk management experts the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) hugely increases the estimate of risk to global economic wellbeing from climate change impacts such as fires, flooding, droughts, temperature rises and nature breakdown. In a report with scientists at the University of Exeter, published on Thursday, the IFoA, which uses maths and statistics to analyse financial risk for businesses and governments, called for accelerated action by political leaders to tackle the climate crisis.This article was amended on 16 January 2025. The headline of an earlier version said that economic growth could fall by...

Economics

7 hours ago Revealed: Paul Danan's touching act of kindness as he recovered from drug addiction before his death aged 46

After spending time in LA to become a Hollywood star, Paul spent his final years focusing on a cause very close to his heart - in a final touching act of kindness.

Events

4 hours ago TikTok ban: Biden admin ‘exploring options’ and the app might not be gone Sunday

If the administration stops the ban, the issue would be adjudicated by the incoming Trump administration

Politics

27 hours ago Americans spent $175 million on elderberry products last year. Do they actually work?

Experts say more research is needed before we can know for sure just how effective they are

Economics

7 hours ago ‘A flood of disinformation’: rumors and lies abound amid ongoing LA wildfires

Disasters have long led to misinformation as people grasp for control, but the consequences can be life and deathThe Hollywood sign was not on fire. Firefighters weren’t using women’s purses to put out fires. A fish is not responsible for the blazes. The Los Angeles fire department didn’t see big budget cuts. The fires were not started deliberately as some kind of mass plot related to high-speed rail or the 2028 Olympics. Firefighting efforts did not include spraying a mood stabilizer into the air to put locals into a trance. Diversity measures are not to blame.Fires are still burning in Los Angeles, and with them has come a near-constant stream of rumors, half-truths, conspiracy theories and outright lies. Natural disasters have long led to the spread of misinformation as people try to make sense of destruction and grasp for control when the world around them is destroyed. In the aftermath of the disaster, a lot is still unknown: what caused it, what could have prevented it, who co...

Events

4 hours ago Temporary protected status: Who is protected by Biden’s latest extension?

One of Joe Biden’s final acts on immigration was to extend four grants of Temporary Protected Status – covering nearly one million immigrants from Venezuela, El Salvador, Ukraine, and Sudan – through to 2026.

Politics

28 hours ago Man United £80m cash injection explained as Sir Jim Ratcliffe keeps Glazers promise

Sir Jim Ratcliffe invested almost £250million into Manchester United over the last year since Ineos assumed responsibility for management of football operations

Economics

8 hours ago 'I worked with Linda Nolan and made awkward mistake – her response surprised me'

Terry Geo spoke candidly about his experience of working with Linda Nolan in the 90s. Heartbreakingly, she died this week following a lengthy battle with cancer

Events

4 hours ago As Biden goes off on Big Tech oligarchy, here are the CEOs who will get cozy with Trump at his inauguration

Technology barons are flocking to Washington for Donald Trump’s swearing-in next week

Politics

30 hours ago Statement issued on new £22m school where teachers face redundancy and state of the art facilities may never be used

Powys Council rejected claims that cuts would make Ysgol Robert Owen unsafe as it warned schools across the county have begun "management of change processes in response to the financial pressures"

Economics

9 hours ago Trump lists old allies banned from jobs in new administration as he attempts to take ceasefire credit: Live

President-elect says estranged first term veterans like Mike Pence, John Bolton and Nikki Haley will not be welcomed back in latest Truth Social diatribe

Events

5 hours ago 'We won millions on lottery but loved ones' reaction stunned us – one called ambulance'

National Lottery winners have opened up on the best - and worst - responses they received from their friends and family after breaking the news they were suddenly mega-rich

Politics

32 hours ago US inflation ticks up in December and remains above Fed’s 2% target rate

Consumer price index rose at annual rate of 2.9% and while Trump promised to cut prices he now says it will be hardInflation ticked up across the US last month, according to the last report on consumer prices under the Biden administration.Donald Trump has promised to bring prices down for millions of Americans. But while price rises have slowed sharply since their post-pandemic peak of 9.1%, the pace of inflation remains higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2% per annum. Continue reading...

Economics

10 hours ago Baumgart feels bite of winter as Union Berlin fight for Bundesliga survival | Andy Brassell

Over two decades on from his last match at the club as a player, Steffen Baumgart has overseen two ominous defeats“You’re dressed!” exclaimed a surprised Frank Schmidt as he met his counterpart on the touchline on Sunday. For his first game in charge of Union Berlin, Steffen Baumgart was not just dressed in his customary cap and T-shirt, but in hoodie and gilet as well. A recognition, perhaps, that the team he is now responsible for are facing a long, hard winter.Being caught on the hop for a first game away loss, as Union were at Schmidt’s Heidenheim, is one thing. But 21 years after his last appearance for Union as a player, Baumgart made his home debut as head coach on Wednesday evening, and given the anticipation on all sides, this was probably even more deflating than Saturday’s comprehensive 2-0 away defeat. He had spoken about how he had never really had the Union job in his career plan as his feeling for the club would just make it mean too much. The 53-year-old wears his he...

Events

5 hours ago ‘Everything we were taught about success is wrong’: how to find true fulfilment in your life and career

Made good life choices yet still feel dissatisfied? A life coach suggests an alternative way to look at our goals and aspirations to find more positive outcomesAuthor Annie Dillard wrote that “how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives”. So, how was it that I spent a large portion of my 20s ­ terrified of the big, long life I had before me? After Stanford University, I’d moved to New York to work at Google but I was depressed, anxious.When I realised that many brilliant and accomplished people were also secretly miserable, just trying to make it through the day, I looked for terminology to describe this, but there was none. So I came up with my own: the underfulfilled overachiever, or UFOA. This describes a constant striver who is living a great‑­on‑­paper life, yet feels disconnected from their work, life and self. UFOAs see success as the organising principle of our lives. We call it by a catchy name: hustle culture. We brag about our intense busyness. Side hustle...

Politics

33 hours ago Starmer hints at spending cuts as he blames 'volatile' global economy for post

Keir Starmer insisted the government will stick to its fiscal rules as he clashed with Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.

Economics

11 hours ago Biden warns of new American ‘oligarchy’ in farewell speech as Trump takes credit for Israel ceasefire: Live

Outgoing president tells nation new age of ‘robber barons’ in danger of eroding hard-won freedoms in last address from White House before making way for successor

Events

7 hours ago Dumfries and Galloway forces charity desperately looking for veterans to help back into work

Southwest RNR has cash available to put former service personnel through HGV training - but needs to spend the money by the end of March.

Politics

35 hours ago Mum visits seven countries in one year and spends just £2.6k – but uses no annual leave

Claire Howard, 47, took 13 extreme day trips - visiting each location within 24 hours - in a bid to tackle her fear of flying. She spent just £2.6k - and used no annual leave

Economics

13 hours ago Patients dying near toilets and treated in car parks as ‘corridor care’ crisis laid bare

Nurses are at breaking point around the UK as a survey shows nearly seven in 10 have to provide care in overcrowded hospital corridors on a daily basis

Events

7 hours ago 'I'm a professional girlfriend and have a strategy to find rich men to spoil me'

A woman insists that 'the right man' should be spending hundreds on the first date. She often gets spoilt by rich suitors who treat her to new clothes, beauty items, holidays and expensive meals

Politics

42 hours ago Councils spending £2 billion a year to send pupils with special needs to private schools, report reveals

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found spending has increased by 46 per cent in just four years, highlighting the state's 'reliance' on private schools.

Economics

15 hours ago Harrowing stories of corridor care expose crisis in overcrowded hospitals across England

Nurses are at breaking point around the UK as a survey shows nearly seven in 10 have to provide care in overcrowded hospital corridors on a daily basis

Events

7 hours ago UK politics live: New grooming gang inquiries set out by Labour as Badenoch ramps up anti

Home secretary’s expected announcement marks partial government climbdown on grooming gangs scandal

Politics

44 hours ago PM promises ‘strongest action possible’ against Russia if death of Australian Oscar Jenkins confirmed

Government still working to verify reports of Melbourne man’s death after being captured by Russian forces while fighting for UkraineFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia would take “the strongest action possible”, including potentially expelling Russia’s ambassador, Anthony Albanese has warned, as the federal government scrambles to verify reports that Melbourne man Oscar Jenkins had been killed after being captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine.Albanese said on Wednesday that any harm to Jenkins would be “absolutely reprehensible”, and demanded Moscow immediately confirm the condition of the 32-year-old Australian citizen, after reports overnight that he had died.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Economics

15 hours ago ‘Risk of patients dying unnoticed ... is very high’: corridor care crisis spans UK, survey finds

Nurses are at breaking point around the UK as a survey shows nearly seven in 10 have to provide care in overcrowded hospital corridors on a daily basis

Events

7 hours ago Trump nominees for treasury, interior secretary and EPA chief to face senators – live

Four more of Donald Trump’s nominees have confirmation hearings today after senators have grilled Pam Bondi and Pete Hegseth this weekDoug Burgum, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the interior department, will tell senators at his confirmation hearing today that he supports expanding oil and gas drilling on public lands, Reuters reports.That will mark a reversal from Joe Biden’s attempts to stop petroleum exploration on public lands as part of his administration’s strategy to reduce the United States’s carbon emissions. Here’s more on what Burgum will promise, from Reuters:The comments signal a coming sharp turn in policy after President Joe Biden attempted for years to restrict oil and gas drilling by reducing federal lease auctions and banning future development in vast areas of federal offshore waters as part of a strategy to fight climate change.“Today, America produces energy cleaner, smarter and safer than anywhere in the world. When energy production is restricted in America, i...

Politics

15 hours ago The doctor who will be spending YEARS in prison after his crimes were exposed

Following multiple trials, Dr Wayne Davis was convicted of carrying out the most vile abuse on two of his patients. Amy Walker reports on a the background to a disturbing case.

Events

7 hours ago Brits embrace creative saving strategies to tackle hefty January expenses

Here's some of the inventive ways brits are saving money this month to make up for Christmas spending

Politics

17 hours ago Scots Labour MP warns UK Government must not return to austerity ahead of possible spending cuts

EXCLUSIVE: Brian Leishman urged the UK Government to introduce a wealth tax rather than slashing budgets.

Events

7 hours ago Anne Robinson issues short response to rumoured relationship with Camilla's ex

Former Weakest Link presenter Anne Robinson has issued a three-word response to a question about her relationship with her rumoured boyfriend, Andrew Parker Bowles

Politics

17 hours ago Biden’s attack on tech power and wealth recalls fears of the military industrial complex

Analysis: Biden’s dark speech evokes another president’s warning

Events

7 hours ago Many colleges are settling antisemitism cases. Some Republicans blast 'toothless' agreements

Many colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism on their campuses have been settling with federal civil rights investigators in the weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who urged a tougher response to campus protests against the war in Gaza

Politics

18 hours ago Biden’s warning about powerful tech ‘barons’ recalls fears of the military industrial complex

Analysis: Biden’s dark speech evokes another president’s warning

Events