38 minutes ago Drake’s lawsuit against Kendrick Lamar also puts artistic freedom on trial

Drake is understandably vexed about lyrics framing him as a ‘certified paedophile’ – but diss tracks are a deliberately lurid part of rapThere were people who thought Drake v Kendrick was the greatest hip-hop beef of all time, attracting a wider level of public interest and proceeding at a more dizzying velocity than any previous feud: the parties involved released 10 tracks in the space of six weeks, more if you count J Cole’s withdrawn 7 Minute Drill and producer Metro Boomin’s BBL Drizzy, released as a contest to see which member of the public could add the best insult of Drake to the instrumental beat.On the other hand, there were high-profile naysayers, among them rapper Macklemore, who complained that the feud was distracting attention from the war in Palestine; and Roots drummer, DJ and hip-hop historian Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, who called it “wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary” for an “audience wanting blood [that] will soon put up RIP p...

Politics

59 minutes ago Are you your parents' favourite child? How to find out, according to new study

Recent research has highlighted certain factors that impact who gets preferential treament from mum and dad

Society

30 minutes ago Haaland’s new deal, Solskjær arrives at Besiktas, team news and transfers – live

Latest news and press conferences before the weekendAny comment or thoughts? You can email MichaelOle direksiyonda! Turkish speakers can either smirk or correct me. So, it seems that former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in talks to take over at Turkish club Besiktas.(From PA Media) Continue reading...

Economics

2 hours ago US tennis star is dubbed 'the most hated player in the sport' after slapping her behind and mocking Australian Open crowd after beating local underdog

An American tennis star has been dubbed the 'most hated player in the sport' after she was seen slapping her backside and mocking the crowd of the Australian Open

Sport

33 minutes ago Australian Open 2025: Draper into fifth set with Vukic, Pegula out, Gauff through – live

Updates from the sixth day of tennis at Melbourne ParkBritain’s Fearnley out | Djokovic wins in brutal styleAny thoughts? Get in touch with Katy on emailThere’s been some to-ing and fro-ing on serve over on Margaret Court too as Diana Schnaider went 2-0 up against Donna Vekic only to be broken back just now after a nervy looking double-fault into the net.Can everyone stop getting broken? Continue reading...

Events

73 minutes ago Don’t Look Up director says ‘half a billion people’ have now seen film despite critics

Adam McKay says the Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio-starring satire resonates with a widespread feeling of being deceived by government and mediaAdam McKay, writer-director of climate-crisis satire Don’t Look Up, says that the film’s popularity with viewers shows the popular will to tackle climate change, despite the critical brickbats the film attracted and political inertia around the issue.McKay was speaking to the NME during the wildfire emergency that is currently affecting Los Angeles, which has included many high-profile victims from the Hollywood community. Saying that while Netflix, the film’s distributors, would not release definitive audience figures, he estimated that “somewhere between 400 million and half a billion” people saw it, and that “viewers all really connected with the idea of being gaslit”. Continue reading...

Culture

29 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

9 hours ago Russell Grant's horoscopes as Leo might realise it is time to think about health

Today's star signs as Libra feels more connected with family and Capricorn's imagination is in overdrive.

Science

32 hours ago Archaeologists uncover Roman ‘service station’ during roadworks in Gloucester

The mutatio, on Ermin Street linking Silchester and Gloucester, would have provided a place for travellers to rest or change horsesAt Gloucester services on the M5, travellers are resting and refuelling, taking a break from the demands of the road.Just a few miles east, scores of archaeologists are completing a two-year project that has unearthed a forerunner of the site, a 2,000-year-old Roman take on the service station. Continue reading...

Transport

43 minutes ago Vet begs pet owners to not phrase she 'hates' to pets who are about to pass away

A vet has shared the one phrase she doesn't like to hear people saying to their pets as they're about to pass away - and it's likely to break your heart

Politics

20 hours ago Rudy Giuliani fails to show for trial to allocate property in defamation case

Trial, to decide if he has to turn over Florida condo and World Series rings for $148.1 defamation award, was delayedRudy Giuliani’s trial over whether he must turn over his Florida condo and other prized possessions to former Georgia election workers whom he defamed was delayed on Thursday after the former New York City mayor failed to show up in court.A jury ordered the former New York City mayor to pay $148.1m to Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss in 2023 after Giuliani falsely accused the women of attempting to steal the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Continue reading...

Society

2 hours ago Haaland’s new deal, Slegers in at Arsenal, Jota injury doubt, team news and transfers – live

Latest news and press conferences before the weekendAny comment or thoughts? You can email DavidOle direksiyonda! Turkish speakers can either smirk or correct me. So, it seems that former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in talks to take over at Turkish club Besiktas.(From PA Media) Continue reading...

Economics

3 hours ago Haaland’s new contract, Slegers in at Arsenal, team news and football transfer latest – live

Latest news and press conferences before the weekendAny comment or thoughts? You can email DavidToday’s Rumour Mill allows us a segue involving Brighton. Read today’s whispers here Brighton were the other winners last night as they ended an eight-game streak without a Premier League victory (eight of those were draws, mind) with a 2-0 success at Ipswich to take them up to ninth. Nick Ames was at Portman Road. Continue reading...

Sport

83 minutes ago Australian Open 2025: Draper v Vukic, Danilovic beats Pegula, Gauff through – live

Updates from the sixth day of tennis at Melbourne ParkBritain’s Fearnley out | Djokovic wins in brutal styleAny thoughts? Get in touch with Katy on emailThere’s been some to-ing and fro-ing on serve over on Margaret Court too as Diana Schnaider went 2-0 up against Donna Vekic only to be broken back just now after a nervy looking double-fault into the net.Can everyone stop getting broken? Continue reading...

Events

5 hours ago No Dylan but loads of Coldplay! What the songs with a billion streams on Spotify tell us about music taste today

Spotify’s Billions Club tracks the world’s most popular songs, but dozens of greats are nowhere to be found. From TikTok to TV soundtracks, we explore the forces shaping pop’s new canonIn 2011, Jacob Rubeck and Nick Rattigan were living in a basement in Reno, Nevada, and thinking about starting a band. One afternoon, Rubeck came up with a frisky Strokes-like guitar riff, Rattigan whipped up the melody and lyrics and Surf Curse’s Freaks was born. “We wrote the song in like 30 minutes,” the singer says.A catchy song about alienation and longing, Freaks was released in 2013 and became a raucous highlight of their live shows but didn’t trouble the wider world until 2021, when it was discovered, out of the blue, by TikTok users. Its Spotify streams kept going up and up and up, until last March it passed a remarkable milestone. Unlike Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd or Prince, Surf Curse can claim membership of Spotify’s Billions Club, the running playlist of every song to have a...

Culture

25 hours ago A giant US hospital chain says it’s leading the fight against medical debt. Not all patients agree

Many patients say they were harmed by Advocate Health’s billing and collection practices – even as the health system has canceled thousands of liens against patients’ homesAdvocate Health, one of America’s largest hospital chains, says it is working hard to confront one of the biggest problems in US healthcare today – promoting itself as “a leader in the effort to solve the nation’s medical debt crisis”.The non-profit hospital system says it has revamped its billing and collection practices and boosted the number of patients who qualify for charity care. In September 2024, it announced it would take the “bold step” of canceling thousands of debt judgments held as liens against patients’ homes in multiple states, including North Carolina, where the fast-growing chain is headquartered. Continue reading...

Science

60 minutes ago Mobb Deep review – New York rap duo can still keep the temperature rising

O2 Academy, IslingtonThirty years on from their album The Infamous, and seven years after the death of founder member Prodigy, Havoc teams up with Big Noyd for a breathlessly-paced setBig Noyd holds up a half-drunk bottle of brandy as though it were an Olympic torch, pleading: “Lord forgive me, the Hennessy got me not knowing how to act!” He and Havoc of Mobb Deep have not lost a coulomb of their electric, heart-racing energy.The first night of the New Yorkers’ European tour begins with a run of Survival of the Fittest, Eye for an Eye, Right Back at You and Give Up the Goods; Temperature’s Rising is performed by Havoc over isolated boom-bap drums, and stripped back, the song is all the more atmospheric. These tracks are all taken from their second album The Infamous, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and is still revered for its cinematic darkness, conveying the grittiness of their Queensbridge neighbourhood through evocative and scene-setting lyricism. Continue readin...

Politics

21 hours ago Sibling rivalry: parents favour older children and daughters, study finds

International research also reveals conscientious or agreeable children are likely to receive preferential treatmentAs Philip Larkin once noted, your mum and dad have a lasting effect on you. Now, researchers have revealed which siblings in a family are more likely to be favoured: it is bad news for sons.Researchers have found daughters, older children and those who are more conscientious or agreeable are likely to receive preferential treatment. Continue reading...

Society

4 hours ago Liam Payne's friend sues star's dad for $10million in damages over 'defamation'

Liam Payne's friend Rogelio "Roger" Nores has filed a defamation lawsuit against the late pop star's father, Geoff Payne, over his claims about the circumstances surrounding the singer's death.

Economics

3 hours ago Renée Slegers is named permanent Arsenal head coach after 10 wins from 11

35-year-old had been in temporary charge since OctoberGunners are unbeaten since Jonas Eidevall left clubArsenal have named the interim head coach Renée Slegers as the permanent successor to Jonas Eidevall after an impressive temporary spell in charge.The 35-year-old has signed a contract to the end of the 2025-26 season after three months as interim. Continue reading...

Sport

90 minutes ago Digested week: Steve Bannon’s bitter attack on Musk briefly lifts the spirits | Emma Brockes

Plus: Timothée Chalamet charms on a Lime bike, Rick Stein’s 1970s prices and Starbucks’ bathroom requirementsHi, from the house of norovirus! One child down, one still standing, no community spread as far as we know, although every hour I check myself over and ask: is that nausea I’m feeling, or have I eaten too many walnuts (again)? Continue reading...

Events

20 hours ago Plans for Bible reading and Latin in Italian schools criticised as ‘retrograde’

Education minister reveals revamp of national curriculum guidelines and says children must ‘learn to write better’Bible reading, Latin and learning poetry by heart could return to Italian primary and middle schools as part of a revamp of national curriculum guidelines criticised as “retrograde” and “nostalgic”.The education minister, Giuseppe Valditara, unveiled the guidelines, which predominantly affect children aged three to 14 and are expected to take effect from the 2026/2027 school year, in an interview with the rightwing newspaper, Il Giornale, saying that children must discover “a taste for reading” and “learn to write better”. Continue reading...

Culture

33 hours ago Russell Grant's horoscopes as Taurus advised they will find fulfilment in new project

Today's star signs as Scorpio told to concentrate on self and Pisces urged to get second opinion.

Science

62 minutes ago ‘There’s a majesty to grief’: TS Eliot poetry prize winner Peter Gizzi

The American writer won the prestigious prize for Fierce Elegy, a collection informed by the deaths of his family members. He explains why poetry is like friendship – and why he loves small wordsWinning the TS Eliot prize came as a shock to American poet Peter Gizzi. “I had zero expectations”, he says. “All I know is I was overwhelmed.” In fact, the 65-year-old says he almost cried when his name was read out for his collection Fierce Elegy.When we talk the next day – Gizzi is speaking over Zoom from Valencia, where he flew to see family after attending the ceremony in London on Monday night – he is clearly still emotional. The prestigious poetry award holds particular significance for him, having long felt an affinity with TS Eliot. In fact, Gizzi and his friend, the poet and scholar JH Prynne, even went on a pilgrimage to the village that features in the final poem in Eliot’s Four Quartets. Continue reading...

Politics

21 hours ago LA fires live updates: California weather eases up as firefighters report gains against massive wildfires

Improved conditions should help fire crews and allow residents to return to their neighborhoodsEasing of extreme winds expected to strengthen efforts to put out blazesMark Pestrella, Los Angeles County Public Works director, said that in the event of major rain, “we do expect that all of the street areas and all the communities will be impacted by debris flows that could be hazardous to human health.”He warned that “we do expect the window to open for rain in the later part of this month.” Continue reading...

Society

4 hours ago Liam Payne fans outraged over close friend's $10m lawsuit against singer's grieving dad

Roger Nores, whose name featured prominently during the investigation into the death of the late One Direction singer, has taken legal action against the star's grieving father

Economics

15 hours ago Manchester United vs Southampton LIVE! Premier League result, match stream, latest updates today

Man Utd must back up good recent results against the league’s whipping boys

Sport

1 hour ago Tony Blackburn, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Jeremy Vine say their last farewells to Johnnie Walker at BBC star's funeral after he died aged 79

The congregation gathered at St Peter's Church in Shaftesbury, Dorset, for the 11am service today to pay tribute to BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the 70s and The Rock Show host.

Events

27 hours ago Africa has no shortage of celebrated writers – so why is it so hard for African readers to get hold of their books?

Across the continent books can be expensive and libraries scarce. But growing numbers of tech innovators and independent publishers are working to make African literature available and affordableTsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, a novel about growing up in colonial Zimbabwe, is one of the most important works of 20th-century African literature and features on university curricula across the UK. British students can order a used copy for less than £3.But there is one place readers struggle to find it: Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe and Dangeremba’s home town, even though it is published in paperback across the border in South Africa. “It’s very, very difficult to find my books anywhere in Zimbabwe,” says Dangarembga. Continue reading...

Culture

81 minutes ago UK politics live: Starmer hits back at Musk after ‘constructive’ Trump talks as PM eyes Poland security pact

Sir Keir Starmer said he had learned to focus and ‘shut off the noises’ when asked again about the slew of social media posts directed at him by Elon Musk

Politics

22 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 Liam Payne’s dad sued for $10m by late singer's friend who was charged in his death

The One Direction singer died aged 31 from ‘polytrauma’, after falling from an Argentine hotel balcony in October.

Economics

17 hours ago Manchester United vs Southampton LIVE! Premier League match stream, latest score and goal updates today

Man Utd must back up good recent results against the league’s whipping boys

Sport

2 hours ago I hired private detectives to spy on my lover when he blew out our date. Then they sent a video from his flat with a bombshell revelation: LIZ JONES

He came to my hotel at 9.30pm. He was impressed by the luxury suite with its huge Christmas tree, copper bath, walk-in minibar. I noticed he soon nibbled on the KitKats and Pringles.

Events

32 hours ago ‘I didn’t sleep for days’: readers on the TV shows that went way too far

From fish and chip shop-induced trauma to programmes packed with relentless death and gore, here are the television moments that had you reaching for the remote‘Just too horrifying’There are two specific scenes that have forced me to stop watching a show or movie, both involving infants. One is the final scene from the fourth series of Dexter, where he finds his wife’s murdered body in the bathtub and their young son sitting in a pool of his mother’s blood. As a parent, this scene was just too horrifying for me to contemplate. Cushla, 52, Dunedin, New Zealand Continue reading...

Culture

1 hour ago Donyell Malen arrives in full bloom for Aston Villa debut on familiar ground

Forward’s coaches share what makes the former Arsenal youth so special as he returns to the Emirates with new clubThe memories will surely come flooding back for Donyell Malen. Perhaps in the minutes before arriving at the Emirates Stadium. Maybe en route if Aston Villa’s team bus bypasses St Albans, where he lived in an apartment, a few miles up the road from Arsenal’s training base in Hertfordshire. On Saturday the forward, Villa’s new signing from Borussia Dortmund, could make his Premier League debut at the club where he spent two years as a youngster. He left Ajax for London at 16 but returned aged 18 to the Netherlands with their rivals PSV Eindhoven, and there Malen began to realise his potential.Malen excelled during six months with Jong PSV, outscoring Cody Gakpo to finish the 2017-18 season as the under-23s’ top goalscorer and making his first-team Eredivisie debut in the February of a title-winning campaign. “He was at Arsenal doing his thing, a good player but not using ...

Politics

24 hours ago Teacher 'has baby with boy, 13, she lived with' – then his dad 'figured it out'

Ex-South Jersey teacher Laura Caron has been accused of having her 13-year-old student's child after the alleged victim's father is said to have 'figured it all out'

Society

4 hours ago Billy Bob Thornton: ‘I didn’t want Johnny Cash to catch me looking in his fridge in my underpants’

The actor and musician answers your questions on his time as a roadie, being intimidated by rich people and falling off a horse for Steven SeagalIs your music less important, more important, or about as important as your film work? BenderRodriguezHere’s the thing: I grew up in music. I saw the Beatles when I was eight. By the time I was nine, I had a band. Started with a little cheap guitar and then got a drum kit, which my father hated. I was playing pretty big concerts by the time I was 16 and then went on tour. I became a roadie from 18 to about 22. I went to LA to play music, accidentally got into acting. I’m still not sure how it happened. I always say that my success as an actor was out of ignorance, because I didn’t know how to be anything other than natural, and I think they liked that.I loved both of them. It’s all one vision, all out of the same brain. I couldn’t choose one over the other. I’d like to do both, as long as they’ll let me. Continue reading...

Economics

19 hours ago Spanish FA apologises after Mallorca players’ families harassed in Jeddah

Fans and players’ partners upset by groping and pushingRFEF says sorry but still plans more Super Cups in SaudiThe president of the Spanish football federation (RFEF) has apologised to Real Mallorca supporters six days after they were harassed at the Super Cup semi-final in Jeddah, with the Balearic government inviting him to reconsider the decision to hold the tournament in Saudi Arabia.At the end of their 3-0 defeat by Real Madrid last Thursday, players’ families and Mallorca fans who had travelled to the game alleged they were surrounded and subjected to abuse from local fans supporting Real Madrid on their way out of the King Abdullah stadium. Some female supporters are said to have been sexually harassed. The wife of the midfielder Dani Rodríguez, Cristina Palavra, described moments of “genuine panic” and denounced a lack of protection. Continue reading...

Sport

2 hours ago China’s economy hits 5% growth target but rate among slowest in decades

Latter part of 2024 ‘recovered remarkably’ after stimulus measures, says National Bureau of StatisticsBusiness live – latest updatesChina’s economy grew by 5% in 2024, in line with government targets but at the slowest rate since 1990 outside the Covid pandemic, according to official data.Growth accelerated through the year, with an expansion of 5.4% in the final quarter, up from 4.6% in the third quarter, according to Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics. Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago You’re really spoiling us: Trump miscasts Gibson, Stallone and Voight by making them mere ambassadors

The president-elect’s latest trio of mischievous appointments show his genius for trolling the celebrity-woke communityDonald Trump has permitted himself the delicious pleasure of trolling Hollywood’s celebrity-woke community who once dreamed of preventing his second term with their collective prestige. He has found a new wellspring of liberal tears in which to bathe. But whatever our feelings about his proposed “Hollywood ambassadors”, Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone – ambassadors to Hollywood from Maga? to Maga from Hollywood? – it’s possible to wonder if the ambassadors themselves have a right to be a bit miffed.Hollywood ambassador? Gibson has directed a number of feature films, (Stallone and Voight also have directing credits); these are vast organisational challenges, requiring energy, vision, skill and political finesse. And that zero-experience lunkhead Pete Hegseth gets to be defence secretary? Despite only knowing how to do sycophantic interviews with the onc...

Politics

5 hours ago Rangers have 21 y/o ‘on radar’, Celtic deal ‘almost there’, Hearts offer transfer update

Here are today’s top transfer headlines from the Scottish Premiership and beyond - including Celtic, Rangers, Dundee United and Hearts.

Economics

20 hours ago Danielle Collins thanks ‘super drunk’ booing fans for spurring her to victory

The American faced a boisterous crowd in her win over local hope Destanee Aiava but says ‘energy is a good thing’On a day of a new attendance record at Melbourne Park, the world No 11, Danielle Collins, was booed and jeered in her win over local hope Destanee Aiava, the latest intervention at the Australian Open from boisterous and often intoxicated crowds in a sport known for its civility.The treatment appeared to affect the American, who shouted “shut up” to one fan during her tense 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2 victory, even blowing kisses to the stands and turning and slapping her bottom in post-match victory taunts. Continue reading...

Sport

2 hours ago Australian Open 2025: Draper v Vukic, Djokovic sweeps through, Gauff wins, Osaka out – live

Updates from the sixth day of tennis at Melbourne ParkJacob Fearnley exits after being given lesson by ZverevAny thoughts? Get in touch with Katy on emailThere’s been some to-ing and fro-ing on serve over on Margaret Court too as Diana Schnaider went 2-0 up against Donna Vekic only to be broken back just now after a nervy looking double-fault into the net.Can everyone stop getting broken? Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago Zuckerberg is quite the champion of the underrepresented – so long as you’re conservative and live in Texas | Joseph Harker

The Meta boss has ditched his diversity scheme and moved his moderation team. Is he jealous of the attention Musk is getting?Joseph Harker is the Guardian’s senior editor, diversity and developmentWas it just for the PR? That’s what many who care about fairness in the workplace have been asking since Meta, headed by Mark Zuckerberg, announced the scrapping of all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes within the organisation. Days earlier, fast food giant McDonald’s made a similar announcement. Last year, the car manufacturer Ford and Walmart – the largest private employer in the US – also rolled back their diversity programmes.So what’s going on? For years, and especially after the Black Lives Matter summer of 2020, these huge corporations have been saying that diversity is a good thing – that it keeps them in touch with their consumers and thereby strengthens the business, as well as being the morally right thing to do.Joseph Harker is the Guardian’s senior editor, diversit...

Politics

6 hours ago Celtic deal ‘almost there’, Rangers have 21 y/o ‘on radar’, Hearts triple transfer update

Here are today’s top transfer headlines from the Scottish Premiership and beyond - including Celtic, Rangers, Dundee United and Hearts.

Economics

22 hours ago Football Daily | Spurs live down to underdog billing as Arsenal paint town red

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!Since comfortably beating Aston Villa at the start of November, Tottenham Hotspur have won only two of the 11 Premier League matches they’ve contested. Well, played in or at least turned up for. Indeed, a good lawyer might argue that technically they haven’t really won any because one of the aforementioned victories came against peak b@nter era Manchester City, while not even Spurs were capable of doing anything other than swat the current Southampton rabble aside, a feat that is not so much something to be proud of, but more the equivalent of helping yourself to the pennies covering a dead man’s eyes. Having taken just eight points from their previous 10 games, Ange Postecoglou’s knack-depleted team went into Wednesday night’s north London derby as firm underdogs and duly lived down to their billing.I would never dare doubt the accuracy and reliability of statistics from Big Website, but some of the match stats from the Holsten Pil...

Sport

2 hours ago Young dad, 21, issues grave vape warning after £12 habit put him in a coma for two weeks

James Johnson, 21, says he would constantly puff on the £12 IVG 2400 vape during long night shifts as a bouncer to have 'something to do' and one vape would only last two days

Events

1 hour ago ‘We are ready’: the ACLU is prepared to fight Trump’s attacks on civil liberties

Organization faces arguably its biggest test with Trump’s return to power with deportation, free speech and immigration on the agendaThe American Civil Liberties Union, a leading defender of rights and freedoms enshrined in the US constitution, has drafted several major lawsuits it is prepared to file should Donald Trump try to wield excessive or unlawful power at the start of his second presidency, which starts on Monday.Cecillia Wang, the ACLU’s recently appointed national legal director, said the organisation was fully set, with plaintiffs lined up and legal complaints already written. The incoming president’s plans to mass-deport millions of undocumented immigrants, his threats to pursue vendettas against his political enemies and his talk of mobilising the military for domestic purposes, are all squarely in the ACLU’s sights. Continue reading...

Politics

9 hours ago Retired cop embezzled £30k from dying dad's account and spent cash on clothes and CDs

James Kelly spent the money on clothes and CDs at Braehead Shopping Centre.

Economics

23 hours ago Novak Djokovic changes his opinion as players put in Australian Open complaint

Novak Djokovic is one of several players to voice their concerns over the introduction of 'coaching pods' at the Australian Open – with one star even claiming he "hates" the new development

Sport

2 hours ago ‘It’s going to be rough’: what Trump’s response to LA fires portends for future climate disasters

Big oil executive plans to celebrate Trump’s inauguration as California burns – though experts say climatic conditions are only getting more extremeDonald Trump’s response to the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles has provided a stark prologue to how his US presidency will likely handle the growing threat of such disasters – through acrimony, brutal dealmaking and dismissal of a climate crisis that is spurring a mounting toll of fires, floods and other calamities.As of Thursday, four fires, whipped up by wind speeds more typically found in hurricanes, have torched 63 sq miles (163 sq km) of Los Angeles, a burned area roughly three times the size of Manhattan, destroying more than 12,000 homes and businesses and killing at least 25 people. The Palisades and Eaton fires, the largest of the conflagrations that have turned entire neighborhoods to ash, are still to be fully contained. Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago ‘It brought out the most vile side of lad culture’: Unilad founder Alex Partridge on online hate, alcoholism and ADHD

The entrepreneur suffered with anxiety all his life, then a court case fuelled his alcoholism and nearly cost him everything. Now, an ADHD diagnosis has brought him clarity, a podcast and determination to help othersWhen Alex Partridge decided to become a podcaster, he dismantled his bed and soundproofed his bedroom, spent a fortune ordering recording equipment, hired a producer and booked guests – all in one evening. As an entrepreneur, the creator of the online entertainment brands Unilad and LadBible, he thought a podcast about business was a great idea. He could certainly talk about the downs as well as the ups, given that he had been kicked out of one of those companies, and only got back in after a legal battle that pushed him into alcoholism.Three days later, before the equipment had even been delivered, he’d lost interest. “I remember just being so confused,” he says, “not understanding how I could have this feeling of emptiness, compared to the euphoria and the determinatio...

Politics

29 hours ago Manchester United vs Southampton score predicted as Ruben Amorim looks to stop five

Manchester United face Southampton in the Premier League later today, so we simulated the clash to predict what could happen.

Sport

2 hours ago Fearing raids, barred from aid: LA immigrants doubly vulnerable amid fires

Non-profits rush to assist undocumented immigrants who face deportation threat on top of displacement and job lossAngelica Salas has been shellshocked by the past week.The immigrants’ advocate had to flee the Eaton fire as it rushed toward Altadena and Pasadena. But even as she and her family were evacuating their home and checking in on friends and neighbors, Salas was scrambling to organize emergency aid for the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrant families that her organization serves. Continue reading...

Events

2 hours ago Keir Starmer vows 'closer collaboration' with Poland on visit TODAY ahead of Donald Trump's return to White House

The Prime Minister has said that it is 'time to take our partnership to the next level' and that 'closer collaboration' with allies such as Poland will 'protect the UK's national security'.

Politics

11 hours ago Liam Payne’s pal Roger Nores sues singer’s dad for £8million in death defamation claim

A close friend of the late singer Liam Payne has launched legal proceedings against the artist's father Geoff Payne, in an eye-watering £8 million lawsuit for defamation

Economics

30 hours ago Today's rugby news as Welsh club make doping statement and coach 'disappointed' by Wales star's axe

The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world

Sport

3 hours ago Jamie Foxx, 57, admits he thought he was being 'pranked' after waking up from 20 day coma following terrifying brain bleed and stroke

The actor, 57, has revealed how he thought it was a joke when doctors told him he had been out for 20 days after suffering a stroke caused bleed on the brain.

Events

2 hours ago ‘The brief was practical but playful’: an adventurous redesign of a tiny top floor flat

This pint-sized Brighton Regency renovation is full of fun, colour and stylish space-saving hacks‘Us, 15 years ago, pre-kids, is how we imagined the perfect inhabitants for this space,” says interior designer Edwina Boase. She and her interior architect husband, Marc Boase, bought the tiny, top-floor rental flat, in one of Brighton’s graceful Regency buildings, specifically to have a bit of fun with it.With sole access to the loft, the couple embarked on an adventurous redesign, boosting the unloved and long-neglected flat’s footprint from 40 to 55 square metres, and turning it into a two-bedroom maisonette, now bursting with colour, pattern and small-space design hacks aplenty. Continue reading...

Politics

13 hours ago Major rule change affecting anyone who pays broadband and mobile bill kicks in today

Under the previous rules, broadband and mobile companies are allowed to increase prices mid-contract in line with inflation from March and April, plus up to 3.9% extra on top of this

Economics

31 hours ago How to watch Manchester United vs Southampton: TV channel and live stream for Premier League today

Ruben Amorim out to build on two impressive performances

Sport

3 hours ago Australian Open 2025: Djokovic v Machac, Draper v Vukic, Gauff wins, Osaka out – live

Updates from the sixth day of tennis at Melbourne ParkJacob Fearnley exits after being given lesson by ZverevAny thoughts? Get in touch with Katy on emailThere’s been some to-ing and fro-ing on serve over on Margaret Court too as Diana Schnaider went 2-0 up against Donna Vekic only to be broken back just now after a nervy looking double-fault into the net.Can everyone stop getting broken? Continue reading...

Events

2 hours ago How Jeff Bezos can stop the bleeding at the Washington Post | Margaret Sullivan

The paper’s owner should show up – soon – to hold a town hall with the newsroom, answer questions, and take the heatMore than 400 newsroom staffers at the Washington Post pleaded with the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, this week to do something about their beloved paper’s rapid – and very public – decline.“We are deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions that have led readers to question the integrity of this institution, broken with a tradition of transparency, and prompted some of our most distinguished colleagues to leave, with more departures imminent,” an extraordinary letter to Bezos read in part, as first reported by NPR’s David Folkenflik. It was signed by some of the Post’s most respected names, including the investigative reporter Carol Leonnig and the unofficial dean of DC politics writers Dan Balz.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

Politics

17 hours ago Liam Payne's father is being SUED for $10million for defamation by his late son's close friend who claims grieving dad has made him a scapegoat for his tragic death

Rogelio 'Roger' Nores was among the last people to see Liam Payne alive in Buenos Aires on October 16 last year before he fatally plunged from a third-floor hotel balcony.

Economics

4 hours ago CCTV issued after train passenger peppered with abuse as police investigate hate crime

Police believe the man pictured could be a key witness

Events

3 hours ago TikToking on heaven’s door: Bob Dylan joins social media app as US ban looms

Songwriter, 83, signs up to TikTok with platform facing Sunday deadline to sell US operationBob Dylan is TikToking on heaven’s door after signing up to the social media app – days before it could disappear from his native US.The 83-year-old songwriter has set up an official account, which launched with a 50-second video montage accompanied by a soundtrack featuring Like a Rolling Stone, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and Hurricane. The post has attracted nearly 2m views. Continue reading...

Politics

17 hours ago Carlisle trainee gas engineer who won £7.5m on lottery wants to keep working

James Clarkson, 20, hit the jackpot in first national lottery draw of 2025 but was back at work on Monday morningHis luck began on Christmas Day. After winning £120 in the Lotto Christmas Day Draw, 20-year-old James Clarkson decided to buy five lottery tickets for the first draw of 2025 – and won £7.5m.Clarkson, a trainee gas engineer from Carlisle, was staying over at his girlfriend’s house when he discovered he had hit the jackpot on 4 January. Continue reading...

Economics

5 hours ago Shocking moment gang of 'misfits' carry out savage attack on transgender teenager lured to London roller disco

The victim of the transphobic attack asked for footage of the brutal assault to be released to show reality of hate crime

Events

3 hours ago From electric guitars to social media, the revolutionary Bob Dylan did it first: the Stephen Collins cartoon

Continue reading...

Politics

19 hours ago Don't miss this half price large capacity Tefal air fryer deal live on Amazon today

Air fryer deals tend to be a bit sparse during January - but this one we spotted is too good not to share

Economics

6 hours ago Gaza ceasefire live: Israel security cabinet to meet later after hostage deal reached, Netanyahu says

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says that security cabinet will meet on Friday following earlier delays in talks to release hostages in return for ceasefireAnalysis: Islamist groups will emerge from Gaza war weakenedDuring his final press conference earlier on Thursday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken was heckled by two journalists who criticised him for his support for the war in Gaza.That includes providing Israel with diplomatic support at the UN – blocking multiple calls for a ceasefire – and continuing to send billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel despite concerns within his own department it is committing human rights violations. Reuters reports:“Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague,” shouted Sam Husseini, an independent journalist and longtime critic of Washington’s approach to the world. The Hague is where the International Criminal Court is located.The unusually confrontational scene in the State Department briefing room only ended when security personnel forcibl...

Events

3 hours ago Major discount supermarket chain will open nine new London stores this year

Aldi has revealed it will open nine supermarkets in London this year as bosses today announced four of the locations as part of a £55million investment within the M25.

Politics

20 hours ago Bakery fined more than £500,000 after man gets trapped in mixer for 90 minutes

David Wood Baking Ltd admitted breaches of safety regulations after three people were seriously injured in separate incidents at their sites in Bolton

Economics

7 hours ago Ash Gardner hits ton as Australia edge towards Women’s Ashes series victory over England

Third ODI: Australia, 308-8, beat England, 222, by 86 runsThird 50-over win gives hosts 6-0 lead heading into T20sThere was a sense of inevitability about the result of the third Ashes ODI, from the moment Ash Gardner decided she was going to pummel Sophie Ecclestone for six in her first over of the day. Gardner has been England’s Ashes nemesis before – who can forget the 12 wickets she took in the 2023 Trent Bridge Test while nursing a finger injury?Now, here she was, taking on England’s best bowler just seconds after Heather Knight had brought her on. Australia might have been four wickets down in the first 15, following an underwhelming 180 all out on Tuesday, but Gardner saw Ecclestone coming, came down the track, and struck the ball sweetly over the top. Two hours later she was celebrating a first international hundred, and England were left requiring a record-breaking 309 to win. Continue reading...

Events

3 hours ago Hisham Matar: ‘I learned English by listening to Jane Austen audiobooks’

The British-Libyan author on Hemingway’s craft, finding comfort in Joseph Conrad, and spending six months drowning in AustenMy earliest reading memoryFrom as far back as I can remember, before I could read, I was read to mostly from the same book, The Arabian Nights, feeling the reverberations of Shahrazad’s sentences against my mother’s lap, and suspecting that it must be so: that to tell a story is to postpone death, that after she asks her would-be murderer, “Do I have your permission to tell a story?”, the world is made a little less certain.The book that changed me as a teenagerWhen I was 13 I read Badr Shakir al-Sayyab’s Rain Song. I can’t claim to have understood it, but those poems ripped open a veil. The experience of being overrun by language, of being caught in the wake of lines that were just beyond reach, showed me how literature can be both the translation of an experience and also its manifestation. Continue reading...

Politics

22 hours ago Gaza deal should benefit Netanyahu in short term, but he is critically exposed

Israeli PM must appease his coalition to avoid fresh elections, as well as reckoning with unpredictable TrumpMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe nature of Israel’s febrile coalition politics has long favoured theatrics. The standing and psychology of its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, adds a further element of panic and cynical calculation.All those characteristics were in evidence as Israel and Hamas edged towards a ceasefire deal, particularly in Netanyahu’s struggle to triangulate his portrayal of an agreement that has the potential to damage him politically. Continue reading...

Economics

7 hours ago I spent the day with a Rochdale grooming gangs survivor and her father

A grooming gang survivor has given her first in-depth interview, alongside her campaigning father Marlon West, to a new podcast On The Case: The Grooming Gangs Scandal, launching today. Listen now.

Events

3 hours ago UK politics live: Badenoch accused of wanting to cut state pension as Labour deny Musk forced gangs inquiries

Tory leader has been accused of ‘putting pensions on notice’ after revealing a possible policy shift on triple lock pensions during a LBC phone-in

Politics

28 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

7 hours ago Speedier drug trials and better films: how AI is transforming businesses

From aviation to retail, many industries are already looking to artificial intelligence to improve productivityKeir Starmer this week announced a 50-point plan that aims to give the UK world leader status in artificial intelligence and grow the economy by as much as £47bn a year over a decade.The multibillion-pound investment, which seeks to create a 20-fold increase in the amount of AI computing power under public control by 2030, has been framed as a gamechanger for businesses and public organisations. Continue reading...

Events

4 hours ago FTSE 100 Live 17 January: Index in record territory, retail sales miss forecasts

Retail sales figures today provided more evidence of the UK’s faltering year-end performance.

Politics

30 hours ago A 100% tax on Brits buying homes in Spain sounds satisfying – but it won’t solve our housing crisis | María Ramírez

Making visitors pay more may bolster Treasury revenues, but it’s no match for building more housesLast October, tens of thousands of people marched through Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and other big Spanish cities demanding affordable housing. Protesters jingled keys to make noise, held signs denouncing “speculators”, and threatened a “rent strike” while calling for action from national and local politicians. They had good reason to be angry.Housing has become the most pressing concern for Spaniards, according to a December survey by the national polling centre, ranking higher than unemployment and migration. Look at the statistics and it’s clear why. The cost of renting in cities rose by around 30% between 2015 and 2022, forcing young workers to move to the outskirts of Madrid and Barcelona or settle for tiny, often barely habitable flats. In popular tourist regions like Valencia, Alicante and Málaga, rents have surged by 40%. For workers in the Balearic Islands, a commute by plane ...

Economics

7 hours ago Clydebank star targets Hibs revenge for his dad as Scottish Cup tie produces brilliant 15

Saturday's cup tie will be a special day at Easter Road for the McGowan family

Events

4 hours ago ‘We’re still alive’: England seek inspiration with Women’s Ashes slipping away

Tourists’ skipper recalls 2023 series and similar deficit Kate Cross being prioritised for possible Test returnEngland’s captain Heather Knight says England face a “tough” battle to win the Ashes but urged her team to “keep believing” after Australia won a clean sweep of the ODIs with an 86-run victory at Hobart which leaves the hosts 6-0 up on points.England now need to win all three of the T20s (worth two points apiece), and the one-off Test (worth four points), to win back the Ashes. However, Knight said they would take inspiration from their performance at home in 2023, when they fought back from losing the Test and the first T20 to draw the series 8-8. Continue reading...

Politics

31 hours ago Liz Truss is long gone from Downing Street – but zombie economics lives on | Aditya Chakrabortty

Labour’s panicked reaction to turbulence is to promise ‘ruthless’ cuts. It has learned the wrong lessons from Britain’s shortest-lived PMBritain’s centre of power is stalked by a zombie. Across Westminster, the mere mention of her name summons up a grim past, but she remains ever present: blond bob, eyes that never move and a grin slightly aslant so it expresses not mirth, but faint menace. When least expected, she can bark a laugh that sends shivers up a cabinet minister’s spine. And whenever her shadow looms in SW1, the dread murmur starts: she used to be prime minister, you know.Liz Truss’s stint at the top of politics ended years ago. Perhaps close confidants and trained medics are yet to break the news, but for her, power is a fading memory, a shrinking image in the rear-view. As the voters of South West Norfolk ensured last July, she is now an ex-politician. Yet in British political culture, she is the great undead. No other prime minister since the Brexit vote so haunts curre...

Economics

8 hours ago Elianne Andam's dad in moving tribute to tragic teen as killer found guilty of murder

Elianne Andam's father Michael Andam described his daughter as a "bright, kind and loving soul" with hopes and dreams for the future before she was "cruelly taken away".

Events