64 m. ago Goodbye angels, hello Ozempic needles – what’s behind the boom in bizarre Christmas baubles?

This year’s most-wanted ornaments include weight-loss syringes and favourite foodstuffs. When and why did Christmas trees become so commercialised?it was the second Tuesday in November but Christmas was already in crisis. Sarah Gibbons had just received a shipment of baubles at her Glasgow homeware shop, Modern Love Store, and some crucial ornaments were missing. She hopped on a long-distance phone call to her suppliers in the US – she needed to sort this out. After all, her customers were clamouring for them. “People aren’t just buying one,” the 39-year-old shopkeeper told me after discovering the missing decorations, “they’re buying three or four at a time.” Three what? Turtle doves? Nutcrackers? Or perhaps some classic candy canes? Of course not. This year’s must-have bauble is in the shape of a lightly glittered syringe of Ozempic.Growing up, my favourite Christmas ornament was a little pink plastic baby Jesus resting in a manger. He was bought by my great-aunt in Oberammergau, ...

Politics

2 h. ago Five reasons your Spotify Wrapped data looks 'off' this year

Spotify rolled out its annual Spotify Wrapped feature this week – but some users complained that their listening habits don't look as accurate as they would expect. Here's why

Politics

2 h. ago Emotional David Beckham hugs Lionel Messi as Inter Miami win first MLS title but Wags steal spotlight on historic night

DAVID BECKHAM shared an emotional embrace with Lionel Messi after Inter Miami won their first ever MLS Cup title. Miami beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 on a historic night for the club, which was only founded by Beckham in 2018. The Herons went 1-0 up inside the first eight minutes through a Edier Ocampo own...

Events

4 h. ago Hostile powers sending spies to west’s universities, says former security chief

Canadian expert David Vigneault warns of China’s ‘industrial-strength’ attempts to steal new technologiesHostile spy agencies are now as focused on infiltrating western universities and companies as they are on doing so to governments, according to the former head of Canada’s intelligence service.David Vigneault warned that a recent “industrial-scale” attempt by China to steal new technologies showed the need for increased vigilance from academics. Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago Spotify Wrapped has dropped but here are 6 reasons yours might look 'wrong'

Spotify dropped the data for their annual Spotify Wrapped this week, but some people believe their streaming information looks 'wrong' - and there are some reasons for that

Politics

12 h. ago Leonardo DiCaprio's stepmom and dad steal the show in very rare appearance with superstar son

The 51-year-old actor's stepmom, Peggy Ann Farrar, and dad, George DiCaprio, were on hand to celebrate the film with their superstar son at a bash in Los Angeles on December 4.

Events

12 h. ago Distracted driving: Motorists using their mobile phones at the wheel killed 42 people last year and caused hundreds of serious accidents

Distracted motorists caused a total of 655 serious accidents, the latest data shows.

Events

13 h. ago Save up to £10.50 when driving by selecting this option on your phone

UK drivers can avoid extra cost by changing one simple phone setting

Economics

13 h. ago Jack Osborne reveals he broke I'm A Celeb rules with burner phone

Jack Osbourne took part in I'm A Celeb and was the joint seventh to leave alongside Emmerdale's Lisa Riley, exiting during the quarter final, leaving behind just four campmates

Events

18 h. ago Brits are wasting their lives waiting in queues as data exposes where we wait most

Whilst Brits are known for their patience and love of a good queue — but now it has been revealed that we are actually wasting our lives standing in line in different places

Politics

23 h. ago “Everyone else has one” Parents race to find safer first phones as kids demand mobiles younger than ever

The playground pressure is real. Kids want phones in Year five. Parents want peace of mind. Safer first-phone SIMs promise independence without a ticket to the adult internet.

Politics

25 h. ago ‘My legacy is not Charlie Kirk’: the university president building a culture of peace after violence

Astrid Tuminez, Utah Valley University’s first female leader, had to pivot from personal tragedy to address ‘a wounding that happened to all of us’Astrid Tuminez was on her way to Rome, the trip a kind of pilgrimage after months of grief. Her husband, Jeffrey Tolk, had died suddenly earlier in the year, and the loss had left her carrying a weight she couldn’t set down. “I felt darkness and a rage I’d never known before. It was like a tectonic shift in my reality,” she said.Tuminez imagined quiet days walking through old churches, sitting in dim chapels in Rome. As part of her spiritual healing, she hoped her schedule held a meeting with Pope Leo. But as her flight landed in Atlanta for a short connection, her phone lit up. One sentence, again and again: “Charlie has been shot.” Continue reading...

Politics

25 h. ago Gen Z office survival guide: how to overcome telephobia and get up early

Experts advise younger workers to practice phone calls with friends and embrace adventure of small talkIf you are a millennial, part of gen X or a boomer, you probably do not give a second thought to picking up the phone to talk to someone or chit-chatting beside the office water cooler. But for gen Z, those common workplace moments are a huge source of anxiety.According to a study released this week, early mornings, working with older colleagues and making small talk are just some of the things employees born between 1997 and 2012 dread. Continue reading...

Events

25 h. ago Scheming care home boss jailed for forging pensioner's will to steal £178k

The document was riddled with different handwriting and coloured pens

Economics

26 h. ago ‘I climbed a building to get this shot of Egyptian fishermen with sardines’: Ahmad Mansour’s best phone picture

How the photographer captured this split image of sardine fishermen taken from aboveFreelance photographer Ahmad Mansour was visiting Al Max, a fishing neighbourhood in Alexandria, Egypt, when he took this image on his mobile phone. Mansour was there with friends, documenting the area and the fishermen who resided there.“The sun was bright and it was very loud; the water was running strongly and the men were shouting,” Mansour says. “I climbed a small building to reach this vantage point above the men with the sardines. I love the top view angle; I’d been inspired by another image that was split that way and it suited the colours to balance them like this, too.” Continue reading...

Politics

26 h. ago Experts say whether charging phone overnight damages the battery

Is it true, or is it a myth?

Events

26 h. ago Cops 'made me edit phone data' used to convict two men of Essex Boys murders

The new evidence will further fuel speculation that Michael Steele and Jack Whomes were wrongly convicted of the killings of three drug dealers shot dead in a Range Rover in a crime that became known as the "Essex Boys" murders after a 2000 film of the same name

Events

30 h. ago Most electric car drivers are happy with their motor... and only 3% would go back to petrol

An overwhelming majority of electric car drivers are happy with their vehicle and Britain's charging network, data shows.

Transport

31 h. ago UK IVF couples use legal loophole to rank embryos based on potential IQ, height and health

British fertility clinics raise scientific and ethical objections over patients sending embryos’ genetic data abroad for analysisWhat is polygenic embryo screening in IVF and does it work?Couples undergoing IVF in the UK are exploiting an apparent legal loophole to rank their embryos based on genetic predictions of IQ, height and health, the Guardian has learned.The controversial screening technique, which scores embryos based on their DNA, is not permitted at UK fertility clinics and critics have raised scientific and ethical objections, saying the method is unproven. But under data protection laws, patients can – and in some cases have – demanded their embryos’ raw genetic data and sent it abroad for analysis in an effort to have smarter, healthier children. Continue reading...

Politics

31 h. ago 'I'm a technology expert and this budget phone should be on your Christmas list'

Those looking for an affordable handset will find this Google model to be a great performer with a class-leading camera

Technology