48 minutes ago BBC Casualty set for major disruption as Christmas special tackles realistic crisis

The 2024 Christmas special episode of the BBC's Casualty includes a storyline that explores a blood shortage in the fictional hospital - but touches on real life events

Events

94 minutes ago The lovely moment a petting zoo is set up at a hospital for ill children

The visit was planned to bring some Christmas joy for patients and staff

Society

1 hour ago Parents debate when they can finally stop giving adult children expensive Christmas gifts

Some people argue that 18 years old is the appropriate age to stop while others say the extravagent holiday gifts should always continue

Society

1 hour ago Albania to close TikTok for a year blaming it for promoting violence among children

Albania’s prime minister says the government will shut down video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children

Events

2 hours ago Albania bans TikTok for a year after fatal stabbing of teenager last month

Prime minister announces move after meeting with parents’ groups and teachers over social media fearsAlbania has announced a one-year ban on TikTok following the killing of a teenager last month that raised fears over the influence of social media on children.Edi Rama, the prime minister, confirmed the ban, part of a broader plan to make schools safer, after meeting with parents’ groups and teachers from across the country. Continue reading...

Events

3 hours ago The joy of trivia: ‘We wrote our book together to intrigue each other’

After midlife burnout came a rediscovered curiosity for two friends and writersIt was the early 2000s, we were in our 20s and had both started as assistants at the same company. We bonded over excruciating induction sessions, where we had to reveal things like which cartoon character we most identified with (B: Danger Mouse; E: Marcie from Peanuts). We laughed a lot, but we also worked really hard – and pushed each other to do new things. Twenty years later, with six children between us as well as more senior jobs, we found ourselves bogged down by endless to-lists and the relentless pace of midlife. We realised we needed to rediscover and connect to the positives in the world around us. The answer lay in sparking each other’s curiosity.Many studies have shown that having a curious mindset has real-life benefits, both for our bodies and our souls. Our brains have evolved to release dopamine when we discover new things, and dopamine boosts memory, creativity and forges new neural con...

Politics

4 hours ago Children born thanks to IVF pioneer find their biological father is scientist from his lab

Roz Snyder, 52, and David Gertler, 51, recently found out via DNA tests that they are half-siblings – raising questions about Patrick Steptoe’s work

Politics

4 hours ago Paddy Doherty Traveller outrage sparks complaint against cops over Manchester market ban

A charity that supports Romani Gypsies and Irish Traveller communities have called for an inquiry after children on their way to the Christmas markets were treated like 'football hooligans on a rampage'

Economics

5 hours ago Children executed and women raped in front of their families as M23 militia unleashes fresh terror on DRC

First-hand accounts from victims of unthinkable violence paint a gruesome picture of the brutality sweeping the central African country. How long is the West prepared to look away?They were looking for new ways to kill, ways to send fresh terror across North Kivu.It was early afternoon when the M23 militia raided the Congolese town of Rubaya. In a marketplace, gunmen found a giant wooden pestle and mortar for crushing grain. They began rounding up children, wedging them tight in the mortar. Isabel, 32, watched the rebels stove in their skulls. The mortar turned red, overflowing with blood. Continue reading...

Events

5 hours ago The week in classical: La bohème; London Contemporary Music festival – review

Royal Opera House; Hackney Church, LondonUkrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska is an unforgettable Mimì in Richard Jones’s ever sumptuous Puccini production. And mischief rules at this year’s LCMFOranges! Dates! Hot chestnuts! Nougat! Whipped cream! – to name only the most enticing treats on offer in the Latin Quarter on Christmas Eve, as depicted by Puccini in La bohème. Hawkers hawk, crowds shove, infants demand, in massed chorus. Together or alone, they greet the season against a backdrop of Paris, city of light, chimneys, smoke, wealth, poverty. The second act of this 1896 opera is a miracle of moving parts, dramatically and musically. Children and marching band bump heads with lovers at war and lovers – Rodolfo and Mimì – newly in love.Few productions match Richard Jones’s for the Royal Opera, designed by Stewart Laing, with lighting by Mimi Jordan Sherin, in capturing this sense of all life and hope squeezed on to one stage. A trio of glass-ceilinged shopping arcades, at the mere ...

Culture