4 h. ago A conversation between Joe Rogan and Mel Gibson summed up 2025 for me – and not in a good way | George Monbiot

From merrily dismissing climate science, to promoting irresponsible health claims, the podcast was an unintentional warning for our times Looking back on this crazy year, one event, right at the start, seems to me to encapsulate the whole. In January, recording his podcast in a studio in Austin, Texas, the host, Joe Rogan, and the actor Mel Gibson merrily dissed climate science. At the same time, about 1,200 miles away in California, Gibson’s $14m home was being incinerated in the Palisades wildfire. In this and other respects, their discussion could be seen as prefiguring the entire 12 months.The loss of his house hadn’t been confirmed at the time of the interview, but Gibson said his son had just sent him “a video of my neighbourhood, and it’s in flames. It looks like an inferno.” According to World Weather Attribution, January’s fires in California were made significantly more likely by climate breakdown. Factors such as the extreme lack of rainfall and stronger winds made such f...

Politics

19 h. ago The most expensive celebrity engagement rings of 2025: From Georgina Rodríguez's enormous £1M oval

2025 has quickly become the year of show-stopping celebrity engagements - and the rings are bigger and bolder than ever.

Economics

20 h. ago Harry Redknapp’s The Jukebox Man wins epic King George VI Chase: racing from Kempton – as it happened

The former football manager’s horse is now likely to be heading for the Cheltenham Gold Cup after his thrilling winFormby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm)Newsflash: Low sun means that the officials are omitting some hurdles. Three have been taken out so there will be just five obstacles to jump. This is never very satisfactory. Ans they’re off Starmount jumps the first in the lead with hot favourite Mydaddypaddy in second and now they have nearly a mile to run before they jump another flight annoyingly Mydaddypaddy jumped the second well and again the third he looks a class act so now just one hurdle to jump and now a very long run home Starmount leads with Mydaddypaddy challenging the new leader Idaho Sun he comes to take it up but can’t get past Idaho Sun and Mydaddypaddy is beaten in a big shock at Aintree!Formby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm) bettingMydaddypaddy – 4/7Idaho Sun – 7/2Storming George – 10/1Starmount – 12/1Glance At Midnight – 25/1The Last Cloud – 40/1Diamond Hunter – NRWahraan - N...

Politics

21 h. ago Harry Redknapp’s The Jukebox Man wins epic King George VI Chase: racing from Kempton – live

Race by race commentary on the Boxing Day fixtureRedknapp eyes King George glory | Email TonyFormby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm)Newsflash: Low sun means that the officials are omitting some hurdles. Three have been taken out so there will be just five obstacles to jump. This is never very satisfactory. Ans they’re off Starmount jumps the first in the lead with hot favourite Mydaddypaddy in second and now they have nearly a mile to run before they jump another flight annoyingly Mydaddypaddy jumped the second well and again the third he looks a class act so now just one hurdle to jump and now a very long run home Starmount leads with Mydaddypaddy challenging the new leader Idaho Sun he comes to take it up but can’t get past Idaho Sun and Mydaddypaddy is beaten in a big shock at Aintree!Formby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm) bettingMydaddypaddy – 4/7Idaho Sun – 7/2Storming George – 10/1Starmount – 12/1Glance At Midnight – 25/1The Last Cloud – 40/1Diamond Hunter – NRWahraan - NRFull betting here via...

Politics

22 h. ago King George VI Chase and Sir Gino wins Christmas Hurdle: racing from Kempton – live

Race by race commentary on the Boxing Day fixtureRedknapp eyes King George glory | Email TonyFormby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm)Newsflash: Low sun means that the officials are omitting some hurdles. Three have been taken out so there will be just five obstacles to jump. This is never very satisfactory. Ans they’re off Starmount jumps the first in the lead with hot favourite Mydaddypaddy in second and now they have nearly a mile to run before they jump another flight annoyingly Mydaddypaddy jumped the second well and again the third he looks a class act so now just one hurdle to jump and now a very long run home Starmount leads with Mydaddypaddy challenging the new leader Idaho Sun he comes to take it up but can’t get past Idaho Sun and Mydaddypaddy is beaten in a big shock at Aintree!Formby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm) bettingMydaddypaddy – 4/7Idaho Sun – 7/2Storming George – 10/1Starmount – 12/1Glance At Midnight – 25/1The Last Cloud – 40/1Diamond Hunter – NRWahraan - NRFull betting here via...

Politics

23 h. ago King George VI Chase and Christmas Hurdle: racing from Kempton – live

Race by race commentary on the Boxing Day fixtureRedknapp eyes King George glory | Email TonyFormby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm)Newsflash: Low sun means that the officials are omitting some hurdles. Three have been taken out so there will be just five obstacles to jump. This is never very satisfactory. Ans they’re off Starmount jumps the first in the lead with hot favourite Mydaddypaddy in second and now they have nearly a mile to run before they jump another flight annoyingly Mydaddypaddy jumped the second well and again the third he looks a class act so now just one hurdle to jump and now a very long run home Starmount leads with Mydaddypaddy challenging the new leader Idaho Sun he comes to take it up but can’t get past Idaho Sun and Mydaddypaddy is beaten in a big shock at Aintree!Formby Hurdle (Aintree 1.05pm) bettingMydaddypaddy – 4/7Idaho Sun – 7/2Storming George – 10/1Starmount – 12/1Glance At Midnight – 25/1The Last Cloud – 40/1Diamond Hunter – NRWahraan - NRFull betting here via...

Politics

52 h. ago Dr Alex George looks back: ‘A dying friend told me to throw myself into things more – Love Island came into my mind’

The author and mental health campaigner on not fitting in at school, being on the Covid frontline, and how grief inspired him to help othersBorn in Carmarthen in 1991, Dr Alex George is a former NHS doctor, an author and a mental health campaigner. After studying medicine at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, he worked as an A&E doctor in London before joining the cast of 2018’s Love Island. In 2021, he was appointed the UK government’s youth mental health ambassador. He is the author of five books; his latest, Happy Habits, is out now, with Am I Normal? published on 15 January.Mum loved to make outfits for special occasions, and Christmas was no exception. It was an important time of year for our family; she was determined for us to experience the magic of tradition. It would have been a small, intimate day in Capel Dewi in Carmarthenshire – just me, my parents, my two brothers and my grandmother. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Harry Redknapp eyes King George glory in ‘Champions League’ of racing

FA Cup-winning manager and former King of the Jungle has live hopes of landing the big Boxing Day prize at Kempton with Jukebox ManHe has been a professional footballer, an FA Cup-winning manager and the King of the Jungle over the storied course of the past 60 years, but as Harry Redknapp talked about The Jukebox Man, his King George VI Chase contender, at Ben Pauling’s stable last week, he was the East End kid whose nan was a bookie’s runner and would be astonished to see where life and luck have taken her grandson.“She wouldn’t believe it,” Redknapp says, suddenly back in Poplar in the 1950s. “It’s a far cry from the East End of London, [when she was] getting slung in the back of a police van every other day for collecting the bets. Continue reading...

Sport

3 d. ago ‘Haunted and cursed’: Lake Lanier has a deadly reputation. A darker tale hides beneath the surface

After years of fatalities and bizarre incidents, the Georgia reservoir has spawned countless ghost stories. Are they merely legend or the aftereffects of a history steeped in racial trauma?Kile Glover was the entertainer in the family, the pride of his stepfather, the R&B superstar Usher. He sang, he danced – he burned CDs of his own music, styled the covers with self-made art and was otherwise expressing his creativity in internet videos before it was trendy. “He would’ve been a YouTube sensation by now,” says his mother, the celebrity stylist Tameka Foster. But that future was thwarted on a family trip to Lake Lanier, just outside his Atlanta home town, in July 2012.Kile was only 11 when he was struck by a speeding jetski while tubing and knocked unconscious. Foster, on the island of Saint Martin at the time, managed to get to Kile’s hospital bedside within hours thanks to Usher sending a private plane – an olive branch that came amid a bitterly public custody battle over thei...

Events

5 d. ago Strictly Come Dancing's Karen Carney shares 'biggest anxiety' after historic win

Karen Carney and Carlos Gu were crowned the winners of Strictly Come Dancing 2025 after beating George Clarke and Alexis Warr and Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin

Culture

5 d. ago George Clarke breaks silence after 2025 Strictly Come Dancing loss

The YouTuber and his pro partner Alexis Warr reached the Strictly Come Dancing 2025 final but lost out to winners Karen Carney and Carlos Gu

Politics

5 d. ago George Clarke posts emotional statement after losing in Strictly final

Strictly 2025 runner-up George Clarke has published a heartfelt statement following the series' finale, and paid tribute to his 'new girl' professional dance partner Alexis Warr

Politics

6 d. ago Strictly Come Dancing LIVE: Thomas Skinner snubs final after brutal comment

BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing is set to crown its 2025 champions in tonight's final, with Amber Davies, George Clarke and Karen Carney performing one last time

Politics

9 d. ago Prince William and Kate release family's 2025 Christmas card featuring George, Charlotte and Louis

The family picture, taken by Josh Shinner in Norfolk in April, was posted on Kensington Palace's social media with the caption: 'Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas.'

Politics

1 week ago Georgina Hayden’s recipe for pear, sticky ginger and pecan pudding

This non-traditional Christmas Day dessert is a surefire winner if dried fruit-based puddings aren’t your thingWhile our Christmas Day dinner doesn’t deviate too much from tradition, I do experiment with the dessert. My family, bar one sweet-toothed aunt, avoids dried fruit-based offerings, so classic Christmas cakes and puddings are a hard no. Over the years, I have tried variations on yule logs, pavlovas and sherry trifles, but the biggest crowdpleaser is easily sticky toffee pudding (or something along those lines). This year, I’m making this warming, simple but decadent pear, sticky ginger and pecan pudding, which feels festive and fancy, and can happily make an appearance whenever. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago FanDuel SEC Championship promo: Bet $5 on Bulldogs vs. Crimson Tide and potentially win $150 bonus

Claim the FanDuel promo code bonus for the SEC Championship Game

Sport

2 w. ago BetMGM SEC Championship promo: Claim your BetMGM bonus for Georgia vs. Alabama

New customers can claim the BetMGM promo code bonus for SEC Championship Game

Politics

3 w. ago George Clarke admits Strictly is perfect excuse to ditch social plans with friends

George Clarke has admitted Strictly Come Dancing gives him an easy excuse to cancel plans with his friends.

Politics

3 w. ago Netflix star ‘Liver King’ picks up where he left off in rant about Joe Rogan after charges dropped for alleged terroristic threats

Brian ‘Liver King’ Johnson, 48, posted a series of Instagram videos, using photos of Joe Rogan and actor Seth Rogen, to illustrate an alleged conversation between them

Events

3 w. ago George Russell: ‘McLaren must accept fate and not interfere in F1 title race’

Lando Norris needs a podium to win his first title and it has been suggested that McLaren could instruct Oscar Piastri to allow his teammate through and hand Norris the title, should the situation arise in Sunday’s title-decider

Politics