7 d. ago The ‘sacrifice zone’: villagers resist the EU’s green push for lithium mining

Residents of a Portuguese rural idyll where four vast mines are planned are among those who feel they will pay too high a cost for the energy transitionFilipe Gomes had been craving fresh air and quiet routine when he and his partner quit the chaos of London’s catering industry for the fog-misted hills of Covas do Barroso, the sleepy Portuguese farming village in which he was raised.But his rural idyll has been disturbed by miners drilling boreholes as they push to dig four vast lithium mines right beside the village. The prospecting has sparked resistance from residents who fear the mines will foul the soil, drain the water and fill the air with the rumbling thunder of heavy trucks. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Calvin Harris 'turns quiet Cotswolds village into Calvin Country with £15m property spree where he plans to set up home with TV presenter wife Vick Hope'

Superstar DJ Calvin Harris has quietly transformed a sleepy Gloucestershire village into his own multi-million-pound countryside empire snapping up homes left, right and centre.

Society

3 w. ago Travellers who 'seized' field in 24 hours: Horrified villagers in sleepy hamlet are left 'powerless' by speed of 'land

'Powerless' locals in the isolated farming community of Charles have lashed out at the alleged 'eco-vandalism' after industrial diggers ripped into a field and levelled it.

Politics

3 w. ago Travellers who 'seized' field in 24 hours: Horrified villagers in sleepy  hamlet are left 'powerless' by speed of 'land

'Powerless' locals in the isolated farming community of Charles have lashed out at the alleged 'eco-vandalism' after industrial diggers ripped into a field and levelled it.

Politics

3 w. ago British OAP 'caught with 5kg of meth' in Chile is bowls fan from sleepy village

William ‘Billy Boy' Eastment is being held in jail in Chile after drugs were alledgedly found in his suitcase.

Events

3 w. ago Brit, 79, 'caught with 5kg of meth' in Chile is bowls fan from sleepy Dorset village

William ‘Billy Boy' Eastment faces dying behind prison bars if found guilty after the 79-year-old was arrested at Santiago Airport with a suitcase allegedly containing £200,000 worth of the class A drug

Events

3 w. ago Brit, 79, 'caught with 5kg of meth' in Chile is bowls fan from sleepy Somerset village

William ‘Billy Boy' Eastment faces dying behind prison bars if found guilty after the 79-year-old was arrested at Santiago Airport with a suitcase allegedly containing £200,000 worth of the class A drug

Events

3 w. ago Yes, Monty Python lampooned it and it smells like cheap cat food... but Mrs T loved it and even my son's a fan! No wonder Spam is back on the menu: TOM PARKER BOWLES

Well, I've heard it all now. Spam, that tinned, meaty monolith is officially back in vogue. Sales have soared 48 per cent compared to this time last year, much of it down to the 80th VE Day anniversary.

Politics