62 m. ago Urgent probe into foreign interference in UK politics after ex

Housing secretary Steve Reed said the conduct of Nathan Gill, who was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for taking money to make pro-Russian statements, was a ‘stain’ on democracy

Politics

77 m. ago Russians launch rare protest over plan to build a church honoring soldiers

A conservative religious television channel labelled opponents of the project ‘raving Communists’

Events

77 m. ago BBC could scrap licence fee, show adverts and put hits like Line of Duty behind a paywall under Labour reform

As the number of households paying for the licence fee dwindle, other commercial revenue options are said to be on the table in plans outlined by the BBC's charter review.

Events

88 m. ago How many migrants crossed the Channel yesterday? Small boats stop again after total for 2025 passes 40,000

So far this year 40,081 people have made the perilous journey across the Channel in small boats

Events

96 m. ago The UK's first Universal Studios has been officially granted planning permission

Set to be located in Kempston Hardwick, near Bedford, the new theme park is expected to be ready by 2031.

Politics

1 hour ago Hegseth is planning massive overhaul of US military commands and shrink presence in Europe: report

The proposal would mark one of the most significant reorganizations of the Pentagon’s senior leadership in decades.

Events

1 hour ago Defending Europe's eastern flank is an 'immediate priority' with Russia 'a threat today, tomorrow and the foreseeable future', EU leaders declare

Defending Europe's eastern flank is an 'immediate' priority for the European Union in the face of the threat posed by Russia, eight EU leaders meeting in Helsinki said today.

Politics

1 hour ago Urgent review ordered into foreign interference in UK politics after ex

Housing secretary Steve Reed said the conduct of Nathan Gill, who was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for taking money to make pro-Russian statements, was a ‘stain’ on democracy

Politics

2 h. ago Avatar: Fire and Ash review – James Cameron takes 3D cinema to a spectacularly wild dimension

James Cameron, Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña are back with a $400-billion epic that will leave your mind blown

Events

2 h. ago Avatar: Fire and Ash review – witchy new sex interest can’t save this gigantically dull hunk of nonsense

The third Avatar chapter erupts with volcanic world-building and thunderous action yet remains a vast, dazzling spectacle in search of an emotional arcOn and on and on it goes. The planet-sized movie franchise of Avatar continues to spin massively in the cosmos – yet without affecting the tides in any other world. Maybe Avatar is the cosmos and its originator James Cameron is the new L Ron Hubbard; the creator, or rather prophet, of a new belief system involving big blue creatures with pointy ears that flap and twitch when they talk, to whom we will all one day be required to bow down when they float past. And while the rest of the cinema industry has quietly abandoned 3D without ever quite admitting it, theatres showing James Cameron’s giant new three-hour hunk of nonsense are still handing out the 3D specs to the customers.The first film was about human invaders seeking to exploit and colonise the weird tall blue Na’vi people in another galaxy for their mineral resources by piloti...

Events

2 h. ago Avatar: Fire and Ash review – More of the same, and it’s starting to feel boring

James Cameron’s blue epic remains visually impressive, but it’s frustrating how little he gives his actors to do

Events

2 h. ago UK to hold inquiry into foreign financial interference in domestic politics

Review, which will focus on effectiveness of political finance laws, follows conviction of former Reform politician for accepting bribesUK politics live – latest updatesAn independent review into the impact of foreign financial influence and interference in domestic politics from Russia and other hostile states has been announced after one of Reform UK’s former senior politicians, Nathan Gill, was jailed for accepting bribes from a pro-Kremlin agent.Amid growing concern inside the security services and parliament over the scale of the foreign threat to British democracy, the government-commissioned inquiry will focus on the effectiveness of the UK’s political finance laws. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago AD FEATURE: Operation Save Christmas is the new go to Christmas attraction for families in Wales

After a great opening week, the immersive family experience to find Santa enters its final week

Politics

3 h. ago Killers who target police, prison and probation officers to get whole life orders

David Lammy has announced plans to toughen up punishments after former prison officer Lenny Scott was murdered in a revenge attack

Events

3 h. ago Estonia ferry disaster in 1994 caused by bow failure, report confirms

Investigators say latest studies of wreckage reveal no sign to back up alternative theories of a collision or an explosionEurope live – latest updatesThe sinking of the Estonia ferry more than 30 years ago was caused by the failure of its bow section, not an explosion or collision as claimed by some, authorities have said, in a report aimed at finally closing the case on Europe’s worst civil maritime disaster since the second world war.“The MV Estonia sank as a result of the collapse of its bow construction,” Estonian, Swedish and Finnish investigators said. “There is, therefore, no reason to start a new full-scale investigation of the accident.” Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Estonia ferry disaster in 1994 caused by bow failure not explosion, report confirms

Investigators say latest studies of wreckage reveal no sign to back up alternative theories of a collision or a blastEurope live – latest updatesThe sinking of the Estonia ferry more than 30 years ago was caused by the failure of its bow section, not an explosion or collision as claimed by some, authorities have said, in a report aimed at finally closing the case on Europe’s worst civil maritime disaster since the second world war.“The MV Estonia sank as a result of the collapse of its bow construction,” Estonian, Swedish and Finnish investigators said. “There is, therefore, no reason to start a new full-scale investigation of the accident.” Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago I will be booking Interrail tickets tomorrow – here’s why you should too

Train Talk: How to make the most of the latest Interrail promotion

Politics

3 h. ago Fifa Best 2025: Hannah Hampton and Gianluigi Donnarumma win goalkeeper awards

Keeper saved two penalties in Euro 2025 finalHampton also helped Chelsea to domestic trebleHannah Hampton has won the Fifa Best women’s goalkeeper 2025 award, completing a global goalkeeper award double after she received the Ballon d’Or ceremony’s equivalent prize for keepers in September.Hampton, 25, saved two penalties in the European Championship final as England beat Spain in July. The Fifa Best award for this year takes performances between 11 August 2024 to 2 August 2025 into account, and therefore acknowledges not only Hampton’s shootout heroics but also her helping Chelsea win a domestic treble of major trophies last season. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Two children dead and 13 people injured in apartment building gas explosion in France

The powerful blast in Trévoux is reported to have been heard up to five kilometres away

Events

4 h. ago Europe is a continent soaked in economic pessimism. Until we change that, the far right will rise and rise | Owen Jones

Since 2008, struggling communities have been told they are in competition with migrants. Only a model that gives them hope will halt the populists How much does Europe’s future resemble its gruesome past? That question was already pressing before Donald Trump retook the White House, and turned support for the European far-right “patriotic” parties into US policy. That is, of course, what his newly published National Security Strategy means, committing the US to “cultivating resistance” in European nations against the supposed “civilisational erasure” represented by immigration.With or without US interference, far-right authoritarianism is now an entirely plausible European future, unless there is drastic change. After all, it is already the US’s present reality. American exceptionalism once held that such an outcome was impossible in the world’s oldest continuous constitutional republic, with its system of separation of powers and no history of despotism. Yet the country is now rule...

Economics