44 h. ago Torres sends Barcelona past Atlético and into clásico Copa del Rey final

Semi-final: Atlético Madrid 0-1 Barcelona (agg 4-5)Barça v Real Madrid final for first time since 2014A decade later, the Copa del Rey will have a clásico final. First Barcelona played, then they resisted and in the end it was enough to see them through. A wild first leg, 4-4 at Montjuic, gave way to a tense and ultimately tight second in which a single Ferran Torres goal scored in the first half won it. Seville awaits Hansi Flick’s side, two teams still chasing a treble set to meet again, a third and final trophy denied to Atlético.In the five weeks since the first leg of this semi-final, a superb season slipped away from Diego Simeone’s side. Atlético won just one of five games since then, and that was the Champions League second leg in which they were knocked out on penalties. They also slipped to nine points off the top in La Liga. And now, their cup run is over too. They had taken their opponents to the line but could not get over it themselves. Barcelona could. Continue readin...

Politics

48 h. ago Caroline Weir: ‘I am not the loudest but I’d like to think I lead by example’

Midfielder wants to win silverware with Real Madrid and inspire girls and boys in Scotland as the SFA launches Galáctica, a documentary about herIn a Dunfermline back garden, a young girl doing keepy-uppies in her No 5 Zidane Real Madrid kit turns, shoots and scores in the bottom corner of a green, handbuilt, wooden board, painted by her dad to mark the outlines of a goal. Her family’s video footage is a reminder that the one club Caroline Weir always wanted to play for was Real Madrid.Fast forward two decades and that same all-white shirt – this time with Weir on the back – hangs on the walls of an Edinburgh cinema as the 29-year-old greets guests attending the premiere of a documentary the Scottish Football Association have made to honour their 108-times-capped midfielder. It feels fitting the film is being released within a fortnight of Weir scoring two decisive late goals in the women’s team’s first el clásico victory over Barcelona. Continue reading...

Politics

50 h. ago Outrage as popular chocolate treat is hit by 'shrinkflation' yet AGAIN 

To the horror of shoppers, an iconic sweet treat has quietly dropped its weight from 157g to 145g - the second time it has shrunk in less than a decade.

Events

3 d. ago Trans protester arrested after washing her hands in a Florida Capitol women’s bathroom

Marcy Rheintgen was protesting a 2023 law banning people from using bathrooms in public buildings that don’t match their sex at birth

Events

4 d. ago Historic parkland building to open to public for the first time in a decade ahead of £3.5M restoration

Rock Hall's interior has been stripped back to allow it to dry out ahead of a full restoration

Economics

5 d. ago Man United risk history repeating itself after Jobe Bellingham transfer update

Manchester United are attempting to sign a Bellingham for the second time in less than a decade but it looks like they could be on the verge of missing out again

Events

6 d. ago Eze fires Crystal Palace to emphatic win over Fulham and into FA Cup semis

Having reached the FA Cup semi-finals three times in the first 110 years of their history, Crystal Palace have now done it for the third time in a decade, an impeccable away performance seeing them ease past a Fulham side that had much of the possession, did most of the attacking and achieved next to nothing.With wonderful skill, Eberechi Eze scored one and created another as the visitors took control of the tie in four electric first-half minutes, before the substitute Eddie Nketiah sealed victory in the second. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago ‘A different philosophy of things’: how Solvej Balle got ahead of Groundhog Day’s time

Solvej Balle had been planning her time-loop novel for a decade when the Bill Murray comedy beat her to it. Thirty years and five volumes later, it is longlisted for the International BookerIf you’ve heard about Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume I, longlisted for this year’s International Booker prize, you may have experienced a sensation that is central to the Danish writer’s brand of philosophical speculative fiction: deja vu.In Balle’s five-book opus (of a planned septology), the first three of which won the prestigious Nordic Council literature prize in 2022, someone wakes up to find they are reliving the same day over and over. Their partner, family, neighbours: they all experience this day for the first time in their life. Only the protagonist has been there before. That person is a woman called Tara rather than a man called Phil, and the day is 18 November rather than 2 February, but the plot resemblance to Groundhog Day ...

Politics

7 d. ago Transgender bathroom restrictions take effect as Montana governor signs law

Transgender people in Montana can no longer use bathrooms in public buildings that do not align with their sex assigned at birth

Politics

8 d. ago Duffy returns to spotlight for the first time in a decade after kidnap horror

Noughties star Duffy makes her first appearance in 10 years, looking youthful after her traumatic kidnapping experience

Events

8 d. ago Climate change taken off America’s global threat list for the first time in over a decade

The reason for the switch remains unclear as climate change continues to increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events

Events

1 week ago Inside the British ghost town time forgot that's 'like living in The Walking Dead'

Frozen in time for over a decade, the town was once home to 12,000 people – but now, it is being reclaimed by nature

Events

1 week ago Families' anger over plans to build over their 'village green' with a mosque car park

Residents from Chew Moor, Bolton, Greater Manchester, packed a public meeting over a proposal to build a car park on the mosque's grounds which is in a former church building.

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I spent six years just repeating dots and lines’: the great painter Arpita Singh on a lifetime in art

She has been painting for 60 years – yet it’s taken until now for her to have an exhibition outside her native India. The artist reluctantly takes time out from her studio in order to grant a rare interviewWhen Arpita Singh’s Remembering opened this week at the Serpentine in London, despite being one of India’s leading artists, it was her first solo institutional show outside her native land in her six-decade-long career. It also marked the first time the Serpentine has given over its main galleries to a show by a south Asian artist. But Singh, who spends most of her waking hours in her Delhi home studio, is muted in her reaction. “Serpentine is a known gallery, so it is a prestigious thing for me,” is about as effusive as she gets.At 87, Singh is reluctant to give her time to anything that might take her away from her canvas – and that includes this interview. Her vivid, unhinged paintings, chock-a-block with adrift figures, motifs and text often structured by narrow borders cramme...

Politics

2 w. ago Tour de France to return to the UK with England, Scotland and Wales to all host stages

The Tour de France will return to the UK for the first time over a decade as the both the men's and the women's event will host stages on these shores in 2027

Politics

2 w. ago Smoking rates in parts of England rise for first time since 2006, study shows

South-west sees biggest jump, up 17% between 2020 and 2024, while rate in southern England increases by 10%Smoking rates in parts of England have increased for the first time in nearly two decades, according to research.Academics at University College London examined smoking data for more than 350,000 adults in England over an 18-year period. They found that while the proportion of adults who smoke cigarettes, pipes, cigars or other forms of tobacco fell from 25.3% of the population in 2006 to 16.5% in 2024, progress since 2020 has flatlined and in some areas smoking rates are increasing again. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Mary Berry adds secret 9p ingredient to her mashed potato for 'warming' kick

Mary Berry has been sharing her cooking wisdom for more than six decades, and in that time has created hundreds of recipes - and one of her most popular is her mashed potato

Events

2 w. ago Care workers ‘not paid enough to live on’ says union as charity faces walkout

Unison Scotland said it was the first time in more than a decade that staff in the charitable sector had voted for strike action.

Politics

2 w. ago Most irritatingly catchy earworm ads of 80s rated – fudge fingers to shaking and vac

The 1980s gave us some of the most memorable TV adverts of all time, with jingles that have stuck in our heads for decades - but can you remember all the words?

Politics

2 w. ago London parking fines to rise for the first time in over a decade in crackdown on 'obstructive' drivers

The number of fines issued in London has increased by about 70% over the last 15 years

Politics