21 m. ago Inheritance Tax rule change means your pension could be raided if you die young

From April 2027, inherited pensions will be subject to Inheritance Tax and included in the 'estate' - which also includes property, possessions and money - of someone who has died

Economics

22 m. ago NGOs call for end to Israel’s ‘weaponisation’ of aid – Middle East crisis live

More than 100 international NGOs sign letter saying more than 60 requests to bring in food, water and items for shelter were denied by authorities in July aloneThe UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has just issued a warning on X, saying that soaring temperatures in Gaza are now above 40°C, making an already dire humanitarian situation “far worse”.“With very limited water available, dehydration is increasing,” the agency said in a post on X. It added that bombardments and forced displacement continue, while limited electricity and fuel mean there is “no relief from the extreme heat”.Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government.After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best – bui...

Events

48 m. ago Woman, 28, reveals how pregnancy hormones made her face completely unrecognisable and 'like an old person'

Farah Faizal, 28, from Malaysia, posted two unfiltered photographs of herself to show how her face had changed '100 per cent' before and after falling pregnant.

Politics

49 m. ago Lorna Raver dead: Drag Me to Hell and Desperate Housewives actress dies

Lorna Raver, who starred in a number of huge 90s and 00s films and TV shows over the decades, died on May 12 but her death has only been announced this week

Events

49 m. ago Can’t pay, won’t pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy

As subscription costs rise and choice diminishes on legal sites, film and TV fans are turning to VPNs and illicit streamers, with Sweden – home of both Spotify and The Pirate Bay – leading the wayWith a trip to Florence booked, all I want is to rewatch Medici. The 2016 historical drama series tells of the rise of the powerful Florentine banking dynasty, and with it, the story of the Renaissance. Until recently, I could simply have gone to Netflix and found it there, alongside a wide array of award-winning and obscure titles. But when I Google the show in 2025, the Netflix link only takes me to a blank page. I don’t see it on HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, or any of the smaller streaming platforms. On Amazon Prime I am required to buy each of the three seasons or 24 episodes separately, whereupon they would be stored in a library subject to overnight deletion. Raised in the land of The Pirate Bay, the Swedish torrent index, I feel, for the first time in a decade, a nostalgia for the hi...

Politics

49 m. ago Truck drivers, doctors and bakers: ordinary Yemenis turn to veteran journalist when justice fails

Fatehi Bin Lazreq has used social media, newspapers and radio to expose corruption and everyday injustices since the country’s civil war started a decade agoWhen dozens of gas tankers near Yemen’s southern city of Aden were held up at a checkpoint by soldiers demanding heavy bribes, the frustrated drivers and traders turned to a man they trusted: Fatehi Bin Lazreq, a prominent Yemeni journalist.Known for using his media outlets and social media platforms to demand accountability, Bin Lazreq posted about the drivers’ ordeal on Facebook. It quickly went viral, generating thousands of likes and comments. Within hours, the post prompted a phone call from the prime minister and another senior official, both pledging to resolve the issue. Soon, the tankers were able to move on. Continue reading...

Society

50 m. ago Typhoon Podul brings heavy rain to southern China after injuring scores in Taiwan

Typhoon forces nearly 8,000 people from homes in Taiwan before making another landfall in China

Sport

50 m. ago Man City release third kit for 2025/26 season with special message in shirt

Manchester City have announced the release of the third of their three kits for the 2025/26 season

Politics

67 m. ago Plans to improve Swallow Roundabout signage and lane markings welcomed by Perth and Kinross councillor

Changes will be made to lane markings and signage after months of motorists' misery

Politics

1 hour ago Denzel Washington explains real reason he ‘doesn’t care’ about Oscars

Actor has been nominated for 10 Oscars and won two in a nearly five-decade career

Politics

1 hour ago A journey to belonging: asylum seekers reflect on 10 years in Europe – in pictures

Ten years ago, 1 million people fled into Europe, escaping conflict and poverty. Many had travelled for years in search of peace, prosperity or stability, and found it in countries such as Italy, Germany and Belgium. But the journey to truly belong continues.A decade on, after finding work and learning a new language, four asylum seekers feel torn. They recall the woodlands of northern Nigeria, a river that flows through a Syrian town – or the nightmare of child abuse in Afghanistan. They are still homesick and wrestle with the possibility – or impossibility – of return. They are part of a new, transformed Europe Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago Israeli airstrikes on Tehran killed inmates in ‘apparent war crime’ – report

Human Rights Watch also finds that Iran abused survivors of June attack, which killed 80 peopleIsraeli airstrikes on Tehran’s Evin prison in June killed scores of detainees, visitors and staff in what Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called an “apparent war crime”. Iranian authorities have since subjected survivors to abuse, enforced disappearances and inhumane detention conditions, the rights group said on Wednesday.HRW’s investigation, based on satellite imagery, videos and witness accounts, found the 23 June Israeli airstrikes destroyed visitation halls, prison wards, the central kitchen, the medical clinic and administrative offices. No evident military targets were identified in the facility, which held more than 1,500 prisoners at the time, many of whom had been jailed for peaceful activism. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago David Stratton, esteemed Australian film critic, dies aged 85

The international cinema expert was beloved for his film reviews, particularly on television with Margaret PomeranzDavid Stratton’s closing credits: ‘I’ve done the best I could’David Stratton, the revered Australian film critic and beloved co-host of television programs The Movie Show and At The Movies with fellow critic Margaret Pomeranz, has died aged 85.Born in the English town of Trowbridge in 1939, Stratton was sent to live with his grandmother in Hampshire during the second world war. An avid filmgoer, she took Stratton to the cinema almost every day, which changed his life. In the 2017 documentary David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, Stratton said he watched “at least one” film he hadn’t seen every day, and had seen more than 25,000 films in his life. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago Rachel Roddy’s recipe for almond and cherry biscuits | A kitchen in Rome

If a fig roll married a bakewell tart, their offspring might well end up looking like these rustic, fruity and nutty Puglian biscuitsSimilar in principle to fig rolls, biscotti di ceglie consist of pastry wrapped around a filling of jam, so they have an irregular and extremely rustic cube form. Known locally as u’ piscquett’l, these biscuits are typical of the town and commune of Ceglie Messapica in the province of Brindisi in Puglia. Ceglie Messapica is also part of the southern reaches of the Murgia, a karst topographic plateau sometimes called the backbone of Puglia, with remarkable agricultural biodiversity, including 40 local varieties of almonds, including tondino cegliese. Like many visitors to the area, we bought a packet of biscotti di ceglie from a bakery in Ceglie Messapica, although this was years ago, when the band my partner plays with toured in Puglia every summer and when we consumed every regional treat in a claustrophobic Fiat van.Unlike the great fig roll, however...

Politics

2 h. ago Wildly incoherent, utterly flummoxing, blissful: how And Just Like That rewrote the rules of TV

The Sex and the City spinoff – which ends this week – is so bizarre it has barely made sense as a television show. Unless you think of it as an attempt to redefine the whole genre Sex and the City’s divisive spin-off And Just Like That is set to end after three bizarre seasons and a deluge of critical contempt, with bemused fans losing it on Reddit, and articles about how the programme became a hate watch. There has been little heartache in the discourse after the announcement of the show’s demise, the general consensus being: good. But to these people, I say – you’re wrong! But also, I understand. There is always an element of fear in contemplating change, in engaging with the rapid advancement of modernity, and I would like to make the case for And Just Like That being a product of exactly that.It feels analogous to a comment a friend of mine once made during a conversation about the best oven pizzas, when someone posited Dr Oetker pizzas as a contender: “It’s delicious, it’s some...

Politics

2 h. ago ‘No country is safe’: deadly Nordic heatwave supercharged by climate crisis, scientists say

Historically cool nations saw hospitals overheating and surge in drownings, wildfires and toxic algal bloomsThe prolonged Nordic heatwave in July was supercharged by the climate crisis and shows “no country is safe from climate change”, scientists say.Norway, Sweden and Finland have historically cool climates but were hit by soaring temperatures, including a record run of 22 days above 30C (86C) in Finland. Sweden endured 10 straight days of “tropical nights”, when temperatures did not fall below 20C (68F). Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago Model ditches her life for the African desert after being robbed at gunpoint

When young model Aleks was mugged by thugs and held up at gunpoint, she made a massive life change that very same night. She would spin the globe and move to wherever it landed...

Events

2 h. ago They thought it would be a normal christening, until one guest changed everything

There was an 'audible gasp' among guests at the ceremony

Politics

3 h. ago Thunderstorm warnings issued as Met Office urges Brits to prepare emergency kits

The Met Office has issued a series of yellow thunder warnings for thunderstorms this week, with the agency saying Brits might want to prepare for potential flooding as extreme weather arrives in the UK

Events

3 h. ago The art of persuasion: how top AI chatbots can change your mind

Research shows large language models have developed the ability to powerfully influence users

Politics