38 h. ago Are you limiting the time you spend online? We’d like to hear from you

What prompted this change, and how has it affected you?Are you bored of AI slop dominating news feeds? Fed up of “enshittification”? Tired out by “advice pollution”? Done with polarising content? Giving up social media and rediscovering the joy of boredom?One study shows that time spent on social media peaked in 2022 and has gone into decline since then, according to an analysis conducted for the Financial Times by digital audience insights company GWI. Continue reading...

Politics

55 h. ago The Guardian view on 10 Downing Street: not up to the job | Editorial

The Labour leadership briefing furore highlights failures at the centre of government. Keir Starmer needs to raise his gameSir Keir Starmer went to north Wales on Thursday to announce the building of a new nuclear power station. This is a significant policy event, with local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not spend much time in Wales promoting solutions to UK energy needs. Instead, he spent it trying to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, telling reporters that No 10 had not, in fact, briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.As such, Sir Keir’s day was a microcosm of what his prime ministership has now become more generally. On the one hand, he wants his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this because of the way he – and to an extent the country more generally – now does politics and government.Do you have an opinion on the issues...

Politics

68 h. ago Lewisham woman spent 'significant time and trouble pursuing council complaint'

Lewisham woman spent 'significant time and trouble pursuing council complaint'  This Is Local London

Events

3 d. ago Chinese scientist charged with smuggling pathogen into US to be deported

Yunqing Jian, temporary researcher at University of Michigan, was studying organism harmful to some cropsA Chinese scientist charged in Michigan with smuggling biological materials pleaded guilty on Wednesday, but was given no additional time in jail beyond the five months she already spent in custody.Yunqing Jian, who was a temporary researcher at a University of Michigan lab, will be released and quickly deported. A judge called it a “very strange” case involving an “incredibly accomplished researcher”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Andy Murray admits wife 'doesn't want to see him' as condition agreed after career change

Andy Murray has spent more time on golf since retiring from tennis, and he has already reached a high level, with the thoughts of wife Kim Spears clear.

Politics

3 d. ago White House slams 'fake narrative' over Jeffrey Epstein–Donald Trump email leak

The White House has forcefully rejected claims from newly disclosed Jeffrey Epstein emails alleging that Donald Trump “knew about the girls” and had spent time with one of Epstein’s victims

Politics

4 d. ago Lewisham woman awarded £100 after council took too long to handle complaint

Lewisham woman awarded £100 after council took too long to handle complaint  MyLondon

Economics

5 d. ago Micah Richards gives honest opinion on Gary Lineker departure and Baller League season two

Former England stars Micah Richards and Gary Lineker have spent plenty of time in each other's company and not just on the Match of the Day sofa before Lineker left the show

Politics

9 d. ago Afraid of death? Here's how to conquer your fears, according to explorer Bruce Parry

The explorer has spent time with the most remote tribes on earth, who view death very differently to western societies

Events

1 week ago There is a thriving shadow economy in Britain – but migrants are not to blame | Emily Kenway

While Labour is desperately trying to mimic Reform’s line on the cash economy, the blame lies solidly with ordinary people feeling the pinchAccording to politicians across all parties, something called the “hidden economy” – the shadowy nethers of the labour market, in which work goes unregulated and undeclared to the authorities – is a “menace”, full of migrants whose illegal working “undercuts British workers”, and even a threat to our national security. MPs have been so worried about asylum seekers delivering their Friday night pizza that they’ve spent parliamentary time discussing Deliveroo et al’s business models. In response, the government has repeatedly reassured us, in the somewhat Mills & Boon-style phrasing of Yvette Cooper, when she was home secretary, that it’s “surging enforcement” to tackle the problem.Solutions suggested include Keir Starmer’s digital ID cards, requirements for increased “right to work” checks, and new data-sharing agreements in which the Home Of...

Events

1 week ago ‘I want to ride out on a unicorn every night’: swords’n’sorcery heavy metal band Castle Rat

Wielding fantasy weapons and splashing fake blood, the New Yorkers have even learned how to make chainmail outfits – and they’re already aiming to conquer stadiumsWhile many a rocker has cribbed from high fantasy, few have truly walked the walk. Sure, they might bedeck their album sleeves with ghouls, goblins, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but did a member of Cirith Ungol ever have to retrieve a missing unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has Yngwie Malmsteen spent time squinting in the back of a tour bus, repairing his own chainmail?Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and more as they live out their epic fantasies. From heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to eye-popping live shows, costume design, videos and album art, they’re not so much a metal band as a full immersive experience. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Bianca Censori goes braless in sheer outfit during rare family outing with mother Alexandra and sister Angelina in Melbourne

Bianca Censori put on a cheeky display in a daring ensemble as she spent time with her family in Melbourne on Monday.

Politics

1 week ago New research valued unpaid housework at over $400bn. See how much you contribute

Women contribute 61.5% of the total time spent on unpaid work and care

Economics

1 week ago Star who 'agreed' Arsenal transfer is now retired aged 26 – 'I blame myself'

Former Czech Republic under-21s star Martin Graiciar spent time training with Arsenal and was poised to join them permanently before his dream transfer fell apart

Sport

1 week ago Pregnant UK teenager Bella May Culley freed from Georgian jail

Culley, 19, who was arrested on drug-smuggling charges in May, is released after plea dealThe pregnant British teenager Bella Culley has been released from a Georgian prison, where she had been held for six months on drug-smuggling charges after a plea deal.Culley, 19, who is pregnant, was arrested in May at Tbilisi airport and accused of attempting to smuggle 12kg (26.5lbs) of marijuana and 2kg (4.4lbs) of hashish into the country. She was found guilty by a Georgian court on Monday and sentenced to five months and 25 days in prison, the total time she had already spent in custody. Her family also paid a 500,000 lari (about £137,000) fine as part of a plea deal. Culley and her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, both cried as the verdict was read out. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Orphans of history: the forgotten republic of Transnistria – photo essay

Photographer Didier Bizet has spent time documenting life in the self-proclaimed autonomous republic, which is not recognised by the international community. Its status raises complex questions about the identity of its inhabitants – Ukrainians, Russians, Moldovans and Bulgarians – in a land searching for direction and lacking a clearly defined national identityAmid the ongoing war in Ukraine and between the fragile borders that crisscross the former Soviet Union, the self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria, which broke away from Moldova more than 30 years ago after a brief but bloody conflict, remains locked in deep political and diplomatic isolation.Home to about 450,000 people, Transnistria is a narrow strip of land wedged between Moldova and Ukraine, along the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Its de facto capital, Tiraspol, lies less than 60 miles from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa. Though small in size – about 125 miles long – the region holds outsized strategic importan...

Culture

2 w. ago Jennifer Lopez rocks frilly blouse as she treats her child Emme, 17, to lunch at a five

Jennifer Lopez spent quality time with her teen child Emme as they visited the luxurious Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills over the weekend.

Politics

2 w. ago Jennifer Lopez rocks frilly blouse as she treats her teen child Emme, 17, to lunch at a five

Jennifer Lopez spent quality time with her teen child Emme as they visited the luxurious Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills over the weekend.

Politics

2 w. ago Jockey rushed to hospital with neck injury after serious motorbike crash

The 29-year-old has enjoyed a breakthrough season this year, but he was involved in a serious incident as he spent some time away from the sport.

Events

3 w. ago Man checks every pebble on beach and can't believe what he finds inside one of them

A man recently spent time picking up 'nearly every single pebble' on a beach in Yorkshire before picking up one he thought looked interesting - and inside was something truly amazing

Politics