54 m. ago UK's most expensive and cheapest seaside spots for beach day out named

New research has compared several of the most popular UK summer destinations, totting up the cost of deckchair hire, a '99' ice cream, and a fish and chips meal

Politics

54 m. ago Quick and easy 65p hack to stop your bins smelling this summer

When temperatures rise, so does the speed at which food waste breaks down - and that can lead to some pretty pungent smells coming from your wheelie bin. But there's a simple way to combat the issue

Politics

1 hour ago ‘The idea was for a Black James Bond’: the making of 50 Cent: Bulletproof

The game’s launch 20 years ago coincided with the rapper’s meteoric success with his album The Massacre. Here, the team that made the shooter reflect on how it all happened The rapper 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) was inescapable back in 2005. There wasn’t a British classroom without a teenager wearing Jackson’s G-Unit clothing, while his catchy hits Candy Shop and In Da Club dominated the radio. The backstory of this Queens-born New Yorker – how he survived being shot nine times only to become one of the world’s biggest rappers – also made for compelling lore.That year, 50 Cent sold more than a million copies in one week with his sophomore studio album, The Massacre. In a bid to cash in on this superstardom, his label Interscope Records planned a twin strategy: a Hollywood biopic (Get Rich or Die Tryin’) and a licensed video game, 50 Cent: Bulletproof – both to be released by November 2005. “I think the general public are going to be blown away by my game,” 50 Cent told the we...

Politics

3 h. ago Remember when having women in power was supposed to change everything? | Gaby Hinsliff

The careers of Sturgeon, Merkel and Ardern show how foolish it is to idealise leaders just for being womenNicola Sturgeon was always afraid of failure. But it was a very particular kind of failure she feared; one that follows a very particular kind of success. Living up to the fact of being Scotland’s first female first minister became, she writes in her new memoir, “almost an obsession”, which is arguably unhealthy but not unreasonable. To be the first woman (or indeed the first minority) in any field is to be uncomfortably aware of being on probation: the test case that sceptics will use to decide whether women in general can really hack it, but also the yardstick by which other women will judge whether representation actually makes a difference.You daren’t betray anything that looks like a sign of weakness, yet at the same time you’re endlessly under pressure to spill your guts on all the intimate stuff – miscarriage and menopause in Sturgeon’s case, pregnancy in high office for ...

Politics

4 h. ago Magic mushrooms: how scientists discovered fungi are the secret ingredient for restoring the world’s forests

Healthy fungal networks help trees and plants grow, making them key to successful reforestation. The only problem? Almost nothing is known about this subterranean ecologyEven in midsummer, the ancient hazelwoods on the Hebridean island of Seil are cool and quiet. Countless slanted stems of hazel support a thick canopy, which blots out the sun and blankets everything below in a sort of “fairytale darkness”, says Bethan Manley, a biologist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.Moss and lichen coat branches threaded with honeysuckle, forming a great dome above you, adds David Satori, a researcher at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Continue reading...

Events

5 h. ago Loneliness is rife among young men. It’s time to get offline and talk to each other | Alexander Hurst

It’s tempting to scoff, but don’t dismiss the data. Modern man’s failure to forge real, meaningful friendships is bad for everyoneAt first I was startled when the psychologist Angelica Ferrara told me that most of the time it’s women, not men, who want to write about her research into male loneliness. But this is the crux of the issue, isn’t it? That we men need to talk, and we don’t: not nearly enough, anyway.Since 1990, there has been a sharp decline in how many people men say they are close to, says Ferrara, who is a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford and a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics. In the US, two-thirds of men aged between 18 and 23 think that nobody really knows them; one third haven’t seen anyone outside their household in the past week; only a fifth say they have friends they can really count on; and a staggering 69% of young men think “no one cares if men are OK”.Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago ‘Historical amnesia’: Indonesia’s fight over plan to amend history books

Anger the controversial plan coincides with anime flag movement, seen as a critique on the decline of democratic freedoms under President PrabowoIndonesia has delayed plans to publish a set of controversial history books amid backlash from historians and activists who have accused the project of being an attempt to downplay past atrocities, and represents “historical amnesia”.In May Indonesia’s culture minister Fadli Zon announced the planned release of a 10-volume “official history” project. The set of new books would remove colonial bias, feature updated research, promote national pride and have a “positive” tone, he said. Continue reading...

Culture

10 h. ago Rachel de Thame urges people to take same care with finances as with gardens

Ms de Thame said fraudsters are an ‘invasive species’.

Politics

10 h. ago Brits considering 'cosmetic cowboy' surgery abroad to be warned of risks on TikTok

More people are using social media apps like TikTok to research potentially risky operations abroad as they are often cheaper or more readily available than in the UK

Events

17 h. ago Lanarkshire gym group ties in with British Heart Foundation to support lifesaving research

New Age Fitness has pledged to raise £10,000 over a 12-month period.

Politics

17 h. ago Drug and gun gangster Jamie Rothwell sentenced to 43 years as he's 'tired' of crime life

Jamie Rothwell was one of the National Crime Agency's most wanted men after he was exposed as a leading figure in the Salford gang feud following the EncroChat hack

Events

17 h. ago Get a 'free' Shark CryoGlow LED mask with this clever Boots recycling hack

Shoppers have been sharing a hack for getting high-value beauty products such as LED masks and designer perfumes for free, thanks to a little-known Boots scheme

Politics

18 h. ago The secret to living longer may be the immune system's 'fountain of youth'

According to US researchers, who tracked more than 100 older adults, the cells give people younger immune systems.

Politics

18 h. ago Scientists develop brain implant capable of decoding inner speech

Stanford researchers use electrodes and artificial intelligence to help people whose paralysis prevents physical speech

Politics

19 h. ago UK cemetery accused of 'fat tax' for charging extra for wider graves after obesity rise

Couriers UK was slapped with a record fine by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) over the botched Royal Mail 'hack' in 2022

Politics

20 h. ago We weren’t actually more anxious during Covid, researchers discover

The pandemic was cited by Biden administration officials as worsening America’s mental health crisis in 2023

Science

20 h. ago Get M&S's 'fresh and tasty' afternoon tea delivered straight to your door for under £5

To celebrate Afternoon Tea Week, we've found a clever deal stacking hack that lets you get Marks & Spencer's afternoon tea delivered directly to your door for under £5

Economics

20 h. ago Researchers say your ability to catch up on sleep may be out of your control

The findings could help people understand whether they need more rest when jet-lagged or as the seasons change

Politics

21 h. ago Migrants attempting to enter UK in refrigerated trailers are ‘constant threat’

People hiding in trailers cause delays, increased costs, potential damage to goods and disposal of produce, researchers found.

Events

21 h. ago Alien worlds may not necessarily need water for life, scientists find: ‘We just opened a Pandora’s box’

Salts in liquid form could host life on alien worlds, researchers suspect

Politics