5 h. ago ScotRail Christmas and New Year timetable: Here's all the trains operating in Scotland over festive period

ScotRail will operate trains to and from Aberdeen on Boxing Day for the first time.

Politics

8 h. ago Man, 30, opens up on the hell of living with condition that causes him to vomit 60 times a DAY

A man who vomits up to 60 times a day was forced to buy a new £15,000 battery for a 'life-changing' device that helps control his condition-after local NHS chiefs refused.

Politics

13 h. ago Australia tracking Chinese navy flotilla in Philippine Sea as Marles announces major defence overhaul

Biggest changes to defence bureaucracy since the 1970s aim to tackle budget and timeline blowouts, government saysFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Albanese government has announced a major overhaul of the defence department, aimed at tackling budget and timeline blowouts, on the same day it confirmed Australia was tracking a Chinese navy flotilla in the Philippine Sea.In the biggest changes to the defence bureaucracy in Australia since the mid-1970s, Labor will merge three agencies - the capability acquisition and sustainment group, the guided weapons and explosive ordinance group and the naval shipbuilding and sustainment group. Continue reading...

Politics

27 h. ago ‘Cool and quirky is part of our brand’: how New Zealand became a hothouse for indie games

Kiwi developers are punching well above their weight thanks to a unique government support program that offers more than just grantsThose not immersed in the world of gaming might not be familiar with Pax Australia: the enormous gaming conference and exhibition that takes over the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre every October. My favourite section is always Pax Rising, a showcase of indie video games and tabletop, the majority Australian – but there has been a recent shift that was particularly notable this year: many of the standout titles had crossed the Tasman, arriving from New Zealand.At the booth run by Code – New Zealand’s government-funded Centre for Digital Excellence – 18 Kiwi developers demoed their forthcoming games in a showcase of the vibrant local scene that was buzzing with crowds. In the comedic Headlice, I controlled a parasitic headcrab monster which could latch on to people’s brains and puppet them. How Was Your Day?, a cozy time-loop game set in New Z...

Events

30 h. ago Start your Christmas food prep NOW! You can save time on the big day by cooking and freezing your veg, spuds and even gravy with these fail

The Batch Lady Suzanne Mulholland shares her fail-safe short cuts for a stress-free Christmas, from how to prepare and freeze all the festive veg, to the delicious gravy you can make in November.

Society

35 h. ago ‘We need to speak collectively’: can parliament solve the problem of ‘deprivation bingo’ in the UK’s seaside towns?

Labour knows it needs to win over the ‘sea wall’ cohort of coastal voters in the next election. But as anger over inequality grows, time is running outIt is a lovely sunny autumn day in Ramsgate on Britain’s Kent coast, and quintessential seaside chippy Peter’s Fish Factory is doing a roaring lunchtime trade. Across the road, at the entrance to the town’s pier, local MP and chair of the newly reformed coastal parliamentary Labour party (PLP), Polly Billington, is having her photo taken.In between shots she shows us the community art project that adorns the fence along the entrance to the pier. It is made up of pictures, drawn primarily by local children and young people, of the 65 little ships that set sail earlier this year from Ramsgate to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation. Continue reading...

Politics

56 h. ago Tired all the time? The 8 mistakes you’re making every day that could be causing fatigue

YOU know that good quality sleep and eating enough are going to supply you with energy, so if these two boxes aren’t ticked then you might be feeling tired. However, there are actually several other surprising reasons why you could be feeling fatigued. Andy Daly, nutritionist at Dr David Jack, says that fatigue can lead...

Politics

3 d. ago The time of day you’re most likely to spot dementia – and the 5 signs to watch out for 

MOST of us get tired, or at least a little cranky, as the day winds on. But a change in behaviour in the late afternoon could also be a sign of dementia. The condition, known as 'sundowning', can have a profound effect on those with mid- to late-stage dementia - but it can also be...

Politics

3 d. ago The town filled with cosy pubs that is one of the best winter day trips from London

The town filled with cosy pubs that is one of the best winter day trips from London  Time Out Worldwide

Politics

3 d. ago Benjamina Ebuehi’s coffee caramel and rum choux tower Christmas showstopper – recipe

Make all the individual elements ahead of time, then, on the day, as if by magic, you can conjure up this amazing tower of choux buns and smother it in boozy chocolate sauceChristmas is the perfect time for something a bit more extravagant and theatrical. And a very good way to achieve this is to bring a tower of puffy choux buns to the table and pour over a jugful of boozy chocolate sauce and coffee caramel while everyone looks on in awe. To help avoid any stress on the day, most of the elements can be made ahead: the chocolate sauce and caramel can be gently reheated before pouring, while the choux shells can be baked the day before and crisped up in the oven for 10 minutes before filling. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Loose Women set to air on Christmas Day for first time as ITV reveal festive schedule

ITV has announced Loose Women will air on Christmas Day for the first time ever, as part of the broadcaster's expanded festive TV schedule

Politics

4 d. ago England plan extra training sessions in wake of howling first Ashes Test defeat

McCullum books extra time in nets before second TestAustralian captain Cummins may return from injuryA week of inactivity for England’s cricketers will end on Saturday following confirmation of additional training sessions having been scheduled in the wake of their howling eight-wicket defeat to Australia in the first Ashes Test.As reported by the Guardian on Monday, head coach Brendon McCullum has booked extra time in the nets ahead of the day-night second Test that starts in Brisbane on 4 December rather than send any first team players to the two-day England Lions match in Canberra this weekend. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Luigi: The Making and the Meaning by John H Richardson review – sympathy for a devil?

This nebulous study of Luigi Mangione veers close to romanticising him as a latter-day Robin HoodOn 5 December 2024, the New York Times ran the headline “Insurance CEO Gunned Down In Manhattan”. The newspaper then noted that Brian Thompson was “shot in the back in Midtown Manhattan by a killer who then walked coolly away”. The murder in broad daylight was indeed both cold and shocking. But many Americans had a different response: for those who had been denied health insurance or faced exorbitant healthcase costs, the news felt cathartic. Social media blew up. One post read: “All jokes aside no one here is the judge of who deserves to live or die. That’s the job of the AI algorithm the insurance company designed to maximize profits on your health.”Five days later, Luigi Mangione, a good-looking, 26-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate with a master’s in computer science, was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He awaits tri...

Politics

5 d. ago Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: Start time, how to watch and new balloons to look for

Four new featured character balloons will debut this year along with several new floats

Politics

5 d. ago Black Friday Sale: The ghd Original Hair Straightener are now 33% off on Amazon for limited time only

No one has time for a bad hair day - Amazon has 33% off the ghd Original Hair Straightener for a limited time only.

Politics

5 d. ago England can’t change now: Bazball approach must be seen through to its conclusion | Taha Hashim

This four-year experiment has produced exhilarating cricket – it is worth seeing the whole thing through before casting judgmentTravis Head’s latest masterpiece is three days old, the postmortems are complete and England supporters have done their pained vox pops in Australia. And somehow we’re still more than a week out from the second Ashes Test. It’s a hefty gap bound to be filled by rage, moving from the defeat in Perth to the preparation for a pink‑ball affair in Brisbane.England’s first-stringers could pass the time with a day‑night knockabout against a prime minister’s XI in Canberra. Instead, as planned, it will be a Lions side that plays this weekend, joined by Josh Tongue, Matt Potts and Jacob Bethell, unused squad members in Perth. It is understandable why this has annoyed many, why Michael Vaughan’s soundbite – that it would be “amateurish” not to play the fixture – carries some substance. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Black Friday vs Boxing Day sales: when is the best time to shop?

Black Friday is the cheapest time to buy expert-approved products, according to our research

Economics

6 d. ago Brits use enough electricty on Christmas Day to watch Home Alone 183 times

The average household will use six to eight times more electricity on Christmas Day compared to the average day of the year - with the majority being used for our Christmas Dinners

Politics

6 d. ago Pauline Hanson thinks she speaks for the mainstream but her burqa stunt shows she is a bit player with bad instincts | Tom McIlroy

While banning the burqa might play with the Sky After Dark audience, it is miles from a broad concern among puntersNearly 30 years after she first entered politics with a firebrand maiden speech about Asian immigration, Pauline Hanson remains a committed fringe dweller, with narrow political interests and bad instincts.Suspended from the Senate on Tuesday, her decision to don a burqa in the chamber a day earlier badly disrupted proceedings and drew near universal condemnation. It is only the fifth time since 1901 that a seven-day suspension has been put in place, and the first time since 1979. Continue reading...

Sport

7 d. ago Second Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special contestant revealed

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will return to the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom for the final time on Christmas Day with a host of famous faces battling it out to be crowned champion

Culture