4 h. ago Fears grow for dolphin who joined family's swim off UK coast and asked for cuddles

Lynda MacDonald, 50, was left stunned when the bottlenose dolphin joined her family for a 6am swim in Lyme Bay, Dorset. But now marine experts have shared their fears

Politics

6 h. ago ‘Kept fighting despite the odds’: the Russian journalists who risked everything to report the truth

In an expansive five-hour documentary, young journalists are branded ‘foreign agents’ for continuing to report independently as authoritarianism spreadsIn the fall of 2021, the director Julia Loktev traveled from her Brooklyn home to Moscow, with the intent to film some friends under pressure. That summer, the Russian government had cracked down on the remaining independent media in the country, designating outlets and journalists it found irksome as “foreign agents”. Loktev, who moved to the US from the Soviet Union at age nine, had several journalist friends now required to submit detailed financial reports to the government and affix an all-caps disclaimer to any output, be it an article or an Instagram post of their cat, declaring it the work of a foreign agent.Loktev began shadowing her friend Anna Nemzer, a host on the country’s only remaining independent news channel, TV Rain (Dozhd, in Russian), which was on the growing list of “foreign agents” meant to chill any press criti...

Events

6 h. ago Lidl unveils fifth pay rise in two years for thousands of staff to ‘market

“Over the last two years, we’ve held our spot as the fastest growing bricks-and-mortar supermarket” – Stephanie Rogers, Lidl GB

Economics

7 h. ago Gardeners must do crucial August job for bigger and more beautiful hydrangeas

If your hydrangeas are looking a little lacklustre, don't give up on them just yet - August is the most important month for giving them the care they need to grow stronger and put on a stunning display next season

Politics

7 h. ago UN plastic pollution talks end in ‘abject failure’ as negotiators reject draft treaties

Despite three years of negotiations, delegates failed to agree on whether it should stop the growth of plastic production and regulate harmful chemicals internationally

Events

7 h. ago Aldi announces change for more than 20 stores by end of year

Aldi is also continuing its growth plans in 2025, with around 40 new store openings

Politics

8 h. ago Chinese economy slows as Trump tariffs bite; FTSE 100 on track to hit new record

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsThe owner of Kingsmill has agreed to buy its rival bakery business Hovis, in a deal that could make the biggest bread brand in the country if it gets the green light from regulators.Associated British Foods, a FTSE 100 company which also owns the retailer Primark, has agreed to buy Hovis from the private equity firm Endless.This transaction will create a UK bakeries business that is both profitable and sustainable over the long term. Supporting the Hovis and Kingsmill brands with well-invested and efficient operations will also enable innovation and growth. This solution will create value for shareholders, provide greater choice for consumers and increase efficiencies for customers.Firms may be running on existing capacity rather than building new plants The July industrial value-add breakdown tells a more nuanced story than the weak fixed asset investment headline. Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago What goes up must come down: can Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland buck trend?

We assess the chances of Premier League’s new teams avoiding the fate of promoted clubs for past two seasonsReasons to be cheerful There are numerous reasons behind the growing trend of promoted teams going straight back down with a decreasing number of points. One – having to adjust from dominating possession in the Championship to seeing much less of the ball in the Premier League – may not trouble Burnley quite as much as their predecessors. Continue reading...

Events

9 h. ago Plastic pollution talks fail as negotiators in Geneva reject draft treaties

Countries deadlocked on whether legally binding deal should include curbs on production and toxic chemicalsOnce again negotiators will leave the plastic summit this week without a treaty, having failed to reach agreement in what was supposed to have been the final round of talks.The delegates, who were attempting to complete a crucial treaty to end the plastic pollution crisis remain deadlocked over whether it should reduce exponential growth of plastic production and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics. Continue reading...

Events

10 h. ago Afghan women feel forgotten by world after four years of ‘war’ waged by Taliban on their rights

While the rest of the world pays little attention, the Taliban’s edicts eroding women’s basic rights have only grown in number. Former female inmates of the group’s prisons tell Arpan Rai they are being brutally enforced

Events

10 h. ago White Stuff slashes chunky biker boots that are 'sturdy but not heavy' by 42% to £63

The Birdy Crop Biker in pure black are down to £63 from £110

Economics

11 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

11 h. ago Scientists use AI to create new antibiotics that can kill deadly drug

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health crisis and is estimated to be responsible for more than one million deaths globally each year

Events

13 h. ago US deploys spy planes, a warship and submarine in escalating response to massive threat in Southern Caribbean Sea

The United States has ordered the deployment of spy planes , a warship and even a submarine to the Southern Caribbean Sea to address the growing threat posed by Latin American drug cartels.

Events

16 h. ago 'Temu' Taylor Swift is so busy pumping out terrible music, she may have just let slip how she and Travis will end! We all need a break from this tired showgirl: KENNEDY

Is this Taylor's Temu era? She's churning out music faster than Shein pumps out cheap crop tops in a flash sale. Haven't we gorged enough on the Taylor buffet in the last few years?

Events

16 h. ago Night Always Comes review – Vanessa Kirby gets lost in poverty thriller

A woman is forced to take extreme measures to save her family home in an initially stressful yet ultimately meandering Netflix dramaThere’s been a recent overkill of stories told about the super-rich, glossy films and shows set in ostentatious houses filled with characters as superficially on trend as they are painfully out of touch. It felt like needed escapism as we crawled out of the very worst of the pandemic, with The White Lotus, Triangle of Sadness, The Menu and Glass Onion all hitting a sweet spot, but it’s grown rather tiring, as Sirens, The Better Sister and Your Friends and Neighbors have felt less eat the rich and more what if we just admired their kitchens instead.It’s become especially uninteresting as the gap between the uber-wealthy and the rest of us has widened, food prices up and empathy down. That particular anger pulses through Night Always Comes, a well-intentioned yet often inert Netflix drama based on the 2021 novel by Willy Vlautin. It’s told over one awful ...

Politics

17 h. ago The LathamTECH Podcast — Turning a London Eye Toward International Tech Growth

The LathamTECH Podcast — Turning a London Eye Toward International Tech Growth  JD Supra

Events

17 h. ago Rachel Reeves is accused of 'living under a rock' as economic growth slows to just 0.3%

Output grew only 0.3 per cent between April and June - a sharp slowdown on the previous three-month period when the economy expanded by 0.7 per cent.

Economics

18 h. ago Pregnant Sophie Habboo cradles her growing baby bump in a grey co

The Made In Chelsea star, 30, wowed in a fitted grey cropped co-ord that offered a glimpse of her growing bump.

Politics

21 h. ago Countries urged to ‘hold the line’ in Geneva plastics treaty negotiations

Talks continue amid warnings from environmental groups over being ‘sold out’ without meaningful or legally binding measuresTalks between nations to hammer out a plastics treaty to end plastic pollution continued behind closed doors in Geneva on Thursday, the final day of negotiations, as civil society groups urged countries to “hold the line” to secure a strong agreement.With time running out to seal a deal between 184 countries, environmental groups expressed concern that frontline communities, Indigenous people and others suffering the worst impacts of the world’s growing plastic crisis were being “sold out” in an effort to secure a treaty, without meaningful or legally binding measures that would address the scale of the problem, “at any cost”. Continue reading...

Politics