12 h. ago ‘Too many people lost work’: doubts in South Africa’s coal belt over ‘just energy transition’

The country wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions without destroying livelihoods, but progress is slow – and the residents of a small town are in the crosshairsCooling towers and smokestacks still loom over the single-storey houses of Komati, but the winter sky is clear: smoke hasn’t billowed from the vast concrete chimneys of the South African town’s power station since it stopped burning coal in 2022, 61 years after its inauguration.While the state power company Eskom didn’t fire any permanent employees, the end of coal generation and earlier job losses in nearby mines have fuelled doubts in the small town and wider coal belt that there are any benefits to South Africa’s “just energy transition” to renewable power. Continue reading...

Politics

12 h. ago ‘We are just sitting here’: South African coal belt town split over green transition

The country wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions without destroying livelihoods, but progress is slow – and the residents of a small town are in the crosshairsCooling towers and smokestacks still loom over the single-storey houses of Komati, but the winter sky is clear: smoke hasn’t billowed from the vast concrete chimneys of the South African town’s power station since it stopped burning coal in 2022, 61 years after its inauguration.While the state power company Eskom didn’t fire any permanent employees, the end of coal generation and earlier job losses in nearby mines have fuelled doubts in the small town and wider coal belt that there are any benefits to South Africa’s “just energy transition” to renewable power. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago Man wins £800k dream home after £200k scam loss thanks to 99p ticket

After losing £200,000 in a scam, a man has turned his luck around by winning an £800k house and his dream car in a BOTB prize draw – all for just 99p

Economics

69 h. ago UK abandoned wartime village frozen in time where empty terrace houses sit rotting

The whole village of Tyneham in Dorset was evacuated during the World War II, but today the abandoned village still remains and visitors can explore its deserted street and the memories left behind

Events

3 d. ago Pensioners who 'still won't get Winter Fuel Payments' after new rules announced

The Government has announced a U-turn on the winter fuel allowance following a backlash over unpopular cuts last year which took money away from 10 million pensioners

Economics

3 d. ago Omaze Million Pound House: Backpacker wins £5m home near Jeremy Clarkson's Farm

A 'Clarkson's Farm' fan has won a £5m Cotswold's house - making him Jeremy's neighbour.

Economics

3 d. ago Worth a lot more than Diddly Squat! Clarkson's Farm fan, 25, wins £5m 17th century Cotswolds house

Anthony Martin, 25, from Cambridgeshire, has celebrated winning a five-bedroom country house in the latest Omaze Million Pound House Draw - and he has also won £250,000 in cash.

Economics

4 d. ago Glamorous MAGA White House reporter makes shocking claim about DC's men

Glamorous MAGA White House reporter Natalie Winters gave a shocking explanation for why the women in the nation's capital can't seem to find good man.

Events

4 d. ago Bill Clinton worries the ‘courts won’t hold until the midterm election’ in terms of checking Trump

‘If our party wins the White House in the next election, there will be a hallelujah moment and the Supreme Court will rediscover the Constitution,” Bill Clinton said on The View.

Politics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on Labour’s investment plans: sugaring the bitter pill of austerity | Editorial

The chancellor is right to be planning for the long term, but voters won’t be patient if change isn’t felt soonInequality between British regions is not a new problem and Rachel Reeves is not the first chancellor to want to close the gap. In 2014, George Osborne promised a “northern powerhouse” to rival the dominance of London and the south-east. He pledged devolution and investment in infrastructure to connect northern cities, to unlock productivity and growth.Since then, Britain’s economy has suffered multiple shocks, some external (the pandemic, inflation stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), others self-inflicted (Brexit, Liz Truss’s mini-budget). Each time, the damage was more severe in places already falling behind. Boris Johnson claimed levelling up as his defining purpose. Rishi Sunak let the ambition slide. Now it is being revived by a Labour chancellor. In a speech announcing transport investments on Wednesday, Ms Reeves promised a “renewal of Britain”, with prosperity ...

Politics

6 d. ago Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz share their plan to have kids amid bitter family feud

Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz-Beckham have candidly opened up about their future plans as they shared their secrets to their successful marriage as 'best friends'

Politics

6 d. ago Householders urged to place plants near windows and doors this summer

House plants help improve air quality as well as having other important uses.

Politics

7 d. ago Scotland’s Home of the Year 2025 winner crowned as Aberdeenshire Hilltop House scoops glory

BBC Scotland's Home of the Year 2025 has been crowned after a tough grand finale.

Society

7 d. ago Take a look inside this £685,000 lakeside house you can win for just 84p

A stunning new-build home near the coast and a 2024 BMW M4 could be yours for just 84p in BOTB’s latest prize draw - or take a huge cash payout instead.

Economics

9 d. ago Valerie Mahaffey, actor known for Northern Exposure and Desperate Housewives, dies aged 71

Emmy award-winning TV, stage and film actor also known for her role in Young Sheldon died of cancerValerie Mahaffey, the Emmy-award winning actor known for her roles on Northern Exposure, Desperate Housewives and Young Sheldon, died on Friday. She was 71.Her husband, actor Joseph Kell, said in a statement to Variety: “I have lost the love of my life, and America has lost one of its most endearing actresses. She will be missed.” Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Inside London's only vineyard with wine tours, farmers market and beautiful manor house

Inside London's only vineyard with wine tours, farmers market and beautiful manor house  MyLondon

Society

9 d. ago 'My neighbours hate me... but I don't care!': Woman at war with whole village over her 'HS2 tunnel' house wins bitter planning battle

EXCLUSIVE: A farmer whose controversial new Teletubby-style eco home caused her own tight-knit village to ostracize her for 'bringing HS2' to their idyll has finally won her planning battle.

Events

1 week ago Leonardo Drew review – are these towers of debris the ruins of America?

South London GalleryFloating on walls, strewn across the floor and rising in heaps, the detritus here feels less like an echo of Jackson Pollock and more like, well, random rubbishThis place looks like a storm hit it. The winds have ripped up houses, shops, factories and art studios, whirled the pieces in a mighty twister and smashed them to earth in pulverised fragments. Now they scatter South London Gallery, towering over you in two random heaps, with other pieces gathered in clusters, floating on the walls, thrown all over the floor. Crunch, crunch – you can walk on broken bits of wood carpeting the ground, negotiating your way around bigger debris, as you inspect the ruins of America – and, sadly, of American art.Seven decades ago, Jackson Pollock put America at the forefront of abstract art with looping and spiralling vortices of energy that he created by pouring and flicking paint on to a horizontal canvas. Leonardo Drew grew up in a housing project in Bridgeport, Connecticut,...

Politics

1 week ago Winter fuel payment: Options to reintroduce the benefit for millions of households

The decision to make the Winter Fuel Payment available only to those who claim pension credit last year meant those claiming the benefit fell by almost 90% and saved around £1.5 billion a year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimates

Economics

1 week ago UK households told to keep their windows closed this weekend

A heatwave is currently scorching the UK, with temperatures expected to reach a sweltering 26C over the weekend. Brits are being advised to keep windows closed to keep homes cool

Politics