2 h. ago My cultural awakening: Love Actually taught me to leave my cheating partner

Emma Thompson’s quiet suffering in the hit Christmas movie helped me to realise that I didn’t need to stay with someone who had betrayed meI was 12 when Love Actually came out. In the eyes of my younger self it was a great film – vignettes of love I could only imagine one day feeling, all coloured by the fairy lights of Christmas. And there was even a cameo from Mr Bean himself, Rowan Atkinson. The film captured the romance I craved as a preteen, the idea that maybe a kid I fancied in my class would learn the drums for me and run through airport security to ask me out.I was young enough to think it was sweet for Keira Knightley’s husband’s best friend to turn up on her doorstep declaring his quite obviously unrequited love. I even thought it was adorable that he ruined their wedding video by filming only closeups of her face. Of course, I feel differently now about problematic moments like these – even if I do have the film to thank for introducing me to Joni Mitchell. Continue...

Politics

2 h. ago Review: Majority Quadriga marries the CD player with streaming music

'All-in-one' music system targets the sweet spot between vintage and modern

Sport

2 h. ago World Darts Championship dancer was a Love Island bombshell – but only lasted four days

The World Darts Championship is in full swing - and some eagle-eyed fans might notice one of the PDC dancers from her short stint on Love Island

Events

3 h. ago When is a sausage not really a sausage? Ask the meat lobby | George Monbiot

European legislators may ban plant-based products from using the name to prevent ‘confusion’. Just don’t mention beef tomatoes or buffalo wingsMost of what you eat is sausages. I mean, if we’re going to get literal about it. Sausage derives from the Latin salsicus, which means “seasoned with salt”. You might think of a sausage as a simple thing, but on this reading it is everything and nothing, a Borgesian meta-concept that retreats as you approach it.From another perspective, a sausage is an offal-filled intestine, or the macerated parts of an electrocuted or asphyxiated pig or other animal – generally parts that you wouldn’t knowingly eat – mixed with other ingredients that, in isolation, you might consider inedible. For some reason, it is seldom marketed as such. Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago Sri Lanka tea workers struggle in poverty. Flooding cost many their lives

After Sri Lanka struggled through one of the worst storms in its history, tea plantation workers are taking temporary refuge in government schools and temples as entire villages were buried in mud in the central highlands

Events

9 h. ago The rabbit farm and the online 'follow' that led to a feud with the trans lobby: JULIE BINDEL

One mistaken click on X has dragged the couple into a toxic online feud, with a cabal of militant trans activists hell-bent on shutting down the charity to which the couple have devoted themselves.

Politics

12 h. ago LA Angels settle lawsuit with family of late pitcher Tyler Skaggs over fatal overdose

Angels reach confidential settlement after civil trialSkaggs died in 2019 from fentanyl-laced pillsParties arrive at settlement while case with juryThe Los Angeles Angels on Friday settled a lawsuit over the drug overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.The decision to settle was reached after a two-month civil trial in Southern California over whether the Angels should be held responsible for Skaggs’ 2019 death after he snorted a fentanyl-laced pill provided by the team’s communications director, Eric Kay. Continue reading...

Society

13 h. ago Ukraine cannot continue to survive on Europe’s starvation rations

Editorial: Despite agreeing to a €90bn interest-free loan that could keep Kyiv afloat for two years, European leaders seem unduly nervous about forcing Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. If Europe is ever to defeat Russia, it must now go further – or risk humiliation

Events

13 h. ago Angels and Tyler Skaggs' family discuss settlement after trial about his fatal overdose, source says

Lawyers for the Los Angeles Angels were discussing a possible settlement Friday with the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs following a trial over whether the team was responsible for his fatal drug overdose

Events

14 h. ago Notorious fraudster who conned his girlfriend out of her life savings while posing as an MI6 agent and Swiss banker is ordered to pay her back £125,000

Mark Acklom, 52, previously admitted five counts of fraud against Carolyn Woods, from Gloucestershire, and was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison in 2019.

Economics

14 h. ago No Holyrood 'bugging devices' after Jackie Baillie demands probe of SNP secret recording allegations

It comes as at least three female SNP MSPs were allegedly recorded by male aides in their offices and one male parliamentary worker admitted planting a recording device in one office for a politician he worked for.

Politics

15 h. ago Why is Truth Social owner Trump Media merging with a fusion energy firm?

What we know about the deal with TAE Technologies so far – from why it is happening to what fusion energy isTrump Media & Technology Group, owner of Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, announced a merger on Wednesday with a company developing fusion energy technology.TAE Technologies, an energy company founded in 1998, will join with Trump Media via a $6bn merger that it promises will propel it to build “the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant” next year. Continue reading...

Politics

15 h. ago I’ve seen the new Jaguar GT uncovered – here’s my honest verdict

After the furore over the Jaguar Type 00, I was nervous to see the finished car – and it’s better than I expected

Politics

15 h. ago Putin admits he is 'in love' but refuses to say who the woman is

In an apparently planted question by Russian state media during his annual end of year Q&A, he was asked: 'You said today that you believe love at first sight exists.'Vladimir [Putin], are you in love?'

Politics

16 h. ago AD FEATURE: Level up your laptop this Christmas with these sweet Gigabyte laptop deals with NVIDIA graphics

Check out these Gigabyte laptop deals, complete with NVIDIA graphics, with options for gamers, creators and students on any budget.

Economics

16 h. ago Harry and Meghan share sweet new pic with Archie and Lilibet for Christmas card

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have unveiled their 2025 Christmas card photo, which features a sweet new family snap with their two children, Archie and Lilibet

Politics

17 h. ago ‘A black hole’: families and police say tech giants delay investigations in child abuse and drug cases

US law enforcement officers say Meta and Snapchat routinely delay or reject warrants. The companies disagreeMax Osterman was 18 when he connected with a drug dealer on Snapchat who used the handle skyhigh.303. Max would message him whenever he wanted to buy Percocet, and they would meet. After about a year, and just days after their last exchange, Max collapsed. The pills he ordered had been laced with fentanyl. He died from the overdose in February 2021 at his home in Broomfield, Colorado.The dealer continued selling prescription painkillers until 2023, when he was jailed on two drug distribution convictions. When handing down the sentence, the judge said he was responsible for four deaths, yet he never faced charges for supplying the pills that killed Max. Continue reading...

Events

17 h. ago Pete Davidson and Elsie Hewitt give sweet nod to his father with newborn’s name

The couple made their relationship Instagram official in March

Politics

18 h. ago Notorious fraudster Mark Acklom who posed as MI6 agent ordered to pay £125,000

Acklom, 52, who now lives in Spain, was been ordered to pay his victim the large sum after a hearing at Bristol Crown Court.

Economics

18 h. ago I’m on hunger strike in a British prison. This is why | Amu Gib

Our demands are simple – and they start with stopping the flow of arms to IsraelAmu Gib is an activist currently being held at HMP BronzefieldAmu Gib is one of several prisoners on hunger strike who are awaiting trial for alleged offences relating to Palestine Action. Gib is being being held at HMP Bronzefield. Their charges relate to an alleged break-in at RAF Brize Norton this year. This article is based on interviews with Ainle Ó Cairealláin, host of the Rebel Matters podcast, and the writer and researcher ES Wight on days 18 and 33 of the strike.We began our hunger strike on 2 November: the anniversary of the Balfour declaration, when Britain planted the seeds of the genocide that we are witnessing today.An HMP Bronzefield spokesperson said: “We cannot provide information about specific individuals; however, we can confirm that all prisoners are managed in line with the policies and procedures governing the entire UK prison estate. This includes specialist multi-agency processes...

Events