2 h. ago Stephen Miller said Trump has ‘plenary authority’. What does that mean?

White House deputy chief of staff had an odd pause during a CNN interview when asked about the president’s power to deploy national guard troopsAn odd moment in a CNN interview with Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, has been circulating on social media after Miller’s distinct pause when discussing the “plenary authority” of the president. A technical glitch – crossed wires from another broadcast in Miller’s earpiece – caused him to stop talking before completing his thought, CNN said.But the term “plenary authority”, has been taken as subtext for the broader ambitions of the Trump administration to assert legally-unassailable power over the use of the military and other functions of government. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Putin admits Russia to blame for Azerbaijan Christmas plane crash that killed 38

Vladimir Putin has finally admitted his military’s role in the Azerbaijani plane crash following accusations from Baku that Moscow tried to 'hush up' the tragedy

Events

4 h. ago ‘Everyone is still afraid’: ceasefire deal brings relief to Gaza but fears remain over future

Two previous short-lived ceasefires have left many in Gaza doubtful about the staying power of the latest agreementOn Thursday morning, there was little joy in Gaza. The news of the imminent ceasefire had spread rapidly across the devastated territory during the night, with a few gunshots fired into the sky in celebration, but as morning came the mood was of tense anticipation.“Everyone is still afraid,” said a 26-year-old woman in al-Mawasi, the squalid, overcrowded coastal strip where much of the population has sought shelter in makeshift tents and plastic shacks. Continue reading...

Economics

5 h. ago Myanmar's military acknowledges attacking festival, accuses resistance forces of using human shields

Myanmar’s military government has acknowledged that it attacked a Buddhist festival held on the grounds of a school earlier this week

Events

5 h. ago Kris Jenner shows off new look as Kim Kardashian copies her signature hairstyle

Kris Jenner has debuted a drastically different new hairstyle after her daughter Kim Kardashian altered her looks by cutting her locks short in her mum's signature pixie style

Politics

6 h. ago Appeal over plans to turn former frozen food store in Bathgate town centre into short term let hotel

Mumtaz Hussain saw his proposals to turn the old Farmfoods store on South Bridge Street into 39 bed accommodation thrown out after local councillor Pauline Stafford slated rooms so small there was no space for a chair.

Society

6 h. ago ‘It feels like a dream’: protests come to end as Israelis sing in ‘hostages square’

After 733 days, news of agreement greeted with celebration in Tel Aviv and stickers saying: ‘They’re coming home’For 733 days, Israelis have come to Hostage Square in Tel Aviv with a yellow piece of tape on their shirts bearing the number of days since 251 hostages had been taken captive by Hamas-led militants. On Thursday, the yellow stickers remained but the tally was gone. In its place was a simple phrase: “They’re coming home.”For two years, protesters had occupied the square, which faces the Israeli military headquarters, with an encampment and held rallies demanding the hostages be returned from Gaza. The area – soon nicknamed Hostage Square – was filled with art installations, pictures of the hostages and an electronic screen counting the days and seconds that hostages had been in captivity. Continue reading...

Events

7 h. ago Two years of displacement and destruction in Gaza – photo essay

Enas Tantesh’s photography captures not only the despair and insecurity but also moments of normality and human connectionOver the past two years in Gaza, the world has witnessed one of the worst onslaughts against a civilian population in recent history and has been unwilling or unable to stop it.More than 66,200 people have been killed and nearly 169,000 injured, meaning that about one in 10 of Gaza’s Palestinian population have been casualties of Israel’s military campaign.After the Israeli army destroyed a mosque and wrote on it in Hebrew, someone from Gaza wrote on the dome: ‘A promise we will construct it.’ Gaza City, 24 February 2025 Continue reading...

Culture

8 h. ago Rock legends, 80s pop stars and top rapper announced as In It Together Headliners for 2026 festival

ROCK legends, 80s pop stars and a top rapper are set to headline at In It Together Festival 2026. The UK’s biggest family festival is back bigger than ever for its fifth Anniversary celebration in 2026 in Margam, Wales. And next year’s headliners are nothing short of massive - with 80s band Madness, rapper Aitch...

Politics

8 h. ago Fat jabs could treat two ‘major causes of illness and death’, say scientists – as current treatments ‘fall short’

WEIGHT loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy are powerful tools for tackling obesity and lowering the risk of serious disease. Now new research suggests they could be used to treat two "major causes of illness and death" - drug and alcohol addiction. Scientists say weight loss jabs, usually prescribed for diabetes or obesity, have...

Events

8 h. ago Boots on Netflix and the emotional true story behind the military drama

Boots is a military drama on Netflix and is based on the true story of a former US Marine Corps sergeant

Events

9 h. ago Moment teenage driver crashes car after bragging about being high on laughing gas balloons

Daniel Ross, 19, spent two and a half hours high on nitrous oxide - also known as laughing gas - and phoned a drug dealer for more a short while before his collision.

Events

10 h. ago British family moved to Mauritius to get away from 'the rat race'

Adam and Tara Short, originally from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, moved their family across the world with just four suitcases in July.

Politics

11 h. ago Don't punish the beauty sector, it's one of the few growth industries we've got.

Every pound spent on beauty generates another pound for neighbouring retailers

Politics

12 h. ago Brazil’s Bolsonaro was convicted but the military appetite for a coup lingers

Armed forces academies teach troops that military control would be better for the country, historians and experts sayHours after supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro ransacked Brasília on 8 January 2023, three electricity pylons were brought down in different locations, between 1,000 miles and 1,800 miles away from Brazil’s capital.In the following days, 21 more towers were toppled, all using the same method: bolts were removed from the base, and supporting steel cables were cut. The perpetrators knew exactly which power lines to sever to cause the most harm to the electricity supply. Continue reading...

Events

16 h. ago Taylor Swift wows in corset and mini skirt as she continues album promo blitz on Late Night with Seth Meyers

Taylor Swift made a showstopping appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Wednesday. 

Politics

17 h. ago Indiana man convicted in 2001 rape and murder of teenager to be executed by lethal injection

An Indiana man convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl is set to die by lethal injection early Friday in the state’s third execution since resuming capital punishment last year

Events

19 h. ago Senate Republicans vote against check on Trump using deadly force against cartels

First vote in Congress on military campaign that White House says has hit four vessels and killed at least 21 peopleSenate Republicans voted down legislation Wednesday that would have put a check on Donald Trump’s ability to use deadly military force against drug cartels after Democrats tried to counter the administration’s extraordinary assertion of presidential war powers to destroy vessels in the Caribbean.The vote fell mostly along party lines, 48-51, with two Republicans, Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski, voting in favor and the Democrat John Fetterman voting against. Continue reading...

Politics

20 h. ago Governments are spending billions on their own ‘sovereign’ AI technologies – is it a big waste of money?

Many US-built AI systems fall short but competing against tech giants neither easy nor cheapIn Singapore, a government-funded artificial intelligence model can converse in 11 languages, from Bahasa Indonesia to Lao. In Malaysia, ILMUchat, built by a local construction conglomerate, boasts that it “knows which Georgetown you’re referring to” – that is, the capital of Penang and not the private university in the US. Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Apertus, unveiled in September, understands when to use the Swiss German “ss” and not the German-language character “ß”.Around the world, language models like these are part of an AI arms race worth hundreds of billions of dollars mostly driven by a few powerful companies in the US and China. As giants such as OpenAI, Meta and Alibaba plough vast sums into developing increasingly powerful models, middle powers and developing countries are watching the landscape carefully, and sometimes placing their own, expensive bets. Continue reading...

Economics

22 h. ago High tax fears ahead of Budget sends business confidence to lowest level in three years

HIGH tax fears ahead of next month’s Budget have sent business confidence to its lowest level in three years, a survey shows.  Company bosses fear a Groundhog Day experience as concerns grow they will bear the brunt of another slew of punishing taxes.  Optimism levels appear to be in freefall as tax concerns hit profits growth, recruitment and investment plans.  Businesses have now...

Economics