5 h. ago 'I'm an expert and if you dream about someone at Christmas this is what it means'

A psychic and astrologer has explained the possible meanings behind dreaming about certain people at this time of year - and what it could reveal about your desires

Politics

18 h. ago The Guardian view on Trump’s BBC lawsuit: grievance politics with a purpose | Editorial

The US president has repeatedly targeted American media in an attempt to muzzle debate and scrutiny. His attempt to export the bullying must be resistedOn the day that the government launched a high-stakes consultation to consider fresh ways of funding the BBC in the digital era, the corporation could have done without another difficult news event of its own. Donald Trump’s decision to follow through on threats to sue over the content of a Panorama programme broadcast in October 2024 may not have come as a surprise, given Mr Trump’s litigious record in the United States. But it will add to the general air of beleaguerment at the corporation and further embolden its domestic political enemies.A terse BBC statement on Tuesday suggested that there would be no backing down in the face of White House bullying. That is the right response to absurd claims of “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” caused to the US president, and a fantastical request for damages amounting to $10bn. ...

Politics

42 h. ago The Guardian view on birth influencers: the public need protecting from bad advice | Editorial

Our investigation of the Free Birth Society points to problems with maternity care and the role played by technologyDespite all the proven advances of modern medicine, some people are drawn to alternative or “natural” cures and practices. Many of these do no harm. As the cancer specialist Prof Chris Pyke noted last year, people undergoing cancer treatment will often try meditation or vitamins as well. When such a change is in addition to, and not instead of, evidence-based treatment, this is usually not a problem. If it reduces distress, it can help.But the proliferation of online health influencers poses challenges that governments and regulators in many countries have yet to grasp. The Guardian’s investigation into the Free Birth Society (FBS), a business offering membership and advice to expectant mothers, and training for “birth keepers”, has exposed 48 cases of late-term stillbirths or other serious harm involving mothers or birth attendants who appear to be linked to FBS. Whil...

Politics

42 h. ago The Guardian view on combating Europe’s national populists: protect the less well

As EU countries face multiple challenges in a new era, they must fight to preserve the continent’s social model. That means a new economic approachMore than a year after the election that handed Donald Trump a decisive comeback victory, the Democratic party has still not released its postmortem analysis. But last week, an influential progressive lobby group published its own. Kamala Harris’s campaign, its authors argued, failed to connect with core constituencies because it did not focus enough on addressing basic economic anxieties. By prioritising the menace to democracy that Maga authoritarianism represented, progressives neglected the bread-and-butter issues that were uppermost in many people’s minds.As the EU braces for a tumultuous period of politics between now and the end of the decade, that is a lesson that needs to be fully absorbed in Brussels, Paris and Berlin. The White House, as its recently published national security strategy makes clear, is hopeful that “patrio...

Politics

67 h. ago The Guardian view on the Bondi terror shootings: do not let these antisemitic attacks drive division | Editorial

The beachside attack on Australia’s Jews, targeting a Hanukah gathering, reflects growing bigotry and political violenceThe shock and horror that have rippled out from Bondi Beach across the world are immense. At least 11 people died at a place packed with families. A further 29 individuals suffered serious injuries. For Sunday evening’s shootings to occur in one of the most idyllic and quintessentially Australian of locations, at one of the most joyous times in the Jewish calendar, only deepens the fear and anguish felt throughout the Jewish community, across Australia and more broadly.Authorities were quick to identify the attack as terrorism, targeting Jews as they gathered to celebrate the beginning of Hanukah on the beach. The two gunmen – one now dead, another critically injured as of Sunday night – fired on the crowds from a bridge. Parents ran with their children in their arms; elderly people struggled to flee. A car containing improvised explosive devices was found nearby a...

Events

4 d. ago The Guardian view on Trump and Venezuela: a return to seeking regime change | Editorial

The US is ramping up the pressure on Nicolás Maduro with a tanker seizure and expanded sanctions following threats and boat strikesEarly in his first term, Donald Trump mooted a “military option” for Venezuela to dislodge its president, Nicolás Maduro. Reports suggest that he eagerly discussed the prospect of an invasion behind closed doors. Advisers eventually talked him down. Instead, the US pursued a “maximum pressure” strategy of sanctions and threats.But Mr Maduro is still in place. And Mr Trump’s attempts to remove him are ramping up again. The US has amassed its largest military presence in the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama. It has carried out more than 20 shocking strikes on alleged drug boats. Mr Trump reportedly delivered an ultimatum late last month, telling the Venezuelan leader that he could have safe passage from his country if he left immediately. There was already a $50m bounty on his head. This week came expanded sanctions and the seizure of a tanker.D...

Politics

4 d. ago The Guardian view on Nnena Kalu’s historic Turner prize win: breaking a glass ceiling | Editorial

The UK art world is finally becoming more inclusive. But greater support must be given to the organisations that enable disabled artists to flourishThe Turner prize is no stranger to sparking debate or pushing boundaries. This year it has achieved both. For the first time, an artist with learning disabilities has won. Glasgow-born Nnena Kalu took the award for her colourful, cocoon-like sculptures made from VHS tape, clingfilm and other abandoned materials, along with her large swirling vortex drawings. Kalu is autistic, with limited verbal communication. In an acceptance speech on her behalf, Kalu’s facilitator, Charlotte Hollinshead, said that “a very stubborn glass ceiling” had been broken.Kalu’s win is a high-profile symbol of a shift towards greater inclusivity that has been happening in the UK arts world over the past five years. Last month, Beyond the Visual opened at the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, in which everything is curated or created by blind and parti...

Politics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on Labour’s new peerages: another boost for the ermine arms race | Editorial

Sir Keir Starmer promised to bring meaningful reform to the House of Lords. He is failing to introduce itIn opposition, Sir Keir Starmer called the unelected House of Lords “indefensible”. This week, barely 18 months into his prime ministership, Sir Keir took the total of unelected peers he has appointed since July 2024 to 96. Remarkably, Wednesday’s 34 new life peerages, mainly Labour supporters, take his appointment total above those of each of his four most recent Conservative predecessors. You must go back to David Cameron to find a prime minister who did more to stuff the Lords than Sir Keir.At the last election, Labour presented itself to the voters as a party of Lords reform. The party manifesto promised to remove the remaining hereditary peers, to reform the appointments process, to impose a peers’ retirement age, and to consult on proposals for replacing the Lords with an alternative second chamber. The House of Lords, the manifesto flatly declared, was “too big”....

Politics

7 d. ago The Guardian view on Trump and Europe: more an abusive relationship than an alliance | Editorial

The White House is aggressively seeking to weaken and dominate the United States’ traditional allies. European leaders must learn to fight back.Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz have become adept at scrambling to deal with the latest bad news from Washington. Their meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Monday was so hastily arranged that Mr Macron needed to be back in Paris by late afternoon to meet Croatia’s prime minister, while Mr Merz was due on television for an end-of-year Q&A with the German public.But diplomatic improvisation alone cannot fully answer Donald Trump’s structural threat to European security. The US president and his emissaries are trying to bully Mr Zelenskyy into an unjust peace deal that suits American and Russian interests. In response, the summit helped ramp up support for the use of up to £100bn in frozen Russian assets as collateral for a “reparations loan” to Ukraine. European counter-proposals for a ceasefire will ...

Politics

9 d. ago JOHN MURDOCH'S DRIVE TIME: We test the new Kia Sportage and reveal details of the new Nissan Leaf

The Sportage has been a massive success for Korean manufacturer Kia and now the popular family SUV is even better and more stylish thanks to recent updates.

Politics

9 d. ago The Guardian view on Marwan Barghouti: Palestinians need a political future as well as aid and reconstruction | Editorial

Pushing for the release of the jailed leader could prove central to the peace that Donald Trump claims to seek in the Middle EastIn a sort-of ceasefire, the killings – including of children – have slowed, not stopped. Israeli military operations continue to displace hundreds of families in Gaza. Aid has increased but Israel is still blocking vital supplies. Palestinians desperately require security, humanitarian relief and reconstruction. But they need and expect a political horizon too. Donald Trump’s plans make only the vaguest and most conditional reference to a Palestinian state, and Israelis – as well as their ultra-right government – have entrenched their opposition since the atrocities of 7 October 2023. Yet after two years of annihilation, Palestinian nationhood has won international support that many thought unimaginable.The political fate of Palestinians is bound to the personal fate of Marwan Barghouti. After more than two decades in an Israeli jail for murder, the charis...

Politics

9 d. ago The Guardian view on ageing research: our lives have more distinct phases than we thought | Editorial

Tech moguls may foolishly hope to stay forever young, but others could benefit too from evidence of the human body’s dynamic and varied journey through lifeAgeing can feel remarkably sudden. One morning you awake to find new aches, or lapses in strength and memory that you could swear were not present just a few days prior. We do not literally age overnight, but as research is increasingly showing, we may not do so in a steady, linear path either.Over the past decade a multitude of studies have suggested that ageing – at least for certain organs and bodily systems – may actually consist of long periods of stability, punctuated by inflection points or periods of rapid biological change. This shift in thinking has raised hopes for anti-ageing medicines. But it could also make us rethink our attitude to ageing in general, viewing it as a dynamic and varied journey – rather than simply a slow march of attrition and breakdown. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Met Office maps reveal exact time wind gusts set to exceed 60mph as yellow weather warnings issued

Several yellow weather warnings are in force over the next few days

Events

9 d. ago Met Office maps reveal exact time huge band of rain set to hit UK as weather alerts issued

Greater Manchester is set to be affected by heavy rain in the coming days

Events

1 week ago Coronation Street star to become a first time dad with epic Christmas reveal

The soap star told fans 'New character dropping April ‘26.”

Politics

1 week ago Russell Tovey: ‘We have a responsibility, all of us, to choose empathy’

The actor is leaning into his leading man era, with a starring role in a new ‘Doctor Who’ spin-off series this month. He sits down with Helen Coffey to talk climate change, incel culture, and the importance of queer representation on screen

Politics

1 week ago Which UK surnames come from Vikings? Check if your family has Norse ancestry with a DNA test this Christmas

Viking ancestry is far more common in Britain than most of us ever realised. A simple DNA kit could reveal your family’s own Norse roots in time for Christmas.

Politics

1 week ago The Kira Cousins fake baby scandal's NEW dark twist: After doll outrage she vanished. Now we expose the shameless story of what happened next as victim breaks silence to say: 'I feel sick'

The new 'baby' is due some time next year, delivery date to be confirmed. No gender reveal party this time, but there will surely be a launch party, possibly with balloons.

Events

1 week ago Inside the climate group working everywhere but DC: ‘You can still have huge wins’

Climate Cabinet supports candidates in state and city races as the federal government ignores the climate crisisWith a president who has called climate change a “hoax”, refused to send a delegation to international climate talks, and packed the federal government with former fossil fuel industry employees, this can feel like a dark moment for climate action in the US. But shifting one’s focus to local and state law makes for a very different outlook.Analysts have estimated that 75% of the commitments that the US made at the Paris climate agreement – which Donald Trump pulled the nation out of as soon as he took office – can be reached entirely without federal support. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Met Office weather maps reveal exact time England forecast to see snow and hail this week

The weather front will blow eastwards over the country on Friday, December 5

Society