34 h. ago The nuptial Nimbys waging war on weddings: Villagers say rowdy guests are ruining their lives with 'discos in our back gardens', obscene speeches and traffic clogging up country lanes

From anger over expletive-laden Best Man speeches to guests urinating in residents' gardens, locals living in the shadow of popular wedding venues say they have reached breaking point.

Society

67 h. ago Discovery of ancient garden beneath Jesus’ burial site backs up Biblical account

The discovery of 2,000 year-old olive trees and grapevines are believed to reflect the Gospel of John's account of where Jesus was buried

Politics

5 d. ago Britain's second home ghost towns FIGHT BACK: Locals told to secretly REPORT rich neighbours greedily buying up houses as seaside villages wage war on out

EXCLUSIVE: From April 1, more than 150 councils across the country will increase the tax on second homes to 100 per cent - meaning bills could rise as much as £10,000 for the year.

Society

5 d. ago ‘Have you no sense of decency, sir?’ Joe McCarthy and the road to Trump

Red Scare author Clay Risen sees parallels between 1950s witch-hunts and the right’s assault on government todayOn 9 June 1954, in a Senate hearing room on Capitol Hill, Joseph Nye Welch made American history. With one question, the lawyer prompted the downfall of Joe McCarthy, the Republican Wisconsin senator who for years had run amok, his persecution of supposed communist subversives ruining countless lives.“Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness,” Welch said, as millions watched on TV, as he defended Fred Fisher, a young lawyer in McCarthy’s sights. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago We live underneath the M4 motorway... the pillars ruin our view and the cars coat our gardens in thick dust

EXCLUSIVE: Mother-of-four Joan lives in Port Talbot, South Wales, where a 45ft high fly-over on the M4 goes right above her back garden.

Transport

6 d. ago Move fast, kill things: the tech startups trying to reinvent defence with Silicon Valley values

Venture capital-backed, $1bn companies are disrupting the way war will be waged with AI and futuristic weapons. Will they overthrow the traditional big military manufacturers, and what would that mean for the battlefield?Visit tech startup Skydio’s headquarters on the San Francisco peninsula in California and you’re likely to find flying robots buzzing on the roof overhead. Docking stations with motorised covers open to allow small drones that resemble the TIE fighters from Star Wars films to take off; when each drone lands back again, they close. The drones can fly completely autonomously and without GPS, taking in data from onboard cameras and using AI to execute programmed missions and avoid obstacles.Skydio, with more than $740m in venture capital funding and a valuation of about $2.5bn, makes drones for the military along with civilian organisations such as police forces and utility companies. The company moved away from the consumer market in 2020 and is now the largest US dro...

Events

7 d. ago Save on home and garden essentials with this Wayfair discount code

Prepare your garden for summer with these Wayfair promo codes

Society

2 w. ago Next UK interest rate cut may not come until August after hawkish Bank of England hold – as it happened

Monetary Policy Committee votes 8-1 to leave UK interest rates unchanged at 4.5%Bank of England says companies freezing hiring plans as it keeps interest rates on holdIn the property world, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is buying a quarter of Covent Garden.The Norges Bank Investment Management has entered a partnership with landlord Shaftesbury, and will pay £570m for a 25% stake in the Covent Garden estate.This investment underscores our belief in the strength of London with the portfolio complementing our other high quality West End investments.Covent Garden is one of the world’s most recognised retail, leisure and cultural destinations and we look forward to supporting Shaftesbury Capital’s management team, with their strong track record of delivering the growth potential of this prime West End estate.”“The reforms I have announced will ensure everyone who can work gets the active support they need, including through an extra £1 billion for personalised health, skills and employ...

Politics

2 w. ago Next UK interest rate cut may not come until August after hawkish Bank of England hold – business live

Monetary Policy Committee votes 8-1 to leave UK interest rates unchanged at 4.5%Bank of England says companies freezing hiring plans as it keeps interest rates on holdIn the property world, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is buying a quarter of Covent Garden.The Norges Bank Investment Management has entered a partnership with landlord Shaftesbury, and will pay £570m for a 25% stake in the Covent Garden estate.This investment underscores our belief in the strength of London with the portfolio complementing our other high quality West End investments.Covent Garden is one of the world’s most recognised retail, leisure and cultural destinations and we look forward to supporting Shaftesbury Capital’s management team, with their strong track record of delivering the growth potential of this prime West End estate.”“The reforms I have announced will ensure everyone who can work gets the active support they need, including through an extra £1 billion for personalised health, skills and employ...

Economics

2 w. ago Bank of England holds interest rates at 4.5% amid 'Stagflation' fears: Cuts paused as wages surge despite economic slowdown driven by Labour's tax raid and Trump's trade war

The Monetary Policy Committee announced the base rate is being kept on hold at 4.5 per cent after its latest meeting.

Economics

2 w. ago Bank of England leaves interest rates on hold despite ‘intensifying’ trade war uncertainty – business live

Monetary Policy Committee votes 8-1 to leave UK interest rates unchanged at 4.5%In the property world, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is buying a quarter of Covent Garden.The Norges Bank Investment Management has entered a partnership with landlord Shaftesbury, and will pay £570m for a 25% stake in the Covent Garden estate.This investment underscores our belief in the strength of London with the portfolio complementing our other high quality West End investments.Covent Garden is one of the world’s most recognised retail, leisure and cultural destinations and we look forward to supporting Shaftesbury Capital’s management team, with their strong track record of delivering the growth potential of this prime West End estate.”“The reforms I have announced will ensure everyone who can work gets the active support they need, including through an extra £1 billion for personalised health, skills and employment support for sick and disabled people.“We’ve already put in place measures to make ...

Economics

2 w. ago Bank of England expected to leave interest rates on hold today; global debt exceeds $100tn – business live

Monetary Policy Committee set to announce interest rate decision at noonIn the property world, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is buying a quarter of Covent Garden.The Norges Bank Investment Management has entered a partnership with landlord Shaftesbury, and will pay £570m for a 25% stake in the Covent Garden estate.This investment underscores our belief in the strength of London with the portfolio complementing our other high quality West End investments.Covent Garden is one of the world’s most recognised retail, leisure and cultural destinations and we look forward to supporting Shaftesbury Capital’s management team, with their strong track record of delivering the growth potential of this prime West End estate.”“The reforms I have announced will ensure everyone who can work gets the active support they need, including through an extra £1 billion for personalised health, skills and employment support for sick and disabled people.“We’ve already put in place measures to make work pay...

Economics

2 w. ago Man arrested for killing dogs told cops they 'must have hung themselves'

Cops found two dogs hanging from a tree in a man's back garden in America, but when they asked him about the grim discovery, he claimed they'd somehow done it themselves

Events

2 w. ago Taekwondo world champion, 18, was one of three teens killed in car crash as second victim is pictured for the first time

Taekwondo world champion Simon Evans, 18, Jacob Holeman, 17, and Jenson Bridges, 17, were killed on Friday when an Audi A1 crashed along a country lane in Tong near Shifnal, Shropshire.

Events

2 w. ago Teen Taekwondo world champion killed in horror Audi smash as family pay tribute

Former Taekwondo world champion Simon Evans, dubbed a "kind gentleman" by his family, was killed alongside two friends when an Audi A1 crashed along a country lane.

Events

2 w. ago Taekwondo world champion, 18, was one of three teens killed in car crash as family remember 'loving and kind' son

Simon Evans, 18, was killed when an Audi A1 crashed along a country lane in Tong near Shifnal, Shropshire.

Events

2 w. ago Jimmy Carr praised for booting out 'nuisance' heckler from Birmingham show

Jimmy Carr became the latest comedian to throw out a rowdy guest at a gig after ejecting a heckler during his performance at the massive Birmingham Symphony Hall

Politics

2 w. ago Long Covid is the pandemic’s dark shadow. Why does no one in power in Britain want to talk about it? | Frances Ryan

Five years after the first lockdown, millions of lives are still being ruined by this debilitating disease. You wouldn’t know itImagine a disease that can render its sufferers bedbound for years. One that could take a marathon runner and leave them unable to walk to the toilet. Imagine that at least 2 million people in England and Scotland alone were affected to some degree, each with a mix of debilitating symptoms, from breathlessness to brain fog to multi-organ damage.Then imagine that there were no proven treatments for this life-changing illness, let alone a cure. In fact, patients are often told it’s all in their heads. Now imagine that more people are falling ill every day with the virus that causes this devastating disability – and that successive governments have abandoned almost every strategy to try to get to grips with it.Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnistIn the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans...

Events

2 w. ago Child's heartbreaking answer that shows how mobiles have ruined lives of a generation

There are currently 987,000 16 to 24-year-olds at a loose end, neither in education or employment, a quarter of them complaining of precarious mental health.

Society

3 w. ago Police probing bone discovery in Scots garden leave scene as DNA tests begin

Tests will take place over the next few weeks in a bid to determine how old the bone is and where it came from.

Events