59 m. ago FTSE 100 Live 16 December: Rate cut seen as jobless rate rises, index holds firm

The rate of unemployment has risen to its highest level in almost a decade outside the pandemic as employers continue to shed jobs.

Society

67 m. ago ‘Dozens’ of Scots manufacturing workers face redundancy as company confirms job losses

DOZENS of skilled workers at a Scots manufacturing firm are facing redundancy after the company confirmed a global restructuring. Up to 30 roles at Convergix Automation Solutions in Arbroath, Angus, are understood to be at risk after Christmas. Bosses say they’re “realigning” with market conditions and are considering redundancies at the Elliot Industrial Estate that...

Economics

68 m. ago Unemployment rises to 5.1%, highest in a decade outside the pandemic

Bank of England seen as almost certain to cut interest rates on Thursday as labour market cools

Events

73 m. ago How did this warm, cheery man make a film as horrific as Misery? When Rob Reiner met Stephen King

In an industry not exactly known for it, Reiner was an exceptionally nice guy. But he was too much of a showman to make a straight shocker. The result was rich, terrifying – yet cherished• ‘Not a second of wasted time’: Rob Reiner’s golden run• Meeting Rob Reiner was like a visit from Santa• Rob Reiner’s five best films• Hollywood in shock: ‘One of the greatest’You can love a film without, apparently, ever having paid full attention to it. I realised this only recently when I came to understood something crucial about Misery, the 1990 psychological horror film adapted from the novel by Stephen King and directed by Rob Reiner. What are the chances, I used to think, that Paul Sheldon, the bestselling novelist kidnapped and tortured by unhinged superfan Annie Wilkes, came off the road right when she happened along? It didn’t occur to me that the reason she was there in the first place was because she was stalking him or even (a conclusion not supported by the text) that she caused the ...

Events

73 m. ago This is another ‘ozone layer’ moment. Now, we must urgently target methane | Mia Mottley

The oil and gas industry must be legally bound to cut methane emissions. With climate tipping points approaching, time is running out • Mia Mottley is the prime minister of BarbadosThe timing is brutal. Just as the world celebrates the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Paris climate agreement this month, new evidence shows that the world is crashing through the main defence that was constructed against climate catastrophe.The three-year temperature average is – for the first time – set to exceed the Paris guardrail of 1.5C above preindustrial levels. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2025 will join 2023 and 2024 as the three warmest since the Industrial Revolution, reflecting the accelerating pace of the climate crisis.Mia Mottley is the prime minister of Barbados Continue reading...

Events

75 m. ago Jobless rate rises to 5.1% as wage growth slips back further

The Office for National Statistics said the rate of unemployment rose to 5.1% in the three months to October – the highest since early 2021.

Politics

93 m. ago Gary Neville reveals what Ruben Amorim has got right at Man United despite 'absolute mayhem'

Manchester United played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Bournemouth in the Premier League on Monday night.

Politics

2 h. ago How King Charles's former butler was briefly removed from royal duty after a disastrous fake tan left him looking like an 'Oompa

The fake tan caused such a stir that Grant Harrold was banned from serving Charles and Camilla, while they were staying at Birkhall in 2005, until it faded.

Events

2 h. ago Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson review – startlingly original

The Indigenous Canadian author brilliantly captures the interdependence of humans and the natural world, in a darkly satirical critique of colonialismNoopiming, the first of Canadian writer-musician Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s books to be published in the UK, means “in the bush” in the language of the Ojibwe people. The title of this startlingly original fiction is an ironic reference to Roughing It in the Bush; or, Forest Life in Canada, an 1852 memoir about “the civilisation of barbarous countries” by Susanna Moodie – Simpson’s eponymous “white lady” – a Briton who settled in the 1830s on the north shore of Lake Ontario, where Simpson’s ancestors resided and she now lives.That 19th-century settlers’ guidebook went on to be hailed as the origin of Canadian women’s writing; Margaret Atwood adopted the Suffolk-born frontierswoman’s voice in her 1970 poetry collection, The Journals of Susanna Moodie. Though she mentions Moodie’s book only in an afterword, Simpson’s perspective is di...

Events

2 h. ago ‘I went down to save lives’: Hero shopkeeper who tackled Bondi Beach gunman thought he was going to die

Father-of-two, who moved to Sydney from Syria in 2006, has been hailed as a hero

Society

2 h. ago Pakistani court sentences cleric from banned party to 35 years for inciting violence

Pakistani officials say an anti-terrorism court has sentenced a senior leader of a banned Islamist party to 35 years in prison for inciting violence

Events

3 h. ago Super flu: Get the vaccine to protect grandma and grandad at Christmas, says London chief nurse

Having the jab could be the ‘one of the greatest Christmas gift’ if it means not passing flu to a loved one, says top nurse Karen Bonner

Politics

3 h. ago ‘No water, no life’: Iraq’s Tigris River in danger of disappearing

Unless urgent action is taken life will be fundamentally altered for the ancient communities who live on its banksAs a leader of one of the oldest gnostic religions in the world, Sheikh Nidham Kreidi al-Sabahi must use only water taken from a flowing river, even for drinking.The 68-year-old has a long grey beard hanging over his simple tan robe and a white cap covering his equally long hair, which sheikhs are forbidden from cutting. He says he has never got ill from drinking water from the Tigris River and believes that as long as the water is flowing, it is clean. But the truth is that soon it may not be flowing at all. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago UN expert to speak at Scottish event on arts as a human right amid claims culture is 'weaponised'

The event will take place at the Scottish Parliament

Events

3 h. ago Test Driving the seafood and Guinness at Gilroy's Loft, right at the top of London's new Guinness Open Gate Brewery

Test Driving the seafood and Guinness at Gilroy's Loft, right at the top of London's new Guinness Open Gate Brewery  Hot Dinners

Politics

4 h. ago Hero mum who acted as a human shield to protect stranger's little girl during Bondi Beach terror attack reunites with her grateful parents

A pregnant mum who used her body as a human shield to protect a three-year-old girl during the Bondi Beach terror attack has met with her grateful parents during an emotional reunion.

Events

4 h. ago US Capitol statue of teen civil rights leader Barbara Rose Johns to fill Robert E. Lee’s place

The U.S. Capitol will soon display a statue of a teenaged Barbara Rose Johns as she protested poor conditions at her segregated Virginia high school

Politics

4 h. ago How are you? If you’re German, like me, you might struggle to answer | Carolin Würfel

Our cultural aversion to superficial answers leaves ‘Wie geht’s?’ sounding like a trick question. Perhaps it is time to let our guard downIn the early autumn, over pizza and wine, I had a conversation with a dear friend. He’s Turkish. We were in Ayvalık, a small town on Turkey’s Aegean coast, talking about cultural imprints, when he suddenly paused and looked at me. “You know what?” he said. “Whenever I ask you how you are, you never really answer. You go into a meta space immediately – talking about politics or about bigger things that worry you – but you never say how you actually are.”I’ve been thinking about his observation ever since, debating in my mind whether it was true – and I’ve recently reached the conclusion that, unfortunately, he was right.Carolin Würfel is a writer, screenwriter and journalist who lives in Berlin and Istanbul. She is the author of Three Women Dreamed of Socialism Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Fewer dolls and pencils: Trump struggles to read the US’s cost of living crisis

President hit with blowback for branding affordability issues a ‘hoax’ while flaunting expensive White House renovations

Politics

4 h. ago Fewer dolls and pencils: Trump struggles to read America’s cost of living crisis

President hit with blowback for branding affordability issues a ‘hoax’ while flaunting expensive White House renovations

Politics