70 m. ago Is Starmer’s reluctance to criticise Trump smart tactics – or the sign of a man without a plan? | Rafael Behr

The PM won’t call out Trump over Venezuela, and won’t commit to Europe. His refusal to choose leaves vital choices for Britain to be made by others For an inveterate liar, Donald Trump is remarkably honest. The best guide to what he thinks is what he says. When forecasting his likely course of action, start with his declared intentions – removing the president of Venezuela, for example – and assume he means it. When he says the US must take possession of Greenland, he is not kidding.The motives are sometimes muddled but rarely hidden. Trump likes making deals, especially real estate deals, and money. He wants to be great and to have his greatness affirmed with praise and prizes. He craves spectacle. The world as he describes it doesn’t always resemble observable reality, but there is an effortless, sociopathic sincerity to his falsehoods. The truth is whatever he intuits it to be in the moment to advance his interests and manipulate his audience.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist C...

Politics

2 h. ago ‘Catastrophic’ MoJ leasing of jail with toxic gas set to cost more than £100m

MPs criticise 10-year deal struck in ‘blind panic’ to rent Dartmoor prison, where high levels of radon had been detectedA “catastrophic” decision by the Ministry of Justice to sign a 10-year lease on a prison where high levels of a poisonous gas had been detected is expected to cost the UK taxpayer more than £100m, parliament’s spending watchdog has concluded.The public accounts committee said the 2022 deal to rent HMP Dartmoor from the Duchy of Cornwall was signed “in a blind panic” by senior civil servants looking to guarantee prison places. Continue reading...

Economics

2 h. ago Beast Games season two review – this mindless, vibeless reality show is like Squid Game meets Love Island

Is this big-money challenge cruel? Yes. But it’s mainly just tedious to watch these immature players and their teenage machinations as they battle for cashThe first season of Beast Games – the big-money reality challenge masterminded and hosted by internet personality Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast – prompted a lawsuit. Five anonymous contestants sued both the production companies behind the series and Donaldson himself, claiming that they had been kept “underfed and overtired”, and alleging an unsafe environment on the set of the Gladiators-ish, Squid Game-esque series (claims, of course, firmly denied by all parties). While the participants claimed they had been “shamelessly exploited” in the name of entertainment, this did little to impede the success of Beast Games, which went on to become Amazon’s most-watched unscripted series ever, garnering 50 million viewers in the month after its release.You may well come to Beast Games with a sense that this is a slightly murky,...

Politics

2 h. ago Mum of teen jailed in Qatar begs UK Government to help free son

Lino Neil is stuck in a jail in Doha, Qatar, and could face years in prison unless he can prove he was exploited by an organised crime group

Politics

4 h. ago Judge allows San Diego high school gunman to be resentenced after 23 years in prison

A judge has granted a request by the gunman in a 2001 shooting at a San Diego high school to be resentenced

Events

4 h. ago CBS Evening News joins Kristi Noem on an ICE raid after Bari Weiss’ 60 Minutes controversy

Noem’s high-profile interview on CBS Evening News came after the network’s new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss ordered investigative show 60 Minutes to spike a report on Noem’s agency sending detainees to a brutal Salvadoran prison

Politics

5 h. ago Aldrich Ames, CIA agent who spied for Soviet Union and Russia, dies aged 84

In damaging intelligence breach, Ames admitted to passing information to Moscow for nearly a decadeAldrich Ames, the CIA agent who spied for the Soviet Union and Russia in one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in US history, has died in a Maryland prison. He was 84.His death on Monday was confirmed by the Bureau of Prisons. Continue reading...

Events

5 h. ago CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames, who sold US secrets to the Soviets, dies in prison at 84

CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames, who betrayed Western intelligence assets to the Soviet Union and Russia, has died in a Maryland prison

Events

6 h. ago CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night's TV: This measly Millionaire spin

Millionaire Hot Seat is a version of ITV's champion quiz, with everything that's great about it shrunk, replaced or lost. We're left with a bland, unsatisfying recipe in identical packaging.

Politics

6 h. ago Definitive guide to the safest cars and the ones to worry about: FRED KELLY analyses Ford, Kia, VW Vauxhall, Nissan and so many more...

Despite car safety coming on leaps and bounds in recent years, modern hybrid vehicles are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as their petrol predecessors.

Politics

6 h. ago Taxpayer face £100million bill for 'unusable' prison as MPs brand MoJ's handling of the affair a 'catastrophic failure' and an 'absolute disgrace'

The taxpayer is shelling out £4million a year to lease Dartmoor prison from the Duchy of Cornwall even though the building is uninhabitable due to contamination by radon gas.

Economics

7 h. ago Waitrose to create 550 jobs for new Bristol warehouse as it eyes expansion

The distribution centre will open in early 2027 and be run by logistics firm DHL, which is set to begin recruiting in spring.

Society

8 h. ago Jimmy Mizen killer to move to open prison after boasting about murder in rap video

Jake Fahri, who murdered 19-year-old Jimmy Mizen in a London bakery and was later found to have rapped about the killing under a pseudonym, is set to be placed in an open prison

Events

9 h. ago Inside Maduro's 'disgusting' tiny prison cell where lights never go out and there are no pillows

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will be closely watched in a Brooklyn prison's special housing unit known for unsanitary conditions and inmate deaths, said a prison expert.

Events

9 h. ago Anthony Joshua driver charged over crash that killed boxer’s two close friends is pictured as he faces life in prison

THIS is the chauffeur charged with causing the deaths of two of boxing superstar’s Anthony Joshua's best pals in a horror smash. Adeniyi Kayode, 47, was at the wheel of the black Lexus SUV which had its passenger side torn open in a crash into a parked lorry in Nigeria. Strength and conditioning coach Sina...

Events

9 h. ago BBC Waterloo Road fans say same thing as iconic character returns

The school drama first aired in 2006, running until 2015 before it returned in 2021.

Politics

9 h. ago Best dehumidifiers for tackling damp at home, tried and tested by an expert

Dry out your damp basement or bathroom with one of the best dehumidifiers

Politics

9 h. ago Emmerdale Joe Tate's shock exit 'sealed' after Graham Foster's return from the dead

Joe Tate has made a devilish move amid the drama surrounding John Sugden's death - and with Graham Foster returning, could there be an exit on the cards for Joe?

Events

10 h. ago 'It’s taken me 20 years as a baldy to find something that stops shine

BLD BRO are tackling the stigma around male hair loss with a range of products designed to nourish bald scalps and promote a 'healthy, confident scalp'

Politics

10 h. ago Pamela Smart seeks to overturn conviction for having teenager murder her husband

Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student in 1990, is seeking to overturn her conviction over what her lawyers claim were several constitutional violations

Events