22 m. ago Nationwide issues warning over ‘clever tactics’ scammers use to steal people’s money

The building society has now introduced a new feature to build on its “scam checker” service

Events

49 m. ago Meet the merpeople: ‘Once I put the tail on, my life was changed forever’

Professional mermaids risk hypothermia, seasickness and the cling of skin-tight silicone, but the reward is becoming an ‘ocean ambassador’ – and a bit more colour in the worldPropelled by a shimmering silicon tail, Katrin Gray spins underwater, blowing kisses to the audience as her long, copper hair floats around her face. Her seemingly effortless movement is anything but – a professional mermaid’s free diving and performance skills require training, practice and total concentration.Mermaiding has become a global cottage industry, with pageants, conventions, retreats and meet-ups, where people gather in “pods” to practise their dolphin kicks. Makers create bespoke tail flukes, bejewelled bras, mermaid hair and even prosthetic gills for professional and hobbyist “seasters”. There is even a Netflix reality series called MerPeople, which documents the occasionally perilous journey of several aspiring professional merfolk. “No dead mermaids,” is the motto of one business featured. Conti...

Politics

52 m. ago Fury at plans to build 150 homes next to village which inspired Charles Dickens' 'The Pickwick Papers'

Fury has erupted over plans to build 150 new homes next to a sleepy English village in Wiltshire which inspired Charles Dickens' first novel The Pickwick Papers.

Politics

2 h. ago China plans to build 'secret room' beneath new London super embassy, unredacted documents show

A decision on the embassy is due to be made on January 20 amid critics fears site could be used for espionage

Culture

3 h. ago I used a £1.19 Home Bargains buy to clean my air fryer — it's the first product that's worked

Nothing else shifts the build up quite like this

Economics

3 h. ago I used a £1.19 Home Bargains buy to clean my air fryer and it did what nothing else could

Nothing else shifts the build up quite like this

Economics

4 h. ago The Traitors' Matthew escaped traumatic gay conversion therapy aged 24 after 'catastrophic coming out' forced him to flee church and build a new life

The reality TV contestant, who is currently taking part in the new series of the hit BBCOne competition, spoke openly about his experience in a column.

Events

7 h. ago China to Build Secret Facility Near Cables Carrying London’s Sensitive Financial Data

China to Build Secret Facility Near Cables Carrying London’s Sensitive Financial Data  Мілітарний

Politics

7 h. ago Love Machines by James Muldoon review – the risks and rewards of getting intimate with AI

The sociology professor is suitably comfortable with AI helpers that he creates his own – it’s their inventors’ motives and unregulated environment he argues we should be concerned aboutIf much of the discussion of AI risk conjures doomsday scenarios of hyper-intelligent bots brandishing nuclear codes, perhaps we should be thinking closer to home. In his urgent, humane book, sociologist James Muldoon urges us to pay more attention to our deepening emotional entanglements with AI, and how profit-hungry tech companies might exploit them. A research associate at the Oxford Internet Institute who has previously written about the exploited workers whose labour makes AI possible, Muldoon now takes us into the uncanny terrain of human-AI relationships, meeting the people for whom chatbots aren’t merely assistants, but friends, romantic partners, therapists, even avatars of the dead.To some, the idea of falling in love with an AI chatbot, or confiding your deepest secrets to one, might...

Events

7 h. ago Love Machines by James Muldoon review – inside the uncanny world of AI relationships

A sociologist talks to the people putting their faith – and their hearts – in the hands of robotsIf much of the discussion of AI risk conjures doomsday scenarios of hyper-intelligent bots brandishing nuclear codes, perhaps we should be thinking closer to home. In his urgent, humane book, sociologist James Muldoon urges us to pay more attention to our deepening emotional entanglements with AI, and how profit-hungry tech companies might exploit them. A research associate at the Oxford Internet Institute who has previously written about the exploited workers whose labour makes AI possible, Muldoon now takes us into the uncanny terrain of human-AI relationships, meeting the people for whom chatbots aren’t merely assistants, but friends, romantic partners, therapists, even avatars of the dead.To some, the idea of falling in love with an AI chatbot, or confiding your deepest secrets to one, might seem mystifying and more than a little creepy. But Muldoon refuses to belittle...

Politics

8 h. ago Cheesy celeriac souffle and citrus salad: Thomasina Miers’ recipes to brighten a dark winter’s day

A light but filling no-bechamel souffle with a zingy citrus salad to add a sharp burst of flavour and colourThere is a skill in not wasting food and it’s all about good, old-fashioned housekeeping. If you learn how to store ingredients properly (cool, dark places are handy for spuds, for example) and keep tabs on what’s in your fridge/freezer, you can use everything up before it goes off – and make delicious things in the process. This golden, cheese-crusted souffle uses up the celeriac and spuds left after the festive season, plus any odds and ends of cheeses. It is spectacularly good, especially paired with a sparkling citrus salad. Continue reading...

Politics

13 h. ago PBS weekend newscasts shut down due to funding cuts, replaced by single

“PBS News Weekend,” the companion to the weekday “NewsHour” program, has signed off, eliminated due to federal funding cuts to public broadcasting

Politics

13 h. ago Labour's housebuilding failures laid bare: New build construction plummets under Sir Keir Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer has 'close to zero' chance of hitting his housebuilding targets, it was claimed today, as analysis of official figures revealed construction has plummeted nationwide under Labour's watch.

Society

14 h. ago Walmart is expanding its drone delivery to hundreds of additional stores

Los Angeles and St. Louis are among the cities that will gain access to the retail giant’s $19.99-a-pop aerial shipment service

Events

17 h. ago Greenland on edge as Denmark expands Arctic defences amid Trump takeover talk

A £3.5bn Arctic military build-up, new fighter jets and a fortified command HQ in Nuuk underscore Denmark’s determination to defend Greenland after Donald Trump’s renewed threats to seize the island.

Politics

18 h. ago More than 100,000 El Paso residents left with little to no water after main break

Officials in Texas city issued boil water notice and set up water distribution centers after main line break on SaturdayMore than 100,000 residents in the Texas border city of El Paso were left with little to no water after a main break over the weekend, and it was expected to take till midweek for operations to return to normal, officials said.The break in the 36-inch water main line happened late Saturday night in El Paso, which has a population of about 700,000, officials said. Gilbert Trejo, an official with El Paso Water, called it “an event of unprecedented proportion”. He said the break was made even more impactful because of “the way the pipeline itself was designed along with how different connections of smaller lines were made to it”. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago China plans to build 'secret room' beneath new London super embassy, redacted documents show

A decision on the embassy is due to be made on January 20 amid critics fears site could be used for espionage

Culture

19 h. ago London council pays family over £38,000 after autistic boy left with no educational support for two years

The 17-year-old boy, known only as ‘Y’, missed out on home-based support for his autism, dyslexia and social skills to which he was legally entitled

Economics

19 h. ago The Guardian view on regulating big tech: politicians must back Ofcom’s challenge to Musk | Editorial

A flood of non-consensual deepfake bikini shots on X is putting the UK’s Online Safety Act to the testThe unleashing on X (formerly Twitter) of a torrent of AI-generated images of women and children wearing bikinis, some in sexualised poses or with injuries, has rightly prompted a strong reaction from UK politicians and regulators. Monday’s announcement that X is being investigated was Ofcom’s most combative move since key provisions in the Online Safety Act came into force. None of the other businesses it has challenged or fined have anything like the global reach or political clout of Elon Musk’s social media giant. Whatever happens next, this is a defining moment. What is being defined is the extent to which some of the wealthiest companies on the planet are under democratic control.But the announcement is only a first step. Ofcom has given no indication of how long its investigation will take. On Friday Downing Street described as insulting the decision to li...

Politics

23 h. ago The Rochdale cricket club that wants to build indoor padel courts

The club has submitted plans to build new padel courts on their site

Events