4 h. ago Why Britons spend more than two days a year talking about weather

Met Office figures show UK set for record hot summer, with temperatures 1.5C above average

Politics

42 h. ago Trump's day of reckoning as leaders stand with Zelensky after humiliating Putin talks

Sir Keir Starmer and other European leaders arrive in Washington to stand united with Volodymyr Zelensky as he faces a US president who, just days earlier, extended a red carpet welcome to Vladimir Putin

Politics

5 d. ago Trump’s DC takeover is a move of staggering hypocrisy | Rebecca Solnit

Donald Trump is concocting a drama in DC because he would like us to really stop talking about the Epstein filesThe most violent day in the history of Washington DC, leaving aside the War of 1812, was 6 January 2021, and the instigator was Donald J Trump, who this week has endeavored to seize control of the nation’s capital, after reports that a former employee of the “department of government efficiency” (Doge) was assaulted in the city.In a sense the new event echoes the old; both are illegitimate power grabs made on the basis of lies. In 2021 it was a lie about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election; in the summer of 2025 it’s lies about crime levels. Reliable sources – including the Biden Department of Justice in January – have noted that violent crime there is at a 30-year low. Five people died as a result of that 2021 attack on Congress, and dozens of law enforcement officers were injured, some gravely, by the mob Trump incited. On his first day in office in 2025 he par...

Politics

5 d. ago National Financial Awareness Day: Expert tips to take control of your money

14 August is National Financial Awareness Day - we want to get more people talking about money and improving their financial resilience!

Economics

6 d. ago Talks stall on world’s first plastic pollution treaty one day before deadline

Almost 100 countries reject draft treaty as ‘unambitious’ and ‘inadequate’Talks on the world’s first legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution have stalled just one day before the negotiations are due to end.Some of the countries calling for an ambitious treaty to include targets to reduce plastic production, including Colombia, the EU and the UK, have rejected as “unacceptable” and “unambitious” a draft treaty text that does not include production caps, nor address chemicals used in plastic products. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Russian forces break through Ukraine frontline days before Putin

Around 100,000 Russian troops are believed to have travelled at least 10km north of the Ukrainian frontline - days before upcoming peace talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin

Politics

7 d. ago ‘Frankly’: The key things we have learned from Nicola Sturgeon's memoir as book goes on sale early

As her memoir gets released days early, we take a look at the main talking points from ‘Frankly’.

Politics

7 d. ago Global stocks rally as Washington and Beijing signal trade talks

Japanese and Australian equities hit record highs after Donald Trump signs executive order to continue talks for 90 days

Politics

9 d. ago Are you breaking up with natural deodorant? A surprising number of people are for one big reason

Natural deodorants seem to be all anyone is talking about these days, but many people have noticed the same effects and putting them down – here's why

Politics

1 week ago I pushed myself to talk to strangers every day in a foreign city. It went so well that I brought the habit home.

I pushed myself to talk to strangers every day in a foreign city. It went so well that I brought the habit home.  Business Insider

Politics

1 week ago When a journalist uses AI to interview a dead child, isn’t it time to ask what the boundaries should be? | Gaby Hinsliff

The virtual world can bring a kind of friendship and a kind of connection, even to the grieving. But it can also facilitate exploitation of very human needsJoaquin Oliver was 17 years old when he was shot in the hallway of his high school. An older teenager, expelled some months previously, had opened fire with a high-powered rifle on Valentine’s Day in what became America’s deadliest high school shooting. Seven years on, Joaquin says he thinks it’s important to talk about what happened on that day in Parkland, Florida, “so that we can create a safer future for everyone”.But sadly, what happened to Joaquin that day is that he died. The oddly metallic voice speaking to the ex-CNN journalist Jim Acosta in an interview on Substack this week was actually that of a digital ghost: an AI, trained on the teenager’s old social media posts at the request of his parents, who are using it to bolster their campaign for tougher gun controls. Like many bereaved families, they have told their child...

Events

1 week ago Kelly Clarkson postpones Las Vegas residency due to family emergency

The announcement comes amid speculation after the singer took unexplained time off from her hit daytime talk show

Society

1 week ago JD Vance visits Indiana to discuss redistricting amid Trump pressure on GOP states – US politics live

Protests set to greet vice-president on visit after governor said redistricting ‘looks like it’s going to happen across many Republican states’Across the US’s fabled but overstretched national parks, unusual scenes are playing out this summer following budget cuts by Donald Trump’s administration. Archeologists are staffing ticket booths, ecologists are covering visitor centers and the superintendents of parks are even cleaning the toilets.The National Park Service (NPS), responsible for maintaining cherished wildernesses and sites of cultural importance from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty, has lost a quarter of its permanent staff since Trump took office in January, with the administration seeking to gut the service’s budget by a third.Donald Trump has claimed “great progress was made” during talks on ending the war in Ukraine between his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Wednesday. The three-hour talks came two days before a deadline the US p...

Politics

1 week ago ‘Sometimes I overshare’: Adam Buxton on fear, fun, finance – and falling out with friends

The comedian has just released his debut album. He discusses songwriting, his recent memoirs, the problems with modern politics and why we all need to open upOn a muggy summer day, Adam Buxton is talking me through the songs on his debut album, Buckle Up. “There’s one on there called Standing Still,” he says, “which was written when I was feeling absolutely bleak and lost and is about opening a packet of pasta when all the pasta spills. I thought: ‘You can get a joke in there about being a fusilli billy and maybe that will distract a bit from the more earnest and pain-laden lyrics about how, every morning, I drink a cup of tea and it helps me with all the thoughts I have to smother.’”What are these thoughts? “I get overwhelmed by the world and, the worse the news gets, the harder it bites,” he says. “I get existential fear and I think I should go and join Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and work with them. But then, is that really the best use of my talents? My wife is like: ‘Please ...

Politics

1 week ago Trump hails ‘great progress’ after Witkoff meets Putin for talks on Ukraine

US president calls meeting ‘highly productive’ amid unconfirmed reports on halt to long-range strikesDonald Trump has claimed “great progress was made” during talks on ending the war in Ukraine between his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Wednesday.The three-hour talks came two days before a deadline the US president set for Russia to reach a peace deal in the war or face fresh sanctions. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago The Latest: Putin hosts Trump envoy Witkoff for crucial talks on Ukraine peace deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff for talks, days before the White House’s deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil

Politics

2 w. ago CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Do You Have ADHD?: 'Do you fidget and get distracted by noise? Maybe you've got ADHD too'

These days, the most talked about diagnosis is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD].

Politics

2 w. ago Despite Trump, the US economy remains surprisingly resilient. But for how long? | Richard Partington

Thanks to stockpiling, neither the markets nor consumers have been as badly affected by the trade wars as feared. But signs of trouble are loomingChaotic and unpredictable, keeping up with Donald Trump’s volatile trade war – never mind his presidency – can be tough.Back in April after his “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, the talk was of the president crashing the global economy. Then, after a Wall Street backlash, the world learned the acronym “Taco”, which stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out”. Now, things are heating up again. Continue reading...

Politics