87 m. ago Make 1 simple oven check on Christmas Day to avoid cooking disaster

You'll need a properly functioning oven this Christmas Day and now one DIY expert has urged all UK households to do one simple check ahead of their festive feasts

Events

91 m. ago As the US invests in fossil fuels, young climate activists push back in the courts

In this week’s newsletter: A generation is using the legal system to demand accountability for climate harm• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereRikki Held grew up on her family’s ranch in Montana, watching the land transform amid the climate crisis. The Powder River, which runs through the property, has sometimes dried up during drought, leaving crops and livestock without water. At other points, rapid snowmelt and heavy rains have caused flooding and eroded riverbanks, making the land difficult to use.Two years ago, the 24-year-old and a group of other young people won a groundbreaking legal victory, intended to prevent those impacts from worsening. In August 2023, a judge ruled in favour of plaintiffs in Held v Montana, in which 16 young people accused the state of violating their constitutional rights by promoting planet-warming fossil fuels. The state’s supreme court affirmed the judge’s findings late last year, but plaintiffs say lawmakers have since p...

Events

1 hour ago Federal regulators to begin sifting through wreckage of North Carolina plane crash that killed 7

Federal investigators will begin sifting through the wreckage of a business jet that crashed in North Carolina and killed all seven people aboard, including retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family

Events

2 h. ago Inside Epstein's 'billionaires' dinner' and the tech moguls he dined with AFTER conviction

Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee unsealed 68 photographs taken from the estate of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday December 18

Science

2 h. ago Australia set to launch gun buyback scheme after horror Bondi Beach attack

The PM is proposing a gun buyback scheme as part of the country's vow to tighten rules around gun ownership following the tragic death of 15 people at Bondi Beach

Events

2 h. ago Kevin Spacey set for TV return after 8 years with Italian comedy ‘Minimarket’

Oscar winner was fired from Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’ over sexual misconduct allegations in 2017

Culture

2 h. ago UK households urged to check 1 oven function before Christmas dinner cooking

With Christmas just days away, one DIY expert is urging households to make one simple check before you start cooking your festive feast or it could lead to a disaster

Society

2 h. ago Why did Donald Trump Jr turn up in a tiny British enclave looking for money?

Meetings in Gibraltar are the latest twist in worldwide campaign that is enriching the US president’s family One Friday in November, armed police blocked off the road that runs beside Gibraltar’s medieval city walls to clear the way for a convoy of blacked-out BMWs. The vehicles pulled up at the offices of Hassans, a law firm.The British enclave in the Mediterranean is a hub for the international ultra-rich, and Hassans counts many of them as clients. But few as highly placed as that day’s visitor: Donald Trump Jr, the man running the family business while his father is in the White House. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago A chef’s Christmas: Anna Haugh’s Irish family favourites – recipes

Red chicory leaves with blue cheese, honey and walnuts; a big jug of caramelised swede and honey soup; a turkey wellington with red wine gravy, cranberry relish and a hispi and sprout slaw; and a showstopping yule log to finishChristmas lunch in my family is about as traditional as it comes, and is pretty much the same every year no matter who’s house we’re at (including at least three monumental rows about things that happened years ago). Everyone chips in, too, even the kids – well, they’ve got to earn their dinner somehow. Rather than shooing them off to watch cartoons while the adults do all the work, we make sure they’re hands-on in the kitchen alongside us, especially with the annual yule log. Not only is this a valuable life lesson, it also helps develop and strengthen our family culture. The children get to share in that sense of pride at a job well done, too, and everyone feels a part of the occasion. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about? Continue reading...

Society

2 h. ago Designer Giles Deacon loves St James's Park for dates, and St John for dining

With new project The Gilded Mischief now open in Soho House, the designer opens up about first jobs, favourite meals and the extravagance of living in London

Politics

2 h. ago 'Vibrant' Turkish restaurant to open in former home of luxury steakhouse

'It’s going to be a really special place for people'

Society

2 h. ago Jeffrey Epstein attended dinner with tech billionaires three years after he was convicted of sex crimes

House Democrats released 68 photographs from Epstein's estateon Thursday, including images taken at the Edge Group's annual dinner in 2011.

Events

3 h. ago Army sergeant to appear before a military judge on charges that he shot 5 people at Georgia base

An Army sergeant charged with attempted murder in the shootings of five people at a Georgia base faces arraignment before a military judge

Events

3 h. ago Europe has lost all credibility in the Middle East. The way to regain it lies in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon | Nathalie Tocci

Sidelined by Trump, preoccupied with Ukraine and damaged by its immoral stance on Gaza, Europe can still help stabilise its eastern Mediterranean neighbours A year after the overthrow of Syria’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad, the former jihadi fighter turned Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa addressed the Doha Forum earlier this month, deftly parrying questions about his controversial past and outlining his country’s complex journey toward a participatory, rules-based system. As I listened, it struck me that, while Europe’s role in the Middle East has been severely damaged by its immoral stance on the Gaza war and its self-inflicted exclusion from Iran nuclear diplomacy, Europeans still have a role to play when it comes to its neighbours in the eastern Mediterranean.Europe’s world has been turned upside down by Washington’s alignment with Moscow in the Ukraine war and the transatlantic rift as the Trump administration treats Europe as an adversary. Another dimension of this upheaval is E...

Politics

3 h. ago AI deepfakes and armchair sleuths: The families of missing people being trolled online

Around 430,000 people are affected by a child going missing each year. Already living through a nightmare, several of them will also have to face online harassment and abuse

Society

3 h. ago Doctor shares ‘trigger signs’ alert for condition many will face this Christmas

Each dinner table this Christmas will likely have a few people who suffer with the issue, the doctor revealed

Events

3 h. ago Bournemouth vs Burnley Premier League preview, team news and prediction

Both sides will be desperate to get back to winning ways with Bournemouth eager to get back into the Race for Europe conversation while Burnley will want to leapfrog out of the relegation zone before the New Year

Politics

3 h. ago Two children seriously injured after horror A30 crash as police make arrest

Four people including two young boys have been rushed to hospital, three in an air ambulance, following a serious collision on the A30 as one man has been arrested

Events

3 h. ago 'Old age' doesn't kill us... scientists reveal true causes of death

The traditional idea is that people die because their bodies slowly wear out with old age. New research says that death, even in centenarians, is caused by diseases, not by aging itself.

Events

4 h. ago Pensioners with any of these 48 health conditions could be due up to £441 every month

Attendance Allowance and Pension Age Disability Payment can provide additional financial support for older people.

Economics