General news

• Wimbledon 2014: day six live!

  28-06-2014 12:11 via feeds.theguardian.com
  
  News and updates from the action at SW19Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are in action todaySerena Williams plays Alize CornetEmail [email protected]
  11.11am BST What a line-up in the Royal Box today. It's jam-packed full of sports stars, some active, some retired. Deep breath: Nicola Adams, David Beckham, Sir Bobby Charlton, Charlotte Evans, Mark Foster, David Haye, Anthony Joshua, Victoria Pendleton, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Ian Poulter, Chris Robshaw, Andrew Strauss, Sachin Tendulkar
  
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• Australia v England: Ashes second Test, day two – live

  05-12-2025 08:14 via theguardian.com
  Tourists all out for 334 with Root unbeaten on 138
  Ashes top 100 | Get the Spin newsletter | Email Angus75th over: England 329-9 (Root 137, Archer 34) In his second Test, Doggett was ineffective yesterday, finishing with 0-74. He starts today with a short ball. Root pulls it but finds a fielder. He steers the second one behind square for a single. Jofra Archer adds another run to his highest Test score, swatting another short one. The easy runs for England continue as Root swipes to fine leg. A
  
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• Jahmyr Gibbs’ three scores fire Detroit Lions past Cowboys to revive playoff bid

  05-12-2025 08:08 via theguardian.com
  Gibbs treble powers Lions back into playoff pushDetroit sack Prescott five times in dominant winCowboys’ playoff odds plunge after costly defeatJahmyr Gibbs and a defense that suddenly generated pressure and turnovers helped the Detroit Lions stay in contention for a playoff berth.Gibbs ran for three touchdowns, including a 13-yarder with 2:19 left that sealed the Lions’ much-needed 44-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. Continue reading...
  
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• What I saw reporting on the American lives cut short by killer heat

  05-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  In this week’s newsletter: Coroners can’t agree on how to count heat fatalities – and the dismantling of climate investments is leaving fragile communities exposed• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereDonald Trump’s decision to boycott Cop30, withdraw the US from the Paris agreement and illegally terminate a slew of investments in renewable energy will not change the reality of climate breakdown for Americans.In what has become an annua
  
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• The best poetry books of 2025

  05-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From Seamus Heaney’s collected poems and Simon Armitage’s animal spirits, to prizewinners Karen Solie and Vidyan RavinthiranMany of 2025’s most notable collections have been powered by a spirit of wild experimentation, pushing at the bounds of what “poetry” might be thought to be. Sarah Hesketh’s 2016 (CB Editions) is a fabulous example: it takes 12 interviews with a variety of anonymous individuals about the events of that year and presents fragment
  
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• Strauss: An Alpine Symphony; Four Songs Op 27 album review – Nothing is overblown or indulgent

  05-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Alder/FRSO/Collon
  (Ondine)
  Conductor Nicholas Collon keeps the sound clean and the pace dynamic in a bracing recording, while, in the Four Songs op 27,Louise Alder is unfailingly communicativeThe ascent and descent depicted in Richard Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony can seem like a long slog, but not in the bracing new recording from the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Nicholas Collon’s conducting keeps the sound clean and the pace dynamic, capturing the hulking, almost supernatural g
  
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• Simon Cowell: The Next Act to Taylor Swift: The End of an Era – the seven best shows to stream this week

  05-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The music mogul is back and ready to assemble a new boyband with boot camps, eliminations and the lot – plus a total treat for SwiftiesWith his stubble, his shades and his belief in the eternal power of the choreographed quintet, Simon Cowell is resolutely unchanging. But has the world changed around him? As an assistant bravely points out, there may be teenagers auditioning for his latest project who have barely heard of One Direction. Appropriately, there’s something old school abo
  
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• ‘One of the most breathtaking cathedrals in the world’: readers’ favourite churches in Europe

  05-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Wonderful art, amazing design and beautiful locations have drawn our tipsters to chapels, churches and cathedrals from Norway to Bulgaria• Tell us about a great charity challenge you’ve taken part in – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucherThe Tromsøysund parish church, commonly called the Arctic Cathedral, in Tromsø is a modernist delight. The simple, elegant exterior that reflects the surrounding scenery and evokes traditional Sami dwellings is matched by
  
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• Homes with exposed beams for sale in the UK – in pictures

  05-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From a rose-coloured cottage in the centre of a historic market town to an old windmill on a hilltop with sweeping views Continue reading...
  
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• Gaps in UK migration statistics hamper public debate and policy decisions, study shows

  05-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Official data cannot show what impact ECHR has on asylum cases, says leading thinktank Migration ObservatoryGaps in official migration statistics are hampering public debate and policy decisions including on cases relating to human rights laws, according to a leading thinktank.The University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory has identified 10 areas where information is lacking, including immigration enforcement and returns, and the size of the population living undocumented in the UK. Cont
  
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• Christmas parcels: the best ways to send them in the UK – and the last posting dates

  05-12-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From picking Royal Mail or a courier firm to avoiding post office queues, here’s how to have a stress-free experienceFor Royal Mail parcels within the UK, these are: 17 December for second class and second-class signed for; 20 December for first class and first-class signed for; 19 December for Tracked 48; 22 December for Tracked 24; 23 December for special delivery guaranteed. Continue reading...
  
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• TV tonight: ‘The Batch Lady’ prepares Christmas dinner three months early

  05-12-2025 07:20 via theguardian.com
  Suzanne Mulholland and Joe Swash help a family to prepare a fuss-free festive spread. Plus: Kate Winslet on directing her first film. Here’s what to watch this evening8pm, Channel 4
  Would you make your Christmas dinner three months before the big day? Suzanne Mulholland – AKA The Batch Lady – swears by a frozen turkey and prepared trimmings in this heavily Lidl-sponsored programme. She and Joe Swash join a family hosting Christmas for the first time to show them how it’s
  
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• ‘We can tell farmers the problems’: experts say seismic waves can check soil health and boost yields

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  ‘Soilsmology’ aims to map world’s soils and help avert famine, says not-for-profit co-founded by George MonbiotGeorge Monbiot: Over a pint in Oxford, we may well have stumbled upon the holy grail of agricultureA groundbreaking soil-health measuring technique could help avert famine and drought, scientists have said.At the moment, scientists have to dig lots of holes to study the soil, which is time-consuming and damages its structure, making the sampling less accurate. Continue
  
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• Regulators to announce plans to bolster mutuals after Labour vows to double £223bn sector

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Bank of England and FCA to join city minister in Rochdale amid plans to streamline regulation and expand expert supportCity regulators have announced a package of changes aimed at bolstering growth across the mutuals and co-operatives sector after the Labour government promised to double the size of the £223bn industry.Top officials from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England will join the city minister, Lucy Rigby, in Rochdale – the birthplace of the UK’
  
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• Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  I knew that a revolution in our understanding of soil could change the world. Then came a eureka moment – and the birth of the Earth Rover ProgramReport: Experts say seismic waves can check soil health and boost yieldsIt felt like walking up a mountain during a temperature inversion. You struggle through fog so dense you can scarcely see where you’re going. Suddenly, you break through the top of the cloud, and the world is laid out before you. It was that rare and remarkable thing: a
  
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• Love is in the air: what to wear to a winter wedding

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Want to look elegant despite the cold? All you need is lace, a cocktail coat and jewellery that glimmers in the candlelight Continue reading...
  
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• Labour MP’s video explaining UK debt with biscuits racks up 3.3m views

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Glasgow South MP Gordon McKee leading trend as politicians find traditional ways to reach voters no longer work A perennial head-scratcher for progressives is how to craft a simple, compelling message on the economy. One Labour MP found the answer in a few packets of M&S biscuits.Gordon McKee, who represents Glasgow South, has racked up more than 3.3m views on X with an 101-second video in which he demonstrates the UK’s debt to GDP ratio using stacks of custard creams and chocolate bou
  
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• Holocaust survivors call on Nigel Farage to apologise over alleged antisemitic comments

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Group’s open letter says Reform UK leader must take responsibility for behaviour as a schoolboyA group of Holocaust survivors have demanded Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for the antisemitic comments that fellow pupils of Dulwich College allege he made toward Jewish pupils.The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with intent but may have engaged in “banter in a playground”. Continue reading...
  
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• Helen Goh’s recipe for edible Christmas baubles | The sweet spot

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Chewy, marshmallow-coated Rice Krispie baubles that are as fun to make as they are to giftThese edible baubles make a joyful addition to the Christmas table or tree. Soft, chewy, marshmallow-coated Rice Krispies are studded with pistachios and cranberries, chocolate and ginger, or peppermint candy cane; they’re as fun to make as they are to eat, and they make a perfect little gift. To add a ribbon for hanging, cut small lengths of ribbon, then loop and knot the ends. Push the knotted end g
  
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• 60,000 African penguins starve to death after sardine numbers collapse – study

  05-12-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Climate crisis and overfishing contributed to loss of 95% of penguins in two breeding colonies in South Africa, research findsMore than 60,000 penguins in colonies off the coast of South Africa have starved to death as a result of disappearing sardines, a new paper has found.More than 95% of the African penguins in two of the most important breeding colonies, on Dassen Island and Robben Island, died between 2004 and 2012. The breeding penguins probably starved to death during the moulting period
  
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• US considers wider sanctions on Sudanese army and RSF as ceasefire efforts falter

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Trump envoy fails to secure deal as Norway prepares to host talks on how to restore civilian government in SudanThe US is considering a much broader range of sanctions on the belligerents in the war in Sudan, in a tacit acknowledgment of the inability of the US envoy Massad Boulos to persuade the parties to accept a ceasefire.Last week Donald Trump announced that work had begun to end the war after a personal request for his direct intervention from the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. C
  
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• The Great European Bake-Off: if the EU wants closer integration, how about using pop culture? | Paula Erizanu

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  The commission wants Moldova to join the union – so it should drop its dry bureaucratic culture and instead meet people where they arePaula Erizanu is a Moldovan journalist and writer based in ChișinăuIt was both enjoyable and strange to see the EU enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos, present the news on Moldovan TV a couple of months ago. For one thing, she is Slovenian – and she is also a diplomat, not a news anchor. But there she was, announcing that Moldova had made mor
  
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• Skipton in Yorkshire named happiest place to live in Great Britain

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Access to nature and essential services, and friendliness of the people led ‘gateway to the Dales’ to top Rightmove indexIt is nicknamed “the gateway to the Dales”, is home to one of England’s best-preserved medieval castles and, for trivia fans, was the birthplace of half of Marks & Spencer. Now, the Yorkshire market town of Skipton has been named “the happiest place to live” in Great Britain.It received the accolade from the property website Rightm
  
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• ‘Look what you’ve done to my children!’: a tale of winter wonderland disasters

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  These events are meant to make Christmas magical, and while many do, a few fall spectacularly short. Here, in no particular order, are some of the worst offendersIt’s the most wonderful time of the year: the season where British people traditionally complain about spending too much on rip-off Christmas events. This year’s festivities have already kicked off in earnest, thanks to the malfunctioning Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer drone show in Haywards Heath this week. By all accounts
  
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• ‘It was about degrading someone completely’: the story of Mr DeepFakes – the world’s most notorious AI porn site

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  The hobbyists who helped build this site created technology that has been used to humiliate countless women. Why didn’t governments step in and stop them?For Patrizia Schlosser, it started with an apologetic call from a colleague. “I’m sorry but I found this. Are you aware of it?” He sent over a link, which took her to a site called Mr DeepFakes. There, she found fake images of herself, naked, squatting, chained, performing sex acts with various animals. They were tagged
  
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• How three Uyghur brothers fled China – to spend 12 years in an Indian prison

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Arrested in 2013 on India’s Himalayan border after fleeing Beijing’s ‘genocide’ against Muslims in Xinjiang, the siblings have been imprisoned indefinitely ever since thenOn the evening of 12 June 2013, according to court documents, three “Chinese intruders” were arrested by the Indian army in Sultan Chusku, a remote and uninhabited desert area in the mountainous northern region of Ladakh.The three Thursun brothers – Adil, 23, Abdul Khaliq, 22 and Salamu
  
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• Experience: I gave birth to the world’s first IVF boy

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  My husband and I were unable to have children, and then we heard about a new experimental techniqueI was 26 when my gynaecologist told me that my fallopian tubes were blocked and there would be no way I could get pregnant. I was devastated. I had always wanted children. It was 1972; I was living in Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow, and working as a college lecturer. IVF didn’t exist, and when my husband and I put our names down to adopt a baby, we were told we had very little chance because
  
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• EU leaders race to save Ukraine funding deal as Kyiv’s cash runs low

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  ‘Future of Europe’ at stake with Von der Leyen and Merz desperate to persuade Belgian PM to allow use of frozen Russian assetsGermany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will meet the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, and Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, for emergency talks on Friday as the EU races to save its sorely needed financing plan for Ukraine.The three leaders will dine in private in Brussels, a German government spokesperson said on Thursday, as
  
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• ‘Constant stimulation, dopamine overload’: how EsDeeKid and UK underground rap exploded on a global scale

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  With an experimental and maxed-out sound, bold new MCs are emerging from all corners of the UK – and with US rap in the doldrums, the time is ripe for another British InvasionIt’s early November and London’s Electric Ballroom is heaving. The warm-up DJ drops Fetty Wap’s 2014 smash Trap Queen, and the young crowd, a fair portion of whom were in primary school when the tune first came out, roar every word. They’re clad in baggy skatewear, with distressed, monochromati
  
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• Bring forth your crafts, customs and traditions: UK to recognise UN cultural heritage list

  05-12-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Call for submissions from across UK could include cheese rolling, Burns Night suppers and Notting Hill carnivalBring out your cheese rolling, your niche crafts, steel drumming or Burns Night suppers for these are part of the UK’s intangible cultural heritage, and could be in line for official United Nations recognition.Eighteen months after the UK finally signed up to a UN list of recognised cultural traditions from around the world, ministers have launched public callout for ideas about w
  
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