General news

• Afcon roundup: Algeria beat 10-man Sudan and Côte d’Ivoire start defence with win

  24-12-2025 23:43 via theguardian.com
  Algeria win 3-0 as Adel sees red | Burkina Faso 2-1 E Guinea Côte d’Ivoire 1-0 Mozambique | Cameroon 1-0 GabonRiyad Mahrez scored twice as Algeria launched their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a comfortable 3-0 Group E win against 10-man Sudan in Rabat.The Desert Warriors were ahead within two minutes when the former Leicester and Manchester City winger ran on to Hicham Boudaoui’s clever backheel and fired past the Sudan keeper Monged Abuzaid. Continue reading...
  
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• Two Doors Down Christmas Special review – festive larks with TV’s most hilarious monsters

  24-12-2025 23:35 via theguardian.com
  The Glasgow-set sitcom is back after two years … and the highlight is Cathy losing any semblance of civility, flirting aggressively then calling Eric a ‘big stupid donkey’. Happy holidays! Sitcoms aren’t meant to go anywhere: the default setting is one location full of characters who keep resetting to zero. Few have followed that rule as faithfully as Two Doors Down, a low-key comedy set on a middle-class close on the outskirts of Glasgow and focusing on retirement-age c
  
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• The Room in the Tower: A Ghost Story for Christmas review – Tobias Menzies is perfect in Mark Gatiss’s spooky tale

  24-12-2025 23:30 via theguardian.com
  The understated lead in this year’s creepy festive drama is ideal for the whispered dread it drips with. Be warned, though: it verges on horror – young kids may well be terrifiedIt is a truth universally acknowledged that a family gathered around a roaring yuletide screen must be in want of a ghost story. Since 1968, therefore (or a couple of years earlier, depending on whether you count the precursor Whistle and I’ll Come to You, directed by Jonathan Miller – and who am
  
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• Pope Leo calls for kindness to strangers and the poor in Christmas message

  24-12-2025 23:29 via theguardian.com
  Refusing to help those in need is tantamount to rejecting God himself, says pontiff during Christmas Eve massPope Leo has told Christians that the Christmas story should remind them of their duty to help the poor and strangers.In his Christmas Eve sermon, the pope said the story of Jesus being born in a stable because there was no room at an inn showed followers that refusing to help those in need was tantamount to rejecting God himself. Continue reading...
  
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• Two injured in County Down stabbing

  24-12-2025 23:26 via bbc.com
  One person is in a critical condition after being attacked in the seaside town on Christmas Eve.
  
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• UK, Canada and Germany condemn Israel for 19 new West Bank settlements

  24-12-2025 23:09 via theguardian.com
  Fourteen countries, also including France, Italy, Ireland and Spain, say actions ‘violate international law and risk fuelling instability’Fourteen countries, including Britain, Canada and Germany, have condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying they violate international law and risk fuelling instability.Israel approved a proposal last Sunday for the new Jewish settlements, which brings the recent total to 69, accor
  
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• Woman dies in Christmas Eve crash on M2

  24-12-2025 23:00 via bbc.com
  Police are appealing for information after a crash on the M2 in which a woman in her 20s died.
  
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• Attempted murder arrest after boy, 14, stabbed

  24-12-2025 22:30 via bbc.com
  Police say a 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
  
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• Finding Father Christmas review – Lenny Rush and James Buckley’s chemistry is just wonderful

  24-12-2025 22:00 via theguardian.com
  The father-and-dad pair are a total delight in this tale of a 16-year-old trying to prove Santa’s existence. They deserve a whole new episode togetherIn an era in which it is now an annual tradition for the US streaming giants to put out bland paint-by-algorithm holiday movies, there is something rather satisfying about the oddball British Christmas stand-alone special. The ingredients tend to be as follows: appearances by the year’s favourite comic actors; niche cultural references,
  
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• EastEnders’ Chrissie Watts revealed as Zoe’s mystery tormentor as Tracy-Ann Oberman reprises her iconic role for Christmas storyline - BBC

  24-12-2025 21:52 via news.google.com
  EastEnders’ Chrissie Watts revealed as Zoe’s mystery tormentor as Tracy-Ann Oberman reprises her iconic role for Christmas storyline  BBCEastEnders airs deadly confrontation for Zoe Slater and Anthony Trueman in Christmas Day cliffhanger  Radio TimesEastEnders' huge Christmas death twist leaves us with more questions than answers  Digital SpyTracy-Ann Oberman returns to EastEnders as Chrissie Watts  RTE.ieConfrontation at Queen Vic pub turns de
  
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• Southern California braces as powerful winter storms threaten up to 8in of rain

  24-12-2025 21:38 via theguardian.com
  Governor declared emergency in several counties, with near white-out snow conditions in parts of the Sierra NevadaA powerful winter storm swept across California on Wednesday, with heavy rain and gusty winds leading to evacuation warnings for mudslides in parts of the southern part of the state, bringing near white-out snow conditions in the mountains and hazardous travel for millions of holiday drivers.California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency in several counties,
  
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• Some South West festive swims cancelled due to wind warning - BBC

  24-12-2025 21:33 via news.google.com
  Some South West festive swims cancelled due to wind warning  BBCChristmas Day weather: Cold health alert with warnings issued for parts of UK  BBCCold temperatures set to continue with health alert in force  ITVXChance of ‘odd wintry flurry’ of snow in UK for a white Christmas – Met Office  The GuardianCold health alert and weather warnings issued for parts of UK on Christmas Day  Sky News
  
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• Cillian Murphy meets Barry Keoghan in first look at Peaky Blinders film

  24-12-2025 21:32 via theguardian.com
  Two stars of Irish acting unite in eagerly anticipated film about Birmingham gangster Tommy ShelbyTwo stars of Irish acting are united as Cillian Murphy meets Barry Keoghan in the first look at the eagerly anticipated Peaky Blinders film.Murphy questions his identity as “famous gypsy gangster” Tommy Shelby in the 70-second teaser released by Netflix on Christmas Eve. Continue reading...
  
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• US justice department says full Epstein file release could take ‘few more weeks’ - Financial Times

  24-12-2025 21:17 via news.google.com
  US justice department says full Epstein file release could take ‘few more weeks’  Financial TimesUS discovers a million more possible Jeffrey Epstein files  BBCTrump trips, a fake video and 10 possible co-conspirators: Takeaways from new Epstein files  BBCEpstein survivor speaks of moment she met Andrew on private island  Sky NewsSome Epstein file redactions are being undone with hacks  The Guardian
  
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• US justice department says it may need ‘a few more weeks’ to process 1m more Epstein documents for release

  24-12-2025 20:32 via theguardian.com
  DoJ says more documents have been uncovered amid criticisms for missing 19 December deadline for full releaseThe US justice department said on Wednesday that it has been told by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the FBI that they have uncovered more than a million more documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case and processing these for release could take “a few more weeks”.In a post on X, the justice department said it had received the documents from the US attorney for the sou
  
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• From Lily Allen to six-seven: it’s the 2025 bumper pop culture quiz of the year

  24-12-2025 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Did you watch KPop Demon Hunters? Have you listened to Rosalía? And do you know who ‘fedora guy’ is? If you answered yes to all these, this is the quiz for you Continue reading...
  
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• Protection areas in place following bird flu outbreaks - BBC

  24-12-2025 19:36 via news.google.com
  Protection areas in place following bird flu outbreaks  BBCBird flu hits third poultry farm near Dereham - bringing Norfolk's total to 13 cases  Eastern Daily PressWarning issued after outbreak of bird flu among geese at nature reserve  STV NewsChickens to be killed after bird flu breaks out in Oxfordshire  Oxford MailBird keepers urged to act following Midlothian outbreak of bird flu near Penicuik  Edinburgh News
  
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• S&P 500 and Dow hit record highs as Santa rally reaches Wall Street – as it happened

  24-12-2025 19:19 via theguardian.com
  Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as stocks rise in New York’s shortened Christmas Eve sessionIs the Christmas shopping period more of a whimper than a bang for Britain’s retailers this year?Shopper traffic yesterday remained “stubbornly muted”, according to the latest footfall data from Sensormatic Solutions, which shows that visits were 13.1% lower than a year ago.“After an unsettled start to the festive period - defined by shaky consumer
  
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• Farage criticised for £400,000 job promoting physical gold as pension investment

  24-12-2025 19:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Reform leader promotes Direct Bullion – but experts say commodity is not for everyday investorsNigel Farage has been criticised over his £400,000-a-year second job promoting the idea that people should buy physical gold and put it into their pension pots.Farage is paid more than four times his MPs’ salary for the four-hour-a-month job at Direct Bullion, where he has featured in Facebook and YouTube videos. Continue reading...
  
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• Jethro Tull founding member dies aged 82

  24-12-2025 18:45 via bbc.com
  Lead singer Ian Anderson says Mick Abrahams was "vitally important" to the band's early line-up.
  
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• How to end the year right: come up with your own personal rituals

  24-12-2025 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Rituals are different from routines – they elevate everyday life. Here’s how to create meaning beyond the festive seasonHow do you celebrate the end of the year?Office parties can be a drag, but if you’re self-employed, it can be easy to roll without ceremony from one year into the next. Three years ago, two friends and I were bemoaning the lack of festivities and decided to make up for it by organising our own end-of-year lunch.I’m an adult. Why do I regress under my par
  
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• ‘Undermines free speech’: Labour MP hits back at US government over visa ban on UK campaigners

  24-12-2025 17:26 via theguardian.com
  Chi Onwurah speaks out after Marco Rubio accused five Europeans, including two Britons, of ‘seeking to suppress American viewpoints they oppose’ A senior Labour MP has accused the Trump administration of undermining free speech after Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, announced sanctions against two British anti-disinformation campaigners.Chi Onwurah, the chair of parliament’s technology select committee, criticised the US government hours after it announced “visa-re
  
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• ‘There’s no going back’: Iran’s women on why they won’t stop flouting dress code laws

  24-12-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Despite fresh attempts to make women cover up, many believe the regime wouldn’t risk mass arrests for fear of sparking a wave of popular unrest last seen after the killing of Mahsa AminiOn the streets of Iran’s capital, Tehran, young women are increasingly flouting the compulsory hijab laws, posting videos online that show them walking the streets unveiled. Their defiance comes more than three years after the killing of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman taken into custody by t
  
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• Final testing underway ahead of major M27 closure starting tonight - Daily Echo

  24-12-2025 16:51 via news.google.com
  Final testing underway ahead of major M27 closure starting tonight  Daily EchoM27 underpass works: What you need to know  BBCTen-day M27 closure begins tonight with drivers urged to plan ahead | ITV News  ITVXHuge progress in the demolition of part of the M27 as part of upgrade  portsmouth.co.ukM27 Christmas Closure  Portsmouth FC
  
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• ‘Freedom is a city where you can breathe’: four experts on Europe’s most liveable capitals

  24-12-2025 16:23 via theguardian.com
  From Copenhagen’s cycle lanes and Vienna’s shared parks to Barcelona and London’s unfulfilled potential, better living is close at handThe angry rumble of a speeding SUV. The metallic smog of backlogged traffic. The aching heat of sun-dried neighbourhoods baking in an oven of concrete and asphalt.For most people, the mundane threats that plague our environments are likely to annoy more than they spark dread. But for scientists who know just how dangerous our surroundings can be
  
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• Family pays tribute to daughter, 13, as Greater Manchester police investigate death

  24-12-2025 16:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Boy, 14, arrested on suspicion of harassment and later bailed after death of ‘one of a kind’ Madison RichardsonA family has paid tribute to their “one of a kind” 13-year-old daughter after her death a month ago as police said they would continue to investigate the full circumstances.A 14-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of harassment and later bailed after the death of Madison Richardson. Continue reading...
  
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• Amorim challenges Manchester United to ‘step up’ after Bruno Fernandes injury

  24-12-2025 16:14 via theguardian.com
  ‘It’s impossible to replace Bruno … we need more leaders’United host Newcastle in Premier League on Boxing DayRuben Amorim has described Bruno Fernandes as “impossible to replace” but has told Manchester United’s players the captain’s injury is a chance for them to step up.Fernandes was forced off at half-time of Sunday’s loss at Aston Villa owing to a soft-tissue injury that will rule him out for a prolonged period. United host Newcastle in
  
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• UK social media campaigners among five denied US visas

  24-12-2025 16:09 via bbc.com
  The Trump administration bans five people who have called for tech regulation from entering the country.
  
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• British boy, 13, fatally stabbed in Portugal

  24-12-2025 16:08 via bbc.com
  Tributes have been paid to the boy who has been named by a local basketball club as Alfie Hallett.
  
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• Algeria passes law declaring French colonisation a crime

  24-12-2025 16:02 via theguardian.com
  France’s rule over Algeria from 1830 to 1962 is marked by mass killings and large-scale deportationAlgeria’s parliament has unanimously approved a law declaring France’s colonisation of the country a crime and demanded an apology and reparations.Lawmakers, standing in the chamber wearing scarves in the colours of the national flag, chanted “long live Algeria” on Wednesday as they applauded the passage of the bill, which states that France holds “legal responsi
  
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• Flu cases falling ahead of Christmas, experts say - BBC

  24-12-2025 16:01 via news.google.com
  Flu cases falling ahead of Christmas, experts say  BBCView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• The video games readers couldn’t switch off in 2025

  24-12-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  In this week’s newsletter: Pushing Buttons readers on their favourite games of the year,from Death Stranding 2 and Arc Raiders to Ghost of Yōtei and moreHappy holidays, Pushing Buttons readers! Once again, we are approaching the cherished time of year between Christmas and New Year when we might actually have the time to play some video games. I hope Santa brought you something new to play, instead of taking one look at all the unplayed games in your Steam library and putting you stra
  
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• ‘It’s the story of my life’: how a retired teacher transformed his memories into a miniature world

  24-12-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  From postcards to 3D models of nativity scenes, Ken Bonham has spent decades crafting the vast collection of dioramas that fill his home in BirminghamA miniature world can be found hidden inside a one-bedroom flat in Birmingham. For decades, Ken Bonham, a retired teacher, has made memory boxes of places he has visited with his dressmaker wife of 54 years, Maggie, each made up of items they have collected on their travels or Bonham has made.Models of barns, castles and churches are also crammed i
  
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• Christmas Eve swims and an underground mass: photos of the day – Wednesday

  24-12-2025 15:34 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• Trump approves deployment of 350 national guard members to New Orleans

  24-12-2025 15:25 via theguardian.com
  Critics say deployment is unwarranted and could cause fear in the city, which has seen a decrease in violent crime ratesThe Trump administration is deploying 350 national guard troops to New Orleans ahead of the new year, launching another federal deployment in the city at the same time that an immigration crackdown led by border patrol is under way.Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Tuesday that guard members, as they have in other deployments in large cities, will be tasked with suppor
  
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• Busiest ever Christmas Eve for air travel, says civil aviation body

  24-12-2025 15:21 via bbc.com
  Passengers travelling on Christmas Eve are forecast to be the highest on record.
  
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• iPhone Fold design just leaked with new 3D mockup — and it's very different - Tom's Guide

  24-12-2025 15:12 via news.google.com
  iPhone Fold design just leaked with new 3D mockup — and it's very different  Tom's GuideThe first iPhone Fold dummy shows a radical new design for a folding phone  MacworldApple’s foldable gets Prossered.  The VergeApple Still Testing Ultra-Thin Glass to Eliminate Foldable iPhone Crease  MacRumorsiPhone Fold Design: Apple's Foldable iPhone with Seamless Display  Deccan Herald
  
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• White Christmas ‘unlikely’ but health alert issued amid falling UK temperatures

  24-12-2025 15:05 via theguardian.com
  Christmas Day expected to be dry and bright, with low temperature warnings posing greater risk to vulnerable peopleChristmas Day will bring bright weather in much of the UK, but a cold health alert has been issued warning of a “greater risk to life of vulnerable people”.While the prospect of a white Christmas is “highly unlikely”, according to forecasters, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a yellow cold health alert from 6pm on Christmas Day to noon on 27 D
  
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• When my father first came to the UK, people bonded and looked after him. Would that happen now? | Nell Frizzell

  24-12-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  I’ve taken in refugees from time to time, and formed ties that have lasted to this day. Instead of demonising people, we could try sharing our lives with themThere is one Christmas story from when my father first arrived in the UK, 43 years ago, that can still make me howl with laughter. It was a cold winter and my dad had been gripped by the idea of roasting chestnuts. He had grown up in the southern hemisphere, in a former British colony, so despite the fact that his Christmases were hot
  
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• Welsh first minister vows to keep Labour ‘most successful democratic party on the planet’

  24-12-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Eluned Morgan says Welsh Labour would retain crown, despite polls indicating Reform UK and Plaid Cymru could win more seats in electionsThe first minister of Wales has said she is determined for Welsh Labour not to lose its crown as the world’s most successful democratic party, despite warnings it could be relegated to third place in May’s elections.Polls suggest Reform UK and Plaid Cymru could win more seats than Eluned Morgan’s party in the Seneddelections next year, ending 1
  
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• Truth in fantasy: what Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials taught us over its 30-year run

  24-12-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  The ‘religious atheist’ author held a reputation as CS Lewis’s opposite. But his two trilogies – which came to a close this year – were a celebration of humanity and imaginationTwenty years ago, I visited the Botanic Garden in Oxford for the first time. Among the winding pathways lined with flowers, about halfway back, stood a bench under a tree, largely identical to the others throughout the park. Was this the one? I wondered.I didn’t have to question it for
  
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• Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: when it comes to lace, it’s all about the trimmings

  24-12-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Head-to-toe can be too much, but a lace trim on a skirt, a camisole under a blazer, lace tights? Now you’re talkingSometimes a little goes a long way. This is true for Tabasco on eggs, for fragrance in an elevator, for confidence in the karaoke booth, and it is also, I have belatedly realised, the secret of how to wear lace.All these years, I’ve been getting lace wrong by wearing too much of it. Killing it with overenthusiasm. Lace is beautiful stuff: delicate and romantic.
  
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• Is Trump mentally OK? A look back at the president’s unusual behavior in 2025

  24-12-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Trump has shown erratic and bizarre behavior throughout the year, leading to questions about his mental acuityIn an address from the White House in December, Donald Trump claimed that, over the past 11 months, his administration had brought “more positive change” than any government in US history.“There has never been anything like it,” Trump added.America is respected again as a country. We were not respected with Biden. They looked at him falling down stairs every day.
  
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• BP to sell majority stake in $10bn Castrol business to US investment firm

  24-12-2025 14:46 via theguardian.com
  Stonepeak will acquire 65% of lubricants business as part of wider plans for the oil company to pay down its debtBusiness live – latest updatesBP has agreed to sell a majority stake in its $10bn (£7.4bn) lubricants business Castrol to the US investment company Stonepeak, as the new chair, Albert Manifold, rapidly reshapes the under-pressure oil and gas company.Stonepeak will acquire a 65% stake in Castrol, in a deal that values the division at $10.1bn including its debt. The deal, in
  
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• US and Ukraine edge closer to joint plan to end war – with Moscow’s response uncertain

  24-12-2025 14:37 via theguardian.com
  Ukraine acceptsprinciple of demilitarised zone in east, while insisting Russia make similar concessions in pulling back forcesWashington and Kyiv have edged closer to a jointly agreed formula to end the war in Ukraine amid continuing uncertainty over Moscow’s response and a number of unresolved issues.Revealing the latest status of the peace talks, brokered by Washington, Ukraine’s president, Volodmyr Zelenskyy, appeared to have secured several important concessions from earlier vers
  
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• ISS to fly over UK on Christmas Day: How and when you can see it - BBC

  24-12-2025 14:16 via news.google.com
  ISS to fly over UK on Christmas Day: How and when you can see it  BBCView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• Boat stranded on canal hole edge pulled to safety

  24-12-2025 14:12 via bbc.com
  The boat, which is a family's home, will be refloated in the new year.
  
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• John Antrobus obituary

  24-12-2025 14:01 via theguardian.com
  Playwright and screenwriter who teamed up with Spike Milligan to work on The Goon Show and The Bed-Sitting RoomJohn Antrobus, who has died aged 92, was just 21 when in 1955 he joined the writers’ cooperative Associated London Scripts. Based in an office above a greengrocer’s shop in Shepherd’s Bush, it housed a cradle of talent shaking up postwar television and radio comedy.Newly out of army officer training at Sandhurst, with a father who was a regimental sergeant-major and ar
  
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• The highly-contagious virus spreading in the UK – and it’s not the flu - The i Paper

  24-12-2025 14:00 via news.google.com
  The highly-contagious virus spreading in the UK – and it’s not the flu  The i PaperConcerns over adenovirus spread in the UK  The IndependentAdenovirus is the new, highly contagious mystery illness sweeping the nation: 12 symptoms to look out for  CosmopolitanThat Awful Sore Throat Everyone’s Talking About? Here’s the Deal  Philadelphia MagazineMasks, Ventilation, and Bleach: The Best Defences Against Adenovirus Spread  In
  
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• ‘That’s a rare find!’ The casting genius who plucked this year’s biggest TV star out of 600 auditions

  24-12-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  From Peaky Blinders to Sherwood, Shaheen Baig has cast some of the best shows on screen. But she struck gold with Owen Cooper for Adolescence – and won an Emmy. How does she spot such game-changing talent?At the Emmys in September, Adolescence all but swept the board. It won best limited series. It won awards for writing, for directing, for cinematography. Three of its actors – Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty and Owen Cooper – all took home awards. But Adolescence also earned anot
  
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