General news

• 'Clearly very wrong' - May on cladding tests

  27-06-2017 18:30
  
  Theresa May says the failed safety tests on high-rise cladding show something is "clearly very wrong".
  
  Read more

• Second day of Ukraine-Russia peace talks in UAE end without breakthrough

  05-02-2026 15:19 via theguardian.com
  Meetings are most significant contact between Kyiv and Moscow in months and prisoner exchange is agreedUkraine and Russia concluded a second day of US-led talks in Abu Dhabi on Thursday without a breakthrough towards ending Europe’s most deadly conflict since the second world war.The two sides agreed to a reciprocal exchange of 157 prisoners of war each, offering a rare concrete outcome from the discussions. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘Dubai sells itself’: real-estate boom as entrepreneurs and fortune hunters arrive

  05-02-2026 15:10 via theguardian.com
  City-state grows by 200,000 people a year as professional migrants are attracted from UK, Europe, US and RussiaBusiness live – latest updatesAidan Doyle was an estate agent in Liverpool before he decamped to Dubai and turned a £30,000 annual income into £500,000 a year and climbing.Acting as an agent for buyers and sellers, Doyle has seen his commission soar beyond anything he could hope to generate in the UK after just three years in the city, one of seven city-states in the U
  
  Read more

• Amazon pulls Melania from cinema after owner’s criticism as rumours mount over ‘fake ticket sales’

  05-02-2026 15:10 via theguardian.com
  Oregon cinema says Amazon is upset at way they marketed movie as some in US say healthy ticket sales are not reflected by empty seatsAn independent cinema in Oregon has claimed Amazon pulled screenings of their documentary about Melania Trump from his premises in protest at the cinema’s marketing strategy.As reported by local newspaper the Lake Oswego Review, the general manager of the Lake Theater & Cafe has claimed the corporation cancelled future screenings of Brett Ratner’s a
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Postcard-pretty … and filled with pollution: how Brazil’s fishers are reviving Rio de Janeiro’s famous bay

  05-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  A mangrove conservation project in Guanabara Bay has shown how a dying ecosystem can be transformed into a thriving sanctuaryWith deep blue waters flanked by dramatic peaks, Guanabara Bay is the postcard view of Rio de Janeiro – but it is also one of Brazil’s most polluted coastal environments. Raw sewage and solid waste flow into the bay from surrounding cities, home to more than 8 million people. Cargo ships and oil platforms chug in and out of commercial ports, while dozens of aba
  
  Read more

• ‘Penis injection’ doping claims in Winter Olympics ski jumping investigated by Wada

  05-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Bild claims acid injections used to alter suit measurementsWada: ‘If anything was to come to the surface we would look at it’During its 26-year history, the World Anti-Doping Agency has faced thousands of questions about athletes using illicit substances. Thursday, however, surely marked the first time it was asked whether ski jumpers were injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid in order to fly further.The Wada president Witold Banka’s reaction? “Ski jumping is very
  
  Read more

• ‘Penis injection’ claims in Winter Olympics ski jumping investigated by Wada

  05-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Bild claims acid injections used to alter jumpers’ suits‘If anything was to come to the surface we’d look at it’During its 26-year history, the World Anti-Doping Agency has faced thousands of questions about athletes using illicit substances. Thursday, however, surely marked the first time it was asked whether ski jumpers were injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid in order to fly further.The Wada president Witold Banka’s reaction? “Ski jumping is very p
  
  Read more

• I loved Prue, but Nigella joining Bake Off feels like the good news I need | Rebecca Shaw

  05-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  In my mind, Nigella Lawson should already be spending her life where random people just prepare delicious things for her to have bites ofLast week, I was sent an exciting news story by a friend. This was a surprise for two reasons: I’m chronically online so I usually see everything first, and also there are no good news stories any more in this life. But it was real, and for many people, including me, this one piece of blessed news was equal to three or four regular pieces of good news.It
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Arcadia review – love, gardening and Euclidian geometry collide in Tom Stoppard’s cosmic masterpiece

  05-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Old Vic, London
  Stuffed with knowledge and often regarded as the playwright’s finest work, this drama’s sheer cleverness gleams in an exuberant productionWhen Tom Stoppard was asked what this play was about, just as it streaked its meteoric path from London to New York in the 1990s, he called it a drama of romance, mathematics, landscape gardening and Byron. It doesn’t quite cover it. Often regarded as his finest, Arcadia is about life, the universe and everything, to borrow a
  
  Read more

• ‘They were humans’: inquiry into mass Channel drowning hears from families

  05-02-2026 14:54 via theguardian.com
  Relatives of at least 27 people who died in November 2021 describe their loved ones and their grief to Cranston inquiryOn 24 November 2021, at least 27 people died in the worst mass migrant Channel drowning on record. Two years later, the Cranston inquiry was set up to investigate the catastrophic event.Many of those who lost their lives were young people. Four others missing since the mass drowning have never been found. Their bereaved parents and other immediate family members provided stateme
  
  Read more

• Infantino and Coventry backing Russia’s return shows sport’s soft power is in rotten hands | Emma John

  05-02-2026 14:46 via theguardian.com
  The actions of Fifa’s fawning president as well as the Olympics leader’s call for ‘neutral ground’ underscores the hollowness of the global bodies’ valuesIn an ever more complex world, it is always good to have figures who can simplify things for us. A single person, making it crystal clear where they stand and what for, can be the light in the darkness that helps you navigate today’s turbulent waters.That’s why I’m so grateful for Gianni Infantino
  
  Read more

• More than 35m unexpected salmon deaths at Scottish farms sparks outcry

  05-02-2026 14:43 via theguardian.com
  Animal Equality says two surprise inspections in three years suggests ‘embarrassingly poor’ level of scrutinyScottish salmon farmers recorded more than 35m unexpected salmon deaths in just under three years but there were only two unannounced inspections of facilities over the same period.In December, the Scottish government’s secretary for rural affairs, Mairi Gougeon, said that there was “a really robust regulatory regime when it comes to fin-fish aquaculture” but
  
  Read more

• Anger over Scottish salmon farm inspections amid 35m unexpected fish deaths

  05-02-2026 14:43 via theguardian.com
  Animal Equality says two surprise inspections in three years suggests ‘embarrassingly poor’ level of scrutinyScottish salmon farmers recorded more than 35m unexpected salmon deaths in just under three years but there were only two unannounced inspections of facilities over the same period.In December, the Scottish government’s secretary for rural affairs, Mairi Gougeon, said that there was “a really robust regulatory regime when it comes to fin-fish aquaculture” but
  
  Read more

• Zelenskyy says Ukraine-Russia talks ‘not easy’ but ‘constructive’ after prisoner swap agreed - Europe live

  05-02-2026 14:33 via theguardian.com
  US special envoy Steve Witkoff earlier announced that the US, Ukraine and Russia had agreed to exchange 314 prisonersUS presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said that the US, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 314 prisoners in “the first such exchange in five months.”He said:“This outcome was achieved from peace talks that have been detailed and productive. While significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangibl
  
  Read more

• The Cardigans’ Nina Persson: ‘Ozzy said our Black Sabbath cover was the creepiest thing he’d ever heard’

  05-02-2026 14:33 via theguardian.com
  The Swedish band’s frontwoman answers your questions on ‘sweet and curious’ Tom Jones, being changed by cancer and whether the Cardigans will ever make new musicAre you a fan of actual cardigans? garythenotrashcougar
  I can see the genius of them as items of clothing, but I never looked good in a cardigan. Our [former] songwriter and guitar player [Peter Svensson] suggested the name. We were super anglophiles. We loved British music. Our first album is called Emmerdale because t
  
  Read more

• Spain hits back at Pavel Durov over mass Telegram post on social media ban plan

  05-02-2026 14:33 via theguardian.com
  Founder’s extraordinary intervention has laid bare rising tensions between European governments and tech firmsEurope live – latest updatesSpain has accused Pavel Durov of “spreading lies” and seeking to undermine democratic institutions after the Telegram founder used the messaging app to attack government plans to introduce a social media ban for under-16s and to hold tech companies responsible for hateful and harmful content.Durov’s extraordinary public interventi
  
  Read more

• England’s late 2026 World Cup start gives FA headache over warm-up matches

  05-02-2026 14:32 via theguardian.com
  Tuchel ideally wants World Cup sides on 6 and 10 JuneMost qualified teams not available on second dateThe Football Association is experiencing difficulties in securing suitable opposition for England’s World Cup warm-up games owing to their late start to the expanded 48-team tournament.England open against Croatia on the last day of the first round of games on 17 June, six days after the first match between Mexico and South Africa, and Thomas Tuchel wants final preparation games as close t
  
  Read more

• John Virgo obituary

  05-02-2026 14:30 via theguardian.com
  Snooker player and commentator whose geniality behind the mic and on the BBC gameshow Big Break made him a popular figureJohn Virgo, who has died aged 79, made his name through snooker, but found fame through television – chiefly in the form of the Big Break game show on BBC1, which attracted millions of viewers in the 1990s.Having had a respectable but non-stellar career on the green baize, Virgo transitioned to the small screen as a referee in the snooker-based Big Break, which was
  
  Read more

• ‘I’m so co-o-old’: ahead of Wuthering Heights, the 20 best films with dreadful weather – ranked!

  05-02-2026 14:29 via theguardian.com
  As we don our oilskins for the release of Emerald Fennell’s rain-lashed romance, we count down the films pitting their stars against the elementsPathetic fallacy is the literary device in which the environment reflects a character’s mood. It is central to Disney’s animated classic, which is about a woman who gets so annoyed that she literally turns her surroundings into a perpetual winter. As such, she is responsible for untold miseries, not least the fact that her stroppiness
  
  Read more

• Russian container ship captain jailed for six years over fatal North Sea collision

  05-02-2026 14:27 via theguardian.com
  Vladimir Motin sentenced in UK for manslaughter by gross negligence after failing to take action to prevent his ship crashing into an oil tankerA Russian container ship captain has been jailed for six years after an explosive collision in the North Sea off the coast of Yorkshire killed a crew member.Vladimir Motin, 59, was told by an Old Bailey judge that he was a “serious accident waiting to happen” as he was jailed for manslaughter by gross negligence. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Former Tory head of London council appointed Reform leader in Wales

  05-02-2026 14:26 via theguardian.com
  Dan Thomas unveiled by Nigel Farage at sold-out rally as party prepares for Senedd electionsUK politics live – latest updatesDan Thomas, a former Conservative leader of Barnet council, has been announced by Nigel Farage as Reform UK’s leader in Wales, three months before Senedd elections in which the hard-right party could win the most seats in the country.Farage received a standing ovation before he introduced Thomas at a sold-out rally of approximately 1,000 people at the Internati
  
  Read more

• Duke of Marlborough charged with controlling or coercive behaviour

  05-02-2026 14:10 via theguardian.com
  Charles James Spencer-Churchill, 70, also faces charges he strangled his estranged wife on three occasionsThe Duke of Marlborough has appeared in court to face allegations of controlling or coercive behaviour towards his estranged wife, as well as accusations that he strangled her on three occasions, according to a court indictment.Charles James Spencer-Churchill, a distant relative of Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, is accused of three charges of intentional strangulation ag
  
  Read more

• Trigger warnings risk ‘mollycoddling’ theatre audiences, says Tony-winning director

  05-02-2026 14:03 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: John Doyle says theatre should be able to disturb and challenge audiences, and not sanitise difficult themesThe Tony award-winning theatre director John Doyle has warned that trigger warnings before plays risks “mollycoddling” audiences and sanitising theatre.The Scottish director, who has led four British theatres, said: “Take care of the audience, but the theatre is supposed to make you uncomfortable. It’s supposed to make you fearful. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘We can learn from the old’: how architects are returning to the earth to build homes for the future

  05-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Rammed earth sourced from, or near, the grounds of a proposed building site is attracting attention as an eco-friendly construction materialFrom afar, the low-rise homestead perched in the Wiltshire countryside may look like any other rural outpost, but step closer and the texture of the walls reveal something distinct from the usual facade of cement, brick and steel.The Rammed Earth House in the Cranborne Chase is one of the few projects in the UK that has been made by unstabilised rammed earth
  
  Read more

• Emerald Fennell hopes Wuthering Heights will ‘provoke a primal response’

  05-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Speaking in conversation at the BFI Southbank in London, the director of the much-anticipated Brontë adaptation also revealed that Margot Robbie asked to play Cathy Emerald Fennell has revealed that Margot Robbie asked if she could play the lead role in the adaptation of Wuthering Heights before she had approached the actor to do so.Robbie, whose production company LuckyChap Entertainment produced the film, asked if she could play Cathy after reading the script. “I sent it to them to
  
  Read more

• Craft beer has gone stale: let’s hear it for age-old favourites | Richard Godwin

  05-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  There’s nothing wrong with a good, hoppy IPA, but perhaps it’s time to reappraise classic styles of beer againThe writer Vladimir Nabokov was extremely particular when it came to language, and rather more basic when it came to sustenance: “My habits are simple, my tastes banal,” he once told an interviewer. “I would not exchange my favourite fare (bacon and eggs, beer) for the most misspelt menu in the world.”I’ve often thought of this as I’ve peru
  
  Read more

• Scotland’s Townsend calls Newcastle links ‘disruptive’ before Six Nations

  05-02-2026 13:59 via theguardian.com
  Head coach linked with new role after Rugby World Cup‘I’ve not signed a contract,’ says Scot before Italy clashGregor Townsend has claimed reports he is to take over at Newcastle after the 2027 World Cup is an attempt to “disrupt” Scotland before the Six Nations.The 52-year-old last year took on a consultancy role with Red Bull, who own Newcastle and it was reported on Thursday that Townsend will take charge of the Prem club when his contract with Scotland expires a
  
  Read more

• Starmer apologises to Epstein victims as he seeks to weather Mandelson scandal

  05-02-2026 13:56 via theguardian.com
  PM says he is sorry for believing ‘lies’ told by former Labour minister and that he too is ‘angry and frustrated’UK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has attempted to reboot his faltering premiership, apologising for appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador and urging his MPs to unite behind him.The prime minister gave a lengthy speech on Wednesday about community cohesion, but faced a barrage of questions about his leadership after one of his most turbu
  
  Read more

• How the failures that caused Grenfell still exist today

  05-02-2026 13:54 via theguardian.com
  More than eight years after the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people, the companies, materials and rules that made it possible are still shaping how homes are built, in the UK and around the world.Neelam Tailor looks at how deregulation, industry lobbying and corporate greed allowed a preventable tragedy to happen, and why, even now, some of the companies criticised by the public inquiry continue to receive million-pound public contracts, impacting the safety of our homes Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Top-four seeding of Women’s FA Cup would kill the magic and widen money gap

  05-02-2026 13:51 via theguardian.com
  The FA’s proposals for a shake-up of the competition have met a groundswell of opposition with fans arguing it would bolster the wealthy eliteAs so much of the modern game increasingly sucks the joy out of football, there remains something pure and precious about the sight of those famous black and white numbered balls being tipped out of the velvet bag for an FA Cup draw.Your heart rate intensifies as they clatter when tipped into the bowl. Each side has the same chance of being pitted ag
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!