General news

• Could decriminalisation solve Scotland's drug problem?

  22-08-2023 10:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Can lessons be learned from Portugal, which relaxed its drugs laws more than 20 years ago?
  
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• UK interest rate cut likely in March as unemployment rate rises; Polanski calls for ’Covid-style mobilisation’ to tackle youth jobless crisis – business live

  17-02-2026 14:21 via theguardian.com
  City traders expect cut to UK interest rates next month after jobless rate rises to 5.2%UK unemployment rate hits five-year high of 5.2% as wage growth coolsAnalysis: Gloom for UK workers as incomes flatline and jobs market faltersThe pound is weakening, as traders anticipate the Bank of England could cut interest rates next month.Sterling has fallen by two-thirds of a cent against the US dollar, to $1.355, its lowest rate since 6 February.The market reaction has been swift. The pound has sunk o
  
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• Hillary Clinton accuses Trump administration of Epstein files cover-up – US politics live

  17-02-2026 14:17 via theguardian.com
  ‘Get the files out’, says former secretary of state, adding that she and Bill Clinton have ‘nothing to hide’Donald Trump is in Washington today. As of now, we’re not expected to hear from the president. He has a number of closed door meetings, but nothing open to the press according the official White House schedule.We’ll let you know if anything changes. Continue reading...
  
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• Winter Olympics 2026: Norway’s Oftebro wins Nordic combined; biathlon, ice hockey and more on day 11 – live

  17-02-2026 14:16 via theguardian.com
  Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results | BriefingFollow us over on Bluesky | Get in touch: email YaraHeinis of France is in the air, it feels hein just looking at him, and he jumps 129, giving him 133.8 points; he moves above Karhumaa and into the lead.I’ve also got the curling on and, if you’ll excuse my parochialism, I’m not watching pool leaders Switzerland monstering defending champions Sweden, rather USA v China, for reasons of relevance to GB. The Americans now
  
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• Farage insults female reporter as Braverman says Reform UK wants to scrap Equality Act – UK politics live

  17-02-2026 14:13 via theguardian.com
  Party leader tells FT journalist she should ‘write some silly story’ after press conference revealing roles for his top teamNigel Farage is speaking.He starts by saying that 4.6m voters will get the right to to vote in the local elections because of his party.I am writing a book on Nigel Farage for @headlinepg.No holds will be barred. Continue reading...
  
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• Elana Meyers Taylor’s victory in her fifth Olympics was about far more than gold

  17-02-2026 14:12 via theguardian.com
  The American won her first Winter Games title at 41. She did so while advocating for Black athletes, mothers and the deaf and Down’s syndrome communitiesElana Meyers Taylor had already cemented her place in Olympic history long before Monday night. She had competed with and against men on the World Cup tour and at the world championships to help force women’s monobob into the Winter Olympic program. She had surpassed the speed skater Shani Davis as the most decorated Black athlete in
  
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• France releases suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker after huge fine, as Ukraine peace talks begin – Europe live

  17-02-2026 14:09 via theguardian.com
  Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier called for ‘justice and strength’ in diplomacy after Russia hit Ukraine with 400 drones and 29 missiles hours before talksThe European Commission is just giving its daily midday press briefing, and it has confirmed plans to adopt the new, 20th, round of sanctions against Russia by 24 February, the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion on Ukraine.Foreign affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said:“We keep on working on measures to deprive Russ
  
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• After Miss Julie review – sex takes second place to snarling class warfare

  17-02-2026 14:01 via theguardian.com
  Park theatre, LondonPatrick Marber updates Strindberg’s story to a country house in 1945, where upstairs-downstairs disaffection drives the dramaStrindberg claimed that he wrote Miss Julie during a month of “enforced celibacy” in 1888. The resulting tragedy has a snarling, pent-up energy. Patrick Marber’s 1995 version, originally written for TV, unfolds in a similarly compact 75 minutes – but turns less on sex than a very British class warfare.We’re on the cou
  
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• ‘We had fun times’: Dennis Wise on the Crazy Gang, Chelsea and Como

  17-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Wise remembers long throws with Vinnie Jones, training in a park with Gus Poyet and scoring in Europe for MillwallBy The Coaches’ VoiceAs a young player I had been told a few times that I wasn’t quite good enough. Wimbledon manager Dave Bassett was the one who looked at me in a different way. He was the man who gave me that all-important opportunity. In terms of structuring a team, he was on the ball in everything he did.He was a long way in front of a lot of others, but because of t
  
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• The secret to perfect roast chicken | Kitchen aide

  17-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Brines or rubs, spatchcocked or baked upside down, our expert panel picks apart the perfect birdWhat’s the best way to roast a chicken?
  Nicola, by email“Fundamentally, people overcomplicate it,” says Ed Smith, who has, rather conveniently, written a new book all about chicken, Peckish. “Yes, you can cook it at a variety of temperatures, use different fats, wet brine or dry brine, etc etc, but, ultimately, if you put a good chicken in the oven and roast it, you will have a
  
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• Redux Redux review – multiverse hopping child-abduction thriller keeps things simple

  17-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  The McManus brothers offer a stylish new spin on the time loop genre in this tale of a woman trying to stop the abduction and murder of her daughterPerhaps it’s the general obsession with optimising every aspect of life that’s driven the glut of time-loop thrillers in recent years, with the likes of Predestination, Looper and Edge of Tomorrow et al. The McManus brothers’ Redux Redux is a decently handled example from the low-budget end. It traps a bereaved mother and a bratty t
  
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• Analog is back, and my millennial heart couldn’t be happier | Tayo Bero

  17-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  When daily life feels like a black hole of apps and feeds, it’s no surprise we crave the intimacy of physical mediaUsually, my handbag is a medley of digital devices and life essentials – my phone, iPad, chargers, keys, tampons. But lately, you’re likely to also find a half-done newspaper crossword, a ton of stationery, the book I’ve restarted three times, and whatever scraps and trinkets I’ve picked up throughout the day to put in my scrapbook.Analog is back, and i
  
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• 12-hour days, no weekends: the anxiety driving AI’s brutal work culture is a warning for all of us

  17-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  San Francisco’s AI startups are pushing workers to grind endlessly, hinting at pressures soon hitting other sectorsNot long after the terms “996” and “grindcore” entered the popular lexicon, people started telling me stories about what was happening at startups in San Francisco, ground zero for the artificial intelligence economy. There was the one about the founder who hadn’t taken a weekend off in more than six months. The woman who joked that she’d gi
  
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• The gulf between critics and audience has never been wider – just look at Melania’s Rotten Tomatoes score

  17-02-2026 13:37 via theguardian.com
  Critics have given the Flotus flick 11% on the aggregator site, but the ‘verified ticket buyers’ score is a near perfect 98%. A campaign by activists, or a sign of our politically disparate times?If you’ve started to feel like you’re living in an entirely different reality from most of the world, there’s a good chance that it’s because you’ve been looking at the Rotten Tomatoes page for the Melania Trump documentary. There you will find two diametrically
  
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• Premier League boosted by 25% rise in South American rights with £450m ESPN deal

  17-02-2026 13:37 via theguardian.com
  South American and Caribbean partnership runs to 2031Substantial rise contrasts with stagnant domestic rightsThe Premier League has secured a 25% increase on the value of its broadcast contact in South America and the Caribbean by agreeing a new deal with the American network ESPN. The Guardian has learned that ESPN has agreed to extend its long-standing partnership with the Premier League until 2031, with the new deal understood to be worth about £450m.The Premier League told the clubs ab
  
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• France issues red flood alerts after ‘exceptional’ rainfall

  17-02-2026 13:23 via theguardian.com
  Aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across country with flooding under way or expected on Garonne, Maine and Loire rivers France has issued red alerts for flooding in three départements as the aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across the country.Flood waters have inundated homes and isolated villages after the Garonne River overflowed its banks, with hydrologists warning that rain is falling on soils that have hit record-breaking levels of saturation. Continue reading...
  
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• Australia out of T20 World Cup after Zimbabwe’s match against Ireland rained off

  17-02-2026 13:18 via theguardian.com
  Former champions eliminated before final group matchZimbabwe go through to Super 8 phaseAustralia have been knocked out of the T20 World Cup after Zimbabwe’s match against Ireland was washed out.With each side taking a point from the rained-off match it means Australia, who have two points, can no longer catch Zimbabwe, on five, even if they win their final match against Oman on Friday (Saturday 0030 AEDT). Continue reading...
  
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• England’s Henry Arundell free to play against Ireland after avoiding ban

  17-02-2026 13:15 via theguardian.com
  No further sanction for wing after red against Scotland Steve Borthwick set to name team on Tuesday afternoonThe England wing Henry Arundell has escaped a ban for his red card against Scotland at the weekend after the disciplinary panel determined that his sending off was sufficient punishment.Arundell is now available for selection against Ireland on Saturday but it remains to be seen if Borthwick will pick the Bath flyer after his disappointing outing at Murrayfield. It is understood the head
  
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• Mamdani faces first showdown with NYPD – will he risk alienating police?

  17-02-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  As an assembly member, Mamdani backed the Stop Fakes Act. Now, the NYPD has admitted to spying online – but wielding actual power as mayor is complexWhen Zohran Mamdani was a New York state assembly member, he sponsored the Stop Fakes Act, which would have prohibited law enforcement from creating fake electronic communication service accounts and collecting users’ account information.“Digital dragnet surveillance is widespread and dangerous, yet it continues to go unregulated,&
  
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• ‘It’s betrayal’: Shetland’s scallop fishers brace for arrival of UK’s largest salmon farm

  17-02-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Huge project by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms gets go-ahead amid concerns over the environmental cost of fish farming and threat to traditional way of lifeAt Collafirth, north Shetland, Sydney Johnson is unloading bags of two-dozen scallops by throwing them over his head like medicine balls to the pier above. Johnson, who has just finished a 10-hour shift on his boat, the Golden Shore, is concerned that plans for a new salmon farm will put fishers like him and his two sons out of business.&
  
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• Austrian football shaken after hidden cameras found in Altach women’s team’s changing room

  17-02-2026 12:55 via theguardian.com
  A man accused of having placed secret cameras in Altach’s changing room is appearing in court next weekA man who has been accused of having videos from secret cameras in the changing room and showers of the Altach women’s team is appearing in court next week in a case that has shaken football in Austria.About 30 women have been identified on the recordings, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Feldkirch, and some are considering a civil lawsuit against the accused. Th
  
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• Frederick Wiseman brought a uniquely empowering scale to his immersive documents of ordinary life

  17-02-2026 12:48 via theguardian.com
  His maximal studies of US institutions such as welfare bureaucracy and an intensive care unit were packed with human detail and free from explicit commentary• Frederick Wiseman, prolific documentary film-maker, dies aged 96The documentary form is often thought to be governed by a manageable feature-length high concept: the story of a person, an institution, an historical episode. The subject itself and the film’s attitude towards it, its editorial slant, are habitually plain enough an
  
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• David Squires on … Jim Ratcliffe’s comments and his need for some home truths

  17-02-2026 12:48 via theguardian.com
  Our cartoonist reflects on the Manchester United co-owner’s recent statements and electioneering, via the prism of Cracker’s DCI BilboroughBuy a cartoon | David’s favourite works of 2025And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Betrayed’: 21 Hartlepool councillors threaten to quit Labour over care budget

  17-02-2026 12:48 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Council in one of England’s poorest areas says it needs urgent help with ballooning children’s social care billKeir Starmer is facing a mass resignation of Labour councillors in one of England’s poorest areas over a “betrayal” of funding for children in care.Labour councillors in Hartlepool, County Durham, said they were “between despair and open revolt” over an “unfair” cash settlement that would leave them unable to balance the b
  
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• ‘No cushion, no seatbelt, no airbag’: the GB bobsledder who races with her eyes closed

  17-02-2026 12:30 via theguardian.com
  Ashleigh Nelson is in the mix for a bobsleigh medal at the Winter Olympics – but that doesn’t mean she enjoys itAshleigh Nelson was never meant to be in the Winter Olympics. If you’d asked her 18 months ago where she expected to be competing this week, she would have told you she would be at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham running the 60m at the UK Indoor Championships, not standing at the top of the world’s newest ice track riding a £75,000 bobsleigh.“I was t
  
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• Boohoo and Debenhams owner raises £35m, risking Mike Ashley clash

  17-02-2026 12:29 via theguardian.com
  Company, which also owns Oasis, Warehouse and Karen Millen, to use cash to cut debts and fund turnaroundBusiness live – latest updatesThe owner of Boohoo and Debenhams is raising £35m from shareholders in a move that could open a fresh conflict with Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley.The company, which also owns Oasis, Warehouse, Pretty Little Thing and Karen Millen, said on Tuesday that the new cash would help reduce debts and fund its turnaround plans. These involve slashing costs,
  
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• Medics in UK and US say they have been barred from Gaza after speaking out

  17-02-2026 12:15 via theguardian.com
  Israel accused of denying doctorsre-entry into territory after they gave first-hand testimony on conflictMedics in the UK and US believe they have been denied re-entry to Gaza after speaking out on the conflict.Following reports of rising refusal rates, medical workers and organisationswho have provided humanitarian aid in Gaza have described what they see as arbitrary denials. Continue reading...
  
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• Hyatt chair Thomas Pritzker steps down over Epstein links

  17-02-2026 12:02 via theguardian.com
  Billionaire says he exercised ‘terrible judgment’ in maintaining contact with sex offender and Ghislaine MaxwellThe billionaire Thomas Pritzker has stepped down as executive chair of the hotel chain Hyatt, after revelations over his ties with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Pritzker said he had exercised “terrible judgment” in maintaining contact with the sex offender and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 for her role in recruiting and grooming unde
  
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• Kenyan authorities used Israeli tech to crack activist’s phone, report claims

  17-02-2026 12:01 via theguardian.com
  Citizen Lab report suggests Cellebrite software was used to break into Boniface Mwangi’s phone while he was under arrestWhen Boniface Mwangi, the prominent Kenyan pro-democracy activist who plans to run for president in 2027, had his phones returned to him by Kenyan authorities after his controversial arrest last July, he immediately noticed a problem: one of the phones was no longer password protected and could be opened without one.It was Mwangi’s personal phone, which he used to c
  
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• What exactly is it about Britons that makes us so good at hurtling down an icy drainpipe? | Zoe Williams

  17-02-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Team GB has swept up the skeleton medals at the Winter Olympics. I suspect it’s something to do with our capacity at weathering tremendous, impotent fearIt’s amazing how fast you can become a passionate superfan of a sport that five minutes before, you thought was called luge. Turns out the head-first hurtle down a drainpipe of ice is called skeleton. Turns out the feet-first version, luge, also has a doubles category, where one elite athlete lies on top of another, and they both go
  
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