For more on the first Premier League Tyne-Wear clash since March 2016, give Louise Taylor’s preview a read:
There are five matches in the Premier League today, the pick of which has to the north east derby between Sunderland and Newcastle at the Stadium of Light. That is at 2pm GMT, as are: Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Nottingham Forest v Tottenham, West Ham v Aston Villa. Then, at 4.30pm GMT, is Brentford v Leeds.
NSW police said two police were in custody but the ‘operation is ongoing and we continue to urge people to avoid the area’
New South Wales police say two people are in custody following an incident at Bondi beach during which at least a dozen gunshots were fired in the area.
In a statement shared to X at about 7pm on Sunday, police advised there was a “developing incident” at Bondi and they urged the public to avoid the area.
After the tumult of four managers in two years, back-to-back wins have eased some of the unrest at League One club
The last time Plymouth hosted Rotherham was the penultimate Saturday before Christmas 2023, when a dramatic 3-2 Championship win was the last before Steven Schumacher left – in a helicopter, so it is said – for Stoke. Then everything started to go wrong, hence the relief on Saturday when Plymouth beat Rotherham 1-0, relieving pressure on Tom Cleverley and fears of a second successive relegation.
It wasn’t pretty but while a smart first-half finish from Joe Ralls was not quite enough to lift the Devon side out of the League One dropzone, it did send the 14,000 or so Plymouth fans home happy for the first time in months. Cleverley, appointed in the summer, was certainly smiling after a second 1-0 win in four days even if his men spent much of the second half hanging on.
The HCDA, which sought to expose police corruption and violence, was secretly monitored for a decade
Undercover officers secretly monitored a community organisation that sought to expose wrongdoing and corruption in the Metropolitan police, the spycops public inquiry has heard.
Previously secret reports show that the Hackney Community Defence Association (HCDA) in east London and its key organiser were monitored by police spies for a decade.
With public service broadcasters starting to look like ‘endangered species’, many want Channel 4 and BBC to work more closely
The prospect of Comcast taking over ITV has prompted concerns about the impact on British public service broadcasting, a fact that Channel 4’s new chief executive, moving from a senior post at Sky, will be all too well aware.
Sky’s advertising chief, Priya Dogra, will now be expected to lead the charge to block her former employer’s takeover plan to protect Channel 4.
Women’s Super League’s support for clubs outside top flight paying dividends for players and for commercial growth
The rebranding of the Championship to WSL2 was long overdue for a division that needed “a bit more love”, and along with a host of upgrades the arrival of one of the game’s fondly followed traditions has provided a further uplift.
For the first time WSL2 players feature in the WSL Panini sticker album, which was released this week. It features 64 WSL2 collectibles in its third edition, with 48 players and each club represented.
Liz Sayce, who led inquiry into department’s failures, ‘distressed’ at carers being blamed for running up huge overpayments
The Department of Work and Pensions needs a management and cultural overhaul if it is to restore public trust after the benefits scandal which left hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers in debt, a key government adviser has warned.
Prof Liz Sayce led a scathing review of the carer’s allowance scandal, which found the DWP system and leadership failures were responsible for carers unknowingly running up huge debts, some of which resulted in serious mental illness and, possibly, criminal convictions for fraud.
Hosting Christmas? Don’t panic. Here’s our experts’ guide to a memorable meal, from thoughtful details to sustainable produce and tips on stress-free entertaining
Canapes, crackers, Christmas playlists, flowing drinks, and a ripe brie cosying up to a firm gruyere on a cheeseboard surrounded by grapes and fresh figs: there is no better time of year to host guests, feast and be merry.
Even better, you can do almost everything in advance of the big day: decorate, prepare canapes, get your dinner oven-ready and even pre-batch your cocktails. We’ve spoken to chefs, wine experts and professional hosts – among others – to pull together a curated guide to every element of your Christmas dinner, from ethical turkey to table decorations that won’t spend the rest of the year at the back of a drawer.
Relatives fear for lives of men thought to remain trapped in war after allegedly being recruited by a daughter of Jacob Zuma
Mary hasn’t heard from her son since 27 August, when he told her he was worried he was being sent to the frontlines of Russia’s war with Ukraine. Since then she has been ill with worry.
“I’m honestly really sick,” she said, exhaustion in her voice. “I get anxiety attacks, I’m in and out of hospital, palpitations. It’s just a whole lot. Headaches, I’m dizzy all the time. It’s not easy for me.”
Over-the-top praise for an item should ring alarm bells, with fake feedback generated by AI, bots and humans on a mass scale
You’re doing a spot of online Christmas shopping and see an air fryer that is competitively priced. You don’t recognise the brand, but the reviews are fantastic – five-star raves that say things such as “this product changed my life” and “this is the greatest air fryer ever”.
You buy it, but when it arrives it is clearly cheap and poor quality, and possibly dangerous, too.
Training and qualifications body, acquired by private Greek firm in October, to become ‘leaner organisation’
The training and qualifications body City & Guilds is shrinking its UK workforce as part of a £22m cost-cutting drive after it was acquired by a private Greek business in October.
Founded in 1878 by the City of London and a group of 16 livery companies, the original institute developed a national system of technical education, offering qualifications and apprenticeships in fields ranging from manufacturing and mechanical engineering to hairdressing and horticulture.
The Clueless icon plays an aggressive lawyer in sinister series Irish Blood. Plus: Ant and Dec’s ridiculous new challenge show. Here’s what to watch this evening
Cuban officials denounce the US seizure of the Skipper oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast. Key US politics stories from 13 December 2025
Cuban officials have denounced the US seizure of the Skipper oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast on Wednesday, calling it an “act of piracy and maritime terrorism”, as well as a “serious violation of international law” that hurts the Caribbean island nation and its people.
The tanker, which was reported now to be heading for Galveston, Texas, was believed to loaded with nearly 2m barrels of Venezuela’s heavy crude, according to internal data from the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, as reported by the New York Times.
Her delivery might be stilted – but Truss’ new YouTube show has grand ambitions: a ‘Trump revolution’ in Britain with the help of an influential US conservative ecosystem
Liz Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, began the first edition of her YouTube show with a vow to unmask “the evil-doers” attempting to bring down Britain, the US and Europe. She would, she explained, reveal how an “international network of leftists work to subvert democracy and the will of the people”.
Despite her bleak monologue, Truss pointed to hope from across the Atlantic. “We’re going to look at the Trump revolution and see how this can be achieved in Britain,” she said. “We’ll be talking to the leading lights of the Maga movement.”
Forget homeschooling, how about taking your family on a perpetual gap year and quitting the nine-to-five? Families who did just that share the hostel horrors and mid-trip meltdowns behind the Instagram feed
It was going to be the adventure of a lifetime. Late last year, Josy and Joe Davis decided to quit their jobs, sell their home and pull their two young daughters out of school to travel the world. Though their life in Gloucestershire was good on paper, post-pandemic it had been increasingly feeling like a grind. Josy, 35, a police dispatcher, worked shifts that swung from early morning to late night. Joe, also 35, a logistics manager, was often on call until 10pm. Neither felt as if they could ever switch off – let alone enjoy family time.
Exhausted, Josy caught herself being short with her daughters, Lola and Zara, six and four. “I felt like I spent my days off recovering, rather than actually being present,” she says. Though only in Year 1, Lola was feeling the pressure at school, fretting about where she ranked in the class.
I defy anyone to watch the Nigella Christmas special and feel anything but drunk on yuletide bonhomie
If your run-up to Christmas already feels a bit chaotic, there’s always a cosy nook of the TV schedule where nothing but gorgeous, kitsch, heartwarming things happen. And by that I mean the cooking channels, where it’s currently full-on re-run time. Nigel Slater’s 12 Tastes of Christmas, anyone? That episode of Fanny Cradock at Christmas when she folds mincemeat into an omelette? I defy anyone to watch my own personal favourite, 2017’s Nigella: At My Table, Christmas special and feel anything but drunk on yuletide bonhomie. Or just drunk, considering our Nigella’s first recipe is a massive Christmas vodka martini featuring vodka, raspberry liqueur and enough crème de cacao blanc to stun a reindeer. Later, she whips up a no-churn brandy and salted caramel ice-cream and souses some red cabbage with cranberries. Heaven.
I won’t make a single one of these recipes, though; I’m just here to gawp. Behold, my Christmas angel, utterly resplendent in chic, countryside garb and ambling about her fairylight-strewn cottage (even though it’s actually a TV set in Elstree with a BBC snow machine turned up to 11). Ooh, devilled eggs and duck à l’orange? I should make those! (Spoiler: I won’t.)
But whether or not we make these Yuletide recipes, all these festive specials by Nigella, Jamie, Nigel, Keith and Fanny provide a sterling service to the stressed home cook. In the Capital Floyd: Christmas Specials from 2000, Keith isn’t remotely stressed by a 12-pound turkey with giblets or a gravlax starter for nine. Yes, perhaps that’s because he’s been glugging Chateau Lafite Rothschild since 9am, but no one can accuse our man Floyd of an iota of festive fluster. Tom Kerridge Cooks Christmas, meanwhile, is another delight in which he rolls his turkey into kievs with sage butter, mulls cider and whips up some Christmas pud ice-cream. Tom doesn’t so much as break a sweat, and it’s all clearly completely doable with a bit of pre-thought, a good spud peeler and some elbow power! It’s all in the planning, he says.
Obviously, the tinsel-covered elephant in all of these rooms – and the one that’s never, ever mentioned – is that all these Christmas specials were very pre-planned. So much so, in fact, that they were recorded all the way back in April, with a cast of at least 25 researchers, producers, home economists, food stylists and lighting technicians all working for weeks to ensure that Nigella’s cottage is so spectacularly seasonal that we go all misty-eyed while watching the woman whip meringue into snowy peaks.
Grace Dent is judge and co-presenter of finals week for BBC One’s Celebrity MasterChef on Tuesday 15 December and Friday 19 December
Baronesses Nadine and Ariane de Rothschild at odds over future of Swiss chateau’s priceless contents
After three generations of genteel discretion bordering on secrecy, the international banking family the Rothschilds has been riven by rival claims to a multibillion-euro fortune including a vast collection of art masterpieces.
The battle now playing out in the courts and media has pitched the 93-year-old senior baroness, Nadine de Rothschild – widow of Edmond de Rothschild, the late scion of the French-Swiss branch of the family – against her daughter-in-law, Ariane de Rothschild, the current baroness.
The jailing of a Sudanese militia leader is an anomaly in a world where Putin, Netanyahu and yes, Hegseth, act without fear of international law
It was a rare success for international courts struggling to resist a rising tide of official lawlessness. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, a leader of the notorious, government-backed Janjaweed militia that committed genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region from 2003 to 2005, was jailed for 20 years last week by the international criminal court (ICC). He had been found guilty on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Although hundreds of militia were involved, Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, is the first person to be convicted of atrocities in Darfur, now again the scene of terrible violence in Sudan’s civil war. The ICC has charged Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s president at the time, with genocide and war crimes. Ahmad Harun, a former minister, faces similar charges. But both men have evaded arrest.
You’re reluctant to discuss this with your parents – but doing so might help you shake off the feeling of injustice
I am struggling with the different way my parents have treated me and my brother. My dad started a business when I wasfive. Now it’s worth several million. My brother was invited by my dad to go into the business when he left university. I was not. By then, the business was well established and my dad stayed on as CEO. My dad gave my brother 80% of it. He will now sell the business and realise millions, meaning he can retire early.
My dad helped me with university fees and house purchases. He’s told me I will inherit the house and whatever money is left when my parents pass away, which is likely to be in about 20 years. I doubt there will be anything left.
At 2-0 down, England are desperate for a win in Adelaide
Coach says ‘kneejerk reactions’ are ‘not really our way’
The series is on the line and, in all likelihood, jobs with it. But for Brendon McCullum, the latter is irrelevant. The England head coach has instead backed an unchanged top seven to deliver a fightback in the third Ashes Test and flip a narrative that has already featured talk of a whitewash bubble up.
At 2-0 down with three to play, all wriggle room has disappeared for England. But talk of Ollie Pope potentially being dropped, or even Ben Stokes moving to No 3, was shot down by McCullum as his players resumed training on Sunday afternoon. No going back now was the message.
Technology has improved since the 50s and in the last five or six years especially, there has been a lot of progress. But the world is still too often designed without wheelchair users in mind
A lot has changed for people with disabilities since the 1950s, when the then seven-year-old Alice Moira was given her first wheelchair – not least the fact that it was made of wood and she couldn’t push it herself. Technology has come on in leaps and bounds, of course, as has society’s understanding of disability, while moves towards flexible working have, in some ways, made things easier. But wheelchair users still face challenges in a world that, so often, has been designed without them in mind. Recent plans to make cuts to disability benefits in the UK have raised concerns that disability rights might be retreating. Thirty years on from the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act becoming law, Moira, now 81, chats to 25-year-old Lochlann O’Higgins about what their experiences of using a wheelchair have had in common – and how they differ.
Do you remember the first time you used a wheelchair?
Lochlann O’Higgins: No, I was two. My parents told me about it, though. I have brittle bone disease, so I used to break my bones a lot and I couldn’t walk. In the hospital, the first time I got in a wheelchair, I apparently just jumped in it and started wheeling up and down the corridor, having the best time of my life because I was able to move around freely for the first time. The nurses and my mum were scared I was going to crash into a wall.
Festive theatrical feasts serve audiences a slap-up dinner with their entertainment. But is what’s on stage as appetising as what’s on your plate?
In west London, a line of smartly dressed theatregoers on a street corner enter a building and walk back in time. We pass through tight lamp-lit corridors and arrive in a cavernous hall, with tables laid and lanterns dangling overhead. This is Charles Dickens’ parlour, where he has just finished writing A Christmas Carol, and it’s dinner time.
The Great Christmas Feast is an immersive production in which a three-course meal is served while a quicksilver Dickens (David Alwyn) narrates his ghost story about the perils of penny-pinching in the season of goodwill. Immersive theatre has evidently concocted a tasty festive offshoot that might suit those tired of watching yet another straight-up adaptation of the classic tale.
White House official confirms Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Zelenskyy and European leaders this weekend. What we know on day 1,390
Donald Trump’s special envoy will meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Berlin this weekend, the White House said, as Washington presses for a plan to end the war. Germany said earlier on Saturday that it would host US and Ukrainian delegations over the weekend for talks on a ceasefire, before a summit involving European leaders and Zelenskyy in Berlin on Monday. Zelenskyy also confirmed that he will personally meet with Donald Trump’s Steve Witkoff in the series of meetings: “Most importantly, I will be meeting with envoys of President Trump, and there will also be meetings with our European partners, with many leaders, concerning the foundation of peace – a political agreement to end the war,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation late on Saturday.
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov reaffirmed Friday that Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from parts of the Donetsk region that they still control. Ushakov told the business daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guard troops would stay in parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if they become a demilitarised zone under a prospective peace plan – a demand likely to be rejected by Ukraine.
Russia attacked five Ukrainian regions overnight, targeting the country’s energy and port infrastructure, according to Zelenskyy, who said the attacks involved more than 450 drones and 30 missiles. With temperatures hovering around freezing, Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said more than a million people were without electricity.
An attack on Odesa caused grain silos to catch fire at the coastal city’s port, Ukrainian deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister Oleksiy Kuleba said. Two people were wounded in attacks on the wider region, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.
Germany has said it will send a group of soldiers to Poland to help with a project to fortify the country’s eastern border as worries mount about the threat from Russia. Poland, a strong supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Moscow, announced plans in May last year to bolster a long stretch of its border that includes Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The main task of the German soldiers in Poland will be “engineering activities,” a spokesperson for the defence ministry in Berlin said late Friday.
About 480 people were evacuated Saturday from a train traveling between the Polish city of Przemysl and Kyiv after police received a call concerning a threat on the train, Karolina Kowalik, a spokesperson for the Przemysl police, said. Nobody was hurt and she didn’t elaborate on the threat. Polish authorities are on high alert since multiple attempts to disrupt trains on the line linking Warsaw to the Ukrainian border, including the use of explosives in November, with Polish authorities saying they have evidence Russia was behind it.
Ukraine’s navy accused Russia of deliberately attacking a civilian Turkish vessel carrying sunflower oil to Egypt with a drone on Saturday, a day after Moscow hit two Ukrainian ports: “Russia delivered a targeted strike using a drone against the Turkish vessel ‘VIVA’, which was en route to Egypt carrying sunflower oil,” Ukraine’s navy said on social media. None of the 11 crew were wounded and the ship was able to continue its journey, it added.
Ukraine received 114 prisoners released by Belarus on Saturday, Kyiv’s PoW coordination centre said. The centre’s statement said that the released captives would receive medical attention, and those Belarusian citizens who so wished would subsequently be transported to Poland or Lithuania.
At least two people were killed and nine more critically injured in a shooting on Saturday at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, with the suspect still at large hours after the first shelter in place orders were issued.
Police scattered across the campus and into an affluent neighbourhood filled with historic and stately brick homes, searching academic buildings, back yards and porches for hours late into the night after the shooting was first reported in the afternoon.
Police said no weapons were recovered from the scene and the last sighting of the suspect was him leaving the Hope Street side of the building on foot.
Timothy O’Hara, a deputy police chief, told a press conference that the suspect is a “male dressed in black” who exited the complex at Brown University.
The former Sunderland striker Gary Rowell has died at the age of 68, the Black Cats have announced. He was being treated for leukaemia.
The Seaham-born Rowell, who scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 Division Two win over Newcastle at St James’ Park in February 1979, died on Saturday. His death comes 50 years to the day since he made his Sunderland debut and just a day before the Black Cats host the Magpies in the first Premier League derby between the clubs since March 2016, at which the hosts will mark Rowell’s death.
Specialist teams will deal with offences such as rape and stalking as part of VAWG strategy, home secretary says
All police forces in England and Wales will have dedicated rape and sexual offences teams by 2029, the government has said.
The plans are being unveiled as the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, prepares to outline a delayed strategy on violence against women and girls (VAWG) next week.
No easy games? Surely this one would be for Arsenal. Never before in English football history had a team endured a worse league record after 15 matches than Wolves. In any of the professional divisions. Their haul of two points gave an outline of the grimness, although by no means all of the detail.
Before kick-off, the bookmakers had Wolves at 28-1 to win; it was 8-1 for the draw. You just had to hand it to the club’s 3,000 travelling fans who took up their full ticket allocation. There were no trains back to Wolverhampton after the game, obviously. It was a weekend. Mission impossible? This felt like the definition of it.
A letter to the king has added a royal flourish to life at Rothera Research Station, where mail remains a vital link to the world
It might be traditional to write to Father Christmas with a gift list, but when Kirsten Shaw wanted a new postbox for staff at the UK’s Rothera Research Station in Antarctica, she wrote to the king.
The request has resulted in a special delivery for Shaw – a station support assistant who, among myriad other tasks, runs the British Antarctic Territory post office at the station.
Forward made an emotional lap of honour at Anfield after a week that put his future at the club in doubt
Mohamed Salah and Liverpool have put politics to shame by showing what a long week truly looks like. It ended with the Egyptian doing a one-man lap of honour at Anfield, an attempt to rebuild trust with the supporters after creating a ceasefire, if not a complete truce, with Arne Slot.
Over the past seven days a lot has changed, but one thing remained the same, Salah started a Premier League game on the bench, not that he needed to wait long for a chance to do his talking on the pitch. He would finish with an assist after playing 75 minutes against Brighton in a game in which he desperately wanted to score. Maybe his parade was the beginning of the end, but it felt more like the start of the apology that should continue after the Africa Cup of Nations, giving both parties space to breathe.
2 min: Doherty skittles Martinelli out on the left. An early free kick for Arsenal. Rice’s delivery is uncharacteristically poor, failing to beat the first man … and that first man is Doherty, who makes good his mistake by clearing.
Arsenal get the ball rolling. They haven’t lost at home yet this season, winning ten from 11. Godspeed, Wolves.
UN secretary general António Guterres says ‘unjustifiable’ attack on base in city of Kadugli ‘could be war crime’
A drone strike has hit a United Nations peacekeeping logistics base in war-torn Sudan, killing six peacekeepers, the UN secretary general António Guterres has said.
Eight other peacekeepers were wounded in the strike on Saturday in the city of Kadugli in the central region of Kordofan. All the victims are Bangladeshi nationals, serving in the UN interim security force for Abyei (Unisfa).
Lim beats Jeffrey de Graaf to set up Luke Humphries rematch
Singaporean beat the future champion in 2020
Paul Lim made World Darts Championship history at Alexandra Palace – and then hoped lightning would strike twice against Luke Humphries.
Lim became the oldest player to win a match at the event as the Singaporean, who turns 72 next month, defeated Jeffrey de Graaf 3-1 to extend his own record set in 2020. On that occasion he overcame Humphries and the pair are reunited in round two after the world No 2 produced eight 180s in crushing Ted Evetts 3-1.
Number is stark contrast with estimated 110,000 at far-right activist’s ‘unite the kingdom’ rally in September
The far-right activist Tommy Robinson led a carol concert to “put the Christ back into Christmas” on Saturday in an event that had a huge drop-off in attendance from his last rally in London.
The Manchester City midfielder is in sparkling club form but that doesn’t mean he is the right fit for Tuchel’s England
By the time the World Cup comes around, nine years will have passed since Phil Foden won the Golden Ball as England lifted the Under-17 World Cup. That tournament can be seen in hindsight as a watershed for the English game, the first indication that the elite player performance plan (EPPP) and the England DNA project – taking youth football seriously – might be beginning to pay off.
Youth football is notoriously unpredictable and England’s record in the Under-17 World Cup since shows a failure to qualify and a pair of last-16 exits, but following that 2017 success, England’s senior side have reached two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final, while the under-21s have won two European titles. Two previous Golden Ball winners from Under-17 World Cups – Cesc Fàbregas and Toni Kroos – have gone on to win the senior World Cup. Some, such as Landon Donovan, Anderson and Kelechi Iheanacho have had perfectly decent careers. And others have vanished almost entirely: Sani Emmanuel of Nigeria, for instance, won in 2009 then made just 16 senior appearances, 10 of them in the Swiss second tier with Biel-Bienne; while another Nigerian, Kelechi Nwakali, winner in 2015, joined Arsenal but, after a series of loan moves and stints in the lower reaches of the Spanish and Portuguese systems, was kicked out of Barnsley this past summer after returning late for pre-season.
Kevin Rodriguez Zavala died from blunt-impact trauma on ride at Universal’s Epic Universe theme park
A Florida sheriff’s office has concluded that the death of a 32-year-old man while riding a high-speed roller coaster at Universal’s Epic Universe theme park was accidental.
According to a report released Friday by the local medical examiner, Kevin Rodriguez Zavala suffered a deep cut on the left side of his forehead, a fracture to the bone ridge above his eye and bleeding above his skull. Additional injuries included bruises on his arms and abdomen, a broken nose and a fractured right thigh bone.
Liverpool manager: ‘There’s nothing for me to talk about’
Slot refuses to divulge details of talks with Salah
Arne Slot claimed he had no outstanding issues with Mohamed Salah and would see the Egypt international after the Africa Cup of Nations following the forward’s positive return for Liverpool against Brighton.
Salah was reintroduced to the Liverpool side as a 26th-minute substitute having been omitted from the Champions League win at Inter over the incendiary interview he gave at Elland Road last Saturday. Slot refused to divulge details of the conversation that led to Salah being restored to the squad on Friday but insisted that, as far as he was concerned, the matter was resolved. Talks are expected, however, between the Liverpool hierarchy and Salah’s representative while the forward is away on Afcon duty.
US Central Command reports an ambush on Saturday, the first attack to inflict US casualties since fall of Bashar al-Assad
Two US army soldiers and one American civilian interpreter have been killed and several other people wounded in an ambush on Saturday by the Islamic State group in central Syria, the Pentagon said.
The attack on US troops in Palmyra is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of the former Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, a year ago.
The Grand Designs presenter and co-host of Tim & Kev’s Big Design Adventure on living with bats, the most important room in a house and eating fermented shark
There’s an aphorism that Australians only want to talk about two things – sport and real estate. Do you think we talk too much about real estate?
In my experience, Australians never talk about real estate but the Australian media talks about it all the time. It’s a little bit like politics in the UK, where the right wing occupy a tiny minority and yet they’re all over the BBC. The media will always pick up on something they think should be the topic of national conversation because it sells newspapers. But in my dealings with Australians, I find I talk about pretty well every other subject. There is something very exciting about Australia’s can-do attitude. The British national default is to say, “Maybe, I don’t know – ask me in six months”. We’re very good at circumlocuting an issue. But the moment I get off the plane in Australia, it is, “What can we do?” I love the optimism of Australia.
In high school I was in an all-consuming relationship with one thing: dance. Any free time I had was spent on working towards a coveted spot at a performance company.
As soon as I graduated school in Brisbane, I left to begin my career as a performer.
What had seemed like a routine win for Chelsea became something a lot more mysterious thanks to a cryptic comment from Enzo Maresca in the post-match press conference. “The last 48 hours,” he said, “have been the hardest since I joined the club because so many people didn’t support me and the team.”
But which people? It was far from obvious. There was a clear sense Maresca was directing a message to somebody: he made the statement in response to a question about Malo Gusto’s form and repeated it before clarifying: “I love the fans and we are very happy with the fans.” Nor did it seem that he meant the media; he has never previously given any indication he cares what journalists and pundits say, there was no sense of hostility and he had appeared in perfectly good spirits at his pre-match press conference.
It is a long way to go for just a point, but Saracens all but took the maximum against Sharks in biblical weather in Durban. Now that South Africa has been incorporated into the Champions Cup, these long trips are part and parcel. It meant Saracens changing 10 of their starting lineup. It meant Sharks changing 14 – and a head coach to boot.
JP Pietersen, the former Springbok, stepped up to fill his new role this week when John Plumtree resigned after the Sharks’ heavy defeat in Toulouse on Sunday. One match, one win, his record now reads. For Sharks this was only a second win of the season. They were just about worth it, but still they must despair at finding any rhythm among a squad packed with Springboks.
If Saed is dead he would be most senior militant to be killed since October ceasefire, in attack on car that reportedly left four dead
The senior Hamas commander Raed Saedhas been killed in a strike on a car in Gaza City, the Israeli military said on Saturday.
The attack killed four people and wounded at least 25 others, according to Gaza health authorities. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas or medics that Saed was among the dead.
Exclusive: More than 150 anonymous channels using cheap AI tools to spread false stories about Keir Starmer, study finds
YouTube channels spreading fake, anti-Labour videos have amassed more than a billion views this year, as opportunists attempt to use AI-generated content to profit from political division in the UK.
More than 150 channels have been detected in the last year that promote anti-Labour narratives, as well as outright fake and inflammatory accusations about Keir Starmer.
This was an afternoon at the track when the big-race result was secondary to the cause it was supporting. For Faye Bramley it also marked a huge step forward in her training career as Glengouly, a 33-1 outsider, made all the running to win the Support the Hunt Family Fund December Gold Cup.
The Hunt Family Fund was set up by the BBC racing commentator, John Hunt, and his daughter, Amy, after the murder of his wife, Carol, and daughters, Hannah and Louise, to raise awareness of violence against women and support causes relating to young women.
Relatives of Virginia Giuffre say they are surprised Scotland Yard made decision just before release of Epstein files
The family of Virginia Giuffre have expressed their “deep disappointment” that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will not face a criminal investigation in the UK over allegations against him.
It was alleged that Mountbatten-Windsor had sex in London with a teenager who was trafficked, and then put pressure on his police protection officer to dig up dirt on her.
Cuban foreign ministry called US military action ‘maritime terrorism’ under a policy of ‘economic suffocation’
Cuban officials have denounced the US seizure of the Skipper oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast on Wednesday, calling it an “act of piracy and maritime terrorism” as well as a “serious violation of international law” that hurts the Caribbean island nation and its people.
“This action is part of the US escalation aimed at hampering Venezuela’s legitimate right to freely use and trade its natural resources with other nations, including the supplies of hydrocarbons to Cuba,” the Cuban foreign ministry statement said.
Nobel prize winner Ales Bialiatski and opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava among those freed after US talks with Alexander Lukashenko
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has freed 123 prisoners, including Nobel peace prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava, after the US lifted sanctions on Belarusian potash, a key export.
The announcement came after two days of talks with an envoy of the US president, Donald Trump, the latest diplomatic push since the Trump administration started talks with the autocratic leader.
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