General news

• Pharrell dominates BBC Music Awards

  11-12-2014 22:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US producer-songwriter Pharrell Williams walks away the big winner from the first ever BBC Music Awards, with Ed Sheeran named British act of the year.
  
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• Boxing Day footfall down on UK high streets despite discounts

  26-12-2024 15:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Data may reflect shift in behaviour influenced by cost of living crisis or front-loading of spendingFewer consumers have made the journey to high streets and shopping centres in search of Boxing Day discounts.Footfall across UK retailers was down 9.4% as of midday, compared with Boxing Day in 2023, according to data from the retail tech experts MRI Software. Continue reading...
  
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• Reform UK claims to be ‘real opposition’ with more members than Tories

  26-12-2024 15:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Nigel Farage heralds ‘historic moment’ as figure surpasses that of Conservatives when Kemi Badenoch took overReform UK has said it believes it now has more members than the Conservatives, surpassing 131,000 on Boxing Day.The party said it had hit the milestone of 131,680, which is the number of members the Conservatives had when Kemi Badenoch won the leadership election in the autumn. Continue reading...
  
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• Manchester City held by Everton after Erling Haaland’s penalty miss

  26-12-2024 15:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Manchester City’s plight is their individual kind of deja vu nightmare. Featuring domination, taking the lead, creating numerous chances, the spurning of these, and the pesky foe taking one of their very few to thwart those in blue.Add to the above a dismal 53rd-minute Erling Haaland penalty miss – greeted with a mischievous wink by Jordan Pickford following his save – and times are ever more trying for Pep Guardiola’s men. Continue reading...
  
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• The first quarter of 21st century wasn’t great for investors. The next needs an AI boost | Nils Pratley

  26-12-2024 15:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Debt, demographics and geopolitics aside, swing factor is whether artificial intelligence can revolutionise productivityThe first quarter of the 21st century is almost up, assuming one regards 31 December 1999 to have been the last day of the last millennium (non-partying pedants insist the date actually fell on the final day of 2000). It is the cue for analysts at Deutsche Bank to remind investors how much can change in the course of 25 years, in this case from the days when Nokia phones and fa
  
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• Banbridge wins King George VI Chase while Constitution Hill takes Christmas Hurdle – live

  26-12-2024 15:40 via theguardian.com
  Follow the Boxing Day card with feature race at 2.30pmTalking Horses | Email Tony with your thoughts here1 Leader In The Park 5-12 Asta La Pasta 15-8 fav3 El Rio 11-1Ladbrokes Best Odds Handicap Chase (Kempton, 12.45pm)And they’re off … El Rio and Leader In The Park get off to a flying start … with Leader In The Park leading in the early stages … Es Perfecto has lost places and is now at the back … Asta La Pasta travels well … Fire Flyer is being ridden a
  
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• Manchester City 1-1 Everton: Premier League – live reaction

  26-12-2024 15:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Jordan Pickford saved Erling Haaland’s penalty as Manchester City’s miserable run of form continuedA reminder of the teamsManchester City (possible 4-3-3) Ortega Moreno; Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Foden, Kovacic, Bernardo; Savinho, Haaland, Doku.
  Substitutes: Carson, Brits, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Simpson-Pusey, Mubama, Alleyne, O’Reilly, McAtee Continue reading...
  
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• Ceremonies held across Asia to mark 20 years since Boxing Day tsunami

  26-12-2024 15:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Waves towering up to 30 metres killed more than 220,000 people in 15 countries in deadliest tsunami in historyCeremonies were held in countries across Asia on Thursday to remember the more than 220,000 people who were killed two decades ago in the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the most deadly tsunami in history.On 26 December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Sumatra island, triggering huge waves that slammed into coastal communities across the Indian ocean. The waves, which towe
  
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• Two women dead after reported stabbing in Milton Keynes

  26-12-2024 15:21 via theguardian.com
  Man, 49, arrested on suspicion of murder, with man in his late 20s and teenage boy suffering serious injuriesTwo women have died and a man and a teenage boy have suffered serious injuries after reports of a stabbing in Milton Keynes on Christmas Day.A 49-year-old man from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and remained in police custody, Thames Valley police said. Continue reading...
  
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• Manchester City v Everton: Premier League – live

  26-12-2024 15:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Updates from the 12.30pm GMT kick-off at the EtihadGet in touch! You can email Rob hereA reminder of the teamsManchester City (possible 4-3-3) Ortega Moreno; Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Foden, Kovacic, Bernardo; Savinho, Haaland, Doku.
  Substitutes: Carson, Brits, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Simpson-Pusey, Mubama, Alleyne, O’Reilly, McAtee Continue reading...
  
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• Chelsea v Fulham, Newcastle v Aston Villa and more: football clockwatch – live

  26-12-2024 15:11 via theguardian.com
  Live scores | Tables | FixturesGet in touch! You can email Luke hereBournemouth: Arrizabalaga, Aarons, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez, Cook, Christie, Semenyo, Kluivert, Ouattara, Unal. Substitutes: Travers, Brooks, Evanilson, Adams, Hill, Billing, Winterburn, Kinsey-Wellings, Harris.Crystal Palace: Henderson, Chalobah, Lacroix, Guehi, Munoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell, Sarr, Eze, Mateta. Substitutes: Turner, Schlupp, Clyne, Kamada, Richards, Doucoure, Devenny, Kporha, Agbinone. Continue reading...
  
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• Beyoncé, bushfires and Boxing Day dips: photos of the day – Thursday

  26-12-2024 15:05 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• King George VI Chase meeting: Constitution Hill wins Christmas Hurdle – live

  26-12-2024 15:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Follow the Boxing Day card with feature race at 2.30pmTalking Horses | Email Tony with your thoughts here1 Leader In The Park 5-12 Asta La Pasta 15-8 fav3 El Rio 11-1Ladbrokes Best Odds Handicap Chase (Kempton, 12.45pm)And they’re off … El Rio and Leader In The Park get off to a flying start … with Leader In The Park leading in the early stages … Es Perfecto has lost places and is now at the back … Asta La Pasta travels well … Fire Flyer is being ridden a
  
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• ‘It was like I was reborn’: Sednaya prison’s former inmates adapt to a new Syria

  26-12-2024 15:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Former prisoners endured hearing fellow inmates being executed – but they are the lucky ones, with 100,000 people still missingOf all the horrors Mohammed Ammar Hamami remembers from his time in the Assad regime’s notorious Sednaya prison, the most vivid is the clanging of metal execution tables being moved around on the floor below.About once every 40 days, prison guards would drag the tables away from under the feet of condemned men. Nooses around their necks and hands tied behind
  
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• Rushdie’s Satanic Verses returns to Indian bookshops after 36 years

  26-12-2024 15:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Book banned since 1988 is ‘selling out’ after import bar was overturned due to missing paperworkSalman Rushdie’s 1988 novel The Satanic Verses – which led to a fatwa threatening his life, forcing him into hiding for a decade – has finally returned to bookshops in India, the land of his birth.The novel, inspired by the life of the prophet Muhammad, became the focus of a fierce global debate about freedom of speech when Iran’s then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Khom
  
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• ‘What would happen if the camera was Buddhist?’ The outlier film-making of RaMell Ross

  26-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  The US photographer and director of Hale County This Morning, This Evening talks about how his latest film, Nickel Boys, redraws the contours of cinemaArtists don’t come much more outsider than RaMell Ross. He once mailed himself across the US in a wooden crate. He says things like: “What would happen if the camera was Buddhist?” and, until now, he has never made a feature film. Not the obvious candidate to entrust with adapting a Pulitzer-winning novel, you might think, yet Ro
  
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• My petty gripe: our slovenly attitude to soap dispensers just won’t wash | Elias Visontay

  26-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It seemed as though a new era of cleanliness was dawning, but then we just washed our hands of it allRead more petty gripesFor hygiene enthusiasts like me, a silver lining to the dark cloud of the Covid pandemic was the widespread awareness campaign on how to properly wash your hands, and the proliferations of hand sanitiser dispensers at most businesses.Despite this huge leap forward for my community, a laissez-faire attitude to maintaining sanitiser and bathroom soap dispensers since the pande
  
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• Minister ‘surprised’ Fujitsu hasn’t done more to help victims of Post Office scandal

  26-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Gareth Thomas suggests company should have shown more ‘remorse’ since failings of Horizon IT system emergedA minister has spoken of his disappointment that Fujitsu, the Japanese company behind the Horizon computer system, has not done more for those whose lives were ruined in the Post Office scandal.After an intensive year of testimony and revelations at the public inquiry, the postal minister, Gareth Thomas, suggested the response of Fujitsu, which earned record profits i
  
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• Katt Williams, crypto and cat ladies: 2024 was the year of unexpected second chances

  26-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From comedy to courtroom drama, if you thought you’d seen it all before, that’s because this year … you hadIf 2024 was defined by anything, it was a distinct feeling of deja vu. Donald Trump ran and won, Death Cab and Janet Jackson headlined music festivals, and aesthetes on social media lusted after Windows Vista design language circa 2007. Same old, same old – almost. Because 2024 was also the year of unexpected second chances: in some very special cases, those who suf
  
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• In a life of ups and downs, we have come to cherish our dog’s uncomplicated love | Ranjana Srivastava

  26-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Every day, we walk Odie along the same paths. He eats the same food at the same time. And yet, for him our bounties feel limitlessThe last patient on my rounds is elderly, cognitively impaired and wonderfully complimentary. The nurse is dedicated. Dutiful interns like mine go places. She loves my dress. We joyfully acknowledge these statements because we dread the next, heartbreaking question: “Do you know I have a dog?”Lizzy is a corgi named after the late Queen. For 10 years, they
  
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• Dirty water, sentient trees and hope in a climate crisis: 10 environmental long reads to digest over Christmas

  26-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  In this week’s Down To Earth newsletter: These essential features – chosen by the Guardian’s Long Reads editors, cover everything from dirty water and sentient trees to how to find hope in a climate crisis
  • Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up here to get the newsletter in fullThis year the Guardian Long Read series celebrates its 10th anniversary. Since we launched in 2014, we’ve run more than 1,000 pieces, on everything from Algerian shee
  
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• Camila Batmanghelidjh remembered by Lemn Sissay

  26-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  1 January 1963 – 1 January 2024
  The poet tells of his relationship with the founder of Kids Company, who was the ‘embodiment of integrity’ in her work for children in needRead the Observer’s obituaries of 2024 in fullI first became aware of Camila Batmanghelidjh through the disrupting influence of Kids Company. It was on the frontline of childcare in London, and everybody will remember the strong, vivacious, articulate woman at its head. There was something about her &nda
  
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• ‘Attention spans are short. People want that dopamine hit’: Jordan Adetunji, the Belfast boy gunning for Grammys glory

  26-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Competing against Beyoncé, Future and others in the melodic rap category, the open-minded young vocalist explains how he ‘manifested’ his successFrom Belfast
  Recommended if you like Drake, Bryson Tiller, Cash Cobain
  Up next New music anticipated in early 2025Standing among legends such as Beyoncé, Future, the Weeknd and Erykah Badu in the nominees for this year’s best melodic rap performance Grammy is Jordan Adetunji (pictured above), a 25-year-old from Belfast. W
  
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• ‘A place to heal’: Native tribes urge Biden to protect sacred lands before leaving White House

  26-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmental groups are also petitioning Biden to protect Sáttítla, Kw’tsán and Chuckwalla in CaliforniaHidden amid a vast expanse of snow-brushed pines in northern California is a rare, half-million-year-old volcano called Sáttítla. Thousands of years ago, its flows created crystalline mountains of obsidian and dim grey bands of pumice rock, which from a bird’s-eye view look like ripples of taffy.“When you’re there, you really do feel
  
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• Gavin and Stacey finale tops Christmas television ratings

  26-12-2024 14:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Last episode of long-running BBC sitcom had an average of 12.3m live viewersGavin and Stacey has won the festive TV ratings battle, with the show’s final farewell becoming the most watched Christmas Day programme in 16 years.The final episode of the long-running BBC sitcom drew in an average of 12.3 million viewers on Wednesday, according to overnight viewing figures. These figures do not include views racked up on catch-up services during the rest of the festive period. Continue reading..
  
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• Russia-Ukraine war live: Ukraine claims it struck military facility in Russia

  26-12-2024 14:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Airforce hits military industrial facility in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, in Russia’s Rostov region, says Ukrainian militaryRussia and Kazakhstan have sought to temper speculation about the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, with the Kremlin urging people to wait for the results of the investigation, writes the Guardian’s European community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam and Pjotr Sauer, the Russia affairs correspondent.A Ukrainian national security official has claimed that
  
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• Trump nominates Miami-Dade official as Panama ambassador amid canal row

  26-12-2024 14:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Announcement comes as Trump has threatened to reassert control over canal, which US handed to Panama in 1999President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated the Miami-Dade county commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera to serve as ambassador to Panama.Trump described Cabrera as “a fierce fighter for America First principles” who he said has been instrumental in driving economic growth and fostering international partnerships. Continue reading...
  
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• Pope Francis opens ‘holy door’ at one of largest prisons in Italy

  26-12-2024 14:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Pontiff opens sacred portal at Rebibbia jail outside Rome to show ‘hope does not disappoint’Pope Francis has visited one of the largest prisons in Italy, opening a special “holy door” for the Catholic church’s 2025 jubilee, in what the Vatican described as a “historic move” as it is the first time a sacred portal has been opened at a jail.Speaking to hundreds of inmates on Thursday at the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome, in a gesture of hope to
  
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• Calls for Labour to honour pledge to toughen anti-hunt laws

  26-12-2024 14:32 via theguardian.com
  Government urged to ban trail hunting as data suggests illegal foxhunting is still widespread in England and WalesAnimal welfare campaigners are calling on ministers to keep to a pledge to toughen anti-hunt laws, as figures suggest illegal foxhunting remains widespread in England and Wales.Almost 20 years since the Hunting Act 2004 was brought in by Tony Blair’s government, the League Against Cruel Sports (Lacs) – the animal welfare charity that was the driving force behind the origi
  
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• World Bank lifts China growth forecasts but calls for deeper reforms

  26-12-2024 14:29 via theguardian.com
  Policy easing and stronger exports have helped economy, but country still faces property crisis and weak demandThe World Bank has lifted its growth forecasts for China’s economy, but called for deeper reforms and warned that the country will continue to face headwinds from a lingering property downturn.The Washington-based institution said that it expected China’s gross domestic product to rise by 4.9% in 2024 as a result of recent policy easing and stronger exports. That is up from
  
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