Childcare expansion in England may not meet parents’ expectations, says charity
Survey by Coram found nursery costs and dwindling places will put pressure on government plansRishi Sunak’s plans to expand childcare provision in England are at risk of not living up to parents’ expectations as nursery costs surge and available places dwindle, a charity has warned.The cost of 25 hours a week for a child under two has risen by 7% on 2023, with the most expensive area being inner London where the average cost is £218 a week, the latest annual survey of the Coram Family and Childcare charity found. Continue reading...
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Death tolls mount as elephants and people compete for land in Sri Lanka
Conservationists plead for coexistence as shrinking forests drive conflict, with elephant deaths doubling in a decadeSetting out from home to collect firewood on a cool spring morning last year, Harshini Wanninayake and her mother had no idea only one of them would come back alive. The pair were walking to a nearby forest from Eriyawa, a village in north-west Sri Lanka, when they heard a loud rustling close by.“It came out of nowhere,” says Wanninayake. “The elephant was behind the thicket and took us completely by surprise.” Continue reading...
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Should forests have rights? – podcast
A growing movement of ecologists, lawyers and artists is arguing that nature should have legal rights. By recognising the rights of ecosystems and other species, advocates hope that they can gain better protection. Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, about where this movement has come from and why the UK government has dismissed the concept, and hears from Cesar Rodriguez-Garavito of NYU School of Law about how he is finding creative ways to give rights to natureCould 2024 be the year nature rights enter the political mainstream?UK government can never accept idea nature has rights delegate tells UN Continue reading...
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Bees move out while National Trust house in Wales gets new roof
Exclusive: Former owners of Plas yn Rhiw stipulated insects be protected so given temporary home while work takes placeWhen the 17th-century manor house in the far north-west of Wales was bequeathed to the National Trust, it came with a clear condition: the bees in the roof, which sometimes produce so much honey that it oozes through cracks in the walls, should be left alone.However, the ravages of the wind and rain mean the slate roof of the house, Plas yn Rhiw, on the Llŷn peninsula, needs to be replaced and so about 50,000 rare Welsh black bees have been given a temporary home while the work is done. Continue reading...
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Boost walking and cycling in towns and cities, urges UK government adviser
Chair of Office for Space says move would boost prosperity, health and personal freedom and could help solve housing crisisA leading government adviser on cities has urged ministers to make urban areas friendlier for walking and cycling, saying this would boost prosperity, health and personal freedom, and could even help solve the housing crisis.In a report that takes a notably different stance to Rishi Sunak’s recent “plan for drivers”, which seeks to prioritise car use at the expense of active travel and bus use, Nicholas Boys Smith, who chairs the government’s Office for Space, said cars “diminish liberty as well as enhancing it”. Continue reading...
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Empire of the ants: what insect supercolonies can teach us
People have long drawn comparisons between ant societies and human ones – but in fact they are a reminder of how limited our influence on the world really isIt is a familiar story: a small group of animals living in a wooded grassland begin, against all odds, to populate Earth. At first, they occupy a specific ecological place in the landscape, kept in check by other species. Then something changes. The animals find a way to travel to new places. They learn to cope with unpredictability. They adapt to new kinds of food and shelter. They are clever. And they are aggressive.In the new places, the old limits are missing. As their population grows and their reach expands, the animals lay claim to more territories, reshaping the relationships in each new landscape by eliminating some species and nurturing others. Over time, they create the largest animal societies, in terms of numbers of individuals, that the planet has ever known. And at the borders of those societies, they fight the most destructive within-species conflicts, in terms of individual fatalities, that the planet has ever known. Continue reading...
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S6 Ep 6: Daniel Foxx, playwright
Sliding into Grace’s sitting room this week is rising star and multitalented comedian, playwright and musical theatre creator, Daniel Foxx. Bringing his concoction of gunk meant only for solo consumption in the small hours, there’s nowhere left to hide. Buckle up and join Grace and Daniel as they go on a tour of the ins and outs of life in the fast lane – or is that the M6 at 1am?Daniel shares his different incarnations – from coming out age 11 to donning a string of pearls post-lockdown. His observational obsessions have helped to feed his viral hit The Supervillain’s Gay Assistant and Grace and Daniel unpick its threads with scurrilous delight. Oh, and there’s a modern-day love story involving Tinder and trains. Scoop it all up with love and a crunchy lentil curlNew episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent will be released every Tuesday Continue reading...
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Missing migrants’ families say they were asked to pay hundreds for information on relatives
Families say they were promised details of relatives’ whereabouts after contacting people they thought were linked to NGO in SpainFamilies of people who disappeared on the perilous journey from Africa to Europe have said they were asked to pay hundreds of euros in exchange for information about what had happened to their loved ones.In interviews with the Guardian, three families recounted how, as part of their searches for missing relatives that had gone on for years, they had made contact with people they believed to be connected to an NGO in southern Spain who said they were able to help them. Continue reading...
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Ruling further erodes climate activists’ right to protest in England and Wales
Court of appeal’s removal of ‘consent’ defence means defendants on trial for criminal damage can no longer use itIt took a matter of minutes in the court of appeal, where demonstrators were strangely absent, for the dial to shift once more on the rights of protest in England and Wales.The decision taken on Monday by the court of appeal to, in effect, find in favour of the attorney general, the Conservative government’s premier legal officer, has removed a defence for climate protesters that had been available on the statute books since 1971. Continue reading...
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‘It’s a really big threat’: Portuguese communities on the rise of the far right
After scapegoating minorities and migrants, the Chega party appears poised to play a prominent roleFor years, Evalina Dias has diligently worked to combat racism in Portugal. But just how much remains to be done was brought into sharp relief last Sunday, she says, as the far-right Chega party – led by a politician whose views have been described by one opponent as “often xenophobic, racist” – catapulted into the country’s top echelons of power.“I couldn’t believe it,” says Dias, a board member with Djass, Portugal’s Association of African Descendants. “We had no idea that there were so many racists in Portugal. It’s like they were hidden.” Continue reading...
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The people who started again in their 90s: ‘I was in the closet for 95 years. Then that door blew open!’
It’s never too late and you’re never too old – at least according to the nonagenarians who are coming out, completing PhDs and publishing their first books in their 10th decadeThe moment Maybelle Blair took a decision – one she didn’t know she was about to take – she says she “felt like all the blood rushed away from my head, down to my toes. I didn’t know what was happening”. Blair, the former baseball player in the postwar women’s league which inspired the 1992 film A League of Their Own, was on stage at the 2022 Tribeca film festival in New York, since she had been involved in Amazon’s TV adaptation. She looked around and wondered why she was still hiding. Although her sexuality had not been a secret among her teammates, she decided there and then to publicly come out at the age of 95.“Out of the clear blue sky, I just blurted out ‘I want everybody to know’,” she says. “I was in the closet for 95 years. That old door blew open. I was sitting there, my eyes wide open, mouth open probably. I thought, ‘Oh my God, after 95 years, you said that?’ And I did. I wasn’t afraid any more because I was so old and it really didn’t matter, except for my family, what people thought.” Continue reading...
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England Women begin tour of New Zealand with victory in opening T20
England 160-4; New Zealand 133-5 | England win by 27 runsCaptain Heather Knight makes 63 from 39 balls in DunedinCaptain Heather Knight paved the way for England Women to win the opening T20 international against New Zealand by 27 runs.Knight hit 63 from 39 balls as England reached 160-4 in Dunedin before bowling two tight overs as the visiting attack put the brakes on New Zealand’s reply. Continue reading...
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FA Cup semi-final ticket and Wembley restrictions details for Manchester United and Man City
The latest United and City news with both teams set to return to Wembley next month after success in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
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'Classic number 9' option emerges for Manchester United and other transfer rumours
Latest Manchester United transfer news and rumours as Napoli striker Victor Osimhen and Borussia Dortmund forward Donyell Malen are listed as potential targets for the Reds
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Israelis evacuated from the Lebanese border wonder if they'll ever return
Around 60,000 Israelis who evacuated from cities and towns along the border with Lebanon are grappling with the question of when they will be able to return home
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Government announces improvements on 17 of England’s deadliest roads
Total of £147.5m already invested to make 82 high-risk roads safer
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Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez are officially divorced
Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez are now divorced
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Spotify paid $9 billion in royalties in 2023. Here's what fueled the growth
Every year since 2021, Spotify has published its “Loud & Clear” report, an attempt to be more transparent about its payments
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Rules that helped set real estate agent commissions are changing. Here's what you need to know
The cost of hiring a real estate agent to buy or sell a home may soon change, along with decades-old rules that have helped determine broker commissions
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Only seven countries meet WHO air quality standard, research finds
Almost all countries failing to meet mark for PM2.5, tiny particles expelled by vehicles and industry that can cause health problemsOnly seven countries are meeting an international air quality standard, with deadly air pollution worsening in places due to a rebound in economic activity and the toxic impact of wildfire smoke, a new report has found.Of 134 countries and regions surveyed in the report, only seven – Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand – are meeting a World Health Organization (WHO) guideline limit for tiny airborne particles expelled by cars, trucks and industrial processes. Continue reading...
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Nursery spaces drop as prices increase
Provision was also found to have reduced for parents working atypical hour
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Kate Middleton Spotted Looking ‘Happy, Relaxed And Healthy’ With Prince William
!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement('iframe');t.display='none',t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement('script');c.src='//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js',c.setAttribute('async','1'),c.setAttribute('type','text/javascript'),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b';cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({"playerId":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","mediaId":"59a083d5-8e3f-47f0-baba-b217174f484e"}).render("65f907d6e4b030e8357b1682");});It seems Kate Middleton has been released from the princess protection programme. TMZ obtained footage of the Princess of Wales and Prince William out and about a mile from their Adelaide Cottage home in Windsor, England, on Saturday. The brief clip shows the royal couple decked out in casual gear — with William in a baseball cap and Kate in leggings and a light jacket — hauling bags as they leave a local business called the Windsor Farm Shop. The video seems to corroborate eyewitnesses’ claims made to the UK tabloid newspaper The Sun in a report on Sunday that the princess was spotted out in the wild.William and Kate walk together in October 2023 in Marlow, England.One bystander told The Sun that Kate appeared to be “happy, relaxed and healthy”.Although the footage of the couple may seem somewhat banal, Kate hasn’t been photographed publicly since Christmas, leading many people to wonder where one of the highest-profile women in the world could possibly be. In January, Kensington Palace attempted to quell speculation by announcing the princess had undergone planned abdominal surgery and would resume public duties sometime after Easter.The Princess of Wales was last photographed at a Christmas morning service with her family at Sandringham Church on Dec. 25, 2023.Then came the release of a photo of Kate with her three children last week, that brought the speculation to a bizarre peak. As it turned out, the photo appeared to be highly edited, and multiple news agencies, including The Associated Press, withdrew it from publication.This led some to hypothesise about where Kate could possibly be, which spanned from genuine conspiracy theories to Freaky Friday jokes involving King Charles and Kate.
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Arsenal news: Thomas Partey update, loan deal confirmed and Mikel Arteta's Real Madrid trip
Arsenal will hope their stars escape the international break without picking up any new issues as Mikel Arteta prepares his side to take on Manchester City upon the Premier League's return
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Liverpool news: Harvey Elliott makes brave call after Jurgen Klopp 'screamed' during furious clash
Liverpool saw their FA Cup run ended in dramatic circumstances against Manchester United at the weekend and reaction from Sunday’s defeat at Old Trafford has continued to roll in
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How Kansas City Chiefs players feel about Travis Kelce's relationship with Taylor Swift
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker opened up on meeting Taylor Swift for the first time with the singer's relationship with tight end Travis Kelce going public last year
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Who’s on the cards for you this Spring? Your star sign’s tarot love horoscope
A wise Fire sign gets Virgo going this season, while Gemini is set to go back to an ex.
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Independent artists and labels enjoyed record year on Spotify in 2023 – report
The streamer said this marks the first year independents accounted for around half of what the entire industry generated on Spotify.
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Kate’s health and Charles’s cancer struggle: What royal commentators are saying about the Windsors
Royal commentators offer their verdict on the varying royal crises
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Brit businessman kidnapped by masked men at random on terrifying work trip to Brussels
Mark Langdon, 46, was four days into his two-week trip when the men broke into his apartment and put a knife to his throat
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Royal news – live: Kate pictured smiling beside William at farm shop as friends say she may speak about health
Reported spotting of the Princess of Wales comes a week after her photo-editing scandal
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Elon Musk replies to post by far-right Austrian linked to Christchurch terrorist after X account restored
Founder of Identitarian Movement, Martin Sellner, preaches superiority of European ethnic groups and was banned from Twitter in 2020Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA far-right Austrian who received donations from and communicated with the Christchurch terrorist prior to the 2019 attack has had his X account restored, with X owner Elon Musk replying to one of his tweets.The founder of the so-called Identitarian Movement, Martin Sellner, who preaches the superiority of European ethnic groups, was banned from Twitter in 2020 under the former management along with dozens of other accounts linked to the movement amid criticism over the platform’s handling of extremist content.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
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'Alien egg pods' dragged from Oklahoma lake causing 'panic' as locals speculate over grim find
Residents of Oklahoma found a mysterious hard sac-like 'egg' hanging from the tree roots at the lake, but scientists are now calming the locals, who immediately jumped to conclusions of alien proportions, by explaining that it's an ancient creature
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Celebrity Big Brother SPOILER: Louis Walsh sets his sights on Sir Bob Geldof after claiming 'he's heard a few things' about the Band Aid legend in furious rant: 'He's full of s**t!'
The former X Factor star, 71, did not hold back on what he really thought about the charity fundraiser.
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Why are Indian and Nepali men ending up on the frontline in Ukraine? - podcast
Thousands of young Indian and Nepali men are being killed on the frontlines of the war in Ukraine. Their families want answers. Hannah Ellis-Petersen reports from DelhiHemul Mangakia grew up in Surat, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat. At 23 he was looking for opportunities and a way to make his mark on the world. So when he came across a video on YouTube posted by a recruitment agent in St Petersburg, Russia, he was intrigued. The man on the video said there were openings for security guards in the historic city. The pay was up to £2,000 per month. The chance was too good to miss.As Hannah Ellis-Petersen, the Guardian’s south Asia correspondent, tells Michael Safi, this is a scene that has played out hundreds, maybe thousands of times in recent months. The young men, mainly from India and Nepal, fly to Russia on the promise of lucrative work and are then pressured into signing a different kind of contract: one that enlists them in the Russian military and pushes them to the frontline of the war in Ukraine, where many are now dying. Continue reading...
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Victor Wembanyama set for homecoming as San Antonio Spurs coach confirms NBA Paris Game plan
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich confirmed that his team will be playing in the 2025 NBA Paris Game - which will be a homecoming for rookie Victor Wembanyama
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Man Utd news: Erik ten Hag admits "problematic situation" as Kobbie Mainoo concern raised
Manchester United are turning their focus to the Premier League run-in after the high of their dramatic win over Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday
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Gran attacked woman with spanner in brutal revenge for daughter's brain injuries
Deborah Charlton, 50, turned up at the home of a woman associated with the man she blamed for leaving her daughter with catastrophic brain and orthopaedic injuries
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Federal court rules firearm restrictions on defendants awaiting trial are constitutional
Court orders that prohibited two criminal defendants from possessing firearms while they awaited trial were constitutional because they were in line with past restrictions on firearms
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Hunt launched for ship dubbed 'the El Dorado of the seas' that sank in 1641 carrying '£1 BILLION in gold and silver' off the Cornish coast four years after its rusty anchor was found
The Merchant Royal which sank in 1641 had 500 bars of gold bullion, 400 ingots, half a million coins, jewellery and countless gems and pearls.
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William to visit Sheffield to join locals in discussions to end homelessness
Homewards is the Princes of Wales’s five-year project to help eradicate all forms of homelessness in six areas of the UK.
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Community protest 'con man' squatter who refuses to leave £1.5M rental home despite owing £60K
After confronting the squatter in his £1.5 million five-bedroom Seattle home, Jaskaran Singh organized a 200-person demonstration outside the house and claimed he was owed £60,905 in late rent. Despite this, the man has refused to leave the property.
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Tory MP says cadets should be given old military equipment and weapons
James Sunderland says it would be a new use for equipment that would otherwise be discarded.
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Tennis player COLLAPSES mid-match at the Miami Open as medic rushes on to help before he's taken off court in a wheelchair in terrifying scenes
The 21-year-old's clash against fellow Frenchman Harold Mayot was in a decisive third set when Cazaux fell to the ground with nobody around him.
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Olympic great Perkins warns doping-allowed Enhanced Games are 'borderline criminal'
Olympic great and Australian Sports Commission chief Kieren Perkins says “someone will die” if a multi-sport event that he called “borderline criminal” and which allows banned performance-enhancing substances goes ahead
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Woman told her symptoms were 'minor' after walking into windows given devastating diagnosis
Claudia Laird, from Burnley, was training as a nurse when she began experiencing extreme fatigue and confusion - at one point walking into windows, thinking they were doors
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Bobby Davro shares health update six weeks after suffering a stroke and reveals how the 'wake up call' helped heal his friendship with Brian Conley - 15-years after their 'painful' fall out
The actor, 65, revealed the incident was a 'wake up call' after doctors informed him his blood pressure was dangerously high and the stroke left him slurring like Pirates Of The Caribbean's Jack Sparrow.
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Welsh Labour accused of letting children change gender without telling their parents as less than half of schools in Wales would inform family of pupil's decision
Just 28 per cent of the 68 Welsh schools said they would inform the family of the student's decision directly.
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Google, Meta and others face tough questions in Australia over cyber extremism threats
Australia’s online safety regulator has put social media giants on notice, requiring them to explain what they are doing to to protect people from violent extremists and terrorists
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