The Guardian - December 27, 2024

In this issue

December 27, 2024

Six extra weeks of heat peril this year

The climate crisis caused an additional six weeks of dangerously hot days in 2024 for the average person, supercharging the fatal impact of heatwaves around the world.

3 mins

NHS 'at risk of paralysis while it waits for Streeting reform plan'

The NHS is at risk of paralysis while it waits for Wes Streeting's 10-year plan for reform and needs to be empowered to get on with change in the face of huge waiting times for care, a thinktank has said.

3 mins

Journalists die as Israel targets their van

Five Palestinian journalists have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on their vehicle in central Gaza, their employer has said.

3 mins

Surprise' over Fujitsu's lack of help for Post Office victims

A 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.

2 mins

Too much to bare? Costly California nudist resort may have to 'go textile'

After nearly 90 years as a nudist resort, California's Lupin Lodge is up for sale, and its next owners are likely to require guests to wear clothes.

3 mins

Burial plot and toilet seat among worst festive gifts, Which? finds

A burial plot and a toilet seat top the list of the nation's all-time worst Christmas gifts, according to research that suggests one in five Britons receive an unwanted present in their annual haul.

1 min

Asia marks 20 years since Indian Ocean tsunami with ceremonies

Ceremonies were held in countries across Asia yesterday to remember more than 220,000 people who were killed 20 years ago in the Indian Ocean tsunami, the deadliest in history.

1 min

Allow more self-referral for lung cancer tests, say experts

More people with lung cancer symptoms should be able to self-refer for tests rather than wait for their GP to request them, experts have suggested.

1 min

Millions of workers struggling to pay private rents, poll finds

Nearly two-thirds of workers living in private rented housing struggle to pay their rent, according to a poll that shows how England's housing crisis is causing financial hardship even for those with jobs.

2 mins

French rescue 107 migrants in the Channel on Christmas Day

French maritime authorities carried out 12 rescue operations along the coast of northern France on Christmas Day, rescuing 107 people in distress from small boats trying to cross to the UK.

1 min

Two women die after reported stabbing on Christmas Day

Two women have died and a man and a teenage boy have suffered serious injuries after a reported stabbing in Milton Keynes on Christmas Day.

1 min

Calls for Labour to keep pledge to strengthen anti-hunt laws

Animal 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.

2 mins

Do 150 Minutes' Exercise a Week to Lose Weight - Study

People who want to lose meaningful amounts of weight through exercise may need to devote more than two and a half hours a week to aerobic training such as running, walking or cycling, researchers say.

2 mins

Ministers back £15m fund to redistribute food waste from farms

Labour ministers have backed plans for a £15m fund to redistribute food from farms that otherwise goes to waste, particularly at Christmas.

2 mins

Man charged with murder after woman found dead in Bolton

A man has been charged with the murder of Mariann Borocz, a Hungarian woman who went missing in Greater Manchester this month.

1 min

Economy Fall in household income 'will be offset by public services boost' in 2025

Household incomes will stagnate or fall next year but the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will be hoping that people feel better off as a result of improvements to public services, a leading thinktank has said.

3 mins

Analysis Farage's party has the momentum

Analysis: On brand as ever, Nigel Farage got the news that Reform appears to have surpassed the Tories in membership numbers while attending a Boxing Day hunt.

2 mins

Conservatives Badenoch cries foul as Reform says it has more members

Reform UK has said it believes it now has more members than the Conservatives, with the party surpassing 131,000 on Boxing Day.

2 mins

Gavin & Stacey finale draws an audience of 12.3m in big day for BBC

Gavin & Stacey has won the festive TV ratings battle, with the show's final farewell becoming the most watched Christmas Day programme in 16 years.

1 min

Pop review Ho-ho-ho-down from Beyoncé is playful and infectious

Some of Beyoncé's most memorable moments have been on an American football field. Her barnstorming 2013 Super Bowl performance, complete with a Destiny's Child reunion, was outdone by her guest appearance during Coldplay's 2016 half-time show as she paid homage to the Black Panthers and freaked out a sizable section of the US establishment (\"It is now 'cool' to embrace violence, mayhem and, frankly, even racial separatism in the cause of civil rights,\" the rightwing Heritage Foundation thinktank fumed at the time). Her 2018 Coachella performance, though not on a football field, featured college football's majorettes and marching bands as she celebrated historically black colleges and universities.

2 mins

From 1361 to the digital age: work to conserve ancient Irish text begins

Work has begun to conserve and digitise one of the oldest paper documents still in existence on the island of Ireland.

2 mins

Edinburgh Scottish students ask for support to combat classism

From the first day Shanley Breese started her law degree at Edinburgh University, she encountered demeaning comments about her accent.

2 mins

'Alarming' decline in insects and seabirds at National Trust sites

There have been alarming declines this year in some insect species including bees, butterflies, moths and wasps, while many seabirds have also been \"hammered\" by unstable weather patterns caused by the climate emergency, the National Trust has said.

2 mins

The Satanic Verses back in Indian bookshops after banning order lost

Salman 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.

2 mins

Northern Ireland Office 'should have helped' murdered solicitor

The murdered solicitor Rosemary Nelson should have been offered protection by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), a senior official accepted, according to newly released documents.

1 min

Boxing Day sales fail to lure more shoppers to high streets

Fewer consumers made the journey to high streets and shopping centres in search of Boxing Day discounts this year.

2 mins

Ta-ra chuck: Helen Worth bids farewell to Corrie after 50 years

Helen Worth was surprised by hundreds of Coronation Street cast and crew members as she said farewell to the soap after 50 years on the cobbles.

1 min

Scientists say dogs may give a lead on human longevity

Not for nothing are dogs called man's best friend: they are good for their owners' mental and physical health, and some studies have shown that if you're looking for a date and want to seem more attractive, it might be time to get a canine companion.

3 mins

Cancer patient fears dying without justice after tribunal delays

A disabled man with prostate cancer has had his employment tribunal for unfair dismissal postponed the day before it was due to take place because a judge was not available – 13 months after exactly the same thing happened.

2 mins

Declining bus routes could 'cut off' Scottish communities, warns Labour

Scottish Labour has warned that communities are at risk of being \"cut off\", after the party's analysis showed the number of bus routes in Scotland has fallen dramatically.

1 min

'Incredible' sixth-century sword among treasures discovered at secret Anglo-Saxon cemetery

A spectacular sixth-century sword has been unearthed from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in rural Kent, to the astonishment of archaeologists.

3 mins

Don't make us study Russian, say young Ukrainians in Britain

Ukraine is lobbying the British government to give teenage refugees who fled the war-torn country the chance to study a GCSE in Ukrainian, amid reports they are instead being pressed to study Russian.

2 mins

Russian anti-air fire may have hit Azerbaijani plane, US official says

Russia and Kazakhstan have sought to play down speculation about the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash, as a US official said there were early indications that a Russian anti-aircraft system may have struck the plane.

3 mins

'I thought it was fake' Kursk and the secret soldiers of North Korea

Kursk and the secret soldiers of North Korea

5 mins

'A place to heal' Tribes urge Biden to protect sacred lands before exit

Hidden amid a vast expanse of snow-brushed pines in northern California is a half-million-year-old volcano called Sáttítla.

3 mins

Deadly clashes after attempt to arrest prison officer in Syria

Fourteen security personnel from Syria's new authorities and three armed men were killed in clashes in Tartus province after forces tried to arrest an officer linked to the notorious Sednaya prison, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

2 mins

I was reborn' Inmates of notorious jail adjust to a new freedom

Of all the horrors Mohammed Ammar Hamami remembers from his time in the Assad regime's Sednaya prison, the most vivid is the clanging of metal execution tables being moved around on the floor below.

3 mins

Pope Francis Opens 'Holy Door' at Italian Prison as 2025 Jubilee Begins

Pope Francis has visited one of the largest prisons in Italy to open 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.

1 min

Right Size for One 2m x 6m, with a composting toilet: New Zealand backs tiny home living

Two years ago, when Liberty Van Voorthuysen, a New Zealand schoolteacher, was looking for a break from teaching, she ditched her classroom and signed up for a free construction course. Van Voorthuysen had set herself a fairly low bar: learn how to use power tools.

3 mins

Government urged to back British steel for windfarms

The UK steel industry has called for the government to promise to buy British as it prepares for a major expansion of offshore wind generation.

1 min

UK Installs Record Number Of Electric Car Chargers In 2024

The UK installed a record number of public electric car chargers in 2024, although the rate of growth slowed as installers contended with delays to government funding.

2 mins

World Bank Lifts Growth Forecast for China to 4.9%

The 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.

1 min

The past quarter-century has not been great for investors - and now AI is the big hope

The 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).

2 mins

One-track mind How 20 years of determination helped create England's first co-op rail service

The idea for the country's first co-operative rail service came to Alex Lawrie in 2004 after another frustrating trip across Somerset.

4 mins

Final Verdict Jaiswal the runaway giant of global pack in our men's Test team of the year

To fetch a cup of tea and your best arguments, it's time for the Guardian's 10th annual men's Test XI of the Year.

3 mins

Konstas rattles India in debut to remember as Australia surge

It has been a tour of polygraphic variation for India's Test team.

4 mins

Constitution Hill full of Christmas cheer after comeback win

The delight and relief that swirled around Constitution Hill as he extended his unbeaten record to nine starts here was expressed in various ways.

3 mins

Kohli fined 20% of match fee for clashing with opener

India's Virat Kohli has been fined 20% of his match fees as a result of a clash of shoulders with the debutant Australia opener Sam Konstas in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

1 min

Coventry thrash Plymouth to pile pressure on Rooney

Sky Bet Championship roundup

2 mins

'Rubbish game' but Guéhi content with valuable point

The visiting captain, Marc Guéhi, branded Crystal Palace's goalless draw with Bournemouth a \"rubbish game\" and \"boring for the neutral\".

2 mins

Cunha weaves his magic to leave Onana and United all at sea

It is impossible to ignore the shift in mood, the supporters singing the name of their charismatic Portuguese head coach, parachuted in to solve myriad issues but chiefly miserable results and a leaky defence with a particular weakness at set pieces.

3 mins

Fabianski carried off but Bowen edges out Juric's new Saints

If we take the view that Southampton are doomed - as a reminder, no club has ever stayed in the Premier League with such a lowly points tally at this stage of the season - then small positives must be sought wherever possible for the beleaguered regulars at St Mary's.

3 mins

Haaland's wasted spot-kick adds to Guardiola's gloom

Manchester City's plight is their individual kind of déjà vu nightmare.

3 mins

Elanga takes Forest third and deepens Postecoglou's pain

The mist rolled in with such increasing density from the Trent that eventually it was difficult to make out which Tottenham player was running down which blind alley. But what is crystal clear is Nottingham Forest's momentum which, after Anthony Elanga's third goal in successive games, has lifted them into third place in the Premier League.

3 mins

Tonali helps Newcastle ease past 10-man Villa

Sandro Tonali has brought Newcastle an abundance of gifts but perhaps foremost among them is the rare ability to slow games down that offers Eddie Howe's high-intensity team the sort of invaluable control they have so often lacked in recent months.

3 mins

Jones and Salah clear path at the top for Liverpool

Liverpool have kicked off at 8pm on a Boxing Day twice in their history.

3 mins

Arteta backs Martinelli to step up after Saka injury

Mikel Arteta is hoping Gabriel Martinelli can help to fill the void created by Bukayo Saka's hamstring injury, with the England forward likely to miss key fixtures including the north London derby next month.

1 min

Wilson and Muniz pounce late to cast doubt on Chelsea's title credentials

Perhaps there will be some debate around Fulham's equaliser after 82 minutes of this 2-1 derby win for Marco Silva's team at Stamford Bridge.

3 mins

Amorim asks for survival mode after Wolves loss

Ruben Amorim said Manchester United must adopt survival mode to end their miserable run after a fourth defeat in five Premier League matches dropped them to 14th, eight points above the relegation zone.

1 min

'We have to try' Guardiola calls for January signings after Everton draw

Pep Guardiola and the Manchester City board will discuss new signings for the January transfer window this week, the manager said after his team dropped another two points in the 1-1 draw with Everton.

1 min

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