CATEGORIES

Former footballer Forlán set for ATP debut in doubles

The former Uruguay footballer Diego Forlán, who played for Manchester United and Atlético Madrid among others, will compete in doubles at the professional Uruguay Open tennis tournament in November, organisers confirmed yesterday.

MP calls for scrutiny into Bangladeshi ex-minister's property deals

British regulators have been urged by MPs to examine the relationship between London estate agents, lawyers and lenders and a former Bangladeshi government minister under investigation for alleged corruption.

HSBC overhauls its operations to avoid geopolitical tensions

HSBC is to divide its operations into eastern and western markets as part of a major shake-up under its new chief executive, Georges Elhedery, which will help it cut costs and navigate rising geopolitical tensions between China and the west.

Sellafield's nuclear clean-up bill likely to hit £136bn, says NAO

The cost of cleaning up Sellafield is expected to spiral to £136bn and Europe's biggest nuclear waste dump cannot show how it offers taxpayers value for money, the public spending watchdog has said.

The Water Commission has a soggy mess on its hands, and abolishing Ofwat may not help

An independent commission looking into the English and Welsh water sector would have been an excellent idea about 20 years ago. It is hard to pinpoint precisely when the industry went seriously off the rails but Ofwat's infamous price review of 2004 is one starting point.

Analysis Global growth outlook seems rosy but there are dangers

All things considered, the International Monetary Fund should be feeling relatively upbeat as it hosts its annual meeting in Washington DC this week. Certainly its flagship World Economic Outlook (WEO) report shows the global economy stuck in a relatively low-growth pattern.

Two admit killing Sikh in Canada who was cleared of bombing plane

Two men have pleaded guilty to the contract killing of a Sikh man who was acquitted of the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight from Montreal to Mumbai.

Irish PM says case of missing boy 'deeply disturbing'

Ireland's prime minister has questioned how an eight-year-old boy suspected of being murdered could have disappeared two years ago without being noticed, as detectives searched the child's former family home.

German police crack gang delivering pizza with a side of cocaine

Pizza No 40 was long one of the best-selling dishes at a snack shop in the German city of Düsseldorf, until police discovered the secret ingredient: a side of cocaine.

Woman stuck between boulders for hours while retrieving phone

A woman was wedged between boulders for seven hours after she slipped head-first into a three-metre crevice while trying to retrieve her phone in New South Wales, Australia.

Pelicot to give evidence in rape trial of ex-husband and 50 men

Gisèle Pelicot, the French grandmother who has become a feminist hero for insisting that the rape trial of her ex-husband and 50 other men should be held in public, will take the stand today to comment on the evidence so far.

Elections official criticises Musk's Michigan voter 'disinformation'

Michigan's top elections official defended the state's elections after Elon Musk repeatedly spread false claims on X about inactive voters.

"'Pro-life' Liz Cheney urges conservative voters to back Harris over abortion rights

Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman and longtime opponent of abortion rights, on Monday condemned Republican-imposed bans on the procedure and urged conservatives to support the Democrat Kamala Harris for US president.

"'Death cult' Russians tolerate appalling casualties"

Huddle d in an undisclosed location near the frontline, the two Russian soldiers appeared desperate as they recorded what they feared might be their final message.

South Korea Seoul considers supplying arms to Ukraine

South Korea is considering directly supplying weapons to Ukraine amid increasing evidence that North Korean soldiers are preparing to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Putin hosts 36 world leaders at Brics summit to show Russia is far from isolated

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ostracised by the west and labelled a possible war criminal by the international criminal court, has played host to 36 world leaders from nations including China, India and Iran as part of a summit of the Brics group designed to show Moscow as anything but isolated.

Hen harrier killings in 2023 highest on record, RSPB says

More hen harriers were killed in 2023 than in any other year on record, a report has found.

Woman not aware that 'cleavage-sparing' mastectomy unauthorised, inquest hears

The convicted breast surgeon Ian Paterson pitched one of his patients an unauthorised cleavage-sparing mastectomy \"almost like a sales job\", an inquest has heard.

Study shows city parks can reduce global heating health effects

Green spaces in cities play a vital role in reducing illness and deaths caused by climate change, according to the most comprehensive study of its kind.

Weinstein diagnosed with form of leukaemia, say US reports

The disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein has been diagnosed with a form of bone marrow cancer, according to NBC News and ABC News, which both cited unnamed sources.

Supermarket supplier's salmon farm hit by record mass die-off

More than a million dead fish, the biggest mass die-off of farmed salmon in Scotland in a decade, have been recorded at a farm belonging to the UK's largest supplier.

"'Horror and tears' Panic hits Lebanon's hospitals

The rescuers struck at the concrete with jackhammers, excavators and even pickaxes, pausing occasionally and demanding silence, straining to hear anyone still trapped under the collapsed building.

Blinken visit Netanyahu urged to work for ceasefire after Sinwar killing

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Israel to encourage efforts to revive the stalled Gaza ceasefire negotiations after Israel's killing of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, last week.

Fatal crash prompts judge to call for testing of all drivers over 80

A Scottish judge has called for compulsory testing of all motorists aged over 80 “as a matter of priority” after an elderly driver with dementia killed a toddler in Edinburgh.

Art review Homely horrors from auteur of American gothic are forgettable fun

In Tim Burton's film Ed Wood, the gloriously talentless titular director of Plan 9 from Outer Space meets Orson Welles, his polar opposite. Welles was the ultimate auteur, a film-maker who imposed a singular vision on all his productions. Is Burton an auteur too, as the Design Museum's director has it, and as this efficiently kooky show takes for granted? If he is, he has turned the gothic into a brand, projecting such a sharply stylised version of homely horror that he can imprint it on almost any material and deliver the outlandish as bankable.

"'People born without a sense of smell breathe differently'"

People born with no sense of smell breathe differently from those with one, a study has found, possibly helping explain links between perception of odour problems and health issues.

"'Big up Keir' Prisoners celebrate their freedom"

Beaming prisoners were greeted with hugs and kisses as they stepped out of the metal gates of HMP Manchester and into the arms of waiting friends and family after being freed under the government's early release scheme.

Tories love to shout about law and order but on early release, they're oddly quiet

There are times when even the Tories are banged to rights. Prisons are one of them. You'd have thought Conservative MPs would have been up in arms at the government's decision to free a second tranche of prisoners under its early-release scheme little more than a month after the first batch.

Fears of huge cuts to local transport funding as mayors lobby Treasury

Hundreds of millions of pounds of local transport funding in England could be cut in next week's spending review despite having been agreed with regional mayors, putting bus, tube and tram improvements at risk.

Prison overcrowding Rate of recall 'very high', justice secretary admits

The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has admitted that the proportion of people released early from prison who are being recalled is \"very high”, as the government prepares to free more inmates to relieve an overcrowding crisis.