CATEGORIES

Smith shows England class to sink Bath late and save playoff hopes

The referee's whistle blew and Northampton's director of rugby, Phil Dowson, flashed up on the big screen, allowing himself a smile.

Look to the future Robot leagues, chips in brains and players in their 50s - a vision of sport in 2050

Back in 1997, artificial intelligence and robotics experts in Japan came up with an intriguing challenge. Could anyone, they asked, build a humanoid football team capable of beating the World Cup winners by the middle of the 21st century? It sounded more than a little out there. In truth, it still does.

Grand Conversions: Developers Eye Up Unused Offices for Residential Refits

On a busy high street in Balham, south London, stands a boxy, beige-fronted building. Built in the 1940s, for decades the four-storey office block was home to hundreds of civil servants until the Department for Work and Pensions officials left in 2020.

From Trump tariffs to AI: Big economic questions faced by the world this year

January is always a time for new beginnings and fresh thinking.

Regional divide in skills will stifle UK growth, says report

Economic growth in the UK risks being held back by a \"skills chasm\" between regions, as London and south-east England suck in highly qualified workers, according to the Learning and Work Institute (LWI).

Uniqlo among retailers to stop recruiting UK workers via gig economy apps

Lush, Uniqlo and Gymshark have stopped hiring freelance retail workers through apps such as YoungOnes and Temper, after unions criticised the gig economy companies.

People paid to test Barclays banks 'told they could pretend to be blind'

Barclays is facing criticism over adverts for paid \"mystery shoppers\", which suggested that people could pretend to be blind or deaf to test the services at the British bank's high street branches.

Out of the ashes The Rastafarians digging in to grow Caribbean's legal cannabis market

On Golba Hill on the Caribbean island of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), just below a cluster of colourfully decorated homes, are rows and rows of premium marijuana plants.

Election Result To Be Certified, Four Years On From Capitol Riot

The US Congress will certify Donald Trump's presidential election victory today in an event heavy with symbolism four years to the day since he incited a violent mob to disrupt a similar ceremony in an attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

Trump offers Meloni praise during visit to Florida

Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, made a flying visit to Donald Trump's Florida golf club on Saturday, during which the US president-elect praised the far-right leader for \"really taking Europe by storm\".

This is basically civil war' Palestinian Authority raid has West Bank living in fear

AMid the echo of gunfire and explosions, 23-year-old Mariam picked her way through puddles on the unpaved streets of the refugee camp adjacent to the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, determined to get to a university class.

Gaza UN official warns of further collapse of social order if Israel ends cooperation

Social order in Gaza is likely to collapse further if Israel goes ahead with its threat to end all cooperation with the UN refugee agency for Palestinians, Louise Wateridge, its senior emergency officer, has warned.

Greece mourns 'noble politician' after former PM's death aged 88

Tributes have been paid to Greece's former socialist prime minister Costas Simitis, who guided Greece into the eurozone and took the steps to ensure it was ready to host the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Austria's president 'to discuss coalition with leader of far right'

Austria's president has said he will meet the leader of the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ), amid speculation that the pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam party will be tasked with trying to form a government after centrist parties failed to find agreement.

Sarkozy goes on trial over alleged corruption pact with Libya's former dictator

The French former president Nicolas Sarkozy will go on trial today over the biggest political financing scandal in modern French history, in which he is alleged to have received millions of euros in illegal election campaign funding from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Taking root Volunteers help plant new forest in Somerset

On a chilly day recently under stubborn grey skies, a band of green-fingered volunteers can be found in Somerset's Chew valley with spades in their hands and dirt under their fingernails.

Bill suggests paid leave for victims of domestic abuse

Domestic abuse victims would have access to paid time off work to help them stay safe under a proposed law to be tabled in parliament.

Prisoner who took MoJ to court says he is still isolated 20 months later

A prisoner who brought a legal challenge in April 2023 alleging he had been held in solitary confinement in England for more than two years has said he remains in isolation 20 months later because the judge has not given her decision in the case.

Seal Births Fall on Norfolk Coast as Herds May Be Moving South

More than 3,200 grey seal pups were born along a section of the Norfolk coast this season - down 10% on last year, possibly owing to the seals finding new breeding grounds elsewhere.

'As though they belong' Sargent's many 'dollar princesses' united at last

Margaret \"Daisy\" Leiter was 19 when, in 1898, she was painted by the most celebrated society portraitist of the age, John Singer Sargent.

Director of Edinburgh festival says cuts put its global status at risk

The director of the Edinburgh international festival has warned it could lose its status as one of the world's greatest arts events without significant increases in public and philanthropic support.

Strings to their bows State school where music is everywhere

It is first thing in the morning at Shireland CBSO Academy in West Bromwich, and the corridors are filled with music.

Gordon Brown Former PM's charity steps up hygiene poverty work

A charity founded by the former prime minister Gordon Brown will increase its campaigning against childhood hygiene poverty this year.

Plans for an EU reset contingent on youth mobility scheme - German ambassador

Keir Starmer's effort to reset relations with the EU is contingent upon a youth mobility scheme, a top diplomat has said.

Family support Call for more help for working parents

Labour must offer extra support to working parents, including with childcare and commuting, if it is to fulfil its promise of cutting child poverty, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has argued.

Legal aid cuts deprive parents of human rights, says former top judge

A former president of the supreme court has said parents are being deprived of their human rights by having to fight for access to their children without lawyers.

Theatre review Inspired animation of killer plant makes this musical sing

Ever since the botanical monster named Audrey II first landed on film, its story's stage and screen iterations have fed off each other, metabolising from a black-and-white crime caper in 1960 to an off-Broadway musical, then transposed back to film in the cult horror movie of 1986.

Busy going nowhere: London is still the most gridlocked city in Europe

Traffic in London is a problem that is nearly as old as the city itself. But much like the capital's gridlocked streets, its position as the most congested city in Europe has remained unmoved, beating Paris and Dublin.

Tragedy in my 20s made me a better writer, says Harlan Coben

The American thriller writer Harlan Coben said experiencing \"quite a bit of tragedy\" in his 20s made him a better writer.

Race to replace Welby begins as he leaves office

Justin Welby will relinquish his role as archbishop of Canterbury at midnight tonight, formally starting the firing gun in the search for a new de facto leader of the Church of England and the global Anglican church.