The UN office on drugs and crime said in a report the growth underscores Myanmar’s position as the world’s main known source of illicit opium
Opium poppy cultivation in war-torn Myanmar has surged to its highest level in a decade, according to the UN, rising 17% in the past year as conflict and economic hardship push more farmers into the illicit trade.
The Pinelands Regional School District paraprofessional and other staff members participated in more than one dress as your "favorite pedophile" party around August 2023, according to a lawsuit.
An 8-year-old girl, "the light in everyone's life," was two weeks shy of her 9th birthday when she was gunned down during a shooting at a child's birthday party in California, her grieving family revealed.
From the threat of superintelligent AI to the secrets of a longer life; plus the evolution of language and the restless genius of Francis Crick
This felt like the year that AI really arrived. It is on our phones and laptops; it is creeping into digital and corporate infrastructure; it is changing the way we learn, work and create; and the global economy rests on the stratospheric valuations of the corporate giants vying to control it.
But the unchecked rush to go faster and further could extinguish humanity, according to the surprisingly readable and chillingly plausible If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies (Bodley Head), by computer scientists Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, which argues against creating superintelligent AI able to cognitively outpace Homo sapiens in all departments. “Even an AI that cares about understanding the universe is likely to annihilate humans as a side-effect,” they write, “because humans are not the most efficient method for producing truths … out of all possible ways to arrange matter.” Not exactly cheery Christmas reading but, as the machines literally calculate our demise, you’ll finally grasp all that tech bro lingo about tokens, weights and maximising preferences.
Failings of legal system mean 97 people were unlawfully killed, but no one will be held accountable
When the Independent Office for Police Conduct published the final report on its mammoth investigation into the Hillsborough disaster, the response from bereaved families and survivors was conflicted.
Some of the IOPC’s findings could be regarded as historic, in particular that 12 former officers would have had cases to answer for gross misconduct, including Peter Wright, the chief constable of South Yorkshire police at the time of the 1989 disaster.
Incarceration should be a last resort, yet this broken and brutal system punishes marginalised women, most of whom are inside for non-violent crimes
‘When you imprison a woman, you imprison a family,” a young woman in Sierra Leone told me, cradling her small baby in a damp cell. My mind flashed back to being a teenager, hearing my mother sob after receiving a phone call to say that my father had been arrested in Zambia for political reasons.
I understand how children are collateral damage of imprisonment, and over 20 years as a lawyer, I know that is even more true when women – primary caregivers – are arrested.
Tesla privately warned the UK government that weakening electric vehicle rules would hit battery car sales and risk the country missing its carbon dioxide targets, according to newly revealed documents.
The US electric carmaker, run by Elon Musk, also called for “support for the used-car market”, according to submissions to a government consultation earlier this year obtained by the Fast Charge, a newsletter covering electric cars.
Three Italian light bites to get you started on the big day: pinzimonio crudites, chilled prawns with boozy mayo, and a delicate frittata that you can stud with artichoke, radicchio or celery
I am evolving as a host, and coming to realise that those rich dishes that crown our festive tables shine brightest when surrounded by contrasting and lighter bites – before, around and after, rather than just on the day itself. I do enjoy angels and devils on horseback, devilled eggs, little sausages wrapped in bacon, mince tarts crowned with goose liver, fried breads and cheesy pizzette, buffalo wings, paté en croute, crab beignets, oysters Rockefeller, shrimp tostadas and rich tamales, but, for the most part, I save these for the parties earlier in December. For Christmas day itself, I start with lighter bites, as better preparation for the rich meal ahead. A trio of dainty, grazing canapes served alongside sparkling Alta Langa…
The Guardian aims to publish recipes for sustainable fish. Check ratings in your region: UK; Australia; US.
Shopping for a Swiftie, a Brat or a Short n’ Sweet superfan? We’ve rounded up the ultimate pop-girlie gifts of 2025, inspired by everyone from Chappell Roan to Olivia Rodrigo
From Olivia Rodrigo headlining Glastonbury to Chappell Roan winning a Grammy for best new artist, 2025 has been yet another slay for the pop girls. And with recently released albums from Taylor Swift, Olivia Dean and Sabrina Carpenter (and one on the way for Charli xcx), there’s no sign of them slowing down.
So, whether you’re shopping for a loved one who’s clinging on to Brat summer or in need of a present for a Swiftie, we’ve rounded up thoughtful gifts inspired by their favourite artists. From a blush used to create Sabrina Carpenter’s rosy cheeks to a Polaroid camera for taking snaps at concerts, you’ll find something on this list to delight the pop girlie in your life.
Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves claim to be dealing with the world as it is, but their choices betray yearning for a world that has disappeared
Hollywood has stopped betting on original ideas. Sequels and remakes dominate the box office. Among this year’s Christmas movie releases are Zootropolis 2 (the first Zootropolis came out in 2016), Avatar: Fire and Ash (third in a series that began in 2009), and Wicked: For Good (part two of the adaptation of a musical that premiered in 2003).
New stories are risky. It is safer to retell old ones. British politics feels similarly afflicted by paralysis of the imagination, intimidated by change, stuck in a narrative loop.
Former California sheriff’s deputy Marvin Morales, who is suspected of fatally stabbing his 11-year-old son, was shot and killed by law enforcement officers on Tuesday.
Local fire and rescue departments responded to the scene on Tuesday morning, where a semi-truck dangled 100 feet above the ground off of a West Virginia highway in Mason County.
Pew Charitable Trusts finds plastic pollution will more than double globally by 2040 unless action taken
The 66m tonnes of pollution from plastic packaging that enters the global environment each year could be almost eliminated by 2040 primarily by reuse and return schemes, significant new research reveals.
In the most wide-ranging analysis of the global plastic system, the Pew Charitable Trusts, in collaboration with academics including at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, said plastic, a material once called revolutionary and modern, was now putting public health, world economies and the future of the planet at risk.
Escape the ordinary this winter and discover the magic of Banff Sunshine, home to Sunshine Mountain Lodge, the only ski-in, ski-out hotel in Canada’s famous Banff National Park. Ski season is officially open and the slopes are calling, inviting you to explore one of North America’s premier winter destinations. Banff Sunshine Village is more than...
Deal expected to pave way for further scientific study, boost conservation and open up access to Dorset chalk figure
The mystery of when, how and – perhaps most importantly – why a giant naked figure was carved into a dizzyingly steep hillside in the English West Country has been a source of wonder and intrigue for centuries.
Future generations may come closer to solving the puzzle of the Cerne Giant after the National Trust stepped in to buy 340 acres of land around the 55-metre (180ft) figure.
When his book Notes on Being a Man was released last month, it raced to the top of the bestseller lists. The US author, tech entrepreneur and podcaster explains his theories on dating, crying – and the rise of Donald Trump
It takes balls to title your book Notes on Being a Man. And, superficially, Scott Galloway could easily be lumped in with a dozen other manosphere-friendly alpha-bros promising to teach young men how to find their inner wolf. He is, after all, a wealthy, healthy, white, heterosexual, shaven-headed, 61-year-old Californian who made his name and fortune as a successful investor and podcaster.
But in reality, he is almost the opposite: liberal, left-leaning and surprisingly sensitive. The guy who advises his readers on “how to address the masculinity crisis, build mental strength and raise good sons” has been described as a “progressive Jordan Peterson”, or “Gordon Gekko with a social conscience”.
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