People spending less, doctors’ strikes and a fall in school attendance dragged the UK into recession at the end of last year, official figures show. The economy shrank by a larger than expected 0.3% between October and December, after it had already contracted between July and September. The UK is in recession if it fails
Alexei Navalny’s mother has been unable to recover his body after his death in an Arctic jail, a close aide to the dead Russian opposition leader says. Kira Yarmysh said his mother, Lyudmila, was told his body would only be handed over once a post-mortem examination had been completed. Navalny’s team believes the anti-corruption campaigner
Francisco José García de Zúñiga is looking across one of the fields of olive trees that he farms. It’s harvest time, and the hum of the machine used to shake the trees as workers beat the olives off their branches can be heard in the distance. “This is turning out to be another bad year,
The London screening of a new Disney+ movie is already running late – but it isn’t John Travolta’s fault. The star of the short film in question, The Shepherd, is sitting in the audience, patiently waiting to see the story on a big screen for the first time, 30 years after he first dreamed of
The unexpectedly meaty win for controversial, hard-right politician Geert Wilders in Wednesday’s general election in the Netherlands set international headlines on fire. Right-wing nationalists across Europe rushed to congratulate the populist politician, sometimes dubbed the Dutch Trump – partly for his dyed, bouffant-like hairdo, and partly for his famously firebrand rhetoric. Geert Wilders’ publicly expressed
Croatia clinched the final automatic qualifying spot for Euro 2024 on Tuesday as Wales were forced to settle for a play-off place, while France had to come from behind to draw in Greece. Semi-finalists at the World Cup 12 months ago, Croatia knew they would qualify for next year’s European Championship in Germany with a
The ceremonial splendour of a state visit was deployed to welcome South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. King Charles and Queen Camilla greeted the president and his wife at the Horse Guards Parade in London. The royal couple and their guests had a carriage procession along the Mall, lined with South Korean flags, before going
In Norwegian folklore, they stand as the nation’s great hoodoos, the unexplained phenomena that put the heart sideways in those who have encountered them. The Bloody Monk of Trondheim. The Bitter Bride of Stavanger. The Hanged Man of Finnskogen. Back in June, when Scotland turned a near-certain 1-0 defeat into the most ridiculous 2-1 victory
Hungary’s theatre chief offered to resign after a balcony fall injured two actors in his Romeo and Juliet production. Júlia Szász played Juliet and Otto Lajos Horváth performed as her father Capulet during Friday’s accident. The pair are in a serious but stable condition in hospital. National Theatre director Attila Vidnyánszky offered to quit on
Shoppers bought less fuel and food in October as they were hit by rising living costs and poor weather, according to official figures. The volume of products sold last month fell by 0.3% to the lowest level since February 2021 when large parts of the UK were in Covid lockdowns. Retail sales had widely been
