Despite wet weather hitting yields, supermarkets are reporting a doubling in rhubarb sales compared to last year
It takes a while for the eyes to adjust to the darkness inside the shed. Slowly, the shapes of hundreds of pale stalks emerge from the gloom like an alien species, visible only by the glow cast by a handful of candles.
This candlelit ritual is the harvest of Yorkshire forced rhubarb, being carried out by growers Robert and Paula Tomlinson.
Continue reading...Criminal justice specialists call for new approach to identify emerging type of murderer with no prior convictions
The rise of “0 to 100” killers who go from watching torture, mutilation and beheading videos in their bedrooms to committing murder suggests there could be a link between extreme violence online and in real life, experts have said.
Criminal justice experts advocated a new approach, inspired by counter-terrorism, to identify an emerging type of murderer with no prior convictions, after cases such as Nicholas Prosper, who killed his mother and siblings and planned a primary school massacre.
Continue reading...Little-noticed order that gives US president powers far beyond mere oversight denounced as ‘breathtaking’
Unusually for him, Donald Trump made no great fuss as he signed one drily worded executive order last Tuesday.
Public attention was distracted that day – by the headline-grabbing drama of Elon Musk bludgeoning his way through the federal bureaucracy, by immigrants deported to Guantánamo Bay, and by the torrent of other directives Trump has issued since his inauguration last month.
Continue reading...Vance snaked his way in first to the row between Trump and Zelenskyy, his second intrusion this month after Munich
JD Vance was supposed to be the inconsequential vice-president.
But his starring role in Friday’s blowup between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy – where he played a cross between Trump’s bulldog and tech bro Iago – may mark the moment that the postwar alliance between Europe and America finally collapsed.
Continue reading...Just as in the Oval Office this week, history shows the royals can be deployed to serve British interests – whether they like it or not
As Donald Trump waved his personal invitation from King Charles III to pay a second historic state visit in the Oval Office, there was no disguising his delight before the TV cameras.
Keir Starmer had retrieved the letter from his jacket pocket and handed it to the US president with the dramatic flourish of Neville Chamberlain’s “I have in my hand a piece of paper” moment.
Continue reading...Research shows strong support for keeping tax-free accounts in their current form with £20,000 annual limit
A campaign to “save” cash Isas gathered pace this week, with research published showing strong support for the savings accounts.
However, data was also issued that investment firms said showed UK savers were “paying the price” for playing it safe because putting money into the stock market can generate much higher returns.
Continue reading...New Mexico town shocked by deaths of actor, wife and dog – but answers to critical questions may take time to emerge
As New Mexico authorities investigate the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, their adopted home town of Santa Fe is grappling with the mystery of what happened to the couple.
Hackman, a Hollywood legend with two Academy Awards picked up over a 60-year career, and Arakawa, a classical pianist, had lived in the area for decades and had embraced the close-knit community that is New Mexico’s capital city.
Continue reading...2024-25 summer at 1.89C above long-term average ‘will be one of the coolest in the 21st century’, according to one expert
Last summer was Australia’s second-hottest on a record going back to 1910, at 1.89C above the long-term average, according to data from the Bureau of Meteorology.
The second-hottest summer – coming after the second-hottest winter and the hottest spring on record – included the second-hottest January and the third-hottest December.
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Continue reading...Attenders able to check what substances are in their illicit pills and powders at two-day Yours and Owls music festival
Festival goers using NSW’s first pill testing service won’t be subjected to sniffer dog searches but that doesn’t apply to people on their way to have their substances checked.
Authorities warned taking drugs remains illegal and police vowed to maintain a highly visible presence around the long-awaited trial site, insisting safety was the top priority.
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Continue reading...Ahmed Ouf, Cumberland councillor tilting at federal seat held by Jason Clare, shares thanks for ‘outpouring of community support’
Two school-age boys, one the son of a local councillor, were taken to hospital on Friday afternoon after an alleged hit-and-run incident in Auburn in western Sydney.
One of the children is the son of Ahmed Ouf, a Cumberland councillor and an independent candidate for the federal seat of Blaxland.
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Continue reading...PM pledges support for Ukraine but declines to directly comment on US president’s approach as community rallies in Sydney
Anthony Albanese has reiterated Australia’s support for Ukraine after a fiery meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But even as Sydney’s Ukrainian community rallied in protest, the prime minister declined to comment directly on how the confrontation might affect Australia’s relationship with the US.
US military support for Ukraine hangs in the balance and talks over a minerals deal deteriorated after a disastrous interchange at the White House that also included the US vice-president, JD Vance. The US president claimed his Ukraine counterpart was not “ready for peace” and accused him of “gambling with world war three”, before Zelenskyy left the White House early.
Continue reading...Dozens including man from Queensland and man from NSW arrested as part of international operation
Two Australian men have been charged during a global operation into a criminal group distributing artificial intelligence-generated child abuse images.
A 38-year-old NSW man and 31-year-old Queensland man have been arrested alongside a total of 25 linked to the investigation into child sexual exploitation.
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Continue reading...Ukraine president expresses regret over contentious meeting but says relationship with Trump can be salvaged
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed regret that an Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump devolved into a shocking display of acrimony between the leaders of two historically allied nations, while insisting that their relationship could be salvaged.
Hours after the public confrontation in which Trump and Vice-President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy, accusing him of “gambling with world war three,” the Ukrainian leader defended himself during an in-studio interview on Fox News, while also agreeing that the dispute was “not good for both sides”.
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