A text message from a local number flashed up on Omar’s* phone claiming to be Israeli intelligence informing him he would soon be arrested. The young Palestinian had been asked to volunteer as a medic at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa compound as larger than no

What connects the town of Glastonbury in Somerset and professional sourpuss Van Morrison? Well for starters, they both have god-given gifts: Glastonbury is blessed with the mythical Tor, the Vale of Avalon and an abundance of natural beauty. Few woul

Natasha Robinson vividly remembers the day her first stimulus cheque came through. She was homeless and in the depths of a heroin addiction at the time. Most of her days were spent scrambling to find enough money to get a fix. This day was different.

It was the clap heard around the world. Mahmood, Italy’s 2019 entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, was performing his breakthrough single “Soldi” to a live stadium audience in Israel, and to the 182 million people watching on TV. It was like nothin

The mixologist’s favourite, a good vodka is the backbone of any home bar, so it’s important to make it one to remember... for all the right reasons. Vodka is versatile – it's delicious served chilled and drunk neat as the Russians do, or over ice wi

Books are the best. The feel of paper against your fingertip, the way you can tell how far you are through your latest read just by the weight in each hand. Oh, and no battery to run out when you’re just about to discover whodunnit. Still, ebook read

Poachers masquerading as rangers, magistrates allegedly taking bribes from kingpins and lenient sentences handed out to ruthless criminals - this is the current state of South Africa’s rhino crisis, according to campaigners. Strict limits on travel d

The hard work was seemingly over. He had held his highly-anticipated head-to-head with Vladimir Putin. He had completed more than a week of talking and smiling with leaders of the US’s traditional allies, seeking to restore a relationship left more t

Vinyl is having a moment (again). Nearly one in five albums bought in 2020 were on record, an increase of 10 per cent from the previous year. Streaming music may be simpler, but dedicated music fans believe nothing beats the sound quality offered by

In the opening pages of Victoria Mas’s debut novel, The Mad Women’s Ball, a 16-year-old girl is hypnotised by a 65-year-old man. “Shoulders back, bosom forward, head held high,” the girl walks proudly into a lecture theatre at the Pitié-Salpêtrière h

The UK is less prepared now than it was five years ago for the escalating effects of the climate crisis on people and wildlife, according to the government’s own advisers. As CO2 levels continue to climb, the UK is experiencing more intense heatwaves

Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk has once again shaken up the cryptocurrency world with a hopeful tweet about the future of bitcoin mining, addressing growing concerns about the high energy usage of the process and its cost to the environment.

Joe Biden’s first Nato summit as US president ended with the alliance declaring that China was challenging the rules-based international order and western security with its authoritarian and aggressive behaviour. The decision to focus criticism on Ch

Joe Biden’s first face-to-face meeting as president with Vladimir Putin was hotly anticipated amid deeply strained relations between their two countries. After about four hours of talks at the Villa La Grange, a historic lakeside villa in Geneva, Swi

Tens of thousands of children and babies in the UK could be left in limbo within weeks amid mounting delays in the processing of their EU settlement scheme applications, charities have said. Experts warn of a “disaster waiting to happen” as over 80,0

The UK and Australia have announced the broad outlines of a free trade deal which would eliminate tariffs on a wide range of goods. British-made cars, Scotch whisky, biscuits and ceramics will be cheaper to sell under the pact, while Australian produ

The UK’s red list is risking an environmental “catastrophe” in South Africa and other sub-Saharan countries, travel industry figures have warned. Conservation and tourism experts have cautioned the collapse of tourism to the region could create a vic

The Geneva summit was the first meeting of the leaders of the US and Russia at a time of great friction between the two powers, amid accusations and recriminations, and warnings of confrontations sparking hostilities. It turned out to be a significan

Chrissy Teigen, the model and food writer, has this week apologised for being an internet troll. In her apology there are no qualifications for her behaviour, it is not a Ken Livingstone-style apology – “Sorry if you were offended” – but instead, a f

All it took was five minutes. The tensed arms, red rum face and bloodshot eyes. Cristiano Ronaldo had arrived, and he wanted it. Specifically, a pass from Diogo Jota. The winger had broken the Hungarian backline, miscontrolled but recalibrated his b

In a matter of weeks, perhaps even days, this generation of the German national team will come to an end. It is a generation tied to head coach Joachim Löw, but it owes much to Jürgen Klinsmann, who in many ways laid its foundations more than 15 year

So, long story short, to begin with. The DS 9 is basically a rebadged, rebodied, longer-wheelbase version of the Peugeot 508 saloon, built in China and given the Peugeot Citroen group’s posh new DS label, and fitted out with nice luxury trim. It’s go

Five months and nine days after violent extremists stormed the US Capitol in hopes of keeping Congress from certifying that Joe Biden would be the 46th President of the United States, his administration is unveiling a new national strategy for counte

For the family of Julian Assange, it was news that could be labelled “very welcome indeed”. On Monday, it was announced that Reality Winner, a former US intelligence official who leaked crucial information to the media about Russia’s efforts to inter

Ask a youngster why the Scotland-Czech Republic Euro 2020 game mattered and you’d probably get an endearingly earnest answer like the one seven-year-old Theo gave me: “It’s our country and I’ve never seen us in the Euros before because the last time

Watching England beat Croatia was, to many of us, a source of great optimism: a win over one of the world’s best teams by a very good collection of young Englishmen representing the diversity of our country. What is striking about the European Champi

It was the most diffident statement of intent: who would be so bold as to insist on not making a racket? But when the Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience named their 2001 debut album Quiet Is the New Loud they were harbingers of a subdued revolution.

Noise-cancelling headphones, at their best, are almost magical. They use an electronic system to listen to the world, create a sound wave that is the opposite and the two cancel each other out. It means you can hear your music or movie soundtrack abo

Sleep masks serve many purposes, other than just being a decorative gift or naff freebie on your airplane seat. From blocking out light, helping you doze off without any distractions or giving your eyes a break from looking at screens all day, they’r