Why do people eat 12 grapes on New Year's Eve? What it means
This relates to the concept of eating 12 grapes while sitting under a table on New Year's Eve. 🎆 In which European country do people celebrate New Year by eating 12 grapes at midnight for good luck? 🔍 Hint...this country’s flag has red and yellow stripes 🍇 — tuiuk (@TUIUK) December 30, 2025Why do people eat 12 grapes on New Year's Eve? Recommended reading :They were said to be inspired by a French custom of drinking champagne and eating grapes on New Year’s Eve. They promoted the idea of indulging in 12 grapes at midnight as a way to sell some extra produce.
Source:The Times
December 30, 2025 11:52 UTC
Sarina Wiegman awarded an honorary damehood in New Year Honours
Wiegman, who began her role in September 2021, said: “I would like to express my sincere gratitude for this honour. I deeply thank the fans for their support.”Wiegman’s honour follows another glorious summer for the Lionesses in 2025. You certainly have made the country proud, Sarina ❤️ pic.twitter.com/8suTx8JXjp — Lionesses (@Lionesses) December 29, 2025“They should all be celebrated for everything they brought to the pitch and for the positive role they play in society. We have a lot to thank her for.”England’s Georgia Stanway has been made an MBE in the New Year Honours (Adam Davy/PA). Dr Mehta, England women’s head of medical and team doctor, becomes a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), for services to football.
Source:Express
December 30, 2025 11:22 UTC
2026: the year politics breaks
In this video, I ask a simple but uncomfortable question: who is going to pay the price in 2026? Is 2026 the year when politics is forced to change? Because when I look at it in politics, in power and in pain, this is not going to be a great year. I hope for a brighter future, but I don't really see much changing in 2026, and I don't think a change of US presidency will be of any benefit either. They, in other words, have something available to them, which is almost absent elsewhere in politics, and that is a vision.
Source:The Guardian
December 30, 2025 10:53 UTC
Author and TV host Richard Osman ‘absolutely thrilled’ to be made OBE
The game show host, who writes The Thursday Murder Club book series, was recognised for services to literature and broadcasting in the New Year Honours list. The author, 55, was born in Billericay, Essex, to Brenda and David Osman and has an older brother called Mat who is the bass player in rock band Suede. Osman studied politics and sociology at the University of Cambridge before he began his career in TV, becoming creative director at production company Endemol UK where he worked on shows including Prize Island for ITV. Since 2020, Osman has been the man who brought Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim to life, through his cosy crime book, The Thursday Murder Club. Osman published his fifth book in the series, The Impossible Fortune, earlier this year.
Source:The Times
December 30, 2025 10:48 UTC
Rabbi reads names of 15 Bondi shooting victims, three times a day at beach memorial site – video
At 7.30am, 1pm and 7.30pm each day, Rabbi Yossi Friedman is heard singing in Hebrew at Sydney’s Bondi Pavilion. Then he recites the names and shares stories of the 15 people whose lives were extinguished metres away. The ritual began the day after the Bondi attack, when only six victims’ names were known and Friedman stood up to share them in front of a crowd of thousands of strangers
Source:The Guardian
December 30, 2025 10:33 UTC
Our Year-End Donations to Latino Nonprofit Journalism
Studio (Canva Pro)We are entering the final week of 2025 here at The Latino Newsletter, and we are busy with end-of-year activities. ), preparing for reporting in the year ahead, and reflecting on what it means to operate in the Latino media ecosystem with intention. When I founded The Latino Newsletter in 2024, I promised we would always support the work of other nonprofit journalism outlets that share this space with us. If you believe in independent Latino journalism and want to help sustain this work into 2026, we invite you to support The Latino Newsletter or any of the organizations listed above. He edited and published this edition of The Latino Newsletter.
Source:The Guardian
December 30, 2025 10:16 UTC
Octopus tech arm valued at $9bn ahead of spin off
Octopus Energy’s tech arm Kraken has been valued at nearly $9bn (£6.4bn) after the energy giant offloaded a significant stake to a group of American backers. Some of the funds will also be invested in Octopus Energy. After the deal completes, Octopus Energy will retain a 13.7pc stake in the Kraken business, with existing investors including thousands of staff still backing the business. The fundraising makes Kraken one of the UK’s most valuable technology businesses and cements Octopus Energy as one of Britain’s largest private companies. Octopus announced in September plans to spin off the tech company, and Monday’s deal is the first standalone investment into the group from outside investors.
Source:The Times
December 30, 2025 09:41 UTC
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd announcement leaked as Antoine Semenyo meeting set for today
We are just two days away from the start of the January transfer window, which is expected to be a busy one for many Premier League clubs. The winter market is usually hectic for all involved and that is unlikely to change next month. The early days of the window could see Antoine Semenyo leave Bournemouth, with several teams interested in snapping him up. The forward, who has a £65million release clause, is believed to be keen on a move to Manchester City. However, reports have suggested that Liverpool could try to hijack the deal with a last-ditch attempt to bring him to Anfield.
Source:Express
December 30, 2025 08:40 UTC
Fools and their money are still being parted
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote suggesting that investors should beware the end of December. Then I note this morning's news in the Guardian saying:and:It seems that fools and their money are still being parted. These prices are evidence of the exuberance of money seeking returns from speculation rather than purpose, and every such bubble in history has burst. CommentsWhen commenting, please take note of this blog's comment policy, which is available here. Contravening this policy will result in comments being deleted before or after initial publication at the editor's sole discretion and without explanation being required or offered.
Source:The Guardian
December 30, 2025 08:35 UTC
Beastly Transformations
One of the most compelling early-modern expressions of the monstrous drunkard was the metaphor of the beastly metamorphosis. Like modern zombies, animals were understood as beastly, that is, incapable of controlling their appetites, violence, and other behaviors because they lacked the capacity for reason and free will associated with human beings. Writing long before the development of modern medical concepts of habituation, compulsion, and addiction, early modern English literature seems to suggest that the beastly metamorphosis takes place as the drinker becomes intoxicated. One of the first popular writers to describe the drunkard’s beastly metamorphosis as a transformation from man to monster was sixteenth-century playwright and poet George Gascoigne. Portraying the monstrous drunkard as a human-animal hybrid suggested that the drunkard’s characteristics had become unchangeable by injecting nascent conceptualizations of race into the metaphor.
Source:The Guardian
December 30, 2025 07:53 UTC
Are shops open today? Tesco, Co-op, Aldi and Sainsbury’s New Year’s Day opening times revealed
TescoOn New Year’s Eve, Tesco superstores and Extra stores will close at 7pm, with some exceptions on the Isle of Man. However, as times can differ depending on location, it is a good idea to check your local supermarket’s hours using the Tesco store locator. On New Year’s Day, Sainsbury’s supermarkets will be open from 8am to 8pm, with convenience stores trading from 8am to 9pm. All its supermarkets will open at 8am and close at 6pm on New Year’s Day. LidlLidl announced that its UK supermarkets will open at 8am and close at 6pm on New Year’s Eve.
Source:The Times
December 30, 2025 05:00 UTC
Capitalism, Inequality and the Climate Crisis
The prevailing dominant ideology focuses largely on either individual actions or technological interventions for tackling the ongoing climate crisis. The time for “de-growth” economics that rejects the relentless pursuit of unrestrained economic growth that simultaneously fuels inequality and the climate crisis is long overdue (Hickel, 2019; 2020). More recently, the election of Zohran Mamdani, a “socialist mayor for the capital of global capitalism” (Baber 2026 in press) might appear to be nothing more the proverbial drop in a bucket. REFERENCES:Baber, Zaheer (in press) “A Socialist Mayor of the Capital of Global Capitalism”, Economic and Political Weekly. Foster, John Bellamy (2019) “Capitalism Has Failed—What Next?” Monthly Review.
Source:The Guardian
December 30, 2025 04:28 UTC
A third of British businesses plan to invest in AI in 2026
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Source:The Times
December 30, 2025 03:04 UTC
No more Mr Nice Guy. I’m taking on all the stuff that annoys me
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Source:The Times
December 30, 2025 02:03 UTC
Dom Joly denied US visa for criticising Trump online
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Source:The Times
December 30, 2025 00:01 UTC