UK child-killer nurse to face retrial over attempted murder charge
A British nurse jailed for life for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others will face a retrial on an outstanding charge of...
2023-09-25 19:56
Elon Musk's X follower count bloated by millions of new, inactive accounts
Elon Musk is by far the most followed user on X, the social media platform
2023-08-19 03:21
Seth Meyers returns to YouTube, announces celebrity-packed podcast
With the writers strike still ongoing in Hollywood, late night shows like Late Night with
2023-06-28 17:45
Three meat-free dishes to try this National Vegetarian Week
National Vegetarian week (15-21 May) is the perfect excuse to give these stunning meat-free dishes a whirl. Full of texture, flavour and colour, you won’t feel like you’re missing out. Mediterranean vegetable and goat’s cheese galette Makes: 1 x 10 inch pie Ingredients: 300g plain flour 150g salted butter, cubed 3 tbsp cold water 1 packet of prepared Mediterranean vegetables (400g) or a mix of fresh – chopped into chunks 150g soft goat’s cheese, cut into slices 1 egg Salt and pepper Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 200C (fan). 2. In a large mixing bowl, rub the flour and butter with your fingers until a crumb consistency is achieved. Add the water and stir together to form a pastry dough. 3. Tip the dough out onto the lined baking tray and roll out into a large oval/circle shape (2-3mm thickness). 4. Arrange a layer of goat’s cheese slices in the centre of the pastry, top with the vegetables and then fold in the edges to encase everything. Place a few additional goat’s cheese slices on top of the vegetables. 5. Beat the egg and use a pastry brush or your finger to egg wash the folded pastry edges before seasoning the whole galette with salt and pepper. 6. Bake for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden, allow to cool slightly and serve. Red pesto and parmesan dough knots Makes: 8 knots Ingredients: 1 packet fast action dried yeast (7g) 220ml warm water 400g strong white bread flour 1 tbsp white sugar 1 tsp salt ½ jar red pesto 170g cheese of choice, we recommend parmesan Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180C (fan). 2. In the measuring jug, combine the warm water and yeast. Stir and set to one side for 2-3 minutes to activate the yeast. 3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Pour in the yeast and water and stir them together with your hand to form a dough. 4. Sprinkle your worktop with a little flour and knead the dough until smooth, then return to the large mixing bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for at least 15 minutes to prove (this is where it will start to grow in size). 5. Using your fist, knock the dough back (this means push the dough back down to its original size) and tip out onto a floured worksurface before rolling into a large rectangle shape (about 5mm thickness). 6. Spread the red pesto on half of the rectangle, grate a thin layer of cheese on top and then fold the over half of the dough over the pesto and parmesan. 7. Cut the dough into 1 inch wide strips, then, holding each end, twist and knot each one before placing onto a lined baking tray. 8. Bake for 15-20 mins until risen and evenly browned then remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, grate more cheese on top and serve. Savoury crêpes Makes: 6 crêpes Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 2 large eggs 200ml milk 120g plain flour Butter for greasing pan For the fillings: Grated cheese and mushrooms (sliced and pan fried in butter – but these can be made with any filling of your choice!) Method: 1. In the large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk and flour with the whisk to form a runny batter. 2. Place your pan over medium heat and grease lightly with butter before spooning in about 2-3 tbsp of batter and swilling it around to form a thin, even crêpe. 3. Return the pan to the heat and leave to cook for 30 seconds, then using the spatula, or flipping if you feel confident to, flip the crêpe over and cook the other side for a further 30 seconds. 4. Place the crêpe on a plate and repeat steps 2 and 3 until all of the batter has been used, stacking them up as you go. 5. To fill, take one of the crêpes, place it back in the pan and sprinkle with grated cheese and mushrooms. Leave for 30 seconds, then fold the crêpe in half and then half again to create a quarter fold. Flip the whole thing over to brown the other side lightly and ensure all the cheese has melted, then serve. Recipes from the Easy Peasy Baking campaign. You can find more recipes and information on the campaign on fabflour.co.uk/easy-peasy-baking. Read More How to make TikTok’s viral whole roasted cauliflower What is coronation chicken? The story of the royal recipe and how to make it Healthy lemony smoked salmon pasta that takes zero effort Easy coronation chicken pie recipe chosen by Mary Berry Andi Oliver on turning 60 and channeling her anger into power Andi Oliver: Earl Grey tea bags are a gamechanger for barbecue chicken
2023-05-16 19:57
Six of the best: The races that helped Max power past his rivals
Max Verstappen has clinched his third world championship. The most one-sided Formula One campaign of recent memory was dominated by the Dutch driver. Here, the PA news agency looks back at six races which fired Verstappen on the road to glory. Bahrain Verstappen opened his championship defence with an ominous performance under the floodlights in Sakhir. He finished 11.9 seconds clear of team-mate Sergio Perez and nearly 40 sec ahead of third-placed Fernando Alonso. George Russell, 55 sec back in his under-performing Mercedes, summed up the mood in the paddock when he chillingly predicted Verstappen’s Red Bull team would win all 22 races this year. Canada Verstappen’s sixth victory from the season’s opening eight fixtures saw him match Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 victories. A day after taking pole position in the wet, Verstappen reigned supreme in the dry at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Even an early collision with a bird could not stop the flying Dutchman as he drew level with Senna to leave only Lewis Hamilton (103), Michael Schumacher (91), Sebastian Vettel (53) and Alain Prost (51) ahead of him in the record books. “To tie with Ayrton is incredible and I am proud of that but I hope it doesn’t stop here,” he said. “I hope we keep on winning more races.” Belgium Verstappen’s invincible streak continued in the final round before the summer break at Spa-Francorchamps. The triple world champion started sixth following an engine penalty but he took the lead on lap 17 of 44 before crossing the line 22.3 sec clear of his forlorn Red Bull team-mate Perez. Hamilton, who finished fourth, 49 sec back, described his rival’s dominance as like “he is having a smoke and a pancake”. Netherlands Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed “untouchable” Verstappen as the best driver in the world after he overcame a chaotic rain-hit race to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine wins in a row. Despite two separate downpours wreaking havoc at the beginning – which left him in 13th place – and conclusion of the 72-lap race in Zandvoort, Verstappen delivered in front of 105,000 expectant fans. At one stage, Verstappen was lapping his home track four seconds faster than Perez and two seconds quicker than anybody else. “Max is in a period of his career where he is just simply untouchable,” said Horner. “I don’t think there is any driver on the grid that would be able to achieve what he is doing in that car.” Italy Verstappen drove his way into the history books by taking his 10th-consecutive victory. He sat behind Carlos Sainz for 14 of the 51 laps at Monza’s Temple of Speed before fighting his way past the Ferrari pole-sitter at the second chicane. From there, the commanding Dutchman never looked back to better the mark he shared with Vettel and become the first driver in F1 to reach double figures for straight victories. However, there were sour grapes over at Mercedes with team principal Toto Wolff calling Verstappen’s remarkable streak “completely irrelevant” and “for Wikipedia” Japan Verstappen’s historic winning run, and Red Bull’s unbeaten season, came to an end in Singapore. But at the next round in Japan, he hit back in emphatic style. He topped every practice session in Suzuka, secured pole, and then won at a canter as Red Bull became the first team ever to win the constructors’ championship with six races to spare. Read More Max Verstappen’s season and overall record in numbers following world title win Angry Lance Stroll shoves personal trainer and storms out of interview Max Verstappen fastest in Qatar practice as he closes in on world championship Fernando Alonso lauds Max Verstappen as best F1 driver since Michael Schumacher Fernando Alonso lauds Max Verstappen as best F1 driver since Michael Schumacher Max Verstappen’s best moments as he wins 2023 F1 world title
2023-10-08 02:52
Michelle Obama to narrate audio edition of 'Where the Wild Things Are'
A new digital audio edition of Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” will have a very well known narrator: former first lady Michelle Obama
2023-10-24 20:55
Max Verstappen rewrote history books in 2023 – but his dominance stretches way beyond F1
On taking off his seat belt in the Red Bull 2023 juggernaut for the final time on race-day in Abu Dhabi, Max Verstappen took stock. The Dutchman had just coasted to a record-extending 19th victory of the season; his 54th overall, with only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher ahead of him now in the all-time stakes. For a man whose unflappability has been the defining characteristic of his championship cruise, the three-time world champion admitted to feeling emotional as he waved goodbye to the RB19. “An incredible season – it was a bit emotional on the in-lap,” he said. “The last time sitting in the car that has of course given me a lot.” A lot is an understatement. Pretty much everything is more accurate. Save a strange anomaly in Singapore in September, Verstappen has been on the podium at the end of every race. His 575 points gave him a 290-point margin over second place: team-mate Sergio Perez. If the Mexican’s tally of 285 was doubled, he’d still be five points shy. LIST OF MAX VERSTAPPEN’S 2023 RECORDS - Most wins in a single season – 19 - Most podium finishes in a season – 21 - Highest points total – 575 - Largest championship-winning margin – 290 - First driver to surpass 1,000 laps led in a single season - Only driver to complete every lap in the 2023 season - Highest win percentage in F1 history – 86.3% He also became the first driver ever to surpass 1,000 laps led in a single season, while his Abu Dhabi victory meant he was the only driver on the grid to complete every lap in 2023. In fact, he has not endured a retirement since Australia last April. The sheer supremacy and dismissal of the opposition – both across the garage and the other nine teams, flailing in his wake – has been ruthless. There has been no let-up. Yet the ultimate indication that this was the most dominant season in F1’s 73-year history is best represented (in a time where podiums and race wins are incomparable due to the current record-breaking calendar) by his win-percentage. Nineteen out of 22 gives him 86.3%. The previous record had held for over 70 years: Alberto Ascari’s 75% in 1952, when he won six of eight races. It makes Verstappen’s 2023 campaign, statistically, the best-ever by some distance. The 26-year-old – whose calculated in-race menace and over-eagerness of his early 20s looks a thing of the past – has set the new benchmark, far beyond the likes of Fangio, Schumacher and Hamilton. Formula 1 has never seen the like before. In Verstappen’s own words: “It will be hard to do something similar again.” But where does it rank in the all-time great sporting seasons? A comparison in this respect is difficult, by virtue of different sports placing different emphasis on different competitions, with the weight of team vs individual at play too. Nonetheless, speculating is fun: we’ll give it a go. Immediate standouts include Tiger Woods’ 2000 season, where he stormed to three of the four majors and nine out of 20 PGA Tour wins. Novak Djokovic – take your pick – has a quadruple of hat-trick major glory in 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023, while Roger Federer’s 2006 saw him lose to just two players (Rafael Nadal and a young Andy Murray). But even then, Verstappen is superior in the numbers game. Woods entered 20 tournaments in 2000, winning nine to give him a 45% win ratio. Of course, golf has a bigger playing field and is prone to more random winners (and just how F1 would value a bit more uncertainty right now for the sporting product). But still, that’s the facts. Federer played 17 tournaments in 2006, winning 12 of them. The Swiss maestro is closer, with a 70.6% win percentage in tournaments played. He has Rafael Nadal to thank for it not being near-perfect, with four of those five losses at the hands of the Spaniard. Djokovic’s best season for titles was 2015, when he won 11 from 16 tournaments played – 68.75%. Serena Williams had an identical 11/16 titles record in 2013. Still, some way short of Verstappen. In recent years in European football, Barcelona’s treble-winning season in 2014-15 was super impressive. Lionel Messi and co. played 61 matches, winning 51 of them. That gives them 83.6% across the course of the season. Staggering, really. Manchester City’s treble last year came in at 73.77% of matches won, with their 2017-18 100-point season statistically better at 80.7%. Across the Atlantic, only two NBA teams have ever recorded win percentages higher than Verstappen’s: Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in 1995-96 and Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors in 2015-16. The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only team ever to complete a perfect NFL season, with Tom Brady’s New England Patriots coming close in 2007 before falling at the final Super Bowl hurdle. We could go on and on. Blatantly, different sports have different barometers of success. Different competitions and tournaments have different significance depending on prestige and ranking points, unlike F1 where points are identical for each race. But what this very basic overview does show is that Verstappen in 2023 is very much in the conversation. It still feels as though the Dutchman’s achievements this year are viewed through quite a narrow prism. “It’s all about the car,” says Joe Bloggs, with a Mercedes cap on. Sure, the RB19 is one of the greatest cars in F1 history and has a monumental impact. But Perez’s topsy-turvy season in identical machinery shows there is more to Red Bull’s success than the machine. It needs to be armed and steered by capable hands. Verstappen has barely made a mistake all season. His year of dominance will be looked back on in years to come, similar to the Schumacher reign at the start of the 2000s. It’s now about how big Verstappen’s legacy will be. How many titles can he win in a row? Can he get up to Schumacher and Hamilton’s record of seven? And how many races can he continue to win, with a brash sense of ease and control, along the way? Read More F1 fans spark chaos with brawl at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix IndyCar champion admits breaching McLaren contract in £18m lawsuit over F1 seat Lando Norris slams Sergio Perez after collision: ‘It’s nothing new’ Williams boss refuses to confirm Logan Sargeant’s seat for 2024 F1 2023 season report card: Red Bull flourish but what about Mercedes and Ferrari? Toto Wolff sees ‘Mount Everest’ ahead as Mercedes seek to end Red Bull’s domination
2023-11-28 20:21
'Sanctuary' review: Sex and class are the battlefields in this BDSM two-hander
Who's on top, and what will be left of them? That sensual variation to the
2023-05-19 17:45
The captivating allure of TikTok's glass bottles breaking on steps trend
Internet trends have taught us that the strangest things can be compelling. Livestreamed construction. Obscure
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Autocado: Chipotle’s New Guacamole Robot Cuts, Cores, and Peels Avocados
Chipotle’s ‘Autocado’ takes the drudgery out of making guacamole.
2023-07-19 21:28
Kenyan farmer: 'I'm afraid that elephants will kill me'
Prolonged drought in southern Kenya has led the giant mammals to encroach on farms to find food.
2023-05-13 08:54
'Quordle' today: Here are the answers and hints for September 20, 2023
If Quordle is a little too challenging today, you've come to the right place for
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