International festival’s director says Scottish Ballet production is part of lineup that will challenge perspectives

A new gender- and age-fluid ballet tracing the life of Mary, Queen of Scots is to take centre stage at next year’s Edinburgh international festival.

The world premiere production by Scottish Ballet, which focuses on Mary through the eyes of her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I, will include male and female dancers taking on multiple “fluid and intergenerational” roles.

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Research has prompted claims firms such as Mars, Haribo and PepsiCo are in ‘flagrant’ breach of codes of behaviour

Most TV adverts for sweets, crisps and chocolate shown when children are likely to be watching are placed by firms who claim not to promote their products to that age group.

The disclosure, in new research by the University of Liverpool, has prompted claims that food giants such as Mars, Haribo and PepsiCo are in “flagrant” breach of their own codes of behaviour.

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In docuseries preview, audio shows cult leader, behind 1960s killings, saying he ‘left some dead people’ in Mexico

In newly released audio, Charles Manson , the cult leader behind a string of killings during the late 1960s in California, admitted his involvement in additional killings that occurred prior to his assembly of the notorious “Manson Family”.

An audio recording in a teaser clip from Peacock’s latest docuseries Making Manson features Manson saying: “There’s a whole part of my life that nobody knows about.”

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Rise would be almost three times above current levels of inflation and add £100 to average family’s bills

Labour has confirmed council tax rises will be kept at the 5% cap next year, which could mean a rise of £100 for the average family’s bills.

The prime minister’s press secretary said on Wednesday that the threshold by which local authorities can increase bills would “remain the same”. Hours earlier Keir Starmer had dodged a question from Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, at prime minister’s questions about whether he would keep the cap on council tax.

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Not if the US is drawing it

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Scientists say increase from 1990 to 2022 was largest in low- and middle-income countries and lack of treatment ‘concerning’

• Why have rates doubled over the last 30 years and what can be done?

The number of people with diabetes has doubled over the past 30 years to more than 800 million worldwide, according to a groundbreaking international study.

Global analysis published in the Lancet found that rates of diabetes in adults doubled from about 7% to about 14% between 1990 to 2022, with the largest increase in low and middle-income countries.

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Company says Amazon Haul will mostly feature products under $10, which it plans to ship from China warehouse

Amazon has launched a low-cost online storefront featuring electronics, apparel and other products priced at under $20, an effort to compete with discount retailers that have increasingly encroached on the e-commerce giant’s turf.

In a blog post on Wednesday, the company said the new Amazon Haul storefront will mostly feature products that cost less than $10 and offer free delivery on orders over $25. Amazon plans to ship the products to US customers from a warehouse it operates in China, according to documentation the company provided to sellers. Amazon said Haul orders could arrive within one to two weeks.

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The alleged operative surfaced in 2019 wearing a camera harness labelled ‘equipment of St Petersburg’ – but sadly this documentary is thin on other details

Spy Whale does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a documentary about a whale that was, in all probability – if not in all cetacean consciousness – a spy. For the Russians. In 2019, a beluga whale who would eventually be named Hvaldimir (a portmanteau of the Norwegian word for “whale” and Putin’s first name) approached a fishing boat off Ingøya Island, virtually the northernmost point of Scandinavia. It was wearing a harness that was cutting into its flesh and appeared to be seeking help, as intelligent marine mammals are known to do.

The boat’s captain, Joar Hesten, radioed for help from Jørgen Ree Wiig – whose job at the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries it is to free whales who get caught up in fishing equipment – and kept Hvaldimir with the boat by feeding him fish until Wiig could travel the five hours to meet them. Together they eventually got the harness off. There is footage of their achievement, which involved Hesten risking his life by joining the distressed whale in the freezing water. “People had put him in this situation in the first place,” he says. “We had to make it right.” Hesten is the calmest man you will ever meet. If you were a panicking beluga whale stuck in a harness, he is the man you would want at your side. When the last buckle finally opens, “it is one of the best moments of my life,” he says. “I just wished him luck on his journey.”

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Chelsea’s aspiration of claiming this season’s Women’s Champions League was hardly in danger as Murphy Agnew handed Celtic a shock lead. It was simply that the potential for an embarrassing evening for one of the luminaries of the Super League became a live one. Briefly, as it transpired.

Chelsea departed Glasgow’s east end with reputation intact, despite a stoppage time red card for Agnes Beever-Jones. Agnew’s goal, Celtic’s first in the Champions League proper, had been overturned by the time the half-time whistle blew.

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