Author: Liam Porter

Garmin’s new top running watch, the Forerunner 970, has very big shoes to fill as it attempts to replace one of the best training and race companions available. Can a built-in torch, a software revamp and voice control really make a difference?The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The new top-of-the-line Forerunner takes the body of the outgoing Forerunner 965 and squeezes in a much brighter display, useful new running analytics and more of the advanced tech from Garmin’s flagship adventure watch the Fenix 8.These upgrades come at a…

Getty ImagesDivya Talwar & Sarah BellBBC NewsMaternity services at two Leeds hospitals have been downgraded from “good” to “inadequate” by the healthcare regulator, because their failings posed “a significant risk” to women and babies.Concerns from staff and patients around quality of care and staffing levels were substantiated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) during unannounced inspections at Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) NHS Trust.England’s regulator has now issued a warning notice which requires the trust to take immediate action to improve. Neonatal services have also been downgraded from “good” to “requires improvement”.Over the past six months, the BBC has spoken to…

Bayer Leverkusen are in talks with Liverpool over a deal to sign defender Jarell Quansah, a source told ESPN.Negotiations are ongoing between the two clubs, with Quansah having signed a new five-year contract at Liverpool last October.The 22-year-old centre-back joined Liverpool’s academy at the age of five, making his senior debut for the club against Newcastle United in August 2023.Quansah enjoyed a successful breakthrough campaign under Jürgen Klopp in 2023-24, making 33 appearances in all competitions.Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah could join Bayer Leverkusen. (Photo by Ryan Crockett/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)However, the England youth international — who is representing his country at…

Teklemariam BekitEditor, BBC TigrinyaAFP via Getty ImagesFor many Eritreans, the hopes of the early days of the presidency of Isaias (left in 1994) have been dashed 30 years laterOnce hailed as part of a new generation of reformist African leaders, Eritrea’s president, who recently marked 32 years in power, has long defied expectations.Isaias Afwerki now spends much of his time at his rural residence on a dusty hillside some 20km (12 miles) from the capital, Asmara.With the cabinet not having met since 2018, all power flows through him, and like a potentate he receives a string of local officials and…

Frank GardnerBBC Security CorrespondentGetty ImagesPeople gather outside the UK parliament protesting against Israel’s attacks on IranIs this, some will be wondering, 2003 all over again? In 2003 Britain joined the US in a highly controversial military campaign against Iraq in a quest to rid it of its supposed arsenal of “weapons of mass destruction”. These turned out to have all been destroyed years previously.As America’s closest but junior ally, Britain is almost certain to be affected in some way by what happens now in the Middle East. If Donald Trump decides to commit US forces to help Israel eliminate Iran’s…

Confidence among UK consumers has improved but remains fragile in the face of expected petrol price rises amid escalating conflict in the Middle East, according to a leading index.The latest snapshot from the data company GfK says sentiment improved by two points in June but remained in negative territory at -18, well below the -12 of a year ago. A reading above zero indicates optimism; below indicates pessimism.The last time the headline index, which is closely watched by the government and the Bank of England, was positive was in January 2016, when it was at 4. It has had double-digit…

President Donald Trump has extended the deadline for TikTok’s sale in the US for a further 90 days.The video-sharing app has faced questions over its future after the US passed a law last year requiring the app to be banned unless sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.Lawmakers said it posed a risk to national security – something TikTok denies.Trump, who vowed to save TikTok during his presidential campaign, signed an executive order on Thursday which has delayed the date for enforcing the law for a third time.In a statement, TikTok said it was “grateful for President Trump’s leadership and…

When did you last experience total silence? In Hark, the author Alice Vincent goes to extreme lengths to eradicate noise as she spends time in an anechoic chamber, a heavily soundproofed space designed to swallow up sound waves. There she becomes aware of the noises of her own body, from involuntary swallowing to the soft, high-pitched ringing in her ears. But rather than feel unease, she is “confronted with a comfort I couldn’t have imagined – and a familiarity with quietude I didn’t realise I was living in”.Hark is a book about listening, being heard and the author’s shifting relationship with sound in…

The prosecution: Amina I’m not saying we should have no cakes ever, I just think we should stop assuming cake is always welcome I know how this sounds: I am the miserable cake police. But this isn’t about being joyless, it’s about creating a healthy working environment. There are 20 of us in the office, and there’s sugar everywhere. We have free biscuits and a constant rotation of cakes, doughnuts and baked goods that descend on us without warning. It’s so normalised, and if you politely decline, people ask if you’re on a diet.Ruby takes the lead in guilt-tripping. If you…

Rampant climate misinformation is turning the crisis into a catastrophe, according to the authors of a new report.It found climate action was being obstructed and delayed by false and misleading information stemming from fossil fuel companies, rightwing politicians and some nation states. The report, from the International Panel on the Information Environment (Ipie), systematically reviewed 300 studies.The researchers found climate denialism has evolved into campaigns focused on discrediting solutions, such as the false claims that renewable energy caused the recent massive blackout in Spain.Online bots and trolls hugely amplify false narratives, the researchers say, playing a key role in promoting…