Waitrose urges customers not to drink Deeside water over shards of glass risk
Waitrose customers are being urged to return and not drink large bottles of Deeside mineral water over fears they could contain shards of glass.The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a consumer alert over the still and sparkling 750ml bottles of Waitrose No 1 Deeside mineral water because of the possibility of glass fragments, making them unsafe to drink.The potentially contaminated mineral waters, which are bottled specially for Waitrose from a spring near Balmoral Castle in Scotland’s Cairngorms national park, cost about £1.60 each in store.The supermarket has removed the bottles from its shelves and customers who have already bought them are being asked to call the retailer or return the product in person to get their money back.
“If you have bought any of the above products do not drink it,Instead, return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund,” the FSA said,While the FSA and Waitrose did not give an estimate as to how many of the Deeside waters may be affected, they urged customers to take note of batch codes on the bottles,For still mineral water, they included: NOV2027 28, DEC2027 01, DEC2027 02, DEC2027 10, DEC2027 11, and DEC2027 16,For sparkling mineral water, the potentially contaminated bottles would be marked: DEC2027 01, DEC2027 03, DEC2027 12, DEC2027 15, and DEC2027 25.
Waitrose also urged customers to call their customer care line for further information.“We apologise that it has been necessary to recall this product and for the inconvenience caused,” the supermarket said in a statement.Earlier this month, Waitrose was forced to recall a Santa-themed drinks bottle for “safety reasons”, while in October it had to pull a plant-based fake meat product that had undeclared ingredients including wheat gluten and soy.Glass shards also led to the FSA recalling bottles of spirits under the Disaronno Originale brand in early December.
The Spin | The men’s Test cricket team of the year: from Travis Head to Jasprit Bumrah
Our selection panel’s votes have been counted to reveal the best men’s Test side from the last 12 monthsSharpen your pencils and swallow your marmalade on toast before you read on, everyone, it’s time for the Guardian’s annual men’s Test XI of the year (here’s the women’s team from last week). This year’s 13-person selection panel included Ali Martin, Vic Marks, Tim de Lisle, Adam Collins, Rob Smyth, Jonathan Liew, Tanya Aldred, Taha Hashim, Daniel Gallan, Emma John, Simon Burnton and James Wallace. Everyone taking part picked and submitted their own XI in the days after Australia’s victory in the third Ashes Test at Adelaide (statistics are from 1 January 2025 up to and including this match). When the votes were added up, Earth’s combined side to play Mars looked like this:Travis Head: 759 runs at an average of 42. Votes (out of 13): 10The E and the D in the end of England’s Ashes chances
Life after LeBron James: who will inherit the NBA’s future?
That the NBA is reckoned in seasons is apt. To measure a legacy this way is as much existential as it is symbolic. Martin Heidegger argued that time is not something we pass through, but the condition of our being – less a pathway than a pressure. Heavy stuff, yes, but the NBA has always operated under similar weight.The millennial superstars who stabilized the league for two decades are now entering their twilight: LeBron James (who turned 41 on Tuesday), Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Chris Paul
Spin bowling on the back foot with pace dominating quickfire Ashes
Disappointment can be found in all corners of this Ashes series. England’s victory came too late. Australia may have secured the urn again but Glenn McGrath’s usual prediction didn’t hold. It has been a serious letdown for the neutral, never mind that a 3-2 scoreline is still in the offing. This was meant to be the one where England had a shot, where the Sydney finale would actually have something on the line beyond World Test Championship points
Bullish Bristol believe Rees-Zammit’s NFL spell has improved his rugby
The Bristol director of rugby, Pat Lam, has said Louis Rees-Zammit’s recent NFL tilt made him a stronger and more dangerous player.The Wales back joined the NFL’s international pathway programme in January 2024, and was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs before a spell at the Jacksonville Jaguars. He returned to rugby after 18 months without playing an NFL match, signing for Bristol in July. Lam said that since signing for the Bears, the 24-year-old has been working to reach match fitness, but that his increased power has made it harder for opponents to stop him.“It’s made him a more rounded player,” Lam said
Glorious Gary Anderson revels in remarkable renaissance to take out Van Gerwen
“I’m just here to cause a headache,” Gary Anderson had told everyone in advance of this game, and for the great Michael van Gerwen the hangover from this crushing 4-1 defeat will comfortably outstrip any quantity of New Year’s Eve festivity. It was a little nervy at the end, a little scrappy and short of breath. But somehow the result had never really been in doubt from the early stages: Van Gerwen, the three-time champion, was simply outplayed by a man almost two decades his senior, a true darting maestro enjoying an uproarious final act to his career.In reaching the quarter-finals of this tournament for the first time since 2022, Anderson has finally made good on a renaissance that has been at least a couple of years in the making. As the halcyon days of his career began to recede in a haze of domestic bliss, tournaments missed and general middle-aged apathy, it became common to speak of Anderson’s greatness in the past tense
‘Stay strong, champion’: boxing world offers condolences to Anthony Joshua
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have passed their condolences to the families of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, the two friends who died in a car crash in Nigeria on Monday in which the former heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua was also injured.Ayodele, also known as Latz, was a personal trainer of Joshua, while Ghami acted as strength and conditioning coach for the 36-year-old boxer. Joshua remains in hospital in Lagos, where he was described by his management team as being in a stable condition.Fury, who had been expected to come out of retirement to fight Joshua next year, posted a tribute to Ghami and Ayodele on social media yesterday, writing: “This is so sad. May God give them a good bed in heaven
UK’s FTSE 100 share index records best year since 2009 – as it happened
Fed up: inside Trump’s unprecedented bid to exert control over the US central bank
How the FTSE 100 ‘dinosaur’ roared back to life | Nils Pratley
One pub a day closed permanently in England and Wales in 2025
China forecast to have sold one in every 10 new cars in UK in 2025
Is ‘coasting’ the perfect way to enjoy an alcoholic drink this New Year’s Eve?