Whales, beards, mules and VIPs: the secret world of high-rolling professional gambling

The world of professional gambling is secretive by design.Successful punters find an edge wherever possible and seldom show their hand to rivals when they spot an opportunity to make a killing.It is even rarer that the outside world gets the chance to penetrate the code of silence that governs this niche cadre of high-rollers.That is why a court document, reported on Tuesday by the Guardian, is so unusual, in that it drags a dispute from a very private world into the public spotlight.According to the filing, George Cottrell, a close associate of Nigel Farage and a key figure in Reform UK’s inner circle, effectively acted as a front for a major gambling syndicate controlled by Tony Bloom, the former professional poker player who owns Brighton and Hove Albion football club, by handing over control of betting accounts in his name

Tell us: have you lived in temporary accommodation in the UK with children?

More than 172,000 children were living in temporary accommodation in England at the end of June, according to the latest quarterly official figures from October.That represented an 8.2% rise on the same period last year. There are now more than 130,000 households households living in temporary accommodation in England, the figures showed.Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “Tragically we have now become totally accustomed to seeing record levels of children growing up in temporary accommodation

Communities are our defence against hatred. Now, more than ever, we must invest in hope

It has been an unsettling year of social division, anger and unrest in the UK and beyond. Extremist violence and rhetoric are escalating, with the demonisation of migrants reaching a fever pitch. Far-right activists march in the streets. NHS nurses, care workers and charities face abuse amid a resurgence of “1970s-style racism”.Against this toxic backdrop, the Guardian is launching its 2025 charity appeal on Friday

‘It was about degrading someone completely’: the story of Mr DeepFakes – the world’s most notorious AI porn site

For Patrizia Schlosser, it started with an apologetic call from a colleague. “I’m sorry but I found this. Are you aware of it?” He sent over a link, which took her to a site called Mr DeepFakes. There, she found fake images of herself, naked, squatting, chained, performing sex acts with various animals. They were tagged “Patrizia Schlosser sluty FUNK whore” (sic)

Rising racism blamed for collapse in number of foreign nurses coming to UK

The number of overseas nurses and midwives coming to the UK is collapsing, figures reveal, with rising racism and changes to immigration rules blamed for the fall.Between April and September, 6,321 nurses and midwives from abroad joined the register of those licensed to practice in the UK, compared with 12,534 who did so in the same period in 2024.At the same time, more international staff are leaving Britain, according to workforce data published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).Health organisations said the trends would make it harder for the already understaffed NHS to provide the care expected of it and that patients would face even longer waiting times for treatment.Suzie Bailey, an NHS workforce expert at the King’s Fund thinktank, said: “The dramatic fall in international nurse and midwife recruitment and retention should be sounding alarm bells for politicians, health and care leaders and people who rely on health and care services

GPs failing older people living with frailty, National Audit Office finds

GPs are failing to provide adequate support for people living with frailty, an independent watchdog has found.Frailty is a syndrome related to ageing and in which body systems gradually lose their in-built reserves. Symptoms include exhaustion and people living with frailty are more likely to be housebound.GPs are required to identify any registered patient aged 65 or over who is living with frailty, but only one in six were assessed for the condition in 2024/25, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report. One in four were assessed in 2017/18