Dense, sticky and heavy: why Venezuelan crude oil appeals to US refineries South American nation’s tar-like oil is what many Gulf coast facilities were built for but ramping up production to 3m barrels a day will be a long game

Dense, sticky and heavy: why Venezuelan crude oil appeals to US refineries

A rectangular graphic with a blue rectangle down the left-hand side. Half of a stained-glass window depicting the tree of Jesse is on the right. On the left is a white Church in Wales celtic cross at the top, with white text below that reads: “O Root of Jesse! O Wreiddyn Jesse”

A rectangular graphic with a blue rectangle down the right-hand side. The other half of a stained-glass window depicting the tree of Jesse takes up the rest of the space. White text reads: “'O Root of Jesse' is part of the Great O Antiphons, used during the last seven days of Advent. An antiphon is a short chant, sung as a refrain. The Advent antiphons all refer to titles of Christ that are in the Bible. In the English-speaking world they are best known in their amalgamated form as the hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". Mae 'O Wreiddyn Jesse' yn rhan o'r Yr Antiffonau "O" Mawr, a ddefnyddir yn ystod saith diwrnod olaf yr Adfent. Mae antiffon yn siant byr, a ganir fel cytgan. Mae'r holl antiffonau Adfent yn cyfeirio at deitlau Crist sydd yn y Beibl. Yn Saesneg maent yn fwyaf adnabyddus yn eu ffurf gyfunol fel yr emyn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel".”

Today is the third day of the Great O Antiphons – today’s is O Root of Jesse:
Heddiw yw trydydd diwrnod Yr Antiffonau “O” Mawr - heddiw yw Wreiddyn Jesse:

lectionary.churchinwales.org.uk/

#ChurchInWales #EglwysYngNghymru

BBC bosses ‘right to stick by their guns’ against Trump, says minister Keir Starmer urged to ‘stand up for the BBC’ after US president files $10bn lawsuit against corporation

BBC vows to defend $10bn lawsuit from Donald Trump

Trump says he will sue BBC for at least $1bn over Panorama edit The US president confirmed he intends to sue the broadcaster for at least $1bn over the Panorama edit of a 2021 speech.

Buckle up - because this now amounts to a direct and deliberate attack on our country and its cultural sovereignty. Which side our politicians take - Trump's or the BBC's - over the coming days and weeks will speak volumes about their patriotism.

BBC has a case against Trump. WhiteHouse Chief Press Officer called the BBC ‘100% fake news.’ Which is defamatory and untrue.

Calum Miller commented:“Putin must be punished, not rewarded, for his barbaric assault on the brave people of Ukraine. This Bill would see billions in frozen Russian assets seized and used to support the defence of President Zelensky’s proud nation. I urge MPs from all parties to back this bill.”

Trump and his cronies have the BBC in their sights. Leaders can’t stay silent while one of our great institutions is attacked.

We must defend its independence, end political appointments, and remove Robbie Gibb from the Board.

Going to out on a limb and say Trump suing the BBC for a billion dollars may not poll well in the UK

Stephen really does have the best take on this. It’s not clear that the BBC Board or indeed the rest of the News team really understood the message of the previous reviews, which were about getting detail right. Instead they wanted to know what was ‘biased’ or not like they were blotting out stains.

A social media post by Karoline Leavitt (The White House Press Secretary) showing two news headlines side-by-side. The left headline, under a caption that reads "Shot" reads: "Trump goes to war with 'fake news' BBC," and the right headline under a caption that reads "Chaser" reads: "Tim Davie resigns as BBC director general over Trump documentary edit."

I had my disagreements with the BBC under Tim Davie but he was a decent man doing a difficult job.

To see Trump's White House claiming credit for his downfall and attacking the BBC should worry us all.

My musical tribute to Pauline Collins who has died aged 85. She was brilliant and award-winning in the film Shirley Valentine. But I will always remember her as parlourmaid Sarah Moffit in the 1970s ITV drama Upstairs, Downstairs.

"Russians have begun to actively economise on food.” - Russian paper YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg

Some Russian papers showcase the country’s new nuclear-powered cruise missile and underwater drone. Another paper: “Citizens have begun to actively economise on food.” #ReadingRussia

After a week of faffing around the @dailymail.co.uk have agreed to apologise. Here it is. Fingers crossed for fewer lies/smears dressed up as news in future

'My sin was having Parkinson's': Presenter left stranded Mark Mardell was left feeling 'humiliated' after he was told he could not board a flight.

Airline strands ex-BBC editor, citing Parkinson's www.bbc.com/news/article... Don’t travel with Turkish Airlines- they discriminate against people with Parkinson’s

Treasury minister leading budget plans spent £900 on desk Torsten Bell, who is working with Rachel Reeves to fill a £30 billion hole in finances, also used his parliamentary expenses to claim £600 for three chairs

Totally untrue garbage from @thetimes.com & @dailymail.co.uk today - smear dressed up as journalism. Some facts:
- There is no “£900 desk”
- my constituency office has Ikea desks/chairs
- we significantly underspent the new MPs allowance to set up an office
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Good to see @dailymail.co.uk @thetimes.com and @telegraphnews.bsky.social all delete their articles - sad the lies went up in the first place

www.facebook.com/share/p/19C1...
My friend Mark Mardell was chucked off his Turkish Airlines flight at the weekend because he had Parkinson’s and his son had asked for assistance for him. (He’s written about it as a public post on Facebook but the link is proving hard to share outside,)

From work experience to full-time tech team member How Beth Harper developed her career with the Met Office after doing work experience

🌟 We’re celebrating Ada Lovelace Day at the Met Office! We champion women in STEM & are proud to be named a Best Workplace in Tech ™ 2025 by Great Place to Work UK 🏆

Read about Beth’s journey in STEM 👇
careers.metoffice.gov.uk/stories/work...

#AdaLovelaceDay #WomenInTechWeek #InclusionMatters

M. Lecornu: you can can check out but you can never leave! Dommage.

A rectangular graphic with a picture of some people eating pizza outside. Across the bottom is a light blue banner with the following text on: “In case you missed it, here’s a story from our news pages: 'Prayer and Pizza at St Mary’s Priory, Abergavenny' 'Gweddi a Pizza ym Mhriordy y Santes Fair, Y Fenni'". The Church in Wales celtic cross logo is in the bottom right corner.

In case you missed it, here’s a story from our news pages: 'Prayer and Pizza at St Mary’s Priory, Abergavenny'. Rhag ofn i chi ei golli, dyma stori o’n tudalennau newyddion: 'Gweddi a Pizza ym Mhriordy y Santes Fair, Y Fenni'. www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/news-and-...

#ChurchInWales #News

spokesperson for Sadiq Khan:

“We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.

“London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.”

sat on a train near some drunk white bloke who, one assumes, was out on the march today and he spent ages physically threatening a black guy but also, for some reason, telling him he was going to rape him? but anyway everything feels great in Britain right now

Appalled by the violent scenes of police being attacked at the Tommy Robinson rally today. Those responsible should face the full force of the law.

These far right thugs do not speak for Britain.

BBC Radio 3
BBC Proms 2025

Now Playing
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Elim Chan, Sam Oladeinde, Louise Alder, Alison Balsom, BBC Singers, National Youth Choir & BBC Symphony Chorus
Bohemian Rhapsody

Last night of the Proms. Bohemian Rhapsody! What a great choice!

I won’t give you my name… but I will appear on video and tell you about my criminal history. That’s a hell of a flex.

AstraZeneca pauses £200m investment in Cambridge research site Decision means none of drugmaker’s much-trumpeted £650m UK investment package is currently proceeding The drugmaker AstraZeneca has paused a planned £200m investment in its Cambridge research site, completing a depressing week for the UK pharmaceutical industry. The decision by Britain’s biggest company means none of its much-trumpeted £650m investment package in the UK – which was originally announced in March 2024 – is currently proceeding. Continue reading...

AstraZeneca pauses £200m investment in Cambridge research site

This is an interesting claim given almost all polling on issues suggests otherwise!

Over the long weekend, the Trump administration quietly tried to deport 76 unaccompanied children to Guatemala – ignoring laws protecting such minors from speedy deportations.

Thankfully, a federal judge blocked the effort.

The cruelty of this regime knows no bounds.

I don’t think these two statements can be jointly true. You cannot receive an offer from a US university if you do not apply to them.