Autor: Redaktor Naczelny

Some supporters will be permitted to stand during the EFL Cup final between Manchester United and Newcastle United. The match, on 26 February, will be the first major domestic English men’s final in almost 35 years in which standing will be allowed. Both clubs will be allocated 867 seats within new safe-standing areas located behind each goal at Wembley Stadium. Premier League and EFL clubs have been allowed to introduce standing areas since the start of the 2022-23 season. It came after five clubs – Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur,...

Tech geniuses, nation builders, and famous artists have praised the benefits of a Montessori education – but does it hold up to scientific scrutiny? David Robson and Alessia Franco investigate. When considering the lives of the rich and famous, it is always tempting to look for the secrets of their successes. So here’s a brain teaser: what do the cook Julia Child, the novelist Gabriel García Márquez, the singer Taylor Swift, and Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin all have in common? The answer is that they all attended Montessori schools as young...

Nothing much lies on Qatar’s border with Saudi Arabia. A few sunbaked outposts and miles and miles of vast, empty desert in all directions.  Then, earlier this year, something very different appeared in the middle of this nowhere: A huge, gleaming luxury hotel complex, complete with its own theme park. The Hilton Salwa Beach Resort & Villas is clearly no ordinary hotel.  Seen from the air it resembles an entire coastal town. Pristine twin beaches peel away from a central harbor. Above the sands, bright white villas and buildings cluster around blue swimming pools....

There is a rhythm to the frenzy in this tailoring shop in the heartland of Nigeria’s oil zone. The whirring of four electric sewing machines snips from two industrial-sized scissors and the sizzle of moist fabric as steam billows from a large pressing iron. But another sounds jars as the six sweaty men work: the metallic grind of a generator. It is behind a wall to muzzle its noise, but that cannot hide its high pitch or the smoky fumes it exudes. „I have two of those, just in case one fails,” says Ozu Adah, a lean-muscled man with cropped hair who runs this shop...

Tesla made a $140m (£113.5m) loss on its Bitcoin investments in 2022, according to filings. The electric car maker told the US regulator it lost $204m on Bitcoin overall, though it gained back $64m through trading. Tesla put $1.5bn into Bitcoin in early 2021, with chief executive Elon Musk saying it would be accepted as payment. It changed course a few weeks later, and Tesla has since sold most of its Bitcoin holdings. It now holds about $184m of Bitcoin. Mr Musk has been among the most high-profile champions of cryptocurrency, with his pronouncements on social media often...

Sportswear chain JD Sports has said stored data relating to 10 million customers might be at risk after it was hit by a cyber-attack. The company said information that „may have been accessed” by hackers included names, addresses, email accounts, phone numbers, order details and the final four digits of bank cards. The data related to online orders between November 2018 and October 2020.  JD Sports said it was contacting affected customers. The group said the affected data was „limited”. It added it did not hold full payment card details and did not...

The US military commitment to the Pacific was underlined in a White House meeting between the leaders of the US and Japan. But behind the scenes, this renewed focus on Asia has sparked a fierce debate within one of its most fabled military forces, writes defense analyst Jonathan Marcus. A bitter family row has erupted in one of the US military’s most hallowed institutions, the US Marine Corps. A host of its former senior commanders are lining up to attack the current leadership over plans for its reinvention. At issue is a plan to adapt the service for a potential conflict...

Influencer Andrew Tate has appeared in court in Romania to appeal against his detention after more than a month in custody.  Handcuffed to his brother Tristan, he shouted to waiting for reporters that he was innocent. The pair have been held since late December as police investigate allegations of rape and exploitation, which both men deny. Last month, a judge extended their detention until the end of February. Police have not yet laid any charges against the brothers, who moved to Romania five years ago.  Filing an appeal against the custody extension on...

North Korea-backed hackers stole $1.7bn (£1.4bn) of crypto in 2022, says blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. This nearly quadruples the country’s previous record for cryptocurrency theft – $429m in 2021. The loot also made up 44% of the $3.8bn stolen in crypto hacks last year, which the firm called „the biggest year ever for crypto hacking”. Experts have said the country, facing heavy sanctions, is turning to crypto theft to fund its nuclear arsenal. North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests and analysts expect the seventh one this year, as the...

Children are being exposed to online pornography from as young as nine, according to a study for the children’s commissioner for England. A quarter of 16-21-year-olds first saw pornography on the internet while still at primary school, it suggests. By the age of 13, 50% had been exposed to it. The findings have been linked to low self-esteem among young people and harmful views of sex and relationships.  Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said it was „deeply concerning”. In a nationally representative survey of more than 1,000 16-21-year-olds, 38% had...

The British transfer record was smashed on deadline day as an unprecedented January transfer window ended with Premier League clubs having spent £2.8bn during the 2022-23 season. Chelsea’s 121m euro (£107m) deal for Benfica’s Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez – once confirmed – will take the total expenditure by top-flight clubs in January to a record-breaking £815m. More than £275m was spent on deadline day alone before the window closed for English clubs at 23:00 GMT on Tuesday. The deadline day outlay was an increase of 83% on the previous...