Two-sip martinis – and IV infusion drips: Soho House’s CEO on how wellness replaced hedonism

It used to be all boozy lunches and late-night carousing. Now it’s hyperbaric chambers and longevity chat. Andrew Carnie, CEO of the private club, explains how life and trends have changed since the Covid era

Friday night in the north of England. On the ninth floor of the old Granada Studios, a very chi-chi crowd is drinking tequila and eating crisps. Not Walkers out of the bag, mind, but canapes of individual crisps with creme fraiche and generous dollops of caviar. A young woman – leather shorts, chunky boots, neon lime nails, artfully messy bob – winks at me from the other side of the silver tray. “Ooh, caviar. Very posh for Manchester.”

Soho House’s 48th members’ club has caused quite the stir. Thirty years after Nick Jones opened the first club in Soho, London, the first north of England outpost of the empire is raising eyebrows. An exclusive club, in the city that AJP Taylor described as “the only place in England which escapes our characteristic vice of snobbery”. (The home, after all, of the Guardian.) An open-air rooftop pool, in the climate that fostered the textile industry because the rain created the perfect cool, damp conditions for spinning cotton. Will it work?

Published: November 25, 2025, 10:00 am

Rage rooms: demand is surging – and 90% of customers are women

Venues designed for people to smash things up safely are seeing an enormous rise in bookings. But why? And what explains the pronounced gender gap?

Name: Rage rooms.

Appearance: Full of old appliances and angry women.

Published: November 24, 2025, 5:09 pm

The one change that worked: I was trembling with anxiety when I found a fun, free way to get calm

I can’t dance. Not even a little bit. But the terrible moves my friends mock are an antidote to the racing heart and quivering breath that arrive in my more anxious moments

The first time I started dancing at home was a happy accident. I’d just had a terse conversation with an ex, and my body was reacting in its usual way: racing heart, quivering breath and trembling fingers. I needed to calm down. Looking around for quick fixes in my flat – my bed, some stale chocolate digestives and a packet of cigarettes – I settled on the kitchen radio, which had been humming faintly in the background all morning.

Tuned to BBC Radio 6 Music, it was playing a disco track I didn’t recognise. But the beat was steady and intermingled with the sounds of tambourines, synths and drums. I turned up the volume, and then my body was moving: limbs swinging, feet tapping, hips wiggling. I continued into the next song, leaning into the feeling and becoming more animated to the sounds of another upbeat 70s track, imagining myself on a crowded, sweaty dancefloor. It was all very silly. But by the third song, my anxiety had melted away. I was smiling. And I felt more like myself again.

Published: November 24, 2025, 11:00 am

The fascia secret: how does it affect your health – and should you loosen it up with a foam roller?

Our muscles, bones and organs are held together by a network of tissue that influences our every move. Is there a way we can use it to our advantage?

Fascia, the connective tissue that holds together the body’s internal structure, really hasn’t spent all that long in the limelight. Anatomists have known about its existence since before the Hippocratic oath was a thing, but until the 1980s it was routinely tossed in the bin during human dissections, regarded as little more than the wrapping that gets in the way of studying everything else. Over the past few decades, though, our understanding of it has evolved and (arguably) overshot – now, there are plenty of personal trainers who will insist that you should be loosening it up with a foam roller, or even harnessing its magical elastic powers to jump higher and do more press-ups. But what’s it really doing – and is there a way you can actually take advantage of it?

“The easiest way to describe fascia is to think about the structure of a tangerine,” says Natasha Kilian, a specialist in musculoskeletal physiotherapy at Pure Sports Medicine. “You’ve got the outer skin, and beneath that, the white pith that separates the segments and holds them together. Fascia works in a similar way: it’s a continuous, all-encompassing network that wraps around and connects everything in the body, from muscles and nerves to blood vessels and organs. It’s essentially the body’s internal wetsuit, keeping everything supported and integrated.” If you’ve ever carved a joint of meat, it’s the thin, silvery layer wrapped around the muscle, like clingfilm.

Published: November 24, 2025, 9:00 am

Small print on signs at a tram park and ride hid the fact I could get clamped

I followed the obvious signs but an enforcement officer had to point out a notice on the back of the entrance sign and it cost me £140

Our car was clamped while parked at the NET Forest Tram Park and Ride in Nottingham, and we had to pay £140 to have it freed.

The prominent signs displayed at the entrance state that those parking without using the tram will be clamped. We did use the tram to and from the city centre after walking in the adjacent park.

Published: November 25, 2025, 7:00 am

NHS directed pregnant women to controversial Free Birth Society via charity

Exclusive: NHS websites pointed women to factsheet featuring podcast by ‘dangerous’ influencers linked to baby deaths

• Full story: How the FBS is linked to baby deaths around the world

The NHS has been directing pregnant women to a website that connected them to the Free Birth Society, an organisation that has been linked to baby deaths around the world after promoting labour without medical support.

A number of NHS trusts are directing women who are contemplating a “free birth” to a charity website that until Monday referred to FBS podcasts as a source of “empowering stories” that can help British women “preparing for their own birth”.

Published: November 25, 2025, 6:00 am

Monday briefing: What a new Guardian investigation reveals about a group ‘radicalising’ women into unassisted birth

In today’s newsletter: A report dives into the disturbing story of a ‘wild’ pregnancy and freebirth business that ‘radicalises’ women, with tragic consequences

Good morning. This weekend, the Guardian launched the results of its year-long investigation into radical free birthing, and the US-based Free Birth Society (FBS). Our reporting reveals how influencers made millions by pushing “free births”, with no medical support, and how the society is now linked to the deaths of newborn babies around the world.

FBS, a multimillion dollar business, promotes a version of free birth, otherwise known as unassisted birth, that is seen as extreme, even among advocates of the practice. Unlike home births, which have a midwife in attendance, free birth involves delivering without medical assistance. The FBS advises mothers to steer clear of doctors and midwives, is anti-ultrasound (which it falsely claims harms babies) and downplays serious medical conditions, the Guardian found.

Ukraine | European countries proposed a radical alternative Ukraine peace plan on Sunday that omits some of the pro-Russia points made in the original US-backed document and calls for Kyiv’s sovereignty to be respected.

Politics | Rachel Reeves will launch a fresh crackdown on benefit fraud, alongside scrapping the two-child welfare limit and freezing rail fares, while putting forward a multibillion-pound tax-raising package.

Media | The BBC is planning to overhaul the way it investigates editorial concerns, in a move that will dilute the influence of a Conservative figure accused of trying to sway its political impartiality.

Skye Gyngell | Tributes have been paid to the pioneering chef and restaurant proprietor, who has died aged 62.

Politics | David Cameron has disclosed he was treated for prostate cancer and has called for a targeted screening programme.

Published: November 24, 2025, 7:01 am

AI could replace 3m low-skilled jobs in the UK by 2035, research finds

Trades, machine operations and administrative roles are most at-risk, says leading educational research charity

Up to 3m low-skilled jobs could disappear in the UK by 2035 because of automation and AI, according to a report by a leading educational research charity.

The jobs most at risk are those in occupations such as trades, machine operations and administrative roles, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) said.

Published: November 25, 2025, 12:01 am

Ofcom urges social media platforms to combat abuse and limit online ‘pile-ons’

New guidance from UK regulator aims to combat misogynist abuse and ‘revenge porn’

Social media platforms are being urged to limit internet “pile-ons” under new guidelines to protect women and girls online.

The guidance from Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, to combat misogynist abuse, coercive control and the sharing of intimate images without consent comes into force on Tuesday and includes recommendations to prevent women being harried online.

Published: November 25, 2025, 6:00 am

One in four unconcerned by sexual deepfakes created without consent, survey finds

Senior UK police officer says AI is accelerating violence against women and girls and that technology companies are complicit

One in four people think there is nothing wrong with creating and sharing sexual deepfakes, or they feel neutral about it, even when the person depicted has not consented, according to a police-commissioned survey.

The findings prompted a senior police officer to warn that the use of AI is accelerating an epidemic in violence against women and girls (VAWG), and that technology companies are complicit in this abuse.

Published: November 24, 2025, 9:00 am

‘Enshittification’: how we got the internet no one asked for – podcast

Tech critic Cory Doctorow explains why for so many the internet – from Amazon to Google to Instagram – seems to be getting worse

Do you ever get the feeling that the internet isn’t what it used to be?

Well, tech critic Cory Doctorow thinks you’re right – and he has a term to describe it too: ‘enshittification’.

Published: November 24, 2025, 3:00 am

Civil liberties groups call for inquiry into UK data protection watchdog

Campaigners including Good Law Project describe ICO ‘collapse in enforcement activity’ after Afghan data breach

Dozens of civil liberties campaigners and legal professionals are calling for an inquiry into the UK’s data protection watchdog, after what they describe as “a collapse in enforcement activity” after the scandal of the Afghan data breach.

A total of 73 academics, senior lawyers, data protection experts and organisations including Statewatch and the Good Law Project, have written a letter to Chi Onwurah, the chair of the cross-party Commons science, innovation and technology committee, coordinated by Open Rights Group, calling for an inquiry to be held into the office of the information commissioner, John Edwards.

Published: November 24, 2025, 6:00 am

Can’t tech a joke: AI does not understand puns, study finds

Researchers say results underline large language models’ poor grasp of humour, empathy and cultural nuance

Comedians who rely on clever wordplay and writers of witty headlines can rest a little easier, for the moment at least, research on AI suggests.

Experts from universities in the UK and Italy have been investigating whether large language models (LLMs) understand puns – and found them wanting.

Published: November 24, 2025, 7:59 am

‘It’s hell for us here’: Mumbai families suffer as datacentres keep the city hooked on coal

As Mumbai sees increased energy demand from new datacenters, particularly from Amazon, the filthiest neighbourhood in one of India’s largest cities must keep its major coal plants

Each day, Kiran Kasbe drives a rickshaw taxi through his home neighbourhood of Mahul on Mumbai’s eastern seafront, down streets lined with stalls selling tomatoes, bottle gourds and aubergines–and, frequently, through thick smog.

Earlier this year, doctors found three tumours in his 54-year-old mother’s brain. It’s not clear exactly what caused her cancer. But people who live near coal plants are much more likely to develop the illness, studies show, and the residents of Mahul live a few hundred metres down the road from one.

Published: November 24, 2025, 6:35 pm

Bond market power: why Rachel Reeves is keen to keep the £2.7tn ‘beast’ onside

Hugely influential traders will be hanging on the chancellor’s every word when she announces her budget

At just after 12.30pm on Wednesday, the machine will be listening, the trading algorithms ready, and billions of pounds of buy-and-sell orders stacked up awaiting Rachel Reeves’s budget.

For the first time on the London trading floor of Deutsche Bank, a custom-built artificial intelligence tool will tune in to the chancellor’s speech. It will transcribe her words, spot shifts in tone and spit out alerts when the numbers deviate from expectations.

Published: November 24, 2025, 3:00 pm

The best Black Friday deals on the products we love, from sunrise alarm clocks to dehumidifiers

We’ve cut through the noise to find genuinely good early Black Friday 2025 discounts on Filter-recommended products across home, tech, beauty and toys

• Big savings – or big regrets? How to shop smart this Black Friday
• The best Black Friday beauty deals

Like Christmas Day, Black Friday has long since ceased to be a mere “day”. Yuletide now seems to start roughly when Strictly does, and Black Friday kicked off around Halloween, judging by the landfill of exclamation-marked emails weighing down my inbox.

Black Friday is a devil worth dancing with if you want to save money on products you’ve had your eye on – and it can pay to start dancing now. Some of the Filter’s favourite items are already floating around at prices clearly designed to make them sell out fast. Other deals won’t land until the big day itself on 28 November, or even until the daftly named Cyber Monday (1 December).

Published: November 24, 2025, 12:56 pm

Brain has five ‘eras’, scientists say – with adult mode not starting until early 30s

Study suggests human brain development has four pivotal ‘turning points’ at around the ages of nine, 32, 66 and 83

Scientists have identified five major “epochs” of human brain development in one of the most comprehensive studies to date of how neural wiring changes from infancy to old age.

The study, based on the brain scans of nearly 4,000 people aged under one to 90, mapped neural connections and how they evolve during our lives. This revealed five broad phases, split up by four pivotal “turning points” in which brain organisation moves on to a different trajectory, at around the ages of nine, 32, 66 and 83 years.

Published: November 25, 2025, 10:00 am

People who stop using Mounjaro suffer reversal of health benefits, says study

Ceasing use of jabs brings regained weight plus loss of benefits regarding ‘bad’ cholesterol and blood pressure

People who stop using the weight-loss jab Mounjaro not only tend to regain weight, but experience a reversal in other health improvements too, research suggests.

Mounjaro, which contains the active ingredient tirzepatide, has become a popular medication for weight loss, with studies suggesting that it can help people lose an average of 20% of their body weight after 72 weeks of treatment.

Published: November 24, 2025, 5:01 pm

What is prostate cancer and how is it diagnosed in the UK?

As David Cameron receives treatment and backs calls for NHS screening, we look at the disease and its treatment

• More than 100 MPs urge Streeting to approve prostate cancer screening

David Cameron has become the latest high-profile figure to back growing calls for the NHS to start screening men, or at least those at highest risk, for prostate cancer after being treated for it himself.

He joined Olympic cycling champion Chris Hoy and prostate cancer charities in saying that recent advances in diagnosing the disease mean that testing can be introduced that is much safer than traditional methods, which can produce both false-positive and false-negative results.

Published: November 25, 2025, 7:00 am

Bitter rows and overnight talks: how a fragile Cop30 deal was agreed – podcast

After bitter arguments, threatened walkouts and heated all-night negotiations, delegates eventually reached a deal this weekend at the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil. To unpick what was achieved and what was left out, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s environment editor, Fiona Harvey, who has been following every twist and turn

End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

Published: November 24, 2025, 5:42 pm

Groundbreaking UK gene therapy offers hope after progress of three-year-old

Oliver Chu from California first person to have the one-off treatment for Hunter syndrome

Doctors are cautiously optimistic about a groundbreaking gene therapy for children affected by a devastating inherited disorder after seeing positive results in the first boy to receive the treatment.

Three-year-old Oliver Chu from California became the first patient to have the therapy nine months ago as part of a clinical trial run by researchers in Manchester. It is too early to call the therapy a success, but doctors are encouraged by his progress so far.

Published: November 24, 2025, 4:12 pm

Starwatch: beautiful contrast as silver glow of moon passes Saturn’s golden light

Visible from urban locations, pairing takes on special meaning when seen with minimal light pollution

This week, the moon will pass close to the planet Saturn in the evening sky. Although visible from urban locations, the pairing takes on a special meaning when seen from a location with minimal light pollution. The brilliant silver glow of the moon and the steady golden light of Saturn contrast beautifully.

The chart shows the view looking south from London on 29 November at 19.00 GMT. The conjunction is easily visible to the naked eye from both hemispheres.

Published: November 24, 2025, 6:00 am

Search is on for the German hairy snail in London

Conchologists, and citizen scientists team up to seek out endangered mollusc species along River Thames

It is tiny, hairy and “German” – and it could be hiding underneath a piece of driftwood near you. Citizen scientists and expert conchologists are teaming up to conduct the first London-wide search for one of Britain’s most endangered molluscs.

The fingernail-sized German hairy snail (Pseudotrichia rubiginosa) is found in fragmented patches of habitat mostly along the tidal Thames.

Published: November 24, 2025, 9:00 am