The Guardian Culture

Children play next to a United Nations convoy, heading to Rutchuro to relaunch UN operations in the area, north of the provincial capital of Goma, on November 03, 2008 in the North Kivu region of DR Congo. A UN convoy carrying medicinal aid has arrived in rebel-held areas of east Congo as tens of thousands of refugees and internally-displaced people have fleed their homes amidst reports of Congolese rebels looting and burning refugee camps in this war-torn African nation. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images Europe) A UN aid convoy crossed into a rebel-controlled area in eastern Congo today to provide relief supplies to tens ... Read Full Story

Exciting for the kids, but draining on the wallet, the school summer holidays are now upon us. So the best news of all is that great days out can come with no price tag at all. We've scoured the land for experiences your children are guaranteed to love - at no cost to you. 1. Birmingham's city centre beach Take the train to central Birmingham for the country's most unusual summer beach – a 100 tonnes of sand have been piled into Chamberlain Square, creating a 577 sq metre beach which is open daily from 11am to 7pm until September 14. Kids love the ... Read Full Story

Sainsbury's has designed a fashionable way to get rid of plastic packaging - by turning it into clothes. The supermarket will launch a collection of clothes made from recycled plastic, thrown out by stores or returned to recycling bins, such as soft drink bottles, fruit and vegetable packaging, and even meat trays. The shirts, trousers and skirts will go on sale at up to half the group's 500 stores later this year and will be at a similar price to clothes sold under the supermarket's Tu fashion range. They will feel like viscose or polyester-based fabrics, said Josie Cartridge, Tu's marketing manager. The clothes ... Read Full Story

The Lions have asked for five of Wales's grand slam-winning management team to join the head coach, Ian McGeechan, on next year's tour to South Africa. The British and Irish outfit want Wales's head coach, Warren Gatland, to take charge of the forwards, Shaun Edwards to look after the defence, Rob Howley to manage the attack, Craig White to head the fitness team and Rhys Long to oversee analysis. All five have worked for Wasps this decade and McGeechan is the club's current director of rugby. It is expected that the Welsh Rugby Union's board of directors will agree to the request today. As ... Read Full Story

The Congo. The UN is poised to send an extra 3,000 troops to eastern Congo, bolstering what is already the largest peacekeeping mission in the world, as reports emerged of government troops looting and raping as they fled a rebel advance. Angola said today it would respond to a Congolese government request to send its forces to block, and possibly reverse, the advances by the Tutsi rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda. A small number of Angolan troops have already been seen fighting to defend Goma. Nkunda earlier this week warned that he would regard the arrival of foreign troops as an escalation of the conflict ... Read Full Story