2 hours ago The Franchise review – Armando Iannucci’s superhero satire is saved only by a standout star

This spoof from a team of comedy greats ends up a bit of a mess – largely due to the lack of great jokes. But one actor comes up with the goodsIt is a strange truth that to satirise something effectively, you have to love it – at least a little. You have to see it in the round and understand not just where it fails but where it succeeds, and why some people like it while others loathe it. Good satire doesn’t come from indifference: it comes from disappointment, rage and the desire to show not just how things fail but how they could be better.Jonathan Swift wrote about people eating babies because he was furious. Jane Austen looked at Georgian women’s lot and laid bare all its miseries through laughter. Leaping over a few centuries, the likes of Yes, Minister, Yes, Prime Minister an...

Politics

2 hours ago Dean Henderson drops clanger at worst possible time to hand Nottingham Forest victory

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1-0 CRYSTAL PALACE: Dean Henderson apologised to the travelling fans as his blunder helped his former employers get one over his current, with pressure intensifying on Oliver Glasner

Politics

2 hours ago 'Delivering NHS fit for 21st century is prize only Labour government can win for Britain'

Britain's National Health Service is the closest thing we have in this country to a true national religion, and Labour's plans to restore it to greatness with ambitious plans benefits us all

Politics

2 hours ago Man ‘kidnapped girl, 9, outside Harrods before drugging and sexually assaulting her’

Robert Prussak is accused of luring the young girl back to his flat after she lost her parents

Events

4 hours ago Trump faces yet another defamation lawsuit as Central Park Five allege decades of ‘extreme and outrageous conduct’

Exonerated men endured ‘severe emotional distress and reputational damage’ after years of Trump’s statements, including his latest false claims during September’s presidential debate

Politics

4 hours ago Body of woman, 52, found 'mummified' in her Liverpool flat seven months after she was last seen or heard from, inquest hears

Amanda Warburton, 52, was discovered by police dead in her apartment in Windmill Hill, Runcorn on September 17. Police said her death was 'non suspicious'.

Politics

5 hours ago Ninja's bestselling double stack air fryer is now at its cheapest ever price

"I have been using this for a few weeks now and have barely used my oven. It fits neatly under my kitchen cabinets and looks really stylish"

Politics

7 hours ago BHP accused of ‘doggedly trying to avoid’ responsibility for Brazil dam disaster

Largest group lawsuit in English legal history over 2015 dam collapse that killed 19 people opens at high court in LondonThe Anglo-Australian mining company BHP has been accused of “cynically and doggedly trying to avoid” responsibility for Brazil’s worst environmental disaster at the opening of the largest group lawsuit in English legal history.The claim for up to £36bn in compensation was opened by lawyers acting for more than 620,000 individuals at the high court in London. It comes nine years after the breach of a dam holding toxic waste from an iron ore mine killed 19 people near the town of Mariana in south-eastern Brazil. Continue reading...

Events

7 hours ago Linda McDermott says this is 'worst year of my life' after losing 'beloved' husband

The former BBC Radio Merseyside presenter's husband sadly passed away in January and the radio icon told listeners that it had taken a lot of persuasion to get back on air

Politics