2 hours ago Bring on the Vegas glitz! How Roma families are defying their persecutors with bling palaces

Keen to show off their newfound riches, and to kick back at a society that suppressed them, Roma families are filling rural Romania with exuberant symbols of wealth – boasting gilded turrets and gleaming staircases that lead to nowhereIn the village of Hășdat in the heart of rural Romania, geese roam the dusty streets, bonfires burn in back gardens, and the houses are not quite what you would expect. Not at all. One sports a pair of golden Versace Medusa heads and Rolex crown emblems on its tall metal gates, flanked by marble pillars topped with trios of cherubs. They mark the entrance to a compound where a creamy stuccoed pile groans with balconies and plaster mouldings, its roof dripping with ornamental guttering. A group of women stand around a table in its courtyard, plucking feathe...

Society

3 hours ago Practical Magic: Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock’s enduring song of sisterhood

Witchy, cozy, and murderously mischievous, this 1998 film about a clan of women beset by an ancient curse feels like a warm hug. Its resurgence is long overdueGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailThe formulaic 90s romcom shouldn’t – in theory – involve accidental murder or exorcising evil spirits. Yet Griffin Dunne’s Practical Magic proves that the feminine urge to murder your evil ex-boyfriend (twice) is funny, sexy, even mischievous.Picture Nicole Kidman with copper hair and curtain bangs, hurtling through an expanse of American highways to a soundtrack featuring Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchell. Or Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest as wickedly witchy aunts poised around a kitchen bench, chanting a spell (“Adder’s fork and blindworm’s sting, Barbados lime is just the thing!”) as ...

Politics

4 hours ago Police called to Manchester following reports of man on roof of a building

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service was also in attendance

Events

4 hours ago Darts prodigy Luke Littler confirms he will star on iconic TV show that's set to return

Luke Littler has confirmed he will star on the Christmas edition of Bullseye alongside Freddie Flintoff as the iconic TV show is set to return to the silver screen

Politics

16 hours ago Seven metal detectorists and a lucky landowner coin it in as Britain's richest

The 2,584 silver coins are made up of King Harold II pennies from the end of Anglo-Saxon England and William the Conqueror coins, after the 1066 Norman conquest.

Politics

17 hours ago Metal detectorists who discovered huge hoard of silver coins dating back to aftermath of Battle of Hastings are celebrating after it was acquired for the nation for record £4.3m

The 2,584 silver coins are made up of King Harold II pennies from the end of Anglo-Saxon England and William the Conqueror coins, after the 1066 Norman conquest.

Economics

21 hours ago Work starts on vast 'solar membrane' to cover West Ham's London Stadium

The installation will consist of 6,500 square metres of panels, enabling the stadium to save more than 200 tonnes of carbon emissions a year

Politics

22 hours ago Loose Women star reveals 'painful' health ordeal left her so stressed she couldn't eat or sleep

Loose Women panellist Janet Street-Porter has shared a health update after having to undergo surgery for a "painful" issue which was impacting her life

Politics

23 hours ago Cops resign after they were 'caught engaging in sexual activity with each other in police stations and vehicles'

PCs Anthoni Eronini and Chloe Caulfield cheated on their respective partners to engage in sexual activity in police stations and vehicles, a disciplinary panel has found

Events