66 minutes ago After the initial ecstasy of freedom, released Israeli hostages face a long road to recovery

Fifteen Israeli hostages were released from more than 15 months of captivity in Gaza over the past two weeks

Politics

6 hours ago The Last Days of Budapest by Adam LeBor: I almost hope my family died in an air raid

In Adam LeBor's new book, The Last Days of Budapest, Ysenda Maxtone Graham unearths the tragic plight of Hungary's Jews.

Society

2 hours ago UK's rarest WW1 coin worth a staggering £30k but there's a major catch

A 107-year-old gold coin dating back to the First World War has now been valued at £30,000 - but, finding such a 'fine specimen' might prove rather difficult.

Economics

7 hours ago Dana White slaps down UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell after he called Adolf Hitler 'a good guy'

Dana White has slapped down UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell after he described Adolf Hitler as a 'good guy' and denied the Holocaust ever happened. 

Sport

78 minutes ago ‘Everybody is tired. The mood has changed’: the Ukrainian army’s desertion crisis

Some of those abandoning the frontline say the longer the war goes on, ‘the more people like me there will be’When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine three years ago, Viktor* was ready to die for his country. He volunteered to defend Kyiv as enemy tanks appeared and joined Ukraine’s armed forces. In the spring of 2023 he was fighting in the village of Tonenke, near the eastern city of Avdiivka. “When I arrived I was super-motivated. If necessary I would give my life,” he recalled.Gradually, however, he became disillusioned. The battle was furious. “The Russians would smash our positions to the ground,” he said. Senior Ukrainian commanders gave unrealistic orders. Then, while he was defending a ruined building, a panel fell on his shoulder. After receiving injections to reduce the pain, he was told to return to the front. “I realised I’m nobody. Just a number,” he said. Continue reading...

Events

12 hours ago Wishaw MP calls for road safety review on busy Wishaw street following number of accidents

Pamela Nash has written to North Lanarkshire Council urging the authority to assess Cambusnethan Street after a man was knocked down on the road on Tuesday, January 21.

Transport

78 minutes ago Stick nation! Why do 3 million people – including me and my kids – love stick reviews?

The internet’s go-to gathering place for those who rate and revere sticks is big and growing fast. The appeal is simple ...The first stick was small, and shaped like a revolver.It was late summer 2023 and two friends, Boone Hogg and Logan Jugler, both 31, were on a late summer hike heading towards Delicate Arch, a 16m red rock formation in Utah’s Arches national park, when Jugler spotted it on the ground. He picked it up and began rating its attributes – colour, shape, flexibility – out of 10, while Hogg filmed. Then they uploaded it to Instagram. Continue reading...

Politics

19 hours ago Wes Streeting takes NHS mandate 'back to basics' as health secretary wages war on overspending

“The culture of routine overspending without consequences is over”, Wes Streeting has warned, as he unveiled a new, trimmed-down mandate for the NHS.

Society

8 hours ago Penal costs of Royal Mail bid: Labour is harming Britain by waiving this terrible deal through, says ALEX BRUMMER

The Ofcom review of the Royal Mail focuses on how best to ensure a reliable delivery service for consumers amid the fast-declining volumes of post.

Economics

17 hours ago Mathys Tel: Arsenal tipped as top transfer option for forward amid Tottenham and Chelsea interest

Bayern Munich star could be at centre of transfer tug-of-war between London rivals

Sport

3 hours ago UN chief urges evacuation of 2,500 children from Gaza as doctors warn of ‘imminent risk’ of death

António Guterres issues call after saying he was ‘deeply moved’ by meeting with US doctors who worked in GazaSee all our Middle East coverageUN secretary-general António Guterres has called for 2,500 children to be immediately evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment after meeting with US doctors who said the children were at imminent risk of death in the coming weeks.The four doctors had all volunteered in Gaza during the 15-month-long war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas that has devastated the territory of more than 2 million people and its healthcare system. Continue reading...

Events

4 hours ago Quentin Letts from Westminster: Swathed in purple faux fur, this new Lib Dem MP could have wandered into the Commons from a Courmayeur chalet bar

Some people fear Artificial Intelligence. They fret about the lack of human touch, its robotic nature, the threat it may pose to our freedom.

Politics

16 hours ago BBC apologises to staff as damning review into Russell Brand's conduct is released

A BBC review into the conduct of Russell Brand during his time with the broadcaster has found a number of people 'felt unable to raise' concerns about the presenter.

Economics

25 hours ago Celtic earn huge Champions League prize money windfall after securing knockout playoff spot with mega payday in sight

Europe's elite club competition is also one of the most lucrative for clubs with Celtic making millions

Sport

4 hours ago Four years after the coup, chaos reigns as Myanmar’s military struggles

A patchwork of armed opposition groups have made major gains over the past year, with the military facing further losses The streets of Lashio, a once bustling city in north-eastern Myanmar, are quieter than usual. Schools are shut, except for those run by volunteers from the pro-democracy resistance in the community. Months of airstrikes have left destruction. Even though the fighting has stopped, electricity is still not running properly. Instead, residents rely on solar power to charge their phones, and firewood and charcoal to cook.“We saw a lot of civilians who died during the battle [in those days]. We saw them on the streets, on the lanes, some of the bodies were decayed and some of them were freshly dead. Some died in their homes,” said Leo*, a 40-year-old driver, whose family spent months living with constant bombardments by the military, running to hide in the darkness of a homemade bunker each time jet fighters came. Continue reading...

Events

5 hours ago This dark double act mark 30 years of gruesome comedy: PATRICK MARMION reviews Inside No.9 on the stage

Fifty-something TV comedians Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton are celebrating their pearl anniversary by redeploying the format of their BBC 'anthology' series, Inside No. 9.

Politics

18 hours ago Three Israelis and five Thai nationals freed in latest hostage release under ceasefire deal with Hamas – live

Israel will reportedly free 110 Palestinian prisoners in exchange Away from Gaza and Israel, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani arrived on Thursday in Damascus, Syria, Al Jazeera reported, the first visit by a foreign head of state since Bashar al-Assad’s fall.The Israeli military said on Thursday that freed Israeli female soldier Agam Berger had been handed over to the army by the Red Cross after her release in Gaza by Hamas. Continue reading...

Economics

6 hours ago Source Code by Bill Gates: He became one of the world's most successful men and a multi

Alexander Masters uncovers the extraordinary upbringing of computer genius, multibillionaire, philanthropist Bill Gates, in the first of his 3-part memoir.

Politics

18 hours ago 'Nightmare' neighbour who chopped down hedge to make her flowerbed two feet bigger loses latest court battle that's already cost her £27,000

Tersia Van Zyl and husband Stiaan were sued after neighbour Peter Walker-Smith accused them of wrongly having the bush that separated their gardens in Claygate, Surrey cut down.

Economics

4 hours ago CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night's TV: The Apprentice is horribly outdated, it should have been fired years ago!

Flops, every one of them. Hopeless, cringing disasters that failed so badly, it was physically uncomfortable - no, not the candidates on The Apprentice, but Lord Sugar's jokes.

Events

6 hours ago 'Wild, gross, undeniably energetic': The Literary Fiction to be reading now

Anthony Cummins reviews the best literary fiction out now.

Politics

19 hours ago Amazon is now selling tiny but powerful Ultimate Ears bluetooth speaker for under £70

Our reviewer loved the Ultimate Ears bluetooth speaker from Amazon

Economics

5 hours ago Ukraine war briefing: elderly couples among nine killed in Russian drone attack

Thirteen people wounded, including eight-year-old girl, in Sumy apartment block attack. Sweden pledges $1.2bn in Ukraine military aid, its biggest pledge yet. What we know on day 1,073See all our Ukraine war coverageA Russian drone attack on a residential block killed nine people including three elderly couples in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, officials said on Thursday. Images distributed by the emergency services showed a gaping hole in the facade of the long block of flats and rescue workers digging through debris for survivors. “This is a terrible tragedy, a terrible Russian crime. It is very important that the world does not pause in putting pressure on Russia for this terror,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media. National Police later said the search operation had been completed after 19 hours, with rescuers finding nine bodies in the ruins, while 13 people were wounded. Among the dead were three couples – men and women between the ages of 61 and 74 – Ukr...

Events

6 hours ago Scissorhandz review – musical reanimates Burton classic with cuts from Radiohead and Aerosmith

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London Jordan Kai Burnett impresses in a fun, heartfelt yet tonally uneven show, co-produced by Michelle VisageIn Tim Burton’s 1990 fairytale, you hear Edward Scissorhands before you see him, as Johnny Depp cowers in the shadows, metallic fingers clinking. But Jordan Kai Burnett, taking the lead role in this jukebox musical reinvention, is no wallflower. They storm the stage with the famous shears raised, imploring us to lift our hands and make some noise.Previously performed in Los Angeles, co-produced by Michelle Visage and ‘NSync’s Lance Bass, Scissorhandz lands in London like a fully fledged cult hit. Visage’s voiceover welcomes an audience of “beautiful weirdos” and treats us as a pre-existing fan club.At Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London, until 29 March Continue reading...

Politics

6 hours ago Captain Tom Moore timeline: From NHS hero’s legacy in pandemic to controversy almost five years later

Decorated Second World War veteran turned pandemic hero raised £33m for NHS before passing away in 2021 but the foundation set up in his name has been heavily criticised in a watchdog report that also names Captain Tom’s daughter and son-in-law for mismanagement, Joe Sommerlad and Alex Ross report

Events

7 hours ago You’re Cordially Invited review – Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell carry fun comedy

A pair of duelling weddings leads to war in this surprisingly funny, if a little overstuffed, Amazon comedyIn the doldrums of January, with Hollywood gracelessly dumping its shoddiest films, one would have understandable scepticism over Amazon’s glossy wedding confection You’re Cordially Invited. Recent attempts to replicate the big studio comedy for a streaming audience have almost all failed, from the intolerable Vacation Friends movies to Amazon’s heinous Space Cadet to joyless big-star Netflix vehicles like the recent Diaz/Foxx mess Back in Action. Even its stars have tried – Reese Witherspoon with charmless rom-com Your Place or Mine and Will Ferrell with grating Christmas musical Spirited – so expectations weren’t just low, they were deep underground.It also didn’t help that Amazon refused to provide screeners to press, a clear sign that something was up. But even with the many low bars this would all put in place, there’s a surprising amount of low-rent fun to be had here, a ...

Politics

7 hours ago David Beckham, 49, sets temperatures soaring as he strips down to his underwear and flaunts his sculpted physique for his most risqué shoot EVER as part of new BOSS campaign

The 49-year-old football star has proved he's still got it as he left little to the imagination in the jaw-dropping selection of new snaps.

Events

8 hours ago Biggest US trading allies brace for a ‘game of chicken’ with Trump’s tariffs

Canada and Mexico draw plans to mitigate effect of duties Trump has threatened, possibly sparking a trade warTrump’s tariffs explainedAmerica’s biggest trading partners are bracing for Donald Trump to impose sweeping tariffs on their exports after the US president repeated his threat to hit Canada and Mexico with new duties.Officials in Ottawa and Mexico City have drawn up plans to retaliate against Washington with tariffs of their own, raising the prospect of a damaging trade war. Businesses inside the US and across the world have warned of widespread disruption if the Trump administration pushes ahead. Continue reading...

Politics

7 hours ago Mechanical failure or human error? What might've caused the D.C. plane crash that killed 67 people

‘Even the most skilled pilots are going to make human errors, because they’re human,’ former Navy fighter pilot Matt Cox told The Independent

Events

8 hours ago The Apprentice is back, and Lord Sugar looks like he’d rather be anywhere else

Lord Sugar is looking for yet another business partner, but these new candidates just aren’t rubbish enough to be properly entertaining

Politics

7 hours ago Peter Wright still feels 21 as Snakebite warns everyone else is 'in trouble' while he dodges the mirror

The Scot is 55 in a couple of months but admits he's doing new things and is enjoying his darts again

Events

9 hours ago What are the latest allegations to emerge in the BBC’s review into Russell Brand?

The BBC has apologised to staff who believed the actor would ‘always get his way and therefore they stayed silent’

Politics

7 hours ago There's no plot, but this British drama pulsates with warmth and humanity: BRIAN VINER reviews Hard Truths

Mike Leigh's mighty reputation as a filmmaker was built by gritty contemporary realism.

Events

12 hours ago ‘I’ve used this LED face mask for four months and it’s the best thing to happen to my skin’

The dual mask works to treat the face and neck but it doesn’t come cheap

Politics

10 hours ago FBI pick Kash Patel refuses to answer if he would target Trump opponents at hearing

Key Trump ally strives to extricate himself from statements he had made earlier, claiming ‘mischaracterization’Kash Patel sought to allay concerns about his fitness to serve as the FBI director at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, but declined to engage with questioning that explicitly asked whether he would use his position to investigate some of Donald Trump’s top political opponents.The hearing revolved around Patel’s provocative public remarks attacking the FBI and his ability to resist political pressure from the White House, a topic that has come to the fore with the justice department rocked by the ouster of prosecutors who worked on cases against Trump. Continue reading...

Events

14 hours ago BBC apologises as Russell Brand review finds people 'felt unable to raise' complaints

The review, which cost £662,060, found that a number of people at the BBC 'felt unable to raise' concerns about the presenter, and believed he 'would always get his way'.

Politics

12 hours ago Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector review – we’re putting together a crew

Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox, PC (version played); Jump Over The Age/Fellow TravellerGareth Damian Martin’s dice-driven role-playing game takes you on a space road trip with the flotsam and jetsam of humanityIt’s good to be back in this far-flung future world. Like the game that preceded it, Citizen Sleeper 2 is packed with evocative portrayals of everyday life in outer space, from farmers tending zero-G crops in an asteroid greenhouse to water miners rising up against the cartel that controls them, everyone eking out a meagre existence in crumbling space stations left to rot by a long-dead mega corporation.Once again you’re cast as a Sleeper, a robot with a digitised human mind shorn of the memories of the person it was copied from. In the first game you were on the run from the firm that made you, attempting to wean your robot off its reliance on a stabilising drug. In the sequel you play a different Sleeper who has successfully managed to ditch Stabilizer, but at the cost...

Events

14 hours ago Nightmare neighbour ripped down shared hedge to make her flowerbed two feet bigger

Teresia Van Zyl and husband Stiaan were sued by neighbour Peter Walker-Smith after they cut down a hedge dividing the property's two gardens and now their High Court appeal has been rejected

Politics

13 hours ago M23 rebels push south from Goma as DRC leader calls for military recruits

Rebels ‘here in Goma to stay’ and Rwandan official says advance will continue amid fears of regional warThe Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group has pushed south from Goma, the border city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo that it captured this week, and declared its intention to remain in the city, as fears grow of a major regional war.“We are here in Goma to stay,” Corneille Nangaa, the head of the Congo River Alliance, a coalition of militias that includes M23, said at a press conference in Goma. “We are going to continue the march until Kinshasa,” he added, referring to Congo’s capital 1,000 miles away. Continue reading...

Events

14 hours ago Molekule Air Pro Review: can this futuristic air purifier really destroy air pollutants?

We put the innovative device which promises to eliminate smoke, mould, bacteria and other pollutants to the test

Politics

15 hours ago Opus review – John Malkovich plays an evil pop star in a silly horror dud

Sundance film festival: The cult of celebrity is targeted in a progressively nonsensical and poorly made debut with too much on its plateAnyone who has written about a much-loved music star with even the vaguest hint of light criticism will be aware of the horrors that can often follow. The tribal intensity of extremely online and extremely sensitive fandoms can lead to either a mild torrent of more tolerable abuse or something far darker, like death threats and sometimes doxing, an unending rage erupting from people who use emojis as avatars. There’s a great thriller to be made about this unpleasant tension, the fans who will do anything for their idol and the idol who will do nothing to stop them, but Opus, a poppy new A24 misfire premiering at Sundance, is not that movie.It’s the first film from writer-director Mark Anthony Green, who, like many before him, is so fixated on what he wants to say that he hasn’t been able to figure out how to say it. There’s maybe a slicker, simpler...

Events

14 hours ago Shell still reviewing moving listing away from London amid profit miss

Shell still reviewing moving listing away from London amid profit miss  Euronews

Politics

15 hours ago Inside Trump's crypto court: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel and their battle for Bitcoin domination

Donald Trump will be the first president to fully embrace digital currencies — and he’s already anointed his crypto princes

Events

15 hours ago Timeline of events around Russell Brand allegations and the BBC review

The BBC said it has apologised to staff who felt ‘unable to raise’ complaints about Brand.

Politics

16 hours ago Israel delays freeing of Palestinian prisoners after chaotic scenes during Gaza hostage release – live

Israel is due to free 110 Palestinian prisoners later todayAway from Gaza and Israel, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani arrived on Thursday in Damascus, Syria, Al Jazeera reported, the first visit by a foreign head of state since Bashar al-Assad’s fall.The Israeli military said on Thursday that freed Israeli female soldier Agam Berger had been handed over to the army by the Red Cross after her release in Gaza by Hamas. Continue reading...

Events

16 hours ago Shell still reviewing moving listing away from London but not a live discussion

Oil company Shell says is still mulling moving its stock market listing from London to New York but that it wasn't a “live discussion” at the moment

Politics

17 hours ago 'Dangerous' Tory Rwanda safety law to be torn up as nation edges closer to war

Labour will repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act, which Rishi Sunak staked his reputation on, as part of its new plans to tackle illegal migration and small boat crossings

Events

16 hours ago Shell Still Reviewing Moving Listing Away From London but Not a Live Discussion

Shell Still Reviewing Moving Listing Away From London but Not a Live Discussion  U.S. News & World Report

Politics

17 hours ago Celtic and Rangers fans call remarkable truce in Hotline war as rivals unite in Battle of Britain fight

Keith Jackson manned the phone after an epic Battle of Britain in the Midlands

Events

16 hours ago ‘Like dropping a bomb’: why is clean energy leader Uruguay ramping up the search for oil?

The South American country has begun exploration in its Atlantic waters, with experts warning it is endangering livelihoods, marine life and climate goalsWhen he hears the news, the only words that fisher Francisco Méndez can use are those of war. “What they are planning to do is like dropping a bomb – and when you drop the bomb, everything dies,” says the 41-year-old father of five.For 22 years, Méndez has sailed into the Atlantic Ocean, fishing for brotula and striped weakfish alongside his father, brothers and uncles. He is also joined, occasionally, by dolphins and whales, curious about his white and orange vessel. But now Méndez fears his family’s way of life and livelihood are under threat. Continue reading...

Politics

17 hours ago Inside No 9 Stage/Fright has enough old school laughs and chills to satiate even the diehard fans

TV mavericks Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have oodles of fun playing with all the possibilities of this new medium

Events