37 minutes ago BBC EastEnders' Lacey Turner to exit show as she plans major next chapter in her life

EastEnders icon Lacey Turner, who has played Stacey Slater on the BBC soap since 2004, is expecting her third child with husband Matt Kay.

Politics

46 minutes ago Sean Ono Lennon explains huge impact of his father’s death: ‘I didn’t know how to fill that void’

‘When you’ve lost a parent, things like that motivate you’

Events

52 minutes ago US Embassy locked down after suspicious package found outside and 'loud bang' heard

Emergency services have raced to the United States embassy in Nine Elms, London and put the building in lockdown following a ‘security alert’ - police and fire engines have been spotted outside

Politics

58 minutes ago Meet Ms Rachel, the YouTube goddess worshipped by toddlers and parents alike | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Her videos offer so much more than speech therapy and a brief respite from childcare: she is part of the fabric of our livesThere’s a woman in my house every day who my toddler loves almost as much as he loves me, and her name is Ms Rachel. If you don’t spend much time with preschool-aged children, Ms Rachel – some people mistakenly say Miss, but the Ms is important, I feel – is probably not a name that will ring a bell. To parents and grandparents and other caregivers, however, she has become the closest thing that we have to a cult figure. You see, Ms Rachel is an angel, a goddess who has bestowed upon us her supreme gifts for entertaining and educating children. I have seen her referred to as “the world’s babysitter”; people jokingly offer to Venmo her cash for all the “childcare” sh...

Politics

58 minutes ago Tracy Chevalier: ‘Woolf’s The Waves will be like medicine – I won’t like it, but it will do me good’

The novelist on the comfort of Dodie Smith, how Anne Tyler made her want to be a writer – and why she doesn’t reread booksMy earliest reading memoryMy parents read me most of the Dr Seuss books. My favourite was Ten Apples Up on Top, about a lion, a tiger and a dog counting apples. I can still conjure up the illustrations, including the last one where there’s an explosion of apples all over the page.My favourite book growing upThe Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was riveted by her descriptions of pioneer life and all the how-to information: how to build a log cabin, plough a field, make a ball out of a pig’s bladder. I suspect those books affected my approach to my own writing of historical fiction. Also I related to Laura’s bad-tempered rebelliousness compared with her p...

Science

68 minutes ago New North Lanarkshire Council report reveals progress being made at local schools

The standards and quality report for 2023-2024 shows that eleven inspection reports on the council’s schools were published, with 82 per cent achieving positive reports, with the majority of parents also saying they were happy with their children’s schools.

Politics

74 minutes ago Family heartbreak as boy who starred on Britain’s Got Talent killed in crash outside school

Evan Rothwell had performed on the ITV show with a community group earlier this year

Events

96 minutes ago Police continue searching for child allegedly given away by mother in 2022 drug deal: Reports

Police continue searching for child allegedly given away by mother in 2022 drug deal: Reports  USA TODAY

Events

1 hour ago Northvolt files for bankruptcy protection in blow to Europe’s EV ambitions

Swedish maker of battery cells for electric vehicles says it has enough cash to support operations for only a weekBusiness live – latest updatesNorthvolt, the Swedish maker of battery cells for electric vehicles, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, dealing a blow to Europe’s hopes that its most developed battery player would reduce western carmakers’ reliance on Chinese rivals.Northvolt said it had enough cash to support operations for only about a week and it had secured $100m (£80m) in new financing for the bankruptcy process. It said operations would continue as normal during the bankruptcy. Continue reading...

Politics

1 hour ago Spellbound to Monkey Man: the seven best films to watch on TV this week

Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem have enormous fun as parents turned into cute monsters in a stunning animation, while Dev Patel’s directorial debut is an ultraviolent avenger epicA very solid first release for former Pixar head honcho John Lasseter’s new animation outfit Skydance, this new CGI fairytale saddles teenage princess Ellian (voiced by Rachel Zegler) with reversing the curse that turned her royal parents into cute monsters (read: giant house pets, voiced by Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman, both having enormous fun). The animation is stunning, with Maurice Sendak-style critter designs and intricate detail aplenty. And the songs – such as the samba extravaganza about adventurous eating – are actually memorable. Rooted in a quest narrative that occasionally dips into a group ther...

Culture