38 minutes ago Southampton are doomed but it’s clear why Russell Martin will not change | Jonathan Wilson

Few managers are idealists but the truth for the man in charge at St Mary’s is that his players aren’t good enough to stay upThere has, at least, been a win to break the pattern. But Southampton’s victory over Everton was followed immediately by defeat by Wolves and so they spent the international break bottom of the table. They have taken four points from 11 games. In only two games this season have Southampton had the better xG – on the opening day, when they lost 1-0 at 10-man Newcastle, and in the 1-1 draw at Ipswich. They are, barring something miraculous, doomed.The routine has become familiar. Southampton play their goal-kicks short. They pass the ball neatly. They have a lot of possession; 56.6% – only three teams in the Premier League are averaging more. They don’t take their c...

Politics

60 minutes ago Nottingham attack families back police watchdog's probe into top cop cover

The Chief Constable will face an Independent Office for Police Conduct probe after she allegedly tried to stop journalists revealing knifeman Valdo Calocane had been reported TWICE to cops for stalking

Events

94 minutes ago Terrifying moment masked thug brandishes zombie knives outside Nottingham school

Members of the public can be seen confronting the machete-wielder in the video, with one heard saying: "Think you're a f****** hard man with a knife? Get gone."

Events

97 minutes ago Mikel Arteta blasts Bukayo Saka injury doubts and makes 'simple' offer to Arsenal critics

Mikel Arteta has lashed out at claims Bukayo Saka wasn't really injured when he withdrew from England duty only to return and score and assist in a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest

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98 minutes ago The moment I knew: a huge water balloon hurtled towards me – and he jumped in front of it

In her first year of university Chantelle Van Niekerk didn’t want a relationship. But then she met Rico, her intellectual and emotional equalFind more stories from The moment I knew series hereIt was January 2003 and I was about to start my studies at the University of Johannesburg – and had officially sworn off relationships. I’d had two serious relationships in high school, both with older boys, where I felt I needed to change who I was in order to be with them. I was done trying to please others and saw university as my fresh start to be truly me.The university had a start-of-the-year tradition – the campus residences would create and parade their floats for charity. My group was tasked with folding blommetjies vou (polystyrene-filled cellophane flowers) for our float, which was base...

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98 minutes ago Phillip Hughes: depth of loss even 10 years on speaks to the cricketer he was | Jonathan Horn

The young batter’s death stirred the public in ways we’d never before seen and remains a reminder that sport is ultimately a shared experienceThat day, that week, that helpless, hopeless fortnight comes at you 10 years later in a blur of images – the bowler cradling Phillip Hughes’ head, the teammate removing his pads, the orderly assembly of cricket bats on front porches, the detached explanation of the neurosurgeon, the mourners fanning themselves in the high school gymnasium.It was a basal subarachnoid haemorrhage – a sick fluke. We’re largely inured to such tragedies now but occasionally they get in your marrow. A child is struck by a car crashing into a playground. A family is blown to bits by a missile. A young girl is murdered and dumped in a tip. A cricketer is killed at the cre...

Politics

98 minutes ago ‘It’s a pretty obscure, strange thing to do’: five Guinness World Record holders on their moment of glory, and life thereafter

To be crowned the world’s best at something – from lowest roller skate limbo to longest under-ice free dive – is a huge achievement. What happens next?Some people train their whole lives to earn a Guinness World Record. For others, picking one up is a happy accident. After all, the more than 40,000 records currently maintained by Guinness run the gauntlet from fastest marathon (an impressive 1hr 59min) to the largest number of hotdogs eaten in one minute (six, including the bun).So what motivates someone to pursue a world record – and what happens to your life after you get one? To find out, we spoke to five record holders, past and present. Continue reading...

Politics

2 hours ago Bill Bailey says he gets offered silly TV shows as he 'turns down Celebrity Embalmer'

EXCLUSIVE: Comedian Bill Bailey said he gets daft TV offers and one production company even tried to convince him to handle dead bodies on camera to make good telly

Politics

2 hours ago Mikel Arteta makes 'very simple' offer to doubters after Bukayo Saka England injury accusation

Mikel Arteta jumped to the defence of his red-hot winger, saying if anyone claims Bukayo Saka was in fact not injured, the club can always show the proof he was

Events

2 hours ago A caring Thomas Cromwell makes good TV, but beware the ‘yes’ men who enable tyrants| Kate Maltby

Mark Rylance’s sensitive portrayal blinds us to the lessons Henry VIII’s righthand man could offer for Donald Trump 2.0 Thomas Cromwell is back, and this time he’s a romantic. In Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the latest BBC TV adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Tudor novels, we see Henry VIII’s chief facilitator turn 21st-century empath, offering a listening ear to half the young women of the Henrician court.Mark Rylance, former artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe, is an actor with an extraordinary capacity for vulnerability. Here he is at his best and most sympathetic. As Cromwell, we watch him safeguard the victimised adolescent Mary Tudor, coaching her to negotiate her way out of looming execution at the hands of her axe-happy father, Henry. (Cromwell made a promise to Mary’s ...

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