79 minutes ago 'Splitting the G' is sickening, let's leave it in 2024 — this week's barometer

What’s hot... and what’s not — keep up with Joe Bromley’s weekly barometer

Politics

79 minutes ago I detest Mrs Brown’s Boys – but forced myself to sit through every minute of it

Is the BBC’s critically loathed sitcom really the worst show on TV? Louis Chilton spends a week with Brendan O’Carroll’s ‘Mammy’ and her unbearable boys to find out for himself

Politics

79 minutes ago Vet warns Christmas food that looks harmless poses serious risk for dogs

Pets at Home shared an urgent warning for dog owners about Christmas dinners ahead of the festive period

Events

1 hour ago Magdeburg Christmas Market attack: Organisers break silence after horror attack kills five

At least five people are dead and dozens more injured after a car ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany in what is being described as a deliberate attack

Events

2 hours ago PHOTO COLLECTION: The iconic and unconventional sides of Christmas in New York

The challenge of photographing Christmastime in New York is that there is so much of it

Culture

2 hours ago ‘She should have a bit of me’: the Dutch mothers fighting for their children to carry their surname

Women are challenging the law that prevents them giving their kids both family names without father’s consentWhen 43-year-old Rebecca Lee took her birth mother’s Korean surname, it was a revelation. “I was adopted and got a Dutch name but I never felt completely Dutch,” she says. “When, a few years ago, I first went to Korea, things fell into place. You don’t just go ‘one, two, three’ and change your name, but now I feel more whole.”The entrepreneur from Groningen split from her husband and wants to give her five-year-old daughter “Lee” as part of a double-barrelled surname – but she cannot, under a Dutch law that some women, a leftwing MP and legal experts believe is unfair. Continue reading...

Politics

2 hours ago The Christmas that went wrong: The day was saved by the new friend I’d made on a drunken night out

I was alone in New York during the pandemic, in the aftermath of a breakup and unable to go home. A Korean family taught me to believe in the kindness of strangersLike many Jewish families, the Wolfsons take Christmas extremely seriously. Latkes and smoked salmon are served before homemade cranberry sauce and brussels sprouts. My dad’s hand-painted menorah, which he made during the ceramics cafe boom of the early 2000s, sits proudly underneath the Christmas tree.As such, I had never missed a Christmas with the family – although there had been some near misses. In 2019, we spent Christmas by my dad’s hospital bed after his stroke – us sipping on hospital canteen gingerbread lattes, him having Christmas dinner in the guise of vanilla-scented protein, fed through a tube. In 2020, I saw my family only from six feet away, double-masked and on the doorstep. I delivered presents, but they were not opened for a few days, to let any stray virus dissipate. Continue reading...

Politics

2 hours ago What is Ritchie Edhouse wearing on his arm? PDC darts star's sleeve explained

Ritchie Edhouse has had a breakthrough year which has propelled him into the seeds at Ally Pally this Christmas - but he adopts a unique look on stage

Politics

2 hours ago 'Genius' rocky road Christmas pudding is the perfect alternative dessert

Baker Jane Dunn rustled up a 'genius' chocolate alternative to the classic Christmas pudding - here's how to make it

Politics

2 hours ago Foreign Office warns Christmas Market travellers never wear one thing or risk fine

Travellers heading away for the festive season and being warned

Events