72 m. ago My boiler has broken and I’m finding solace in a slice (or several) of toast | Rachel Cooke

There are whole chapters in cookbooks dedicated to it and now an endless variety of new things to spread on top, including butters with a waiting listMy subject today is toast, which is much on my mind right now, a buttery ticker tape that calls me constantly to the kitchen. Our boiler has packed up, the new one won’t be installed for a week, and though it’s only the central heating that’s down (the cooker’s fine), the freezing cold has turned me into a toast monster. It’s all I want, a feeling I haven’t had since I was a student and living in a house that was so badly insulated, we sometimes had to break the ice on the water in the loo. How many loaves can a person get through in a week? Come back to me in a few days for an answer. I’ll give you a tour of my chilblains at the same time.What is amazing about toast is the way it has lately become so pimped. This started a few years ago: I first noticed it in Moro Easy by Sam and Sam Clark, a cookbook that came out in 2022 and whose o...

Politics

73 m. ago Inmates locked up in UK prison given dancing lessons and invited to 'film nights'

Female inmates at HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire have been offered line dancing lessons and can attend film nights featuring popcorn and fizzy pop as part of the prison's incentive scheme

Events

3 h. ago All episodes of 'dark and absorbing' gritty British crime drama now streaming on BBC

The critically acclaimed crime drama features a talented detective taking on some of London's most horrific murder cases

Events

3 h. ago The Real Housewives star husband detained by immigration amid bitter divorce battle

The Real Housewives's Porsha Williams' estranged husband has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the telly star has some choice words on the matter

Events

3 h. ago Reality star's husband detained by immigration amid bitter divorce battle

The Real Housewives's Porsha Williams' estranged husband has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the telly star has some choice words on the matter

Events

4 h. ago Jadon Sancho causes disagreement as Chelsea icon 'recognises' what's going on

Two former Chelsea stars have disagreed on the current form of Jadon Sancho, as the Manchester United loanee has managed just one goal in the last 10 Premier League games

Politics

4 h. ago Most explosive celeb spats of all time: From vicious band fights and catty name calling to Simon Cowell almost punching 90s icon in the face

Music mogul Simon Cowell, 65, has revealed during one heated exchange he almost punched his protégés and 90s boyband icon in the face.

Events

4 h. ago Claudia Winkleman breaks down in tears after 'extraordinary' moment on One Question

Claudia Winkleman was reduced to tears on Channel 4's One Question after a father and daughter duo managed to win £100,000

Politics

4 h. ago Heathrow security staff confiscated my 100ml gift bottles of rare whisky worth £70 each for a bizarre reason

EXCLUSIVE: American holidaymaker Susan (pictured) said she would never return to Britain after her treatment from Heathrow security staff.

Economics

4 h. ago Gasperini claims offence unintended in calling Lookman ‘one of worst penalty takers’

Atalanta manager says: ‘I didn’t want to offend anyone’Striker called manager’s comments ‘deeply disrespectful’Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini said he never intended to offend Ademola Lookman by saying the striker is “one of the worst penalty takers he has ever seen” after their home Champions League defeat by Club Brugge.Belgian side Club Brugge stunned Atalanta 3-1 in the second leg of their playoff tie to dump the Italian side out with a 5-2 aggregate win and reach the last 16. Lookman, Atalanta’s hero last season when they won the Europa League, pulled back one goal for the Italian side when they were 3-0 down. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Premier League issue statement on VAR as they announce number of errors made this season

The Premier League have issued a strong statement backing the use of VAR this season amid mounting criticism from players, managers and fans of the system and the standard of refereeing

Politics

5 h. ago What is Apple's data protection tool? The controversial encryption feature being axed

Advanced Data Protection (ADP) protects data stored in iCloud with end-to-end encryption, which means the data can only be seen by the user who owns it, and only on their trusted devices

Politics

5 h. ago Southampton vs Brighton & Hove Albion prediction, odds and betting offer

Brighton & Hove Albion are in-form and full of confidence as they face Southampton who managed to pick up a draw in the reverse fixture back when Russell Martin was manager

Politics

6 h. ago Marco Silva offers Ruben Amorim example as Fulham boss eyes more Man Utd misery

Marco Silva is now the fourth-longest serving manager in the Premier League and his work at Fulham serves as an example for compatriot Ruben Amorim at Manchester United

Politics

7 h. ago Workers feared trapped after tunnel collapses in southern Indian state

Dozens managed to escape as the tunnel in Telangana collapsed, but six to eight people are feared trapped

Politics

8 h. ago Manchester United give huge Everton team news hint as THREE players left out of squad

Man United boss Ruben Amorim has been dealing with a number of injuries of late, with the Portuguese manager giving a big hint that the Red Devils will be calling upon their youth today

Sport

9 h. ago Culture wars: Trump’s takeover of arts is straight from the dictator playbook

US president’s attempt to control or dismantle cultural institutions plays into a long history of authoritarians using arts to push their agendaIn 1937, leaders of Germany’s Third Reich hosted two simultaneous art exhibitions in Munich. One, titled the Great German Art Exhibition, featured art viewed by the regime as appropriate and aspirational for the ideal Aryan society – orderly and triumphant, with mostly blond people in heroic poses amid pastoral German landscapes. The other showcased what Adolf Hitler and his followers deemed “degenerate art” (“Entartete Kunst”). The works, chaotically displayed and saddled with commentary disparaging “the sick brains of those who wielded the brush or pencil”, were abstract, profane, modernist and produced by the proclaimed enemies of the Reich – Jewish people, communists or those suspected of being either.The Degenerate Art exhibition, which later toured the country, opened a day after Hitler declared “merciless war” on cultural disintegrati...

Politics

9 h. ago Uniqlo shoppers snap up multiple pairs of £4 trousers that are 'smart and warm'

"I have had several pairs of these - they are brilliant. Warm and cosy outside but you don’t over heat inside due to the heattech technology"

Economics

9 h. ago Top scientist's warning to anyone who heats up leftover food in microwave

A world-leading scientist has issued a stark warning to those microwaving their leftovers

Events

10 h. ago A raid and a secret tape exposed a Sicilian mafia that is shrunken, whiny and clinging on for survival | John Dickie

A historic number of arrests were made, but the days of targeted murder or massive political influence are long gonePalermo has not seen anything like it for years. Helicopters in the pre-dawn sky. Carabinieri barracks across Sicily emptied, with all 1,200 officers deployed. The Cacciatori – red-bereted shock cops – brought over from the wilds of Calabria. The Carabinieri’s own film units serving up a morning montage of flashing blue lights, balaclava-wearing officers with submachine guns, police dogs sniffing, cottage doors breaking, and burly, handcuffed men ushered into Alfa Romeos. And then, of course, in the press, the humiliating wiretaps of gangsters sharing their secrets. Cosa Nostra is back in the headlines, and back under the cosh.Italian law enforcement is good at this stuff. Not a single one of the 181 men and women targeted for arrest on 11 February managed to go on the lam before the crackdown. Based on the numbers alone, this raid was the biggest anti-mafia operation ...

Events