26 m. ago Agony for Finn Russell after missed kick hands England win over Scotland

England 16-15 ScotlandRussell puts conversion wide after Van der Merwe tryAt long last England have shaken off their Calcutta Cup blues. Never in the previous 153 years of this fixture had Scotland managed five successive wins over the auld enemy and another tartan triumph really would have had them dancing in the streets of Galashiels in Bill McLaren’s memory. This was a desperately tight old battle, though, with a second gripping home victory in consecutive games only secured right at the death.In the end it all hinged on whether Finn Russell could land the angled conversion following Duhan van der Merwe’s 79th-minute try. Up went the ball, end over end, and for the first half of its flight it seemed Scotland might be celebrating once more. Agonisingly for the visitors, though, it then curved just wide of the left-hand upright to leave England, to their immense relief, still alive in the title race. Continue reading...

Politics

31 m. ago Kristen Bell unsure if husband Dax Shepard will join her at 2025 SAG Awards

Bell, who returns to host the Sunday ceremony, is also competing for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in ‘Nobody Wants This’

Events

40 m. ago The moment I knew: I thought I was too cool for love. My rock idol knew better | Trent Dalton

Trent Dalton had a crush on his sophisticated colleague Fiona. The lead singer of his favourite band helped him find the words to tell herFind more stories from The moment I knew series hereOn 10 January 2000 I started my first job in journalism at the Brisbane News. I was 20 years old, a starry-eyed rube from suburban Bracken Ridge who didn’t even know what a flat white was.On my first day my editor had the rest of the journos join us at a cafe to welcome me to the team. That’s when I met Fiona. Fi. She’d been out on assignment and arrived late; the only seat left was right next to me. She was so natural and warm in the way she chatted with me. What was just polite small talk felt to me like an enormous show of generosity; like a light shining on me. She also reminded me of my childhood screen crush Toni Pearen. I was instantly taken with her. Continue reading...

Politics

40 m. ago Fatboy Slim: ‘I was in the same class as Keir Starmer – he’s one up on me now’

The electronic producer and DJ Norman Cook talks about learning the violin with Keir Starmer, his love for his label maker and crossing swords with MobyGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailYou did violin lessons with Keir Starmer when you were a child. Who was better at violin?I can’t actually remember the violin lessons. But I was in the same class at school as Keir for five years, so I remember him well. He must have been better at the violin than me, because I did it for about one term. My parents could take no more noise, so I would say Keir was better. It is quite weird when one day you see someone on the telly and go, “Oh look, it is Keir Starmer from 4B.” I think he’s one up on me by becoming prime minister.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

Politics

47 m. ago Pope Francis now in a critical condition after respiratory crisis, Vatican says

The pontiff is in hospital for a complex lung infection and has been given high flows of oxygen and blood transfusionsThe Vatican has said Pope Francis is in a critical condition after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen.Francis has been hospitalised for a week with a complex lung infection. Continue reading...

Events

60 m. ago Angry Mikel Arteta blasts Arsenal players and makes title admission after West Ham defeat

Arteta hopes players ‘suffer’ after display that was ‘nowhere near’ level needed to win Premier League

Sport

93 m. ago FIA condemn ‘tribalist’ booing of Verstappen and Horner at launch

Red Bull duo jeered at season launch in London this weekFIA: ‘It was disappointing to hear the crowd’s reaction’Formula One’s rulers have condemned the “tribalist” booing of Max Verstappen and Christian Horner at the sport’s season launch in London.Both world champion Verstappen and his Red Bull team boss Horner were subjected to jeers by some of the 15,000 fans inside the O2 Arena earlier this week. The FIA was also targeted with boos, and on Saturday the sporting federation moved to stand up for the pair. Continue reading...

Politics

1 hour ago Chris Riddell on Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump: the angels of peace descend on Ukraine – cartoon

The US president, on a Russian leash, holds talks that exclude the invaded countryYou can buy a copy of this cartoon Continue reading...

Politics

1 hour ago Writer David Szalay: ‘We live in an era of short attention spans – we have to work with it the best we can’

The Hungarian-English author on addressing what it’s like to be a male body in the world, learning the tricks of literature from Frederick Forsyth, and the feeling of nearly winning the BookerDavid Szalay, 51, grew up in London and now lives in Vienna with his wife, having previously moved in 2009 to Hungary, his father’s birthplace. In 2016 he was shortlisted for the Booker prize with his fourth novel, All That Man Is, nine separate stories “self-assembled in the reader’s mind into a sort of collage-novel” (London Review of Books). His new novel, Flesh, follows the fluctuating fortunes of a young Hungarian ex-convict who makes his life in the UK after serving in Iraq.Tell us how Flesh came to be. I decided to abandon a book I’d started in 2017. It just wasn’t working, so it felt like a weight off my shoulders; nevertheless, I was under contract and had to come up with something. Literally nothing in Flesh is directly autobiographical, but it started with my underlying experience of...

Politics

1 hour ago Michelle Keegan reveals season two release date for huge BBC drama series after beloved fans were left in a frenzy over cliffhanger

The actress, 36, took her social Stories to share a picture of Stan Australia's announcement that the BBC series will hit their streaming platform in March 2025.

Events

1 hour ago Steve Witkoff: from property developer to global spotlight as Trump’s tough

His friendship with the president dates back to a late-night encounter in a deli. Now he is a loyal envoy brokering the Gaza ceasefire and peace talks on UkraineWith the first phase of the ceasefire nearing its end, an American property developer has emerged as a key figure in determining whether Gaza attains a more enduring peace or slips back into war.Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s typically idiosyncratic pick as special Middle East envoy, has also found his way into the midst of talks with Russia over Ukraine’s future, sitting opposite Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, instead of the official special envoy for the region, Keith Kellogg. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Texas measles outbreak grows to 90 cases, worst level in 30 years

Epicenter of latest outbreak had one of state’s highest immunization exemption rates for 2023-24 school yearThe measles outbreak in Texas has grown to at least 90 cases, reaching historic levels, according to officials.Since late January, 90 cases of measles have been identified in the South Plains region, the state’s department of state health services (DSHS) reported Friday. At least 16 patients have been hospitalized as a result. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Inglis inspires Australia to record win over England despite Duckett hundred

Group B: Australia 356-5 bt England 351-8 by five wicketsHighest successful run chase in ICC tournament historyThey say good things come to those who wait and after nearly three decades without a global tournament in their city, the people of Lahore saw their patience rewarded. A good number are too young to remember the 1996 World Cup but they will not forget Australia’s five-wicket win over England in a hurry.Set 352 to win this Group B encounter after Ben Duckett’s sublime 165 from 143 balls – the highest individual score at a Champions Trophy – Australia wobbled initially. Travis Head and Steve Smith were wiped out for single-figure scores during a fiery new ball burst from Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago ‘Revenge porn’ abusers allowed to keep devices with explicit images

Prosecutors in England and Wales are failing to obtain orders requiring the deletion of intimate content shared without consent, analysis revealsPerpetrators of “revenge porn” offences are being allowed to keep explicit images of their victims on their devices, after a failure by prosecutors to obtain orders requiring their deletion.An Observer analysis of court records in intimate image abuse cases has found that orders for the offenders to give up their devices and delete photos and videos are rarely being made. Of 98 cases concluded in the magistrates courts in England and Wales in the past six months, just three resulted in a deprivation order. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago Johnson’s early double sets Tottenham on way to emphatic win at Ipswich

Some afternoons come like a kick in the teeth. Not only did Ipswich suffer a fourth successive home defeat in a game that never felt as one-sided as the scoreline ultimately suggested but fourth-bottom Wolves inflicted on Bournemouth only their second defeat in 16. After weeks of bubbling along in touch, the gap to safety is now five points and survival is becoming an ever more distant prospect.There was no sense in which this was an undeserved win for Spurs, some sort of smash and grab to offend notions of dignity and propriety, but equally it wasn’t entirely convincing. Not for the first time this season, there was a sense that if only Ipswich had been able to seize their opportunity, it might have been very different. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen delivers major blow to Arsenal’s title hopes

So it turns out Arsenal should have signed a striker. Fourteen months after they last put a major dent in Arsenal’s title aspirations, a goal from Jarrod Bowen secured West Ham’s second successive Premier League away win over their north London rivals as Mikel Arteta’s side saw their hopes of maintaining the pressure on leaders Liverpool evaporate.To compound Arteta’s misery, substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly was shown a straight red card in the second half as Arsenal – who had toiled with Mikel Merino again filling in as a makeshift attacker – struggled to find an equaliser against a defence that would have done Graham Potter’s predecessor, David Moyes, proud. Yet while this was a welcome triumph for Potter, it also laid bare the deficiencies in Arsenal’s squad caused by so many injuries to forward players that has made their task of overhauling Arne Slot’s side almost impossible. A first defeat in 15 games – a run that had stretched back to the start of November – almost leaves them n...

Politics

2 h. ago The week in audio: Facing the Music; Tara and George: Last Rights; Why Is Amy in the Bath? and more – review

The lives of Beethoven, Haydn and co enthral; Audrey Gillan updates her award-winning rough sleepers series. Plus, a choir of cicadas and bathtime fun with Amy Adams Facing the Music Radio 3/BBC SoundsTara and George: Last Rights Radio 4/BBC Sounds)Why Is Amy in the Bath? Grab Bag Collab & Because It’s True ProductionsBetween the Ears: A Symphony of Cicadas Radio 3/BBC Sounds“It’s almost midnight,” purrs Dominic West, all honey and velvet, straight after we hear the famously doomy, four-note opening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The wild-eyed composer is in a cart, West tells us energetically, his latest piano sonata getting ruined by the rain, after throwing some coins at the driver and growling his preferred destination. West relishes every syllable of it: “Vi-ennnn-a!” Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Waltz this way: rival venues in Vienna compete to celebrate Johann Strauss’s 200th birthday

As the Austrian capital honours the legacy of its dance king, the race is on to attract the most puntersThe music of Johann Strauss streams through Vienna like the stately Danube. Even the syllables of the composer’s name beat out the rhythm of a waltz, as all Austrian dance teachers know. In their lessons, the words “Jo-hann Strauss” are often swapped in to replace the conventional “one, two, three” step count.Viennese children learn to waltz just like they learn to ride a bike, so the muscle-memory never leaves them. Just as well, because the city is still famous as the home of a 19th-century dance craze that shaped its international image. In this 200th anniversary year of the birth of the “waltz king”, there are rival bids jostling to become the focus of the swirling celebrations. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. 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

2 h. ago A new branch of photography? Found images of women in trees – in pictures

For 25 years, Hamburg-based collector Jochen Raiß scoured flea markets for historical amateur photographs. After finding a photo of a woman smiling in a tree, he started to notice this was a recurrent theme, especially popular between the 1920s and 1950s. Over the years he accumulated 91 such photos, now collected into a book, Women in Trees. “A number of the photographers have created images that possess a remarkable depth and beauty,” he wrote in the book’s introduction. “The women exert a great effort to hold on to these trees without losing their balance. Their Sunday dresses and fashionable shoes stand in stark contrast to the nature around them.”Women in Trees by Jochen Raiß and Johanna Adorjan is out now (Hatje Cantz, £18) Continue reading...

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