55 m. ago We went to Center Parcs and paid a fortune for a naff break in tacky surroundings with a Wetherspoons feeling. Now we go to these parks instead... they're much more stylish and half the price

As I scroll through social media, while simultaneously keeping an eye on my 11-year-old and friend in a local park, a Mumsnet post catches my eye. 'Is Center Parcs a bit tacky?' it reads.

Politics

65 m. ago Straight Circle review – boisterous border guard satire from a director to watch

Venice film festivalOscar Hudson’s feature debut, starring twins Elliott and Luke Tittensor as ritual-performing representatives of fictional warring nations, is an absurdist nightmareBritish documentary and ad director Oscar Hudson makes his feature debut in the Venice critics week sidebar with this high-concept anti-war satire, a through-the-looking-glass absurdist nightmare about realising that the otherness of your enemy is an illusion. There are some bold and ambitious images here, and some interesting split-screen work. Maybe there’s an issue about the style and substance ratio and perhaps the running time is indulgent, but this is a strong piece of work.Twins Elliott and Luke Tittensor play two soldiers of equal rank in opposing armies, called Pte Warne and Pte Arthur. They represent two nations of fictional Ruritanian weirdness, formerly at war but who have evidently concluded a tensely unstable peace treaty. Warne has a resplendent white uniform and, like the rest of his co...

Politics

85 m. ago ‘Every company wants to produce the last barrel sold’: the plan to create a fossil fuel non

Tzeporah Berman’s campaign group believe Cop30 will help their initiative to phase out oil, coal and gas take shapeThe fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty initiative aims to sidestep slow-moving UN climate talks by gathering together nations, cities and companies that want to rapidly phase out oil, coal and gas. At the coming Cop30 summit in Belém, it hopes to gather support so it can launch negotiations for a new treaty next year. The group’s founder, Tzeporah Berman, explains why the Amazon rainforest and the global south are an ideal springboard for the movement.Why will you be campaigning for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty? Continue reading...

Politics

94 m. ago Voices: As the new Green Party leader, I want us to be populists

More voters than ever support our ‘eco’ ideals, says the party’s newly-announced leader Zack Polanski – and I know how to take our message beyond the grassroots to the masses

Politics

96 m. ago Furious business owner cracks down on sneaky shoplifters after releasing CCTV of rubber ducks, bath bombs and chocolate being swiped

A fuming business owner is cracking down on thieves who repeatedly raid his gift shop - to steal rubber ducks.

Economics

2 h. ago Girl, 16, shot dead at sleepover while brushing friend's hair in horror drive

Traelynn Sibley, 16, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting at a Kansas City home on August 9, in what prosecutors say was a case of fatal mistaken identity that has left a community in shock

Events

2 h. ago Late Queen Elizabeth II was 'lukewarm' on idea princesses could one day take the throne

According to a new book, the beloved monarch and her aides at Buckingham Palace were seemingly less than keen on a change in the law, which would allow girls to ascend to the throne.

Politics

2 h. ago John Cleese launches blistering attack on 'clueless' BBC bosses who have 'no idea what they're doing' as he blames woke censorship for killing British comedy

Cleese, who starred as the hapless and perpetually irritated hotel owner Basil Fawlty, has insisted fans will never again see work from him on the BBC.

Events

3 h. ago Louise Thompson's 'soft and scrumptious' cashmere jumper is ideal for autumn layering

Louise Thompson has found the perfect 'soft and scrumptious' jumper for transitioning from summer to autumn, and it's ideal for layering over outfits

Economics

3 h. ago Little Problems – a cute detective game with no violence or victims

Shanghai-based developer Posh Cat Studio focused on the satisfying thrill of solving life’s small mysteries in this cosy crime caperAs the latest generation of 18-year-olds is about to find out, starting university is an experience fraught with minor as well as major problems. Oversleeping and missing lectures, forgetting where your study group is meeting, mislaying your books – a lot of your time is spent looking for things.It is these small mysteries that concern Little Problems, a cute detective game, in which the protagonist, Mary, must use her sleuthing abilities to make it through each day as a new student . Created by Indonesian designer Melisa, who has chosen to go by her first name only, the idea comes from her love of detective stories, but also her wish to take violence out of the genre. Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago Why opening your window during a shower is the wrong thing to do

While it might seem like a good idea to open a window after a shower, this can actually interfere with the circulation created by extractor fans and introduce cold air that accelerates condensation

Politics

4 h. ago 'Heartbroken' Yellowstone star pays powerful tribute to Graham Greene after death aged 73

A Yellowstone favourite has paid tribute to beloved friend and co-star Graham Greene

Events

4 h. ago The Two Roberts by Damian Barr review – lost story of a gay art duo

The lives of Scottish artists Bobby MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun, who found love and fame and lost it all, are vividly reimaginedWhat if the protagonist of a novel was not a single person but a couple? Damian Barr takes on this challenge, and he’s found a historic couple who make the ideal source material. Working-class Scottish artists Bobby MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun were rarely apart after they met in 1933. They lived and worked together, became famous together and then declined into desperate squalor together – even poorer than when they began.Barr knows what it’s like to conquer Glasgow from a small, working-class town on its outskirts; he knows what it’s like to find yourself feted for your portraits of the place you’ve left irrevocably behind. His memoir, Maggie and Me, was a hard-hitting yet rambunctious tale of growing up gay near Motherwell under Thatcher, uneasily aware that the woman who pushed his parents deeper into poverty also taught him that the ruthless ex...

Politics

4 h. ago A Short History of Stupidity by Stuart Jeffries review – comfortably dumb?

From Shakespeare’s fools to Donald Trump, this exhilarating read considers stupidity in its many formsStupidity, no question, can be just as rich and subtle as its opposite. Three and a half decades on, I still sometimes meditate on what a school friend of mine said in a here’s-a-profound-thought tone of voice: “I’d rather be stupid than happy”.In this clever book, Stuart Jeffries starts out at a double disadvantage, though. First: he has an excellently snappy title but it’s open to question whether stupidity can be said to have a history in any meaningful sense. The quality of stupidity is just, sort of, there; and there’s lots of it. Could you write a history of happiness, or bad luck, or knees? You’d be on firmer ground, as he recognises, historicising the concept of stupidity: a short history, in other words, of “stupidity” – how successive societies and thinkers have defined and responded to reason’s derr-brained secret sharer. As an intellectual historian w...

Politics

7 h. ago Would you wear this to a wedding? Influencer turns heads in VERY racy cleavage

A former Married At First Sight star set pulses racing after she threatened to upstage the bride at her friend's wedding this week.

Politics

8 h. ago Girl 'brushing friend's hair at sleepover' when killer shoots through door

Traelynn Sibley was shot dead during a sleepover in Kansas City, Missouri, just days before she was due to start her junior year of high school. The suspect has been charged with second-degree murder

Events

14 h. ago Dog owners encouraged to go swimming with their pups at these UK locations

There’s no chance of ruff waters at these UK pools and beaches – where taking your furry friend for a dip is encouraged. Just make sure you follow our safety tips

Politics

17 h. ago Gwyneth Paltrow doesn’t think people will 'understand' her until she's 'dead'

The Hollywood star and wellness guru has “no idea” why people have drawn certain conclusions about her and she finds some aspects of her public image hurtful

Events

17 h. ago US Open star reveals incredible freebies that every player gets in gift bags that should cost $1,400

The all-United Kingdom team of Neal Skupski and men's doubles partner Joe Salisbury are into the Round of 16 as the No 6 seeds and have their next match on Tuesday against ranked opposition.

Economics

19 h. ago Best friend gifts: Fabulous ideas to spoil your inner circle

Good friends deserve great gifts. Here’s our edit of the best to give

Politics