2 h. ago Spinal Tap II: The End Continues review – rockers return for mockusequel of pin

Enter the Tapocalypse as Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner return in a still-funny, cameo-studded telling of the hapless band’s final gigLegendary faux rockers Spinal Tap, with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as, respectively, lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel, lead singer David St Hubbins and bassist Derek Smalls, return in a cameo-studded rockusequel – or, rather, mockusequel – about the band’s contractually enforced and horribly ill-fated one-off reunion gig in New Orleans. It’s their first time playing together since a mysterious reported row between David and Nigel in 2009 brought the Tap bandwagon to a halt.And to paraphrase the Smiths: that joke is still funny it’s not too close to home and it’s not too near the bone but it is close, and you might have to work a little bit harder to remember how you felt the first time you saw the original. There’s lots of good stuff here, some witty reboots and reworkings of gags from the first fil...

Politics

3 h. ago Rachel Roddy’s recipe for fish baked with tomatoes, olives and capers | A kitchen in Rome

This juicy poached dish packs in hearty flavours and pairs well with buttery potatoes, rice or couscousAl cartoccio is the Italian form of en papillote, meaning “contained” or “in paper”, which is an effective cooking method that traps the moisture (and flavour) released from the ingredients and creates a steamy poaching chamber – it’s a bit like a Turkish bath for food! Once out of the oven, but still sealed, the scented steam trapped in the paper returns to liquid and creates a brothy sauce. Fish with firm white or pink flesh that breaks into fat flakes is particularly well suited to cooking al cartoccio, both whole fish (cleaned and on the bone) and individual filets (estimate 110g-140g per person).When choosing fish, keep in mind our collective default to cod and haddock, both members of the so-called “big five” that make up a staggering 80% of UK consumption. Instead, look out for other species, such as hake, huss or North Sea plaice, ASC-certified Scottish salmon, sea trout or...

Society

10 h. ago England lose shortened T20 ‘shambles’ against South Africa in rain

South Africa 97-5; England 54-5; South Africa win by 14 runs (DLS)Reduced to nine-over contest before being cut to five-over chaseIt was mildly absurd in one sense, a day of rain showers in Cardiff turning the first T20 international between England and South Africa into a shortened thrash that did not get underway until 8.50pm.But the hardy spectators who stuck around were at least rewarded for their patience with something resembling a match; a bit of fun, chiefly, albeit one that now sees the tourists go into ’s second outing at Old Trafford with a 1-0 lead in this three-match end-of-summer series. Continue reading...

Politics

15 h. ago Bit by bit, the magnitude of what they've done becomes clear

High above Albert Square, a painstaking operation is underway as Manchester Town Hall comes back into view

Politics

17 h. ago Scientists claiming 'alien ship' is headed to Earth only said so for a bit of 'fun'

Scientists asked the question of whether Interstellar Object 31/ATLAS was alien technology and the internet caught on fire with conspiracy theories and suggestions

Politics

18 h. ago Gary Anderson shows off incredible sportsmanship and busts his score against Callan Rydz

Darts star Gary Anderson showed off an incredible bit of sportsmanship during his clash with Callan Rydz at Players Championship 26 on Tuesday

Sport

20 h. ago Giles Coren apologises after referring to antisemitism in Britain as 'a bit of name

The Times columnist, who identifies as Jewish, claimed he ‘f***ed it’ in his latest article for the newspaper

Politics

20 h. ago Woman who bit off attacker’s tongue acquitted after 61 years

Choi Mal Ja, then 18, was sexually assaulted by a 21-year-old stranger in May 1964 in the southern town of Gimhae

Events

21 h. ago I'm an interiors editor and these are the 30 items under £30 that you must snap up to make your home the envy of all this autumn

Walls looking a bit drab? Shelves in need of a perk-up? You are in luck. With some thoughtful styling, you can transform your space. All for £30 or less.

Economics

24 h. ago Strictly Come Dancing's Shirley Ballas announces 'changes' ahead of 2025 launch show

The Strictly Come Dancing judge has revealed some things on the new series of the dance contest will be a bit different

Culture

27 h. ago ‘Everything in Brazil is a bit of a fusion’: Ixta Belfrage on heritage, food and her new cookbook

Brazilian-British chef Ixta Belfrage talks to Lauren Taylor about Amazonian river fish, feijoada and why her new cookbook, ‘Fusão’, celebrates the country’s rich culinary melting pot

Society

37 h. ago Woman bit police officer and said she was HIV positive after crash

Sian Hughes was handed a suspended sentence for the vicious assault

Events

41 h. ago Before Knives Out, there was Brick: Rian Johnson’s alluring, hard

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a teen detective in a world of high school drug rings and two-bit thugs, Johnson’s first film is a fine showcase of his now-trademark thrills, chills and twistsFind more from our Stream team series hereBefore Benoit Blanc, there was Brendan Frye.At first glance, the teenaged gumshoe at the heart of Brick doesn’t share much with the gentleman sleuth from Knives Out, Glass Onion and the upcoming Wake Up Dead Man. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) styles himself as a lost Agatha Christie character, while Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a jaded teen who spits Dashiell Hammett dialogue before starting fights he can’t win. Continue reading...

Politics

43 h. ago Multiple earthquakes strike off Oregon coast with the strongest reaching nearly 6 magnitude

Multiple earthquakes struck off the coast of Oregon, with the largest reaching nearly a 6.0 magnitude. There have been at least five additional tremors since the seismic activity began.

Events

46 h. ago ‘A little bit of joy’: can tiny rafts save endangered sparrows from rising seas?

In Rhode Island, a small team of researchers and volunteers is fighting, against the odds, to save saltmarsh sparrows from extinction as their chicks drown in ever higher tides• Photographs by Jason JaacksKnee-deep in water, the young man lifts his arms. His wrists are grabbed, next his ankles, then he feels himself flying through the air, nearly horizontal, before plunging into New England’s pungent tidal waters.Grinning and still dripping, he receives a homemade certificate documenting his induction into the Needle in a Haystack Society. Continue reading...

Politics

50 h. ago To Be Frank review – Fun Lovin’ Criminal drummer offers up life lessons from many irons in fire

Documentary portrait of musician’s varied career is engaging if a little too easy in its admiration for its subjectMusician Frank Benbini is most probably known best as the drummer from Fun Lovin’ Criminals and a latter incarnation of UB40, although as this documentary (which Benbini executive produced) reveals, he’s got a lot of different irons on the proverbial fire; these include a beat combo called Uncle Frank and a reggae group called Radio Riddler. There are other side projects as well, musical and music-adjacent – the occasional bit of barbering with an old friend from Leicester with whom he co-owns a salon, and DJing on BBC Radio Leicester.Clearly the man has a strong work ethic despite a hard partying image and songs about getting high. A few of his colleagues and employees dare to suggest that he can be a bit of hard taskmaster with a combustible temper. You can’t help wonder what sort of film might have emerged if this weren’t being directed by one of Benbini’s best frien...

Events

51 h. ago Georgina Hayden’s epic crab, chilli and lime sarnie – recipe

Keep summer going that little bit longer with this seaside speciality – made in the comfort of your own kitchenThis time of year has to be one of my favourites for British produce – all the joys of late summer sweetness with early autumn favourites just around the corner. I’m happy to keep the summer party going, though, with tomato salads, crisp sundowners and crab sarnies. Despite never having visited Cornwall as a kid, there isn’t much better than sitting by the beach and devouring a Cornish crab sandwich. This is the slightly elevated version I make once the holidays are over to keep some sunshine in my life. Continue reading...

Politics

57 h. ago Mum left scarred for life after pal bit off part of her lip during drunken row

Charlotte McCarter has shared shocking photos showing the extent of her injuries and has described the 'immense pain' she was in following the vicious attack.

Politics

68 h. ago Poetic License review – Apatow family affair ends up as warm and funny comedy

Toronto film festival: Judd Apatow’s actor daughter Maude directs her mother Leslie Mann in a smart, charming film about a woman adrift finding unlikely younger friendsOne could cynically look at the credits for the film Poetic License and dismiss it outright. It was directed by Maude Apatow, daughter of Judd, and stars, among others, Apatow’s mother, Leslie Mann, Cooper Hoffman (son of Philip Seymour Hoffman), and Nico Parker (daughter of Thandiwe Newton and film-maker Ol Parker). On paper it all looks like a make-work project to keep the well-connected busy and creatively fulfilled. But the film itself – Apatow’s debut – is rich and lively enough to make none of the nepo stuff really matter.Written by Raffi Donatich, Poetic License concerns a family who have moved from Chicago to a sleepy university town where economist James (Cliff “Method Man” Smith), has secured a plum professorship. He’s busy getting started, which leaves his wife Liz (Mann) a bit lonely and unmoored in her ne...

Society

68 h. ago Couple quoted £120,000 for their barn conversion make it into their dream home for £80,000 cheaper by doing it themselves

Georgia Goulden-Page, 30, and Josh Gill, 33, splashed out £715,000 last August to buy the sprawling farmyard property in Warwickshire, in the knowledge that it would need a bit of TLC.

Economics