2 h. ago Think you don’t like asters in the garden? It might be time to change your mind

The easy-going, unfussy aster can still flower long into autumn, puffing up the garden with cloud-like blooms of lilac, white or wizard purpleOne of the things that makes gardening so perpetually, addictively interesting to me is how it challenges beliefs I’d previously held about myself – often on an annual basis. Some beliefs are big, others are smaller, such as my dislike of asters.Ask me in the middle of spring, when everything is new and fresh, and the tulip petals look as if they’ve been streaked with a fan-shaped brush, and I will confidently say I’m not an aster fan. Too fussy, too much lilac, too bushy. But scoot forward six months, and I regret I hadn’t planted a few in the gaps that appear at this time of year. Continue reading...

Politics

32 h. ago The art of persuasion: how top AI chatbots can change your mind

Research shows large language models have developed the ability to powerfully influence users

Politics

3 d. ago EastEnders fans gutted as character's return scrapped days after announcement

EastEnders' latest episode saw a planned and confirmed return for one character face a U-turn, as they changed their mind just days after spoilers revealed they'd be back

Politics

7 d. ago I changed my mind on banning the bomb, but the threat of nuclear war is growing – and so is complacency | Polly Toynbee

Though the weapons I campaigned against remain terrifying, I doubt we can disarm unilaterally. That should be the stuff of vital debate: right now, it isn’t This week marks 80 years since the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as the few remaining witnesses tell of incinerated, melted and obliterated families. Soon there will be none left to remember. Survivors’ graphic accounts of “the noiseless flash” were captured by John Hersey in his book Hiroshima, read by my generation with shock and fear. Nevil Shute’s On the Beach taught us every gut-wrenching detail of the radiation sickness I fully expected to die of. Civil defence leaflets told families how to hide under the stairs with a radio and torch.I grew up expecting early death by nuclear war. My father was a 1957 founder of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament who didn’t expect us to survive inevitable nuclear holocaust. He carried a large bottle of suicide pills, enough to kill us all when the bomb fell, to save us from slowly ...

Events

9 d. ago One year on: First Minister Eluned Morgan on the role she didn't want and her one big election gamble

In a wide-ranging interview with WalesOnline to mark one year since becoming First Minister, Ms Morgan spoke of the threats facing her party at next year's huge Senedd election, her Westminster counterparts and changing her mind about Wales' top political job.

Politics

1 week ago EastEnders' Lorraine Stanley used weight loss jabs to lose 6.5st but changed her mind

Lorraine Stanley, who played Karen Taylor in EastEnders, has opened up about her 6.5st weight loss

Politics

3 w. ago Manchester United are the biggest winners in Marcus Rashford deal after Barcelona changed their mind

Marcus Rashford leaving Man United before August is a positive result for a club with four wingers to jettison over the next six weeks.

Economics

3 w. ago Why you should make sure you've got a right to change your mind

Cooling off periods are great if you get buyer’s remorse, says Martyn James, but beware of some caveats

Politics

4 w. ago 'Brave' frontline interpreter was turned down for sanctuary in Britain until data blunder caused Government to change its mind

After being praised for his 'bravery under fire', Jamil was one of 1,800 Afghans sent a chilling alert from the British High Commission warning that his personal details could have been compromised.

Politics