48 m. ago Taliban arrest Brit couple in their 70s for ‘teaching parenting skills to mothers’ in Afghanistan

Peter and Barbie Reynolds’ texts to their family stopped three days after they were detained on February 1

Events

77 m. ago ‘People are so polite’: the Ukrainian refugee bonding with the British over borscht and chips

First Ukrainian refugee to arrive in UK after Russia invasion says even the British dogs are better behaved, but that ‘the weather is sad’Sharing a bowl of homemade Ukrainian borscht with your neighbours is one way to make friends in a new country, according to the first refugee to arrive in the UK after Russia invaded her country three years ago.Ukrainian refugee Valentyna Klymova, 72, now settled in Erith in Kent, has done just that, lovingly preparing the traditional soup containing beetroot, other vegetables and meat stock, served with a dollop of sour cream and rye bread. She offers it to English people she knows and says it has had a positive reception. In turn, she has embraced quintessentially British fish and chips, although she has not yet tried to cook it at home. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago First look at apocalyptic underground school saving lost childhoods of Ukraine

The Mirror was the first British media to visit a remarkable subterranean sanctuary in Zaporizhzhia offering pupils a place to study away from the bombardment of war

Politics

2 h. ago ‘We are pissed’: opposition to Trump, slow to energize, now shakes off its slumber

The slash-and-burn approach of Trump and his ‘Doge’ head Elon Musk has reinvigorated resistance to the Republican administrationOn a bright winter’s day this week, a group of protesters fanned out along a palm tree-lined thoroughfare in the picturesque city of Palm Desert to demand that their Republican congressman stand up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn effort to reshape the American government. “You work for us, not Musk!” read one sign. “Remember your oath,” another warned, as a mobile billboard circled nearby, featuring the president and the billionaire tech mogul, with the message: “When he’s snooping through your bank accounts, you dump him.”The group, dozens strong, cheered wildly when the driver of a white Tesla turned the corner and laid on his horn. A smaller contingent of constituents had attempted to secure a meeting with the congressman, Ken Calvert, but found the door of his regional office locked and the blinds drawn. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago ‘Heinous actions’: opposition to Trump, slow to energize, shakes off its slumber

The slash-and-burn approach of Trump and his ‘Doge’ head Musk has reinvigorated resistance to the administrationOn a bright winter’s day this week, a group of protesters fanned out along a palm tree-lined thoroughfare in the picturesque city of Palm Desert to demand that their Republican congressman stand up to Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn effort to reshape the American government. “You work for us, not Musk!” read one sign. “Remember your oath,” another warned, as a mobile billboard circled nearby, featuring the president and the billionaire tech mogul, with the message: “When he’s snooping through your bank accounts, you dump him.”The group, dozens strong, cheered wildly when the driver of a white Tesla turned the corner and laid on his horn. A smaller contingent of constituents had attempted to secure a meeting with the congressman, Ken Calvert, but found the door of his regional office locked and the blinds drawn. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Humans may be able to 'summon UFOs and aliens using our minds' – and vice versa

'The Rendelsham UFO – The British Roswell' delves into the 1980 Rendelsham incident, and examines a theory that people can summon UFOs and aliens using just the mind

Politics

3 h. ago Prue Leith admits she's 'keen' to leave Great British Bake Off for 'worrying' reason

The cooking icon, 85, has been a judge on the Channel 4 show since 2017 when she took over from Mary Berry

Politics

3 h. ago Mikaela Shiffrin earns 100th World Cup win of her career with slalom success

American puts injuries behind her to win in SestriereShiffrin is first skier ever to reach 100 World Cup winsMikaela Shiffrin secured the 100th Alpine skiing World Cup victory of her career on Sunday, winning the slalom event in Sestriere.The American finished 0.61 seconds ahead of Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic to extend her record tally of wins at the event and become the first skier, male or female, to reach triple digits in World Cup race victories. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago British granny, 74, brought to tears by surprise twist in bitter visa row after epic battle to remain in Australia

A grandmother fighting deportation to the UK after 43 years of living in Australia has broken down in tears after the government made a surprise decision.

Events

4 h. ago It’s the Kemi delusion: the more the Tories run towards Reform, the more their voters will run to the Lib Dems | John Harris

The genius of UK Conservatism used to be how it responded to chaos using the balm of tradition. Secondhand Trumpism will only alienate its voters furtherWhat times these are. As Donald Trump’s sellout of Ukraine gains pace, there are reports that Keir Starmer will flatter the president by inviting him to address parliament. Meanwhile, Trump’s British admirers continue to offer flimsy excuses and undimmed admiration. Before Trump paid tribute to Nigel Farage – a “great guy” – in his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gathering in Washington, the MP for Clacton used his time at the same event to “hail” Trump’s “progress” with Vladimir Putin, and salute him as “simply the bravest man that I know”. By way of bathos, the dependably ridiculous Liz Truss had by then told a much smaller crowd that the country she ran for a month and a half is “failing”, and needs its own Trumpian insurgency.At the top of the party Truss so briefly led, Kemi Badenoch cannot resolv...

Politics

5 h. ago Elderly British couple in their 70s arrested by the Taliban for 'teaching good parenting skills to mothers'

Peter, 79, and Barbie Reynolds, 75, were arrested on February 1 after they returned to their home in the Bamiyan province in Afghanistan.

Events

6 h. ago Antiques Roadshow guest floored by 'absolutely stunning' value of item they've worn every single day for 50 years

Expert Peter Planes was presented with a Rolex X Tiffany watch to evaluate on the American PBS show.

Culture

7 h. ago Trump’s bullshit blitz has Europe on its knees | Stewart Lee

For the US president’s cheerleaders, the whitewashing of the deaths of ten of thousands of Ukrainians is a small price to pay for sticking it to the wokeratiWas it really only a month ago that the pole-dancer patron, fridge explorer, Brexit get-doer, model bus maker, sofa-strainer, wall-spaffer, current Daily Mail columnist and former British prime minister Boris Johnson eulogised the inauguration of Donald Trump in the Mail, recounting how, as the “invisible pulse of power surged” from the battered bible into the hand of Trump: “I saw the moment the world’s wokerati had worked so hard to prevent.”I hope Johnson is pleased with the way things have worked out. Because now the foolish wokerati have been schooled beyond Johnson’s wettest dreams. It’s the Trump-Putin-bin Salman party! An adjudicated sex offender and convicted fraudster, and a man who sanctioned a chemical warfare hit, killing a British citizen on British soil, have met at the luxury Saudia Arabian hotel of another man, ...

Events

7 h. ago Meghan Markle shows true colours as she makes 'understandable mistake' with new brand

Meghan Markle has faced a backlash after launching her lifestyle brand As Ever after ditching the American Riviera Orchard name - and one expert says the video when she announced the change was very telling

Politics

7 h. ago Meghan Markle's new As Ever products 'won't be ready' until a few months after Netflix show launch

The Duchess of Sussex , 43, last week rebranded American Riviera Orchard to the name 'As Ever', launching a website with a cover photo of her holding hands with her daughter Princess Lilibet.

Politics

9 h. ago Can a brown Hindu be English? English people say yes. Why do so many on the right say no? | Kenan Malik

An argument about Rishi Sunak’s identity reveals how ideas of ethnicity and race have become conflated‘They think they’re English because they’re born here. That means if a dog’s born in a stable it’s a horse.” That was a staple of the comedian Bernard Manning’s routine back in the 1970s. Enoch Powell had, a decade earlier, expressed the same sentiment in more refined language: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact he is a West Indian or an Asian still.”Few today would laugh along with Manning or take seriously the claim that only white people can be English. Britain has transformed over the past half-century and most English people now embrace Ian Wright and Idris Elba as being as English as David Beckham or Joanna Lumley. Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago 'I visited old diner in Benidorm and couldn't believe price on the bill'

Harry Tokky was on the hunt for some good food during his trip to Spain, and ended up visiting the oldest American restaurant in Benidorm. He was left very impressed

Economics

9 h. ago Britain's Got Talent's Will Burns says he can 'die happy' after wowing Simon Cowell

The comedian received the first golden buzzer of the series from Ant and Dec after his impressionist comedy routine wowed the judges including Simon Cowell

Events

9 h. ago What can Keir Starmer say at the White House that Donald Trump might listen to? | Andrew Rawnsley

The stakes couldn’t be higher and the risks couldn’t be greater when the prime minister visits Washington this weekFor British prime ministers, with their ideas about the world shaped by the histories of Churchill and Roosevelt, Maggie and Ronnie, and the rest of the folklore about the transatlantic alliance, the prospect of a visit to the White House usually causes tingles of excitement. One of our senior diplomats once offered me an explanation of the allure: “The red carpet is laid out, the national anthems are played, all that stuff is very seductive.” This will be customarily accompanied by ritualistic words about the importance and invincibility of the “special relationship”.Number 10 lobbied hard to get Sir Keir Starmer across the Atlantic early in the second term of Donald Trump and, until recently, Downing Street people were telling themselves that an encounter between the two men needn’t be a disaster and might even turn out to be a success. In the weeks since Trump’s re-e...

Politics

10 h. ago ‘Photography is therapy for me’: Martin Parr on humour, holidaying and life behind the lens

He has a prolific career and extensive portfolio, with his images of British life especially iconic. At 72, he tells Miranda Sawyer, he’s still thinking about what to shoot nextAbout 20 years ago, I was on a judging panel for a photography competition, and one of the other judges was Martin Parr. He was charming and affable, almost teddy bear-ish. He was also utterly ruthless. When it came to deciding which photographs were worthy of a prize, he went through the selection swiftly – no, no, yes, no – without hesitation or doubt. His eye was impeccable. Has he always known what makes a good photograph? “Oh yes,” says Parr. “Right from the beginning. Total conviction. I knew I would be a photographer from the age of 13, 14, and I knew what was good even then. I was obsessive about photography. All artists are obsessive, I think.” We are in his agent’s office, a small upstairs flat on a market street in east London. Parr owns the building, and this room used to be packed with his work a...

Culture