2 h. ago Beyond the Bernabéu: how Modric’s shock Swansea investment came to be

The Ballon d’Or winner has set his sights on helping the club grow, offering his expertise and pulling powerIt was the transfer nobody saw coming: Luka Modric to Swansea City, not joining as a player but a minority stakeholder. The most decorated player in Real Madrid’s history, a six-time Champions League winner and one of the greatest midfielders of his generation pitching up as a co-owner at a mid-table Championship club was certainly an unforeseen end-of-season development. A Ballon d’Or winner and Bernabéu star walking into the Swansea boardroom or exploring the Mumbles?The sight of Modric cradling a Swansea-branded football in the accompanying press release prompted a few double-takes and sent a jolt across the game. “Hi Swansea fans, I’m Luka Modric and I’m excited to be part of the journey,” came his message. The 39-year-old Croatia captain may be in the twilight of his career but Swansea hope those words mark just the start of his involvement. “My goal is to support the clu...

Events

10 h. ago Chinese singles are looking for love in video chats — with thousands following along in real time

Frustrated with traditional dating, many young people in China are going on livestreamed video chats to find love

Politics

27 h. ago DWP shares Universal Credit warning and tells claimants to 'report themselves'

While most employed earnings are automatically received through the Real Time Information system, some cases require manual reporting - for example, if you're self-employed

Events

32 h. ago Economic wellbeing platform plots financial hardship in Scotland

Newly available analysis, using near real-time data, can “offer an unprecedented view of financial hardship in Scotland”.

Economics

53 h. ago Carlo Ancelotti 'very close' to leaving Real Madrid as he makes decision on next job

Carlo Ancelotti is edging closer to becoming the next manager of Brazil with his time in charge of Real Madrid seemingly coming to an end following a difficult season

Politics

55 h. ago Liverpool’s 20th league title awaits, WCL and FA Cup semis, and more – matchday live

All the latest news and build-up before Sunday kick-offsToday’s fixtures | Latest tables | And you can also mail usWhere to begin? Well, Liverpool will dominate today’s blog for sure, but it’s worth recapping everything that happened yesterday on a sizzling Saturday of football. There were ups and downs galore.Crystal Palace stormed into the FA Cup final with a dash of Ebere Eze genius and two Ismaïla Sarr goals, Barcelona lifted Spain’s Copa del Rey after a thrilling extra-time victory over Real Madrid, there were Premier League wins for Newcastle, Chelsea, Brighton, Fulham and Wolves, Celtic claimed a 55th (yes, really) Scottish league title and there was an almighty changing of the guard in Welsh football as Wrexham sealed promotion to the Championship – a third successive promotion for them – and Cardiff dropped into League One. Continue reading...

Politics

64 h. ago Barcelona v Real Madrid: Copa del Rey final, extra time – live

Updates from the 9pm BST kick-off at La CartujaContact Luke McLaughlin | Live scores around Europe12min: Lamine Yamal makes a bright run down the right for Barcelona. The score is nil-nil.“I’d love to watch the game but a 10pm kick-off is getting a bit too near my bedtime,” emails Mark. “How do the players put up with it? It must be hard to be at your peak performance level so late in the day. Good night. Continue reading...

Politics

2 d. ago BGT's Alesha Dixon addresses 'intense' time on Strictly and real reason why she quit

Alesha Dixon set the record straight about moving from Strictly Come Dancing to Britain's Got Talent, after an "intense" time on the BBC show

Politics

3 d. ago Real Madrid XI vs Barcelona: Predicted lineup, confirmed team news, injury latest for Copa del Rey final today

The latest edition of El Clasico comes at a bad time for Real Madrid

Events

3 d. ago New version of London Tube map that means you could never wait for another train

A live version of the Tube map displays the real-time location of every train in London

Politics

4 d. ago Cheapest place to buy petrol and diesel near you REVEALED in MailOnline's ultimate interactive map... so could YOU save £10 by filling up at a different station down the road?

Motorists could save themselves hundreds of pounds a year just by filling up at a different petrol station.Our real-time petrol price map, has now made that challenge a great deal easier.

Economics

4 d. ago Bill Maher calls Larry David’s satire of his Trump dinner ‘kind of insulting to 6 million dead Jews’

‘Nobody has been harder about Donald Trump than me,’ Maher says after fellow comedian compared his meal with US president to meeting HitlerBill Maher has responded to Larry David’s satirical essay in the New York Times that compared Maher’s glowing account of having dinner with Donald Trump to dining with Adolf Hitler.Maher, a vocal critic of Trump in the past, had dinner with the US president and a group of his high-profile supporters, including their mutual friend Kid Rock, on 31 March. On an episode of his talkshow Real Time on 11 April, Maher described Trump as “gracious” and “much more self-aware than he lets on”, saying: “Everything I’ve ever not liked about him was – I swear to God – absent, at least on this night with this guy.” Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Real Madrid XI vs Barcelona: Confirmed team news, predicted lineup, injury latest for Copa del Rey final

The latest edition of El Clasico comes at a bad time for Real Madrid

Events

5 d. ago Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Copa del Rey final prediction, kick

Huge Copa del Rey final is upon us

Politics

5 d. ago Self Esteem: A Complicated Woman review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week

(Polydor)After her big breakthrough and West End fame, Rebecca Lucy Taylor works through her worries in real time on her new album – to fascinating and confusing effectLast week, London’s Duke of York’s theatre played host to an elaborate four-night live staging of Self Esteem’s third album. Devised by Self Esteem herself – Rebecca Lucy Taylor – along with Tony award-winning theatrical director and designer Tom Scutt, it was rapturously received by critics, and seemed to speak of an entirely understandable confidence on Taylor’s part.Since 2017, she has completely reinvented herself, from one half of middle-ranking indie duo Slow Club into an on-her-own-terms pop star. Her second album as Self Esteem, 2021’s Prioritise Pleasure, was a critical and commercial success, shifting her into the realm of breakfast TV interviews and appearances on The Graham Norton Show and Celebrity Bake-Off. She also has a burgeoning career as an actor, having played Sally Bowles in a West End production ...

Politics

6 d. ago The most gripping thing I’m watching on my phone? Swedish moose migrating in real time | Claire Cohen

No music, no script, no narration, no editing – slow TV like this is exactly the balm we need these daysDo you reach for your phone first thing in the morning as soon as you wake up? Me too. Only, for the past week, it’s not my WhatsApp, email or social media I’ve been desperate to check, but how many moose have managed to swim across the Ångerman river overnight.I know. I need more going on in my life, right? How else to explain my fascination with watching dozens of Swedish moose (yes, moose is the plural of moose, sadly not “meese”) undertake their annual spring migration to summer pastures? Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Bill Maher sends his liberal viewers into meltdown with stunning autism claim

The longtime Trump critic and political commentator aired his views on the most recent episode of his talk show, Real Time with Bill Maher.

Politics

9 d. ago European football: Barcelona roar back to beat Celta, Las Palmas shock Atlético

Lewandowski injury mars Barça’s 4-3 victoryMcTominay strikes as Napoli keep pressure on InterBarcelona fought back from 3-1 down to beat Celta Vigo 4-3 in a rollercoaster encounter, with a stoppage-time penalty by Raphinha extending their lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga to seven points.Barcelona took the lead in the 12th minute through Ferran Torres but conceded an equaliser three minutes later when Wojciech Szczesny misread a cross and allowed Borja Iglesias to score. The Spanish forward then stunned the home fans when he scored two more goals in the second half, twice racing through to beat the keeper on his way to a hat-trick. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago ‘Something playful’: celebrating the art of endpapers in children’s books

New exhibition in Amherst, Massachusetts, looks at the unsung art that exists on the pages that bookend much-loved kids booksOnce upon a time, endpapers – those little bits of real estate connecting the inside covers of hardcover books to the pages within – were a site of pure decoration, or maybe, as in the case of The Chronicles of Narnia, a map of a fantasy realm. More recently, illustrators have been reimagining just what endpapers can be – far from decorations or maps, they are now used to bookend and compliment the stories told in books in fascinating ways.“The illustrator Shaun Tan described them as like quotation marks or parentheses around the story,” said Bruce Handy, a journalist and children’s book author. “In his mind it’s a way of setting the story off. Kind of like an anteroom to the story, or like a transition into the story.” Continue reading...

Culture

1 week ago BRIAN VINER reviews Warfare: Brutal but brilliant, Alex Garland's film tells a terrifying battle story in real time

Alex Garland's Warfare, unfolding in real time, tells the story of what happened after a team of US Navy SEALs on a reconnaissance mission occupied a house in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

Events