47 m. ago Nigel Farage's vetting boasts in tatters as Reform UK suspends two candidates in two days

"We've been vetting, I bet, to a standard that no other party has ever done before for local council elections,” Nigel Farage boasted last month

Politics

50 m. ago The Pitt’s Noah Wyle confirms ‘urban legend’ about surprise connection to Henry Winkler

Wyle recalled growing up good friends with Winkler’s stepson and watching ‘Happy Days’ at their house

Politics

51 m. ago Black Alien unrecognisable in rare photos before extreme mutilation of skin and body

Anthony Loffredo, better known as the "Black Alien Project", has spent years on his extreme body modifications and tattoos, but throwback photos show just how different he looks

Culture

96 m. ago Mikel Arteta turns focus to ‘beautiful’ Real Madrid clash after draw at Everton

The Arsenal boss was unhappy with the awarding of the second-half penalty for a soft foul by Myles Lewis-Skelly on Jack Harrison.

Politics

1 hour ago No forgetting my encounter with two giants of the stage | Tim Lewis

Old pals Ewan McGregor and Michael Grandage prepare for their new play, My Master Builder, by chuckling about everything that could go wrong and hasFor today’s Observer New Review I had the not-exactly-onerous assignment of spending an hour with the actor Ewan McGregor and director Michael Grandage, as they prepared to put on a new play, My Master Builder, in London’s West End. The two men go way back, and mostly they were cracking each other up with knockabout old stories – much of which there wasn’t room for in my article. McGregor recalled one of his first roles on stage, as Orlando in As You Like It, and how when Simon Callow – multiple Olivier and Bafta award winner – played the part in 1979, he walked out on stage at the National Theatre only to promptly forget the first line of the play.“If you’re a woman and you’re about to have a baby, everybody tells you nightmare stories about childbirth,” said McGregor. “And when you’re an actor about to do a play, everybody tells you te...

Politics

1 hour ago Floating away: warm tones and vintage details lift the spirits in a grand Parisian apartment

An interior decorator and furniture designer uses colour and fleamarket finds to create an inviting sanctuaryNestled in a classic Haussmannian building in Paris’s 17th Arrondissement, Tiphaine Verdier’s apartment is a feast for the senses. This large duplex, perched on the top two floors, is not just a home but a canvas where colour and creativity collide. With a fearless approach to bold hues, Tiphaine has transformed what was once a blank slate of plain white walls into a theatrical and inviting sanctuary.When Tiphaine first stepped into the apartment, it was a minimalist’s dream – or, as she might put it, a colour enthusiast’s nightmare. “All the walls were just plain white,” she recalls. But Tiphaine, an interior decorator and furniture designer, saw the potential in the apartment’s unique layout. “I was drawn to the fact that it felt like a house in the sky, with a clear separation between the day and night spaces.” Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago Pitch Perfect star Adam Devine, 41, was 'told he was dying' a month before his son was born

Pitch Perfect and Isn't It Romantic star Adam Devine has recalled the horrifying moment doctors told him he was dying - but luckily they got it wrong

Events

2 h. ago Former MI6 Chief: Putin lacks rationality unless in a ‘permanent state of antagonism’

Former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger told The Independent’s Sam Kiley that Vladimir Putin lacks rationality unless in a “permanent state of antagonism,” offering Russia only “security.” This remark comes just months after the third anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Politics

2 h. ago Taylor Swift fan, 16, gets to see idol in concert thanks to once

Keisha Martin spent her 16th birthday in hospital but was still able to see Taylor Swift live in concert thanks to an anonymous German

Politics

3 h. ago Phone footage appears to contradict Israeli account of killing of Gaza medics

Israel says soldiers fired on ‘terrorists’ in ‘suspicious vehicles’ but footage shows clearly marked ambulancesMobile phone footage of the last moments of some of the 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers killed by Israeli forces in an incident in Gaza last month appears to contradict the version of events put forward by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).The almost seven-minute video, which the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Saturday was recovered from the phone of Rifat Radwan, one of the men killed, appears to have been filmed from inside a moving vehicle. It shows a red fire engine and clearly marked ambulances driving at night, using headlights and flashing emergency lights. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Space probe to map carbon content of world’s remotest tropical forests

Revolutionary scanner to be fired into Earth orbit this month to measure effects of deforestationScientists are about to take part in a revolutionary mission aimed at creating detailed 3D maps of the world’s remotest, densest and darkest tropical forests – from outer space. The feat will be achieved using a special radar scanner that has been fitted to a probe, named Biomass, that will be fired into the Earth’s orbit later this month.For the next five years, the 1.25-tonne spacecraft will sweep over the tropical rainforests of Africa, Asia and South America and peer through their dense 40m-high ­canopies to study the vegetation that lies beneath. The data collected by Biomass will then be used to create unique 3D maps of forests normally hidden from human sight. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago 'Guy made cannibal confession to me on our first date – I was so creeped out'

A woman has recalled a disastrous date that started out okay but descended into chaos when the man told her all about his 'creepy' fantasy - and made her run for the hills

Politics

4 h. ago Popular Easter Eggs recalled in major supermarkets as shoppers issued warning

Two batches of the Easter treat by a popular brand have been recalled after a potential health risk was discovered with customers urged to check their purchases and return if necessary

Events

4 h. ago London hotels threaten to evict asylum seekers over unpaid Home Office contract

The threat comes as the number of migrants arriving on small boats over the last three months reached record levels

Society

4 h. ago FKA Twigs drops out of Coachella and reschedules more dates due to ‘visa issues’

Last month, she blamed an error in the visa paperwork for issues.

Politics

4 h. ago David Bailey's son Sascha: The seven words my girlfriend said which made me understand my plan to transition was madness

Sascha Bailey has opened up for the first time about the words his girlfriend Lucy said that made him realise that transitioning into a woman was 'madness'. 

Politics

4 h. ago Woman 'broken but still breathing" opens up on on five year campaign of abuse

Two months into the relationship Evans was jailed after he was found guilty of being in charge of a car while over the alcohol limit.

Events

4 h. ago Phone footage appears to contradict Israeli account of killing of Gaza paramedics

Israel says soldiers fired on ‘terrorists’ in ‘suspicious vehicles’ but footage shows clearly marked ambulances using flashing emergency lightsMobile phone footage of the last moments of some of the 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers killed by Israeli forces in an incident in Gaza last month appears to contradict the version of events put forward by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).The five-minute video, which the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Saturday was recovered from the phone of one of the men killed, appears to have been filmed from inside a moving vehicle, and shows a red fire engine and clearly marked ambulances driving at night, using headlights and flashing emergency lights. Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago Ambulance staff say patients are dying in their care due to hospital handover delays

UNISON surveyed nearly 600 road ambulance staff in the UK, with one in 20 (4.7%) saying patients had died in their care in the previous 12 months because of delays in being handed over to hospital.

Science

4 h. ago Russell Brand's fall from a Hollywood star married to one of the world's most famous popstars to an online conspiracy theorist now charged with string of sex crimes

The 50-year-old is believed to be in Florida having cut most of his ties with the Uk over the past 18 months ago and moved there with his wife Laura and their three children.

Events