56 m. ago 'Nails', the predator who thought he had got away with a 'lenient' jail term

Christopher Oates will now be spending longer in jail

Events

84 m. ago There is a thriving shadow economy in Britain – but migrants are not to blame | Emily Kenway

While Labour is desperately trying to mimic Reform’s line on the cash economy, the blame lies solidly with ordinary people feeling the pinchAccording to politicians across all parties, something called the “hidden economy” – the shadowy nethers of the labour market, in which work goes unregulated and undeclared to the authorities – is a “menace”, full of migrants whose illegal working “undercuts British workers”, and even a threat to our national security. MPs have been so worried about asylum seekers delivering their Friday night pizza that they’ve spent parliamentary time discussing Deliveroo et al’s business models. In response, the government has repeatedly reassured us, in the somewhat Mills & Boon-style phrasing of Yvette Cooper, when she was home secretary, that it’s “surging enforcement” to tackle the problem.Solutions suggested include Keir Starmer’s digital ID cards, requirements for increased “right to work” checks, and new data-sharing agreements in which the Home Of...

Events

84 m. ago ‘I want to ride out on a unicorn every night’: swords’n’sorcery heavy metal band Castle Rat

Wielding fantasy weapons and splashing fake blood, the New Yorkers have even learned how to make chainmail outfits – and they’re already aiming to conquer stadiumsWhile many a rocker has cribbed from high fantasy, few have truly walked the walk. Sure, they might bedeck their album sleeves with ghouls, goblins, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but did a member of Cirith Ungol ever have to retrieve a missing unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has Yngwie Malmsteen spent time squinting in the back of a tour bus, repairing his own chainmail?Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and more as they live out their epic fantasies. From heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to eye-popping live shows, costume design, videos and album art, they’re not so much a metal band as a full immersive experience. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago European Union to reveal ratings for candidate countries – Europe live

Kaja Kallas to issue update this afternoon on progress countries are making towards becoming union memberIn other news, Czechs are mourning the archbishop emeritus of Prague, Dominik Duka, who has died overnight at the age of 82.Cardinal Duka – whose father flew in the British RAF during the second world war – was one of the most influential religious leaders in the Czech Republic, serving as a dissident priest under communism who eventually got imprisoned alongside playwright turned president Václav Havel. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Why comedian Jake Lambert regrets every penny he's spent on his picky cat

Hosted by presenter Matt Edmondson, Spent! puts celebrities in the hot seat to share their receipts and reveal the purchases, big or small, that have impacted their lives.

Politics

2 h. ago BREAKING: Pregnant Bella Culley set to fly home today just 24 hours after shock jail release

Bella Culley, 19, was held in Georgia over drug smuggling charges but has since been freed - and is travelling back home tonight with her mum Lyanne Kennedy, 44, on an easyJet flight into London

Events

3 h. ago Woman, 24, who drank rosé on beach before car crash killed baby boy avoids jail

Stevie Steel, 24, had been drinking rosé on the beach with 22-year-old Morgan Kiely when she crashed and flipped her car in Clacton-on-Sea, killing six-month-old Harry Kiely

Events

3 h. ago ‘Faster progress needed’ for Jagtar Singh Johal on anniversary of Indian arrest

Jagtar Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, was acquitted earlier this year after he was accused of financially supporting a terror group but still faces federal charges.

Events

3 h. ago How one Brit holidaymaker spent a day in Spain and it cost less than a night out in the UK

Kelsie Stonya, from Southend-On-Sea, recently took on the ultimate 'extreme day trip' - battling a storm while trying for a quick getaway.

Economics

4 h. ago Indian police admit they have lost wedding ring belonging to Briton held for 8 years without conviction

Tuesday marks the eighth anniversary of Jagtar Singh Johal’s arrest in India

Events

5 h. ago Guillermo del Toro and his cast on his very intimate new Frankenstein: ‘This is autobiographical for me’

The Oscar-winning filmmaker behind ‘The Shape of Water’ spent decades attempting to bring Mary Shelley’s masterpiece to the screen. As it arrives on Netflix, he, as well as his stars Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi, speak to Clarisse Loughrey about its long gestation, its surprise easter eggs, and its very Freudian subtext

Politics

5 h. ago I spent four weeks as a Traitor in my office and almost lost my mind | Ed Campbell

After a colleague had the bright idea of a workplace version of the hit BBC show, I lied and cheated with impunity. Then the strain began to showThere aren’t many people who understand the stress that the celebrity Traitors Cat Burns and Alan Carr have been feeling as their stint wearing that famous green cloak draws to an end – but I do. I spent four weeks lying, cheating and murdering friends and colleagues in our office version of The Traitors.I almost lost my mind.Ed Campbell is a journalist who reports on British culture, politics and the internet. He also co-hosts the PoliticsJOE podcast Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago ‘They take the money and go’: why not everyone is mourning the end of USAID

When Donald Trump set about dismantling USAID, many around the world were shocked. But on the ground in Sierra Leone, the latest betrayal was not unexpectedEarlier this year, Donald Trump appointed a 28-year-old Doge alumnus, Jeremy Lewin, to oversee his administration’s approach to global aid. Lewin’s primary task has been to gut the US’s aid funding. In an interview with the New York Times, Lewin argued that the traditional approach, which he termed the “global humanitarian complex”, didn’t help poor countries “progress beyond aid”, instead keeping them dependent. The system, he continued, has “demonstrably failed”.This isn’t just the Trump administration’s view. For decades, there has been a robust debate in academic and policy circles, discussed over drinks by development practitioners, written about by critical economists and postcolonial independence leaders, and percolating into the broader consciousness, that aid isn’t working, or at least not as promised. When the news of T...

Politics

6 h. ago ‘‘I can quiz for 17 hours a day!’: how Émilien became Europe’s greatest ever gameshow winner

The 22-year-old history student spent almost two years on a popular French quiz show – becoming a multimillionaire in the process. He discusses the importance of curiosity, frugality and 10-11 hours sleep a nightBeing a TV general-knowledge quiz champion is a funny kind of fame, because random strangers want to test you on all sorts of trivia. “Sometimes I’ll be walking down the street, a car slows, the window goes down and someone screams: ‘Capital of Brunei?’ I answer and they drive off – it’s amusing really,” says Émilien, a 22-year-old history student who this summer became not only the most successful French gameshow contestant of all time, but the biggest gameshow winner in European history and the world record-holder for the most solo consecutive appearances on a TV quizshow.And everyone, of course, wants to know how he did it. Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago Bianca Censori goes braless in sheer outfit during rare family outing with mother Alexandra and sister Angelina in Melbourne

Bianca Censori put on a cheeky display in a daring ensemble as she spent time with her family in Melbourne on Monday.

Politics

9 h. ago Meet Diddy's new prison pal: Disgraced rapper spotted with well

The disgraced rapper, who is now almost four months into his four-year jail sentence, was seen hanging out with the former athlete in the prison yard at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey this week.

Events

9 h. ago Albanian drug dealer who 'entered UK illegally' says he can't be extradited to Italy as lack of hot water in its prisons breached his human rights

Maringlen Qefalia, 41, is being pursued by Italian authorities to serve a five-year jail term for supplying 1.5kg of cocaine. But the dealer is now citing he ECHR to make sure he stays in the UK.

Events

10 h. ago How one Brit holidaymaker spent a day in Spain and still spent less than a night out in the UK

Kelsie Stonya, from Southend-On-Sea, recently took on the ultimate 'extreme day trip' - battling a storm while trying for a quick getaway.

Politics

11 h. ago New David Attenborough BBC show is 'most ambitious wildlife series ever made'

The BBC spent 1400 days working on Kingdom in the heart of Zambia, and it comes as no surprise that Sir David Attenborough's latest project is his most ambitious

Culture

11 h. ago ‘Faster progress needed’ for Briton who has spent eight years in Indian jail

Jagtar Singh Johal’s wedding ring, confiscated from him when he was arrested in 2017, has gone missing it has been revealed.

Events