34 m. ago Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser review – how did television ever sink so low?

Cruelty. Contestants who have abuse screamed in their face. Cash prizes. This documentary about a horrific 00s weight-loss reality TV series in the US makes for deeply troubling watchingThe mid-2000s were a peculiar time in television. After the dubious 90s innovations of Jerry Springer in the US were followed by the UK launch of Big Brother, it was clear that using the travails of so-called ordinary people as fuel for small-screen entertainment was an idea with legs. There was a mini goldrush of sorts as programme makers realised that conflict, extremity and dysfunction would always sell – and that any human-interest subject could be shoehorned into some version of reality TV.In Britain, ITV’s The Jeremy Kyle Show began casting its malign spell in 2005. In the US, something similarly queasy (and enduring) had arrived a year earlier in the shape of NBC’s weight loss bootcamp-meets-bearpit, The Biggest Loser, which took contestants living with obesity then belittled them with humilia...

Culture

59 m. ago Council issues statement after mum, 32, killed saving daughter in park

Madia Kauser was killed when a large tree branch fell on her as she walked her two young children in a Lancashire country park

Events

76 m. ago Three women charged over newborn’s death in female genital mutilation case

The UN estimates that about 75 per cent of women in Gambia have been subjected to the procedure known as FGM

Events

94 m. ago Remember when having women in power was supposed to change everything? | Gaby Hinsliff

The careers of Sturgeon, Merkel and Ardern show how foolish it is to idealise leaders just for being womenNicola Sturgeon was always afraid of failure. But it was a very particular kind of failure she feared; one that follows a very particular kind of success. Living up to the fact of being Scotland’s first female first minister became, she writes in her new memoir, “almost an obsession”, which is arguably unhealthy but not unreasonable. To be the first woman (or indeed the first minority) in any field is to be uncomfortably aware of being on probation: the test case that sceptics will use to decide whether women in general can really hack it, but also the yardstick by which other women will judge whether representation actually makes a difference.You daren’t betray anything that looks like a sign of weakness, yet at the same time you’re endlessly under pressure to spill your guts on all the intimate stuff – miscarriage and menopause in Sturgeon’s case, pregnancy in high office for ...

Politics

1 hour ago Married couple 'lived with corpse of intimate threesome partner for over a year'

James Agnew, 55, and Suzanne Agnew, 57, were arrested on Thursday and charged with multiple counts each, including abuse of a corpse and tampering with a deceased human body

Politics

1 hour ago Afghan women feel forgotten by world after four years of ‘war’ waged by Taliban on their rights

While the rest of the world pays little attention, the Taliban’s edicts eroding women’s basic rights have only grown in number. Former female inmates of the group’s prisons tell Arpan Rai they are being brutally enforced

Events

2 h. ago Male stripper 'jiggled bride's breasts' and 'forced her legs open' during raunchy hen do

Stuart Kennedy, 42, allegedly sexually assaulted the 32-year-old woman in Crieff Hydro

Politics

2 h. ago Male stripper in court after 'jiggling bride's breasts' during raunchy hen do

Stuart Kennedy, 42, allegedly sexually assaulted the 32-year-old woman in Crieff Hydro

Events

3 h. ago London Powers | Family, friends honor NC Central University student killed by ex

London Powers | Family, friends honor NC Central University student killed by ex-boyfriend in domestic violence situation  ABC11

Events

4 h. ago Dear Coleen: I'm struggling with guilt over my mum’s dementia battle

I’m a married man in my 40s and my mum, who’s in her 70s, has had dementia for a couple of years. In this time, she’s gone from being a sweet, kind person to someone who’s really ­aggressive and verbally abusive.

Events

5 h. ago Coney Beach: Terrified parent describes horror as rollercoaster derails at theme park

Children were among the 14 people injured at Coney Beach Pleasure Park in Porthcawl, south Wales after a popular rollercoaster - the Wacky Worm ride - malfunctioned

Events

6 h. ago I had no choice but to dump my handsome boyfriend because of this irritating and unmasculine habit. He was otherwise perfect but I have no regrets: LUCY CAVENDISH

When I met Ben at a dinner party, I was totally bowled over. He was urbane, funny, clever and handsome. Then I realised the list of what he didn't eat was 20 times longer than what he did.

Politics

6 h. ago Death row killer gouges out both his own eyes and eats them in bid to avoid execution

Andre Thomas, 39, was sentenced to death in 2005 for the murders of his estranged wife and her two children. His execution was postponed after he gouged out his eyes

Events

7 h. ago Migrant hotel resident accused of sexually assaulting three women in as many weeks

Qais Al-Aswad, 26, who resides at Four Points By Sheraton Hotel, Brighton Road, Horley, Surrey has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Events

7 h. ago The Confessions of Samuel Pepys by Guy de la Bedoyere: Pepys: diarist, sex addict...rapist

A shocking, uncensored edition of his diaries reveals one of history's best-loved to have been a violent, lecherous abuser who craved illicit sex and didn't care what he had to do to get it

Politics

7 h. ago The robbers, sex attackers and handbag thieves running riot on lawless London's trains as Tube crime surges

British Transport Police have issued five appeals for suspects across the London train network this week as they probe reports of crimes such as sexual assaults, bicycle theft and wallet robbery.

Events

8 h. ago Katie Price and Peter Andre’s chaotic relationship – from wild wedding to divorce battle

Peter Andre has issued a furious statement on social media as he hit out at his ex-wife Katie Price's "repeated lies" about their children, the Daily Star delves into their tumultuous relationship

Events

8 h. ago Louisiana sues Roblox alleging the popular gaming site fails to protect children

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is suing Roblox, alleging that the online gaming platform is allowing sexual predators to victimize kids

Events

8 h. ago PATRICK MARMION reviews Lily Allen's Hedda in Bath: Singer just can't inject much empathy into this malignant narcissist

A GREAT actor can make us care about almost anybody. But Lily Allen, in her latest stage venture at Bath's tiny Ustinov Studio, has to cope with one of the dodgiest characters in all of drama.

Politics

8 h. ago Victim of catfish predator Max Hollingsbee: ‘I will always be angry at him for taking my innocence away’

Hollingsbee was sentenced in May to five years and two months after admitting child sexual abuse crimes against girls

Events