2 h. ago Free TV licence and other freebies for some older people in 2026

Around 910,000 eligible families are missing out on a benefit that could provide weekly payments and perks

Politics

3 h. ago Full list of freebies available for some older people in 2026

Hundreds of housands of older people could be eligible for a variety of freebies and perks

Politics

5 h. ago Young people, parents and teachers: share your views about Grok AI

We’d like to hear from young people, parents and teachers about how Elon Musk’s controversial chatbot is affecting youDegrading images of real women and children with their clothes digitally removed by Elon Musk’s Grok tool continue to be shared online, despite widespread alarm and a pledge by the platform to suspend users who generate them.While some safeguards have been introduced, the ease with which the AI tool can be abused has raised urgent questions about consent, online safety and the ability of governments worldwide to regulate fast-moving AI technologies. Meanwhile, the misuse of AI to harass, humiliate and sexually exploit people – particularly women and girls – is rapidly escalating. Continue reading...

Society

55 h. ago People put off giving CPR by unrealistic TV depictions, researchers say

Most dramas show characters searching for pulse and giving breaths but experts say chest compressions on their own can save lives Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a dramatic intervention, but researchers say TV portrayals are often misleading – potentially influencing whether viewers feel able to carry it out themselves.According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) there are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Grab your fidget spinners! Why gen Z are pining for 2016 | Coco Khan

As galling as it is to see young people refer to the items I wore 10 years ago as ‘vintage’, surely the real problem is that so many of them believe their best years are behind them‘I grow old I grow old I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled,” wrote TS Eliot in 1915, in his seminal poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock. And as I sit here in 2026 with my jeans turned up (as per the style of the thirtysomething urban millennial), well, I can relate. What has brought on this bout of contemplation? The latest TikTok craze. Loosely known as “Bring Back 2016”, it involves TikTokers urging their mostly gen Z audience to “live 2026 like it’s 2016” – complete with mannequin challenges, a Major Lazer soundtrack and the promise of never-ending summer. And it’s sure to get heads spinning quicker than the fidget spinners it’s resurrecting.Admittedly, most of the content is just plain silly: 2016 challenges and dances (the bottle flip, the dab); nostalgia for tech crazes (Pokémon Go an...

Politics

3 d. ago ‘People think abuse comes with working in A&E. It shouldn’t be like that’

How a hospital is helping NHS staff realise they need not accept violence, abuse and aggression on the job Hugo (not his real name), an advanced clinical practitioner, was on the night shift in A&E at Great Western hospital, Swindon, when a drunk patient started swearing aggressively at a nurse. “When I asked if I could help, he told me, ‘Fuck off you gay cunt.’ When I asked him not to speak to me like that and to return to his seat in the waiting room, he just walked up the corridor swearing and repeatedly shouting ‘gaydar’.”Hugo said he was initially more annoyed than scared, even when the patient grabbed a crutch and started swinging it about. “There wasn’t time to be frightened,” he said. “You’re just trying to protect your colleagues and the patients.” He called security and in the end the police had to arrest the patient. He said although he had experienced aggressive and violent behaviour – over the course of his career, he has been kicked, spat at, pushed and intimidated...

Events

3 d. ago Ultimate international festival guide 2026 from Tomorrowland to Snowbombing

As 2026 gets into full swing and party people are defrosting ready for the summer season, Daily Star has compiled a list of the best festivals from around the globe to help you decide where to go

Events

4 d. ago ‘It’s younger people seeking some sort of spirituality’: UK Bible sales reach record high

Surge in 2025 sales correlates with the growth in church attendances in England and Wales, research showsFor Christian booksellers, the good news about Bible sales has been few and far between. But in recent retail figures, there was a revelation.Sales of the good book reached a record high in the UK in 2025, increasing by 134% since 2019 – the highest since records began – according to industry research. Last year, the total sales of Bibles in the UK reached £6.3m in 2025, £3.61mup on 2019 sales. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Skye Newman wins BBC Radio 1's Sound of 2026 – here's how you can see her live in Scotland

BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2026 winner Skye Newman is already set to play Glasgow twice this year.

Politics

5 d. ago People We Meet on Vacation review – Netflix travel romcom is a dull journey

Emily Henry’s hit book has been adapted into a glossily made yet charmless attempt to resurrect the friends-to-lovers formulaReleased just as the weather turns to freezing and we’re all daydreaming of an escape, Netflix’s early January romcom People We Meet on Vacation is at the very least smartly timed. Produced as part of the streamer’s Sony deal, it benefits from some real studio gloss (proper lighting!) and as Polo & Pan’s perfectly balmy Nana plays over a transporting shot of our heroine lounging on a beach (the song was also used in Netflix’s underrated Christmas romcom Let it Snow), I was ready to relax with her. But what a brief escape it turned out to be The adaptation of Emily Henry’s much-loved 2021 novel has the superficial trappings all in check (eyes with permanent twinkles, unrealistic main character job in this climate, more easily affordable Taylor Swift song on the soundtrack) but no heart or soul to go with it. There’s simply nothing to root for or care about ...

Politics

5 d. ago Nigel Farage's stunning list of VIP freebies while 'ignoring' Clacton locals

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been criticised for his globe-trotting trips - which include a flight to Abu Dhabi where he was given £10,000 in paddock passes and hotels

Politics

7 d. ago ‘For a moment, only that story matters’: my plan to reignite the all

Reading for pleasure rates are shockingly low in young people. So we should all get behind a new drive to turn them into avid readers. Why not start with books about art?A girl on the cusp of adolescence gazes down at a book. Her left hand rests against her flushed pink cheeks, while her right clutches the pages, ready to turn to find out what happens next. She has porcelain-like skin and golden hair seemingly full of air, executed in textures that contrast with the scratchy, loose marks that make up her shirt and the book’s pages. When I look at this drawing, I am struck by how the artist, the American-born impressionist Mary Cassatt, has perfectly captured the all-consuming sensation of being submerged in a book – the feeling that the whole world is dissolving around you. For a moment, only that story matters.Cassatt, who worked in Paris for most of her adult life when women were finally beginning to be accepted as artists (and deserving of state-funded art education), was hailed ...

Politics

7 d. ago Dentists warn popular New Year's resolution could seriously damage your teeth

Many people set New Year's resolutions for the year ahead and 2026 looks to be no different but one dentist has warned a popular option could lead to yellow or damaged teeth

Events

7 d. ago People from Venezuela and neighbouring countries: share your reaction to US raid

We’d like to hear from people in Venezuela, as well as from neighbouring countries mentioned by the Trump administration, about how they are responding to recent US actionsAs Donald Trump prepares to make his first public appearance since Venezuela’s former president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in a US court and pleaded not guilty to all charges, there is growing international concern over the shock US military operation in Venezuela, which the UN human rights office has said undermined a fundamental principle of international law.We would like to hear from Venezuelans, both in the country and abroad, about how you are feeling in the wake of these events – either positively or negatively – and what concerns or hopes you have for Venezuela’s future. You might want to share how this is affecting you personally, your family, or people you know on the ground. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago People in Greenland: share your views on Trump’s recent comments

We’d like to hear from people in Greenland on their thoughts about the US president’s renewed call to take over the territorySpeaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Donald Trump doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the United States. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” Trump told reporters.We’d like to hear from people in Greenland on their views on Trump’s renewed call to take over the autonomous territory. You can share your views below. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Arborescence by Rhett Davis review – why would people turn into trees?

This quietly satirical speculative novel tells a story of metamorphosis, but feels insulated from real ecological crisisIn the book-length essay Death By Landscape, Elvia Wilk gives a potted history of fiction in which humans turn into plants. There is Daphne, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, who is so afraid she will be raped by Apollo that she begs her father to transform her into a laurel tree. More recently, in Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, brutalised Yeong-hye refuses food and takes root. Wilk argues that, in these stories and others, “a woman implants herself in despair, but also protest”.Rhett Davis’s Arborescence – an even-tempered, quietly satirical speculative novel – tells a story of cross-species transformation at scale. The narrator is a man, Bren, who at the outset is dismissive of unverified reports of “people standing around believing they’re trees”. His partner, Caelyn, is curious and undaunted. She drags him out for a hike. “I’m not sure I like f...

Politics

9 d. ago Malnutrition deaths are soaring in the US – especially among seniors

The reasons for the rapid increase may include people’s difficulties in maintaining a healthy diet and a new focus in identifying malnutrition, according to a new report

Events

9 d. ago All 116 people injured in Swiss resort fire identified, say police

Bodies of first foreign victims repatriated after 40 people died in blaze in Crans-Montana on New Year’s EveAll 116 people injured in the fire that tore through a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve, killing 40 mostly young partygoers, have been identified, police have said, as the bodies of the first foreign victims were repatriated.Police in Valais canton said in a statement on Monday they had revised the number of wounded down from 119 because three people admitted to accident and emergency wards on Thursday morning had been wrongly recorded as injured in the blaze. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Nearly half a million older people not due State Pension pay rise in April

Around 453,000 older people will not get new State Pension payments during the 2026/27 financial year.

Economics

9 d. ago Richest Men 2026: Here are the 14 wealthiest billionaires in the world

The cost of living crisis won’t be an issue for these 14 immensely wealthy men.

Economics