76 m. ago I'm an author — these five books are so good I recommend them to everyone

Alix E. Harrow, author of Starling House, The Ten Thousand Doors of January and The Everlasting, has shared some of her top book recommendations for book lovers

Culture

2 h. ago Blow for millions of families as BBC licence fee is set to be hiked to more than £180 a YEAR

TV viewers already pay an annual rate of £174.50, which is on course to increase by almost £7 in the spring.

Economics

4 h. ago Mississippi woman fatally shoots monkey escaped from overturned truck

Jessica Bond Ferguson said her 16-year-old told her about animal in the yard and she shot it to ‘protect her children’One of the monkeys that escaped after a truck overturned on a Mississippi roadway on 28 October was shot and killed early Sunday by a homeowner who said she feared for the safety of her children.Jessica Bond Ferguson said she was alerted early Sunday by her 16-year-old son who said he thought he had seen a monkey running in the yard outside their home near Heidelberg, Mississippi. She got out of bed, grabbed her firearm and her cellphone, and stepped outside where she saw the monkey about 60 ft (18 meters) away. Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago British female hikers rescued from Himalayan valley after snowstorm left them trapped for days with limited supplies

BRITISH tourists have been rescued from a Himalayan valley after a massive snowstorm left them trapped for three days. Brits Catherine Jane Wilson, 53, Emily Jane Coates, 44, and Irishwoman Mary Reape, 65, got trapped more than 5,000 feet up Nepal’s Dhaulagiri Circuit after a freak blizzard cut off their ascent route. Hundreds of hikers...

Events

5 h. ago Chelsea star labelled 'animal' and 'best in the world' by Robert Sanchez after Spurs win

Chelsea ran out 1-0 winners over Tottenham on Saturday evening courtesy of Joao Pedro's first-half winner but the victory was far more comfortable than the scoreline suggests

Politics

9 h. ago Tess Daly poses beside stunning daughter Phoebe, 21, in Strictly studio and pays sweet tribute after Halloween special

TESS Daly has posed beside her stunning daughter Phoebe, 21, in the Strictly studio and paid a sweet tribute after the Halloween special. Tess and Claudia Winkleman  recently announced they had quit the show with a joint clip on Instagram. Taking to Instagram, Tess shared a gorgeous snap with her daughter, who she shares with TV and Radio...

Politics

10 h. ago Million Brits facing Council Tax hike as Rachel Reeves could double some bills

Plans could see bills for a Band G home jump from £3,800 to £7,600 and Band H properties soar from £4,560 to £9,120 - but some bills could rocket to £10,800 a year

Economics

10 h. ago The Guardian view on art and health: the masterpiece can cure the body as well as the soul | Editorial

From a Van Gogh self-portrait to Gauguin’s dreamscapes, new studies show that seeing original art can calm stress and boost healthIn an era characterised by burnout and doomscrolling, a therapeutic alternative is hanging on a gallery wall. When volunteers at London’s Courtauld Gallery stood before Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait With Bandaged Ear, Manet’s Bar at the Folies-Bergère, and Gauguin’s Te Rerioa, their stress and inflammation levels dropped compared with those of volunteers viewing reproductions. Science suggests that original art is a medicine that one can view rather than swallow.That art can lift spirits is well known. But that it calms the body is novel. A study by King’s College London asked participants to look at masterworks by 19th-century post-impressionists – Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet and Gauguin – while strapped to sensors. Half the group saw the originals in the gallery, half viewed copies in a lab. The results were clear: going to art galleries is good f...

Politics

10 h. ago Tess Daly gushes over 21 years of memories with lookalike daughter Phoebe at the Strictly studios as she shares sweet snap

The Strictly host, 56, was signed as the host for Strictly alongside Bruce Forsyth in 2004 - the same year she gave birth to Phoebe, 21.

Politics

11 h. ago Margaret Atwood opens up about heart condition and medication that turns her ‘blue’

‘My heart would stop for up to 10 seconds,’ author writes in her new memoir

Politics

11 h. ago If the Dodgers are bad for baseball, why was the World Series so much fun?

The repeat champions’ vast wealth means they can stockpile talent unimaginable to other teams. But it’s undeniable that the results are hugely entertainingA unicorn led off the game with a single and then trotted out to the mound to pitch the bottom of the first. Another pitcher won Games 2, 6, and 7 of the World Series, throwing 17.2 innings along the way. A catcher set a record, squatting behind the plate for 74 Fall Classic frames and ultimately ended the series by hitting the final go-ahead home run.Just as everyone feared or sneered, the Los Angeles Dodgers are champions. Again. In what some forecasted as a harbinger of doom, the sinister strategy of employing the best baseball player on the planet along with a generous number of his nearly equal peers proved effective. It’s not fair, some people will say in the coming months about the fact that the team broadly believed to be the best ultimately won it all. Continue reading...

Politics

11 h. ago Easy mountain bike trail where you’ll spot a spooky castle, wildlife and a historic abbey

I love a great bike ride, even in the chilly winter months, when you can wrap up, hit the trails, and enjoy a hot chocolate

Politics

12 h. ago Hiking with the wildlife author who studies Yosemite’s high peaks: ‘These animals are equal to us’

Inspired by childhood encyclopedias and Jane Goodall, Beth Pratt writes about the more than 150 species in the national park – and transports readers to a rarefied worldA shrill call was followed by a flash of movement through a pile of boulders on a high country slope in Yosemite national park. “Hello, Sophie!” Beth Pratt responded to the round, feisty pika who had briefly emerged to pose defiantly in the sun.Pratt, a conservation leader and wildlife advocate, has spent more than a decade observing the tiny mammals and the other inhabitants of these serene granite domes and the alpine meadows they overlook, which gleamed gold on a crisp afternoon in mid-October. Continue reading...

Events

14 h. ago Missing boy, 4, found inside claw machine as he 'risked it all' for a stuffed animal

Heitor Cardozo, four, was playing in the kids' area of a pizzeria in São João de Meriti, near Rio de Janeiro, when he suddenly vanished – only to be found inside a claw machine

Events

14 h. ago London fashion label loved by Princess of Wales to close its doors

Eponine London states its AW25 collection will be its final showcase before its studio shuts for the last time

Politics

15 h. ago Crocodile expert films himself raping puppies and admits 'I love it, I live for it'

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Adam Britton, 49, was jailed last year for the torture and rape of animals that he owned and described as 'f*** toys'. His wife has now spoken out

Politics

16 h. ago 'Al Capone was a mobster but not a monster' insists great grand niece of mafia boss

He was regarded by many as the ultimate gangster, feared and respected in equal measure and the most famous inmate of Alcatraz. But what caused Al Capone to turn out the way he did?

Politics

17 h. ago Lynne Ramsay on pushing Jennifer Lawrence to the brink in her twisted motherhood drama: ‘I make films my way’

She burst on to the scene with Ratcatcher and terrified audiences with We Need to Talk About Kevin. The Scottish film-maker’s latest stars Hollywood darling Lawrence, but it doesn’t flinch from the dark side of family lifeSeveral years ago, Martin Scorsese read Die, My Love in his book club. The novel, by Argentinian author Ariana Harwicz, follows an unnamed woman who moves with her husband to the middle of nowhere in France. Isolated and frustrated, she battles the confines of marriage and motherhood. She introduces herself to the reader as “a nutcase”, as “someone beyond repair”. She sets fire to ants, swears at her child, complains of its “constant clucking and grousing”. She speaks the unspeakable: “I’m a mother, full stop. And I regret it, but I can’t even say that.”Scorsese subsequently sent the novel to Jennifer Lawrence’s production company. He was convinced that Lawrence could – should, must – play the mother. In turn, Lawrence and her producing partner, Justine Ciarrocchi,...

Events

17 h. ago Britain's biggest ever bank heist sees bonds worth £850M snatched at knifepoint

‘The Krays were animals but they had a charming side - the life of a bank robber in the 70s was like being a celebrity. I hung out with people like George Best and Morecambe and Wise’ Gangster The Big Cheese tells The Mirror about Britain's biggest ever bank job

Economics

20 h. ago The 'Scottish town' in Japan with whisky distillery inspired by Scotland

Its founder studied at the University of Glasgow and married a Scottish woman.

Politics