18 h. ago Couple's life a 'living hell' after they win £1k a week for life on lottery

A couple won £1,000 a week for life in the early 80s, but rather than bring financial freedom, the lottery win brought a lifetime of problems

Economics

24 h. ago I cannot stop playing this preposterous game about falling down a mountain

A week with Baby Steps has made me feel like I’m losing my grip. It this game stupid, or am I the stupid one for playing it?Instead of doing anything normal with my life for the past week, I have been on a horrible hiking holiday with the worst man in the world. In Baby Steps, you play as a useless imbecile called Nate who has done basically nothing with his 35 years on this planet except sit in his parents’ basement and watch anime re-runs. One day he is transported, in his adult onesie, to the foot of a surreal mountain decorated with phallic imagery, and you must get him to the top by controlling his feet individually, lifting them carefully with the controller’s triggers and placing them with the analogue stick.This is ludicrously difficult. Sometimes you’re marching up an easy slope, but you’re often edging over narrow planks, scrambling up dunes with tiny steps, or grasping rocky ledges with his toes. Over and over Nate trips and tumbles, whining piteously as he slides down a ...

Politics

39 h. ago Second Disney guest dies in a week, less than a mile from where superfan took her own life

No signs of foul play, authorities said

Events

39 h. ago KISS rocker Ace Frehley's death 'being investigated with toxicology report underway'

The rock icon died last week after being on life support following a fall in a studio , leaving the world of music in mourning.

Events

45 h. ago 'I won £1,000 a week for life on lottery and it has made things a living hell'

A couple who won the lottery in the 1980s has shared the negative impact it has had on their lives, and things got so bad, they had to pull their children out of school

Economics

67 h. ago Richard Osman jokingly calls Jeremy Clarkson a 'coward' as he weighs in on TV star's upcoming book

Clarkson’s new release, Diddly Squat: The Farmer’s Dog, hits shelves this week, following the success of his bestselling Diddly Squat series about life on his Oxfordshire farm

Events

6 d. ago Taylor Swift continues to make chart history with The Life Of A Showgirl as it retains number one album in UK for second week

The singer continues her domination, securing a rare double victory with The Life Of A Showgirl topping the Official Albums Chart, while Ophelia maintains its reign on the Official Singles Chart.

Culture

6 d. ago Strictly Come Dancing’s Tess Daly details huge ‘milestone’ in heartfelt post

Strictly Come Dancing star Tess Daly took to social media this week to issue a special tribute to someone special in her life.

Politics

7 d. ago ‘My name is Manchester United’: the superfan who fought to change his identity

There are supporters and then there was the Bulgarian Marin Levidzhov, who died this week aged 62Ask any Manchester United fan of a certain age what 26 May 1999 means to them, and they will tell you the date has marked them for life. It was the night injury-time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær sealed United’s 2-1 comeback in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou. It was also the night the life of one United fan in Bulgaria, who has died this week at the age of 62, changed for ever.That supporter was born Marin Zdravkov Levidzhov in Svishtov, a town on the Danube with a population of 22,000. Growing up in communist Bulgaria adoring football, he dreamed of changing his name to Manchester United. To claim the name of a football club from the capitalist west, however, was mission impossible. Had Marin tried to do so before the fall of the regime, he would almost certainly have ended up in jail. Continue reading...

Sport

1 week ago Taylor Swift brings Caitlin Clark to cheer on Travis Kelce and the Chiefs... hours before 'big announcement' on GMA

Swift has spent the week on a promotional tour for her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, but still made it back in time to watch Kelce and Co take on the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.

Politics

1 week ago Victoria Beckham's Netflix success leaves bosses eyeing up Spice Girls documentary

Victoria Beckham's Netflix series launched this week, with her opening the doors on family life and her fashion busines - now Netflix reportedly has a new idea in the pipeline

Politics

1 week ago Taylor Swift smashes chart records and closes in on The Beatles

The Life Of A Showgirl scores the biggest first week sales of the year in the UK and lands Taylor Swift her 14th chart topper. She is just one behind The Beatles in terms of No1 albums. She has also sold more vinyl than any other artist this century.

Politics

1 week ago The Guide #212: The Taylor Swift backlash has me asking: how much good music can one artist really produce?

In this week’s newsletter: The mixed response to The Life of a Showgirl is proof that even the biggest star isn’t immune to creative burnoutAmid the flood of discourse around Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl, one recurring sentiment jumped out: that the album – which many critics have declared a misstep in Swift’s otherwise consistently solid discography – felt hurried, hasty, rushed. “The Life of a Showgirl Is 40 Minutes of Elevator Music Rushed Out to Break a Beatles Record”, read the particularly savage headline of a piece on Collider. In the Guardian music desk’s excellent round table on the album, just about every panellist expressed a wish that Swift would take a break from the constant churn of releasing records, in order to recapture a lost spark.And it has been quite the churn. Since 2019 Swift has on average released an album a year, and that’s not counting the Taylor’s Version re-records of her older albums. All of this managed alongside a certain billion-dollar-gros...

Culture

1 week ago Robbie Williams review – tiny Camden gig offers blinding star wattage – and a surprising new song about Morrissey

Dingwalls, LondonPreviewing new album Britpop to an audience of 600, the star promises ‘no stadium bravado’ and delivers droll new songs alongside stripped-back oldiesWhat do you do if you’re a superstar who has pulled well over a million people to a stadium tour? If you’re as contrary as Robbie Williams, you play a gig in a shoebox. This late-night show at the 600-capacity Dingwalls, the smallest venue of his career to date, is a rum event. It was originally a launch evening for a new album, Britpop, now postponed to February. Williams makes no bones about why. “It’s because of Taylor Swift,” he admits, in a week where her new album The Life of a Showgirl is outselling the rest of the UK Top 20 put together. “I could pretend it’s not, but it is. It’s selfish. I want a 16th No 1 album.”Bounding on stage just as the pubs are closing, a grinning Williams clearly relishes the intimate environment. “I’m not doing all that stadium bravado and pointing,” he vows, launching into a full, st...

Politics

2 w. ago Taylor Swift beats Adele’s first week in US sales record with Life of a Showgirl

The star has already sold 3.5m units of her critically divisive album, a new record in the modern era of music salesTaylor Swift’s divisive new album, The Life of a Showgirl, has beaten Adele’s record-breaking 25 in first week sales numbers.According to data tracking firm Luminate, the album has already sold 3.5m units in the US which equates to 3.2m physical copies and 300,000 attributed to streaming activity. Adele achieved 3.482m in 2015 with her opening week sales of 25 which was led by hit Hello. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Shoulder pads are back. The bold fashion trends you’ll be wearing by spring

The trends to take away from Paris Fashion Week for spring

Politics

2 w. ago Inside Charlotte Church's life now after £25m fortune blown and completely new career path

Charlotte Church is returning to the limelight this week during her stint on The Celebrity Traitors but her life now looks very different from her previous millionaire status days.

Economics

2 w. ago German mayor fights for life after being repeatedly stabbed at her home a week after being elected

Iris Stalzer was found, seriously injured, by her son in her apartment in Herdecke-Herrentisch on Tuesday, according to German outlet Bild.

Politics

2 w. ago Voices: ‘Bring in a 996 regime and watch your business fail’: Readers warn against extreme work hours

Our community says that imposing extreme hours – 12-hour days, six days a week – is more likely to result in burnout and business failure rather than success

Events

2 w. ago All the Easter eggs in Taylor Swift’s ‘The Fate Of Ophelia’ music video

Swift released her 12th studio record ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ last week

Culture