4 h. ago Post Office reveals busiest day over Christmas season for sending parcels

The company is urging the public to post early to avoid the rush and ensure gifts arrive in time for the big day

Politics

5 h. ago Huge ship berthed at south Essex port as new trade route arrives for first time

Huge ship berthed at south Essex port as new trade route arrives for first time  Thurrock Gazette

Politics

37 h. ago Why won’t Marvel let Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine retire in peace?

The actor himself has promised to accept all future cameos as the beloved claw-gremlin, but this will only wear out his superpowersThere was once a time when Hugh Jackman Wolverine cameos made a sort of sense. Bursting out of a cell in full Weapon X gear, massacring half a bunker, then vanishing, in 2016’s otherwise pretty forgettable X-Men: Apocalypse. Telling potential recruitment team Magneto and Professor X to, er, go fuck themselves while propping up a bar in 2011’s X-Men: First Class. Even popping up via archived footage from X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2018’s Deadpool 2. These were cameos we could accept: quick, self-contained sideshows that understood the sacred rule that such things ought to be fun and brief. They also arrived at a time when Jackman didn’t yet carry the weight of 25 years of audience investment.Last week, in an appearance on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show, Jackman revealed that he has banned himself from saying no to future appearances as the surly mutant. “I...

Politics

4 d. ago Pensioner who built giant pirate ship in his back garden is told he needs planning permission after 'killjoy' neighbour reported him to council

Steve Coombs' huge boat features a captain's hideout, a moving ship's wheel, netting, and even a cannon but it has attracted local anger due to 'the number of visitors'.

Events

4 d. ago Man in planning row with neighbours after 'killjoy' reported pirate ship he built in his garden to the council

Steve Coombs' huge boat features a captain's hideout, a moving ship's wheel, netting, and even a cannon but it has attracted local anger due to 'the number of visitors'.

Events

5 d. ago Stranger Things season five review – this luxurious final run will have you standing on a chair, yelling with joy

The kids growing up might have changed this show’s appeal, but they manage to go out in a flame-throwing, bullet-dodging blaze of glory – while still being more moving than ever before Time’s up for Stranger Things. The fifth and last season arrives almost three-and-a-half years after a fourth run that felt like a finale, not least because it seemed the kids had grown up. Having originally aped beloved 1980s films where stubbornly brave children avert apocalypse, the franchise now starred young adults and had adjusted plotlines and dialogue accordingly. Life lessons had been learned. Selves had been found. Adolescent anxieties – as personified by Vecna, the narky telekinetic tree-man who rules a parallel dimension adjacent to the humdrum town of Hawkins, Indiana – had been put aside.But Stranger Things now belatedly returns, with the cast all visibly in their 20s. This is a problem. The whole point is that it’s fun to watch kids outrun monsters by pedalling faster on their BMX bikes...

Politics

7 d. ago I'm A Celebrity Kelly Brook's husband responds to claim after Jack Osbourne scenes

The campmates' friends and families are currently arriving in Australia as week two of their time in the jungle continues

Culture

7 d. ago 7 top beauty advent calendars you can still buy in time for December

Still hoping to buy a beauty advent calendar this year? You'll be happy to hear that some of this year's best ones are still available – and they'll arrive in time for December

Politics

8 d. ago Royal Mail and Evri delivery deadlines to make sure gifts arrive in time for Christmas

To avoid disappointment this festive season, make sure you know the Christmas deadlines.

Events

8 d. ago The one change that worked: I was trembling with anxiety when I found a fun, free way to get calm

I can’t dance. Not even a little bit. But the terrible moves my friends mock are an antidote to the racing heart and quivering breath that arrive in my more anxious momentsThe first time I started dancing at home was a happy accident. I’d just had a terse conversation with an ex, and my body was reacting in its usual way: racing heart, quivering breath and trembling fingers. I needed to calm down. Looking around for quick fixes in my flat – my bed, some stale chocolate digestives and a packet of cigarettes – I settled on the kitchen radio, which had been humming faintly in the background all morning.Tuned to BBC Radio 6 Music, it was playing a disco track I didn’t recognise. But the beat was steady and intermingled with the sounds of tambourines, synths and drums. I turned up the volume, and then my body was moving: limbs swinging, feet tapping, hips wiggling. I continued into the next song, leaning into the feeling and becoming more animated to the sounds of another upbeat 70s trac...

Politics

9 d. ago Aston Villa rally to put Leeds in trouble with Morgan Rogers double

Five defeats in six and the anxiety is beginning to show for Leeds. For the second game in a row they took an early lead through Lukas Nmecha but ended up with nothing, Morgan Rogers producing a pair of remarkable finishes to lift Aston Villa into the Champions League qualification slots. Leeds remain in the relegation zone.Villa began the season apparently still feeling the hangover from the defeat at Old Trafford on the final weekend of the last campaign that cost them European football. But having failed to win any of their first six games, they have won nine of their last 11 in all competitions, the depth of their squad beginning to tell. Donyell Malen began on the bench and, while he may not have scored in his third successive game, his arrival at half-time shifted the momentum of the game as Villa became only the second away side in 26 to win in the league at Elland Road. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago No time for slips Keir! PM nearly takes a tumble as he arrives at G20 in Johannesburg

The Prime Minister got off to a humiliating start before crunch talks had even begun in the South African city.

Politics

1 week ago Huge inferno rips through cargo ship carrying hazardous material & sparks explosion at San Pedro port as crew evacuated

A MASSIVE fire has torn through a cargo ship docked at San Pedro port as crew members were hastily rushed to safety. The Panamanian vessel, One Henry Hudson, was carrying hazardous material when a blaze broke out below deck and sparked an explosion. Almost 200 responders were scrambled to the ship after reports of the...

Events

1 week ago The subtle sign of King Charles's 'devotion' to Queen Camilla during 'episode three' of their affair

Royal staff at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire told author Gyles Brandreth how Charles would kiss Camilla 'firmly on her lips' every time she arrived to see him.

Politics

2 w. ago Scotland lose in Greece but Denmark stumble takes World Cup qualification to decider

The most extraordinary upshot of an extraordinary evening was that Scotland’s dream of qualifying automatically for the World Cup remains alive. Steve Clarke has Belarus to thank for that, their surprise claiming of a draw in Denmark leaving Scotland in precisely the position they had sought before this clash with Greece. If Scotland beat Denmark in Glasgow on Tuesday, they will top this section.The dust might just have settled on this fixture by then. Scotland trailed by three at one point before hauling themselves back into proceedings against a Greek team who finished with 10 men. Greece’s win by the odd goal in five was a merited one but, after a silent wait for full time in Denmark to arrive, the Tartan Army celebrated. Clarke and his Scotland players did not seem to know how to act, which was totally understandable. For all the shortcomings laid bare here, the spirit summoned was quite striking. Clarke’s task in the coming days is to combine that with far more assuredness, esp...

Politics

2 w. ago Eubank vs Benn 2 press conference live: Start time as Chris Sr arrives to support son in war of words

Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn engage in their final press conference for Saturday’s rematch, where Benn seeks revenge after losing a thriller in April

Events

2 w. ago Step Back in Time to Paris, 1896: Chat Noir Immersive Experience Arrives in London

Step Back in Time to Paris, 1896: Chat Noir Immersive Experience Arrives in London  Seen in The City

Politics

2 w. ago Kelvin Fletcher prepares for new arrival as he details 'important time'

Former Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher and his wife, Liz, have been keeping themselves busy on their 120-acre farm and have big plans in the works.

Politics

2 w. ago Abbey Clancy's 'gorgeous' Christmas party dress is less than £20 with clever deal

The sequinned number has arrived in time for the festive party season and is already sold out in one size

Economics

3 w. ago Cop ahoy! Sailing up the Amazon to the climate summit – podcast

Jonathan Watts sets off on a three-day boat trip down the Amazon – with indigenous leaders, scientists, artists and more – to report on Cop30, the climate summit taking place this year in BrazilThis week, delegations from countries from all over the world are flying into Belem, Brazil, to attend Cop30, the world’s biggest climate summit.The Guardian’s global environment reporter Jonathan Watts, however, had a different idea – to take the slow road. Or, in fact, the slow boat – a three-day journey up the Amazon, across hundreds of kilometres, to arrive in Belem just in time. Continue reading...

Politics