3 h. ago Zainab Johnson: Toxically Optimistic review – US comic targets gun culture

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe slick standup’s fringe debut is full of searching questions about the right to keep and bear arms‘I’ve got a gun.” Nice to be pitched, with that opening line, straight into a show declaring itself different from the others. Zainab Johnson’s maiden fringe set – although she’s already a big noise in the US – gives an account of how she came to own a firearm. It’s not an explicitly political show – if a show about gun ownership by a black, Muslim, American female is allowed to be anything but. But Toxically Optimistic does invite engagement with some searching questions about guns, their use, and the safety they supposedly ensure – even if, so poised is Johnson’s delivery, you barely notice it doing so.Hers is that particularly American style of standup that can feel too polished for UK tastes: smiling, slick and a little bit frictionless. If a British comedian tells a dating story, you can bet they’ll be the butt of the joke; when Johnson does, it’s t...

Events

7 h. ago "I didn’t see the point in anything because I was made to feel worthless"

Shamar Guthrie-Ellis pleaded guilty to offences such as coercive control against two victims, and assaulting a female police officer

Politics

8 h. ago The silent epidemic: the pros and cons of screening for prostate cancer

In the US, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men – but experts can’t agree about testing“You will feel a little pressure.”My doctor had instructed me to lower my boxers, bend forward and place my elbows on the table. As with most men over 50, it was time for my annual digital rectal exam, or DRE: those riveting moments when the doctor takes a “look” at the prostate gland, which is just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Continue reading...

Politics

9 h. ago 14 photographs of Scottish fashion in the 1990s that will make you feel nostalgic

The 90s were a decade to remember.

Culture

11 h. ago An end to stamp duty? What the rumoured new property tax could mean for London home movers

First-time buyers may welcome an end to stamp duty tax, but experts warn that Londoners will feel they are ‘footing the bill’ for reforms

Society

15 h. ago BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Vicky Pattison suffers painful health issue days into rehearsals and admits 'it's hard'

The Geordie Shore icon said "I feel like I've been hit by a car" as she said she's in a lot of pain just days into the gruelling practice routines.

Politics

15 h. ago Do you have a high street full of gambling shops breeding poverty and addiction? I have a way to fight back | Dawn Butler

Communities feel powerless because the law gives betting firms the upper hand. But a simple change could transfer power to the people• Dawn Butler is MP for Brent EastWalking down their local high streets, people in Britain are increasingly unlikely to come across a local butcher, baker or grocery shop, and more likely to find betting shops, casinos, adult gaming centres (AGC) and so-called bingo venues, where traditional bingo is muscled out by money-sapping slot machines. These establishments are taking over our town centres at an alarming rate. From talking to my constituents in Brent, west London, and residents across the capital, I know that people have had enough.That’s why this summer I have launched a campaign for urgent reform of our gambling laws. Ministers must give local authorities and people greater power to tackle this issue and reclaim our high streets. Currently, billionaire-owned overseas corporations have too much power, and local people have none. That needs to c...

Politics

16 h. ago Crocs' trainers that 'feel like walking on a cloud' are now under £10 with this trick

The Crocs trainers have been hailed as 'cool and breathable' and feel broken-in from day one, and now you can them for under £10 thanks to this deal stacking hack

Economics

17 h. ago Russell Martin in need of Champions League lift to silence Rangers grumbles

Manager faces a tricky task against Club Brugge and can not afford background music to become any more discordantRangers supporters are entitled to feel conflicted over the prospect of Champions League participation. The kudos and finance that come with involvement against Europe’s elite would be welcome. There must also be an awareness, however, that it may be a chastening experience.Rangers’ last involvement in the competition proper ended with them on zero points and a minus-20 goal difference at the end of the group stage. That squad, from the 2022-23 campaign, was stronger than the wholly unconvincing class of 2025. Continue reading...

Sport

17 h. ago My husband treats me as his dirty little secret – and won’t have sex at home

He prefers to get intimate in anonymous spaces and initiates sex every time we’re at someone else’s house. I love the excitement, but feel manipulatedMy husband and I never have sex at home, only at our friends’ places or in hotel rooms. We’ve lived together, improbably, for four years now. When we hooked up six years ago I never expected anything serious, just a one-night stand with a hot flight attendant.After 15 casual sexual encounters we had a screaming row about my sleeping with someone else, and after the 16th, we decided to be in an exclusive relationship. After 40 meet-ups, he brought home an exotic strain of gonorrhoea; when we had got over the shock, and finished a course of antibiotics, we started planning the wedding.Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a US-based psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders.If you would like advice from Pamela on sexual matters, send us a brief description of your concerns to private.lives@theguardian.com (please don’t send at...

Society

18 h. ago ‘Too hungry to think, too weak to sit upright. Concentration slips away’: the struggle to stay focussed as an academic in Gaza

It is hard to keep the mind sharp when the body is thin and dehydrated, but solidarity is teaching starving students their thoughts still matterI must admit: I write this piece while starving – too hungry to think clearly, too weak to sit upright for long. I do not feel ashamed because my starvation is deliberate. I refuse my hunger even as it decays me. I can survive no other way.Since 2 March 2025, Israel has imposed a full blockade on Gaza. Little aid – food, medicine, fuel – is getting in or being distributed. The markets are empty and bakeries, community kitchens and fuel stations are shuttered. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago ‘Too hungry to think, too weak to sit upright. Concentration slips away’: the struggle to stay focused as an academic in Gaza

It is hard to keep the mind sharp when the body is thin and dehydrated, but solidarity is teaching starving students their thoughts still matterI must admit: I write this piece while starving – too hungry to think clearly, too weak to sit upright for long. I do not feel ashamed because my starvation is deliberate. I refuse my hunger even as it decays me. I can survive no other way.Since 2 March 2025, Israel has imposed a full blockade on Gaza. Little aid – food, medicine, fuel – is getting in or being distributed. The markets are empty and bakeries, community kitchens and fuel stations are shuttered. Continue reading...

Politics

26 h. ago Your morning coffee is putting pep in your step — and making you happier too

The caffeinated bean juice triggers the happy hormone, helping people feel more enthusiastic

Politics

29 h. ago Molly Mae Hague vows to keep posting about parenting despite backlash as she insists she 'regrets nothing'

Molly Mae Hague has insisted she will keep posting about motherhood to help others despite suffering fierce backlash from trolls online.

Politics

32 h. ago Meghan Markle's new challenge as she's accused of 'copying Kate Middleton'

EXCLUSIVE: The Sussexes’ new Netflix deal includes a festive special of With Love, and a source tells OK! Meghan is ‘furious’ people feel she’s upstaging Kate’s service

Politics

32 h. ago ‘Real Housewives of London’ Stars on Bringing the Franchise Across the Pond and Kicking Off Drama

‘Real Housewives of London’ Stars on Bringing the Franchise Across the Pond and Kicking Off Drama-Filled First Season With ‘Teethgate’: ‘I Can Feel the Tension. It’s Palpable’  Variety

Events

33 h. ago My husband always dreamed of distant oceans. With a volunteer crew, I gave him a sailor’s farewell

Seven years after John’s cremation, I was ready to set him free – with help from Australia’s Volunteer Coast GuardI feel the ocean swell beneath the keel as we leave the Mooloolaba harbour entrance training walls, heading out to sea. I was right here 44 years ago, our course set for Moreton Bay.Then, we were aboard Pearl Bay, our beautiful cruising ketch, a labour of love and another dream fulfilled for my husband, John. After a harrowing experience crossing the Wide Bay Bar, we spent a week recuperating in this quiet, almost-deserted harbour, its coast guard “headquarters” nothing but an ageing caravan. Continue reading...

Politics

37 h. ago Britain's 50 best breakfasts revealed. Travel expert ROB CROSSAN has eaten thousands nationwide

I've long believed that a good Full English is more than just a filling meal; to poke the yolk on a perfectly fried egg, to feel the winsome crunch of good toast and to smell the aroma of thick bacon.

Politics

39 h. ago ‘We feel abandoned – we certainly won’t be flying Air Canada again’ say British families

Exclusive: Canadian carrier said it searched for alternative flights ‘on over 120 airlines’ without success – but finding a replacement took five minutes on the phone to a UK travel agent

Society

40 h. ago Scots pensioner forced to make own way to A&E after stroke and four

Elizabeth De Rosa's daughter phoned an ambulance for her mum after she began to feel numb.

Politics