43 m. ago How the hairdryer treatment from a science teacher over a flunked exam changed my life | Michael Akadiri

After my whole class flunked a mock GCSE, Miss T’s home truths helped instil a work ethic that has been crucial to my career“Fix up. It’s not me who needs their GCSEs – it’s you!” These words were barked at my year 10 science class by our science teacher and form tutor, Miss T. And deservedly so, because we had just suffered the ignominy of collectively flunking a GCSE mock exam. All 30 of us.Miss T was relatively young, but she was old-school in her approach – she had a low threshold for nonsense. While I considered this mock an inconsequential test – a pre-season friendly, if you will – she treated it like an FA Cup semi-final. To put it another way, it was half-time and we were losing badly, so she gave us the hairdryer treatment: a relentless, 15-minute tirade berating us for our lack of aptitude and our attitude.Michael Akadiri is an award-winning standup comedian and junior doctor. His debut Edinburgh fringe show, No Scrubs, was nominated for the Biggest Award in Comedy and is...

Society

3 h. ago Full Married at First Sight UK 2025 cast – TV star, grandparent and wedding called off

Married at First Sight UK is back with a brand new batch of singletons ready to roll the dice and walk down the aisle with a total stranger, so here are the brides and grooms

Society

6 h. ago The new migrant hotels: The family homes in leafy suburbia being converted to house small boat migrants as government flounders

A secretive government operation is underway to scatter thousands of asylum seekers across working-class communities and on smart private housing estates bought with taxpayers' money.

Society

15 h. ago Moment drunk passenger is dragged off Ryanair flight after brawling with others on the jet after he tried to open the emergency doors mid air

The heavily intoxicated man, in a white T-shirt and orange shorts, was still trying to resist as 13 French policemen carried him across the runway at Toulouse airport.

Politics

15 h. ago Good Fortune review – Aziz Ansari’s big comeback comedy struggles to find big laughs

Toronto film festival: The multi-hyphenate’s directorial debut has noble intentions in its timely class commentary but his brand of humour makes for an awkward fitThe absence of big-screen comedies, once an almost weekly occurrence, has become such a widely complained-about issue that the rare novelty of one actually being made has turned into a marketing tool. Last month’s remake of The Naked Gun employed a campaign that directly addressed this problem, with an ad that played like a PSA about such a lack and why supporting one was of societal importance (the plea only mildly worked, with the film finishing with decent, but not quite decent enough, box office). At the Toronto premiere of Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune, festival chief Cameron Bailey made reference to the now unusual sensation of laughing with an audience, and the actor-writer-director himself has been impressing upon people his desire to make a theatrical comedy in the billion-dollar wake of Barbie. He believes in its im...

Politics

17 h. ago Angela Rayner’s exit proves it. Unless Starmer is able to meet this moment, Reform is on the path to power | John Harris

The prime minister increasingly looks like a man next to a burning house, offering to buy a new bookcase and rugSign up for our new weekly newsletter Matters of Opinion, where our columnists and writers will reflect on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading and moreOne hundred and twenty miles from Westminster, it felt like I had arrived at the perfect place to understand the meaning of Angela Rayner’s exit from the government: Reform UK’s brief conference, a giddy and surreal gathering of about 10,000 people in a hangar-like box on the edgelands of Birmingham.News of her resignation broke a couple of hours into the event’s first day, and the symbolism was glaring. Among midday pints, onstage pyrotechnics and a huge stand advertising the wonders of investing in gold, a party led by those bumptious public schoolboys Nigel Farage and Richard Tice was suddenly rejoicing in the departure of British politics’ most prominent working-class woman. The news, moreover, only boost...

Politics

18 h. ago Coronation Street’s Katherine Kelly looks back: ‘My friends were very accepting of me being a bit different’

The actor on wearing men’s clothes, her bohemian family and the six-week soap job that turned into six yearsBorn in 1979 in Barnsley, Yorkshire, Katherine Kelly studied at Rada before beginning her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and going on to perform at the National Theatre and Manchester’s Royal Exchange. Her first major television role came in 2006, when she joined Coronation Street as Becky McDonald, a part she played until 2012. Since then she has appeared in The Night Manager, Gentleman Jack, Mr Bates vs The Post Office and Inside No 9. She stars in In Flight, available now on Channel 4.This is a very typical image of me aged four. I spent most of my preschool life with a towel on my head. It was a replacement for the long hair I so desperately wanted. Continue reading...

Politics

22 h. ago Woman reveals incredible way she survived serial killer in the desert after he took chunks out of her neck

Jennifer Asbenson was only 19 years old and working as a carer in Palm Springs, California , when 'kind stranger' Andrew Urdiales offered to drive her to work.

Events

23 h. ago Inside Mia O'Brien's Dubai prison 'living hell' as student pays ultimate price

Mia O'Brien, was allegedly caught with 50 grams of the Class A drugs in the Middle East paradise in October, he mum has claimed.

Events

24 h. ago Netflix Stranger Things fans urged to binge series with 'same energy'

The 'best ever' show has been likened to Stranger Things and boasts a number of recognisable faces in its cast

Politics

24 h. ago 'Best ever' Marvel show likened to Netflix's Stranger Things now streaming free

It comes from the creator of Gossip Girl

Politics

33 h. ago Air Canada flight attendants vote against agreement reached last month, but operations to continue

About 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants have voted down the the employer’s wage offer that the union and airline agreed to last month but another walkout is not expected

Politics

33 h. ago Influencer pilot on cancer fundraiser flight held on Antarctica base for months

Ethan Guo turned 20 while he was stuck on a Chilean base in Antarctica for two months as Chilean authorities said he must now pay thousands in fines after finally being released

Science

36 h. ago Brit student Mia O'Brien facing life in Dubai's 'Alcatraz' prison accused of torture

Mia O'Brien, 23, was handed a whole life sentence after being caught with 50 grams of the Class A drug in October, valued at around £2,500.

Events

37 h. ago Mia O'Brien's 'living nightmare in Dubai’s Alcatraz' as Brit 'has destroyed her life'

Mia O'Brien, 23, from Merseyside, was sentenced to life in prison in Dubai after being caught with 50 grams of the Class A drugs in the Middle East in October, her mum has said

Politics

39 h. ago Moment armed police drag drunken British stag do louts off Ryanair flight to Alicante

Shocking footage shows Guardia Civil officers storming the plane on landing in Spain on Thursday night, with one of the yobs wrestling with a cop as he is led away.

Events

39 h. ago First £1m player Olivia Smith marks Arsenal debut with wonder

Arsenal 4-1 London City Lionesses: Smith scored a stunner as the Gunners showed their class to down the newly-promoted, big-spending Lionesses

Sport

41 h. ago British law student jailed in Dubai for 25 years 'was caught with cocaine'

Mia O'Brien, 23, has been sentenced to 25 years behind bars following a one-day hearing after she was caught with 50 grams of the Class drug last October, with an estimated street value of around £2,5000.

Events

41 h. ago 'Selfish passenger ruined my flight with his cheesy feet, so I got the ultimate revenge'

Sophie Brame was on a four-hour flight from Manchester to Fuerteventura when she became aware of a very unpleasant smell coming from under her seat - and decided to take action

Politics

41 h. ago Emma Watson is the queen of class in Gucci mini dress as she steps out for the last day of Venice Film Festival

The Harry Potter legend, 35, made a stylish appearance in the Italian city as she put on a very leggy display in the beige sleeveless number, featuring chic leather pockets.

Culture