76 m. ago Pop legend Sinitta uses pet poodle to protect her from ghosts after 'crazy stuff'

EXCLUSIVE: Pop icon Sinitta says she protects herself from ghosts with her poodle because she thinks the pooch can usher away evil spirits - 'I’m such a scaredy-cat,' admitted the 80s icon

Politics

87 m. ago Artists who represented Australia at Venice Biennale call for Khaled Sabsabi to be reinstated

Open letter from some of the country’s most distinguished artists ‘strongly protests’ at the removal of Sabsabi and curator Michael DagostinoGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLiving artists who have represented Australia at the Venice Biennale over the past five decades – and the estates of a number of now deceased artists who have done the same – have signed an open letter to the board and chief executive of Creative Australia to reinstate sacked artist Khaled Sabsabi and his curator Michael Dagostino.Some of Australia’s most distinguished living artists, including Imants Tillers, Mike Parr, Susan Norrie, Fiona Hall, Judy Watson, Patricia Piccinini and Tracey Moffat have signed the petition, as has the estate of Howard Arkley who represented Australia in Venice more than a quarter of a century ago.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Trump brags of ‘liberating’ America in meandering CPAC speech

Trump has been a constant presence at the right-wing conference since he burst onto the Republican political scene by attacking the country’s first Black president

Politics

2 h. ago EastEnders icon returns after 20 years for Martin Fowler's funeral

Vicki Fowler is set to make her return to EastEnders after 20 years away from Walford and she'll be bringing two new family members with her to EastEnders' Albert Square

Politics

2 h. ago Donald Trump vows to 'get our money back' from Ukraine in deal with war criminal Putin

While speaking at the Republican CPAC conference, Donald Trump said he wants the US to get 'rare Earth and oil' from Ukraine after Joe Biden gave the country $350billion

Politics

4 h. ago Fatboy Slim: ‘I was in the same class as Keir Starmer – he’s one up on me now’

The electronic producer and DJ Norman Cook talks about learning the violin with Keir Starmer, his love for his label maker and crossing swords with MobyGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailYou did violin lessons with Keir Starmer when you were a child. Who was better at violin?I can’t actually remember the violin lessons. But I was in the same class at school as Keir for five years, so I remember him well. He must have been better at the violin than me, because I did it for about one term. My parents could take no more noise, so I would say Keir was better. It is quite weird when one day you see someone on the telly and go, “Oh look, it is Keir Starmer from 4B.” I think he’s one up on me by becoming prime minister.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago KSI’s staggering net worth, mystery girlfriend and feud with Tommy Fury

The new Britain’s Got Talent judge is a boxer, music artist and business powerhouse

Politics

5 h. ago 11 of the best pictures as hundreds of musicians protest Cardiff University cuts

Cardiff University announced last month that it could axe 400 academic jobs as well as shutting the school of nursing, music and modern foreign languages as the university contends with a deficit of £31m

Events

6 h. ago The week in audio: Facing the Music; Tara and George: Last Rights; Why Is Amy in the Bath? and more – review

The lives of Beethoven, Haydn and co enthral; Audrey Gillan updates her award-winning rough sleepers series. Plus, a choir of cicadas and bathtime fun with Amy Adams Facing the Music Radio 3/BBC SoundsTara and George: Last Rights Radio 4/BBC Sounds)Why Is Amy in the Bath? Grab Bag Collab & Because It’s True ProductionsBetween the Ears: A Symphony of Cicadas Radio 3/BBC Sounds“It’s almost midnight,” purrs Dominic West, all honey and velvet, straight after we hear the famously doomy, four-note opening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The wild-eyed composer is in a cart, West tells us energetically, his latest piano sonata getting ruined by the rain, after throwing some coins at the driver and growling his preferred destination. West relishes every syllable of it: “Vi-ennnn-a!” Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Waltz this way: rival venues in Vienna compete to celebrate Johann Strauss’s 200th birthday

As the Austrian capital honours the legacy of its dance king, the race is on to attract the most puntersThe music of Johann Strauss streams through Vienna like the stately Danube. Even the syllables of the composer’s name beat out the rhythm of a waltz, as all Austrian dance teachers know. In their lessons, the words “Jo-hann Strauss” are often swapped in to replace the conventional “one, two, three” step count.Viennese children learn to waltz just like they learn to ride a bike, so the muscle-memory never leaves them. Just as well, because the city is still famous as the home of a 19th-century dance craze that shaped its international image. In this 200th anniversary year of the birth of the “waltz king”, there are rival bids jostling to become the focus of the swirling celebrations. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago From saviour to Judas How Trump’s pivot on Russia also endangers his own country | Simon Tisdall

With a Putin-appeasing president at the helm, it is clear the transatlantic alliance is collapsing and European leaders must plot their own courseHow do I betray thee? Let me count the ways Apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning for mangling her celebrated poem to reflect Donald Trump’s multiple Ukraine treacheries. This most perfidious of presidents surpassed himself last week, accusing Kyiv of invading itself three years ago . “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he fatuously griped.Candidate Trump, touting a just peace, pledged to end the war in a day. Now he praises Vladimir Putin, claims Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is “a dictator” and backs a settlement on Moscow’s criminal, one-sided terms. This deranged collapse into craven capitulation, this transition from American saviour to American Judas, took less than a month. It’s contemptible. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Kendrick Lamar earns first UK number one with Drake diss track

The song was reportedly streamed more than six million times in the past seven days

Politics

6 h. ago Zelensky 'refuses to sign' US surrender deal as Trump rages at Ukraine 'theatre kid'

Donald Trump has made several scathing comments against Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and says he will only support Kyiv's war in exchange for access to the country's mineral resources

Politics

6 h. ago Johnny Rotten 'wallowed in alcohol and sadness' after wife's death

Sex Pistols icon John Lydon has revealed his struggles since the passing of his wife Nora Foster in 2023 and the changes he's had to make

Events

6 h. ago 'I was engaged to Charlotte Church and likened to David Beckham – now I run village pub'

Gavin Henson was one of Welsh rugby's most enigmatic figures, winning two Six Nations Grand Slams with his country and dating singing sensation Charlotte Church

Politics

7 h. ago U.S. threatened to cut off Musk’s Starlink to Ukraine in mineral negotiations, says report

Billionaire’s Starlink system has proved a crucial internet communications service for the war-torn country

Events

7 h. ago Ludovico Einaudi: ‘The way you blend the elements you eat is similar to composing a piece of music’

The pianist and composer talks about his passion for chillies, teas and saucepans, and cooking for his dad’s remarkable literary dinner partiesI live in Torino [Turin], a town where I grew up, where I was born. There’s a famous dish from there called bagna cauda. It’s a meeting of the garlic from the area of Piedmont, the mountains, with the anchovies coming from the sea in Liguria. It’s a very simple dish, a bit like a broth, perfect in winter, and you eat it with raw vegetables of the season. But there’s so much garlic in it that, when you eat it, you need a couple of days away from other people.There is a connection between how you eat and how you make music: the way you blend the elements that you eat, the colours, it’s similar to composing a piece of music. If I take my solo piano repertoire, I would associate it with a very simple food, with few elements and few colours, not overelaborate. If I think of a piece of mine with more instruments, more orchestral, I would ...

Politics

7 h. ago Sidemen's Vikkstar teases huge collab with 'exciting' Britain's Got Talent's KSI

Sidemen star Vikkstar has opened up about his new career as he ventures into electronic music and joining forces with Steve Aoki and Nicky Romero

Politics

7 h. ago Irvine man behind Freckfest to be presented with British Empire Medal next month

Craig Smart founded Freckfest in memory of Willie Freckleton back in 2013 to bring back music and entertainment to Irvine.

Politics

7 h. ago My film star mother is adamant that a Hollywood icon murdered her former lover

The death of a former Time journalist during filming of a Hollywood western in 1973 has long been a mystery. Now the actor who found the body has claimed he was murdered - by an iconic 70s star

Events