16 h. ago ‘It’s scary how many St George’s flags there were’: Blood Orange on coming home to Essex and mourning his mother

After grief brought Dev Hynes home, he reconsidered the county that shaped him. The result is a masterful new album – made with a little help from Lorde and Zadie SmithDevonté Hynes is telling me how he came to be living back in his childhood home in Ilford, east London, at the age of 37, after his mother had fallen ill. “It was a surreal experience,” he says of the sudden move from Brooklyn, where he makes music as Blood Orange, to sleeping in the bedroom where he once put up posters of David Beckham and the Smashing Pumpkins. “Physically, you’re bigger: your shape has changed. But the space is the same. The memories are the same.”Hynes came back to England to be by the bedside of his mother in hospital, and stayed at home a while after she died in 2023. This tragic disruptionproduced his fifth full-length release, Essex Honey, a clear contender for album of the year. It’s a record grounded by grief but fizzing with the memory flashes that came with returning home to the edge of Es...

Events

6 d. ago Expert hail 'holy grail' blood test that accurately flags FIFTY types of cancer before symptoms strike: 'We're one step closer to transforming cancer diagnoses'

The Galleri test - dubbed the 'holy grail' for cancer - screens for more than 50 cancers, often picking up signs before symptoms even appear.

Science

1 week ago Boots: the Netflix sleeper hit that’s a stunning indictment of military homophobia

This word-of-mouth sensation’s scenes about the US marines’ treatment of homosexuality are incredibly powerful. Until it throws in a weird food fight and starts trying to become an Orange Is the New Black-style comedy dramaOne of the pitfalls of the streaming era is that so many shows seem to go unheralded. Last week, Netflix’s Boots looked likely to be one of them, slipping into the submenus without making a noise. However, thanks to unbelievably positive reviews (“The best new TV show of the fall” said USA Today) and frothing word of mouth, the military drama is now the third most-watched show on the platform. With every passing hour, it seems as though Boots is destined to become the next Squid Game-style breakout. So, with all that said, is it actually any good?The answer: kind of. Boots is an adaptation of Greg Cope White’s 2015 memoir The Pink Marine, detailing his time in the US military in 1990, a few years before Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell became the service’s official position ...

Events

2 w. ago ‘I carved until my fingers were bleeding’: inside the baffling word of pumpkin obsessives

Fans of the orange vegetable are flocking to farms to pick their own, commissioning intricate lanterns and even dressing their kids up as the gourd. How did the humble pumpkin become October’s overlord?I’m in a field in Pontefract watching a masked, miniature Spider-Man clamber through a heart-shaped pumpkin arch as his dad, in a pumpkin bucket hat, takes pics. To my left, a family in russet, pumpkin-themed knitwear queue for their turn on a plaid-blanket-draped bench beneath a Hello Pumpkin sign; to my right, a dutiful Instagram boyfriend captures his partner – wellies, impeccable ’fit and killer pout – in front of a Chevy truck full of pale-yellow squashes.The fields beyond are dotted with orange orbs. People walk among them with wheelbarrows, silhouetted against the sun, like figures from a Millet painting as they bend to examine promising specimens; toddlers stagger around with pumpkins bigger than they are. As I stare, an orange-faced scarecrow with a pretty intense energy come...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I carved until my fingers were bleeding’: inside the baffling world of pumpkin obsessives

Fans of the orange vegetable are flocking to farms to pick their own, commissioning intricate lanterns and even dressing their kids up as the gourd. How did the humble pumpkin become October’s overlord?I’m in a field in Pontefract watching a masked, miniature Spider-Man clamber through a heart-shaped pumpkin arch as his dad, in a pumpkin bucket hat, takes pics. To my left, a family in russet, pumpkin-themed knitwear queue for their turn on a plaid-blanket-draped bench beneath a Hello Pumpkin sign; to my right, a dutiful Instagram boyfriend captures his partner – wellies, impeccable ’fit and killer pout – in front of a Chevy truck full of pale-yellow squashes.The fields beyond are dotted with orange orbs. People walk among them with wheelbarrows, silhouetted against the sun, like figures from a Millet painting as they bend to examine promising specimens; toddlers stagger around with pumpkins bigger than they are. As I stare, an orange-faced scarecrow with a pretty intense energy come...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I carved until my fingers bled’: inside the baffling world of pumpkin obsessives

Fans of the orange vegetable are flocking to farms to pick their own, commissioning intricate lanterns and even dressing their kids up as the gourd. How did the humble pumpkin become October’s overlord?I’m in a field in Pontefract watching a masked, miniature Spider-Man clamber through a heart-shaped pumpkin arch as his dad, in a pumpkin bucket hat, takes pics. To my left, a family in russet, pumpkin-themed knitwear queue for their turn on a plaid-blanket-draped bench beneath a Hello Pumpkin sign; to my right, a dutiful Instagram boyfriend captures his partner – wellies, impeccable ’fit and killer pout – in front of a Chevy truck full of pale-yellow squashes.The fields beyond are dotted with orange orbs. People walk among them with wheelbarrows, silhouetted against the sun, like figures from a Millet painting as they bend to examine promising specimens; toddlers stagger around with pumpkins bigger than they are. As I stare, an orange-faced scarecrow with a pretty intense energy come...

Politics

2 w. ago Coronation Street star Lisa George terrified as she's hospitalised after losing eyesight

Coronation Street actress Lisa George opens up on her scary health battle and settling into life after playing Weatherfield's Beth Tinker for more than a decade

Events

2 w. ago Coronation Street's Lisa George terrified as she's hospitalised after losing vision

EXCLUSIVE: Coronation Street actress Lisa George opens up on her scary health battle and settling into life after playing Weatherfield's Beth Tinker for more than a decade

Events

4 w. ago ‘Best’ Terry’s Chocolate Orange flavour spotted back on shelves for Christmas – and shoppers are going wild

A BELOVED Terry's Chocolate Orange flavour has been spotted back on shelves, much to the delight of shoppers. Chocoholics can now get their hands on the Toffee Crunch variation of the treat. The sphere-shaped chocolate comes with the classic orange-flavoured milk chocolate and crunchy toffee pieces. Shoppers could not believe their eyes when it was...

Politics