4 h. ago Layton Williams 'happy and proud of family that came before me' after learning of slavery past

Actor and singer Layton Williams on an emotional rollercoaster on TV's Who Do You Think You Are?

Politics

4 d. ago Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata review – a future without sex

The Convenience Store Woman author imagines the creep of a new worldview, in a novel that highlights the weirdness of normal lifeIn Japanese writer Sayaka Murata’s fiction, characters do perverse things in order to “play the part of the fictitious creature called ‘an ordinary person’”. This description comes from Keiko, the 36-year-old narrator of Convenience Store Woman. Keiko’s conformist family and friends can’t believe she can be happy being single and working a dead-end job at a convenience store. Keiko finds an unexpected way to make it look as though she is normal: she keeps a man in her bathtub, hoping that everyone will simply assume they are a couple. A similar idea appears in Murata’s short story Poochie, from the collection Life Ceremony. A young girl takes a friend to a shed in the mountains to meet her pet; the friend is surprised to discover that the pet is a middle-aged man. Murata is interested in the lengths humans will go to in order to domesticate ...

Politics

5 d. ago Formula for a Happy Dog 2025: Leading dog behaviourist shares nine

This advice will help you make sure your dog lives its best life.

Politics

1 week ago JD Vance says his wife Usha has received ‘celebrity’ treatment in India

Family members tell The Independent they are ‘very happy’ to see America’s Second Lady return to embrace her Indian roots

Politics

1 week ago I married my first cousin and revealed our relationship to the family with an intimate video. We were so happy... until tragedy struck

To the seven-year-olds tucked in the bedroom closet, hidden away from the rest of the family party, it seemed little more than a dare - an innocent kiss, a peck, nothing more.

Politics

2 w. ago The best pubs with playgrounds in and around Greater Manchester

Pubs that can keep all the family happy can be hard to find. Here's some of the best around the region

Politics

2 w. ago #1 Happy Family USA review – a truly special comedy that’s packed with 00s nostalgia

Ramy Youssef’s surreal tale of a Muslim family in post-9/11 America is quietly subversive TV that’s full of laughter – and painfully realNot content with co-creating the brilliant (albeit frequently watch-through-your-fingers) dramedies Mo and Ramy, and starring in the latter, Ramy Youssef has turned his attention to a riotous animation for adults. Like the Egyptian-American comic’s previous work, #1 Happy Family USA is all about the modern Muslim experience, feeling adrift from the world, and the extent to which you should change yourself to fit in. And what better way to underscore this often excruciating, existential experience than to make our lead an insecure, hormone-plagued teen, coming of age in the wake of the September 11 attacks.For real Ramy heads, this show will almost certainly call to mind the flashback episode from the first season of his self-titled series, set during 9/11. There, we saw a young Ramy anxiously fight off accusations that he was a terrorist (“Egypt’s ...

Politics

2 w. ago Family of five, including three children, found dead inside home following suspected carbon monoxide poisoning

Relatives of the family of five found dead at the property have issued tributes describing the three children as “happy-go-lucky" and calling the family "good and honest people"

Society

2 w. ago Hanks had Castaway, De Niro Raging Bull, now Alec Baldwin reveals he lost 10kg for Blue Jasmine

The great revelation from the finale of The Baldwins was that the actor had looked moderately slimmer for a bit part in 2013 and plans get back into that shapeYou’d be forgiven for not watching The Baldwins, the just-concluded TLC reality series about Alec and Hilaria Baldwin and all their children. This is because it was exactly the thing you assumed it to be.On one hand, The Baldwins desperately wanted to be a show in the traditional TLC mould; a zany happy-go-lucky series about the chaos of raising an enormous family. But on the other, it was also about what happened on the set of Rust in 2021. And so every wack-a-doodle moment of family fun found itself being counterbalanced with the explicit acknowledgment that Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in an accident that caused untold pain to countless people and has cast a long dark shadow over Baldwin’s career. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Richard Madeley opens up on quitting London with Judy Finnigan after emotional realisation

Opening up about his early career outside the capital, Richard Madeley informed the Spectator's Table Talk podcast that he was "very happy" to be up in the North with his family

Politics

3 w. ago Jacqueline Jossa and Dan Osborne look happy on 'make or break' family holiday after split

Jacqueline Jossa and Dan Osborne have been pictured looking close as they enjoy a holiday together in Mexico with their family just a month after announcing their split

Politics

3 w. ago ‘I had a recurring dream that Bin Laden was in my kitchen’: Ramy Youssef on his 9/11 comedy

The standup’s new animated series #1 Happy Family USA mixes South Park-style humour with a bracing account of Muslim life in America in the wake of the September 11 attacks. It feels like history is repeating itself, he saysRamy Youssef has this theory: “The more fucked up the climate, the stupider television must be.” Granted, he came up with it barely 10 seconds ago, but the 34-year-old is committing. “You need something dumb,” he’s newly certain, “to cut through the tension for relief.” Now he’s frantically tapping away on his phone, searching for facts to prove it. Bingo. “You see, [MTV celebrity prank show] Punk’d premiered on 17 March 2003. Know what happened three days later? The US invaded Iraq. Maybe my stupid new show is perfect for how fucked everything is right now.”In particular, Youssef is pointing to Palestine: his 2024 heartfelt SNL monologue calling for an end to the violence one of a litany of interventions he’s made in recent years. “I’ve sat down with too many pe...

Politics

3 w. ago Helicopter crash: Touching tribute to 'happy and united' family

Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife Merce Camprubi Montal and their three children - aged four to 11 - died when a celebratory helicopter ride ended in disaster

Events

3 w. ago No 1 Happy Family USA to Sloborn: the seven best shows to stream this week

Ramy Youssef’s warm, witty animated comedy follows the travails of a Muslim-American family who are determined to prove their loyalties to the US during a dark time for their communityAs the co-creator of the brilliant comedies Ramy and Mo, Ramy Youssef has been exploring the Muslim American experience with wit and precision for several years. His latest series is an adult animation about the Hussein family. It begins in 2001, which patriarch Rumi is confident will be a good year for the family – this optimism is misplaced. The series is a study in privilege and diasporic desperation, with a dark subtext: despite his best intentions, Rumi’s desire to fit in and prove himself and his family’s loyalty to the US is almost never rewarded. But, as ever, Youssef renders the Husseins’ travails with warmth, comedy and humanity. Prime Video, from Thursday 17 April Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago BBC Strictly Come Dancing’s Layton Williams 'beyond humbled' after accomplishment

Rising to fame in the role of Stephen Carmichael in Jack Whitehall’s Bad Education, Layton appeared on the 2023 edition

Politics

4 w. ago Olivier awards 2025: Giant, Benjamin Button and Fiddler on the Roof triumph

John Lithgow, Imelda Staunton, Romola Garai and Layton Williams are among the winners at the annual stage awardsOlivier awards: full list of winnersThe play Giant, which portrays children’s author Roald Dahl amid an outcry about his antisemitism, has triumphed at the Olivier awards on a star-studded night at the Royal Albert Hall in London.US star John Lithgow took home the best actor prize for his performance as Dahl, Elliot Levey won best supporting actor (for playing publisher Tom Maschler) and Mark Rosenblatt received the award for best new play. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Truth about poisonous Loose Women: They're pretending to be a happy family. But insiders tell KATIE HIND dark truth about 'mean sniping', funeral no shows and eye

It's the daytime TV show about female camaraderie that has instead been plagued by bitching, toxicity and the most vicious in-fighting.

Politics

4 w. ago Harry Redknapp admits 'we do get upset' in rare insight into blended family

Harry Redknapp has opened up about his family life and admits that while they often appear happy, this isn't always the case, as well as his reaction to a grandson pursuing a rugby career – not football

Politics