37 m. ago California governor calls for a special election to introduce new US House maps – live

Gavin Newsom announces plans to ask voters to approve new congressional maps in response to a redistricting plan by TexasMelania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has threatened to sue if he does not.Biden, the son of the former president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that Epstein introduced the first lady to Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Hit horror Weapons doesn’t have a deeper meaning but that’s OK | Jesse Hassenger

A frenzied search for answers in the wake of the box office smash has some assuming there’s a weightier allegory but its power is in something simpler and more primalMajor spoilers aheadFor years now, horror fans and critics have grown increasingly and understandably impatient with the tendency of genre films to orient their scares toward a clearly conveyed central metaphor.The real monster in these movies is parenthood, personal trauma or that old horror-movie standby, grief. Writer-director Zach Cregger is no stranger to this line of thinking; his 2022 horror movie Barbarian is very much a spooky-creature-in-the-basement movie for the #MeToo era. Now Cregger has returned with a movie that may well stymie anyone who has been trained by the last decade to search for an easy-to-track allegory within their viscerally depicted fears. His new movie Weapons has received mostly rave reviews and positive audience response. But at least a few critics and fans are pivoting from complaining a...

Events

5 h. ago Scott Baio has blunt response to former WWE star Tyrus after barb on Gutfeld!

Actor took exception to claim he might be dead, saying he was canceled for his support of Trump

Politics

5 h. ago Nicola Sturgeon predicts Queen's death was 'beginning of the end' for monarchy in UK

The former first minister praised the late Queen's "mystique" which she claimed other members of the Royal Family lack.

Politics

7 h. ago Yorùbá Boy Running by Biyi Bándélé audiobook review – from enslaved teenager to celebrated preacher

The novelist’s final work tells a remarkable tale of resilience, based on the life of Samuel Àjàyí Crowther, who was kidnapped by slavers but won his freedomSet in 19th-century Òsogùn in what is now Nigeria, Yorùbá Boy Running opens with 13-year-old Àjàyí reporting a premonition to his mother about dark days ahead. A week later, the town is surrounded by Malian slave raiders and Àjàyí is kidnapped along with his mother, sister, best friend and neighbours. He is taken to Lagos and sold to Portuguese slavers preparing to ship their human cargo to the Americas. But they are intercepted by the British navy, which releases Àjàyí in Sierra Leone, where he is recruited by missionaries. From there, he is put on a path that leads to him to study at Oxford and become a celebrated preacher, linguist and abolitionist who meets Queen Victoria.A remarkable tale of barbarism and resilience, Yorùbá Boy Running is the final work by the Nigerian novelist and film-maker Biyi Bándélé, who died in 2022 ...

Culture

8 h. ago Iconic Brazilian coach Dilma Mendes: ‘Police would arrest me for playing football’

The 59-year-old developed the career of Formiga and now the pair are dreaming big for Brazil women’s seven-a-side teamDilma Mendes’s contribution to football has been significant. She is the coach responsible for identifying and honing the talent of Formiga, one of Brazil’s most emblematic female footballers. Mendes trained the player from the age of nine until her professional career began at 16. Now, more than 30 years later, they are working together again, to bring the Football 7 World Championship title to Brazil. The international tournament takes place in Curitiba, in the south of Brazil, from 21-24 August.Mendes, twice voted the best women’s seven-a-side coach in the world, has called up the 47-year-old Formiga to lead the fight for a second world title, and Formiga’s wife, the former player Érica de Jesus, will be assistant coach. Mendes’s career with the national seven-a-side outfit began in 2019, when she was hired to develop a new team, and she searched all corners of Br...

Events

8 h. ago Stacey Dooley met the Queen braless and made bold move to avoid flashing monarch

Stacey Dooley once met the late Queen Elizabeth without wearing a bra and took some drastic measures to make sure she didn't accidentally give her an eyeful

Politics

8 h. ago Person dies after being hit by train at Old Street station prompting huge emergency services response

The death at the east London station is not being treated as suspicious

Events

8 h. ago Wolverhampton cemetery’s extra fee for wider graves criticised as ‘fat tax’

Council says measure at Danescourt cemetery in Tettenhall is in response to increase in obesity levels in cityResidents of Wolverhampton have criticised what is being called a “fat tax” on burial plots after a city cemetery imposed a premium on wider graves.Danescourt cemetery in Tettenhall will charge an extra 20% to families whose loved ones need a 6ft-wide plot, as opposed to a standard 5ft grave. Continue reading...

Politics

10 h. ago Jordan Peterson ‘taking time off everything’ after being exposed to a ‘particularly moldy environment’

Mikhaila Peterson claims her father is experiencing a ‘severe’ flare-up of symptoms linked with chronic inflammatory response syndrome

Politics

10 h. ago Vicky Pattison 'buzzing' after Strictly Come Dancing announces star as 11th contestant

Strictly Come Dancing has announced the former I'm A Celebrity Queen of the Jungle for a spin round the BBC dancefloor

Culture

11 h. ago Tulisa's bombshell claims: Singer details battle with addiction, suicide attempts and her heartbreaking response to sex tape scandal

The singer, 37, vowed to be 'brutally honest' in the tome, titled Judgement: Love, Trials and Tribulations, and has stayed true to her word.

Events

12 h. ago 'King Charles forgave me for what I did but Queen Camilla didn't feel the same'

BBC and ITV racing pundit Derek Thompson has shared the amazing story of the time he beat King Charles on a horse race

Politics

12 h. ago London Ambulance Service cuts response times by up to eight minutes

The London Ambulance Service (LAS) has cut response times despite facing one of the busiest periods in its history

Politics

12 h. ago Susan Boyle sends message to Liam Gallagher after his special shout out to her at Murrayfield

Susan Boyle has taken to Instagram to respond to Liam's comments.

Politics

12 h. ago Arne Slot confirms next Liverpool transfer is agreed as he offers Marc Guehi response

Liverpool manager Arne Slot says that a deal has been agreed to sign Parma defender Giovanni Leoni, while he also offered an update on the pursuit of Marc Guehi

Politics

13 h. ago Princess Anne’s savage response to RAF pilot’s simple question after flight

A former royal chef, Darren McGrady, who worked for Queen Elizabeth II, shared a story about the "fantastic" Princess Royal ahead of her 75th birthday this Friday

Politics

14 h. ago King and Queen to honour veterans on 80th anniversary of VJ Day

Royal British Legion (RBL) guests of honour at a service of remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum on Friday include 33 veterans aged from 96 to 105 who served in the Far East and Pacific.

Politics

14 h. ago DC braces for massive turning point in Trump's takeover as protesters take the streets shouting 'Go home, fascists'

Trump vowed earlier this week to clean up the streets of the capital and has already sent hundreds of troops with the National Guard in to clean up crime.

Politics

15 h. ago 'I was forgiven by King Charles for what I did but Queen Camilla had a different view'

A TV racing legend who rode for Nicky Henderson has spoken of a rare win over royalty as he competed against King Charles - but Queen Camilla had something to say

Politics