52 m. ago Wellwater by Karen Solie – landscapes in distress captured with raw candour

In this blazingly honest collection, the Canadian poet catalogues humanity’s destructive impact on the natural worldIt is human nature to prefer our landscapes neatly framed – walls and wooden fences create the illusion that the great outdoors can be controlled and contained. Yet Karen Solie’s wildly unpredictable collection Wellwater flips the script. In this blazingly honest catalogue of human-made hazard and harm, we celebrate instead the contemporary landscapes refusing to be tamed.Solie, who teaches at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in western Canada, where vast prairies supply much of the world’s pulse crops. This fertile expanse in Wellwater, however, seems tired of endless service. The poem Red Spring witnesses how “weeds jump up unbidden, each year a little smarter”. They are trying, almost courageously, to outwit what Solie condemns as “zombie technology”, whose genetically modified “terminator seeds” sprout terrifying plants...

Politics

58 m. ago Shakespeare 'would be turning in his grave' after local council orders £1.7million theatre built without planning permission to be demolished

The Arden, the newest of three stages at Titchfield Festival Theatre in Hampshire, is still hosting performances despite being declared illegal by a planning inspector in August 2024.

Economics

64 m. ago The Last of Us star's heartbreak as they filmed pivotal scene after huge personal loss

The stars of The Last of Us have opened up about the heartbreaking moment that changed everything in the HBO and Sky drama

Culture

1 hour ago Celebrity Big Brother viewers divided as Ella Rae Wise storms out in tears after tense moment

Ella Rae Wise was left in tears and stormed out after being nominated by her fellow housemates

Events

1 hour ago Hell is not other people – it’s being stuck in the ninth circle of an automated telephone service | Hilary Freeman

Tuvalu is celebrating its first ATM, but here’s a warning from the UK, where human contact has been lost to the self-service age Life is about to change on the remote island nation of Tuvalu. And not, in my opinion, for the better. To great fanfare, Tuvalu – an entirely cash-based society – has unveiled its first ever ATM, marking its move towards financial modernisation. But while the 10,000 people living in that country may be celebrating no longer having to queue at the bank, I fear their happiness will be short-lived. It’s the start of the slow erosion of human contact that heralds the dehumanisation of yet another society.The world’s first ATM was introduced in Britain in 1967, but for me the tyranny of machines that promise convenience but erode human contact really began about 20 years ago, in the form of self-checkouts in our local Sainsbury’s. Having watched the Terminator movie franchise during my formative years, I railed prophetically against them, aware that it was just...

Politics

1 hour ago ‘Be playful, try new things!’ The Southbank Centre’s Mark Ball on his new festival, Multitudes

The arts centre’s artistic director is on a mission to bring new audiences to the joys of classical music. He explains why mixing it with circus, grime, poetry, and film might be the way to do itCan you name the UK’s top five most visited attractions? A 2024 survey placed the British Museum and Natural History Museum in the top two spots, then Windsor Great Park and the Tate Modern. No surprises there. But the fifth is perhaps less expected: the Southbank Centre, with 3.7 million annual visitors.“If you come down in the summer, it’s like a 21st-century version of the Victorian pleasure garden,” says its artistic director, Mark Ball. “It’s like the whole world is here. Skateboarders mixed with poets mixed with the classical musicians, mixed with the dancers – it’s what gives this space its vibrancy and why I love it so much.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Show us your mussels! A mouthwatering trip to Vigo, Spain’s seafood capital

The Galician city on the Atlantic coast has the EU’s largest fishing port, which provides its many bars and restaurants with a spectacular trawl of oysters, clams and musselsRocks thrashed by Atlantic waves have famously bestowed names such as “end of the world” and “coast of death” on Galicia, Spain’s north-western region. But there is a calmer, more intimate side to this coastline, that of the many rias (inlets). Legend has it that they resulted from the imprint of God’s hand when he made the world, and, temptingly, they nurture superlative shellfish. This lures me to Vigo, the largest fishing port in the EU, which spills down a hillside into a sheltered estuary lined with marinas, industrial docks, jetties, a fishing port and a cruise terminal.The magic formula is the combination of fresh river water and salty seawater, which creates a nutrient-rich paradise for succulent crustaceans and cephalopods. I soon learn, too, that Vigueses are joined at the hip to the sea – and have bee...

Politics

2 h. ago Forgotten war film with one moment fans say 'you know it's amazing'

Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard star in the 2016 film Allied, which was a box office bomb and received poor reviews from critics, but fans can't get enough of the love story

Events

3 h. ago Campaigners launch £31k legal challenge to stop festivals like Mighty Hoopla going ahead in Brockwell Park

A Crowdjustice page has been set up which has raised over £31,000 to cover legal costs

Economics

4 h. ago Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund sues over City of London skyscraper

Willis Building owner says tower at 50 Fenchurch Street will obstruct light

Economics

4 h. ago It turns out you’re never too old to go Interrailing around Europe | Phil Mongredien

Having missed out in my youth, I thought that was that – until I took a revelatory trip with my sons. We’re going again this yearYouth might not be wasted on the young, but for the longest time I thought Interrailing was. When I was a student, as the 1980s became the 1990s, many of my friends took the opportunity to discover Europe by train and they all returned with amazing stories of discovery. But for long-forgotten reasons, it was something I was always going to do but never actually got round to. And then suddenly I was in my late 20s and reluctantly resigned myself to never doing it, having been reliably informed by so many people that it was an opportunity only open to those under the age of 26.Fast forward a few decades to spring 2023 and I’m trying to decide where to take my teenage children for our first holiday in five years – a gap caused largely, but not wholly, by the pandemic. My most memorable childhood holiday had come in 1981 when, over the course of a few days, my...

Events

9 h. ago Free school breakfast clubs launch TODAY in 'game changing' moment

The first 750 schools will host free breakfast clubs from today in a move Keir Starmer has branded 'game-changing' - see the full list to see if your child is affected

Politics

10 h. ago Tyla responds to fans claiming her Coachella outfit was a nod to Britney Spears: ‘No inspo’

Tyla took the Coachella stage on Friday night for weekend two of the music festival

Sport

12 h. ago Moment oblivious man has phone swiped from his hand by thug on an electric bike as he strolls down London street

The pedestrian was strolling along the Broadway in the Southall area of west London on Saturday when the crook struck.

Politics

13 h. ago Moment oblivious man has phone swiped from his hand by thug on an electric bike as he strolls down London stre

Moment oblivious man has phone swiped from his hand by thug on an electric bike as he strolls down London stre  Daily Mail

Politics

13 h. ago Sir Chris Hoy reveals he is 'doing well' and getting fitter following gruelling chemo for terminal prostate cancer

Sir Chris Hoy has given an update on his condition saying he's 'doing well' with 'improving' fitness levels.

Politics

13 h. ago Moment Asda shopper grabs vegan protestor's megaphone and smashes it before running away

The demonstration, held at an Asda store in Kent, suddenly descended into chaos when the furious man yanked the megaphone from a vegan protester and smashed it into the ground before charging off

Events

13 h. ago WrestleMania fan run over by a golf cart carrying WWE star Dom Mysterio in shocking backstage moment

'Dirty Dom' claimed the WWE Intercontinental Championship Sunday night but the wrestler's celebrations were cut short when his golf cart shockingly hit a member of the audience.

Sport

15 h. ago Dalziel Rugby Club set to host 33rd annual Festival of Youth Rugby

The highly anticipated event is set to bring together hundreds of young players from across Lanarkshire and beyond.

Politics

15 h. ago Moment brazen ticketless youths leap fence at Terminal V festival

Groups of ticketless youths leaped fences to gain entry to the techno music festival, while paying attendees forked out over £140 for a weekend ticket.

Politics