21 m. ago Majority of teens still believe a university degree is critical to success

Eight in 10 teenagers believe a university degree is critical to success - despite 75 per cent harbouring dreams of starting a business.

Culture

1 hour ago Starmer to welcome Zelensky at Downing Street ahead of Trump meeting with Putin

The Prime Minister’s meeting with the Ukrainian president comes after he said Britain stands ready to ‘increase pressure’ on Russia if necessary.

Politics

1 hour ago ‘I always loved a camera’: Maud Muir on life through a lens in England women’s rugby team

Red Roses prop on her creative endeavours and England expectations before the Rugby World Cup on home soil“I like capturing people’s laughs; I think being able to hear it through the picture is so cool,” Maud Muir says as she discusses her favourite photographs from hundreds she has taken behind the scenes in the England women’s camp over the past five years.Muir, the 24-year-old prop, and her teammates are preparing for a home Rugby World Cup, starting with the opener against USA in Sunderland next Friday. Continue reading...

Politics

1 hour ago ‘I have to believe I deserve to be here’: ‘Tesco TikToker’ Hannah Lowther on her path to West End stardom

The up-and-coming musical theatre star’s online audience of 1.2 million has been crucial in scoring her major roles. Her career is part of a shift in the industry towards performers with social media clout – but not everyone is happyIf you’re on TikTok, you’ll probably recognise Hannah Lowther. Known affectionately as the “Tesco TikToker”, she found viral fame during lockdown by filming herself singing and dancing in the aisles of the supermarket during her shifts there.“I got 10,000 views on a video and I thought: OK, that’s it, I’m famous, and I just never let it go,” the 27-year-old laughs. Since then, Lowther has built an audience of 1.2 million followers and leveraged her social media presence into a starry stage career, landing roles in West End musicals including Heathers and Six. “At the back of my mind, I was thinking: You know what? Maybe this could help me one day.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 hour ago You be the judge: should my girlfriend stop leaving so many lamps on and use the big light instead?

Mona likes her mood lighting and keeps at least two lamps on in every room; Monty feels it’s a waste of electricity. You decide whose argument is a turn-off?• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a jurorIt seems illogical to have so many lights on in a small room. She turns them on, then leavesI know it’s not energy-conscious to have all these lamps on, but I just love cosy mood lighting Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago Truck drivers, doctors and bakers: ordinary Yemenis turn to veteran journalist when justice fails

Fatehi Bin Lazreq has used social media, newspapers and radio to expose corruption and everyday injustices since the country’s civil war started a decade agoWhen dozens of gas tankers near Yemen’s southern city of Aden were held up at a checkpoint by soldiers demanding heavy bribes, the frustrated drivers and traders turned to a man they trusted: Fatehi Bin Lazreq, a prominent Yemeni journalist.Known for using his media outlets and social media platforms to demand accountability, Bin Lazreq posted about the drivers’ ordeal on Facebook. It quickly went viral, generating thousands of likes and comments. Within hours, the post prompted a phone call from the prime minister and another senior official, both pledging to resolve the issue. Soon, the tankers were able to move on. Continue reading...

Society

1 hour ago Triumph and disaster for you, soft power for the Premier League: fantasy football is back | Jonathan Liew

Celebrities play it. Footballers play it. Gradually, insidiously, fantasy football has seeped into the way we consume the gamePerhaps you’re a template kind of guy. Perhaps, by contrast, you’re spurning the triple Liverpool consensus and stacking your team with handy differentials like Jarrod Bowen and Donyell Malen. Perhaps even Erling Haaland could be considered a differential given his historically low current ownership stats. Perhaps you’re feeling a cheeky BB GW1, followed by a FH GW2. Perhaps, by contrast, you’re furiously stabbing at the “close tab” button on your browser in the hope of purging these words from your eyes as expeditiously as possible.In which case, relax. This is actually a column about sport: what it is, what it isn’t, how we watch it, where it’s going. Most important, you can rest assured I shall not be relating any details of my Fantasy Premier League exploits, for the same reason I will not be sharing my dreams, my Wordle stats or the contents of my belly ...

Sport

1 hour ago Pink Oyster card reader rule could save you money while travelling around London

Here's how to make your journey to London cheaper when using TFL's pink card readers, but only if used correctly, most people know already about yellow readers, but many forget about the pink ones

Transport

1 hour ago Putin prepares for nuclear war on eve of Trump summit: Russia readys new cruise missile nuke for tests in satellite images after Donald warned of 'severe consequences' if Ukraine conflict continues

Experts say recent satellite images show intense preparations at the Pankovo test site on Novaya Zemlya, a remote archipelago in the Barents Sea.

Events

2 h. ago 'Guests lined up to brag about bonking my new wife – I regret marrying her'

JUST JANE: Today our agony aunt Jane O'Gorman is dealing with a new issue from a Daily Star reader who finds himself wed to a woman he doesn't like or understand

Politics

2 h. ago UK economy posts surprise 0.3% growth in three months to June

GDP figure slower than previous quarter but beats expectations thanks to 0.4% expansion last monthThe UK economy grew at a faster rate than expected in the second quarter, official figures show, despite pressure on households and businesses from tax increased and Donald Trump’s global trade war.Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed growth in gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to 0.3% in the three months to the end of June, down from a rate of 0.7% in the first quarter. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Should Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice take on more royal duties? Have your say in the Palace Confidential poll

You've read the headlines and heard our experts' opinions - but what do YOU think?

Politics

2 h. ago ‘Censorship’: over 115 scholars condemn cancellation of Harvard journal issue on Palestine

In an open letter, writers denounced abrupt scrapping of a Harvard Educational Review issue dedicated to PalestineMore than 115 education scholars have condemned the cancellation of an entire issue of an academic journal dedicated to Palestine by a Harvard University publisher as “censorship”.In an open letter published on Thursday, the scholars denounced the abrupt scrapping of a special issue of the Harvard Educational Review – which was first revealed by the Guardian in July – as an “attempt to silence the academic examination of the genocide, starvation and dehumanisation of Palestinian people by the state of Israel and its allies.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Katabasis by RF Kuang review – a descent into the hellscape of academia

The bestselling author’s sixth novel is far from perfect, but this journey into the underworld is delivered with heretical gleeThe more academia has broken your heart, the more you’ll love RF Kuang’s new novel. Katabasis knows the slow grind of postgrad precarity: the endless grant grubbing and essay marking; the thesis chapters drafted, redrafted and quietly ignored by a supervisor who can’t be bothered to read – let alone reply to – an email. Living semester to semester, pay shrinking, workload metastasising, cannon fodder in a departmental forever war. Katabasis knows how it feels to spend your best thinking years doing grunt work to further someone else’s ideas, clinging to the bottom rung of a ladder you will never be allowed to climb: less an ivory tower than a pyramid scheme.Academia is a hellscape; Katabasis just makes it literal. The American author’s sixth novel is an infernal twist on the campus farce: David Lodge with demons. Kuang’s previous book, 2023’s Yello...

Politics

2 h. ago A journey to belonging: asylum seekers reflect on 10 years in Europe – in pictures

Ten years ago, 1 million people fled into Europe, escaping conflict and poverty. Many had travelled for years in search of peace, prosperity or stability, and found it in countries such as Italy, Germany and Belgium. But the journey to truly belong continues.A decade on, after finding work and learning a new language, four asylum seekers feel torn. They recall the woodlands of northern Nigeria, a river that flows through a Syrian town – or the nightmare of child abuse in Afghanistan. They are still homesick and wrestle with the possibility – or impossibility – of return. They are part of a new, transformed Europe Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago Israeli airstrikes on Tehran killed inmates in ‘apparent war crime’ – report

Human Rights Watch also finds that Iran abused survivors of June attack, which killed 80 peopleIsraeli airstrikes on Tehran’s Evin prison in June killed scores of detainees, visitors and staff in what Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called an “apparent war crime”. Iranian authorities have since subjected survivors to abuse, enforced disappearances and inhumane detention conditions, the rights group said on Wednesday.HRW’s investigation, based on satellite imagery, videos and witness accounts, found the 23 June Israeli airstrikes destroyed visitation halls, prison wards, the central kitchen, the medical clinic and administrative offices. No evident military targets were identified in the facility, which held more than 1,500 prisoners at the time, many of whom had been jailed for peaceful activism. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago David Stratton, esteemed Australian film critic, dies aged 85

The international cinema expert was beloved for his film reviews, particularly on television with Margaret PomeranzDavid Stratton’s closing credits: ‘I’ve done the best I could’David Stratton, the revered Australian film critic and beloved co-host of television programs The Movie Show and At The Movies with fellow critic Margaret Pomeranz, has died aged 85.Born in the English town of Trowbridge in 1939, Stratton was sent to live with his grandmother in Hampshire during the second world war. An avid filmgoer, she took Stratton to the cinema almost every day, which changed his life. In the 2017 documentary David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, Stratton said he watched “at least one” film he hadn’t seen every day, and had seen more than 25,000 films in his life. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Eight things we learned from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s marathon New Heights podcast

If you don’t have a spare two hours to listen to Swift talking about The Life of a Showgirl on her boyfriend’s podcast, we did it for youTwo years ago, American footballer Travis Kelce famously used the New Heights podcast – which he hosts with his brother Jason – to announce that he wanted to date Taylor Swift. This was after he failed to get her attention at her Eras tour show at Arrowhead Stadium, home to his team, the Kansas City Chiefs. Somehow, it worked: he managed to get the girl. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago ‘No country is safe’: deadly Nordic heatwave supercharged by climate crisis, scientists say

Historically cool nations saw hospitals overheating and surge in drownings, wildfires and toxic algal bloomsThe prolonged Nordic heatwave in July was supercharged by the climate crisis and shows “no country is safe from climate change”, scientists say.Norway, Sweden and Finland have historically cool climates but were hit by soaring temperatures, including a record run of 22 days above 30C (86C) in Finland. Sweden endured 10 straight days of “tropical nights”, when temperatures did not fall below 20C (68F). Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Horoscope today: Your daily guide for Thursday, August 14, 2025

Read what the stars mean for you today, from Leo to Gemini

Politics