96 m. ago Colm Tóibín: Why I set up a press to publish Nobel winner László Krasznahorkai

The Irish novelist discovered the Hungarian writer two decades ago, and was excited by the verbal pyrotechnics of a rule-breaking storytellerThat Christmas – it was almost 20 years ago – I came back from America with news. My friend Daniel Medin had recommended two books to me, both by the Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai, one called War and War and the other The Melancholy of Resistance. We had also watched some Béla Tarr films, whose screenplays had been written by Krasznahorkai. The sense of slow, seething menace in the film Werckmeister Harmonies, based on The Melancholy of Resistance, and the lack of easy psychology and obvious motive in the film, the camera moving like a cat, made it exciting, but not as exciting as the two novels.Krasznahorkai, I noticed, loved the snaking sentence, the high-wire act, mild panic steering towards a shivering fear felt by his characters, followed, in clause after clause, by fitful realisations and further reasons for gloom or alarm, and ...

Politics

1 hour ago These are the 6 best jewellery advent calendars to shop with big savings picked by a fashion writer

Some of 2025’s best jewellery advent calendars have already launched and can save you hundreds of pounds on accessories for the festive season; here’s are our 6 favourites to shop

Economics

2 h. ago 61 best beauty advent calendars for 2025, chosen by a beauty writer

The beauty calendar bonanza begins as advents launch for Christmas 2025

Politics

2 h. ago Cat Stevens thought he was being targeted by Great Train Robbery cops in Rio

The Father and Son singer was living in exile in Brazil at the time in a bid to avoid the taxman and save cash until a police raid spooked him

Events

6 h. ago Moment man holds up entire Tube on Central line by refusing to take his bike off train

The incident occurred on a Central line train at Bond Street station

Politics

6 h. ago Best beauty advent calendars under £100 for 2025 from ASOS, No7, OPI and more

Shopping writer Lucy Addicott has browsed 2025's best beauty advent calendars under £100 giving shoppers the low-down on all the best options across makeup, skincare, body and bath

Economics

6 h. ago The £1m man: Why did Boris Johnson take his donor to Ukraine?

Exclusive: Leaked files offer a glimpse of the ex-prime minister’s relationship with Christopher HarborneAs he boarded the night train to Ukraine, Boris Johnson had the usual entourage of aides and bodyguards – plus the man who had given him £1m.Less than a year had passed since Johnson accepted what is thought to be the largest donation ever to an individual MP. It was from Christopher Harborne, one of the UK’s biggest and most private political donors. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Tech, terror and Tom Hollander: Niamh Algar on her wild new TV thriller

The Irish actor started out with Shane Meadows but her career is now stratospheric. As she takes on big tech in The Iris Affair, she talks about nerves, AI nightmares – and battling a malevolent supercomputerExplosions weren’t a problem, nor were the guns, fire, multiple fights and a spell underwater – but dealing with cockroaches? The line was drawn. “That was the one stunt we weren’t allowed to do,” says Niamh Algar with a laugh, “because cockroaches are actually quite dangerous.” Plus, she says with a wry smile, you can’t train one not to bite. It’s not too much of a spoiler to say her character in the new Sky Atlantic show The Iris Affair has a run-in with a bug infestation – CGI it turns out, and fakes made by the props team – that makes her other encounters with corrupt police, internet sleuths and a potentially malevolent megaquantum computer seem tame.Algar, most recently seen in the ITV thriller Playing Nice with James Norton earlier this year, plays Iris Nixon, a genius wh...

Events

8 h. ago Man 'caught with machete' during disturbance at Scots train station charged

All three police teams discovered the weapon had been previously discarded so police dog, Eli, was called in to trace the machete.

Events

8 h. ago ‘This is pretty therapeutic’: a pottery retreat in Spain’s Alpujarras

In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Andalucía, our writer finds that processing and shaping clay helps him filter out negative thoughtsI’m sitting on the ground with seven others, huddled around a mass of lumpy, grey matter that quickly turns to powder under the pounding of hammers. Beside us are a small dipping pool, some mulberry trees and a whitewashed house crawling with purple bougainvillaea, from which two dogs drift in and out to inspect our work.“This is pretty therapeutic, isn’t it?” someone says above the clattering of tools, as flower-dappled light dances on a canopy that’s shielding us from the hot Andalucían sun. Continue reading...

Events

9 h. ago One part of Wales is not getting anything near its fair share of rail funding, it's claimed

More funding is being pumped into train services, says minster Ken Skates, but this part of Wales says it's missing out 'desperately'

Politics

9 h. ago I tried the walking method that offers ‘10 times the benefits’ of walking 10,000 steps per day

Movement in any form can benefit your health, says senior fitness writer Harry Bullmore. But can this latest walking trend help time-poor people step up their exercise plans?

Politics

14 h. ago Weather maps show 'heavier than expected' snow could hit the UK in coming weeks

WXCharts' latest weather maps indicate that a 169-mile stretch of the UK could be hit by snowfall in the coming weeks, with Scotland set to bear the brunt of the wintry weather

Events

15 h. ago Hamleys names top Christmas toys list including bouncy ball and teddy bear

According to research from Future Marketing Insights, compact designs that work well at home and on the go are increasingly popular.

Politics

17 h. ago Harry and Meghan named Humanitarians of the Year at glitzy NYC awards bash

PRINCE Harry and Meghan have been named Humanitarians of the Year at a glitzy gala in New York. The Duke and Duchess jetted to the city to accept the gong which recognised their efforts in mental health advocacy. The couple were announced as Project Healthy Minds' Humanitarians of the Year award on Thursday at a...

Events

19 h. ago Transport Secretary refuses to rule out train fare rises next year

Another rail operator is set to enter public ownership

Politics

21 h. ago Beloved NYC security guard beaten to death in random attack at subway station: cops

David Mazariegos allegedly told cops he attacked Nick Tanzi ‘because he didn't like the way he looked at him’

Events

22 h. ago First images emerge from new BBC adaptation of Lord of the Flies

Adolescence writer/producer Jack Thorne is behind the first TV adaptation of William Golding’s beloved novel Images have been released from the first ever TV adaptation of the 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, the latest project from the writer/producer of the hit Netfix series Adolescence.Jack Thorne helped Adolescence’s teenage star Owen Cooper become the youngest male to win a primetime Emmy. Now the writer will be hoping to repeat the success for another child actor, turning his attention to a BBC adaptation of William Golding’s novel. Continue reading...

Politics

23 h. ago London writer's comedy hailed 'best series of the year' now streaming

London writer's comedy hailed 'best series of the year' now streaming  My London

Culture

25 h. ago Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story – exhilarating record of game

London film festival Brathwaite’s empowering images of African Americans in the 1960s gave a new generation a fresh template for representation, brilliantly honoured hereThere have been some fascinating documentaries about photographers: Tish Murtha; Martin Parr; Vivian Maier. Maybe the movie documentary form is something that naturally comes alive when showcasing particularly vivid still images. Here is another outstanding example, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, about the remarkable career of Kwame Brathwaite, a photographer, musician and African American activist who was a unique politico-aesthete. With his brother Elombe, he virtually invented the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” in the 1960s by photographing the Grandassa Models in Harlem: young African American women who became the sensational template for beauty, doing away with the usual cosmetic products and the usual white standard of femininity.Black Is Beautiful became a radical rallying cry, an inspired three-word prose po...

Politics