55 m. ago Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser review – how did television ever sink so low?

Cruelty. Contestants who have abuse screamed in their face. Cash prizes. This documentary about a horrific 00s weight-loss reality TV series in the US makes for deeply troubling watchingThe mid-2000s were a peculiar time in television. After the dubious 90s innovations of Jerry Springer in the US were followed by the UK launch of Big Brother, it was clear that using the travails of so-called ordinary people as fuel for small-screen entertainment was an idea with legs. There was a mini goldrush of sorts as programme makers realised that conflict, extremity and dysfunction would always sell – and that any human-interest subject could be shoehorned into some version of reality TV.In Britain, ITV’s The Jeremy Kyle Show began casting its malign spell in 2005. In the US, something similarly queasy (and enduring) had arrived a year earlier in the shape of NBC’s weight loss bootcamp-meets-bearpit, The Biggest Loser, which took contestants living with obesity then belittled them with humilia...

Culture

72 m. ago Kieron Bowie Hibs 'clearance' is just rewards as David Gray insists he has no doubts over calamity keeper

Boweie hit a 30-yard stunner as Hibs edged out Partizan Belgrade after extra-time on a nervy night at Easter Road

Events

1 hour ago Tax the rich more to fill black hole in public finances, Labour members tell Starmer

Exclusive: PM urged to conduct a ‘radical change of direction’ as the government attempts to plug gaps in the public finances

Economics

1 hour ago Closing arguments in Jimmy Lai trial delayed again as activist seeks treatment for heart palpitations

Lai’s lawyer told the court that the imprisoned Hong Kong media mogul had felt unsteadyClosing arguments in the national security trial of Jimmy Lai have been postponed so the media mogul and activist can receive medical treatment.Lai, 77, stands accused of foreign collusion under Hong Kong’s national security law. He has been detained since 2020, largely in solitary confinement, on convictions related to the 2019 pro-democracy protests, and on remand for the national security trial. Lai has pleaded not guilty, denying calling for sanctions against China and Hong Kong and saying he never advocated separatism. Continue reading...

Economics

1 hour ago ‘By handing over some planning to the kids, I could relax’: readers’ favourite trips with teenagers in Europe

Holidaying with teenagers can be tricky, but our tipsters have discovered glorious destinations and exhilarating activities to keep them entertained • Tell us about a remote part of Europe – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucherSlovenia! We started in Lake Bled. Teens loved the Dolinka ziplines, the summer toboggan run, hiking in Vintgar gorge and swimming in Lake Bled. You can hire paddleboards and boats. If you have the money, there is rafting and canyoning too. After seeing the incredible Postojna cave, we went up the Vogel cable by Lake Bohinj. Half-board at the Bohinj Eco hotel kept the teens amply fed and it also has an aquapark, bowling and plenty of games to boot. We finished the trip off with shopping in Ljubljana and the best ice-cream ever at Romantika. Three happy teenagers. Sue Continue reading...

Politics

1 hour ago Remember when having women in power was supposed to change everything? | Gaby Hinsliff

The careers of Sturgeon, Merkel and Ardern show how foolish it is to idealise leaders just for being womenNicola Sturgeon was always afraid of failure. But it was a very particular kind of failure she feared; one that follows a very particular kind of success. Living up to the fact of being Scotland’s first female first minister became, she writes in her new memoir, “almost an obsession”, which is arguably unhealthy but not unreasonable. To be the first woman (or indeed the first minority) in any field is to be uncomfortably aware of being on probation: the test case that sceptics will use to decide whether women in general can really hack it, but also the yardstick by which other women will judge whether representation actually makes a difference.You daren’t betray anything that looks like a sign of weakness, yet at the same time you’re endlessly under pressure to spill your guts on all the intimate stuff – miscarriage and menopause in Sturgeon’s case, pregnancy in high office for ...

Politics

2 h. ago Married couple 'lived with corpse of intimate threesome partner for over a year'

James Agnew, 55, and Suzanne Agnew, 57, were arrested on Thursday and charged with multiple counts each, including abuse of a corpse and tampering with a deceased human body

Politics

2 h. ago Pointless, The Apprentice and The 1% Club are looking for TV contestants right now

ITV and BBC are looking for fresh faces to participate in various different TV shows

Society

2 h. ago Hamilton Accies Women boss says side 'proud to represent the community in the town' ahead of SWPL1 opener

The Women's side are gearing up for their opening game with Partick Thistle

Politics

4 h. ago Young Celtic fan parties with BSC Young Boys in Switzerland after sweet viral clip in Glasgow

Footage captured the moment Joshua McLaughlin interacted with BSC Young Boys fans at Celtic Park earlier this year, a special relationship which has continued.

Politics

4 h. ago Dear Coleen: I'm struggling with guilt over my mum’s dementia battle

I’m a married man in my 40s and my mum, who’s in her 70s, has had dementia for a couple of years. In this time, she’s gone from being a sweet, kind person to someone who’s really ­aggressive and verbally abusive.

Events

5 h. ago Moment kidnap gang drive off with pregnant woman as they threatened to cut off her fingers if her partner didn't hand over cash and jewellery

Audi Johnson, Ahmad Ghiasi, and Nicholas Mitchell bundled their victim, 36, who was six months pregnant, into a van outside her home in Enfield, north, on May 10 of last year.

Events

5 h. ago Trump makes false claims about crime in Washington DC as homeless camps are cleared

President’s comments come after protesters heckled officers who stopped cars at checkpoint along busy streetDonald Trump falsely claimed that crime in Washington DC is “the worst it’s ever been” on Thursday, amid a federal takeover of the city’s police department and deployment of the national guard and federal agents in the city.“Washington DC is at its worst point,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “It will soon be at its best point.” He also baselessly accused DC law enforcement officials of giving “phony crime stats” and said “they’re under investigation”. Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago Underrated UK seaside town has picturesque sandy beaches and no crowds

An underrated UK seaside town boasts stretches of sandy beaches, rock pools for the kids and a picturesque harbour - and the bonus of not being packed with crowds

Politics

7 h. ago The Confessions of Samuel Pepys by Guy de la Bedoyere: Pepys: diarist, sex addict...rapist

A shocking, uncensored edition of his diaries reveals one of history's best-loved to have been a violent, lecherous abuser who craved illicit sex and didn't care what he had to do to get it

Politics

8 h. ago Pam Bondi threatens prosecution for leaders not complying with immigration officers

In ‘sanctuary cities’ letters to 32 mayors and some county executives saying ‘we’re going to come after you’Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said she has sent “sanctuary city” letters to the mayors of 32 cities and a handful of county executives, warning that she intends to prosecute political leaders who are not in her view sufficiently supportive of immigration enforcement.“You better be abiding by our federal policies and with our federal law enforcement, because if you’re not, we’re going to come after you,” she said, speaking to a Fox News reporter. “Our leaders have to support our law enforcement.” Continue reading...

Events

8 h. ago Louisiana sues Roblox alleging the popular gaming site fails to protect children

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is suing Roblox, alleging that the online gaming platform is allowing sexual predators to victimize kids

Events

8 h. ago Night Always Comes review – Vanessa Kirby gets lost in poverty thriller

A woman is forced to take extreme measures to save her family home in an initially stressful yet ultimately meandering Netflix dramaThere’s been a recent overkill of stories told about the super-rich, glossy films and shows set in ostentatious houses filled with characters as superficially on trend as they are painfully out of touch. It felt like needed escapism as we crawled out of the very worst of the pandemic, with The White Lotus, Triangle of Sadness, The Menu and Glass Onion all hitting a sweet spot, but it’s grown rather tiring, as Sirens, The Better Sister and Your Friends and Neighbors have felt less eat the rich and more what if we just admired their kitchens instead.It’s become especially uninteresting as the gap between the uber-wealthy and the rest of us has widened, food prices up and empathy down. That particular anger pulses through Night Always Comes, a well-intentioned yet often inert Netflix drama based on the 2021 novel by Willy Vlautin. It’s told over one awful ...

Politics

8 h. ago Victim of catfish predator Max Hollingsbee: ‘I will always be angry at him for taking my innocence away’

Hollingsbee was sentenced in May to five years and two months after admitting child sexual abuse crimes against girls

Events

9 h. ago Hibs and Partizan Belgrade deliver an Edinburgh Festival thriller with extraordinary goal and plot twists

Hibs progress in Conference League on night of high drama at Easter Road

Politics