4 h. ago 'I dialled wrong number and fell in love before unthinkable happened'

EXCLUSIVE: Alison Cork was planning to call her friend for a catch-up one Sunday when she accidentally dialled the wrong number - and the man who picked up went on to change her life

Politics

2 d. ago Scots couple who fell so in love with Dumfriesshire wedding venue they bought it to retire

Mark and Morag have run Hightae Inn near Lockerbie since 2008, having held their wedding reception there 14 years earlier.

Politics

7 d. ago ‘If you don’t dance to Earth, Wind and Fire, there’s something wrong with you’: Himesh Patel’s honest playlist

The Yesterday and Station Eleven star was raised on Bollywood soundtracks and secretly admires Limp Bizkit. But which maligned indie rockers will he stand up for?The first single I boughtBefore I became an indie kid and got into Arctic Monkeys, Maxïmo Park and Bloc Party, there was this explosion of British/south Asian music in the early 00s, so I bought Dance With You (Nachna Tere Naal) by Rishi Rich Project featuring Jay Sean and Juggy D from Tesco Extra. It felt like a moment for south Asians in the UK.The first song I fell in love withI grew up in a village in Cambridge and we’d always have BBC Asian Network or CDs of the latest Bollywood soundtracks playing. I loved Taal Se Taal Mila from the movie Taal; AR Rahman did the soundtrack, who went on to win an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire. Taal means rhythm – the film is a musical and it encouraged me to learn the dilruba [a type of bowed sitar]. I only saw the movie once, but the visuals of the songs have stayed with me. Cont...

Events

8 d. ago Arsenal, a packed Estádio José Alvalade and the reason I fell in love with football | Suzanne Wrack

My journalistic cap slipped slightly but the feeling I have seeing the team I adore lift the Champions League is indescribableI can’t type the words. Sophie Downey’s stopwatch, started the moment the clock hit 90 minutes, is running on the desk next to me, but my fingers won’t move. I refuse to write a variation of “Arsenal are European champions” with time still on the clock because the thought of having to press that backspace key and delete it is too much. The editors will have to wait; I’ll start writing the intro paragraph when there’s one minute 30 seconds of the seven minutes of stoppage time to go, but gingerly, agonisingly – even that feels too soon.I believe, I really do, but what if? And then I’m too busy sobbing into my hands to finish or press send. The narratives, there are so many narratives: Renée Slegers, the former academy player head coach with the retro Arsenal ring on her little finger who was made permanent manager only four months ago; Leah Williamson’s journe...

Sport

1 week ago Prince Harry wanted Princess Diana's sisters to see similarities between Meghan Markle and his mother

Heartbreakingly, Prince Harry never had the chance to introduce the woman he fell in love with to his mother, the late Princess Diana.

Politics

1 week ago Mastermind contestants who fell in love on BBC show detail unusual first date

John Robinson and Claire Reynolds appeared on ITV's This Morning on Tuesday to discuss their romance, which blossomed after they both appeared on BBC's Mastermind.

Culture

1 week ago Golf brand founder to play 25 rounds in five days in MND charity fundraiser

Graeme Smeaton said attempting the challenge on courses where he first fell in love with the sport will be ‘incredibly special’.

Economics

2 w. ago ‘I lived my passion’: how Christine Beckers and a group of intrepid female drivers blazed a trail in 1970s Monaco

New book shines a light on the women who stole headlines on an F1 support bill 50 years ago, with Beckers going on to star at Le Mans and hold the Guinness World RecordMonaco’s place in Formula One history has long since been established but two little-known races from the principality 51 years ago remain etched in the memory of those who took part, when women blazing a trail in the male-dominated motor racing world took to the track in Monte Carlo.Christine Beckers competed in the first Grand Prix Monte-Carlo Féminin on 26 May 1974 and now, at 81 is as irrepressibly enthused about racing as she was when she fell in love with the sport as a teenager. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I was watching osprey for five hours a day’: how the world fell in love with nature live streams

More and more people are hooked on watching animals in real time. Now researchers say it could even improve your mood, help you relax and give you better sleepIn 2012 Dianne Hoffman, a retired consultant, became a peeping Tom. For five hours a day she watched the antics of a couple, Harriet and Ozzie, who lived on Dunrovin ranch in Montana.The pair were nesting ospreys, being streamed live as they incubated their clutch of eggs. The eggs never hatched, but the ospreys sat on them for months before finally kicking them out of the nest. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago This land is their land: Trump is selling out the US’s beloved wilderness

During the McCarthy era’s darkest days, public lands came under attack. History now repeats itself – and this may be the last chance to defend what’s oursIn 1913, on a remote, windswept stretch of buffalo-grass prairie in western North Dakota, Roald Peterson was born – the ninth of 11 children to hardy Norwegian homesteaders.The child fell in love with the ecosystem he was born into. It was a landscape as awe-inspiring and expansive as the ocean, with hawks riding sage-scented winds by day and the Milky Way glowing at night. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Hairy Biker Si King’s Honest Playlist: ‘Led Zeppelin is perfect for when you’re speeding along’

The chef, author and presenter wants to be John Bonham and might be found busting out Baker Street at karaoke, but which song reminds him of lost love?The first single I bought I Don’t Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats from Sounds Nice on Birtley High Street, when I was in my teens. I know it was about a school shooting, but at the time, I thought: I have a visceral reaction to Mondays as well.The first song I fell in love with Still in Love With You from Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous album. I was learning to play drums and Brian Downey, Thin Lizzy’s drummer, used to do this wonderful shuffle beat because it’s a relatively slow track, and his playing is beautiful. I still play the drums. I’ve never stopped being a musician. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Prison officer had cupboard fling with inmate she 'proper fell in love with'

Morgan Farr Varney, from Doncaster, was jailed after she was found to have been in a 'physical and romantic relationship' with a prisoner

Events

3 w. ago Female prison officer had cupboard fling with inmate she 'proper fell in love with'

Morgan Farr Varney, from Doncaster, began a 'physical and romantic relationship' with an inmate at HMP Lindholme - and was caught on CCTV sneaking into a cupboard with him

Events

4 w. ago ‘I’ve always had a soft spot for Lady Gaga’: John Lydon’s honest playlist

The Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd frontman prefers drinking to karaoke and loves the Kinks, but which out-there rock song changed his life?The first song I fell in love with I loved Gene Vincent as a kid. Then my mum and dad bought You Really Got Me by the Kinks. It shocked me that the guitar was so tough and brilliant. Ray Davies is one of Britain’s finest songwriters.The first single I bought Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town by Kenny Rogers, from a little store in Finsbury Park, where I bought reggae and Jimi Hendrix from thereon in. It was run by a little old lady, who played the deepest of deep reggae. She had colossal, mad taste, this old lady. Continue reading...

Politics