87 m. ago Ludovico Einaudi: ‘The way you blend the elements you eat is similar to composing a piece of music’

The pianist and composer talks about his passion for chillies, teas and saucepans, and cooking for his dad’s remarkable literary dinner partiesI live in Torino [Turin], a town where I grew up, where I was born. There’s a famous dish from there called bagna cauda. It’s a meeting of the garlic from the area of Piedmont, the mountains, with the anchovies coming from the sea in Liguria. It’s a very simple dish, a bit like a broth, perfect in winter, and you eat it with raw vegetables of the season. But there’s so much garlic in it that, when you eat it, you need a couple of days away from other people.There is a connection between how you eat and how you make music: the way you blend the elements that you eat, the colours, it’s similar to composing a piece of music. If I take my solo piano repertoire, I would associate it with a very simple food, with few elements and few colours, not overelaborate. If I think of a piece of mine with more instruments, more orchestral, I would ...

Politics

2 h. ago From the new Sambas to the best shoes for a soggy run – 64 trainers to tick every box

Want to know the best way to keep your kicks clean? Looking for a comfy pair that aren’t gross? We’ve got all your trainer questions answeredI bet you know very few people who don’t own a single pair of trainers. Even the most cursory glance at people’s feet on the street, in the office or, occasionally, on a red carpet (Spike Lee is never not in his Air Jordans) is proof that they have transcended their original purpose.But does that mean it’s OK to wear them to work – and if so, which ones? Does wearing black or white ones show your age, as much perhaps as how you wear your socks? What should you actually wear to run in – and, most burning of all, what is the new Adidas Samba in this post-Rishi world (clue: there’s more than one)? Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Scientists reveal how to pick out the cleanest cubicle in ANY public toilet (and why it is different for men and women)

It's a familiar puzzle that many of us face on an almost daily basis. When nature calls and your only option is a public toilet, which cubicle should you pick?

Politics

3 h. ago ‘The bot asked me four times a day how I was feeling’: is tracking everything actually good for us?

Gathering data used to be a fringe pursuit of Silicon Valley nerds. Now we’re all at it, recording everything from menstrual cycles and mobility to toothbrushing and time spent in daylight. Is this just narcissism redesigned for the big tech age?I first heard about my friend Adam’s curious new habit in a busy pub. He said he’d been doing it for over a year, but had never spoken to anyone about it before. He had a furtive look around, then took out his phone and showed me the product of his burning obsession: a spreadsheet.This was not a record of his annual tax return or numbers he was crunching for work (Adam is a data scientist). Instead, it was a spreadsheet recording the minutiae of his life, with dozens of columns tracking every element of his daily routine. It all started, he told me, because of a recurring argument with his boyfriend. His partner didn’t think they spent enough time together, but Adam thought that they did. There was only one way to settle this, he decided: co...

Politics

4 h. ago Owner of Harry Potter Airbnb left heartbroken after guests smash furniture and leave brown stains on bed

The owner of a Harry Potter themed rental property in Watford has been left heartbroken after a guest left them to clean up 'the most horrific scene ever'.

Politics

4 h. ago ‘We’re clearly heading towards collapse’: why the Murdoch empire is about to go bang

An explosive succession trial and an astonishing interview with one of Rupert’s sons have exposed the paranoia and hatred at the heart of global media’s most powerful family. This could get messy When some of the mind games and manoeuvres that turned a Murdoch family “retreat” into an ordeal appeared in Succession, the TV drama about squabbling family members of a right-wing media company, members of the real-life family started to suspect each other of leaking details to the writers. The truth was more straightforward. Succession’s creator, Jesse Armstrong, said that his team hadn’t needed inside sources – they had simply read press reports.Future screenwriters have been gifted a whole load of new Murdoch material in the past few days, after two astonishing stories in the New York Times and the Atlantic lifted the lid on the dysfunction, paranoia and despair at the heart of the most powerful family in global media. Continue reading...

Events

6 h. ago Needle drop! The world’s first sewing machine orchestra takes Munich

This weekend, a symphony of Singers (not that kind) will lead an experimental performance that stitches together feminism and fashion – and offers the audience free repairsStepping into the studio of the Brazilian-born artist and performer Lisa Simpson – no relation to the cartoon character – feels like entering a crossover between the Mad Hatter’s workshop and a postindustrial steampunk landscape with a colourful girl-power twist. The ground floor space in Berlin’s southern district of Neukölln is filled with shelves laden with old sewing machines and coat racks brimming with hats, bags and fabric scraps. Even more sewing machines propped on two tables might suggest that this is a tailor’s workshop, were it not for the tangle of cables and synthesisers connected to them. Toy sewing machines in candy colours have a purple phone receiver attached; colourful cables with knitted covers sneak out of household sewing machines and seam overlockers; pins and needles are connected to microp...

Politics

6 h. ago Pub cleaner with bad neck wins payout after colleagues mocked her for struggling to use a mop

A cleaner afflicted by chronic neck pain who was mocked over her physical limitations by staff at the Lancashire pub where she worked has won her case for disability discrimination and harassment.

Politics

7 h. ago I tried Polti steam generator iron that's made me rethink the worst household chore

Review of Polti La Vaporella XT120C Steam Generating Iron that’s on offer at Amazon with 25% off in limited time deal

Politics

7 h. ago UB40 fans are just learning meaning behind band name after 47 years

UB40 have been a household name since 1978 - but some fans are only just learning what their band name actually stands for after decades of chart-topping hits

Politics

7 h. ago I tried Boots' viral £18 product on my dead hair to see if it actually works

With over a million views on TikTok, 206K followers on Instagram, and hundreds of five-star reviews, this brand's products have received some high acclaim for helping put the va-va-voom back into tired curls and waves

Economics

7 h. ago The New York Yankees’ repeal of their facial hair policy is simply business

Ending their decades-long ban on facial hair and bringing beards back to the Bronx had to be done to prop up New York’s declining competitive advantageOne of the last vestiges of George Steinbrenner era is finally over. The in-house (that Ruth built) rule that denied New York Yankees players the right to wear beards on baseball diamonds from the 1970s on is done and dusted, not unlike like The Boss himself, who died at 80 back in 2010. It’s the latest move showing that the new boss, George’s son Hal, who axed the 49-year-old rule on Friday, will do everything he can to differentiate himself from the old Boss, his dad.“In recent weeks I have spoken to a large number of former and current Yankees – spanning several eras – to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy, and I appreciate their earnest and varied feedback,” Steinbrenner said in a statement. “These most recent conversations are an extension of ongoing internal dialogue that dates back sev...

Events

7 h. ago Skirting board cleaning hack removes dust and dirt and leaves house smelling amazing

Skirting boards often become a magnet for dirt, dust and even dog hairs.

Politics

7 h. ago 'Miracle' £12 collagen supplements Amazon users use to stay 'forever young'

Incite Nutrition's Marine Collagen Capsules are an 'Amazon Choice' product based on over 3,000 global Amazon reviews.

Economics

8 h. ago Uniqlo shoppers snap up multiple pairs of £4 trousers that are 'smart and warm'

"I have had several pairs of these - they are brilliant. Warm and cosy outside but you don’t over heat inside due to the heattech technology"

Economics

8 h. ago ‘The tyranny of apps’: those without smartphones are unfairly penalised, say campaigners

From loyalty cards, to restaurant meal deals or simply parking your car – it is harder and harder to get by without signing up to a multitude of appsHow to navigate apps: from checking safety to recalling passwordsUK-wide parking app may be out of road after funding withdrawnMichael is in his late 50s and is among the millions of people in the UK who cannot or do not want to use mobile apps, and feels he is being penalised for his choice.He does own a smartphone – an Apple iPhone he bought secondhand about three years ago – but says: “I don’t use apps at all. I don’t download them for security reasons.” Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Moments from disaster: A last smiling selfie on doomed MH17, the final leap of a bike stuntman and a parachute jump that went badly wrong... the tragic stories behind haunting final photos

Whether taking a selfie, filming a daring activity or simply posing for a holiday snap, the minutes before disaster strikes can be the happiest and most exhilarating of people's lives.

Events

9 h. ago Tesco and Spar shoppers warned 'do not eat' these cheese and crisps

All the latest product recalls issued by the Food Standards Agency and why they've been pulled from supermarket shelves

Events

10 h. ago ‘Traditional flavours and modern ideas’ turn Swedish buns into a TikTok delight

The ‘fantasticallly delicious’ semla has gone from a simple Nordic springtime favourite to a Noma-approved delicacyThe earliest version of the Swedish semla was a 16th-century plain bread bun served in a soup of warm milk eaten only on Shrove Tuesday in preparation for the 40-day fast of Lent.It is a far cry from this year’s hit varieties, which include Dubai chocolate (the chocolate bar with a knafeh and pistachio filling that became a TikTok trend) and chokladboll (based on a Scandinavian oat, cocoa and butter ball – a popular fika item). Continue reading...

Politics

10 h. ago Size 22 model loses five stone by making simple change to her lifestyle

Olivia, known as oliviasworld95 on Instagram, is a body positive influencer who has never been afraid to show off her lumps and bumps, but she recently decided to lose weight

Politics