40 h. ago Men of a Certain Age by Kate Mossman review – close encounters with charismatic male rockers

A journalist’s bracingly honest account of interviews with musicians from Brian May to Shaun RyderWhen the journalist Kate Mossman was a child, she developed an obsession with the rock band Queen. Mossman came of age in the 1990s, but the irony and snark of that decade left her cold. Instead, she lived for the “middle-aged musicians from the 80s in jacket and jeans, and for the open-hearted, non-cynical pop times that had come before”. Watching Queen’s posthumous single These Are the Days of Our Lives on Top of the Pops in 1991, she “felt something within myself ignite”. Though she was captivated by the strange longing of a monochrome Freddie Mercury, who had died weeks earlier, it was drummer Roger Taylor who became the focus of her obsession. On the mantelpiece of her childhood home sat a holy relic: a beer glass he had drunk from during a solo gig. Twenty years later, while on her way to interview Taylor and Queen guitarist Brian May for a magazine profile, Mossman confesses...

Politics

60 h. ago Could swapping scrolling for reading at bedtime affect your sleep?

What if the key to better rest lies in something a little more old-fashioned – like a good book?

Politics

5 d. ago Doctors thought I had a stroke during birth but the truth was more devastating

Tracy White had a 'traumatic' birth with her sixth child in December 2013 and went on to develop a number of worrying symptoms in the following months

Politics

9 d. ago Children are developing 'Fortnite accents' after spending too much time playing the video game, experts warn

Experts have warned that some children are spending so much time playing the game that they're developing 'Fortnite accents'.

Events

1 week ago How to raise kind children: lead by example, talk it over and get a dog

It is a simple and powerful way to help them feel calmer and happier, say the experts. So how do you teach kindness to kids?“In a hostile world, many parents might be anxious about how to raise a kinder generation – and if so, science backs you. Children who are more empathetic “tend to have more positive interactions and more satisfying relationships with friends and family,” says Jessica Rolph, co-founder of early childhood development company Lovevery. Studies show that kids who can form strong relationships do better in school, she adds. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Hidden gem Welsh park with huge lake and secret trails sat on top of Fairyland

A place that hasn't changed since my childhood, is now undergoing exciting developments - and I can't wait

Society

3 w. ago MobLand review – Tom Hardy can pull off miracles! And this show needs a few

Sure, this Guy Ritchie gangster drama is so cartoonish you could dismiss it as crass twaddle. But watching Hardy threaten people is irresistibleTom Hardy can be very persuasive. In Taboo, people did what he said because he’d growled something intimidatingly gothic at them; in Locke, they knew he’d only phone back later if they didn’t give in; in the Kray brothers biopic Legend, there were two Tom Hardys and they were both holding claw hammers. Whenever he’s the celebrity reader on CBeebies Bedtime Stories, meanwhile, half of the adults watching wouldn’t need any persuading.The idea that a Tom Hardy character cajoling, threatening or influencing someone is an art form in itself is the core of MobLand, a decent new gangster epic that casts Hardy as top fixer Harry Da Souza. Harry works for the Harrigans, the Irish clan who dominate the London drugs and guns scene, but who are prone to excess and perhaps not as savvy as they once were. Their charming, clinical lieutenant Harry cleans u...

Politics

3 w. ago How Gene Hackman's wife was being tailed by a creepy stalker before they both died, as told by one of the key witnesses. GUY ADAMS reveals truth about final days and inside story of family rift

One morning in December, Betsy Arakawa helped her elderly husband Gene Hackman into their truck and set off for White Rock, a small town 45 minutes from their hilltop home near Santa Fe.

Events

4 w. ago Parents are reading their children the same bedtime story 416 times a YEAR

A poll of 1,000 mums and dads has found that parents will read their child's favourite tale from start to finish an average of eight times in a typical week.

Society

4 w. ago Rachel Zegler 'leaves fans in shock' as she joins CBeebies Bedtime Story amid backlash

Snow White star Rachel Zegler is the latest celebrity to read a bedtime story on CBeebies - just a week after the release of the controversial live action Disney film

Events

4 w. ago The US government is effectively kidnapping people for opposing genocide | Moira Donegan

Rumeysa Ozturk, a visa holder, was snatched off the streets by Ice agents and sent to a detention center 1,000 miles away for opposing war crimes in GazaThe abductors wore masks because they do not want their identities known. On Tuesday evening, Rumeysa Ozturk exited her apartment building and walked on to the street in Somerville, Massachusetts – a city outside Boston – into the fading daylight. Ozturk, a Turkish-born PhD student at Tufts University who studies children’s media and childhood development, was on her way to an iftar dinner with friends, planning to break her Ramadan fast.In a video taken from a surveillance camera, she wears a pink hijab and a long white puffer coat against the New England cold. The first man, not uniformed but wearing plain clothes, as all the agents are, approaches her as if asking for directions. But he quickly closes in and grabs her by the wrists she has raised defensively toward her face. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Reading the same bedtime story could be the key to your child's development

Eight out of ten parents say they have had to re-read the same book to their child at least once, with the typical little one asking for the same story to be read to them 416 times a year

Politics