2 h. ago ‘You don’t get a second chance at a shot like this – horses wander off’: Mike Wells’s best phone picture

The former World Press Photo of the Year winner on why capturing a good image remains instinctive in the age of mobile photography‘Scrambling to catch this shot felt like 3D chess,” says photographer Mike Wells. “My eyes were balancing Connemara’s famous mountains, its wild ponies and the stone walls, while my mind computed the variables: the rush to catch the last rays of evening sun, that moment when a sea breeze lifts the ponies’ manes, and whichever way they will amble next.”In 1981, Wells won the World Press Photo of the Year for an image shot in Uganda depicting a malnourished boy’s hand resting in the palm of a Catholic priest. “When I was working in the 1970s and 80s, unless you could afford a motor drive for your camera, you often got just one chance at the critical shot,” Wells says. “You could never tell whether you really had captured the moment until you got back from Africa, or at least out of the darkroom. That image wasn’t well lit or well composed, ju...

Politics

3 h. ago Ratatouille and le grand aïoli: Matthew Ryle’s classic French dishes for Bastille Day

The summery fireworks of a proper Provençal ratatouille, plus a seasonal veg-centric centrepiece based around a superbly garlicky mayoWhen writing recipes, it’s good to get into the right headspace. The sky’s clear, it’s warm out (maybe not quite hot enough for my liking) and I’m sitting in the sun, possibly with a glass of rosé in hand. I’m transported to the French Riviera, and that glamorous, sun-drenched coastline, and it’s the perfect setting for two of the most summery French classics: ratatouille and grand aïoli, especially in the run-up to Bastille Day on 14 July. Ratatouille is a glorious riot of stewed vegetables, and I like to serve it with a vibrant French take on pesto. Le grand aïoli, meanwhile, is a feast of seasonal veg, boiled eggs, anchovies and plenty of garlicky mayo for dipping. Both make brilliant centrepieces, or to serve alongside your next barbecue. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel review – impressive performance and build quality for F1 sim racers

The Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel features exceptional build quality and loads of buttons, but the lack of SimHub support is a shame.

Politics

3 h. ago Amanda Holden says 'sun's out skin's out' as she stuns in this 'really gorgeous' mini skirt

Amanda Holden has been showing off her legs in a 'really gorgeous' white mini skirt that's perfect for summer weather and it's still in stock in all sizes

Politics

3 h. ago Amanda Holden she shows off her legs in ‘really gorgeous hipstery’ mini skirt

Amanda Holden declares 'the sun is out, the skin is out' as the heatwave returns to the UK, and this time she's showing off her stunning legs in this 'hipstery' mini skirt

Politics

4 h. ago Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech: an idyll amid the mayhem of Morocco's iconic city

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this opulent Mandarin Oriental outpost offers the perfect respite to the frenetic medina in the city

Politics

5 h. ago 'I tried the Kopari SPF setting spray that sold out multiple times to see if it’s worth the hype'

Shoppers are hailing the product as a ‘must buy’ - here's my honest opinion after trying it

Politics

6 h. ago Wine: I tried Aldi’s boxed dupe on ‘chicken wine’ and it is almost identical to the original

This will be the wine of the summer 🍷

Politics

6 h. ago ‘It’s blitz, blitz, blitz’: Kyiv’s shelters fill up as Russia intensifies aerial attacks

People in Ukrainian capital are exhausted and struggling for normality amid a dramatic rise in bombardmentAt 1am on Thursday, Dartsia Liuba went to the basement of her Kyiv apartment building with her two children and husband, Roma. The air-raid siren had gone off. A Russian attack was coming. Liuba scooped up her seven-month-old baby daughter, Halyna, and woke her bleary-eyed nine-year-old, Orysia, and they staggered down three floors to wait in sticky darkness.Soon explosions began. There was an ugly whine in the sky immediately above their district of Podil. It came from a Shahed kamikaze drone. The streets echoed with booms and rat-tat-tat machine-gun fire as Ukrainian air defence units tried to bring it down. The moped-like buzzing stopped – and then resumed as more drones appeared, in a swarm too big to count. Continue reading...

Events

6 h. ago Review: Cider slushies and frappes in the sun with INOVIVA slushie machine

Summer is here and everyone wants a cold drink - and thanks to this slushie machine from Inoviva, you can create the frozen variety of them in your own home

Politics

6 h. ago Review: Keychron Q1 HE is the ultimate keyboard for gamers and pros

Users can assign multiple actions to a single key, depending on how deeply it is pressed

Politics

7 h. ago Empire of the Elite by Michael B. Grynbaum: A history of Condé Nast that misses the big story

Having edited British GQ for 22 years, when I left in 2021, as the operation became centralised in New York, my agent at Curtis Brown told me to write a memoir about my time there. Having zero interest in doing so, I said I would rather concentrate on other things (principally, an extremely long holiday with my family). But as he is a very good agent, he pestered me until I said yes, which turned out to be an extremely fortuitous decision.

Politics

7 h. ago Tim Dowling: the tennis has reached boiling point – and so have we

The darkened living room offers some sanctuary from the heat as we try to work while watching Wimbledon, but by the end of the day it’s in as chaotic as our frazzled brainsWhen the sun is out and the weather is hot, my office shed becomes sauna-like long before midday. By 11am, I retreat to the kitchen to work. By noon, the kitchen is also too hot to work in, and I move to the living room, where I find the oldest one and the middle one sitting on the sofa in the dark, their faces illuminated by their laptop screens.“This is the place to be,” I say. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Billesley Manor Hotel and Spa: the country retreat where history meets world

To sleep, perchance to dream – in Elizabethan luxury

Politics

8 h. ago ‘Sheer luck’: how German backpacker Carolina Wilga was found after 11 nights lost in dense Australian outback

With minimal food and water, the 26-year-old used the sun for navigation, eventually flagging down a passing motoristCarolina Wilga spent 11 freezing nights lost in the Western Australian outback, convinced she would never be found.By “sheer luck” the confused and disoriented German backpacker came across a road, where she flagged down a woman in a passing car on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

Politics

11 h. ago New proposals to cut PIP and disability benefits ahead of full review

The Centre for Social Justice has called for emergency measures to be brought in to reduce the number of people currently on the benefit

Politics

13 h. ago House Democrats call for urgent review of deadly Texas flooding as Trump tours disaster zone

‘I’ve never seen anything like it. A little narrow river that becomes a monster,’ president says

Events

13 h. ago Fuel switches cut off before Air India crash, preliminary report says

Some 241 of the 242 people on board the plane were killed when it crashed and struck a medical college in Ahmedabad on June 12.

Events

14 h. ago Jeff Bezos shows off new hair growth after being entirely bald for more than 10 YEARS

In photos of the tech titan from the 'billionaire summer camp' in Sun Valley, Idaho, this week, he appears to have thick white-grey hair around the sides of his scalp.

Politics

15 h. ago Shoppers race for 'dream come true' coffee machine £220 off for Prime Day

"The Philips 5400 is a dream come true for coffee lovers. It makes everything from espresso to cappuccino at the touch of a button."

Economics