58 m. ago ‘Dead simple’ flight booking trick to get ‘perfect plane seats’ for the whole family, expert says

Travelling with the family can start your holiday on an incredibly stressful note

Events

3 h. ago I went searching for the grandmother I never met. Under a tree where she once sat with Leonard Cohen, I broke | Gina Chick

When adoption laws changed in Australia, we discovered her name: Charmian Clift. I felt instant recognition. This explained everythingGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailWhen I was young, I had no idea that my mother was such an extraordinary woman. She was just my mother, swirling in and out of the house, singing to her jonquil bulbs, tripping over the animals I rescued, all while reading five books at once. If she was in the kitchen, my sisters and I hid downstairs as she clattered and crashed all the saucepans and swore like a sailor at the latest ruined batch of biscuits.She wept at whatever devastation the nightly news delivered into the lounge room. She loved and was loved in return by my father, Douggie. She birthed four babes, grew the surviving three into formidable women and instilled in us a fierce belief that there was nothing we could not do. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Mum of toddler, 2, in migrant camp in desperate plea for better life says 'It's life or death'

Juliana was seven months pregnant when she made the decision to leave Uganda - her daughter Clara has no idea of the risks she has taken to try and find an existence for them both

Events

4 h. ago Mum of toddler, 2, in migrant camp says Channel dinghy journey is about 'life or death'

Juliana was seven months pregnant when she made the decision to leave Uganda - her daughter Clara has no idea of the risks she has taken to try and find an existence for them both

Events

5 h. ago Woman approached casket to say goodbye to mum at funeral when her eyes suddenly opened

When the family of Helen Mercer went to view her body and say their final goodbyes in Chicago, Illinois, they were horrified when her eyes popped open because her body was not properly embalmed

Politics

6 h. ago A benign, perfectly sculpted picture of vitality or the palatable face of toxic masculinity?

The viral response to US influencer Ashton Hall’s morning routine shows that the manosphere is now mainstream How does the perfect morning begin? With gentle stretching, a coffee in bed? It could be a walk in the sun, a hot breakfast or simply managing to spend the first 20 minutes off your phone before spending the next 20 on Instagram. Lately, it may feel like the answer is being more productive.The optimised morning routine has become a near-mythical ideal for young people, sold by fitness influencers posting obsessively about their 5.30am starts, claiming to finish their weight training, macronutrient-rich meals and emails before our first alarm – promising that everything in your life would be better if you, too, had the discipline to just get up early. Continue reading...

Events

6 h. ago ‘Hands Off’ protests begin across US to oppose Trump agenda – live

More than a thousand events expected in a show of defiance against US president’s ‘authoritarian overreach’Hundreds of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday as part of global demonstrations against Donald Trump’s administration. Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square with banners that read “No to Maga hate” and “Dump Trump”. The rally is one of hundreds of so-called “hands off” demonstrations around the world – including in cities across the US, Paris and Berlin. The movement has been organised by more than 150 groups, including civil rights groups and trade unions. Among the protesters in London was Clarke Reinstein, 73, from Rhode Island, who told the PA news agency he was “disappointed in my fellow Americans” over the election of Donald Trump. “I’ve been in London for two months and I like being over here because people think a little differently,” he said, adding, “They made a mistake over Brexit – but they didn’t fall over like the Americans have.” A 37-year-old woman ...

Politics

7 h. ago Marks and Spencer shoppers snap up luxury £40 Easter egg hamper for just £24 online

"This delightful collection features a variety of irresistible goodies, including the indulgent Scrummy Bunny Munch Loaded Half Easter Egg, an adorable Bubbly Bunny, and the perfect Baby Bunny."

Economics

8 h. ago No forgetting my encounter with two giants of the stage | Tim Lewis

Old pals Ewan McGregor and Michael Grandage prepare for their new play, My Master Builder, by chuckling about everything that could go wrong and hasFor today’s Observer New Review I had the not-exactly-onerous assignment of spending an hour with the actor Ewan McGregor and director Michael Grandage, as they prepared to put on a new play, My Master Builder, in London’s West End. The two men go way back, and mostly they were cracking each other up with knockabout old stories – much of which there wasn’t room for in my article. McGregor recalled one of his first roles on stage, as Orlando in As You Like It, and how when Simon Callow – multiple Olivier and Bafta award winner – played the part in 1979, he walked out on stage at the National Theatre only to promptly forget the first line of the play.“If you’re a woman and you’re about to have a baby, everybody tells you nightmare stories about childbirth,” said McGregor. “And when you’re an actor about to do a play, everybody tells you te...

Politics

8 h. ago Woman pays £80 for abandoned Heathrow Airport suitcase and 'things got very interesting'

TikToker, Becky's Bazaar shared a video of the haul she found inside a suitcase that was left unclaimed at Heathrow Airport to see if it was worth what she paid for it

Economics

9 h. ago Pitch Perfect star Adam Devine, 41, was 'told he was dying' a month before his son was born

Pitch Perfect and Isn't It Romantic star Adam Devine has recalled the horrifying moment doctors told him he was dying - but luckily they got it wrong

Events

9 h. ago Woman horrified as date makes cannibal confession – then does something unexpected

A woman has shared her dating experience after she matched with a man on a dating app who made a terrifying confession to her while they were on their first date

Politics

9 h. ago 'Bloke made cannibal confession on our first date – then did something unexpected'

A woman has shared the story of her worst ever date, during which the man she was with confessed a 'creepy' secret fantasy to her - and that wasn't the only red flag either

Politics

9 h. ago BRIAN READE: 'With US gangsters, tariffs and foodbanks, it's like we're back in 1920s'

The longer this decade drags on, the more it feels like we’re living through a re-run of the 1920s – as the rich elite get richer while the poor just get poorer

Economics

9 h. ago Mum and daughter terrified after man repeatedly leapt from bushes and took top off

Reece Stutt, 26, regularly harassed a woman and her daughter as they walked to school, by repeatedly jumping out of the bushes and taking his top off. He has now been sentenced

Events

10 h. ago The hidden garden shaped like a teddy in one of Cardiff's best parks

Uncover Cardiff’s hidden jewel – a perfect family day out in the Welsh capital

Politics

10 h. ago Woman 'taken by aliens' in 'abduction of century' says how to tell if you have been too

Alien abduction stories have been circulating for decades, with some people claiming they were taken by extraterrestrials and subjected to strange experiments on board their spaceship

Politics

11 h. ago 'Guy made cannibal confession to me on our first date – I was so creeped out'

A woman has recalled a disastrous date that started out okay but descended into chaos when the man told her all about his 'creepy' fantasy - and made her run for the hills

Politics

11 h. ago Woman unmasks dad as evil killer as she solves cold case murder of teen 30 years on

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: The mutilated body of 17-year-old Melanie Road was found by a milkman and his 10-year-old son and sparked a nationwide manhunt, but her killer was only caught three decades later

Events

11 h. ago Woman detained in US for 3 weeks under new travel rules says she was 'naive'

Rebecca Burke, 28, was trying to cross from Canada to the USA but did not have the right visa

Politics