44 m. ago Baroness Casey hauled in to save grooming gangs inquiry after four survivors quit, Starmer announces at PMQs

It comes as four survivors quit the probe citing concerns

Events

46 m. ago 'Victims don't believe you!' Starmer dismisses demands for minister to quit over grooming gangs shambles as he denies 'cover

In bruising clashes at PMQs, Keir Starmer insisted the probe would not be 'watered down' to avoid considering 'racial and religious motivations'.

Politics

52 m. ago Trump’s call to freeze Ukraine conflict at current frontlines is ‘good compromise’, says Zelenskyy – Europe live

Ukrainian president’s comments come amid suspension of planned US-Russian summit and fresh attacks on Kyiv and KharkivChildren among six killed in Russian attack on KyivRussia said on Wednesday that preparation for a presidential summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump was still continuing, despite the latter announcing it had been shelved (see 10.30am BST).“We are saying that preparations for a summit are continuing,” Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the state TASS news agency.I want to officially confirm: Russia has not changed its position compared to the understandings that were reached during the Alaska summit. Continue reading...

Politics

76 m. ago Strictly's Stefan Dennis says show bosses refused to save star over him despite injury

Neighbours star Stefan Dennis has been forced to quit Strictly Come Dancing after tearing his calf in training and now he's revealed that he asked bosses to save another star

Events

81 m. ago Andrew Cavenagh meets Rangers resistance over his special three rules as Hotline refuses to spare the big boss

Craig Swan manned the phones on a busy Wednesday with comments on the new Ibrox era, Celtic and Brendan Rodgers

Politics

1 hour ago Jess Phillips faces demands to QUIT as Labour is accused of 'watering down' grooming gang inquiry after four victims quit panel

Furious victims have been calling for the Home Office minister to go claiming she had accused them of 'lying' about efforts to water down the probe.

Events

1 hour ago Strictly Come Dancing judge reveals plans for final after another star quits

Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke has shared an update on the final of this year's competition following the news that Stefan Dennis has quit the show

Events

2 h. ago Strictly Come Dancing's Kai Widdrington hit with same comment after 'truly humbling' experience

The professional dancer is currently busy with the BBC One dance show, having been paired to compete with Vicky Pattison

Events

2 h. ago US leaders are erasing Black history. That threatens our future | Stacey Abrams and Esosa Osa

DEI is being used as a smokescreen to roll back progress and consolidate power. The goal is to rewrite our nation’s storyDemocracy flourishes when Black Americans advance. The evidence is clear: birthright citizenship, constitutional due process, anti-discrimination laws from education to housing to employment and equitable small business investments, are all byproducts of the systemic corrections known today as DEI. Yet, in recent years, DEI has been used as a smokescreen by cynical politicians and activists to roll back progress and consolidate power. Across classrooms, museums, boardrooms and federal agencies, the key pathways to opportunity and success are under attack through a coordinated disinformation campaign of erasure, distortion and suppression.The impact of these tactics is concrete and undeniable. Since the start of this year, Onyx Impact’s research has found, 306,000 Black women have lost their jobs and $3.4bn in grant programs investing in Black communities has been ...

Politics

2 h. ago Chain Reactions review – famous fans of Texas Chain Saw Massacre go deep into the legendary slasher

Stephen King, Takashi Miike and Patton Oswalt are among the contributors to this documentary about Tobe Hooper’s 1974 horror masterpieceIf you’re programming your own little horror film festival in the run-up to Halloween, and Tobe Hooper’s stone-cold classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre from 1974 is part of the lineup, then this would make a handy follow-up for a night’s viewing. It’s not a making-of movie, although there are snippets of insight into the production’s process; nor is it a meta-commentary at the same sprawling level of Room 237, the delirious doc about The Shining. Instead, Chain Reaction is something in between, constructed in five chapters featuring interviews with five very different, almost random-seeming interlocutors who have strong feelings about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. These are: comedian Patton Oswalt, film-makers Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer) and Karyn Kusama (Girlfight, Jennifer’s Body), academic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, and writer Step...

Events

2 h. ago PMQs live today: Keir Starmer faces grilling on grooming gangs inquiry 'chaos'

Cabinet minister apologises over Government's handling of the national grooming gangs inquiry after four abuse survivors quit their roles

Events

2 h. ago It’s great to see pregnant women in the public eye – but must they all be so gorgeous? | Coco Khan

Call me cynical, but I have a feeling Victoria’s Secret wouldn’t have sent a heavily pregnant model down the runway if she looked like most of us do at that stageDetermined to find new ways to stay in the headlines, the underwear brand Victoria’s Secret recently had the model Jasmine Tookes – one of its most longstanding “angels” – open its runway show nine months pregnant. As a postpartum woman myself, my first thought, of course, was: “Finally! A pregnant woman I can relate to.” Only joking: it was a deep concern for her ankles, followed by a wish that one day the modelling industry will solve its recruitment crisis, because surely short-staffing is the only justifiable reason for wanting a heavily pregnant woman to work.Nonetheless, body image and pregnancy have been on my mind recently. It is a curious thing, giving birth. We are all here because someone did it, yet what happens to women, mentally and physically, remains less known than, say, Liz Truss losing to a lettuce. And e...

Politics

2 h. ago Harry Maguire mocked by La Liga side after Man Utd 'clutch header' at Liverpool hailed

Harry Maguire's match-winning header at Liverpool was hailed by a post on social media - but Sevilla has used the post to poke fun at the Manchester United defender

Politics

2 h. ago Home Secretary's new vow over grooming gangs inquiry after survivors quit

The probe 'is not, and will never be, watered down on my watch'

Events

2 h. ago Jess Phillips faces demands to QUIT as Labour's grooming gangs inquiry descends into shambles

Furious victims have been calling for the Home Office minister to go claiming she had accused them of 'lying' about efforts to water down the probe.

Events

2 h. ago The Spin | The Shane Warne effect: why some cricketers are loved by fans of their fiercest rivals

Rivalries are hard and real in cricket but the game’s capacity for fluctuating, compelling narratives creates heroes out of foesAt the most famous cricket ground in the world, inside the sport’s most revered pavilion, there is a lifesize painting of a man who terrorised English cricket for 15 years. Across the manicured green turf at Lord’s, inside cricket’s most iconic media centre, the main commentary box is named after this generational tormentor. About 84 miles away, at the Rose Bowl near Southampton, an entire stand bears his name.English cricket has every reason to hate Shane Warne. In 36 Ashes Tests he bagged 195 wickets at an average of 23.25. From his opening ball of the century at Old Trafford in 1993 to his final bow in Sydney in 2007, he seemed to operate on a different plane. This peroxided devil ruined summers and deepened cold, bitter winters, yet he became an English national treasure, the perfect reminder that cricket, above all else, is something that should be enj...

Events

3 h. ago Grooming gang survivors say ministers trying to water down inquiry despite reassurances

Woman who quit panel says she was asked about ‘broader approach’, despite Shabana Mahmood’s insistence focus will not changeGrooming gang victims have accused the UK government of attempting to manipulate them into broadening a national inquiry to include other forms of sexual abuse, despite Shabana Mahmood’s insistence that the focus will not change.They suspect that the government is trying to deflect focus away from Labour-led councils, wishes to impose a government-friendly chair and wants to avoid raising questions over the ethnicity of the perpetrators, many of whom were men of Pakistani descent. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Hearts transfer mega hype explodes as 2005 cult hero raves about January signing he reckons will rip Gorgie up

The Premiership leaders have agreed a deal to sign Islam Chesnokov from homeland club Tobol in January when his contract expires.

Politics

3 h. ago Home Secretary says 'no hiding place' for grooming gangs as Labour scrambles to save inquiry into scandal

Cabinet minister Emma Reynolds apologised over the Government's handling of the inquiry after four survivors of abuse quit their roles in the probe

Society

3 h. ago Strictly bosses refused to save star over Stefan Dennis despite horror injury

Neighbours star Stefan Dennis was forced to quit Strictly Come Dancing after tearing his calf in training

Events