55 m. ago My cultural awakening: ‘Kate Bush helped me come out as a trans woman’

As a not-yet-out trans teen, The Sensual World – the singer’s rejection of masculine influence – felt like an invocation of everything I was feelingIt wasn’t safe for me to discover The Sensual World, the eponymous track on what Kate Bush described as her “most female album”. The song was intended to be a rejection of the masculine influence that had unwittingly shaped the artist’s previous work, and an ode to something taboo within the female experience. Based on Molly Bloom’s soliloquy in James Joyce’s Ulysses – a stream of consciousness in which the character reflects on her experiences of nature, sex and love – Bush wanted to celebrate the experience of life inside a woman’s body, and the ways it gives her spiritual and sexual pleasure. I knew that, for someone like me, who was already being bullied, to openly love a song like this could make me an even more obvious target to those who saw femininity as a sign of weakness. More daunting than that, it might force me to ...

Politics

86 m. ago Beach island has glorious 27C October heat making it perfect for half term

If you fancy escaping the wind, rain and gloomy mornings this half term there’s a beautiful, Mediterranean island lined with stunning beaches where the sun is still shining

Society

3 h. ago Major inheritance tax change could be announced in November say experts

Several financial experts have warned there could be tax changes announced in the Autumn Statement

Politics

3 h. ago Magical island where the waters are some of the 'bluest in Europe'

Travel experts have shared one of the prettiest European destinations for those looking for some winter sun - as the caves and water are some of the clearest around

Politics

3 h. ago Lavender will 'flourish' if you use 3 food scraps that will give them 'additional nourishment'

Lavender plants are often associated with serene summer days, offering a sense of tranquillity with their fragrant aroma - and there's a way to make them even healthier

Politics

4 h. ago Nestory Irankunda steals victory for Socceroos in fiery friendly against Canada

Australia snatch 1-0 win from 2026 World Cup co-host in MontrealPaul Izzo keeps out Les Rouges after teenager pinches goal in 71st minuteTeenage sensation Nestory Irankunda has scored his second goal in two matches, while goalkeeper Paul Izzo starred to deliver the Socceroos a fiery 1-0 win over Canada.After surviving a dour first half dominated by Canada, the Socceroos came to life with the introduction of second-half substitutes Jordy Bos, Lewis Miller and Patrick Yazbek, while Watford star Irankunda netted in the 71st minute. Continue reading...

Events

5 h. ago Vinted warns sellers of when they need to report sales to HRMC

Vinted has contacted its users to explain "new HRMC requirements"

Events

6 h. ago Love Island's Olivia and Alex Bowen share heartbreak at losing one of their twins

Olivia and Alex Bowen - the first Love Island couple to marry - spoke out following their vanishing twin syndrome ordeal, which saw the tragic loss of one of their babies

Politics

6 h. ago AMANDA PLATELL: I hope Harry and Meghan enjoy their last utterly deluded moment in the limelight. It's about to come crashing down

They say that Brits have a different sense of humour to the Americans. Ours is more nuanced, theirs more brash.

Events

9 h. ago Kirsty Gallacher makes first appearance since revealing she is undergoing treatment for ear tumour as she celebrates Global's Make Some Noise Day

The Gold radio presenter, 49, showed off her unique sense of style as she stepped out dressed head to toe in sequins to celebrate Global's Make Some Noise Day on Friday.

Politics

9 h. ago Federal judge rules Trump administration cannot put condition on domestic violence grants

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration cannot put conditions on grants that fund efforts to combat domestic violence or provide access to abortion resources

Events

10 h. ago Inter Miami consider sensational move to reunite Neymar with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in MLS

SIMON JONES: Miami are working on new contracts for Messi, 38, and Suarez, also 38, but are also floating the prospect of adding 33-year old Neymar.

Politics

11 h. ago Love Island star dubbed the 'Surrey Zidane' dreaming of FA Cup giant

The last four months have been a whirlwind for Love Island sensation Harry Cooksley, who has turned his immediate attention back to football as he prepares for a huge FA Cup game this weekend

Politics

13 h. ago Moss and Freud review – Kate meets Lucian and they get on brilliantly with absolutely no funny business at all

London film festival: The supermodel comes across as a dippy trustafarian and the artist like her soppy old grandpa in this bland, legacy-protecting depiction of their friendshipWhen Lucian Freud met Kate Moss turns out to be the encounter of a sweet, cuddly old gentleman and a guardedly opaque hedonist. Both look defanged.Freud’s sensational Naked Portrait 2002 is a nude study of the supermodel, to whom he had been introduced by his daughter, the fashion designer Bella Freud. Moss was pregnant when she sat for him – which lent a fierce, additional frisson to the painting’s candour and intimacy. Ellie Bamber plays Kate and carries off the unclothed moments with great directness and aplomb. Freud is played with Germanic R sounds by Derek Jacobi (who incidentally played Freud’s contemporary Francis Bacon in John Maybury’s Love Is the Devil in 1998) and he has Freud’s buzzard-like look but not quite the sharpness and severity. Continue reading...

Politics

13 h. ago Colm Tóibín: Why I set up a press to publish Nobel winner László Krasznahorkai

The Irish novelist discovered the Hungarian writer two decades ago, and was excited by the verbal pyrotechnics of a rule-breaking storytellerThat Christmas – it was almost 20 years ago – I came back from America with news. My friend Daniel Medin had recommended two books to me, both by the Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai, one called War and War and the other The Melancholy of Resistance. We had also watched some Béla Tarr films, whose screenplays had been written by Krasznahorkai. The sense of slow, seething menace in the film Werckmeister Harmonies, based on The Melancholy of Resistance, and the lack of easy psychology and obvious motive in the film, the camera moving like a cat, made it exciting, but not as exciting as the two novels.Krasznahorkai, I noticed, loved the snaking sentence, the high-wire act, mild panic steering towards a shivering fear felt by his characters, followed, in clause after clause, by fitful realisations and further reasons for gloom or alarm, and ...

Politics

13 h. ago The Guardian view on AC Milan playing a ‘home’ game in Perth: the clue should be in the name | Editorial

Famous European football clubs should not be shunted around the globe in search of sports promoters with deep pocketsFootball clubs are community assets, possessing a value, history and meaning which cannot be captured on a balance sheet. They belong to the cities and towns that have sustained them over the decades. For the vast majority of supporters, the sense of identity and matchgoing rituals associated with following their team are worth as much as the occasional trophy or glorious victory.That culture becomes harder to maintain, however, if your club’s next game is taking place 5,000 miles away. European football’s governing body, Uefa, this week announced that it will allow a Spanish league fixture between Villarreal and Barcelona to take place closer to Cuba than Catalonia, in Miami’s Hard Rock stadium. This will be followed, in February, by the relocation to Australia of an Italian Serie A match between Milan and Como. Global sports promoters, rubbing their hands ...

Politics

14 h. ago Reeves urged to rule out pension tax raid as thousands sign petition

Rachel Reeves is under growing pressure to rule out a pensions tax raid ahead of the Budget.

Economics

14 h. ago Flag alert! Gary Neville may not be Orwell but he is a very English type of patriot | Barney Ronay

An easy target for accusations of luxury hypocrisy, Neville has at least tried to address an issue that has everything to do with aggressively flag-draped and militarised modern sport“At the far end of the food counter a group of men were pledging allegiance to the flag, with trays balanced in one hand, in order to be allowed to take seats at the table. A group that had arrived earlier was singing The Star-Spangled Banner in order that they might use the salt and pepper and ketchup there.”Welcome to our own Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade, another real-time demonstration of the fact every satirical absurdity described in Catch-22 has become, yeah, pretty much totally plausible. The nation is now fully hostage to bad actors and phoney rage. And as ever football must act as a key amplifier of all this, a public echo chamber for the anxieties of what we must, out of a sense of duty, still call the real world. Continue reading...

Events

15 h. ago Estevao sends new message to 'incredible' Chelsea fans after Brazil brace

Blues sensation follows up last-gasp winner over Liverpool with double for the Selecao in South Korea

Sport

16 h. ago Senator's letter to Big Ten presidents: Private equity 'unlikely to align' with academic goals

Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell sent a letter to Big Ten presidents, warning that a move into private equity could have negative consequences, including impacting the schools’ tax-exempt status

Politics