87 m. ago The Harvey Nichols beauty advent calendar is a stellar Christmas countdown – here’s why

The department store’s Christmas countdown is worth more than £1,000

Politics

88 m. ago Uber at war with black cab drivers as car company demands legal case is thrown out

Lawyers for the mobile ride-hailing company argue a claim made by black cab drivers was brought too late

Events

1 hour ago Parents of woman, 24, murdered in her home hail 'major step forward' on stalking laws

Clive and Sue Ruggles, whose daughter Alice Ruggles was murdered in 2016 by her ex-boyfriend, have welcomed a new judge-led review into stalking laws

Society

2 h. ago Heathrow’s third runway moves step nearer as Government launches review

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said her department is committed to making a decision on Heathrow expansion ‘within this Parliament’.

Politics

3 h. ago NATO scrambles warplanes after devastating Russian strike on Ukraine

The devastating strikes follow reports that a proposed meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is off after the Russian President refused to halt his war on Ukraine

Events

3 h. ago Hundreds of Russian troops stranded and starving in ‘death zone’ on Ukraine’s Dnipro river

Russian troops have been forced to drink river water as they lie marooned on the Dnipro delta

Events

3 h. ago Woman shot dead as part of drug gang turf war, murder trial told

Joanne Penney, 40, was shot in the heart when she opened the door of a flat in Talbot Green, near Cardiff.

Events

3 h. 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

3 h. ago Dekmantel Festival 2025 review: still showing others how it's done

11 years in, this legendary music festival in Amsterdam continues to draw in a heady mix of rising talent and big hitters

Culture

4 h. ago What to know about the 13 hostages whose remains are still inside Gaza

Palestinian militants have so far released 15 bodies of hostages that were held in Gaza for the past two years as part of the ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Hamas war

Events

4 h. ago Netflix's 'beautifully shot' war film hailed 'absolutely fantastic and heartbreaking'

The film was released in cinemas in 2021 and is now available to stream on Netflix

Events

4 h. ago Gangster caught searching for hidden gun in Edinburgh becomes first turf war hood to be convicted

Liam McDermid, 25, used the device to try to secure the firearm which had been hidden in undergrowth at Edinburgh’s Roseburn cycle path.

Events

4 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

4 h. ago ITV Lorraine host Ranvir Singh congratulates guest as they share personal update

The Wanted star Nathan Sykes appeared on ITV's Lorraine on Wednesday morning and shared exciting news with Ranvir Singh about marrying his partner Charlotte Burke

Politics

5 h. ago Gaza ceasefire live: JD Vance has ‘great optimism’ truce will hold as he meets Netanyahu

On a visit to Israel, the US vice-president said Washington would not set a deadline for the group to disarm under the US-brokered dealIsrael has completed the identification of the bodies of two more hostages, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday, the Associated Press (AP) reports. Authorities identified the deceased hostages as Arie Zalmanovich and Tamir Adar. Their bodies were transported in coffins by the Red Cross and handed over to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. A military ceremony attended by the chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces was planned for later in the day, Netanyahu’s office said. The two were killed in kibbutz Nir Oz during the 7 October 2023, attack by Hamas militants, which triggered the two-year war. Since the ceasefire began on 10 October, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over, a key element to the ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, the burial of m...

Events

5 h. ago 'Terrifying' war film hailed 'masterpiece' streaming for free on BBC

The BBC iPlayer is home to a hidden gem of a war film, featuring an all-star cast and directed by an award-winning actor, that is available to stream for free

Events

6 h. ago ‘A force of nature who took no prisoners’: a tribute to Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki

The driving force behind Team Ninja was a game development samurai who almost always won his battlesGame designer and ex-Team Ninja boss Tomonobu Itagaki died last week aged 58. He was famous for his sunglasses, long black hair, leather jackets – and his penchant for using colourful second world war metaphors to describe game development, marketing strategies and just about anything else. A pugnacious talent, he rocked the boat and made waves in almost every aspect of his life.Itagaki joined Japanese game developer Tecmo in 1992, as a young programmer, where he led the creation of the fighting game series Dead or Alive, the first instalment of which was released in 1996. He famously picked a long-running fight with Namco’s Tekken series, after that company’s marketing team ran an ad that he found disparaging. The resulting one-sided beef put his fighting franchise on the world stage in the early 2000s. After Dead or Alive 3, he turned his attentions to beach volleyball as a palette ...

Events

6 h. ago Kathy Burke shares AI fear as she spills secrets of bombshell autobiography

Kathy Burke on AI fears as she talks about secrets of new book

Events

6 h. ago Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung review – sinister stories from the graveyard shift

Horror tropes meet modern nightmares as the South Korean author takes us deep inside a research facility called The InstituteOur fears turn feral when they have nowhere to go. South Korean author Bora Chung’s new short story collection plays with old horror tropes: endless corridors and looped staircases, exits that only lead you deeper, a phone that rings and rings (don’t pick up). The kind of stories dare-drunk children trade in the dark.Set in a research facility known only as “the Institute”, a repository of cursed and haunted objects, Chung’s tales come from the building’s skeleton staff – warnings and gossip from the night shift. It’s a nod, perhaps, to Stephen King’s debut collection, 1978’s still brilliant Night Shift. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Janine Harouni: This Is What You Waited For review – new mum’s return to her own childhood

Soho theatre, London These deftly sprung riffs on extended family and motherhood gain in power when mayhem offsets the tightly controlled setThe last time I saw Janine Harouni perform she was eight months pregnant and delivering a show about imminent parenthood. It may not surprise you to learn that her first show since is about actual parenthood, of a now 18-month-old boy, with help from her visiting Lebanese- and Irish-American parents. Childrearing may not take a village in This Is What You Waited For, but it takes an extended family – which prompts reflection from our host on how she was mothered, and what kind of mother she can be.Not for the first time with Harouni, I found the smoothness and control of her hour on that theme almost too neat. A proponent of “gentle parenting”, she practises gentle and measured comedy too. The jokes are very deftly sprung as we’re led through her experience of raising an uncommonly large baby boy, with detours via her relationships with her hus...

Politics