33 h. ago Slow Horses author Mick Herron: ‘I love doing things that are against the rules’

As the hit thriller returns to our screens, its creator talks about false starts, surprise inspirations – and why he never looks inside Jackson Lamb’s headIt is hard to imagine anyone less like the slovenly, has-been MI5 agent Jackson Lamb than his creator, Mick Herron. “He must come deep out of my subconscious,” the 62-year-old thriller writer jokes, sipping mineral water at a rooftop bar in his home city of Oxford, a world away from London’s Aldersgate where his bestselling Slough House series is set. In a “blue shirt, white tee” (fans will get the reference), he is softly spoken with a hint of a Geordie accent. Herron is often described as the heir to John le Carré and “the best spy novelist of his generation”, according to the New Yorker. Unlike le Carré, he’s not, and never has been, a spy. Mysteriously, though, Wikipedia has given him “an entirely fictitious” birthday. “I got cards. I got a cake,” he says.For the uninitiated, the novels and award-winning TV series follow a bun...

Culture

37 h. ago Blind war veteran who lost sight in explosion that killed two pals climbs Ben Nevis in their memory

Paul Jacobs pledged to "continue climbing to the highest heights" to support fellow veterans.

Events

3 d. ago Australia’s top court denies war hero’s final appeal against finding he likely killed unarmed Afghans

A federal judge found in 2023 that Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living war veteran, likely killed non-combatants unlawfully in 2009 and 2012

Events

5 d. ago Eerie photos inside Bryan Kohberger's apartment reveal birthday cards he received days after Idaho murders

New evidence photos have revealed the inside of Bryan Kohberger's apartment, soulless and abandoned after he upped sticks and left Washington after murdering four Idaho students.

Events

5 d. ago Alarm after FBI arrests US army veteran for ‘conspiracy’ over protest against Ice

Legal experts say charges against Afghanistan war veteran Bajun Mavalwalla II mark an escalation in the Trump administration’s crackdown on first amendment rightsThe arrest of a US army veteran who protested against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has raised alarms among legal experts and fellow veterans familiar with his service in Afghanistan.Bajun Mavalwalla II – a former army sergeant who survived a roadside bomb blast on a special operations mission in Afghanistan – was charged in July with “conspiracy to impede or injure officers” after joining a demonstration against federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in Spokane, Washington. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Ukrainian veterans' inspiring Bosphorus swim on Independence Day, in photos

Ukrainian war veteran Oleh Tserkovnyi has inspired two fellow veterans to swim across the Bosphorus strait on their country’s Independence Day.

Culture

1 week ago Ukrainian war veterans swim the Bosphorus strait in a triumph over their war injuries

Ukrainian war veteran Oleh Tserkovnyi has inspired two fellow veterans to swim across the Bosphorus on their country's Independence Day

Events

2 w. ago America's last living ace pilot from World War II dies at age 103

A World War II veteran from Nebraska believed to be America’s last surviving “ace” pilot because he shot down five enemy planes has died

Events

3 w. ago The wonderful 100th birthday appeal for a World War II veteran

The Royal Naval Association are trying to arrange a special surprise for Dougie Shelley, who will turn 100 in September

Events

3 w. ago The Royal Naval Association appeal for birthday cards for war veteran turning 100

Dougie Shelley, who joined the Royal Navy aged 17, will turn 100 on September 23 and has no known surviving family and The Royal Naval Association is calling for well-wishers to send him birthday cards

Events

3 w. ago Appeal for 100th birthday cards for Second World War veteran

Dougie Shelley, who joined the Royal Navy aged 17, served as a seaman gunner and said earlier this year: ‘There’s not many of us left.’

Events

3 w. ago Queen Camilla's tears as war veteran goes 'off script' to pay tribute to King Charles

Charles and Camilla joined Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and war veterans who served in the Far East and Pacific at a VJ Day memorial ceremony in Staffordshire

Politics

3 w. ago Salford's 'remarkable' Second World War veteran Tom Jones, 103, dies on eve of VJ Day

Tom Jones, who served in the Far East, had his memories broadcast in front of the King and Queen today

Events

3 w. ago Veteran says horrors of war ‘should never be forgotten’ on anniversary of VJ Day

Albert Lamond took part in D-Day in 1944 as an 18-year-old seaman, a year after joining the Royal Navy, and also served in the Pacific in the lead up to VJ Day on August 15, 1945

Events

4 w. ago Birthday card about oral sex revealed probation officer's affair with prisoner

Leonie Wilkinson, 28, was a probation officer at HMP Preston and an investigation found that she was having a romance with inmate Gary Hampson who she had known as a teenager

Events

last month 'Send some pics': The behind bars romance exposed by Funky Pigeon birthday card

Leonie Wilkinson and Gary Hampson rekindled their teenage romance while he was serving time

Politics

last month Motorbike tribute marks final journey of UK’s oldest Second World War veteran

Donald Rose died aged 110 in July.

Events

last month TOM UTLEY: As a lapsed Catholic, I'm in no position to lecture anyone about religion. But Kemi's reasons for rejecting God strike me as frankly preposterous

A few years ago I received a borderline-blasphemous birthday card, which I have to admit made me chuckle. I thought of that card when I heard Kemi Badenoch's explanation of why she had 'rejected God'.

Events