2 h. ago ‘I love my country. I don’t want to leave’: readers reflect on the exodus from New Zealand

As people continue to move away in record numbers, readers share their reasons for leaving and contemplate life in New ZealandIn the past year, tens of thousands of New Zealanders have left the country, surpassing the last spike in 2012 and raising fears of a “hollowing out” of mid-career workers. Guardian readers share their experiences on why they left – or are thinking of moving out of New Zealand. Continue reading...

Politics

21 h. ago Dracula review – Luc Besson’s romantic reimagining of Gothic classic is ridiculous but watchable

While we don’t necessarily need another film version of Bram Stoker’s story, Besson’s has ambition and panache, and Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz are perfectly castPerhaps there is no great enthusiasm out there for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro of glossiness and bloat. And yet it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the evil Count Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminis...

Politics

38 h. ago Jill Freud, Love Actually actor and inspiration for Lucy in Narnia books, dies aged 98

The actor ran her own theatre company and was described by her daughter Emma as ‘feisty, outrageous, kind, loving and mischievous’Jill Freud, a stage star who was also the inspiration for the character of Lucy in CS Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has died aged 98.The news was announced by her daughter, Emma Freud, who wrote: “My beautiful 98-year-old mum has taken her final bow. After a loving evening – where we knew she was on her way – surrounded by children, grandchildren and pizza, she told us all to fuck off so she could go to sleep. And then she never woke up. Her final words were ‘I love you’.” Continue reading...

Events

44 h. ago ‘A Thanksgiving classic’: why Stuck in Love is my feelgood movie

The latest in our series of writers highlighting their all-time favorite comfort films is a 2012 indie romcom that begins and ends on the November holidayI’ve watched this movie almost every November for about the last 10 years. It’s something of a rarity, a film about Thanksgiving, celebrating the awkward in-between holiday in a sea of clearcut Halloween and Christmas classics. Stuck in Love is an indie romcom from 2012, the directorial debut of writer-director Josh Boone, who would later go on to make The Fault in Our Stars. It boasts a stacked cast featuring Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins, Nat Wolff, Jennifer Connelly and Logan Lerman (and smaller roles for Kristen Bell, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Glen Powell, as well as a cameo from author Stephen King).The movie follows Bill Borgens (Kinnear), an unhappily divorced novelist who fosters his two teenage children’s literary ambitions by encouraging them to write – though he hasn’t written in years since becoming a divorcee – while he obs...

Politics

4 d. ago The 6 buys you need from Primark – they’re all under £1 & make the perfect stocking fillers

WHETHER your beauty bag could do with a revamp or you're simply looking for affordable Christmas gifts, Primark is the one place that will never let you down. The popular high street retailer has become to go-to for millions of thrifty beauty buffs who don't want to fork out a fortune on skincare, bath essentials...

Economics

7 d. ago Men’s Christmas gift ideas 2025: unique finds he’ll actually love including Perfect Draft, Star Wars and Boots

The best Christmas gifts for the men in your life, and perfect for dad, husband, and son.

Events

8 d. ago Ninajirachi started making music because of YouTube. Now she’s up for eight Aria awards

The 26-year-old’s debut album I Love My Computer has already netted her some of Australia’s most prestigious prizes – and it’s all about the delight and depravity of growing up on the internetGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailNinajirachi is having a dream run with her debut album I Love My Computer – and between leading this year’s Aria nominations with eight nods and the rapturous crowds at sold-out shows, she knows it.“I want to live up this one before I move on, because it might be hard to come back to this headspace and time,” says Nina Wilson. “I don’t want to rush into the future.” Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Somebody to love: should AI relationships stay taboo or will they become the intelligent choice? | Brigid Delaney

How will AI destroy the world as we know it? Not through evil. My guess is it will do it through loveRecently, at a pub with a bunch of my friends who were gen X parents, the talk turned to young love. Most of their kids were in their late teens and early 20s, and embarking on their first relationships.These gen X parents were a cohort that supported marriage equality and trans rights, not just for society more broadly but for their own children. And we all prided ourselves on being more progressive than the previous generation. Love is love. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago What does my love for impossibly difficult video games say about me?

From Demon Souls to Baby Steps, challenging games keep a certain type of player coming back for more. I wonder why we are such suckers for punishment• Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereMost people who really love video games have the capacity to be obsessive. Losing weeks of your life to Civilization, World of Warcraft or Football Manager is something so many of us have experienced. Sometimes, it’s the numbers-go-up dopamine hit that hooks people: playing something such as Diablo or Destiny and gradually improving your character while picking up shiny loot at perfectly timed intervals can send some people into an obsessional trance. Notoriously compulsive games such as Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, meanwhile, suck up hours with peaceful, comforting repetition of rewarding tasks.What triggers obsession in me, though, is a challenge. If a game tells me I can’t do something, I become determined to do it, sometimes to my own detriment. Grinding repetit...

Politics

1 week ago Waitrose Christmas advert sees Keira Knightley find love with unexpected star

Waitrose has unveiled its Christmas advert for 2025 and fans are in love

Politics

2 w. ago Pregnancy after loss has shown me that love doesn’t end – it just changes shape | Lauren Farrugia

I’ve learned that grief and love can coexist, not as opposites but as two currents running in the same riverPregnancy after loss is full of contradictions. It is hope that feels cautious, like it might dissolve if you breathe too hard. It is learning to live again inside a body that remembers grief.I am now officially in my third trimester, and each day brings small signs of life: a flutter, a roll, a hiccup, the steady rhythm of his heart. I am growing a baby I will meet, hold and raise. But I have also carried a baby I never got to meet. For 13 weeks, my body held her. It nurtured her, protected her, grew her placenta, still believing she was safe. And in a way, she was. My husband told me then: “She only ever knew love and warmth”, and that has never left me. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Love Immortal: the man devoted to defying death through cryonics – documentary

Alan, 87, has devoted his life to trying to defy death, and has promised his wife, Sylvia, that they will be cryogenically preserved upon death to be reunited in the future. However, when Sylvia dies all too soon, Alan unexpectedly falls in love with another woman and is forced to reconsider his future plans. An extraordinary love story, told with humour and tenderness about how we deal with loss, our own mortality and the prospect of eternal life. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Love Immortal: man freezes late wife but finds new partner – documentary

Alan, 87, has devoted his life to trying to defy death, and has promised his wife, Sylvia, that they will be cryogenically preserved upon death to be reunited in the future. However, when Sylvia dies all too soon, Alan unexpectedly falls in love with another woman and is forced to reconsider his future plans. An extraordinary love story, told with humour and tenderness about how we deal with loss, our own mortality and the prospect of eternal life. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Why do people love spicy food – even when it hurts to eat it?

Tearing up, sweating and other bodily functions are all signs that the body is trying to expel spicy foods as quickly as possible. But there is a simple reason why some people enjoy those sensationsThe first thing to understand about eating spicy food is that it really isn’t a matter of taste. Capsaicin, the active chemical in capsicum plants that are a key ingredient in anything you’d think of as “spicy”, evolved as an irritant to stop mammals from chewing and destroying plant seeds. It acts on the nervous system directly through receptors in the tongue, throat and skin – no taste buds required – and, in theory, tells our bodies that the thing we’ve just ingested is something to get rid of as soon as possible. The obvious question, then, is: why do some of us like the sensation so much?To start to understand that, it’s helpful to know a bit more about what’s going on in the body. “Think of an engineering brief where we have to detect irritants in a system and clear them rapidly,” s...

Politics

2 w. ago Trespasses review – an intoxicating, rousing and heartbreaking love story

This adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s masterly novel, set in 70s Belfast, sees a Catholic teacher drawn into a dangerous affair with a Protestant barrister. It really hits a nerveWe could be happy together, if only we weren’t here and it wasn’t now: the tragedy of sweethearts caught up in conflict, their love overcome by others’ hate, is an old and powerful story. Trespasses, an adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s novel, written by Ailbhe Keogan, hits that nerve.A small town outside Belfast, 1975: rancour, suspicion and grief shadow every moment in the thwarted life of Cushla (Lola Petticrew), a Catholic primary-school teacher in her mid-20s who is giving up her spare time to work shifts in her brother’s pub. The priests at the school are hollering bigots, telling the children that every Protestant is an evil enemy, despite one of the kids being the son of a Catholic father and Protestant mother. Cushla takes an interest in the boy, who tends to arrive at school without a coat, and his eld...

Events

2 w. ago Feed them, love them and play them drum’n’bass: vets’ tips for keeping pets happy and healthy

Dogs and cats aren’t always good at communicating to their humans what they want or need. Here, experts reveal 15 ways to make sure your furry friends are at their best Half of UK adults own a pet, with 28% opting for a dog and 24% a cat, according to vet charity PDSA. How can we ensure these animals are in good health? From feeding to fireworks, vets share their advice on how to keep our canine and feline friends healthy and happy. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago In Love With Love by Ella Risbridger review – a sexy celebration of romantic fiction

From Pride and Prejudice to Fifty Shades, a writer’s paean to the literature of desireEva Ibbotson, a doyenne of 1980s romantic fiction, once said self-deprecatingly that her books were aimed at “old ladies and people with flu”. To which Ella Risbridger, who is in her early 30s, sniffle-free and a devotee of Ibbotson’s “sexy and sweet” novels, has this cracking comeback: “If love is the most important thing, and to me it was and is, I want books that think that too.”From here Risbridger plunges into what she charmingly calls “a field guide to delight”. Jane Eyre rubs shoulders with Ice Planet Barbarians (the bright blue aliens who inhabit the ice planet turn out to be sexy in a Mr Rochester kind of way). Pride and Prejudice makes its inevitable appearance, flanked by its many modern iterations, including the ones with dragons. Mills & Boon novels of every stripe are accorded the kind of sustained attention more usually given to Proust, while Ju...

Politics

2 w. ago Jennifer Lawrence says she didn’t need an intimacy coordinator on new film as co

Speaking as their film Die My Love is released, the actor joined a number of other famous names questioning the value of the new rolesJennifer Lawrence has become the latest star to express scepticism over the necessity of intimacy coordinators, saying she declined their services while working on new film Die My Love, because she felt “safe” with her co-star.Intimacy coordinators were introduced as a result of the #MeToo movement to try to ensure the safety and comfort of actors when shooting scenes involving sex and nudity. Yet actors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Sean Bean have pushed back against the profession, with some suggesting they interrupt their creativity. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago We love football because of moments like Van de Ven’s goal, not the Fifa Peace Prize | Max Rushden

Gianni Infantino has a new idea, and like most of his ideas it’s not one many are going to like, except maybe Donald TrumpA perfectly friendly-looking American guy, sharp suit, early 50s is wandering around Miami. He tells me that in the last 10 years the city has turned into a “magnet for dreamers, doers and visionaries, a launchpad where ideas take flight, where connections spark movements, where legacies are born”.I nod sagely, pretending to know what that means before clicking the X in the top right of the YouTube tab. The man in question is in fact the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, encouraging me and other leaders of industry to pay lots of money to attend the America Business Forum. The website tells me “America Business Forum comes to the United States for the first time” – which begs the question where they’ve held it previously. I’m no CEO, I don’t keep a diary, but I’d have put America right up there as locations to hold a forum on American business. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago The top 20 affordable Christmas gifts of 2025 that everyone will love

Saskia Kemsley curates a selection of perfect little luxuries that won’t break the bank, starting from just £2

Politics