96 m. ago Britain’s biggest film school trumps wider arts industry in diversity, report finds

The National Film and Television School, which counts Nick Park, Roger Deakins and Joanna Hogg among its alumni, has trained some of the creatives behind recent UK-made smashes including ‘Wicked’ and ‘Baby Reindeer’

Politics

2 h. ago Two years after 7 October and the kidnap of my parents, hate is in fashion. For all our sakes, we need compassion | Sharone Lifschitz

So many were killed – yet on her release, my mother said ‘shalom’ to her captors. Let’s learn from that moment of graceSharone Lifschitz is a London-based film-maker and academic whose parents were taken hostage on 7 OctoberSo much about the past two years has been horrific, but let me tell you how it began for me. On the morning of 7 October 2023, I was sitting on a train with my son and husband on our much anticipated way to pick up a new puppy. Life seemed predictable enough.I open my phone and see that something is happening on the Gaza-Israel border. I call my mum as usual, waiting to hear her cheery, relaxed voice telling me that she is in the safe room with Dad, telling me there is nothing to worry about. She doesn’t answer. Neither does my dad. I look again at the news feed. I call my brother and he answers. His voice is so different, altered, that I know already, before he tells me, that the worst has happened. “Terrorists broke into the kibbutz,” he says. “Dad said in his ...

Events

3 h. ago Council tax bills to rise for Scots after abolition of two child benefit cap by SNP Government

EXCLUSIVE: Up to 30,000 households could have their council tax bills recalculated because higher benefit payments will be treated as income.

Politics

7 h. ago Rachel Reeves is coming under mounting pressure to rule out a 'knee

Speculation is mounting that the Chancellor may reduce the maximum amount savers can withdraw tax-free from their retirement funds - prompting some to pull cash out now.

Events

7 h. ago Two million pensioners could have to repay up to £300 to HMRC

HMRC is set to reclaim the money owed through tax, rather than direct from bank accounts

Economics

9 h. ago Trainee teachers to get up to £31k tax free to train in Stem subjects

The Department for Education will continue to provide bursaries and scholarships for trainee teachers in certain subjects.

Economics

13 h. ago Starmer faces cabinet revolt over Budget tax rises that could drive wealthy away

‘The trouble is we have crossed a line in trying to encourage aspiration. The non-dom change and the VAT on school fees have sent the opposite message,’ minister tells The Independent

Economics

13 h. ago Dubai Chocolate is no longer just a craze. It’s about more than bars

Everyone is jumping on the train

Politics

13 h. ago Jilly Cooper tributes from racing trainers who helped inspire her best

Jilly Cooper, who has died at the age of 88, loved going to racing stables and courses while she was writing her novels. The Queen said the much-loved author was “wonderfully witty and compassionate”

Politics

14 h. ago ‘A certain bite’: how Martha Graham pushed dance in dazzling new directions

As her company prepares to celebrate its centenary, the legendary choreographer’s groundbreaking work is finally getting the respect it deserves in the UK. What took so long?A century ago, the dancer Martha Graham began teaching at a small studio above Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. It was the start of a dance revolution. Graham wasn’t the first dancer to cast off ballet’s shackles and look for new ways of moving as the world shifted in the early 20th century: free-spirited Isadora Duncan had wafted her way through European salons; Loie Fuller experimented with costume and light effects; Ruth St Denis and Ted Shawn, with whom Graham trained, explored dance aping the styles of India, Egypt and Japan. But it’s Graham who became the true godmother of modern dance, developing a technique that would become the foundation of many dancers’ training around the world, and starkly modernist choreography that would point dance in a new direction.Where ballet leapt to the sky, Graham was rooted to...

Politics

14 h. ago Rosie Jones says wine bottle was thrown at her in ableist attack on a train

The 35-year-old said the perpetrators ‘shouted slurs’ and mocked the voices of her and comedian Lee Peart.

Events

14 h. ago Greta Thunberg was 'beaten and dragged by hair by IDF', flotilla crew claims before she is kicked out of Israel and arrives to hero's welcome by crowd chanting free Palestine in Greece

Over 70 activists, lawyers and journalists were deported from Israel after they were seized aboard an intercepted Gaza aid flotilla.

Politics

14 h. ago Greta Thunberg is given a hero's welcome by crowd cheering 'Free Palestine' as she arrives in Greece after being deported from Israel amid claims she was 'dragged by her hair and beaten' by IDF

Over 70 activists, lawyers and journalists were deported from Israel after they were seized aboard an intercepted Gaza aid flotilla.

Politics

15 h. ago Rosie Jones has wine hurled at her in cruel 'ableist and homophobic' attack on the train

The 35-year-old said she and her comic pal Lee Peart, who are both gay, were assaulted by three people on the train home from a gig in Brighton

Events

15 h. ago Thousands of passengers set for Christmas travel disruption due to train engineering works

Passengers are being urged by Network Rail to check online journey planners and book tickets way in advance

Politics

16 h. ago Terence Crawford’s coach claims beating Canelo Alvarez was ‘easy’

Crawford dethroned the long-reigning super-middleweight king to make history in September

Politics

16 h. ago Kent ‘down to the bare bones’, says care chief amid council tax rise fears

Nigel Farage’s party ousted the Conservatives at Kent County Council (KCC) in May, with a promise to slash ‘wasteful spending’.

Politics

16 h. ago Thousands of Christmas train journeys to be disrupted by engineering work

Network Rail insisted the festive period is the ‘best time’ for it to carry out major projects.

Politics

16 h. ago Gaza flotilla members allege beatings and insults in Israeli detention

Some of those held say guns were pointed at them, they were threatened with dogs and deprived of sleepInternational activists, journalists and lawyers deported from Israel after attempting to breach the 16-year maritime blockade of Gaza as part of a humanitarian flotilla have alleged being subjected to brutal physical and verbal abuse by Israeli forces during their detention.The alleged abuses included sleep and medication deprivation, beatings, having automatic rifles pointed at their heads, dogs set upon them, having to sleep on the floor, being subjected to insults and being made to watch footage of the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023. Continue reading...

Politics

17 h. ago Greta Thunberg is booted out of Israel still wearing prison clothes as activist friend claims Gaza campaigner was 'dragged by her hair' and beaten 'as a warning to others'

The Swedish climate activist is among more than 70 people of different nationalities who have left Israel after they were seized aboard an intercepted Gaza aid flotilla.

Events