10 h. ago Baltimore penalty spares Chelsea blushes after Twente threaten WCL shock

The Champions League is Chelsea’s white whale. They want it. They want it badly. However, their title credentials took a knock in the Netherlands, a 1-1 draw against Twente far from the ideal start to a tournament they long to dominate.Despite their dominance in possession it was the home team that took the lead, through captain Danique van Ginkel, before Sandy Baltimore converted from the spot for the equaliser. Continue reading...

Events

11 h. ago England: Craig Bellamy sends Wales rivalry message ahead of Home Nations friendly clash

Three Lions take on fellow Home Nation in midweek friendly

Politics

13 h. ago Pair arrested in San Diego after police seize stolen wrestling action figures ‘worth thousands’

Miguel Dominguez, 52, and Brittany Gomez, 36, detained by officers in bust during retail theft investigation

Events

13 h. ago Clarke nonplussed by Katy Perry but hopes for fireworks from Scotland in qualifiers

Scotland’s manager not aware his squad shared a hotel with the pop superstar with focus solely on Greece gameEven close proximity to a global superstar cannot divert Scotland’s attention from their World Cup dream. Or is it a teenage one? Katy Perry shared a city centre hotel with Steve Clarke and his squad this week as the singer’s Lifetimes Tour stopped off in Glasgow. Clarke did not quite go as far as saying, “Katy who?” but he was nonplussed by his squad rubbing shoulders with a bestselling artist.“Was she?” said Clarke when asked about Perry’s whereabouts. “I didn’t know she was there. I’ve heard the name and I’m sure if you played me a couple of her songs I’d say: ‘I recognise that one.’ But I couldn’t name you one of her songs. That’s no disrespect to Katy but I’m from a different generation.” Pressed on whether he would even recognise Perry, Clarke – by now laughing – added: “Eh, no. And she wouldn’t recognise me.” This very much feels like two worlds that should never colli...

Events

13 h. ago That’s me in the £45m Hockney! The man in the masterpiece relives sitting for David back in the heady LA party days

It was a landmark moment in queer art, painted when homosexuality was illegal in California. As this famous painting of Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy goes under the hammer, the surviving sitter looks back‘Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!” Laughter explodes down the line from California. “It was a very long time ago!” says the painter Don Bachardy. His voice is high and rasping. Listening to him, you could be forgiven for thinking that the late Truman Capote was still with us. As for what happened “a very long time ago”, Bachardy is referring to the parties he threw with his partner, the British novelist Christopher Isherwood. Their home in Adelaide Drive, Santa Monica, was a salon thronged by movie stars and writers as well as Bachardy’s fellow artists.“Yes, we had a good time back then, but you can’t expect me to remember exactly who was here!” he says. It’s a fair point. Isherwood has been dead for almost 40 years and Bachardy, who is 91, suffers from some of the conditions that ...

Society

14 h. ago Sir Elton John to appear at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony

Singer Raye was also on the list of special guests who will present, perform and honour this year’s inductees, which was announced on Wednesday.

Politics

14 h. ago The Life of a Showgirl is a massive hit – and massively divisive. What should Taylor Swift do next?

Swift’s 12th LP is set to dominate the charts – despite fans lampooning the lyrics and lamenting its quality. Guardian music writers discuss what it means for her careerLaura Snapes Taylor Swift’s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl (TLOAS), has been a smash statistical success. She’s broken records that she previously set, and in the US is second only to Adele for the most sales in a single week. The cinematic release party this weekend grossed $34m in the US and an additional $13m worldwide. But it’s second only to her 20-year-old debut – written in her teens – as the worst reviewed album of her catalogue, with a 70% approval average on Metacritic. What are the successes and failures of this record?Alexis Petridis The success part is obvious. It’s set to become the biggest-selling album of the year by a preposterously long chalk. In terms of shortcomings, I think the biggest one is prosaic – a lack of really memorable melodies. I think you’d be hearing a lot less about the cringy l...

Events

17 h. ago ‘This is a west African story’: how modern art tackled Nigeria’s identity crisis

As the landmark Nigerian Modernism exhibition opens at the Tate, curator Osei Bonsu talks about the art in dialogue with ideas of nation-making• Don’t get The Long Wave delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWhat distinguishes modern Nigerian art from its traditional form? I had this question in mind when I attended a private viewing of Tate Modern’s new exhibition, Nigerian Modernism, which traces artwork from the period of indirect colonial rule to post-independence.Walking through the gallery with the curator Osei Bonsu, learning about the incredible ways in which modern Nigerian artists sought to define, shape and rebel against the beautiful but contested state, I found answers. Continue reading...

Events

17 h. ago UK midweek chart: The artists dominating airplay, Spotify & Apple before this week's Top 40

A peek into who is dominating the UK charts on Spotify, Apple Music and Radio Airplay ahead of this week’s Top 40

Politics

18 h. ago Dominique Pelicot describes himself as ‘the devil’ while giving evidence in court

Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband is giving evidence in the appeal of a man challenging his rape conviction

Events

19 h. ago The best gig I ever saw cost £4. Spiralling concert prices are a cultural disaster | John Harris

Tickets for big tours have vastly outstripped inflation, while smaller artists and venues struggle. The magic is in danger of being snuffed out entirelyThe 21st century may be a time of human estrangement, but the pleasures of watching our favourite band or singer play live surely unite millions of us. There is something about the whole ritual that crystallises what popular music fundamentally is: a profoundly democratic artform that will always soundtrack the lives of just about everybody.But perhaps all that is on its way out. When it comes to big names, gig-going is becoming absurdly expensive. The ticket market is now both byzantine and hierarchical, often carving up audiences into no end of tiers. Thanks to the exploitative absurdity of “dynamic pricing” and resale websites, it also charges people much more than even the original face-value ticket prices. To track what’s going on in terms of average price rises can therefore be very difficult. But in the face of an ongoing cost...

Economics

19 h. ago One of London’s best pubs is being reopened by one of Britain’s best artists

One of London’s best pubs is being reopened by one of Britain’s best artists  Time Out Worldwide

Politics

20 h. ago 'I've covered 13 Amazon Prime Days and a regular bestseller still surprises me'

Forget Airpods and airfryers, one chart-topping item snapped up by thousands of bargain hunters every Prime Day is considerably more low key

Politics

21 h. ago Meghan's makeup artist reveals the secret behind the 'juicy and glowy' look he created for Duchess at Paris Fashion Week

The Montecito-based royal shocked the fashion community last weekend when she made a surprise appearance at the Balenciaga show in support of the brand's latest creative director.

Culture

22 h. ago The falling dominoes that could finally deliver a verdict on Man City’s 100+ charges

A decision is finally expected soon on the infamous Manchester City case, with the recent settlement in the APT case possibly foreshadowing the end of the saga

Politics

30 h. ago Horoscope today, October 8, 2025: Daily star sign guide from Mystic Meg

OUR much-loved astrologer Meg sadly died in 2023 but her column will be kept alive by her friend and protégée Maggie Innes. Read on to see what’s written in the stars for you today. ♈ ARIES March 21 to April 20 Money that really means something to you is at the forefront of your chart...

Politics

32 h. ago Monster: The Ed Gein Story pulls in 12.2 million viewers but fails to top Netflix chart

The anthology show attracted a similar audience to the previous series about Lyle and Erik Menendez

Events

35 h. ago Nordic Noir review – one severed horse’s head is just not nearly enough noir

British Museum, London While some prints are suitably nasty, these mostly so-so drawings feel more like something you’d see in Ikea. Who thought they were worthy of purchase for the nation?Nordic noir. Wasn’t that a genre that had people abuzz back in the 00s? Its revival by the British Museum’s prints and drawings department as a title for an exhibition of modern and contemporary Scandinavian graphic art seems desperate. Forget our oldies like Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Dürer, Leonardo da Vinci – we’re all about new stuff by hot young Scandi artists! Maybe it’s understandable; after all the National Gallery is also moving in on modern art. But Nordic Noir shows just how far overeager neophilia can go wrong. A museum that specialises in history has gone fishing in contemporary waters and, like a lonely angler on an Arctic lake, has come up with absolutely nothing.The big surprise is that most of the works here are not on loan. The British Museum owns them. It has “acquired” 400 exampl...

Politics

36 h. ago ‘Photos don’t go bigger than mine’: the epic, impossible images of the great Andreas Gursky

From Amazon warehouses to Olympic skiers and the crowd at a Madonna gig, his pictures have made him one of the world’s most feted photographers. So why did the German artist want to postpone his new show?Andreas Gursky started out shooting mostly black and white landscapes on a handheld camera, but in the 1990s he switched, taking the pictures that he has now become famous for. Out went analogue and in came epic panoramas that were digitally stitched together, capturing in intricate detail and colour stock exchanges, factories, Amazon warehouses, 99 cent stores, Olympic skiers and the crowd at a Madonna concert.“My works,” he recalls, “were selling for more and more.” In fact, his rising status in the art world was reflected in his photographs inside Prada and Gucci stores – the former was taken while he was waiting for his wife, who was shopping there. Then, in 2011, Gursky’s 1999 colour photograph Rhein II, a horizontal vista of the river flowing across flat fields near Dusseldorf...

Culture

36 h. ago Caroline Flack's friend Lou Teasdale feels 'unfairly blamed' for her death as she details conflict with the star's mother

The make-up artist, 41, was close friends with the late Love Island host prior to her death and worked closely with Liam during his time in One Direction.

Events