5 h. ago West Lothian facing 'years of funding cuts' as leader vows to be 'honest'

In a sit-down with the Local Democracy Reporting Service after last week’s announcement by the Scottish Government, Councillor Lawrence Fitzpatrick, the council leader, said the council: “still faces real terms funding cuts in coming years.”

Politics

31 h. ago Skaters hit Central Europe's largest frozen lake despite safety warnings

People in Hungary have flocked to Lake Balaton after it froze deep enough in parts for skating.

Events

33 h. ago Western Isles arts centre warns of 'immediate and profound' consequences amid looming council cuts

Financial impact ‘will be felt widely and deeply’ across island life, venue warns

Events

56 h. ago Australia’s koala paradox: why is the beloved marsupial endangered in parts but overabundant in others?

There are so many koalas in some places that food is the issue – while elsewhere populations are threatened by habitat loss. And there are no easy fixesSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereOn French Island in Victoria’s Western Port Bay, koalas are dropping from trees. Eucalypts have been eaten bare by the marsupials, with local reports of some found starving and dead. Multiple koalas – usually solitary animals – can often be seen on a single gum.Koalas were first introduced to French Island from the mainland in the 1880s, a move that protected the species from extinction in the decades they were extensively hunted for their pelts. In the absence of predators and diseases such as chlamydia, the population thrived. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Boy, 16, is arrested for attempted murder after stabbing of teenager at city centre German Doner Kebab shop

Leicestershire Police were called to the kebab shop shortly after 1pm on January 15 following a report a 19-year-old had been stabbed.

Events

3 d. ago Labour police and crime commissioner at centre of Israeli fan fiasco faces calls to resign

Simon Foster, the Labour police and crime commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands, was condemned as 'weak' for not firing Chief Constable Craig Guildford.

Events

4 d. ago Son of former shah says he is ‘uniquely positioned’ to lead Iran as he predicts end of regime

Reza Pahlavi sets out ambition to lead country his father once ruled, but many question his level of popular supportReza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s former pro-western monarch, has predicted the country’s Islamic regime will fall and claimed he is “uniquely” placed to head a successor government.His bid to assume the leadership of a possible new Iran follows weeks of mass protests that have left thousands dead after being brutally suppressed by security forces. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Primary schools on lockdown as armed police swoop on town centre amid 'standoff with man on roof'

Police armed with guns and riot shields descended on Queen Street in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, at 11.52am on Friday.

Events

5 d. ago The secret is out: how Australian Open helped usher in three

Grand slam qualifying used to be an oasis for tennis hipsters but a game of one upmanship between the Australian and US Opens has set the standard for spectacular lead-in weeksDuring the early days of the US Open singles main draw last year, the tournament director, Stacey Allaster, was holding court with a small group of journalists ina suite overlooking Arthur Ashe Stadium. Much of the discussion centred on the revamped mixed doubles tournament, which had dominated the tennis discourse for days. With a smile, Allaster explained the amount of work that had gone into the event and cited the final attendance numbers throughout the week it was held. The US Open, she asserted, is now a three-week event.For many years, the traditional grand slam fortnight was preceded by a nondescript week of preparation. While lower-ranked players quietly worked through the qualifying draw before vacant stands, the top players finished their preparation to minimal fanfare. Access to the tournament grou...

Politics

6 d. ago East Kilbride Arts Centre hosts free exhibition by Robert Hair Miller

He said: “This exhibition is really to show I have many interests in the art world, although portraiture will always be top of my list.

Politics

6 d. ago Scots braced for council tax hikes as local government set for 'largest' cut

Kate Forbes, the Deputy First Minister, insisted there is “no need” for substantial council tax rises

Politics

6 d. ago Do you suffer from 'central heating hair'? Celebrity hairdresser Sam McKnight tells you exactly what to do to combat this common winter problem

While it may keep you toasty and warm inside, central heating also plays havoc with your skin and hair.

Society

6 d. ago West Lothian Council gets more than 10,000 responses on budget cuts

It is the highest response the council has ever achieved and also outstrips the feedback neighbouring authorities have had over their own budget plans.

Politics

6 d. ago A Day with David Bowie: how a visit to a psychiatric clinic changed him – and his music

In 1994, Bowie and Brian Eno spent a day with ‘outsider’ artists. Intimate photographs, showing in Australia for the first time, reveal the effect it hadFrom the Thin White Duke to Ziggy Stardust, the Berlin recluse to the late-career elegist, David Bowie’s oeuvre is defined by reinvention. As an artist, he was relentlessly attuned to the conditions that might provoke the next creative rupture. One defining moment, however, has largely slipped from the popular imagination: a day spent inside a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Vienna – one that would prove unexpectedly formative.In September 1994, Bowie and Brian Eno – who had recently reunited to develop new music – accepted an invitation from the Austrian artist André Heller to visit the Maria Gugging Psychiatric Clinic. The site’s Haus der Künstler, established in 1981 as a communal home and studio, is known internationally as a centre for Art Brut – or “Outsider Art” – produced by residents, many living with schizophrenia...

Science

6 d. ago ‘I knew these photos wouldn’t be published for decades’: gay cruising in New York – in pictures

In 1969, Arthur Tress started making images at an overgrown corner of Central Park known as the Ramble – the beginning of an archive of a transitional period in queer culture Continue reading...

Culture

7 d. ago Major changes on the horizon for Cardiff residents amid council plan to save millions

There are no cuts proposed by Cardiff Council for 2026/27, but councillors noted they would still be facing a £22.7m budget gap

Politics

8 d. ago Brutal, vibrant and creative: capturing the soul of Latin America in 100 photographs

The journalist Paulo Antonio Paranaguá uses images from the turbulent continent to weave a history of the region, covering colonisation, slavery and dictatorshipIts tumultuous past, marked by massacres, slavery, violent domination, coups d’état, revolutions and uprisings, often overshadows another narrative of Latin America: that of a vibrant, culturally rich region where art, creativity and solidarity hold a central place in society.Throughout its post-Columbian history – the period after Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas in 1492 – Latin America has grappled with the tension between subjugation to colonial and imperial powers, resistance and the pursuit of independence. Continue reading...

Culture

9 d. ago ‘Without it, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now’: Inside the UK’s only arts centre dedicated to children

Based in a converted Edwardian church in Hulme – one of Manchester’s most historically deprived and diverse neighbourhoods – this unique facility has been making theatre, dance, literature, comedy and music accessible to young children from all walks of life for a quarter of a century, writes Colin Drury

Politics

1 week ago Police officer reached 93mph in city centre car chase before collision that killed doctor, 35, court hears

Matthew Pike (pictured), 40, was pursuing a white Volkswagen Tiguan through Bristol when he collided with a Honda Jazz being driven by Dr Keryl Johnson.

Events

1 week ago The exiled Crown Prince at the centre of Iranian riot chaos: How US

Iran's exiled Crown Prince has placed himself at the centre of the mass protests that have washed over the country in recent days. 

Politics