20 m. ago BBC Strictly Come Dancing announce tenth contestant as The Apprentice's Thomas Skinner

Thomas Skinner, best known for appearing on BBC's The Apprentice, has signed up for Strictly Come Dancing alongside Love Island's Dani Dyer, Drag Race star La Voix and Infleuncer George Clarke

Culture

46 m. ago Tulisa Contostavlos ambushed by stranger in park after he lay in wait 'hissing like a snake'

In her new autobiography, Judgement: Love, Trials, and Tribulations, N-Dubz star Tulisa Contostavlos has shared details of a terrifying confrontation with a strange man in a park late at night

Politics

1 hour ago Nobody 2 review – Bob Odenkirk’s suburban tough guy beats action sequel into submission

The Better Call Saul star reprises his role as a kickass family man in a forgettable follow-up riddled with endless gonzo fight sequencesBob Odenkirk’s unlikely new career journey as a kickass tough guy continues in this pretty formulaic and forgettable sequel to the amusing original hit, which first showed us Hutch (Odenkirk), an apparent suburban nobody with wife-plus-kids who keeps forgetting to put the garbage out in time – then from nowhere busts out some serious fight moves.This sequel from Indonesian action director Timo Tjahjanto, co-written by the writer of the original, Derek Kolstad, really doesn’t have much of the humour and the storytelling chutzpah of the first film. But what it does have, inevitably, are endless gonzo fight sequences in which Hutch is unfairly matched against half a dozen or so humongous goons, and winds up reducing these bullies to cat litter. There was a big scene in the first film set on a bus, and it seems to have become the Nobody franchise’s USP...

Events

1 hour ago You be the judge: should my girlfriend stop leaving so many lamps on and use the big light instead?

Mona likes her mood lighting and keeps at least two lamps on in every room; Monty feels it’s a waste of electricity. You decide whose argument is a turn-off?• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a jurorIt seems illogical to have so many lights on in a small room. She turns them on, then leavesI know it’s not energy-conscious to have all these lamps on, but I just love cosy mood lighting Continue reading...

Events

1 hour ago Truck drivers, doctors and bakers: ordinary Yemenis turn to veteran journalist when justice fails

Fatehi Bin Lazreq has used social media, newspapers and radio to expose corruption and everyday injustices since the country’s civil war started a decade agoWhen dozens of gas tankers near Yemen’s southern city of Aden were held up at a checkpoint by soldiers demanding heavy bribes, the frustrated drivers and traders turned to a man they trusted: Fatehi Bin Lazreq, a prominent Yemeni journalist.Known for using his media outlets and social media platforms to demand accountability, Bin Lazreq posted about the drivers’ ordeal on Facebook. It quickly went viral, generating thousands of likes and comments. Within hours, the post prompted a phone call from the prime minister and another senior official, both pledging to resolve the issue. Soon, the tankers were able to move on. Continue reading...

Society

2 h. ago 'Comrade Princess': Which 'appallingly behaved' Royal won over a Communist dictator with her drunken antics?

While Margaret's dry wit and well documented love of alcohol could prove too much for some hosts, she also possessed a remarkable ability to charm the most powerful figures of her era.

Politics

2 h. ago Inside Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie's designer wardrobes as their style evolution continues

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have shown an increasing love for designer labels in recent years, as they have both showcased impressive style transformations.

Politics

2 h. ago Katabasis by RF Kuang review – a descent into the hellscape of academia

The bestselling author’s sixth novel is far from perfect, but this journey into the underworld is delivered with heretical gleeThe more academia has broken your heart, the more you’ll love RF Kuang’s new novel. Katabasis knows the slow grind of postgrad precarity: the endless grant grubbing and essay marking; the thesis chapters drafted, redrafted and quietly ignored by a supervisor who can’t be bothered to read – let alone reply to – an email. Living semester to semester, pay shrinking, workload metastasising, cannon fodder in a departmental forever war. Katabasis knows how it feels to spend your best thinking years doing grunt work to further someone else’s ideas, clinging to the bottom rung of a ladder you will never be allowed to climb: less an ivory tower than a pyramid scheme.Academia is a hellscape; Katabasis just makes it literal. The American author’s sixth novel is an infernal twist on the campus farce: David Lodge with demons. Kuang’s previous book, 2023’s Yello...

Politics

2 h. ago Transfer news LIVE: Eze chooses Arsenal; Man Utd in Baleba push; Isak to Liverpool; Donnarumma latest

Plenty of movement in the transfer window with just a day until the Premier League relaunches

Sport

3 h. ago Betrayed Kelly Clarkson's reaction after discovering ex Brandon Blackstock was dating her assistant... as friends hint at REAL reason for divorce and say: 'He was not a great husband'

The singer is now having to deal with the fallout from the shock revelation that Brandon Blackstock, who died last week, was romantically involved with her former assistant.

Politics

3 h. ago Nicola Sturgeon’s immense political talent is undeniable. The nationalism was the problem | Martin Kettle

Many of her admirers gloss over her desire to break up the UK as Scotland’s first minister. But in her open and touching memoir, it plays a starring roleNicola Sturgeon was – and still is – important, talented, personable and, to many, inspirational. She was also extremely lucky and often wrong, sometimes seriously so. There are examples of all these qualities in her newly published memoir, Frankly. Sturgeosceptics should concede at once that it contains much that is fascinating, especially about her relations with her charismatic mentor turned vengeful enemy Alex Salmond. Starry-eyed Sturgies should equally admit she made several deep and lasting errors that have left behind a divided nationalist party and movement.The book is more open and touching about private issues than most political memoirs, although Sturgeon deploys these qualities selectively. Many of the intimate reflections are about being a woman in politics. Other memoirs by female politicians – including those of Marg...

Politics

3 h. ago Wildly incoherent, utterly flummoxing, blissful: how And Just Like That rewrote the rules of TV

The Sex and the City spinoff – which ends this week – is so bizarre it has barely made sense as a television show. Unless you think of it as an attempt to redefine the whole genre Sex and the City’s divisive spin-off And Just Like That is set to end after three bizarre seasons and a deluge of critical contempt, with bemused fans losing it on Reddit, and articles about how the programme became a hate watch. There has been little heartache in the discourse after the announcement of the show’s demise, the general consensus being: good. But to these people, I say – you’re wrong! But also, I understand. There is always an element of fear in contemplating change, in engaging with the rapid advancement of modernity, and I would like to make the case for And Just Like That being a product of exactly that.It feels analogous to a comment a friend of mine once made during a conversation about the best oven pizzas, when someone posited Dr Oetker pizzas as a contender: “It’s delicious, it’s some...

Politics

3 h. ago Voices: I’m obsessed with a celebrity and I know he’d like me too if he met me

The Independent’s agony aunt Victoria Richards is here to help. Email dearvix@independent.co.uk for advice on love, work, family and relationships

Politics

3 h. ago Jack Grealish has already made two decisive Everton moves to get career back on track

Everton have signed Jack Grealish on loan from Manchester City and the attacker must now prove his value with the Toffees if he hopes to challenge for a place in England's squad

Politics

3 h. ago Model ditches her life for the African desert after being robbed at gunpoint

When young model Aleks was mugged by thugs and held up at gunpoint, she made a massive life change that very same night. She would spin the globe and move to wherever it landed...

Events

4 h. ago As Ukraine battles to hold lines, Trump may find Putin difficult to persuade

Despite huge numbers of casualties, Russian leader believes he is slowly winning war – so he can afford to string talks outFor Ukraine, the break in the frontline is unfortunately timed. Lightly armed Russian saboteur groups – three on one count – cut though Ukrainian positions in the Donbas countryside east of the key junction at Dobropillia. Though one group has been eliminated, as of Tuesday two were thought to remain at large – and although their numbers are small for now, perhaps 20 to 30, the breach is significant.At the beginning of the year it was safe to visit Dobropillia, which had become a bustling market centre busy with soldiers and locals, nearly 15 miles north of the frontline in Pokrovsk. But since then the town, where once busy supply roads from Pokrovsk to Kramatorsk split, has come under sustained attack with glide bombs, while FPV (first person view) drones strike targets on the move. Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago Dear Coleen: 'My husband says he doesn't love me but I need him to fight for our marriage'

Coleen Nolan advises a shocked reader whose husband has walked out, and has been begging him to see a counsellor to try to save their relationship

Politics

5 h. ago London Powers | Friend details moments NC Central University student was shot, killed by ex

London Powers | Friend details moments NC Central University student was shot, killed by ex-boyfriend Damien Tinsley  ABC11

Events

6 h. ago Man Utd transfer news: Jadon Sancho can secure reunion as £5m loan deal agreed

Manchester United outcast Jadon Sancho could have a fresh route out on Old Trafford whilst Rasmus Hojlund is closing in on a loan move back to Italy with AC Milan

Economics

7 h. ago Travis Kelce blasted for 'cringe' PDA with Taylor Swift as singer opens up about their love story, dad's illness and Eras Tour in emotional debut on boyfriend's podcast

The Chiefs tight end welcomed his girlfriend on to New Heights - the hit podcast he co-hosts with brother Jason - to discuss her new album and their high-profile relationship.

Politics