49 h. ago Gilbert & George review – a pulsating panorama of sex, violence and glorious urban grime

Hayward Gallery, LondonFrom the calling cards of male sex workers to shocking headlines about murder, the octogenarian pair see and incorporate everything, resulting in a show that seethes with lifeThe first picture in Gilbert & George’s retrospective of their art of this century is a portrait of them sitting in a cemetery amid floating drug baggies, their suits bright purple (George) and green (Gilbert) against the grey gravestones. It sums up a stillness, a sadness and a romantic passion that breathes in this show – but you won’t notice it straight away. Instead you’ll be carried along in a rush of cheeky provocations and ludicrous juxtapositions of word and image: a joyous embrace of modern life or even, pardon my French, a jouissance.The pictures tower and expand in this perfect brutalist setting as if you’re walking through a city of art – a dirty, disreputable city. Ages (2001) is a yellow and red slab almost the scale of a cinema screen on which their blandly smiling face...

Events

50 h. ago Paisley street artist opens new exhibition at Glasgow gallery

Shaun Devenney, who has painted a number of impactful murals across Paisley, is showcasing a series of works which reflect the decay of modern life.

Politics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on the Manchester synagogue attack: a tragic wake

An assault of this kind was widely feared. Now that it has happened, Britain faces a choice between deeper division and greater toleranceThe attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester was outrageous. It took two innocent lives, and several others were injured. Yet it could have happened almost anywhere. It is an event with wider national meaning and lessons. On Thursday morning, Britain looked over the edge into one of the dark places to which modern public life has been heading. Having looked and seen, Britain now needs to learn and step back.The violence began around 9.30am, just as morning prayers were being held on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s most solemn and sacred day. The synagogue was inevitably well attended. Yet within a short period of time, two Jewish victims lay dead from stabbing, with four others injured, outside what ought to be a place of prayer and community. The attacker was then himself shot and killed, possibly as he attempted to get inside t...

Events

7 d. ago Council given top gong for work transforming Motherwell YMCA into luxury homes

The landmark project has seen the once-derelict building brought back to life as six modern apartments, forming part of a wider development of 48 new homes at Brandon Street.

Politics

8 d. ago Parents who believe Lucy Letby tried to murder their newborn baby recall chilling first interaction with serial killer nurse as they speak out for the first time in new documentary

Letby (pictured), a former nurse at the Countess Of Chester Hospital, is currently serving 15 whole-life sentences and is Britain's worst serial killer in modern times.

Events

1 week ago Why I had a parasite cleanse: Some say modern life riddles us with harmful gut invaders and cures are big business. KATE SPICER had it done... with eye

Lying on my side, head throbbing and full of doubts, the kindly colonic therapist assures me that this infamous treatment really will make me feel better.

Events

3 w. ago ‘I’d seen this flock of birds flying in circles at the same time each day’: Raghuvamsh Chavali’s best phone picture

The Canada-based photographer used his camera’s slo-mo mode to create a fluid patternRaghuvamsh Chavali was born in Hyderabad, India, and now calls Canada – or more specifically Guelph in Ontario – his home. He describes his adopted city as “a peaceful and friendly place, with a mix of heritage buildings and modern life”. It also proved an ideal backdrop for his extended photographic series Wings Over Concrete, which explores the presence and movement of birds in urban environments.Before he took this image, one cloudy afternoon in downtown Guelph, Chavali had been tracking this particular flock of pigeons for several weeks. “I was in search of the natural patterns of birds, and I’d seen this flock flying in circles around the buildings near a train station at the same time each day. They moved in a tight, repeated loop, and on this day the light was soft and just right to capture their movement clearly,” he says. He utilised his phone camera’s slo...

Politics

4 w. ago The Guardian view on public health: if Labour is serious about reducing illness, it must focus on causes | Editorial

A shift to prevention will only succeed if ministers take a bold approach to regulation and lift people out of povertyDramatic increases in life expectancy are one of the defining achievements of the modern era. From 56 years for men and 60 for women in the UK a century ago, this vital measure of the quantity of life rose to 79 and 83 respectively in 2022. The trend towards increased longevity is global, although not all countries have seen gains on the same scale, and the pandemic sent it into temporary reverse.We probably don’t talk about this enough. It is remarkable that most of us can expect to live for so long and that deaths from diseases such as tuberculosis, and of women in childbirth, have been so drastically reduced.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Science

4 w. ago Modern Family star Eric Stonestreet marries longtime girlfriend at their Kansas City home

The actor announced his engagement to Lindsay Schweitzer in 2021

Society

4 w. ago Brave the Dark review – delinquent teen drama comes off as if James Dean met Mr Chips

Warmly drawn melodrama based on a true story follows a delinquent teen taken under the wing of his kindly drama teacherHere is a sincere and traditional melodrama that opens with a brief sequence that slightly wrongfoots the audience: a small child running at night through a setting that calls to mind little Danny in the hedge maze in The Shining. But this is no horror movie; there is past trauma and tragedy a-plenty, but for the most part, this is a warm-hearted drama that plays out like a modern Mr Chips story.Based on the real life of the protagonist Nate (Nicholas Hamilton), a delinquent youth in 1980s America, the film’s focus is on his relationship with drama teacher Mr Deen (Jared Harris); Deen is a likable but lonely man whose tendency to generosity reaches its apogee when he takes on Nate as a personal project after a series of bad choices by the troubled teen. Deen reveals at one point that as a youngster he harboured acting ambitions, with James Dean a particular touchsto...

Events