Boring. That was the universal response to Wednesday’s first prime minister’s questions of the new parliament. Where was the screaming, yelling, insulting and air punching? This is supposed to be Strictly Come Politicking. Get off stage, the two of you. Zero points. The Telegraph condemned the new PMQs as a “love-in”. The prime minister was … Read more
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech was hailed as historic, powerful and moving by his supporters in Israel and derided as absurd and cynical by some of his critics. Much of the nation is focused on the need to end the war in Gaza and bring home the hostages held by Hamas. Instead, the Israeli prime minister delivered … Read more
Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street team rejected advice a year ago that they should consider the early release of prisoners who had served less than half of their sentences to relieve prison overcrowding, the Guardian has been told by multiple sources. Discussions took place inside No 10 in June 2023 over the proposals, a version of … Read more
Culture, thinks Melvyn Bragg, is not a bonus feature of reality: it actually is life itself. Or – as the veteran broadcaster puts it in his new Sky Arts documentary – art “isn’t the cherry on the cake; it’s the cake”. To this end, the 84-year-old interviews a series of modern greats, including Tracey Emin, … Read more
The scale of harm done by gambling in Britain could be as much as eight times higher than previously thought, according to the largest ever survey into the impact of the industry. An estimated 2.5% of British adults have struggled with “problem gambling”, according to new research. This would equate to 1.3 million people, though … Read more
USA basketball star Stephen Curry threw his support behind Kamala Harris’s bid for the White House on Thursday and said he believed a successful US Olympic campaign could help unite a divided nation in the run-up to America’s bitterly contested presidential election. The four-time NBA champion and Olympic debutant, back in the national team for … Read more
It comes as little surprise after the events of last summer that John Eliot Gardiner has formally severed all links with the three pioneering ensembles that he established, the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Gardiner apologised and publicly stated remorse over the incident after a performance of Berlioz’s Les … Read more
In a series of events over 24 hours that would have been unimaginable a week ago, Kamala Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, secured the backing of Joe Biden and key leaders, brought in a record-breaking $81m, and became the face of brat summer. “kamala IS brat,” pop star Charli xcx declared … Read more
Senior Democrats praise Biden after address to nation Welcome back to our live US political coverage. Senior Democrats have rallied round Joe Biden after the president, in an address to the nation, set out in detail his reasons for stepping down as a candidate in November’s election. Biden delivered a reflective and hopeful message about … Read more
20. Twins (1988) Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito play twins separated at birth. That’s it, that’s the film. The first of three comedies Schwarzenegger made for director-producer Ivan Reitman proved the action star didn’t take himself as seriously as, say, Sylvester Stallone, and recast him as Mr Family Entertainment. Brotherly love … Arnold Schwarzenegger and … Read more