Wicked stars take to the green carpet for European premiere
London’s South Bank has been transformed into the Emerald City for the European premiere of Wicked. Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jeff Goldbum were among the cast to brave the rainy weather. The film is an adaptation of the stage musical which tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West from The […]
Curbing MP abuse ‘not high priority’ for leaders, says watchdog
UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor MPs are facing calls to moderate their language Tackling the growing abuse and intimidation of MPs does not appear to be a “high priority” for party leaders, the UK’s standards watchdog has said. Lord Evans, chairman of the committee on standards in public life, said leaders must set a better example to […]
Period pain in teenagers subject of landmark Oxford study
BBC 17 year old Eliza has to regularly take time off from college due to severe period pain A new study will seek to identify changes in the brain when teenagers experience period pain and whether it is linked to developing chronic pain in later life. In what is described as a world first, researchers […]
Why the funniest books are also the most serious
The fiction that makes us laugh the most is, paradoxically, often the most profound and intelligent, argues John Self. So why isn’t it being rewarded? After reading this year’s Booker Prize shortlist I needed a lie down, and maybe a drink. The prize has such a reputation for rewarding books considered “depressing” that even the […]
Wizard of Oz ruby slippers go on display in London
Heritage Auctions The slippers going on display in London are thought to be one of only four surviving pairs worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film An original pair of red glitter slippers worn by Judy Garland in the famous film The Wizard of Oz are going on display in central London. The slippers, […]
Should organ donors be paid? The heavy toll of US kidney shortage
BBC Duane Oates spends four mornings a week on a dialysis machine Time is not on Duane Oates’ side. His body is being slowly poisoned. Three years ago he found out that his kidneys had begun to shut down. Now, most days the 56-year-old spends hours hooked up to a dialysis machine that removes excess […]
Conservative Party names discrimination inquiry chief
Reuters The Conservatives have appointed a psychiatry professor to lead its inquiry into Islamophobia and other forms of prejudice within the party. The party said Prof Swaran Singh would look at how it handles complaints, and tries to clamp down on discrimination. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously pledged the investigation would get underway before […]
A journey 400,000 years back in human history
Alamy (Credit: Alamy) Nestled in Germany’s picturesque Neander Valley where Neanderthals were first discovered, a museum is tapping into our growing fascination with our long-lost relatives. Inside a museum in western Germany, a man in a tailored suit and a dress shirt leaned against a handrail and peered down towards the gallery below. A young […]
The timeless appeal of one-man-and-his-dog stories
Alamy (Credit: Alamy) Thirty years on, Disney’s take on White Fang remains a classic example of a story as old as time – where men are made vulnerable by a trusty canine, writes Hanna Flint. In the 1991 film adaptation of Jack London’s classic novel White Fang, there’s a scene where Ethan Hawke’s Jack Conroy, […]
Football fans warned over Premier League ticket scams
Getty Images Thousands of young people in the UK were tricked into paying money for non-existent Premier League football tickets last season, according to an estimate by Lloyds Bank. It said that football ticketing fraud against its customers was up by around a third compared with the previous season, and warned fans to be on […]