Festivals dominated by male acts, study shows, as Glastonbury begins
UK festival line-ups dominated by male headliners Music festivals fail to reflect the diversity of the UK music scene, with headline slots being dominated by a small band of male rock acts over the decades, a study suggests. Some eight out of 10 top slots were occupied by all-male acts, analysis of more than 600 […]
Ed Sheeran tops radio’s most-played songs of 2018
Reuters The star is due to release an album of collaborations later this year Ed Sheeran was the most-played artist in the UK last year, while Feel It Still by Portugal The Man was 2018’s most-played song. Sheeran topped the chart despite not releasing new music; and without an entry in the Top 10 most-played […]
The publishing company that’s only publishing female authors in 2018
BBC And Other Stories publisher Stefan Tobler and editorial production manager Saba Ahmed When author Kamila Shamsie challenged the book industry to publish only women in 2018 to help address a gender imbalance in literature, just one publisher took up the challenge – the Sheffield-based company And Other Stories. It was almost three years ago […]
Barbarians double-header: Katy Daley-Mclean to finish playing career with Baa-Baas appearance
England’s World Cup-winning captain Katy Daley-Mclean will retire from playing after appearing for a star-studded women’s Barbarians team in the club’s first ‘double-header’ game. “The opportunity to go back to Twickenham and play one more time, in the black and white hoops, nothing will top that. It is one last time,” the 35-year-old fly-half told […]
Ipswich slipper swap shop event aims to prevent tumbles
George King/BBC Community nurses helped at the Slipper Swap event at Burlington Baptist Church, in Ipswich Slipper lovers have traded in their tatty old footwear for brand new pairs designed to help prevent them taking a tumble. The Slipper Swap was held at Burlington Baptist Church, Ipswich, for people aged 65 and over whose worn-out […]
Morrisons customers say Christmas deliveries and discounts down
Getty Images Morrisons has apologised after customers were unable to redeem discounts on their loyalty cards and had Christmas deliveries cancelled at short notice. The supermarket offers cheaper prices to More Card members on certain items, and has been heavily discounting Christmas food. “All our stores have now made the top 100 More Card prices […]
Israeli and Hezbollah strikes test truce limits
Getty Images Lebanese people have been returning to their homes following the ceasefire agreement The latest exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah is testing the limits of last week’s already fragile ceasefire deal. Hours after Hezbollah fired two mortar shells at an Israeli military outpost on Monday, Israel carried out its largest series of […]
Royal United Hospital illuminated flowers in place until New Year
RUH Bath The team at Jigantics design, make and install huge illuminated flower sculptures in public spaces Organisers of a new art display featuring giant illuminated flowers say they hope it will brighten up Christmas for hospital patients. The colourful displays at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, Somerset, will be in place from now […]
Ipswich Basketball women ready to defend National Cup in final
A Suffolk basketball team has reached the final of the National Cup for a second season running. Endeavour Ipswich Basketball’s senior women beat WNBL Division One rivals Loughborough Riders 72-62 away from home in their semi-final. Ipswich will meet either Thames Valley Cavaliers, who they pipped to the trophy last time, or Brent Bulls in […]
The lesser-known concerns of the Southend West MP
STEPHEN HUNTLEY Sir David championed the bid to make Southend a city While his work on improving animal welfare standards and getting a fitting tribute installed in memory of Dame Vera Lynn are well known, Sir David Amess championed a myriad of other causes, too. According to Hansard, Sir David made more than 1,300 spoken […]