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First 10 Australian songs inducted into the National Songbook after ‘very robust’ judging
Yothu Yindi’s Treaty, Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning and Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman are among the first songs to be honoured on new list that will grow every year Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of Indigenous Australians who have died Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning, Yothu Yindi’s Treaty and Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman are…
A Life in Fragments by Marina Litvinenko review – intimate testimony of Putin’s poisonous regime
The wife of murdered Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko rages against Putin’s state, in a moving memoir of life in exile, love and loss Among the many images of violence that might be used to define Putin’s chilly reign, one stands out. The photo of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko – gaze defiant, lying in intensive care – taken in November 2006. Litvinenko had met with visitors…
Roll with it! This year’s best portrait photography – in pictures
Dashing cowboys, a transgender storm chaser and a fetching mullet are among the subjects of these acclaimed photographs for the Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize 2026 Continue reading...
TV tonight: the final episode of gloriously daft sketch show Ellie & Natasia
Prepare yourself for the duo’s all-female reimagining of Only Fools and Horses. Plus: Celebrity Race Across the World reaches Borneo. Here’s what to watch this evening 10pm, BBC Two Continue reading...
Judi Dench says Daniel Craig ordered her death. James Bond just got a lot scarier
Not only did Craig insist his 007 die at the end of his run, but now we learn from Dench’s memoir that it was his idea to kill her off too. How will the next Bond top that? Shoot a puppy? Now that the next James Bond actor is on the brink of being unveiled, it may be a good time to take a proper look at the prior 007 with clear eyes. Because, while the reputations of all the previous Bonds have…
‘May every data centre crumble to dust!’ How can we stop the tech bros, tyrants and tycoons? With quilts!
Taking aim at every modern malaise, anarchist artist CJ Reay is going viral with his witty, call-to-arms slogans on beautiful tapestries. Altogether now: ‘Tyrants of today will be the compost of tomorrow!’ CJ Reay quilted so hard all summer that now he needs glasses. “After four months of doing it, I found myself getting really bad headaches towards the end, so I had an eye test,” says Reay. “I…
Why Kim Kardashian came back to 'the worst TV drama ever'
The media personality and businesswoman says she's worked on her acting for series two of All's Fair.
Constantinople to Istanbul review – you won’t want to leave this lavish celebration of double imperial splendour
V&A, London Treasures from the two world-defining cultures that somehow coexisted in one mighty city keep on dazzling in this gorgeous, unmissable show Two empires compete to bewitch you in this exhibition that offers a double bubble of beauty. It collides the Byzantine empire, whose capital Constantinople was officially inaugurated on 11 May AD330, with the Ottoman Turks who conquered this great…
Tall Tales and Murder review – this Irish version of The Wire makes for mile-a-minute TV
You definitely won’t be bored by the TV take on the first of the Dublin Trilogy novels. But you might well feel confused by this Bonnie and Clyde-style caper through gangland Ireland (featuring Aidan Gillen) Tall Tales and Murder is likely to elicit varied responses from viewers, but boredom will surely be low on the list. This Irish caper – based on the first of the Dublin Trilogy novels by…
Choice Shonky awards 2026: From ticket sellers and Virgin flight credits to a 25-hour laundry cycle
Australia’s worst products and services for the year have been named by consumer advocacy group Choice Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Concert tickets that surge to $1,650, an airline pocketing $75m of unused flight credits and a washer/dryer cycle that takes 25 hours have all made the dishonour roll in consumer advocacy group Choice’s annual Shonky awards. Now in…
Latest Sarah J Maas book becomes UK’s fastest-selling adult fantasy novel
A Court of Splintered Harmony also records biggest single week of sales since Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman in 2015 Sarah J Maas’s long-awaited return to her bestselling romantasy series has smashed UK sales records, with A Court of Splintered Harmony becoming the fastest-selling adult fantasy novel since accurate records began in 1998. The novel, the sixth in Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses…
BBC Wales cuts risk 'irreversible deterioration', warns first minister
He says the corporation could breach its public service obligations if it proceeds as planned.
Jury in Russell Brand rape trial begins considering verdicts
The media personality has been on trial for three weeks, after pleading not guilty to all charges.
‘A trailblazer in the truest sense’: poet Grace Nichols wins £10,000 Pioneer prize
The Guyana-born, British-based writer takes home the Royal Society of Literature prize honouring women writers over 60 who have broken barriers The poet Grace Nichols has been named the winner of the 2026 Royal Society of Literature Pioneer prize, a £10,000 award that recognises women writers over 60 who broke through at a time when the literary world was less open to them. Nichols, 76, who was…
Celebrity loses injunction bid but will stay anonymous pending appeal
The unnamed man asked for an injunction to stop his identity being reported in connection with allegations against him.
They fell in love on The Simpsons and married in real life. Meet the French Homer and Marge
They have brought TV’s most famous cartoon couple to life in France for the last 38 years. Philippe Peythieu and Véronique Augereau tell all about working and living together for so long, still being lovebirds – and rarely arguing The Simpsons is the biggest cartoon comedy in the world, with suburban couple Homer and Marge at its heart. From their beginnings as high-school sweethearts to the…
China’s first AI-generated film is a flop. Some still see it as the future of cinema
Chinese investors placing high value on AI despite unpopularity of Sanxingdui: Future Past China’s first fully AI-generated movie has flopped, earning just 1.7m yuan (£191,000) at the box office despite costing “tens of millions” to make, according to its producer. But is it any good? The Guardian watched Sanxingdui: Future Past in a virtually empty cinema in Beijing, and found it no worse than…
True crime novel about 1949 murder of Paris life model wins France’s biggest literary prize
Philippe Jaenada wins Prix Goncourt with novel that seeks to solve 77-year-old case and rehabilitates reputation of its victim A literary true-crime investigation that tries to solve a 77-year-old cold case and ends up rehabilitating the reputation of its life model victim has won France’s most prestigious literary prize. The author Philippe Jaenada was announced on Tuesday afternoon as the…
The Crown star Josh O'Connor reacts to Bond rumours
BAFTA nominated actor Josh O'Connor says he is "honoured" by the speculation he could be next Bond.
‘Music is the most powerful way of connecting to what’s happening’: can this album change your mind about the climate crisis?
With globe-spanning artists – including Charlotte Church doing angry electropop – the Flow project is hoping to make an impact at this month’s Cop31 Amid tense and long-winded negotiations, and with the future of the planet at stake, emotions can often run high at Cop climate summits. But last year, when the annual conference arrived in Brazil, one UN official was unexpectedly moved to tears by…
My fiancee, my foreskin and me: the comic who turned adult circumcision into a jaw-dropping show
To be with the woman he loved, Max Olesker had to convert to Orthodox Judaism – which required an unwelcome operation. He relives a painful and sometimes infuriating journey When Max met Eliana at the Edinburgh fringe, the romcom vibes were strong. Shots, songs, falling headlong in love. Less vibey was the conversion Max Olesker had to navigate to marry his Orthodox Jewish beloved. The comedian…
Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant review – slime and silliness in amusing New Zealand comedy horror
Mucus, alien gristle, a tentacle-bearing penis and, of course, the pregnancy of the title are all borne with deadpan calmness in this underplayed comedy In this amusingly silly exercise in gross-out body horror and bathos from New Zealand, thirtysomething underachiever Mary (Hannah Lynch) finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after shy neighbour Boo (Arlo Green) ejaculates on her in the communal…
Andrew Scott drama Elsinore leads British independent film award nominations
Elsinore is in contention for 12 Bifas, including for Scott’s highly praised performance, while Clio Barnard’s I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, Ashley Walters’ Animol and Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care are also recognised Elsinore, the drama in which Andrew Scott plays the actor Ian Charleson as he takes on Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the last months of his life, before he died of Aids in 1990…
‘His voice was too queer – so they silenced him’: how Spain’s national poet Lorca finally became a gay icon
The significance of the poet and playwright’s homosexuality was repressed in Spain for decades – but a spate of recent work, including the film La Bola Negra, is redressing the balance for a new generation Patricia Langa parades on to an invisible stage in a basement room of Instituto Cervantes in central London, locked into the character of Conchita, an eternally grieving Spanish widow loosely…