The Rustat verdict is a humiliation for woke activists
Representatives of Jesus College, Cambridge, have declared themselves “shocked” at the verdict that, despite the strident demands of campaigners, Grinling Gibbons’s monument to Tobias Rustat should remain…
Rishi the forecourt jester isn’t fooling anyone any more
Here is an ivory-tower politician, a former hedge-funder married to heiress Akshata Murthy, daughter of the sixth richest man in India and reportedly richer than the Queen….
NHS trans guidelines are straight from 1984
The author Julia Stephenson reported on Twitter that she was filling in the form to renew her membership of Putney Lawn Tennis Club and was taken aback…
I’m only 60 and I’m being targeted by funeral companies
Look, I’m all for personalising a funeral, especially when it’s in the tragic shadow of someone dying young. In those dreadful circumstances, you want to see bright…
The simple hair update that has made the Duchess of Cambridge even more stylish
There’s also a new flair and confidence, to a degree we’ve never seen before from the Duchess. At a reception on Monday night, she tucked her hair…
Ukrainian refugees could face ‘backlash’ after initial support
He warned that the number of Ukrainians who had left their country – estimated by the UN to be more than 3.5 million – has already far…
Ukraine lunchtime briefing: Five developments as 15,000 Mariupol residents ‘deported to Russia’
Good afternoon. In a statement on Thursday, Mariupol officials said that around 15,000 civilians had been illegally deported to Russia since its forces seized parts of the…
Thursday evening UK news briefing: Russian Navy ship ‘destroyed’ after Kremlin gaffe
It comes as the White House’s Tiger Team is primed and ready to strike back against Vladimir Putin if Russia launches a nuclear attack on Nato allies….
Russia accuses Hunter Biden of funding Ukrainian biological weapons labs
Russia on Thursday dragged Hunter Biden into its propaganda about the existence of biological weapons labs in Ukraine, claiming the US president’s son had funded the facilities. …
Spain’s Juan Carlos can face harassment case from ex-lover, High Court rules
Spain’s Juan Carlos not immune from former lover’s UK harassment lawsuit James Badcock in Madrid Former Spanish king Juan Carlos, 84, does not have the right to…
Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘paedophile island’ in Caribbean put up for sale
According to flight logs for Epstein’s private jet, the Duke of York paid at least one visit to the island, although former staff claimed he visited Little…
‘Unwell’ Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu disappears from public view
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Wednesday noted the “curious silence” from the Russian officials. The Russian establishment appears to be increasingly jittery…
10 signs you’re too old for après ski
With spring in the air and restrictions on après ski eased in Europe’s top ski resorts, there’s never been a better time to let your hair down…
36 countries you can visit even if you’re unvaccinated
24. India All travellers should submit a self-declaration form on the online “Air Suvidha” portal before they travel. If you are unvaccinated, you will need to upload…
The best last-minute holidays for Easter, with or without kids in tow
Combine the history of Egypt with the Red Sea Turn a trip to Egypt into an odyssey by giving yourself plenty of time to see the sights…
Sex toys and stinky cheese: how to transport quirky souvenirs, from a hand luggage pro
It may seem like a mad odyssey at the time, but such prizes will make you smile when you return. I knew the whale would perk up…
England’s best secret beaches to enjoy the warmer weather in peace
It felt like winter would never end, but after months of chilly temperatures warmer weather has finally arrived. For those hoping to celebrate this weekend with a…
I lost my ability to walk, then my husband – but I was determined to fulfil my promise to him
This time last year, I was enjoying a fresh start. I believed that 2021 would be the year that we would finally say goodbye to a period…
A Lanzarote package holiday may be frightfully un-middle class – but it’s the best I’ve had in years
Whitewashed lodgings We stare across at it from the terrace of our room, part of the whitewashed amphitheatre of lodgings around the pool – simple, practical doubles…
Ghostwire Tokyo review: a distinctive, playful and unsettling jaunt in Japan’s abandoned capital
So often the beating neon heart of Japanese urban fantasy, Tokyo’s glittering concrete jungle is a fabulous setting for mysterious mass disappearance. The sudden emptying of the…
Straight Line Crazy, Bridge Theatre, review: Ralph Fiennes exudes brute force as New York’s master builder
Much of our attention is, rightly, riveted eastwards at the moment. But in Straight Line Crazy, David Hare’s interest pivots, rarely for him, westwards. His habitual dramatic…
The best classical and opera CDs and DVDs of 2022 so far, from Giordano to Golda Schultz
CD This Be Her Verse: Golda Schultz & Jonathan Ware ★★★★☆ Golda Schultz is one of those astonishingly gifted South African singers who are now taking the world’s…
Living with Art We Love, Chatsworth, review: beautiful art in astonishing surroundings
What links a 19th-century Edwin Landseer painting and a 2007 7ft Felicity Ayliffe ceramic pot? A collection of Picasso drawings and two Rembrandt paintings? An intimate 16th-century…
Anita Brookner wouldn’t be impressed by Julian Barnes’s adoring novel about her
Before her death in 2016, Anita Brookner would go for lunch with Julian Barnes nearly every year. The novelists had much in common. Both were outsiders: she…
The Island is proof that lazy podcasts are ruining TV comedy
Comedy podcasts have a lot to answer for. They have encouraged TV commissioners to think that sitting a bunch of comedians in a studio, and letting them…