In early 2015, Catt was persuaded to attend a meet-up group for board game enthusiasts in London. Although she wasn’t a superfan, she was willing to give it a try. “I was a bit worried about being awkward around new people but
Name: Low-desire life. Age: People – young ones especially – have been rebelling, dropping out, rejecting the rat race for pretty much ever, since the rat race began. But in China, it’s becoming more common. On trend, you might say. And it’s China we’re talking
A London hospital has celebrated the NHS’s 73rd birthday with a special performance of a new piece of classical music composed by a six-year-old boy in tribute to health workers and scientists. Apollo Premadasa first emailed St Bart’s hospital in the City of London
Latvia’s Matiss Kivlenieks, a candidate to be the Columbus Blue Jackets’ future starting goaltender, died in Michigan on Sunday night after fleeing a hot tub and hitting his head following a Fourth of July fireworks accident. He was 24. Kivlenieks was in
Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defense under George W Bush, who died on 30 June at the age of 88, enjoyed one all-important attribute, which was to appear larger than he actually was. He enhanced his comparatively diminutive 5ft 8in stature with the aid of
Pope Francis is alert, breathing without assistance and in a good overall condition after surgery to remove part of his colon, the Vatican has said. The 84-year-old is expected to stay in hospital for seven days barring any complications, following his three-hour operation on
The UK car industry continued its weak recovery from the pandemic in June with sales well below pre-Covid-19 levels, as the continuing popularity of electric vehicles provided a rare bright spot. Sales of battery-powered electric cars more than doubled year-on-year to 19,800 for June,
The extremist rhetoric from rightwing news networks and some elected Republicans is “intensifying”, experts have warned, after a Republican congressman compared Democrats to Nazis and a hard-right news host suggested tens of thousands of Americans should be executed. Rightwing TV personalities, including Fox News’ Tucker Carlson,
American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson has tested positive for cannabis, sources have told Reuters, and she is unlikely to get the chance to challenge for the Olympic 100m title in Tokyo later this month. Jamaica’s Gleaner newspaper was first to report the news on Thursday
At significant risk of giving a multinational corporation publicity it does not need – please feel free to Google oligopoly markets after reading this piece – I am going to extol the virtues of a long-term love: Diet Coke. Someone has to,
Israel hit Islamist militant sites in Gaza with airstrikes on Friday in retaliation for incendiary balloon launches from the Palestinian enclave, in the latest unrest since a ceasefire ended May’s conflict. Security sources with Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Israeli-blockaded Gaza, said the
Restaurants, cafés and pubs may have been closed, but about 90% of British households increased their calorie intake during the pandemic as they more than made up the difference with takeaways and larger supermarket shops, a study suggests. The pandemic led to
Ryanair’s passenger numbers surged in June, with the rollout of Covid-19 vaccination programmes across Europe boosting confidence in air travel. The no-frills airline, which in June reported the biggest annual loss in its 35-year history, carried 5.3 million passengers on 38,000 flights
The former chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said the huge online marketplace fostered by tech companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google means the opportunity to “rip off ordinary people” is growing and that the regulator is struggling to keep
Noodles are a thing of beauty when cooked correctly, and the way to my heart. I particularly love the elegant simplicity of wheat noodles, which are the most common type found in Taiwan. I’m always on the lookout for them in London,
Combine the pandemic with rising raw material costs, stir in a labour shortage, a twist of Brexit, add a pinch of poor weather and voila … Tinned tomatoes are a taken-for-granted store cupboard staple, relied upon by Britons to whip up
The UK transport secretary has refused to say he would book a foreign holiday for himself and his family yet, even as travel restrictions are eased for several destinations. Grant Shapps warned anyone looking to travel abroad that the rules could change
The deterioration in relations with the EU, partly driven by the Northern Ireland “sausage war”, has come as a surprise to those, who campaigned to leave the bloc five years ago, the government has admitted. The Brexit minister, David Frost, said they had dreamed of
If the residents of Apes’ Den are pleased to see a larger than usual number of Britons snapping them, cooing over them or, indeed, edging gingerly away from them, they give little indication of it. It is not much of a stretch to suggest
Nearly 3,300 migrants stranded in Mexico since January due to a US border policy have been kidnapped, raped, trafficked or assaulted, according to a new report by the campaigning group Human Rights First. The report documents cases of migrants and asylum seekers stuck in Mexico since
The NFL player Nate Ebner has withdrawn from contention for a second trip to the Olympics with the USA men’s rugby sevens squad, citing an injury sustained after the 2020 NFL season he spent with the New York Giants. “It pains me to announce
Many of us have been working at home for more than a year now, without the “ambient” exercise we used to get during the 9 to 5 – walking to and from the station, say, or up and down the office stairs.
In early April, inmates at Bahrain’s Jau prison crowded into the corridors to protest. They were angry about a lack of medical treatment and fearing for their lives after the death of another inmate. Their sit-in at building 13 lasted 10 days,
Sir David Attenborough has warned that the government is pursuing “short-sighted political and financial attacks” on the UK’s television networks, as ministers prepare to announce plans to privatise Channel 4. The wildlife broadcaster has put his name to a campaign saying that ministers risk
Venice has missed tourists – but not their bad habits. In an echo of the pre-pandemic era, authorities have been cracking down on uncouth behaviour as visitors flock back to the lagoon city. A French tourist was fined €150 (£128) after paddling
Tessica Brown, AKA “Gorilla Glue Girl”, the woman who went viral in February for accidentally gluing her hair to her head, has launched her own range of haircare products. Brown’s Forever Hair range will feature a hairspray named Forever Hold, a play on her
Old rivalry is now more visceral in politics than football and this match may be memorable only if Scotland cause a shock It’s hard to convey now, in our splintered multi-platform age, just how inescapably, grotesquely enormous an event England v Scotland was in
Boris Johnson has been accused of putting trade before torture after he met senior Bahraini officials in Downing Street to discuss a free trade deal with the Gulf states. Neither the Foreign Office nor Downing Street advertised the meeting with the country’s
Italy’s public broadcaster Rai has come under fire for broadcasting leaked CCTV footage of a fatal cable car crash that killed 14 people near Stresa, in the north of Italy. Last month, the cable car connecting the Lake Maggiore resort town of Stresa to a nearby mountain
London’s hopes of attracting more technology companies looking to float on the stock market have received a shot in the arm after the fintech firm Wise chose the City for a rare direct listing expected to value the company at up to £9bn. The
The Hong Kong democracy activist Agnes Chow has been released from jail after serving more than six months for taking part in unauthorised assemblies during 2019 anti-government protests that triggered a crackdown on dissent by mainland China. Chow, 24, was greeted by a crowd
Police in Austin, Texas, said they were searching for a suspect in a shooting early on Saturday that injured 13 people in the city’s downtown entertainment district. Authorities said they had responded to reports of multiple shots fired about 1.30am and had initially
Microsoft has decided to pause all upcoming Windows 10 updates for the foreseeable future. The Redmond-based company confirmed that all beta builds, which include tests of new features, fixes for glitches, and more would be put on ice. With no more preview builds of
Between reaching the semi-finals of Euro 96 and the 2018 World Cup, England’s participation in major tournaments can be broadly split into two eras. The first spanned the early 2000s when a golden generation of stars were weighed down by expectation, anxiety and
Saudi Arabia has announced that this year’s hajj pilgrimage will be limited to 60,000 vaccinated people from within the kingdom because of the coronavirus pandemic. The kingdom ran a reduced pilgrimage last year, but still allowed a small number of people to
Father’s Day is an awkward celebration. It often isn’t taken as seriously as Mother’s Day and the dismal gifts presented to deflated dads are often a cheap afterthought, it’s been claimed. New research suggests that fathers should once again manage their expectations
England is braced for a four-week extension of coronavirus restrictions to 19 July, after Boris Johnson said he will take a “cautious” approach to the final removal of lockdown. Hospitality chiefs told The Independent that the extra month of curbs will cost
Israeli police have blocked a planned march by Jewish nationalists through Palestinian neighbourhoods of Jerusalem after a similar parade last month played a key role in building the tensions that led to the latest Gaza conflict. In a statement, police said a permit for
When Emma, a 30-year-old lawyer from Perth, was 30 weeks’ pregnant with her first child, she was told by her doctor that the baby had a big head. This, the obstetrician told her, put her at risk of complications during birth, with the
Baking generally feels like alchemy: the magic that happens when eggs, sugar, butter and flour are bound together and heat is applied. So, if anything, gluten-free baking feels even more magical. It’s not, of course; in fact, it can be trickier, because
HOLLY WILLOUGHBY stunned fans with her spectacular outfit as a guest judge on today’s final episode of ITV show The Masked Dancer. The presenter looked beautiful in her long summer dress despite being called “sponge”. The ITV star always wears stylish outfits on her
Russian officials have reacted angrily after the head of Ukraine’s football association unveiled a new national team shirt emblazoned with a map of Ukraine that includes Crimea. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and has sought to integrate the peninsula into Russia permanently, but it is internationally
Dakar – Federation of African Journalists accused UAE of “attempts” to manipulate their conference taking place in early June. The conference issued urgent press release including a resolution to condemn attempt to impact journalists by UAE. The press release said, “We, the
Bryson DeChambeau has laughed off Brooks Koepka’s eye-rolling reaction to his presence during a post-round interview at last week’s PGA Championship. Viral footage of Koepka, who finished as the runner-up to Phil Mickelson at Kiawah Island, South Carolina, spread of the four-time major winner
The Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson was shot in the head after a group of four men opened fire at a party in south London, police have revealed. Scotland Yard said there was “nothing to suggest” the 27-year-old mother-of-two was targeted in the shooting in Peckham in
WhatsApp users will no longer be blocked from sending messages or answering voice or video calls if they refuse to sign-up for the US company’s new terms and conditions. The world’s most popular messaging service has confirmed that it’s backtracking on its
The fifth full moon of the year, known as the flower moon, is rising this Wednesday, and it’s going to be a Lunar Eclipse. This isn’t only important information for people who want to admire the Moon or those who use the
The Pfizer Covid vaccine may cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. Experts advise the most common side effects are pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain and fever, but that most side effects are mild or moderate
Roast dinner is one of the nation’s most popular meals. Pizza Hut have just launched a new exciting addition to its menu that’s inspired by the classic Sunday meal. Just in time for summer, Pizza Hut has launched the new Roast Dinner Pizza, complete
Lil Nas X suffered a wardrobe malfunction while performing on Saturday Night Live. The incident happened during a performance of his controversial song Montero (Call Me By Your Name). During the end of the track the singer, who was dressed in an all-leather outfit