Category : Focus

Landlord mortgages in arrears double in a year

More people with buy-to-let loans have fallen behind on payments as interest rates have risen.

Oliver Anthony review – Rich Men North of Richmond star stirs the pot

Barrowland Ballroom, GlasgowThe country singer, whose rootsy anti-elites anthem was a huge US hit, is clearly talented but his disavowal of politics is not very persuasive‘You might not know what Virginia looks like,” says Oliver Anthony to a sold-ou...

Bernardine Evaristo defends Royal Society of Literature over ‘false accusations’

Society’s president says claims of ageism, censorship and lowering standards are unfoundedComment: ‘I will defend the Royal Society of Literature against all attacks. It is more alive than ever’Bernardine Evaristo, the president of the Royal Society...

Could Taylor Swift really swing the 2024 presidential election?

It’s unlikely Swift’s opinion will sway voters torn between Trump or Biden – but her influence could bolster turnoutA decade ago, Taylor Swift liked to publicly mock a Jonas brother for dumping her over the phone. Today, her words may determine the f...

The Iron Claw review – bulked-up Zac Efron amazing sight in tragic wrestling drama

Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson play the Von Erich brothers, the wrestling superstars who were battered by trauma, in and out of the ringThe tragicomic spectacle of American wrestling, with all its poignant pantomime machismo and showb...

Nanny review – light comedy about the dreams and day jobs of a double act

Bristol Old VicThis play with songs has pleasing performances but needs a clearer idea of what it wants to satiriseA comedy double act since their university days and now working as nannies, Lea and Amy dream of success at the Edinburgh fringe. This...

Theatre needs risk-takers like Kwame Kwei-Armah whose Young Vic has been dynamite | Arifa Akbar

The first African Caribbean figure to lead a major British theatre has announced his departure but his bold approach must remainKwame Kwei-Armah’s decision to step down from the helm of the Young Vic is a genuine shock and disappointment. Who anticip...

Say it with a kiss! The 20 greatest smooches on film – ranked!

As Valentine’s Day looms, we rate some of the greatest moments of passion on celluloidThe anti-kiss scene. Rhett ponders Scarlett’s face, upturned expectantly to his, eyes closed, but something in her pert entitlement deters him: “No, I don’t think I...

Five of the best recent books from Ukraine

Recently translated works by Ukrainian poets and novelists contemplate domestic life, language, economics, culture and violence in the country‘Why read Ukrainian poets or any poets in translation for that matter?” wrote poet Ilya Kaminsky in March 20...

Frank Auerbach: The Charcoal Heads review: war-scarred faces on paper that has taken a pounding

The Courtauld, LondonThese portraits from the dark postwar years have been so reworked that the paper is often gouged through. The results feel as war-damaged as his family – yet still thrillingly aliveHead down, head up, now to one side, then to the...

Furious jumping: why Henry Cavill is wrong to be cross with sex scenes

As Hollywood makes a return to full-throttle love scenes, the actor has got hot under the collar about excessive screen intimacy. But films from Oppenheimer to Poor Things show how good it can beThis has been a banner year for the sex scene. Andrew S...

Repentance review – dreamlike satire from Soviet Georgia brings life to Stalinist ghosts

1980s black comedy unravels the brutal legacy of a despot who is as ludicrous as his crimes are appallingThe sense of an ending is what this fascinating film delivers: an unimaginably painful ending and the moral reckoning that has to follow. This dr...

Candace Bushnell: True Tales of Sex, Success and Sex and the City review – racy, raw and riotous

London PalladiumThe fabulously gifted raconteur charts her stellar career with plenty of spit-out-your-wine moments and empowering life lessons‘Do you want to hear the story of the real Mr Big?” Candace Bushnell, the 65-year-old Sex and the City crea...

First UK patient recruited to new eczema drug trial

A doctor with the NHS trust says the medication being trialled is "potentially highly effective".

Fungi: Web of Life review – Björk and Merlin Sheldrake guide trippy mushroom doc

Beginner’s guide to the wrap-your-brain-around-them facts of mycological science boosts the wonder with 3D time-lapse photographyIf you’ve got “face of fungi” biologist Merlin Sheldrake’s global bestseller Entangled Life on your bookshelf, unbattered...