CATEGORIES

This sentimental sci-fi epic feels a bit artificial

A RTIFICIAL intelligence has fascinated filmmakers for decades now — Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey gave us the iconic evil robot HAL 9000, while Steven Spielberg offered a softer touch with Haley Joel Osment as an uncanny kid cyborg in A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

Ian Fleming was a spy too: Bond was his bid to relive his youth

THE name’s Secretan, James Secretan.” Doesn’t quite work, does it? Ian Fleming realised as much when he read through the draft of his first spy novel Casino Royale, scratched out the vaguely foreign surname, and created “James Bond”.

It's class, not race, that's the real divide in Britain: and football gets round it

WHENEVER I go to church, I witness diversity. The very young and the very old, the affluent and the impoverished, people from all racial backgrounds and ethnicities.

Boy, 17, charged with murder of schoolgirl after family lay flowers

A 17-YEAR-OLD boy was set to appear in court today charged with murdering Elianne Andam, 15, who was fatally stabbed on her way to school.

£65 grand for four days a week? Don't take us for fools

Deputy PM Oliver Dowden takes aim at the striking unions, the bigger Ulez and backs Susan Hall as excellent’ choice for Mayor

Theatreland's tribute to Gambon

WEST END theatres will dim their lights in honour of Sir Michael Gambon tonight following the actor’s death at the age of 82.

'Watershed season' may herald first £1bn league for women

THE Women's Super League kicks off on Sunday with a \"watershed season\" predicted for the game, powered by the success of the Lionesses at the Euros and World Cup.

Rewired Soucek sets up clash against Gunners

WEST HAM midfielder Tomas Soucek believes he is back to his goalscoring best, after admitting he \"didn't feel that motivated\" last season.

'Jackson will score a lot once he clicks into top gear'

Colwill eager to see more after Striker settles hard-fought tie

Five Guys targets Heathrow as CEO defends 'premium' prices

FIVE Guys UK boss John Eckbert is mostly blasé about plans for new openings; he says the burger chain could open almost 150 more restaurants in the next few years.

Deliveroo buyback set at a third of 2021 float level

AN OFFER by Deliveroo to buy £250 million of its shares was today priced at a third of the level stumped up by investors in its £7.9 billion flotation.

Oxford Street Kurt Geiger is biggest in world

HOPES for a revival of Oxford Street were given a boost today with the opening of a new global flagship store for shoe and accessories brand Kurt Geiger.

Nostalgia for M&A heyday is often misplaced

WHEN I first began reporting on the post Big Bang City in the late Eighties scarcely a day would pass without the button being pushed on another takeover, buyout or mega-merger.

Zoo Digital says writers' strike will lead to 'significant loss'

THE impact of the Hollywood writers' strike hit shares in video services company Zoo Digital which has been badly affected by the halt in production of movies and TV shows and warned of a \"significant loss\".

Betting giant 888 hit by 'punter-friendly' results

WILLIAM Hill owner 888 today became the second bookie in four days to warn of the joint impact of punter-friendly sports results and safer gambling reforms amid turmoil that has wiped billions of pounds off the value of London-listed betting operators this week.

Everywhere you look these days, there's a metaphor for national decline, like HS2

I DON'T know about you, but I'm suffering from chronic metaphor fatigue. There is nothing that goes horribly wrong, falls apart, arrives late, costs too much, delays millions and undermines our sanity that cannot be co-opted as a metaphor for Britain's dysfunction in 2023.

Press freedom does not husband exist while my Julian Assange is in jail

WE must defend the right to offend. The most important aspect of the right to offend is the one that confronts those in power with the truths that they most eagerly wish to conceal. Without this right, the powerful become untouchable.

Ukraine needs help to clear the landmines as well as military aid

IT IS now 3,505 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. If that stark fact is as confusing as it is startling, never forget that Ukraine was first invaded in 2014 and that, to a greater or lesser degree, the two countries have been in a state of conflict ever since.

Horror at London Bridge as boy's toes torn off on escalator

A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy's toes were torn off in a horror accident at London Bridge station when his wellington boot became trapped in an escalator.

Trump is labelled 'Donald Duck' as he skips debate with his rivals

REPUBLICAN candidates sparred over the economy, immigration and China at the party's second 2024 US presidential debate as Donald Trump was branded \"Donald Duck\" for skipping the event.

Twiggy's tale deserves better than this

BEN ELTON'S bants-heavy compilation musical about Sixties survivor Twiggy is pretty thin stuff. It slots period appropriate pop hits into an abbreviated, sycophantic telling of the Neasden-born model's first 33 years, stopping abruptly in 1982.

Shapps visits Kyiv for first Zelensky summit

Talks on boost for air defences as Russia unleashes new wave of strikes

'She went to school but didn't come home. It hasn't sunk in yet'

THE family of a 15-year-old girl stabbed to death on her way to school spoke today of their heartbreak, revealing that the aspiring lawyer had been robbed of \"a great future\".

Kylie proves she's a powerhouse of pop on a night like this

IT HAS been 25 years since Kylie Minogue played Shepherd's Bush Empire. During her last rodeo, the cowboy-themed Intimate and Live tour, the Australian icon was on the cusp of taking control of her destiny, branching out into collaborations with indie figureheads like Manic Street Preachers' James Dean Bradfield and getting more heavily involved in the creative process.

GB News isn't safe for women after 10pm, says Fox abuse victim

THE journalist targeted by Laurence Fox in a misogynistic rant on GB News today said she had been inundated with threats on social media.

Old Oak Common? That's well-connected, says Sunak

THE Prime Minister today praised Old Oak Common's connections to the rest of London and Heathrow as \"very strong\" amid speculation that he is set to shunt a longer HS2 into the sidings.

Donald is our Captain Calm, says deputy Bjorn

LUKE DONALD has been branded 'Captain Calm' by Europe's last victorious Ryder Cup captain.

'The Stud' is ready to win the hearts of home fans

THE clamour began back in January, when Ludvig Aberg teed off as an amateur at the Dubai Desert Classic.

A year on from the 'doom loop', UK gilts look a lot less stressed

KWASI Kwarteng hoped his \"Growth Plan\" announcement last September when he was chancellor would be remembered as a bold and imaginative programme to kick-start the UK's economic potential. Unfortunately, the now notorious \"mini-budget\" of unfunded tax cuts, without any independent oversight or medium-term economic forecasts, is better known for precipitating the \"LDI (liability-driven investment) crisis\", which broke the 328-year-old UK government bond or gilts market.

LandSec unfazed by sell-off

AN upbeat Land Securities today failed to prevent investors staging a fresh flight from central London-focused property stocks.