CATEGORIES

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.

Boss De Haan raises loan to Saga to £85m

SAGA, the specialist travel group and insurer for the over-50s, said today it would borrow more than previously planned from its chairman ahead of a £150 million bond repayment, having dropped a proposal to sell its underwriting business.

Everyman hit despite Barbenheimer

LOSSES at Everyman Media grew fivefold in the first half of the year after ticket sales dropped due to a lack of blockbusters.

One year on we're paying the price of Truss's chaos

The anniversaries keep coming. Yesterday it was a year to the day since the pound plunged to its all-time low against the dollar.

September sun turns up the heat on H&M sales

H&M’s sales this month are set to fall by 10% after the unseasonal September heatwave cooled interest in the rollout of its Autumn/Winter ranges.

Bosses must offer workers more than just snacks to tempt us back to the office

USUALLY, I do not tangle with pronouncements by the editor of a paper I write for. Call it the instinct of columnist self preservation. Still, a blast this week by this paper's Dylan Jones enjoining workfrom-homers to get back to the office - citing the perils of emptying out the capital's restaurants, clubs and shops - rang a bell.

Lachlan is inheriting a media empire and a poisoned chalice

LACHLAN MURDOCH, the 52-year-old eldest son of Rupert Murdoch, assuming command of Fox News along with the world's most important newspaper empire after the announcement of this father's retirement, will join the most powerful people in politics, with the power to elect presidents, anoint prime ministers and warp the reality that the rest of us are living in. Just like his father. We surely should be asking what kind of leader he will be.

"There was no one like me on the slopes when I started'

Skiing has never been the most diverse of sports, but a range of bodies is helping it change for the better, says Rebecca Miles

Horror on school run as girl, 15, is stabbed to death

A 15-YEAR-OLD girl was stabbed to death in south London as pupils made their way to school this morning.

Suella speech on migrants risks fuelling violence, says Elton John

SIR Elton John today led condemnation of Home Secretary Suella Braverman as the furore over her call to rewrite UN refugee rights continued to grow.

Hall: I don't feel safe walking home at night

TORY mayoral candidate Susan Hall says she no longer feels safe in London at night and has begun using her keys as a potential weapon in case she is attacked.

Mayors make a stand for HS2

Khan and northern leaders say cutting it back would be a national outrage’

Laurence Fox suspended after tirade on GB News

GB News today suspended Laurence Fox after he made \"totally unacceptable\" comments about a female journalist during a broadcast.

I was told that he was underhand, dangerous ... so I hired him as soon as I could

TODAY, Michael Wolff joins the Evening Standard, where, every Wednesday, he will be writing about American politics, US media, and the forthcoming presidential election.

Trump lied about real worth to secure loans, rules judge

DONALD TRUMP committed fraud with \"fantasy\" valuations of his property empire as he rose to prominence as a business tycoon and ultimately president of the United States, a judge in New York has ruled.

Dior leads rebellion against man's world in a patriarchal takedown

PARIS fashion week began in earnest with Maria Grazia Chiuri's latest feminist treatise for Christian Dior.