Monday 2 Nov 2026 العربية

On air now · 01:00–06:00Quran & Reflection

Breaking

Iran war live: Araghchi says talks under way on 2-day plan to reopen Hormuz At least four Palestinians killed in Gaza as Israeli attacks continue London police arrest 48 as hundreds protest Palestine Action ban Education under fire: Gaza’s children face death on their way to school A UN protection force must be urgently deployed to Palestine Sudan RSF commander defects from Hemedti’s forces Iran war live: Araghchi says talks under way on 2-day plan to reopen Hormuz At least four Palestinians killed in Gaza as Israeli attacks continue London police arrest 48 as hundreds protest Palestine Action ban Education under fire: Gaza’s children face death on their way to school A UN protection force must be urgently deployed to Palestine Sudan RSF commander defects from Hemedti’s forces

News

‘I had no plan. Just total scorched earth’: how Kiran Leonard survived teen success to make songs of full-body joy

Hailed as a prodigy at 16, the Saddleworth singer-songwriter was patronised in the press and lost his musical path. Now courted by imaginative new bands, he explains his route backKiran Leonard presses the tips of his fingers together and looks at me solemnly across the table. “I don’t know if I’m doing a very good job,” he says, “But I’m trying really, really hard not to swear.”A decade ago, he e

‘We tried to levitate the Pentagon’: the almost unbelievable life of Ed Sanders, trickster god of the US counterculture

He gave Jimi Hendrix his gear, freaked out Frank Sinatra, inspired Norman Mailer – and tried to topple the American war machine. As a documentary about his band the Fugs comes out, the 87-year-old gives a rare interview“Charles Manson once wrote me a letter saying, ‘If I was as powerful as you claim then you wouldn’t be here,’” Ed Sanders tells me over a video call, savouring the menace in that se

‘I need to prove my family’s sacrifice was worth it’: how pop auteur Shygirl slogged her way to the top

Adored by Madonna and Charli xcx and buoyed by finding true love, the Londoner is branching out into rock and breaking the mainstream. She explains how her working class upbringing made her so fearlessLeaving the important stuff to chance isn’t Shygirl’s style. First aid kit, wind-up radio, batteries: earlier this morning, the singer filled her online shopping basket in preparation for impending d

‘A guy held a knife to my throat and said: play something normal!’ Richard Thompson on crazy crowds, his beloved beret and Sandy Denny’s driving skills

As he releases new album Hippies, Thugs and Heroes, the 77-year-old British folk legend answers your questions about Billy Connolly, Californian fish and chips and whether he nearly joined the EaglesBilly Connolly recalled being in a room with you, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake and John Martyn. Did you feel you were collectively doing something special? poscopy That might have been at the Royal Festival

Michael Kiwanuka: Fudge review – rough and instinctive, but also lush and alive with melody

(Polydor)Its release delayed by ill health, Kiwanuka’s latest was made in tandem with 2024’s Small Changes – but it’s much more than a mere companion albumIn November 2024, Michael Kiwanuka released his fourth album, Small Changes, an extremely poised and self-assured piece of work. After three gold albums, a Grammy nomination, a Mercury prize win and the ongoing success of Cold Little Heart, a 20

Weird Baile: Collected Rips 2004-2024 review – a hallucinatory trip to baile funk’s outer limits

(TraTraTrax)Two decades of work from producers JLZ, VHOOR, Mu540 and DJ RaMeMes strips the Brazilian genre to its essential parts until it chimes with grime and drillOriginating in 1980s Brazil, baile funk began as a bass-heavy blend of syncopated folk rhythms and hip-hop-influenced sampling, and has since developed into regional styles ranging from the hyperpop freneticism of D.Silvestre to DJ K’

Don't Stop Believin'! - high school musical Glee set for reboot

Ryan Murphy's popular musical comedy-drama is set to return on Hulu and Disney+ after a decade away.

Ali G is back. But is the character past its sell-by date?

Borat and Bruno creator Sacha Baron Cohen returns as Ali G, more than two decades after the release of Ali G Indahouse.

Actor Noel Clarke pleads not guilty to sexual offence charges

The former Doctor Who and Kidulthood star appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Author Helen Fielding launches award to find the next Bridget Jones's Diary

The Bridget Jones Prize will go to the author of the funniest 1,000-word diary-style piece of writing.

Glastonbury coach tickets oversold in admin error

Bookings will automatically be converted into a general admission ticket and coach fare refunded.

Belfast comedian criticised for rape 'joke' about assault victim

Vittorio Angelone referred to content creator Rebecca Goodwin in a remark about rape.

Radio presenter's 'wobbles' over Children in Need cycling challenge

Owain Wyn Evans says the 400-mile challenge doesn't "feel like a thing I'm able to do".

Katie Razzall: BBC closures make business sense, but far more savings are needed

The BBC announced it will close its BBC Three, BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra broadcast channels.

Christina Applegate says she was wrongly diagnosed with MS

She said in a Tuesday release of her Messy podcast that she was not happy about the new information and her symptoms have only "gotten worse".

MNEK cancels tour over lack of ticket sales and high production costs

The Grammy-nominated artist was due to start a run of shows for his latest album Bulldozer!! next month.

BBC Three, BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra broadcast channels to close

The closures are announced as the corporation continues to try to save £500m over two years.

Clayface review – flesh-stretching DC body horror is very gory but not very good

Liverpool makes for an unconvincing Gotham City in this effectively gross but otherwise middling attempt to milk money from a lesser-known Batman villainA sense of desperation is understandably in the air over at DC, the company, like Marvel, slowly realising that the mass superhero fever has finally broken. There’s still interest there, of course (this summer’s Spider-Man is now the biggest film

‘A vehicle to expose prejudice, bias, and stupidity’: Sacha Baron Cohen defends Ali G as satire

The actor defended his new film, Ali G: Who Iz I?, saying his aim is to bring people ‘face-to-face with the danger of fanaticism and conspiracy theories’Sacha Baron Cohen has launched an impassioned defence of satire, the right to offend, and his Ali G character on in a lengthy article for Time magazine.On the eve of the release of his new film, Ali G: Who Iz I?, Baron Cohen described satire as “m

Seth Meyers on Elon Musk: ‘Nobody likes him’

Late-night hosts discussed Donald Trump’s praise for Elon Musk as well as the physical appearance of several male US Senate candidatesLate-night hosts recapped Donald Trump’s recent comments on Elon Musk and the physical attractiveness of numerous male candidates in the upcoming US midterms. Continue reading...

‘I’m always being real’: what on earth persuades disgraced people like Elizabeth Holmes to let the cameras in?

With You Can See Everything, Holmes joins other such high-profile subjects as Lance Armstrong, Imelda Marcos and Anthony Weiner to allow film-makers to document their lives. But do they ever come out well?In You Can See Everything, convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes invites film-makers Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim into her home in a supposed act of “radical transparency”. Holmes is filmed,

As fans reject AI-generated music, even boosters are drawing the line

Enthusiasts like Grimes and A$AP Rocky may embrace AI-generated content, but they won’t produce it themselvesStreaming services, notable musicians and fans are confronting the growing presence of AI-generated music and drawing lines in the sand.On Tuesday, Spotify announced it had removed about 50m songs considered AI slop from its recommendations to users over the past year. Continue reading...

The Mystery of What Befell in the Ditch by Thure Erik Lund review – is this the greatest living Norwegian writer?

Translated into English at last, this portrait of a man appalled by modernity and desperate to get back to nature is brimming with Nordic weltschmerzT-O-M. The initials of Tomas Olsen Myrbråten, the narrator in Thure Erik Lund’s The Mystery of What Befell in the Ditch, spell out the Norwegian word for “empty”. Approaching 38, he’s already a relic. He spends his days slumped at the kitchen table or

Making Marie Antoinette review – sweet Coppola home movie reveals the family business

Shot by Sofia’s mother Eleanor this documentary shows something of the strain of shooting a period piece, but is a far cry from the tumultuous portrait of her husband in Hearts of Darkness It is 20 years since the release of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst; it is a supportively unjudging, unironised study of the queen’s early years before the 1789 revolution, lavishly and a