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The show depicts prisons as places characterised by violence and isolation, with no focus on rehabilitation. It’s depressingly accurate
Alex South is a former prison officer and the author of the memoir Behind These Doors
The new series of Time is not an easy watch. The opening seconds of Jimmy McGovern’s prison drama show a normal woman on a normal bus, as it drives up a normal road. But to the right of that road is a huge concrete wall, topped with barbed wire and CCTV cameras.
The wall is only partly visible, just as prisons themselves tend to occupy a space towards the very edges of our thoughts. They exist, but not as part of normal life. But McGovern’s drama shows just how permeable that wall is.
Alex South is a former prison officer and the author of the memoir Behind These Doors
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 07:00:53 GMT
Staines’s finest nailed the zeitgeist of the late 90s and early 00s, and now he’s back – but how does he fit into 2026? He discusses the backlash against his return, his worst ever interviewee and how he’s going to prevent world war two
“Can you tell people that you’re from Hustler?” Ali G asks me. “Or The Source. Or Guns & Ammo. Speaking to a Guardian journalist ain’t a good look for me in the hood.”
At Ali’s request, we are meeting in an independent chicken shop in Staines because – due to some sort of mix-up – he thought the one interview he had agreed to for his new film was Chicken Shop Date, which was “90% likely to lead to boning”. He follows this with an entirely unprintable reminiscence about the first time he and “me Julie” had sex in the disabled toilets of Egham KFC.
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 09:00:55 GMT
Meet some of the elderly residents of Bolotana, in line to be the world’s sixth ‘blue zone’ for its high number of female centenarians
When Giovanna Marras opens the door to her home in Bolotana, a mountain village in central Sardinia, her eyes are bright with curiosity as she sizes up her visitors. Her sister, Mariangela, peeks out too, soon ushering her guests inside and handing out dishes of ice-cream. The sisters are full of life, talking animatedly. Giovanna is 101 and Mariangela is 99.
Sitting in their living room, Giovanna swiftly recaps her life story: she excelled at school before moving to Cagliari, the capital of the Italian island, at 18 to train as a seamstress. The sisters went on to run a successful tailoring business in Bolotana before travelling the world after retirement. Neither married.
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:00:49 GMT
Facing a slump in the polls, Argentina’s president is making economic attacks on the islands’ oil industry, and suggesting its key fisheries industry could be next
A dozen local people and a uniformed military police officer (“Do you mind if I sit in?”) took their seats at the back of the handsome wood-panelled courtroom that doubles as the Falkland Islands’ legislative assembly. Outside, it was a typically blowy early evening. It may nominally be spring in the south Atlantic, but Stanley harbour, with its dark grey water speckled with historical shipwrecks, was a cauldron of swells and churn.
Six of the assembly’s eight members – five men, one woman – waited patiently at a row of desks and microphones. The heating had been turned up to just short of uncomfortable. Behind them, a portrait of King Charles. From the other walls, dusty photographs of governors, of varying popularity, gazed disinterestedly at the scene.
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:00:49 GMT
From doing too much cardio to wasting time – PTs reveal the common fails stunting your progress, and how to avoid them
We’ve all done it. Launched ourselves head first into a new regime – perhaps as the result of a new year resolution, recent breakup or aggressively unflattering photo. “You go all in and train five days a week,” says Elizabeth Davies, personal trainer and author of Training for Your Old Lady Body. “Then life happens. You miss a few sessions, then stop completely. You feel deflated that you couldn’t stick to it. Then some time later, motivation strikes again and the cycle repeats itself.”
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 05:00:50 GMT
From science kits to karaoke machines, shower sets to brain-boosting games, here are the presents our mini testers loved the most
• The best gifts for seven-year-olds
Eight is such a wonderful age. Kids are old enough to have their own interests and hobbies, but still young enough to get swept up in play and be absorbed for hours if you find the right toy for them.
By eight, children’s interests and skills are taking shape. They’re more confident readers, more strategic thinkers and curious about how things work. And while they think they’re extremely grown up, eight-year-olds still need plenty of time to play for their overall wellbeing.
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 11:00:00 GMT
Interior minister says ‘the Republic will not yield’ to France’s worst protests in years
Paris police said about 110,000 people took place in a protest march on Saturday against the cost of living and school conditions.
Numbers have differed for those nationwide, with authorities saying it was about 550,000 but organisers claiming it was higher at about 800,000.
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 10:57:17 GMT
Jason Powell also backed concentration camps as Reform councillors talk of executing grooming gang members
An aspiring Reform UK MP who advocated the use of concentration camps and said “you cannot be Muslim and British” has been suspended from the party.
The activist is one of a number featured in an ITV documentary, which will be broadcast in full on Sunday night and has already resulted in fresh questions about Reform’s vetting process.
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 10:03:49 GMT
Health secretary says it is ‘total disgrace’ if staff looked up William Chapman, who died at Yorkshire Wildlife Park
NHS staff who inappropriately accessed the medical records of a man mauled to death by a tiger should be sacked, Yvette Cooper said.
The health secretary said the incident – which followed reports earlier this year that staff had unnecessarily viewed details about the Southport attack victims and those murdered by Valdo Calocane in Nottingham in 2023 – was a “total disgrace”.
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 09:38:13 GMT
Green leader in England and Wales calls ‘debates about words’ unhelpful and denies recent motion was controversial
Zack Polanski has said Zionism in its current form is racist, that no country has a right to exist and that the controversial Green party motion on the issue was not controversial.
The leader of the Green party in England and Wales gave an unapologetic interview to the BBC on Sunday two weeks after his party approved a motion equating Zionism with racism.
Continue reading...Sun, 18 Oct 2026 10:39:14 GMT