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Tom Hardy’s Brutal Western Masterpiece Is Officially Conquering the Global Charts Again
Tom Hardy’s 2015 film The Revenant has surged back into global popularity, now ranking as the third-most-watched movie on HBO Max worldwide, more than a decade after its cinema release. The renewed interest coincides with the actor’s return to screens as Harry Da Souza in Guy Ritchie’s crime drama MobLand, which begins its second season…
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Small businesses say one in four High Street shops near them lay empty – with two out of three saying it is now harder to succeed here than in rest of Europe
A new study of 526 UK small businesses has found that town and city centres are increasingly blighted by empty shops, with owners saying the UK is now a tougher place to trade than the rest of Europe. The report, published by small business network Enterprise Nation, blames rising wages, business rates, energy bills, National…
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On This Day in 2009, Taylor Swift Made MTV VMA History Before Being Part of One of the Award Show’s Most Memorable Moments
On 13 September 2009, Taylor Swift won Best Female Video for “You Belong with Me” at the MTV Video Music Awards, becoming the first country artist to win the award. Her acceptance speech was famously interrupted when Kanye West stormed the stage to declare that Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” deserved the…
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The Units’ Digital Stimulation is synthpunk perfection
The Verge’s music writer discovered The Units, a lesser-known San Francisco punk band, after stumbling upon a reference to the “synthpunk” genre while researching another act, The Screamers. Their 1980 album Digital Stimulation is presented as a landmark of the style, blending punk’s DIY aggression with synthesizers in a way that sounds strikingly modern, decades…
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Rival AI executives propose safety measures while Trump rejects the warnings
Sam Altman and Elon Musk publicly backed a call from Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei to slow the pace of artificial intelligence development, producing a rare show of unity among rival tech leaders. Amodei warned that an unchecked “swarm” of AI agents could become capable of “taking over the entire internet” within a year, citing…
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World Conker Championships could be called off after nuts weather frazzled this year’s crop
The World Conker Championships, held annually in Southwick, Northamptonshire, could be cancelled this year after repeated heatwaves left Britain’s chestnuts too small and shrivelled to use in competition. Organisers say the event, which draws around 2,500 spectators and 256 competitors, needs 3,000 large conkers roughly two inches wide to go ahead, and this summer’s hot,…
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Revealed: Dozens of Police Scotland workers don’t pay SNP’s higher taxes by living in England
Dozens of Police Scotland employees are avoiding the SNP’s higher Scottish income tax rates by registering their main home in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, according to figures obtained under freedom of information law. The number has risen steadily, from 38 in 2023/24 to 43 in 2024/25, 46 last year and 48 now, feeding concerns…
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Trump team unloads on liberal journalist over Natalie Harp posts: ‘Sick, deluded freak’
The White House’s Rapid Response 47 account publicly attacked liberal journalist Aaron Rupar on Saturday, calling him a “sick, deluded freak” after he posted about White House executive assistant Natalie Harp accompanying President Donald Trump on his trip to Ireland. The exchange extends weeks of media and political scrutiny around the 35-year-old aide, which began…
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“A lot of people think they’ll lose their jobs if they get creative. But our career is based on doing what we want”: When Opeth gambled on their future by ditching metal and embracing prog on Heritage
In 2011, Swedish band Opeth released their tenth studio album, Heritage, marking a dramatic departure from the death metal sound that had defined their previous two decades. The record dropped the band’s signature growled vocals and heavily distorted guitars in favour of a progressive rock style, a shift that unsettled some long-standing fans but reflected…
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Cruise passengers erupt over ‘rude’ luggage habit that sharply divides travelers
A debate has broken out among cruise passengers over whether it is acceptable to bring luggage into crowded lifts, particularly on busy disembarkation mornings when thousands of travellers try to leave the ship at once. The disagreement, amplified by social media discussions including a Reddit thread, pits those who see hauling suitcases into packed lifts…