Culture

Culture covers the stories that shape how we express ourselves and connect with one another. From film festivals and entertainment to social movements and artistic endeavour, these stories reflect the values, conversations and creativity that define our communities. Whether it's a new film project breaking ground, a performer taking their work to new audiences, or society grappling with important questions about identity and behaviour, culture encompasses the ways we live and the narratives we tell.

This topic matters because culture is often where change begins. The entertainment industry responds to shifting tastes whilst simultaneously influencing them. Artists and creators challenge conventions, spark conversations, and hold up mirrors to society. Social and cultural movements highlight the issues that resonate with people's lives and futures.

Culture also reflects broader trends in how we consume and engage with content and ideas. From streaming platforms to live performance, from traditional institutions to emerging voices online, the stories documented here chronicle the evolving landscape of how we entertain, educate and challenge ourselves.

Count Binface declares himself ‘the winning candidate who bothered to turn up’ as Farage ‘humiliated’ in Clacton

August 14, 2026

Count Binface claimed a symbolic victory after winning 9,455 votes in the Clacton by-election, joking that he was the only leading candidate to attend the count. Nigel Farage retained the seat for Reform UK with 22,239 votes, but Binface said the result had humiliated him, particularly after Farage had said he did not want to…
Murder suspect captured following 45-day, 3-state manhunt after victim discovered in shallow grave

August 14, 2026

Isabelle Johnson was arrested in Florida on Thursday after a 45-day manhunt across Florida, Georgia and Alabama, according to authorities. She is a murder suspect in connection with the death of Jason Coulthart, whose body was reportedly found in a shallow grave. A US Marshals task force made the arrest, ending a search that had…
Heritage project to celebrate city’s showpeople

August 14, 2026

A £120,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant will support a two-year project documenting Sheffield’s travelling showpeople, centred on the Pullen/Pullin family, who have operated funfairs across eight generations. The initiative aims to preserve personal memories and traditional fairground crafts while recognising the wider community whose lives and leisure have been shaped by the city’s fairs.…
Watch Green Day’s surprise performance at ‘Nimrods’ premiere afterparty

August 14, 2026

Green Day played an unannounced 16-song set at the Los Angeles afterparty for the premiere of their new comedy film, ‘Nimrods’, on 12 August. The performance highlighted the band’s early catalogue and coincided with the cinema release of a film they produced and appear in, extending the group’s promotion beyond a conventional premiere. Performing as…
Big Country Redux guitarist Bruce Watson picks the soundtrack of his life. “The Rolling Stones are the quietest band on stage I’ve heard in my life. You can actually talk over the top of them playing”

August 14, 2026

Bruce Watson of Big Country Redux reflects on the music, artists and concerts that have shaped his life in a “soundtrack of my life” feature. The interview offers a personal view of his influences and memories rather than reporting a new release or event. – Watson selects records, artists and live performances of lasting importance…
Disney names Kingdom Hearts among its billion-dollar gaming franchises

August 14, 2026

Disney has identified Kingdom Hearts as one of nine gaming franchises worth more than $1 billion, underlining the commercial importance of the Square Enix-developed Disney crossover ahead of Kingdom Hearts IV. The move reflects Disney’s broader strategy of treating games as a core part of its entertainment business and a major way audiences encounter its…
Colleagues slam Sydney banker and DEI boss accused of trying to kill his boyfriend: ‘Inflated opinion of himself’

August 14, 2026

David Cao, a 37-year-old Sydney banker who has held senior roles including diversity, equity and inclusion positions at major Australian institutions, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly attacking his boyfriend, Callum Forbes, 36, with a hot saucepan and boiling water at a boutique hotel in central France on 28 July. The case has…
Trump slaps a 100 percent tariff on heavy and ‘sensitive’ drones

August 14, 2026

President Trump has introduced tariffs of up to 100 percent on heavier and security-sensitive drones entering the US, a move intended to bolster national security and encourage domestic manufacturing. It is likely to raise costs and limit options for commercial operators, particularly because Chinese manufacturers such as DJI currently dominate the market with products that…
Trump administration steps into surrogate’s battle over baby with a heart defect biological parents asked her to abort

August 14, 2026

The Trump administration has intervened in a legal dispute over a newborn with a life-threatening heart defect, born to an Alaska surrogate for a California couple. Surrogate McKenna West says the intended parents asked her to terminate the pregnancy after the diagnosis; they deny intending to withhold necessary treatment. The case has become a prominent…
‘She was just Gaynor from up the road’ – villagers ready for emotional Bonnie Tyler goodbye

August 14, 2026

Mumbles is preparing to bid an emotional farewell to Bonnie Tyler, who died in July aged 75 and was known locally by her birth name, Gaynor Sullivan. Residents remember the singer as a friendly, down-to-earth neighbour rather than an international star, and expect hundreds to line the streets for the funeral procession. Her coffin will…