OpinionHandbags This article is more than 10 years oldI've had it with handbags, vagina symbols or notThis article is more than 10 years oldRhiannon Lucy CosslettI disagree with Freud – handbags are heavy wastebins that make pigs of us all, let's make like Emma Hill and escape their tyrannyEmma Hill's shock departure from Mulberry, a brand most famous for its £800 "it bags", has got me thinking about women's handbags, and not for the first time.
TelevisionObituaryReg Watson obituaryTelevision producer behind the hit soap operas Crossroads and Neighbours
The Australian television producer Reg Watson, who has died aged 93, was a pioneer of soap operas on both sides of the world. He adopted a policy of glamour, escapism and fun when he launched the daily serials Crossroads in Britain and Neighbours in his homeland, and ignored the critics who accused him of putting outlandish storylines on screen.
StageReviewRoyal Exchange theatre, Manchester
Phelim McDermott’s sublime collage of theatrical fragments is the fantastical, tearjerking fruition of a lifelong dream
In his youth, the actor and director Phelim McDermott would play the album Glassworks over and over again. “Philip Glass – on repeat!” says the now 55-year-old in his visionary new show Tao of Glass, sounding a little contrite that he might have driven his family mad.
Philip Glass: from Einstein on the Beach to a superfan in ManchesterRead moreStill, the obsession turned out to be lifelong.
Star Wars This article is more than 8 years oldToshiro Mifune turned down Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader rolesThis article is more than 8 years oldAn interview with the Rashomon actor’s daughter claims that George Lucas was keen for him to take a key role in Star Wars
Toshiro Mifune turned down the chance to play a key role in Star Wars, according to the late actor’s daughter, Mika Mifune.
United Nations This article is more than 1 year oldUS and Mexico call for international force to break gangs’ stranglehold on Haiti This article is more than 1 year oldScheduled session brought forward in view of dire conditions – rampant gang violence, a cholera outbreak and escalating famine
The US and Mexico have proposed the deployment of a multinational force in Haiti to help break the stranglehold of gangs over the distribution of fuel, water and other basic goods.
Cuba holidaysRum, cigars, salsa … is Cuba really a good place to take your teenage kids? Yes, especially if you can sneak in a little political educationWhen she was 12 or 13, Laura said to me: "Mum, who's that man with the hat and the star that you see on people's T-shirts?" So I told her a bit about Che Guevara. "Oh," she said, "everyone has him on posters and things, but no one knows who he is.
The ObserverPop and rockReview(EMI)
After a hurried start, the California teen’s laid-back indie pop finds its groove on this slightly one-note yet promising debut
The opening four songs on this debut album from California 19-year-old Claire Rosinkranz zip by in under 10 minutes. A blur of rapid-fire lyrics delivered in a slightly grating sing-speak cadence, and all with a similarly mid-tempo, indie-pop skip, they feel tricky to grab on to. It’s an offputting start to an album that eventually finds its footing on the lilting, loved-up Swinging at the Stars, which clocks in at a relatively epic 3:43.
Book of the dayHorror booksReviewThe horror writer is at his familiar best with four suspenseful and sometimes surprisingly tender novellas Stephen King has made good use of the sometimes tricky novella form over his nearly 50-year career, often as a vehicle to explore ideas and styles that lie off the more familiar path of his horror novels. If It Bleeds brings together four new stories, all offering vintage King themes with their own particular twist.
US newsSweet Caroline was president's daughter, says DiamondSweet Caroline, the 1960s hit song that has become a karaoke favourite, was inspired by President Kennedy's daughter, its composer, Neil Diamond, has revealed.
"I've never discussed it with anybody before - intentionally," the 66-year-old singer-songwriter told the Associated Press during a break from recording yesterday. "I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday."
Diamond finally got his chance when he performed the song, via satellite, at Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's 50th birthday party last week.
Fashion This article is more than 2 years oldSZA says she was scared to wear hijab after 9/11This article is more than 2 years oldThe New Jersey-raised singer faced Islamophobic judgments about her head covering and regrets fearing ‘what people said about me’
The singer SZA has spoken out about the Islamophobia she experienced as a child and how she stopped wearing a hijab covering after September 11 because she was “so scared” of the reaction it would provoke.