Traditional wedding in Bulgaria - in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Weddings in Ribnovo, Bulgaria, only take place during winter. The traditional white mask worn by the bride goes back centuries Mon 13 Jan 2014 12.56 EST Last modified on Mon 13 Jan 2014 13.59 EST Villagers participate in a group dance on the first day of two-day wedding celebrations in Ribnovo, located in the mountains of southern Bulgaria Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The cousin of the bride leads a group dance in the main square Share on Facebook Share on Twitter A child is carried on the back of its grandmother Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Family and friends of the bride arrange items of her dowry outside.

Thomas VinterbergInterviewThomas Vinterberg: ‘There is a great need for the uncontrollable – but little room for it today’Nicholas BlincoeThe Danish director’s new Oscar-winning film Another Round is about a group of teachers who dedicate themselves to getting drunk. He talks about losing control, patching up his friendship with Lars von Trier and the death of his daughter Thomas Vinterberg looks back on the past six months with disbelief. “I made a film about four white, middle-aged, semi-fat men teaching their students to drink.

Book of the dayBiography booksReviewHarry Crews’s unsparing portrait of his often brutal upbringing in 1930s Georgia is a window into a lost world If a cult writer’s aura endures long enough, their work might be elevated to Penguin Classics status. At leas, that’s what’s happened to Harry Crews, the author of many southern gothic novels populated by freaks and grotesques, including his most well-known novel, A Feast of Snakes. Born in Georgia in 1935, Crews died in 2012 and claimed to have sold only a few thousand books in hardback during his lifetime (a series of celebrity admirers including Sean Penn and Madonna failed to translate into mainstream popularity).

Airbnb This article is more than 8 years oldAirbnb hosts return to find home trashed after 'drug-induced orgy'This article is more than 8 years oldStar King and her husband Mark found revelers had left puddles of alcohol and urine, broken glass, toilets plugged with condoms and ‘chicken meat in my shoes’ Police found a trail of destruction, liquor and mayonnaise at a Calgary home rented out through Airbnb this weekend – after what the owners heard described as “a drug-induced orgy” at their home.

Brenda Myers-Powell, cofounder of the Dreamcatcher Foundation, at her home in Calumet City, Illinois. Photograph: Michelle Kanaar/The GuardianAs a teenager, she became a prostitute on the streets of Chicago. When a customer attacked her, she vowed to escape, dedicating her life to women’s safety and happiness by Ellen E JonesNobody can tell Brenda Myers-Powell’s story better than Brenda herself. It’s what she has been doing since escaping 25 years of abuse and sexual exploitation to transform herself into a beacon of hope and compassion for women in desperate circumstances.

Alys Fowler's gardening columnGardening adviceThey’re gorgeous straight off the bush, but which variety would best suit your patch? Whatever you decide, prepare to fend off the pigeonsMy brother has a friend who works in frozen foods, and he points out that no one can capture the vitamin content of a pea better than his industry. The peas are frozen on the field within minutes of being picked. In contrast, by the time I have got my peas home from the allotment, they are slowly degrading, losing valuable vitamins and nutrients, turning sugars into starch, drying out and hardening into the seeds that they want to be.

New band of the weekIndieThe Brazilian answer to Robert Pollard, and part-time suitcase-fixer, who dominates the local indiepop sceneHometown: Vilar dos Teles, Brazil. The lineup: Lê Almeida (voice, guitar). The background: Today's new band is an indiepop outfit from Brazil. Call it early World Cup fever, or maybe it's just because we've never featured a Brazilian indiepop band in this column before – how very short-sighted of us – but we thought it was high time.

Pass notesMobile gamesThe letter-guessing game has taken the world by storm, so it’s no surprise copycats have emerged. This one offers a sweary twist Name: Lewdle. Age: Brand new. Appearance: A lot like Wordle, at first. Sorry, but I am absolutely determined never to find out what Wordle is. Wordle is a simple online word-guessing game that has taken the world by storm. Damn you. Carry on. Players get six goes to guess a five-letter word.

NFLThere are blockbuster matchups throughout the opening round of the playoffs. Who will advance to the NFL’s final eight? The playoffs arrive with a super wildcard weekend packed with intrigue. The field is wider than ever after a rollercoaster regular season, any contender from the hobbled giants, plucky upstarts and surprise packages can make a case for a deep playoff run, all will believe they can live for another week until the league’s true heavyweights, San Francisco and Baltimore, enter the fray.

FeminismThe women's movement may have been in hiding through the 'ladette' years, but in 2013 it has come back with a vengeance. Introducing the new feminists taking the struggle to the web – and the streets The Guardian Women awards The campaign for women's liberation never went away, but this year a new swell built up and broke through. Since the early summer, I've been talking to feminist activists and writers for a short book, All The Rebel Women, and as I tried to keep up with the protests, marches and talks, my diary became a mess of clashing dates.