The Shacklewell Arms continues its run of stonking free gigs with a Thursday-night triple-header. LA experimental duo Wreck and Reference round out the night with their unique blend of introspective metal, sounding raw and intelligent through a caustic mix of samples, synthesisers and drums. Schlocky support comes from the cloak-shrouded, smoke-obscured Blackmoon 1348, who base their set in spectacle and hypnotic chanting. Think the Witches of Eastwick with more melodica and you're halfway there. A proper show for a freebie...

With the success of Shrimoyee Chakraborty’s first restaurant, Calcutta Street, in Fitzrovia – a second branch launched in Brixton last month. With a completely different atmosphere to the original, the new south London space in heavily inspired by Calcutta’s Park Street, a lively neighbourhood not too dissimilar from Brixton. Serving a menu similar to the Fitzrovia site, the new space has a prominent focus on street food and home cooking-inspired dishes, plus smaller plates at a lower price point than...

Taxi drivers have blasted a council after being told they cannot have more than two buttons undone on their shirts as part of a controversial new dress code. Transport chiefs in Stafford are set to implement the strict new rules which will mean cabbies will also be banned from wearing clothing printed with words or pictures. The new dress code has been branded "way over the top" by frustrated drivers left baffled that they cannot have buttons undone on their...

Word puzzles such as a daily crossword can give pensioners some of the the brain functions of people ten years younger, a new study has revealed. The puzzles improve memory, attention and reasoning and regular problem solving, leads to a sharp brain in later life. Puzzling could also help ward off cognitive decline and it has been proven that keeping an active mind reduces a decline in thinking skills. But experts say more studies need to be done to link...

Britain is in danger of "sleepwalking" into a post-Brexit future with hugely increased food prices and unsafe and insecure food supplies, a report has claimed. This worrying study was compiled by academics from three top universities. They believe that the UK’s population expect low food prices and guaranteed supply for anything they need. Over the last twenty years Britain has benefited from a wealth of food and choice of food groups, even for the poorest in society. The report highlights...

The Church of England have slammed the "prohibitive" costs for foreigners and asylum seekers to get British citizenship. Foreign residents are currently forced to pay around £1,300 to receive citizenship, a fee which has a negative impact on integration, the General Synod said. The Church's governing body unanimously chose to investigate the current citizenship application process which begins with a £50 Life in the UK test. Ben Franks, a lay member of the C of E’s governing body, initiated the...

From exotic frogs to a jumping fox, all these pictures are winners and runners up in an international photography competition. British snapper Michelle Howell grabbed the top prize with this pic of a colourful Argentinian Ornate Horned Frog. She fought off more than 530 other snappers to win the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers' Creatures Great and Small competition. Former cop Michelle, from Flockton, Yorkshire said: "After retiring from West Yorkshire Police and entering the sailing business, I...

As much as I truly enjoy reading a good mystery novel – within the broad term of genre fiction mysteries are by far my favourite – they do present a positively infernal problem in writing about them. Most of the major touchstones used by a thoughtful reviewer in assessing a book's worth have to be equivocated. Plot is obvious; nobody will give a moment's worth of deciding whether or not to read a whodunit if they already know whodunit. One...

By Linda Marric In Whitney Can I Be Me, renowned British documentarian Nick Broomfield lift the lid on the life of one of the most famous pop stars of our time, and does his best to discover the secret behind her untimely demise at the age of 48. Broomfield uses extensive “never seen before” footage and numerous interviews with those closest to the singer to tell a truly distressing story of how the once squeaky clean princess of black pop,...