Entertainment

Is there a more “2017” opening to an album than “the world is dying, shit is getting serious”? It’s hard to think of one, but then given that this is the second album in as many months that prophesises the crumbling of civilisation perhaps this is the new normal. With vast sections of the World at loggerheads with each other, the media stoking fear and mass surveillance being rationalised by increasingly sporadic acts of terrorism it’s increasingly looking as though...

One of the magical things about Oasis was the way Liam's rough-and-ready rock blended with Noel's harmonic roll to make one of the most eminent and timeless bands of the 21st century. Like the Lennon–McCartney duo most people side with one or the other, but few would disagree that both the Beatles and Oasis would be half a band if you removed either party. Which is what makes the recent release of new records from the respective Gallagher brothers so fascinating....

This September the Saatchi Gallery launched its annual START art fair. The event serves as a showcase for emerging artists around the world. Among them this year were a number of exciting Asian artists: contemporary Indian artist Owais Husain, Chinese performance artist Liu Bolin and Vietnamese painter Nguyen Van Du. This is part of a growing trend which has seen Asian art explode in the UK over recent years. The work of Asian artists has sold for huge amounts at...

The man who was the body double for Brad Pitt in the smash-hit Snatch has now snatched himself a top prize - for his landscape photographs. The stunning snaps of Greenwich and Brighton Pier from above by Matt Cooper, 47, are being showcased as part of the Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition. Matt was an actor for more than a decade before he picked up his first DSLR camera on holiday in France. Having once stood in for Christopher...

These breathtaking photos show two red kites going head-to-head in a mid-air tussle. The birds of prey were captured more than 50 ft in the air as they squabbled over their next meal. The pair swooped through the skies over Dumfries, Scotland, fighting each other for the piece of food. Wildlife photographer Nigel Robinson captured the moment while on holiday with his family. Nigel, 58, said: "One of the kites had got a piece of food and they were playing...

The Snowman returns to London's West End tonight for its 20th consecutive year. With a magical mix of exquisite dancing and live music – including Walking in the Air – friendship is kindled as the boy and his snowman embark on a starry-skied adventure to the North Pole, where they meet dancing penguins, reindeer, Father Christmas, Ice Princess, and escape the clutches of Jack Frost. Based on the book by Raymond Briggs and the film directed by Dianne Jackson and produced by John Coates, The Snowman is a much-loved festive tradition of storytelling, spectacle and magic. The Birmingham Repertory Theatre production has music...

As music industry lawyers say "where there's a hit there's a writ" and this one even by music standards is bizarre. Legendary hip hop brand the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA is unamused by a doggie day care centre in New York that has been trading under the name The Woof-Tang Clan. RZA Shankbone (real name Robert Fitzgerald Diggs) is suing the dogs walking and sitting service based in Brooklyn and offering services to "the illest group of dogs in New York...

There is something dark and malicious within the concept of duty for at its root, duty is a well-told lie. Lies themselves are always betrayals for in the liar’s mind you the receiver of a lie are either too ignorant, too weak or too untrustworthy to be trusted with the truth. And then, when the lie is uncovered, the reaction can run the gamut from momentary unease forgiven in good grace through to a permanent deep break ending in violence....

Sir Winston Churchill's final piece of artwork yesterday (Tues) smashed its auction estimate by selling for a staggering £357,000. The wartime leader painted 'The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell' in 1962 - three years before his death. He was in his late eighties and his abstract painting depicts the beloved goldfish pool in the garden of the family home at Chartwell, Kent. Churchill gave the painting, described as "a unique and moving insight into his final years", to bodyguard Sergeant Edmund...