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Harry Styles, fake stage invaders and a censored Peter Mandelson joke: the biggest moments at the Brit awards

Harry Styles, fake stage invaders and a censored Peter Mandelson joke: the biggest moments at the Brit awards

The ITV censors had their work cut out in a protest-filled, relatively edgy ceremony that hosted ultra-expressive performances from Rosalía, Wolf Alice and more • Brit awards 2026: the full list of winners • ‘We’re going into a dark place’: Brit awards artists voice alarm over Reform UK’s rise Styles opened the show with his return single, Aperture, a UK No 1 in release week which is fairly swiftly dropping down the charts, perhaps because it is a real stylistic outlier in pop right now . Euphoric yet faintly distant, it conjures the feeling when you’re on a dancefloor, slightly out of it, and gazing at the human melee around you. And so it proves here, with a performance where Styles is in the moment, jiving with his considerable band and backing singers, and twitching in time with dancers in snail T-shirts and sunglasses – and yet also one level above the moment, not letting himself become too giddy beyond a couple of grins. His vocal lines are reminiscent of that master of airy yet warm observation, Kings of Convenience and Whitest Boy Alive singer Erlend Oye, and I even detected a touch of David Bowie here too: an echo of his tailoring and particular handsomeness as Styles ages, and also the way Bowie would perform, with a thousand-yard stare that also takes in the foreground. Continue reading...

‘All you need is a chair and a view’: could daily ‘dusking’ make us healthier and happier?

‘All you need is a chair and a view’: could daily ‘dusking’ make us healthier and happier?

An old Dutch ritual of going outside to watch the coming of night – or dusking – is having a revival across Europe. Fans of the practice say it’s a great way to disconnect from screens and find peace I’m wandering around a walled garden on the edge of the North York Moors at dusk. The darkening sky is faintly illuminated by a sharp sliver of crescent moon and the first stars. Bats are swooping in search of supper, an owl is softly hooting and the dark outline of a ruined castle looms beyond the walls. But what is really striking about the scene is what’s missing: artificial light. There are no solar lamps or electric bulbs; no torches or phone screens. As parts of the garden recede into the gloom, others are thrown into sharp relief: the bare branches of winter trees; a russet-coloured hedge; clumps of snowdrops, glowing bright in the moonlight. Continue reading...

Sicily revokes century-old Mondello beach concession over mafia links

Sicily revokes century-old Mondello beach concession over mafia links

Regional authorities withdraw permit after citing risk of organised crime infiltration linked to a subcontractor It is one of Europe’s most celebrated shorelines, framed by mountains and 19th-century villas and famed for its Caribbean-blue water and white sand. But Mondello beach in Palermo, Sicily, has also been mired in controversy, the subject of complaints stretching back a century from residents and tourists who say its private lidos, cabins and deckchairs have left scant room for public access. Continue reading...