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California This article is more than 4 years oldBear falls on California patrol car, causing crash and fireThis article is more than 4 years oldAnimal ‘fled the scene’ after smashing hood and windshield, causing vehicle to roll onto its side and burst into flames They probably don’t train people for this at the sheriff’s academy. A patrol car was struck by a falling bear in northern California last weekend, causing the vehicle to crash and explode. [Read More]

StageObituaryClare McIntyre obituaryShe was among the 1980s generation of playwrights who tackled feminist issuesClare McIntyre, who has died of multiple sclerosis, aged 57, was one of an extraordinary generation of British female playwrights who emerged in the 1980s. Before then there were really only two nationally known women writing in the British theatre, Caryl Churchill and Pam Gems. By the end of the decade, there were two to three dozen. Although her first play, I've Been Running, was performed at the Old Red Lion theatre pub in Islington, north London, McIntyre's two best-known plays were presented – like many other plays by women at the time – by the Royal Court theatre under the artistic directorship of Max Stafford-Clark. [Read More]

SkateboardingSkateboarders are the ‘shock troops of gentrification’, making no-go areas secure – and then seeing their newly valuable sites destroyed when the developers move in. Can one much-loved London space buck the trend? ‘It was like a part of my soul was destroyed,” says Ian “Davross” Scudds. He is talking about the moment in 2004 when two-thirds of the skateboarding site at the Southbank Centre in London was fenced off and destroyed without warning. [Read More]

Ilhan Omar This article is more than 3 months oldIlhan Omar fears for family’s safety after barrage of threats over Israel criticismThis article is more than 3 months oldMinnesota congresswoman blames ‘dishonest smearing’ for surge in violent threats in wake of Israel-Hamas conflict Israel-Hamas war – follow live Ilhan Omar, a Muslim US representative, said she fears for her family’s safety after receiving an onslaught of threats for criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. [Read More]

Film blogMost overrated filmsIt’s a Wonderful Life: my most overrated Christmas filmFrank Capra’s classic movie is a celebration of picket-fence smugness. Boring Bedford Falls would have been better had George Bailey never lived – from the magical, sleazy bar to the bowling alley Well hot dog dickety damn, what is it about this film that makes people love it so much? Is it the bit where the black maid gets spanked back into her kitchen? [Read More]

John MalkovichInterviewJohn Malkovich: 'I had a lot of violence growing up, but so what?'Simon HattenstoneThe actor lost four close family members in five years, and his life savings to Bernie Madoff – so why does he still think he is the luckiest man around? You could spend a lifetime preparing to interview John Malkovich. For starters, there are his films, about 90 of them – mainstream, indie, European arthouse, schlocky, literary, self-referential, lots of stinkers and a few classics. [Read More]

Do Something socialLife and styleMake like the Bloomsbury set and gather friends at home for enlightening talks, lively debate – and sausage rolls Once a month, on a Monday night, 30 friends squeeze into my flat to listen to three short talks about odd things. Subjects have been as diverse and peculiar as container shipping, drag culture, phantom limb syndrome, the Silvertown explosion, outdoor swimming, Napoleon’s wife and armadillos. I began Odd Mondays because I was fed up with boring conversations. [Read More]

SEMANTIC ENIGMASMany nicknames bestowed on those from other countries seem to be related to foodstuffs popular in those counties, eg. 'Frogs' for French, 'Krauts' for Germans. I have also heard that French people often refer to Brits as 'Roast Beefs' and that Germans used to refer to Italians during the war as 'Macaronis'. Where then did terms such as 'Yank' for American, or 'Pommies', as Australians would call Englishmen, come from? [Read More]

Music This article is more than 2 years oldMary Wilson: the Supremes' tenacious star who refused to accept defeatThis article is more than 2 years oldAlexis PetridisThe co-founder of the Motown group was overshadowed by Diana Ross but won her battle to protect the group’s integrity Mary Wilson: Supremes co-founder dies age 76 In November 1969, Diana Ross announced her departure from the Supremes. It was not an entirely unexpected turn of events for anyone who knew about the internal workings of Motown Records. [Read More]

BooksReviewSarah LeFanu's biography of Rose Macaulay reveals a talent for self-effacement in the prolific novelist that frustrates and intrigues Hermione LeeRose Macaulay by Sarah LeFanu 388pp, Virago, £20 Does Rose Macaulay (1881-1958) deserve a biography? She is the kind of figure who is always popping up in other people's stories - as the encouraging patron of the young Elizabeth Bowen, or the friend of Victor Gollancz or Ivy Compton-Burnett. She knew everyone, and went to all the literary parties, and was a fixture on magazines such as Time & Tide and the Spectator. [Read More]