Succession is the question as Cox directs and stars as a distillery boss tempting estranged brother Cumming back into the Highland fold

For his directorial debut, Brian Cox is painting in pretty broad strokes and primary colours; Glenrothan is a sentimental comedy-drama from screenwriter David Ashton about the troubled reunion of two brothers in Scotland. It can be a bit soppy, sometimes resembling Sunday-night TV comfort food, but this big-hearted picture wins you over, and there are certainly some marvellous panoramic shots of the Highlands.

Cox himself plays Sandy, the glowering chief of a hugely profitable family-owned distillery which provides employment for the entire locality, and run by the fiercely competent Jess (Shirley Henderson). Sandy effectively inherited the job from his late father, a stern disciplinarian remembered in traumatised flashback scenes – for this role, Brian Cox has drolly cast his son Alan Cox.

Der Discounter Lidl wird demnächst immerhin in Nordirland einen Pub eröffnen und der gesamten Insel vielleicht wieder kulturellen Auftrieb geben.

Thinktank says algorithms are fuelling isolation and division after analysing posts shown to social media users

Reform UK voters are the least likely to see posts from friends and family on social media and most likely to see content from brands and news organisations, a study has found.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank said algorithms were fuelling isolation and division after its research analysing users’ feeds on Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky and TikTok found that only 13% of Reform UK voters saw content from someone they knew, compared with 23% of Green party voters.

When it comes to scandal, seeing is believing – which is why these images caused such a stir

Words can tell a story, but it’s pictures that will make you believe in it. Such is the power of a photograph; the ability to strip away illusions, to illuminate something hidden, and sometimes force us to accept unpalatable truths. When it comes to scandal, seeing is believing – occasionally even to the point that a picture changes the course of history.

How might life have been different for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had he not been photographed clutching the midriff of the 17-year-old girl he would later claim he had never met? Without this haunting triptych of the former prince, the late Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein’s fixer, Ghislaine Maxwell, hovering in the background, there would have been nothing physical to connect the then prince with a trafficking victim. Though for years Andrew’s friends insisted that the photograph must have been doctored, buried within the Epstein files recently released by the US Department of Justice is a note from Maxwell that appears to confirm it is real.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky says Russian security services may seek to create a ‘sense of vulnerability’ in Britain

Vladimir Putin is likely to stage another Salisbury-style attack on UK soil unless the government adopts more aggressive tactics against the Kremlin, the exiled Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky has said.

The former oil tycoon has emerged as a leading figure in Russian diaspora opposition circles and claims to be well-informed about current thinking and developments among Moscow’s elite.

On today’s Big Take podcast, why Netflix bowed out of the bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery, the regulatory hurdles that remain for Paramount and how these two big movie studios will become one.

On today’s Big Take podcast, why Netflix bowed out of the bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery, the regulatory hurdles that remain for Paramount and how these two big movie studios will become one.

Impressions of Keir Starmer, sketches about dodgy skincare products, and some ‘god-awful performances’ aside, the inaugural episode’s ambition was refreshing to see

In the end, it’s a feeling, isn’t it? You can tally up the laughs, work out the ratio of good lines to bad, sketches that fly, sketches that plummet straight into the mire – but in the end, a comedy show leaves you with a feeling that tells you whether it worked or not.

The general feeling, I think, will be that the inaugural episode of Saturday Night Live UK – Sky’s version of the famous 51-year-old American original founded and still overseen by the infamous Lorne Michaels – did work.

As the UK version of the US comedy institution launches, the big question is whether it can balance British humour with the spirit of the original

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This weekend, after the longest hyping up period for a British comedy in ages, Saturday Night Live UK finally launches on Sky. It arrives with a degree of divisiveness that most shows don’t usually attain until at least a few episodes in, with some people willing it on, others are convinced that it will fail. Already there’s been a note of pre-emptive schadenfreude online, with every last piece of promotional material – even a fairly innocuous advert with the letters S N and L spelt out in baked beans – pounced on as evidence that the show will be a complete bin fire.

And maybe it will. I’m hopeful that SNL UK will prove better than many expect: there are some good young comics attached; some shrewd people behind the scenes (it’s heartening to see a couple of members of the great sketch group Sheeps on the writing staff); and the steely presence of original SNL creator Lorne Michaels, keeping an eye on things as exec producer. But equally, this is a hell of a high-wire act. Putting on a live comedy show every week is a daunting enough prospect; but add to that the reputational weight of the original SNL – arguably the US’s most famous comedy export – and it becomes something else altogether.

Guardian analysis of more than a million emails reveals financier’s deep and longstanding ties with the wealthy and powerful

The release of the Epstein files has reverberated around the world, leading to at least nine resignations and investigations into high-profile figures, including the former UK ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, and the ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

The deluge of information has made it hard to assess the extent of the connections but a Guardian data analysis reveals how frequent, deep and longstanding his ties were to a number of high-profile figures.

Sky News Arabia has been accused of broadcasting propaganda and whitewashing genocide in Sudan

Sky is considering terminating its joint venture with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after accusations it is involved in broadcasting propaganda and genocide denial.

Sky is in talks with its partner in the UAE on Sky News Arabia over the potential termination next year of the licence to use its brand.

FDP-Generalsekretärin Nicole Büttner löst Wettschulden ein. Alec und Hilaria Baldwin werden ihre Villa nicht los. Und Michelle Pfeiffer schwärmt vom Schwitzen.