The Tory leader says the party’s plans to cut people’s benefits are no more than ‘common sense’

It’s a thought. A bold one. Possibly a career-ending one. But a thought nonetheless. When Theresa May told the Tory conference in 2002 that under Iain Duncan Smith the Conservatives had become “the Nasty party”, many members took that to mean they had become undesirable. Within a few years, David Cameron had moved the Tories closer to the “hug a husky” centre and by 2010 he was prime minister.

Kemi Badenoch takes a rather different view. For her, being the Nasty party is a badge of honour. An aspiration. People had had it far too good with austerity, Brexit, Covid and the Liz Truss mini-budget. The country needed a reality check; a return to old-fashioned unpleasantness. A taste of genuine hardship. People had got far too used to getting something for nothing. Especially the physically and mentally ill. What they needed was a short sharp shock of intense labour from 8am to 8pm. That would make them feel better. And anyone found skiving would be banged up for a short time in prison. Say 10 years.

By embracing the role of amiable lunk, the wrestler turned actor has become an unlikely, and very modern, leading man. But does his relationship with the WWE, and its controversial former owner, risk tarnishing his brand?

I must admit, I was apprehensive about meeting John Cena. The WWE wrestler turned actor has built an enviable Hollywood career playing idiots – capable idiots with real heart, but dimwits nevertheless. Still, Cena is obviously nobody’s fool; fools don’t rise from humble beginnings to become their generation’s answer to Hulk Hogan or The Rock. Would the Cena who appears on my computer screen be the real one? Or something closer to the comic-book characters he embodies so well: guileless, silly and fond of a deliberate misunderstanding?

It is immediately clear that this is no manchild. Perfectly punctual, he greets me with a lavish formality befitting a man who made his film debut as the title character in The Marine. Within a minute he has volunteered, unprompted, that “a core value of mine is respect”. Cena, 49, is speaking to me on behalf of Matchbox: The Movie, a film extension of the Mattel toy car brand for Apple TV, and for 45 minutes he is generous, funny, complimentary and elusive without ever being evasive. It’s a genuinely radical thing for a man built like a chest freezer – having only recently retired from wrestling after 26 years – to be so relaxed about being ridiculous, and in an age of such joyless online strongmen as Trump, Musk and Andrew Tate, his buff charm is welcome.

Whenever I thought about getting a handle on life – decluttering, sorting my finances, improving my health and productivity – I felt defeated. So I tried this month-long experiment to feel more in control

Alvin and the Chipmunks was my wake-up call. A Blu-ray copy of the film had stared down from my bookshelf for years, accumulating dust, when one day a shard of sunlight landed on it, as if directed by a higher power. This prompted some uncomfortable questions. Had I watched it? No. Did I intend to? No. So why had I let it linger there untouched for such a long time? The answer is simple: I’m a disorganised mess.

Zooming out, things weren’t much better. I had a mountain of clothes that needed to be hung up or put away, cupboards stuffed with God knows what, plates and mugs that I had never used … The thought of sorting everything out was overwhelming.

Andy Burnham is a Westminster leader whom Welsh nationalists could finally work with - but only if he stands up to the devo-sceptics in UK Labour

As I sat in the first Plaid Cymru conference since the party won the Welsh election and started leading the Welsh government, I heard things I had never heard before. I have been to a lot of Plaid conferences and not once have I heard people being really positive about a UK Labour leader. But there was no mistaking it: the Welsh nationalist party feels that Andy Burnham is a man it can work with.

When I interviewed Welsh first minister Rhun ap Iorwerth, he indicated he was hopeful – in a way he never was under Keir Starmer – that there was a prime minister who had a genuine desire to give Wales meaningful concessions when it comes to additional powers.

The star was just eight when his friend was stabbed. Decades on, he’s ready to talk about that day – how it shaped him, and how, as he becomes a father himself, it will shape him as a dad

“I feel a bit nervous,” confesses John Boyega, as he sits down in front of the camera. “Speaking about it could possibly help. I haven’t revisited this in a long time. Yeah, my heart is just beating.” The Attack the Block and Star Wars actor is talking in the opening scene of a new BBC Two documentary about the killing of 10-year-old schoolboy Damilola Taylor.

On 27 November 2000, Damilola was stabbed in the leg with a broken bottle and left to die in a concrete stairwell, attacked as he walked home from an after-school club at Peckham library in south London. It took six years and three separate trials at the Old Bailey, costing a total of £16m, to secure a manslaughter conviction. His death shocked the nation not only because he was so young, but because all the suspects were also children. Boyega was one of the last people to see Damilola alive. The pair had enjoyed a close friendship since Damilola’s move to the UK from Nigeria in August of that year.

After Turkish police found drugs on board the Phoenician M, the ship’s chief mate, Ali Albokhari, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. His wife is still fighting to free him

In the early hours of 6 October 2023, Elena Albokhari was woken by a text message from her husband. Ali Albokhari, 42, a Finnish-Syrian with dark hair and cherubic features, was chief mate on a cargo ship named the Phoenician M and had been at sea since June. The 180-metre bulk carrier had docked at Ereğli in the Turkish Black Sea a few days earlier and Ali was due to return home to Helsinki soon, but instead of feeling excitement, Elena was growing increasingly worried about his welfare.

She’d had a similar feeling of unease a month earlier, when the ship had arrived at Barranquilla, Colombia. Ali had called in a panic to report that drugs had been found; Armada Nacional officers had marched onboard and uncovered holdalls stuffed with 137kg cocaine. Labels on the packages – the crest of Turkish football club Kayserispor – hinted at their destination: Turkey was the next port of call. “I never want to work as a seaman again,” Ali told Elena. “We are having big problems.”

Exclusive: Average of nearly five sexual crimes a day against under-13s were reported to police between 2021 and 2025

• From unwanted touching to rape: the scale of child-on-child abuse in English and Welsh schools

Lawyers and campaigners have condemned the “horrifying” scale of child-on-child sexual abuse in schools after a Guardian investigation revealed thousands of sexual offences against under-13s, including multiple rapes, are reported to police every year.

Close to five sexual crimes against children aged 12 and younger were recorded on average by police every day in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales, according to Guardian analysis of police data for 2021-25.

Motion calling for single Palestinian state, which is opposed by most Green MPs and expected to be challenged, passes by 1,022 votes to 813

The Greens have formally adopted a policy that equates Zionism with racism and calls for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state, a move opposed by the bulk of the party’s MPs and which is expected to face legal challenge.

Zack Polanski, who heads the Greens in England and Wales and missed the vote at the party’s conference in Brighton to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, has faced criticism for a perceived lack of leadership on a hugely divisive issue.

Attack shortly after Friedrich Merz arrived on unannounced visit intended to underline Germany’s backing

Russia has struck another major bridge in Kyiv as the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, arrived in the capital in a show of support for Ukraine.

A Russian drone hit Kyiv’s key Northern Bridge over the Dnipro River, marking the fourth consecutive day that Russia has targeted bridges used by tens of thousands of residents commuting between the city’s two banks. Video footage showed cars driving across the bridge as the drone plunged into the roadway and exploded in a burst of fire. Two people were injured in the strike, said Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.

Home secretary warns people traffickers will exploit asylum seekers because they decide who comes to the UK

Nearly all women who try to reach the UK in small boats from northern France have been raped on their journey, Shabana Mahmood has claimed.

In an interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast, the home secretary said far-right, balaclava-wearing activists would “kill” or “kick me out of my own country” if they took power.

Reform UK leader was interviewed for half an hour last month over money from crypto billionaire

Nigel Farage has been interviewed by the standards commissioner for an investigation into whether he should have declared a £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

The Reform UK leader spent about half an hour being questioned over the money, the Sunday Times reported. Farage maintains the gift was for his personal security.

Kemi Badenoch says those earning more than £100,000 should not be discouraged from working more

The Conservatives have unveiled a proposed £700m childcare giveaway for high earners ahead of their annual conference, saying they would end the “cliff edge” where free entitlement ends at salaries above £100,000.

The plan, set out the day before the event begins in Birmingham, follows the earlier proposal by Kemi Badenoch’s party to abolish most stamp duty, another change to taxation that would disproportionately benefit wealthier people.

Alex Norris says ‘too soon’ to say how many released this week from jails in England and Wales have monitoring devices

• UK politics live – latest updates

Alex Norris has been unable to say how many prisoners freed early from jail this week have been tagged, despite previous reassurances from the justice department.

In an interview on Sunday, the justice secretary said it was “too soon” to say how many of the roughly 700 male prisoners let out on Thursday had been fitted with monitoring devices.

Movie Week saw Delta Goodrem top the leaderboard, with Melanie Walters way down at the bottom. But which box office flops would contest the dance-off? And who suffered this year’s first elimination?

Roll the traditional movie-themed VT. A Top Gun spoof this time. I feel the need. The need for speed.

Salt or sugar your popcorn. Switch your phones to silent. Pop open that “sharing” box of Maltesers. We’re about to go live to Elstree Studios…

Technical mishaps and plenty of whisky as competitors from as far afield as US and Australia vie for Golden Spurtle

There are many varieties of spurtle. The traditional Scottish cooking implement, designed for stirring porridge without forming lumps, comes in a range of sizes, can be formed from cherry wood, beech, or maple, and might be topped with a decorative finial or smoothed out at its end for a more modern finish. But on Saturday in Carrbridge, in the Scottish Highlands, only one spurtle mattered: the Golden Spurtle, awarded annually to the winner of the World Porridge Making championship, which have been hosted here since 1994.

The sun shone on the picturesque village as almost 40 competitors lined up in the village hall for six heats across the day. Tasked with producing a traditional porridge – made only from untreated oatmeal, water and salt – and a speciality dish where additional ingredients and flourishes were permitted, entrants had travelled from across Scotland and as far afield as Australia and the US for a shot at the Golden Spurtle.

A Ukrainian publishing boom sparked by the 2022 invasion is now under threat from the force and frequency of Russian attacks

On a Saturday morning in August, Viktor Kruglov, the co-founder and chief executive of the publisher Ranok, was at his headquarters in Kharkiv – the eastern Ukrainian city that, along with Kyiv, is the centre of the country’s publishing and printing industry. Built 15 years ago on the site of a former bread factory, the footprint of the premises is about 10,000 sq metres (107,640ft). Books were stacked 12 metres high on rank after rank of shelves.

Kruglov, along with five senior colleagues, were on the warehouse floor to discuss the approaching school year. The warehouse was holding 628,000 new schoolbooks. “It was the high season of distribution,” he said, “so we were checking all our processes: how to do it more successfully, how to do it in time.”

Ten years after full extent of problem was revealed, Guardian investigation finds schools facing uphill battle amid rapid societal changes

• Thousands of child-on-child sexual offences reported at schools in England and Wales

It is 10 years since a report first revealed the epic scale of sexual bullying, harassment and abuse girls faced in England’s schools on a daily basis.

The report, by MPs on the women and equalities committee, showed the horrifying normality of child-on-child abuse in schools. The need for government action was “overwhelming”, said the committee chair, Maria Miller. Ofsted duly investigated, recommendations were written, promises were made and a new sex education curriculum was rolled out.

Cases of abuse, spitting, head-butting and sexual harassment, have spiked as transport police numbers have dwindled

When a train was halted outside Exeter St Davids station on Monday, rail staff leapt to one conclusion: there had been a violent incident on board.

“Someone will have kicked off,” one staff member said. “It happens all the time. My boss got head-butted recently.”

A recent arrest suggests that underground invaders of city’s sewer system are lured by the promise of lost valuables

There’s been one thing in particular that has been intriguing New Yorkers this summer: the existence, and whereabouts, of so-called “mole people” – a mysterious group of individuals who spend at least some of their time wading about in the city’s sewers.

New Yorkers learned a bit more about the phenomenon this week, when two men were caught red – or perhaps another color – handed, after allegedly emerging from a tunnel in Manhattan. Their arrests have shed some light on a slew of instances where people have been witnessed lifting manhole covers and clambering underground.

This gag-packed adaptation of Eric Morecambe’s children’s books – by the writing team behind Alan Partridge – is full of stunning comic talent. Bill Bailey, Ross Noble, Tom Davies, Sian Clifford and Asim Chaudhry are all brilliant

Oh my goodness; how long has it been since we all had a lovely teatime treat? Too long, that’s how long! But now joy is at hand, courtesy of Neil and Rob Gibbons (the pair behind the most recent incarnations of Alan Partridge) and The Reluctant Vampire. It is their adaptation of Eric Morecambe’s 1982 children’s book of the same name and its 1983 sequel, The Vampire’s Revenge. They have kept the books’ warmth and daftness and added their own talents to the six-part series for youngsters. There are jokes for parents in there too, but the brothers have wisely kept the exquisite cruelty with which they craft Alan’s misadventures safely stowed away.

Here is the tale of an undead royal-ish family (temporarily usurped a few generations back when the paterfamilias choked on a scab), living a traditional vampiric life in their traditionally gothic castle. There is proud patriarch Victor (Tom Davis), who revels in the hunting and draining of the humans he despises (“I see,” he says, looking round the overdecorated bedroom of his latest about-to-be-victim, “you have a keen eye for tat”). He is married to Valeeta (Sian Clifford) – they share a hot-to-trot vibe with Gomez and Morticia of The Addams Family films – and they have two children. Vernon (an absolutely wonderful turn from Gabriel Nagy in his first major screen role) is a chip off the old block, loving the vampire life and able to identify blood vintages with a single sip (“Poor circulation … lavender … the neck of a Flemish merchant?”).

LD is the submissive to Lady Alice’s dominatrix – and it has been a revelation for them both

• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

I have cerebral palsy and live with my parents. Lady Alice is a delicious secret

This automatic bean-to-cup machine will be ideal for many: a single button press serves up espresso, black coffee and cappuccinos – and it’s affordable, too

• The best coffee machines for every home

You don’t need to spend big money to get a good coffee machine. Strictly speaking, you don’t need a coffee machine at all – a nice cafetière will do just fine. If you do crave a lower-effort solution that doesn’t cost a fortune, then a fully automatic bean-to-cup machine, such as the De’Longhi Magnifica Start ECAM220.60, is a good place to, um, start.

It makes espresso. It makes black coffee. It makes cappuccino. It produces hot water on demand. Fill the hopper with good coffee beans, top up the water and fill the little milk carafe (if you want milk, that is), and all you need to do is plonk a cup on the drip tray and prod the corresponding button. Whirr, hum, splutter. Your cup is now full of coffee. Nice coffee, too.

Women hold just a fraction of new AI jobs but are overrepresented in roles with high risk of AI disruption

There’s a common fear among people who work in Silicon Valley: snag one of the fast-growing, high-paying jobs in artificial intelligence, or get trapped in the “permanent underclass”, a phrase describing the fate of those who won’t have upward mobility in the age of AI.

The phrase usually describes a future in which AI automates human jobs. But for women in tech, it’s starting to look like the present.

Tom Cruise transforms in Alejandro Iñárritu’s heavyweight satirical comedy, while the NYC indie rockers are in the UK for an arena tour

Digger
Out now
Tom Cruise is back, but he’s giving flyboys and secret agents a rest in favour of a transformation into a powerful oil tycoon, in director Alejandro G Iñárritu’s 2027 Oscar bid. But here’s the kicker: it’s not a sober, serious Oscar contender, but a wild and comedic big swing. Dig in.

The Guardian’s weekend wrap of essential reads from the past seven days, selected by Miles Herbert

• Get this in your inbox every weekend. Sign up for Five Great Reads here

Hello and welcome to the weekend.

The Guardian’s range was on display this week across these five very different stories. Grab a coffee and dig in, digest, and reflect on harrowing accounts of Trump’s immigration crackdown, investigations into modern motherhood and masculinity, and for a bit of weekend fun, we leave you with some celebrity gossip.

Claudia Winkleman joins a castle full of celebs as the duplicitous favourite returns, while Molly Manners’ extremely funny boarding school comedy tackles desire and adulthood. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews

Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports

⚽️ Nations League updates from 7.45pm kick-offs
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Ronaldo may have thrown his toys out the cot and stormed off in a huff, but he remains the greatest player his country has ever produced.

Bruno Fernandes says the tantrum doesn’t dilute big Ron’s legacy:

The 2 “journalists” who asked the Irish manager these questions are reported to have been barred by UEFA from the post match press conference by the Irish independent and it would seem one was not happy and came down from the press box to confront the UEFA official.

• Updates on the action kicking off after 9pm UK time

• Taylor lifts Colts to victory in London

• Share your thoughts with Graham via email

It’s GOOD! Dolphins 0-3 Vikings 7:55, 1st quarter

W Reichard 47 yard field goal

(2-2) Indianapolis Colts 30-13 Washington Commanders (1-3)

(0-4) Tennessee Titans 18-24 Baltimore Ravens (3-1)

(2-2) New England Patriots 29-26 Buffalo Bills (3-1)

(1-3) New York Jets 12-23 Chicago Bears (3-1)

(3-1) Jacksonville Jaguars 22-17 Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)

(2-2) Dallas Cowboys 34-30 Houston Texans (0-4)

(1-3) Arizona Cardinals 24-36 New York Giants (3-1)

(2-2) Los Angeles Rams 24-20 Philadelphia Eagles (2-2)

(2-2) Green Bay Packers 17-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4)

• Tuchel praises Scott’s all-round display in Croatia win

• ‘We will not survive on two midfielders. More the better’

Thomas Tuchel warned that there is competition for Declan Rice’s place in England’s midfield after Alex Scott marked his first international start with an outstanding display during the 7-0 away win against Croatia.

Rice, who struggled with neural pain in his upper hamstring during the World Cup, withdrew from the camp because of load management and the vice-captain’s absence at the start of the side’s Nations League campaign has allowed Tuchel to broaden his options alongside Elliot Anderson in midfield.

• Antonelli and Hamilton led the criticism in Sepang

• Race delayed after software problems in wet conditions

Formula One drivers issued a damning condemnation of the sport’s current engine regulations that caused the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to open with farcical scenes of cars stopping on track and unable to accelerate because of software problems in the electronics that control the engines.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won in Sepang but only after F1 suffered the embarrassment of a host of cars barely able to complete two ­formation laps in the wet as they were making their way to the grid.

Arsenal’s under-pressure head coach Renée Slegers still believes they will turn their form around, despite falling 10 points behind Manchester City with Sunday’s defeat in an absorbing six-goal thriller against the defending champions.

Arsenal were last season’s runners-up in the Women’s Super League and had high hopes of mounting a strong challenge this term but their chances of lifting a first WSL title since 2019 now appear to be hanging by a thread after five rounds of fixtures, while City maintained their 100% start by coming from behind twice to beat Slegers’ struggling side.

Owner has put in £10m but seven victorious players at Old Trafford were in the Championship two years ago and stayed at Trinity

It may seem quite obvious to suggest there is plenty Super League can learn from its newest champions but as Wakefield Trinity’s dreams came true after beating Warrington 23-10 at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, it was easy to ponder just how transformational a moment this is for not only them, but so many others, too.

This fairytale has captured the national attention and punctured the mainstream unlike few other Super League stories in recent times. A second-tier club just two years ago, Wakefield are now champions of England and have a possible showdown with the NRL champions, Sydney Roosters, to contemplate early next year in the World Club Challenge.

• Elfyn Evans becomes first British winner since 2001

• Oliver Solberg’s hopes shattered by tumble down bank

⁠Elfyn Evans ended years of heartache, and a quarter-of-a-century wait for Britain, by winning the World Rally Championship title with Toyota after a dramatic season ⁠finale in Sardinia on Sunday.

The ⁠Welshman had been ​championship runner-up five times in the last six years but emerged triumphant after a final Powerstage duel with teammate Oliver Solberg ended with the charging Swede crashing ⁠out two corners from the finish while on course to take the crown.

• Indianapolis 30-13 Washington

• Treylon Burks scores 47-yard TD for Washington

“Welcome to the NFL’s home away from home,” was the rallying cry from former running back and current in-stadium hype man Ronde Barber before the league’s 19th year holidaying in the UK began. And welcome Washington’s injury bug which must have stowed away on the flight to London. The mighty Commanders defense that overwhelmed the Colts at times could not overcome having another quarterback knocked out of commission. Indianapolis capitalised on the misfortune with crafty running back Jonathan Taylor carrying them to a 30-13 victory.

The Commanders were already missing starting quarterback Jayden Daniels with an elbow injury and their pesky interloper wasn’t satisfied that Washington had endured enough torment. The game-defining moment came early as a knee injury forced backup passer Marcus Mariota out of the contest after a strong start. Rookie third-stringer Athan Kaliakmanis replaced him and though he delivered the play of the game with an incredible showcase of vision and accuracy on a 47-yard touchdown throw, it was too much, too soon for the 23-year-old.

• Saracens 17-21 Sale

• Jibulu, O’Flaherty and Bamber score Sale’s tries

It doesn’t always require a qualified ‘wine consultant’ to identify a non-vintage performance. Brendan Venter, whose ever-changing job title at Saracens has been a subject of debate all week, will certainly not be cracking open the special reserve when he rewatches this game, ultimately most notable for Sale’s perseverance, physicality and resilience after being reduced to 13 players at one stage in the first quarter.

Committed and cussed from start to finish, Sale deserved this unexpected success over hosts who seldom made it beyond second gear despite having a liberal sprinkling of England internationals in their pack. Tries for Nathan Jibulu, Tom O’Flaherty and Ben Bamber, underpinned by the experience of George Ford, Tom Curry and Courtney Lawes, represented a major upgrade on their opening weekend home loss to Bristol.

A deep-seated duopoly allows the tech giants to exploit the public and developers. But the regulator has powers to stop this abuse – it should use them

• Chi Onwurah is the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West and chair of the parliamentary science, innovation and technology committee

Debates around big tech and digital regulation can sometimes feel distant from the everyday concerns of voters. But the power that a small number of global tech companies hold over our lives goes far beyond what most people realise.

As chair of the parliamentary science, innovation and technology committee, I have spent years raising concerns about this: from the data they harvest and the digital “twins” they build of us, to the algorithms that decide what our children see.

Mounting evidence about how slavery shaped Britain shows that teaching about its history cannot be a matter of choice

I often think back to my years as a secondary school history teacher, and to what I was and wasn’t able to teach. History is a foundational subject in England, taught to children from the age of five to 14 to build critical thinking, weigh evidence and help pupils understand the world they’ve inherited.

The key stage 3 national curriculum, covering ages 11 to 14, states that pupils should understand how “Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world”, including a historically grounded understanding of empire.

Their careers are peaking, they’re rich in money and time – and young people think they’re cool. But maybe it’s not as simple as that

‘Stop sleeping on gen X.” I heard this on TikTok recently. I misinterpreted it, with a guilty start, as: “Stop sleeping, gen X,” because I am 51 (peak X), so always tired; while not sleeping at the time, I may have been resting my eyes. In fact, Joel Marlinarson, a marketing guru, was suggesting my generation have become a powerful, if underrated, force online.

Aged between 46 and 61, gen Xers with proper jobs are peaking, career-wise (although it’s a different story for those out of work, as a report last month on the struggles of over-50s jobseekers made plain). We’re more likely to own homes than the following generations; we’re emerging from the trenches of childrearing and, the argument goes, ready to indulge in some me-time. “If gen X were a country, it would be the world’s second-largest consumer market,” the World Economic Forum reported last year, with gen X women in particular influencing 70% to 80% of all consumer spending.

From ‘Sharon London Sex’ to ‘Trashy Anne’, the names saved in our phones are tiny records of how relationships began. Why erase the evidence?

At first glance, it’s such a simple, reasonable ask. A Threads user went vaguely viral last week, with a post announcing: “In other news, my wife of 11 years is respectfully requesting that I take ‘(hinge)’ out of her contact name on my phone.” A lively discussion then followed, which included the pertinent note that Rob in the Channel 4 comedy Catastrophe “has the mother of his children in his phone as ‘Sharon London Sex’”. Somebody else reported a husband of more than a decade saved as “Feyonce”, but this makes perfect sense, because if you thought of a pun that good, of course you’d be reluctant to let it go.

Personally, I’ve never got over noticing – on their reality show rather than while lunching – that Kim Kardashian has her mother saved as Kris Jenner instead of, say, Mom. It felt like an extremely revealing detail from the queen of the genre.

Even the greatest prophets had questions but they learned to wait to see the full picture

We live in an age that has become profoundly uncomfortable with not knowing.

A delayed email reply becomes a source of anxiety. A medical symptom is immediately searched online. We refresh news feeds, ask AI for instant explanations, and expect the answers to life’s biggest questions to arrive at the same speed as food deliveries.

The US president has taken credit for far-right victories across Latin America, but those wins have had more to do with fears of gang crime than his meddling

Donald Trump has enjoyed very few foreign policy victories since returning to power. From failed wars to failed peace processes, his second term in office has been marked by one costly blunder on the world stage after another. In Latin America, though, the US president has a different story to tell.

His administration’s national security strategy outlined how the US wanted to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere”. It was a brazen document, laying out how his government would interfere in the political life of countries it considered part of its sphere of influence, rewarding governments and movements that are “broadly aligned with our principles and strategy”.

The government pledged to end an unfair system. Ministers must give homeowners power over costs, rather than another place to complain

“To the millions of leaseholders across the country, you have my word. The days of you being squeezed for every penny are coming to an end,” Andy Burnham told the Labour party conference. Only a few hours earlier, his housing secretary, Angela Rayner, had announced that the government would legislate for a new independent regulator and launch a consultation to cap “rip off” administrative fees. While these are undoubtedly steps in the right direction, they are miles away from Labour’s manifesto promise to “finally bring the feudal leasehold system to an end”.

In its modern form, leasehold in England and Wales turns homes into income streams for freeholders. It should be abolished. There are powerful vested interests – billionaires, aristocrats and big businesses – that would oppose this move. But the system of service charges is crippling the housing market because its exorbitant cost puts off prospective buyers. The average annual service charge for a flat in England and Wales is now £2,405, up 32.6% since 2020 and 55.6% over a decade. Owners of flats in high-rise blocks in London are paying service charges of more than £7,000 a year. Little wonder that first-time buyers are increasingly bypassing flats.

England’s strong results in an early learning study are a Sure Start legacy that ministers must build on

Recognition of the importance of babyhood and early childhood continues to grow. It is widely understood by many ordinary people, as well as experts, that what happens to us when we are very small, and our brains are at their most malleable, has lasting effects. As the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) put it in a study of early years education, “the first five years of a child’s life represent a window of opportunity, but also of vulnerability”.

New Labour’s grasp of this underpinned its pioneering Sure Start programme. Much of this was dismantled under the Tory-Liberal Democrat austerity programme. But despite that loss, England’s results in this year’s OECD Early Learning and Child Well‑being Study were strong. This study does not have the high profile of the programme for international student assessment (Pisa) comparing the academic performance of 15-year-olds. It is newer and relies on a far smaller sample size. But while its findings should not be treated as gospel, it is heartening that England’s five-year‑olds were found to be thriving. On a social-emotional development measure, they came out on top.

Readers respond to an article on the urgent need for palliative care reform

Jane Turner is right that end-of‑life care needs fixing (MPs, you told us clearly that end-of-life care in the UK is broken. So now we need you to fix it, 28 September), and I argue that it needs fixing on two fronts at once. My husband, John, died in March aged 43 after nearly six years of bowel cancer treatment. He endured more than 70 rounds of chemotherapy, determined to watch our children grow up. He spent his last three months in a hospice, receiving the best palliative care on offer. Even so, he suffered terribly.

Some pain cannot be controlled quickly, and some suffering cannot be treated at all. One evening he screamed in agony while stranded in a bath, unable to move, for nearly an hour before relief took effect. As the cancer swelled his torso, he slowly suffocated – and no drug could prevent it. He was fully aware throughout, and told me repeatedly that he could not go on. In his last hours, I wore earplugs to bear the sound of his gasping.

The home secretary’s language of ‘compassion’ and ‘international obligations’ is at odds with the party’s record in protecting vulnerable migrants, writes Eleanor Luxton

Regarding your article (UK to open new refugee resettlement routes for Afghan women and Palestinians, 27 September), rather than focusing on whether or not Shabana Mahmood’s policy change will deter small boat arrivals (which it won’t), shouldn’t we be in uproar over her use of the language of “compassion” and “international obligations”?

Considering Ed Miliband’s admission at the Labour conference that the party has not done enough to support the Palestinian people – and the abrupt closure of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme with almost no notice on 1 July 2025, again under Labour leadership – is this not a case of too little, too late?

Emma Claassen responds to an article by Adrian Chiles on the recruitment crisis in scaffolding

Adrian Chiles is right: scaffolding is hard work (Britain’s scaffolding should be a source of national pride – instead we’re struggling to recruit workers, 1 October). It demands physical resilience, skill, judgment and proper training. That will naturally mean it is not a job for everyone – men or women.

Which is why the conversation about the skills shortage should be less about who traditionally became a scaffolder, and more about who is willing and able to learn the trade and meet the same standards.

Readers respond to an article about a mother who feels let down by the family courts

Hannah Summers’ article raises disturbing concerns about the misuse of parental alienation allegations in family courts (‘Just like that, I lost my girls’: the mother who feels betrayed by the family courts, 29 September). However, I believe that it would benefit from a clearer distinction between the discredited theory of “parental alienation syndrome” (PAS) and genuine, demonstrable alienating behaviour.

PAS proposed that a child’s unjustified rejection of a parent could be identified as a distinct syndrome. It is no longer an accepted clinical diagnosis, since a child’s rejection of a parent cannot itself establish manipulation, therefore treating it as diagnostic risks overlooking abuse or other legitimate reasons for the child’s feelings.

Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro face off in battle between leftwing incumbent and far-right son of jailed ex-president

Brazilians are going to the polls in the first round of a highly polarised and high-stakes presidential election that could change not only the direction of Latin America’s largest country but that of the entire region.

The election on Sunday pits the leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term, against the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, an ally of Donald Trump and the son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup after his failed 2022 re-election attempt.

Attorney says people have threatened to silence or harm ‘Jane Doe’ if she does not withdraw civil lawsuit

The woman who has alleged that ⁠she was drugged ⁠and raped ​by Cornell University students has been the target of threats, her lawyer said on Sunday.

Thomas Giuffra, who represents the ⁠woman identified as “Jane Doe”, told CNN that people have threatened to silence or harm her if she does not withdraw her civil lawsuit ⁠alleging that several members of a Cornell fraternity drugged and raped her in 2024.

Former Tory minister defends UK decision to enter war in podcast with US rightwinger and Putin sympathiser

The former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has found himself defending Britain’s decision to fight against Adolf Hitler after inviting the US rightwinger and Vladimir Putin sympathiser Tucker Carlson into his home for an interview.

During the encounter, Carlson repeatedly suggested the west was to blame for inviting aggression from Russia and said of the prospect that Britain could have lost to Hitler: “Who cares?”

Education minister says 24 schools have been burnt or ransacked and 78 staff members injured since student unrest began last month

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More than 400 schools in France will be closed or partly closed on Monday as authorities brace for another week of student protests.

Lessons will be totally or partly suspended in 400 to 500 schools because security conditions “have not been fulfilled”, the education minister, Édouard Geffray, said on Sunday.

Calls for release of six Matsadaash staff after one is charged, while whereabouts of other five remain unknown

An Egyptian journalist has been charged with joining a terrorist group, days after an entire newsroom was detained in what rights groups have said is a crackdown on press freedoms.

Last week, authorities arrested six journalists from the independent fact-checking and investigative platform Matsadaash – literally meaning “don’t believe” – accusing them in a statement of being unlicensed and publishing false news on behalf of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

FOI request shows wildfire risk scheme scrapped, as survey highlights many fire services lack proper protective gear

The government quietly scrapped plans to prepare the countryside in England for wildfires, it has been revealed. This was despite new data showing fire crews do not have the proper protective gear to tackle them.

This summer has been a potent reminder of the scale of the threat posed by the climate crisis, with the UK experiencing record-breaking wildfires after punishingly hot and dry weather turned large parts of the countryside into a tinderbox.

Exclusive: Images show deep cuts and damage to tails and fins, as experts warn the migrating species often aren’t able to avoid a collision

Gruesome images of adult and juvenile humpback whales along Australia’s east coast with slash and gouge injuries from boat and propeller strikes highlight what experts say is a growing problem, as the population booms 60 years after the ban on whaling.

Missing tail parts, deep red lacerations and shocking injuries to the spine of a whale calf can be clearly seen on the images, gathered by WWF Australia and shared with the Guardian.

With 40 dead and a disaster declared across all 50 city districts, experts warn extreme flooding will only worsen across south-east Asia

Bangkok is used to absorbing the sudden afternoon downpours that inundate the city during the rainy season. Even streets in many central high-rise districts can briefly turn into rivers, with rats and cockroaches racing out of sewers and taking temporary refuge on trees and buildings as the subterranean world is flushed out.

But every city has a breaking point, and this year rain fell so fast and so hard that whole neighbourhoods of the Thai capital have been transformed, not into rivers, but stagnant lakes. In parts of the city, roughly 300mm of rain – the equivalent of half a year of average rainfall in London – fell in about two days.

Citizen environmentalists create online platform that flags spills in real time and highlights repeatedly polluted spots

The easy thing for the people who live on the banks of the River Dart in Devon might have been to grumble and groan about the sewage spills that blight their beloved waterway.

Instead, citizen environmentalists in the area have created a unique online platform that flags up spills in real time, highlights spots that are repeatedly polluted, and sets out where improvement work is planned – and where it isn’t.

Immigration court judge finds ‘unsafe journeys’ policy was applied unlawfully to two families

A decision by the Home Office to block mothers and children in Gaza from joining their families in the UK has been quashed by a court.

Families abroad who have had their applications approved to reunite with loved ones in the UK usually have to undergo biometric checks, including fingerprinting and facial images at a visa application centre. But the VAC in Gaza has been closed since October 2023 and it is difficult to get out of the territory.

Critics say scrapping of plans, which aimed to increase judge-alone trials to deliver swifter justice, leaves court system and victims vulnerable

Ministers have scrapped plans that would have slashed the number of jury trials in England and Wales and replaced them with a judge sitting alone.

The proposals had sparked a fierce backlash from lawyers, who have welcomed the U-turn. But the victims’ commissioner expressed concern about the abandonment of measures drawn up by the then justice secretary, David Lammy, under Keir Starmer’s government, to tackle the record backlog in the courts.

Labour wants to make sure mayors and council chiefs in England can be held to account for extra revenues devolved to them

Ministers are mulling over how to ensure that England’s regional leaders do not misuse their newfound spending muscle, as Whitehall prepares to devolve more revenue to local levels.

Ideas under consideration include a new select committee in Westminster, enhanced reporting rules and a new audit body focused on local and regional government.

Industry says a phased end to racing, to avoid sudden jump in caring responsibilities, is unworkable

Wales’s greyhound racing ban – a UK first – has run into difficulties regarding how and when to wind down the practice, potentially risking the animals’ welfare, a charity has warned.

The law, which received royal assent in April, includes a three-year window for the ban to come into effect and is overseen by a Welsh government working group, which includes racing industry representatives and animal health and welfare organisations.

Rallies have been mainstay of president’s brand but even some in his own party fear voters are sick of the sight of him

“Get your asses in that car.” That was Donald Trump’s order, he later recalled, to his motorcade after foul weather grounded Air Force One in Texas on Thursday. The 85-mile dash to Oklahoma at nearly 100mph was proof that nothing can keep Trump from a Trump rally.

Which might not be the good news for Republicans it once was. As the US president embarked on a 32-day campaign blitz aimed at helping them defend narrow congressional majorities in next month’s midterms, some fear that he is driving them towards an electoral wipeout.

Government struggling to deal with worst crisis in months after being taken by surprise by massive demonstrations

As dozens of school pupils sat on top of a pile of wheelie bins blocking a high school entrance in north-eastern Paris, Sophia, 17, was on the frontline of the barricade, when she would normally have been attending Spanish class.

“We hope this grows into a massive youth protest movement,” said the final year baccalaureate student at Paris’s Lycée Voltaire, who did not want her real name published. She was on her second day of blocking the school entrance along with hundreds of others, ensuring all lessons were cancelled. “We just want to be listened to by the government. We’d rather stand here doing this than have to learn in poor conditions. It’s the only way to make ourselves heard.”

Brazilian speech therapists say struggle for acceptance is part of wider prejudice embedded into Portuguese society

Not long after she started studying to become a nurse in Portugal, Iracema Ferreira began bringing a dictionary to her classes as a retort to accusations she was speaking Brazilian, not Portuguese. “It was to show that those words are in the Portuguese language dictionary,” she said.

A Brazilian speech therapist, Ferreira moved to Portugal in 2020 and later heard from several colleagues from her home country that the process of getting a licence to work in the European country was a dead end. The 45-year-old soon abandoned the idea of continuing the career she had practised for a decade and switched to nursing instead.

Suspect allegedly killed woman at hotel in Okinawa as prime minister calls crime ‘exceptionally brutal and vicious’

A US marine stationed on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa is accused of murdering a Japanese woman and has been arrested on suspicion of murder, police said on Sunday.

The suspect allegedly “killed [a] 39-year-old woman at a hotel in Naha and stole her wallet” as well as her backpack, local police told news media outlets.

Britain under pressure to put tariffs on cheap Chinese vehicle imports ahead of protectionist trade measures

Britain’s car industry is grappling with a “difficult trade-off” between China and Europe, as manufacturers struggle to balance the benefits of both markets ahead of looming trade measures that could restrict UK exports to the EU.

The UK is an outlier in choosing not to put import taxes on Chinese vehicles, even as the US has shut them out almost entirely, and the EU imposes duties of up to 45%.

David Robinson joins other insiders in urging industry to take more care over rapidly developing technology

A safety leader at OpenAI has quit the company, warning that its culture was broken and that AI firms were not “being nearly careful enough” about developing the technology.

David Robinson, who led the writing of safety reports that accompanied the ChatGPT developer’s product releases, explained his resignation in an essay headlined: “I quit OpenAI because its culture is broken.”

For decades, the capital’s house prices raced ahead of the national average – but now they are falling in prime areas

An elegant Georgian facade, a full-width balcony and an exclusive address in South Kensington just steps from the Natural History Museum and the V&A. Yet the listing price of this west London flat at Queen’s Gate Gardens has dropped by nearly £1m since last year, to £4.4m.

It is far from an isolated case. A nearby house originally listed at £20m was slashed to £14m this year, says a local estate agent. In neighbouring Notting Hill, a stucco-fronted property that came to market two years ago at £16m is now being offered for less than £14m, they said.

Revelation comes amid mounting concern over online prediction market’s effects on integrity of financial system

UK authorities are being urged to intervene after it emerged that the online prediction market Polymarket has been taking thousands of dollars worth of bets over whether HSBC and Lloyds will fail.

Polymarket – the US-owned company which holds bets on anything from football matches, to the existence of aliens, to when a bomb drops on a city – has allowed users to take $77,507 (£58,530) worth of positions on whether the world’s biggest banks will go under by the end of this year.

Royal and Derngate, Northampton
Inua Ellams displays a Stoppardian or Fraynian relish in turning complex topics into enjoyable theatre in his latest play

Over the last decade, Inua Ellams has written inventive and educational plays centred on modern Nigeria, starting with Barber Shop Chronicles in which hair care allowed cutting commentary on masculinity and politics.

Although The Half God of Rainfall had a detour to Mount Olympus, typical of Ellams’s structural fun, the focus was postcolonial Nigeria, his superb relocation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters to 1960s Africa showing ructions resulting from British imperial ruler Lord Lugard coercing the playwright’s birth nation from multiple cultures.

At the Royal and Derngate, Northampton, until 10 October, then touring.

The singer-songwriter owes a lot to Georgie Fame and likes the romantic side of Jimi Hendrix – but which ringtone song can put him in a bad mood?

The first song I fell in love with
The Wind Cries Mary by Jimi Hendrix, which came out in 1967 when I was 12. Hendrix was known for outgoing music, but I was a romantic soul, so the emotional side of his music led to that strain in my own writing.

The song I do at karaoke
Karaoke? Certainly not. I do this for a living. Would you have made my great-grandfather dig ditches for fun? I prefer to live vicariously through Bill Murray singing (What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding in Lost in Translation.

New York film festival: Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti and Tatiana Maslany lead an excellent ensemble in this dramatization of a failed conference on climate change

In late October 1980, days before the election of Ronald Reagan, Congress summoned 20 experts in various fields to a beachfront hotel in Florida. Their mandate was simple: figure out how to address the dire threat posed to the climate by fossil fuel emissions, then deliver their recommendations to Congress in the form of a statement.

Every word said during four marathon sessions over the next 36 hours – every disagreement or digression, tirade or truce – was recorded by a stenographer for posterity into a single document, hundreds of pages long, that stands as an artifact from a time when expertise was trusted, before corporate greed and political expediency mired “debate” about rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere in a haze of misinformation and inaction. The fact that this meeting took place at all – that experts in climate, energy, law, philosophy, politics and more agreed on the fundamental facts, yet struggled to reach consensus on what to do about them – is fascinating, if perhaps not the most natural fit for a movie. This was, after all, a conference room of specialists sharing evidence via overhead projector.

The Reluctant Vampire is a fun story starring Lenny Rush. Plus: secrets are spilled in juicy divorce drama The Split Up. Here’s what to watch this evening

6.40pm, BBC One

Movie about Nazi-collaborating administration strikes chord during what director calls ‘time of great uncertainty’

It is the story of how a lowly state administrator unthinkingly becomes a cog in the machine of an authoritarian regime, embracing the bureaucracy and logistics of sending people to their deaths – and it is drawing in audiences to French cinemas.

The French film Notre Salut (Our Salvation), with its modern lighting, improvised scenes and anachronistic 1980s Europop soundtrack, is far from the standard historical costume drama about the second world war.

It launched the careers of Jesse Plemons and Michael B Jordan, and let its stars improvise in a way that was fresh and new. This show about smalltown US football was confident, trailblazing – and wonderful

I’ve been around the south of the US enough to have seen the importance of football: little burgs where the high-school football field has stands that wouldn’t disgrace a League Two soccer club in the UK. Friday Night Lights, which was first broadcast 20 years ago, is set in the most fervent edges of that world, smalltown Texas, where what happens under the floodlights at the end of the working week defines the mood of the place for days to come.

Britt Daniel, the frontman of the Texas band Spoon, grew up in one such town, Temple. “Friday Night Lights is based on Odessa, and Odessa and Temple are very, very similar,” he told me in 2017. “The high schools used to play each other at football, and they’re the kind of towns where everything happens on Friday because it’s the football game. I didn’t really think about it until many years later, but you really risked being beaten [up]. Not just harassed, but beaten. Everywhere you went, you really had to look over your shoulder. If you were at the mall, if you were at the parking lot, if you were at a party – people really wanted to fight.”

Milton Court, London
A contemporary piece by David Fennessy is framed by JS Bach and Arvo Pärt in a show characterised by uncanny sounds and ghostly chorales

It’s not every day a concert promises “Bach & Blood”, nor delivers it so thoroughly. There were no massacres from the Scottish Ensemble, mercifully, just a characteristically singular bit of programming from this ever-adventurous string orchestra that framed Irish composer David Fennessy’s 2024 Blood with music by Bach and Arvo Pärt.

On 7 July 1720, while JS Bach was away in Carlsbad, his wife Maria Barbara died suddenly, buried before he could return. She was just 35. “Sei solo” – you are alone – the composer wrote at the top of his collection of Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin completed soon after. A slip of pen, misspelling “Sei Soli” (six solos), or a deliberate play on words? The intensity of the works – particularly the monumental 15-minute D minor Chaconne, with its weeping chromatic theme – suggest the latter.

Corn Exchange, Edinburgh
Derry’s answer to the Ramones play 30 songs in a breakneck and breathless ride through the punk humour and new-wave surrealism of their repertoire

“This is the first record we ever made. Still sounds good to me,” smiles bassist Mickey Bradley, deliberately downplaying the song released in 1978 that secured the Undertones’ legacy for almost 50 years and counting. Played hard and unceremoniously tonight, Teenage Kicks still sounds lonely, horny, thrilling: it’s the stuff of raw teen spirit, but has also aged poignantly with the Derry band and their now silver-haired audience, with something moving to say about the weight of nostalgia.

When brothers John and Damian O’Neill’s guitars crash to a halt, many in the crowd are hugging – but the Undertones are already on to the next. This anniversary tour is far from sentimental: ripping through 30 songs in 90 minutes, it’s a breakneck ride through the punk humour, new-wave surrealism and open vulnerability of their first two albums.

The Undertones are touring the UK and Ireland.

From Northern soul and 90s bangers to disco classics and indie anthems, readers share the floorfillers that never fail to start the party

My now-husband and I attended a wedding. The reception was boring. No one was dancing and people were wondering if it was too early to leave. We sat at our table thinking what song would get everyone up on to the dancefloor. We chose I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’. When I asked the DJ to play it he laughed and said: “That’s appropriate.” We danced by ourselves and people started joining us. The party kicked off and we all had a great time. Years later, we played the song at our own wedding. It makes me happy. Rachael, 46, Warrington

When a rarity blew up on TikTok, the solitary ambient artist had fraudsters trying to steal her royalties. It reinforced her DIY mentality – until reforming her band Helen reminded her of the beauty of collaboration

In mid-September, I watched as Liz Harris soundchecked to 1,500 empty seats at midtown Manhattan’s historic Town Hall theatre. Soon each plush red chair would be filled for the second of two sold-out nights, but this ornate seclusion felt oddly perfect. It is fair to infer that most of her concertgoers generally listen to the uncanny experimental music she makes as Grouper alone, just as she creates it.

Harris started Grouper in 2005 in the DIY noise warehouses of Oakland, California. At 46, she now lives farther north, in coastal Astoria, Oregon, where she creates densely tessellated visual art and spare, lucid albums that have made her a titan of modern ambient music. Painfully beautiful and often inscrutable, hers is a sonic language all its own, creating thickets of sound using little more than guitar or piano, voice and space; her angelic and alien songs have influenced artists as disparate as Phoebe Bridgers and Mk.gee, and been sampled by Lil B and 100 Gecs. It is intensely solitary work, often characterised as sad but full of profound relief. “Like a bloodletting,” Harris offers.

The co-founder of the Right to Roam campaign and author of The Book of Trespass discusses the Oxfordshire riverside community he calls home and how Hardwick Hall has been taken back by the people

On the banks of the Thames in South Oxfordshire, the Hardwick estate has been owned by the Rose family for generations. When Sir Charles Rose, a banker, sportsman, yachtsman and aviator, sped through the lanes in his Rolls-Royce in the early days of motoring, he inspired Kenneth Grahame to create Mr Toad in The Wind in the Willows. Grahame’s character became a symbol of decadent aristocracy whose foolishness leads to the temporary loss of a fine house to weasel-socialists.

Now Toad Hall has been taken over for good and Nick Hayes, artist, writer and co-founder of the Right to Roam campaign, has had a riverside view of this striking turn of events. When Hayes, who lives on a beautiful wide-beamed barge on the Thames, became the Hardwick estate’s artist-in-residence, he discovered that Rose’s heirs are, in effect, disinheriting themselves. The estate is gradually being turned into a charity which will be run by the tenants and the alternative community that has grown up in its shelter.

Her last novel sold 5m copies and was adapted into a hit series. Nearly 10 years on, the Korean-American author has written another epic. She discusses ambition and the diagnosis that inspired her to leave work and write

Back in 1995, when she was in her mid-20s, Min Jin Lee quit her job as a corporate lawyer. As a teenager she had been diagnosed as a hepatitis B carrier and doctors told her she was highly likely to develop liver cancer in her 20s or 30s. “I thought, if I’m going to die, I’m going to write a book first,” the now 57-year-old Korean-American author says of her decision to turn her back on a regular pay cheque and healthcare. “I was told so many times that I was going to get sicker and sicker, that I’ve always felt that if I can get a really good book out then I’m done.”

Lee, looking very much alive and well, is on a video call from her home in Harlem, New York, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves behind her. We are meeting to discuss the publication of her third novel, American Hagwon, the final part in what she calls her “Korean trilogy”, following Free Food for Millionaires in 2007 and her 2017 international bestseller, Pachinko, stylishly adapted for Apple TV in 2022. “Korean quartet!” she corrects me now. Thanks to experimental drugs, she is now so healthy she can commit to another book. “Before I turn 70, I should turn in my manuscript,” she jokes. “I’m writing the four books that I wanted to write and after that I’m going to take a long nap.”

Have It by John Cooper Clarke; The Dodo Stories by Mary Mulholland; Red River Valley by Ian McMillan; Some Sacred Harbour by Roger Robinson; Otherwhere by Carolyn Forché

Have It by John Cooper Clarke (Picador, £16.99)
The latest collection from the original “people’s poet” displays his characteristic swagger, delivered with a distinctively northern humour. Merging blistering social satire and brash wit, Cooper Clarke irreverently tackles themes from the ridiculous to the sublime, including the malaise of contemporary urban life, the erosion of nature and the environment, money and the prospect of a cashless society, death and ageing, fascism, bachelorhood, popular culture and the NHS. His punk rock values caustically underpin the collection: “Me and my shrinking crowd / Each under our own personal cloud”; “We wish you no serious harm/ However, everybody sucks but us”. There’s heavy use of doggerel and jokes as he stridently proclaims his passion for writing. “It’s a meaningless job but someone’s got to do it / Thank God it’s me”. Overall, Cooper Clarke’s consummate performance skills in playing to the crowd demand applause as he advocates for the “blood royal of the working class”.

A twisting, beguiling investigation into the art of poetry that ends in a call to arms on behalf of the natural world

The poet Alice Oswald is no stranger to thinking in public about her art. She was Oxford professor of poetry until 2023, and her lectures are available online. But this is her first full-length book, and as such is something of an occasion.

So what exactly is it? For a work of prose it contains a lot of poetry, much translated or composed by Oswald herself. Shakespeare, Donne, Shelley and Ted Hughes also feature. Though nonfiction, the book is full of stories, particularly retellings of Homer and Aeschylus. It is billed as “genre-defying” and there is much formal experimentation. But at heart it is an exploration of the oral tradition, and the writer’s own subtitle is A Manifesto, which feels exciting and urgent, pointed at the contemporary world with its pressing realities.

Xbox, PC (version tested); The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios
E-Day boasts the best combat in 20 years of Gears games – but everything surrounding it is disappointing

Every Gears of War game released in the last 20 years has made reverent reference to Emergence Day, when alien creatures emerged from the earth, single-minded in their savagery. In E-Day, you’re there to witness it: the police lights, flipped cars, ground tremors, civilians running, aliens pouring out of fissures in the earth and ripping faces off. You’re at ground zero in a squad of four soldiers called Gears – Marcus Fenix, the leader; Dom, who wants to retire; Lucas, a green cadet with a buzzcut; and the dishonourably discharged Mags. Only this dysfunctional quartet can turn the tide. With guns. Lots of ’em.

Instead of answering questions raised by the ending of 2019’s Gears 5, we’re back to the start to find out why Marcus has a scar on his lip and why these soldiers started strapping chainsaws on to their assault rifles. Anything that was left to the imagination is here, for you to point at and say: “I understood that reference. This is a thing that I have seen.”

There’s no Leon, Claire or Ada Wong in Cregger’s adaptation. Instead, it re-creates something more fundamental – the strange, terrifying experience of actually playing the game

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I’ve been surprised by the number of Resident Evil fans complaining on social media about Zach Cregger’s cinematic adaptation of the survival horror series. “It’s not a real Resident Evil movie,” they’ve claimed. Were we watching the same film? Certainly, it doesn’t feature any of the familiar heroes – there’s no Leon, no Claire, no Ada Wong – and there’s a distinct lack of recognisable antagonists and well-known locations. Despite all of this, Cregger’s interpretation is one of the most accurate and interesting video game films ever made.

On the surface, it’s about a zombifying virus that gets accidentally released in Raccoon City by the Umbrella Corporation. These are, of course, the foundations of the Resi mythos. More interestingly, Cregger seeks to replicate and explore the structural and narrative conventions of the series. In the film, the player character, hapless courier Bryan Hodukavich, is thrust into a viral outbreak, with no weapons and no idea what’s going on. He is then submerged into an uncanny shadow world of escalating peril and body horror. The film takes us through a series of locations dragged straight from the games – an abandoned farmhouse, a road tunnel crammed with abandoned cars, a hospital and the obligatory sewer level. As he progresses, Bryan finds increasingly powerful weapons, from a handgun to an assault rifle – but he is always short on ammo. And there are typewriters in at least two scenes!

PlayStation 5, Xbox, PC (version played); Bandai Namco
The game generates blood-pumping moments as you twist, turn and weave through the skies, while your locked-on missiles speed away to obliterate an enemy plane

The core appeal of any Ace Combat game lies in the moment when the beautiful clouds part, the sunlight glints off your perfectly rendered state-of-the-art fighter jet, and guitar-shredding music kicks into overdrive as your locked-on missiles speed away to obliterate an enemy plane. All of that is 100% present in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. What’s new is the way it delivers its unexpectedly compelling story.

Set in the Earth-like alternative world of Strangereal, where every country is absolutely obsessed with fighter planes and giant superweapons, Ace Combat drafts you into the role of a fake ace pilot called the Wings of Theve – a propaganda invention to raise the morale of a besieged nation, similar to real-life rumours about Ukraine’s Ghosts of Kyiv. You rapidly find yourself becoming an actual legendary pilot, soaring through the skies with your buddies and raining hell upon your oppressors as everybody cheers on the radio. Speaking of ghosts, you have one in your ear – your predecessor, whom nobody else can hear, a gravelly voice waxing lyrical about flying, war and whatever else is on his mind as you flit about.

I’ve been holed up in an flat, affectionately dubbed the ‘brotel’, with my son for weeks – and we’ve revisited the first game we ever played together

I have spent the last three weeks living with my 22-year-old son in a two-bedroom flat he has dubbed the ”brotel”. We cook curries and watch Lanterns. We barbecue meat and analyse Tarantino movies. We get pizza and we play video games. Boy, do we play video games!

The first game I ever played in co-op with him was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009, when he was five. He wasn’t the most accomplished sidekick, not so great at placing a mobile gun turret while under fire from what seems like a bazillion enemy soldiers, but we had a laugh. It started the video game bond between us before his sister introduced him to Banjo-Kazooie and Rayman, and he stopped being a preschool warmonger. Probably for the best. So how would it be tackling the same game nearly two decades later?

Minerva theatre, Chichester
Nina Segal’s revisiting of the Sophoclean story is pleasingly experimental – but not all the ideas work in Jeff James’s fourth-wall breaking production

Libations were typically poured to appease the gods and honour the dead in Ancient Greece, but as a black, tar-like substance is dribbled here, forming a runny circle on a bright yellow stage, the image conjures danger. It’s befitting for the court of this particular King Creon (Max Bennett), whose condemnation of his niece Antigone (Nina Cassells) after she defies him in retrieving her brother’s body for burial, is framed as an inability to even question let alone reconsider his own laws. The tar circle becomes a dividing line, separating the hypothetically welcome from the unwelcome in Thebes. The line is eventually crossed in more ways than one, and the oily substance spreads, smearing those irrevocably affected by the mess.

Nina Segal’s revisiting of the Sophoclean tragedy is keen to explore the far-reaching consequences of our actions and their trickle-down effects. It’s pleasingly experimental, but not all ideas coalesce in Jeff James’s production, in which a combination of fourth wall breaking and direct address sees the boundaries blur further. Cast members break away from their Greek characters to relay anecdotes that could well be their own. Reaching for a mic that hangs suspended above the stage, one tells of watching a fox decompose, another of a husband dying and another of his teenage daughter’s suicide. The stories are moving, even if links to Antigone’s own plight are somewhat tenuous.

An emphasis is placed on emotions over actions, but having each key player describe their anger, fear or sadness, rather than showing us, has a distancing effect that prevents this production from striking the chords it might. Watching them mine seemingly personal memories in order to find a connection to these centuries-old characters is a little like watching a workshop in method acting.

Antigone Exits runs at the Minerva theatre, Chichester, until 17 October.

Chisenhale Gallery, London
A young man possessed by the spirit of a mythical Buganda warrior leads the film-making collective’s explosive new diatribe against the theft of cultural artefacts – with the help of a ‘video joker’

Wakaliga Uganda makes action movies with a cast from the Kampala streets, props built out of scrap, desktop special effects and a bucketload of wit. The studio’s breakout hit, Who Killed Captain Alex?, followed a martial arts master on a mission for revenge against the mafiosi who killed his brother, a Ugandan military officer sent to clean up the capital’s slums. Featuring helicopter gunships, shootouts and kung fu showdowns, and reportedly made for a few hundred dollars, this blockbuster bears little relation to the films you might expect to find in an art gallery (setting aside the shoestring budgets). Which is to say, it is very good fun to watch.

Founded by Harriet Nakasujja and Isaac Nabwana, the film studio also known as Wakaliwood came to the attention of the wider art world in 2017 when it was included in the German art festival Documenta. That influential show was part of a general turn towards the culture being made by independent collectives outside Europe and North America, especially those that pioneer unconventional ways to fund their activities (indicatively, the studio used the money to install fibre-optic cables in its neighbourhood). Its entry on to the international art circuit brought higher production value and – if the new commission now showing at the Chisenhale is any guide – a subtle shift in direction and purpose.

Sylvia: A Musical Revolution, the hit show about the Pankhursts and the suffrage movement, is going on a tour of England and Scotland. We took a first look at Leicester’s Curve theatre

Barbican, London
Spinning off from the classic symphony with composer Caroline Shaw and artist Sarah Crowner, Tanowitz’s dancers find fresh thinking space

Pam Tanowitz’s work is the antidote to the trend in dance for dark and shadowy stages, buckets of theatrical haze, claustrophobic soundscapes and gloopy movement. This stage is so bright and clean, like a sharp palate cleanser, and full of white space – literally, and in a more figurative manner. Tanowitz’s dance can be eccentric, odd even, but it’s also seriously thought-through and specific, every choice utterly distinct and deliberate, every angle planed to the exact degree.

This UK premiere of Pastoral is a collaboration between New York choreographer Tanowitz, Pulitzer prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw and artist Sarah Crowner. Inspired by Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and the idea of the pastoral in art, Shaw pulls apart and deconstructs the Beethoven, with three live musicians (on various reed instruments) and excerpts of orchestral recordings that emerge like echoes or memories, plus real-world sounds of the street, the skies and the city.

Learning to be one human among many has always been a little lonely and discombobulating. But young people around the world are lonelier than ever. Why?

In September, a Reddit user identifying themselves as a 25-year-old man turned to the r/ForeverAlone subreddit with a question: How do you deal with touch starvation? “It’s becoming obvious to me that I’ll probably be alone forever,” he wrote. He used to be worried about missing out on sex, but now he just misses hugs. Cuddles.

“I don’t have many friends and none with that kind of physical relationship. I don’t really hug family either anymore. Some days, I feel so desperate for a hug with someone I love.”

He’s the titan of TV who revived a flatlined Doctor Who and turned British queer life into jaw-dropping drama. But the screenwriter’s groundbreaking writing has sometimes made him a target of hate – from homophobes and Whovians alike

• ‘Goodbye Whoniverse. God, that was fun!’: Read an exclusive extract from Davies’s memoir

Russell T Davies is a man who prefers to look on the bright side. That time he was gay-bashed by a gang of bus conductors? “People have been beaten up far worse than me, that was just a bit of a thumping in the street.” When the production schedule of his dystopian drama Years and Years forced him back to work within days of his husband’s death? “Writing was a nice escape.” Even a story about his “tough” father branding him “yesterday’s man” after his initial departure as showrunner on Doctor Who concludes with a cheerful: “I knew I wasn’t.” It’s easy to see how he’s earned a reputation as the most affable man in TV, if not the world. So why has he taken to keeping a kitchen knife by his front door, “ready to use”?

“I’m called a paedophile and a groomer online by people like [Father Ted creator and anti-trans activist] Graham Linehan, and now people believe what they read. People believe it when they’re told the Earth is flat,” he says. His support for trans rights has resulted in years of death threats and “groomer” smears, which he used to brush off. “But the online world is becoming the real world. People have worked out my address, and one person turned up at my house. If you believe a paedophile lives here, it’s not the maddest thing in the world to come and get me. I’ve been saying for years that our rights are paper-thin, and here we are. What scares me is that I can’t see an end to it. Nothing is going to unseat these tech barons – it will require some sort of revolution to stop them. So for the first time in history, hatred is being monetised by an algorithm.”

I didn’t realise my school infatuation was just making fun of me, but then an episode of the cartoon series taught me the attributes of true companionship

When I was seven, I was obsessed with one particular classmate. She was the only girl taller than me and she never let me forget it. She was allowed to wear colourful nail polish and had shiny Lelli Kelly shoes, while I had short, plain nails and had to make do with classic black Clarks. I craved her approval.

That spring she got an iPhone, and deliberately shunned me for a while afterwards. I cried for hours, but I wasn’t confused. I understood, and even respected it. Why would she grace me with her aura? I was lucky she let me sit at her table at all, even if it was only to taunt me for still bringing in a packed lunch. She was my best friend – I was always holding out hope that one day I would be hers.

A caiman wearing a wig, two brown bears laughing and a leopard doing a handstand feature in the selection of finalists from this year’s Nikon Comedy Wildlife awards. Winners will be announced on 8 December

Did a Tory voter who opposes all censorship offend a leftwinger concerned about how people treat one another?

• Want to meet someone from across the divide? Click here to find out how

Ted, 24, London

Occupation Works for a thinktank

The punk poet on his heroin years, dressing like Ronnie Wood, and achieving his boyhood ambition

Born in Salford in 1949, John Cooper Clarke is a poet and author. He cut his teeth in the clubs of Manchester before signing to Epic Records in 1978. He performed alongside the Sex Pistols, Joy Division, the Buzzcocks and Elvis Costello, scoring a UK Top 40 hit with Gimmix! Play Loud in 1979. His poem Evidently Chickentown was later used in The Sopranos, introducing him to a whole new generation, and his work is now on the GCSE English syllabus. As well as three poetry collections he published a memoir, I Wanna Be Yours, in 2020. His new poetry collection, Have It, is out now and he is touring the UK until 27 November.

This is me dressed up as a cowboy with a hat and six-shooter. Not the full schmear with the chaps and all the rest, but the best I could do. I was crazy about westerns. Still am, actually. My uncle Dennis was the only camera-owning relative at the time, so he would have taken the photo in our apartment above a chemist’s shop in Salford, located on a busy traffic intersection.

Which salty condiment nails that deep flavour profile, and which is saltier than the sea? Our resident taster tries 10 soy sauces straight from the bottle

• The best supermarket kimchi

Soy sauce was created in China about 2,200 years ago, as a means to preserve food and to zhoosh up the humble vegetarian Buddhist diet. It’s a demonstration in kokumi – literally “rich taste” – a flavour sensation that’s often called the sixth taste.

I tested all of today’s soy sauces straight from the bottle, in all their intensity. I first identified distinctive aromas such as cooked potato, sulphur and broth (all typical in soy sauce and not as off-putting as they sound), alongside caramel and malty notes. The best ones are more nuanced, with fruity high notes and vinous tones.

Steam through the laundry pile with our expert’s top picks for smoothing creases on cotton, linen, silk and more

• How to look after your knitwear

I grew up in a household where everything was ironed. And I mean everything: tea towels, pyjamas, bath mats. Perhaps as a result of watching my mother (and yes, it was always my mother) spend hours every week standing at an ironing board, I revolted. My heart sinks every time I have to go into battle with an iron. But how do we banish irons while still getting linen trousers to look crisp? I present the clothes steamer.

Clothes steamers use heat and moisture rather than pressure to smooth fabric. A small onboard tank heats water into a steady flow of steam, which you run over garments while they hang. Instead of pressing fibres flat like an iron, the steam causes them to swell and relax, releasing creases without the need for an ironing board.

From bullets to rabbits to wand vibrators, our sexual wellbeing expert demystifies what’s available and rates her top 17 models (she tested 67)

• 26 easy ways to spice up your sex life

I could write here about how almost a fifth of women surveyed by Durex said using a sex toy was the most dependable way for them to climax. Or I could point out how Kinsey Institute research suggests regular masturbation can help relieve and prevent symptoms of menopause, such as vaginal atrophy. I could even tell you that studies demonstrate a significant correlation between intimate toy ownership and greater satisfaction – not only with sex but also with life itself.

But the potted version is that orgasms and erotic pleasure are glorious, and top-class toys can help you savour more of both. So here are the best vibrators available. Scroll to the bottom to find out how I selected these vibrators from the 67 I tested for this piece.

Trekking poles can improve balance on uneven terrain and reduce stress on joints. Our seasoned adventurer put 10 to the test to find the best

• ‘I’d never head out without one’: 10 hiking essentials

Oh, I would walk 500 miles – with the help of a trusty pole. A walking pole – or two – makes a surprisingly handy addition to your hiking kit, helping with balance on uneven terrain, taking strain away from your legs and knees, and making going up and down hills much easier. I first tried walking poles when I went trekking in the Himalayas – now, I wouldn’t be without one on rugged terrain, but they can be just as helpful on a casual stroll.

Hiking poles are typically used as a pair, and the idea is to swing each pole in time with the opposite foot as you move forwards: right foot and left pole, then left foot and right pole, in a rhythm. You can also use poles singly to keep a hand free or to take the weight off one side of your body.

A tomatoey, southern Italian alternative to moules marinière – but who makes the definitive version?

Abundant, good value and ready in minutes, mussels are one of my favourite seafoods, but when it comes to preparing them, I rarely look farther than northern France. Italians, of course, also eat mussels, and this tomato-rich recipe is a particular favourite in the south – Neapolitans traditionally tuck into zuppa di cozze on Maundy Thursday but it’s found on menus all year round. With its bold flavours and oily, garlicky sauce, it’s a great alternative to creamy moules marinières, and similarly needs no accompaniment but a hunk of bread to make a meal, though chips, of course, are rarely unwelcome.

The whole point of going to Claridge’s in the first place is to sweep in through the grand main hotel entrance

Dante Mayfair, inside Claridge’s on Brook Street in London, has been created, the hotel’s management says, to become “the living room of Mayfair”. It’s a charming idea: pop in, have a cuppa or a bowl of pappardelle bolognese, or lie about on the fancy sofas wearing elasticated tracksuit bottoms and slurping soft-serve with s’mores. No, sorry, I’ve gone too far: it’s nowhere near that informal.

Still, like many well-used living rooms, this one has been rearranged, redecorated and repurposed many times over the years. I’ve eaten fancy-schmancy Simon Rogan dinners here when it was Fera, as well as his table experience at Aulis during which venture capitalist “foodies” bored the pants off me over a 12-course meal in the kitchen itself. I’ve stared unmoved at Daniel Humm’s New York-style pomp at the short-lived Davies and Brook, and have visited several times since Claridge’s took matters in-house in the shape of a rather anonymous ye olde British brasserie.

A worthy, meat-free version of the best comfort dish ever, this French classic is best served with a chilled red and a crisp salad

This is the best comfort dish on planet Earth. Cauliflower cheese held that title when I was a child, but I still remember the first time I ate this gratin, made by Simon Hopkinson at his restaurant Hilaire in London, and wanting to take it away and eat it in a quiet corner. Endive when braised well retains a gentle bitterness that contrasts beautifully with a cheese-heavy bechamel. This dish is traditionally made with comté and with each endive wrapped in a slice of cooked ham, but some dark, crisp-fried mushrooms and emmental serve very well as good, savoury vegetarian alternatives.

Henry Harris is chef/co-owner of Bouchon Racine, London EC1. His book, The Racine Effect, is published by Quadrille at £40. To order a copy for £36, go to guardianbookshop.com

You need five things: broth, flavour-giving tare, noodles, fat and toppings. And it’s the toppings that make it really special. Here are five versions, from a Toyko classic to a new Cardiff cult hit

Watch our guide to the UK’s best ramen renegades in Feed with Jimi Famurewa

At its simplest, ramen is the balance of five elements: broth, tare (secret seasoning sauce), noodles, fat and toppings. If you understand that, this seemingly cryptic and complex corner of Japanese food culture opens right up. The first four take time, but if you pick up a shop-bought stock and some decent noodles, I won’t tell anyone. But the toppings are where the real payoff is: the fastest way to turn a midweek nothing into something worth showing off.

A universal note
Spring onions should be used to top every bowl (finely diced white onion will work as a backup). Where there’s a broth, aim for 300ml, and where dashi is mentioned, instant is fine – unless you’re vegan, in which case steep 20g each of kombu and dried shiitake in one litre of cold water overnight, and keep the mushrooms for the soboro. Noodle portions are 130g unless stated otherwise, and any specialist items should be available online or at your local Asian supermarket.

You can be curious about others’ beliefs without compromising your own

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend who explained that her ill health was down to reasons I would describe as dubious. Taking certain supplements and changing her diet have significantly improved her health. Good for her. However, she was disappointed and a little annoyed that I didn’t share her outrage and wasn’t going to follow her views.

I’ve got another friend who thinks cholesterol is a lie and that we should live largely on meat (and supplements). Another went through a sugar causes cancer phase. And another is sceptical of vaccines. Each of them may be right. They might not. We are learning more about the human body every day. But I was raised by scientists and I want to see a large-scale trial before I get outraged and change the way I live. Equally, I’m not convinced that a lightly regulated for-profit industry (supplements) is automatically more trustworthy than a highly regulated for-profit one (pharma).

Conor Curran’s first date with Chris lasted nine hours but their relationship remained casual. Then, when Conor was at his most vulnerable, Chris was there for him

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

At 29 I had lost my career in hospitality because of Covid and decided to throw my hat in the ring as a contestant on MasterChef Australia. By the time I was eliminated in 2021, restaurants still weren’t open and I didn’t know what to do with my life. My lease was coming to an end in Melbourne and I wasn’t doing well with the lockdowns and people recognising me from TV. So I decided to retreat to my father’s place in Adelaide for a while.

By early 2022 I was dating a guy but, after a few months, he ghosted me suddenly.

Instead of asking her to step away from her distress, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, could you suggest she channel it into action?

• Read more Leading questions

My wife is obsessed with everything that’s happening in the US. She literally spends all day sitting on the couch, watching videos and reading opinion pieces. She’s originally from America and has been living abroad for 25 years and she has family in the US, so I get that she needs to feel connected to what’s happening. But it’s constant. Whether we’re eating, watching a TV show or movie, when we’re talking about something completely unrelated – everything, every topic, either starts or ends with outrage.

I’ve told her she needs to take at least one day off all social media, but she won’t do that even for an hour. It stresses her out more and more every day, but she just keeps going back to it – and it has been really affecting me, more lately than ever. On weekends I stay up late playing games (my way of winding down after a week of work) and she’ll go to bed early. And during those times sometimes I just sit and cry. Everything that’s happening is so stressful, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I just wish I could rip away her phone and let her breathe! I don’t know what to say or do. Is there anything that could help?

Kitty is buying a flat and Henry is moving in with her, but they’re already having decor disagreements. You decide who needs to get over their hang-ups?

• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

It’s not a showroom; it’s a home. Both people should get a chance to display their personalities

Scammers reuse personal details harvested from fake Esta websites – and texts and calls can keep arriving for months

When the British actor Lisa Riley was preparing to travel to the US last year, she applied online for an Esta so she would not need a visa. After finding the site through a Google search she filled in her passport, bank and personal details and waited for the confirmation, which normally takes just under an hour.

When it failed to arrive, she emailed an address from the site where she had paid and got back a message unlike any she had seen before, with a link to a website that displayed a jumble of words and letters.

The Naylors’ four-bedroom home in Milton Keynes acts like a mini-power station after retrofitting solar panels, a battery and a heat pump

Clare Naylor paid close attention to how much energy she and her family were using last winter, filling hot-water bottles and bringing out extra blankets to ensure they didn’t go over budget. This year, she won’t have to worry as she is guaranteed not to receive a bill.

While millions of British households face the highest energy charges in three years from this week after a 4% rise in the price cap, and predictions of a 16% increase in January, upgrades to Naylor’s home mean she will not have to pay a thing.

From a neo-baronial country house with turrets in acres of grounds in Scotland to a modernist tower block in a bustling part of London

Nothing is guaranteed but there are ways to boost your chances of experiencing such in-demand events

Whether your passion is the battle of the bands or the Battle of Hastings, what are probably Britain’s hottest cultural tickets are about to go on sale – and to be in with a shout of going, there are insider tips that will get you a good spot in the queue.

General admission tickets to the Glastonbury festival next June go on sale online at 9am on Sunday, while the next tranche of tickets to view the Bayeux tapestry at the British Museum will be released to members on Tuesday 6 October before a public on-sale on 21 October.

For years, eating was something to control, fear or regret. After I hunted my first deer, I started to see fat, hunger and my own body in a different light

I muffled my sobs with a pillow so my family couldn’t hear me from the adjacent room. I was 19 years old and we were in Paris, staying on the top floor of an old six-story walkup where every step echoed through the thin walls. I was trying, and failing, to hide the emotional war I had decided to wage on my body. Who does that on a family vacation? In Europe, no less?

Pulling tear-soaked strands of hair off my cheeks, I stood in front of a full-length mirror and grabbed the fat of my thighs. If only I could just – I pictured ripping off fistfuls of my body and flinging them out the windows, where they would land on some unknowing French person six stories below. I had this vision often: pulling bits of myself off and casting them somewhere far away from me.

Formerly a favourite of the A-list, the chain has abruptly ceased trading, leaving teachers and customers blindsided

Kate Comer is a single mother with two children, so she is used to living on a financial knife-edge. But when the yoga studio at which she taught closed without warning in September, leaving her with two months’ worth of unpaid wages, it sent her anxiety skyrocketing.

“I’m just reeling right now,” she said, estimating her loss at about £1,500. “I’m very concerned about the future.”

Experts say that if you’re eating any berry – strawberries, blackberries, currants, raspberries, blueberries – you are benefiting

Sprinkled on top of yoghurt, blended into smoothies or baked into crumbles, berries are among Americans’ favorite fruits.

Luckily, berries are as healthy as they are delicious and versatile: low in calories, full of vitamins and antioxidants, and a good source of fiber. Research shows that, depending on the type, berries support cardiovascular health, may boost gut health and fight inflammation and show promise as part of a “healthy dietary strategy for diabetes prevention and management”, to quote researchers. Meta-analyses also link compounds in berries with improved cognitive health.

The internet is full of warnings about our ‘dysregulated’ nervous systems. But, experts say, you don’t need to reset yours – you might just need to make it more flexible. Here’s how (and no, you don’t need an acupressure mat)

Whether it’s tapping the side of your hand or standing on a vibrating plate, suggestions on how to “reset” your nervous system are saturating the internet. Cold water plunges, humming, gargling, yawning and spiky acupressure mats are all being touted as ways to help us “regulate” and return to calm. If you’re still talking about feeling “stressed”, you’re behind the times; now, says the internet, you are “dysregulated”.

The nervous system is an integral part of being human. “It’s essentially the body’s communication and control network,” says Dr Serena Lai, consultant psychiatrist and associate medical director at London Psychiatry Clinic. “Made up of the brain and spinal cord, it communicates with the entire body through nerves, helping us to sense what is happening around and inside us. When we have that information, we can process it and coordinate a response.”

Brand’s signature desire to subvert the ordinary brings blazers with track pants and crop tops under blazers to Paris fashion week

Speaking backstage at Miu Miu’s show on Sunday at Paris fashion week, Miuccia Prada said she had been thinking about “real clothes”. The clothes people wear on the street for running errands rather than posing on social media. Her findings? Succinct. “The reality of clothing today is this mix – sportswear, casual, normal,” she said. Her challenge? To make them “more interesting, more rich”. To achieve this, she outlined how she had decided to focus on mixing “elements of sports with sophistication”.

The collection opened with a series of five neatly pleated checked skirts. The first was worn with an equally neat checked blazer but rather than a smart shoe, such as a pump or loafers, there were brightly coloured trainers. The second featured a crop top under the blazer, the trainers swapped for spiky high heels. The other looks ditched the blazer and clipped the tops so they sat just under the bust line.

Olivia Colman and Lisa Bonet are among the stars going silver – but workplace ageism means many women still fear ditching the dye

To dye, or not to dye. That is the decision many people, particularly women, face when their hair starts to grey.

This week Olivia Colman joined the growing ranks of women embracing grey hair and ditching the dye. Appearing at Zurich film festival, Colman had swapped her dark signature pixie cut for a grey, curly mane swept to one side.

From pillboxes and boaters to bicornes and buckets, characterful hats are making their way from the catwalk to the high street

“Here goes – an order for a million hats,” wrote Jackie Kennedy to Bergdorf Goodman before moving into the White House in the early 1960s. It’s a line that could have been uttered by any number of people working in fashion today, because the hat – and not just the ubiquitous baseball cap – has been enjoying a very characterful resurgence.

This season at the turbo-high-end brand Loro Piana, whose clothes are beloved by tech bros and Kendall Roy, almost every model was wearing a hat. At Thom Browne, straw boaters came shrouded in colourful mesh. At Chloé there were see-through hats to match see-through trenchcoats and white sailor hats atop all-white outfits. Courrège’s hats were space-age, Burberry had big buckets, Bottega Veneta had hats brimming with charisma.

American in Paris showcases new simplicity with stretch cocktail frocks, but there’s still plenty of gold-foiled nipples and peekaboo fabrics to wow the frow

In a world of mega brands, the house of Schiaparelli is small but perfectly formed. There are only 10 points of sale worldwide where Schiaparelli clothes can be bought. The size of the business has risen from $6m in 2020 to around $100m today, but Schiaparelli is still small fry compared with other names on the Paris catwalks.

However, the Schiaparelli name punches above its weight. An exhibition at London’s V&A museum this year made a strong case for its founder, Elsa Schiaparelli, who collaborated with Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau, as a creative force in the surrealism movement of the 1930s.

A world away from the tourist hotspots of the coast, Extremadura and Castile and León offer unpolluted skies, lower prices – and hope for the future of vulnerable wildlife

As photographed at night from a satellite, or the International Space Station (ISS), the Iberian peninsula looks encrusted with lights along its coastal edges. Madrid forms a big pulsing cluster near the centre, while surrounding hinterlands appear as something of a void. Ever fewer people live out in Castile and León and Extremadura, adjoining regions that cover much of what is known as La España Vacía, or “Empty Spain”.

Not many visit either, or at least not compared with Barcelona and other glowing nodes of the tourist circuit. So, while the big ports and resorts struggle to manage surplus holidaymakers, there is room for plenty more out west, toward the Portuguese border. Some have been following the stars that way lately, under the auspices of an astrotourism initiative called Extremadura Buenas Noches.

As Michael Sheen prepares to bring Owain Glyndŵr to life on stage, our writer walks the peaceful national trail named after the last Welsh Prince of Wales

Between the treetops, I can see the towers of a distant mist-shrouded castle. Is it possible I could make contact with the spirit of the great Welsh hero Owain Glyndŵr so soon, at the very start of our hike? We are not even on the actual trail of Glyndŵr’s Way. I’ve had to make a detour to find accommodation that takes dogs, as Stevie the terrier is with me. The Castle Inn at Knucklas is a mile off the route, and two miles or so from the pretty border town of Knighton – where the 135-mile (217km) Glyndŵr’s Way officially begins.

The towers slide away behind trees and a railway viaduct emerges. The medieval castle ruins, it turns out, are believed to have been plundered to build the viaduct in the 1860s, and the builders dropped in a couple of crenelated towers to honour the origins of the stone. I fear this may be an early omen: the spirit of Glyndŵr will be as elusive as the man himself was in his lifetime.

From cycling in Berlin and the Black Forest to world-class cocktail bars in Cologne and magical North Sea beaches, readers share their travel tips

• Tell us about a sunny autumn break – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher

In an often overlooked corner of Germany, near the Dutch border, Münster is an absolute gem. Covered porticos will convince you you’re in northern Italy, gothic churches will remind you you’re in Mitteleuropa and the buns from Zeit für Brot will insist you’re in heaven. Nature-lovers can take in the Botanical Gardens and relax by the Münstersche Aa river. Those of a historical bent can peek into the room where the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648 and mull the report card of nation states in the nearly 400 years since. But really, it’s a great place just to drop-anchor and lose a few days.
Jeremy

A ride in a water taxi transforms a stunning hike from Lyme Regis to West Bay into a perfect circular route

Many favour a circular walk, but you can give a linear one new shape with the addition of a novel form of transport. My wife Helen, our friend Tom Cox and I take the water taxi – a rigid inflatable boat (Rib) – from West Bay on Dorset’s coast to Lyme Regis, with a plan to walk back to our starting point.

The rain stops as the boat leaves the harbour, the views open along Chesil Beach to low-lying Portland to the east, and west to Lyme Regis; on the far horizon, we can see Start Point on the Devon coast. Our skipper, Nick, is highly knowledgable and takes time to stop and point out the history of the shoreline and the treacherous waters of Lyme Bay. The seabed is studded with wrecks – fishing boats and smugglers’ ships, but some are from the two world wars.

It’s a powerful analogy that captured the popular imagination, but the biological reality is quite different

Humans have a cognitive quirk for the number three. Think of the many stories that use it, from The Three Little Pigs to Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Musketeers. Public information and political campaigns use it for impact and ease of recall (“Stop, look and listen”; “See it. Say it. Sorted”; “Reduce, reuse, recycle”). And then there are psychological or philosophical frameworks: Freud with his id, ego and superego; Plato’s three parts of the human soul; the Holy Trinity.

Well, it turns out neuroscience isn’t immune from tri-mania. In 1959 Paul D MacLean set out a new way of thinking about the evolution and function of the brain, which he christened the “triune” – three-in-one – model. It quickly became one of best known and most enduring concepts in human biology. His idea was that a trio of distinct brains are layered inside our skulls, one on top of the other, all fighting to generate our feelings and thoughts.

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on various subjects considers a numerological conundrum

This week’s question: Why are national anthems almost always orchestral?

I tried recently to buy sticky vinyl numbers for a new wheelie bin. At two stores, I could find every number from 0 to 9 except the number 3, which I wanted. Is it possible that 3 could be more common in UK street addresses than other numbers?
John Gorrill at No 31, Oxford

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.

A teenager struggling with climate anxiety searches for hope in an unexpected place – writing letters to imprisoned activists. Max, 14, is on a quest to understand the human stories behind direct action and why so many climate protesters are in prison​. As replies begin to arrive, a dialogue bridging generations unfolds and connection transforms despair into purpose. ​When Max writes to the judge presiding over a high-profile trial​, he is surprised to hear the letter referred to in the judge's closing remarks

By over-committing to the bit, I’m in danger of becoming the very thing that I mock

There was a kid in my year in high school named Jimmy Tremarelli. We were in a couple of the same classes, and also had occasion to pass each other in the hall between bells about three times a day. Whenever we did Jimmy would nod and say, “Dr Dowling”, and I would say, “Dr Tremarelli”. And then we’d carry on in opposite directions.

Over the years the pretence became gradually more elaborate. Sometimes Jim would steal up alongside me at the end of class, cupping my elbow in the palm of his hand.

Those who have stepped in to keep young family members from going into care in England and Wales say the decision has brought them joy and hardship

Clive vividly remembers the day when, without warning or time to work out what he was really letting himself in for, he became a kinship carer.

“The social worker left, the door closed and Savannah was lying there in a carry cot, wrapped up in a pink blanket. She looked so calm and so comfy, absolutely oblivious about what’s just happened.

Green party debate over the motion ‘Zionism is racism’ comes amid renewed arguments over the meaning and history of a contested term

Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green party, has said he is an anti-Zionist. As his party conference prepares to debate a motion that “Zionism is racism”, what precisely is Zionism and what is the history of the claim that it is racist?

Much is made of the decision to try to preserve fertility but less explored are the choices that come afterwards. We want to hear from people about what happened next

Oocyte cryopreservation, more commonly known as egg freezing, has been around for decades but the procedure stopped being considered experimental in 2012. Since then, elective egg freezing has boomed. Often represented as an insurance policy against age- or illness-related fertility decline, the process can be costly and complex.

While figures vary, research suggests most people who undergo egg freezing never access their eggs and results are mixed for those who do. Long-term storage poses its own costs and questions.

Are you making cutbacks in light of the price increases?

The average price of diesel in the UK climbed to a record £2 a litre on 2 October.

The price of a litre at UK forecourts has risen 40.5% since late February, when the US-Israel war on Iran began disrupting supplies of crude and refined oil products from the Gulf, leading to cost increases across the economy.

Perhaps you lost your home or possessions in a wildfire, or your mountain business has been affected by glacial retreat and snow scarcity

Has direct experience of a global climate event where you live changed how you now view the climate crisis?

Perhaps you were sceptical or even denied the climate crisis before the impact of recent global climactic events.

How has loneliness affected you? Please share your experience

We live in an age where we have better tools for communication and connection than ever before, and yet we are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic.

In 2025, a World Health Organization report identified that 1 in 6 people globally are lonely. The report defined loneliness as “the painful feeling that arises from a gap between desired and actual social connections.” Perhaps, most strikingly, the age bracket that had the highest levels of loneliness was 13–29-year-olds.

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