Rail minister Peter Hendy says fast rollout shows reforms are working as questions over reliability remain

South Western Railway’s newest train, wrapped in union jack-inspired Great British Railways livery, may divide opinion on aesthetics, but the interior is certainly an upgrade: air-conditioned carriages, more space and greater passenger capacity.

For ministers, the fact that it is the 45th Arterio model brought into service since the SWR network was nationalised is vindication of the GBR approach.

Experts say some social media advice could obscure underlying health problems or create risk of unintended pregnancies

A growing number of women are seeing misleading information about perimenopause on social media – prompting concerns that some could be led to false conclusions that obscure real underlying health difficulties or even create the risk of unintended pregnancies.

Here are some of the key facts behind the problem.

What should be a story of Reform incompetence instead speaks to the broader refusal of Westminster to adapt to multiparty democracy

If you want a window into how a fragmented nation and a splintered party system are reshaping British politics, look no further than the drama at Worcestershire county council. It shows the consequences of Britain governing like a two-party state, when it now votes like a multiparty democracy.

Last week, opposition councillors from the Conservatives, Greens, Liberal Democrats and a group of independents formed a rainbow coalition to remove Reform UK from power. Nigel Farage’s party had gained control of the council in last year’s local elections, winning a plurality of seats but not a majority. What has unfolded since then has been chaos.

Jason Okundaye is an assistant Opinion editor at the Guardian

The great showman has spent the last 50 years on stage, followed by his adoring “fanilows” - but he’s not slowing down yet. Here, he talks about cancer, ridicule and roaring success

His name is Barry, he is a showman – as we all know. But late last year, after more than 50 years of constant performing, it began to look like the Manilow show was coming to an end. In December, the 82-year-old singer announced he was about to undergo surgery for lung cancer, and postponed his planned live shows. Thankfully, the cancer had not spread and the treatment was successful. But around the same time he released a new single, ominously titled Once Before I Go. The accompanying video showed him saying goodbye to his palatial quarters at the Las Vegas Westgate resort, where he has had a residency for the past eight years, and wistfully reminiscing over old costumes, intercut with footage of him in his 80s prime. It sure looked as if he was shutting up shop.

But no: “That was just an accident,” says Manilow of the video. Really? “Yeah, we didn’t do that on purpose.” The song was actually written in the early 80s by veteran songwriter Peter Allen, he explains, but he felt he was too young to sing it when he first heard it. “It’s a beautiful song and it’s got nothing to do with me. It’s saying goodbye to a romance, you know. But it just so happened that it sounds like I’m talking about myself.” Far from going anywhere, Manilow’s got a new album out next week, and a string of new tour dates lined up.

The difference in framing around antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred distorts public understanding, inflames tensions and makes both Jewish and Muslim communities less safe

The horrific terrorist attack on the Islamic Centre of San Diego in California has been reported by many news outlets over the past few days. Yet as the story travelled across screens and news feeds, something more subtle unfolded: the language of reporting. Some outlets spoke of “teen suspects” and “three deceased” rather than murdered worshippers or a terrorist attack on a mosque. Words matter. They shape sympathy, urgency, and influence how violence is understood. Too often, the vocabulary of terror and extremism appears unevenly distributed; sharpened for some perpetrators but softened for others.

There is a growing sense that the world is slipping backwards – not through dramatic rupture, but through the steady normalisation of hate, the coarsening of public discourse and politicians increasingly fuelling division and racism.

(MPL/Capitol)
From nostalgic returns to his Liverpool childhood to a crazed Glastonbury fantasia, these are songs written with real purpose and a master’s finesse

The rock legend in the autumn of their years who chooses to release a new album is well advised to get themselves an angle. If the music that made you legendary was written and recorded long ago – and is highly unlikely to be displaced in the public’s affections by anything you do now – it’s good to have something that suggests a sense of purpose, beyond just adding to an already vast back catalogue for the sake of it.

We’ve recently seen it with Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways, rooted in its jawdropping 17-minute survey of American political history, Murder Most Foul; and with Bruce Springsteen’s Only the Strong Survive, with its canny covers of soul and R&B classics. And an angle is clearly something that has occurred to Paul McCartney, too. From its title referencing a road in the suburb of Liverpool where McCartney spent his early childhood, to the circumstances of its launch – the first single Days We Left Behind was premiered not on YouTube or Spotify but BBC Radio Merseyside – his 27th studio album has been presented as a nostalgic look back at what you might call his pre-Fab years.

Monday predicted to be hottest May day on record by large margin, as UK braces for ‘super El Niño’ summer

Temperatures are expected to hit 35C in parts of England on Monday, in an “unprecedented” May heatwave.

The Met Office is already predicting that records will be broken. A spokesperson said: “Today will be the hottest day in May in the UK in our temperature records, with highs of 35C expected. The current May record is 32.8C. Records are usually only broken by tenths of a degree, making this heatwave unprecedented for the time of year.”

Potential deal reportedly includes a 60-day ceasefire extension, reopening the strait of Hormuz and a plan for further nuclear talks

• US and Iran inch closer to peace deal as Trump faces criticism from GOP hawks

Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, has said that time is working against the US and warned that Iran does not respond well to threats.

In a post on X, he wrote:

During the military war, our tactic was an eye for an eye; in the diplomatic war, it is action against action. Do not believe the bluff of the failed president; time is against the Americans.

If they want an agreement, they should negotiate; if they want $6 gas, they should stand firm and bluff until the grass grows under their feet. Iran does not bow to force or threats.

Reform UK leader claims ‘counter-espionage experts’ suggest state-sponsored hackers are behind disclosure of £5m gift

Nigel Farage is under mounting pressure to provide evidence for his claim that a state-sponsored Russian hack was behind the disclosure of the £5m gift he received from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

Reform UK claimed over the weekend that analysis of Farage’s phone by “counter-espionage experts” suggested that “Farage’s phone, email and bank accounts were compromised by hostile actors, almost certainly linked to Moscow, using spear phishing tactics”, before the Guardian revealed details of his undeclared gift last month.

Russia suspected of obstructing signal on flight bringing John Healey home from visit to British troops in Estonia

An RAF jet carrying the defence secretary, John Healey, had its signal jammed for the entire three-hour flight after it flew near the Russian border.

Healey had been visiting British soldiers in Estonia and was travelling back to the UK when the electronic attack happened, the Times reported.

Paris police looking into more than 100 allegations of mistreatment by ‘monitors’ after parents’ groups said they had fought for years to be taken seriously

France is facing a child abuse scandal as ‘monitors’ at dozens of state nursery and primary schools are investigated for violence, sexual assault and rape.

Paris police are examining more than 100 allegations of mistreatment, physical violence and rape of children as young as three by school monitors during lunch breaks, nap times and after-school activities, prosecutors have confirmed.

Hitting government’s target of getting 80% of workers into jobs would reduce cost of universal credit by £10bn

Tackling the root causes of joblessness, instead of cutting benefits, is the best way to get the welfare bill down, and polling shows voters support that approach, according to research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

In a forthcoming report, JRF economists show that hitting the government’s target of getting 80% of the working age population into jobs would cut the cost of universal credit by £10bn – an eighth of the current bill.

Most people have joyful memories of playing outside as children – and now wildlife charities are urging people to ‘rewild their inner child’

Climbing trees, squelching in mud, paddling in ponds or making dens in the woods – people’s memories of playing outside as children are often vivid and, a new poll has found, overwhelmingly positive, even those who remember falling in cowpats.

Almost 90% of UK adults had rosy memories of the excitement and the feeling of freedom that outdoor play had brought them, the survey found. However, almost half of adults now spend less than three hours a week in natural settings such as gardens, parks, fields or woods, according to the survey. For one in 10 it is less than one hour.

Dangers include unintended pregnancies, taking unnecessary medication and missed diagnoses, say experts

Misinformation about perimenopause is putting women at risk of unintended pregnancies, unnecessary medication and missed diagnoses, experts have said.

Awareness of menopause and treatments such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been raised by efforts including a prominent documentary by Davina McCall.

Exclusive: Exhibition to include letters, work permits and dry cleaning tickets that reveal little moments of domesticity in rock icon’s life

When Jimi Hendrix lived in a bohemian London flat in the 1960s, he had little need for its kitchen as he had meals sent up from Mr Love, a groovy restaurant on the ground floor of his building.

While celebrities were downstairs, dining at heart-shaped tables and served by waitresses in hot pants, the American rock musician was upstairs, tucking into steaks and hamburgers.

Supporters of Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of the late shah, are clashing with those who oppose a return of monarchy

Wearing a bucket hat, a blue Adidas hoodie and khaki shorts, Tony Mohraz, also known as 021kid, chest-bumps a friend in front of a memorial wall in Golders Green, in north London.

Photographs can be seen behind him of those who were killed protesting against the Iranian regime. As a large lion and sun flag used in Iran before the Islamic revolution is waved overhead, Mohraz starts to rap.

As former Soviet Republic goes to the polls, it finds itself in a strategic tug of war between Russia, the US, Turkey, Europe and Azerbaijan

To describe Yerevan, a charming city of liberal values encased in imposing Soviet architecture, as the centre of the world is a stretch, but Armenia’s claim that it can become the strategic crossroads of the landmass of Eurasia is becoming less and less fanciful. As the former Soviet Republic goes to the polls on 7 June for national elections, it finds itself in a five-way tug of war between Russia, the US, Turkey, Europe and Azerbaijan.

The interest has in part been sparked by the possibility of an end to Armenia’s conflict with its neighbour Azerbaijan – and the chance this represents for Armenia to end its physical isolation and become part of the middle corridor, a vital trade route linking western China and Europe, bypassing both Russia’s northern corridor and the Suez canal.

After years of procrastination, even the most trivial task felt like climbing a mountain. Then I discovered the pomodoro technique – and how much I could achieve in just 25 minutes

Long before I knew what a 9 to 5 was, I struggled to get things done. When I was a child, I avoided showers for as long as possible and put off brushing my waist-length hair. My mum ended up cutting it into a bob to help me manage it.

During my degree, this tendency to procrastinate meant I was regularly pulling all-nighters in the library, writing 3,000-word essays in single evenings, fuelled by energy drinks and snacks. I told myself that I worked better under pressure – and in a way I did, since it always got done. But the relief of submitting work was always overshadowed by the same question – why had I put myself through that again?

Dominik Szoboszlai and Alex Iwobi redefined the idea of possibility but Leandro Trossard’s mattered most

With most free-kicks, we’ve a decent idea where the taker can put them, which is why Dominik Szoboszlai’s effort against Arsenal, though it was a brilliant late winner, hasn’t been picked here: the execution, replete with whip and dip, was perfect, but we knew in advance that what turned out to be possible was possible. On the other hand, his goal against Manchester City – which edges Anton Stach’s for Leeds at Villa – was a mind-boggler. It’s fair to wonder why the wall contained only two men, but equally so to counter that he was so far out, the keeper wanted a decent view – and didn’t he get the perfect aspect. Hit with the laces, the ball jiggling, dipping and swerving at improbable angles, Gianluigi Donnarumma anticipated an inswinger then, when it turned out to be an outswinger, didn’t even get to attempt a save because, once it was clear which way the shot was actually going, it was far, far too late, a cursory step in the right direction all he had time for as an incredible, unsaveable effort shrieked past him and in off the post, three-quarters of the way up.

The latest in our ongoing series of writers celebrating their most rewatched comfort films is a pick for 1996’s revealing and relatable romantic thriller

I’m not necessarily inclined towards what might typically be dubbed “feelgood”. No, you won’t find me seduced by a happy ending, nor am I partial to the oeuvre of Disney (in fact, I find all the talking animals and poreless princesses a bit grotesque). The raw edges and friction of feelbad have tended to be much better suited to my tastes: the porno chic slasher Knife+Heart, the sartorial murder of In Fabric and the snuff film-obsessed Thesis. Sex and gore, basically. For a long time, my favourite film was Crimes of the Future: a stomach-churning body horror about sexual-surgical experiments.

However, there is one movie that reveals a slightly soft(er)core side to my viewing habits, which I frequently return to in order to feel the gushy feelings and butterflies of a school crush. That film is Bound. The 1996 directorial debut from the Wachowski sisters, the plot revolves around an opposites-attract scenario which is both familiar and high stakes: plumber Corky, and mafia moll Violet. When their eyes meet across an elevator, the tiny vestibule becomes thick with sexual tension: it is so on.

From Drag Race to Eurovision to Strictly, La Voix is going stratospheric. And Chris Dennis, the man behind the crimson coiffure, is thrilled. He talks about his cruise ship highs, doing panto with Cilla – and starring in Annie

‘I’ve done more cruises than Jane McDonald,” says Chris Dennis with a hoot. About 130 in all, he reckons, which his agent said surpassed McDonald, the most famous cruise ship singer there is. You won’t find Dennis’s name on any billing, though, and most of the thousands of people who have seen him perform won’t know it either. But they will know his alter ego, La Voix, a “northern powerhouse” of show tunes, sharp quips and bright crimson coiffure. Perhaps you’ve seen her slaying the runway on RuPaul’s Drag Race, dancing a pasodoble to Beethoven’s Fifth on Strictly, or appearing as a “spokesqueen” on the recent Eurovision. And now she’s about to sashay into her first role in a musical – as Miss Hannigan in Annie.

La Voix is an amalgam of the women Dennis knew growing up in Stockton-on-Tees: quick wit, warm heart, belter of a voice, and always in possession of a sparkly top for a night out. After 17 years of Drag Race on TV, we’ve seen the vast range of what drag can be, from high fashion to political to performance art. But La Voix is classic old school light entertainment. Who, I ask Dennis, are your comic influences? “Ken Dodd,” he says without a beat. “The terrible jokes that just make you laugh. Bang, bang, bang, joke, joke, joke.” Barry Humphries’ Dame Edna and Paul O’Grady’s Lily Savage are big influences, too. And when TV’s Loose Women asked La Voix about dancing with Strictly partner Aljaž Škorjanec, her reply – “To be flung round the room by a muscular Slovenian, you’re not going to say no, are you?” – was pure Victoria Wood.

The supplement is a proven sports performance enhancer, but research is ongoing and for most people it’s an optional extra, not an essential

Once the preserve of bodybuilders and sprinters, creatine is now being touted as everything from a brain booster to a healthy-ageing essential. But should we all be taking it? Not quite.

“There’s really substantial evidence of creatine being effective,” says Bethan Crouse, a sports nutritionist at Loughborough University. “From a sport perspective, it’s probably one of the more well-researched supplements in terms of actually having a performance impact.”

The best of these reject any ‘don’t touch’ attitude in favour of an open invitation to curiosity that might just see your toddler tell you to sit down and read a book

Play cafes are not for me, but that doesn’t make me a monster. I don’t drag my toddler around museums and galleries demanding that we look at art every day of the week (what fresh hell that would be). Instead there is, I’ve discovered, a middle ground. Museums that are family oriented and fun and capable of sparking curiosity in arts and culture while they’re at it. Museums such as the Story Museum in Oxford.

The place is a gem. I love it from the moment we’re given colourful wristbands that will allow us to come and go throughout the day (no pressure to power through when whining turns to wailing). Tucked away from the tourists in a higgledy-piggledy former post office and telephone exchange building on Pembroke Street, it’s full of imaginative galleries that invite you to step inside the pages of great children’s books from across the ages.

I survived months of bombardment before escaping. The systematic dismantling of our home has harmed every aspect of women’s lives

• Olfat al-Kurd is a field researcher for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the occupied territories

Since Israel’s assault on Gaza began in October 2023, I have lost my father, my brother, his wife and their daughter. They are still buried under the rubble. My house, where we lived with my husband’s family, was destroyed by Israeli bombing. In 2024, after months of bombardments, flight and displacement, I managed to escape with my family to Egypt. I’ve been living here ever since, but the memories of life in Gaza are always with me. What happened to me reflects the reality that Palestinian women in Gaza continue to face during the genocide.

Since the start of the war, many women in Gaza have become sole providers. Countless numbers have been left with no protection or home, and many have lost children or their entire families. A recent UN report showed that Israel has killed more than 38,000 women and girls in Gaza during this war. A further 11,000 have sustained injuries causing lifelong disabilities.

Olfat al-Kurd is a field researcher for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the occupied territories

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

In Kyiv, I found a mood of confidence. Ukrainians know that Russia is creaking and that Europe has their back

Discussions are said to be under way as to which former European heavyweights should represent the EU in any peace talks with Russia. Angela Merkel, Mario Draghi and Sauli Niinistö, the former president of Finland, are names that have cropped up as potential envoys. While meaningless in substance, because there is no negotiation in sight, the story points to a wider truth about the Ukraine war and Europe’s role.

Like other European conversations on Ukraine before it, this one has an abstract flavour. Europe planned, for instance, to send a “reassurance force” to Ukraine in the event of a Donald Trump-mediated ceasefire. A possible maritime initiative in the strait of Hormuz, should a deal be reached between the US, Israel and Iran, bringing the war there to a definitive end, is in the works. None of these plans have been implemented, because the scenarios on which they are based have not materialised. Likewise, there is no imminent negotiation with Russia that an envoy could be dispatched to. The war in Ukraine is raging on, as underlined by Russia’s bombardment of Kyiv at the weekend, which involved its hypersonic “Oreshnik” ballistic missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads. And, as Lithuanians rushing to shelters after a drone alert remind us, a wider hybrid war between Russia and Europe is already under way.

Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Holidays offering the newly-in-love stress tests are missing the point. Strife is inevitable, it’s how you deal with it over the long term that matters

‘Turbulence test” trips are a “romantic travel trend” for new couples, according to US Vogue. The magazine spoke to two women who had decided to stress-test fledgling relationships with trips, and a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, that aims to “lean into couples’ curiosity about their connection” by offering a “turbulence test” package. It includes $100 (£74) of cocktails and a pack of conversation cards, which does indeed sound like a recipe for brewing trouble in paradise.

I can’t fault travel as a trial for new romance: coffin-sized shared spaces, upset schedules, tricky interactions, destination disappointments – and the unhelpful accepted wisdom that holidays should be better than real life when they’re less comfortable and way more expensive than staying home – make them into a Soltan-scented pressure cooker for couples. My husband and I nearly split after a horrific trip to Italy in our second year together – it started with unsuccessfully trying to hitchhike 20 miles in a thunderstorm after discovering no trains ran on 15 August and continued with a fortnight of rain, recriminations, tinned soup and cheap wine-fuelled fights.

The document is full of disclaimers and does not address fundamental issues, including Gaza and the Biden-to-Harris transition

When the Democratic National Committee finally released its autopsy on the 2024 election disaster, not even the DNC chair could defend it. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report,” Ken Martin conceded as the autopsy went public on Thursday. After several months of withholding the autopsy on the grounds of not wanting it to be a distraction, Martin fessed up at last: “When I received the report late last year, it wasn’t ready for primetime. Not even close. And because no source material was provided, fixing it would have meant starting over, from the beginning.”

In response, a former Obama speechwriter, Jon Favreau, summed up eight stages of Martin’s tortuous process that has spanned more than a year: “Promise to release autopsy; put incompetent friend in charge; incompetent friend produces incoherent product; announce you’re not releasing the autopsy; lie about why; gaslight people who ask, saying they’re the problem; face internal revolt; release autopsy.”

Norman Solomon is the director of RootsAction and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His latest book is The Blue Road to Trump Hell: How Corporate Democrats Paved the Way for Autocracy

His recent concerts are a thunderous call to fight for democracy. The nation could use more like him

The Bruce Springsteen concert I went to in Brooklyn last week was unlike any concert I’ve attended in decades. It was far more than a fabulous, joyous concert; it was also an inspiring resistance event.

From the get-go, the Boss made clear that this concert would be part of the anti-Trump resistance. It was a three-hour-long ode to the resistance and a thunderous call to Springsteen fans to step up and do more to fight for democracy and against authoritarianism. In this way, Springsteen is serving as a model for how celebrities can stand up against Trump and fight for what’s right.

Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice

Singing through the bloody mist

Steven Greenhouse is a journalist and author, focusing on labor and the workplace, as well as economic and legal issues

Global prices are approaching a tipping point that could trigger inflation, shortages and, over time, recession

If a US-Iran deal is about to be reached, three months on from the launch of Donald Trump’s Operation Epic Fury, it will not be a day too soon for oil markets, which are approaching a dangerous tipping point.

The cost of a barrel of crude on the spot market – for immediate purchase, effectively – has bounced about $100 since Iran predictably responded to the onslaught from the US and Israel by closing the strait of Hormuz.

The trumpeter, composer and band leader still towers over jazz because he treated reinvention not as a betrayal, but as necessary for its survival

The space reserved for Miles Davis in the pantheon of 20th-century music is not simply because he mastered jazz, but because he refused to let it stand still. As musicians and fans mark the centenary of his birth , Davis’s work still feels limitless. “I always thought that music had no boundaries,” he wrote in his 1989 autobiography, “no limits to where it could grow and go, no restrictions on creativity.” Davis repeatedly dismantled the sound he had helped invent – embracing the electric age in 1968, much as Bob Dylan had in folk.

Davis moved to New York as an 18-year-old after hearing Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. While bebop prized speed, Davis preferred restraint and precision – spearheading cool jazz. By 1988, now the grand old man of jazz, he was playing trumpet with Prince, whom he remarked could be the “new Duke Ellington of our time if he just keeps at it”. Such was his refusal to be pigeonholed, he hated the word “jazz”. Whatever it was, Davis reasoned, had to evolve: absorbing funk, rock, African rhythms and electronica to emerge altered again.

The removal of an opposition party leader and closure of a liberal university show an authoritarian democracy moving closer to one-man rule

Turkey’s next presidential election is scheduled for 2028. Many think it will come sooner. But by the time ballots are actually cast, the outcome may already have been decided – especially after the last few days.

On Thursday, an appeals court removed the head of the opposition Republican People’s party (CHP), Özgür Özel, by annulling its 2023 leadership contest. The 51-year-old was credited with reviving the CHP, which trounced the ruling Justice and Development party in 2024’s local elections. He was also one of the few senior figures not caught in a sweeping crackdown that has led to hundreds of CHP officials and politicians being arrested. Human Rights Watch says that the justice system has been weaponised against the opposition. A mass corruption trial opened in March, with defendants including the Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was arrested last year on the day that he was chosen as the CHP’s presidential candidate. He could face a sentence of more than 1,900 years if convicted on all counts.

Readers respond Devi Sridhar’s call for the world to act now over the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Devi Sridhar is right that this Ebola outbreak needs urgent attention (Ebola in the DRC needs the world’s attention now – if your neighbour’s house is on fire, you don’t wait and watch, 19 May). Present an engineer with a problem needing a build or fix and you will often hear: “You can have it good, fast or cheap – pick two.” In global outbreak responses, we learn too late every time that we must pick “fast” first.

Having worked on the west African Ebola outbreak in 2014-16 and on smaller Ebola responses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018-2020, I have seen the same failure pattern repeat. We think too long before going in, despite knowing what is needed, and we overestimate the complexity of what must be accomplished.

Readers respond to Emine Saner’s article about the ubiquity of pooches in public spaces

Your article on dogs was uncannily timely (‘She compared her dachshund to my newborn baby’: should you be able to take your dog everywhere?, 19 May). I have had a phobia of dogs since childhood and can’t get past an unleashed dog. This causes me a problem every couple of years, but in the last week I’ve twice been inconvenienced by thoughtless owners who don’t see the need for a lead while walking dogs on public highways.

The first time I was trapped in a restaurant until the staff managed to persuade the owner to move (my panic attack alerted them to the problem), and a day or two later it was a market stallholder who was letting a dog run loose. The dog was jumping up at passersby and investigating the occupants of passing pushchairs. A kindly passerby noticed me crying and came to help.

As a mother with disabled children, Anne-Louise Crocker has experienced first-hand how the social care system lets people down. Plus a letter from Dr Brian Fisher

At the 2024 Labour conference, Wes Streeting said: “We can’t fix the NHS without fixing the crisis in social care. And we can’t fix social care without the people who work in it … I will deliver a new deal for care professionals: a fair pay agreement, to improve pay and conditions and give staff the status and respect they deserve – our first step towards building a national care service.”

In fact, Streeting’s first step on social care was to set up yet another review, which will not report until the end of the parliament, thus kicking social care down the road, like every other health secretary before him.

Deathbed advice | Dangerous deference | Marks & Spencer | Stephen Yaxley-Lennon | Readers’ reads

Polly Hudson’s piece on her relationship with her dad felt so poignant (My dad was far from perfect – but I live by the advice he gave me on his deathbed, 24 May). I lost my dad during Covid and didn’t get to have that deathbed conversation with him and get the sage advice that Polly got from hers. Although we didn’t get to say goodbye, I know he would have said, “Make the most of every day, queen”. And I will.
Julie Craig
Stockport, Greater Manchester

• Your 21 May editorials on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the Grenfell Tower fire demonstrate the dangers of deferring to those in positions of power or influence. This has characterised British society for too long and will only end when those responsible for the Grenfell, Post Office and other disasters are held to account and sent to prison.
Geoffrey Payne
Ealing, London

Two deadly strikers, two creative forces and an all-but unbeatable goalkeeper make up our picks for the season

The adulation offers a fine indication of how good the Manchester United captain has been this season. At the start, he was dragging Ruben Amorim’s interpretation of a team through matches and spent the past five months leading Michael Carrick’s unified side. Awards and records keep coming his way; winning the Football Writers’ Association player of the season award was swiftly followed by picking up a record Premier League assist tally of 21 at Brighton on the final day of the season. Considering United were very open to selling Fernandes less than a year ago, one wonders what would have happened at Old Trafford without him. “At one point I was going to leave – I won’t say where – but I would have won many trophies that season. I decided to stay not only for family reasons but because I genuinely like the club,” Fernandes told Canal 11. “But from the club’s side, I felt a bit of: ‘If you go, it’s not really that bad for us.’ That hurts me a little. More than hurting, it makes me sad, because I’m a player they have nothing to criticise me for. I’m always available for every match, I always play, whether well or badly. I give my maximum.” Fernandes brings incredible intelligence and work rate on the pitch, supported by stunning technique that has put him above his United teammates, who all feed off him. It is hard to argue that any other Premier League captain is more influential than Fernandes and United have reaped the awards.

• Gkolomeev’s 50m freestyle ‘record’ brings relief

• Glitzy night lacks excitement forecast by organisers

They promised multiple world records. To redefine what the human body is capable of with performance enhancing drugs. Even to change sport forever. But by the end of the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas organisers were left with one abiding emotion. Relief.

Only in the final event of the night, after more than five hours of competition, could they lay claim to having gone quicker than an official world record as Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev swam 20.81sec in the men’s 50m freestyle.

The club’s largest shareholder has ignored warning signs since 2022 and need only look at the fate of Leicester to see what what may be in store

West Ham jumped on the relegation train in 2022. Bereft of vision at the top of the club, they failed to realise where they were heading. One internal figure was worried but his voice did not carry enough weight. There were three consecutive years of European football and there was no impending sense of doom when West Ham beat Fiorentina in the Conference League final in June 2023.

Yet that glorious night in Prague is a distant memory. The Championship now awaits and, much like when the West Ham went down in 2003, this is a failure that could have been avoided with better planning.

De Zerbi did the job he was brought in to do – now he has helped Tottenham avoid an unfathomable relegation, his task for next season is not so clear

Almost half a century ago, Matthew Engel had a line in this newspaper about Sheffield United going top of the Fourth Division being like hearing a friend had been made head of the prison library: you wanted to congratulate them but really you were wondering what on earth they were doing there in the first place. It was a similar story at Spurs today: for all the understandable glee and relief, even to be in danger of relegation is evidence of things having gone badly wrong.

It may be that the future has this as the first day in the new history of Tottenham. Roberto De Zerbi is clearly a manager of great promise – 11 points in seven games may not be earth-shattering, but it is a lot, lot better than what came before – and the injury crisis surely can’t be this bad for a third straight season. Perhaps coming so close to the brink will startle them into decisive action in a way that last season’s fourth-bottom finish, mitigated as it was by the Europa League success, did not. Perhaps there really will come a bracing clarity of vision and they will rise again. The world can change very quickly. It’s only four years ago that Spurs were, for the sixth season in succession, finishing above Arsenal. A season out of Europe, while it will have a negative impact on revenues, can have a remarkable rejuvenating effect.

• British driver enjoys best finish at Ferrari

• ‘I am much, much happier in the car’

Lewis Hamilton was thrilled with his second place at the Canadian Grand Prix in what he called “the greatest job in the world” after a great fight with his old adversary Max Verstappen and expressed how excited he was to be back in a wheel to wheel contest, enthused with his and his Ferrari team’s performance.

“I love this job it’s the greatest job in the world, I never take that for granted,” he said. “To have a good battle with Max finally, I’m really, really grateful. I am so, so happy. It’s good day of racing, overall, a solid weekend. I felt the whole team have done an amazing job.”

Faster and smarter in deed and thought, Bordeaux ruthlessly demonstrated why Top 14 supremacy looks set to continue

Nothing in sport lasts for ever. Dynasties come and go and even the best fade to grey eventually. That, at least, is the theory. The stark truth in European club rugby is that France’s dominance grows stronger by the year. It is now six years since another nation won the Champions Cup and Bordeaux- Bègles’ second successive title did not feel like the last of its vibrant type.

Consider the evidence. Not only is the Top 14 spawning a golden generation of domestic players, it also has the major financial clout to attract premium foreign talent. Thus it is that Tom Willis, the most penetrative forward in England, is heading to Bordeaux next season while Tommaso Menoncello, the brilliant Italian centre, is joining Toulouse.

• World No 39 beaten 6-0, 7-6 (4) by Solana Sierra

• Briton Fran Jones wins at a grand slam for first time

Twenty minutes into her time at the 2026 French Open, Emma Raducanu already appeared to be on her way out. Trailing 0-4, 30-40 on her serve, the games falling from her at warp speed, this was the moment for Raducanu to fight, to at least try to keep herself in contention. She responded by badly shanking a backhand, which flew high into the sky before bouncing far out.

This point epitomised a miserable day on court for Raducanu, whose last-minute fightback was not enough to turn the match around as she lost 6-0, 7-6 (4) at Roland Garros, beaten by the unseeded Argentinian Solana Sierra.

This was an occasion for Mikel Arteta to savour. With the owner, Stan Kroenke, watching from the stands on a rare visit to see his team, Arsenal celebrated being champions for the first time since 2004 by recording a comfortable victory over a Crystal Palace side who also have a European final on their minds.

Max Dowman became the youngest player to start a Premier League game at 16 years and 144 days old and played his part as goals from Gabriel Jesus and Noni Madueke rounded off a memorable campaign for Arteta and his side. Arsenal were presented with the Premier League trophy at a sultry Selhurst Park – after Oliver Glasner completed a lap of honour on his last home match in charge of Palace – and their attention will switch quickly to the daunting prospect of facing Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday’s Champions League final.

• Semi-final interrupted after ‘code red’ activated for first time

• Photographer in stable condition after being taken to hospital

The World Surf League event in New Zealand was abruptly halted on finals day after a photographer was bitten by a sea creature.

Australian Ed Sloane was attacked just before 8.30am while documenting the men’s semi-finals at the New Zealand Pro, held near Raglan on the west coast of the North Island.

Ulf Kristersson aims to expand state-funded IVF as Sweden grapples with lowest fertility rate since records began

Sweden’s prime minister has promised to put IVF at the heart of his re-election campaign as he tries to win over female voters amid the country’s record low birthrate.

Ulf Kristersson’s government recently increased the number of state-funded IVF attempts granted to aspiring first-time parents from three to six.

Inmates at Barinas prison allege they were peacefully protesting when prison staff opened fire, leaving some wounded

Inmates at Venezuela’s western Barinas prison staged a protest on its roof on Sunday, piling flaming mattresses and calling for the removal of the facility’s director, who they accused of overseeing guards as they shot unarmed prisoners.

“We want justice. They are shooting us, the guards and the wardens,” a prisoner said in a video shared by the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons, a local NGO, on X, in which a man is seen with a bullet wound in his chest.

A road in the shopping district of Ginza was blocked off and people were taken away in stretchers

About 20 people were injured at a luxury shopping complex in central Tokyo on Monday after a man sprayed a substance inside the building, officials in Japan said.

A Tokyo police spokesperson said a man sprayed a substance at an ATM on the ground floor, while a local fire department official said “around 20 people were injured” after a report of a “smell”.

The actor, who played Tracy Jordan’s gentle bodyguard in 80 episodes of the beloved comedy, died in his sleep after years of health problems

Grizz Chapman, best known for his role as Grizz on the hit comedy 30 Rock, has died aged 52.

His cousin, the Harlem Globetrotter Donte Harrison, confirmed Chapman’s death on social media on Saturday.

Rain overwhelms sewer system in parts of US city, while temperatures in France break May record

New York City saw flash flooding on Wednesday, as large parts of Brooklyn and Queens received about 2in (50mm) of rainfall in as little as 20 minutes. Officials said the deluge caused water to flow into the sewer system at a rate of up to 6in an hour, quickly overwhelming an aged network that was designed to accommodate just 1.75in an hour.

Residents and commuters found themselves wading knee-deep through flood water that flowed with dangerous speed in places. One video showed a woman alighting from a bus losing her footing and being dragged along by the torrent of water. Several major roads were blocked, including the Long Island Expressway, and subway services were disrupted as water spilled into stations. Large amounts of mud and other debris was left behind; videos showed bags of rubbish being swept down streets along with loose litter.

Definition of green facilities made in 2022, before release of ChatGPT, says Action to Protect Rural Scotland

A Scottish government policy designed to encourage datacentres to build in Scotland could lead to a massive volume of carbon emissions being ignored, according to an analysis by a Scottish charity.

“Green datacentres” are at the heart of Scotland’s ambitions to develop economically. Enshrined in national policy, they are part of a larger, UK-wide effort to attract big AI investment to Scotland.

Technological interventions face huge financial or practical challenges, but there is another way

In 2019, my scientific research was nearly brought to an early end when my team and I published the bombastic statement that natural forest restoration was the “best climate change solution” available in a paper for the peer-reviewed journal Science.

I remember a colleague from the World Wildlife Fund advising me that this message represented career suicide. He argued that people would be furious because reducing greenhouse gas emissions was the most urgent priority. The revival of nature might help with 30% of our carbon drawdown needs, but you cannot stop rising temperatures without cutting emissions.

Charter to be adopted along river’s entire catchment from Cambrian mountains to Chepstow and Bristol Channel

The entire catchment of the River Wye has been formally recognised as a living ecosystem with intrinsic rights in a charter, a UK first that campaigners hope will help save the highly polluted river.

The charter was celebrated at a community event at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival on Sunday. It includes the right to flow, to biodiversity, to be free from pollution, to be supported by a healthy catchment, to regenerate, and the right to be represented, described as a “significant step” towards protecting and restoring one of the UK’s most beloved rivers.

Radiologists say ‘ballooning’ costs reflect staffing failures, forcing a reliance on lower-quality private scan reports

The NHS is paying private firms record sums to analyse diagnostic scans because hospitals are too busy and understaffed to do the work themselves, research has revealed.

The amount being spent on outsourced the interpretation of CT and MRI scans is “spiralling out of control” and reflects a short-sighted failure to train enough doctors, ministers are being told.

Nearly a third of vice-chancellors would cut hardship support if necessary over next three years, according to poll

Vice-chancellors have said they may need to cut hardship support for impoverished students and reduce outreach activities aimed at disadvantaged groups if the dire funding struggles at universities continue.

The anonymous poll of leaders by Universities UK (UUK) revealed the extent of the budgetary quagmire facing higher education, with more than two-thirds prepared to cut staff jobs by compulsory redundancy if difficulties continue over the next three years, while nearly 90% said they were looking at hiring freezes or voluntary redundancies.

Incident said to have happened at racing event in 2002, year of queen’s Golden Jubilee, according to Sunday Times

Police investigating Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor are looking into an allegation that he behaved inappropriately towards a woman at Royal Ascot, according to a report.

The alleged incident is said to have happened at the annual five-day racing event in Berkshire in 2002, according to the Sunday Times.

Announcement comes after former minister Alan Milburn says Britain has neglected a generation of young people

Ministers are expanding youth work-experience and training schemes, after Alan Milburn warned Britain is spending £25 keeping young people on benefits for every £1 spent helping them into work.

Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, will announce plans for 300,000 extra work experience placements over the next three years as the government attempts to tackle what the minister described as a “quiet crisis” in youth employment.

Bonolo Selelo and Tsholofelo Kumile are going to court for right to wed but face fierce opposition from church groups

Bonolo Selelo was at Botswana’s national museum for a Gaborone Pride event when she spotted Tsholofelo Kumile and was struck by her good looks. The two initiated a conversation and when Kumile expressed anxiety about what a tarot reading at the event might hold, Selelo thought nothing of offering her a hug. The reading turned out positive but Kumile claimed her hug anyway and they talked for hours.

That was 1 October 2023. Two months later, they moved in together. Then, on a hike during the Easter holidays in 2024, Selelo proposed to Kumile. A year later, they visited a local government office to register their intent to marry and were told it wasn’t legal.

World Health Organization says outbreak poses ‘very high’ risk for Congo, but risk of disease spreading globally remains low

Congolese authorities say that suspected Ebola cases have now passed 900 in the ongoing outbreak in the east of the country.

The Congolese ministry of communication, in a post on X on Sunday, said there were 904 suspected cases and 119 suspected deaths.

The destruction of homes and villages in southern Lebanon leaves a mark not just on those living there, but families watching on across the globe

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For the last two years, much of the Lebanese diaspora – estimated to be about 15 million people spread across Australia, Europe, North and South America and more – has held its breath. Much of it watched from afar, helpless, during the latest extended conflict between Hezbollah and Israel as Israeli attacks on their motherland, and particularly its southern villages, resulted in widespread destruction. To date, more than 1.2 million people have been displaced, thousands killed, and roughly 14.3% of Lebanese territory ordered to be vacated. But while those within the country endure their own suffering, those in the diaspora face a different, emotional struggle: the loss of familial homes they may not be able to return to, and a severing of connection to a place that is a fundamental part of who they are.

These are their stories.

La Brea Tar Pits – the only urban, active ice age excavation site in world – gets a mammoth face lift for the first time in nearly 50 years

Los Angeles is known for famous museums such as the Getty and the Lacma, but perhaps fewer people are aware that – in the heart of the city – lies a museum that contains one of the world’s most remarkable fossil sites.

The La Brea Tar Pits and Museum is home to the remains of more than 2 million ice age flora and fauna, including mastodons and saber-toothed cats, that became trapped in oily pools that still bubble up today.

Under government’s price cap typical gas and electricity bills are forecast to rise by £209 from this summer

Ministers face growing calls to cut utility bills as millions of households in Great Britain face energy cost “anxiety,” with gas and electricity costs forecast to rise to almost £1,900 from this summer.

The typical dual-fuel bill is expected to climb by nearly 13% under the government’s energy price cap, adding £209 a year to household costs, in a blow to families already hit by rising prices for essentials.

Labour MP writes to chair amid concerns building societies are overusing quick votes and failing to add members to boards

Nationwide is under pressure to address “emerging governance issues” across the building society sector, amid concerns bosses are bundling voting options and failing to allocate board seats for members.

The Stockport Labour MP Navendu Mishra has sent a formal letter to the chair of Nationwide, Kevin Parry, outlining growing unease over the way executives, including at Nationwide, have been engaging with members who ultimately own their building societies. A letter raising similar concerns was sent to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in recent weeks.

PR executives say UK companies are forcing them to present ordinary automation as artificial intelligence

UK companies are performing “yoga-level” stretches to describe themselves as AI specialists in an attempt to capitalise on the buzz around the technology, public relations firms have said.

Weary communications executives tasked with securing media coverage for brands have complained that bosses in low-tech industries or running businesses that use automation but not generative AI, are increasingly demanding they are pitched to journalists as artificial intelligence companies.

BioOrbit hopes drug-crystallisation technology will lead to self-injected cancer treatment that could save millions

Onboard a SpaceX flight last week was a remarkable piece of cargo – a hi-tech box destined for the International Space Station to grow ultra-pure protein crystals, with the aim of producing self-injected cancer drugs.

A British startup, BioOrbit, has developed the drug-crystallisation technology at its labs in London and launched Box-E, a compact unit the size of a microwave, on the 15 May rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The unsettling performance artist, who has made some electrifying stage shows in his time, is taking a leap into literature with an eye-opening book, In Pursuit of a Wonderful Nothing. A hard sell, he thinks

There are commercial strategies to promote your first book, and then there’s what Kim Noble planned. “I asked the publishers if I could hire a digger, then go to a roundabout, dig a massive hole and bury the books under the roundabout,” he tells me, deadpan over coffee. “They didn’t think it was a good idea.” You don’t say, Kim. This is a book that has been decades in the making, Noble reports – while his conversation makes clear why previous efforts came to naught. “Someone once approached me to write a book about a show I’d made. I started to do drawings for it. But I didn’t give them to the publisher, I left them around London in public toilets, so the publisher had to go out and search for them.

“And then,” he adds dolefully, “they decided to do another book instead.”

Two new poetry collections tackle themes of trauma, exile, resistance and love amid conflict in Gaza

Poetry may not be the best response to aerial bombardment, but for many Palestinians it has become a line of defence amid the rubble and ongoing killings in Gaza.

“Poetry keeps hope alive. Even in the darkest moments, Palestinian poetry continues to imagine a future,” Nazmi al-Masri, professor of languages at the Islamic University of Gaza, says at an online poetry event held by his students.

A documentary tries to piece together what happened in the 1995 shootings of three Essex drug dealers. Plus, the return of Springwatch. Here’s what to watch this evening

10pm, Channel 4
“There was a lot of people queueing to waste them.” Former criminals and detectives share what they know about the “Range Rover murders”, when, in 1995, drug dealers Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe were shot dead at point-blank range in their 4x4 in Essex. There have been two convictions and plentiful conspiracies about the case – and it inspired the movie franchise Rise of the Footsoldier. But, as this two-part documentary shows, it’s still not clear what exactly happened. Hollie Richardson

This television transfer of the hit play has a great cast and impressive footballing scenes. But the manager feels like a cross between Harold Steptoe and Captain Darling from Blackadder Goes Forth

At the European Championship in 1996, elegant defender Gareth Southgate volunteered to take a kick in the semi-final penalty shootout against Germany, a task many of his teammates shied away from. He missed. England lost.

Dear England, James Graham’s adaptation of his own hit play, picks up the narrative 20 years later. With England further away than ever from international tournament glory after a string of humiliating failures, Southgate (Joseph Fiennes) steps forward again and is surprisingly hired as manager, largely due to a shortage of viable candidates.

A disaster on Valentine’s Day sets off a sprawling tale of hidden lives and social fault lines in director Herman Yau’s ambitious ensemble drama

Prolific Hong Kong film-maker Herman Yau is back with an ambitious, sprawling drama that is, at best, an awkward composite of his past works. We’re Nothing at All kicks off with a moment of rupture: on a seemingly ordinary Valentine’s Day in Hong Kong, a double-decker bus suddenly bursts into flames. The deadly explosion triggers a police inquiry led by Lung (Patrick Tam), a skilled forensics specialist whose investigation reveals a maze of intersecting lives. Much like the volatile opening, the rest of the film luxuriates in paradoxes, where the facade of normalcy is peeled back to reveal poverty, prejudice and despair.

From inspecting the charred bodies of the victims – rendered in lurid closeup – to retracing CCTV footage, Lung’s gathering of clues is crosscut with flashbacks concerning those involved in the explosion. Among the dead are lovers Fai and Ike (played by pop stars Anson Kong and Ansonbean), gay men who have endured economic hardship and family rejection. With its golden hues, the warmth of their intimacy starkly contrasts with Lung’s world of colourless offices and sterile meetings. The juxtaposition is visually fascinating, yet the twin narratives of a police procedural and queer romance are strained, resulting in tonal disorientation.

Underwater beastie shows discerning moral judgment when picking off victims in this fun Norwegian action film

As Greta Thunberg demonstrates, an eco-chastising feels somehow cleansing when it comes out of Scandinavia. Maybe it’s because of the idea that people there live in greater harmony with nature. It is splendidly showcased in the shape of Norway’s Sognefjord, the country’s largest fjord, in this didactic but still-enjoyable action film. Kraken could almost serve as an extended tourist promo – other than the titular beastie that is, slewing off giant crab-like lice, and emerging from the depths to administer a stern 90-minute ticking-off about tampering with nature.

Marine researcher Johanne (Sara Khorami, cementing her Norwegian creature-feature credentials after Troll 2) is summoned to the Sognefjord after reports of mass salmon strandings. Her first port of call is the local fish farm run by Erik (Mikkel Bratt Silset), an old flame with whom she developed sonic delousing pods now used to keep the pens clean. But in a bid to impress Japanese investors, owner Avaldsnes (Øyvind Brandtzæg) has cranked the tech up to the max, harshing the vibe not just for the wild salmon but the fjord’s deep denizen too.

The presenter meets remarkable public figures, starting with a lovely talk with writer-actor Meera Syal. Plus, a vital deep dive into US supreme court justice Neil Gorsuch

(Warp)
The Scottish electronic duo remain hugely influential – but their new album’s interrogation of religion is dubious, and the drum programming is worse still

This is the first album in 13 years from Boards of Canada, and from the opening notes – an analogue synth rising and falling like a sound effect in a forgotten 1960s radio play – you’re thrust back into one of the most instantly recognisable worlds in electronic music.

From 1995 debut EP Twoism onward, across four LPs and four more EPs, the Scottish duo – brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin – used the heavy gait of classic hip-hop beats to trudge through spectral ambient vistas, like spacemen sent through a time portal while still being tethered to the present. By grabbing samples from old public television and other vintage sources, they looked back at the utopian promise of the mid-20th century, while teasing out the latent kitsch and creepiness of these sounds.

In a collapsing world, artists like Slayyyter and Cobrah are chasing extreme highs with hyperactive music and debauched lyrics. Is their trashy vibe emancipating – or a bit contrived?

If any year demanded a soundtrack of self-aggrandising female mayhem, it’s 2026. Amid the terrors of war, AI and the climate crisis, women are expected to be symbolic vessels of order and stability: thin, beautiful and perpetually 25 – a state of perfection newly available for purchase thanks to weight-loss drugs and the deep plane facelift.

Covered unironically in leopard print and rhinestones, a cohort of young female pop stars are defying this familiar con with brash electronic pop, shamelessly hedonistic lyrics, anarchic sexuality and an obsession with what was once dismissed as “white trash”. It’s an aesthetic embraced by performers such as Slayyyter, Kim Petras, Cobrah, Demi Lovato, Snow Strippers’ Tatiana Schwaninger, Tove Lo and returning scene godmother Kesha.

The five-piece combine traditional musical styles with mountains of synths and hurried drums – rejecting computerised production in a pointed anti-AI statement

From João Pessoa, Brazil
Recommended if you like Hermeto Pascoal, Mr Bungle, King Crimson
Up next Celestial album released 7 August, touring the UK and Europe from 15 August

Thanks in part to its famed music department at the local Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa – the easternmost city in South America – is a hotbed of artists playing different folk styles from all over the continent. Papangu sound like all of them at the same time. The five-piece blend a long list of genres: bossa nova, the circle-dance song ciranda and forró, with its dry-tuned accordion and pulsing rhythm section, plus the more ubiquitous progressive rock and extreme metal. The band’s virtuoso chops and intensity keep their songs from buckling under the weight of those ideas, from the hurried drums to the mountains of synthesisers and pianos.

A psychologist wades into controversial territory in this counterintuitive study of nature, nurture and gender

According to the evolutionary psychologist Steve Stewart-Williams, almost everyone gets sex wrong. Traditionalists tend to exaggerate the natural differences between men and women. Progressives tend to minimise them, and to assume that nurture and socialisation play a decisive role. He wants to promote a more nuanced, scientifically rigorous public conversation about why and how men and women differ to guide better policymaking.

Some sex differences are relatively pronounced, he claims, such as whether you’re primarily attracted to men or women, upper body strength, height, the likelihood you’ll murder someone and occupational interests. Many, such as ability in maths, or conscientiousness, are much more modest. Such differences are best visualised as two overlapping bell curves. To illustrate this, consider height: the shortest humans are almost all women, the tallest are men, the average man is taller than the average woman, but there is considerable common ground. Knowing that someone is 5ft 8in won’t enable you to guess with any confidence whether they are a man or a woman, for instance.

A woman’s encounter with the stepfather she hasn’t seen for decades leads to a revived bond – but is it all too perfect?

I blame Meryl Streep. Once she’s in your head, it’s hard to kick her out. Streep narrated the audiobook of Tom Lake, Ann Patchett’s last novel, and I’ve played it so many times I listen for the rhythm now, not the story. Or perhaps the rhythm is the story. Nothing much happens in Tom Lake, which is to say that everything happens – life happens – but ever so gently. On a cherry farm in Michigan, a mother tells her restless, world-hungry daughters the tale of a long-ago summer romance, piece by piece, as they work the harvest together. It’s Scheherazade with pie.

Tom Lake is a lovely book, indulgently so. A pandemic novel that imagines the crisis as Edenic: a family thrown together with little to do but talk and remember and cherish one another. Sun-ripe fruit, rescue dogs, the future paused for one last impossible season. Some ingenue glitz; a whiff of tradwifery. A lesson – quite literally – in cherrypicking.

After visiting an island brothel in Bangladesh, the novelist was inspired to write an imagined uprising. She explores the radical fictional worlds where women have the power

In the spring of 2024, I am finally able to visit Banishanta, the island in southern Bangladesh that has been haunting my dreams. When I arrive I find it is little more than a long patch of grey mud, with a string of flimsy huts lining a craggy shore. Thirteen years earlier, I was on a boat on my way to the Sundarban mangrove forest when a guide casually pointed out the island and told me it was a state-licensed brothel that had been there since the time of the British.

When I went home, I didn’t want to think about Banishanta, because if I did, I would have to imagine the terrible things the women there were enduring while I lived a life of casual entitlements many thousands of miles away. Yet the women squatted in my imagination, refusing to leave. I resolved to never write about them, because it would say things about the world I didn’t want to know. It was only when I decided I could write a novel, set on a fictional island, about a rebellion of women, that I allowed them in.

From a darkly comic new novel to a gripping 1950s memoir – Katherine Rundell, Malala Yousafzai, Matt Haig and others appearing at Hay festival pick titles to tempt you

Malala Yousafzai
Activist
I have loved going to the theatre ever since I saw my first musical (Matilda in London, when I was 15 years old) – and I love reading about it, too. In Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad, a British-Palestinian actor travels to the West Bank to see family and finds herself pulled into a local production of Hamlet. I was moved by the rehearsal scenes: arguments over translations, personal relationships, the question of whether a performance is even possible under Israeli occupation. To me, Hammad proved that theatre is capable of carrying weight that other art forms cannot hold.

Driving sims were overtaken by open world fantasy adventures, but new upgrades show how much joy there is in the genre

I have spent the last week careening around Japan in a Porsche 911, seeing the sights, racing other cars and occasionally veering off the road to plummet through an ancient bamboo forest. You all know what’s coming next … this wasn’t in real life, folks – it was in Forza Horizon 6, the latest instalment in Microsoft’s series of open world driving games set in authentic-looking, real-world locations.

Reviewing this game (which is out now on Xbox and PC, and coming to PS5 later in the year) has reminded me of the sheer fun and exhilaration that driving games can provide. It’s easy to forget, but this was the biggest genre in town from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Consoles were sold on how good their racing games were: the original PlayStation had Ridge Racer, the Sega Saturn had Daytona USA. Later came the dirt-track thrills of Colin McRae Rally, the chaotic destruction of Burnout, the sophisticated realism of Gran Turismo. They were the bestsellers of the era, showcasing the future of real-time 3D visuals.

Why are Nintendo releasing a straight-up remake of the space-flight shooter – with many of its original limitations – rather than a fresh new take?

The Nintendo 64 was not my first video game console, but it was my formative one. Getting to grips with 3D movement in Super Mario 64 with that weird three-pronged controller is one of my most visceral childhood memories; the long, long wait for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the background noise to a huge chunk of my youth. But back in the 1990s (in the UK at least), it felt as if nobody had an N64. When everybody had a PlayStation instead, I felt I was the only kid in my whole city who cared more about Banjo-Kazooie than Crash Bandicoot.

If even Zelda seemed comparatively niche in Europe in the 90s, Lylat Wars (known elsewhere as Star Fox 64) was a real deep cut. It’s a 1997 space-flight shooter starring Fox McCloud and his squad of animal pilots laser-blasting across different planets in nimble crafts called Arwings. I played this game to absolute death in 1998, when I got it for my birthday alongside the fabled Rumble Pak, which made your controller vibrate and shudder whenever something cool was happening on screen (fun fact: Lylat Wars was the first console game to feature controller rumble). But I really hadn’t thought about it much since. Then, last week, Nintendo announced a Switch 2 remake.

Microsoft; PC, Xbox Series X/S (PS5 due later)
Dreamy vistas of the country’s natural beauties are stunningly delivered – but won’t distract from thrilling high-end driving adventures

The Forza Horizon games have always been about drama. Not just the tension and excitement of racing, but also the sensory impact of the natural environment – the sun rising over a dense city, rain clouds hovering above a valley floor. There are moments in this game – perhaps after emerging from a dense forest, or coming up from an underpass – where Mount Fuji briefly appears in the distance, hazy yet majestic, the Platonic ideal of a volcano – and it almost takes your breath away. Fans of this series have been waiting years for Japan and now here it is, the whole country, reduced, remixed and repackaged as a driving paradise.

In many ways, Forza Horizon 6 is a continuation of what this series has always been about. You enter a festival-style driving competition then drive around a vast map splattered with various races and challenges, earning reputation by competing well and buying new vehicles for your extensive garage. There are slight changes this time – you start as a rookie not an established legend, so you have to qualify to enter the festival, and Playground has re-introduced the need to unlock successive levels of competition bringing back the sense of progression from the earliest titles in the series. You start out clattering about in slower C-class vehicles on easier circuits and have to work hard to start lining up against super cars such as the Ferrari J50 or Lamborghini Huracán.

Previously prohibited use of websites such as Omoggle that connect a streamer to a stranger’s video feed now allowed

Last week, at 4am, 19-year-old Sammy Amz was scrolling through X when something caught his eye: a popular Twitch streamer was competing in a 1v1 “mog-off” with a stranger, and losing.

The next day he opened the Omoggle gaming website and began to play. Quickly he matched with another user – green dots appeared on their faces onscreen, as the website began to compare their measurements: canthal tilt, palpebral fissure ratio, nose-to-face width ratio and so on.

Leeds Playhouse
Dash Arts’ community-inspired production finds warmth and urgency in the local pub – even if its theatrical elements don’t always cohere

The English pub is the perfect crucible for Dash Arts’ latest piece inspired by community workshops from creator and director Josephine Burton.

A storm is blowing into the town where the Albion pub sits, both meteorological and political. Inside the rundown establishment, Sanjana is a landlady who is on her last legs and ready to throw in the bar towel. Her husband has died and her loving teacher daughter only returns occasionally these days. That the pub is given the ancient name for Britain is no coincidence – a lot of research has gone into this, not least the workshops around the country attended by more than 700 people, whose conversations were shaped by Barney Norris into the script and by Jonathan Walton into songs.

69 Humber Street, Hull
Marc Graham’s debut stretches from festival short to full-length play, tackling inheritance, class and familial resentment with plenty of theatrical confidence

There are many reasons to admire Hull’s Middle Child, a small but determined company in Yorkshire’s East Riding.

It has a genuine interest in developing new writers, enormous ambition (the founders say they want it to be “the most influential new writing theatre outside London”) and it has become one of the first resident companies at the National Theatre under Indhu Rubasingham.

Wolterton, Norfolk
From an explosion of plywood chairs to something akin to bubblegum stuck to the walls, this imaginative exhibition reverberates with Barlow’s punk irreverence

Wolterton Hall is folded so deeply into the countryside of the Bure Valley that you can’t even see the grand Palladian mansion when you enter the gates to the estate. This was once one of the four power houses of Norfolk, built by Thomas Ripley for Horatio Walpole. Inside, Wolterton is dripping in 18th-century treasures, furniture, then-fashionable Belgian tapestries, fusty old portraits of important types – but now also, knobbly bodily things, strange almost familiar shapes stuck to walls and chucked down the stairs, as if someone– namely Phyllida Barlow – had come in and trashed the place.

It’s a difficult thing to know what to do with these former country stately homes. Many have adopted a contemporary art programme as a way of challenging their history and bringing in new visitors. Simon Oldfield – Wolterton’s artistic director, brought in by the new owners, the Ellis family, two years ago – has done more than that. He has reinvented the space, making room for new ideas to take over. There’s no better artist for that than Barlow, whose works seem to take on a life of their own wherever they go. Her exhibition begins at the entrance, where the explosive installation Untitled: Stacked Chairs greets you. The cacophony of red plywood chairs feels like a statement about throwing things out and starting again. It’s rebellious, disruptive and direct.

Brixton House, London
Paula Varjack’s kinetic play uses lip syncing and dance routines to show how prejudice turned a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ into a career disaster

The year is 2004 and the Super Bowl halftime show is about to begin. What would later become known as “Nipplegate” – in which Justin Timberlake ripped part of Janet Jackson’s bodice, briefly exposing her right breast – will be broadcast to 70,000 spectators in the stadium and more than 140 million TV viewers. This one “wardrobe malfunction”, lasting just nine sixteenths of a second, will lead to Jackson being blacklisted from much of the music industry for years, sending her career into a spiral while Timberlake’s continued to thrive.

Paula Varjack’s play interrogates the role that gender, race and age played in that fallout, while also serving as a loud and proud love letter to Jackson and her music. Initially inspired by a 2019 trip to Glastonbury, where Varjack saw Jackson perform and wondered why she had never played the festival before, the show highlights the injustice of a white, male-controlled and favoured music industry. Performed alongside fellow devisers Pauline Mayers, Julienne Doko, Chia Phoenix and BSL performer Vinessa Brant, the result is a kinetic multimedia analysis that uses lip syncing, killer dance routines, onscreen BSL by Cherie Gordon and puppetry to build their case. Directed by Emily Aboud, the production erupts with high-speed spirit.

Emma Thompson among voices supporting anti-ageism campaign, which has uncovered striking findings in top-grossing UK films over past three years

Box office hit films are four times more likely to star a talking animal than a woman over 60, according to a new survey by Age Without Limits.

The anti-ageism campaign studied the 100 highest performing films released in the UK in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and found that while five starred an older woman, about 20 featured creatures who chat.

Film starring Pedro Pascal next to ‘Baby Yoda’ took $165m globally on opening weekend, failing to surpass the opening of 2018 flop Solo

The Mandalorian and Grogu may have blasted into first place at the box office – but its launch was far, far away from impressive, having the lowest opening weekend for a Star Wars film since Disney took over the franchise.

The film, which stars Pedro Pascal as the titular helmeted warrior who travels the galaxy with a tiny companion better known as “Baby Yoda”, made $102m at the domestic box office (US and Canada) over the US’s four-day Memorial day weekend, contributing to a total $165m global box office.

French campaigner was drugged by her ex-husband and sexually abused by dozens of men over almost a decade

Gisèle Pelicot has described the moment she fell in love and was able to trust again after her rape ordeal orchestrated by her former husband in France.

Pelicot, 73, waived her right to anonymity during the trial of Dominique Pelicot, who was jailed for 20 years in 2024 for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to sexually assault her while she was unconscious, over almost a decade.

Speaking at the Hay festival in Wales on Saturday, she said she never thought she could trust a man again before meeting her partner, Jean-Loup Agopian.

The campaigner said: “It’s something that I didn’t think could happen, especially at my age, first of all, I didn’t really want to fall in love, but life decided otherwise.

“We met, our trajectories crossed at one moment and I met this young man of 73… You see, you can fall in love at any age, it happened to me, it can happen to you, I’m convinced of it.

“I didn’t think that I’d be able to trust a man, but it’s what happened to me, so you see that everything can be allowed in life, you must never despair.”

Pelicot appeared at the festival to discuss her memoir A Hymn to Life and was interviewed on stage by Lady Kennedy.

She said that “society has got to wake up” on the issue of violence against women, and that it’s an “appalling evil that touches all borders”.

She landed a role in hit TV show Skins at 17 and went on to star in the fantasy epic. Then she was drawn towards a mysterious spiritual community. How did she end up being sectioned?

• ‘This is a test. A horrible test’: read an extract from Hannah Murray’s memoir

At least once a week, Hannah Murray has this one overpowering thought: “Thank God I don’t act any more.” She might be climbing her stairs, mug in hand, or at her desk opening her computer, she might be taking a casserole from the oven, or browsing the high street in the East Anglian town where she now lives. The thought will arrive along with what she describes as a sort of total bodily relief. She tries to hold on to this “I’m not an actor any more” feeling because it’s accompanied, she says, by “a real surge of joy”.

It’s not just because she doesn’t have to strip for the camera any more, although there was plenty of that, starting with Cassie, whom she played aged 17 in the E4 hit show Skins, mostly in underwear. And it’s not because she doesn’t have to cope with the relentless focus on her weight, though there was plenty of that too, accompanied by questions from journalists: was she anorexic in real life? Were her parents worried about her weight? It’s not because she’s not recognised everywhere, as she was after playing Gilly in Game of Thrones, with grown men having tantrums if she didn’t autograph their whatever or pose for a selfie. Nor is it having to negotiate which body parts she will contractually agree to show. Or contending with the highs of landing a great part followed by the lows of wrapping the shoot only to be thrown back on to the audition carousel and told: “Please go in looking nice. They need to believe Benedict Cumberbatch could actually be attracted to you.”

Dramatic coastal scenery and train rides make a winning combination. Our rail expert picks journeys over and along the sea

Route Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh
Which side should I sit? The right initially, then switch to left
Distance 83 miles (133km)
Time 2hrs 40mins
Frequency 4 trains a day (2 on Sundays)
Ticket £32 single
Operator ScotRail

The tax office is quick to demand money owed and threatens fines, but is slow when giving refunds

When my mother died, there was a four-year delay in achieving probate owing to financial complexities. During this time my father paid inheritance tax (IHT) on the advice of his solicitor, to prevent interest accruing.

It turned out that the solicitor’s estimate of the amount was wildly out.

Whether you want long, short, Charli xcx-inspired or a classic suit, here are our fashion writer’s favourite looks to say ‘I do’

• The best wedding guest dresses for every budget

I’m getting married next year, so I know all too well that the hunt for a dress (or in my case, two – one for the ceremony, one for the evening) might seem exciting, but is actually quite daunting. There are many decisions to mull. Do you go traditional (veil at al) or for something more modern? Perhaps you dread the idea of wearing white and want to go for an alt-colour.

There’s also the long v short debate. Not to mention the overwhelm from everyone chipping in their thoughts on what suits you best. Just remember: it’s your day and ultimately your dress, so finding something you love is what matters most.

As temperatures soar across the UK, chill your space – and avoid energy-guzzling aircon – with our pick of the best fans, from tower to desk to bladeless

• The best portable neck and handheld fans

Our world is getting hotter. Summer heatwaves are so frequent, they’re stretching the bounds of what we think of as summer. Hot-and-bothered home working and sweaty, sleepless nights are now alarmingly common.

Get a good fan and you can dodge the temptation of air conditioning. Aircon is incredibly effective, but it uses a lot of electricity … and burning fossil fuels is how we got into this mess in the first place. Save money and carbon by opting for a great fan instead.

Best fan overall:
AirCraft Lume

Best budget fan and best desk fan:
Devola desk fan – stock expected at end of May

Our reviewer found Woolroom’s supportive, breathable and sustainable Standen mattress a total dream – but luxury comfort doesn’t come cheap

• The best mattresses, tested

The first time I slept on a wool mattress was a revelation. As is so often the case with bed-based Damascene moments, this one happened on holiday. The wool and pocket-sprung mattress in our Lake District hotel room was cosy but breathable even in the height of summer, and it proved far too comfy to leap out of for early morning walks.

Back home, I soothed the post-holiday blues by seeking out wool mattresses to review. First, I tested the Millbrook Wool Luxury 4000, which is excellent but didn’t quite live up to that hallowed Cumbrian memory. Then came this Woolroom Standen Wool mattress, which did – and even nearly toppled the Otty Original Hybrid as best overall in our best mattresses roundup, where I called it “a masterpiece”.

Secateurs, pizza ovens and sparkling rose in a tin … whatever your plans for the long weekend, here’s how to make the most of it

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Reasons to be cheerful #271: a warm, sunny bank holiday weekend. Here at the Filter, we need no excuse to kick off our shoes, grab a cold drink (and some SPF) and head outside.

To help you make the most of the long weekend, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite things. Whether it’s tools to spruce up your outdoor space, tipples to sip in the garden, a fake tan to jump-start your summer skin or fashion for warmer weather, summer starts here.

Two recipes that transform lunch or dinner from simple pleasures into magic moments

Every day, no matter what it brings with it, gives us at least three opportunities to clock out and have a moment of pure bliss. We’re talking about breakfast, lunch and dinner, of course, and we’re not factoring in snacks and tea time, either, because those are bonus opportunities. It doesn’t need to be complicated, it doesn’t need to be a big ceremony; in fact, most days, it’s the humble little treats, the simple, delicious things, that bring us the most happiness. Honey & Co. Daily is our cafe in Bloomsbury, central London, and now also the name of our latest cookbook, and we want both of them to be a haven, a place where you can go to get a simple, delicious moment.

Can taramasalata, hummus or moussaka ever be fancy? Short answer: yes

Fenix, a new Greek restaurant on Piccadilly in Mayfair, is very much part of what I’m calling the “maximalist” group of modern openings. See also Lilibet’s and Simpson’s-in-the-Strand. Financial downturn? Never heard of her.

While restaurateurs are all over the media turning out their empty pockets and pleading poverty, this new offshoot of a Manchester institution casually throws down another Sims-style pleasure palace. The photographs of the sumptuously ornate, Athenian-influenced interior can’t be real, surely? Well, it turns out they are. As you leave six lanes of moving traffic behind you and enter Fenix, eureka! You’re suddenly in a cross between an Aegean god’s haven and the White Company’s bedding department.

Fish stew in the south of France doesn’t have to mean a complicated bouillabaise: bourride is a simpler and equally perfect match for a summer’s evening

Much as I love bouillabaisse, I’ve never come across rascasse, the spiny Mediterranean rockfish that’s the backbone of Marseille’s signature dish, outside its homeland. Bourride, another southern French fish stew, is a simpler affair that’s much easier to recreate here. Enriched with garlicky aïoli, it’s a lovely thing for a summer’s evening, and can be prepared ahead up to the end of step 7.

Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr 10 min
Serves 2, generously

Global events and the climate crisis have left Britain’s food system dangerously exposed and in desperate need of an overhaul

The news that the Treasury was asking UK supermarkets to cap price rises on essential foods was greeted with predictable squeals of horror this week. Supermarkets were reportedly “furious”, while luminaries from the former head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies to the former chair of M&S could be found harrumphing about the evils of price controls.

But this caterwauling is a distraction from two unpleasant facts. Firstly, the food price surge over the summer and beyond is likely to be significant – and will come on top of a near-40% rise in the price of food since 2020 – due to a devastating combination of the Iran war and a forecast record-breaking El Niño, which will hammer global food production. And secondly, Britain’s food system is painfully exposed to such shocks. The long-held assumption that a global food system can be relied on to meet the nation’s needs, at a reasonable price, no longer applies.

When Lucia’s libido dropped, she found imaginative ways to reignite her spark with Edwin

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

I felt guilty because I love him and want to make him happy

From single mothers to fathers of autistic children and fellow adoptees – some relationships come along just when you need them the most

Lucy Crowe and Mikayla Jolley, London

Estrangement is not binary but a continuum of reducing contact. Support plays an important role, whether or not people seek to reconcile

• The modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their work

Despite media stories occasionally highlighting high-profile family estrangements, in many cultures estrangement carries a stigma, a direct challenge to deeply held values about what family should be.

People estranged from families often feel shame, or a sense they have failed, and carry the distress silently, in private. However, research on estrangement suggests it’s far more common than most people think.

The real question isn’t whether you are being lied to, but why ‘tall tales’ land so heavily with you

When I was 21, I went on a girls’ trip with university friends. Over dinner, one of the girls, who was known for being a liar, announced she had just heard from her doctor that she had cancer and needed chemotherapy. She never had chemotherapy and most of the group (especially me) stopped socialising with her after that. Five years later, she admitted she had been lying.

Recently, a new person joined my work and I think she may be a liar of similar proportions. We get along very well, are a similar age and are both chatty. She is also an over-sharer. According to her, this has been the worst six months of her life, involving injuries, escapades and traumatic events, some of which feel untrue. I feel I have to believe her or I’ll be the worst person ever. Yet, my instincts and life experience tell me these things are probably fiction or at least heavily exaggerated.

The uncertain interest rate outlook is making tracker deals popular again. We look at the pros and cons of both types of loan

With some experts warning that we may have to brace ourselves for interest rate rises later this year, it might seem odd to suggest considering a tracker mortgage.

But, amid the economic chaos caused by the Iran war, for some people looking for a home loan or to remortgage, a tracker – where the rate you pay moves up or down in line with the Bank of England base rate – could be a good bet.

From a farmhouse with a wildflower meadow to an award-winning London flat with a neat garden for al fresco dining

Parents can can claim up to £2,000 a year for each child – but many are put off by the clunkiness of the scheme

Any parent who has ever used the UK government’s tax-free childcare system knows what a painful experience it is. Each month when I log into my account, I feel a sense of dread and frustration. Why is something that is such a lifeline for so many parents so difficult to use?

The scheme gives working parents an extra £2 for every £8 they spend on childcare. You can claim up to £2,000 a year for each child (or up to £4,000 a year for a disabled child).

Special anniversary edition of award-winning headphones are some of the best sounding you can buy, but cost far more than top Sony noise cancellers

Sony’s latest noise-cancelling headphones are a special anniversary set made to celebrate a decade of its prized 1000X series, designed to be plusher, slimmer, more comfortable and the best sounding yet.

The original 1000X launched in 2016, igniting a fierce rivalry with the dominant Bose and its QuietComfort line, which would push noise-cancelling technology dramatically forward as each tried to outdo the other with subsequent releases.

If I’d been taught this way of thinking as a child, I can’t begin to imagine how much easier things could have been

In 1981 the CD was born and so was I. Both arrivals were surprising and have drifted in and out of fashion ever since. As a baby, my majestic “chonk lord” status was cause for celebration and an indication of prosperity. But from a young age I noticed that my presence seemed to offend other people. When I was seven, I remember asking to have a go at skipping, after having turned the rope for everyone else. One child enlightened me on why I couldn’t: I was too fat to skip.

Children learn hierarchy from adults and then their peers. Who belongs, who doesn’t and why. My classmates learned from adults to see me as something to mock and despise. Even my own well-meaning father once sat me down and told me that nobody would love, trust or employ me due to my body shape. This didn’t shock me; I’d already picked up what everyone was putting down.

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Guardian Australia joins ultrarunner Joanne Walker in an excruciating race through the Blue Mountains, where men outnumber women four to one

Somewhere before the finish line the body starts to break down, Joanne Walker says.

“The pain starts in your feet but before long it moves up to your knees and eventually you feel like you just can’t move your legs any more.”

After 30 hours with no sleep, running alone through the cold darkness of the Megalong Valley, the brain can break as well.

“At one point, I did not even know where I was going; I was swerving all over the shop,” she says.

From infections and allergies to brain diseases and autoimmune disorders, a wave of trials offers hope

Clinical trials of immunotherapies have rocketed in the past decade as researchers have turned their understanding of the body’s defences into powerful new treatments. Leading the pack are cancer therapies, but researchers have other conditions in their sights, from infections and allergies to brain diseases and autoimmune disorders. Here, we explore how these therapies work.

Cancer Research UK figures show number diagnosed with most serious form of skin cancer has risen above 20,000 for first time

The number of cases from the most serious form of skin cancer have reached a record high across the UK, according to analysis by a leading cancer charity.

Melanoma cases in the UK have risen above 20,000 for the first time ever, with 20,980 people being diagnosed with the form of cancer in 2022, according to analysis of the latest figures by Cancer Research UK.

Growing numbers of people are seeking improbable cosmetic surgery based on chatbots’ recommendations

Plastic surgeons are increasingly concerned about the rise of “AI face”, as more and more clients arrive in their offices with unrealistic AI-generated visions of what they want to look like.

Dr Nora Nugent, a cosmetic surgeon from Tunbridge Wells, has seen this first hand. Clients have started coming to her office with photos of themselves beautified by AI and a false expectation that those results are achievable with surgery. She is also the president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, and says many colleagues are having similar experiences.

Does Puerto Rican star’s debut collection for Zara spell the end of short shorts?

Men can breathe a huge sigh of relief this week, thanks to Bad Bunny, whose debut collection for fast fashion company Zara includes a pair of shockingly normal mid-thigh shorts.

While for the last few years, short-shorts have threatened to make every day a leg day, the sight of the Puerto Rican star wearing shorts that come comfortably to within a few inches of the knee will signal a welcome shift for many.

Take your lead from Harry Styles and go for short shorts, or dig out your favourite knee-length pair

The floaty, feminine aesthetic being worn by young pop stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter has been around since the 1960s. So why all the fuss?

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In the music video for her recent single Drop Dead, pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo saunters beguilingly through the ornate rooms of the Palace of Versailles, her eyes fixed on the camera. It is an all round soft-girl production, shot by Petra Collins who captures a hazy teenage aesthetic close to a carbon copy of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film, Marie Antoinette. But when the video aired last month, it was met with instant backlash online – not for her halting tourists from visiting the world heritage site for the day, but for Rodrigo’s Pinterest-inspired, pastel blue, babydoll ensemble.

The outfit – a floaty off-the-shoulder Chloé pre-fall 2026 babydoll top, styled with silky bloomers peeking out underneath and white pointelle knee socks – did not impress the keyboard warriors (likely, bots), who accused the singer of infantilising herself and invoking a ‘Lolita’ aesthetic. A few weeks later, Rodrigo donned a similar look (pictured top) on stage in Barcelona for Spotify’s Billions Club Live concert: a pink and white floral puff-sleeve babydoll top with matching ruffled bloomers from the small brand Génération78, offset by chunky black knee-high Dr Marten boots, equal parts soft and severe.

The reopened Train de Merveilles route takes passengers from the glamour of Nice to a grandiose alpine landscape

Nine-thirty on a sunny Tuesday morning, and the platforms at Nice-Ville station are buzzing. Office workers nudge their way past backpackers, passengers clamber on to trains heading east to Monaco and Italy, or west to Antibes and Cannes. My husband and I, however, are heading away from the glittering coastline and boarding the Train des Merveilles (Train of Wonders) into the Alpes-Azur mountains.

Back on track last December after a programme of major works closed the line for a year, it’s one of the most spectacular train routes in Europe, a two-hour journey that climbs 1,000 metres in 100km, linking Nice with the medieval town of Tende, surrounded by the soaring peaks of the Mercantour national park.

Travellers warned to beware of debit card cons after one was charged £1,500 for a kebab and another £3,000 for corn on the cob

When Lisa Selby* used her debit card to pay for two slices of barbecued cheese from a beach vendor in Rio de Janeiro, she expected to pay 40 reais (£5.90) for the snack.

But shortly after the payment had gone through, she realised that she had been charged 4,000 reais (£590) after the vendor added two extra zeros to the card reader.

Photographer Lorenzo Grifantini looks at how the Italian capital’s historic centre has gradually reorganised itself around the uninterrupted flow of visitors and the expectations projected on to it

By mid-morning, the area around the Trevi fountain is already difficult to cross. Visitors stop suddenly to take photographs while tour groups gather behind raised umbrellas, and security staff redirect the flow of people through temporary barriers placed around the monument. Nearby, souvenir kiosks sell rosaries, plastic gladiator helmets, bottled water and magnets in the summer heat.

Tourists pose for photographs in front of the Trevi fountain

Experts warn about the risks of cave diving without proper training, planning and specialised equipment after deaths in Vaavu atoll

The diving tragedy in the Maldives – which claimed the lives of four Italian divers inside an underwater cave, followed by the death of a Maldivian navy diver – has renewed warnings from experts about the risks of cave diving without proper training, planning and specialised equipment.

On Thursday, the Divers Alert Network (DAN), which coordinated the complex search and recovery operation at the Dhekunu Kandu dive site in Vaavu atoll, announced all the divers’ dead bodies had been recovered.

As the series reaches its 5,000th entry, one of its regular writers reveals what it’s like to put together this cribsheet of the modern world – and the bizarre topics he’s never been able to forget

Beginning is often the hardest part: the rigid and long-established format of Pass Notes requires the writer to begin with Age. If the day’s subject is Nigella Lawson or Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a number is readily available. If it’s Jar Jar Binks, the answer may be obscure but still obtainable (born in 52 BBY – before the Battle of Yavin). But what if the subject is bees, or office temperatures, or “peak curtains”, or God? Some days you get stuck on the first line.

If the subject was Pass Notes itself, you’d have the same problem: it originated in the short-lived Sunday Correspondent, which ceased operations in 1990. The orphaned idea was then adopted by the Guardian’s newly launched G2 print section in 1992, scrapped after a redesign in 2005, and resurrected in 2009. But if we can’t put down anything for age, we can still supply a number: 5,000 examples, and counting.

Check it out

Today’s four puzzles are inspired by chess. (If you haven’t yet watched the recent documentaries on Judit Polgár and Hans Niemann, I recommend them.)

1. Oddities

A student and a salesperson disagreed about drug​ policy and HS2, but would they see eye to eye on the Edward Colston statue?

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

Joe, 20, Southampton

Occupation Geography student

Colman, 31, a lawyer, meets Ben, 28, an assistant stage manager

What were you hoping for?
Brown eyes, decent chat, and if all else failed, a good story.

Increasingly isolated president is determined to press on with Ukraine war, say well-placed sources, despite ailing economy

Vladimir Putin pulled up to a hotel in central Moscow earlier in May in a Russian-made SUV, dressed casually in jeans and a light jacket. Carrying a bouquet of flowers, he walked unhurriedly into the lobby and embraced his former schoolteacher Vera Gurevich, who kissed him on both cheeks.

He then helped Gurevich into his car and drove her to dinner at the Kremlin.

I’ve worked hard to leave the intimidation I experienced in the past. But when I met the man I wanted to marry, those childhood memories took me by surprise

The bullying began shortly after my fifth birthday. My family had moved from Dorset to a small village in Buckinghamshire. I started a new school in September, just before my third sister was born. It should have been idyllic. I remember everyone being excited about the new baby on the way. My school was small and set in the heart of the countryside, with playing fields bordered by woodland. It was about a mile from our new home. If the weather was good, my mother tried to encourage me to walk with her. Sometimes she would repurpose my lunchbox as a punnet and fill it with blackberries picked from the hedgerow on the way home. But she was heavily pregnant, and at the time the mother of three (soon to be four) children aged five and under. It made practical sense for me to catch the school bus.

Weird things were already happening at school. Initially I put it down to the shock of the new. The games were boisterous – my sisters and I could be rough with each other, but everything seemed to go a little further and cut a little deeper. I’d been startled by a group of girls who had reached under my skirt and tugged my knickers down to my ankles. Maybe they thought they were being funny? I just wasn’t sure whether I was in on the joke, or whether I was the joke. At first, it felt a little like being in a dream or visiting a foreign country. Almost nothing made sense to me, but I knew I was the only one who couldn’t understand, and it was down to me to work it out.

Global Pepfar program has long had Republican leadership and bipartisan support, but initiative is at risk

US midterm voters overwhelmingly support Pepfar, an initiative to end HIV/Aids that also has strengthened health systems against other infectious disease threats but has come under fire from the Trump administration.

About three in four (74%) likely voters in the US midterm elections say they support funding the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), with voters more likely to back candidates who support Pepfar, according to a recent poll. Four in five voters said there is a moral argument for supporting lifesaving treatment for people at risk for or living with HIV/Aids, regardless of their personal choices.

We would like to hear about what you love about the great outdoors

As summer comes and our gardens, parks and woodlands burst into life, many of us are heading outdoors.

Scientific evidence shows how vitally important greenery and the natural world are for our mental and physical wellbeing.

Wherever you’re planning to watch the matches – we’d like to hear from you

The men’s World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada is nearly upon us, kicking off on 11 June.

Amid the excitement around the tournament, there has been controversy over Fifa’s ticketing process, the cost of travel, and security concerns for fans travelling to the US.

The Pensions Commission said 15 million people were currently not saving adequately for their retirement

Fifteen million people are currently not saving enough for their retirement, according to the Pensions Commission, who have warned this could rise to as many as 19 million without action.

The independent group of experts warned as many as 45% of working-age adults were not saving into a pension at all, despite nearly half of them being in work.

We would like to hear from people who have emigrated - or are considering doing so – due to rising anti-migration sentiment or policies

The Unite the Kingdom march attracted tens of thousands of people to the capital on Saturday. While some insist it was a display of national pride, others see the Tommy Robinson rally as a hostile display of anti-migrant sentiment. US vice president JD Vance appeared to align himself with those who attended the march at a White House press briefing on Tuesday.

We would like to hear from people who have emigrated - or are considering doing so - because of anti-migration sentiment or government policy. Since the UK is just one country where anti-migration sentiment has flared, we’re keen to hear from people globally who have made life decisions because of the current climate.

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