Other governments could seek similar concessions, while separate legal action is pending in places ranging from Kenya to the Netherlands

In October 2021, Abrham Meareg’s father, a professor of chemistry in Ethiopia’s northern town of Bahir Dar, was shot at close range and died outside his family home. This was in the middle of the country’s civil war.

For weeks, Facebook’s algorithm had actively promoted posts calling for the academic to be murdered, according to Meareg and Foxglove, a nonprofit organisation supporting Meareg’s lawsuit against the company in Kenya. These posts included photos of his father and his home address.

Why do the Texan innovator’s records take so long to make? ‘It’s important to gather the data,’ she says: the death, dating and dopamine behind her exquisite comeback alongside the Alchemist

Erykah Badu needs the lights down low. The singer, producer, actor and registered doula shuffles into a private room at London’s Soho hotel and quietly asks for some changes to the atmosphere: lights dimmed, soft seat. A green juice would be great.

As it turns out, Badu was out last night with Dave Chappelle, sitting with the comedian at a grand piano and playing songs into the wee hours. She looks mischievous when she thinks about the impromptu party, but declines to go into detail about what, exactly, went on. Instead, the 55-year-old smiles at me, eyes wide, her gold teeth glinting in the low light: “Oh yes,” she says slowly and quietly, like some kind of mysterious warlock. “It was a late one …”

There are howls of protest from the right about plans for Birmingham to be a 20mph city. But it will be a good thing, and others will follow

If it can happen in Birmingham, it can happen anywhere. Moves by Birmingham city council to impose a 20mph speed limit on all roads, apart from a few major thoroughfares, marks a turning point in transport policy that could and should attract imitators.

Remember that in the 60s Birmingham was the city that had a racetrack ​style networks of roads at its heart, ​and a tangle of elevated ro​utes and roundabouts that pushed pedestrians underground and ensured no one would be mad enough to try to cycle. Moreover, it was the headquarters of the UK’s car industry, and its roads were designed more as a test track for new models than a way for people to get to the shops. The emphasis on roads above all else was a deliberate strategy by a city that saw its future inextricably bound up with motoring manufacturers.

Nigella on Bake Off! Attenborough in Blue Planet III! Blade Runner 2099! Plus Adrian Mole, Harry Potter and a certain Celebrity Traitors … here are all the must-see shows of the season

• Rising star Lara Ricote on the real heartache behind her new breakup comedy

Wayward and chaotic, in the grand tradition of The Word and TFI Friday, Late Night Lycett proved that Joe Lycett had fully inherited Friday nights on Channel 4. Its follow-up sounds even more TFI-esque. The Lycett Arms is a real east London pub, open for just one hour a week, which required Lycett to train to be accredited with a level 2 award for personal licence holders. The show promises “top-drawer comedy entertainment from Joe and a pub full of celebrity guests”. What could possibly go wrong?
• Channel 4, 4 September

Burnham has nothing to hide as he prepares to meet president he once called poisonous. It may actually win him more respect

It makes a pleasant change. Not so long ago, Keir Starmer was falling over himself in his efforts to keep things sweet with Donald Trump. Offering the US president a second state visit within minutes of meeting him. Everyone knows you should never put out on the first date: it only makes the other person think you’re a pushover. Sure enough, The Donald banked the marching bands and the Windsor silver service, made polite conversation for three days and then went back to trash-talking him.

Yet still, Starmer just sat there and took it. As if one word of criticism would be too much. Wittering on about the “special relationship” as if Trump gave a moment’s thought to the UK before he did anything. The rest of us wouldn’t have put money on the US president even being able to locate Britain on a map. It was only latterly, when The Donald chose to bomb Iran, that the penny finally dropped for Keir. And even then he looked pained by the apparent betrayal, as he resisted the calls of Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage to join in the war.

Across six decades, the late country singer and pop culture icon turned self‑presentation into a flamboyant art form

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Dolly Parton may have had a record 25 US country No 1 singles, released 66 studio albums and earned six Golden Globe nominations, among many other achievements, but the Tennessee-born star also had an incredible number of fashion moments. “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap”, she famously quipped when asked about her style. As we bid her farewell, six Guardian writers reflect on their favourite Dolly looks.

***

Flash floods have killed at least 469 people while homes and infrastructure have been swept away

• Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates

• What caused the flash flood in Nepal and Tibet?

The international community was scrambling to get aid into flood-stricken parts of Nepal and Tibet on Thursday as authorities warned that a lake ⁠formed at the ⁠site ⁠where the ​deadly torrents occurred ⁠was rising and ⁠at risk ​of ‌bursting.

The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, thundering down valleys and obliterating entire villages, killed at least 469 people and left more than 1,300 missing.

Experts call for joined-up support through the postnatal period amid concerns GPs are not trained to spot symptoms

Thousands of UK women develop undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth every year, research has found.

The frightening and dangerous condition is being missed in at least 15,000 women a year across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the true toll could be double that or more, according to the authors of research in a leading medical journal.

Bosnian Serb commander responsible for Srebrenica massacre dies in prison while serving life sentence for genocide

From the archive:

• Fourteen years a fugitive: the hunt for the Butcher of Bosnia

• Ratko Mladić will die in jail. But go to Bosnia: you’ll see that he won

Ratko Mladić, the infamous Serbian general who was serving a life sentence for genocide committed during the Bosnian war, has died in prison in The Hague.

Mladić had been one of the main architects of the policy of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian war. He was convicted of genocide for orchestrating the 1995 killing of at least 8,000 Muslims in the UN-designated “safe area” Srebrenica, the worst massacre in Europe since the second world war.

Course at Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort was painted with words ‘Gaza is not 4 sale’ and clubhouse was sprayed with graffiti

Seven people charged with vandalising Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland have been accused of malicious damage “having a terrorist connection”.

The clubhouse at the five-star Trump Turnberry hotel and resort on the west coast of Scotland was graffitied on 8 March last year and the course was dug up and painted with the words “Gaza is not 4 sale”.

Moscow threatens retaliation after Andy Burnham says UK will help Ukraine start producing long-range missiles

Russia has said it could retaliate against the UK for its support of Kyiv by striking military targets inside and outside Ukraine, amid reports that the director of the CIA warned the Kremlin against attacking Nato during a secretive visit this week.

Andy Burnham, Britain’s prime minister, said on Monday the UK would allow Kyiv access to classified technology to start ⁠its own production of Storm Shadow ​long-range ​cruise missiles. France has also agreed to supply missile technology. Maria ⁠Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Thursday Britain and France were “playing ⁠with ​fire”.

Exclusive: Campaigner says PM wrote in email he believed £500k cap should be reduced over time to guard against undue influences

Andy Burnham recently supported an even lower donations cap than previously reported, according to correspondence seen by the Guardian, as the row over next week’s elections bill escalates.

The prime minister wrote to a campaigner in May outlining his support for a £500,000 individual donations cap, which he said would “guard against the perception of any one party being unduly influenced or swayed by one person or organisation”.

Anthropic ​argued designation as ‘supply chain risk’ could cost the company billions ‌of dollars in lost business ‌and reputational harm

A US federal judge ruled Thursday that sanctions imposed in February by the Trump administration against AI giant Anthropic were illegal, finding that the government had punished the artificial intelligence company for publicly criticising the Pentagon.

“The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” Judge Rita Lin said in a 59-page decision.

It is polite to reposition a guest’s shoes when they arrive, but the emergency services in one city advise just skipping that part

Etiquette, manners and consideration for others are integral pillars of Japanese society but there are times when they might go a step too far, according to one city’s emergency services.

The fire department in the central city of Kanazawa has urged people not to tidy up the shoes that paramedic crews have taken off when entering a house, warning it could hinder their ability to get in or out quickly, particularly when carrying someone on a stretcher.

Woolston Eyes in Warrington, a dumping ground for canal dredgings, has become best place in UK for black-necked grebe

A dumping ground for dredgings from the Manchester Ship Canal has become the best place in Britain for the rare and beautiful black-necked grebe, hosting 64% of Britain’s breeding population.

Since 2021, Woolston Eyes in Cheshire has been restored, extended and turned into a mosaic of freshwater pools, reedbeds, willow scrub and rough grassland, managed by the RSPB and Woolston Eyes Conservation Group.

A zero-emission compact hydrogen power plant will drive the main stage at Clifton Down in Bristol

When Lorde, Little Simz and Wet Leg stride on to stages in Bristol this weekend, they will not only be entertaining tens of thousands of festivalgoers but taking part in what is being billed as a world-first clean power project.

The two stages at Forwards festival on Clifton Down are being driven almost entirely by green power – a combination of hydrogen and mobile batteries charged with sustainable energy.

Prof Pierre Akilimali, who heads DR Congo’s response to an outbreak that has so far killed more than 2,700 people, says tackling the disease requires trust and respect

The statistics, says the man responsible for overseeing the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), are meaningless. That it is now the largest outbreak, the most deadly strain, that 100 days have passed, that the death rates keep climbing, says Prof Pierre Akilimali, should never detract from the human tragedies at the centre of this virus.

“It is behind those numbers that matters; it is the father, the child, the loved relative. Behind every case is a person and behind every person is a family. For us Congolese, we hold on to that as we work.”

Uefa has begun a legal process against the embattled Fifa president but it will still be an uphill struggle to remove him

Anyone who interpreted Uefa’s decision to withdraw a proposed boycott of Fifa competitions, revealed by the Guardian on Wednesday, as a backward step in the attempt to remove Gianni Infantino as Fifa’s president has been quickly disabused of that notion.

In a stunning development that overshadowed one of the biggest days in the European football calendar as national football federation and club executives gathered for the Champions League draw in Monte Carlo, Uefa announced it was preparing to make a legal complaint against Infantino in Switzerland alleging “criminal mismanagement” for his role in the failed World Cup sell-off plan.

These sweet and fruity frozen refreshers will get you in the carnival spirit

It’s only right that on the weekend of the Notting Hill carnival, rum punch is your drink of choice. Whether or not you’re heading to west London to celebrate, these ice lollies will get you in the party mood. They’re fruity, sweet and balanced with plenty of fresh lime, and I always like to make sure there’s enough leftover rum mixture to pour over ice to drink while the lollies are setting.

I was in India, performing dentistry on my first animal patient, and it was supposed to be a straightforward operation

I’ve been a dentist for 40 years. I spend most of my time treating patients at my surgery in Chichester, West Sussex. When I studied to become a dentist in the 1980s, I didn’t think I’d be getting my hands anywhere near the teeth of any exotic animals.

Twenty years later, in 2000, that changed. A patient of mine, Alan Knight, the CEO of International Animal Rescue (IAR), showed me photographs of the inside of a bear’s mouth. The bear was called Jojo and his teeth had been broken off by poachers. Some of the teeth were too rotten to be saved – if left untreated, Jojo would become more prone to infection and abscesses.

This boxing drama wants its sex, drugs, bling and violence – but isn’t willing or naughty enough to truly go for it. Instead, it ends up as just a long, bruising slog

Fightland is what you might, for a joke, have called a drama that’s like MobLand but with boxing. That they have gone with that as the title of the new show from G-Unit Film & Television, the production company founded by the rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, is an immediate warning that this is not a series that bursts with originality, passion or technical finesse. At best, Fightland asks whether what it’s got will just about do, and hopes you’ll distractedly say yes.

Howard Charles is Maduka “Duke” Kilroy, a British boxer who, when we first meet him, is in Las Vegas, winning the world heavyweight championship. Everything’s going for him: he’s the champ and Joy (Deborah Ayorinde), the woman he enjoys a post-bout warmdown with on the silk sheets of a penthouse suite, seems receptive to his plan to take their relationship further. It’s a risky goal given that Joy’s husband is Kingsley Marshall (Nicholas Pinnock), Duke’s manager, who is also London’s top drug dealer; we’ve seen him brutally break the leg of a journalist who asks him about the secret drug-based wing of his empire.

In a disrupted job market people are turning to heritage crafts such as bookbinding, metalwork and boatbuilding

It’s a bleak moment for young people entering the workforce for the first time. For decades, a university degree seemed to promise a stable career – but entry-level white-collar jobs across almost all sectors are being disrupted by AI. Budding accountants, software engineers and junior lawyers increasingly find themselves displaced by cheap automation.

Even creative fields are struggling against AI tech that can produce artwork, lengthy prose or complex design briefs in seconds.

Paul Greengrass drama The Uprising was supposed to be a historical epic about the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 – but a strange new campaign has inserted a surprising figure

Nobody likes to have the full plot of a movie spoiled before they’ve even seen it. However, sometimes this can be taken to the extreme. Take the new Paul Greengrass movie, The Uprising, for example. It is two weeks away from its US release and not only does nobody know the plot, but nobody seems to know what it is even about. Seriously, nobody at all. The film’s distributors just spent yesterday squabbling in public about whether Robin Hood was in it or not.

Here’s what we know so far. Initially, all the trailers and promotional materials made The Uprising look like a film about the Peasants’ Revolt that tore through England in 1381. And this was very exciting, since the revolt was a thrilling moment in history that has been bizarrely underserved by Hollywood over the years. Most exciting of all, though, it sounded like it fit exactly into Greengrass’s wheelhouse: full of action and realism and political awareness.

Do you need a soft mattress if you sleep on your side, or are firm models better for your back? And what about pillows? Here’s what the experts say

• The best mattresses, tested
• The best mattresses for back pain

Most of us, me included, sleep on our sides. Drooling into your pillow and giving yourself a dead arm may not be as photogenic as Sleeping Beauty lying prettily on her back, but it’s probably better for you. Studies have found that sleeping on your left side can help reduce snoring, sleep apnoea and acid reflux, and the experts I spoke to for this article say side sleeping is good for your back and your sleep.

Side sleeping brings its challenges, though, and I don’t just mean the drool. The curves of your body need somewhere to go. If your mattress isn’t cushioning your hips and shoulders, or your knees are pressing against each other, you may struggle to sleep well and experience aches and pains. An overly soft surface can also cause problems, as you’ll know if you’ve ever spent the night on a friend’s concave sofa.

From quiet acts of generosity and life-changing gigs to singing for a professional puppeteer, Dolly Parton has had a profound impact on readers’ lives
• Photo gallery: fans pay tribute to Dolly Parton

I had the opportunity to meet her when I volunteered to work the Country Music Awards in the late 70s. Me and three other kids had Dolly all to ourselves for about 20 minutes. I remember with disbelief how she took several unhurried minutes with each of us and gave us her undivided attention for that time. She had no reason to do this. She was just as genuine as they come. Her philanthropy was exceptional. Her talent speaks for itself. I miss her already. Larry Lipman, Tennessee

The pioneering Japanese artist talked openly about how her mental health and neurodivergence informed her creativity, paving the way for the likes of Turner prize winner Nnena Kalu

Yayoi Kusama – who has died at the age of 97 – was 10 when she first started experiencing vivid hallucinations consisting of visual and aural disturbances, which she described as “flashes of light, auras, or dense fields of dots”. A drawing from 1939, of a woman in a kimono assumed to be her mother, shows her obliterated by those dots; they would become Kusama’s artistic obsession. She hallucinated flowers, too. “I was looking at the red flower patterns of the tablecloth on a table, and when I looked up I saw the same pattern covering the ceiling, the windows and the walls, and finally all over the room, my body and the universe”, she once said, when asked about that recurring motif. “I felt as if I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space, and be reduced to nothingness.”

For Kusama, art making was a means of survival. “I fight pain, anxiety, and fear every day, and the only method I have found that relieved my illness is to keep creating art. I followed the thread of art and somehow discovered a path that would allow me to live”, she said in a 2012 interview. In so doing, she became one of the most acclaimed and admired contemporary artists, staging happenings and influencing the pop art movement as a pioneering figure in the New York avant garde. Her exhibitions and major retrospectives draw huge crowds. In 2022, due to enormous public demand, Tate Modern in London extended her Infinity Mirror Rooms show for a whole extra year (it ended up running until 2024).

Our buildings are monuments to extraction and extreme emissions. But what if we turned from destructive concrete to timber?

• Last chance to buy the summer issue of The Long Read magazine, now with 15% off. Click here to order

I travelled to Oslo in the early autumn. It felt like arriving into the future. Or, at least, a fragment of a possible future. I drove north in the quiet digital bubble of my electric rental car. In 2024, Norway became the first country in the world where electric cars outnumbered petrol cars.

A smooth, pristine motorway unfolded between farmlands and low hillsides of dense green forest. Long tunnels carried the route up above the banks of Lake Mjøsa, Norway’s largest lake. After a little more than an hour, the road curved downward to run parallel to the lakeshore.

This summer has been a tipping point. But it’s not too late to save what makes this place unique

When I first started visiting Marseille more than 20 years ago, few could have predicted that France’s then beleaguered second city would become one of the most popular destinations in the most-visited country in the world. Tarnished by stereotypes and home to some of Europe’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, the port city seemed down on its luck, unloved and, in the eyes of many, somewhere to avoid. Tourists stopping at the city’s Saint-Charles station would clutch their bags while waiting for their connecting train to rural Provence, or the beaches of the Côte d’Azur.

Two decades on, poverty and drug gang violence still affect parts of Marseille, but this rough diamond has been reinvented as a modish holiday destination. Last month, I saw a local TV channel asking whether Marseille had become France’s capital of tourism, after Booking.com revealed it had surpassed Paris and Nice as the most searched-for destination for French users of the site. Breathless foreign media coverage – the New York Times published a “36 hours in Marseille” guide in 2019 and another one in 2025 – has driven the number of overseas visitors. From seaside petanque to vocoder rap and pizza served on aluminium plates, influencers revel in the golden-hued aesthetic of the urban riviera and promote the city’s most Instagram-friendly corners. Tourist numbers are expected to reach almost 7 million this year.

People with allergies must be able to travel without fear, and a compassionate society should respect that

What are you most scared of? Perhaps snakes send a chill down your spine. Or heights leave your knees weak. Peanuts may sound like an odd source of phobia, but they have taken on an absurd bogeyman quality for me since my daughter was taken to hospital by ambulance after eating peanut butter when she was six months old. Just the sight of a bowl on a pub bar, or their shells discarded on the pavement, can raise my heart rate – even when I’m not with her.

Nowhere is the sight of peanuts more confronting than at 30,000ft, especially now when millions are jetting back from their holidays. Travelling with a severely allergic child can be a nightmare for all sorts of reasons, but the idea you could be sat next to a passenger consuming the very thing that has hospitalised them is its own kind of hell.

Lucy Pasha-Robinson is a Guardian assistant Opinion editor

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.

This week’s settlement without liability was pragmatic, but it doesn’t change the inevitability of further lawsuits around the world

Not many people would count paying $18bn they didn’t expect to when they woke up that morning as a victory. Yet for Meta, the owners of Facebook and Instagram, the agreement with 52 US attorneys general to settle claims that it designed its products to be addictive to children, and misled people about their safety, could be described as a win of sorts.

Meta denies wrongdoing, and the amount it plans to pay will be spread over a decade. Some of it is contingent on other big tech firms not named in its case coughing up too. The cash is chump change for Meta, which made around $60bn in profit last year. More damaging to the tech giant in the long run could be the agreement to unwind some of the mechanics it has spent two decades perfecting to keep us on its platforms.

Chris Stokel-Walker is the author of TikTok Boom: The Inside Story of the World’s Favourite App

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.

It’s hard to beat back charges that MPs are ‘all the same’ when they have accepted £400k in freebies this year – £100k up on last year

How has your summer been? Done anything nice? As MPs prepare to head back to parliament next week, you’ll be relieved to hear that some of the most prominent figures in British politics have been enjoying the season’s cultural highlights – and without paying a penny. MPs throughout the Commons have received £400,000 of “freebies” to concerts, sports matches and other events so far this year, according to the most recent disclosures.

Over the summer alone, Wes Streeting, now the defence secretary, enjoyed the Chelsea flower show thanks to Lloyds Banking Group covering the £1,839 cost, as did the shadow chancellor, Mel Stride. Lucy Powell, who has since become deputy leader of the Labour party and education secretary, accepted £858-worth of tickets to a Harry Styles concert at Wembley from the PRS for Music industry group. Meanwhile, the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, nabbed seats at Wimbledon worth £1,360 from the All England Club.

Reform and the Conservatives are willing to mislead the public, but as environment secretary, I believe we must be honest – and act boldly

This long, hot summer has brought our third drought in five years and the driest July in almost two centuries. We’ve seen wildfires burn down homes and now face the risk of flash floods as we move into autumn. It should be a wake-up call for those saying that concerns about the climate crisis are overblown; that we should simply sit back and do nothing; or row back on attempts to restore our natural environment. As the new environment secretary, I won’t let that happen.

No one who has experienced this summer in the UK should be in any doubt that our climate is already changing. We know the future holds warmer, wetter winters, hotter, drier summers, and more extreme weather.

Angela Eagle is the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs

The senator’s remarks reflect a turning point in Democrats’ attacks on the president. What should we make of them?

Apparently, he likes to say her name with a French accent. “Na-tah-lee!” the president cries out, in that affected tone of faux-formality that one might use with a person they love but do not quite respect, and she comes running, her thin legs teetering on her heels.

Natalie Harp, Trump’s 35-year-old “executive assistant”, was an odd recurring character in the latest blockbuster Trump administration book, Regime Change, by the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. In the book, Harp features like a silent sentinel, ever present but eerily quiet as Trump rants and raves. It’s not exactly clear what the scope of her responsibilities are; though, as Jamelle Bouie points out, the fact that she evidently helps run the president’s social media accounts, which can sway markets and influence his foreign counterparts, makes her one of the most powerful people in the federal government.

Medicine, food and other supplies are the urgent priority. But the rising risks from shrinking glaciers must be faced too

Thousands of people in Nepal and Tibet are in desperate need of emergency assistance following Wednesday’s disaster. With 360 people confirmed dead, more than 1,300 others are still missing as search and rescue operations continue. The precise sequence of events linking glacier collapse to flash floods is yet to be confirmed. But there is no doubting the enormous destructive power of the brown torrent that can be seen on video clips surging down the steeply sided Himalayan valleys, sweeping away everyone and everything in its path.

Testimony from survivors about terrifying near-escapes and losses is reminiscent of previous disasters, including the 2004 tsunami. With some of the worst-affected areas still cut off and accessible only by helicopter, there is a high level of uncertainty about the total number of people who have died or homes that have been destroyed. Existing medical, food, shelter and sanitation supplies will need to be replenished. Pledges of help for locally led relief efforts from foreign governments and agencies, following reports that hundreds of those missing were tourists or pilgrims, must lead to swift action. People need basics including electricity and clean water before they can start to rebuild and recover.

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.

Soaring prices are plunging struggling families into debt. The government must support them in the short term as it invests in a clean energy future

Fuelled by the consequences of Donald Trump’s disastrous war on Iran, household energy debt in Britain is continuing to soar, rising to a record £6bn by the end of June. That figure is set to hit £7bn by the end of the year, as the government’s cap on gas and electricity prices goes up to a three-year high in October. The human cost among the less well off will be more people regularly choosing whether to skip meals, ignore other bills or stay cold this winter.

Such is life at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis, which Andy Burnham has made it his priority to address since arriving in Downing Street. The day after he became prime minister, Mr Burnham announced that VAT would be removed from electricity bills from the beginning of October. But the Middle East-related rise in the price cap, announced on Wednesday, more than wipes out the effect of his cut. In an era of geopolitical volatility, high energy costs have become the new normal.

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.

David Griffiths says mayors could be empowered to build water infrastructure, while Kevin Whately suggests incorporating communal storage into new housing estates

Pete Ford (Letters, 20 August) rightly reminds us that “The Victorians … built reservoirs, aqueducts and local water-storage infrastructure.” But who were these “Victorians”? Generally speaking, they were local councillors and their professional engineers.

Taking my own town as an example, within 40 years of its incorporation as a borough in 1868 it had built five new reservoirs, as well as taking over others previously provided by ad hoc groups of commissioners, with water delivered through 240 miles of mains. By 1897 it was one of 610 urban councils with their own water undertakings.

Readers respond to Polly Toynbee’s article calling for mandatory exam resits to be scrapped in a first step towards education reform

I was delighted to read Polly Toynbee’s demolition of compulsory GCSE resits (How can we stop destroying the prospects of a generation? Scrapping compulsory GCSE resits will be a start, 24 August). Of course, level 2 qualifications in maths and English should be accessible to all school leavers who need them. However, the depressing treadmill of resitting resits is thin educational gruel and Michael Gove should be ashamed for espousing such a killjoy policy.

As a governor at a large further education college in Bedford, I find it depressing to receive data at every single board meeting focusing on GCSE resit results for thousands of students who “failed” maths and English just a few months previously. Speaking to students and staff, it is apparent that resitting exams is counterproductive. Compulsory GCSE resits are a negative learning experience, offering no reflection on how to improve. In most cases students merely fail again.

Whether mathematics thrives or perishes in the age of AI depends on what it is that society values in the human intellect, writes Dr Henry Bradford

I share Kasra Rafi and Bruce Schneier’s impression that recent mathematical breakthroughs by AI consist in clever recombination of existing ideas, not development of truly novel theory (No, AI doesn’t mean the end of mathematics – at least not yet, 25 August). The question is: what happens to mathematics if this changes?

Like many mathematicians, I have done much soul-searching in recent weeks, especially since a key problem in my own field of group theory (the existence of non-sofic groups) was solved this month by OpenAI’s Astra model. Astra’s proof consists largely in a slight twist on theorems by my colleagues Gabor Kun and Andreas Thom. That said, even a few months ago I would have found the idea that AI was capable of such a breakthrough incredible, so it seems foolhardy now to bet against AIs achieving superhuman capabilities in all areas of mathematical thought in the coming years.

Colin Hines says Andy Burnham’s focus should be on drastically cutting fossil fuel use in a way that reduces bills and generates secure jobs

It is hardly surprising that many who were optimistic and supportive of Andy Burnham becoming prime minister, but who also prioritised tackling climate chaos, are becoming increasingly unsure about him, given his tardiness in emphasising this threat as an overriding policy objective (Labour ‘could lose up to 50 seats’ to Greens if new drilling in North Sea approved, 19 August).

One of the problems he faces is that the political debate around energy is obsessed with relatively short-term fossil fuel supplies. Instead, the focus should be on drastically and rapidly cutting fossil fuel use in a way that reduces bills and generates secure jobs through a devolved energy programme for every postcode.

Liverpool need midfield nous, Michael Carrick is already under pressure and Villa can bid farewell to Enzi Konsa

Enzo Maresca has a shiny new £85m midfielder he could select for a debut but, at 18 years old, he may want Ayyoub Bouaddi to have a bit of time watching on from the bench to learn about the Premier League from his elders. The Moroccan may not have anticipated one of those to be a centre-back by trade. Marc Guéhi will be eager to make a triumphant return to Crystal Palace and may well have the opportunity to do so from central midfield, where he played last weekend in the victory over Bournemouth, scoring the equaliser. The centre-back was a surprise selection in the blocker role next to Elliot Anderson, but equipped himself admirably and was not limited to the dirty work, often being found in more advanced positions in open play and happy to have the ball at his feet. His long-term future is unlikely to be outside of defence but further proof of Guéhi’s adaptability will be a positive for Maresca, as a long season awaits. Will Unwin

Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Friday 8pm (all times BST)

Liverpool v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 12.30pm

Bournemouth v Everton, Saturday 3pm

Coventry v Hull, Saturday 3pm

Tottenham v Newcastle, Saturday 5.30pm

• ‘Mind-numbing that people end up in these positions’

• Brydon Carse incident is the latest in a long line

Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson have criticised the “extreme and tiresome” flood of negative stories around the England cricket team’s drinking and socialising habits, with Anderson – England’s all-time leading wicket-taker – saying it is “just mind-numbing that people can still be putting themselves in these positions”.

The latest scandal involving members of the Test squad involved the bowler Brydon Carse, who was pictured being led away from a Derby bar in handcuffs in the early hours of Sunday morning. The 31-year-old was briefly arrested by police on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly before being “de-arrested”, though they continue to investigate an allegation of assault in connection with the incident. Carse was dropped from the squad for the second Test against Pakistan that started at Lord’s on Thursday, but took two wickets for Durham on the first day of their County Championship game against Gloucestershire.

• Manchester United will host Bayern Munich

• Aston Villa welcome PSG; Liverpool go to Inter

Arsenal face mouthwatering assignments against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich as they bid to go one better than last season’s agonising near miss and win a first Champions League title.

Mikel Arteta’s side were pipped on penalties by Paris Saint-Germain in the final three months ago and will be expected to cruise through this season’s league phase. The bulk of their draw appears kind but they are tasked with a visit to the Allianz Arena to play Bayern, whom they beat 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium last November, and host Real, who are once again under the charge of José Mourinho. Two seasons ago, Arsenal beat the Spanish giants 3-0 at home in a quarter-final first leg, Declan Rice scoring two memorable free-kicks.

• Alcaraz back in action after four-month injury layoff

• Novak Djokovic faces Mariano Navone in first round

Carlos Alcaraz has been handed a tough draw on his return to singles competition after a four-month injury layoff as he faces the in-form Russian Roman Safiullin in the first round of the US Open.

Alcaraz, the defending champion in New York, has not competed in singles since sustaining a right wrist injury at the Barcelona Open in April, with the Spaniard missing the French Open, where he was also the defending champion, and Wimbledon. He was understandably rusty and tentative with his first serve when making his first competitive appearance since the injury alongside Serena Williams in the mixed doubles event on Tuesday, with the pair losing in the quarter-finals and the 44-year-old Williams even outperforming him during large parts of their time on court. His opening match against the world No 98 Safiullin, who has risen more than 100 places in the world rankings this year after returning from injury and defeated Alcaraz indoors at the Paris Masters in 2023, will be a significant first challenge.

Jo Potter’s side charged to promotion and have brought in striker Bethany England as they bid to stay up

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 13th (NB: this is not necessarily Sophie Downey’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 2nd (WSL2)

• Dos Santos and Russell smash hurdles world records

• Werro comes within 0.42sec of 800m world record

• Bednarek and Wanyonyi clock world-leading times

Masai Russell and Alison Dos Santos each set a world record while Mondo Duplantis won a historic pole vault on a frenetic Thursday night in Zurich.

The Letzigrund Stadium had a raucous sell-out 25,000 crowd and the still, balmy weather conditions helped the athletes no end.

• Super League: Wigan Warriors 46-0 Hull KR

• Liam Marshall bags hat-trick of tries in rout

On the night when Wigan Warriors celebrated one of their greatest entertainers, perhaps it was fitting that Matt Peet’s class of 2026 produced a performance Sir Billy Boston would have been proud of on their charge towards, potentially, another Super League title.

There are some nights where the result is dwarfed by the occasion. Where sport, in truth, comes second. This was undoubtedly one of those, as what felt like the entirety of this town where rugby league is more akin to a religion than a pastime came together in grief to remember the life and career of their most cherished adopted son.

• Slovenian leader recovers after misjudging corner

• Britain’s Josh Tarling pulls out of event mid-stage

Tadej Pogacar outsprinted Enric Mas to claim victory in stage six of the Vuelta a España on Thursday, his third stage win of the race.

The Slovenian and Mas outshone their rivals on the gravel in the stage’s final climb, and Pogacar held off the Spaniard when arriving in Castellón de la Plana to extend his general classification lead. The five-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, the overwhelming favourite for the Vuelta, is aiming to complete a Grand Tour grand slam.

• Councillors say plan does not tackle effect on residents

• RFU want to increase number of non-sporting events

The Rugby Football Union’s bid to stage more concerts at Twickenham has been delivered a blow after local councillors insisted planning permission should not be awarded until the proposal further commits to limiting the impact.

The RFU has submitted its planning application to Richmond council to use the stadium for non-sporting events for up to 15 days a year, with a decision due in October. Public consultation was due to end on Thursday with 240 submissions in favour and 456 against at the time of writing.

Exclusive: Experts and former officials say accounts are running dry, and funding a war with no clear endgame is the main challenge

Donald Trump’s war on Iran has driven the US military into a severe financial crisis, with the US navy forced to transfer money from its payroll and other sources to cover the costs of combat, according to documents obtained by the Guardian, and interviews with navy officials, contractors and defense analysts.

The US-Israeli operation, which has depleted US munitions stockpiles and prompted retaliatory Iranian strikes that have wrecked strategic bases across the Middle East, is piling pressure on budgets across the military.

Sally-Anne Bowen, now 65, convicted of assaulting boys at Christ’s College, Finchley, where she was chemistry teacher

A chemistry teacher has been found guilty of indecently assaulting two teenage pupils at an all-boys school in the late 1980s.

Sally-Anne Bowen, who taught at Christ’s College in Finchley, north London, assaulted the teenage boys when they were aged around 14 to 15 and she was in her mid-20s.

Thai navy says ‘routine’ visit’ will allow personnel to rest and recuperate amid reports of poor conditions onboard

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is set to make a temporary stop in Thailand next week as it heads back to the United States, Thai navy officials said, after spending more than 250 consecutive days at sea supporting US operations against Iran amid recent reports of poor living conditions and low morale onboard the vessel.

The Lincoln left the Middle East several days ago after being relieved by the USS George Washington, and is now heading home to San Diego. A Thai navy official told Reuters this week that the carrier was expected to make a brief port visit in Thailand next week for the crew to rest and recuperate before continuing their journey home.

Company that runs Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands hubs says passenger safety is unaffected

• Business live – latest updates

Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports have been hit by a cyber-attack in which hackers accessed the data of about 8.7 million customers.

The incident involved data related to “car park, lounge and fast-track bookings and in-airport wifi sign-ups”, and the hackers obtained email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers and postcodes, said Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which operates the three hubs.

Coroner is told BBC veteran was dazzled by headlights before collision and her injuries led to bronchopneumonia

The broadcaster Jenni Murray died days after being involved in a car crash that happened when she was dazzled by headlights, a coroner has heard.

Murray, 75, was best known as the voice of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, hosting the programme for three decades and becoming the longest-serving presenter in its history.

Unusual heat this year may have melted ice and thawed bonds that hold glaciers in place – leading to catastrophe

• Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates

• What caused the flash flood in Nepal and Tibet?

The devastating flash flood that has ripped through the border communities of Nepal and Tibet has heightened fears that the climate crisis is destabilising the geology of mountain and polar regions, threatening millions of people.

Satellite imagery suggests a glacier collapse high in the Himalayas was the primary cause of the deadly torrent of mud, water and ice that tore along the Bhotekoshi River on Wednesday. It swept away buildings and roads and left at least 360 dead and 1,400 missing.

‘Godzilla’ event currently brewing could push 50 million people into acute hunger before the end of next year

A series of strong El Niño climatic patterns in recent decades, such as the “Godzilla” event currently brewing that is set to warp weather around the world, have been supercharged by the broader overheating of the planet caused by the burning of fossil fuels, a major new study has found.

El Niño is a naturally occurring phenomenon, taking place every two to seven years, when the waters of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean heat up, causing a cascade of impacts around the world. The latest developing El Niño, set to peak later this year, is set to be the strongest in living memory and has been informally dubbed a “Godzilla” event.

Exclusive: utility company wants to draw off tens of millions of litres of water a day from Thames and replace it with treated effluent

Levels of a toxic “forever chemical” rose to 13 times the legal limit during Thames Water pilots for a controversial multimillion pound water recycling scheme that will pump millions of litres of treated sewage into the River Thames during drought.

The data from the pilots is in stark contrast to public comments from Thames Water that their water recycling project in south-west London will not harm the riverine environment.

Environment Agency issues 40 flood alerts across Midlands, Yorkshire and south-east of England

Dozens of homes have been damaged by flooding and the Met Office had issued warnings for thunderstorms and heavy rain at the end of a summer in which most of England and the whole of Wales was declared in drought.

The Met Office said thundery showers in England and Wales could cause 75mm of rain to fall in just 12 hours in some areas.

Minister calls for Instagram owner to extend sweeping new safeguards for young users to Britain

• UK politics live – latest updates

• Business live – latest updates

The UK government expects the Instagram owner Meta to roll out the same protections for children in Britain as those it agreed in the US on Wednesday, as part of a court settlement that could cost the company up to $18bn (£13bn).

Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, said on Thursday he did not want young people in the US to have “a higher rate of protection” than those in Britain, after Meta settled a lawsuit brought by dozens of US states accusing the company of harming children with dangerous products.

Home Office was housing 16,021 asylum seekers across 160 hotels at end of June, while small boat crossings down 23%

• UK politics live – latest updates

The number of asylum seekers living in hotels has halved in a year, Home Office figures show.

Sweeping changes to the asylum system have also led to a significant drop in legal arrivals and asylum claims, but the numbers of asylum seekers housed in private accommodation has increased as the government moves people from hotels into privately rented houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).

Speaking at Edinburgh TV festival, Matt Brittin says BBC platform would be free from interests of US tech giants

The BBC director general has suggested opening up the BBC to YouTube-style user-generated content as he backed the idea of a “public service algorithm” free from the interests of US tech companies.

Matt Brittin, who arrived at the BBC after 10 years leading Google in Europe, said the corporation and public service media in Britain had the opportunity to build a platform “unadulterated by commercial interests, by algorithms that have other interests at heart”.

Renewed scrutiny comes after police officer accused of falsifying records in order to close the cases of people who were later found dead

South Korean police will re-examine about 310,000 missing persons cases closed over the past three years, prompted by a scandal in which an officer was arrested on suspicion of falsifying records to close files on two people who were later found dead.

The case has drawn national attention, with President Lee Jae Myung ordering an investigation into the police handling of it and telling the force to draw up a reform plan.

Newly obtained records indicate health secretary lied about Samoa trip during Senate confirmation hearings last year

A senior Democratic senator is calling for a criminal investigation into the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, following reporting by the Guardian that indicated he lied during Senate confirmation hearings last year.

Ron Wyden of Oregon said: “RFK’s platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress.”

First robot-assisted outlet opens in Liverpool to take on Shein and supermarkets in clothing, shoes and homewares

• Business live – latest updates

The owner of Zara is taking on Primark, Shein and the supermarkets with the launch of its cut-price chain Lefties in Britain, backed by an army of robots.

The Spanish fashion brand opened its first UK store in Liverpool on Thursday, a few weeks after quietly launching its UK website.

Father Dionysios Tabakis says his views are those of Orthodox church, ‘nothing more, nothing less’

A Greek Orthodox priest whose home-recorded album of drone metal and religious dubstep has made him a cult figure in experimental music circles has issued a statement in which he has clarified his stance on homosexuality and the Greek radical right.

“As can be seen from my musical expression, I am in favour of unity, love, empathy and help for every needy, wronged and suffering person in life,” Father Dionysios Tabakis said in a public statement shared with the Guardian. “Whoever they are, whatever they believe, whether they are a saint or a sinner.”

Jes Staley made comments to US lawmakers investigating his links to the convicted sex offender

The former Barclays boss Jes Staley has denied having sex with a woman dressed as Snow White, after being questioned about an infamous email exchange about Disney princesses with Jeffrey Epstein.

The comments were detailed in newly released transcripts from a closed-door interview last month with US lawmakers as part of their investigation into Epstein, who died in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking charges.

Experts say findings mean breast screenings for cancer could also flag cardiovascular problems in women

Doctors have discovered a way to use routine mammograms that screen for breast cancer to spot heart disease, the world’s leading – and frequently underdiagnosed – cause of death in women.

Researchers analysed the scans using artificial intelligence and were able to successfully identify women with coronary heart disease, high blood pressure or who had suffered a stroke.

Decision not to improve resilience sooner described as ‘unacceptable gamble with our national security’

Hundreds of Britain’s smallest power plants could remain at a higher risk to state-sponsored cyber-attacks until the 2030s despite a successful Iran-linked hack last month, it has emerged.

Officials this week briefed energy bosses on the breach, which is understood to have shut an unnamed small gas power plant for four days last month, and put the industry on alert over the growing cyber threat facing energy infrastructure.

Rules will require hedge funds, insurers and pension firms to report all non-financial wrongdoing

The City’s largest hedge funds, insurers and pension funds are racing to prepare for sweeping rules that will stop nearly 40,000 companies from hiding bullying and harassment cases from the financial watchdog.

From the start of next month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will expand a crackdown on bad behaviour in the banking industry to a wider group of City investment firms and brokers.

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
Even one of her own bugs takes the mic as the wild card comedian delivers these disconnected bits

There’s an excellent joke about art school in Marty Gleeson’s show, but even without it, we might guess that the Irish comic comes from an art school background. In Dog Ear, convention is for the birds, with one leftfield idea following the next in a disorienting array. A visit to the future accompanied by fluttering beats on the bodhrán? A standup set performed by one of the thousands of bugs on Gleeson’s body? A funeral for her 187-year-old alter ego, at which she must solemnly shake the hand of every single audience member? Throughout her fringe debut, Gleeson delights in ensuring we’ve never the slightest idea what’s about to happen next.

That makes it an offbeat delight to encounter, and at its best, this Limerick exile’s material is captivatingly unexpected. Even before its droll punchline, her routine about asking Santa, increasingly ardently, for a “big juicy booty” is quite the gambit. Another, extending the closing credits of a news bulletin ad absurdum, is similarly strange – and, like much of her material, tests the limits of how long something uneasy can happen before a punchline arrives to redeem it.

The finalists from the BBC young musician of 2016 have teamed up with a Mercury-nominated composer to craft a Proms premiere that’s uplifting, lyrical and goes out with an almighty bang

A cellist, a horn player and a soprano saxophonist walk into the Royal Albert Hall … it could be the setup for an exceptionally nerdy joke, but instead it’s a new triple concerto, with three soloists rather than the usual one, to be premiered on the final weekend of the Proms. The concerto – by Gwilym Simcock, the Mercury-shortlisted composer, jazz pianist and horn player who in 2006 was the BBC’s first New Generation jazz artist – reunites the three finalists from the 2016 BBC young musician of the year competition, hence the unusual lineup. “This is a unique combination of instruments,” says the saxophonist Jess Gillam. “I’m fascinated by the colours that we’re going to find. I hope we’ll be able to make a sound where people will think: what instrument is that?”

BBC young musician has launched many careers, but 2016 was exceptional: all three finalists have become major names. “It’s not like you win the competition and all these things fall from the sky, but it does give you a bit of public exposure,” says the horn player Ben Goldscheider, the 2016 brass section winner. “Then it’s up to you and the people around you what you make of that.”

John Slattery stars in The Rainmaker, which is already a hit in the US. Plus: catch Fontaines DC’s set at Reading Festival. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, ITV1
This glossy legal drama, a hit in the US last year, is based on John Grisham’s novel. Set in Charleston, it follows ambitious young couple Rudy (Milo Callaghan) and Sarah (Madison Iseman) who are associates at the esteemed Tinley Britt. But Leo is fired after a run-in with John Slattery’s smarmy boss Leo – and he takes a job at a slightly less, let’s say, refined firm. Cue a battle of the lawyers. Hollie Richardson

Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr lead a goofy roadtrip comedy that is just sharp enough to keep you strapped in

Idiots is billed as a return to the raunchy bro comedies of the 2000s like Pineapple Express and The Hangover and about halfway through there is a visual gag involving bodily functions that is so revolting, so unexpected and so genius that it comes close to them. For a moment, I was transported back to the mix of delight and disgust I felt upon watching a 90s Farrelly Brothers movie when I was far too young: How is this allowed?

Described as an “earnest-dipshits-on-the-road screwball comedy” by director Macon Blair (I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, The Toxic Avenger), this R-rated indie comedy can’t entirely deliver on that enticingly deranged promise, but it has enough testosterone-fueled transgression to make its runtime breeze by. Dave Franco plays Mark, a doofus with a neck tattoo who expresses affection for his fellow man by slapping them on the jowls. When he is invited to vacate his job at a call center – which he has been coasting through by playing gory video games and sneaking shots of whiskey at his desk – he teams up with Davis (O’Shea Jackson Jr) for a dodgy under-the-table job involving transporting wayward teens to rehab. Their first charge is Sheridan (Mason Thames), a moody influencer who has made a name for himself by playing cruel stunts on members of the public like an off-brand Jake Paul. Like Harold & Kumar before it, the road trip is an obvious but effective ruse for Idiots’s freeform, THC-addled approach to storytelling which finds the trio jumping from country diner to crummy motel to a Slavic granny’s living room as Sheridan attempts to derail his passage to rehab.

This time the ranks of the undead have acquired a hive mind, making them even more formidable adversaries. Can a maverick academic save the day?

Here is another frenzied K-zombie action-horror from Yeon Sang-ho, the director of Train to Busan and Peninsula. Colony is frontloaded with 10 minutes of sciencey exposition and setup during which a biotech CEO mentions maze-solving slime mould and the pioneering work of the entomologist William Wheeler on the hive minds of ant colonies. Then the CEO is injected with a disgruntled former employee’s bright green liquid tech – it always needs to be bright green in such circumstances – and becomes the first victim of a bio-terror attack that traps a small cross-section of South Korean society in a tower block with hordes of fast-moving rabid flesh-munchers. An hour and three quarters of goopy, bloody mayhem ensue.

An upscale shopping mall occupies the lower floors of the tower, and it takes some nerve to give your zombie film much the same setting as Dawn of the Dead, the masterwork of the godfather of the genre George A Romero. Thankfully Colony can boast an innovation: these zombies have a hive mind, an emergent collective intelligence that makes them more formidable adversaries than your average braindead stumbler. The moment that one of the infected notices you and screams, as in Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, they all turn and attack.

(Reprise)
The crossover star’s introspective sixth album is full of memories of his mother, who died in 2025, bringing his dextrous guitar to songs rooted in tradition and yearning

On the face of it, 2025 was a landmark year for Billy Strings. His fifth album, Highway Prayers, won him his third Grammy. The first bluegrass album in more than 22 years to debut at the top of the US album sales chart, it confirmed him as the genre’s biggest crossover star in decades. He was feted by everyone from Bob Dylan to Post Malone to Willie Nelson, the latter describing him as “the John Coltrane of bluegrass”, a pretty impressive soubriquet in anyone’s book. As the New York Times noted, he was now capable of filling the arena-sized venues that his idols – Doc Watson, Clarence White, Tony Rice, Béla Fleck – could never have dreamed of performing in, packing them out with an audience that look less like traditional bluegrass aficionados than Deadheads: a vast, mobile, hippy-ish army that call themselves Goats. They’re presumably drawn by the ease with which Strings occupies the no man’s land between country and expansive, psychedelically informed improvisation, his willingness to put acoustic guitar through umpteen effects pedals and stretch out songs for 20 minutes on stage.

It’s a side of Strings’ music that’s only hinted at on Highway Prayers’ follow-up: as Burn the Other End and Lucid Daydream draw to an end, they briefly unravel into a kind of abstraction that you can imagine as a jumping-off point for heady, out-there exploration live. But So Much for Goodbyes is an album more concerned with introspection, and understandably so. In the midst of 2025’s successes, Strings’ mother died of an overdose. His chaotic upbringing is a matter of record. His father died of a heroin overdose when he was two, both his mother and his stepfather were addicted to meth and he left home at 14 on the grounds that “there was no food in the house and my parents were strung out”. But Strings said he had “no idea” she had relapsed, and her death seeps into every corner of the album: its title and cover art – based on a collage his mother was working on the night she died; the concluding instrumental that bears her name, Debra’s Waltz; the songs that, on the surface, appear to have nothing to do with her passing.

A teacher’s private anxieties are subtly combined with political events in this Booker-listed tale set in coastal Massachusetts

Artie Dam is a much-loved history teacher from coastal Massachusetts famed for his white socks and old sneakers and who sees a growing hopelessness in his young students. Not only are they dispirited by the state of the world, but they also believe they won’t be able to achieve their professional dreams. Their feelings of dread and ennui are shared by Artie who is aghast at the imminent re-election of a cruel and divisive leader (who remains nameless).

Artie is also lonely in the company of his wife, Evie, a therapist who comes from a wealthy family and is dismissive of her “soft” spouse. Artie realises he doesn’t truly know Evie, and she doesn’t care to know him. He traces their loss of connection to their son Rob’s car accident a decade ago in which Rob survived but his girlfriend Heather was killed. Such is Artie’s desolation that he contemplates suicide, if only he can find a way of doing it discreetly. But something happens while he is sailing in his boat that changes his mind. Later, a revelation from his son further shifts his perspective on his relationships.

Jacques Forestier/Boris Kusnezow
(Warner Classics)
The Canadian violinist’s album definitely does what it says on the tin: from Bartók to Ernst, there is a quiet and beguiling eloquence to his playing

Perhaps the most promising thing about this impressive debut album from Jacques Forestier, the young Canadian violinist who tied in first place at the 2024 Joseph Joachim Competition, is the way it lives up to its title.

There’s a swing to the way he and the pianist Boris Kusnezow play Bartók’s six Romanian Folk Dances that extends even into the quiet movements, which sound distant and beguiling. Wieniawski’s Polonaise de Concert comes across as a dance rather than just a flashy showpiece. Bach’s D minor Sarabande is framed by movements from Ysaÿe’s solo Sonatas. All have persuasive rhythmic poise.

Royal Albert Hall, London
Yannick Nézet-Séguin polished up the Rosenkavalier suite then gave an exceptional reading of the composer’s self-congratulatory tone poem, while Elza van den Heever delivered a visceral account of Salome’s final scene

Artistically ambitious and with an ego the size of a small planet, Richard Strauss was rarely backwards in coming forwards. When quizzed about the wisdom of depicting his 34-year-old self in music he brushed the matter aside, declaring himself no less interesting than Napoleon. The work in question, the self-congratulatory yet brilliantly conceived tone poem Ein Heldenleben, formed the second half of this all-Strauss programme. Before that, the Met Orchestra, here making their Proms debut, stayed on home turf with music from the operas.

The Rosenkavalier suite, compiled by hand unknown, is frankly a mess, lurching from one bonbon to the next with never a thought for musical logic (the overblown ending is truly crass). Yannick Nézet-Séguin did a decent job of papering over the cracks, letting the music unfold naturally rather than forcing its ham-fisted transitions. The love scenes were the highlight here, the orchestra spacious and shapely. If the heart didn’t leap as it might, it was likely due to the absence of the human voice.

The author of The Adversary and Yoga unearths a history that includes the Nazis, Russia, and the Académie Française

When Emmanuel Carrère’s mother, Hélène, died in 2023, at the age of 94, President Macron spoke at her memorial. She had been “perpetual secretary” of the Académie Française, in effect its head, and 200 people gathered at Les Invalides in Paris to pay tribute. Emmanuel’s father, Louis, was there too, in a wheelchair, only half aware of what was going on. This 400-page memoir, translated into English by John Lambert, is a homage to both parents and the unlikely history that brought them together. It’s also an act of reparation towards Hélène, whom Emmanuel worshipped as a child but upset as an adult by publishing a book that she’d forbidden him to write.

Hélène grew up in stateless poverty in Paris, the daughter of Georges Zourabichvili, whose parents had fled Georgia in 1921, and Nathalie von Pelken, who as a child had six governesses, one for each day excluding Sunday. Though “the magical world of the fallen Russian aristocracy” was the backdrop, conditions were tough, not least after Georges disappeared in 1944, murdered by partisans for alleged Nazi collaboration. Hélène was 15 at the time and unsuccessfully tried to hide the truth about George’s death from her younger brother, Nicolas.

The much-discussed Life of M is the latest in a lineage of celebrity satire that spans from Virginia Woolf to The Devil Wears Prada

In Rachel Cusk’s new novel, Life of M, the famous actor protagonist participates in an event at a book store after hours. The actor, M, is joined by “a writer of some renown” and a fashion model who possesses “some vague self-absorption”. A brand sponsored the affair. I spent literal hours trying to find the real-world equivalent of the opaque fictional passage. I scrolled through the backlogs of influencers I know to appear bookish in their content, who might have fallen prey to Dior’s Ulysses tote bag drop or Miu Miu’s “literary club”. I even stooped so low as to DM a Natalie Portman fan account, asking for leads.

As has been widely reported, M’s character is based on Portman. One journalist was credited with the scoop, but she simply finished her advance copy sooner than the rest of us; it’s clear from page three, when Cusk describes M’s breakout film as having “immediately brought her childhood to an end” (obviously Léon: The Professional; Portman was 11 when she was cast) and a later film about obsessive, wild ballerinas (Black Swan). But the rumor that Portman is unhappy with her portrayal – an impression that cannot immediately be gleaned from the book itself, especially depending on interpretation of its final lines – has trickled down to the raggiest of tabloids.

A terminally ill woman makes a final trip to Egypt in an exquisitely wrought portrait of end-of-life reckoning

Virginia Woolf said of Middlemarch that it is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people. In the shallow and infantilising age through which we are living, Colin Thubron dares to assume that his readers are adults. Passage is a very beautiful, very moving, authentic work of art. Hardly more than a novella, it sits lightly in the hand, but its emotional and aesthetic weight overtips the balance.

Thubron began his career as a travel writer and a large part of the action of Passage is set in a vividly but economically evoked Egypt. This is not the teeming Egypt of Cairo or Alexandria, but of the countryside, the villages, and the great immemorial tombs and ancient monuments. The best travel writers know that “abroad” is most convincingly evoked not by awed exclamations at the world’s wonders, but by an attitude of relaxed familiarity. Thubron is obviously an old Egypt hand, or at least has the skill to convince us that he is.

A brilliant new biography that does its subject the favour of taking her seriously – even if few else did

Barbara Cartland was famous for dictating her novels. With a pekingese clamped to her hot pink bosom she would lie back on a library couch and exhale a story about virginal girls taming wayward dukes, damaged airmen or misunderstood surgeons. Meanwhile Miss Savory, Mrs Smith or Mrs Morgan, picked for being unfidgety and sneezeless, would take everything down in immaculate Pitman shorthand. Cartland reckoned on being able to polish off 8,000 words a day. “In this way,” she told one of the many reporters who quizzed her on her astonishing productivity, “the typescript for an 80,000-word novel is finished in a fortnight.” At her peak she was pushing out 23 books a year which added up to 723 in total. Only Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare topped her lifetime sales of 750m.

Cartland was a dictator in other ways, too. Husbands, dogs, houses and the local council were all expected to bend themselves to her indomitable will. Resistance, let alone opposition, was futile. The managing director of the company that printed her books suggested that she read Nietzsche on the perceptive grounds that they had a lot of ideas in common. Oddly, he also declared himself madly in love with her. Behind that marshmallowy exterior, all pink chiffon, candyfloss hair and soft, smudgy lines, there lurked sinews of high-tensile steel.

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, PC; Asobo Studio
The medieval franchise is transplanted to Crete, conjuring action-adventure magic from familiar ingredients

The path in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is a familiar one. Amid ancient ruins and sun-dappled gorges, a young woman, Sophia, dutifully treads the same footsteps as a Minoan warrior from millennia ago, one with whom she seems to share a visionary connection. The “resonance” between these two characters is made clear by their echoing actions – a crank pushed in the bronze age that still works in the medieval present, for example. Through these spliced timelines, it becomes clear that Sophia, compelled by her supernatural gift, possesses little agency. Destiny beckons her forwards.

This is a smart meta concept for a game that, at its most basic level, boils down to keeping your left thumb planted firmly on the analogue stick, always pushing Sophia onwards in linear fashion. You jostle her through ornate corridors rendered as higgledy-piggledy pirate camps and cobbled Venetian streets. For the greater part of the game, you propel her through the Minoan remains of Crete, which harbour a dark and terrible secret. It is classic third-person action-adventure fare, building on the template laid down by the likes of Tomb Raider and then refined and complicated by titles such as The Last of Us. Little, from an interactive perspective, surprises: you dash, vault and swing between teetering podiums, squeeze through tiny gaps in rock and crouch behind conveniently placed walls to avoid enemies.

The flat routines of a dead end railway job screen out an approaching menace in a quietly intriguing game from the indie developer of Cat Lady and Lorelai

Lonely jobs have provided excellent material for independent video games over the years. From Papers, Please to Firewatch to The Stanley Parable, players have been happy to spend hours dwelling in depressing cubicles or rural hideaways, usually because there is an intriguingly hidden point to it all.

In Trainwatch, a character named Troy has taken a seemingly godforsaken job as a railway worker in an unnamed desolate backwater. His main task over the course of a single month is to manage a level crossing, closing the gate whenever a train comes, while also carrying out daily chores such as cooking and washing. It sounds serene, but Troy is also running away from something. The other stipulations are that he stays sober and calls his wife every night. And there is something lurking in the fog at the edges of the fields – one day he must face it.

An increasing tension between players and publishers about ownership of titles could lead to a divestment from the system the big companies are trying to enforce

At the time of press, there is a well-publicised protest taking place in the video games community. PlayStation 5 owners are being encouraged to log off from their consoles between 23 and 30 August – no playing games, no downloading new titles. The motivating factor is Sony’s decision to cease physical game disc production from January 2028. After that, games will only be released as digital products. In an act of poor timing or wilful defiance, Sony chose this week to send out a mass email reminding customers of their PS5 terms and conditions: “The software is licensed to you, not sold,” states the relevant clause. “You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and personal license to play … ” It knows, of course, that most customers won’t open the email, let alone read it.

There has always been a tension between game players and game publishers – an underlying sense of mutual mistrust. Players are wary of their favourite franchises being canned, or games being delayed or released with bugs. Publishers and manufacturers are wary of piracy and the capricious tastes of consumers. But now the atmosphere among many game players feels more starkly political than ever. Microsoft has been targeted by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement for its ties to the Israeli military; the consumer advocacy group Stop Killing Games is gaining support; players have protested over the purchase of Electronic Arts by a Saudi-led consortium – boycotts have been proposed in part due to the possible ramifications regarding LGBTQ+ content in titles such as The Sims. As the games industry has grown and globalised, its impact on culture, society and politics has increased. Yet, on an individual level, gamers and consumers are feeling increasingly powerless.

PC; Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin, IronEqual
Race across impossible dystopian cityscapes in this exhilarating game of wall-runs, death-chancing leaps and split-second improvisation

At first, Vholume seems like a quick rush through some smartly selected references. Has this breathless yet austere parkour game been designed or ingeniously curated? The urban gymnast moveset comes from Mirror’s Edge. Level names use terms like conapt, first coined by Philip K Dick. And the environments themselves are dystopian and surreal, Half-Life 2’s City 17 colliding with the blasted avenues and mute archways of de Chirico. Many games have influences. Vholume has actual taste.

All the surface stuff fades away when the game is in motion, however. Vholume’s an on-foot racing game in which you hoof it through spectacularly odd environments, moving from one beam of concrete to the next. You’re clipping your wall-runs and power-slides together to bridge seemingly impossible gaps between buildings, forever in search of the next stretch of track, the next turn, the next jump that gets you to the level’s exit and the worldwide leaderboards. And once that’s done, you have a choice: onwards to another gauntlet, or back to the start of this one again to slice a few microseconds off your score? Or maybe you’d rather head over to multiplayer to race against the ghosts of others?

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
Watching a man labouring to strike up conversations in the smoking area of a nightclub proves not just funny but also touching and uplifting

Ever pretended to use your phone to avoid the shame of being Norman No-Mates at a party? Freddie Meredith’s new show is a 60-minute channelling of that experience, an hour-long cringe at a man labouring to strike up conversations in the smoking area of a nightclub.

Meredith, a familiar face to viewers of Big Boys, Such Brave Girls and other TV series, has alighted on a familiar social type here, albeit one rarely so brilliantly depicted. His alter ego is a shy and insecure beta male desperately trying to look – well, alpha is out of his reach, but even basic social functioning would be an upgrade.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh
Songs, physical comedy and clever design come together in Theatr Iolo’s adaptation of Arnold Lobel’s offbeat story, aimed at over-fives

Arnold Lobel was a writer with a keen sense of the seasons. Frog and Toad Are Friends, one of my favourite books since childhood, has a wonderful story where the excitable Frog wakes up his grumpy friend Toad and tricks him into enjoying the dawn of spring with him. Those stories celebrate togetherness but Lobel’s collection Owl at Home is about aloneness and being at one with your surroundings – even when the arrival of winter brings a snowstorm blowing through your roost.

With his hair gelled into tufts, George Williams plays Owl in this adaptation by Rina Vergano and Theatr Iolo, directed by Lee Lyford. We find Williams dozing in an armchair on Anisha Fields’ accomplished set, which retains the cosy essence of Lobel’s illustrations but is less twee. The roost functions as an equally eccentric character in itself, filled with contraptions, dark wooden furniture and a periscope to nervously keep an eye on the world outside.

Underbelly, Cowgate, Edinburgh
Grace McLean brings vocal and emotional range in the central role of Alex Bechtel’s Homeric song cycle

She is the one played by Anne Hathaway in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the central figure in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad and the inspiration behind a 2010 play by Enda Walsh. And here she is again, this time alone with her thoughts, a longsuffering woman in white, in a seductive song cycle by Alex Bechtel.

Penelope is played by Broadway actor Grace McLean who brings both vocal and emotional range to the part. Drily witty, defiant and elegant, she is the wife of Odysseus, doggedly hanging on for her husband’s return long after the end of the Trojan war. Much to her annoyance – and occasional temptation – a load of suitors are camping out in her house, ready to take his place.

Jermyn Street theatre, London
Two men shelter from catastrophe in this Beckettian tale of memory, companionship and survival, which is intelligently performed but light on tension

Jermyn Street’s basement theatre provides the perfect space for Simon Stephens’ postapocalyptic play about two men hiding in a bunker after an unnamed global catastrophe. Several of Beckett’s plays have been performed on this stage in recent years and these characters are distinctly Beckettian. Ashton (Ross Gaynor) and Reece (Ian Toner) may be the last men on Earth; they spend their time rehearsing the same stories, sometimes singing and, ultimately, waiting. But for what?

The difference between Beckett’s men and Stephens’ is the emphasis of hope over despair, although the two converge at times. Ashton and Reece play memory games, it seems, enacting scenes from their former lives. These are filled with optimism and promise: a declaration of love, a moment between father and son, the announcement of a pregnancy. One man is a porter, the other a professor. In ordinary life, they might have little in common but here they become receptacles for each other’s most precious memories.

At Jermyn Street theatre, London, until 26 September

Montreal-born actor also voiced KARR in Knight Rider and the monster in Predator, having started his career on Canadian TV and radio

Peter Cullen, the actor behind the voice of characters including Eeyore in Disney’s Winnie the Pooh franchise and Optimus Prime in Transformers, has died aged 85.

He died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, a statement said.

‘My sister was always thinking of others,’ Parton’s younger sister Stella wrote in a Facebook tribute

Dolly Parton’s younger sister Stella Parton has shared a moving tribute to the late country music singer on Thursday, revealing that Dolly offered to receive experimental cancer drugs “in the hope of helping others in the future” – an act of kindness and generosity that extended until the end of her life.

“My sister was one of the most generous, thoughtful and kind people I’ve ever known,” Stella wrote in a tribute shared on Facebook on Thursday. “What the world saw is exactly who she was.”

The actor on which star he’d devour first on a lifeboat, why he prefers pigeons to dogs and how Trainspotting put the Scottish accent on the map

You’re stranded on a lifeboat with Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Peter Mullan, James Cosmo, Keith Allen and Irvine Welsh. Who do you eat first? DarkAnaemicI77
I suppose you have to think about who’s the healthiest and has looked after their body best. I reckon Ewan would be a wee bit too chewy, and Irvine a wee bit pickled. I’ll go for Kevin McKidd because he’s been out in LA for 20 years, eating good food.

Did you really not like Zippy the West Highland terrier who played Wee Jock in Hamish Macbeth? Campbell97

Actor and singer best known for his roles in The Rocky Horror Show and the 1990 Stephen King TV miniseries It

In June 1973, I went to the Royal Court to see one of Edward Bond’s best plays, The Sea. On my way out, I met a colleague who said he had a spare ticket for something called The Rocky Horror Show in the Court’s studio space, the Theatre Upstairs, starting at around 10.30pm.

We had no idea what this was going to be about. There was a gantry rigged above us and, astonishingly, suddenly, crawling along it was a frizzy haired chap in fishnet stockings, suspender belt and lurid makeup. This was Tim Curry, as the deranged scientist and debauched sex magnet Dr Frank-N-Furter, introducing himself in song as “just a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania”.

There are two things to consider, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Are you hurt by the way she treats you or the way she sees you?

• Read more Leading questions

I’m struggling with a dynamic with my sister-in-law. We’re not a natural fit personality-wise, and I’ve tried to be mindful of that. At times I wonder whether she might be jealous of the life I have with her brother and our children. I often encourage my husband to spend time with her without me, because she doesn’t seem to particularly enjoy me being there. As a result, we now mostly see each other at family gatherings, which happen about once a month.

There’s a recurring pattern where she corrects me quite sharply, with an impatience that often feels disproportionate or plain mean. She might snap while I am talking to her parents (with whom I have a good relationship), laugh at how I pronounce a placename, or dismiss a question as though it’s too stupid to answer. These interactions are quick and barely noticeable to anyone else, although my daughter and husband have both observed and agreed it was pretty mean.

Suri’s eco-friendly brush fixes several flaws in the first-generation model – here’s what it does better (and what still needs work)

• The best electric toothbrushes, tested

When I wrote the Filter’s guide to the best electric toothbrushes, one brand I didn’t need a sample from was Suri. I already owned one of its brushes, drawn in by its impressive commitment to sustainability in a sector that seemed blissfully unbothered by the climate crisis unfolding around us.

Unfortunately, a few things held it back from taking the top spot, and I’m pleased to say that these have mostly been addressed with the Suri Pro 2.0. Is it the best you can buy? Still not quite, but the gap has significantly closed, and there are fewer caveats than ever when giving it a recommendation.

With a genuinely impressive lifetime guarantee, Nectar’s mattress outperforms pricier rivals for comfort and motion isolation

• The best mattresses, tested

Memory foam has been called the Marmite of the bed industry. Nice soundbite, but I think it’s more like butter – because many mattresses now include a “comfort layer” of this squishy material to make them more palatable. You wouldn’t eat a whole block of butter, though, and you probably wouldn’t want to sleep on a mattress made entirely from memory foam. Too much squish, too little support.

The Nectar Classic memory foam, like so many of the best foam and hybrid (foam and springs) mattresses, tempers the marshmallowy feel of true memory foam by sandwiching it between other types of foam, namely breathable polyfoam and dense support foam. As I discovered when testing it, this creates a lovely balance of comfort and firmness that feels more like a hybrid mattress, only without the bounce.

Always wondered what everyday stuff celebrities buy, where they shop for food, and the basic they scrimp on? The former reality star and author talks family heirlooms, organic veg and splurge-worthy jeans with the Filter

• How I Shop with Fred Sirieix

Millie Mackintosh rose to fame as part of the original cast of the reality show Made in Chelsea, filming five series before leaving in 2013. She has since established herself as a fitness, health and beauty ambassador, releasing her own beauty collection with Boots in 2017, and publishing Made: A Book of Style, Food and Fitness.

After choosing to go alcohol-free, she shared her journey in the bestselling Bad Drunk, co-written with Dr Ellie Cannon. Mackintosh speaks candidly about the realities of motherhood, mental health and self-care on Instagram.

Our writer spent weeks putting capsules, sheets and liquid detergent through their paces to find the best for your clothes and the planet

• Sustainable cleaning subscriptions that make life easier

Nothing makes falling into bed more enjoyable than freshly laundered sheets, especially if they’ve just been dried in the sunshine. It’s a definite bonus, though, to know your clean bedding won’t bring you out in a rash or pollute your local river.

Laundry detergent can be a troublesome product. A few years ago, I suffered a full-body rash after using pound-shop detergent on my sheets. I switched to a big-brand product and never had a reaction again, but there’s still the question of whether its ingredients may be causing environmental harm after they’ve gone down the drain.

Sardines, mackerel, herring, pilchards, sprats and anchovies ... canning only makes the umami flavour better. They’re my top choice for pasta

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I can’t find it, despite having spent the past 35 minutes looking, but somewhere in the house is The Crisis Cook Book. It’s a standard paperback, postbox-red with white writing on the cover, and full of recipes from chefs including Rowley Leigh, Heston Blumenthal and Jeremy Lee. Not having found it, I needed Amazon to tell me it was published in 2007 and compiled by Nick Lander, at the time the Financial Times’ restaurant correspondent. He asked 28 chefs to donate three recipes – their favourite starter, main course and dessert – and proceeds from the book went to the national homelessness charity Crisis.

The reason I needed (and still need – it is now a mission) to find the book is because inside it is Rowley’s recipe for pasta with tinned sardines, fennel, chilli and lemon zest. It’s a recipe that I have made so many times, and for so many years, that I don’t need to look at the book; but, equally, because I’ve made it so many times and so much time has passed, I have no idea how far I have drifted from the original, and want to check. I’ve even written about this recipe in my weekly Guardian column, without referring to the book or even mentioning Rowley! Not that a store-cupboard version of the Sicilian pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines and wild fennel) is owned by anyone, although Rowley did teach me.

Whether they’re consumed as a considered glass for one or something to sip on a short trip, miniature wine bottles are back with a bang

In the 1920s, the London wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd was asked to create a wine cellar for a doll’s house, commissioned by Queen Mary, to showcase the best of British craftsmanship. Designed by Edwin Lutyens, it had running water, electricity, a library of tiny books and, naturally, a wine cellar stocked with 1,200 miniature bottles, including vintage ports, an 1889 Montrachet and top-tier bordeaux. These days, the doll’s house resides in Windsor Castle, but Berry Bros has a replica of that cellar in its own Mayfair cellar, complete with 5ml bottles of those same wines.

It is fair to say that this is not representative of the calibre of wine one generally finds in miniature bottles, a format associated with air travel and what I once called “journey juice” – ie, a drop that would last me the six stops from home to London Victoria on a Friday night. Google “miniature bottles of wine” and you’ll overwhelmingly be served examples from the very biggest wine brands in the world. This is also true of canned wines, although I’d argue there’s more interesting wine going into cans than small bottles.

Including, to my surprise, a 100% cacao bar …

Although I’m un peu fatiguée of chocolates in bonbon shape with coloured cocoa-butter splashes atop, I appreciate this is the way many chocolates truffles are made. Overcoming that prejudice, I tucked into a box of Scoff chocolates. They were beautifully fresh tasting – they are made in batches throughout the year and the latest batch has just been let loose. I liked every one of the nine flavours I tested, from lemon to malted milk. But the ingredient list is long and a bit mainstream; a cleaner, more artisan approach and this would be a winning brand.

Marks & Spencer has brought out some 1980s classics in original packaging for those wanting to go full Rivals: look out for Now!, Jet, Sparks and Coconut Grove and see which chocolate classics they remind you of. My testers loved them.

Laborious to harvest and extortionately priced, the sunset-coloured stigmas of the saffron crocus have an extraordinarily warm, pungent taste. Fortunately, however, a little goes a very long way …

The saffron crocus has six lilac-purple flowers, three yellow stamens and three orange-red stigmas that extend beyond the petals like the wiry antennae of an insect. The thread-like stigmas have to be picked only by hand when the flowers are fully open, a laborious, finickety job that hasn’t changed much since ancient times. Then, to avoid the colour and flavour fading, the stigmas need to be dried very quickly, a process that reduces their weight by about 80%. Tens of thousands of fiery-looking filaments are required to produce half a kilogram of the dried threads, which make the “hay” or powder we know as saffron and explains the exorbitant cost. Fortunately, just a few threads of this precious spice go a long way.

Native to Crete, Iran and south-west Asia, the saffron crocus has been cultivated since the dawn of civilisation for its medicinal properties, as well as for use in cosmetics, perfume, food and as a dye. According to Alan Davidson in The Oxford Companion to Food, the Moguls brought the use of saffron from Persia to India, in particular Kashmir; meanwhile, in the westward direction, the Arabs were cultivating saffron in Spain by AD960, although it was not until the 13th century that cultivation spread to Italy, France, Germany and England, particularly Essex. In his book The Last Food of England, Marwood Yeatman describes the “orderly strips of purple flowers inches apart in beds of up to 10ft wide” growing in a field outside the prosperous, half-timbered Essex wool town of Chipping Walden. “The women (‘crokers’) stooped to lift the crop on damp and dewy September mornings.” By the early 1500s, Chipping Walden had been renamed Saffron Walden.

Helen says grabbing friends’ leftovers is a no-no. Bill thinks wasting food is wrong. You decide who should eat their words
• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

I know Bill hates waste, but pouncing on people’s leftovers is embarrassing, unhygienic and rude

With many adults admitting they feel lonely, meetup platforms offer the chance to make new connections

Would you pay £20 a month for the chance of making a friend, on the understanding that an algorithm – not you – gets to decide who you’ll meet?

Driven by the decline of “third spaces” such as youth centres and pubs, an increase in remote working and rising loneliness – 40% of adults aged 16 to 29 feel lonely “always, often or some of the time”, according to the Office for National Statistics – paid social events are now in vogue.

Research shows young adults often feel isolated. So alongside embracing ‘grandma hobbies’, they want to get involved with the places they live and be good neighbours

Name: Community-maxxing.

Age: The portmanteau is recent, but Homo sapiens have always been social creatures.

He has chased a deer across a dual carriageway, eaten an entire tray of chocolate brownies and jumped head first into a canal. But despite all the worry he brings us, he is extraordinarily lovable

Ernie found his way into our hearts and home about nine years ago, when he strategically crawled into my lap during a family visit to meet a litter of puppies. While all the other beagle puppies ran wild, Ernie sat comfortably on me with his long, soft ears dangling down. We chose him because of his placid nature and named him Ernie after my mum’s late dad, who coincidentally also had short legs and a bit of a round belly.

After a few weeks we realised that Ernie was anything but placid. His gentle temperament quickly morphed into an unruly and persistent need to find his way into danger.

We want our balance back, but we can’t access the money to pay for essential repairs and settle an electricity bill

Last November, Lloyds Bank informed me, in my role as treasurer of my parish church, that the church account was to be closed and that I should open a new business account instead. This can only be done online, but a fault with their system prevented me – and local branch staff – from doing so.

At the branch staff’s suggestion, I opened the new account with a different bank in early March. Since then, I’ve been trying in vain to get Lloyds to transfer the balance from the closed account.

Britons will be able to buy ‘balcony’ systems they can install themselves from 27 August thanks to rule change

Despite this summer bringing hours of sunshine, many Britons have been unable to cash in on free electricity generated by the sun. Rooftop solar panels are usually out of the question if you live in a flat or rent your home, and the cost has made them prohibitive to many more households.

However, this could be about to change because next week the first wave of low-cost “plug-in” solar panels will go on sale in Great Britain.

It has not paid me for months and I am in severe financial distress, and apart from my husband while I try to sort it out

I stopped receiving my NHS pension in May and, when I rang to ask why, I was informed that I was deceased.

I have repeatedly called to no avail and my emails have received auto-generated responses.

Sign-up perks may capture the attention but should the focus be on the interest-free overdraft?

• Students on their biggest financial shocks

• The best student deals and discounts

• An insider’s tips on student money

In the scramble to sort out university accommodation, join freshers group chats and work out how a student loan payment is meant to stretch across a whole term, there is one big decision that is easy to put off but worth getting right: which student bank account to open.

Student accounts work like any other current account but come with two extras that don’t apply to the general public: an interest-free overdraft, and a lot of perks designed to hook you in as a customer for life.

The public health emergencies in 2022 and 2024 saw the virus reported in 145 countries, but in the new cases children appear particularly affected

A fresh outbreak of mpox in Guinea Bissau – the country’s first – means the virus formerly known as monkey pox is back in the headlines. So what has changed?

Since 2022, there have been almost 190,000 lab-confirmed cases of mpox reported worldwide in 145 countries. Before then, outbreaks of mpox tended to be relatively small and in a handful of African countries, where the viral infection was known to be endemic.

Scientists found those who had used hormone replacement therapy were 10% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia

Hormone replacement therapy may reduce the risk of dementia, a study has found.

Scientists tracked more than 180,000 postmenopausal women in the UK in the largest study of its kind. They found that those who had used HRT were 10% less likely to develop any type of dementia and 16% less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the most common form, compared with those who had never used it.

Discussing people’s bodies can be fraught. We asked eating disorder experts how to do so – or not – responsibly

In the age of Ozempic and people being open about plastic surgery, discussion about people’s bodies is rife. At the same time, nobody seems quite sure how to talk about them, as shown by recent coverage of celebrities like Ariana Grande.

It is a fraught topic. We asked eating disorder experts for guidelines to follow when talking about other people’s bodies, and how to do so without doing harm.

Creatine has become the go-to supplement for anyone wanting to give their fitness a boost and build muscle. It’s even made it out of the gym, with influencers touting its cognitive benefits. But what’s the science behind creatine, and does the evidence stack up? Madeleine Finlay hears from science editor Ian Sample and Dr Justin Roberts, professor of nutritional physiology at Anglia Ruskin University

Is it true that … we should all be taking creatine?

Athletes and fitness influencers use creatine, but what is it? And does it work?

The 70s was a golden era for the jumpsuit, but I’m happy they’re back, thanks to Harry Styles, Benson Boone and – of course – me

Since appearing on The Traitors, I’ve become synonymous with jumpsuits. In fact, I’ve been required to wear one at every public appearance I have made since it aired, despite only wearing two on the show. That’s the power of the jumpsuit, I guess.

When I was packing for the show, I wasn’t even sure I would bring them – and not everyone watching liked them. Lots of people did, but I got messages saying: “What the hell is he wearing?”. The memes were also phenomenal. My favourite was my head on John Travolta’s body in a still from Saturday Night Fever.

The event feted its 25 year anniversary with labels like Zambesi, promising emerging designers and an explosion of Māori and Indigenous culture

New Zealand fashion week took place in Auckland this week at the heritage-listed Shed 10 on Waitemata harbour and other venues across the city. Founded by Dame Pieter Stewart in 2001, now run by entrepreneur Feroz Ali, the 25th anniversary featured a mix of established names, exciting newcomers and a dramatically enhanced Indigenous program. The event boasted three separate group showcases of creatives from not just the Pacific region, but India, Taiwan and the US, in addition to the inaugural New Zealand Indigenous fashion symposium.

If ‘lifespan’ is the time you’re alive and ‘healthspan’ the years you’re disease-free, then ‘hotspan’ is the period you’re attractive and vibrant. Want to increase yours? Experts share their tips

Forget 12-step skincare routines, red light therapy and injectables – the single most important thing you can do for your skin is wear UV protection. “Not just sun protection, but UV protection, every single day, regardless of weather or season,” says Dr Jennifer Owens, resident aesthetic expert at the Reborne Longevity clinic in London. “Up to 90% of visible skin ageing is caused by UV exposure – nothing else comes close in terms of impact.”

Cute, egoless canines offer a break from a world that feels dominated by ‘nepo babies’ and ‘Maga lady aesthetic’

What do Nicole Kidman, a pair of “nepo babies” and a beagle called Sansa Martínez Berlingeri have in common? They all appear on the covers of the all-important September issues of Vogue and Dogue. But the winner of the unofficial battle of the covers? The one with the keenest sense of smell and a penchant for playing with socks.

The September covers of British Vogue and Vogue US have come under intense scrutiny after their recent release, while their canine counterpoint, Dogue, has been almost unanimously celebrated.

Built in the 60s and 70s to curb a holiday exodus to Spain, with apartments inspired by Mayan pyramids and featuring ‘intergalactic curves’, La Grande-Motte is having another moment in the sun with fans of modern architecture

My dream holiday is a trip back in time. Not to see the results of seismic Pompeii or 15th-century Machu Picchu – although I love both – but somewhere created specifically between the mid 1950s and 1970s, when cities were getting weird. I love postwar architourism, exploring urban planning at its most frenzied and optimistic. I have relished trips to Niemeyer’s Brasília and Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh in India, where the monumental and visionary modernist architecture and interiors are at odds with the minimal population. So La Grande-Motte, the retro futurist folly of a resort town on the southern coast of France, a 30-minute drive from Montpellier, had long been on my “must visit” list.

The tourist board of this Occitanie seaside town likes to flag up some superficial parallels between it and the aforementioned cities, but this isn’t a high-concept capital city or administrative hub. It was built in the late 1960s and early 1970s purely to persuade the French to stop going south to the Costa Brava in Spain. As part of an initiative by the French government, a stretch of windswept mosquito-infested coast between Montpellier and Perpignan, including Gruissan and Port Leucate, was reimagined as an alternative to the Côte d’Azur with several new-build beach towns. La Grande-Motte would be the weirdest project. It was made for fun. It’s also well positioned to visit the nearby salt marshes and 13th-century walled-in town of Aigues-Mortes, for when you want to feel as if you’ve ticked a few more holiday boxes.

The crowds at the top of Yr Wyddfa, the highest mountain in Wales, are now so huge that seasoned hikers and climbers are simply walking past them. Is everyone just making a mountain out of a molehill?

Name: The Snowdon queue.

Age: A decade and a half, give or take.

In the shadow of the crowded Lake District, this quiet coast path offers great views, breathtaking nature and a striking new hotel on the historic waterfront

What’s the edgiest region in the UK? I don’t mean in the sense of sketchy or fashionable, but where on the map of these four nations feels most at the margins of everywhere else? For my money, the north Cumbrian coast is a strong contender. Hemmed in by the Lake District fells on one side and the Solway Firth and Irish Sea on the other, this strip of towns and villages, farms and nature reserves, clinging to the low-lying littoral, has been battling nature, weather, geology and geography throughout its history.

Coastal erosion is part of the challenge. Like the railway navvies before them, the planners and builders of the England Coast Path (ECP) have done sterling work at plotting a viable footpath and shoring it up. But there are and always will be sections that are compromised and even impassable. I chose a section that would take three days, walking southwards, and my final destination, St Bees, was only reachable via a diversion. It’s all part of the adventure, and we’re lucky to have the ECP as a national trail, as it means issues and obstacles on the English coast will usually be promptly addressed.

From smoked kippers in Northumberland to dolphin spotting in Dorset and a palm-fringed village on a sea loch in the Scottish Highlands

The historic harbour is the hub of this working East Neuk fishing port, home to a fleet of about 30 small trawlers and creel boats. Their catches are sold at the covered market on the quay each weekday morning, and served at the harbourside Dory Bistro and Chip Ahoy at the Larachmhor pub. Pittenweem (which means “place of the cave”) also has a Victorian-era swimming pool next to the beach, which is filled by the tide twice a day. After falling into disrepair, it was saved by a local group called the West Braes Project and reopened in 2021, along with the crazy golf course. Early each August, there is an annual arts festival with exhibits by nearly 200 artists in harbourside spaces, heritage buildings, homes and studios. Pittenweem is flanked by two other pretty harbour villages, St Monans and Anstruther, while a third, Crail, is a little further north; the Fife Coastal Path links them all. The Bank in Anstruther has harbour-view rooms (doubles from £120 B&B).

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?

Every now and then the Thursday quiz gets involved in a flap, as it did last week with “birb”-gate. After a sustained campaign lasting at least two weeks, subeditors finally relented and allowed the quiz to call our feathered friends “birbs” – only for half the comment section to revolt against the indignity of modern internet parlance. Still, that is nothing compared with the time a reader complained that the quiz using the phrase “baby cows” was unbecoming of a broadsheet newspaper. Anyway, 15 questions on news, general knowledge and obscure trivia await, and no “birbs” were harmed in the process. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 262

Dublin’s representative in the traditional festival defiantly reckons with xenophobia and balances Gaelic pride with her Somali heritage

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Last week marked the climax of Ireland’s Rose of Tralee festival, an annual celebration of Irish women, culture and the Irish diaspora. When Suad Mooge was chosen as Dublin’s participant in the festival earlier this year, she quickly became a symbol of Ireland’s fraught conversation around immigration and what constitutes Irish identity.

I caught up with Suad on a video call a week after the festival’s culmination, and found someone reflective and determined in the face of criticism.

Fiction sleuths are obsessed with the idea that the book, Life of M, is a flagrant riff on the actor’s life. And despite being a firm Cusk fan, Portman is reportedly not happy

Life of M, the latest book by the critically acclaimed author Rachel Cusk, is being billed by its publisher, Faber, as a “blazing interrogation of fame, power, beauty and truth” – and openly alleged as a thinly veiled portrait of Natalie Portman. For weeks before publication, speculation has swirled that its movie-star main character is based on Portman – to her reported displeasure.

With the book out this week, readers and critics alike are judging it as literature and gossip. Don’t want to read it yourself, but want to have an opinion? Here’s your crib sheet.

Service charges used to be a matter of choice, but now consumers feel obliged to pay them for even a cup of coffee. How do we navigate this minefield and who is really profiting?

In a London pub, Greg Double was brutally confronted with the reality of Britain’s evolving tipping culture. “I was annoyed about the pint being eight quid, but then when you put service on top, it’s absolutely criminal,” he says. In the past, you might have told the bar staff to keep the change or have a “drink” on you, but since when did we routinely tip in pubs? Or coffee shops? Or, worst of all, at self-service machines? Tip creep is happening.

Tipping was awkward enough in the UK when the general rule was 10% at a restaurant, plus anxiety about whether you should tip the hairdresser, babysitter or food-delivery driver. Now, with tipping suggested ever more frequently, US-style, it has become a minefield to Britons. The amounts edge higher – in fancier London restaurants, a 15% service charge is relatively commonplace. And it’s often asked for – in coffee shops for example, when you pay – before any service is delivered.

People with persistent predatory personalities cause an inordinate amount of pain. Recently, our shared understanding of them has grown – and it could help protect us

The classic checklist for psychopathy was developed in 1980 by Prof Robert Hare, who is still the recognised giant of the territory. The 20 traits, which ranged from pathological lying to a lack of empathy, were based entirely on prison populations. This worked because not only did Hare have the benefit of a large sample, with pronounced psychopathic behaviours, but he was able to compare interviews and self-reporting with data collected about the individuals – so inconsistencies could be identified.

However, Hare knew this approach was limited. In 1976, he said that he simply didn’t know to what extent his results could be generalised to non-incarcerated psychopaths, including female ones. “Research into the socially successful psychopath is badly needed,” he concluded. Even decades later in the early 2000s, when Hare wanted to look into psychopaths in politics, he still needed to go to prison to find them (Pinochet’s henchmen in Chilean jails). Research into the higher-functioning psychopath – who doesn’t get caught, or maybe doesn’t even resort to crime – has proved elusive, not least because self-reporting questionnaires don’t work. Psychopaths lie; arguably, that’s their main thing.

A glacial collapse registering as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event occurred near the border on Wednesday morning

Hundreds of people have died in catastrophic flash floods in Nepal. Here’s what we know so far about what caused the disaster.

With Reuters and Associated Press

Georges Dib, who had 8.7m TikTok followers, was arrested on Sunday after being sentenced in absentia to life in prison

Known to his 8.7m TikTok followers as Dr Food, Georges Dib was a popular Lebanese food influencer who would hold giveaways, post behind-the-scenes tours of his food production facilities and wax philosophical about the ingredients of success.

But Lebanese authorities allege that when the camera was off, the chef was living a double life. For months they sought his arrest on charges of international drug trafficking and production, accusing him of hiding narcotics in his pastries.

Floods and mudslides have swept away houses and roads with many hundreds missing

Hundreds are missing and at least 160 people have died after torrential floods ⁠hit the Himalayan border areas of ⁠Nepal and in ​Tibet in China. An avalanche of ice and rock triggered massive flash floods causing widespread damage to villages and infrastructure.

Officials said hundreds of travellers from countries including India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Malaysia, were reported missing.

We would like to hear your tributes and memories of the performer - whether you met him or admired his work

Tim Curry, performer of screen and stage, who made his name as the flamboyant Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, has died aged 80.

Curry got Tony nominations for his varied stage work on Broadway as Mozart in Amadeus, Alan Swann in My Favorite Year and as King Arthur in Monty Python’s Spamalot. He also made a supremely creepy Pennywise the Clown in the 1990 TV adaptation of Stephen King’s It. But above all he is most remembered for one role: Dr Frank-N-Furter in the Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), the screen version of the 1973 stage show.

As people grow used to AI chatbots, we’d like to hear your views about Google’s search engine

Google has put artificial intelligence at the front and center of its search bar. The most-visited site on the internet still shows the same list of links to users, but they have to scroll past a summarized response from an AI chatbot, a feature Google calls AI Overviews. The change to what was once the gateway to the rest of the internet has been profound, and the browsing habits of billions of people are shifting.

“AI is driving the most significant upgrade of the Google Search experience ever,” Liz Reid, Google’s vice-president of search, wrote last August. In May, the company said more AI is coming.

We would like to hear your tributes and memories of artist Yayoi Kusama – whether you met her, or appreciated her work

Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese outsider artist who became a global superstar, has died aged 97.

Kusama died in a Tokyo hospital on 14 August, her company Yayoi Kusama Inc announced in a statement on Thursday.

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