The comedian dominated Saturday night TV in the 1980s, with his sketch shows attracting 18 million viewers. Next came the West End musicals and sitcoms. But in 2016 he quietly disappeared from the limelight. What happened?

The electronic gates slide open to reveal a gorgeous Portuguese villa, a swimming pool and a beansprout of a man. “You’ve made me feel very important,” says Russ Abbot with a smile. “Come in!”

It’s more than 30 years since Abbot, aged 78, dominated Saturday night TV with his sketches, songs and impersonations. He appealed to all sorts. Kids, parents and grandparents united around the TV – first for Russ Abbot’s Madhouse, which ran from 1980 to 1985, then The Russ Abbot Show, from 1986 to 1991. He was joined by the inimitable Bella Emberg and a cast of young comics, including Les Dennis, Dustin Gee and Michael Barrymore. But make no mistake, it was Abbot’s show and the 80s was his decade. At his peak, he attracted 18 million viewers an episode.

North Shields’ Gabriele Keenaghan was 12 when she was evacuated from Nazi Austria in 1939. She remembers the shock of leaving her family at Westbahnhof station

Gabriele Keenaghan still remembers the day in April 1939 when she said goodbye to her grandmother at a Vienna railway station for a Kindertransport to Britain – tears were strictly forbidden.

“I was apprehensive and I was worried because Nazis in black uniforms were on the platform,” she said. “I was only 12 years old so I think they were frightening … terrifying.

Ignore the party poopers who say toddlers spoil the fun. I’ve braved the raves with my twins – and I’ve seen how families add to the magic of events

The woman I used to be died the day I gave birth to twins. That life – full of spontaneous travel, impulsive decisions and a decorated social calendar – evaporated, giving way to a blank canvas of motherhood and two glorious little human beings. While I was inside that summer, many of my friends continued on their child-free paths. They posted pictures of themselves enjoying festivals, sleeping in tents with pop-up communities that I used to be a part of.

So when the twins turned one last summer and we’d found our rhythm, I decided to take on the challenge of sharing the magic of live music with them. It went better than I expected. Before their second birthday, we had danced at day festivals such as Situation Dance, put on by Femi Koleoso from Ezra Collective, camped out overnight in the Brecon Beacons for Green Man and been to the child-focused TOTFest.

Iman Amrani is a freelance writer and producer

Rightwing voices seize on plans to offer Black children an exclusive afternoon at an outdoor pool in the German capital

It was meant to be an outing for Black children in Berlin and their families, offering them an exclusive afternoon at an outdoor pool set up by a local theatre.

But the plans, slated for earlier this month, had to be scrapped after they were seized on by rightwing and conservative voices to whip up outrage, leaving organisers fending off racist emails and threats.

Manchester United’s under-powered attack, Brentford’s £39m bargain and Dewsbury-Hall delivers for Everton

Arsenal’s treatment of Gabriel Martinelli has been questioned by Ian Wright after the Brazil forward was left out of their squad for Friday’s opening game against Coventry. Martinelli turned down a move to Galatasaray last week after Arsenal had agreed a fee with the Turkish club and the former striker Wright revealed on Sky Sports after the Coventry game that no one at the club has spoken to the 25-year-old to discuss his future. “I know they might want him out, and a lot of people might say: ‘Yeah, it’s time for him to move him on.’ But there’s ways of doing that and it should suit him as well, how he wants to leave,” said Wright. “He’s done enough with this squad to be treated with a little bit more respect than he’s being treated with at the moment.” Ed Aarons

Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Coventry

Match report: Brighton 4-0 Aston Villa

Bloody noses, ear cleanings, the first sproutings of armpit hair … the photographer reveals how he captured his two babies growing into boys and then men

Not many family photo albums open with images of the twin towers on fire. But for Nick Haymes, it made perfect sense. “When 9/11 happened,” he says, “I realised life was very short.” At the time, he was living in New York, trying to forge a career, while his friend, colleague and future wife Lina was dealing with the fallout of her previous marriage. “It made us realise we should probably get together and have a family. It was this huge historical event, but on a very micro level, it also shaped my relationship with my wife and children.”

Chronograph is a photography book that runs from those terrorist attacks to the present day, tracing the journey of Haymes’s two sons, Philipp and Lawrence, as they grow from drooling babies into young men. We are given a ringside seat as arms get broken, beloved pets die and hairs start sprouting from armpits. The mundane side of life – verrucas, messy kitchens, Lina cleaning out an ear with a cotton bud – is captured in the same way as birthday parties and rites of passage.

UK PM to announce support for France in setting up missile assembly lines during his Kyiv visit, as coalition of willing the meets later today

• Burnham visits Ukraine with promise of boost for Kyiv’s long-range missiles

Burnham’s visit to Kyiv comes on the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Day, a holiday that understandably means so much more during the 1,643 days of the full-scale Russian invasion – and counting.

In a special address, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted that “things are really very difficult for all of us,” but said the unity of all Ukrainians “is … holding us firmly by the hand.”

“Putin hopes that we are tired. But we know that he is mortal. He never understood us. Now he will not have time to.

You wanted to take all our Ukraine, all our land; instead, you lost your oil refineries, your fleet, your profits, your entire generation that you sent into the meat grinder.

‘Shocking’ breaches such as sweets and crisps at breakfast uncovered just before expansion of free school meals

Three-quarters of secondary schools in England are breaking the rules on food offered to pupils by serving chips, burgers and hash browns too often – and sweets and crisps at breakfast time, according to a report.

“Shocking” breaches of school food standards have been exposed on Monday, in a new analysis of the food provided at almost 400 state secondaries undertaken by Bite Back, a food charity set up by the chef Jamie Oliver.

Emotional tributes paid to PCs Matthew Blades and Tom Clough whose vehicle was in a head-on collision with car travelling wrong way

Cleveland police have published photographs of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough who died when a car travelling the wrong way on the A66 crashed head-on into their police vehicle.

Two 17-year-old boys were among the seven people who were killed in the incident on Teesside.

Just 8,383 jobs for people leaving university were advertised in July, says recruitment website Adzuna

• Business live – latest updates

Graduate job vacancies in the UK have sunk to their lowest level since they started being tracked a decade ago, according to a recruiting website.

Just 8,383 jobs for people leaving university were advertised in July, Adzuna reported on Monday, down 45% compared with the same point last year and the lowest since the company started gathering the data in 2016.

Foundayo will be available on private prescription, with pharmacists warning of counterfeit GLP-1 problem

A new daily pill that treats diabetes and helps with weight loss will be available in UK pharmacies from Monday.

Pharmacists said the move would be welcome for people who cannot use weight-loss jabs, but also issued a warning over the growing problem of fake, unlicensed or counterfeit versions of GLP-1 tablets.

Poll also finds sizeable majorities who believe it should be easier to install air con in homes

Given the choice, more people across six major European nations including the UK favour encouraging the adoption of air conditioning over keeping carbon emissions down, a survey has found.

After four extreme heatwaves that have caused thousands of excess deaths across the continent, the survey showed between 30% and 52% of people in six countries had feared for their household’s health in temperatures close to or above 40C (104F).

Press Association given list of 65 items from publicly owned collection that have gone missing since 2024

A photograph of Benjamin Disraeli, an engraved portrait of William Wilberforce and a cartoon of Barbara Castle have all been misplaced by the UK parliamentary authorities, a freedom of information (FoI) request has revealed.

The Press Association has been given a list of more than 65 works of art that have been missing since 2024. They also include a photograph of Margaret Beckett, the UK’s first female foreign secretary and the first woman to lead Labour, and a satirical cartoon by Martin Rowson from the Conservative leadership battle of 1995.

Actor says highlighting role of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in media company’s merger with Warner Bros Discovery has been ‘dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel’

Mark Ruffalo has fired back at Paramount Skydance after the media company accused him of invoking “antisemitic tropes” in his criticism of its $111bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).

The actor, who has long been outspoken against Israel’s military conduct in Gaza and for the rights of Palestinians, shared a statement on social media on Friday in which he highlighted the links between Paramount Skydance, run by CEO David Ellison, and Oracle, the technology company run by Ellison’s father, Larry.

Pair are offspring of two beavers who mysteriously arrived in Pensthorpe nature reserve near Fakenham in December

Wild beaver kits have been born in Norfolk for the first time in more than 500 years.

The pair of newborns are the offspring of two free-living beavers who mysteriously arrived in Pensthorpe nature reserve near Fakenham in December.

PM’s honeymoon period will come to an end as he makes decisions on the budget, welfare, migration and prisons

Andy Burnham has enjoyed a month-long honeymoon period since he became prime minister, winning public support with a series of popular but relatively low-cost announcements. They have included cutting VAT on electricity bills, reducing the cost of bus travel and reviewing business rates for small businesses.

But as MPs prepare to return to the Commons in just over a week, the prime minister is about to face his first real challenge in office, as he makes a number of key decisions that could create enemies but define his premiership.

She was the first woman, according to myth, and she let loose all the evils and sorrows of humanity. But Aszure Barton thinks Pandora’s had a bad rap – and she’s using dance to reimagine her tale

Aszure Barton is taking herself back to the creation of Mere Mortals, remembering the creative buzz of the studio at San Francisco Ballet. “Sam was fiddling around making magic in one corner,” she says – that’s Sam Shepherd, AKA electronic musician Floating Points, who plays live in the show. Digital art duo Hamill Industries were there too, designing visuals for giant LED screens. “I was in a corner with the dancers,” says Barton. “Principals and apprentices, everyone working together. It was a really shared experience, which I loved.” In fact, it’s a “curiosity for real collaboration” that drives the Canadian-American choreographer. “If it was just about me,” she says, “the work wouldn’t be as powerful.”

Mere Mortals, which opened in San Francisco in 2024, is finally getting a European premiere, at this year’s Edinburgh international festival. While Barton’s memories of making the show are all about human connection, the subject matter is quite the opposite: artificial intelligence. It’s inspired by the myth of Pandora’s box, but instead of a box unleashing the evils and sorrows of humanity, it is reimagined as a cautionary tale about AI.

Robert Solomon loves the early mornings, picking out the apples, tending to the broccoli and fussing up the dandelion greens. At 71, he says it’s the best job he’s had

When Robert Solomon’s working hours were cut during the pandemic – he did building management and tech support for a nonprofit organisation – he got an extra job at a food cooperative, helping to stock the store. It was, he says, the most ordinary job, but that’s what made it special.

That job ended with the pandemic, but in 2022 he left the nonprofit and hunted for grocery positions. Now, at 71, he is assistant buyer in produce (ie fruit and vegetables) at an independent market in New York. “I love the opportunity to do physical, creative work with my body, hands and mind,” he says. “I’m working harder than I have since my 30s, and I love it.”

Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60?

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.

Dutch sustainable smartphone revamped with new chip and more RAM without sacrificing modular design

Fairphone’s top Android for 2026 is a little faster with more memory while maintaining full compatibility with its previous phone, including its repairable and ethical chops.

The Fairphone 6+ continues the Dutch cooperative’s mission to make consumer electronics longer lasting and more sustainable, containing 51% either recycled or ethically sourced materials while being fully repairable at home with just the one screwdriver included in the box.

Study finds device brings significant fall in chest pain in 75% of patients, but further trials and NHS approval are needed

“It’s an amazing relief, both physically and emotionally, to be able to live my life again normally, without feeling that I’m limited all the time in what I can do.”

Cristian Jensen is describing the difference that an implant inserted in his chest – to reduce the symptoms of his debilitating angina – has had on his life.

No longer banned from next year’s presidential election, Le Pen is a far more formidable force than her understudy, Jordan Bardella

France loves a battle-scarred survivor. Charles de Gaulle, François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac clawed their way back from political failure to become presidents of the republic. There is a significant chance that Marine Le Pen will be next.

Now that the Paris appeal court has unshackled her from an electoral ban for fraud, the far-right veteran has double appeal in the race for the French presidency next year. She will run, as always, as an outsider and a scourge of the political elites – despite continuously holding electoral office since 1998. She can also now pose as a “miraculous survivor”, a “mother courage” and “a battling granny”, as senior French political figures, including former ministers, described her to me during recent conversations in Paris.

Mujtaba Rahman is the managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm

Andy Burnham hopes we’ll forget the big stuff if he sorts out our minor frustrations and low-level gripes. Pothole politics hasn’t won me over yet, but I know some changes that could

This is a vulnerable confession, but I spend way too much time on the social media of the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Whether he is seemingly effortlessly speaking Mandarin, hanging out with kids or charmingly accepting that he should wear a cycle helmet, the man with the million-watt smile is my antidepressant. (Even more vulnerable confession: I believe, irrationally, he is looking after my elder son, who lives there.)

This means that I know all about Mamdani’s fight against what Business Insider recently deemed the “annoyance economy” – daily frustrations that make you poorer or drive you slowly, miserably mad. These include the absurd complexity of cancelling subscriptions; hidden fees; getting charged more for something you looked up last week, because of cookies; never being able to find a public toilet; and potholes. He has taken to responding when he gets tagged in people’s “Mamdani, fix this” posts to the point where Britons online are even jokily asking him to take on their problems.

The landscape was striking, but so was the diversity of the hikers. We can make this the new normal – and we should

A fortnight or so ago, my two teenage kids and I set out on a three-night visit to the Peak District where temperatures were hovering at a comparatively tepid 28C. We stayed at a youth hostel – more of which in a moment – and began the trip with the 20-minute ascent of Mam Tor, a modest peak that pulls in both dedicated ramblers who then yomp along the ridge beyond, and newbies who mostly want to get to the top and immerse themselves in the jaw-dropping view.

The next bit might sound self-parodically Guardian-esque, but what the hell: in its own way, the most striking sight was the diversity of the scores of people rambling up, down and along. Women in their 20s wearing hijabs picnicked on giant rocks, while multiracial gaggles of young men attempted to race to the top; solo and shirtless white fitness freaks and retirement-age dog walkers took their places alongside them. With plenty of justification, country walking has long been typified as one of the most monoculturally white pursuits there is. But here – presumably because of the relatively close proximity of Manchester and Sheffield – things looked different.

John Harris is a Guardian columnist

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s attempt to calm bond markets is a sign of weakness not strength

“Look, there’s nothing magic about that $40tn number,” the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, told CNBC insouciantly last week, as the country’s debt mountain surpassed another bleak record.

Yet Bessent’s decision to intervene in government bond markets in an effort to combat soaring yields belied his studied calm in TV interviews – and reignited fears the US may be on the road to a debt crisis.

Fears of a datacenter buildout debt crisis are exaggerated. The risks are different than in the past and they are recoverable

Some experts are warning of a looming “debt bomb” crisis because big datacenter builders such as Meta, Oracle, xAI and CoreWeave are not only raising billions to construct these facilities but are also not recognizing these long-term debt obligations on their balance sheets.

Should we be concerned? No. I know because I’ve seen this movie before.

The city that used to be full of kind strangers is increasingly witnessing racist disorder. I hope it can find its way back to its old friendliness

Scottish people have always been known for their friendliness. “We’re not like the south of us,” they say, referring to England. The official slogan of Scotland’s largest city, “People make Glasgow”, appears everywhere – on T-shirts, buildings, bus stops and mugs. And when I first moved to Scotland from India in 2018, I was immediately welcomed by kind strangers and helpful neighbours. People showed curiosity, rather than intrusiveness. They respected queues; told me I fit right in. Music, art and cultural events were considered inclusive spaces in the city, with calls for diversity, creativity, inclusion – all the good things.

As an outsider, this was a dream come true: to be myself, to be alone, to have brotherhood and a community. It was life-changing. I could do whatever I wanted, wear whatever I wanted, walk by myself at night, even. That is a luxury, especially for a woman. But something has changed, particularly after Covid, a global recession and years of austerity. Now, I watch the steady rise of far-right, fringe violence and I feel a special scrutiny upon me.

Sanghmitra Singh is a human rights lawyer and a writer

This article is published as part of a partnership with Pass the Mic, which works to amplify the expertise of women of colour

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Capitalism and the climate crisis are conspiring to destroy the concept of seasons. I’ll take solace in my pumpkin spice

Happy spooky season, everyone! Get those jack-o’-lanterns out, because Halloween is just around the corner!

Just kidding, no, it’s not.

The prime minister has focused on domestic affairs since coming to office. But at a time of global disruption, he will need to define Britain’s place in the world

A run of volatility in domestic British politics in recent years has tracked a period of global turbulence, and yet foreign policy over the same period has been an area of relative stability. What little is known about Andy Burnham’s approach to international relations expresses more continuity with Sir Keir Starmer’s administration than deviation. In negotiations with the EU, the red lines that prohibit membership of the single market or customs union still stand. Where Washington is concerned, Mr Burnham shows no interest in performances of bonhomie with Donald Trump, but his predecessor had already swapped that approach for a cooler pragmatic tone by the end of his tenure.

The new foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, has opened a good dialogue with Marco Rubio, his US counterpart. Such is the density of integration in defence and security matters that incoming UK prime ministers, regardless of ideology, have little choice but to invest time in cultivating a bond with whoever sits in the White House. Anyone hoping for a spectacular transatlantic rupture and sudden clinch with Brussels will be disappointed.

As a Brussels deadline looms with over €10bn at stake, Péter Magyar’s first three months have been transformative in addressing a corrupt legacy

Some elections are more important than others. Since taking office in May, Hungary’s new prime minister, Péter Magyar, has embarked upon the country’s most far-reaching and dramatic programme of transformation since the fall of communism in 1989. Mr Magyar’s predecessor, Viktor Orbán, established a soft autocracy which thrived on corruption and, over 16 years, exerted its grip on most areas of Hungarian life, from religion to culture and the media. It is being dismantled at extraordinary pace.

Last week, a newly appointed president took office following the sacking of Tamás Sulyok, accused by Mr Magyar of having rubber-stamped the erosion of the rule of law in the country. In stark contrast, András Baka is a former president of Hungary’s supreme court, a role he was removed from by the Orbán regime in an action judged unlawful by the European court of human rights.

Positions once associated with the radical right have travelled well beyond it, says Giuseppe Martinico

I agree with much of Alberto Alemanno’s analysis (How the far right is tightening its grip over the EU – from the inside, 18 August), but I wonder whether framing this primarily as the far right tightening its grip on the EU risks missing an even more troubling development.

What we are witnessing is not simply the success of the far right. It is a broader cultural shift within the European political mainstream. Migration is perhaps the clearest example. The convergence between governments as politically different as those of Denmark and Italy suggests that positions once associated with the radical right have travelled well beyond it. Parts of the centre-left and centre-right have progressively abandoned a rights-based understanding of migration. More fundamentally, migrants increasingly disappear from the European political conversation as persons – as bearers of rights whose dignity should constitute a limit to what political majorities may legitimately do.

Abolishing the role of statutory governors is ill-advised, says Jean Flanagan. Plus a letter from Jonathan Phillips on the abolition of Healthwatch

I wonder how many members of the public are aware that the latest health plan for England, due to be ratified by parliament this autumn, abolishes the role of statutory governors on all of its constituent health trusts?

For a number of years I have volunteered to act as a governor at two hospital trusts in Yorkshire. As a former health professional and principal nursing educator, I have brought years of experience to the role, for which I have been elected locally. For any organisation to wilfully remove hundreds of such skilled and committed activists from their supportive scrutiny seems ill-advised.

Readers respond to Andy Burnham’s pledge to get all rough sleepers off the streets by Christmas

As a vulnerable teenage girl carrying my life in a rucksack, I have been the person Andy Burnham describes people walking past in his article (I won’t abandon anyone to sleep rough on our streets. That’s my £442m promise, 19 August). That experience taught me that homelessness is far more complex than rough sleeping alone, and that ending it takes more than getting people off the streets.

Getting everyone in for Christmas is an important ambition. But lasting success means preventing people from reaching crisis point and giving those who do the practical support and opportunities they need. I was lucky. Public sector work gave me structure, stability, and someone willing to believe in my potential.

Readers offer their explanations for the absence of hard evidence for extraterrestrial civilisations, in response to an article by Adam Kirsch

When thinking about why we have not encountered intelligent aliens yet, as Adam Kirsch does (The long read, 11 August), it seems to me that one factor gets neglected: fossil fuels. Alien life could develop intelligence on myriad planets, but to develop advanced technology that would enable them to get off‑world, they need to go through an equivalent of the Industrial Revolution, and that needed first coal, then oil and gas.

There could be many intelligent alien races out there, but on planets without an easily accessible fossil fuel equivalent, they’d never get past a 17th-century level of development.

For all the upheaval and neurosis, it may yet be that the darkest hour came just before dawn for this England team

To say England’s summer of Test cricket has not gone entirely to plan would be a bit of an understatement. At times it has been like watching Gromit frantically laying track in front of a runaway locomotive.

Even now the England and Wales Cricket Board find themselves throwing down the sleepers, reacting to footage of centrally-contracted Brydon Carse in police handcuffs outside a bar in Derby on Saturday night following a match for Durham. Whatever the precise details – Carse was released without charge – it continues a madcap season.

• Fifa president will face opponent if he seeks re-election

• Ceferin: ‘We stopped another try to steal the sport’

The Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, has described Gianni Infantino’s doomed attempt to sell stakes in the World Cup as “even worse than the Super League plan” and warned his embattled Fifa counterpart that he will face an opponent if he runs for re-election next March.

Ceferin has led Uefa’s firm collective stance against the Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) scheme, which was shelved amid widespread opposition at the start of August. Uefa are pushing for Infantino to quit, also drawing on support from Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation, and are yet to drop a threat to boycott Fifa competitions while talks are under way with Concacaf to set up a combined Nations League tournament.

The 44-year-old is focused on maintaining ‘emotional control’ and a slew of sensible signings offer genuine hope

It is a necessary reset. Although it would be pushing it to say that Chelsea have switched from development centre to retirement home, even after the signings of Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck, there has been a clear shift in strategy this summer. Some grownups are in the room at last and, for Xabi Alonso, the hope is that bringing in more experience will help a squad still packed with youngsters show more composure when adversity strikes.

Discipline was a problem for Chelsea last season: they had 11 red cards in all competitions and a lot of the wounds were self-inflicted. Chelsea were impetuous, on the receiving end of too many bookings for dissent and prone to collapsing at the first sign of trouble. No wonder Alonso, who was the epitome of calm during his playing career, has focused on maintaining “emotional control” before opening his tenure as manager with Monday’s trip to Fulham.

Today’s rumours laugh off heartburn

Booing Julián Alvarez during Atlético Madrid’s draw with Villarreal on Sunday has seemingly convinced the Argentinian forward to consider joining Arsenal in the window. The former Manchester City man has been kept out of the reaches of Barcelona, who may not have the funds to complete the signing, whereas the Gunners have plenty of cash to splash.

Alejandro Balde was left out of the Barcelona squad as they roared past Elche, as the Catalan club open the door for a move to Manchester United. A new left-back should solve all of the problems at Old Trafford, that’s for sure.

• England forward is considering move to Al-Hilal

• ‘This question is for him … I answer only with silence’

Unai Emery did nothing to deny that Ollie Watkins had refused to play for Aston Villa in their sobering 4-0 defeat by Brighton at the Amex on Sunday. The head coach had a selection crisis up front with Brian Madjo and Tammy Abraham injured. However, he did not include Watkins in the matchday squad as the England striker considers a move to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Emery was forced to rely on the attacking midfielder Emiliano Buendía as an emergency striker and his team disappeared without trace on the south coast. They were 4-0 down after 31 minutes and had their new signing João Gomes sent off on his debut in the 40th minute. Gomes kicked up and out at the Brighton striker Georginio Rutter after being dispossessed by him.

Wigan and Leeds tussle at the top but can all clubs come to an agreement over the investment the sport needs?

Three rounds to go until the Super League playoffs begin, and it is difficult to know whether to keep your eyes fixed on the pitch or off it. Leeds sit top after their impressive win at York on Sunday afternoon ended Wigan’s 48-hour stay at the summit, but the Rhinos are embroiled in a two- or perhaps even three-way battle for the League Leaders’ Shield in 2026.

The Rhinos and Wigan are level on points and have intriguing games against St Helens and Hull KR respectively this week. Should either or both slip up, Warrington could yet come into the picture for a top-two finish but you would be forgiven for your eyes already veering past this coming weekend’s fixtures and to the penultimate round on two fronts.

• American beats compatriot Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-4

• Gauff claims first title of season, second in Cincinnati

One year ago, Coco Gauff departed the Cincinnati Open with her career at a crossroads. On serve, she had capitulated, offering up countless double faults in most matches, and she had lost confidence in her progress and game. She believed she had to make drastic changes to her team before it was too late.

It has taken an enormous amount of resilience, patience and toil, but this week Gauff began to feel the consequences of those efforts as she closed out one of the smoothest tournaments of her career with her best performance of the season, thoroughly outplaying the third seed Jessica Pegula to win 6-2, 6-4 and clinch the Cincinnati Open title for the second time in her career.

• Briton says team too slow to pit Charles Leclerc

• ‘It’s something that we need to discuss offline’

Lewis Hamilton has told his Ferrari team that they must up their game if he is to remain in the Formula One world championship fight after the British driver was angry with strategy calls at the Dutch Grand Prix, comparing them unfavourably with the decisive way his former team ­Mercedes had acted.

The race was won by McLaren’s Lando Norris from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Hamilton was fourth but believed he might have had a shot of a podium had Ferrari moved Charles Leclerc aside sooner when Hamilton, on a different tyre strategy, was quicker than his teammate.

Back in the top flight after four seasons, Amy Merricks’ side have added WSL experience in a bid to consolidate

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 12th (NB: this is not necessarily Tom Garry’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 1st (WSL2)

While the teams produced more promise than polish, this thrilling encounter gave an emotional send-off to a legend of both clubs

It’s 4.35pm on Tyneside. William Osula sets Anthony Elanga away, slightly right of centre and just short of 50,000 draw collective breaths. Pace is no issue; Elanga has no shortage of that, and Milos Kerkez won’t catch him.

But Newcastle fans have seen this clip before and remember the ending. Muscles tighten, cheeks clench, as they brace themselves for it to start again like it carried on before. (Yet) another memeable‑moment inbound.

• Gvardiol’s stoppage-time strike gives City points

• ‘I’m looking for solutions. When you win games it helps’

Enzo Maresca said Manchester City remain a “work in progress” after Sunday’s last-gasp win over Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium.

Marc Guéhi’s 85th-minute equaliser and Josko Gvardiol’s 91st-minute winner gave City’s new manager victory in his first game, after Marcus Tavernier’s first-half strike for the visitors.

Joshua Aviles says he is on a nine-month Middle East deployment and learned his has father has been arrested while he was waiting for green card approval

The father of a US sailor on board the USS Abraham Lincoln ⁠aircraft carrier deployed in the Middle East during the Iran war has been taken into federal immigration detention, the sailor ⁠said.

The border ​patrol arrested Luis Manuel Aviles Roa, originally from Nicaragua, after conducting a vehicle stop in Key West, Florida, a spokesperson for the US homeland security department said on Sunday.

Washington imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods including fishing rods and hockey sticks, while Canada retaliates with levies on US steel and electronics

Here is some analysis on the looming trade war between the US and Canada:

The calamitous collapse of trade negotiations between Canada and the United States is a warning to nations worldwide that pursuing any kind of dialogue with the current US administration is doomed at the outset, according to observers who say this recent episode indicates seeking a fair deal is futile.

No matter the closeness of the historical relationship, the American administration has signalled that it now prioritises its interests above those of some sort of global economic coordination or harmony.

It feels like these talks ‘failed’. However, I’m not sure there was really a success to be had.

The road to Konstyantynivka in Donetsk, Ukraine, is a perilous journey for the Khyzhak brigade – a mobile unit tasked with shooting down Russian drones to cover soldiers’ rotations or moving armoured vehicles

“Holy yeah! Yeaaaah! Done!”

Booooooom.

Dzhango firing to shoot down a Russian FPV-drone.

Prime minister Christopher Luxon’s party to introduce bill seeking the ban, citing harm to a generation of children

New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon has said his party will introduce a bill in parliament that ⁠seeks to ban children ⁠under ​16 from using social media, proposing fines of up to 10% of a platform’s global revenue for non-compliance.

The bill would ⁠require social media platforms to take reasonable steps to verify users’ ages, including by utilising existing account information, facial technology and ⁠digital identity documents.

Investors will hope Kevin Warsh offers ‘comfort blanket’ at annual meeting of central banks amid bond market anxiety

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The new US Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, faces a critical test this week amid anxiety in government bond markets over inflation and Donald Trump’s tax and spending plans.

As the world’s most powerful central bank prepares for its annual Jackson Hole conference, analysts said bond traders would be looking for signals from Warsh over its commitment to fighting inflation.

US agency releases plan to lease millions of hectares of seabed off the coast of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam

A US government plan to lease out millions of hectares of seabed near the Mariana Trench for deep sea exploration has drawn opposition from US territories in the Pacific, as the Trump administration remains locked in a race with China for control of critical ocean minerals.

On Tuesday, the Marine Mineral Administration (MMA), an agency under the US department of the interior, released a proposal to auction deep sea mining leases for 28m hectares (69m acres) of seafloor off the coast of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.

Phillip Island’s ‘iconic’ little penguins get first bird flu vaccinations in what is thought to be largest program of its kind

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More than 1,000 little penguins have received their first dose of bird flu vaccine in Victoria, in what is believed to be the world’s largest vaccination program involving wild birds.

Catherine Basterfield, the chief executive of Phillip Island Nature Parks, said vaccinations began early last week and were ramping up.

Farmer Derek Sayer let a boggy field run wild and just one annual hay-cut has led to remarkable biodiversity

Tucked away on a country lane, a small field bursts with yellow and pink flowers. Quail and whitethroats call from the thick hedges and the plants, including common centaury, yellow rattle and marsh and common spotted orchids, bounce with hoverflies and butterflies.

More than 150 plant species have been recorded on Sayer’s Old Meadow, in north Norfolk, England, which is remarkable when there was just one – oilseed rape – growing there 21 years ago.

Hundreds of experts write to environment minister calling for stronger protections for ‘unique and distinct’ marine ecosystems

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The Australian government has been accused of leaving waters near the mainland largely unprotected by establishing the bulk of highly protected marine parks in remote areas.

More than 270 leading marine scientists from 84 research institutes have written to the environment minister, Murray Watt, urging stronger protections for marine ecosystems, as a once-in-a-decade review of marine parks gets under way.

UK-born married couples under 35 with children would get priority under proposals to be outlined by Farage’s party

British citizens who were born abroad would be made to wait longer for social housing under proposals to be announced by Reform UK on Monday.

Nigel Farage’s party will announce the policy at a press conference in London. Under the policy, people born in the UK and young married couples with children would be given priority for social housing.

Researchers say texts from 12th to 15th centuries ‘hint at a culture which has not even been imagined’

Unprecedented insights into the literary and intellectual life on the island of Guernsey during the middle ages have been revealed through the discovery of 17 medieval manuscript fragments.

Dating from between the 12th and 15th centuries, they offer evidence of wide-ranging reading tastes, with everything from an extract from a play and an Ovid poem to passages from the Bible and a travel text.

Transport secretary asks ‘publicly owned operators to lay on extra services where possible’

CrossCountry cancelled almost all of its train services in Great Britain on Sunday after a power cut in Birmingham hit its control centre.

Most services were cancelled until further notice, including routes from Glasgow to Edinburgh, Manchester to Birmingham, Cheltenham to Cardiff and Newcastle to Edinburgh.

Exclusive: Analysis risks deepening perception of ‘unequal protection under the law’, say campaigners

Killers who take the lives of black people have a greater chance of getting away with their crimes than those who target white people, new research shows.

Analysis of unsolved homicides in London between 2019 to 2023 reveals a stark disparity: minority ethnic British people represented 61.7% of reported homicide victims, but 92.9% of all unsolved murder victims.

Dump site in Conakry, which minister had just promised to move, collapsed after heavy rain in west African state

A ⁠landslide at a huge waste dump in Guinea’s capital has killed 30 people, the government said on Sunday, after heavy rains overnight prompted it to ⁠collapse, engulfing nearby tents and shacks.

The incident occurred less than a week after the government announced plans to close the ⁠site and relocate the waste because of the threat it posed, especially during the rainy season, which causes landslides and fatal flash ⁠floods each year in crowded, underdeveloped cities across parts of West Africa.

Incident marks apparent escalation by Tehran in its in retaliation against UK over allowing US to use British bases

Hackers linked to Iran have been blamed for a cyber-attack that caused a British power plant to be temporarily shut down.

The incident involved a small-scale energy generator, according to the UK government, which said that at no point was there a risk to the wider energy system.

Human-caused Hawk fire covers more than 15,000 acres as blaze approaches University of Nevada campus in Reno

A fast-moving Nevada wildfire exploded to more than 15,000 acres (6,000 hectares) on Sunday, pushing from the Sierra foothills toward the center of Reno and urging nearly 90,000 residents to evacuate as flames threatened neighborhoods and reached the edge of the University of Nevada campus.

The Hawk fire’s “GO NOW” evacuation zone had expanded to the edge of the university campus as strong, gusty winds, low humidity and dry vegetation fueled the blaze, according to Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue in Reno. Of those urged to evacuate, 42,000 were under strict orders. An additional 45,000 people were in the evacuation warning zone, and encouraged to leave now and be prepared to stay away for several days to clear the roads for first-responders.

Known for selling cheap clothing, the online retailer has seen its value drop sharply from earlier estimates amid scrutiny over its environmental footprint

Shein will debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 1 September, the fast-fashion retailer said on Monday, in a long-awaited listing that would value the group at close to $27bn.

Founded in China and now headquartered in Singapore, the online retailer secured Beijing’s approval last month to make its initial public offering in Hong Kong.

Two studies will be used to shape government policy amid claims about a former franchisee who took his own life

Ministers have commissioned a pair of in-depth reports into how franchising businesses are policed in the UK, as the government considers introducing new laws after high-profile allegations about conduct in the sector.

The action follows a Guardian investigation last December, which revealed claims that Adrian Howe, a former Vodafone employee who had agreed to start a franchise in 2018, had taken his own life after pressure from the FTSE 100 telecoms group.

Frasers billionaire bought Harvey Nichols and increased Hugo Boss stake despite tough times for high-end stores

What billionaire doesn’t love to splash the cash on a luxury item? Some may buy watches or yachts, but Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has been snapping up entire brands.

Harvey Nichols is the latest bauble to drop into his shopping basket after his company bought the Knightsbridge department store out of administration earlier this month. It sits beside a large slice of Hugo Boss, a chunk of Mulberry, a snippet of Burberry, the remains of Agent Provocateur and the entire Flannels and House of Fraser chains.

Compact discs are back, with searches for players up 96% at John Lewis and popular models sold out online

With more than 800 million people subscribing to a music streaming service, wireless speakers have become a familiar sight in homes. But expect to get reacquainted with a different object to play music soon: the CD player, once consigned to obsolescence, is back.

John Lewis report that searches for CD players are up 96% since July, possibly owing to students heading to university and buying the systems for their rooms. The £79 Crosley Voyager, and the £129 Pure Classic C-D6 are both sold out online, with the Voyager scheduled to return in October. Portable CD players are also popular.

The actor concludes his investigation into Monsanto by meeting people with cancer who blame the company for their illness. Plus: a devastating story of foundling sisters reunited. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, BBC Two
There’s a lagoon in Ruabon, north Wales, that is so toxic that the barrels containing the chemicals dumped in it have rotted away. Until about 20 years ago, children used to play around it. Michael Sheen’s compassionate and enraging exposé of the alleged poisoning of parts of his homeland decades ago by contractors working for the now defunct chemical company Monsanto concludes with the actor meeting people with cancer who are searching for accountability. Spoiler alert: it’s an uphill battle. Phil Harrison

Monkey Barrel Comedy, Edinburgh
The frenetic Mancunian turns to quartz in search of inner peace – but his standup remains as crude and self-loathing as ever

I’ve seen two prominent comedians on this year’s fringe argue that your belief system is something you choose. Sign of the strange times, or just a way to justify some far-out comedy? Dan Tiernan’s show is certainly an extreme experience, as he discusses his interest – his faith, supposedly – in healing crystals. Rose quartz for calm, black tourmaline for grounding. Hard not to remark that neither seems to be doing its job well. Tiernan is the least calm and grounded comedian imaginable.

You have to strap in for the ride at the Mancunian’s shows, and Quartz and All is no less so than its predecessors. It opens with Tiernan seething with his usual self-loathing, and cracking a fantastic gag about getting glasses. Now 30, he’s still ambivalent, bordering on hostile, about his sexuality and appearance: the healing crystals are a last resort, he argues, because only magic can redeem a man as freakish and unlovable as he. Such arguments are his prerogative, and he brings his woebegone plight (so lonely, he’s “getting on boats just so someone will wave at me”) to often hilarious, blood-vessel-busting life. But in the shadow of Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette, that brand of internalised-bully comedy can be uneasy viewing.

The Terror is a terrifying drama anthology. Plus, tissues at the ready for a super emotional finale of The Piano. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, Sky Atlantic

The undead are climbing out of their graves all over town, so gore levels are high – but this noirish miniseries sets itself apart by being delightfully offbeat and genuinely poignant

A teenage girl is pale, withdrawn and seems not to be fully in or of this world. Could she be … a zombie? “She just likes the Cure,” weary police officer Dana Cypress (Wynonna Earp’s Melanie Scrofano) assures the anxious mother at the station.

It’s good to get the mandatory goth joke out of the way early in an undead-centred show, and Revival – a 10-part adaptation of the comic books by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton – is briskly efficient. It begins with a man bashing his way out of a crematorium furnace while others in the corpse-queue start to stir and the recently buried start to climb out of their graves and wonder, frankly, WTF is going on.

Revival is on Netflix now

Mildred Okwo’s earnest film about the conflicting romantic wishes in a Nigerian family struggles to connect with its promising premise

It’s a stretch for this Nigerian romcom to bill itself “the first Nollywood-Bollywood collaboration” based on the fact that it features, in Nimesh Diliprai Desai and Vineet Raina, two fringe Indian players on a sprawling wedding-invite list. But the two industries do indeed have much common ground, such as big-hearted family values and a penchant for grand gestural emotions that, in the case of Mildred Okwo’s somewhat heavy-footed film, trample on some promising concepts and narrative plausibility.

Silk-tressed bachelorette Aurora (Abena Akuaba) is being browbeaten by her businessman dad Eyimofe (Bob-Manuel Udokwu) to marry snoozefest suitor Tobore (Ifeanyi Kalu). She is hardly enthused when he parrots his criteria for embarking on “a collaboration with an individual or brand”: “value check, common interest, due diligence and critical analysis.” (Tobore ticks the boxes.) But she agrees to set a date on one condition: that Eyimofe must invite her mother, Isioma (Jennifer Eliogu) – booted out by Eyimofe many years back for wanting to pursue her career – to the big day.

Expect gory set pieces and jump scares galore in the return of the supernatural anthology series, with Dan Stevens among the many poor souls terrorised by an evil spirit haunting their ward

Things that go bump in the night? Bad. Things that go bump in the night in a dilapidated psychiatric hospital? Infinitely worse. That, basically, is the premise of Devil in Silver, the latest volume of anthology series The Terror, which began in 2018 with a supernaturally charged tale of a polar expedition to find out what happened to Sir John Franklin’s voyage. Crikey, it does not end well. The next was set during the second world war and was about shapeshifters from Japanese folklore terrorising a Japanese-American community in southern California. A hiatus followed, but now The Terror is back with a double dose of horror: a malevolent spirit moving in and out of the bodies of the patients of New Hyde psychiatric hospital, and the more tangible but no less frightening diabolism of the US mental healthcare system.

Pepper (Dan Stevens, still of Downton Abbey fame despite his many varied roles since) is in New Hyde because the three policemen who arrested him after they caught a few punches he was aiming at his girlfriend’s controlling ex threw him in there rather than completing the paperwork the station would have required. There he meets the lost and suffering souls who have ended up in what amounts, due to underfunding and understaffing, to a holding pen rather than a rehabilitative or care facility. Dorry (Judith Light) is the longest-serving resident – put there decades ago by her husband because of her endless crying fits, though her later memories reveal a greater darkness. Kofi (Chinaza Uche) – or Coffee, as he is called by the rest of his companions until it is too late – was a structural engineer in Ghana but now depends on medication to keep himself steady. Loochie (played by non-binary actor b) ended up in the system after a violent incident with a sibling, but at least one member of staff believes her charge is able to cope in the real world and, as the hospital’s evil spirit gathers strength and wrath, gets the chance to prove it.

The historian shares the astonishing story of a Peterloo massacre survivor. Plus, a delightfully wholesome new pod that is ‘Desert Island Discs … for words’

From the People’s History Museum, this series is about the Peterloo massacre in Manchester, 1819, which the host David Olusoga calls the “ground zero of industrial capitalism”. Touching on systematic disenfranchisement (Manchester didn’t have a single MP) and state-sanctioned violence through the extraordinary story of survivor William Cheatham, it’s an invigorating if sobering listen. Nell Frizzell
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As part of the Beastie Boys, the rapper shot to fame and notoriety in the 80s, before bandmate Adam Yauch’s death saw him withdraw from the spotlight. He returns with a solo album that sees him reckon with greed, mortality – and his past

‘It’s funny how far a joke will get you,” Michael Diamond grins. This time 40 years ago, the New York rapper known as Mike D was working with schoolfriends Adam “MCA” Yauch and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz on Licensed to Ill, their 1986 debut album as the Beastie Boys.

The “joke” in question is that record’s cartoonish send-up of frat-bro culture, set to fusions of hard rock riffs and hip-hop beats. As for how far it got them: destinations included global stardom, a page in the history books with rap’s first US chart-topping album, and the crosshairs of British tabloids as they roused a generation to “fight for your right to party”.

Kurdish New Zealander Baban Hussain has gained global fame with online hit he created with Australian producer

Two months ago, Baban Hussain, a 22-year-old Kurdish New Zealander, was working from a self-run studio in Auckland, putting out music to a few thousand followers as little-known rapper Fat Papi.

Then, as modern fairytales go, he made a viral hit that has amassed over 7.5bn views across YouTube, gained him nearly 10m new monthly listeners on Spotify, and catapulted him on to global charts – including the US Billboard Hot 100.

Philharmonia Orchestra/Dudamel
(Decca)
There’s a cinematic flourish to many of Hopkins’ compositions, together with fine arrangements of Welsh tunes and pieces dedicated to family

Anthony Hopkins, it turns out, has been composing music all his life. Now, at the age of 88, the Welsh-born Hollywood actor makes his Decca debut, securing the services of LA Philharmonic’s outgoing music director Gustavo Dudamel to bring his music to life.

So, what does an Oscar winner sound like? Not surprisingly, there’s a significant cinematic influence, inspired by the music that caught the attention of a lad growing up in Margam, a suburb of Port Talbot. The opening Fanfare and March is a catchy, Technicolor splash, like everything here harmonious and written from the heart. Ditto the Khachaturian-flavoured Two Pieces for Orchestra. Welsh roots are honoured too: My Fatherland, featuring six traditional tunes, four sung in Welsh, would not seem out of place at the Last Night of the Proms.

This Booker-listed epic set in Aids-era Kingston is a triumph – bitter, bawdy and ravishingly queer

“A sense of sweep,” replied Marlon James, when asked what moves him most in literature. “Sweep isn’t just about external journeys, but internal as well. It can be over years and decades, or across land and sea.” If that explanation is still hazy, pick up his mighty new novel, which is longlisted for this year’s Booker prize and is tirelessly – sometimes exhaustingly – grand and peripatetic. Mounting a grisly exposé of Jamaican homophobia, this polyphonic 640-page doorstopper is an emotionally bruising narrative that roves “uptown, downtown, ghetto and gully” through Aids-era Kingston with sidetrack excursions to 1950s England and a closing leap to 2000s United States.

The novel’s defining event is a gruesome mob attack on eight queer men who have clandestinely come together to work on bringing John Herbert’s 1967 gay prison play, Fortune and Men’s Eyes, to the stage. The goal, in the words of director Havelock Titus, is to shatter “the whole fragile myth of Jamaican male sexuality”. “Because prison,” he explains, “is the ultimate male institution and yet masculine sexualities that could never happen outside in the normal world flourish in there all the time.”

As a lonely teenager, the novels of Nancy Mitford offered the Sorrow and Bliss author a lifeline - and an imaginary friend. She explores why reading can create a particularly intense bond with a favourite writer

In the summer before university, my mother gave me a copy of The Pursuit of Love. We’d moved countries at the beginning of my A-levels and those months in between had been defined by a level of loneliness I had never known in my life. The sort of loneliness so acute and pervasive it feels like panic, and on top of all that, so shaming to be 17 with nowhere to go and nothing to do on a Saturday night.

Growing up, my mother – a great reader – would say: “When you’ve got a book, you’ve got a friend,” which is why, presumably, I wasn’t a great reader. Then, I’d always had actual friends. And suddenly I didn’t and presumably that is why I accepted the Nancy Mitford paperback and started to read it.

Midlife meditations from Barbara Kingsolver; musical portraits by Jonathan Coe and Yiyun Li; plus memoirs from Dustin Hoffman and Judi Dench – all among the coming season’s highlights

The Disappearers by Marlon James
Hamish Hamilton, 3 September
After a detour into mythic fantasy, the author of the Booker-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings returns to Jamaica. This account of a brutal homophobic attack on a group of gay actors in 1980s Kingston has already been longlisted for this year’s prize.

The TV presenter and author on the evolutionary biologists who inspired her, the genius of George Eliot – and fun with Frog and Toad

My earliest reading memory
The first books I remember were from The Village with Three Corners series Sheila K McCullagh. I loved the – literally – colourful characters, like Johnny Yellow Hat. I was reading with my Grandma, in her garden perhaps, sitting on a small patio, surrounded by bright begonias and busy lizzies.

My favourite book growing up
Arnold Lobel’s wonderful Frog and Toad stories. Toad would get himself tied up in knots, trying to find a button or fly a kite, but Frog was always there – a constant, caring and funny friend. I enjoyed reading these stories to my own children when they were young, and we still sometimes go back and revisit them. They’re so full of humour, heart and simple humanism.

Academics and a former classification board director say Halloween: The Game’s ban due to ‘incentivised drug use’ highlights an incoherent set of standards

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Halloween’s Michael Myers is one of film’s most feared boogeymen, responsible for some of the most brutal on-screen deaths in horror cinema. The US video game developer Illfonic looked to reproduce those terrors in its upcoming title Halloween: The Game, with gruesome killings a major focus of the gameplay: for instance, you can stomp another player’s head through a toilet seat, or fry their brain by throwing them through a television screen.

But Australians will not be able to play Halloween, because it has been refused classification by the Australian Classification Board, which means it is banned from sale within the country. And it’s not because of the violence or murders.

PC, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S; Konami
This second collection remasters another three titles from the illustrious stealth espionage series, but their world has changed little since the original releases

‘War has changed,” claims Old Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Back in 2008, the team at Kojima Productions waxed poetic about people recruited to fight in proxy wars they have no political or ideological stake in. As these mercenaries follow their orders, traders get rich out of the so-called war economy. The more disastrous the conflict in a specific area, the higher the bidding price.

I expected my time with Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol 2 to be nostalgic and, in good old MGS fashion, abundant with fictional events that sound eerily familiar to our current reality. Twenty minutes in, I was having an existential crisis.

Free from a big brand’s audience expectations, new studio GPTrack50 has created a wacky action-packed romp through a monster-filled world for its first game

Love is blind. In Stupid Never Dies, it is also frozen solid and technically dead as Davy, the weakest zombie in monster society, discovers Julia’s body in a shopping centre and falls in love at first sight. He wants to bring her back to life and take her on a date. Unfortunately, that means defeating the King of Monsters (KOM) and accidentally saving humanity along the way.

This is the gloriously ridiculous setup for this forthcoming action RPG from GPTrack50, a new studio founded by former Capcom producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi. Its world looks much like ours, except that monsters have always been part of everyday life: whereas we might find a bear in the mountains or a stray dog in the woods, residents here encounter werewolves and zombies.

Even film-makers have been inspired by Insomniac’s take on Spidey. But the studio’s tried and tested format might not fit a superhero with such sharp claws

The recent Marvel’s Spider-Man games have become so tightly interwoven with the character’s core that they’ve been cited, by both actor Tom Holland and director Destin Daniel Cretton, as an influence on this year’s blockbuster film Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Now the same development studio – Sony-owned Insomniac Games – is taking on one of Marvel’s other most recognisable characters in his first video game-starring role since some deeply mid-tier film tie-ins back in the 00s. So can they pull off the same trick with Marvel’s Wolverine?

Storywise it certainly takes a similar approach, once again grabbing ideas from a wide selection of inspirations and remixing them into a brand-new continuity. We first meet this version of Wolverine as he is discovered: wild-eyed, wilder haired and practically nude. Before we see his saviour’s face, we hear a well-spoken voice (provided by legendary game actor Troy Baker) promising a safe place “for people like us”. Surely this is Charles Xavier?

Festival theatre studio, Edinburgh
Jaha Koo cooks up street-food treats for two lucky theatregoers as he reflects on how food preserves memory and cultural identity, with the help of a snail and an eel

To get the measure of this slight but sweet one-man show, you need to listen to the singing snail. “In every soil grows a different version of you,” sings the animated creature in Korean, projected on a screen.

It is echoing the sentiment just expressed by an eel: “My home has no location,” sings a fish that lives a life of transformation as it moves between saltwater and fresh.

Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh
Smart, slapstick and silly, this chaotic multicharacter comedy sends up the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

Some of the most revered works of art across history feature women as their primary focus. But though they might appear as favoured subjects, so often these women are relegated to the margins, their stories untold as they remain silent and often sexualised via the male gaze.

In her new multicharacter comedy Swoon, Bebe Cave interrogates the role of the muse and what it means to be seen yet never heard. We initially meet Cave as Elizabeth Siddal – or Lizzie – who was immortalised as Ophelia by John Everett Millais in the mid 19th century, also becoming a popular model for several other pre-Raphaelite artists.

Royal Lyceum theatre, Edinburgh
Three men bicker and reflect like they’re chatting at a bar – yet this grimly beautiful piece of theatre at the Edinburgh international festival won’t let you forget their fate

Three men are shooting the breeze. “We’re just talking – man to man to man,” says Slim (Kamal Bolden), an ex-con who believes in looking after number one. In a literal sense, he is right. They are just talking. In this short, grimly beautiful production, written and directed by Zora Howard for New York’s Flea theatre, they have the kind of all-male conversation you might hear in any bar – at turns needling, teasing, argumentative, romantic, trivial and spiky. They like nothing more than when an attractive woman walks by.

Where Slim is always out for personal gain – a quick buck, a sexual misadventure – Bird (Julian Rozzell) carries the wisdom of age. He scorns Slim’s quick-fix philosophy, favouring old-fashioned values of loyalty, decency and privacy. Blood (Bryce Foley), the youngest of the three, is the romantic: the one who dreams of life beyond streets that seem to have stripped a community of ambition.

Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh
Heckling herself in character as the Greek goddess, the standup delivers an intelligent, in-your-face show about sex and expectations

You can’t argue with the opening gambit of Aphrodite: “I’ve never been in love and I don’t think it’s real.” Consider me grabbed. This is the follow-up to Elouise Eftos’s fantastically provocative 2025 debut, Australia’s First Attractive Comedian, and it’s another intelligent, in-your-face hour about men and women, sex and expectations. OK, so it doesn’t administer the shock of the new quite like its predecessor, and Eftos’s argument about love is not as authoritative as her impossibly high status requires. But Aphrodite consolidates Eftos as a gripping new presence on the comedy scene.

It starts with a steamy pop video, with the Greek-Australian Eftos in character as goddess of love Aphrodite – who then heckles the comic in interrupting voiceovers for the remainder of the show. Eftos has an Aphrodite side, she tells us, but an Athena too – and she wants to be funny. That’s a combination forbidden to women, she posits, certainly if they want to find love with (whisper it) heterosexual men. That latter disappointing category of human is mocked here for its privilege, its fear of dancing, and because “being a straight man is a little bit gay”.

Being recognised by the Brits, Grammys and Drake made the singer one of British music’s most famous names – and also left her exhausted. Now, after decompressing in her home town she returns with a record made for raving

It is a sticky, sweltering July afternoon, and I have accidentally found myself at a wake with Jorja Smith. I’m told that the pub where we have met, in the leafiest part of leafy south-west London, is usually a safe bet for an inconspicuous table. But today, sweaty black suits carrying pints drift between tables, and long queues snake round the bar.

Dressed in a simple tank top, bare-faced with her hair scraped back, Smith is waiting for me when I arrive. “I’ve been waiting for my drink for ages,” she says. “But I feel bad saying anything because, you know …”

Organizations across the country traditionally use the month as a means of activation for local communities

In the 1960s and 1970s, California was brimming with radical energy and potential, which also meant it was brimming with extreme backlash. The Black Panthers, a revolutionary Black political activist organization founded in response to police brutality, were organizing members at the same time Ronald Reagan, then the California governor and the future US president, and others were working to repress the group and its growing political influence.

At the same time, several young men, some incarcerated at San Quentin prison, and some elsewhere in the California prison system, were under attack, being assaulted and murdered by the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist group, and sympathetic guards. Some of the men – WL Nolen; George Jackson, a field marshal of the Black Panther party who also founded a prison chapter of the organization; and others – decided they needed to band together to defend themselves and formed the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF), a Marxist-Leninist prison gang.

Much-copied and parodied picture captures dynamic between the individuals and the band with eerie perfection

It’s not really the four blokes on the zebra crossing who make the cover of the Beatles’ Abbey Road memorable, but the street behind them. Vanishing towards a perfect blue sky, with summer trees veiling in bright green what might otherwise be dour brick houses, it could be a hyperreal vista painted by David Hockney. The black and white stripes of the crossing and the white line down the middle of the receding north London road are fresh and crisp, enhancing the clarity of this psychedelic daydream.

Of course the four blokes do play a part. The Beatles were so transcendently famous by the time Iain Macmillan took this picture on 8 August 1969 that seeing them do something as ordinary as cross the road becomes a magical mystery.

In this week’s newsletter: As platforms chase ​s​ubscribers, podcasts are losing their off‑screen charm​, leaving listeners to wonder whether the intimacy of audio can survive the studio lights

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This has been the year that podcasting properly, unapologetically “pivoted to video”. Yes, it’s been a progression that has been in the making for quite a while, arguably ever since Joe Rogan first trained a webcam at himself and whichever guest he was smoking weed with in his studio back in 2009 – but in 2026 the medium’s transformation from purely aural to audio/visual (often with more of an emphasis on the visual) is truly complete.

In January, Netflix started broadcasting video versions of popular podcasts from The Ringer, iHeartMedia, Barstool and more, as well as continuing to make video pods of their own. That landgrab was a slightly desperate response to YouTube’s phenomenal success with visualised pods; after becoming the preferred podcast platform for most Americans in 2024, it managed the same feat in the UK in 2026, overtaking Spotify. No wonder, then, that Spotify has – as part of a wider push to get people sticking to its platform for pods – continued to bolster viewing capabilities for its own pods too.

The city’s rich history and culture have so far flown under the radar, but its fiercely proud inhabitants are determined to change that

We have hardly begun walking before I spot the side alley, curving away from the main road in a patchwork of sunlit yellow walls, shuttered windows and shadowy archways. “What’s up there?” Elena, my guide to the city, pulls a wry smile. “That is Carmine. As a kid, I was warned not to go there.”

I turn up the alley. There’s a lot of graffiti. Next to an anarchy symbol, someone has sprayed “morte al decoro” – death to decorum. I’m intrigued. We go further, finding a labyrinth of colourful streets filled with bars and restaurants, a few just opening up for the day.

In an extract from her new book, the Prague-born food writer shares two ways to preserve summer vegetables so they can be savoured year-round

Preserving the abundance of summer produce is a wonderful way to extend the season long after the gardens have faded. Opening a jar in the colder months offers more than just something good to eat; it also holds joy, patience and memories. When winter comes knocking, we are ready with something sweet, sour or salty waiting on the shelf, reminding us that summer will return and the sun will shine again.

Brilliant for managing breakouts and refreshing puffy eyes, but after months of treatments, is Shark’s light therapy device the one our writer would buy now?

• The best LED face masks

Of all the LED masks I’ve tested, the Shark CryoGlow feels like the most heavily marketed. Touted as a one-stop shop for anti-ageing, blemish-busting and undereye cooling, it’s trickled its way into countless influencer morning routines and post-work wind-downs, slowly but surely filling up my social media timeline.

As an acne-prone woman whose work life revolves around beauty tech, the adverts are well placed. But that doesn’t negate the fact that, to the average consumer, LED therapy still reeks of pseudoscience. If my younger self got wind that I was strapping a glowing mask to my face every day, she would die laughing.

It’s a saviour at family mealtimes, but which bottle of red sauce does our reviewer relish the most? (Spoiler: it’s not Heinz)

• The best supermarket mayonnaise

I was that kid who put ketchup on everything, from fries to french toast, and if my parents wanted me to eat vegetables, they’d have to cover them in the stuff (the sugar cravings of my youth have subsided, but I still love ketchup mixed into peas). So I was pleasantly surprised by this test group, because even the most economical sauces performed well.

Tomato content varied greatly (though not always in line with price), with the most tomato-heavy products containing almost twice as much fruit as the least. This information is presented in two ways: the first is the amount of raw tomato used before the sauce is cooked down into puree (more than 200g per 100g of finished product is high, less than 150g is low); the second is a straight percentage of tomato puree used, which is a more transparent measure (above 50% is high, while less than that I’d consider low, so check the label if you want more fruit in your sauce). Products made with fewer tomatoes are sometimes thickened with modified maize starch. I’ve also listed the total sugar content.

With gentler formulas and lower prices, children’s toiletries can work just as well for adults. From nappy rash cream to nourishing bath milk, these are the products that have earned a place in my routine

There may be plenty of worrying headlines about children using adult beauty products from younger and younger ages, but what about the reverse?

I’ve been a beauty editor for more than a decade, but when I had my first child in 2020, I was immediately impressed with the body washes, bath products and moisturisers designed for babies, particularly as someone with eczema and sensitive skin. The products’ gentler, often fragrance-free formulas are easier on my skin, tend to cost less, and result in a less cluttered bathroom, since we can all use the same things. These are the ones I’m still using – on the entire family – five years on.

They’re all the rage, but which scalp serums, oils and capsules can be counted on for nourishment and serious shine?

• The best hair masks for every budget, tested

Hair oil has become increasingly popular, with countless celebrities and influencers lauding its ability to smooth, protect and support hair growth. Some apply hair oil to their scalp, others to their strands; some apply oil to wet hair before styling, others use it on a finished style. With so many uses, it’s worth thinking about your goals before buying.

I’ve worked my way through 11 bottles, from a cheap-and-cheerful £9.99 to a steeper £65, to bring you this list of the best hair oils. Whether you’re looking for thick, nourishing oils to help nurse damaged hair to life or a featherlight option to add shine and scent to your strands, there’s something on this list for you.

Hot days call for cool dinners, and these are Japan’s nutty, salty and sweet solution. Fiery or pickled accompaniments optional

Although every culture craves something different in hot weather – chilled beetroot soup in Lithuania, cooling buttermilk drinks in India, gazpacho in Spain – what many of these dishes have in common is a certain soothing silkiness as they slide down the throat, plus a decent helping of salt. Japan’s zaru soba, which Namiko Hirasawa Chen of Just One Cookbook describes as her family’s “go-to meal when the summer heat and humidity soar”, is no exception. Cold, slippery noodles paired with a savoury dipping sauce, it’s a simple, satisfying dish that’s ready in 15 minutes, and can be accessorised with crunchy salads, sweet seafood or creamy tofu sides for something more substantial. Traditionally served on a bamboo mat, or zaru, to allow the noodles to drain, you can get away without one at home (though lose the seaweed and you can call it mori soba instead), this is definitely one to stick in your summer repertoire alongside the chilled soups, watermelon salads and cucumber sandwiches.

I am forever curious as to how these kind of sizzling places feel on a normal Tuesday two months in, especially when the celebrities are all off sunning their bottoms in Tuscany

Café Clement, the all-day restaurant inside Nick Jones’ new St Clement Hotel at 180 The Thames in central London, opened with a bang in June and immediately rocketed to the top of every “sell your grandmother for a terrace table” list in London. Which isn’t that much of a surprise, seeing as Jones, founder of Soho House, is the master of restaurant rumpus.

Within days, Stanley Tucci, Nick Grimshaw and full-length-trouser-phobic heart-throb Paul Mescal were all there, tucking into oeufs mayonnaise and lobster omelettes while politely ignoring the fact that the place was still, in many ways, a building site. The hotel itself isn’t due to open fully until early autumn, when a rooftop restaurant, Lunette, will also arrive with some of London’s most wondrous views and Florence Knight at the helm. Still, Café Clement opened to frothy praise, and I am forever curious as to how these kind of sizzling places feel on a normal Tuesday two months in, when the celebrities are all off sunning their bottoms in Tuscany and, frankly, lunch is not free.

Whether you love a traditional spritz or tend towards a wilder libation, this August there are bubbly and sophisticated drinks to suit every taste

This summer, UK web searches for “Hugo spritz”, an elderflower-flavoured aperitif, overtook searches for “Aperol spritz” for the first time. As the spritz craze shows no sign of slowing down, pub chains are taking wild liberties, calling anything fizzy and served in a large glass over ice a spritz – and charging £10-plus for it. Echo Falls blue raspberry spritz? Pink gin spritz (Slug & Lettuce)? Raspberry vodka and honey spritz (Young’s)? Malibu cranberry spritz (Stonegate)? Mamma mia!

Traditionally, the spritz is an Italian cocktail made from prosecco, a bitter aperitif or liqueur, and a splash of soda water to keep things steady. While Venetian bartenders are more likely to judge it by eye, there is a simple 3-2-1 formula for making a spritz at home: three parts prosecco, two parts liqueur and one part soda water. I’ve gone with 75ml/50ml/25ml – keep the same ratios to make a smaller (60ml/40ml/20ml) or larger (90ml/60ml/30ml) drink. Of course, you can then adjust it to make it stronger or weaker (I have been known to leave out the soda …).

As fitness-conscious consumers turn away from processed foods, the industry is scrambling for new ideas, including nutrient-rich lollies and protein-packed tubs. Will they take the fun out of this summer treat?

Last month, I stood in the biggest ice-cream factory in Britain and watched a 5-metre Viennetta mint-flavoured ice-cream cake get made. The factory – which is owned by the Magnum Ice Cream Company and produces nine different brands of ice-cream – is based in an enormous building in Gloucester, where the air is thick with the scent of custard. I walked past the Twister and Solero sections on my way in, through clouds of tangy fruit, before arriving at the Viennetta assembly line, where everything smelled minty fresh. A Viennetta is built on a conveyor belt by a fully automated system, and watching it take shape was oddly hypnotic. Every few inches a nozzle attached to the belt squirted out a frilly layer of mint ice-cream, then another nozzle smoothed a flat layer of vanilla on top of that, then came a squirt of chocolate sauce, and it was back to frilly mint again. On and on it went, layer upon layer, popping out finished Viennettas at the end of the line at a rate of 200 cakes every 60 seconds.

A slop bucket full of Viennetta overrun stood at the side of the conveyor belt and I fought a strong urge to squelch my fingers into it. Later, the factory operations manager allowed me to push my whole hand into the slop bucket up to the wrist and then lick my hand at a sink, before washing it and resuming the tour.

Following the all-clear, Kevin and Jade found a new openness in discussing sex and intimacy – and also a shared desire for exploring polyamory

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

Since the all clear, my relationship with my sexuality has shifted a lot

Make the victim feel safe and able to talk at their own pace, and consider any danger the perpetrator currently presents to younger members of the family

A young adult woman in our family has recently shared that her older male cousin once touched her inappropriately when she was aged six and he was aged 12. This happened 18 years ago. Then a second incident allegedly occurred eight years later.

She shared the story with her parents this year and the information was then shared with her cousin and other family members. He stated that he cannot recall either incident.

In 2001, Scott Westerfeld travelled from New York City to Sydney to see Justine Larbalestier. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, they navigated the crisis as best they could, together

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

I noticed Justine before she noticed me. We were at a literary award ceremony, and she was wearing a dress upcycled from a black Velvet Elvis painting, talking to a man three times her age.

I asked my friend, Carol, who knew everyone, why I’d never seen her before. Carol explained that she was an Australian academic, researching the history of publishing, and led me across the room.

Susan, 74, a retired careers adviser, meets Pete, 72, a retired Methodist minister

What were you hoping for?
A relaxed, friendly lunch with good and fun conversation.

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.

It said that was what I was due after I submitted a claim for £300 for energy exported through my solar panels

British Gas paid me more than £38,000 by mistake, then had no idea how to reclaim it. I receive quarterly feed-in tariff (Fit) payments for energy exported by my solar panels.

In May, I submitted a claim for £300, based on my meter reading, and I received an email stating that I was due £38,611.59.

Fraudsters use pictures posted on Instagram or Facebook to create emails seeking bank account details

You are on a short break in Porto and post some pictures of your family on Instagram or Facebook. With a small section of the Douro river in the background, you think it could have been taken anywhere.

A few days later, you get a text saying that your card was compromised. “We detected unusual activity while you were travelling in Porto – please verify immediately,” says the message.

You can save money at university, especially using schemes such as UNiDAYS, Student Beans or TOTUM

• ‘Watch your spending, use free perks’: an insider’s tips on student money

With rents on the up and food costing more, maintenance loans are stretched thinner than ever. Knowing how, and where, to get a discount can make a real difference.

A golden rule is to register with the big discount websites and apps – UNiDAYS, Student Beans and TOTUM – using your university email address as soon as you have one. Each has a slightly different roster of retailers, so it is worth signing up to all three.

Miranda Luby was only 36 years old when her tinnitus arrived in the middle of the night, without warning and for no clear reason

One night two years ago, I was lying in bed when I began to hear a high-pitched, electronic hum. The scene that followed would be comical if it wasn’t so traumatic. I roamed around the house in my PJs, frantically pressing my ears against various electrical appliances. It took half an hour to realise the sound was coming from inside my own head.

I’d heard ringing in my ears before, rising then falling, like a one-note crescendo of an orchestra. As a kid, I used to believe the myth it was the sound of dying ear cells, playing a swan song for a frequency I’d never hear again. This was different. This time, it didn’t stop.

As weight-loss drugs gain popularity in the US, brands are scaling back their ranges – and frustrating customers

In March 2023, the model, activist and writer Tess Holliday announced that she had been working as a size and inclusivity consultant for H&M. The fruits of their partnership felt like “one of the most meaningful things that I’ve done in my career”, she told US Vogue at the time. The fashion juggernaut had committed to an expansion of its sizes, from XL to 4XL, and to increased body diversity of its models.

This bucked a trend, coming at an otherwise gloomy time for plus-sized fashion. By 2023, the fashion industry was in the grips of an Ozempic-fuelled celebration of skinny bodies, after its brief flirtation with curves during the body positivity movement of the late 2010s.

Here’s what professionals have to say about good workout etiquette, from using equipment to being on your phone

I like to think of myself as a fairly laid-back person. Other people’s behavior is not my business. There is one notable exception: my gym nemesis.

He brings his computer to the gym and takes work conference calls at full volume. He has four to six pairs of dumbbells around him at all times – then doesn’t put them away. Intellectually I understand he is a fragile, flawed human like the rest of us, but in my gut I sometimes wonder if he arrived here from another galaxy.

Findings highlight importance of sleep health during middle age, particularly for those with lower socioeconomic status

Sleep that is extremely disrupted or that goes on too long could mean a loss of nine months from working life after the age of 50, a study has found.

It also found that women with no sleep disturbances had a longer working life from 50 to 68 than their male equivalents.

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.

From Nike’s infamous 110s to £250 and back again, sneakerheads are rediscovering why cheaper shoes can be worth just as much hype as much more expensive ones

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When Nike’s Air Max 95 trainers first landed in Britain back in the mid-1990s, they looked unlike anything else. Created by footwear designer Sergio Lozano, the shoe had wavy layers running down its sides, neon yellow accents, and visible ‘Air’ bubbles underfoot. But in the UK, one detail quickly became as famous as the shoe itself: its £110 price tag.

The Air Max 95 immediately picked up the nickname “110” because spending £110 on trainers seemed outrageous at the time. Owning a pair quickly became a status symbol among young men across Britain, while in celebrity circles they were worn by everyone from Jay-Z to Kylie Minogue.

Five travel writers share their favourite holidays at home, from gravel biking in Scotland and a steam train ride in Yorkshire to rowing all the way from Oxford to London

One of my best UK holidays was the week I spent in June 2013 rowing from Oxford to London with two friends, James and Tom.

Exploring prehistory sites around the Irish Sea – that were old even before the pyramids were built – throws a magical light on our ancestors

The guide was adamant. “I’ve picked human teeth out of there and I’m not doing it again.” The small group of tourists looked suitably aghast, except the boy. He was jiggling the wellington boots on his feet and singing to himself. He looked about 14. I sensed that he was the catalyst, the one to make things happen.

“So, if anyone is planning to leave human remains in this ancient place,” went on the guide, throwing the boy a stern look, “I say, DON’T.”

Your best UK breaks include an island off Mull, a rail journey along the County Antrim coast and Dorset’s best-kept secret

• Tell us about your favourite under-the-radar European city – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher

Mudeford feels like one of England’s best-kept secrets, the sort of place visitors from abroad might never imagine exists here. Golden sand and sparkling water give it an almost Mediterranean feel, while Hengistbury Head adds beautiful coastal walks and wide-open views. Our perfect day is simple: arrive early, wander along the headland, let the children play on the beach, then stop at one of the relaxed cafes for lunch or an ice-cream. My tip is to take the little ferry across the harbour – it turns an already lovely day out into a proper seaside adventure.
Priti Singer

The Mjølkevegen was once used to bring milk from high pastures to the towns below. Now cyclists are discovering the road’s breathtaking panoramas of peaks and lakes, dotted with cosy inns

‘Norway is a hilly country,” shrugs Glenn Roar Berge. He’s not wrong, though he is fond of an understatement. I’m in Valdres in southern Norway to explore the cycle routes that skirt the edges of Jotunheimen national park. Glenn from Jotunheimen Travel is our guide, a born-and-bred local of these mountains.

For most of our three-day ride, we’ll be following the Mjølkevegen, or Milky Way, a 155-mile (250km) route from Vinstra in the north to Gol in the south. It was developed after the second world war, when increased demand for fresh milk meant connecting the mountain farms with the towns below. While farming continues, the road has been embraced in recent years by gravel cyclists, (typically riders on drop-bar bikes favouring unpaved roads and trails), looking for a multi-day adventure far from towns and cities.

They relayed to me that the driver wanted more money. I went to grab my wallet, but they told me to put it away

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

I travelled alone a lot when I was younger and often got myself into stupid situations. You think you’re immortal when you’re in your 20s.

One such occasion happened when I was 25 and travelling solo in Egypt, not long after the turn of the century. I had taken an overnight bus from Cairo to Dahab, which dropped me and my fellow passengers off in the middle of nowhere. I had to get a shared taxi into town at about 3am – one where everyone sat up the back in a ute tray – then find somewhere to stay.

A Green party member and a Labour-voting Brexiter didn’t agree on the EU, but what about renewable energy and the NHS?

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

Joe, 41, Trafford, Greater Manchester

Occupation Press officer at a university

The ​s​tudio’s co-founders on ​accidentally creating Morph, not wanting a yacht in the Maldives and being each other’s best ally

Peter Lord and David Sproxton are the founders of Aardman Animations. The pair began animating as teenagers, selling their first short – starring a superhero called Aardman – to the BBC’s Vision On in 1972. In 1977, they created Morph for the children’s programme Take Hart. The studio’s breakthrough into adult audiences came via Channel 4’s Conversation Pieces series, and its animators, including a young Nick Park, went on to make Wallace & Gromit, whose films have won multiple Academy Awards. Aardman became employee-owned in 2018, with Lord and Sproxton transferring majority ownership to staff to safeguard the company’s independence. They were knighted earlier this year.

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions considers whether there is sufficient global physical capacity for all our discarded and worn-out purchases

• This week’s question: If all car tyres were filled with CO2, would this cut atmospheric carbon significantly?

If consumer capitalism continues at its current rate, will we reach a point at which there is literally no space left on Earth for all the stuff that has been created? Alex Robinson, Alnwick, Northumberland

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.

Friends close to Margarita Reutt are shocked she could allegedly plant bomb that killed Ukrainian defector Robert Shageev, while others recall a stubborn grit to see any plan through

It was just after dawn in Sevastopol when a powerful explosion tore through a quiet square in a residential district of the Russian-occupied Crimean port city.

Hidden inside a rubbish bin, a bomb containing the equivalent of about 500g of TNT detonated on 13 August as Robert Shageev, the deputy commander of a Russian Black Sea fleet submarine brigade, walked past in naval uniform. He was killed on the spot.

More than 2,000 people have died from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the first case of this epidemic was recorded in May. The Guardian's global health correspondent, Kat Lay, spoke to CDC Africa's Yap Boum II to understand why health teams on the ground are struggling and what is being put in place to try to contain the spread

• Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo now deadliest in country’s history

At 85, the actor has lived through much political upheaval. But, she writes, today’s hostile times feel like ‘the worst yet’. She reflects on her journey from teenage Tory to full-throated leftist – and says there’s still time to save the nation from the bad guys

A funny thing happened on the way to 2026: I got old and the world turned nasty. It happened very quickly and it’s to do with politics (the world) and pelvic floor weakness (mine). It’s strange being this old. Sometimes when I look in the mirror, it’s a shock to see wrinkles and grey hair, because inside I am still that naughty Oxford High School girl, risking detention just for the joy of entertaining her friends. People assume that with great age comes great wisdom, but actually we remain who we have always been, only more so, and we need to make our peace with that and with each other.

The Britain I grew up in, though – that feels almost unrecognisable, and everyone I speak to says the same thing. The historian Eric Hobsbawm, whom I knew and loved, argued that people invent the past they want for their own purposes – that the real past was quite different: “Today is the great age of historical mythology.” He’s right, but that past is still the safe haven I’d like to return to. People feel adrift, they don’t understand or feel a connection to the place they thought they knew.

Was it a government initiative or help from a charity? Or perhaps the support of friends and/or family?

Andy Burnham has called on local leaders to offer all rough sleepers in England a route off the streets by Christmas, as he pledges another £100m to end street homelessness.

The prime minister has promised he will mount a Covid-style campaign to get everyone off the streets this winter, arguing that rough sleeping has become so common it now “feels like part of the scenery”.

We would like to hear from frontline or key workers about how the heat has affected them in the workplace this year

With record high temperatures across the UK this summer we want to hear from those whose work meant they couldn’t escape the extreme heat.

August 13 marked the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures reaching 38C in London and 37C recorded in other parts of the country; this marks the first year temperatures of 37C and above have been recorded on three separate days in the UK. Climate scientists are saying the incoming Super El Niño is likely to deliver more record breaking hot weather next year.

What are some of the weirdest or priciest things parents and carers have to buy

From September 2026 a new law comes into force, which will mean parents and carers in England should not have to buy more than three items of branded school uniform. Secondary and middle schools may ask for four items if a tie is one of them.

The government says it hopes the new law will “ensure the cost of school uniforms is reasonable and provides the best value for money”.

We want to hear from young people who have chosen to start their own businesses rather than follow a traditional career path

A growing number of Gen Z are starting their own businesses, with the number of Start Up Loans taken out by young founders rising by 132% over the past five years, according to analysis by the British Business Bank. Meanwhile, Hiscox analysis of Companies House data found nearly 400,000 Gen Z directors are now running UK-registered businesses.

We’d like to hear from people aged between 18 and 29 who have started a business about what inspired you to do it and how you got started. How is your business going? What have been the biggest challenges and rewards? Do you see yourself continuing to run your own business in the future?

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