While some users say the wearables have changed their lives, critics voice fears over safety and privacy

With more than 7m pairs reportedly sold in 2025, Meta’s Ray-Ban smartglasses are fast becoming one of the world’s most popular gadgets.

While supporters say they are transforming photography and accessibility, critics have raised concerns about nonconsensual filming, privacy and data collection.

The honorary Gooner’s game went up a level last season. Now, the forward wants to push on for more trophies, starting with the WSL

Arms hooked over the bar at the front of the bus, sunglasses on, a drink in one hand and the other pointed towards the fans as she vibed along to the music and joined in with the singing and chanting, Alessia Russo was having a blast.

“I had the time of my life that day,” says the Arsenal forward of the 9km parade through the red smoke-filled streets of north London after Arsenal men’s Premier League triumph and Arsenal women’s Champions Cup success.

The TikTok influencer is now a TV star. But this independent, opinionated woman still lives with her mother, on the Clacton council estate where she grew up. Will she ever leave? And how does she feel about Mum’s curfew?

Since eyes are turned to Clacton-on-Sea and a certain candidate facing questions about a £5m “gift” and a byelection battle with a man dressed as a bin, let’s take a look across the town at a young woman in a pink house and be reminded of some values – generosity, decency – that appear absent from much of public life.

Trewley Precious Temple, who became well known on TikTok, where she has 1m followers, is the star of the Channel 4 show Secret Lives of Gypsy Wives and is fast becoming a phenomenon. The show features her mum, Tina, her sisters Honey, Pearl and Ruby-Anne and her brother Jamie; they’re like the Kardashians, says Temple in every episode’s intro, if the humourless US reality TV family were “fat and broke and on benefits”. What comes across most strongly is the family’s love and big-heartedness, not just for each other, but for their wider community, too.

Riya says her boyfriend has road rage, but Declan insists he never loses his temper. You decide if needs to put the brakes on his motormouth

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

Every time Declan chooses kicking off over de-escalation, he compromises our safety

I don’t believe people should get away with dangerous or disrespectful driving

The Cambridge academic has rightly now resigned. But that won’t end the targeting of senior black figures or the lazy way institutions promote faux equality

‘To be honest with you, I thought you’d just believe me.” That was the breathtaking response of Prof Jason Arday when the Guardian interrogated the details he provided of an alleged racist campaign of intimidation against him, which involved a severed pig’s head, a masked man wielding a knife and bullets in the post. Arday had been unable to provide evidence, and when the Guardian contacted the relevant parties, including a south London butcher and the police, his claims were either refuted or could not be verified.

Arday, whose appointment as professor of sociology of education at Cambridge became a widely lauded moment in the aftermath of Black Lives Matter, has found himself in the eye of the storm. Allegations of extensive plagiarism in his doctoral thesis, completed at Liverpool John Moores University, recently made their way from the Substack of self-described “race realist” academic Nathan Cofnas into the national press. The defence of Arday had rested on the fact that an investigation had already been conducted, and cleared him of plagiarism. And yet the case has taken on a life of its own.

Claw machine shops have proliferated in the territory in recent years, filling vacant spaces left behind by businesses that closed during the pandemic

In Hong Kong’s neon-lit arcades, a maze of claw machines illuminates the prizes of the day: plushies, Labubu dolls and an array of Pokémon collectibles.

Across the city, claw machine shops have proliferated in recent years, now surpassing more than 2,500, many filling vacant spaces left by businesses that closed during the pandemic.

Sociology professor to stand down after university announces investigation into his qualifications and career

• Playbooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: the claims surrounding a star Cambridge professor

Jason Arday, the Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism and embellishment, has resigned after the university announced he was to face new investigations into his qualifications and career.

Arday, who had been dogged by a growing series of questions over his academic work and credentials, issued a statement on Wednesday night, saying the “relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love”.

• Statement reveals Infantino wrote apologies to members

• Infantino sorry for failing to consult on World Cup sell-off

Fifa on Wednesday night confirmed that Gianni Infantino will remain as president after a meeting of its senior executives in Rabat.

In a statement which also revealed that Infantino has sent written apologies to the Fifa council and the 211 member associations for failing to consult them over the World Cup sell-off, the world governing body said that he retains the full support of his leadership team.

After Ukraine failed to shoot down a single ballistic missile fired by Russia on Wednesday, the president urged allies to increase supplies of Patriot interceptors

Nato is working to get Ukraine the air defences it “urgently needs”, its secretary general has said, after Kyiv failed to shoot down a single Russian missile in an attack on Wednesday, and as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was seeking to significantly boost missile ⁠production ahead of winter.

Speaking at a National Security and Defense Council meeting on winter resilience, the Ukrainian president did not rule out the idea that stalling missile supplies from western allies were “aimed at making Ukraine, so to speak, more willing to compromise” in peace talks with Russia.

Investigation by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and Legal Agenda shows Israel deliberately attacked Amal Khalil and colleague Zeinab Faraj knowing they were civilians

An Israeli strike that killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and injured her colleague Zeinab Faraj in April was a war crime, three rights organisations said on Thursday.

Investigations from Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and Legal Agenda showed that Israel deliberately and directly attacked Khalil and Faraj, with apparent knowledge that they were civilians. The organisations called for the attacks to be investigated as war crimes, while HRW called for states to halt arm sales to Israel and put targeted sanctions on Israeli officials responsible for ongoing crimes.

Reform say employers would be held responsible even if they were unaware of the worker’s immigration status

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has defended a black university professor who resigned amid a plagiarism row, saying that people of colour can “be held by higher standards” in society.

Professor Jason Arday quit his high-profile role at the University of Cambridge on Wednesday after it launched an investigation into his “academic qualifications and honorary appointments”.

I think the whole affair sounds pretty sad. Again, I think it would be good, actually, if the [university] investigation still was carried out, because I think it would be good to know the truth.

And ultimately, I think these things should be about fair process and transparency rather than trial by media.

[The university] had already done, I think, two investigations and found there was no problem here or that the allegations were unfounded, and so [the letter] was about essentially saying that people of colour, particularly in society, can sometimes be held by higher standards.

I have to say I’m a bit shocked by this decision. I don’t understand it at all. And I’ve listened to Luciana Berger talk about the way she had felt with this man who was targeting her, even talking about giving Nazi salutes. I mean, just really disturbing.

This is obviously somebody who should not be in in public life. I think that every party has to take this very seriously.

President has sued the broadcaster for $10bn, claiming a documentary on 2021 Capitol attack led to financial harm

Donald Trump’s legal team is making an 11th-hour attempt to block a court order that would grant the BBC access to the president’s financial records, as part of his multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the British broadcaster.

Trump claims that the BBC’s 2024 documentary on the January 6 attacks have damaged the president’s business interests. In July, a Miami-based judge ruled that the president would have to start handing over detailed financial records to the BBC by 6 August. The records would reveal details into the hundreds of businesses owned by the US president’s family trust.

Meta says safeguards are in place to prevent surreptitious filming, but some UK venues now prohibit them from being worn at all

When Meta used superstar Kylie Jenner to promote its sleek new line of “spy glasses”, the social media company hoped the devices would reach the same broad acceptance that tablets and smartwatches have found before them.

But those plans have hit a snag in the UK, where venues from elite restaurants to popular pub chains have banned the £359 glasses in order to preserve the privacy of customers and staff.

Grammy-winning pianist Robert Glasper will headline opening of club’s first UK venue in Covent Garden next month

The world-famous New York jazz club Blue Note will open its first UK venue in London next month.

Located in the basement of St Martins Lane hotel, Covent Garden, the club promises the best of British jazz alongside world-class international artists, with a programme featuring emerging and established talent.

Sodium and lithium gas was detected in a plume thought to span tens of kilometres, created when part of a SpaceX rocket crashed into the lunar surface

A telescope in Chile has captured evidence of the impact caused by part of a SpaceX rocket slamming into the moon while travelling at 8,690km/h (5,400mph).

The European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope observed “spectral lines” – a colourful illustration of the sodium and lithium gas – in the plume of lunar dust stirred up by the impact.

As the number of migrants crossing the Channel is down by 43%, have ministers cracked the problem?

The headline figures show that small boats crossing the Channel are down by 43% compared with January to mid-July 2025 – from 21,690 people who crossed last year to 12,469 over the same period this year.

Since Andy Burnham came to power on 20 July, however, there has been a small increase on the same period last year. Between 20 July and 2 August 2025 1,962 people crossed the Channel in small boats. Over the same period this year more than 2,000 have crossed.

Parents and teachers worry about the number of kids who vape cannabis. But many of them are using something far more dangerous – without even realising it

I bumped into an old acquaintance the other day. Updating me on his children’s ages, he said, with an eyeroll of resignation: “My daughter’s 15 now; just found a cannabis vape in her room.” It’s an increasingly common and concerning situation for parents – with no way of telling if a vape does in fact contain weed (which comes with its own risks, just like vaping tobacco) or something much worse.

Instead of the natural cannabinoids THC or CBD, these vapes can contain a much cheaper substitute: the “prison drug” spice. Last year scientists from the University of Bath analysed 1,923 vapes that had been confiscated from children in 114 schools in England, and found that 13% contained spice. In London and Lancashire it was 25%. And this is among vapes of all kinds, nicotine included, not just those that purported to contain cannabis. As for vapes labelled as containing THC, CBD or cannabis, when the drug-testing service Wedinos (part of Public Health Wales) examined 297 samples received in the year up to March 2025, it found that 39% contained spice.

Twenty years on, no one has been held accountable for the brutal killings of young Tamils working for a French NGO in Sri Lanka

By the time their colleagues were able to reach them, their bodies had been lying in the dirt for around two days and were starting to decompose in the heat. On 6 August 2006, 17 Sri Lankan workers for the international NGO Action Against Hunger were found dead in the organisation’s compound in Muttur, Sri Lanka. They had been lined up and shot.

Many were recent graduates, brought on board to help with the NGO’s increased workload in the aftermath of the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. All but one were Tamil. Four were women. Two were father and daughter.

In an app-based era, new dating tactics emerge rapidly and while you may have deployed one or been subject to one, how many of the following are real?

In the age of app-based romance, fresh dating trends seem to emerge every week. Many of them – in the mould of ghosting and catfishing – are profoundly antisocial, while some are defensive strategies against toxic suitors. More than a few are but new names for disgraceful behaviours as old as time. You may have been the victim of one – or you may have unwittingly deployed one – but how many can you identify? Which of the following are genuine trends, and which are not?

The life of the hugely influential ‘people’s historian’ is explored in a wide-ranging new book that brings in everything from wars to civil rights to Matt Damon

Matt Damon may play a great hero in The Odyssey, but one of the star’s own heroes is also set for his time in the spotlight. In Massachusetts in the 1970s and 80s, Damon grew up close to Howard Zinn, now the subject of The People’s Historian, a biography by Dave Zirin.

“Frankly,” Zirin said, “the fact that he’s Matt Damon and oh by the way is now in the biggest movie perhaps since Titanic, it makes it a nice little bauble for the book that I got to interview him.

With TV shows Rooster and Vladimir under their belts, the sketch stars and best friends since school have withstood tumours, nerdy perfectionism and US success. So why are they so eager to get back to the fringe?

• Explore the rest of our Edinburgh festival 2026 coverage

There has always been a lot of overlap in the lives of Charly Clive and Ellen Robertson. After bonding on a school trip 20 years ago, the pair have spent the past decade performing sketch comedy together and were flatmates for almost as long.

Recently, though, the similarities have bordered on the spooky. In December 2024, Clive was told she had been cast as Steve Carell’s professor daughter in the HBO campus comedy Rooster. Soon after, Robertson found out she was also getting a new superstar parent: she’d be playing Rachel Weisz’s lawyer daughter in Netflix’s Vladimir, another smart, funny show set at a US university. Both series debuted in March to enthusiastic reviews and viewing figures in the millions.

As Steal This Story, Please! charts her astonishing reports on everything from climate summits to earthquakes to massacres, Goodman talks about dissent, censorship – and her ‘magic moments’

‘I consider an exclusive a failure,” Amy Goodman says. It is not a typical observation for a journalist to make, but it is the approach at the heart of a documentary about her career, Steal This Story, Please! If an article, item, narrative or interview is significant enough “it should be shared around the world,” she insists.

This time, however, her goal is not to share a particular news story, but rather an entire professional philosophy. To do so, Goodman had to let “two Oscar-nominated stalkers into my life” in an effort to “spread the word about this critical form of independent journalism” that she has practised over four decades.

Wayne Campbell and Wayne Crichlow have been photographing carnival for 15 years, capturing a blur of dancers, style icons and singalongs on the tube home

A man who prized blunt speaking has been selectively eulogised. There’s a balance between decency and honesty: I’m sad he caused such harm

As tributes poured in for Rod Liddle, the Sunday Times and Sun columnist who has died at the age of 66, they were markedly coy and sanitised. Paradoxically, those were the exact deficiencies obituaries praised Liddle for avoiding – they said he shot from the hip and ruffled feathers, remorselessly attacked the liberal establishment and was ebullient. Michael Gove called him “special and brave”. But brave in the face of what? Attacked the liberal establishment how?

This delicacy was particularly noticeable in a segment on Radio 4’s Today programme, of which Liddle was editor in the 90s, between Justin Webb and Amol Rajan. “If there was a golden thread that connected the person you saw back then with the person of a few weeks ago,” Webb said, “it was a distrust of authority.” But Liddle’s targets as a columnist were not the authorities. Often they were Muslims and immigrants, transgender people and chronic illness sufferers, African-Caribbean men from Harlesden. He did not attack the establishment, he attacked the marginalised, constantly.

Andy Burnham inherited the crisis in our prison system – but the solution cannot be to further endanger the women and children who have survived violence

It’s time to be blunt: the government is about to expose hundreds of vulnerable women to the risk of death or serious injury. Survivors of domestic abuse, including women who have suffered years of physical violence and intimidation, are now preparing for the moment in October when 5,000 prisoners begin to be released early. What are these women supposed to do? Where are they supposed to go? Their abusers know where they live. They know where their children go to school.

Following an outcry, rapists and some child sex offenders have been excluded from the early release scheme. But by refusing to exclude men convicted of domestic violence, this government is sending a message that this category of crime – serial in nature and implicated in the deaths of one woman every five days – is simply not a priority.

Joan Smith is an author, journalist and a former chair of the mayor of London’s VAWG board

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

Long days with nothing to do is the whole point of summer. Turning it into a ‘making memories’ exercise is creepy and controlling

There are a great many things to dislike about modern parenting trends – take your pick from helicopter to snowplow to Fafo – but the least appealing, perhaps, is the temptation present in all of them to treat raising a child like an extended school project.

The latest addition is something called 18 summers, in which clingy parents count down the school holidays they have left with their children before they leave home, pre-grieving the end as they go. There is no quicker way to ruin something than by filtering it through an internet trend, but this one is particularly insidious: an invitation to inject weird notes of anxiety into what might otherwise be an unstudied thing.

The Spanish PM has been one of few European leaders to stand up to Trump. He now faces coercive diplomacy and an emboldened far right at home

The dramatic footage last Thursday of thousands of migrants entering Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta generated an online frenzy among the far right. And the alarmist rhetoric was also evident in the European mainstream, as EU leaders wasted little time attributing the chaotic scenes to Spain’s liberal immigration policies.

In a letter organised by Italy and Denmark, and signed by 22 EU heads of government, they appeared to blame the crisis on Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s recent programme to regularise undocumented migrants, which received more than a million applications. They argued that Europe must “[address] all policies that can serve as pull factors”.

'Most people don’t want pervert glasses that can film us without our consent,' said a spokesperson from activist group Everyone Hates Elon. The group has launched a series of guerilla adverts deriding non-consensual filming by the glasses as well as an email campaign encouraging people to legally object to being filmed by Meta glasses under general data protection regulations, which over 20,000 people have signed.

Rights groups have warned that the glasses threaten the right to privacy, while countries such as Germany are reportedly considering a ban.

And while Meta’s safety guidelines say smart glasses should not be used for 'harassment, infringing on privacy rights, or capturing sensitive information', women have taken to social media to share their stories of being filmed by men without their consent.

Watch as Guardian columnist and Opinion editor Kirsty Major dives into why fears of surveillance and 'creepy men' mean Meta can never convince her to love the glasses – and read more about the glasses via the link in the bio

AstraZeneca’s rumoured takeover of Bristol Myers Squibb already looked weird, and was met with a lack of enthusiasm by shareholders

• AstraZeneca falls to third-largest UK company amid US merger talks

Hold the heartburn pills. It seems AstraZeneca is no longer contemplating a takeover of US rival Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) to create a $400bn (£300bn) pharmaceutical colossus. On Monday, the UK firm’s shares plunged 9% on the FT’s report of preliminary talks. On Wednesday, Reuters said there are no ongoing discussions. Cue a mini-relief rally in AZ’s share price.

Neither company has seen fit to tell its shareholders what was happening, so it’s impossible to know if the talks were a tentative ‘what if?’ corporate flirtation or something more substantial that has been killed, perhaps, by the lack of enthusiasm on the part of AZ’s shareholders.

We need an enlightened US president to make the case for global AI regulation. Donald Trump is the exact opposite of what is needed

When I am woken by the sound of my dog whining, I understand that she is hungry and wants me to get up. When my alarm clock goes off, I don’t consider its needs. It is following an instruction to rouse me at a certain time but it doesn’t care if I stay in bed. It doesn’t try to get me up by other means. The dog, on the other hand, will go to plan B. She barks.

This capacity for autonomous action was once a difference between animals and machines. AI has blurred the line. Advanced models devise their own strategies to reach a goal. The task might be defined by a human master, but the machine weighs its options for delivery. It can make its own choices. Given rules, it can break them.

A row over a local council candidate reveals a deeper problem with the Tory leader’s diagnosis of her party’s electoral predicament

Kemi Badenoch has been clear about the qualifying criteria for prospective Conservative MPs. They must be “serious people who understand common sense,” she has said. The situation in local government is different, as demonstrated by Mrs Badenoch’s ill-judged support for a former neo-Nazi, selected to stand as a councillor in Somerset next year.

Joshua Bonehill-Paine has convictions for racially aggravated harassment of a Jewish Labour MP and assaulting a police officer among other offences. On Wednesday, as pressure grew on the party leader to repudiate him, he withdrew his candidacy.

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

A wave of films dealing with the second world war is captivating a nation facing major contemporary challenges

For weeks now, anglophone cinephiles have been focusing their attention on the virtues and vices of Christopher Nolan’s $250m adaptation of The Odyssey. Across the Channel, however, Homer’s epic tale of a flawed Greek hero has been facing stiff domestic competition. A two-part biopic of General Charles de Gaulle, concentrating on his struggles to liberate France during the second world war, has been the word-of-mouth box office hit of the French summer.

It may be that five hours’ worth of De Gaulle attracted some punters seeking air-conditioned sanctuary from the heatwaves. But there have been rave reviews both from critics and audiences, and a notable upsurge of interest among the young. The success of the films has already had a cultural knock-on effect, boosting the number of visitors, for example, to the Museum of the Liberation of Paris.

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

Readers respond to an article by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in which she argues that Labour should abolish fines for parents taking their children on holiday during term time

I am in support of Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett’s suggestion that we should abolish fines for holidays in school term time (I’m all for the nanny state – but we should abolish fines for holidays in term time, 2 August). She makes all the correct and logical arguments, to which I would add one more. One of the justifications for the fines is that children miss out on valuable learning, but this is simply not the case as teachers turn to movies, games and other distractions in those last weeks of term.

There is very little curriculum learning happening in those periods before the main school holidays. And from what my children describe to me, over the years this “downing of tools” seems to be happening earlier each year. The argument that taking a child out of school a week before the end of term means they miss valuable learning is, frankly, laughable.
Nick Johnson
Dorset

Responding to an editorial, Scott Hunter writes that the benefits of being a devolved authority have not yet arrived in Tees Valley, while John Hall calls for constitutional reform. Plus letters from Richard Dowling and Miland Joshi

Devolution has become the flavour of the month (The Guardian view on England’s centralised state: Andy Burnham must unbundle it, 31 July). The case is well argued and the need for such reform fits neatly into the situation we find in the Tees Valley – chronic underinvestment, lack of economic growth, depopulation, and so on.

But the Tees Valley has had a devolved authority for 10 years and the benefits of devolution have not landed. The Tees Valley authority was issued a best value notice in April 2025, though there’s nothing to show for it.

Jimmy Cricket | Creative science | Clacton vote | Humanists and humanity | Short showers

I remember fondly Jimmy Cricket (No smut, no swearing, wrong-feet wellies and a silly hat: the gentle comedy world of Jimmy Cricket, 4 August) taking over the intercom from the cabin crew who had just announced our flight to Manchester would be delayed. Groans from the passengers quickly gave way to laughter as Jimmy read a letter from the mammy in Ireland and the next hour passed so enjoyably that when the pilot announced take off, disappointment could be heard.
Martin Brayford
Altrincham, Cheshire

• Goodness me, Mick Foster (Letters, 3 August)! Don’t you know that “creativity” is the sole prerogative of the arts? As someone who has recently lived through Bradford City of Culture 2025, I have also learned that a “creative” is someone who paints or is a poet. No way can scientists be allowed in. What next? Engineers?
Les Brook
Saltaire, West Yorkshire

We are trying to keep a pre‑industrial flora alive in a post‑industrial climate, writes Richard Eltringham

Your report (Half of England officially in ‘exceptionally serious’ drought, 29 July) makes me think that perhaps it’s time to admit what horticulturists have whispered for years: the native‑plants‑only doctrine has had its day. We can keep insisting that every garden, park and verge must resemble a 1790s botanical inventory, or we can face the obvious – the climate those plants evolved for no longer exists.

We are trying to keep a pre‑industrial flora alive in a post‑industrial climate. Oak saplings are crisping, beech woods are browning, and “rewilded” meadows are going from hopeful to tinderbox in a single heatwave. Meanwhile, drought‑tolerant non‑natives – Mediterranean shrubs, prairie perennials, desert grasses – sit ready to do the job: hold soil, feed pollinators, stay green, stay alive.

• Document shows Fifa staff were involved in project

• Fifa was prepared to sideline member associations

Gianni Infantino held talks about rebranding the ill-fated European breakaway competition the “Fifa Super League”, with negotiations going as far as the term sheet for an agreement that would have changed the face of European football.

The term sheet, whose full contents can be revealed for the first time, is dated October 2020 and proposes renaming any new competition under Fifa’s branding. It outlines the extent to which Infantino’s administration were implicated in a scheme that caused widespread revulsion among fans and excluded clubs in April 2021. It also reveals that Fifa was prepared to sideline its member associations in pushing plans to cut back the number of international windows and outlines how global football’s governing body would have been given special governance and political rights with a “golden share”.

• Forward becomes most expensive African player

• Club are in positive talks with Vinícius Júnior

Real Madrid have agreed a club-record fee of €135m (£115.7m) with RB Leipzig for Yan Diomande and are confident of warding off Arsenal’s interest in Vinícius Júnior after offering an improved contract to the Brazil forward.

After several weeks of negotiations that saw Paris Saint-Germain pull out of the race, the deal for Diomande – the 19-year-old who joined the German side from Leganés last summer and starred for Côte d’Ivoire at the World Cup – was finally struck on Wednesday afternoon. It is understood that Madrid will pay an initial €125m plus another €10m in add-ons, a total that would eclipse the fee the Spanish side paid Borussia Dortmund to sign Jude Bellingham in 2023, believed to have been worth up to €134m including add-ons.

Today’s rumours are prising open their war chest

Aston Villa struggling to hold on to their World Cup stars has become something of a theme of this transfer window and off we go again as Arsenal have stepped up their interest in Ezri Konsa. The Daily Mail reports that the Premier League champions, having had a bid for the England defender rebuffed last month, are coming back with a bigger offer for Konsa, who Villa value at £60m minimum. Villa for their part are trying to nail down a £14m deal for Atlético Madrid’s Italian left-back Matteo Ruggeri.

Liverpool are looking for defensive reinforcements and could swoop for the Real Madrid centre-back Raúl Asencio. The 23-year-0ld has been told he can leave the Bernabéu and various Mr 15%s have approached Liverpool about a move, reports Teamtalk. Also on Andoni Iraola’s radar is the teenage Paris Saint-Germain winger Ibrahim Mbaye. The 18-year-old, who scored a stunning goal for Senegal against France at the World Cup, is believed to be keen on a move to Anfield.

• LIV chief refuses to disclose new funders’ identities

• Scott O’Neil hopes DeChambeau and Rahm will stay

LIV Golf has secured a “lead investor” to safeguard its existence until 2030, although the agreement is unlikely to prevent a batch of high-profile players departing by the end of this year.

Scott O’Neil, LIV’s chief executive, announced basic plans for the “next generation” of the tour on Wednesday while refusing to disclose the new funders of the business. After the withdrawal of backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, O’Neil has been engaged in a race against time to save his business.

• Three outstanding riders in race broke clear of peloton

• Padding row intensifies after footage of male inspection

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s defence of her Tour de France Femmes title unravelled among the Beaujolais vineyards as the French rider lost even more ground to rivals Demi Vollering, Marlen Reusser and Kasia Niewiadoma.

The three outstanding riders in this year’s race broke clear of the peloton over the final steep gradients of Mont Brouilly, with 2023 Tour winner Vollering outsprinting overall race leader Reusser to take the fourth Tour stage win of her career.

• Incident occurred after Pumas were denied a late try

• Albornoz’s ban begins against South Africa on Saturday

Tomás Albornoz, the Argentina fly-half, has been banned for four matches for intimidating the referee after the full-time whistle of England’s controversial victory against the Pumas last month.

Albornoz accepted allegations of misconduct at a disciplinary hearing, and that his behaviour was intimidatory. He will miss Argentina’s Test against South Africa on Saturday as well as their forthcoming double header with Australia and a Toulon fixture.

In this exclusive book extract, Melissa Reddy documents the Egyptian King’s sacrifice and dedication to make his vision a reality

The entrance to Al Mokawloon Al Arab’s youth sector feels imposing. At first it is confusing to pinpoint the reason. Is it the facade; a mesh of thick concrete slabs, a marble-like trim that alters in colour depending on the light, and the no-nonsense black steel gate? Perhaps it is the stately signage of white block letters in Arabic juxtaposed against the dark background, with satellite pieces of information and announcements signifying importance. But to stop and pay attention to buildings around Nasr City in eastern Cairo is to notice that the blend of functional and decorative elements of the entrance, down to even the font and array of notices, is not unique.

The building’s aura can be explained by the main image above its gates, and the knowledge that to walk through them is to follow the footsteps a history-maker took from the age of 14. Mohamed Salah’s face has pride of place above the gates; it is a reminder of where he’s been, but more pertinently, of why it is important to marry talent with discipline and determination. The truth is he has achieved the impossible.

Health secretary says global heating means UK hospitals and GPs will have to prepare for summer as well as winter peaks of demand

• Adapting to global heating: which UK public services are struggling in hot weather?

The NHS has been warned to prepare for potential annual summer crises caused by extreme heat with the same pressures as winter, as heatwaves caused by the climate crisis become routine in the UK.

The health secretary, Yvette Cooper, said NHS staff were feeling A&E pressures that would normally be expected only during flu season – and said the government would use major investment in NHS infrastructure to tackle the health service’s resilience to high summer temperatures.

The £20m reboot shows off exhibits ranging from a giant whale skeleton to tiny ‘scrimshaws’ of carved bone to a very strange mermaid, all telling a gripping tale of a great seafaring city

The star attraction of Hull’s revamped and revitalised Maritime Museum is a colossal 40ft-long skeleton of an North Atlantic right whale, beached more than a century ago. The remains of this leviathan dominate an exhibition space scarcely large enough to contain its stupendous bulk. Children can crawl into its ribcage, like junior Jonahs, popping up in a clear plastic dome as digital images of swimming whales slowly unspool across the ceiling.

Docile, leisurely and extremely blubbery – which meant that harpooned carcasses conveniently floated, as well as yielding copious quantities of valuable oil – the North Atlantic right whale was hunted almost to extinction during the whaling era. Today, it’s estimated that there are fewer than 400 left.

Tarun Tejpal, ex-editor of Tehelka magazine, was initially acquitted in 2021 in case that drew nationwide attention

An Indian court has convicted a high-profile former editor of an investigative news magazine of raping a junior colleague, overturning his acquittal in a case that drew nationwide attention.

Tarun Tejpal, 63, the founder and former editor of Tehelka magazine, was accused of raping a journalist in the lift of a five-star hotel in the western coastal state of Goa during an event in November 2013. He was arrested and spent seven months in jail until the supreme court granted him bail.

Initial evidence suggests aerial drone, found near Ukrainian cargo planes at German airport, came from Russia

The armed drone found at Leipzig airport on Wednesday may not have exploded, but the fact that it got inside the perimeter, close to Ukrainian cargo planes, raises obvious concerns for the security of international aviation.

Though the identity of the culprits is unknown, the initial evidence points firmly towards a Russian-orchestrated plot. It is the first time that a drone with explosives has been found in Europe far from the Ukrainian border.

Coffee chain has faced backlash over marketing promotion tied to anniversary of Gwangju massacre

South Korean police have raided the headquarters of Starbucks Korea as part of an investigation into a marketing campaign accused of trivialising the country’s 1980s pro-democracy movement.

Investigators searched the building in southern Seoul on Tuesday, police said on Wednesday. No further details were released, although South Korean media reported that officers also searched the homes of the Starbucks Korea executives.

Current blazes roaring across country more than twice as likely to occur because of fossil fuel-driven global heating

The human-driven climate crisis made the conditions that led to blazes roaring across Canada, which have caused toxic smoke to spew throughout the country and into the US, twice as likely to occur, a new analysis has found.

Heightened global temperatures, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, amplified the risk of fire-prone weather in Ontario and the Northwest Territories, scientists found. These provinces have been racked by fires this summer, causing towns to be evacuated and unhealthy smoke to unfurl across multiple cities in North America.

The beady-eyed, Pokémon-like leaf sheep is far more ingenious than us land mammals

• Revealed: the top 10 invertebrates of the year

• Invertebrate of Year Q&A: discuss our countdown with Patrick Barkham

A neon green punk sheep that lives underwater. A solar-powered slug that can perform photosynthesis. If you are seeking beauty, brains and a wonderfully innovative lifestyle, then vote leaf sheep.

The leaf or sea sheep, Costasiella kuroshimae, is a sea slug about the size of a grain of rice. Like a sheep, it grazes on green stuff – certain species of algae, which it finds in tropical waters around Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. But its sheepy nickname does it a disservice because it is far more ingenious than us land mammals.

Farmers advised to vaccinate after recent hot weather provides ideal conditions for virus-carrying midges

There has been an alarming surge in the number of sheep affected by an outbreak of bluetongue in the UK, and farmers whose livestock are at risk are being urged to move them out of areas where midges are plentiful.

The viral disease, which does not necessarily kill sheep but makes them ill and can have a long recovery time, presents as high fever and swelling of the lips and tongue. The tongue may go blue and even protrude from the mouth.

Aaron Farinacci is accused of starting the Old Trails fire that has destroyed homes and forced thousands to flee

The Washington state man accused of starting a wildfire that has destroyed homes and forced thousands to flee around Spokane was previously questioned in connection with two fire investigations last year, according to court documents.

Authorities allege that Aaron Farinacci, 37, of Spokane, started Old Trails fire, one of three major wildfires burning in Spokane county in north-eastern Washington. He was arrested on Monday and booked on suspicion of first-degree arson.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

Joshua Bonehill-Paine says Conservative leader asked him to work with party’s culture and integration commission

A former neo-Nazi activist who was convicted of harassing a Jewish MP has withdrawn as a Conservative election candidate after Kemi Badenoch offered him a role as an adviser to the party.

Joshua Bonehill-Paine said on Wednesday that he had withdrawn from next year’s local elections, and that the Conservative leader had instead asked him to become an adviser to the party’s culture and integration commission, where he will specifically focus on how young men become radicalised.

Minnie Merriman was found injured on industrial estate in Arbroath on Monday and a man has appeared in court

A girl of nine who died on a family camping trip in Scotland has been named as Minnie Merriman.

In a statement released through Police Scotland, her family said: “We are devastated with the loss of our beloved, absolutely incredible, beautiful and brave Minnie Moo. Our family asks that our privacy is respected at this extremely difficult time.”

Exclusive: Rukhsar Ahmed was re-elected as an MP in Pakistan last week despite being on police bail in the UK

A former Pakistani state minister was arrested two years ago on suspicion of raping vulnerable young girls in Manchester in the 1990s, the Guardian can reveal.

Rukhsar Ahmed, who was re-elected as an MP in Pakistan last week after five years out of office, is on police bail in the UK after his arrest in July 2024 on suspicion of rape and trafficking children in care as part of a grooming gang.

Metropolitan police say 47-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of possession of offensive weapon and assault

A woman has been arrested after four men were stabbed in Covent Garden, central London, police said.

The Metropolitan police said the men, aged 34, 39, 42 and 52, were found with stab wounds. They were taken to a major trauma centre after the lunchtime incident on Endell Street.

Research suggests addressing risk factors for poor cardiovascular health between the ages of 45 and 65 could help reduce risk of cognitive decline

Scientists claim to have identified three health measures in middle age that can ward off dementia for more than a decade.

Having normal blood pressure, no type 2 diabetes, and not smoking between the ages of 45 and 65 were associated with almost 13 additional years, on average, of dementia-free life, a study shows.

The 20-year-old’s third calf is being monitored by officials as survival rates for the species are challenging, the zoo said

The Toronto Zoo has announced the birth of a female pygmy hippo calf.

Kindia, the zoo’s 20-year-old pygmy hippo, started showing signs of labor at around 8.15am last Sunday, it said. Around four hours later, the calf’s feet emerged and after 1.5 hours of active labor, Kindia successfully gave birth to the baby pygmy hippo.

Many online questioned how long the blogger’s broadcast remained up on the app and shared mental health resources

Social media users have criticized TikTok after the celebrity blogger Perez Hilton livestreamed himself self-harming on the platform, prompting many to question how long the broadcast remained live and others to share mental health resources and encourage those in need to seek help.

On Tuesday night, Hilton, 48, livestreamed himself engaging in self-harm as viewers pleaded for him to stop. Shortly after, local authorities responded to his home in Miami, Florida, where he was transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.

The UK’s AI Security Institute test revealed AI models indulging in unprecedented hacking attempts

• AI models shock UK testers by using fake identities to trick developers

Two cutting-edge AI models have targeted real people and organisations in the latest safety scare to hit the technology. The UK’s AI Security Institute (AISI) said the incident was unprecedented but could become more common as the technology becomes increasingly capable.

Firm lifts outlook saying it’s well placed to benefit from PM’s focus on new homes despite ongoing cost pressures of Iran war

UK housebuilder Persimmon has lifted its outlook, saying it is “well-placed” to benefit from prime minister Andy Burnham’s policy agenda, despite growing costs linked to the Iran war.

Despite rising cost pressures, Persimmon has lifted its outlook for the full year and now plans to complete 12,500 new homes by year-end, at the upper reach of its previous guidance.

Some want the chancellor to exploit newly flexible fiscal rules – others want a more creative approach, such as borrowing from markets

With just 12 weeks to go until his first budget, new chancellor John Healey is seeking ways to ramp up public investment, without busting the Treasury’s fiscal rules – and some economists are urging him to be bold.

As he settles into No 11 Downing Street, the former defence secretary’s most immediate challenges concern day-to-day government spending.

Eurozone construction downturn also eases while in financial markets, European shares rise and Brent crude holds below $80 a barrel

The downturn in UK construction has also eased, and optimism among firms improved – more good news for Andy Burnham’s government, after the service sector’s return to growth in July.

The headline index from S&P Global’s monthly survey jumped to 44.7 in July, up from 34.4 in June, but still below the 50 mark that divides contraction from growth.

July data suggests that the performance of UK construction sector has started to stabilise after a sharp downturn throughout the second quarter of 2026. Business activity levels continued to decline in all three main categories, but in each case the rate of contraction was much slower than in June. This was supported by the weakest reduction in new business intakes since September 2025.

A renewed improvement in supplier performance and softer input cost inflation were also positive developments in July. Construction companies widely commented on fuel surcharges and higher raw material prices due to the war in the Middle East, but the overall rate of cost inflation was the lowest for five months.

The construction sector in the eurozone remained in solid contraction territory at the start of the third quarter, with all three monitored sectors continuing the declines seen a month prior. The downturn was also broad-based by nation, as Germany posted a steeper reduction in activity.

July data saw a further softening in cost pressures, however, as the surge in inflation from rapidly rising energy prices following the war in the Middle East eased further since April’s recent record.

A retrospective at the Locarno film festival looks back at the era of Huac’s domination of US culture, uncovering some sobering lessons for now

In September 2025, Disney and ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel and his late-night talkshow would be taken off the air indefinitely, after a conservative backlash against the host’s comments about the murder of far-right influencer Charlie Kirk. President Donald Trump personally championed the decision, calling it “great news for America”. He further called for other programmes critical of his administration to be removed. Though Kimmel’s suspension was reversed within a week, many commentators viewed this concerning development not as a sudden escalation of crisis, but a continuation of Hollywood’s habitual acquiescence to authoritarian pressure.

In a guest essay for the New York Times, journalist and Trump biopic] The Apprentice screenwriter Gabriel Sherman explicitly linked Kimmel’s cancellation to the Hollywood blacklist of the 1940s and 1950s, during which hundreds of film workers were accused of communist sympathies and unpatriotic subversion, barred from practising their craft, some forced into exile. “Each time, studios claimed they had no choice,” writes Sherman. “Each time, they did – and they made it.”

Being a woman who loves video games has often felt lonely, like being on a hostile planet – but Metroid’s female space hunter has been with me all the way

It’s 1986, and you’re playing a brand-new game. (You’re in Japan in this scenario, by the way; the game in question, Metroid, won’t come to North America and Europe until later.) Anyway, this new game has you in its grip. You are a lone astronaut exploring a hostile alien planet full of ancient, mysterious structures. This astronaut looks human enough – but this distinctly alien place is full of objects that power up their spacesuit’s capabilities. Each new ability allows you to explore a new area, and as you do, you realise that the entirety of the planetary base you’re exploring is one, massive, interconnected maze. Whoa.

Hours later, you finally defeat Mother Brain and set off a timed self-destruct sequence. Upon your escape, you’re treated to an endgame screen: the little astronaut faces you as text on screen implores you to “pray for peace in space”.

Andrew Neel’s documentary contrasts the lavish dishes eaten by heads of repressive states – served by largely unrepentant staff – with the starvation faced by their citizens

There are moments in this sly documentary that evoke regular food porn, with crisply lit footage of vegetables being chopped and simmered, meat getting grilled, fat bubbling and browning – all the culinary sizzle is on display. Then there are climactic money shots, obligatory overhead views of the finished product, elegantly garnished, accompanied by text identifying the dish as, say, a Chilean country stew, or a whole roast goat, made precisely to suit the taste of a very specific client. It’s just that the clients these chefs served were despots, including Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, Augusto Pinochet and Kim Jong-il. Charles Otonde Odera once prepared a human heart “perfectly” for Amin, though at the time he thought better than to ask where the raw offal came from.

Director Andrew Neel and editor Brad Turner skilfully weave together interviews with the chefs, each one in denial to varying degrees about their culpability in the repressive state apparatuses for which they worked. Odera in some ways is the most clear-eyed and honest, with Cambodian Keo Samoun coming in a very distant second, claiming she was just a kid (still in her teens) when she was recruited to cook for Pol Pot. Mind you, Samoun still brings a tasty spread of foodstuffs to her former employer’s grave to nourish his spirit. Meanwhile, Chilean cook Coco Pacheco is completely unrepentant, proud to have done his bit to tickle the palate of the man responsible for the torture and murder of thousands of his fellow countryman. Ermanno Furlanis, on the other hand, still just looks a bit baffled how he ended up making pizza for Kim Jong-il while millions of North Koreans starved.

Michael Almereyda’s 1994 horror romance is an indie gem – with a cameo from executive producer David Lynch as a morgue attendant

Here is an amazing midnight-movie adventure, in the shape of the 1994 Dracula’s daughter horror romance from indie film-maker Michael Almereyda. It’s a lo-fi indie gem shot partly in indistinct monochrome, featuring dreamlike transitions and looming closeups, like something from early cinema. It was bankrolled and executive-produced by David Lynch, who appears in a cameo role as the morgue attendant where the deceased count’s remains are temporarily residing.

The story is that Dracula has recently died (“He was like Elvis at the end, going through the motions ...”), and his unquiet spirit lives on in the form of his impossibly glamorous and aristocratic daughter, played with much hauteur and predatory sexuality by Romanian actor Elina Löwensohn. According to her, incidentally, the full family name is “Ceausescu-Dracula” (the script elsewhere alludes to the revolution of 1989) and I repeat here my plea that Romanian director Radu Jude makes a biopic of the late Romanian dictator. However, her ailing brother Edgar (Jared Harris) thinks it is “Ionescu-Dracula”. Did we mishear?

A lawyer is sent to challenge an inheritance claim on a former plantation in Possession. Plus, The Five Star Weekend finale. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, Sky Atlantic

‘What if The Purge was for premarital sex?’ is the odd, gimmicky elevator pitch for this slickly made yet ungainly oddity that can’t quite get past the grimness of its conceit

Going into a romcom, there are always the same questions. Will there be genuine chemistry? Will the rom and the com be equal in parts? And, for the last decade and change, will this be the one that finally resurrects a genre long past its prime? But for Universal’s glossy late summer offering One Night Only, notably the first wide-releasing romcom since April, there are more probing questions than usual. The film is the ungainly result of a four-cocktails-in elevator pitch which imagines a world where single people are only legally allowed to have sex on one night of the year, an idea that has seen it been referred to as “Sex Purge”.

On paper, it’s the set-up for a grim Handmaid’s Tale-adjacent horror of a totalitarian state insisting extreme control over the body, but instead it’s used as the backdrop for a sunny meet-cute, screams of protest drowned out by a zippy Top 40 soundtrack. One sits down wondering not just if boy will end up with girl but also how the government would be able to enforce such tyranny and what horrifying punishments lay in store for those willing to pick personal freedom over state-mandated abstinence. If it sounds like far too much for a breezy summer romp to take on, then that’s because it most definitely is, an overstuffed yet undercooked soufflé that can’t quite, ahem, rise to the occasion …

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In is longest-running No 1 single in UK chart history, and yet it seems to have passed many people by

It’s the biggest song in the UK, but have you ever heard it? That was the question many were asking this week, after Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In became the longest-running No 1 single in UK chart history, spending an unprecedented 19 weeks at the top.

The British Phonographic Industry said the song had resonated with listeners “in such a profound way”, while Fender thanked Dean and fans “for making this song the juggernaut that it is”.

Unlike their Disney peers, the toothesome trio didn’t pivot to being sexy – and they’re now at their stadium-filling peak. Fans and collaborators explain their unique, cheesy appeal

The Jonas Brothers appeared in the mid-00s in a blaze of smiles, dressed in shirts, suspenders and ties, singing sappy love songs that won the hearts of girls who quickly became obsessed with this Disney-signed band. Many assumed the fraternal trio would fade away, overtaken by whatever new act replaced them in the whims of teenagers. Yet this week marks 20 years since the release of their debut album, It’s About Time, and the toothsome threesome are bigger than ever.

Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas started out with danger-free pop-punk, evolving into a kind of broad-brush feelgood pop. Their true breakthrough was in 2008 with US No 5 hit Burnin’ Up, teeing up three back-to-back US No 1 albums as they became the youngest group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. The usual dreaded “creative differences” precipitated a six-year hiatus and the pursuit of solo careers and acting. But they reformed in 2019 in spectacular style, getting their first US No 1 hit with Sucker, and by last year they had the clout to sell out the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the World Cup final was later hosted.

Elon Musk may be able to buy a trip to Mars, but when the super wealthy pay to be conductors – as Canadian entrepreneur Mandle Cheung is doing – it makes a mockery of a meritocracy in classical music

There are some pretty gigantic non-negotiables for an orchestral musician. You have to be able to perform the right notes in the right order, with a combination of technical expertise, artistry, skill and understanding that demands years, decades and lifetimes of devotion.

But there is one figure on the orchestral concert platform who is both the most important person in the room – at least according to classical music’s hierarchies – yet who makes no sound, and whose job looks the simplest of all: the conductor, waving their arms about in time with the music and gurning at the players.

(Dead Oceans)
After sweeping the Grammys and being scrutinised by the press, Bridgers deploys electronics and unsettling sound design to brilliantly evoke emotional turmoil

The last time Phoebe Bridgers put out a solo album was six years ago, at the height of the Covid pandemic: Punisher not only ended 2020 near the top of many critics’ best-of lists, it made the UK Top 10 and sold half a million copies in the US. The intervening period has proved just as commercially triumphant. With the release of their debut album The Record, Boygenius – the band she had formed with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker – went from a kind of supergroup for Pitchfork readers to a genuine mainstream phenomenon: the album won three Grammys. Another win, for Bridgers’ collaboration with SZA, Ghost in the Machine, meant Bridgers left the 2024 ceremony the night’s biggest winner. Other pop stars called on her services: she sang on Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of Red (and supported on the Eras tour), Lorde’s Solar Power and on Paul McCartney’s McCartney III Imagined.

But to judge by Lost Weekend’s opening track, all was not well. The Outside depicts the singer crowd-surfing at a gig in Ohio – “they never let me hit the ground, way beyond the barricade” – and ending a song with her fist triumphantly raised. Then it adds a qualifier. “But I was on the outside, watching,” she sings, the sense of dislocation heightened by the fact that her voice is smothered by a vocoder, and the musical accompaniment – a sweet fingerpicked acoustic guitar figure – keeps vanishing into an ambient backing that sounds like static.

A young woman is haunted by her childhood in this forcefully imaginative and unapologetically bleak novel from the author of Fire Rush

The world of Sky City never quite settles beneath your feet. The action of Jacqueline Crooks’s second novel unfolds in a recognisable 1990s London, yet everything seems subtly untethered from reality: a council estate suspended above the city, voices drifting in and out through pirate radio, ghosts walking beside the living. The narrative floats just above the surface of the everyday, a world where trauma transforms the mundane into something uncanny.

We first meet protagonist Jaycee as a child, trapped in a west London housing estate she calls the Cyborg House. Her stepfather subjects her to horrific sexual abuse while her mother turns a blind eye, exercising her own brand of cruelty. Families, Jaycee comes to believe, are “dangerous places … like nests of poisonous spiders, huddled in dark, undisturbed corners, their venom, a single drop enough to rot the body inside out”. Eventually taken into care, she finds an unlikely lifeline in Ella-G, another damaged girl whose exuberance masks wounds as profound as Jaycee’s own; both feel “on the outside of the world”. The care home turns out to be similarly brutal, and the pair survive together, forging a friendship that becomes the novel’s emotional anchor.

An Indian mountaineer follows in the footsteps of explorers and conservationists in search of an enigmatic animal

When bored, try the following game – I call it “Purr or Roar?”. Take any feline and guess whether it can purr or roar (it cannot do both because purring and roaring require different anatomical structures). Some candidates are easy: any child knows that lions and tigers roar and that a tabby does not. But between the great cats and our pets are numerous other species, from lynxes to panthers, whose anatomy is not so easy to infer. A leopard, for instance? Roar (or growl). The discreet, mountain-dwelling snow leopard? Purr.

The snow leopard is the protagonist of Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi’s first book, a compelling and intimate look at this elusive mountain specialist. An Indian conservationist and mountaineer, Suryawanshi pursues the creature through the Himalayas and Gobi desert. This is a gritty and detailed portrait of an often misunderstood and endangered species in an increasingly hostile, crowded and hot environment.

A dysfunctional family comes together for a funeral in this heartfelt, keenly observed novel

Most of us come upon our family’s dysfunctions gradually, like a door that opens a little wider each year. This uncle, you find out, has had an affair; grandma has a hoarding problem. The cremation of the nuclear family illusion is a cornerstone of literature, especially when it’s hastened by one of those unavoidable core gatherings: weddings, births, funerals. But what happens when there was never any illusion to start with; when the story begins in the ashes?

The delight of Brodie Crellin’s accomplished, surprising debut lies in the way it wrestles with this question, and in its depiction of a family that fails to meet any conventional definition of the word. With a cutting eye and wry humour, Crellin finds fantastic power in the story of three maladjusted people reeling in the face of death, whose relationships to one another are endlessly confronting and complex.

There is friendless Patch, riddled with anxiety, who bursts into tears at the memory of the postman’s suicide and falls victim to a terrible haircut. There is Patch’s father, Robin, who is “gay, yes, mostly, but mutable”. And there is Jude, her domineering, malevolently competent cousin, a playwright who “loves to make an entrance”. They’re bound by the newly deceased Mary: Robin’s ex, Patch’s mother, and Jude’s aunt – a woman who “[didn’t] have a problem with gay men” but was lukewarm on lesbians. Orbiting this “isosceles”, as Jude calls it, is Juliette, Jude’s gleefully moneyed mother, and Mel, Mary’s neighbour. Various other characters swing in and out, all fully realised no matter how brief their appearances, my favourite of which was Mary’s poor, forgotten “empath” labrador, Leonard.

The stage is set, as Jude cruises in from Naples, for a fraught collision of past and present. As the funeral draws closer and tensions simmer, Crellin juggles the minutiae of death – chopping vegetables, arranging memorial photos – with fragmented recollections of messy family history. It’s rare to read a novel that can skip in and out of so many points of view and keep the different styles of narration intact. Yet even with regular flashbacks, A Sense of Occasion feels remarkably natural thanks to Crellin’s light touch, especially in the arch, zippy dialogue. There are shades of classic mid-century stories, particularly Dorothy Baker’s Cassandra at the Wedding, and some of the caustic social wit of Edward St Aubyn’s Melrose chronicles, but the boldness feels entirely modern.

It’s a joy, too, to read fiction that understands sex so well, and is neither sentimental nor sleazy. Crellin conveys the importance of sex as a vehicle for each character’s foibles and desires; as a shadowy place where so much can be manipulated and communicated. The book summons up a kaleidoscope of erotic experience across the spectrum, sometimes hot and sometimes ridiculous, including a quasi-incestuous relationship rendered with nuance and consideration.

If the novel leans a little hard on Jude and her mother, Juliette, for its class critiques, it’s easily forgiven on account of just how much fun it is to watch these characters crash into each other, and for the deftly nasty one-liners that they toss out. “Patch lacked the confidence conferred by a private education,” Jude thinks smugly. “But she could also say that Patch was simply less intelligent.” And yet the story never veers into mean-spirited satire, largely thanks to Patch herself, the grief-stricken daughter, who is the heartbeat of the novel. Perennially misunderstood and underestimated – including by her own mother, when she was alive – Patch is awkward but raw, a keen observer of herself and others.

There is immense pleasure and vitality – and ultimately a great deal of tenderness – in A Sense of Occasion’s depiction of flawed, strange people who love badly, and can’t help but get in the way of themselves over and over again. After all, as George Bernard Shaw wrote, “If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.”

Written by a US army veteran, this novel of courage and cruelty during the first world war is filled with unsettlingly authoritative depictions of violence – but its characters are less believable

Kevin Powers’s fourth novel marks a return to the themes and subject matter of his acclaimed debut The Yellow Birds, winner of the 2012 Guardian first book award. Through the lives of its central characters, it explores the courage, folly, cruelty and absurdity involved in war, and the challenges of adjusting to civilian life afterwards. But while The Yellow Birds focused on the experience of US soldiers fighting in Iraq, where Powers himself served between 2003 and 2004, Children of the Wild is set amid the carnage of the first world war.

It follows the fortunes of two young men from a remote valley in Virginia. Roy is the arrogant young heir to a wealthy local landowner; Ennis is an orphan of unknown origin who has been living, like a character in a fairytale, in a shack on the top of a mountain. Ennis and Roy are first linked in a love triangle when Ennis is lured off his mountain top by his desire for Samantha, the daughter of the local minister, whose eyes have the “lustre of smoky quartz”. Roy has expected to marry Samantha, but she chooses feral Ennis. Roy accepts the setback remarkably swiftly, transferring his affections to Esther, the wealthy and shallow sister of his college roommate, Fintan. Roy and Ennis settle their differences with a mighty punch-up that cements an unlikely friendship between them.

Big developers are discovering that the technical progress of photorealism doesn’t always translate into the creative spark that gives gamers joy – and keeps them playing

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Last week, Asha Sharma, the new head of Xbox, laid out her vision for the future of the console and interestingly, the two titles she picked out as potential areas of growth were Minecraft and Candy Crush Saga – games that don’t exactly scream next-generation entertainment. Neither relies on hyper-realistic visuals, which is the north star that games consoles and gaming PCs have been aiming at for the past 40 years. They are, instead, well-designed, well-loved franchises that you can play and enjoy on almost any PC, console or phone.

The fact is, the quest for visual hyperrealism is breaking the games industry. It’s becoming more and more expensive to put high-end graphics hardware into machines thanks to demand from the AI sector; at the same time, creating superrealistic visuals is an incredibly expensive and complex part of game development, leading to longer development periods. GTA VI, for example, has taken at least eight years to develop and is rumoured to have cost between $1bn and $2bn. By my back-of-an-envelope calculations, that’s around four times more than GTA V. Admittedly, the detail on everything, from the characters’ faces, to the cars, to the cityscapes, is astonishing. But will it be four times better than GTA V? Will it be four times more fun?

Since Stardew Valley rejuvenated the farming sim genre a decade ago, games like Fields of Mistria are capitalising on its popularity with their own special touches

Farming simulator games deliver on an escapist fantasy: going off-grid from the modern work grind, in exchange for charming small-town life and a farm to call your own. While these games have had dedicated fans since the days of Harvest Moon, the most popular today, Stardew Valley, contemporised the genre with a larger range of activities and lovable townspeople to befriend and romance. Created in 2016 by independent developer Eric Barone, it has now sold more than 50m copies and become the mould for so many other indie farming sims.

Fields of Mistria is one of these farming sims in a post-Stardew world – though it updates the core formula. Created by independent developer NPC Studio, Fields of Mistria has already proven popular: it debuted in early access (a pre-release version of the game meant for early players to find bugs and give feedback) for PC players on Steam in August 2024, and in the first month the game racked up more than 4m player hours. It’s for a good reason: Mistria satisfies all of those same farming sim desires but with more expansive character creation and a story steeped in magic.

Denkiworks’ debut lets players pull off tricks and pull pints in a stunning, Japan-inspired setting

A freeloading tanuki, mounting debt, and a town full of possibilities will sound familiar to fans of Animal Crossing. Alas, while you won’t find accountability from Tom Nook, Kyoto-based studio Denkiworks has stepped in to heal your financial trauma with a BMX-filled adventure in which a mammal finally pays the price for their years of bad behaviour. “Even Japanese people ask why it’s a tanuki,” jokes Liam Edwards, a game designer at Denkiworks. “They have such a mythological background to them; they’re almost like dragons in terms of their mythology.”

In Tanuki: Pon’s Summer, you play as an adorable but irresponsible critter named Pon, who’s bled the coffers of the local shrine – his home – dry by buying video games and snack food instead of preparing for its semicentennial matsuri. As a result, the shrine is in total disrepair, and important architecture and cultural artefacts – such as the ema stand and the chōzuya – are left cracked and broken, unbefitting a festival half a century in the making.

Switch 2, PlayStation 5, PC; House House
The creators of Untitled Goose Game return with an online, open-world adventure that delivers slapstick silliness and bucolic majesty in nearly equal measure

Radiant sunsets glinting on lapping waves; bushland valleys that beckon with secrets; modernist buildings sat atop craggy ridges: Big Walk’s setting is as arresting as it is beguiling – a kind of architectural fever dream transplanted to a handsome Australian wilderness – but it is the images created by players that lodge deepest in the mind. Here’s one that has stuck with me: in the black of night, cicadas kicking up an almighty din, I had lost my partner. Panic. Despair. Fear. Then, there in the far distance, I saw him signalling in my direction. He was relentlessly spamming a gigantic, ball-shaped lamp on and off, the ground around him flicking from inky dark to warm pastel pink and back again, like a single Christmas light blinking from afar.

This kind of encounter is common in Big Walk, the brilliant and whimsical new online co-op puzzler from House House, the Melbourne-based studio behind the 2019 viral hit, Untitled Goose Game. Rather than playing as a honking, mischief-making goose as you do in that game, you are a bug-eyed, gangly limbed kind of bird person (think Pingu as drawn by Mondrian) for whom getting separated from your mates is all part of the fun. That’s somewhat because this rugged terrain is dense with vegetation and cliffs to fall down, and also because the game makes ingenious use of proximity and direction-based voice audio. Step out of earshot of your party and you will find it difficult to call for one another (unless, of course, you’ve picked up a Fisher-Price-like walkie-talkie).

Theatre Royal Plymouth
This exuberant revival fizzes like a shaken can of soda, capturing the round-the-clock toil of aspiring performers

As a real-life cohort of performers head to Edinburgh hoping to achieve recognition at the fringe, at the opposite end of the UK a revival of David De Silva’s film turned musical breathes fresh life into its own story of fame-hungry students.

With a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy, this is a production pumped with guts and gusto. It erupts like a shaken can of soda and comfortably fills the vast stage at Theatre Royal Plymouth, where Fame received its UK (and European) stage premiere in 1995. It’s directed and choreographed by Tom Jackson Greaves, soon to choreograph the West End’s much-anticipated revival of Rent, and fuelled by an exuberant cast, most of whom fulfilled their own dreams of performing on the professional stage several credits ago and are now flourishing.

Southbank Centre, London
A part-canine cop, a villainous cat and a psychokinetic butterflyfish burst into song as the wildly popular children’s books are adapted for the stage

Perhaps, if you don’t have a child in primary school, you will be blissfully unaware of Dog Man, Dav Pilkey’s series of graphic novels about a cop who – after a terrible injury – has his dog’s head sewn on to his own body, thereby creating a crime-fighting canine/human crossbreed. But if you’ve been swept up by the phenomenon – and Dog Man is a phenomenon, selling more than 70m copies in the decade since the first book was published – then you will know that this mutt has some serious star power: there’s a Dog Man film, video game, board game … and now a musical, arriving in the UK after off-Broadway success.

The Dog Man books are chaotic, hilarious and full of pathos, but writer/lyricist Kevin Del Aguila and composer Brad Alexander’s show leans largely on the former. There’s slapstick humour and jokes about butt-sniffing. When Dog Man is asked how his day is going, he replies: “Ruff!” It’s aimed at the younger end of Pilkey’s readership, which is confusing as there are also Dickens references.

Troubadour Wembley Park theatre, London
Alexandra Burke is valiant in the leading role but the superstar’s story is squandered in this sprawling and uneven show

In the pantheon of soul divas, Chaka Khan is surely one of the fiercest. With a soaring, multioctave vocal range that earned accolades from Aretha Franklin and Miles Davis, as well as a chequered personal life and a stint in the Black Panthers alongside Fred Hampton, Khan’s story has long felt ripe for immortalisation in a jukebox musical.

I’m Every Woman features X Factor winner Alexandra Burke in the lead role, with a book by Khan’s own creative director, Nia T Hill. Running just shy of three hours, it is a gargantuan undertaking of two uneven parts.

Forget cheesy acts, these days cruise ships boast the cutting edge tech to stage hip West End productions and Olivier award-winning musicals – and young people are loving it

The phrase “cruise ship entertainment” conjures vivid images, even to those who have never set foot on an oceangoing vessel. Starry backcloths, sequined frocks, tunes and croons from yesteryear, the lite-ent values of the 1970s preserved in aspic. Perhaps those stereotypes held water way back when the singer Jane McDonald ruled the reality TV waves. But – lazy thinking ahoy! – do they still?

Look at the shows currently a-sail on the high seas, from the Olivier award-winning 9/11 musical Come from Away, to hip theatre-maker Emma Rice’s acclaimed Brief Encounter. And look at the onboard production values, which “way surpass what you see in London theatres”, says Susannah Daley of Peel Entertainment, which provides shows for the Ambassador cruise line. “These ships are now being built with theatre in mind, to a really high spec, to hold between 600 and 1,000 people. What can be produced in them is pretty phenomenal.” Producer David Pugh, a veteran of the West End who has collaborated with Cunard cruises, says: “These are probably the most technical theatres, in terms of lighting and sound, that you’ve ever seen outside of the best theatres in the world.”

The playwright and director, who has died aged 86, completed DH Lawrence’s revolution in spotlighting stories of working people

• Peter Gill: a theatrical visionary with an unsparing honesty

I was, in Michael Coveney’s parlance, one of Peter Gill’s acolytes. I knew him in his autumn; after he’d directed his last play for the National, after he’d moved from Harriet Devine’s house in Hammersmith, where he lived for most of his adult life, into his flat a little further down the river. For 20 years we met there, or in the community centre when we held workshops with actors to help him develop material. One day he told me I should write a book about him: “I introduced postmodernism to the theatre, darling.” I was proud he’d asked me, a feeling that only slightly receded when I read an article by Nina Raine a few years later, in which she revealed he’d suggested the same thing to her. Now Peter has died, I have a strong feeling I should be writing about him again.

I think the framework hasn’t yet been created to talk about Peter’s significance. When I was researching my book about him, I went to interview his friend Bill Gaskill. What we talked about most that day was Wordsworth, and over the years I’ve come to see that as significant. It was Wordsworth who proposed that literature should speak in “the real language of men”. That project flowered a century later in the work of DH Lawrence, who broke free of the conditions of his birth to revolutionise English literature. Lawrence tore through almost every barrier he encountered, for better or worse, in every aspect of his life – but he couldn’t break into the theatre. A “vertical invader” from a peasant class, to borrow John Berger’s description of Picasso, Lawrence reshaped the artistic landscape, but the English theatre made no room in his lifetime for the stories of working people. It took another vertical invader to complete that revolution: a docker’s son from Cardiff who took Lawrence’s plays, placed them at the centre of the world and said, once and for all, “as much happens for you as for other people”. That was Peter’s achievement. He showed us anywhere could be the centre of the world.

A new blog post by the fantasy writer has outlined his recent difficulties, as fans continue to speculate on the elusive sixth book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series

George RR Martin has opened up about experiencing depression during a “stressful” and “overwhelming” year, as readers continue to await the long-delayed sixth instalment of his A Song of Ice and Fire series.

The 77-year-old American author, whose fantasy novels shaped and inspired the hit HBO television series Game of Thrones, wrote candidly about his recent difficulties in his first personal blog post for almost six months.

‘The men in this jail in Bulgaria used to adopt these stray kittens. But pets can be a problem. They get killed as punishment or for revenge’

Belene prison, in northern Bulgaria on the border with Romania, is the most heavily guarded facility of its type in my country. It is on an island, so escape is near impossible, and has the largest number of people serving life sentences for murder in any Bulgarian prison.

This image describes a sad, terrible story. There are a lot of stray cats on the island, as well as pigeons and mosquitoes. The prisoners used to adopt stray kittens and keep them as pets. When I started my project, For the Grace of God, at the prison, many prisoners had pet cats. But in a prison, this can become a problem – prisoners kill each other’s pets as punishment or for revenge. So now it’s forbidden. It’s even the same with flowers – some think of the flowers as friends, they nurture and grow them in the sun, but then other prisoners destroy them. Anything a prisoner can create a relationship with can be destroyed. Part of their punishment is to be alone, without any family, or any attachments to anything.

Watchdogs say adverts in London tube stations broke its rules with ‘realistic impression of a dead child’

Film posters for The Mummy have been banned from outdoor public display in the UK because they include realistic depictions of a dead child.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 30 complaints over the promotional campaign in London tube stations for the new Lee Cronin film.

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

No Andy Burnham questions this week because – Shock! Horror! – a man with a family has taken a summer holiday with his family. But the Thursday quiz has done no such thing. Fifteen new questions await you on topical news, general knowledge and popular culture. There are no prizes, but you can boast about your score in the comments. Please do! Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 259

From capsule to bean-to-cup, espresso to filter, these are the coffee makers our aficionado rates the highest from his test of 30

• The best espresso machines to release your inner barista

When it comes to something as earth-shatteringly important as coffee, everyone has an opinion. Some crave a single perfect shot of espresso, while others seek the milkiest latte; some love Starbucks and others, well, don’t. That’s why the idea of there being a single best coffee machine is fanciful – everyone’s idea of the perfect coffee couldn’t be more different.

As a selfless service to coffee drinkers everywhere, I’ve spent the past two years researching and trialling coffee machines to produce a shortlist of tried-and-tested recommendations. The list spans all the main types of coffee maker: manual espresso, filter, bean-to-cup and capsule. (Not sure what all of this means? Read our dedicated guide to the different types of coffee machine.)

They claim to fix fine lines, blemishes, and redness – but which stand up to scrutiny? After consulting dermatologists and putting them to the test, we have crowned a brand new number one

• The best anti-ageing creams, serums and treatments

LED face masks are booming in popularity – despite being one of the most expensive at-home beauty products to hit the market. They claim to either reduce the appearance of fine lines, stop spots or calm redness, with some even combining different types of light to enhance the benefits.

However, it’s wise to be sceptical about new treatments that are costly and non-invasive, and to do your research before you buy. With this in mind, I interviewed doctors and dermatologists to find out whether these light therapy devices work.

Best LED mask overall:
CurrentBody Multi Light Therapy LED mask

Best budget LED face mask:
Silk’n LED face mask 100

They’re perfect for time-poor cooks, but which deserves your counter space? From combi models to smart designs, here’s what our expert recommends

• The best air fryers

If you’re at a restaurant and hear a ping a couple of minutes before your meal arrives at your table, it’s unlikely to be a good sign. But microwave ovens are a brilliant tool in the home kitchen. They’re fearsomely fast at heating up – or even cooking – food when you’re time-poor and lacking the energy to make something wholesome after a hard day at work. And in hot weather, cooking by microwave isn’t just quick: it also won’t warm your home.

Microwaves work best for heating food with a high water content (they make the water molecules in food vibrate to create heat). However, before testing, I asked around to find out what people use theirs for most, with a view to using this information to shape my tests. I learned a few things – like lots of people eat mug cakes. Who knew? And that wheat bags are a popular alternative to hot-water bottles. But the majority of folk use their microwave for reheating cold cuppas, defrosting frozen batch-cooked meals, warming food, popping microwave popcorn – and, of course, cooking jacket potatoes more quickly. I used these insights to shape my testing.

Most suitcases look hardwearing, but which ones actually are? We dropped bestselling brands’ luggage from a ladder to find out …

• The best carry-on luggage

A suitcase is like the portrait in the traveller’s attic, accumulating more than its fair share of knocks and scrapes while we refresh ourselves on the road. We trundle them over cobbles, see them tumble from luggage racks on the train – and if we choose to fly, there’s a fair chance they’ll be mishandled before we reunite at the carousel.

For our testing, we pushed 11 suitcases to the limit by dropping them on to a hard surface, as if they’d been fumbled by a baggage handler. Air travel is especially tough on suitcases, so you might get away with choosing a less-resilient case if you make the climate-conscious choice to travel by rail or sea.

The skins may be pesky to peel away, but the result is this velvety and vibrant, flavourful pasta dish

There’s no two ways about it: charring and then peeling red, yellow or orange peppers is a messy business. Just out of the oven (if they haven’t burst while baking), roasted and blackened peppers are not unlike mini balloons; the hot juices, which have collected in the cavity, gushing out as the collapsed pepper is manoeuvred from the baking tray to the bowl. Once they have steamed under a plate, and cooled a little, the peppers might be easier to handle, but the thin scales of charred skin are still pesky to peel away, and however hard you try to flick them into the bin, they will stick to forearms and foreheads, as do the slippery white seeds. Having peeled peppers, it is not unusual to find a seed stuck to the back of my upper arm six hours later. Messy and annoying, but also worthwhile, because a strip of peeled pepper freed from its cellophane skin is a wonderful thing: fleshy with velvet texture and a deep, sweet, smoky flavour.

I was taught to char peppers on the stovetop by a friend’s Greek mum, balancing them on the gas ring directly over the naked flame and turning regularly. It is sometimes hard to get them to balance and they often wobble off, but if you use a barbecue regularly, that is another option, as is the oven, and apparently the air fryer, too. Whichever method you use, the aim is flesh that is almost completely or well-patched black, and cracked like bark – a bit shocking the first time, but rest assured that the more charred they are, the redder the flesh underneath.

This powerhouse ingredient injects umami and depth of flavour into a simple green sauce. Come on, chop-chop!

The oil from a tin of anchovies is a powerhouse larder ingredient that you possibly never knew existed. It’s a flavour bomb that carries all the delicious flavour compounds of the fish themselves, especially if you want to add their wonderful flavour to a dish but want to save the anchovies to serve separately or as a garnish.

This salsa verde is based on Giorgio Locatelli’s in his book Made in Italy, and it’s made with a knife rather than a blender. Chopping by hand gives it a much better texture, especially when you’re also using the stalks, which a blender can turn fibrous. The boiled egg is optional but traditional, and helps emulsify the sauce. Locatelli uses just the yolk, but I’ve used the whole egg, not least to avoid the faff of finding a use for the spare white. This sauce is incredible with lamb or mutton and very good with grilled fish.

Two inspiring summer dishes to enjoy in the sunshine: grilled peaches with green beans and mozzarella, and gnudi in a roast tomato sauce

At Cicoria, peaches, green beans and tomatoes are among our favourites ingredients right now, inspiring dishes that celebrate freshness and flavour. The restaurant is perched at the top of the Royal Opera House in London, so our dining room is flooded with sunlight throughout the day, which is just as well because these vibrant, simple dishes are best enjoyed in the sunshine.

From the cost of milk and chocolate to diesel and electricity, every part of producing the summer treat has been hit by the climate crisis and other shocks

Name: Iceflation.

Appearance: An ice-cold rip-off, with a Flake on top.

He could seem judgmental, even moody. But the whole neighbourhood mourned when this remarkable moggy went to meet his maker

When my cat Eric passed away from stomach cancer in 2001, I wasn’t sure I would ever be ready to have a pet again. But a few months later I was given another cat, Karl, by an old friend from Camberwell College of Arts in south London, who was moving back to Germany. I had known Karl when I was a student there, where he had been mates with Eric. Karl, an unassuming brown tabby with a judgmental glare, took me back to living in student halls in the 90s.

Karl was perhaps the most average-looking tabby in south London, but on my quiet street he became a legend of sorts. He accompanied my children and me on school runs. He would walk ahead with his belly swinging and take us to the top of the road. There he would wait until I dropped off the children and escort me back home.

Vivian and Thomas both left physically unfulfilling marriages and are rediscovering their sex drives in later life

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

Since menopause and being with Thomas, my interest in sex is much higher

A prospective Restore Britain voter and a Green-supporting Chinese immigrant found some common ground over small-boat crossings, but where did they land on foxhunting?

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

Phill, 58, Hertfordshire

Occupation Stairlift surveyor

Rachel forked out £700 for beauty treatments, Kojo confessed to a £25 cigarette habit, and Jake indulged his love of fancy timepieces. Were their other halves forgiving or furious?

Rachel and Kojo, Northampton

Many UK workers have cash in multiple schemes – should you roll them into one? There are pros and cons

How many pensions do you have? In the days of a job for life, many people had just two: the state pension and the one offered by their employer. But a combination of people changing jobs more often and rules that force employers to enrol workers into schemes automatically, means you are likely to end up with more.

The number of people saving into a private sector workplace pension has doubled since 2012 to reach 23 million, according to the Pensions Regulator, largely because of “auto-enrolment”. On top of that, millions of people have personal pensions and self-invested private pensions (Sipps). And some will have all three.

Reader expresses consternation after enforcement officer issues penalty notice outside station in London

I was outside London Waterloo railway station and was looking for a bin to dispose of an empty coffee cup.

The only bin I could see was completely full, but there was a plastic bag containing rubbish at the base.

Criminals hope by using threats of enforcement action, people will panic and click link to bogus parking app site

You use parking apps a lot – you have several on your phone – but it is not always straightforward. Sometimes there is a lack of reliable mobile signal, or the app crashes or behaves oddly, or it does not seem to want to accept your bank card.

Also, it is sometimes hard to keep track of which apps you have used when. So when you receive a text from RingGo saying you owe it money, you are not totally surprised.

From melted electric sockets to shabby alternatives, readers tell of dealings with platform when things go wrong

Jane Ripley* spent some time researching the best apartment to stay in for her family’s trip to Batumi in Georgia, eventually settling on one with an “exceptional” rating on Booking.com.

But when the Ripleys arrived at 11pm on the first day, they were directed to another property that was shabby and had stains on the furniture and ceiling.

Whether you’re nursing a joint, have an existing condition or just don’t feel like running, these exercises help get your cardio in

The runner’s high might be contagious. In 2024, the fitness tracking app Strava recorded a 59% increase in users attending social running events and run clubs globally. Applications for London’s marathon have increased 40% since 2024, while New York City’s received about 20% more applicants this year. Overall, an estimated 56 million Americans regularly run on a treadmill and 51 million jog, according to a report from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.

But running has a reputation for being rough on our joints. There is some good news for those chasing the high: one 2023 study found little relationship between recreational running and arthritis of the hip or knee, and another suggests that the impact of running causes cartilage to adapt, fortify and thicken over time.

From the 47-year-old runner who needs a double hip replacement to the 27-year-old CrossFitter with a ruptured ACL, those who push their bodies too hard often regret it. What are the lessons for the rest of us?

Jonathan Price has always been active and exercise-focused. Growing up in south Wales, rugby was his first love. Through school, university and beyond, he also surfed, rowed, played squash and ran competitively – on track, in 10k races and cross-country. Career and family demands meant that much of this fell away in later years, but the running stuck. He found time for marathons, half marathons – “I’d run a half marathon every weekend just for fun,” he says – and, through the working week, regular 30- or 40-minute runs to manage stress and clear his head. “I travel a lot for work,” says Price, now 50, a company CEO. “With running, all you need is a pair of running shoes and you can do it anywhere.”

By his mid-40s, though, Price’s body was beginning to object. He wasn’t recovering so well. “I could run just fine but I’d be in pain for two or three days afterwards,” he says. On top of this, every six months or so, his lower back seemed to seize up completely. A physiotherapist thought it was “tight hip flexors” and pointed Price towards “hip opening” exercises, designed to reduce stiffness and increase range of motion. Someone else prescribed him muscle relaxants, but the pain only deepened, and his range of movement continued to dip. Finally, in the summer of 2023, a chance encounter with a hip surgeon led to the diagnosis of osteoarthritis and, at the end of that year, Price, then 47, had a double hip replacement.

Want to lower your temperature and drift off to sleep quicker? An ice-cold shower might seem the best solution, but the truth is more complicated

It’s another sticky summer evening. You’re too hot to sleep. Surely an ice-cold shower is the best way to cool off and drift away quicker? Not really, says Mike Tipton, a professor of human and applied physiology at the University of Portsmouth.

“If you’re trying to go to sleep, the last thing you want to do is go into a freezing cold shower,” he says. The shock of cold water immersion causes the body to produce adrenaline and cortisol, stress hormones designed to keep us alert. “That’s just about the last thing you want before you go to bed.”

Menstrual and digestive discomfort often coincide, and a researcher who has been looking in to it for a decade tells us what she learned

Every period, right on schedule: the cramps arrive, and right behind them, the urgent need to poop.

If this is your experience, you’re in good company: in one study, 73% of healthy premenopausal women reported at least one significant gastrointestinal symptom in the days before or during their period. Abdominal pain and diarrhea were the most common complaints, but women reported nausea and constipation too.

Our guest columnist reveals how he found his personal style, from jumpsuits to high-waisted trousers

Other than the jumpsuits, I don’t think I wore anything particularly groundbreaking when I appeared on The Traitors. I just think the bar for men’s fashion is so low that for me to come on television in a chunky mint green jumper and a pair of high-waisted jeans – which is probably one of the most neutral looks I own – seemed like a revelation. There was no styling budget, so most of what I wore came from my wardrobe.

The discovery of my personal style began when I was at primary school on the Isle of Lewis, off the north-west coast of Scotland. I realised I was different to the other boys when I began experimenting with fashion. From a young age I was turning my hems up, and I was certainly more interested in what the girls in my class were wearing.

‘Looksmaxxing’ culture has led to the rise of facial analysis services – but experts warn they aren’t backed by science and can be harmful to users

Danielle, 37, didn’t always have issues with body image: she used to be a model and recalls receiving positive attention from men. However, when two years of unemployment plunged her into a period of financial insecurity, her confidence faded. “It was easy to wonder, if I was prettier, if some of my features were different, would that help?” she said.

So, when Danielle saw videos on TikTok about a “facial analysis” service that claimed it could provide her with “science-backed” glow-up advice, she bought it without hesitation. Three-hundred and thirty dollars later, after sending in selfies to be analyzed, Danielle received her personalized 30-page report from the company Qoves.

Want to brighten dark circles without accentuating wrinkles? You’re not alone – this is the most-asked makeup question and here is the answer

The most common makeup question asked by women over 35 is this: what’s a good undereye concealer that won’t make lines and wrinkles look cakey and dry? I’m getting to them, I promise. But first, I must say that prep is key – dry, flaky skin will only look more so under makeup, so undereyes should first be hydrated and smoothed with a good, moisturising skincare routine. Only then can a concealer get on with the business of brightening and camouflaging.

Givenchy’s Prisme Libre Skin-Caring Concealer (£37) is my most recommended for fortysomethings and beyond, regardless of skin type. It’s perfectly balanced in that it’s moisturising and softening, but not so much so that it slips and slides and doesn’t deliver on lasting coverage – it has just enough heft. It works as well on the face as it does under eyes and stays fresh looking all day.

Whether you’re in full summer mode or quietly planning for autumn, our fashion expert’s monthly picks will carry you stylishly between the two

• How to create the perfect women’s holiday capsule wardrobe

August: do you buy for the holiday you’ll be melting through this month, or the one you’ll be pretending to enjoy in a jumper come October? Answers on a postcard, please! The key to staying (relatively) sane in silly season is to embrace the contradictions.

Read on for the holiday-coded necklace I’ve fallen in love with and the elegant leather handbag I’m dreaming of when I hang up my straw basket. Plus, a lace camisole and a cosy jumper – and the absolute sweetest grip socks for my pilates girlies.

With great beaches, culture and nature, the resort town of Palanga and the wild Curonian Spit offer an affordable – and cooler – alternative to the Med

The water off Palanga’s sandy white beach is tinged pale green – the colour of the feathery clouds of Furcellaria lumbricalis that occasionally brush against my calves. Underfoot, the Baltic seabed is ridged, the sea so clear and shallow that every ripple is visible. The water deepens very gradually – making it ideal for families. I’m quite far from the coast, but still only thigh deep, the sea still cool as I duck beneath the surface.

Elsewhere in Europe, another heatwave has prompted health warnings and school closures. But here in Lithuania, children scamper on the sand and splash in the shallows as temperatures remain, if not cool, bearable. I’ve come to explore some of the Baltic beaches – here and on the Curonian Spit – which are fast gaining popularity as the Med heats up and prices in southern Europe remain stubbornly high.

From Calais to Le Touquet, the Côte d’Opale is home to thriving fishing ports, grand old seaside resorts and restaurants serving the freshest seafood

Stellio Lestienne, chef at La Matelote in Boulogne’s harbour, shows me his shopping list as we browse the city’s daily morning fish market. He wants to pick up some crab and sole, which are in season, but his usual lobster fisher is still out on his boat, so he’ll have to wait a bit for that. Although I’ve been a regular visitor to both Boulogne and the surrounding Hauts-de-France region for about 30 years, this is my first time in the fish market. Now I’m kicking myself for all that lost time.

It’s not very big, nor is it remotely picturesque, stretching along a nondescript car park in the port. But it does have a fantastic selection of fish and seafood, both from fishers (pêcheurs artisans in light-blue stalls) and retailers (commerçants in dark blue). And it’s considerably cheaper than other fish markets I’ve seen. “People come here from the UK with cool bags to do their shopping,” Stellio says, pointing to a man doing that very thing. I spot filleted roussettes (dogfish) going for €2 each. At another stall, a man deftly slices through a grotesque-looking monkfish, cutting out the prized cheeks.

Globetrotter and TV presenter Alice Morrison trades in her camels and backup team for wild camping in one of Scotland’s most beautiful glens

‘I miss my camels. I miss the sun. I miss the vast emptiness of the desert plains …” These are my thoughts as I trudge through thick conifer plantations and my fifth consecutive hour of rain at the start of the Affric Kintail Way in the Scottish Highlands.

My last big adventure was a world first. I became the first recorded person to walk the full length of Saudi Arabia, north to south, from Jordan to Yemen. It took three years to organise, then 112 days of walking half a marathon a day, and I had a backup team plus Juicy and Lulu, my naughty but nice camels.

From Blackpool to Bournemouth, these quintessentially British institutions celebrate a lot more than fish and chips and amusement arcades

Perched in our glass-fronted eyrie, 300 metres out to sea, we watch a murmuration of starlings rise and fall and swoop around us. When the show is over, we turn our attention to the food. I have a bespoke vegan menu based on the best early summer ingredients: jersey royals, asparagus, strawberries. My boyfriend orders off the weekly changing à la carte: slow-cooked beef dumplings followed by butter-poached halibut.

We are at Ebb, a restaurant at the end of the pier in Worthing, West Sussex, which opened in May. Its art-deco design and fine-dining dishes are a far cry from the fish-and-chip shops and ice-cream parlours more commonly found on seaside piers. But traditionalists need not despair: downstairs at Perch on the Pier, fish and chips – as well as tofish (tofu) and chips – are always on the menu, with a knickerbocker glory to round things off in fine retro style.

The new stars of TikTok have eight furry legs and eight soulful eyes. But are they quite as adorable as real puppies?

Name: Web puppies.

Age: Pet jumping spiders typically live for one to three years.

As Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and their peers have grown richer and more influential, Gil Durán argues they have all but abandoned democracy – and found the perfect government to enable them

In April, Gil Durán was permanently banned from Elon Musk’s X for posting just two words. Durán was responding to a post from the tech company Palantir outlining its 22‑point “technological manifesto”, which praised American “hard power”, western culture and AI weapons, denounced inclusivity and called for compulsory national service. Durán responded: “TLDR: Fascism” (TLDR is short for “too long, didn’t read”).

Durán didn’t break any of X’s written rules, he points out over a video call from San Francisco – so much for Musk’s “free-speech absolutism”. His ban might just have had something to do with his preceding tweet, showing the cover of his new book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy. The book’s central argument is that big tech is no longer our friend, as many of its billionaire owners have seized economic and political control and are steering the fate of the planet towards their own bizarre, apocalyptic visions.

Growing up in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, romance was frowned upon – as was much of my Uyghur culture. But one day, exploring a strange house, I found a gateway to both worlds

Many people have a book that changes their life. For me and my wife, one book in particular changed our destinies for ever. We have been in love since we were teenagers, and today we are happily married – all because I accidentally discovered a forbidden novel in someone else’s house.

It was a hot summer’s evening in 2009, in Kumul, Xinjiang. I was 16 and my father insisted I accompany him to visit a distant relative, where they would spend hours chatting about the old days and feasting as if they hadn’t eaten in years. As the well-behaved teenager I tried to be, I sat politely, nodding at their stories and pretending to absorb their “life lessons”, attempting to hide my boredom. The living room, with its small windows and bright lighting, was unbearable.

It’s easy to lose your cool when you’re crammed into a train, bus or plane with a bunch of strangers and one of them is playing music without headphones or fighting you for the armrest. Here are the rules everyone should be following

Public transport can be a hot, noisy, cramped and stressful environment – and that’s before you add in people with pungent food, questionable hygiene and giant backpacks. Most of us know the general rules – though we don’t all follow them – about letting people off first, not putting bags on seats, where to stand on escalators and offering your seat to others. But what about the vaguer conventions? How can you avoid chatty passengers? Or manspreaders? Is it sometimes OK to put your feet on the seats? (Spoiler: it’s not.) Here, three etiquette experts show us the way to public transport propriety.

If the progressive wins Michigan’s general election, it could redefine the 2028 presidential contest. If he fails, the establishment will call him a cautionary tale

• US politics live – latest updates

In the final stretch of the state’s Democratic primary for US Senate, Abdul El-Sayed challenged voters at a small event in rural Michigan to think about the message they could send the rest of the country when they cast their ballots.

“Who are we? Who do we want to be?” El-Sayed said. “Do we want a state that’s defined by how much money corporations brought in to tell us what we couldn’t have? Or do we want to be a state where we demonstrate to the rest of the country what’s possible when you build a movement of, by and for the people?”

The N-Dubz and X Factor star’s career went into freefall after an elaborate sting by the Sun on Sunday, and she’s still campaigning for tougher press regulation. But will it work?

Late last year, Tulisa Contostavlos took a good look at her life. Her relationship had come to an end and she found herself in her late 30s (she’s 38 now), wondering what next. “I started thinking about all the things I’d never done,” she says. At 20, life had got weird – Contostavlos was in the successful hip-hop group N-Dubz and became an adult just as the fame and money started coming in. By 24, she was a judge on the Saturday night TV show X Factor. If that hadn’t happened, she thinks she might have become an archaeologist – she’s obsessed with ancient history. And so last year she went travelling, to Egypt to see the pyramids, and to Peru to visit Machu Picchu.

There were other, bigger changes. She gave up smoking and started having therapy for the first time. Contostavlos sat down, she says, and “I wrote a list of what my ‘greatest self’ looked like – where she’d go, how she thought, how she felt, the things she would do. I started implementing every single thing on that list and I found through doing that, you just become her – it is actually that simple. It just takes effort and discipline.” Her greatest self, she says, “is a person of action, and she turns lemons into lemon cake”. It got her thinking about the criminal trial that left her career in freefall. “I was like, right, let’s try to do something.”

Turritopsis dohrnii has the ability to turn back into a baby jellyfish and grow up all over again

• Revealed: the top ten invertebrates of the year

Immortality is generally considered the realm of the gods or science fiction, a fantasy that’s actively pursued by tech entrepreneurs in macabre experiments that include injecting “young blood”, cryopreservation, or resurrection in an AI afterlife.

But one ethereal, thimble-shaped jellyfish has already cracked the code.

It’s Invertebrate of the Year again! From 3-12 August, every day we will be profiling one of the thousands of amazing invertebrates that our readers have nominated, and then, when you have got to hear about all of them, we will open the voting so that you can choose your favourites. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with thoughts and ideas: email us at environment.desk@theguardian.com with Invertebrate in the subject line.

We would like to hear from people for whom the film has increased their interest in poetry or classics in general

UK poetry sales are on course to reach a record high this year, thanks to the success of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.

We would like to hear from people for whom the film has piqued their interest in Homer’s poetry. Has it led to a greater interest in classics or poetry in general? Tell us below.

The government has announced plans to create thousands more apprenticeships. We want to hear from employers about their experiences of recruiting apprentices

The government has announced plans to create thousands more apprenticeships in England as part of wider reforms to technical and vocational education.

We’d like to hear from employers who have taken on apprentices. What has your experience been like? Have apprentices benefited your organisation? What have been the biggest challenges? What changes or government support would encourage you to offer more apprenticeship opportunities?

We would like to hear from people who have recently installed renewable energy sources in their home, or considered doing so

Great Britain has recorded more new solar power installations in the first half of this year than in any six-month period since 2011, with most of the new panels going onto household rooftops rather than large-scale solar farms.

The government’s data also shows a rise in households turning to other low-carbon technology: applications to the boiler upgrade scheme, which offers grants for replacing gas boilers with greener alternatives, reached 4,512 last month – up 21% on June last year – with demand for heat pumps expected to climb further in the months ahead.

We would like to hear your experience of using peptides for therapeutic purposes

In recent years there has been a boom in interest in using peptides, from weight loss to anti-ageing and recovery from injury.

These include approved prescription weight-loss medications based on synthetic peptides that mimic natural hormones. However, sales of experimental and unregulated peptides are rising as online sellers tout them as part of a “wellness” regime.

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