In May, Cannes went weak at the knees for Harry Lighton’s tale of BDSM and bootlicking in suburbia. Ahead of its release, the director and his stars reveal the explicit shots snipped from the final cut and discuss why Pride has become too sanitised

Harry Melling knows the secret to being a good boot-licker. “You want to give a decent, satisfying, sexy lick,” says the 36-year-old actor, who has the umlaut eyes and nasal tones of Nicholas Lyndhurst. “Once you get to the toe-cap, you need to make sure they can really feel your tongue through the leather.”

Melling, barely recognisable from his childhood role as wretched Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films, learned this new skill while preparing for the award-winning BDSM romcom Pillion. He plays Colin, a timid traffic warden who becomes the willing submissive to a taciturn biker named Ray. Listening intently to Melling’s boot-licking tips in this London hotel room are his Pillion partners-in-kink: Harry Lighton, the film’s 33-year-old writer-director, whose flat cap and smirk lend him a roguish look, and Alexander Skarsgård, 49, who plays Ray, and is dressed today in a slobby ensemble – red sweatshirt, blue tracksuit bottoms, black shoes – that fails to spoil his pin-up prettiness.

It is uncomfortable to watch royals appealing to the nation’s best instincts while an elected government feels compelled to chase our worst

Every child has the right to feel safe, loved and as if they belong.

Put like that, there is nothing remotely radical about what the Princess of Wales used her first public speech since recovering from cancer to say: that families need consistently nurturing environments to flourish; that the world could actually use a bit more tenderness; that we are all responsible for the culture in which future generations grow up; and that (as she told an audience of blue-chip employers) caring for others is work deserving of respect. It’s the reasons why those motherhood-and-apple-pie values don’t always prevail in real life, rather than the values themselves, that are generally too contentious for the carefully apolitical royals. Yet what were once safe, bland nothings are increasingly no longer so – and not just because of the awkward shadow now cast over any royal initiative involving childhood by the former prince Andrew’s infamous association with the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

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

I guessed it would be worth a couple of hundred pounds at most, but it was a preparatory print for his famous 1639 etching The Goldweigher

My father died 20 years ago, when I was 26, and my mother died 10 years later. I’ve always felt grateful that one of the things they passed on to me was a love of art. My dad, Alan Barlow, was a stage designer, a Benedictine monk and then, after marrying my mother, Grace – who was a GP – he became a full-time artist.

In his studio in Norfolk, there were two big Victorian plan chests, where he stored paper and sketches he had created. He was also an art collector and some of the drawers contained artworks he had bought but didn’t have wall space for. For a long time, I didn’t feel ready to go through everything in his studio. I always felt connected to him when I went in there.

Irish indie acts used to be ignored, even on Irish radio. But songs confronting the Troubles, poverty and oppression are now going global – and changing how Ireland sees itself

On a hot Saturday afternoon at Glastonbury, while many are nursing halfway-point hangovers, the Dublin garage punk quartet Sprints whip up a jubilant mosh pit with their charged tune Descartes, Irish tricolour flags bobbing above them. As summer speeds on, at Japan’s Fuji rock festival, new songs from Galway indie act NewDad enrapture the crowd. Travy, a Nigerian-born and Tallaght-raised rapper, crafts a mixtape inflected with his Dublin lilt, the follow-up to the first Irish rap album to top the Irish charts. Efé transcends Dublin bedroom pop to get signed by US label Fader, and on Later … With Jools Holland, George Houston performs the haunting Lilith – a tribute to political protest singers everywhere – in a distinctive Donegal accent.

From Melbourne to Mexico City, concertgoers continue to scream to that opening loop on strings of Fontaines DC’s Starburster, and CMAT’s viral “woke macarena” dance to her hit single Take a Sexy Picture of Me plays out in festival pits and on TikTok. You might have heard about Kneecap, too.

Former pupils at Dulwich College have made shocking claims about the Reform leader’s behaviour at school – which he denies. Daniel Boffey reports

Peter Ettedgui is a well-known film-maker. But 40 years ago he was a nervous boy starting out at Dulwich College in South London. “I was 13. I’d come from a fairly small school into this slightly intimidating, kind of gothic structure. That was huge.”

He loved performing and soon found his niche in drama, he told Annie Kelly. But one boy shocked him: Nigel Farage. “Once he found out I was Jewish, you know, that was it,” Peter says. “I have this incredibly clear memory of him persistently heckling and hectoring me as a Jew.

All the bleak tenderness from the musician’s novel makes it into this heartbreaking screen adaptation of a father-and-son road trip where the dad relentlessly pursues sex. It will undo you

The travelling salesman used to be a stock figure – a centrepiece for jokes about man’s priapism, the untameable wanderlust of the peen once free of its domestic shackles. The Death of Bunny Munro, adapted from Nick Cave’s 2009 book of the same name by Pete Jackson and keeping all its bleak tenderness and unforgiving brutality, gives us the tragedy that lies the other side of any comic character worth its salt.

Cosmetics salesman Bunny (Matt Smith, a brilliant and still underrated actor, plus the best Doctor of modern times, please send an SAE for my monograph on this subject) is out on the road, sampling another young lady’s wares, when we meet him. His wife, Libby (Sarah Greene, perfectly cast as a fierce, loving woman broken by depression and her husband’s choices) calls him. He dismisses her and returns to his sampling. When he returns the next day he finds that she has killed herself. They have a nine-year-old son, Bunny Jr, played by Rafael Mathé, who gives an absolutely wonderful, heartbreaking performance, treading the thinnest of lines between knowing everything and nothing about his father and about his own likely future. At first, Bunny Sr tries to palm him off on Libby’s mother (Lindsay Duncan), who, in a harrowing post-funeral scene, refuses. But when social services arrive to take the boy into care, Bunny’s pride or conscience is pricked. The pair light out of the window and head off on a road trip along the south coast, and a father-son bonding experience. Traditionally, these are good things. But Cave is not a traditional writer and this is not a traditional tale.

PM says Reform UK leader also has ‘questions to answer’ about alleged racist comments and chants when at school

• UK politics live – latest updates

Keir Starmer has accused Nigel Farage of being “spineless” when it comes to tackling racism in his party after the Guardian revealed allegations he made xenophobic and antisemitic comments while he was at school.

The prime minister said the Reform UK leader had “questions to answer” about the alleged comments and chants, which include songs about the Holocaust and accusations of bullying towards minority ethnic schoolboys.

American diplomats said Donald Trump was trying to achieve peace ‘with an incredible sense of momentum’

German Bild tabloid is also reporting that Merz is expected to hold a phone call not only with Zelenskyy, but also with the US president, Donald Trump.

Mind you: there’s been no official confirmation yet.

Report on handling of pandemic contains stinging criticism of ‘toxic and chaotic’ culture inside Boris Johnson’s No 10

• ‘Chaotic and indecisive’: key findings of report on UK’s Covid response under Tories

• Dominic Cummings ‘poisoned the atmosphere’ of Boris Johnson’s No 10, Covid inquiry finds

The UK’s response to Covid was “too little, too late”, a damning official report on the handling of the pandemic has concluded, saying the introduction of a lockdown even a week earlier than happened could have saved more than 20,000 lives.

The document also has stinging criticism of a “toxic and chaotic” culture inside Boris Johnson’s Downing Street – which it said the then prime minister actively embraced.

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Shares are falling faster than wickets in Perth at the start of trading in London, as fears of an AI bubble rip through markets again.

Following losses on Wall Street last night, the FTSE 100 share index has dropped by 104 points, or just over 1%, at the start of trading to 9423 points. That’s a one-month low.

it’s been a truly remarkable 24 hours, with a sequence of moves that were almost impossible to predict….

After the world’s largest company reported spectacular results, the stock was up around +5% by 3pm London time. It closed down -3.15%. The broader market followed a similar pattern: the S&P 500 initially climbed +1.93%, only to fade and close down -1.56% as doubts about AI valuations crept back in. That marked the biggest intra-day swing for the S&P since the six days of extreme market turmoil that followed the Liberation Day tariffs in early April. Adding to the negative backdrop for crypto were lingering questions over the crypto market structure bill that’s being worked on in Congress.

• 1st Test D1: England 172; Australia 123-9

• Hosts close 49 behind after ball-dominated day in Perth

The opening day of this Ashes series has set an absurdly high bar for what is to come. England played their supporters back at home, a collapse to 172 all out like waking up to a horse’s head in the bed, only for Ben Stokes and his stable of quicks to deliver a more telling statement of their own.

If they did not know it before, Australia are now well aware that this is a very different England side to those of the past. The fast forward but fragile batting was a known quantity, granted. But it now comes with a pool of high-octane seamers who will test techniques and tickers in equal measure.

Man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested in October over alleged incident last year, say reports

A Strictly Come Dancing star has reportedly been arrested on suspicion of rape.

The Sun reported that a man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested in October over an alleged incident last year. The alleged victim was not a contestant or professional dancer, the paper said.

Exclusive: Summit leadership releases new text despite 29 nations threatening to block progress without commitment

A new draft text on the outcome of the Cop30 climate talks has been published that contains no mention of a phase-out of fossil fuels, despite countries supporting such action having threatened to block any agreement without it.

The Guardian revealed on Thursday night that at least 29 nations supporting a phase-out of fossil fuels at the climate summit had sent a letter to the Brazilian Cop presidency threatening to block any agreement that did not include such a commitment, in a significant escalation of tensions at the crunch talks. The leaked letter demanded that the roadmap be included in the outcome of the talks, which are due to end on Friday but are likely to continue into the weekend.

‘The world thinks Palestinians don’t need help any more,’ aid organiser says, despite desperate need as winter nears

Fundraisers collecting for Palestinian civilians in Gaza are seeing a “catastrophic” drop-off in donations since the ceasefire was announced in October.

Donations collected by volunteers and funnelled to needy families living in temporary shelters and struggling with illness, hunger and malnutrition have been harder to raise since then, according to organisers, many of whom have been running volunteer initiatives for Palestinians in Gaza on third-party crowdfunding platforms over the past two years.

The 1940 painting of Kahlo asleep in bed has surpassed the record set by the $44.4m sale of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 in 2014

A 1940 self-portrait by famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has sold for $54.7m (£41.8m, A$84.7m) at a New York art auction, setting a new top sale price for a work by any female artist.

El sueño (La cama), or The Dream (The Bed), which depicts Kahlo asleep in a bed with a smiling skeleton wrapped in dynamite on the canopy above her, sold on Thursday night at a Sotheby’s auction of surrealist art after four minutes of bidding.

Chancellor is expected to increase duties bookies and casinos pay, ending months of speculation and lobbying

Gambling companies don’t lose very often but nor are they usually playing a game of poker against the chancellor of the exchequer.

At next week’s budget, Rachel Reeves is widely expected to announce an increase in the duties that bookies and casinos pay to the Treasury, ending months of speculation and frenzied lobbying designed to sway the government.

In India’s Mizoram state, people have an intricate system of harvesting and consuming the pungent and nutritious bugs

Every few years when Udonga montana, a bamboo-feeding stink bug, erupts in massive swarms, the people of the Mizo community in northern India don’t reach for pesticides. Instead, they look for baskets.

Locally, this small brown stink bug is called thangnang. Outsiders see them as an infestation but in the bamboo forests of Mizoram state this small brown bug has long been woven into the food culture.

His love of ‘good northern soul and funk’ was always in evidence and had a lasting impact on alternative music

• Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield dies aged 63

• Mani: a life in pictures

By any metric, the rise of the Stone Roses was a sudden and remarkable thing. It took place over the course of 12 months. At the start of 1989, they were just a local cause of excitement in Manchester, largely ignored by the traditional outlets for alternative rock in Britain. John Peel wasn’t a fan. The music press had barely mentioned their most recent single, Elephant Stone. They were barely able to fill even a more modest London venue such as Dingwalls. But by November they were huge. Their single Fools Gold had entered the charts at No 8 and their performance was the big attraction on that week’s Top of the Pops – a barely imaginable state of affairs for most indie bands in the late 80s.

In retrospect, you can find any number of reasons why the Stone Roses cut such an extraordinary path, clearly attracting a far bigger and broader audience than usually displayed an interest in alternative rock at the time. They were set apart by their look – which seemed to align them more to the burgeoning acid house scene – their cockily belligerent attitude and the skill of the guitarist John Squire, unashamedly virtuosic in a world of distorted thrashing downstrokes.

In today’s newsletter: Despite valid criticisms, the summits are filled with smart, passionate people dedicating their lives to fighting the climate crisis

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It is easy to criticise the UN climate conferences. But unless you’ve been, there’s one wonderful, almost miraculous, thing that you may not be aware of: it is a beautiful gathering of humanity, people from virtually every country on Earth, all thrown together in common cause.

What’s more, many are incredibly smart, passionate and dedicating their lives to fighting the climate crisis. The more of them you meet, the more your hope grows that global heating can be defeated.

Trump’s anti-climate agenda could result in 1.3m more deaths globally, analysis finds

Tropical cyclone Fina intensifies to category two and could hit NT coast on Friday

England’s Beth Mead: ‘If we don’t adapt to climate change, football becomes a privilege, not a right‘

She was sure that there would be warnings if there was any danger. But then the floods came. This is Toñi García’s story

Location Valencia, Spain

Disaster Floods, 2024

Toñi García lives in Valencia. On 29 October 2024, devastating storms hit the Iberian peninsula, bringing the heaviest rain so far this century. The national alert system sounded at around 8.30pm local time; by then, however, flood waters had already broken through the city. Scientists say the explosive downpours were linked to climate change.

Exclusive: André Corrêa do Lago says rise of clean energy must be acknowledged and rich countries need to do more

• Cop30: click here for full Guardian coverage of climate talks in Brazil

Oil-producing countries need to acknowledge the rise of clean energy, and rich countries will have to provide more assurances on finance if the chasm between negotiating nations at Cop30 is to be bridged, the president of the summit has said.

André Corrêa do Lago, the veteran Brazilian climate diplomat in charge of the talks, said: “Developing countries are looking at developed countries as countries that could be much more generous in supporting them to be more sustainable. They could offer more finance, and technology.”

Since 1995, when the first Cop was held, carbon levels have increased from 360.67 parts per million to 426.68 parts now

In 1995, when the first “conference of the parties” (Cop) of the UN’s climate change convention met in Berlin, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 360.67 parts per million. The then German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, gave a passionate speech about how greenhouse gases must be reduced to save the planet from overheating. There was a relatively unknown East German woman, the environment minister, Angela Merkel, chairing the conference. She was red hot at keeping order. The UK journalists concluded she would have a bright future.

Immediately after the conference I was commissioned to write a book about climate change called Global Warming: Can Civilization Survive? It sold well and was the first of several.

The sport is rooted in the culture of rugged individualism and has been slow to adopt modern techniques. That state of affairs is slowly changing

Boosted by cultural phenomena like the hit series Yellowstone and Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album and tour, rodeo and all things Western are enjoying a cultural resurgence. Attendance, broadcast and streaming viewership are at all time highs. So is the prize money, which is attracting more and more young athletes seeking a chance to make a name for themselves.

But while rodeo is booming, athlete development remains antiquated.

Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch has been crowned the 74th Miss Universe, after accusing an organiser in Thailand of insulting her

As contestants prepared to walk the runway for the 74th Miss Universe competition on Friday, the pageant’s organisers were in damage control.

“In light of recent public statements and social media posts, the Miss Universe Organization considers it necessary to clarify certain inaccuracies,” a statement by the organisation began. It was addressing allegations of vote rigging – but it could just have easily been referring to a myriad of other scandals the event has seen over recent weeks.

The country has so many cultural and historical treasures that relatively few are known to tourists. Our tipsters share their discoveries, from ancient hill towns to a mini Venice

• Tell us about your favourite travel discoveries of the year – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher

Approaching the town of Brisighella in Emilia-Romagna, it feels as though you are rapidly incorporating yourself in the backdrop of a Renaissance masterpiece, with dramatic rocky hills with singular trees perched upon them, and mysterious towers standing in solitary self-possession – leaving you to wonder what they must have witnessed over the years. The town is the perfect launchpad to explore such remarkably beautiful scenery, but it is also absolutely worth exploring its many medieval alleyways and its particularly unique elevated path, granting private nooks to take in the town’s charm.
Gioia

A collection of columns by the German Booker winner reveals a keen eye for details that mark the passing of time

Jenny Erpenbeck wrote the pieces collected in this compact yet kaleidoscopic book for a column in the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; published in German in 2009, they now appear in an English translation by Kurt Beals, following the immense success of Erpenbeck’s novel Kairos, which won the 2024 International Booker prize.

It’s interesting and instructive to reflect on what German newspaper readers made of the column in the early years of the new millennium, nearly two decades on from the fall of the Berlin Wall. For while Erpenbeck adopted some of the features of the form – apparently throwaway observations on daily life, such as minor irritation at the difficulty of sourcing proper splitterbrötchen, an unpretentious pastry now pimped for a more elaborate and wealthy clientele – she consistently enlarged and complicated it. Into that recognisable tone of ennui and mild querulousness with which journalists hope to woo a time-pressed but disenchanted or nostalgic readership, Erpenbeck smuggled metaphysics, politics and history.

Whether it’s music boxes, glasses cases or mugs, footie coasters, F1 keyrings or pet portraits, adding a personal touch to a gift has never been easier

• The best self-care gifts for Christmas

Struggling to find a gift for your hard-to-buy-for mother-in-law? Perhaps you’ve ended up with your boss in the work secret Santa and are stuck for ideas? Or maybe you can’t think of what to buy a friend who already has everything?

Personalised gifts elevate a crowd-pleasing present to a meaningful one. From a wooden gaming stand to ceramic egg cups, we’ve found some of the best.

Mani, the bassist for the Stone Roses and Primal Scream, has died at the age of 63

Little is taught about the murderous, incompetent dictatorship – and now almost one in five young people say Franco was good for the country

At first sight, few suspected that Francisco Franco might become a strongman capable of imposing a brutal dictatorship across four decades. He was a short, squeaky voiced army officer with a shaky grasp on non-military matters and zero charisma. Yet he did exactly that, before dying of natural causes in a Madrid hospital, 50 years ago this week.

Even today, Franco serves as a warning that outward mediocrity is no barrier to the ruthlessly ambitious. Behind the dull facade lay a slippery, clever operator. Franco’s ambition was underpinned by an iron will, a glib indifference to violence and unbounded self-esteem.

Giles Tremlett is the author of El Generalisimo and Ghosts of Spain

A new brand flogging face masks for four-year-olds is disturbing, but it’s worth asking why children are asking for these products in the first place

As a newish mother, I am only too aware of the myriad ways we have failed our children. And then I came across a new skincare company aimed at four-year-olds. It’s early days for Rini, whose sole product is now a Korean-made hydrating facial mask. A healing ointment and daily barrier cream are allegedly in the works, too. If you were under any illusions as to the mask’s purpose, it is infused with vitamin B12 – which, according to various skincare sites, improves elasticity and skin texture – with a clear peel-on application process modelled online, Patrick Bateman-style, by a preschooler.

On the one hand, I appreciate that children put all sorts on their faces – face paint, stickers, poo, toothpaste, kitchen cleaner, a sibling’s blood, and that’s just in this last week alone – and that their faces will occasionally need to be cleaned. And while it’s entirely plausible that some parents will be moved watching their child dip their delicate toes into the world of Korean beauty, I’m marginally more concerned by the strains of strep and croup doing the rounds at my two-year-old’s childcare (I am also worried about my six-year-old’s health, but if this company is anything to go by, he’s probably beyond help).

Morwenna Ferrier is the Guardian’s fashion and lifestyle editor

Climate sceptics tell us that more people die of extreme cold than extreme heat. What’s the truth?

I began by trying to discover whether or not a widespread belief was true. In doing so, I tripped across something even bigger: an index of the world’s indifference. I already knew that by burning fossil fuels, gorging on meat and dairy, and failing to make even simple changes, the rich world imposes a massive burden of disaster, displacement and death on people whose responsibility for the climate crisis is minimal. What I’ve now stumbled into is the vast black hole of our ignorance about these impacts.

What I wanted to discover was whether it’s true that nine times as many of the world’s people die of cold than of heat. The figure is often used by people who want to delay climate action: if we do nothing, some maintain, fewer will die. Of course, they gloss over all the other impacts of climate breakdown: the storms, floods, droughts, fires, crop failures, disease and sea level rise. But is this claim, at least, correct?

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

We’re supposed to be used to this by now, but getting used to it is dangerous. Her colleagues should have spoken up

Catherine Lucey, who covers the White House for Bloomberg News, was doing what reporters are supposed to do: asking germane questions.

Her query to Donald Trump a few days ago during a “gaggle” aboard Air Force One was reasonable as it had to do with the release of the Epstein files, certainly a subject of great public interest. Why had Trump been stonewalling, she asked, “if there’s nothing incriminating in the files”.

Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture

AI-generated songs are topping Spotify charts. This isn’t about the ‘democratization’ of art – it’s about scale

Making music is hard. Well, at least it used to be. I remember the old days, when you had to spend hours and hours honing skills, coming up with something clever or personal to say, then actually recording sounds that people would want to listen to. But that’s the past. In our sparkling future, a pre-teen can dump a bunch of words into a machine and out comes a catchy tune. In 2025, a robot can be a pop star. (Although Data from Star Trek did drop an album back in the 90s. How soon we all forget.)

Three AI-generated songs recently topped Spotify’s “Viral 50” charts. One of the “creators” responsible for these songs, Broken Veteran, who squirted out a track about immigration policies, told the Guardian that AI is “just another tool for expression, particularly valuable for people like me who have something to say but lack traditional musical training”. It used to be that if you didn’t know how to do something, you wouldn’t do it.

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

Make UK’s call for the government to recognise that the energy crisis for industry is happening now is spot-on

In the long list of budget submissions from the business world, here’s one the chancellor is probably disinclined to smile upon.

Make UK, the body representing manufacturers, would like the government to expand its energy support scheme – the one unveiled in June as part of the shiny new industrial strategy – from 7,000 firms to 115,000 businesses. And it would like the promised savings in electricity bills to be backdated to April this year; as scheduled, the so-called British industrial competitiveness scheme, or BICS, is due to arrive only in April 2027.

Imposing a 1% levy on the super-rich isn’t a policy, it’s pantomime. Tackling inequality in Britain will require much more far-reaching changes

By this time next week you will be digesting the budget, you lucky thing. Yet even before Rachel Reeves has commended a single damn thing to the house, her efforts have been written off as a “shambles”, from a “chaotic” government that is Labour in name alone. Which prompts the question: what is the leftwing alternative?

Because there is one, on which agreement stretches from Labour backbenchers to many of their opponent MPs and far beyond. Whether you listen to Zack Polanski or Zarah Sultana, the TUC or the YouTubers, they all call for a wealth tax – stinging the rich to pay for schools and hospitals. Who could be against such a thing?

Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist

Drenched by floods and abandoned amid the ruins, people in Gaza can draw no comfort from US plans

The declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza in October brought initial relief to its inhabitants. Yet officials there said Israeli strikes killed 33 people, including 12 children, on Wednesday; Israel said its troops had come under fire. Another five Palestinians were killed on Thursday. Hundreds have died since the ceasefire was declared. Even if the shelling stops, the destruction of Palestinian life will carry on as Israel continues to throttle aid, and the consequences of two years of war unfold. The World Health Organization warned last month that the health catastrophe would last for generations.

Food remains in short supply. While displaced families shiver in flooded makeshift shelters, with many facing a third winter of homelessness, aid organisations say they cannot deliver stockpiles of tents and tarpaulins. Israel, which denies blocking aid, has designated tent poles as “dual-use” items that could potentially be used for a military purpose. Save the Children reports children sleeping on bare ground in sewage-soaked clothing.

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.

Voters need to know if a party leader said racist things at school. Interviewers have a duty to keep pressing for fuller facts

For one contemporary, it is the hectoring tone of today that evokes what it was like to be at school with Nigel Farage. “He would sidle up to me and growl: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘Gas them’,” Peter Ettedgui recalls when asked about life at fee-paying Dulwich College in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Later, he adds: “I’d hear him calling other students ‘Paki’ or ‘Wog’ and urging them to ‘go home’.”

For others, including some in the college’s combined cadet force (CCF), what lingers is the image of the young Mr Farage in uniform and his renderings of a racist anthem titled “Gas ’em all”. Tim France, a CCF member from those years, remembered Mr Farage “regularly” giving the Nazi salute and strutting around the classroom. “It was habitual, you know, it happened all the time,” he recalls.

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 news articles and analysis on Shabana Mahmood’s proposals to change the asylum system

The government’s asylum proposals, rendering subsistence support discretionary and compelling refugees to return once their countries are deemed “safe”, represent a profound departure from both legal obligations and moral responsibility. These are not minor administrative adjustments; they are structural erosions of rights that strike at the heart of Britain’s commitment to fairness and justice.

The United Kingdom remains bound by the 1951 refugee convention and the Human Rights Act 1998. These instruments enshrine non‑discretionary duties, including the provision of subsistence and protection against refoulement. To reframe such duties as optional is to mischaracterise international law and invite judicial challenge. More importantly, it undermines the principle that rights are universal and inalienable, not favours dispensed at political whim.

Prof D Nutt and Prof Ilana Crome respond to an article about the dangers of cannabis-induced psychosis in vulnerable people

Your article correctly raised concerns about the harms of higher-strength cannabis on people vulnerable to psychosis (‘I’d run down the road thinking I was God’: a day at the cannabis psychosis clinic, 16 November). However, it didn’t explain how previous prohibition‑based policies designed to reduce cannabis use have driven up the strength of street cannabis, the source of most cannabis for people with psychosis, thus making the problem worse.

Furthermore, growing data from the Drug Science T21 project and other prescription databases globally shows that medical cannabis can alleviate a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders, without inducing psychosis. Any suggestion that rates of cannabis-related psychosis could be reduced by limiting medical cannabis access is flawed and is likely to harm patients currently benefiting from it.
Prof D Nutt and Prof Ilana Crome
Drug Science

Readers respond to an article by Julian Richer about the need to recognise that meritocracy is a myth so we can do something about it

I agree with Julian Richer: the circumstances into which we are born affect how we get on in life (Do you feel lucky? Why acknowledging our own good fortune would make the world a better place, 17 November). I had a relatively ordinary background and worked in the public sector, but the security I had allowed me to have a good life. As he says, these things are not available to so many children. Considering the wealth in this country, that is a disgrace.

In 2009, the Guardian published an article about 1948 being the best year to have been born. This was based on every aspect of life you can think of: free education, NHS, availability of work, final-salary pensions and opportunities to buy houses at sensible prices. I was born in 1948. What a total privilege.
Mary Mullarkey
Lostwithiel, Cornwall

Prof Mike Stein responds to news of a proposal to restrict the ‘over-policing’ of looked-after young people

Diverting young people in care from the youth justice system and the associated criminalisation may help their future careers (Children in care who lash out may no longer face automatic arrest under UK review, 17 November). However, international research studies have shown that reducing the chances of young people being involved in crime to begin with are more effective.

These include: stable family foster care placements; doing well at school; extending foster care placements beyond 18 years of age; having positive birth family, extended family, partner and social relationships; being settled in accommodation on leaving care; and being supported by leaving-care teams providing personal, careers, housing and financial support.

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Chelsea: It seems Palmer’s toe is broken. Jacob Steinberg has the latest from Enzo Maresca’s press conference: “Bad news for Chelsea fans, who have been left reeling by the revelation that Cole Palmer’s comeback from a groin injury has been delayed by the forward fracturing a toe in a freak accident at home,” he writes.

”Speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Burnley, Enzo Maresca said: ‘He is not available for tomorrow for sure, Barcelona for sure or Arsenal for sure. Unfortunately, he had an accident at home where he hit his toe but it is nothing important but he won’t be back in the next week. It’s fractured.’ I’m reminded of this …”

Chelsea: Enzo Maresca has revealed that Cole Palmer’s eagerly awaited return to the Chelsea line-up following his recovery from a groin injury will be delayed because the midfielder has hurt his toe in some unspecified accident at home. The Chelsea head coach says he doesn’t know whether or not the little piggy in question is broken.

With no Cummins and Hazlewood, Boland off the boil and Doggett on debut, the veteran quick notched a career-best seven for 58 to dominate the opening stanza in Perth

When an Ashes series finally begins and the interminable prognosticating reaches its end, it is customary to discover anew that all of the talk is just talk. So it was for all of us who have offered opinions on the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, and how losing two champion fast bowlers would drastically weaken the Australian side. Instead, it only gave space to their remaining colleague to dominate the first stanza of the Perth Test on his own. In barely a session, Mitchell Starc turned the Big Three into the Big One.

Scott Boland was off the boil – it didn’t matter. Brendan Doggett was on debut, chipping in around the edges – it didn’t matter either. Starc has now notched a career best in consecutive innings: six for nine in Kingston back in July, followed by seven for 58 here.

Brommapojkarna will have a close eye on Arsenal’s clash with Spurs as their talent factory continues to thrive

“We’re building Swedish youth.” The sign adorning the main stand at Brommapojkarna is simple, authoritative and accurate. Beneath it, in the lashing rain, the men’s side are training. But while their top-tier status is important, that is far from the primary focus.

Twenty-four hours before the men’s game, BP’s 5,000-capacity Grimsta IP stadium hosted a celebration of the under-19s, who secured a first national title since 2008. Youth development is at the heart of the club and on Sunday the fruits of Vällingby, a suburb in west Stockholm, will be consumed 1,100 miles away in north London.

Back in the fold after a broken arm, the veteran back has the high-ball skills to take the aerial tactic to another level

It’s funny how things have come full circle for Elliot Daly. The first time he played a Test against Argentina he lasted barely five minutes before being shown a red card for a misjudged tackle on a still airborne opponent. And now, nine years on, to whom have England turned to help discomfort the Pumas aerially? None other than wing commander Daly.

Much has changed, however, since that distant sending off at Twickenham in November 2016 on what was only his third start for England. Daly is now a vastly experienced international with 73 caps and the game also looks significantly different courtesy of the crackdown on “escorts” protecting the catcher, which has put an even greater emphasis on high-ball expertise.

Big-name drivers and cutting out the middle man a vital part of the strategy with just over 100 days to go before the 2026 season opener

Twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Cadillac were finally given the green light as Formula One’s newest entry for 2026. Building the team from scratch has entailed a frenetic work rate that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has compared to the Apollo moon landing. As F1 descends on Vegas this weekend, Cadillac know time is getting tight.

At the final race of the season to be staged in the United Statess, with just over 100 days to go before they take to the track for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 opener, Cadillac have come on in leaps and bounds but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are aware there will never be enough hours in the day.

Semenyo can lift Bournemouth, Isak must show up for Liverpool and north London derby rivals left to rue injuries

A Mancunian reunion of sorts is on the cards should Kyle Walker of Burnley face Alejandro Garnacho on Chelsea’s left at Turf Moor. The winger has started to settle at Stamford Bridge after his summer move from Manchester United and showcased his range against Wolves before the international break. His assist for Pedro Neto combined wicked pace with a perfect ball along the carpet. His setup for Malo Gusto involved shifting on to his right foot before a dinked cross to the far post. His celebration with Neto, replicating his sitting embrace with Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmund Højlund, was a reminder of how quickly things change. The last time Garnacho took on Walker? When the former scored for United in their FA Cup final win over Manchester City. Taha Hashim

The four semi-finalists, led by Wei Yi, will battle for three 2026 Candidates places – none of them has reached this stage before

The $2m World Cup in Goa will be remembered as an event where established stars were humbled and knocked out by supposedly lesser lights.

At 26, China’s Wei Yi is the oldest in Friday’s semi-finals. He was once a prodigy, renowned for his brilliant attacking style and the youngest to surpass an elite 2700 rating, but then opted to take a six-year break from chess to study economics and management, which he says he does not regret. He made a statement return in 2024, winning the “chess Wimbledon” at Wijk aan Zee, and the 2026 Candidates is his main target.

• US network made largest bid at this week’s auction

• Amazon Prime will have first pick of Tuesday matches

The US media and entertainment giant Paramount Skydance has won the auction for the rights to broadcast most Champions League matches in the UK from 2027 to 2031 in a major shake-up of the domestic rights market.

The Guardian has learned that Paramount, whose subsidiary company Paramount+ owns the rights for Champions League games in the US, made the largest bid in this week’s auction and an announcement is due. Amazon Prime confirmed it had retained the first pick of Tuesday matches in three major European markets in the new streaming deal sold by Uefa.

• Stadium planned to feature 12 chimney-like towers

• Club chair Tom Wagner sees it as ‘beacon for excellence’

Birmingham City have unveiled designs of their striking new 62,000-capacity stadium, the Birmingham City Powerhouse, which the Championship club say will open for the 2030-31 season.

The stadium, which features 12 chimney-like towers inspired by the city’s industrial heritage, will dominate the Birmingham skyline and be visible up to 40 miles away. One tower will include a lift to Birmingham’s highest bar, offering city-wide views.

US president roundly decried for Truth Social post after lawmakers told military personnel to refuse illegal orders

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Democrats expressed outrage after Donald Trump accused a group of Democratic lawmakers of engaging in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH” and that they should be arrested after they posted a video in which they told active service members they should refuse illegal orders.

The video, released on Tuesday, features six Democratic lawmakers who have previously served in the military or in intelligence roles, including senators Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, and representatives Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio, Chrissy Houlahan and Jason Crow.

Exclusive: Agency accessed private conversations of New York ‘courtwatch’ group that was observing public hearings

The FBI spied on a private Signal group chat of immigrants’ rights activists who were organizing “courtwatch” efforts in New York City this spring, law enforcement records shared with the Guardian indicate.

The FBI, the documents show, gained access to conversations in a “courtwatch” Signal group that helps coordinate volunteer activists who monitor public proceedings at three New York federal immigration courts. The US government has repeatedly been accused of violating immigrants’ due process rights at those courts.

Chancellor says ‘We can’t just carry on like this and muddle through. We have to make some decisions to get on a different path’

Prime minister Keir Starmer had a bilateral meeting with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Friday.

The two leaders discussed the 11-hour flight from London to Johannesburg in brief remarks in front of reporters, according to the PA news agency.

Energy bills are still far higher than five years ago, on top of sky-high mortgages and rents and prices in the shops.

The government has pledged time and time again to bring down energy bills – it is time for them to live up to their word and stop tinkering, committing to a real long term plan.

Liberal Democrats have a plan: we would slash energy bills in half by removing the renewables levy from bills, creating new energy loans for homeowners to insulate their homes and boosting renewables – the cheapest, cleanest and most popular form of energy.

Milan allegations link Aleksandar Vučić to 1990s shootings of civilians in Bosnian capital by Italians and others

• In the snipers’ sights: life under fire during siege of Sarajevo – in pictures

A Croatian investigative reporter has filed a complaint with Milan prosecutors against the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, for his alleged involvement in the “Sarajevo safari” affair, in which snipers from Italy and other countries allegedly travelled to the Bosnian capital to kill civilians during the four-year siege of the city in the 1990s.

Last week, Milan prosecutors launched an investigation aimed at identifying the Italians allegedly involved on charges of voluntary murder aggravated by cruelty and abject motives.

The pristine copy of Superman No 1, the character’s first solo title from 1939, was discovered in an attic in California last year

A copy of Superman No 1 that was discovered in an attic in California last year has become the world’s most expensive comic book after selling for US$9.12m (£6.96m, A$14.14m).

Superman No 1 was published in 1939 and was the Man of Steel’s first solo title. It marked the first time a character that debuted in a comic book had their own title devoted entirely to them.

Chancellor told PFI-style schemes familiar from New Labour era are ‘fiscal illusion’ offering no value for money

Rachel Reeves has been urged by 40 Labour MPs to drop plans to fund NHS buildings with private finance initiatives (PFI) that would saddle the health service with debt.

The Labour MPs, including Cat Eccles, Clive Lewis and Rebecca Long-Bailey, pressed the chancellor to commit to investment in the NHS without the use of private capital and warned that a return to the New Labour era of private funding for public projects would be damaging for trust in the government.

Online fashion retailer says action to cut discounts and deter ‘serial returners’ contributed to fall in sales

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Asos has turned to online stylists powered by artificial intelligence as it attempts to win back customers and reverse a fall in sales.

The online fashion retailer said sales had fallen 12% in the year to 31 August, and City analysts predicted another year of declining sales ahead.

Public accounts committee calculates cost of households either evading the fee or saying they do not need TV licence

The BBC is now losing more than £1bn a year from households either evading the licence fee or deciding they do not need one, according to a cross-party group of MPs who warned the corporation is under “severe pressure”.

Attempts to enforce payment of the licence fee are also stalling. The number of visits to unlicensed homes increased by 50% last year, but it did not translate into either higher sales or successful prosecutions. BBC executives have said they face the increasing problem of householders simply refusing to answer the door.

PM says he aims to secure investment to help deal with cost of living and shore up support for Ukraine

Keir Starmer has defended his decision to travel to South Africa for the G20 summit days before the budget and despite the planned absence of Donald Trump.

The prime minister will arrive in South Africa on Friday morning for two days of summit discussions and bilateral talks on topics including sustainability and economic growth.

Users noted that in a raft of now-deleted posts, the chatbot would frequently rank Musk top in any given field

Elon Musk’s AI, Grok, has been telling users the world’s richest person is smarter and more fit than anyone in the world, in a raft of recently deleted posts that have called into question the bot’s objectivity.

Users on X using the artificial intelligence chatbot in the past week have noted that whatever the comparison – from questions of athleticism to intelligence and even divinity – Musk would frequently come out on top.

Nearly 13m people are hoarding millions of dollars’ worth of the stylish 50 peso note, featuring Mexico’s cutest critter

For most of her life, Gorda was just an axolotl who lived in a museum in Mexico City – that is, until she became the star of the country’s favourite banknote.

The note, which features a depiction of Gorda as the model for Mexico’s iconic species of salamander, went into circulation in 2021, dazzling the judges of the International Bank Notes Society, who declared it the Note of the Year.

The enormous, serpentine fish, regarded in Japanese folklore as a herald of disaster, usually live deep below the surface and are only sighted when sick or dying

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It was a beautiful warm day in north-west Tasmania when a fish with a reputation as a harbinger of doom washed ashore.

Tony Cheesman, who lives in the seaside town of Penguin, was walking his two dogs, Ronan and Custard, along the beach at Preservation Bay on Friday morning when something silvery and surrounded by gulls grabbed his attention.

Álvaro García Ortiz, who had denied sharing businessman’s personal details with journalists about a tax case, has been banned from post for two years

Spain’s top prosecutor has been banned from his post for two years after being found guilty of leaking confidential information about a tax case involving a businessman who is the boyfriend of a prominent rightwing politician.

Álvaro García Ortiz, who has served as attorney general since 2022, was also fined €7,300 (£6,428), and ordered to pay €10,000 in damages to the businessman, Alberto González Amador.

Lack of spare cash among under-25s feeds slide in sales with annual profits to be at lower end of expectations

Unemployment among young people in the UK is hitting sales growth and profits at JD Sports, the owner of the trainer and sportwear chain has said, amid warnings about the high number of under-25s not in work, education or training.

The UK was the worst-performing market for JD Group, which also owns Blacks, Go Outdoors and a number of US and European sports chains.

Supermarket still losing market share despite effort under Allan Leighton to win over customers with price cuts

Asda is selling off 24 stores and a distribution centre – and leasing them back – to raise £568m in what has been called a “sign of weakness” as sales at the heavily indebted retailer continue to fall.

The Leeds-based supermarket group, which is expected to release its quarterly results next week, has continued to lose market share to rivals as sales have gone backwards, despite an effort to win over shoppers with price cuts and improved stores.

Jensen Huang opens earnings call with attempt to dispel concerns after his $5tn firm beat Wall Street expectations

Global share markets rose after Nvidia posted third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates, assuaging for now concerns about whether the high-flying valuations of AI firms had peaked.

On Wednesday, all eyes were on Nvidia, the bellwether for the AI industry and the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, with analysts and investors hoping the chipmaker’s third-quarter earnings would dampen fears that a bubble was forming in the sector.

Lisa Brankin says new levies could discourage switch to EVs amid reports chancellor mulling pay-per-mile charge

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The boss of Ford UK has warned Rachel Reeves against increasing taxes on electric vehicles in next week’s budget, saying it could discourage drivers from making the switch away from petrol and diesel cars.

Lisa Brankin, the managing director of Ford UK, said it was “certainly not the right time” to introduce new levies on EVs, amid reports that the chancellor could implement a new pay-per-mile charge on electric vehicles (EVs) from 2028.

The tale of Prof Sarah Blagden’s attempt to find a treatment that stops the disease is the rarest of things – TV that makes you dare to hope

Cancer Detectives: Finding the Cures should come with a rare warning: may make you feel hopeful for humanity and marginally less convinced that we are all willingly leaping into a handcart and smoothing our own paths to hell.

This is an hour that outlines the work being done to create vaccines against cancers. Lung cancer, specifically, at the moment – 50,000 cases of which are diagnosed each year in the UK and which is the most common cause of cancer-related death – but with the potential to prevent many more types in the future.

Jed Mercurio’s police drama is getting a comeback – which gives it the chance to be TV’s greatest cop show once more. Here’s what it needs to do

Mother of God, fella, they’re back at last. In a rare piece of good news for the beleaguered BBC, blockbuster drama Line of Duty is to return for a long-awaited seventh series. So long-awaited, in fact, that many fans feared it would never happen. Luckily, the police still need policing. Even the fictional Central police force.

The last run of creator Jed Mercurio’s corrupt cop thriller was the top-rated TV drama (excluding soaps) since modern records began in 2002, pulling in an average of 16 million viewers and a whopping 17 million for the finale over 28 days. The show’s three stars will now reprise their roles in a six-part comeback that begins filming in Belfast next spring.

An utterly beguiling Taiwanese drama about a single mother, plus Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri star in a dark thriller about accusations of sexual assault on a college campus

Shih-Ching Tsou is a regular collaborator of Sean Baker, the Oscar-winning director of Anora. He returns the compliment here by co-writing and editing her vibrant debut solo feature, where his interest in the least privileged members of society mingles fruitfully with her intimate focus on her Taiwanese homeland. Janel Tsai plays Shu-Fen, single mother to left-handed five-year-old I-Jing (a delightful Nina Ye) and stroppy young adult I-Ann (Shih-Yuan Ma). They arrive in Taipei to open a noodle stall but financial and relationship stresses threaten to unravel the family. An unforced, perceptive and utterly beguiling drama.
Friday 28 November, Netflix

Head back to Hawkins for one last hair-raising, horrifying showdown with Vecna. Plus: Peter Jackson works yet more miracles with stunning footage of the Fab Four

As one of the streamer’s defining creations, this supernatural coming-of-age drama ends on its own terms. The final season begins by rewinding back to young Will in the Upside Down for a hair-raising encounter with a demogorgon. It’s a reminder of Stranger Things’s greatest strength. All the elements are convincingly realised: the friendships are carefully drawn; the period nostalgia is fond and knowing; and, crucially, the horror is genuinely scary. At the end of the fourth season, that horror meant carnage in Hawkins. Now, the narrative loops forward and back, explaining Vecna’s origins and his ultimate objective. But only if the kids (now looking like adults) can’t stop him first …
Netflix, from Thursday 27 November

Gemma becomes a mum in the second series of Daddy Issues. Plus, the final episode of Empire With David Olusoga. Here’s what to watch this evening

9.35pm, BBC One
Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey’s sweet father-and-daughter comedy returns – and they’re now joined by baby Sadie. Gemma (Wood) is grappling with motherhood and daydreaming about dating again, while dealing with her formerly estranged mother Davina (Jill Halfpenny) moving in. Eager to be a grandfather, Malcolm (Morrissey) goes to extremes to help her get rid of his ex. Hollie Richardson

(Mass Appeal)
The first release since the death of their founding member dwells on the afterlife, yet doesn’t forsake their perpetually sunny sound

Cabin in the Sky, the tenth album by De La Soul – and first since the 2023 death of founding member Trugoy the Dove, AKA Dave Jolicoeur – is, loosely, a concept album about death and the afterlife. A spoken-word intro by actor Giancarlo Esposito primes you for something heavy, but you are instantly reminded, of course, that this is a De La Soul album: it seems practically impossible that their brand of lackadaisical, perpetually sunny plunderphonics could ever feel like a drag. The lush strings of Yuhdontstop introduce an album that’s always projected in full-saturation Technicolor: from the effervescent Natalie Cole sample on Will Be to Maseo’s jovial, avuncular ad-libs that open Cruel Summers Bring Fire Life!!, Cabin in the Sky feels warm and rich in vitamin D, a tonic for chillier months.

For the most part, the afterlife theme seems to have been tacked on, likely after Trugoy’s death; the album still features his vocals, and most of the songs on the album fit squarely in De La Soul’s already established surrealist world. (Patty Cake, a minimalist highlight, reinterprets classic schoolyard chants, a conceit that somehow hasn’t already been done on a De La Soul record.) Even so, lasting more than 70 minutes, Cabin in the Sky can feel like a slog, with the end lacking the sprightliness of the album’s first half. An exception is the title track, on which Maseo and Pos pay tribute to Trugoy and others they’ve lost. It’s pensive and world-weary, but never loses its sense of magic.

(Modern Love)
The producer’s second album is a granular dissection of cumbia rebajada, forcing the listener to focus on the strangeness of every moment in her ambient soundworld

Mexican-American producer Delia Beatriz, AKA Debit, has a talent for making historical sounds her own. Her 2022 breakthrough, The Long Count, featured woozy, ambient soundscapes made from electronically processed samples of ancient Maya flutes. On her latest record, Desaceleradas (Decelerated), Beatriz turns her attention to the 90s trend of cumbia rebajada. Slowing the Afro-Latin dance genre of cumbia to a sludgy tempo, cumbia rebajada is a dub-influenced take on a typically upbeat, party-driven sound. DJ Gabriel Dueñez popularised the style with his bootleg cassettes; two of his earliest releases now form the basis of Beatriz’s experiments.

Landing somewhere between composer William Basinski’s Disintegration Loops and DJ Screw’s chopped’n’screwed production style, Desaceleradas slows the shaker-rattling, synth syncopations of cumbia rebajada into unrecognisable ambient territory. La Ronda y el Sonidero and Vinilos Trasnacionales contain hints of the signature cumbia shuffle and twanging synth melody, but Beatriz’s added tape hiss, reverb and melodic warping transform the style into an eerie, ethereal soundworld of nightmare fairground music and yearning drones.

Barclays Center, New York City

A rescheduled date, after an accident earlier this year, sees the 77-year-old take on sparkling form, regaling fans with tales and fan favourite anthems

Stevie Nicks would like to get the matter of her possible near-death experience out of the way as soon as possible. A few months ago, the Fleetwood Mac singer and rock legend suffered an accident that forced her to postpone a string of tour dates, including this show in Brooklyn which was rescheduled from August to November. “I was airborne,” she recalls of the incident around five minutes after hitting the stage tonight. “I thought: ‘Is it over?’” A voice at the back of the arena lets out an animalistic yell. “No!!!!”

It’s a safe bet that everyone in the 17,000-capacity Barclays Center arena shares the sentiment. Tonight, a noticeably varied audience of fans has shown out for Nicks’s rescheduled date, ranging from witchcore-styled teens to longtime fans who retain a love for the 70s’ bohemian style as well as the decade’s social consciousness: the venue is sold out of veggie burgers.

(Berliner Philharmoniker)
Brahms’s Tragic Overture leaps to life while there is much interest in a careful reading of the composer’s First Symphony in this new recording from the Berlin Philharmonic with their chief conductor

The Berlin Philharmonic’s in-house label continues its mission to document chief conductor Kirill Petrenko’s considered interpretations of the classical canon. In this case, it’s Brahms’s First Symphony, captured live at the Philharmonie just two months ago, coupled with the Tragic Overture, recorded last year.

For this performance, Petrenko examined Meiningen Court Orchestra scores marked up with specific directions given by the composer himself. The results may strike some as interventionist, however there’s an organic momentum here that is hard to resist with a pronounced flexibility that, according to the excellent booklet essay, clarifies Brahms’s “furious struggle against the bar line”. Balance is impeccable, although solos seem over spotlighted at times by the recording engineers.

The crime writer on actor Frances Farmer’s life-changing story of survival, her favourite self help and discovering Agatha Christie’s alter ego

My earliest reading memory
I was six, and in the lounge in my first home in Manchester. I was sitting cross-legged on the grey carpet, in 1977, when I finished reading whichever of Enid Blyton’s brilliant Secret Seven mysteries contains the mind-blowing (genuinely, for a six-year-old) twist that “Emma Lane” turns out to be a road and not a person.

My favourite book growing up
Up to the age of 12, Blyton’s Secret Seven and Five Find-Outers mysteries; from 12 onwards, it was Agatha Christie. Growing up, I was certain that no other kind of story could ever hope to be as satisfying as the very best mystery story.

This collection of new short stories about Bertie and his valet pays homage to the genius of PG Wodehouse – just in time for Christmas

As with most of the giants of late 19th- and early 20th-century English literature, the vast majority of PG Wodehouse’s readers today are non-white. Perhaps it was brutal colonial indoctrination that ensured the modern descendants of the aspirant imperial middle classes from Barbados to Burma, with their tea caddies, gin-stuffed drinks cabinets and yellowing Penguin paperbacks, still devour Maugham, Shaw and Kipling. Perhaps they just have good taste.

Wodehouse’s detractors are many – Stephen Sondheim (“archness … tweeness … flimsiness”), Winston Churchill (“He can live secluded in some place or go to hell as soon as there is a vacant passage”), the Inland Revenue – but for millions around the world he remains the greatest comic writer Britain has ever produced. And he clearly still sells here, as this collection of a dozen new officially sanctioned stories by writers, comedians and celebrity admirers, out in time to be a stocking filler, attests.

Award-winning author whose novels, including her debut, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, united comic skills with serious themes

Marina Lewycka, who has died aged 79 from a degenerative brain condition, appeared to achieve a kind of fairy-tale transformation when, in her late 50s, her comic debut novel became a million-copy bestseller.

However, behind the literary stardust that settled on the British Ukrainian novelist after A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian lay not just “a long career as an unpublished author”. That book grew from intimate involvement with the sorrow and pity of war-torn Europe: a “measureless ocean of tears and blood”.

The author of Palestine turns his attention to the legacies of Indian partition in this brilliant portrait of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots

Joe Sacco is one of a very small number of graphic novelists who have smashed through into the mainstream. His masterwork is Palestine, a collected volume of single-issue comic books he created in the 1990s, documenting the violence in Gaza. His technique is to embed as a journalist in a war zone and interview people on the street, telling their stories with pictures. Lessons on global politics emerge from ultra-local conflict and depictions of day-to-day life.

Palestine propelled Sacco to fame, drawing comparisons with Maus, Art Spiegelman’s two-volume saga about Polish Jews during the Holocaust with Nazis portrayed as cats, and Jews as mice. These works are sold prominently in bookshops, not in musty basements packed with racks of polyethylene-sheathed superhero comics. Alongside a couple of others, Maus and Palestine signalled that graphic novels, as they became known, could be serious works of fiction, nonfiction and journalism. Palestine itself is as depressingly relevant today as it was in the 1990s. In December 2023, it was reprinted for the first time in a decade, after selling out following the 7 October attacks.

The use of AI in the surprise game-of-the-year contender has sparked a heated cultural and ethical debate, and raised existential questions for artists, writers and voice actors

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Arc Raiders is, by all accounts, a late game-of-the-year contender. Dropped into a multiplayer world overrun with hostile drones and military robots, every human player is at the mercy of the machines – and each other. Can you trust the other raider you’ve spotted on your way back to humanity’s safe haven underground, or will they shoot you and take everything you’ve just scavenged? Perhaps surprisingly, humanity is (mostly) choosing to band together, according to most people I’ve talked to about this game.

In a review for Gamespot, Mark Delaney paints a beguiling picture of Arc Raiders’s potential for generating war stories, and highlights its surprisingly hopeful tone as the thing that elevates it above similar multiplayer extraction shooters: “We can all kill each other in Arc Raiders. The fact that most of us are choosing instead to lend a helping hand, if not a sign that humanity will be all right in the real world, at the very least makes for one of the best multiplayer games I’ve ever played.”

Forty years ago, the Nintendo Entertainment System dominated the markets in Japan and the US. But in Europe, a technologically superior rival was making it look like an ancient relic

There’s an old maxim that history is written by the victors, and that’s as true in video games as it is anywhere else. Nowadays you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Nintendo Entertainment System was the only console available in the mid-to-late 1980s. If you were brought up in Nintendo’s target markets of Japan and North America, this chunky contraption essentially was the only game in town – the company had Mario after all, and its vice-like hold on third-party developers created a monopoly for major titles of the era. But in Europe, where home computers ruled the era, the NES was beaten by a technologically superior rival.

The Sega Master System was originally released in Japan in the autumn of 1985 as the Sega Mark III. Based around the famed Z80 CPU (used in home computers such as the Spectrum, Amstrad and TRS-80) and a powerful Sega-designed video display processor, it boasted 8kb of RAM, a 64-colour palette and the ability to generate 32 sprites on screen at one time – making the NES (based on the older 6502 processor) look like an ancient relic.

From Demon Souls to Baby Steps, challenging games keep a certain type of player coming back for more. I wonder why we are such suckers for punishment

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Most people who really love video games have the capacity to be obsessive. Losing weeks of your life to Civilization, World of Warcraft or Football Manager is something so many of us have experienced. Sometimes, it’s the numbers-go-up dopamine hit that hooks people: playing something such as Diablo or Destiny and gradually improving your character while picking up shiny loot at perfectly timed intervals can send some people into an obsessional trance. Notoriously compulsive games such as Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, meanwhile, suck up hours with peaceful, comforting repetition of rewarding tasks.

What triggers obsession in me, though, is a challenge. If a game tells me I can’t do something, I become determined to do it, sometimes to my own detriment. Grinding repetition bores me, but challenges hijack my brain.

Guitar Hero’s controllers let anyone become a star in their own living room – and made the bands featured in the game household names again

It is 20 years since Guitar Hero was launched in North America, and with it, the tools for the everyday gamer to become a rock star. Not literally of course, but try telling that to someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.

Developed by Harmonix, published by RedOctane and inspired by Konami’s GuitarFreaks, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller with which to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff or sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine performance.

Dorfman theatre, London
David Eldridge’s two-hander depicts the difficult conversations that follow one partner’s cancer diagnosis

David Eldridge’s trilogy has travelled across the early and mid stages of coupledom to come to this finish. The play marks the end of an era in more ways than one. Programmed in Rufus Norris’s final season as the National Theatre’s director, it is also a farewell for the couple at its centre. This is grown up, bittersweet fare that brings with it a full-bodied reflection on the end that awaits us all: death.

A natural order was branded into Eldridge’s previous two plays – Beginning was about the heady spark of a first romance, Middle the sag of an established relationship. This one grapples with a more unforeseen end. Alfie (Clive Owen) is a DJ in his 50s who made his name on the acid house scene. Julie (Saskia Reeves) is a successful novelist. His terminal cancer diagnosis is announced in the opening lines and the play becomes a reflection on what happens when a lifetime of togetherness meets mortality.

★★★★★ / ★☆☆☆☆
Sadie Coles HQ and Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London
The two artists, friends, are paired in this joint show that juxtaposes Lucas’s precise and witty sculptures with Hambling’s semi-abstract dollops

Thirty-five years ago the Young British Artists crashed into Britain’s senescent art world and dumped two fried eggs and a kebab on its top table. Or at least that was the myth. Now Sarah Lucas, toughest of the YBAs, is 63, her fried eggs and kebab are art history, and she’s besties with Maggi Hambling, 80, one of the last of the old-school painters. Lucas admires Hambling not just as an artist but a woman, and in Maggi the Maggi, she has created a loving, heroic image of Hambling’s face made entirely of cigarettes. Hambling returns the compliment with Sarah at Work which, like all her paintings here, is a slapdash mess. But it’s hard to pay much attention to Hambling’s daubs when your eyes are full of balloon breasts (by which I mean boobs moulded on party balloons), shiny red bums thrust in the air, floppy phallic ears and spindly pipe cleaner legs wearing shoes Lucas must have bought in bulk from a fetish shop.

In the latest iteration of her Bunny sculptures, laughable yet tragic creatures that render the Playboy Bunny absurdly literal, Sarah Lucas creates orgiastic hilarity and aesthetic mayhem. Limbs, eyes, nipples are everywhere as these poor things pose on concrete chairs in a style you might find in an exclusive sex club, or a male fantasy of some such place. It’s the stuff of the manosphere’s wildest dreams, a lurid monument to hyped-up internet-driven porn. Yet furious feminist satire is just one dimension to Lucas’s extraordinary works.

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London
A rollercoaster accident leaves six choristers in limbo, each having to make their case for a second chance on Earth in this eccentric show

Well, this is a peculiar musical. Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell’s cult hit, which began life in a fringe theatre in Canada in 2009, has the spirit of the circus woven into its fabric. It arrives in London, quirks and all, in a wonderfully eccentric production directed by Lizzi Gee.

A story about six high-school choristers sent spiralling to their demise from a rollercoaster is hardly the most conventional ground for an all-singing, all-dancing show. But as we travel with them into a space between life and death, where they are forced to compete for a second chance on Earth, the narrative gradually slips away from its morbid trappings and celebrates life.

Royal Court theatre, Liverpool
Paul Duckworth’s sweary Scrooge has romantic history with Marley’s widow in a pun-heavy festive show

Whether it’s Paul Hilton at London’s Old Vic this winter or Marti Pellow in Glasgow next year, you’re never far from a Scrooge during the festive season. Only one of them, however, will strip down to his long johns as he sings I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred.

At Liverpool’s Royal Court they do things differently. With his brushed back mane of silvery hair, Paul Duckworth’s Scrooge is not just miserly, he is also libidinous and foul-mouthed, not to mention being a hot shot on the harmonica.

At Royal Court theatre, Liverpool, until 24 January

Its magical mountains, lakes and forests have made Slovenia a must-visit destination – but there’s so much more for travellers to discover in this country of rich contrasts

Boutique destinations offering authentic, off-the-beaten-track experiences are becoming the way to travel, as holidaymakers increasingly question the value of overtourism, nature-exploiting excursions and holiday cliches. Just over two hours away by plane, Slovenia fits the boutique bill – and then some. You’ll find gorgeous scenery, outdoor adventure and wellness, as well as vibrant cities, culture and superb gastronomy. Welcome to the green heart of Europe …

From Michelin Green Stars to a beekeeping museum – via a 60,000-year-old flute – Slovenia gives visitors the authentic, lesser-travelled experience

It is said that soul is the true spice of any dish – and Slovenian cuisine has soul writ large. This is, in part, down to the vast array of locally produced and sourced ingredients, from trout caught in the crystal, alpine waters of the Soča River, to goat’s cheese, farmed on the misty Polhov Gradec hills. This produce, created in harmony with nature, can be found in the recipes on the tables of some of the country’s best and most authentic restaurants.

One of these is Grič, located in a remote spot in the village of Šentjošt, about 40 minutes’ drive from the capital Ljubljana. There, chef Luka Košir creates dishes which are at turns wildly experimental and infused with the culinary knowhow of Japan and Scandinavia, but are wholly rooted in traditional local ingredients, and a sense of place.

At Grič, chef Luka Košir’s dishes are created from traditional local ingredients

For children hardwired to love the natural world, Slovenia’s wild wonders make it an ideal destination – and it’s quick and easy to get to from the UK

Packed with outdoor activities, from kayaking to canyoning, and swimming to wildlife watching, Slovenia is a fantastic family adventure. Safe, affordable and accessible (just over two hours by air from London), it’s a place where kids will feel genuinely welcome. There are castles, caves and beaches, medieval fairs, zip lines and adventure parks, fabulous food and organic farms, and campsites set amid breathtaking natural scenery.

It’s impossible not to fall in love with Slovenia’s great outdoors. “To grow up in Slovenia with the Julian Alps as a back yard is an enormous gift,” says local mountain guide Rok Zalokar who did just that. “And the best part is, after all these years, now with my own family … our favourite place is still here.”

Whether you’re a skier, hiker or culture buff, there’s something for everyone in this vibrant, family-friendly country – and the food is pretty epic too

What will be your way of feeling Slovenia?

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

As she launches her first children’s book, the actor answers your questions on Alan Partridge, her iconic green dress and thrilling 10-year-olds with a bullseye

Have you read or listened to the delightful chapter in Alan Partridge’s Big Beacon where he demands: “We came for Knightley, we want to see Knightley, where’s Knightley?” dcieron
No! Do I want to see it? Or is it something that will make me cringe and want to hide under the sofa? I do like Alan Partridge. He’s kind of terrifying but amazing, so now that I know I’ve been a part of Alan Partridge, I should check it out.

When you first wore the green dress in Atonement, did you realise how iconic it would be? Murdomania
I thought it was a bloody good dress. It never actually lasted. It was so fragile that, any time you touched the front, it would completely break, so they had to make a load of different fronts. By the end, I was thoroughly sick with having the dress remade on me. But it’s a beautiful dress and I had no idea that it would have the life that it did.

Lucia Braham has spent 10 years documenting women in motorcycle culture in Australia and the US. Her new exhibition in conjunction with the 2025 Head On photo festival’s Open Program is on now until 30 November at the Enmore Hotel, Enmore

An auction in New York today is almost certain to make the celebrated artist a record-breaker. But, overshadowing what could be a $60m sale are questions about works that have allegedly disappeared

This may well be Frida Kahlo’s biggest year yet. There’s the recent opening of a museum in Mexico City celebrating her life and work. There’s the Art Institute in Chicago exhibiting her work for the first time. And then, in Shenzhen, there’s the show that marked her Chinese debut. All this “Fridamania” tucks in between last year’s big screen documentary Frida and next year’s exhibitions in London and the US.

What’s more, to cap it all, a Sotheby’s auction in New York today is almost certain to make Kahlo a record-breaker. Her 1940 painting The Dream (The Bed) is forecast to fetch between $40-$60m, which would dwarf the previous record for a female artist, set in 2014 by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No 1, which sold for $44.4m.

We’ve cut through the noise to find genuinely good early Black Friday 2025 discounts on Filter-recommended products across home, kitchen and beauty

• Big savings – or big regrets? How to shop smart this Black Friday

Like Christmas Day, Black Friday has long since ceased to be a mere “day”. Yuletide now seems to start roughly when Strictly does, and Black Friday kicked off around Halloween, judging by the landfill of exclamation-marked emails weighing down my inbox.

Black Friday is a devil worth dancing with if you want to save money on products you’ve had your eye on – and it can pay to start dancing now. Some of the Filter’s favourite items are already floating around at prices clearly designed to make them sell out fast. Other deals won’t land until the big day itself on 28 November, or even until the daftly named Cyber Monday (1 December).

We’ve tasted, sniffed and inspected more than 300 presents to bring you our ultimate Christmas gift guide – from must-have Lego and smoky mezcal to Meera Sodha’s favourite knife

Don’t you just love Christmas shopping? There’s a massive thrill in finding a present you know they’ll love and won’t have thought to ask for, but the pressure is enough to drive any sane person to hibernation.

We’ve gone the extra (2,000) miles to help you find the perfect gifts: we’ve tested out the latest products to see which ones are worth the hype (and which aren’t); trawled shops in person; enlisted babies (OK, their parents), tweens and teens to test out toys and give us their must-haves; tasted the good, bad and the did-I-really-put-this-in-my-mouth; and rounded up some of the products that were tried and tested by us this year.

These old-school presents, from Polaroid cameras to poetry diaries, are the ultimate antidote to digital overload

• The best 90s Christmas gifts: 15 nostalgic picks

All I want for Christmas is … to reclaim my attention span. Granted, it’s not the sexiest-sounding new year resolution, but for those who are addicted to scrolling, it’s basically the equivalent of 75 Hard.

The daily average for watching all types of screen is now almost 7.5 hours in the UK; almost 70% of young people have said social media makes them feel worse about themselves; and since I sat down to write this, I’ve checked my phone upwards of five times. So what to do?

From activity trackers and a massage gun to fitness kit and soothing post-workout soaks, it won’t be too much of a stretch to find a present that suits

• The best Christmas gifts for 2025

What does a fitness fanatic want for Christmas (other than rock-solid abs)? Whether you’re buying for a gym bunny who loves a gruelling Hiit session or a yoga fanatic who hits the mat to unwind, we asked a selection of top trainers and fitness devotees for their gift picks.

We’ve made the job of getting them something they’ll love that little bit easier by tracking down the best gifts for the chronically active. From kit that makes you want to workout to tools that help tired muscles afterwards, read on for all the present inspiration you need.

Whether it’s a jacket to stay cosy in the cold or a clever multitool, our expert-selected gear means there’s something for everyone who loves life on their bike

• The best gifts for runners

As the proud daughter of the president of St Austell Wheelers cycle club in Cornwall, I know better than to wing it when it comes to giving gifts to a bike rider. That’s why we’ve asked so many people, from coaches to athletes, club riders to young cyclists, what they would like to receive.

Speaking of Dad, this year he has moved from his road bike to the world of gravel riding (check out Fairlight Cycles) and is loving it. He treated himself to a Cornish downpour-proof jacket and a set of panniers for a cycling trip to France – and highly recommends them (see below for details). Less so the bike bell someone told him “everyone” uses in France, only to get there and find not a single cyclist he saw had one.

From a trophy home in the heart of London to a cottage-style property next to Windsor Castle and within the Royal Mews

The author has been explaining Sichuan cuisine to westerners for decades. But ‘Fu Xia’, as she’s known, has had a profound effect on food lovers in China, too

Every autumn in the mid-00s, when I lived in China, my friend Scarlett Li would invite me to Shanghai to eat hairy crab. Named for the spiky fur on their legs and claws, the crabs are said to have the best flavour during the ninth month of the lunar calendar. They’re steamed and served whole, with a dip of rice vinegar spiked with ginger. The most prized specimens come from Yangcheng Lake near Suzhou, which is not far from Scarlett’s home town of Wuxi. She had moved to Hong Kong as a child, attended high school and college in Australia, and returned to China to pursue a career as an entrepreneur. Despite her years abroad, she remained Chinese through and through – and eating hairy crab with her, I became Chinese, too.

Beginning in the Tang dynasty in the seventh century, crabs were harvested from the lakes and estuaries of the Yangtze delta and sent as tribute to the imperial court. Twelfth-century Hangzhou had specialised crab markets and dedicated crab restaurants. “I have lusted after crabs all my life,” wrote the 17th-century playwright Li Yu. “From the first day of the crab season until the last day they are sold, I … do not let a single evening pass without eating them …. Dear crab, dear crab, you and I, are we to be lifelong companions?”

The temperature has truly dropped, so get a pot of something warming and delicious going on the stove. Plus: Amy Poon’s perfect post-pub fare

• Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, Feast

At the risk of sounding like a British cliche, can we take a moment to discuss the change in the weather? This week’s sudden drop in temperature has our house excited for potential snow (the children are giddy), with everything suddenly feeling a lot more wintry. New coats are on the hooks, thermals are being dug out and a casserole dish filled with some sort of soup, stew or stock seems to be permanently ticking away on the hob. These range from quick, warming weeknight dinners to leisurely, slow-cooked weekend meals.

Whatever the time of year, I always have speedy packets of wontons and gyozas in the freezer, and cook them depending on how I feel (fried and steamed versus boiled and soupy). At the moment, I am craving warmth and nourishment, and Meera Sodha’s quickish vegan wonton soup hits all the right spots; an added bonus is that it is a soup my children can get on board with, too. I rely on my brothy braised chicory and beans (pictured top) to get me through working-from-home lunches, when I don’t have much time, as well as Rukmini Iyer’s spiced black bean and tomato soup, which is equally speedy and comforting.

Move over, turkey! It’s time for cranberries to take Thanksgiving centre stage in this moreish upside-down cake

Bright, tart cranberries are one of the most vivid flavours of the Thanksgiving table, but they often play a supporting role to turkey and stuffing. Here, however, they take centre stage in a sparkling upside-down cake, and their ruby tones gleam over a tender, orange-scented crumb. The batter is enriched with soured cream, ensuring every bite is a balance of sweet, sharp and soft.

A once-niche wine event has morphed into a sprawling get-together, powering bars, salons and the local economy

There was snow on the hills a few miles away and a north-westerly wind was cutting through the city.

But a bit of chilly weather didn’t stop thousands of revellers, dressed in party gowns and sharp suits, hitting the streets of Swansea to celebrate Beaujolais Nouveau Day.

The perennial question of what to serve those who like the taste of cocktails and spirits, but who don’t drink alcohol, is actually getting easier to answer year on year

It’s time to start thinking about the C word. You might well already have plans to stock up for house guests who are drinking, but what about those who aren’t? It’s a good opportunity to think about how we might jazz up our non-alcoholic offering for friends and family who are trying to drink less, or not drinking booze at all. Sometimes, your friend will just want a Fanta, but I don’t like being the one to offer it to them. We can do better than that.

There are really excellent non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers out there, as well as an ever-expanding offering of zero-alcohol wines (or, even, sessionable wines at around 6% ABV). But what of those who like, or used to like, a cocktail? Those who enjoy the heady, medicinal kick of a spirit, but don’t want any of the booze?

They both liked the Greens’ Zack Polanski and disliked the tech oligarchs. But could they find common cause over the power of the unions?

Andrew, 70, near Nottingham

Occupation Retired acupuncturist and herbalist

Maya worried about entering into an open relationship with Ollie, but being honest with each other has deepened their relationship

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

If I know that Ollie’s on a date, I find it difficult sitting around, not knowing what to do with myself

I was sleep deprived and completely overwhelmed when she stepped in and took charge

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

As a twin mum the work is constant. It is double the love and double the laughs, but also double the illness. Of course, my twins would never get sick at the same time. As one recovered, the other would start showing symptoms.

One day, when my girls were three, one had a vomiting bug. She hadn’t thrown up for 24 hours so I took my chance to do a quick run to the chemist to stock up on supplies. My husband worked away during the week, so I had to manage on my own. I was exhausted, carrying the sick kid in my arms, while walking the healthy one along next to me as quickly as I could.

A face-to-face conversation telling her how her behaviour affects you would give you peace, even if she ignores you

I have been friends with a woman for more than 20 years, who has overcome many challenges, which I admire. However, she’s constantly blindsided by people. Her husband left her, and it was a huge shock. A lot of her friends disappeared at that point as they were only interested in her husband. This surprised her. She made more effort to be my friend, and must have realised more clearly what friendship was.

Over the years since, quite a few of her friends have disappeared and she isn’t sure why. Her last employer turned on her, even though she was an excellent employee, and she left without knowing what had changed.

We want to hear people’s experiences with the rise of ‘warm spaces’ in the UK

Bitter Arctic air has swept across the UK this month, causing winter to arrive early for millions of people, with temperatures in some places plunging below zero.

On 1 October the energy price cap rose 2% to £1,755 for a typical annual dual-fuel bill in Great Britain. That was on top of existing debt to energy suppliers of £4.4bn in June, according to Ofgem – which should “ring alarm bells” for lawmakers, said a coordinator at the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.

From turning down thermostats to make savings to installing reflectors to push warmth back into your home

“When it comes to staying warm and saving energy, small changes can make a big difference,” says Sarah Pennells, a consumer finance specialist at the investment company Royal London.

The offensive listing seemed more than a mistake – it was a failure of corporate responsibility, says reader

I found a baby outfit (sizes from newborn to five years) on Amazon bearing the phrase “Santa’s favourite ho”.

This isn’t just a tasteless mistake – it’s a failure of corporate responsibility and consumer protection. A corporation this large should have systems that prevent sexualised or exploitative language being associated with items for children.

A new generation of younger workers are being derided as delusional and unreliable, just as millennials were

Gen Z is undisciplined, apparently; entitled, some critics claim; and purportedly hates work. One viral column in the Wall Street Journal went so far as to suggest this entire generation was potentially “unemployable”.

As younger employees establishing themselves at work continue to face relentless criticism from the higher rungs of corporate America, those old enough to remember the arrival of the last generation could be forgiven for experiencing a sense of deja vu.

It can cause physiological and emotional problems, but none of us can avoid it entirely. Here are some of the best ways to react when stress hormones start coursing through your body ...

Most people contend with stress in some element of their lives. What can you do when you are overwhelmed by it and your coping mechanisms no longer seem to work? Here, psychotherapists share their techniques for managing in the moment, seeking help, and minimising everyday stress.

Since I was a teenager I had struggled in winter, experiencing excessive tiredness and low mood. A specific instruction lifted the gloom

I’m pretty sure I must be half human, half plant – how else to explain why I need the light to thrive? During the brighter seasons I feel fine, but when winter comes and the light begins to fade, I start drooping.

I have struggled with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) since I was a teenager. The symptoms of Sad are similar to regular depression, with low moods and lethargy, and can be equally debilitating. Over the years I’ve experienced the full Sad spectrum, from moments of excessive tiredness and carb cravings (yes, those are official Sad symptoms), to a low point of breaking down crying on the kitchen floor after school because it was so cold, dark and bleak.

More and more people are turning to egg freezing to increase their chances of becoming a parent. Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering it – from the hidden costs to the chances of success

When I first told my mother I was freezing my eggs, she asked: “So my grandchildren are going to be stored next to some Häagen-Dazs?” (Very funny, Mum.) I’m one of an increasing number of women in the UK who have chosen to put their eggs on ice in order to preserve their fertility, although this does – as discussed later – have clear limitations.

According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the UK’s regulator for the fertility industry, there was a 170% increase in the number of egg freezing cycles between 2019 and 2023. The technology has been around since the 80s, but became more accessible in the 00s with vitrification, a flash-freezing technique. Now, celebrities such as Florence Pugh and Michaela Coel openly discuss their experiences of it, and companies such as Meta, Spotify and Goldman Sachs subsidise the procedure for employees.

There are modest benefits to exercising on an empty stomach, but it’s more important to burn more energy than you’re consuming

‘There’s an element of truth to that,” says Javier Gonzalez, a professor of nutrition and metabolism at the University of Bath. “When we exercise, we’re always burning a mix of fuels – mainly carbohydrates and fat. If you’ve fasted overnight, you’ll generally burn a bit more fat and less carbohydrate than if you’d eaten breakfast, especially one high in carbs.” But that doesn’t mean fasted workouts are better for weight loss.

“We can only store a small amount of carbohydrate as glycogen in our muscles and liver. Any extra energy – from carbs, fat or protein – eventually gets stored as body fat. So to lose fat, you need to be in an energy deficit: burning more energy than you consume. If you’re not, it doesn’t matter whether you’re fasted or fed – your body balances things out over time,” says Gonzalez.

The lumberjack shirt is this season’s unlikely street-style hero – pair it with unexpected textures like leather, velvet or faux fur

If you’re an urban creature like me, you can go country-coded while staying aware you’re essentially playacting. The trick is not going OTT

Once a decade or so, the urban-centric fashion world discovers this delightful concept called The Countryside. With the vanishingly scant levels of self-awareness that are fashion’s default setting, it then proceeds to immediately and loudly tell the world about it. There are so many trees! Don’t you just love trees? Especially at this time of year when the leaves are lovely tasteful colours, great for selfies, very flattering to the complexion. The pubs are absolutely charming. Sometimes they even have sourdough.

Here we go again. It began with hiking boots, a couple of years ago. Last winter, the barn jacket was suddenly, inexplicably everywhere, and this season is wall-to-wall Fair Isle jumpers. Dressing like you are on a cosy mini-break is to autumn what dressing for a festival field is to summer: a version of countryside dressing conceived by someone who leaves the city for no more than 48 hours at a time. It is possibly not even a million miles from cultural appropriation. And at this point I need to hold my hands up and say: I’m as bad as any of them. I love the countryside but I, in my cold hard heart, am an urban creature, really.

It’s been a bumper year but these are my top picks, including my most used lipstick and an eyeshadow palette that has finally stolen my heart

This has been an excellent year for new makeup, starting with Givenchy’s comeback. Having infuriated the beauty community by (badly) reformulating its classic loose powder, it won back detractors with the exceptionally good Prisme Libre Pressed Powder, which blurs, smoothes and near-perfects a face of makeup, and now lives full time in my handbag. This was followed by a Bronzer Powder version, also £45, which succeeded in moving me away from creams to achieve a filtered, sun-kissed finish. Full marks with distinction for both.

I won’t dwell on Nars The Multiple (£33), because I so recently have, but the reboot of this classic cheek, eye and lip cream improved on the legend with nuanced, muted shades and a soft, lasting, flattering finish.

They can be garish and ostentatious, or a sign you are softer than you might first appear. From the catwalk to the high street to the big screen to the rugby pitch, you just can’t miss them right now

Wuthering Heights is a story about pain, revenge and the Yorkshire moors as a metaphor for bad life choices. But if Emerald Fennell’s forthcoming adaptation is anything to go by, it’s also about bows.

In the two-minute trailer for the film, Cathy wears red bows and black bows, navy bows and pink bows. There are bows around garden pots, and bows around “baddy” Edgar Linton’s throat. Some bows flutter in the fell wind, others are unlaced at speed. In one memorable shot straight from the Jilly Cooper precoital playbook, a pretty white bow is cut from Cathy’s bodice using a labourer’s knife, a moment of unforgivable hamminess were it not incredibly hot. Never mind that Emily Brontë rarely mentions bows in the book; that one is an entire plot device.

Where better to source what you need for the season than the places with a reputation for making it? From fizz and food to fine art, here’s our festive shopping guide

Stock up on festive fizz with a trip to the heart of Kent’s flourishing wine region. Start the tastings at Simpsons’ wine estate, 10 minutes’ drive from Canterbury, then head to Domaine Evremond, Taittinger’s UK vineyard, where its first release, Classic Cuvée Edition I, is available at the Cellar Door shop. Nearby, the medieval village of Chilham makes an ideal stop for lunch at the Woolpack Inn. Back in Canterbury, Corkk is a specialist English wine shop with more than 100 labels to try, and cheese and charcuterie platters to nibble on while you decide what to buy. Stay at the Millers Arms, in the heart of town, with B&B doubles from £93.50.

With a new exhibition of his work at the National Gallery in London, a visit to the artist’s home town reveals the landscapes and industry that inspired him

The river rushes white around each of the large, flattish rocks as I tread tentatively over the stepping stones that Dovedale is famous for. This limestone valley on the border between Derbyshire and Staffordshire is a popular spot for day trips and hiking. Thankfully, it’s quiet on this brisk November morning, and I’m able to soak in the scene: the River Dove flowing fast, the autumn trees turning russet and gold, the green fold of hills rising around me.

On days like this, it’s clear why Dovedale has inspired creatives. One of those was the 18th-century artist Joseph Wright of Derby, whose work is being celebrated in a new exhibition at the National Gallery.

The cosy cabins, bike rides and serenity of De Alde Feanen national park make it the perfect place to switch off and unwind in winter

If there are times when the sights, smells and sounds of a new destination are best downed in a single, heady, flaming sambuca of a weekend, there are others when a more slow-drip pace is called for. Such is the case with De Alde Feanen, in Friesland. One of the most peaceful national parks in the Netherlands, this 4,000-hectare wetland slows down naturally after the summer season. Its waterways shrug off their summer flocks of kayakers, paddleboarders, boat trippers and terrace diners. Museums and galleries close. The local tourist office winds down. Even the park’s population of nesting storks fly south.

A 20-minute drive south-east of Leeuwarden, in the country’s north-east, the lakes, ponds, ditches and canals of “The Old Fens” are the remains of the peat-cutting that began there in the middle ages. Now awash with reeds, rushes and sedges, its watery habitats are richly biodiverse, home to more than 100 bird species as well as otters, pine martens, roe deer and dragonflies. Hay meadows and wetland forest add marsh thistle, reed orchids, alders and willows to the list. Ribboned with well-marked hiking and cycling trails, the proximity to nature draws spring and summer tourists but treasures can be found there in autumn and winter too; among them thousands of ducks and geese, and some of the starriest skies in the Netherlands.

Crooked buildings, welcoming inns, ancient woodlands … it’s easy to see why the location scouts chose this idyllic corner of England

The door creaks as I push it back and move forward into the gloom. The ceiling is vaulted and dark, but light falls in shafts of gold from the upper windows, revealing ancient stone carvings and tombs. It’s the right atmosphere for a ghost-hunt. I take a few steps and the door clicks, making me jump. Must be the wind.

Exploring old English churches is always a pleasure. There is no one to disturb you, and in the dim quiet will be a historical jaw-dropper: a centuries-old face carved in oak, a grisly tomb, an inscription to the dead hero of a forgotten battle. Each site is a mini detective puzzle, waiting to be unravelled, often with a helpful booklet available near the door. The spirits of those who have shuffled off this mortal coil hang in the dust motes, but here, in Weobley, Herefordshire, I am looking for someone specific.

There are 27% fewer art teachers in England today than there were in 2011, and the proportion of students taking arts subjects has plummeted. Here’s what it’s like to work in a job that is essential and often perilously undervalued

When 64-year-old Sue Cabourn began her career in the late 90s, the next generation of artists including Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Gillian Wearing were dominating the cultural agenda. All of them were state-educated but, had they attended school now, things might have panned out differently.

There has been an exodus of art teachers (a 27% drop in the number working in English state-secondary schools from 2011 to 2024), lower uptake (48% fewer students have taken on arts subjects at GCSE since 2010), and a reformed system that critics say has stifled creativity and prioritised Stem (science and technology) subjects over arts and humanities.

The environmental costs of flying are much higher, and the government subsidises rail travel, so what explains the baffling price difference when travelling domestically?

Years ago, airline travel was the preserve of the wealthy, and this may be why it can still come as a surprise when getting on a plane looks like the money-saving choice compared with taking the train.

When the personal finance comparison site Finder did some research this summer, it found flying within the UK was the cheapest option more often than taking the train. It then asked people what they thought of its findings. Louise Bastock, a money expert at the website, says respondents all said “trains should be cheaper as it is public transport and more accessible”, with some saying “it feels all wrong” when plane travel cost less.

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

Last week in the comments, someone dared raise the ancient philosophical conundrum: when we say “the first line of a play”, do we mean the first words spoken by a character, or do the stage directions count? The Thursday quiz condemns such quibbling, hair splitting and dramaturgical pedantry – unless of course it’s the quiz making a fuss. Still, the show must go on regardless, so limber up for another 15 questions of topical nonsense and dubious – though entirely correct – general knowledge. Let us know how you get on in the comments. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 224

Alan, 87, has devoted his life to trying to defy death, and has promised his wife, Sylvia, that they will be cryogenically preserved upon death to be reunited in the future. However, when Sylvia dies all too soon, Alan unexpectedly falls in love with another woman and is forced to reconsider his future plans. An extraordinary love story, told with humour and tenderness about how we deal with loss, our own mortality and the prospect of eternal life.

Scientists discover thousands of sea creatures have made their homes amid the detritus of abandoned second world war munitions off the coast of Germany

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, thousands of munitions have become matted together over the years. They form a rusting carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

At a youth detention centre in north-east England, the paedophile Neville Husband raped and assaulted countless boys. Why was his reign of terror allowed to go on – and why hasn’t there been a public inquiry?

When I met Kevin Young in 2012 he was in his early 50s, handsome, charismatic, smart – and utterly broken. The moment he started talking about Medomsley detention centre he was in tears.

Young was born in Newcastle, in 1959. At two, he was taken into care, and his parents were convicted of wilful neglect. At eight, at a school in Devon, he was sexually abused by the gardener. At 14, at St Camillus, a Catholic residential school in Yorkshire, he was sexually assaulted by the headteacher, James Bernard Littlewood. But none of this compared with his experience at Medomsley, a youth detention centre in north-east England.

The clip of the US president on Air Force One last Friday has taken off without much help from the media itself

It’s one outrage in days full of outrageous material.

“Quiet, piggy,” Donald Trump told a female reporter in a press gaggle, pointing his finger at her angrily.

We’d like to hear about your favourite recipes that have passed down through generations

Recipes carry stories, and often when they have been passed down from generation to generation, these tales have a chapter added to them each time they are made. Family members concoct elaborate treats and seasoning mixes, which in some cases travel across oceans to end up on our dinner tables.

We would like to hear about the recipes that have stood the test of time for you, and never fail to impress. Who first made it for you? Did you stick to the recipe that was passed down or have you improvised? What are the stories you associate with your favourite family recipe?

As Line of duty and Doctor Foster are both returning for new series, we would like to hear what shows you’d like to see revived next

As Line of duty and Doctor Foster are both returning for new series, we would like to hear what shows you’d like to see return next. What programmes people would love to be revived, and why?

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We’d like to hear all about your Secret Santa disasters

It’s that time of year again… Whether it’s with family, colleagues or friends, many of us will be asked to take part in a Secret Santa as the festive period approaches. You know the drill: a fixed budget, a random name draw, and a high risk of ending up with something a bit naff. But hey, that’s Christmas, right?

Maybe you’ve been lucky, and have done well out of Secret Santas over the years. But we’re looking for stories of when it’s gone really, really wrong. Have you received a gift that had clearly been bought that morning from the office’s nearest corner shop? Or have you given a gift that was intended as a joke, but which didn’t land with the recipient? We want to hear from you!

Escaped wallabies in Britain appears to be a widespread phenomenon. We would like to hear about any sightings

Sightings of escaped wallabies in Britain are increasing, and don’t appear to be limited to a particular region.

The most recent verified data indicates clusters in the Chiltern Hills, Cornwall and Wiltshire. There have also been reports from Cumbria, Yorkshire, Northumberland, Lancashire, north Wales, Kent, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, the Thames Valley, the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man.

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