A new start after 60: my father died when I was a child – and I followed him to Antarctica

Amanda Barry’s dad had always wanted to return to the continent, where he worked in 1948, but died before he had the chance. She fulfilled his ambition, and felt closer to him than ever

Amanda Barry was rummaging for something in her mother’s loft when she came across her father’s trunk. Delving beneath the old blankets, she uncovered a trove of photographs, letters and journals that would set her on his trail, all the way to the Antarctic.

Barry’s father, George, had died suddenly after a heart attack when she was nine. Her mother had kept alive the sense of him; his pipes and cigarettes were still in a drawer of the sideboard. Like her four older siblings, Barry owned a photograph, taken at Port Lockroy in Antarctica, where in 1948 he was base leader. “He always wanted to go back,” she says. “I remember thinking, ‘Well, Dad, I’m going to go. For you and for me.’”

Published: April 20, 2026, 6:00 am

Trump’s presidency is what evil looks like: absurd, frightening, cruel | Nesrine Malik

Commentators have said that the US president’s clownishness and lack of ideology somehow make him less dangerous. They’re wrong

Over the past few weeks, a random kaleidoscope of images has been flashing through my head. Some are characters from movies not seen since childhood. Others are snippets from literature or iconic art. What joins them all is an exaggerated, almost kitschy evil.

These images seem to be standing in for the real carnage my brain is trying to process: the bodies pulled from the rubble in Gaza, a school full of young pupils blown apart in Iran. The more than 1 million people in southern Lebanon expelled en masse from their homes. (Alex in the film of A Clockwork Orange appears, eyes clamped open as liquid is dripped into them, unable to blink away what is scorching his vision.)

Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist

Published: April 20, 2026, 5:00 am

Handcuffs, dog bites and avian warfare: how personal grudges sullied Alfred Hitchcock’s reputation

The director liked to create tension on-set to draw out stronger performances. But have stories about his psychological tricks been inflated in the retelling?

In 1978, shortly after publishing The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, biographer Donald Spoto met the director one last time. At one point, Hitchcock appeared to fall asleep mid-conversation, signalling the end of his involvement with the author. On another occasion, Spoto recalled being bitten by Hitchcock’s West Highland terrier, Sarah, leaving a bruise on his hand. When Hitchcock admonished the dog, Spoto noted it was the first time in four years the director had addressed him by name.

These accounts have surfaced in an unearthed transcript of a previously forgotten interview between Spoto and the actor Tippi Hedren in 1980, six months after Hitchcock’s death. But they also suggest something else: an uneasy relationship from the outset, shaped by misreading, distrust and a degree of personal grievance.

Published: April 20, 2026, 4:06 am

‘We wasted a lot of lives’: CIA spymaster’s caution over past Iran intervention resurfaces from beyond the grave

A documentary about Peter Sichel – the ‘Jewish James Bond’ who died in 2025 – includes striking mea culpas about the cost and efficacy of US involvement in the Middle East

In New York social circles, he was known as the “Jewish James Bond”: a refugee from Nazi Germany whose gratitude to his American hosts was such that he volunteered to join the US army and became the CIA’s first station chief in Berlin as a mere twentysomething, filing early warnings about Soviet activity that have been credited with ringing in the cold war.

Like 007, Peter Sichel also appreciated a fine tipple, and after leaving the US foreign intelligence service it was he who briefly turned a sweet German white, Blue Nun, into one of the best-selling wines in the world.

Published: April 20, 2026, 9:19 am

From Manifesto to Mr Loverman: Bernardine Evaristo’s best books – ranked!

From the secret gay life of a British-Caribbean man to that controversial shared Booker win, the author has blazed a trail across the literary landscape. Here are seven of her top titles

Even by Evaristo’s experimental standards, this book is a highly ambitious mash-up of forms and stories. It takes a mismatched couple, strait-laced Stanley and ebullient Jessie, on a road trip across Europe where they meet the ghosts of black historical figures, from Alexander Pushkin to Mary Seacole. We learn a lot along the way, but the real engine of the story is Stanley and Jessie’s combative relationship. Told in a blend of prose, poetry, scripts, memos, legal documents, budget spreadsheets … and road signs, Soul Tourists ultimately wobbles under the weight of both its own good intentions and its skittish variety, but it has charm and energy to burn.

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:00 am

Is it true that … only overweight people are at risk of high cholesterol?

Size does matter – as does diet – but your genes are the main driver of your cholesterol levels

Cholesterol, a fatty substance mostly made by the liver and used by the body to build cells and produce hormones, has become a heart-health bogeyman. There are several types, but high levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Often labelled “bad” cholesterol, LDL builds up over time on artery walls, narrowing them and restricting blood flow.

High LDL cholesterol is not confined to people who are overweight. “Genetics are the main driver of higher LDL cholesterol levels,” says Naveed Sattar, professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow. “Diets have smaller effects and it’s not necessarily the total calories that count; it’s the amount of saturated fat.” (Found in cakes, biscuits, chocolate and many ultra-processed foods, saturated fat can raise LDL levels.) All of this means someone relatively lean can still have high cholesterol, either because of their genetic profile or dietary pattern.

Published: April 20, 2026, 7:00 am

Middle East crisis live: ceasefire under pressure as Iran says it has no plans for talks after US seizes ship

Donald Trump said on Sunday that US marines had taken custody of a vessel that tried to get past the American blockade on Iranian ports

• Tehran has ‘no plans to participate’ in new talks, state media reports, as it accuses US of violating ceasefire

The US has just released some more footage of the encounter with the Iranian flagged vessel, the M/V Touska.

In a post on X, US Central Command said US Marines had departed the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli by helicopter and rappelled onto the Iranian-flagged vessel.

Published: April 20, 2026, 10:55 am

Japan tsunami alert issued following powerful earthquake off northern coast – follow latest

People in affected areas urged to evacuate as quake registering 7.5 magnitude occurred off the coast of Sanriku

Australian officials in Japan are urgently following up on the tsunami warning off the northeastern coast of the island of Honshu.

The Australian government said:

We stand ready to provide consular assistance.

Australians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 (if calling from overseas).

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:24 am

Oil prices rise and markets fall after US seizure of ship hits Iran peace deal hopes

FTSE 100 slides and UK gas prices up amid fears strait of Hormuz will be closed for extended period

• Middle East crisis – live updates

• Business live – latest updates

Oil prices have risen sharply and European stock markets have fallen, after the US seizure of an Iranian vessel hit hopes for a peace deal.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose by as much as 5% on Monday to $95.50 (£70.75) a barrel.

Published: April 20, 2026, 10:18 am

Mass shooting rampage in Louisiana leaves eight children dead and others wounded

Shreveport police say suspect Shamar Elkins, who was fatally shot, killed seven of his children and injured their mother in a ‘domestic violence incident’

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At least eight children were killed, and two adults were wounded in a mass shooting in the Louisiana city of Shreveport, in what police called a “domestic violence incident”.

Chris Bordelon, the Shreveport police department spokesperson, said on Sunday evening that the suspect, Shamar Elkins, killed seven of his own children and wounded their mother, as well as killing another child.

Published: April 19, 2026, 11:13 pm

Elaine Luria, January 6 panel member seeking political comeback, says ‘the wind is on our back’ as Democrats try to flip House

Luria, who lost her seat to a Republican after standing up to Trump, has secured key endorsements in Virginia race

Elaine Luria – once a member of the congressional committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the US Capitol – says she is confident that “the wind is on our back” as she seeks a House comeback and her fellow Democrats aim to retake the chamber’s majority in the fall’s midterm elections.

In a recent interview with the Guardian, the military veteran attributed that confidence to “grave concern” in and beyond her Virginia district with how Donald Trump’s second presidential administration began with implementing brutal cuts to the federal government. Among a host of other decisions, she noted that Trump went on to start war in Iran, which has sent gasoline prices soaring – with the cost of other goods or services expected to increase too.

Published: April 20, 2026, 10:00 am

Trump DoJ’s mixed messages bode ill for Epstein victims, experts fear

Non-appearance of Pam Bondi and remarks from Todd Blanche suggest full accounting may never be revealed

In the days since Pam Bondi’s exit from Donald Trump’s justice department, Jeffrey Epstein survivors and transparency advocates have been confronted by mixed messaging, prompting questions about whether a full accounting of his crimes would ever be revealed.

Legal veterans told the Guardian that authorities’ decisions – such as Bondi’s failure to appear for a congressional subpoena about her handling of Epstein investigative files – portend poorly for accountability. Moreover, her replacement’s comments about the status of Epstein investigations has been perceived by some as an effort to acknowledge prior missteps without presenting definitive solutions.

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:00 am

Myanmar military regime widens sanitary towel ban, claiming rebels use them for first aid

Activists say clamp down on period products to target insurgents is gender-based violence and violates rights

Myanmar’s military regime is expanding its ban on the distribution of period products, claiming they are being used to treat wounded resistance fighters, according to local activists.

The south-east Asian country has been locked in civil war since 2021, when the military usurped the democratic government and launched a violent crackdown on dissidents. Artillery fire, the burning of townships and arbitrary arrests have become common in the years since then.

Published: April 20, 2026, 9:00 am

Canada’s residential school abuse survivors face fresh battle to stop testimony being destroyed

First Nation communities warn that government must act as accounts face destruction, risking central part of Canada’s reckoning with its colonial past

• ‘Cultural genocide’: the shameful history of Canada’s residential schools – mapped

Cheryle Dreaver first heard her mother discus what she had endured as a child in a Winnipeg courtroom in 2008.

Ivy Dreaver was one of tens of thousands of Indigenous people in Canada invited by the federal government to testify about their experiences of sexual, physical and mental abuse in the country’s residential school system.

“At that time … I didn’t know those things had happened to her until that very day,” said Dreaver. “I was in shock … there was a lot of abuse.”

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:00 am

French prosecutors summon Elon Musk over alleged child abuse images on X

Owner of X summoned along with former CEO Linda Yaccarino over investigation by cybercrime unit

• Business live – latest updates

• Europe live – latest updates

Elon Musk has been summoned to Paris, where investigators are looking into allegations of misconduct related to the social media platform X, including the spread of child sexual abuse material and deepfake content.

The world’s richest man and Linda Yaccarino – the former chief executive of X – were on Monday summoned for “voluntary interviews”, while other employees of the platform were scheduled to be heard as witnesses throughout this week, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

Published: April 20, 2026, 8:49 am

Another victim of Cesar Chavez breaks their silence: ​​‘My body remembers’

Jennifer Andrea Porras, now 53, says they were sexually abused by the union leader as a teen

A version of this story was published in Spanish in La Opinión.

When Jennifer Andrea Porras, a non-binary, Indigiqueer, Coahuiltecan artist and cultural worker from the San Francisco Bay Area, first found out about the New York Times investigation detailing allegations by multiple women of sexual abuse by civil rights icon Cesar Chavez, they were not surprised. The news confirmed their own experience with the co-founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union.

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:00 am

‘We’re Catholic first’: Sunday mass attenders weigh in on Trump’s feud with Pope Leo

Catholics around Atlanta share mixed feelings on faith and politics as Trump engages in rhetorical war with pope

Alex Sullivan tended to his five children on the lawn after a traditional Latin mass at the Catholic church of Saint Monica in Duluth, Georgia, and contemplated his faith in the light of God and the shadow of Donald Trump.

Sullivan, a self-described conservative who once staffed a libertarian state representative at the Georgia capitol, described his faith as almost medieval.

Published: April 20, 2026, 12:23 am

Fuel eating microbes, chemicals and fire: the race to discover new ways to contain Arctic oil spills

As the rising number of vessels in the icy waters increases the risk of environmental disaster, scientists are scrambling to find potential solutions

Last winter, inside the subarctic Churchill Marine Observatory in Canada, scientists embarked on an experiment they hoped would result in a gamechanging remedy for polluted Arctic waters. They released 130 litres of diesel into an ice-covered pool filled with raw seawater pumped in from Hudson Bay and added oil-eating microbes. The technique had been used successfully during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the scientists wanted to see if they could break down oil in colder waters.

The microbes were sluggish in response and the population showed little change after the first three weeks, says Eric Collins, a microbiologist at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, who led the project. But that did not last. “When we went back eight weeks later, we saw that there was a big change,” Collins says. “One particular bacterium grew to a very high abundance in the tanks and it was clear that it was feeding on the oil.” But two months is too long to wait should an oil spill occur. Time is of the essence.

Published: April 20, 2026, 8:00 am

The emotional security secret: how to get healthier, happier and have stronger relationships

Psychiatrist Amir Levine’s first book explored different types of attachment. In his follow up, he explains how anyone can become more secure

Amir Levine has been quietly working towards a second book for 16 years. When Attached, which he co-wrote with Rachel Heller, was published in 2010, it brought the categories for how we behave in relationships – AKA attachment styles – into the public consciousness. According to attachment theory, you could be anxious (often resulting in social hypervigilance), avoidant (independent, suppressing difficult emotions), fearful-avoidant (craving closeness, but often retreating in fear) or secure. Knowing which you were and where significant others sat on this spectrum provided helpful insights for self-awareness and relationship harmony.

Since then, Levine has received countless emails from readers around the world either seeking his advice or telling him how the book changed their life. “I got an email from a woman from Iran,” he recalls. “She said that she realised she was with someone very avoidant. She was able to cut off from him and she found someone else who was secure.” Also, because she felt better equipped “to communicate her needs with this new partner, she reached an orgasm for the first time”. From all of these stories, as well as research into the neuroscience of attachment and neuroplasticity and working with therapy clients, Levine has now compiled the tools needed to help anyone become more secure.

Published: April 20, 2026, 9:00 am

The pet I’ll never forget: Benny the cat, who climbed into my shopping bag – then shared my baths

I found Benny and his brother, Buster, when they were three months old. I was besotted with them both, but it was Benny, with his quirky ways and loving nature, who really stole my heart

I suppose you could say I got Benny from the shops. In 2006, he and his brother ambushed me outside a supermarket in Bahrain. They were trying to climb into the bags of shopping I was carrying to get at the food they could smell. Immediately smitten, I took them in.

It was the start of a 16-year relationship that saw Benny and Buster accompany me to Kenya, Qatar, back to Bahrain, then finally to Manchester. I used to say they had seen more countries than most people. I was an advertising creative director and followed the work where I could get it. It was an interesting but lonely life and my new pals, who were about three months old, immediately made a difference. I was besotted with them, but it was Benny, with his endearing quirks, who really stole my heart.

Published: April 20, 2026, 10:00 am

‘It’s about finding light in the dark’: why Harold and Maude is my feelgood movie

The latest in our ongoing series of writers recommending their favourite comfort watches is a pick for 1971’s unusual romantic comedy

The best films give you something to take away. Not just a moral message, or some sort of transcendental teaching about the world. But a tangible thing you can find meaning in long after the credits have rolled, holding space in the corners of your mind like a cultural souvenir you’ve popped on the shelf.

For me, this usually takes the form of a song or an artist. Sometimes, it’s a place or a quote. Very occasionally, it’s an outfit. Rarely does anything give me all of the above. But Harold and Maude is special, offering a goodie bag of miscellaneous feel-good delights that instantly transport me somewhere joyful.

Published: April 20, 2026, 9:00 am

Sonos Play review: a great jack-of-all-trades portable speaker for home or away

Quality wifi bookshelf speaker can go mobile with Bluetooth, long battery life and water resistance, in return to form

The Play is a new portable wifi and Bluetooth home speaker that packs the best of Sonos into a jack of all trades that is intended to be a reset point in the company’s recovery from its app debacle that lost it faith, favour and a chief executive.

It is the first truly new music speaker since Sonos launched its new app in May 2024, which junked fan-favourite features while causing stability and usage problems for new and old customers alike. The company has spent the best part of two years fixing mistakes, bringing back core features and ensuring the system actually works.

Published: April 20, 2026, 6:00 am

The hill I will die on: Put that bucket list in the bin | Rose Rouse

As I age, there are loads of things I want to do, but none are the kinds of bland, commodified ‘adventures’ that these lists imply

No, I don’t want to smoke a cigar in Havana. I don’t want to go hot-air ballooning in the Serengeti, nor skydive naked from a microlight plane in Costa Rica. I don’t have a bucket list. And I wish people would stop asking me if I do.

I’m 73 and the co-founder of a social enterprise, Advantages of Age, that challenges the media narrative around ageing. Recently I appeared on a podcast to discuss it. Of course, the host asked me what is on my bucket list. I was horrified. Strangely, for once, I didn’t offer a raft of invectives: I simply said I didn’t have one. But here’s what I really think: the bucket list has blandified adventure. And that is a sin in my book.

Rose Rouse is the editor and co-founder of Advantages of Age, a social enterprise challenging media stereotypes around ageing

Published: April 20, 2026, 9:00 am

How can you tell if your boss has a big ego? Their email habits are a definite tell | Emma Beddington

Only those in unassailable positions of power would ditch capital letters – or reply to colleagues with a thumbs up emoji

i recently learned that, in february, jack dorsey – formerly of twitter, now of block – wrote a 600-word email announcing a mass layoff (4,000 employees) all in, you guessed it, lowercase.

This was the jumping-off point for an investigation into the tech broligarchy’s “new language of power” by journalist Zak Jason for Business Insider. Jason conducted his own no-caps experiment, recklessly deploying lowercase in messages to his boss, colleagues, fellow parents and “every outreach to sources for this story – biz etiquette experts, comms gurus, & sam altman”. He agonised less and responded quicker, he concluded, but lost clarity.

Published: April 20, 2026, 10:00 am

Don’t knock small talk. It has the power to mend a world ripped apart by rage | Bidisha

All good? Busy day? Small talk is a social good with a bad reputation. We dread it, but it’s vital for human connection

Hi there, how’re you? How’s it going? You alright? All good?

As any Briton knows, none of these questions is an inquiry into your emotional state, the material conditions of your life or your opinion on anything. Respond positively – “all good so far, touch wood” is nice – then move on to the purpose of the interaction: “I’m returning an Amazon package?”

Bidisha is a broadcaster, critic and journalist for BBC, Channel 4 and Sky News

Published: April 19, 2026, 9:00 am

Are you a woman who makes life easier for everyone else? Beware – you could endanger your health | Emma Beddington

A new claim is doing the rounds online: that women who are too nice risk getting an autoimmune disease. And while aspects of this message are clearly dubious, there’s a reason it is resonating

Women, a warning from Instagram: “You really need to be a bitch or you’re going to develop an autoimmune disease. It’s that simple.” Versions of this scientifically dubious statement have caught the imagination of a corner of the internet, getting algorithmically nudged my way multiple times (a TikTok to this effect has 40,000 likes; a Threads post 26,000). Sometimes, it’s set to music; sometimes, it’s the basis for earnest discussion of cortisol and inflammation. Sometimes, it’s evangelical. One woman claims that, “Being a bitch healed my autoimmune disease,” adding: “Being the ‘love and light’ spiritual girlie is probably the reason why you feel depressed and you have IBS.” A Substack evokes the need to break the “good girl contract”, talking about those for whom “setting boundaries, getting ferocious about protecting their own bodies, minds, souls … sometimes allowed the nervous system to settle enough that the body’s natural self-healing mechanisms could kick in and heal”.

As a woman with an autoimmune condition (alopecia), this resonates on a woo-woo level: my hair fell out when I was trying and failing to reconcile incompatible demands; to make everyone happy. It’s also, I recognise, deeply silly. For a start, “women” – yes, all of us – needing to do something, or be a certain way, is a wild generalisation. It’s also definitively not “that simple”, and I would hate to upset a whole community of intellectually rigorous immunologists. I imagine them rhythmically banging their heads against their keyboards, muttering about there being no peer-reviewed cohort studies interrogating the relationship between “being the love and light spiritual girlie”, or putting too many exclamation markers and conciliatory qualifiers in emails, and autoimmune disease.

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.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:00 pm

A major US court case could help fix the ills of Citizens United | David Sirota

A Maine lawsuit has suddenly become the most significant anti-corruption battle inside America’s legal system

Slush funds of anonymous unregulated money are now the dominant institutions in American politics, converting our elections into auctions – and transforming the legislative process into a donor bidding war.

In the last election, independent expenditure groups spent more money than the total amount spent by all congressional candidates combined. One in every $5 flowing through a Super Pac came from organizations that do not disclose their donors. In all, $2bn of “independent” spending was dark money, meaning the public cannot see who is buying elections – even though politicians know exactly who they owe once they are in office.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:00 pm

The Guardian view on Japan’s cherry blossom: when spring slips out of time | Editorial

A 1,200-year dataset shows the ‘peak bloom’ is arriving earlier. Global heating is unsettling nature’s rhythms – and their cultural meaning

A picture posted on social media last April by Prof Yasuyuki Aono of a spreadsheet, with its blank row for 2026, carries a quiet poignancy. Prof Aono died before he got to fill in this year’s entry for when the cherry blossom fully bloomed in Kyoto. The academic had spent decades reconstructing dates of flowering that go back to the ninth century. His work illuminated how a botanical event long associated with the Japanese idea of mono no aware – a sadness at the passing of things – is shifting because of the climate crisis.

The “peak bloom” now occurs around two weeks earlier than in previous centuries. In the 1820s full bloom arrived in mid-April. In 2023 the full-flowering date was 25 March. An earlier blooming indicates warmer springs – and Prof Aono’s data provides a warning signal that Japan’s “sakura front” comes sooner each year.

Published: April 19, 2026, 4:25 pm

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Curtis Jones sums up Liverpool’s approach, Eddie Howe’s transfer record under scrutiny and Tammy Abraham shows his worth

For Manchester City, Gianluigi Donnarumma has always been a case of risk and reward. Perhaps only Thibaut Courtois is as fine a shot-stopper as Italy’s Euro 2020 hero, though many goalkeepers are better with the ball at their feet. Claudio Bravo, let alone Ederson, would be unlikely to dither in the fashion that alerted Kai Havertz to the possibility of pressing City’s keeper as close as possible for Arsenal’s goal. Donnarumma was the signing who bucked the Pep Guardiola doctrines, and his goalkeeping has been crucial to City’s revival but such mistakes have always been part of the giant Italian’s makeup. Paris Saint-Germain would not meet his wage demands, and opted for Lille’s Lucas Chevalier, a better ball-player as an ill-starred replacement. Donnarumma smothered a good chance for Havertz in the second half. His big mistake, seconds after Rayan Cherki’s opener, did not, after all, become the key twist in the title race. John Brewin

Match report: Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal

Match report: Everton 1-2 Liverpool

Match report: Tottenham 2-2 Brighton

Match report: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester United

Match report: Newcastle 1-2 Bournemouth

Published: April 20, 2026, 7:00 am

LeBron James is 41. And he’s somehow still carrying his team in the playoffs

The Lakers star would have been expecting to play a supporting role as he burrows into his 40s. But injuries means he has assumed a familiar role

LeBron James must be so sick of this. If he wanted to experience being the best player on an otherwise thin team, he could simply remember the Cleveland Cavaliers’ run to the NBA finals in 2007. Or the 2015 NBA finals when his best teammates, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, suffered injuries. Or the 2018 season, which convinced SNL to make a spoof of James’ support staff. “I’m 53 years old,” one of LeBron’s “teammates” says in the clip. “I have seven kids, and two of them are also on the Cavs.” It’s 2026, James is a Los Angeles Laker, his two best teammates are hurt, and one of his kids actually is on the team.

How on earth did we get here, again? James is 41. The story of his season was his labored yet successful pivot into the Lakers’ third option, behind Luka Dončić (who was having one of the best stretches of his career before tweaking his hamstring in a humiliating loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder) and Austin Reaves (who strained his oblique in the same game). Both men are in their primes. James, on the other hand, has been plagued with what some observers may call old guy injuries: he missed the start of the season due to sciatica; he’s sat out a couple games since thanks to arthritis in his left foot. So how – how – is it that Dončić and Reaves were the ones felled by injuries and James is the iron man? Aren’t the rules that athletes in their 20s get to enjoy energy and health, while those in their 40s have to retire and become mediocre pundits?

Published: April 20, 2026, 9:00 am

Floods, baskets and Billie Jean King: how the rough and tumble WBL set the stage for the WNBA

It is 45 years since the Women’s Professional Basketball League played its final game. But it laid the foundation for the stars of today

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It was the night before the 1980 Women’s Professional Basketball League draft in New York City and the Dallas Diamonds had the No 1 pick. But the team’s top brass was split. Coach Greg Williams wanted to take the 6ft 5in Danish star Inge Nissen, and the team’s GM Nancy Nichols prized Nancy Lieberman, the American point guard people called “Lady Magic”.

“We argued for days about Nissen versus Lieberman,” Nichols tells the Guardian.

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:18 am

Nico O’Reilly’s fearless quality exposes collapsing Arsenal’s title credentials | Barney Ronay

Deep lying creator is an excellent Manchester City story and confirmed why he is England’s best left-back

It’s not over, not over, not over yet. Although, let’s be honest, it kind of is over. Isn’t it, don’t you think, at the end of a day when Manchester City and Arsenal dished up the one thing nobody was expecting at the Etihad Stadium, a thrillingly open game of attacking football?

There were three images at the final whistle that seemed to capture the essence of City’s 2-1 win here, and not just in terms of the game, but the balance of energy, feeling, vibes.

Published: April 19, 2026, 8:11 pm

‘This feeling sucks’: $381m Mets, with second-highest payroll in MLB, lose 11th game in a row

• New York had 1-0 lead in ninth before losing 2-1

• Mets swept for a third series in a row

The New York Mets are finding that money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. The second-most expensive team in MLB – with a payroll of $381m – lost their 11th game in a row on Sunday as they were swept for a third straight series, this time by the Chicago Cubs.

“Eleven losses, that’s a lot, whether it’s in April or at any point in the season,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to find a way.”

Published: April 19, 2026, 9:44 pm

Raducanu withdraws from Madrid Open as illness absence nears two months

• British player has been out of action since early March

• Rybakina wins her second Porsche at Stuttgart Open

Emma Raducanu will extend her absence from the WTA Tour because of a viral illness to two months after she withdrew from the coming week’s Madrid Open.

Raducanu has not competed since a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Amanda Anisimova in the second round of the Indian Wells Open on 8 March. She briefly trained on-site at the Miami Open just over a week later before citing lingering symptoms from an earlier viral illness as the reason for her withdrawal. Raducanu had been affected by a viral illness during the Middle East swing in February, which she said had contributed to her poor performances on the court.

Published: April 19, 2026, 2:31 pm

Fitzpatrick hits ‘out of this world’ shot to defeat Scheffler in RBC Heritage playoff

• English player wins at first playoff hole with birdie

• Fitzpatrick claims second PGA Tour victory of year

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick beat the world No 1, Scottie Scheffler, in a playoff to win the RBC Heritage for the second time.

Fitzpatrick took a three-shot into the final round at Hilton Head and still held that advantage standing on the 15th tee. But playing partner Scheffler produced birdies at 15 and 16 and Fitzpatrick’s duffed chip on 18 cost him a bogey, sending him into a playoff that he looked second favourite to win.

Published: April 19, 2026, 11:05 pm

‘Last year is over’: Oklahoma City launch title defense as NBA’s parity era faces test

The league hasn’t had a repeat champion since the 2017-18 Warriors. The level-headed, consistent Thunder may be the ones to change that

The NBA has not seen a reigning champion take its title defense as far as the conference finals, let alone hoist a second consecutive Larry O’Brien trophy, since the Golden State Warriors were cut off at the ankle and calf by the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Finals. That’s seven straight seasons in which parity has ruled supreme, for better or for worse, and dynastic runs seem fated to be a thing of the past.

Not if one team in America’s heartland has anything to say about it. The Oklahoma City Thunder embark on these 2026 playoffs in search of historic greatness, trends be damned. And less than two weeks before the first game of the postseason tips off, you’d be hard pressed to find substantive evidence to believe their goal won’t be achieved.

Published: April 19, 2026, 10:00 am

Ibrahima Konaté close to agreeing new contract and extending Liverpool stay

• Defender’s current deal due to expires this summer

• ‘There is a big chance I’m here next season’

Ibrahima Konaté has said he is close to agreeing a new contract with Liverpool, having informed the club he wanted to stay during negotiations last year.

The France international’s deal expires this summer and, with talks over an extension dragging on for over 12 months, Liverpool have been at risk of losing another asset on a free transfer alongside Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson.

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:00 am

Starmer expected to lead Labour into next election, says minister, but warns there are ‘no certainties’ amid Mandelson scandal – UK politics live

Douglas Alexander defends PM ahead of Commons showdown over Mandelson scandal

• Judgment day for PM over Mandelson scandal

At his press conference Nigel Farage was asked about reports saying that Keir Starmer knew about the security concerns about Peter Mandelson that led to him failing his security vetting interview. That was a reference to the Telegraph splash, which says:

Senior Whitehall sources told The Telegraph that the UKSV [UK Security Vetting] findings largely restated security risks that had already been drawn to Sir Keir’s attention.

One senior source with knowledge of the process said: “The reality is that Starmer had already been warned about the major risks and he had waved them away.”

Sources have told The Independent that MI6 failed to clear the Labour peer largely because of concerns over his business links to China.

However, there were also worries that his past links to the disgraced financier and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein “would compromise him”.

It’s impossible for the prime minister to say the warning lights weren’t flashing.

And if you were prime minister and there were news reports last September that your ambassadorial choice had failed vetting, you would have thought perhaps he might have had some curiosity to try to find out whether this had really happened or not. I just find the whole thing totally incredible. Incredible. There is no way the prime minister couldn’t have known.

The Labour backbenchers are not yet of a mood to get rid of their prime minister, although after 7 May they just might be.

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:23 am

EU praises ‘extremely constructive’ early talks with incoming Hungarian government – Europe live

Spokesperson says discussions with Magyar’s administration have been a good start to ‘unblock funds for the benefit of the Hungarian people’

The commission also got asked about the Italian proposals for a “wild west-style bounties” that could be paid to Italian lawyers if they successfully convince their immigrant clients to return home.

Our Rome correspondent Angela Giuffrida reported on the controversial proposal over the weekend:

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:20 am

Fire destroys 1,000 ‘stilt’ homes in Malaysia’s Sabah, displacing thousands

Blaze struck a ‘water village’ that is home to some of Malaysia’s poorest residents

A huge fire destroyed about 1,000 makeshift homes, many of them built on stilts over water, and displaced thousands of people in a coastal village in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Sunday, authorities said.

The blaze broke out early on Sunday morning in a “water village” in Sandakan district in Sabah’s northeast, where some of Malaysia’s poorest residents, including indigenous and stateless communities, live in closely packed, wooden stilt houses.

Published: April 20, 2026, 1:59 am

Arrests fuel fears among Madagascar’s gen Z protesters that new regime no better than one they overthrew

Jubilation is turning to disenchantment as young activists arrested after protest calling for election date to be set

The arrest of several protesters in Madagascar has increased fears among young people that the military regime that took power last year after huge Gen Z demonstrations will be no better than the government it overthrew.

Four Gen Z activists, Herizo Andriamanantena, Miora Rakotomalala, Dina Randrianarisoa and Nomena Ratsihorimanana, were arrested on 12 April, one of their lawyers said, two days after taking part in a protest calling for an election date to be set.

Published: April 20, 2026, 4:00 am

Tornadoes and heavy winds destroy homes and roads across US midwest

No deaths reported after latest round of severe weather in the region as officials brace residents for long recovery

A trail of damaged homes and buildings dotted a wide swath of the US on Saturday after a burst of destructive winds and reported tornadoes tore off roofs, uprooted trees and rendered rural roads impassable with debris.

No deaths were reported after Friday’s storms, which barreled through the upper midwest and delivered the latest round of severe weather to batter the region. Officials braced residents for a long recovery in some rural communities.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:51 pm

Weather tracker: temperatures in Spain and Brazil well above late April norm

Seville could see 34C this week and parts of Brazil could hit high 30s, while storms forecast in southern Africa

Over the course of this week, temperatures in Spain are expected to soar well above the seasonal average. Daytime temperatures could reach about 30C in Madrid on Tuesday, 10C above the norm, while Seville may experience 34C, about 9C above its late April average. An area of low pressure situated out in the Atlantic will allow for a south-westerly flow, introducing warm air from north Africa. In addition to this heat, a notable dust plume is expected to travel northwards from the Sahara, covering the skies above Iberia and south-western France, which may lead to some particularly orange or red skies at sunrise and sunset.

In Brazil, high temperatures are forecast for the states of São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul and Santa Catarina over the next few days, eventually spreading into Minas Gerais. Here, daytime maximum temperatures are expected to reach the high 30s celsius later in the week, about 5-10C above the seasonal average.

Published: April 20, 2026, 9:20 am

Burning wood for power worse for climate than gas equivalent, report finds

Research casts doubt on plans by UK government to offer subsidies for carbon capture attached to the power source

Burning wood for power generation can be worse for the climate than burning gas, even when the resulting carbon dioxide emissions are captured and stored, new research has shown.

The findings cast doubt on plans by several governments, including the UK, to offer subsidies or other financial support for carbon capture attached to wood-burning power.

Published: April 20, 2026, 9:00 am

‘How much have we missed?’: book tunes in to overlooked world of female birdsong

Authors set out to correct under-representation of female sounds – and found some surprising revelations

When we hear the beautiful call of a bird from a high bough, we’re told it’s likely to be a male – singing for territory, or belting out tunes to woo a female. But as the annual dawn chorus reaches a crescendo this spring, a new guidebook is urging us to think again – and turn our ears to the hidden world of female birdsong.

The songs, sounds and sights of female birds have historically been overlooked in field guides and sound archives. In 2016, just 0.01% of the bird sounds in the global Xeno-Canto sound library were labelled female. Another sound archive was just 0.03% female, according to a 2018 study.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:00 pm

‘It was constant chaos’: ex-Infowars producer on life under Alex Jones

Book from Josh Owens tells of punishing work for far-right conspiracy theorist who, far from silenced, broadcasts on

Donald Trump gave the rightwing media provocateurs Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones a shoutout this week, calling them “Low IQs”, “stupid people”, and “LOSERS”.

Jones hit back, saying Trump was “committing political suicide on purpose” and had made a deal to sabotage the midterms. America, Jones said, “is now under the control of a foreign government” and encouraged followers “to fly their flags upside down, because our nation is in distress!”

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:00 pm

Iranian American woman arrested in Los Angeles for alleged arms trafficking

Federal prosecutor says woman is suspected of dealing weapons to Africa on behalf of Iranian government

A California woman was arrested at Los Angeles international airport after allegedly trafficking weapons on behalf of the Iranian government to contacts in Africa, including Sudan.

Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills was detained on Saturday night by federal agents, according to the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.

Published: April 19, 2026, 9:56 pm

Oklahoma principal who disarmed gun-wielding intruder crowned prom king

Kirk Moore, who was shot while disarming the attacker, received the honor at Pauls Valley high school on Friday

Students at an Oklahoma high school crowned their principal prom king after he charged, disarmed and was shot by an armed intruder at their campus.

Kirk Moore, the Pauls Valley high school principal, received the honor on Friday night after his students voted to honor him for having defended them.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:44 pm

Michigan gas station clerk saves teen from alleged kidnapper after she mouths ‘help’

In Hamtramck, Abdulrahman Abohatem placed himself between 16-year-old girl and man before police arrest

A gasoline station clerk who came to a suburban Detroit girl’s defense when she entered his store and mouthed the word “help” ultimately had a hand in saving the teenager after a stranger had kidnapped her at gunpoint on her way to school, according to authorities.

“I believe this could have [gone] a lot worse than it did,” said police chief Hussein Farhat of Hamtramck, Michigan, at a news conference addressing a rescue partially attributed to convenience store employee Abdulrahman Abohatem. “We have every belief that this could have ended really badly.”

Published: April 19, 2026, 9:00 am

Canadian astronaut’s bon mots help heal wounds from French language row

Jeremy Hansen praised for speaking French in space after Air Canada chief’s linguistic snub exposed tensions and drew rebuke from PM

Few people foresaw humanity’s quest for the moon as accurately as the 19th-century French author Jules Verne, whose two works –From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon – anticipated many of the features of modern lunar exploration.

But Verne’s language had never been spoken in deep space until the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen uttered four words during Nasa’s recent Artemis II mission.

Published: April 19, 2026, 11:00 am

Woman arrested after car driven into pedestrians in central London

Police say 29-year-old arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and drink driving after collision on Soho street

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car hit pedestrians in central London in the early hours of Sunday morning.

A woman in her 30s is in hospital in a critical condition and a man in his 50s suffered life-changing injuries after they were hit by a car in Argyll Street, Westminster, at about 4.30am on Sunday, the Metropolitan police said.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:29 pm

Stabbings, kidnap threats and arson attacks: how the Iranian regime targets UK journalists

Staff at outlets critical of Tehran have faced chilling intimidation and violence, amid calls for greater protection and support

Iranian journalists working in London say they fear for their lives after a recent spate of threats and physical attacks, which they blame on a Tehran regime intent on silencing Persian-language news media such as BBC Persian and Iran International.

On Wednesday, the London offices of Iran International, a news channel that opposes the regime in Tehran, were the target of an attempted arson attack, with an “ignited container” thrown into the car park of a neighbouring building, according to the Metropolitan police.

Published: April 19, 2026, 6:00 am

The Trial review – searing record of Argentina’s courtroom reckoning with its brutal ‘dirty war’

Footage from the 1985 Trial of the Juntas is expertly edited into a documentary providing unforgettable witness to the repression that ‘disappeared’ thousands

From 1974 to 1983, the Argentine military junta waged a “dirty war” against its own citizens under the pretext of national security. Tens of thousands of people from all social strata were marked down as subversives, and “disappeared” – murdered at the hands of the state. Composed entirely of courtroom footage from the landmark 1985 Trial of the Juntas, where nine military officials including dictator-in-chief Jorge Rafael Videla were prosecuted for their crimes, Ulises de la Orden’s searing documentary makes for a profound work of preservation and remembrance.

Culled from 530 hours of archive recordings, the film is divided into 18 chapters, each titled after a moving phrase taken from the testimonies. These headings distil the barbarism of the military’s genocidal tactics. Delivered in a judicial setting, harrowing stories told by former detainees and victims’ relatives lay bare the methodology of state-sponsored violence, as well as the collective trauma shared across generations. Confronted with the anger and the pain of the witnesses, the defence responds with feeble arguments professing patriotism, which are met with jeers and disgust from the spectators. The extraordinarily precise editing maintains the bubbling tension between multiple vantage points, groups with clashing ideas of justice.

Published: April 20, 2026, 10:00 am

Grimes joining LinkedIn is artwashing at its most brazen. I should know – I released my new film on there

The networking platform – social media’s answer to boomer grandparents – is rapidly becoming an AI slop dystopia. Which made it the perfect place for my Nvidia-inspired fairytale

When electronic musician Grimes – AKA Claire Boucher – took to X last year to claim she was “only gonna be releasing music on LinkedIn from now on”, it seemed like yet another provocation from an often eccentric artist. But the ex-partner of Elon Musk may have followed through on her promise. Last month, a profile purporting to be the 38-year-old appeared on the world’s least gratifying social networking platform. Its only post so far promotes an appearance at Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference – Nvidia being the most valuable company in the world and the engine behind just about all AI applications.

Pivoting to LinkedIn might seem a depressing thing for an artist to resort to: a bit like moving in with your boomer grandparents. And it is. I should know because, in one of the more counterintuitive brags I’ve made in my two-decade career as an artist, I did it first.

Published: April 20, 2026, 7:00 am

Olivia review – unhurried, painterly fable about loss aims to expose the meaning of grief

Argentinian director Sofía Petersen’s self-conscious film tries for the weight of slow cinema, but is formless, inert and hibernating within its own heavy unlit gloom

Argentinian director Sofía Petersen’s film is a mysterious depiction of loneliness and loss in the stark landscape of Tierra del Fuego; it is extended and unhurried, unfolding often to the sole accompaniment of a thin, desolate wind. It was well-received at last year’s Locarno film festival, but despite believing in the importance of slow cinema, I have to admit that this defeated me.

Often formless and inert, I found its still life painterly compositions shot on 16mm film, heavy on lingering closeups on old spoons and watch-faces, redundant and self-conscious. The film seemed to be hibernating within its own heavy unlit gloom and its central theme – the meaning of grief – was not really exposed.

Published: April 20, 2026, 6:00 am

‘I became a New Order groupie’: Tim Burgess’s honest playlist

The Charlatans frontman plays Kate Bush deep cuts in his car and loves a bit of Abba, but which scary industrial noiseniks soundtrack his sexy time?

The first single I bought
I remember seeking out Long Haired Lover from Liverpool by Little Jimmy Osmond when I was six. I bought it from Rumbelows on Northwich High Street – it sold washing machines, TVs, blenders and the Top 40 7-inch singles at the back.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
I’ve long been obsessed by Steve Ignorant from Crass. I’ve had various stalls at record markets over the years, and at one, this guy came up and said: “Do you really know the lyrics to all Crass songs?” He tried to catch me out by singing Do They Owe Us a Living?, but I knew them from start to finish.

Published: April 19, 2026, 8:00 am

‘Deliciously dark’: how Freida McFadden’s twisty thrillers gripped millions of readers

The author, who recently revealed her real name to be Sara Cohen, began writing to escape from her work as a medic, and now has a huge global fanbase

Some call themselves McFans, others Freida readahs. However Freida McFadden’s loyal fans choose to define themselves, what we know for sure is that their numbers are growing, and fast.

McFadden, the author behind blockbuster psychological thriller The Housemaid, was the UK’s bestselling novelist of 2025, outstripping Richard Osman, Sarah J Maas and Rebecca Yarros, and shifting 2.6m print copies in 12 months.

Published: April 20, 2026, 11:19 am

Son of Nobody by Yann Martel review – Life of Pi author discovers a long-lost poem from Troy

An epic poem about the Trojan war is merged with the domestic heartbreak of the scholar who discovers it in this ambitious, structurally problematic novel

In Yann Martel’s fifth novel, a Canadian classicist, Harlow Donne, has been offered a year’s fellowship at Oxford University. His wife, Gail, has a full-time managerial job, and they have a seven-year-old daughter, Helen. Who will pour out her breakfast cereal and pick her up from school while Harlow is away? He and Gail quarrel. He leaves for England, and as she sees him off Gail whispers in his ear: “Don’t come back.”

So far, so everyday: but once Harlow gets to Oxford, the narrative shifts its form and becomes odder and more interesting. His prescribed task is to help sift through and translate a hoard of ancient papyri from Oxyrhynchus, in upper Egypt. It’s tedious work. Soon, though, Harlow is piecing together from words or half-words on wisps of desiccated reeds what he believes to be a long-lost epic poem. It relates the story of the Trojan war, but not, as Homer tells it, from the viewpoint of princely warriors and gods. The protagonist is a common soldier, a “son of nobody” named Psoas.

The Scapegoat by Lucy Hughes-Hallett (HarperCollins Publishers, £12.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Son of Nobody by Yann Martel is published by Canongate (£20). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Published: April 20, 2026, 6:01 am

The Illuminated Man by Christopher Priest and Nina Allan review – an unconventional portrait of JG Ballard

The biographer’s terminal illness and death is woven into this original and moving account of Ballard and his work

The writer JG Ballard, who died in 2009, is a tantalising subject for a biographer. His extraordinary childhood in prewar Shanghai, his family’s subsequent internment in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, and the death of his wife, Mary, at the age of 34, were formative events in the creation of his unique vision. The vivid and sometimes shocking images he witnessed in his early life would resurface repeatedly in his fiction.

Yet he always resisted approaches from those keen to tell his story, and at the end of his life produced a curiously flat memoir, Miracles of Life. The author of this new biography, Christopher Priest, apparently admired that work, while recognising that it represented “a carefully curated account … of a messier reality”. As he points out, it revealed nothing that was not already known. An unauthorised biography by John Baxter appeared two years after Ballard’s death, which, though it has been criticised by Ballard’s family for inaccuracies, remains a useful introduction to the life and work of one of the most interesting writers of the postwar period.

Published: April 20, 2026, 8:01 am

‘Every time I write, I doubt myself’: Michael Rosen at 80 on deep grief, self-belief and chocolate cake

The children’s author answers questions from readers, friends and writers on losing his son Eddie, surviving Covid, who he’d invite to his perfect birthday dinner and where he goes for inspiration

Whether you know him from reading his classic picture book We’re Going on A Bear Hunt as a child, from his viral YouTube videos or his tireless support for children’s literacy and the NHS, Michael Rosen has been a household name in the UK for decades. As he turns 80, we gave his peers and Guardian readers the opportunity to put to him the questions they’ve always wanted to ask.

Which do you prefer, asking or answering questions? Roger McGough, poet
Probably asking. I always worry if I’m answering questions I’m being boring. It feels quite exciting if you ask questions. And, as Roger knows, the moment you pick up a pen and start to write, you’re actually asking questions. You’re saying: “What’s the next word? What’s the next phrase? Why am I writing in this shape? Why am I writing in this tone of voice?”

Published: April 20, 2026, 4:00 am

Rebel Wilson accused in court of trying to paint actor as ‘money grabbing opportunist’ as defamation trial begins

Wilson denies allegations made by Charlotte MacInnes, who she claims told her about uncomfortable situation with producer

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Rebel Wilson has been accused in court of hiring a private investigator and having false information published online in order to paint another actor as a “money grabbing opportunist” who withdrew a sexual harassment allegation for financial gain.

But lawyers for Wilson insist that the harassment complaint was only withdrawn when Charlotte MacInnes – the star of her film, The Deb – decided to support the woman who had allegedly harassed her.

Published: April 20, 2026, 8:11 am

Kanye West’s European tour in doubt as more concerts cancelled in Poland and Switzerland

FC Basel and Polish stadium stop US rapper’s upcoming shows, after similar cancellations in France and UK over antisemitic comments

Kanye West’s upcoming concerts in Poland and Switzerland have been cancelled, as a growing number of European countries have stopped or postponed the US rapper’s performances amid a furore over his past antisemitic comments.

Swiss football club FC Basel, which is responsible for concerts and events that take place at its St Jakob-Park ground, told Reuters on Saturday that after reviewing a request for West to perform there in June, it decided against it.

Published: April 20, 2026, 1:46 am

My Phantoms author Gwendoline Riley on winning $175,000: ‘It was unimaginable. I felt overwhelmed.’

Renowned for her darkly funny novels exploring failed relationships, the writer has been awarded the Windham‑Campbell prize for a body of work. She explains why it will change her life – if not her outlook

Gwendoline Riley and I are talking over Zoom very early on the morning of Good Friday; she sits in a neat room, sipping tea from a mug with a cat on it in lieu of the pet she can’t have in her current accommodation - “a literal garret, but that’s probably where I was always going to end up”, she laughs, although she adds that she loves it.

It’s possible that she might be feeling more tolerant of straitened circumstances because her work has just received significant critical – and material – recognition in the shape of a Windham-Campbell prize. These awards are the antithesis of many other hoopla-heavy literary prizes: each year, eight writers across fiction, nonfiction, drama and poetry are given $175,000 (£135,000) to allow them to work with financial ease and security; previous winners include Anne Enright, Margo Jefferson and Yiyun Li. An anonymous jury selects the recipients from a pool of nominations – nominators and their choices also remain undisclosed, with the criteria being excellence across a body of work – and, aside from a select number of events, there’s little of the media circus about the whole affair. They are, quite simply, a boon to writers without obvious additional means, who are all operating in an increasingly challenging marketplace.

Published: April 19, 2026, 11:00 am

Standup and author Susan Calman: ‘Comedy is an industry full of weirdos – I found my people’

The comedian and writer on overcoming depression, working on death row, and learning to say no

Born in Glasgow in 1974, Susan Calman worked as a corporate lawyer before starting standup comedy in 2006. She won a Scottish Bafta in 2007 for a Channel 4 sketch show, Blowout, and went on to become a regular on TV and radio panel shows. She hosted the podcast Mrs Brightside, co-hosts Carry On Up and has published two books, Cheer Up Love and Sunny Side Up: A Story of Kindness and Joy. She lives in Glasgow with her wife, Lee, and takes her first show in 10 years, Tall Tales, across the UK from 11 September to 20 November.

I look absolutely adorable, a little bit smug even. I’m sporting a beautiful blond bowl cut, and the outfit is quintessential 1970s. When Dad went to London for work, Mum would join him and occasionally visit Harrods to buy me, my sister and my brother something nice, like this jumpsuit. It would have been expensive, so I was only allowed to wear it for special occasions. In fact, this was the only time I wore it. We got our money’s worth in the end, though – I used this picture on the invitation for my 50th birthday party.

Published: April 19, 2026, 1:00 pm

The kindness of strangers: My car was stuck in the middle of a highway. I felt hopeless – until some burly truckies lent a hand

I was only in my teens when, late at night, my Datsun ended up dangling off a median strip. Bracing to be harassed, I walked into a truck stop to ask for help …

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

My first car was a Datsun, in a delightful shade of baby-poo brown. I’d only been on my Ps a week when I almost drove it to total disaster.

It was 11pm one night in south-west Sydney when I approached the huge intersection that links the Hume Highway with Henry Lawson Drive. I was trying to turn right on to the highway and was the first car at the lights. With the baseless confidence of a 17-year-old, I turned … into the wrong lane.

Published: April 19, 2026, 3:00 pm

Can a trash bin be art? We tested Caraway’s gallery-worthy new kitchen receptacles

The company known for elevating kitchen staples dropped a $245 trash and recycling system – here’s what to know

• The seven best non-toxic cooking pans in the US, tested in a food lab

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A good trash can essentially disappears. I know this because my cheap stainless steel Amazon special definitely fails this test.

Sure, it does the job of separating trash and recyclables into two tiny chambers, but my dislike for it underscores every interaction we have, from trying to hide the edges of the garbage bag (impossible!) to finagling a full load from the fussy, narrow bin for disposal. And it’s hideous. Aesthetics for utilitarian items matter, especially in small kitchens like mine where there are very few places to hide a trash can.

Published: April 19, 2026, 5:15 pm

This is how we do it: ‘I’ve been pregnant for almost our entire relationship’

Sol and João had a whirlwind romance and now have a baby on the way – which has changed their sexual connection for better and worse …
• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

João has been turned on by the changes pregnancy has brought so far

Sol’s pregnancy has changed the way we have sex, but I’m also attracted to the changes

Published: April 19, 2026, 10:00 am

How to train your brain to see possibility instead of doom

Our minds evolved to minimise unpredictability. But if we learn to live with doubt, a world of opportunities opens up

It can feel as though the world is tilting towards chaos: political shocks, economic instability, technological upheaval and a constant stream of bad news. Faced with so much uncertainty, many of us default to a sense of impending doom. But is that reaction hardwired – or can we train ourselves to keep a more open mind?

A useful starting point is humility. Every generation, it seems, believes it inhabits uniquely turbulent times, as literary epics down the ages testify. Uncertainty has always been part of the human condition, and none of us can really know what tomorrow holds.

The 21st Century Brain by Dr Hannah Critchlow (Transworld Publishers Ltd, £22). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Published: April 19, 2026, 11:00 am

I was bullied when I was young and now find it very hard to make friends | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

Your history of being picked on at school has a lot do with your feelings of being ‘faulty’. Getting involved in a group of mixed ages would help avoid memories of childhood

I’m in my late 30s and have a beautiful two-year-old boy and a supportive husband. But when I take my son out I feel like a rejected teenager again, surrounded by groups taking their kids out together.

I had friends when I was younger, but moved schools as a teenager and was badly bullied. It affected my confidence to the point I was painfully shy through most of university. I thought I was ugly, stupid, unlikable and found it hard to make friends. Then I moved to London, where it was also hard to make friends.

Published: April 19, 2026, 5:00 am

10 of the best scenic stays in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland

From a beachside bothy to a Highland bunkhouse and lochside inn, here are some of Scotland’s bonniest boltholes

With its cheery, cherry-red tin roof, you can’t miss the sturdy stone bothy on the Ben Damph estate. The family-owned 5,868-hectare (14,500-acre) estate nudges up to Loch Torridon, and the bothy, constructed from the ruins of an old black house (a traditional thatched home), has views over the loch to the mountains beyond. Restored by a team of stonemasons, it has two rooms (each sleeping two) warmed by log burners. The furniture has been made from the estate’s timber by a local cabinet maker. Between the two rooms is a “sitooterie” with picture windows framing views over to Ben Alligin. There’s no electricity, but there is running water and a gas-powered hot shower next to the bothy; a compost loo is in the garden.
Sleeps 4, from £342.50 for two nights, bendamph.com

Published: April 19, 2026, 6:00 am

Dining across the divide: ‘I think property is a right, not a business – he thinks differently because he’s a landlord’

They disagree on the private rented sector. Can they find common ground over a united Ireland?

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

Diarmuid, 25, London

Occupation Accountant

Published: April 19, 2026, 11:00 am

Did Harry and Meghan tour Australia to make money – or cosplay a return to royal life?

Along with a luxe wellness retreat and MasterChef appearance, the faux royal tour included time spent on causes the couple clearly care about

• Prince Harry and Meghan’s visit to Australia – in pictures

In Aussie parlance, Meghan and Prince Harry’s whirlwind visit down under was the very definition of a “Claytons” tour.

Claytons in Australia is primarily known as a cultural phrase for a substitute, fake or ersatz version of something, the saying evolving from a 1970s/80s non-alcoholic beverage marketed as “the drink you have when you’re not having a drink”.

Published: April 19, 2026, 12:00 am

LensCulture portrait awards 2026 – in pictures

Winning and shortlisted works move seamlessly between documentary and invention. Across these images, tender couples hold each other close, people reclaim their identities from the burden of colonial memories and the harsh realities of the war in Ukraine come sharply into focus

• Australian photographer wins at world photography awards with ‘barefoot volcanologist’ image

Published: April 20, 2026, 1:22 am