Nine of the top 10 worst roads named by drivers have had sections converted to controversial asmarta motorways

A quarter of a million passengers were affected by the closure a but Heathrow boss says its command and control system aworked exactly righta

Walk through woodlands carpeted with these beautiful blue plants

The WWE star said he interpreted the experience as aa sign from God and the universea

Starline plans to connect the UK by rail to destinations including Ukraine, Turkey and Portugal

European countries have issued specific travel warnings to transgender and non-binary citizens

The Blue Lagoon has closed as the latest eruption begins

Exclusive: Unofficial sites charging eight times the official price have already sprung up

Exclusive: The Independent predicts the worst traffic jams will be on the M5, M6, M25 and A303

No passengers were onboard the easyJet A320 at the time of the collision

The Independent estimates the total cost to airlines at Heathrow as APS100m in lost revenue and passenger care expenses

Homes were flooded and cars swept out to sea

Year-round warmth and activities from sky to sea make this Atlantic island the ideal European destination for a dose of adrenaline, finds Monica Meade

Plane Talk: Southendas success is in proportion to the scarcity of slots elsewhere

The 81-year-old was found afloating lifelessa about 15ft from the coast of the popular tourist Gili Trawangan island

Brittany Balinski uses TikTok to talk about the aversatilitya of wool

Could this fermented drink hold the key to better health?

Study also reveals which fast food chains are the quickest at handing out orders and which are most accurate

aAnyone But Youa stars were seen together at Powellas sisteras wedding over the weekend

The decline of iconic high street brands like Woolworths, WH Smith, and BHS has significantly altered the landscape of our town centres

aItas a little disheartening that so many of the questions (and comments) were focused on my body instead of my music, my passion, or the decade of hard work that got me here,a Trainor wrote

The actor petitioned to remove his mother and father as his legal guardians when he was 15

Mildred Simoneriluto is on a ticking clock, as she has just weeks to find the ticket and claim her winnings

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end revealed he would be playing another season in the NFL last month

Dr Rupyas rigatoni with walnuts, tempeh and lentils is rich, hearty and high in protein a proof that healthy food doesnat have to taste like it

Mercury in retrograde supposedly creates havoc with communication, transport, and tech. Itas not about blaming it a or shifting responsibility onto a planet, says Charlotte Cripps. Itas just another small signpost in the journey of self-discovery

Dr Rupy Aujlaas spicy one-tray tikka bowl is a high-protein, high-flavour fix thatas as good for your taste buds as it is for your gut. Just donat skip the pickle

Dr Rupy Aujla stirs cinnamon, turmeric and cacao into this high-protein, high-fibre breakfast jar a proof that eating like a wellness influencer doesnat have to taste like it

Customers in possession of the product may either return it to Trader Joeas for a full refund or discard it

Pike swiftly grew embarrassed after a aclincha with Irish 007 star

David Hockney condemns adismala decision taken by Paris Metro over poster for biggest ever Hockney exhibition

Coon first played villain Proxima Midnight in 2018as aAvengers: Infinity Wara but didnat return for 2019 film

Jason Momoa says he is reprising role as swordmaster Duncan Idaho in third part of sci-fi blockbuster

aIntelligencea actor admitted he never watched the sitcom after filming wrapped in 2004

The singer hit out at his previous bandas adirty deedsa

West Side Story star shares Instagram post that quotes from statement slamming Zegler

Actor died this week at the age of 65

The cause of death was pneumonia, his daughter says

Hollywood actor, known for his intense performances and iconic roles, dies of pneumonia

Hollywood star died after years of health struggles

Rare intimate performance will take place a week before the release of the bandas first album in nine years

Walliams and Cowell are allegedly ano longer on speaking termsa

aIam ready,a Kilmer said in atomspheric clip

The category is dominated by new voices, joined by previous nominees Miranda July and Elizabeth Stout

With shows like aStacey & Joea, aThe Dog Housea and aThe Great British Sewing Beea, primetime terrestrial TV has never felt more wholesome. But, wonders Phil Harrison, is that entirely a good thing?

The country star is now selling hats and T-shirts bearing the phrase: aGet me to Godas countrya

Country star Wallen also stirred controversy with his aabrupta exit from show

Australian parliament passed landmark legislation in Novemeber banning social media platforms from allowing users under 16 to access their services

Showas cast lived and filmed in a luxurious hotel in Thailand for seven months

Mazin confirmed he wonat continue the story beyond the original video game series

Erik Per Sullivan, who played Dewey, is the only main cast member not returning for the reboot

Bridget Phillipson warns of adifficult perioda ahead for trade, but government aworking through every eventualitya

• Business live a latest updates
• UK politics live

The UK government will not engage in a akneejerka response to any tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, as it warned there would be a adifficult perioda ahead in trade relations with the US and called for calm.

The US president is to announce his latest round of tariffs on Wednesday a which he has called aliberation daya a sparking concerns over a global trade war.

Defence minister Israel Katz says large areas of the territory will be seized and added to the security zones of Israel

Airstrikes continued on Gaza on Wednesday morning after the Israeli defense minister announced that Israel intended to expand its war. In a statement, Israel Katz said the offensive was aexpanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and capture large areas that will be added to the security zones of the state of Israel.a

The move has been condemned by the Hostages Families Forum, who said it appeared that Benjamin Netanyahuas government were making the return of 59 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas aa secondary taska that had been apushed to the bottom of the priority list.a

I wish success to the IDF soldiers who are fighting bravely and powerfully in Gaza for the return of the kidnapped and the defeat of Hamas. The goal of Operation aStrength and Sworda is first and foremost to increase pressure for the release of all the hostages in the face of Hamasa refusal.

Expanding the operation this morning will increase the pressure on the Hamas murderers and also on the population in Gaza and advance the achievement of the sacred and important goal for all of us. I call on the residents of Gaza to act now to remove Hamas and return all the hostages. This is the only way to end the war.

Liberal judge says victory is against aunprecedented attack on our democracya after defeating Brad Schimel in the most expensive judicial election in US history

Susan Crawford won the race for a seat on the Wisconsin supreme court on Tuesday, a major win for Democrats who had framed the race as a referendum on Elon Musk and Donald Trumpas popularity.

Crawford, a liberal judge from Dane county, defeated Brad Schimel, a former Republican attorney general and conservative judge from Waukesha county, after Musk and groups associated with the tech billionaire spent millions to boost his candidacy in what became the most expensive judicial contest in American history.

Known for his roles in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Tombstone, the prolific actoras cause of death was pneumonia

• Remembering Val Kilmer: an ethereally handsome actor who evolved into droll self-awareness
• A life in pictures

Val Kilmer, the actor best known for his roles in Top Gun, Batman Forever and The Doors, has died at the age of 65.

His daughter Mercedes told the New York Times that the cause of death was pneumonia. Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and later recovered, after treatment with chemotherapy and trachea surgery that had reduced his ability to speak and breathe.

Louise Haigh calls for end to two-tier system over complaints of sexual misconduct or harassment

Bosses should be banned from the aimpropera use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) for low-paid workers in the service, retail or hospitality sectors, a former cabinet minister has said, as she calls for an end to a two-tier system for victims.

Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary, has urged MPs to look beyond high-profile cases linked to the #MeToo movement and advocate for workers in insecure employment who may not have athe means and the confidence to pursue their employers through the courtsa to be able to challenge the NDAs.

A 26-year-old man was rescued from hotel in capital Naypyidaw, long after disaster that has killed thousands

A man was pulled alive from the rubble of a hotel in Myanmar on Wednesday, five days after the countryas worst earthquake in a century flattened entire neighbourhoods and tore through temples, bridges and highways.

The 26-year-old was found alive in the ruins of the building in the capital, Naypyidaw, by a joint team of rescuers from Myanmar and Turkey after midnight, the fire service and the countryas ruling junta said.

Carmaker reportedly has yet to announce plan for repairs after telling motorists not to charge their cars

Thousands of drivers have reportedly been left in limbo after warnings that their car could catch fire due to a battery defect.

Ford issued an urgent recall of its Kuga plug-in hybrid car in early March, warning drivers not to charge the battery because of a risk it might short-circuit while on the road. The problem could cause a loss of power or a fire, according to the recall notice. Four weeks later, the manufacturer has yet to announce a timescale for repairs and owners report that it is failing to respond to their requests for an update.

What is expected from Donald Trumpas tariffs on US imports and how will EU and UK leaders react?

The EU and the UK are bracing for a damaging trade war with the US, as Donald Trump is expected to implement his threat to impose tariffs on imports from Europe.

For weeks, he has named 2 April aliberation daya, with the unveiling of a tariff plan to reverse what he called aunfair practices that have been ripping off our country for decadesa.

Defence secretaryas trip to Asia shows the Trump administration is engaged with the region, but analysts warn Taipei to tread carefully

On Tuesday Chinaas military launched joint drills around Taiwan, sending ships, planes and some bizarre propaganda videos across the strait to both warn and punish Taiwanas government over what Beijing calls aseparatist activitya.

The purported provocation was recent assertiveness by Taiwanas president, Lai Ching-te, who in March designated China a aforeign hostile forcea and announced 17 measures to counter its espionage and influence operations.

Residents of Sake a given 72 hours by M23 rebels to leave camps in Goma a find a ghost town with homes in ruins and no way to make a living

Congolese people forced to return to their home town from displacement camps when the M23 rebel group advanced on the city of Goma earlier this year have described scenes of devastation, with hundreds of homes destroyed by fighting and no opportunity to work or access aid.

As M23 entered Goma, a regional humanitarian hub that hosted hundreds of thousands of people displaced by previous rounds of fighting in the region, more than 100,000 people left camps around the city to return to their homes.

This new identity gave me confidence and the freedom to discover different relationships. It also helped me understand, more broadly, what I really want from life

Iave never been a good liar. I can trace it back to my early school days, where my excuses for unfinished homework were never convincing, or Iad guiltily double back on even the smallest of fibs. With a knowing look, my mother would say: aGeorgina a|a She instilled a reverence for the truth, which was bound to the idea of doing the right thing. She wasnat wrong: building trust is crucial in forming strong bonds in any relationship dynamic.

But, like most teenagers, I gently smudged the boundaries of truth, from concealing my bellybutton piercing, to aborrowinga my brotheras car to meet a boy I fancied. Notably, my untruths were told in the knowledge that they would probably later be discovered (although I hadnat banked on the flat tyre) and, looking back, they were often linked with an early exploration of my sexual identity.

Insomnia is not a grievance made by difficult women. Itas a life-threatening condition that often stems from a physical issue many doctors refuse to see

In February, I taught memoir writing at a conference in Mexico where the faculty is traditionally put up with local hosts. Mine was especially communicative in the months leading up to my arrival, going out of his way to indicate affordable rooftop bars, the finest locations to view murals, and general best practices for the city head adopted as his own.

So when I told my host that I have chronic insomnia, I felt head take me seriously, given how generous head been in his emails. aIave traveled a lot throughout Mexico,a I wrote him. aAnd the one thing I canat deal with as an insomniac is roosters.a

I have two degrees, two books to my name and I write for the Guardian. Yet I spent time in care, live at home and struggle for money. Can Karl Marx help me make sense of myself?

I have been obsessed with and confused by social class all my life. Both of my grandparents grew up in Liverpool in the 1930s in traditionally working-class households. They were clever and conscientious and managed to earn scholarships to university, eventually becoming teachers. My�parents have university degrees and own property; one of them is now a judge. To most people, all these things place me squarely and categorically in the middle class. But I was in special educational schools from the age of nine, spent�part of my childhood in care, left education altogether at 14 and�collected the dole until getting my first job in a cotton mill. All these things make me a dyed-in-the-wool prole.

And yet I have two degrees, I have written two books and I freelance for the Guardian a you canat get more insufferably bourgeois than that. At the same time, I am pushing 40 and living with my mum because I canat afford to rent anything larger than a�broom cupboard, so I feel as though I am in class limbo a fitting in with everyone and no one at the�same time.

Kilmer, who has died aged 65, made his name with Top Gun and The Doors a but his exceptional talents were often under-appreciated by the mainstream film industry

• Val Kilmer, star of Top Gun and The Doors, dies aged 65
• A life in pictures

Why do some movie careers take off a| and others go a bit sideways? Val Kilmer was a smart actor, a looker, a terrific screen presence and in later years an under-appreciated comic performer. His finest hour as an actor came in Shane Blackas comedy action thriller Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in 2005, when he was quite superb as the camp private investigator Gay Perry Shrike: a gloriously sleek, plump performance which was transparently a and outrageously a based on Tom Ford. If only Kilmer could have started his acting life with that bravura performance, and shown the world what he could do. Instead, and at a crucial stage in his career, he was trapped in the body and face of a staggeringly beautiful young man.

He could somehow never quite persuade Hollywood to accept him as a leading man and above-the-title player in the mould of his Top Gun contemporary Tom Cruise, who in 1986 played Pete aMavericka Mitchell to Val Kilmeras Tom aIcemana Kazansky. As the 80s and 90s rolled by, Kilmer never ascended to the league of Cruise, Hanks, Clooney and Pitt. Medication for the illness he latterly suffered canat have helped, and it is a great sadness that fate never allowed him to mature in the same way as, say, Kurt Russell.

Democrats have appeared lame and leaderless for 72 days, but then Cory Booker stood up and did something

aWould the senator yield for a question?a asked Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Senator Cory Booker, who on a long dayas journey into night had turned himself into the fighter that many Democrats were yearning for, replied with a wry smile: aChuck Schumer, itas the only time in my life I can tell you no.a

A holiday park on the lesser-known CA"te Orientale offers lower prices, activities for all ages, and secluded sandy beaches

I had held out as long as I could, but there was no getting out of it. The catcalls were rising; the baying, cackling audience of under-11s intoxicated by a combination of ice-cream sugar rushes and my obvious, clammy fear. It was day 14 of a two-week summer holiday, and our final afternoon in blissful 30C Corsican sunshine. I just needed one more chapter, lounging with my book, soaking in the last of the bone-warming sun slowly edging down towards the islandas dramatic mountainous spine.

But my calculating offspring had not forgotten ill-fated promises made on a previous evening, probably a little too deep into the second carafe. I was probably caught off-guard at Barnyas, a sensational sushi restaurant in the town of Ghisonaccia, enjoying our best meal of the holiday. They know when my defences are down; when Iam fully relaxed into holiday ayesa mode, and prime for being taken advantage of.

One of a series of photographs taken across India in which women, many of them abuse survivors, use traditional needlework to embellish portraits of themselves

This is a portrait of Praween Devi, a woman I met in 2019 through a local organisation while working on my project NAIrA<<. I met her alongside other women who gather in their back yards to embroider together, sharing stories over cups of chai.

When I asked to take her photograph, she suggested the main hall of her home, mentioning its lack of decoration and how the walls were bare except for a framed image of flowers and, notably, a photograph of all the men in the house. Before we began, she brought in a rug from another room, subtly curating the space. As I composed the shot, I included the photograph of the men, wondering how she would choose to alter the image through embroidery.

Beware the backlash strategies used by Trump and Berlusconi. It is vital that the National Rally leader isnat able to capitalise on this verdict

The verdict is in: the National Rally (NR) and its leader, Marine Le Pen, have been found to have employed fictitious European parliament assistants between 2004 and 2016. The fraudulent scheme enabled the misappropriation of around a!2.9m in European funds, and Le Pen has now been barred from holding public office for five years. Could this mark the end for the National Rally? Highly unlikely a and the reason lies in the partyas strategy.

During the trial, Le Pen deliberately maintained silence in response to the allegations a a tactic some outlets dismissed as evidence of a weak defence, even questioning her credibility. Yet this quiet is far from a sign of weakness; it reflects a long-established approach that consistently shuns conventional manoeuvres in favour of an intentionally unpredictable stance.

Georgios Samaras is assistant professor of public policy at the Policy Institute, Kingas College London

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.

Loyalists worry that the PM displays little of the engagement and dynamism required. Five years on, neither they nor voters really know him or his plan

Upsetting backbench MPs is an occupational hazard for prime ministers. Government is an endless sequence of messy compromises. Incumbency is a drag on popularity. Poll ratings sink and nerves fray. Careers are thwarted. There are fewer ministerial jobs than ambitious candidates.

This is normal party discontentment. It grows over the course of a parliament, becoming critical at the point when rebel numbers threaten the leaderas majority. By that metric, Keir Starmer can afford to provoke a lot of dissatisfaction in the ranks. And, together with Rachel Reeves, he has.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

British Muslims are too often acceptable only when they bake cakes or win medals. Now the nation has had a true insight into our faith

If anything is going to get me to turn on BBC One early on Eid morning, itas Eid prayer being televised on a UK terrestrial channel for the first time in British broadcasting history. Held at Bradford Central Mosque, the groundbreaking coverage on Monday followed the entirety of the Eid prayer a starting with Quraanic recitation, then a sermon in both English and Arabic and the congregational prayer itself, culminating in the customary eid mubarak embraces.

For Muslims like me, these scenes are part and parcel of every Eid. The keffiyeh-draped uncles sporting orange beards dyed with henna, some to emulate the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and some simply to hide their grey hairs; the children using the congregation as an assault course and scouting out the auntie who is handing out the best sweets; fancy clothes, henna-patterned palms and smiling faces; people high on both the spirituality of the just-passed holy month and probably too much sugar. This is the stuff Eid is made of, but watching it unfold on the nationas main TV channel was a refreshing novelty a and I found it strangely affirming, as well as a little emotional, to witness.

Nadeine Asbali is the author of Veiled Threat: On Being Visibly Muslim in Britain, and a secondary school teacher in London

After a decade of conflict, loss is constant, as is fear for our childrenas future. But we are more than this

A decade of war in Yemen has left us in a place we never could have imagined. Our biggest worries were once exams, work and weddings. Today, we live with the weight of constant fear. You wake to the sound of explosions or the silence of grief, leave your home uncertain if you will return, look at your child and wonder what kind of future awaits.

Yet life goes on. We carry our losses, our broken hearts, our grief, and we continue. Ten years of war, ten years of mourning, of learning to survive with a lump in our hearts.

It is a factually inaccurate and totally, utterly wrong to say that undocumented people are aillegala and are acriminalsa

On 29 January, the second Trump administration held its first White House press briefing. aOf the 3,500 arrests Ice has made so far since President Trump came back into office, can you just tell us the numbers?a asked a reporter in the front row. aHow many have a criminal record versus those who are just in the country illegally?a

aAll of them,a responded the new White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, making her debut in the briefing room, abecause they illegally broke our nationas laws, and, therefore, they are criminals, as far as this administration goes.a She continued: aI know the last administration didnat see it that way, so itas a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal. But thatas exactly what they are.a

Mehdi Hasan is a broadcaster and author, and a former host on MSNBC. He is also a Guardian US columnist and the editor-in-chief of Zeteo

American and European leaders are the authors of this latest atrocity by their Israeli colleagues in Gaza

The Guardian reports that Israeli troops akilled 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers one by onea. aOne by onea is another way of saying one person after another, which is another way of saying premeditated murder. Fifteen times over.

Dr Bashar Murad, the director of health programs at the Palestine Red Crescent, told reporters that one of the men who was executed by the Israelis was on the phone with colleagues. The victim had been injured and was requesting help.

She left her job when her husband got a shot at VP a only for the couple to be met with the frostiest of receptions in Greenland at the weekend

There are a few people to blame for the fact that JD Vance, a staggeringly unlikable man with a supremely meme-able face, has been thrust into such prominence. The first is Peter Thiel: the tech billionaire who bankrolled Vanceas political pivot. The second is Kevin D Roberts, head of the Heritage Foundation and mastermind of Project 2025, who has been an energetic Vance advocate.

And the third is Usha Chilukuri Vance, JDas wife. While Usha kept a low profile during the Trump-Vance campaign, trailing after her other half with a smile on her face and a copy of The Iliad in her hand, JD has made her influence clear. In his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, for example, he wrote that Usha helped him navigate Yale and aalways encouraged me to seek opportunities that I didnat know existeda.

The speed with which US democracy is being dismantled is dizzying, but if we organise resistance now we can stop this

Everything is moving too fast. The Trump-Musk administration is tearing through US government, universities and health organisations, firing tens of thousands of employees, eliminating billons in funding. The scope and speed of the attack is dizzying. It is almost impossible to keep up with the ongoing destruction, let alone to organise the resistance. None of this is accidental.

We need to understand the origins of the Trump blitzkrieg to counter it in the US and prevent it from spreading abroad. The speed of the attack can be traced to Trump strategist and aaccelerationista Steve Bannon, and aligns with his information warfare tactic to aflood the zonea to confuse, disengage and disorient. Whether on climate or Covid, rumours, lies and conspiracy theories create a chaotic cacophony, leaving the public disoriented, fearful and prey to oversimple Trumpist messages: blame the woke, migrants, transgender people, Muslims, doctors, scientists. Muskas purchase of Twitter/X supports Bannonas agenda.

Julia Steinberger is professor of societal challenges of climate change at the University of Lausanne

Liverpool could lose three of their best players this summer. Who should they target in the transfer window?

By WhoScored

Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to leave for Real Madrid this summer, with Liverpool likely to dip into the market to secure a new right-back. They will need to sign a full-back capable of replicating Alexander-Arnoldas attacking threat, which will prove easier said than done. The 26-year-old has set up six goals and 51 shooting chances for teammates this season, making him one of the most creative defenders in the league.

• Club has deadline of Saturday from EFL to agree sale
• aI want to see a legally binding document,a says Couhig

Reading have had a potentially significant setback in their attempt to save the club by agreeing a sale this week, with Rob Couhig rejecting a proposal from the owner, Dai Yongge, to lift his security over the Select Car Leasing Stadium and training ground.

The Guardian has learned that Reading have sent a legal letter to Couhig offering to place some of the proceeds from the proposed sale to Robert Platek in a frozen escrow account pending the result of his high-court claim for APS12m, which is scheduled for July.

• Briton falls to ground during final set of match in BogotA!
• Watson defeated in opening round of Charleston Open

The British tennis player Francesca Jones has been forced to withdraw from the Colsanitas Cup in BogotA! after collapsing on court.

In footage of the incident posted on social media, the 24-year-old appeared to stagger after failing to return a serve from Argentinaas Julia Riera in the third set of their round-of-32 match and was unable to return to play. She fell to the ground and was removed from the court in a wheelchair.

Plus: a 972 score in Scrabble, the same stadium name across multiple grounds, and 48 league appearances in one season

• Mail us with your questions and answers

aThe other day in their Womenas Champions League match against Manchester City, Chelsea fielded a back four of Bronze, Bright, BjAPrn and Baltimore,a emails Asad Butt. aAre there other examples of this in defence, midfield or attack?a

Back in 2017, we answered a question regarding menas teams fielding three or more players with the same first name, with five Johns starting in an England XI against Switzerland in 1948: John Aston, John Haines, John Hancocks, John (aJacka) Rowley and John (aJackiea) Milburn all featuring. As mentioned by Asad, Chelsea fielded a back four beginning with the same surname letter against Manchester City earlier this month (plus Aggie Beever-Jones in the first leg). But we can do better than that.

As the 2026 World Cup approaches, the USMNT lack the charisma, underdog charm and striking victories of their predecessors

Imagine the 1980 Miracle on Ice, but with the USA on the other side.

In this scenario, the US menas hockey team arenat a scrappy band of outmatched amateurs playing for the country perceived as the good guys in the cold war. The opponents arenat an aloof, brutally effective Soviet Union team expected to steamroll their way to a gold medal just as their military were attempting to steamroll their way through Afghanistan.

More than half of Britainas 59 native species are in long-term decline, UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme finds

Last summer was the fifth worst in nearly half a century for butterflies in Britain, according to the biggest scientific survey of insect populations in the world.

For the first time since scientific recording began in 1976, more than half of Britainas 59 native species are in long-term decline.

Committee hears about ainsanea lack of provisions and arcane, time-consuming procedures

MPs with disabilities have spoken about the challenges they face working in parliament, criticising the ainsanea lack of provisions and arcane, time-consuming procedures.

Lucy Powell, the Commons leader, who also chairs its modernisation committee, said she would be avery in favour ofa bringing in call lists for when MPs will speak, one of the adjustments called for by MPs in the committee. Such lists are used for ministerial questions but not for debates, beyond a period during Covid.

From Guy Burgessas briefcase to microdots secreted in talc, an exhibition reveals remarkable items from the agencyas archives a and the extraordinary stories behind them

The agency that would become MI5, originally known as the Secret Service Bureau, employed just 17 staff in 1914; by the end of the first world war, the number working for Britainas domestic counter-intelligence agency had swelled to 850, including a number of female administrators.

While valuable for managing the card index records, noted Edith Lomax, the controller of women staff in 1918, only women under the age of 30 should be recruited aon account of the very considerable strain that was thrown on [their] brainsa.

Icelandic brothersa ready meal firm Bakkavor to be taken over by sandwich maker Greencore

• Business live a latest updates

Two Icelandic brothers, described as abusiness Vikingsa, are in line to make millions after their ready meals company, Bakkavor, agreed a takeover deal with the competitor Greencore, in a move set to create a APS4bn food-to-go giant.

Greencore, the UKas largest sandwich maker, said it had agreed to buy its rival Bakkavor in a deal valuing the company at APS1.2bn.

Donald Trump to announce latest round of tariffs at 8pm GMT

Joshua Mahony, at Scope Markets, has looked at todayas moves in stock markets.

European equities are falling in anticipation of todayas liberation day tariffs with Donald Trump expected to announce his sweeping tax on imports at 4 pm Eastern time. Rather predictably it is the Dax which leads the losses as the German market surge seen in the wake of the agreement to increase the government deficit and ramp up fiscal expenditure fades.

For traders and investors, today represents a day of huge uncertainty as we weigh up the potential for retaliatory tariffs and a tit-for-tat trade war. [US trade secretary] Scott Bessent has stated that todayas tariffs are likely to be the worst it will get, and his historical comments over the potential to aescalate to deescalatea means that we will hopefully soon move into a phase where we hear more about potential trade deals and tariff reduction rather than the bad news that currently dominates markets. Nonetheless, with the likes of Canada and the EU standing ready to implement retaliatory measures, things might get worse before they get better.

Today brings the latest ADP payrolls report out of the US, bringing a fresh insight into the behaviour of US businesses in the face of recent tariff uncertainty. A collapse in the employment metric of the manufacturing PMI released from the ISM yesterday does highlight the struggles faced by manufacturers that could be hurt by both foreign tariffs and the rising costs of imported parts.

It stands to reason that businesses will hold off hiring in the face of such uncertainty, and thus markets are faced with the possibility that we see signs of economic deterioration in the form of weak ADP and non-farm payroll figures at the back end of this week.

It was following a couple of incidents of, unfortunately, theft of wire and cable around some of the power supply that, on one of those occasions, took out the lights on the runway for a period of time.

That obviously made me concerned and, as such, I raised the point I wanted to understand better the overall resilience of the airport.

It became quite clear we could not operate the airport safely quite early in this process, and that is why we closed the airport.

If we had not done that, we would have had thousands of passengers stranded at the airport at high risk to personal injury, gridlocked roads around the airport, because donat forget 65,000 houses and other institutions were powered down.

Anti-Houthi air campaign, details of which were revealed in Signal scandal, has brought further destruction to country

A ramped-up US bombing campaign on Yemen has killed civilians and brought further destruction and uncertainty to the poorest country in the Middle East, compounding an already dire situation after Donald Trump cut aid, according to local people, humanitarian workers and rights groups.

aNow the rampant bombing has started, you never know which way things will go,a said Siddiq Khan, who works as a country director in Yemen for the aid charity Islamic Relief.

Chinaas military says drills will continue in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday and will use live fire

The US has accused China of putting the regionas security at risk after it launched a second day of military drills targeting Taiwan with a rehearsal blockade and attack.

Chinaas Peopleas Liberation Army (PLA) began the joint drills without notice on Tuesday morning, sending 76 aircraft and more than 20 Navy and Coast Guard ships, including the Shandong carrier group, to positions around Taiwanas main island.

Liberal judge Susan Crawford wins race for seat on Wisconsin supreme court in litmus test for Donald Trumpas and Elon Muskas popularity

• Liberal Susan Crawford beats Musk-backed candidate

The result in Wisconsin means that liberals will keep a 4-3 ideological majority on the state supreme court.

That majority is hugely significant because the court will hear major cases on abortion and collective bargaining rights. The court could also potentially consider cases that could cause the state to redraw its eight congressional districts, which are now drawn to advantage Republicans.

Owner ByteDance required to find non-Chinese buyer for video appas American operations by Saturday

Donald Trump is preparing to consider a final proposal to decide the future of TikTok before a deadline for the app to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a US ban.

The US vice-president, JD Vance, the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, the national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, will meet in the Oval Office on Wednesday to discuss the issue, Reuters reported.

Wild 5.5 metre swells hammer the eastern NSW coastline, causing damage to key walkways and closing beaches

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Locals in Sydneyas east woke on Wednesday to discover some of the cityas most famous beaches and coastal walkways battered and damaged by huge overnight swells.

Bondi, Bronte, Clovelly and Cronulla beaches were among the areas smashed by 5.5 metre swells.

Report finds police mistook girl for missing woman in blunder that has appalled political leaders

An 11-year-old girl was restrained, injected with anti-psychotic drugs and placed on a mental health ward after New Zealand police mistook her for a missing woman, a report found on Wednesday.

Health officials and police have scrambled to explain the mix-up, which has appalled political leaders and stoked outrage across the country.

Toby Jones plays the spaniel-eyed schoolmaster setting Harry Lawteyas needy young pupil on course for haughty international stardom

The career of Richard Burton seemed mythic at the time, and more so in retrospect. In Pedro AlmodA3varas latest movie The Room Next Door, Julianne Mooreas character is even shown reading Erotic Vagrancy, Roger Lewisas account of Burtonas then-adulterous relationship with Elizabeth Taylor in the early 60s, the title taken from Pope John XXIIIas extraordinary denunciation: aYou will finish in an erotic vagrancy, without end or without a safe port.a In fact, the nearest thing Burton ever had to a safe port was his inspirational English teacher Philip Burton in Port Talbot, south Wales, whose own frustrated dreams of the theatre were poured into the bright young mineras son Richard Jenkins, coaching him in acting and even making him his legal ward and getting him to change his surname to Burton to facilitate the teacheras sponsorship of his Oxford scholarship.

Itas the subject of this heartfelt, vigorously acted, enjoyable, if slightly naive movie from screenwriters Tom Bullough and Josh Hyams, and director Marc Evans. Toby Jones stars as the spaniel-eyed Mr Burton and Harry Lawtey is Richard, a lanky, needy kid morphing into that insufferably haughty and sonorous prince of the English stage. It tells a uniquely painful and dysfunctional story, and does its best to show how Burtonas pride always coexisted with shame and self-hate, and culminated with him playing Hal in Henry IV Part 2 at Stratford with Mr Burton in the audience, the pair effectively enacting their own version of the Hal/Falstaff betrayal scene.

The artist and musician is a brilliant subject for an epic, in-depth biography, but this is merely hagiography

In 1966 a woman sat down at the Destruction in Art Symposium at Londonas Africa Centre and invited people to cut off her clothes. It was an era when Yves Klein used naked women as paintbrushes and Allen Jones made sculptures of fetishistically dressed women posed as furniture. But Yoko Ono was in control of her own self-sacrifice. It was the third time shead performed this paradoxically passive action, and each time it was the audience who exposed themselves as they took scissors to her clothing.

This was also the beginning of a sojourn in London for the Japanese-born New York artist that would catapult her from avant garde obscurity to global fame. Her exhibition at the Indica Gallery that same year was visited by John Lennon, who climbed one of her artworks, a ladder to the ceiling. At the top he used a magnifying glass to read the tiny word aYESa. The love kindled that day would be blamed for breaking up the Beatles.

The author of The Five, about the Ripper murders, turns her attention to another tragically misunderstood victim

In the canon of British true crime, the case of Dr Crippen routinely gets billed as the first amoderna murder. It wasnat that there was anything particularly original about the doctoras motives or methods: in January 1910 he slipped poison into his wifeas bedtime drink so that he could marry his secretary instead. Rather, it was the way that Crippen was caught that turned this run-of-the-mill suburban love triangle into an international cause cA(c)lA"bre.

Realising that it would only be a�matter of time before his wifeas dismembered remains were discovered in the cellar of the marital home in north London, Crippen and his secretary Ethel Le Neve fled to Canada in disguise. Such was the media hoopla surrounding the case that the sharp-eyed captain of the SS�Montrose quickly spotted the runaway lovers among his passengers. This was despite their unconvincing cover story of being afather and sona (the hand-holding and kissing gave the game away). Using the shipas brand-new Marconi wireless, Capt Andrew Kendall alerted the British authorities that he had the infamous fugitives in his sight. Within hours, Insp Dew of Scotland Yard had boarded a faster ship from Liverpool with the intention of reaching Newfoundland first, so that he would be ready to arrest Dr�Crippen and his companion when they made landfall. To a fascinated public, following the unfolding drama in the newspapers, it was as if time travel were being invented before their very eyes.

Documentary follows the baloeiros, who illegally build and release huge decorated balloons in cities, from where they can travel hundreds of miles

An intriguing film set in Brazil, first shown last year at the CPH:DOX documentary festival in Copenhagen, in which expatriate Danish film-maker Sissel Morell Dargis takes a look at a unique grassroots cultural phenomenon: the baloeiros, the ballooners. These are groups of young men, as secretive and loyal to each other as Freemasons, who (illegally) build and release huge decorated balloons in cities, from where they can travel hundreds of miles. Why? As kind of graffiti, or a community self-expression, or situationist artform, or just a subversive gesture of pure joie de vivre that does not need or admit of any explanation.

The baloeiros are harassed by the police, on the ostensible grounds that they are part of gang culture, and the authorities encourage local people to inform on those they suspect of building and transporting a balloon. But baloeiros are cheerfully committed to their own kind of public-access artistry. The balloons show colossal images of Sly Stallone and Luciano Pavarotti a aspirational role models and pop culture icons. As Dargis says: aA flying balloon belongs to everyone, even the police.a

A New York librarian is discovered unconscious in a park with no memory, in a mystery that challenges consensual reality

We first meet Jane O in the consulting room of Henry Byrd, a New York psychiatrist. Jane, a 38-year-old librarian, is neat, quiet, outwardly unremarkable. She sits without saying anything, then gets up and leaves. Her visit has lasted just 14 minutes and Henry fears he will not see her again. He detects in her aa loneliness of the soul a| [like] a pine tree growing alone on a great, wide plaina.

Their next encounter proves even stranger. Jane has been discovered unconscious in a public park with no memory of how she got there. A day of her life has gone missing and she is anxious about the welfare of her young son Caleb, who she failed to collect from nursery during her ablackouta. Terrified about how she might be judged for this memory lapse, she finally gives an account of the inexplicable event that brought her to Henry in the first place.

Prof Hannah Fry examines the kitchen phenomenon in her fascinating tech series. Plus: Rose Ayling-Ellisas emotional signing project. Hereas what to watch this evening

8pm, BBC Two
Yet another show about the air fryer a but itas OK, because this time itas to kick off the brilliant Prof Hannah Fryas third tech series, in which she examines seemingly ordinary objects in aobscene detaila. And this isnat about just recipes. Fry a a self-confessed convert a traces the origins of the kitchen phenomenon back to the aaccidental creation of a awonder wireaa in the 1900s and one first world war pilotas need for a hot dinner. Hollie Richardson

Two rice dishes from the Gulf: bottom-of-the-pot chicken and rice, AKA fegaaata, and a side or main of tomato, potato and saffron rice

The Gulf countries are known for their elaborate rice dishes, many of them inverted, so the bottom becomes the top and the top the bottom. Some of the best and most traditional ones are cooked over charcoal and palm wood in deep underground fire pits, so the smokiness takes over every grain. That isnat practical in most homes, but I like to think we can still produce the most wonderful rice dishes with just simple ingredients and a lot of love.

We would like to hear your memories of Val Kilmer a whether you met him, or appreciated his work as an actor

Val Kilmer, the actor best known for his roles in Top Gun, The Doors, and Batman Forever has died at the age of 65.

We would like to hear your memories of Val Kilmer a whether you met him, or appreciated his work as an actor.

Senators propose ahard-hittinga secondary sanctions and say aRussia is the aggressora; acoalition of the willinga moves forward. What we know on day 1,134

The influential US commentator has written a book about how politics can change peopleas lives for the better. But first, there are more pressing challenges to address ...

Ezra Klein, the New York Times podcast host and progressive mediaas undisputed nerd king, starts his new book with something of a palate cleanser for our troubled times. For a few paragraphs, he and his co-author, the Atlantic journalist Derek Thompson, whisk us out of the grim reality of contemporary politics to a world of Abundance (the word they picked as their title).

aYou open your eyes at dawn and turn in the cool bedsheets,a they purr, before conjuring a near-future utopia where the cost of living crisis is a distant memory. aYou live in a cocoon of energy so clean it barely leaves a carbon trace and so cheap you can scarcely find it on your monthly bill.a The fridge is full of fresh fruit and vegetables from skyscraper farms that sit amid rewilded landscapes. This is what we can look forward to, they say, if we sweep away the bureaucratic cobwebs that mean government too often gets in the way of innovation, rather than leading it.

A 19th-century zoologist found the alittle salt dwellera, which could be a portal to the past a if only we could locate it again

Last February, with colleagues Gert and Philipp and my daughter Francesca, I made the long journey to an unremarkable city called RAo Cuarto, east of the Argentinian Andes. We went in search of a worm of unusual distinction.

Why a worm? As humans, we naturally love the animals that are most familiar. But from a zoologistas point of view, the vertebrates, from mammals and birds to frogs and fish, can be seen as variations on a single theme. We all have a head at one end (with skull, eyes and jaws); in the middle, a couple of pairs of limbs (a goldfishas fins, or your arms and legs); and, holding all this together, a backbone ending in a tail.

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.

This week, from 2022: In northern Norway, trees are rapidly taking over the tundra and threatening an ancient way of life that depends on snow and ice

By Ben Rawlence. Read by Christien Anholt

The parliamentary leader of Franceas far-right National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, has been banned from public office for five years for embezzlement, ruining her chance of a presidential run. Angelique Chrisafis reports

It is a sentence that has prompted anger among rightwing leaders across the world and led to accusations that democracy is being threatened. This week, Marine Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of the National Rally (RN), the largest opposition party in the French parliament, was banned for five years from public office for embezzlement. Along with more than 20 others, she was found to have used money for European parliament assistants to pay party workers.

The shock sentence could end Le Penas hopes of running for president in 2027. She is now appealing and has hit back furiously, as have her supporters and allies. Some of her support could hurt her more than it helps, however. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said in response that amore and more European capitals are going down the path of violating democratic normsa. While Donald Trump and Viktor OrbA!n have also weighed in.

Photographer Sarah Mei Herman was 20 when her half-brother Jonathan was born a she spent the next two decades capturing intimate moments between him and their father

This new brown mascara shade gives you all the drama with alllll the softness for the dreamiest effect.

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No more listening to crying babies, dealing with dead phones, or suffering through motion sickness a hooray.

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"You should be wearing makeup for the customers."

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"Stop looking and buy this waffle maker. This is THE waffle make to buy." aa reviewer who made a *Thanksgiving stuffing waffle*, so you should probably listen to them

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"This product has saved my skin." a a reviewer after using these magical heartleaf toner pads

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"My grandma would eat a few pinches of raw ground beef whenever she made burgers or meatballs."

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Spring is upon us, so you might as well clean up your outdoor patio before that BBQ you have planned.

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"Three people and I walked out on the spot. Just absolutely disgusting."

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Little upgrades will go a long way in making your space feel new.

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"When I asked for a medically necessary hysterectomy, she asked me if I was OK with my husband leaving me because I would not be able to have children."

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You"ve been strong a so strong a for surviving this long at your makeshift desk, but maybe it"s time to try something new.

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"Rude. Do it again." aYou after using this viral $7 "universal" lip shade and realizing you might have to toss all your others to the curb.

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Just because your landlord has forbidden you to paint the walls or light candles doesn"t mean you can"t make your space into your very own cozy little retreat.

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Basket fillers they"re sure to get ~egg-cited~ about.

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This portable fan will save your life when you realize just how much time you"re gonna spend waiting in the sun.

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Back in my day, we wrote a 12-page essay the night before it was due all by ourselves!

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Brittany Balinski uses TikTok to talk about the aversatilitya of wool

Could this fermented drink hold the key to better health?

Study also reveals which fast food chains are the quickest at handing out orders and which are most accurate

aAnyone But Youa stars were seen together at Powellas sisteras wedding over the weekend

The decline of iconic high street brands like Woolworths, WH Smith, and BHS has significantly altered the landscape of our town centres

aItas a little disheartening that so many of the questions (and comments) were focused on my body instead of my music, my passion, or the decade of hard work that got me here,a Trainor wrote

The actor petitioned to remove his mother and father as his legal guardians when he was 15

Mildred Simoneriluto is on a ticking clock, as she has just weeks to find the ticket and claim her winnings

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end revealed he would be playing another season in the NFL last month

Dr Rupyas rigatoni with walnuts, tempeh and lentils is rich, hearty and high in protein a proof that healthy food doesnat have to taste like it

Mercury in retrograde supposedly creates havoc with communication, transport, and tech. Itas not about blaming it a or shifting responsibility onto a planet, says Charlotte Cripps. Itas just another small signpost in the journey of self-discovery

Dr Rupy Aujlaas spicy one-tray tikka bowl is a high-protein, high-flavour fix thatas as good for your taste buds as it is for your gut. Just donat skip the pickle

Dr Rupy Aujla stirs cinnamon, turmeric and cacao into this high-protein, high-fibre breakfast jar a proof that eating like a wellness influencer doesnat have to taste like it

Customers in possession of the product may either return it to Trader Joeas for a full refund or discard it