A fascinating 80s pop success story: best podcasts of the week

An enthralling history of the record label that stuffed the charts with hits takes in everything from Bananarama to Bronski Beat. Plus, Suzi Ruffell serves up a lovely series of LGBTQIA+ chat and discussion

Eight of the best secluded and affordable places to stay in Andalucía, Spain

From B&Bs and cabins to fincas and family hotels, these rural boltholes make ideal bases for exploring the region’s mountains, trails and historic towns and villages

For centuries, outsiders have been lured to the radiant hills and valleys of Andalucía, not least the Moors of north Africa who left such an impact on the land and culture. More recently, an influx of northern European aficionados has fostered a string of seductive, small-scale guesthouses to join some idiosyncratic Spanish-owned properties. These are idyllic, tranquil settings in which to de-stress and recharge, hike, ride, cycle, cook, swim or simply stargaze – the rural skies here are blissfully free of light pollution. Nor are cultural highlights ever far away, whether in Granada, Córdoba or Seville.

My Father’s Diaries review – haunting home-video excavates trauma of Srebrenica massacre

Ado Hasanović’s moving documentary transforms footage filmed during the Bosnian war into a devastating portrait of memory, survival and inherited grief

For years, film-maker Ado Hasanović has wanted to ask his father, Bekir, about his harrowing experiences during the Bosnian war but their conversations usually ended with curt, abrupt answers that obscured rather than illuminated the past. Bekir might be uncommunicative, but his collection of self-taped films and diary entries recorded during the height of the conflict tells a different story. Culled from this powerful personal archive, Hasanović’s poignant documentary forges a dialogue not just with history, but also across generations.

In 1993, along with two other friends, Bekir formed a film-making collective called John, Ben & Boys in the small mountain town of Srebrenica. As the war escalated, what began as a playful amateur exercise quickly transformed into intentional documentation, as if Bekir was already aware of the genocidal carnage that would soon come. With his small DV camera, he captured the camaraderie of his Bosniak community as well as the terror they endured as Serbian paramilitary groups neared. In scenes of good-humoured gatherings, captured in grainy, textured images, the terrifying sounds of gunshots and bombs ring in the air.

Oil jumps over 4% as Netanyahu and Trump remarks stoke worries of prolonged Middle East conflict

Oil prices jumped on Monday after Israel warned that the conflict with Iran was still ongoing.

Australian women accused of slavery in Islamic State territory in Syria face Melbourne court

Kawsar Ahmad, 53, also known as Abbas, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmad, 31, did not apply during brief hearing

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Two Australian women charged with slavery offences that allegedly occurred while they lived under Islamic State rule in Syria have faced a Melbourne court.

Kawsar Ahmad, 53, also known as Abbas, and her daughter, Zeinab Ahmad, 31, were arrested by officers from the Victorian joint counter-terrorism team at Melbourne airport on Thursday.

‘It’s like we went bankrupt overnight’: poorest Somalis suffer as piles of worthless shillings mount up

Banknotes are now so tattered that even buses refuse to accept them, as a dollarised economy and mobile phone payments push up the cost of essentials

As US troops withdrew from Somalia in the spring of 1994, a teenaged Muse Omar Jama began working as an exchange trader in Mogadishu’s Bakara market. More than three decades later, he still does the same job, but wonders for how much longer.

Jama, 49, sits in a plastic chair in the one-room office he shares with other traders. The auto-rickshaws speed by outside, but inside is quiet; the noise of bargaining has faded and the traders exchange few words between themselves.

David Gingell’s recipe for roast chicken with braised peas and lettuce

Roast chicken the Cornish way (with a splash of cider), for a simple, lighter Sunday lunch

Roasting a whole chicken seems to be one of those things that works all year, whether with salad in the summer or as a part of a heavy roast in the chillier months. This is a Cornish riff on the French classic petits pois à la française, and a really simple, lighter alternative to a traditional Sunday lunch. Plus, braising vegetables really unlocks another level of sweetness.

David Gingell is chef and co-founder of Primeur, Westerns Laundry and Jolene, all in London

Europe should behave more like China does if it wants to survive this age of chaos

Instead of obsessing over rules that have ceased to matter, we must consider giving Beijing a dose of its own medicine

The US and Israel may have started the war in Iran, but – apart from the belligerents themselves – it is China and Europe that stand to lose the most from it. Yet while European leaders watch like rabbits caught in the headlights as energy prices shoot through the roof, China has responded to the crisis with remarkable equanimity. It is striking how self-confident Beijing is ahead of this week’s Trump-Xi summit.

That’s because China is better prepared for what I call an age of “un-order”. This is not the same as disorder, where rules exist but are broken. Un-order is a world where the rules themselves have simply ceased to matter. While European governments have been obsessed with preserving order, China has been working out how to survive chaos.

Mark Leonard is director of the European Council on Foreign Relations and author of Surviving Chaos: Geopolitics When the Rules Fail

Greece scrambles to explain how explosive-packed drone landed in its waters

Minister defends preparedness against novel threat after officials detonate device suspected to be from Ukraine

Authorities in Greece have intensified investigations into how an explosive-packed drone ended up in waters off the west of the country.

An inquiry, involving specialised military teams, broadened at the weekend after bomb disposal experts detonated the unmanned device at sea.

Hantavirus: what happens to cruise ship passengers now and will they quarantine?

Up to 150 passengers and crew from hantavirus-hit MV Hondius start flying home aboard military and government planes from Spain’s Canary Islands

The complex operation to repatriate passengers and crew of the hantavirus-hit cruise ship, the MV Hondius, is almost complete.

Up to 150 people have started flying home aboard military and government planes from Spain’s Canary Islands, and the World Health Organization has recommended, but not mandated, a 42-day quarantine once they have landed.

Indigenous designers hold independent runway ahead of Australian fashion week – in pictures

On Sunday night in Sydney, on the eve of Australian fashion week, First Nations Fashion and Design (FNFD) staged their first runway show in four years. Titled “Reclamation”, the collective featured the work of six Indigenous brands and designers with an all-Indigenous cast of models, and closed with performances from rapper Barkaa and poet Luke Currie-Richardson. Announcing their plan to become an annual runway platform for Indigenous designers – outside of the industry’s formal structures – the FNFD founder, Grace Lillian Lee said: “Reclamation was never designed to fit comfortably within the existing fashion system. It was designed to challenge it, expand it, and ensure that our voices are not invited in temporarily, but embedded permanently within the future of Australian fashion”

Abe Foxman, former head of Anti-Defamation League, dies at 86

The ADL said in a statement that it "deeply mourns the loss of our longtime national director," without providing details about where and when Foxman died.

Antony Catalano: media mogul accused of assaulting wife excused from attending court due to fears over press scrutiny

Catalano’s lawyer says press attention ‘potentially detrimental’ to Australian Community Media co-owner’s mental health

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A media mogul charged with assaulting his wife has avoided facing court in person over concerns that growing media attention could be detrimental to his mental health.

Antony Catalano, 59, was charged with assault, false imprisonment and making threats to kill over an incident in the early hours of 13 March.

5/10: CBS Weekend News

Americans on hantavirus cruise ship headed back to the United States. Trump says Iran proposal "totally unacceptable."

5/10/2026: Prime Minister Netanyahu; Drawing the Lines; Gout Gout

First, Benjamin Netanyahu: The 60 Minutes Interview. Then, Gov. Landry on suspending Louisiana primaries. And, Gout Gout: The 60 Minutes Interview.

Polish ex-minister flees Hungary to the US after PM Magyar says country won’t protect people wanted elsewhere

Zbigniew Ziobro has been accused in Poland of leading an organised criminal enterprise and abuse of power, which he denies

Poland’s former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, wanted on several criminal charges in his home country, has fled Hungary to the United States, he confirmed on Sunday, after being granted asylum from former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s government last year.

“I am in the United States,” Ziobro told rightwing Polish broadcaster Republika. “I arrived yesterday, and this is my third time travelling around the country,” he said.

‘What does than mean?’: Wembanyama confused after playoff ejection for elbowing Reid

• Frenchman ejected for first time in his NBA career

• Minnesota level series 2-2 after Sunday’s 114-109 win

Victor Wembanyama was ejected for the first time in his NBA career after an elbow to the jaw and neck of Naz Reid as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the San Antonio Spurs to level their playoff series.

Wembanyama was whistled for an offensive foul as soon as he struck Reid, who had swarmed the Spurs star outside the paint along with teammate Jaden McDaniels after the 7ft 4in Wembanyama rebounded a missed three-pointer by the Spurs.

Dua Lipa sues Samsung for $15m over use of her image on TV boxes

British singer claims electronics company ‘repeatedly refused’ to stop using a photo of her on its packaging

Dua Lipa is suing Samsung for at least $15m (£11m, A$20.6m), alleging that the electronics company used a photo of her to sell its TVs without financially compensating her or seeking her permission.

According to the legal complaint, filed in a US district court in California on Friday, Samsung began using an image of Lipa on an image of a TV screen printed on its cardboard packaging for “a significant portion” of its TVs sold in the US last year.

U.S. cruise passengers fly back for hantavirus monitoring, as one tests positive

Passengers are returning to their home countries after weeks on the ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak. Most of the Americans aboard are headed for Nebraska to be evaluated by health officials.

Americans on hantavirus cruise ship heading back home

Americans who were on a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak are headed back to the United States. They were evacuated Sunday from the Canary Islands. Remy Inocencio is in Tenerife with the latest.

New video shows trespasser on Denver airport runway before deadly collision

A surveillance video shows the alleged trespasser on the runway at the Denver International Airport before a Frontier jet struck and killed the person.

Martin Short opens up about ‘nightmare’ death of his daughter Katherine

Actor and comedian speaks publicly for the first time since his 42-year-old daughter died by suicide in February

Martin Short has spoken for the first time about the death of his daughter, Katherine Short, saying her death has been “a nightmare for the family”.

Katherine died in February aged 42, at her home in the Hollywood Hills. The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office confirmed she died by suicide.

In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected]. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Ukraine war briefing: Mixed reaction to Putin proposal of Schröder as peace mediator

Critics question former German chancellor’s suitability, while others think Europe should seize every chance for peace. What we know on day 1,538

German officials have reacted cautiously to Vladimir Putin’s surprise suggestion that former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder could act as a mediator in Ukraine war peace talks, saying they had “taken note” of Putin’s comments but viewed them as part of “a series of bogus offers” from Russia, government sources told Agency-France Presse. One source said a real test of Moscow’s intentions would be to extend the current three-day truce.

Schröder, 82, has remained close to Putin long after leaving office, standing apart from most western leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. He previously held key roles in Russian energy projects, including work on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and a seat on the board of Russian oil firm Rosneft, which he gave up in 2022. Putin on Saturday said he thinks the Ukraine war is winding down and he nominated Schröder as a potential key negotiator to help end the conflict.

Michael Roth, a former lawmaker from Germany’s Social Democratic party (SPD) and chair of the foreign affairs committee, said a mediator “cannot be Putin’s buddy”, in an interview with Tagesspiegel. He stressed that any mediator must above all be accepted by Ukraine. “Neither Moscow nor we can decide that on Kyiv’s behalf.” Others within the party, however, have been more open to Putin’s suggestion.

Quoted by Der Spiegel, the SPD’s foreign affairs spokesperson in parliament, Adis Ahmetovic, said the proposal needs to be “carefully considered” with European partners. SPD lawmaker Ralf Stegner argued, in the same magazine, that “if we don’t want Putin and (US President Donald) Trump to decide Ukraine’s future” alone, Europe should seize every possible chance – however small.

Meanwhile, the US-mediated ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine appeared under serious strain on its second day on Sunday, writes Angelique Chrisafis and Pjotr Sauer. Both sides have accused the other of violating the deal through weekend attacks. Three people were killed in Russian drone strikes on areas near the frontline, and more than 200 battlefield clashes had taken place since early Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. Russia’s defence ministry said it had downed 57 Ukrainian drones over the past day and “responded in kind” on the battlefield.

The US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Moscow “soon enough” to continue talks with Russia, news agency Interfax reported Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov as saying on Sunday.

Russia has accused Armenia of providing Volodymyr Zelenskyy with “a platform for anti-Russian remarks”, in a further sign of a chill in relations between traditional allies Moscow and Yerevan. On a visit to Yerevan last week, Zelenskyy said Russia feared “drones may buzz over Red Square” in Moscow during the annual parade on 9 May. “The main thing for us is that Armenia does not adopt an anti-Russian stance,” the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Russia was awaiting an explanation from Yerevan on the matter.

Latvia’s defence minister resigned on Sunday, after the recent incursion of two Ukrainian drones into its territory, hitting oil storage facilities. Minister Adris Spruds’s decision followed a call for his resignation from Latvia’s prime minister, Evika Silina, who stated he had “lost (her) trust and that of the public”. Silina said anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough to counter the Thursday’s incursion.

On Thursday, two drones crossed over the Russian border into Latvia. A fire broke out, but was quickly brought under control. The Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said that the drones had flown into Latvia as a result of “Russian electronic warfare”.

Sen. Mark Kelly says Pentagon's $1.5 trillion budget request is "outrageous"

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona said the Trump administration's $1.5 trillion budget request for defense spending is "outrageous."

Israeli settlers force Palestinian family to exhume and rebury their father

The relatives of Hussein Asasa described to NPR how they were forced to exhume and rebury their father when Israeli settlers interfered with his grave.

Rivals season two review – if I could give this exquisite bonkbuster 10,000 stars, I would

The gloriously knowing adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel gets a tremendous second season. Its fabulous escapism is beyond earthly praise

Rupert Campbell-Black is a bounder, a braggart, a scoundrel who won’t play by the rules, by Jove. “The man is a loose cannon,” hisses show-jumping coach Malise Gordon (Rupert Everett), as Rupert (Alex Hassell) directs his own cannon at the latest in a seemingly endless conga-line of pantingly grateful locals. By “his own cannon” I mean, of course, his penis. Or rather his “willy”, for there is no aspect of the anatomy – or, indeed, life – that Rivals will not reduce to a cartoon while pointing and sniggering like a schoolgirl. And quite right, too. Who wants boring old reality when you could be engaging in an explosive bout of nude tennis with the MP for Chalford and Bisley (“Tit fault!”)? Anyway, back to Rupert, who, as the aforementioned minister for sport and “most handsome man in England”, is the throbbing nub of this unapologetically preposterous adaptation of the late Jilly Cooper’s 80s bonkbuster.

Rupert has a head for business and a body for wearing jodhpurs while shouting “ARE YOU READY FOR ME TO COME DOWN YOUR CHIMNEY?” during sex. Men admire his ruthlessness; horses are magnetised by his reckless approach to leisurewear.

Trump rejects Iran's latest response to U.S. ceasefire proposal

Iran delivered its response to Pakistani mediators on Sunday, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

Trump calls Iran’s response to peace plan ‘totally unacceptable’ as ceasefire frays

US president expresses ire at Tehran’s reported demands, as drones strike Gulf nations and Israel warns war ‘not over’

Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian response to a US peace proposal as “totally unacceptable”, on a day the month-old ceasefire showed signs of fraying as drone strikes were reported around the region and Benjamin Netanyahu warned the war was “not over”.

The Iranian counter-proposal was passed to Washington through Pakistani mediators.

Experts call for UK four-day week as study links long work hours to obesity

Countries such as US and Mexico that have longer hours also have higher obesity rates, research finds

Those who work longer hours are more likely to be obese and cutting how much time you spend working could help you keep the weight off, research suggests.

International research presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul compared working patterns and obesity prevalence for 33 OECD countries from 1990 to 2022. The study found that countries such as the US, Mexico and Colombia, which have longer annual working hours, also had higher obesity rates, even though northern European countries consume more energy and fat on average than those in Latin America.

Coast Guard seizes sailboat in Lynette Hooker's disappearance probe, sources say

The sailboat used by Brian and Lynette Hooker​ in their travels around the Bahamas — named "Soulmate" — has been seized by U.S. Coast Guard investigators.

Rashford seals title for Barcelona and completes week to forget for Real Madrid

This time it was Marcus Rashford who delivered the knockout blow. Three days after the fight between Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni that ended with Real Madrid’s vice-captain taken to hospital and the crisis at the club laid bare for all to see, they went to the Camp Nou and finally, definitively relinquished a league they had lost long ago. For the first time in 94 years a clásico decided the title, 62,000 fans starting the party as goals from the Englishman and Ferran Torres took Hansi Flick’s team over the line with three games to spare.

If, that is, decided is the word. For Madrid, at least it is over now. They had avoided it ending last week by beating Espanyol, just across the city limits, sparing themselves from having to give their rivals a guard of honour before this game but they knew they could not avoid it for ever: their aspiration was limited to stopping Barcelona celebrating in their presence. But, like so much else this campaign, that was beyond them, and so a second successive season closes without a trophy, and on the worst possible stage.

Nobel laureate’s smuggled memoir details beatings and neglect in Iranian prisons

Writing by Narges Mohammadi, arrested 14 times for activism, offers a disturbing insight into treatment

In an exclusive extract of writing smuggled from prison in Iran, the Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has described the “torture” of solitary confinement, and her systematic medical neglect by the prison system.

The writing from the past decade will be part of a soon to be published memoir that gives a rare and alarming insight into the treatment of Mohammadi, who is in critical condition. It details beatings, constant interrogations, deprivation of medical care and long stretches in solitary confinement during her numerous imprisonments.

VAR offers up Arsenal’s title-deciding moment for digital mess generation | Barney Ronay

Multibillion stage of title-relegation stagger boils down to a referee in front of a screen decoding a raised forearm

There’s a great moment towards the end of the otherwise non-great Rocky III, when Clubber Lang is asked by a straw-hatted, bowtie-twirling US sports reporter for a prediction before his imminent title fight. There’s a pause as Clubber looks down, lets the mask of showmanship drop, and just says the word “pain”.

You can say that again. Let’s face it, this was always going to hurt, whichever way the latest note in the conjoined title‑relegation stagger fell. Just as it was always likely the destination of the Premier League title would come down to staring at a referee staring at a screen to decide the minutiae of an arm wrestle at a corner.

Dozens of people from cruise ship struck by hantavirus leave Tenerife

Britons among passengers and crew taken off vessel and put on flights to 10 countries, while France and US later say two people showing symptoms

• Explainer: what happens to cruise ship passengers now and will they quarantine?

Dozens of passengers and crew from countries around the world have been evacuated from a cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak.

British people were among those taken off the ship as part of a two-day operation that began on Sunday in Tenerife. They were put on chartered flights back to the UK, where they will enter hospital quarantine in Merseyside. At about 9pm on Sunday, a plane carrying 22 UK citizens landed in Manchester, it was reported.

Netanyahu says Iran war is 'not over' as Trump rejects latest Iranian offer

The Iran war, dragging into its second month, has spiked oil and gas prices in the U.S. and around the world.

Adolescence scoops four prizes in dominant night at Bafta TV awards

Netflix show wins best limited drama while Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper and Christine Tremarco take acting prizes

• Bafta TV awards 2026: the full list of winners

• Bafta TV awards 2026: on the red carpet – in pictures

The Netflix drama Adolescence, which won universal acclaim for its chilling portrayal of violence by disaffected teenage boys, has dominated the Bafta TV awards.

The four-part series where each episode was filmed in a single take won the award for best limited drama, while Stephen Graham, who co-created the show, took the best leading actor prize.

Foal review – British Asian’s search for belonging ripples between tenderness and rage

Finborough theatre, London
Titas Halder’s raw solo play relays one young man’s feverish struggle in the face of racism, deftly played by Amar Chadha-Patel in his stage debut

Titas Halder’s striking new one-man play is about a young British Asian man, A.K., growing up in Britain and experiencing increasingly brutal incidents of racism: bullying in the playground; casual jibes at work; parents who no longer feel safe in their family home. And at the centre of it all: a funny and sensitive man, struggling to find himself and fracturing in two.

This is a strangely arresting production but there are some issues too. It feels like there’s a fairly specific play hiding in here but we’re only given scraps of details. A.K. spends his youth growing up on unnamed “Island” and later moves to the city, where he lives in a dingy flat on Seven Sisters Road. There are fleeting references to Walkmans in his childhood and, later, an allusion to the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes but the writing wavers between a feverish nightmare and something much more grounded and political.

5/10: Sunday Morning

Hosted by Jane Pauley. Featured: The Supreme Court ushers in a new era of gerrymandering; the legacy of CBS News Radio; motherless daughters; comedian Martin Short; rebuilding L.A.; remembering Ted Turner; and Martha Stewart prepares a Mother's Day breakfast.

Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 10, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Sen. Mark Kelly join Margaret Brennan.

Pedestrian fatally struck by Frontier plane departing Denver for LA

A pedestrian was hit by a Frontier airplane departing Denver for LA late Friday night, the airport and airline confirmed.

England squeeze past New Zealand in first ODI thanks to Charlie Dean

• 1st ODI: England, 211-9, bt New Zealand, 210, by 1 wkt

• Captain guides long tail to low target

England’s biggest summer got off to an underwhelming start at Chester-le-Street, as they limped to a one-wicket win in the first one-day international against New Zealand.

Only a calm rearguard effort from the stand-in captain, Charlie Dean, who finished unbeaten on 31 and valiantly marshalled England’s long tail, enabled them to crawl across the line.

Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw sinks Chelsea in dramatic FA Cup semi-final

Khadija Shaw showed Manchester City what they are giving up and Chelsea what they are potentially getting in emphatic style at Stamford Bridge, scoring an injury-time equaliser and then an extra time winner as City came from two goals behind to earn a place in the FA Cup final against Brighton.

Shaw has dominated headlines this week: the Women’s Super League top scorer is set to leave City and Chelsea are leading the chase. Her 91st-minute goal forced extra time before a thumping header in the 103rd minute ensured City’s double ambitions remain alive after the most fraught of encounters.

Ruud says Sinner is ‘beatable’ as world No 1 seeks record run at Italian Open

• Italian could win record sixth straight Masters 1000 title

• Naomi Osaka beats Diana Shnaider to reach fourth round

Casper Ruud believes Jannik Sinner is not unbeatable but the rest of the field will have to catch the world No 1 on a favourable day as they try to stop him winning a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title on home soil at the Italian Open.

“His results this year kind of speak for themselves,” said Ruud. “Four Masters 1000s in a row to begin the year. Four of four. He’s already made history, he can make more history. But he also showed in the beginning of the year, he’s beatable. Novak [Djokovic] beat him. [Jakub] Mensik beat him.

Rhythm nation: politician’s viral dance moves mark new, optimistic era for Hungary

Zsolt Hegedűs’s celebrations since the election of Péter Magyar have sparked joy across the country

As Hungary’s Péter Magyar took office, ousting Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, the daylong event on Saturday was laced with symbolism, from the return of the EU flag to parliament to the ringing out of the European anthem, Ode to Joy.

But it was the 56-year-old tipped to be the new health minister – and more specifically, his dance moves – that may have become the most potent symbol of Hungary’s new political era.

The Guardian view on the Welsh and Scottish elections: Plaid’s triumph heralds a new era in devolved politics | Editorial

Progressive nationalist parties now hold power in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. That will be a challenge for the United Kingdom’s overcentralised state

When the Scottish and Welsh parliaments were created on the eve of the millennium, the then Labour government in Westminster believed that it had engineered a win-win situation. Devolution, it was hoped, would see off any nationalist threat in Scotland and Wales. Meanwhile, the Labour party’s longstanding political dominance in both nations would see it take comfortable control of the two new parliaments.

That was then. Last week’s devolved elections left Scottish and Welsh Labour battered, bruised and humiliated. Plaid Cymru’s historic victory in Wales, and a fifth successive triumph for the Scottish National party (SNP), mean that pro-independence governments are now set for the first time to rule in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast (where Sinn Féin won in 2022). The starting gun has been fired on a new and constitutionally contested era in the politics of the UK.

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.

The Guardian view on the WHO pandemic treaty: the west’s fantasy negotiations have put the world at risk | Editorial

After five years of deliberation the global south has forced the question that defined the Covid crisis: who will get the vaccines?

The Covid-19 pandemic did deep and lasting damage to the international political system. Countries in the global south are keenly aware that the established order let them down. They received vaccines later, in smaller numbers and often at a higher price than rich countries, resulting in avoidable death and suffering, and extended economic malaise. Last week, a coalition of those countries made their displeasure known by continuing to stonewall negotiations on the vaunted pandemic preparedness treaty of the World Health Organization (WHO), sending a clear message that when the next crisis arrives, they will not accept the same status quo.

An international treaty is sorely needed. But five years into negotiations, it is clear that the western backers of this plan, especially in Europe, have consistently presented it as a fait accompli, while avoiding the most basic and obvious political impasse before them.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (May 10)

A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.

Nicola Jennings on Keir Starmer’s reaction to the election results – cartoon

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5/10: Face The Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," amid the fragile ceasefire with Iran, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly join. Plus Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu discusses whether his party can take control of the House in November and former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has the latest on the hantavirus outbreak.

The kindness of strangers: ‘That quilt serves as a daily reminder of all the goodness in this world’

I was secretly devastated to have missed out on the quilt. To my surprise, the woman who’d won it wanted me to have it

I spotted the quilt the moment I walked in. It was magnificent – hand-sewn in shades of vibrant purple and green by a local quilting maestro in a pattern known as “the drunkard’s path”.

My husband and I were attending a fundraiser for Nepal, to raise money to rebuild a school that had been struck by the 2015 earthquake. The quilt was up for grabs as part of a raffle. I loved it so much I bought 10 tickets, hoping like hell I’d be the lucky winner.

Anderson stuns former club Newcastle with late equaliser as Forest seal safety

Where did Elliot Anderson find the strength to score the goal that ­ultimately enabled Nottingham Forest to retain their Premier League status? Not only did he show incredible endeavour to start and finish the decisive move, propelling into the six-yard box with a couple of minutes of time to run, but the England midfielder, an ever-present for Forest and now a fixture for his country, was playing 48 hours after the funeral of his mother, Helen. “There have been a few things going on recently so it felt really nice,” Anderson said by way of understatement afterwards.

After a give-and-go with James McAtee and burning past Bruno Guimarães, the Newcastle captain, rather than admiring his initial pass, Anderson flashed a shot past Nick Pope from a tight angle. As his teammates celebrated, Anderson lay on the floor with cramp. Anderson has been Forest’s best player this season by some distance, even accounting for Morgan Gibbs-White’s incredible form this calendar year and Neco Williams’s consistent displays from full-back.

Thousands attend rally against antisemitism outside Downing Street

Conservative and Reform leaders cheered as they address crowd, while Labour’s Pat McFadden met with boos and shouts of ‘where is Starmer?’

Thousands of people gathered outside Downing Street on Sunday to protest an increase in antisemitic hate crimes and violence, as senior politicians and interfaith leaders called for unity.

The Standing Strong: Extinguish Antisemitism rally, backed by more than 30 Jewish groups, drew thousands of people to Whitehall, as Conservative and Liberal Democrat party leaders, alongside Labour and Reform representatives, addressed a crowd studded with Israeli and union jack flags and ‘Where is Keir?’ placards.

Aston Villa frustrated by Zian Flemming strike as Burnley rally for rare point

It was always going to be difficult to follow up the high of booking a Europa League final place for Aston Villa but a tired draw at Burnley fell below expectations. This was supposed to be the day Villa all-but-secured Champions League football by beating an already-relegated team but instead were held on an entertaining afternoon at Turf Moor .

Villa are four points clear of sixth-placed Bournemouth with Liverpool and Manchester City to come, making this a missed opportunity, even if they do have the backup of facing Freiburg for a place at Europe’s top table. Jaidon Anthony and Zian Flemming sandwiched goals from Ross Barkley and Ollie Watkins, ensuring Villa cannot afford to completely rest for the remainder of the domestic season.

‘One of the greatest invisible tragedies’: is the loss of childhood imagination inevitable?

We have created the most stifling and sanitised imaginative space conceivable for children, says teacher Brendan James Murray. Today true imagination has become a radical act

The six children sit together at the waterline in roaring wind. Seagulls dip and strain, beating their wings against the gusts as, far below, waves crest, thump, whisper. A girl, scarcely three years old, stands suddenly and looks out towards that horizon. Striding past them in the distance, his immense feet hidden beneath the rim of the horizon, is a giant.

American artist NC Wyeth painted The Giant in 1923. The low angle emphasises the giant’s immensity, and all the children’s faces are turned away from the viewer. In this way, those children become anyone we care to transpose into this magical scene. What child has not lain in the grass to watch some cloud-image, an animal perhaps, gradually dissolve into the amorphous collection of water droplets that are its banal reality?

Mental illness is pregnancy’s number one complication. It’s time to support those who suffer from it | Edna Lekgabe

Integrated mental healthcare for maternity services, more perinatal psychiatrists and public awareness of the problem could deliver meaningful change

• The modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their work

When Mia* was referred to me, she was 32 weeks pregnant and had not slept properly in two months. Her GP had told her it was “just pregnancy insomnia”. Her obstetrician said it was normal and suggested she try going to bed earlier with a pregnancy pillow. By the time she sat in my consulting room, hands clenched around a damp tissue, she had been quietly planning how her partner and baby would be better off without her.

Mia is not a real person. She is a composite – an amalgam of the hundreds of women I see each year in my perinatal psychiatry practice. But her story is so common it could be a template. A woman develops psychological symptoms during pregnancy or the postpartum period. She mentions them, tentatively, at an antenatal appointment. She is reassured that what she feels is normal. Weeks or months pass. By the time she reaches specialist care, she is freefalling into a crisis.

Died Pretty’s Doughboy Hollow: can Australia’s most overlooked album finally find the audience it deserves?

Thirty-five years after release, the Australian classic is finally getting a vinyl reissue

Brett Myers, the former guitarist of one of Australia’s greatest bands, Died Pretty, admits he’s a terrible judge of his own work. Back in 1991 – after spending a few weeks mixing the band’s classic fourth album, Doughboy Hollow, in London – he nervously played a tape of the finished work in the New York offices of the band’s overseas label, Beggars Banquet.

Myers was aware it was different from anything the band had done before but that didn’t mean he knew whether it was any good. Until the first song, Doused, lit up the room. By the end of the second, DC – the late Ron Peno’s elegy for a departed friend – Beggars’ staff were out of their seats, dancing and cheering.

Britain’s visceral dislike of Keir Starmer illuminates a problem for his successor | Samuel Earle

There are many good reasons to not like the prime minister. But ours is an age in which hatred is a remarkably popular currency – leaders need a strategy for countering it

It might be that Keir Starmer, not known for his rhetorical skills, expresses himself most clearly through his furrowed brow. It has a way of telling the public that none of this is easy and that difficult decisions must be made. It says that although Starmer wishes it were otherwise, things will get worse before they get better, if they do indeed get better; that there are no good options, only difficult decisions. The local and regional elections on Friday meted out another round of pain for Starmer, and his furrowed brow was once again doing a lot of the talking. “The results are tough, they are very tough,” he said. “That hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.”

Starmer’s furrowed brow courts pity and patience – but voters are in no mood to feel sorry for their prime minister. Instead, if the public’s feelings towards Starmer could be reduced to a single emotion, it would probably be hatred, resentment or scorn. Even those who don’t like Starmer can be surprised at the sheer intensity and spread of the animosity towards him. “[It] is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced,” John McDonnell said on LBC recently. On Newsnight on Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey said that “visceral dislike” of Starmer was the local elections’ defining theme – and the Labour peer Thangam Debbonaire conceded that “I’ve certainly picked that up on the doorstep, yes.”

Samuel Earle is the author of Tory Nation: The Dark Legacy of the World’s Most Successful Political Party

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.

Nature: Mares and foals

We leave you this Mother's Day Sunday with mares caring for their foals in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Videographer: Kevin Kjergaard.

Pat Seftel on Mother's Day

Filmmaker Josh Seftel talks with his mother, Pat, about a day devoted to moms.

A mother's (and daughter's) love

Growing up, Ana Duarte and her mother, Anette, went through rough times and were frequently homeless, which Ana blamed on her mom. Their relationship was tested when a bitter Ana left to build her own life. Once Ana finally got her own apartment, she gave her mother a call. Steve Hartman reports.

Rockets, remembrance and religious parades: the weekend in pictures

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

A deadly bacterium is creeping up the US east coast. How worried should we be?

Warming ocean waters are priming beaches and raw shellfish for Vibrio even as scientists are trying to stay one step ahead

Bailey Magers and Sunil Kumar cut strange figures on Pensacola Beach. Bags of disinfectant solution surrounded them on the white sand; their gloved hands juggled test tubes while layers of rubber and plastic shielded their skin from the elements. As the two organized their seawater samples on the popular Florida shoreline last August, an older woman wearing a swimsuit walked over to ask what they were doing.

“We’re just actively monitoring water quality,” they told her, but she pressed on.

A chocolate laboratory in Italy will be good for chocolate eaters — and farmers

The chocolate biz is raising the bar with a lab to assess cacao beans from around the world. (Talk about a sweet gig!) Consumers and farmers stand to benefit from the "Standard of Excellence" program.

A city rises again from the ashes – but will it be strong enough?

In Los Angeles, rebuilding after last year's devastating wildfires has been a race to the status quo, with speed winning out over safety and strength.

How will L.A. rise from the ashes?

In Los Angeles, rebuilding after last year's devastating wildfires has been a race to the status quo, with speed winning out over safety and strength. Correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti, who had written about L.A.'s reconstruction efforts in his book "Torched," talks about how rebuilding after a disaster should take steps to prevent future catastrophes.

Motherless daughters: Coming together

Twenty years ago, Hope Edelman, author of the bestseller "Motherless Daughters," founded a global support network for women who, like her, were young when their mothers died – to share tears, sisterhood and affirmation.

Motherless daughters: Coming together

Twenty years ago, Hope Edelman, author of the bestseller "Motherless Daughters," founded a global support network for women who, like her, were young when their mothers died. While those who attend Motherless Daughter retreats experience a fair share of tears, they also experience laughter, sisterhood and affirmation. Faith Salie talks with participants who carry their mothers' memories with them, some of whom are entering the uncharted territory of becoming mothers themselves.

Two arrested over arson attack at former synagogue in east London

Man, 45, and 52-year-old woman held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson after blaze in Whitechapel

Two people have been arrested by counter-terrorism officers investigating an arson attack at a former synagogue in east London.

A 45-year-old man and a woman, 52, were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson and have been taken into police custody.

Passage: In memoriam

"Sunday Morning" remembers some of the notable figures who left us this week, including veteran New York Yankees sportscaster John Sterling.

Extended interview: Dan Rather on CBS News Radio

In this web exclusive, CBS News veteran Dan Rather talks with Mo Rocca about the impact that the heralded CBS Radio News had on him – as a child growing up in Texas, and as a young journalist learning by the example of "Murrow's Boys." He also discusses CBS Radio News' role in the evolution of broadcast journalism.

CBS News Radio, a beacon of broadcast journalism, signs off

Founded nearly a century ago, CBS Radio set the standard for radio news coverage, featuring legends such as Edward R. Murrow, Robert Trout and Charles Osgood, and created the template for broadcast journalists. But on May 22, CBS will end its heralded radio service. Mo Rocca celebrates the long history of CBS News Radio, and talks with current and former staffers, including "Sunday Morning" correspondent Martha Teichner (who reported on radio for decades), and Dan Rather, a veteran radio correspondent and former anchor of the "CBS Evening News."

Remembering Ted Turner, an American original

Ted Turner, the brash, visionary entrepreneur who founded CNN, transformed cable television, raced yachts in the America's Cup, and became one of America's leading conservationists, died May 6 at 87. "Sunday Morning" correspondent Lee Cowan looks back at the outsized life and restless ambition of a true American original – a man who reshaped the media landscape, helped restore the American bison, and poured his fortune into conservation, philanthropy, and global causes.

A Mother's Day breakfast with Martha Stewart

Just in time for Mother's Day, Martha Stewart, whose latest book is "The Martha Way," offers "Sunday Morning" viewers tips on preparing a special breakfast for that special mom.

Supreme Court ruling ushers in a new era of gerrymandering

The Supreme Court has ruled that, under the Voting Rights Act, Congressional districts can no longer be drawn along racial lines, but can be shaped by partisan aims. The result: A dash to re-draw voting districts in several states. What does this portend for democracy?

Almanac: May 10

"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.

SCOTUS ruling ushers in a new era of gerrymandering

In 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, a momentous piece of civil rights legislation that broke down barriers facing Black voters. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that voting districts can no longer be drawn along racial lines, but could be shaped by partisan aims. The result: a dash to re-draw voting districts in several states. "Sunday Morning" national correspondent Robert Costa talks with key voices about what the Court's ruling portends for democracy.

Daizen Maeda’s brilliance takes Celtic past Rangers and puts Hearts on spot

If the scale of celebration that met the conclusion to this derby is anything to go by, Celtic believe retention of the Scottish title is within touching distance. This felt a hugely significant afternoon, not only in respect of palpable optimism in Glasgow’s East End but for discussion around the Rangers manager, Danny Röhl. His side’s latest capitulation will raise further questions over whether Röhl is in the right movie.

Celtic have cut Hearts’ lead at the summit to a single point and three goals. The next chapter in this most thrilling of races is on Wednesday evening. Celtic travel to Motherwell as Hearts host Falkirk. The possibility of a final-day shootout – Hearts visit Celtic Park on Saturday – is rising. In Celtic, Hearts have direct opponents who have found their groove at precisely the right time. Falling short at this point, when seeking to become the first non-Old Firm title winner since 1985, would hurt Hearts badly.

I knew my writing students were using AI. Their confessions led to a powerful teaching moment | Micah Nathan

The problem wasn’t just the perfectly polished, yet mediocre prose. It’s what’s lost when we surrender the struggle to translate thought into words

I have been teaching fiction writing at MIT since 2017. Many of my students last wrote fiction in middle school, and very few have experienced a proper workshop, so at the start of every semester I offer these directions for writer and reader alike:

Read the story at least twice. Mark what works and what doesn’t – underline great sentences, flag clunky syntax, gaps in logic and unrealistic dialogue. Ask yourself: does the story work? Why or why not? What could improve it? Answer in a signed letter to the author, attached to their story. Give your honest opinions. Remember that an effective peer review demands close reading of the text accompanied by a boldness of spirit.

Research sheds light on GI’s murder of seven-year-old girl in Northern Ireland in 1944

William Harrison, a US soldier stationed in the region, was convicted and hanged for the murder of Patsy Wylie

On the afternoon of 25 September 1944, William Harrison, a US soldier stationed in Northern Ireland, visited the cottage of the Wylie family in Killycolpy, County Tyrone, and offered to buy treats for the children.

He had visited before and was, if not a friend, at least known to the family. Mary Wylie let him take her seven-year-old daughter, Patricia, better known as Patsy, across the fields to the shops.

Social documentary network ZEKE award 2026 winners – in pictures

Ginevra Bonina wins the 2026 ZEKE award for systemic change for her project Out for Blood, which highlights period poverty in India and the women and girls fighting to reclaim the body ‘as a site of struggle, resistance and liberation’. Ebrahim Alipoor wins the award for documentary photography for his long-term project, Bullets Have No Borders, which showcases the lives of border porters who carry goods across the treacherous Iran-Iraq mountains to support their families

Meet the YouTube whisperers, a booming class of advisors behind MrBeast and other million-dollar channels

A burgeoning group of YouTube strategists are charging big money to YouTubers who want to expand their popularity.

Keir Starmer's party lost big in U.K. local elections. Here's what comes next

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour party suffered major losses in local elections held across Britain last week. So far, Starmer has rejected calls for his resignation.

Temple Israel rebuilds after terror attack

Two months ago, a gunman drove through the preschool at Temple Israel, the largest synagogue in Michigan. Every child and teacher survived, but the community is still displaced and navigating the trauma of the attack. 

How to make arancini – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

These fried rice balls are the Sicilian equivalent of a sandwich lunch, and can be batch-made in advance. Here is your step-by-step guide …

Before I wrote this recipe, it hadn’t occurred to me that the word “arancini” means “little oranges”, and, plump, round and golden as they are, it makes sense, too. Indeed, these robust rice balls, which are said to have come to Sicily with Arab invaders in the 10th century, are now, according to the late Antonio Carluccio, the local equivalent of a sandwich lunch.

Prep 25 min
Cook 45 min
Makes 8 large balls

‘Amazon of America’: film paints vision of a post-coup Brazil giving up rainforest

Vitória Régia imagines rightwing Bolsonaro plot succeeded with US help – and highlights threats facing Indigenous peoples

The year is 2025 and far-right coup plotters have annihilated Brazil’s democracy, assassinating the president, closing the national congress and surrendering the Amazon rainforest and its untold riches to the United States.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Amazon of America,” a thick-accented North American soldier tells a group of journalists being taken on a propaganda tour of an oil refinery in the newly annexed jungle realm. Nearby, a replica of the Statue of Liberty has been carved out of the wilderness to celebrate Washington’s tutelage over more than half of Brazil.

Happy Mother's Day to the kindest mom. P.S. Your kindness annoyed me when I was a kid

She and her siblings had to make tea for and share food with every visitor. That did not make her happy. Today she has a different perspective. So she finally asked her mom: What made you so kind?

‘I was in a terrible state’: actor David Morrissey tells how social anxiety led him to alcoholism

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Liverpool-born actor says depression and anxiety followed death of his father when he was 15

The actor David Morrissey has spoken of how “terrible” social anxiety contributed to him becoming an alcoholic.

“I am a recovering alcoholic,” Morrissey, who has been sober for 21 years, told Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. “Drinking first was about anxiety. I’ve had this terrible social anxiety and that helped me get through it.”

Streaming platform Twitch lets users enter viral ‘mogging’ beauty contests

Previously prohibited use of websites such as Omoggle that connect a streamer to a stranger’s video feed now allowed

Last week, at 4am, 19-year-old Sammy Amz was scrolling through X when something caught his eye: a popular Twitch streamer was competing in a 1v1 “mog-off” with a stranger, and losing.

The next day he opened the Omoggle gaming website and began to play. Quickly he matched with another user – green dots appeared on their faces onscreen, as the website began to compare their measurements: canthal tilt, palpebral fissure ratio, nose-to-face width ratio and so on.

My egg, my wife’s womb, our baby: how we found our way to lesbian motherhood

When Leah and I planned a family, we wanted to be as mutual as possible. Could reciprocal IVF – Leah carrying an embryo made from my egg – be the way forward?

Late last year, it became my friend’s favourite party trick. “Rosa’s going to have a baby next week,” she’d say to a group of people who didn’t know me. I’d watch their faces as they tried to inconspicuously scan my body, detecting no sign of a bump. “Congratulations!” they’d say, smiles tight, clearly wondering what other delusions I might have up my sleeve.

I was, however, about to have a baby. At daybreak on a warm October day, our beautiful, 6lb 10oz, 19.5in‑long baby girl was born; skin pink and taut, scream wet and bright. I held my wife’s hand and head as our daughter emerged from her body – a daughter who had initially come from me.

Gullah Geechee people set out to keep their family land. Unclear titles and surging taxes are pushing them out

Property disputes, predatory developers and surging sea levels are putting the historic Black community at risk

On Arthur Champen’s half-acre property in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, a thicket of southern live oaks, palmettos and pine trees muffle the roar of cars on nearby highway 278. His haint blue house, lightened by the sun, sits on stilts to protect it from flooding that comes with the high tide. During the spring, it is common for the marshland adjacent to his land to turn into a muddy soup. “Other than the cars,” Champen, 81, said, “you hear how peaceful it is?”

About a decade ago, Champen’s family nearly lost the grassy marshland next door that their family bought several generations ago.

Of course we look for ourselves in art — but if we stop there, we're missing out

As I watched the new series, I only cared about Piggy — the thoughtful, smart kid stranded on an island with other boys. That made me think about what we look for in art.

How a pill approved 25 years ago transformed cancer treatment

When the Food and Drug Administration approved Gleevec to treat a form of leukemia in 2001, it ushered in a new era in cancer care.

This is how we do it: ‘Since menopause, my sex drive has disappeared’

Ali used to want sex more than James, and feels guilty that she doesn’t enjoy it as much as she used to
• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

Any pressure to have sex doesn’t come from James – it comes from within, from a fear of complete loss

Pardoned January 6 rioter sentenced to seven years for Virginia burglary

Zachary Alam spent four years in jail for his role in the Capitol attack before Trump pardoned him in 2025

A convicted participant in the 6 January 2021 US Capitol attack who was pardoned at the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency has been ordered to serve seven years in prison after a jury found him guilty of committing a burglary in Virginia in May 2025.

Zachary Alam, 34, had previously drawn one of the stiffest prison sentences – eight years – for his hand in the violence carried out at the US Capitol in Washington DC by supporters of Trump after his first presidency ended in defeat to Joe Biden after the 2020 White House election.

‘Blindfolded, I sat down slowly. Then the interrogation began’: Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi on the torture of solitary confinement

Sentenced to 44 years in prison for her political activism, she is now critically ill and her family warn she may soon die in custody. In this exclusive excerpt from her writings, smuggled out of prison at immense risk, Mohammadi describes the horror of her incarceration

The cell had no ventilation. At the top of the door, at the highest point, there was a window set close to the ceiling, covered with a perforated metal sheet. The tiny holes in the sheet would allow the thinnest strands of sunlight to promise morning, and as the sun’s golden rays disappeared, they would signal the coming of night.

The most delusional element of solitary confinement is time itself. The hands of the clock are gone; day and night pass without measure. Time becomes nothing but a narrow beam of light slipping through the small holes in a metal sheet. I didn’t dare take an afternoon nap, because I would lose my grip on time entirely. In the outside world, such a nap might last only minutes – but inside the cell, within the confines of my shackled mind, it felt as though years had passed. When I woke up, I didn’t know if it was still today, if I had slipped back into yesterday, or if I had already arrived at tomorrow.

Book excerpt: "Torched" by Jonathan Vigliotti

In his new book, the CBS News correspondent writes of the warning posed by the inadequate response to last year's catastrophic wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in Southern California – as well as to the daunting task of rebuilding.

Cape Verde: Tiny nation, massive World Cup dream

In Cape Verde, a small island nation off West Africa, World Cup qualification is transforming dreams on and off the pitch.

‘10 minutes of nirvana’: 52 writers on the best sandwich of their life

Are you feeling hungry? If not, you will be after reading about the world’s most mouth-watering, life-changing sandwiches of all time ...

A crab stick and taramasalata baguette
I was young and carefree, living in Barons Court, west London, in the mid-90s. Chains weren’t a thing, and delis all had sandwich fillings laid out in silver dishes of a uniform, surgical shape, inviting adventure. Russian salad and ham? Sure, why not. The price structure was weird: sometimes everything was the same, and other times you’d accidentally hit a premium ingredient and your sandwich would be £3.50. That’s how I hit on the crab stick and taramasalata baguette, after a financial catastrophe involving actual crab. Crab sticks taste nothing like crab. They are, in fact, more delicious. So much better. And everything so pink. My life was like a fairytale. Zoe Williams

A vegetarian Christmas focaccia
Christmas sandwiches can be wildly underwhelming for veggies – but I’m still craving Glasgow cafe Boca’s offering: salty focaccia, stuffed to the brim with mushroom and chestnut roast, apricot glazed carrots and parsnips, cranberry and walnut agrodolce, sprout slaw and the option to add hefty slices of brie – which, of course, I did. Indulgent, Christmassy, and not a “festive falafel” in sight. Leah Harper

‘I will sing at the drop of a hat’: Jeff Goldblum’s honest playlist

The actor and pianist swapped playing Beethoven for Deep Purple and knows what to put on at a party, but which of his movie themes has he put words to?

The first song I learned to play
When I was eight, my piano teacher Tommy Emil would come over to our house in Pittsburgh, and would suffer because I hadn’t practised Beethoven’s Für Elise. Instead, it thrilled me to practise jazz arrangements of Alley Cat, Stairway to the Stars and Deep Purple.

The first song I fell in love with
My dad brought home Misty by Errol Garner, also from Pittsburgh and his favourite piano player. With his block chords and particular rhythm, he makes the piano sound like a whole orchestra, so I fell in love with it, too.

Newborns to silverbacks: counting mountain gorillas in Uganda – in pictures

National Geographic photographer and WWF ambassador Jasper Doest joined conservation teams during the latest mountain gorilla census in Bwindi Impenetrable national park, taking pictures of the apes and the people essential to their survival