Millions of children could lose free school meals this fall, experts say

Some families could face an additional $2,200 in food costs this year if their kids lose access to free school meals, according to one estimate.

Iran, Oman deal on Strait of Hormuz getting close, Tehran says

Iran and Oman are close to agreeing on new arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz, but not for a full reopening of the vital waterway, Iran's state news agency says.

Sticky or slippery? Snails can change their slime to meet the moment

Snails are slimy. But there's more to that goo of theirs than meets the eye. It's a fact that may help inspire the creation of new materials.

The park service says Trump's arch would obstruct historic sites. Could it be moved?

President Trump's proposed arch in Memorial Circle would intrude on dozens of nearby sites, says the National Park Service. But there's been minimal discussion of alternate locations.

Senate eyes deal to leave for recess as agenda items pile up

The Senate is searching for a deal to speed up consideration of a number of priorities, including a measure to fund the government and Todd Blanche's confirmation as attorney general.

TikTok creator Sydney Towle, who shared cancer journey, dies aged 26

The creator documented her battle with rare bile duct cancer, inspiring more than a million followers online

Sydney Towle, a TikTok creator who shared her battle with stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, with over a million online followers, has died at age 26, her family announced on Thursday.

Towle gained fame for her posts about her life as a spirited young woman who encouraged her TikTok followers to rethink how a cancer patient might look and live.

Tour de France Femmes: Reusser stays ahead as Le Court savours stage win

• Mauritian rider outsprints Kerbaol and Pieterse

• ‘Winning a stage in a Tour de France is very special’

Marlen Reusser retained the overall lead in the Tour de France Femmes from rival Demi Vollering after another broiling stage through central France saw Kim Le Court take the second Tour stage win of her career in Tournon-sur-Rhone.

The Mauritian rider Le Court recovered from a mechanical problem earlier in the stage on the climb of the Col de Lalouvesc to join the day’s breakaway group and outsprint Cédrine Kerbaol of France, and Queen of the Mountains classification leader, Puck Pieterse.

Puerto Rico to begin water rationing amid record drought in San Juan

Residents of San Juan and neighboring communities have been without reliable water for more than 100 days.

Matt Gutman tells his own scam story amid a recent uptick

Online scams have ramped up in the last few years, with more advanced artificial intelligence playing a big role. CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman shares his own story about how he nearly fell for a scam.

The Guardian view on Italy’s new far-right party: the rise of a rogue general | Editorial

The early success of Roberto Vannacci’s National Future sends an ominous signal as extreme politics become normalised

When a serving Italian general published a far-right tract in 2023 entitled The World Turned Upside Down, a disciplinary inquiry swiftly followed. Roberto Vannacci’s text was a sustained exercise in bile and bigotry, attacking among other things the “normalisation” of homosexuality, and questioning whether a high-profile black volleyball star could really be considered Italian. The controversy sent the book into the bestseller charts, and its author was suspended for bringing the army into disrepute.

A year out from Italy’s next general election, Mr Vannacci is a problem not for the military but for the country’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. Now a member of the European parliament, in February he exploited his notoriety to found National Future, a political party which argues that Ms Meloni’s coalition government has sold out its far-right supporters through not being extreme enough. The “true right”, according to the former paratrooper – who once served as a military attache in Moscow – should be pro-Putin and anti-Ukraine, anti-EU, and committed to restoring the “cultural homogeneity” of Italy through the expulsion of immigrants and their descendants.

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.

US federal judge halts order for Trump to turn over financial records to BBC

Judge issues temporary pause while he considers Trump’s request to revise his libel lawsuit against BBC

A federal judge has temporarily halted an order requiring Donald Trump to turn over detailed financial information about his business empire to the BBC as part of an ongoing libel lawsuit.

US district judge Roy Altman issued the temporary pause while he considers Trump’s request to revise and narrow parts of his lawsuit against the BBC over a 2024 documentary that aired in the UK.

Rep. Jim Jordan, House Republicans raise alarms over new South Korean 'fake news' law

GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday sent a letter to South Korean regulators raising concerns about a law they say will lead to censorship.

European nations say World Cup boycott is still on, keeping FIFA's Infantino in limbo

A continued boycott of the World Cup poses a big threat to FIFA, keeping President Gianni Infantino under intense pressure to resign.

A new flu vaccine geared to older people is coming soon

The first mRNA-based flu shot to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration will be ready for the upcoming flu season. Moderna, the vaccine's maker

Fox won't renegotiate NFL media rights before current deal expires, CEO Lachlan Murdoch says

Fox has decided not to renegotiate its current TV deal with the NFL until the expiration of the league's opt-out clause in 2030, said CEO Lachlan Murdoch.

Barcelona step up Rodri interest after Real Madrid talks with Manchester City star stall

• Barça ready to hijack rivals’ plans to sign Spain captain

• Manchester City will allow midfielder to go for £60m

Barcelona have stepped up their attempts to hijack Real Madrid’s move to sign Rodri from Manchester City.

While City have not given up hope that Spain’s World Cup-winning captain will sign a new contract after he entered the final year of his deal, they are thought to be willing to allow him to leave for about £60m. Despite weeks of talks with Rodri and his representatives, Real have yet to reach an agreement and Barcelona are hoping to take advantage.

The divide between Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk is widening after their latest earnings

As Lilly widens its lead in the obesity race, Novo is still racing to win back market share and restore investor confidence in its pipeline.

Rebecca Hendin on Donald Trump’s pursuit of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the BBC – cartoon

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Ebola virus behind massive outbreak in DRC could be mutating, officials say

Cases have passed 4,000 and health watchdog plans to go door to door to find patients in major response escalation

The virus causing a massive outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be mutating, health officials fear, as confirmed cases pass 4,000.

Africa’s public health watchdog said the time for incremental action was over as they announced plans to scale up every aspect of the response and go “door to door” looking for patients.

Diageo to nearly double Guinness production and cut jobs in turnaround plan

New CEO Dave Lewis lifts investors’ spirits by promising strategic overhaul worthy of his nickname ‘Drastic Dave’

Diageo’s new chief executive has unveiled plans to nearly double Guinness production while hacking back a “significant” proportion of its 30,000-strong workforce, in a strategic overhaul worthy of his nickname, “Drastic” Dave Lewis.

Shares in Diageo bounced on Thursday, as the former Tesco boss faced down the first big test of his initial half-year in the job, after being parachuted in last November to revive the flagging fortunes of the UK-based drinks company.

Kerolin failed to report for pre-season at Manchester City before Barcelona switch

• City taken aback by forward’s absence from training

• WSL champions yet to publish any reference to move

The Brazil forward Kerolin failed to report for pre-season training at Manchester City in July before her transfer to Barcelona had been agreed.

Barcelona announced their signing of the 26-year-old on Tuesday but, as of Thursday afternoon, ­Manchester City were yet to publish any ­reference to the transfer or comment on the move.

Restaurant Brands International earnings beat as Burger King's U.S. business soars

Burger King's U.S. business reported same-store sales growth of 8.5%.

DOGE's "wall of receipts" riddled with inaccuracies, GAO says

The Government Accountability Office found that DOGE overestimated its savings, among other issues.

Why has Kemi Badenoch given a former neo-Nazi an advisory role? – The Latest

Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a former neo-Nazi activist, has been offered a role as an adviser to the Conservative party by Kemi Badenoch after he withdrew as a Tory candidate for next year’s local elections. The role will reportedly be focused on how young men become radicalised. Bonehill-Paine was convicted of harassing a Jewish MP and has previously described himself as a ‘nationalist, fascist, theorist and supporter of white rights’. He says he has carried out counter-extremism work since he was released from prison. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian political correspondent Ben Quinn

Perez Hilton ‘able to communicate’ after hospitalization following live stream

Family says celebrity blogger remains under medical care after viewers raised alarm over disturbing TikTok broadcast

Perez Hilton is “able to communicate”, according to a new statement released by his family, one day after the celebrity blogger appeared to self-harm during a disturbing TikTok livestream that prompted his hospitalization.

In a message posted to Hilton’s blog on Wednesday evening, his family thanked supporters for the outpouring of concern.

Job cuts plunge to a 2-year low despite AI fears, economic shocks

Layoffs have plunged this year. "Recently laid-off workers are finding jobs as fast as the economy is creating new ones," one economist said.

SpaceX stock could face further pressure as first batch of shares unlock since IPO

With the first tranche of SpaceX shares held by insiders unlocking, the stock could see downward pressure.

US Senate panel votes to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress over Covid hearing

Anthony Fauci’s lawyer condemned the vote from the Republican-controlled committee as a ‘crude political stunt’

• US politics live – latest updates

A Republican-controlled US Senate committee voted to hold Dr Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the veteran public health official repeatedly pleaded the fifth amendment to parry a hostile inquisition into his stewardship of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fauci, the former director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), who led the agency for 38 years before retiring in 2022, gave the same response to dozens of questions while refusing to give clarifying answers during a tense hearing last week, citing his constitutional protections.

Where the Trump administration's lawsuits seeking voter data stand

The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against 30 states and the District of Columbia in an effort to force them to hand over their unredacted voter rolls containing voters' sensitive information.

Leipzig drone bomb was found near Ukrainian plane carrying ammunition, say police

Germany investigating whether foreign state involved as minister says ‘ripped’ detonator stopped device going off

• Europe live – latest updates

A catastrophe with multiple casualties was possibly narrowly averted by the discovery of a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig airport, German officials said, as they examined whether a foreign state could be behind the plot.

One of the Ukrainian aircraft next to where the bomb drone was found was loaded with military ammunition, according to a classified police report quoted by the public broadcasters WDR and NDR and the Süddeutsche newspaper.

Tech barons dream of human colonies on Mars – but I can’t think of a worse place to die | Jordan Prosser

Humans love to do stupid things to reach far-off places – but even the wildest frontiers on Earth have at least the possibility of a return home

Like hoverboards, teleportation or a pair of smart glasses that doesn’t make you look like an absolute twat, space colonisation is a technological advent long-promised but as yet undelivered. Before Neil Armstrong even set foot on the moon, the US military was envisaging a long-term lunar outpost, but the cost proved prohibitive. The Apollo missions came and went amid ever-decreasing television ratings. By the mid-1970s, the general consensus was that we’d been there, done that, and bought the commemorative ashtray.

Besides, why shoot for the moon when you can travel an extra 228m kilometres and colonise Mars instead?

I am sometimes overwhelmed by feelings of nostalgia. Is this a bad thing? | Leading questions

There’s a difference between longing for the past and assuming it was better, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. The trick is knowing which you’re feeling

• Read more Leading questions

Is nostalgia a negative emotion? I often feel nostalgic these days. It is a background noise that I am trying to ignore.

It was especially present during the pandemic, when my nostalgia seemed to spread into a species of grief for lost places and activities. I find myself thinking sadly about places I won’t be able to visit for a very long time.

E-scooters far more dangerous than motorbikes or cycles, analysis suggests

Study of accidents in England and Wales shows e-scooter riders three times more likely to suffer traumatic brain injury than bikers

Electric scooter riders are three times more likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries than motorcyclists, according to an analysis of accidents in England and Wales – which found women were particularly at risk of serious harm.

Brain injuries accounted for more than a third of adult injuries on e-scooters, but riders also sustained more internal organ and blood vessel damage than did motorcyclists or pedal cyclists, the study found.

By day five of my labour, I didn’t want an ‘ideal birth’. I only wanted to survive | Natalie Morris

Yvette Cooper’s maternity reforms must change a system that too often fails women when they’re at their most vulnerable

On the third day of being in labour with my first child, I entered a new state of being. It was time to dig deep. This is what I had learned in all the childbirth classes. As long as I remained calm, breathed as instructed, moaned through the pain, things would happen as they were meant to. My body knew what it was doing. Only, it didn’t.

On the fourth day, I started to beg. This wasn’t right. Despite contraction after relentless contraction, I wasn’t dilating. I hadn’t slept, I couldn’t even sit down. I needed help. And still, they waited. For what, I never understood.

Natalie Morris is the author of Mixed/Other: Explorations of Multiraciality in Modern Britain

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

‘I have an ego that needs to be put in check’: ex-Gawker editor AJ Daulerio on life after addiction

After his fall from grace, media’s former enfant terrible is now sober and helping others with his addiction recovery newsletter and podcast, The Small Bow

Every other Tuesday, AJ Daulerio wakes up at 5.30am and meditates for five to 20 minutes before beginning his multistep daily journaling protocol: reading a selection from a poetry anthology, then a passage from one of his daily wisdom readers (his go-to is a heavily annotated copy of Leo Tolstoy’s A Calendar of Wisdom); writing his Fear of the Day and gratitude list, then sharing his spiritual takeaway in a note to his three kids.

After a banana and coffee, Daulerio trains Brazilian jujitsu before hitting a 9.45am meditation at Besant Lodge – a community center just below the Hollywood sign that once served as a meeting place for mid-century mystics – immediately followed by him leading a recovery meeting of his own through Zoom.

Football Daily | The Argentinian FA has a date for your diary, whether you want it or not

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There are at least 6,001 days in the year. Days occur at a rate of approximately 16.5 days a day. This is confusing, sure, but it’s the world we live in. Get over it. This is based on the boast from daysoftheyear.com that they list “over 6,000” commemorative days, and that this number, whatever it is, has just swollen by one with the declaration that Argentina is henceforth to celebrate National Football Teams Day on 15 July every year, that being the date on which their men’s team beat England in the recent Geopolitics World Cup semi-finals.

Senate committee votes to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress

The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress over his refusal to answer questions during testimony before the committee last week.

Springboks and All Blacks flex financial muscles with ‘Greatest Rivalry’ tour

Throwback series rekindles memories of the past, but the focus is very much on realities of the modern game

Just in case you were unaware that the series between South Africa and New Zealand, styled as Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR), is a “tour like no other”, the Springboks have just unveiled a jersey to prove it. “A jersey like no other” to be worn four times and then consigned to history.

The RGR, though, kicks off with a looming legal battle in South Africa in the background over the series’ commercial identity and the unauthorised use of its branding. And you thought sporting romance was dead.

Uefa maintains World Cup boycott still stands despite Fifa’s backing for Infantino

• European body says Fifa statement ‘changes nothing’

• Fifpro condemns ‘profound abuse of presidential power’

Uefa has doubled down on its threat to boycott Fifa-run competitions and reiterated its loss of confidence in Gianni Infantino’s presidency.

The latest damning intervention from European football’s governing body came as criticism of Infantino continued to rain in from several angles. The global players’ union, Fifpro, condemned “a profound abuse of presidential power” while the South American confederation Conmebol, usually a strong Infantino ally, was moved to chastise “repeated unilateral actions taken without resorting to dialogue”.

FDA approves Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine after initial pushback

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new seasonal flu vaccine from Moderna that uses mRNA technology, the drugmaker announced.

More adults are living with their parents now than during the pandemic. Here's why.

A record number of U.S. adults are moving back in with their parents. Dr. Gail Saltz, a psychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill-Cornell Medical College, and CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger explain what's behind the trend, and how to make it work.

‘James Dean has got nothing on that kid’: River Phoenix films – ranked!

As Stand By Me is re-released for its 40th anniversary, we look at the late actor’s most intense, enduring roles – from a goofball boffin to a narcoleptic hustler

Issue-of-the-week TV movie about elder abuse, with Tuesday Weld as a harried mum taking out her frustrations on her own ageing mother. Phoenix slaps on the hair gel as the essentially decent son who blasts his music too loud, lets his rowdy if unusually spiffy pals put their feet on the furniture and resents the new house guest: “Grandma is really getting on my nerves!”

India-Bangladesh relations hit new low over exiled PM’s speech to press in Delhi

Dhaka accuses India of giving platform to a ‘convicted genocider’ by allowing Sheikh Hasina to address journalists

Bangladesh has lashed out at India for allowing the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to address journalists in New Delhi, plunging already strained bilateral relations to a fresh low.

Dhaka accused India of giving a platform to a fugitive it labelled a “convicted genocider” and of undermining efforts to repair ties, after Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh in December despite facing a death sentence on charges of “crimes against humanity”.

‘We crafted it from our hearts’: the Womack Sisters on continuing a great soul music dynasty

Their parents were Womack & Womack, Uncle Bobby was a superstar and so was their grandfather, Sam Cooke. The trio explain how, after driving Ubers and being told soul was dead, they joined the family business

Backstage at a London festival, on a Sunday afternoon, the Womack Sisters are assembling themselves on a sofa, still clad in the clothes they were wearing on stage a few minutes ago. They look very stylish in their black dresses, tights and high heels, but they are not, it has to be said, dressed appropriately for the weather, which is sweltering. “You don’t feel anything on stage,” says Zeimani with a shrug. “You just feel amazing, like you’re floating.”

“And we’re committed,” nods her sister BG. “You know, we were taught by professionals.”

Greetings from a wildlife park in central Sri Lanka that's a haven for elephants

At a time of increased conflict between elephants and humans, as elephant habitats are converted to intensive agriculture, the Hurulu Eco Park is a place where the animals can graze unimpeded.

At least 12 states report cyberattacks on water systems possibly linked to Iran

Cyberattacks on U.S. water systems that officials suspect may be linked to Iran-backed hackers have been reported in at least a dozen states, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

What to know about U.S. water systems hacks that could be linked to Iran

U.S. officials are investigating hacks into the country's water systems that could be linked to Iran. Nicole Sganga has more.

Why do Latinos work for ICE?

Half of border agents are Latino, and they are part of a long history of Hispanic support for – and enforcement of – harsh immigration policies

Since Trump’s return to power, more than 60 people have died at the hands of or in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including two Latino immigrants in one week: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine. Many Latinos have come to feel that their brown skin makes them targets, and they are not wrong.

But there is another dimension of this story that we often fail to consider: many of those in charge of anti-immigrant operations also have brown skin, Hispanic names and links to the communities they terrorize. When the identities of the agents who killed Alex Pretti in January were revealed as those of two Hispanic men, many people reacted with shock. The irony seemed obvious, but it reflected a mistaken assumption: that Latinos are naturally opposed to restrictionist immigration policies. History suggests otherwise.

Thirst by John Robins audiobook review – an ex-drinker’s darkly funny journey

The comedian and broadcaster narrates the heartfelt and at times self-lacerating account of his relationship with alcohol

A memoir chronicling the comic and broadcaster John Robins’s life in alcohol and his subsequent path to sobriety, Thirst is structured around the drinks that changed his life. There’s the bottle of Jacob’s Creek wine left out on a kitchen worktop which he helped himself to at the age of seven, secreting it into his orange juice, and the beer given to him at scout camp which he drank alone. There’s also his stomach-churning recreation, while on a comedy tour of Australia, of the white russians drunk by the Dude in The Big Lebowski using a gallon of milk, a litre of vodka and a bottle of Kahlua.

As an adult, Robins, who is best known for his shows on Radio X and on BBC5 Live, romanticised pubs, which he saw as places of peacefulness and refuge. He even co-hosted the podcast The Moon Under Water where he invited guests to describe their ideal pub. Robins reveals that what kept him drinking for so long was the lie that he was in control. That he could, on occasion, get through a Dry January convinced him he couldn’t be an addict, although he got a wakeup call when a GP told him to “sort your fucking life out”.

Throwing Muses frontwoman Kristin Hersh: ‘I was compelled to make music after cracking my skull open’

The alt-rock veteran answers your questions on Buddhist time travel techniques, duetting with Michael Stipe, and her autobiographical new album

Do you think Throwing Muses would have sounded different were it not for your bicycle accident? [Hersh was struck by a car when she was 16, resulting in a concussion that changed the way she heard sound.] Bhafc99
Yes. I think people might have liked us more, but we would have been more forgettable. Our songs were not very marketable. They came from a place of such utter honesty that it was difficult for us to become a band with an image, ambition or direction, which plays well on a human level, but not on a corporate one. Some people hate our music; they can’t deal with it because it’s triggering [emotionally], which I get.

I was compelled to make music after cracking my skull open and then my life was very upsetting. But at the same time, I had real listeners. If you happen to come across a song that resonates with you, then it’s yours – you can ignore the musician who played it, because they were just the messenger.

Egyptian fruit bats and a cooling fountain: photos of the day – Thursday

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

FAA, NTSB investigating why passenger plane took off near Marine One

A commercial aircraft was allowed to take off in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday afternoon despite Marine One flying nearby. The FAA and NTSB are investigating. Kris Van Cleave has the latest.

Washington, California wildfires spark air quality concerns

Wildfires near Spokane, Washington, have destroyed more than 800 buildings, and have sparked major air quality concerns. Meanwhile, blazes near Sacramento, California, threaten hundreds of homes. Rob Marciano reports.

London to face Rome, Munich and Nairobi after confirming 2029 World Athletics bid

• Bid team reach agreement with West Ham to use stadium

• Host city for event to be announced in September

London has submitted its bid for the 2029 World Athletics ­Championships after reaching an agreement with West Ham to allow it to host the event that September.

World Athletics is yet to announce the other candidate cities, but Rome, Munich and Nairobi have also ­submitted applications for 2029.

Chipotle removes jalapeños linked to Minnesota salmonella outbreak

The restaurant chain said it pulled the peppers and replaced them with product from another grower amid a food-poisoning probe.

U.S. hit with more foodborne illnesses as Chipotle, Qdoba remove salmonella-linked jalapeños

The U.S. has been hit with another foodborne illness outbreak, as Chipotle, Qdoba and other restaurants pull jalapeños linked to salmonella. Meanwhile, officials are still struggling with a cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce. Shanelle Kaul has more.

Miss North Carolina USA stripped of title after alleged racist posts resurface

First runner-up, Myla Hadley, will represent the state at the Miss USA pageant after Brittany Boltinhouse’s removal

A pageant queen recently crowned Miss North Carolina USA has been stripped of her title after a string of alleged racist posts resurfaced.

Brittany Boltinhouse, 27, was formally dethroned on Wednesday by pageant organizers A Blaize Productions after what it said was “a thorough review of recently surfaced information”.

Trump voter pleads for fiancée's release after ICE arrest: "They're destroying families"

"They are picking up law-abiding citizens. They're destroying families, jobs," said a Texas man who regrets his vote for President Trump after his fiancée, an immigrant from Venezuela, was detained by ICE.

Trump administration moves to deregulate Head Start, opening door for sweeping change

It would slim regulation of the 60-year-old anti-poverty program and aim to save money. Advocates worry the changes could undermine the early education program's mission.

Jason Arday claimed he was paid ‘1.4 million’ by publisher for memoir

Simon & Schuster still plans to publish book by Cambridge academic who resigned this week amid plagiarism claims

Jason Arday, the former Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism and embellishment, claimed he was paid “1.4 million” for his forthcoming memoir detailing his extraordinary backstory.

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

This country is the latest to hit the elusive 95/95/95 HIV target

The United Nations has set a goal for near universal HIV diagnosis and treatment for all by 2030. No country in Asia has hit the mark — until this year.

Bombs, heists and big cats: TV’s 25 best true-crime shows ever

From mind-boggling murder investigations to decade-long scams, there’s no shortage of documentaries about real-life awfulness. We list the most incredible

Since the true-crime explosion a decade ago – kickstarted by Netflix’s Making a Murderer – audiences have been fed a steady small-screen diet of cold-case killings, catfishing scams and creepy cults. And, after years of varying results, Netflix’s latest show, A Toxic Love Story – which recounts how a California couple framed an innocent woman for stalking, intimidation and recruiting men from Craigslist to rape her ex’s new wife – is being billed as a return to true-crime form. But when it comes to similar shows worth your viewing time, what else is up there?

Here’s a selection of the genre’s 25 standout shows and where to watch them – which, let’s face it, is mainly Netflix. Let the boggle-eyed bingeing begin.

Woman, 47, charged after four men stabbed in Covent Garden

Stella Gollovena accused of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after assaults in central London

A 47-year-old woman has been charged after four men were stabbed in central London.

Stella Gollovena, of no fixed address, was charged with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, the Metropolitan police said.

Nigerian security forces free more than 300 hostages in ‘largest single-day recovery’

President hails operation to rescue captives held in dense forests of Kainji Lake national park in north-central region

Nigerian security forces have rescued more than 300 abducted people in what the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hailed as the largest single-day hostage recovery in the country’s history.

The release was announced on Wednesday after a joint operation, conducted by the military, police and counter-terrorism units, freed victims held captive in the dense forests of the Kainji Lake national park in the north-central region.

Arlene Smith obituary

Singer with one of the first ‘girl groups’, the Chantels, whose 1950s hit Maybe sold more than a million copies

Almost before the five Bronx schoolgirls who called themselves the Chantels had finished their unaccompanied delivery of a song called The Plea in his office on Broadway one day in 1957, the record label owner George Goldner was fishing in his desk for a contract they could take home and show their parents. Within months the group were high in the charts with a ballad called Maybe, featuring the powerful lead voice of the 16-year-old Arlene Smith.

The Chantels set the pattern for the success of such “girl groups”, as they became known, as the Shirelles, the Crystals, the Chiffons, the Ronettes, and many more.

One potential breakout star for each Premier League club this season

A crop of young players emerges every season in the Premier League. Who will make the grade this year?

By Opta Analyst

Dowman is old news by now, so we’re going to look at someone four months older than him. Much like the fish of the same name, Salmon has risen quickly. The defender became the fourth-youngest player to represent Arsenal last season when he came off the bench against Club Brugge in the Champions League in December at the age of just 16 years and 102 days.

Firefighters start to contain Washington state wildfires as tens of thousands remain displaced

Fires have destroyed about 850 buildings and forced about 67,000 people to evacuate since they erupted last weekend

Firefighters have taken advantage of cooler weather to begin getting a handle on wildfires that have displaced tens of thousands of people around Washington state’s second-largest city, but hotter, drier and breezier days lie ahead.

Officials reported on Wednesday that firefighters had established containment lines around the perimeters of all three fires affecting Spokane and that they were focused on reinforcing those lines. Temperatures were expected to climb from the 80sF the past two days into the upper 90sF (36C), with less humidity, late this week.

Côtes Catalanes: the wine with the renegade spirit

From a wild corner of southern France, these crisp, minerally whites and silky red blends are unforgettable wines

We all have our coming-of-age story: a transition to adulthood defined by emotional growth. I’ll let my friends be the judge of whether mine’s happened, but in wine terms, I can pinpoint my coming of age to the day I first tasted a white from Côtes Catalanes IGP. What was this nectar? I’d spent a lifetime chugging things I liked (from Um Bongo to supermarket Macon), but this was not a chugger. The bottle was Domaine Gauby’s Les Calcinaires Blanc 2010, a blend of muscat, chardonnay, macabeu and vermentino from the eastern foothills of the Pyrenees in French Catalonia. I had to take my time over something this good, and that felt very grown up indeed.

The Côtes Catalanes IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) sits within a nook of Languedoc-Roussillon in the very south of France. As an IGP, it is a less prestigious designation than AOP (Appellation d’Origine Protégée), but one that gives winemakers greater freedom to flex their muscles. Where wines from Côtes de Roussillon AOC have to be particular blends with particular proportions, winemakers in the Côtes Catalanes can produce single-varietal wines with a greater range of grapes; many are organic or biodynamic. They have a renegade spirit I’m sure you can taste in wines that are mineral, full of complex fruit and often have notes of garrigue – Mediterranean scrubby herbs such as thyme and rosemary.

Practical Magic review – Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock’s 90s witchy fantasy still enchants

Preceding a long-awaited sequel, Griffin Dunne’s supernatural suburban romance gets a big-screen rerelease. With its romcom quirk, buttery cinematography and stabs of black comedy, it remains a zany gem

With a sequel shortly to make an appearance – Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest (but not Evan Rachel Wood) all reprising their roles – the original Practical Magic from 1998 is now getting a rerelease. This is Griffin Dunne’s smalltown supernatural goof-fest, adapted from a bestseller by Alice Hoffman; the sequel is based on her own follow-up, The Book of Magic. A zanier adventure in occult romance can hardly be imagined, and the elements of grown up noir violence only make it weirder – it is as if The Witches of Eastwick took on something of Thelma & Louise with a decaffeinated David Lynch. Meanwhile, cinematographer Andrew Dunn bathes the daytime scenes in a golden, buttery light.

In a suburban American anytown, buttoned-up residents and frowning soccer moms are disapprovingly obsessed with the fact that the local Owens family womenfolk are witches. There is an amusing “prelude” scene showing a Salem-style public hanging of one of their ancestors; a stark stab of black comedy. In the present day, the Owens sisters Sally and Gillian, played by Bullock and Kidman, are intensely aware of their magical inheritance, as personified by naughty maiden aunts Frances and Bridget, played by Channing and Wiest.

Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace issues first building contract – for a military base

Exclusive: Louisiana firm awarded tender to build rudimentary outpost to house Moroccan troops

Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which was set up in January to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, has finally issued its first construction contract in the devastated territory: a project to build a rudimentary 150-person military outpost to house Moroccan troops, a source familiar with the matter told the Guardian.

The contract, which has not yet been finalised, was awarded to Arkel International, a Louisiana-based firm that has previously carried out work with the US government in countries such as Iraq.

Danish pupils will have to orally defend essays in attempt to combat AI cheating

Government introduces several measures, including monitoring of computers, for pupils aged 16 to 19

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Danish teenagers will have to make an oral defence of their written essays to combat AI cheating, the government has announced.

Pupils aged 16 to 19 at upper secondary school (known in Denmark as gymnasiet) will also be encouraged to do written assignments at school under controlled conditions, including monitoring of their computer screens, rather than at home.

Light, sweet and easy to eat – why melons and other cool fruits rule August

The Mediterranean’s best beach ritual, plus melons, cucumbers and cold soups to keep us cool this summer

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Everyone who grew up by the Mediterranean Sea knows that a lazy day on the beach requires a certain level of planning. You should pack everything you’ll need, or may need, and get there early to secure a good spot. But the first thing you need to do when you get there – even before you spread out your blankets and put that sunscreen on – is to drop a watermelon in the sea, so that, by noon, when it’s so hot your skin feels as if it’s about to blister, it is ready for you, all cool and sweet. It’s just about the only thing capable of quenching your thirst and your hunger, while also cooling you down and giving you the sugar you need.

The other important bit about the watermelon – the part that separates wisdom from wishful thinking – is that you also need to tie a piece of string around it, complete with an empty plastic bottle at the other end, so that it bobs above the waves and marks the spot. This is something you learn the hard way – or at least we did. There is a very particular kind of disappointment that comes from standing waist-deep in the sea, staring into the blue, convinced that a whole watermelon cannot simply disappear. We searched. We dived. We accused passing currents. We briefly entertained the idea that another family had found it and were, at that very moment, enjoying our perfectly chilled watermelon. Then again, perhaps it is still out there somewhere, floating towards Sicily …

El-Sayed wins Michigan's primary. And, Fauci faces contempt of Congress vote

Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary and will face Republican Congressman Mike Rogers in the midterms. And, today, Dr. Anthony Fauci faces a contempt of Congress vote.

Carlos Acosta: Myths and Modern Masters review – superstar returns with style, the Stones and his daughter

Royal Opera House, London
Mixing contemporary, Cuban and classical works, Acosta has charisma to burn and is accompanied by an impressive cohort

It’s a bit of a stretch to call this undoubtedly enjoyable programme Myths and Modern Masters but granted, it sounds better than Miscellany. Carlos Acosta – superstar dancer, now director of Birmingham Royal Ballet and Cuban company Acosta Danza – has picked and mixed dancers from both companies to offer a very eclectic spread of dance, and added himself into the mix.

At 53, Acosta may not have the physical prowess of his youth, but he brings great presence and depth – and some great dancing, too. That serves very well in José Limón’s landmark 1949 work The Moor’s Pavane, a distillation of Shakespeare’s Othello which boils down the story to four characters – Othello (Acosta), Desdemona (Beatrice Parma), Iago (Max Maslen) and Emilia (Miki Mizutani) – and contains their drama of deception, jealousy and revenge within a stately composition of measured steps and stylised gestures, set to courtly music by Purcell.

‘Mamma mia!’: Trump tariffs refund ignites 53% profit spike at Nintendo

Profit jump fuelled largely by unknown US refund amount as Japanese video game firm records quarterly sales drop

Nintendo has reported a jump in profits, as the Japanese game maker’s earnings were buoyed up by a long-awaited refund on Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The company said profits surged 53.5% to ¥147.4bn (£694m) over the three months to June, substantially beating expert forecasts for ¥77.8bn.

Sherrill enters national political fray with first midterm endorsements

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is taking her first major step onto the national stage, endorsing 13 Democrats — as the moderate signals she may jump into the debate over her party's future.

Renegade ramen: ​from Colchester to Cardiff, the cooks remixing Japanese flavours

Restaurant critic and award-winning author Jimi Famurewa meets broth obsessives in unlikely parts of Britain who fell in with the ancient ramen tradition - and found a hungry audience for their new noodle bowls.

The American left is making strides. But can they win in November? | Ben Davis

The left is increasingly winning within the Democratic party. But it still needs to prove that it can build general-election coalitions capable of beating Republicans

The ideological struggle within the Democratic party continued on Tuesday night with primaries in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia and Washington. The results showed an increasingly intense conflict within the party, with high Democratic primary turnout and bruising ideological battles up and down the ballot.

The Democratic electorate is shifting, becoming more progressive and more willing to challenge party leadership, but not as quickly or uniformly as many assumed.

The real meaning of Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan | Robert Reich

We’re seeing America wake up to the tyranny that’s engulfed us

With the victory of progressive Abdul El-Sayed over representative Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic primary, prepare yourself to hear enormous quantities of bullshit about the Democratic party now being “taken over” by the “left” or by “democratic socialists”.

Or as the reliably establishment New York Times put it: “Can an insurgent candidate, with unabashedly liberal positions, win a general election in a moderate state?”

Ravyn Lenae: Blue Island review – from Suicide to Squarepusher, grunge to Janet, a pop one-off plots her unique path

(Atlantic)
Evoking an astonishing range of artists, the US singer follows up her huge hit Love Me Not with stylistic diversity – and lyrics that defy her doubters

It sometimes seems like no musical success in the 2020s is allowed to pass without some degree of online controversy. There are accusations that the artist in question is an “industry plant” – a phrase which, as far as can be discerned, can basically be applied to anyone with a manager or a label deal – or that there’s something deceptive about the way in which they’ve been promoted, or that they’re possessed of some other form of moral bankruptcy that reflects not merely on the performer but the people who like them. Which brings us to Love Me Not, an ostensibly harmless 2024 track by Chicago singer-songwriter Ravyn Lenae.

After enjoying a burst of online virality, it became a huge hit single, making the Top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic. Taken from Bird’s Eye, an album that also featured collaborations with Childish Gambino and Ty Dolla $ign, its blend of retro-soul styling, distorted guitar arpeggios and infernally catchy chorus was noticeably poppier than Lenae’s previous work: it came with a remix that featured British bedroom-pop star Rex Orange County. You could understand why fans of the glitchy, abstract R&B found on 2015’s EP Moon Shoes, or of her more neo soul-flavoured debut album, 2022’s Hypnos, might consider it a straightforward bid for mainstream acceptance. But you’d argue against it necessitating an online interrogation that, Lenae has suggested, involved not just “picking apart what kind of music I make” but “questioning my identity and Blackness”.

AI models are behaving unexpectedly. Experts warn of a "bumpy road" ahead.

AI models are engaging in unauthorized actions — in the most recent case, creating fake identities and attempting to persuade real people to approve malicious code.

Is King Charles a ‘white Briton’? Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe won’t say

Lowe questioned on BBC about definition in report for hard-right party that both parents need to be born in UK

Rupert Lowe, the leader of Restore Britain, refused to say he believes King Charles can be classified as a “white Briton” in an extraordinary interview on the BBC’s Today programme.

Questioning Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, over his claims that “white Britons will become a minority by 2063”, the presenter, Nick Robinson, noted that the forecast Lowe referred to defined a “white Briton” as someone whose parents were both born in the UK.

Clancy family nanny testifies that Lindsay was "a wonderful mom"

The last nanny who worked for the Clancy family testified at trial that Lindsay was a wonderful mom who loved her children.

All bodies of water in England polluted with toxic chemicals, official data shows

Environment Agency assessments find just 14.3% of country’s surface waters in good ecological status

Every single English water body is polluted with toxic chemicals, new government data shows, while just 14.3% of surface waters achieved good ecological status.

Each of the country’s rivers, lakes and estuaries was assessed by the Environment Agency as part of a six-yearly evaluation of England’s water quality. The EA checked for a range of toxic chemicals, from Pfas – or “forever chemicals” – to microplastics. Waters were also checked against a range of standards covering wildlife, water quality and physical habitat.

‘They were told bikes were for men’: how Latin America’s city of cycling is breaking gender barriers

With less than a third of cycling journeys taken by women, Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, is installing bike lanes, teaching cycling and making sure ‘stereotypes are left behind’

Eliana González has a busy morning ahead of her, dropping off her son at school and picking up groceries. Her trusted vehicle to get around in Bogotá is a colourful cargo bike, adapted to carry her two children and occasionally her dog.

“For me, my cargo bike is a way to carry my children safely and comfortably without polluting the environment,” she says.

Super Troopers 3 review – misfiring cop comedy threequel

The return of the country’s most incompetent police force fails to bring enough laughs or any real justification for its existence

Super Troopers occupies a sacred corner of the millennial DVD shelf, a goofy rebuttal to the endless procession of just-the-facts-ma’am TV cops that reimagined America’s most mythologized authority figures as incompetent brats.

The original is a testament to Y2K friendship – the college comedy troupe Broken Lizard, after losing out on an MTV show to The State, pooled their money to make a scrappy indie that became a cult classic. It had Brian Cox gleefully playing against his capital-A Actor persona (a novelty for American audiences in 2001) and offering a glimpse of the Logan Roy fury he would later perfect on Succession, only with lines such as “I’ll believe ya when me shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet.” After generating more than $60m in post-release sales on a reported $3m budget, a film franchise was born.

We need a wartime mindset to fight the threat of wildfires | Seth Klein

While many leaders compare the wildfire crisis to the second world war, governments fail to adopt the real lessons of pre-emptive wartime action

As France and Spain battle historic wildfires, comparisons to the second world war abound. “One of the continent’s biggest evacuation efforts since World War II,” reports the Associated Press. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has called the wildfires his country’s “most difficult situation since the second world war”.

The images crossing all our screens certainly feel war-like – emergency aircraft and black smoke fill the skies, frantic civilians seeking shelter, historic towns lying in ruins, charred forests and burned-out vehicles, exhausted and sweat-soaked emergency responders.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople review – Sam Neill is warm and wise in Taika Waititi’s goofily tremendous film

Waititi’s eccentric drama sends the late actor into the New Zealand wilderness with his young charge, angry authorities in hot pursuit

The recent sad loss of Sam Neill is a great opportunity to revisit one of his greatest roles, in this tremendous family film from 2016, a goofy mix of Butch and Sundance and Chaplin’s The Kid. It’s arguably the masterpiece of its writer-director Taika Waititi, who adapted the 1986 bestseller Wild Pork and Watercress by New Zealand author Barry Crump, bringing his distinctive irony, comedy and quirk (Waititi has a droll cameo as a wacky vicar), but wisely lets the story and performances do the real work, so the movie continues to win the hearts of audiences.

Neill plays Hector, a grouchy old buzzard who works on a farm on New Zealand’s North Island just below the vast forested wilderness of the breathtakingly beautiful Te Urewera. The property is owned by his big-hearted wife Bella (Rima Te Wiata) who works as a foster parent, regularly taking in troubled kids, and Hector is under no illusions that she married him in the same charitable spirit. But glum, taciturn Hector is not best pleased when Bella takes in the toughest and most recalcitrant teen the state authorities have ever dealt with. This is Ricky, played by Maori actor Julian Dennison, and Rachel House gives an amusing performance as Paula, the child welfare worker who is on Ricky’s case.

Hospital staff said he was faking it and released him. He died from an overdose soon after

Addiction treatments are safe, effective — and rarely offered to patients. That's because many doctors and nurses still view people with alcohol or drug addiction with suspicion and hostility.

‘Morocco feels emboldened’: Trump’s influence in spotlight after Ceuta disaster

Washington-Rabat ties under scrutiny as questions swirl over what led to deadly influx into tiny Spanish territory

The cosy relationship between Washington and Rabat has long been flaunted by both sides, from Morocco’s announcement this year that it would be the first African state to join Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to the congratulatory message recently sent by Trump to mark King Mohammed VI’s 27 years in power.

The latest example landed this week. As Spain grappled with the aftermath of the sudden influx – and swift return – of more than 70,000 people into Ceuta, Morocco’s monarch confirmed he had named a $1bn highway flanking the disputed territory of Western Sahara after Trump.

The Shards review – murder, 80s mayhem and the Ryan Murphy comeback we’ve been waiting for

Murphy is back on form with this gorgeously curated, shot and scored adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel – about a serial killer stalking privileged LA teenagers

The world can finally begin to hope again. It looks as though Ryan Murphy has pulled out of his dive and is beginning to find his glorious groove again. The uber-showrunner reached a nadir last year with All’s Fair, a legal drama that was so bad it was existentially awful, garnering a number of rare, zero-star reviews (including mine) and which has duly been commissioned for a second series.

But after All’s Fair came The Beauty. Which was chaotic and underdeveloped but fun. And then there was Love Story, about the short lives and love of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette, which was pitch-perfect, properly good trash. And now there is The Shards, Murphy’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s 80s-set metafictional/autobiographical novel of the same name. I have not read the book. An enfant terrible’s reminiscences are too often simply terrible and I was exhausted by the very idea. But a TV version? Run through the Murphytron? That sounds like a very good idea – and so it has proved. Theirs is a marriage made in pop-culture heaven.

The Shards is on Disney+

Khanna to introduce 'Data Center Bill of Rights' as fight over AI power plants heats up

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who won a competitive primary Tuesday, has endorsed state and local moratoriums on data centers.

‘Like if John Sayles directed Forrest Gump’: the incredible life of historian Howard Zinn

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

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

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

Human-driven climate crisis fuels Canada’s deadly wildfires, study finds

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

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

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

Restaurants, pubs and theatres ban Meta’s ‘spy glasses’ over privacy fears

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

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

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

I knew Rod Liddle and hated what he became. He would have wanted me to say so | Zoe Williams

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

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

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

Celebrity culture is one thing. For TMZ, Congress is the new 'reality show'

TMZ is trading Hollywood gossip for Capitol Hill scoops with a new D.C. bureau, launched in April. The online tabloid's two-man crew has brought an unconventional reporting style to the Congress beat.

From shrekking to cookie-jarring: how well do you know the latest dating terms?

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

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

‘We were ahead of our time!’: Charly Clive and Ellen Robertson AKA sketch duo Britney on their new TV fame and word-of-mouth hits

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

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

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

Metroid at 40: happy birthday to Samus Aran, gaming’s greatest badass and my personal heroine

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

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

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