The Uplift: The American Dream

We celebrate the United States ahead of its 250th anniversary with stories about American heroes and pastimes. The founder of e.l.f. Cosmetics shares how he made a massive life change to become a Catholic priest.

Tour de France 2026: stage 11 updates as riders head from Vichy to Nevers – live

Stage starts from Vichy at 12.50pm BST/1.50pm CEST
‘I have haters’: Pogacar brushes off boos | Email Luke

Christoph Roodhooft, Jasper Philipsen’s boss at Alpecin-Premier Tech, tells Hannah Walker on TNT Sports that his sprinter is “feeling better … but that doesn’t mean he will win today.”

Is there any thought of letting Mathieu van der Poel sprint, instead of Philipsen, given the latter’s apparent lack of form?

Moscow warns that foreign troops in Ukraine would be seen as legitimate targets – Europe live

Members of the pro-Ukraine “coalition of the willing” this week reasserted their desire for such a force after a cessation of hostilities

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has rejected Lithuanian president’s warnings about a potential Russian attack on critical infrastructure (10:06), dismissing them as “horror stories” intended to “prepare public for further militarisation.”

Reuters reported that the Kremlin said these comments were merely a “pretext for further deployment of Nato military infrastructure to Baltic states.”

Brazilian World Cup legend Jairzinho takes a shot: Michael Donald’s best photograph

‘Nowadays Jairzinho works with kids in the favelas of Rio where the unwritten rule is that you have to be out by 5pm. I asked for 10 more minutes and when I turned round, a guy had pulled a gun on my crew’

I’m not a mad football fan. What I most love about the game is its universal appeal – it’s all about a ball crossing a line, and a goal is a goal whether it involves two jerseys in a park or the one that determines the outcome of a World Cup. But when I realised in 2007 that only 58 people had ever scored a goal in a World Cup final and that only 34 of these men were still alive, I thought it would be a great idea to photograph them.

It quickly became apparent that book sales alone would never finance the project – there were only two English players, the rest were in Europe or South America. But a successful pitch to a film producer won me the opportunity to travel to 13 countries with a documentary crew. Over the course of four years, we interviewed every member of the exclusive World Cup club, and I made portraits of them all.

Democratic senator grills Todd Blanche on Trump’s directives in attorney general confirmation hearing – live

Trump’s nominee for attorney general – also his former personal defense lawyer – faces questions from senators as he attempts to take the top justice department role

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In his opening statement before senators today, Todd Blanche, said that he is “pleased to testify again today to tell everybody here that we are doing just that-we are keeping America safe”.

The nominee for attorney general, who has been leading the justice department in an acting capacity since Pam Bondi was fired in April.

World Cup 2026: England v Argentina buildup, Spain stun listless France to reach final – live

⚽ All the latest news from a huge World Cup Wednesday
⚽ Spain reach final | Player guide | Golden Boot | Mail us

Over the next three hours – and when I’m subbed off thereafter – we’ll reflect on France 0-2 Spain, and look forward to England v Argentina. England v Argentina in the semi-finals of the World Cup, oh my complete and utter daze days.

Greetings one and all. Anyone got any plans for later?

George Lucas likens AI sceptics to luddites clinging to horses and carts

Star Wars director calls AI technology ‘the future’ of film-making and says ‘there’s nothing you can do about it’

The Star Wars director, George Lucas, has added his voice to the growing chorus of film-makers receptive to the rising use of AI tools in moviemaking.

Speaking in an interview with A Rabbit’s Foot, Lucas, 82, said: “Artificial intelligence means it’s much easier for us to make movies.”

86 beams of light and an ICE Out protest: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

Zombies, gore and creepy kids – why we can’t stop playing horror games

As global anxieties multiply, ​v​ideo games from Resident Evil to Mouthwashing are providing rich source material to help decode society’s problems

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Horror is so hot right now. There’s Obsession, Evil Dead Burn and Hokum in the cinema, Widow’s Bay, From and Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen on TV, and, of course, a rotting smorgasbord of horror games including Resident Evil Requiem (pictured top) and Reanimal, soon to be joined by Silent Hill: Townfall, Silver Pines and Dreadmoor. We’re also seeing weird cross-pollinations, with horror movie studio Blumhouse making games, while games themselves become horror films and the whole backrooms genre infects every medium it touches.

So it was fascinating to attend last week’s horror and gaming conference at Falmouth University, in Cornwall: a gathering of students, researchers and lecturers, all engaged in the academic study of horror games. There were brilliant talks on zombies and posthumanism, the gothic in games, and the role of monstrous little girls in survival horror (there are a lot of them!). Subjects as diverse as masculine fragility, disability and ageing came up; Will Doyle, creative director at Supermassive Games, gave a great keynote on the art of creating horror in games using tools such as revulsion, spatial alienation and the human instinct of apophenia. I learned a lot about theorists such as Julia Kristeva and Mark Fisher, and about the technical similarities between indie horror games and film noir (for example, the use of darkness and creative camera techniques to “hide” budget restrictions). It was incredible fun.

Subaru recalls more than 541,000 vehicles over labeling error

Erroneous labels on some Subaru Crosstrek, Forester and Ascent cars could increase the risk of a crash, NHTSA said.

Meloni government vows to press on with electoral reform after losing key vote

Italian opposition calls for elections as ruling coalition faces second major rejection of flagship policies this year

• Europe live – latest updates

Giorgia Meloni’s ruling coalition has pledged to persevere with its flagship plans to overhaul Italy’s electoral system after a parliamentary setback provoked calls for snap elections.

In a secret ballot in the lower house on Tuesday, an amendment to a key aspect of the reforms was defeated by a single vote, with an estimated 20-25 members of the coalition breaking ranks.

IRS chief Frank Bisignano will lead Trump Accounts expansion

The Treasury Department is putting a top official in charge of the new program as it enrolls millions of families.

DoD watchdog finds 155mm artillery plant built 2 years ago has produced nothing

An ammunition plant in Mesquite, Texas, has not produced any metal projectile parts after the Army spent $469 million to establish the facility.

U.S. Mint to make $1 gold coin with Trump's face on it

It's the latest effort by President Trump to make his mark on Washington, D.C.

Cyclospora outbreak leaves consumers guessing which foods are safe

Officials are still searching for the source of the outbreak, prompting consumers to seek advice on social media about which foods to avoid.

Wildfires expose millions in Midwest, Northeast to dangerous smoke

Heavy smoke from several large wildfires blazing in Canada and Minnesota is expected to engulf large swaths of the Midwest and Northeast U.S. this week.

House passes bill to make daylight saving time permanent

The measure also allows states to opt out if they take action before the federal law is enacted.

Watch Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh testify live before Senate banking committee

Part of congressionally mandated Capitol Hill appearances for the central bank leader, Warsh spoke Tuesday to the House Financial Services Committee.

Richard Dadd: the painter whose fantastical vision was unconfined by his 43 years in an asylum

Committed to Bethlem hospital after killing his father in a psychotic episode, Dadd inspired Angela Carter and Queen. Now a new show is exploring his paintings with a more nuanced take on his mental illness

In the autumn of 1843, the influential journal Art-Union mourned “the late Richard Dadd”, an apparently kind and gentle man who a year or so earlier had been a rising star of London’s Royal Academy. Today, Dadd is known, if at all, for having murdered his father while in the grip of severe psychosis, for which he was committed to Bethlem hospital asylum where he passed his remaining 43 years. As Art-Union concluded: “although the grave has not actually closed over him, he must be classed among the dead.”

At Bethlem, Dadd began painting again. Scenes remembered from his trip around the Eastern Mediterranean – when he first began suffering mental distress – were followed by portraiture allegory, satire, biblical scenes and intricately detailed fantasies, among them the unfinished The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke, which he painted between 1855 and 1864. By now he was more patient than artist, and the prism of mental illness through which his work came to be understood has never fully shifted.

Watch Live: Jay Clayton, Trump's DNI nominee, testifies at confirmation hearing

Clayton, currently the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is expected to succeed Bill Pulte, Trump's controversial acting director of national intelligence.

US launches ‘wave of strikes’ on Iran after Trump tells Iran that power plants, bridges will be targeted if no deal is made – Middle East crisis live

US strikes Iran for fourth consecutive day as Iran deputy foreign minister says interim deal all but ‘dismantled’

• Trump again threatens to strike Iran’s power plants amid impasse over strait of Hormuz

For a second day in a row, US strikes targeted Iran’s southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country’s only civilian nuclear plant, according to the state news agency IRNA quoting a local official.

“In continuation of the brutality of the American enemy, three points in the city of Bushehr were attacked today,” Mohammad Mozaffari, the governor of Bushehr, was quoted as saying.

In the recent attacks on the southern part of the country, more than 30 civilians lost their lives. While expressing our condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families, we honour the memory of the fallen. The government will stand by the people with all its might. The south of Iran is the beating heart of this land. The south of Iran, the soul of Iran.”

Former Obama White House counsel to face House questioning over Epstein ties

Kathryn Ruemmler welcomes closed-door interview and says she had no knowledge of ongoing criminal activity

Kathryn Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel under Barack Obama, is set to testify on Wednesday before the House committee on oversight and reform about her ties to Jeffrey Epstein as part of the panel’s investigation into the convicted sex offender.

Ruemmler came under scrutiny earlier this year after her name appeared thousands of times in the records related to Epstein that were released by the justice department under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. She announced in February that she would be resigning from her role at Goldman Sachs as chief legal officer effective on 30 June.

"Miracle on the Hudson" pilot, Capt. "Sully," shares Alzheimer's diagnosis

Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who famously landed a passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2009, said he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Officer who rescued woman on Brooklyn Bridge was in first week on elite unit

Officer Christian Yepes helped to save a woman's life on the Brooklyn Bridge last week. It was only his third day on the job with the NYPD Emergency Service Unit. Anna Schecter reports.

Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger, who landed passenger jet on the Hudson, diagnosed with Alzheimer's

Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who saved 155 lives by safely landing a plane in the Hudson River in 2009, revealed he's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Kris Van Cleave reports.

‘We did pull the levers’: emotional Starmer defends his record

In final PMQs, PM offers Burnham – and England team – full support and defends action on NHS waiting lists, child poverty and economy

• Politics live – latest updates

Keir Starmer has defended his record as prime minister in an often emotional final outing at prime minister’s questions, which largely avoided political jibes in favour of tributes and questions, many about the World Cup.

Answering the very last question, his voice breaking at times, Starmer paid tribute to those he had worked with over his two years in office, which will end on Monday when he hands over to Andy Burnham.

Aston Villa set to sign Emily Ramsey as Bethany England joins Crystal Palace

• Lionesses goalkeeper heading to Villa on a free transfer

• Millie Turner moves to Birmingham City for £100,000

Aston Villa have a deal in place to sign the former Everton goalkeeper Emily Ramsey on a free transfer, the Guardian can reveal.

The 25-year-old has received a call-up by England in 2023 – as part of the squad that won that year’s invitational Arnold Clark Cup – and 2021 for a training camp, although is yet to earn a senior cap. Ramsey was a regular in England youth international sides throughout the age groups and is highly admired by Villa.

Watch Live: Blanche testifies at confirmation hearing for attorney general

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing to lead the Justice Department in a permanent capacity.

Wholesale prices unexpectedly declined 0.3% in June on big drop in gasoline

As with consumer prices, the index benefited from easing energy costs, particularly as oil fell due to the brief pause in tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

A look at the U.S. military's gas stations of the sky

A crucial part of the U.S. operation against Iran has been the Royal Air Force station in Suffolk, England, where the Air Force operates one of its key in-air refueling stations. Charlie D'Agata reports.

Trump's attorney general nominee Todd Blanche faces Senate Judiciary questions

Todd Blanche previously served as a criminal defense lawyer for President Donald Trump.

Cricket World Cup in fresh shake-up with India v Pakistan double on cards

• ICC reveals shape of expanded 2027 14-team tournament

• Only one of three lowest-ranked teams would advance

The men’s Cricket World Cup will undergo yet another revamp when it takes place in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year. A convoluted 14-team format has been officially confirmed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), albeit one that trims the competing nations to 12 almost immediately.

While at the last two World Cups the 10 teams played a round-robin league stage that threw up four semi-finalists, the expanded 2027 edition will begin with the three lowest-ranked teams out of the 14 qualifiers playing what has been dubbed a “Super series”. Only one of these teams will progress through to the main event.

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: forget delicate chains – this summer, make your jewellery big and bold

Fashion is getting braver with accessories again, so lean into it by embracing loud earrings and chunky pendants

This summer, I want jewellery that makes some noise. Real noise – earrings that swish, bangles that clatter – and visual noise as well. Stuff to wear when you want to be seen and heard. The total opposite, in other words, of the jewellery most of us have been wearing lately. Charming, delicate jewellery has become the default. Two necklaces of different lengths on fine chains. One has a heart pendant, the other an initial or a birth stone, am I right? Maybe a curated earlobe of tastefully small mismatched diamond hoops.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this look. It is really nice. In fact, this is exactly the problem.

‘They want to break our will’: Gaza flotilla activist tells of rape in Israeli detention

Anna Liedtke files criminal complaint in Israel over alleged attack by female guards and says abuse was intended to silence campaigners

The third time Anna Liedtke was subjected to an illegal strip-search in Israeli detention, female prison guards forced her on to her knees, covered her mouth to stop her screaming and raped her, according to interviews and a criminal complaint filed in Israel.

She described hearing male guards laughing during the attack, which she believes they watched and may have filmed. It took place in an area separated from the prison hallway by a partially drawn curtain that her attackers had left open.

ICE suspends most vehicle stops during enforcement operations after latest shooting

ICE agents have been directed to suspend most vehicle stops during enforcement operations nationwide following the latest fatal shooting. Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was shot and killed on Monday in Maine while in his car. Lilia Luciano has more.

The World Cup used to let us micro-dose politics. Now it is engulfed by it

Whether it is our ‘identity maths’, naked nostalgia or diaspora experience. All seem scarred by the political contexts bearing down on this tournament

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I have measured my life in World Cups. The first blurry moments of childhood memory, the passing into adolescence, starting university. Each tournament marks a season of life. Each one is also associated with potent, formative emotional events: Roger Milla dancing around the corner flag when Cameroon became the first African team to reach the quarter-finals in 1990; Roberto Baggio’s devastating goal that knocked out a Nigeria that had been on a thriller streak in 1994; Zinedine Zidane’s tragically ignominious head-butt in 2006 during his last-ever match. But this World Cup has felt different from the start.

Watching the World Cup as a Black diaspora viewer is a broadly unhinged exercise that still adheres to an elegant logic. You might describe the process of deciding your allegiance as a sort of “identity maths”. You support the African teams until they get knocked out (and thanks to the extended format, this time around we had so many more heroic teams such as Cape Verde and the DRC). Then you move on to a combination of Black diaspora teams from elsewhere, then adopted homelands, and then just adopted teams because you like their vibe or their country’s politics. The last category is really tenuous and involves a lot of projection. Spain is a good example of this, a country that has a sort of unproblematic European outlier aura that imbues it with more political proximity to the post-colonial experience than, say, Norway. Then there’s France, which, despite being an ex-colonial power, has a majority-Black team and therefore trumps Spain. I do not make the rules of identity maths.

Heavy rain hits Texas and intense heat impacts parts of U.S.

More than a foot of rain fell in parts of Texas in just 24 hours, leading to dozens of rescues. Meanwhile, heat warnings stretch from Southern California to the Northeast while heavy rain slams Texas. Jason Allen and Rob Marciano have the latest.

New York Fed President Williams says inflation has peaked, rates 'well positioned'

Williams cited five reasons why he expects the latest price surge has run its course.

Greetings from Paris, where an art installation transformed the Pont Neuf into a rocky cave

The oldest bridge in Paris was draped in fabric last month to appear like a mountain cave, in an installation by the artist JR. Unlike a real cave, though, it didn't provide respite from a brutal heat wave.

Hassett sees no 'excuse' to raise rates, says Warsh will push Fed to 'right answer'

Hassett, on CNBC, credited President Donald Trump's policies after the latest consumer price index reading came in much lower than expected.

From an out-of-sorts Scheffler to caddie nuptials: what to look out for at 2026 Open

The 154th Open starts at Royal Birkdale on Thursday with a host of compelling storylines to follow

Scottie Scheffler won the 2025 Open by four strokes but the world No 1 arrives at Royal Birkdale having missed the cut at last week’s Scottish Open. The out-of-form American has claimed his fewest wins in a season since 2021, having claimed only one victory all year: January’s American Express, in his first start of the year. Since then, Scheffler has recorded four runner-up finishes, including at the Masters. “I didn’t really feel like I played that bad,” he said of his missed cut, his first in four years. “This golf course can be just tough at times.”

ICE halts most vehicle stops following deadly shootings, sources say

Neither of the victims of the ICE shootings in Maine or Texas were the target of enforcement operations, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Midnight social media curfew and limits to infinite scrolling proposed for older UK teens

The U.K. government has proposed new measures to protect older teens on social media, including a midnight curfew and a limit to infinite scrolling.

1 person dead, 3 missing after boat sinks near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay

At least one person has died and three more people are missing after a boat capsized and sank near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, officials say. Twenty people were on board the boat at the time of the incident. Drew Andre reports.

Mortgage rates rise to highest level in nearly a year, causing homebuyers to pause

Mortgage rates moved higher last week, causing buyers to pull back, but refinancing did see small gains.

Muslim man stabbed multiple times in Utah over his religion, police say

Arrested suspect tells police he ‘intends to kill Muslims’ after alleged attack on kiosk worker at West Valley City mill

A man was arrested in Utah for stabbing a Muslim ⁠man multiple times and ⁠stated that he targeted ​the victim because of the victim’s religion, police said in court records on Tuesday.

Police said the suspect told them he “intends to kill Muslims” and that ⁠he constituted “a substantial danger to the public if released based on his violent actions ... ideologies and pre-planned mass casualty events”.

Louisiana man charged with murder in shooting of U.S. marshal

A Louisiana man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a deputy U.S. marshal who joined other officers in trying to arrest him.

Acting AG Todd Blanche faces a key test. And, ICE pauses most traffic stops

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is set to appear before the Senate for his confirmation hearing. And, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has paused most traffic stops after recent deadly shootings.

Spain and Gibraltar celebrate as border fence falls after signing of ‘historic deal’

Treaty came into effect at midnight, eliminating border controls on land frontier with British overseas territory

• Europe live – latest updates

• UK politics live – latest updates

Spain and Gibraltar are celebrating the fall of the last frontier fence in western Europe after the signing of a post-Brexit deal that brings an end to border checks for residents, tourists and the thousands of Spanish workers who cross into the British overseas territory every day.

The agreement, which was signed in Brussels on Tuesday and came into effect at midnight, marks the conclusion of more than four years of negotiations between the UK, Spain, Gibraltar and the EU after Britain’s departure from the bloc.

Surviving extreme heat increasingly boils down to this: access to air conditioning | Mark Wolfe

The next great climate divide will be between countries that have the resources to adapt and those that don’t

This summer, much of the media’s attention has focused on record temperatures across Europe and the United States. Television coverage has been filled with familiar images: heat maps shaded deep red, schools closing, rail lines slowing, wildfires spreading and emergency rooms treating growing numbers of people with heat-related illnesses.

Public officials have responded with equally familiar advice: stay indoors, drink plenty of water and, if possible, turn on the air conditioning.

‘More real than anything you’ll see scrolling’: the radical resurgence of UK fanzines, 50 years after punk

Five decades since punk bible Sniffin’ Glue, DIY magazines are in rude, rich health. Their creators talk fandom, community-building and resisting the algorithm

‘The most important part of the word ‘fanzine’ is ‘fan’,” says London-based zine-maker Jon Marsh. Existing outside mainstream media, free from the demands of release cycles and search engine optimisation, music fanzines are obsessions turned into tangible objects; self-published primarily for the maker’s own enjoyment, but with the potential of forging connections with like-minded people.

In the 1970s, punk zines such as Sniffin’ Glue, Alternative Ulster and Ripped & Torn allowed fans to share news and enthusiasm quickly and cheaply. Half a century on, music fanzines are enjoying a resurgence as a form of resistance to algorithm fatigue and the hyper-capitalist music industry. “Digital attention span is at an all-time low,” says hip-hop musician ExP, creator of the West Yorkshire Hip-Hop zine. “You’re almost definitely going to spend more time looking at a zine than anything you see scrolling. It’s more interesting and more real.” In the words of Stephen McRobbie, from indie-pop icons and fanzine regulars the Pastels: “It’s the long way round compared to other media, but the scenery is always better.”

How to turn empty broad bean pods into a mouthwatering risotto – recipe | Waste not

Use the whole pod – husks, beans and all – for a rustic, nutritious version of a seasonal favourite

Tom Norrington Davies is a friend, fellow chef and one of the best yoga teachers I know, so you can probably imagine my pleasure on recently coming across his recipe for broad bean and mint risotto, which he wrote for The Eagle Cookbook in 2009. Like many restaurants, this legendary gastropub pods their broad beans to reveal the beautiful green bean inside; this is my zero-waste interpretation.

Goldman Sachs' Ruemmler to face House questioning on Jeffrey Epstein

Kathryn Ruemmler said earlier this year she would leave Goldman Sachs at the end of June after fallout over her emails with Jeffrey Epstein.

One small pen for one giant fee: Buzz Aldrin’s mission-saving felt-tip up for auction

Sotheby’s expects second man on moon’s marker, crucial to Apollo 11 return, to reach astronomical sum

The felt-tip pen Buzz Aldrin used to fix a broken circuit breaker and escape from the moon in 1969 is up for auction in New York.

The dented silver plastic Duro Rocket pen – used by the second man on the moon to save Neil Armstrong and himself from being “stuck on the moon for ever” – has a sale price estimated by Sotheby’s at between $800,000 and $1.2m. The lucky bidder will get the broken piece of circuit breaker, too. Both come from Aldrin’s personal collection.

Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares rise 4% after Qwen AI set to be integrated in Apple Intelligence

The Cyberspace Administration of China on Wednesday included Apple's AI services on a list of approved providers.

Venezuela’s interim government and opposition to begin formal talks

Nobel laureate María Corina Machado will not lead negotiations over new elections, contrary to expectations

The interim government of Venezuela has announced it will begin formal talks with the opposition aimed at “strengthening democracy” in the country.

The move is backed by the US, which says it is seeking a “democratic transition” in a country still recovering from the twin earthquakes that killed more than 4,700 people.

Alzheimer's blood test may show who's likely to develop it in 5 to 10 years

A blood test may predict if apparently healthy older adults are likely to develop Alzheimer's symptoms in the next five or 10 years, researchers say.

How are London City Lionesses able to embark on such a transfer spree?

Many are in awe of the investment that Michele Kang is making into the women’s game. Others, though, are baffled

There is one team whose transfer activity this summer has captured everyone’s attention. London City Lionesses, a club who finished in the bottom half of the second tier a little over two years ago, have stunned the women’s game by signing a flurry of big names, including the Spain stars Alexia Putellas and Mapi León, the former England goalkeeper Mary Earps, and then, on Wednesday morning, the France winger Kadidiatou Diani. It is a startling recruitment drive intent on breaking up the Women’s Super League’s established order.

Reaction has been divided. Many are in awe of the investment that the independent club’s owner, the American businesswoman Michele Kang, is making into the women’s game. Others, including senior staff at lots of rival clubs, are baffled at the idea that one of the league’s smaller teams can afford such world-class signings. They have one key question on their lips: how are London City able to sign all of these top players within the confines of the WSL’s salary cap rules?

‘Collective failure’: French press digests World Cup semi-final defeat by Spain

• L’Équipe laments ‘mentally sunk’ players in Dallas

• Ouest France front page reads: ‘End of American dream’

French fans’ expectations of their national team had been at an all-time high: a semi-final on Bastille Day, Kylian Mbappé a hero, a squad unbeaten. Across the country, bars had been packed with viewers spilling on to pavements, ready to crack open the fireworks ahead of hopes for the final.

But the night was unexpectedly subdued, streets cleared early. On Wednesday morning, the French media were still digesting the disappointment of defeat in a World Cup semi-final, praising Spain’s performance in Texas while struggling to comprehend Les Bleus’ fall from a high.

How to keep cool in this year's extreme summer heat even without air conditioning

"Extreme heat" is in the forecast this summer. How do people cope if they don't have air conditioning? Here are suggestions from a heat researcher who grew up in a very hot, AC-less place.

Thomas Meunier ‘hugely excited’ about joining Sunderland on a free transfer

• Experienced Belgium right-back signs two-year deal

• Competing in Europa League was ‘big factor’ in move

Sunderland have completed the signing of the experienced Belgium right-back Thomas Meunier on a two-year deal as Régis Le Bris’s team step up preparations for a second successive season in the Premier League alongside a Europa League campaign.

Meunier, who has just returned from the World Cup, has been capped 83 times by Belgium and was a free agent after the expiration of his contract at Lille. The 34-year-old is Sunderland’s first summer signing.

Bite my shiny metal ass! TV’s all-time top robots

From mechanical mutts to android assassins, our cybernetic companions have been entertaining us, their organic overlords, for decades. Here are the 20 best automatons ever to grace the small screen

The robots are coming. And one of them happens to look a lot like Philomena Cunk in a wig. This week sees the arrival of Ann Droid, the BBC’s new odd-couple comedy. Diane Morgan stars as a secondhand elderly care bot, foisted upon Sue Johnston’s sceptical pensioner.

Ann Droid is the latest in a long line of TV tinheads. We tentatively toast the rise of the machines by counting down the all-time Top 20. Stand by, cybernetic selection is now loading …

‘Please don’t lose another pound!’: Ozempic is upending the wedding dress industry

The ubiquity of GLP-1s is wreaking new havoc on bridal designers who must scramble to accommodate rapid weight loss

In bridal stores across the world, solicitous sales assistants are being trained to ask a new, blunt question: “Are you planning on losing a drastic amount of weight?”

Wedding season’s new disruptor is semaglutide, now used by 10% of engaged couples, according to a survey by the wedding planning platform Zola. In the same survey, 42% of couples said the ubiquity of GLP-1s has made them feel they should “look a certain way” for their wedding.

England’s Freeman seeking to silence Pollock and end season of grind on high

Centre/wing is embracing a friendly rivalry with his headline-grabbing teammate when they take on the Pumas

It has been a long road for several of the players who went on last year’s British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. They are putting on a professionally brave face, but for some the final weekend of the season cannot come soon enough. Factor in the travel, the training and associated other stresses and strains and the 2025-26 campaign has been relentless from a physical and a mental perspective.

Crunch the numbers before Saturday’s last hurrah against Argentina and it is a wonder many are still standing. Of the those English Lions, Henry Pollock is about to participate in his 32nd competitive game while his Northampton teammate Tommy Freeman his 29th. Ben Earl and Ellis Genge, assuming their involvement against the Pumas, will be in the same situation with Ollie Chessum one behind.

Bank of England governor would have put off Farage meeting had £5m gift been under investigation

Exclusive: Andrew Bailey says he does not regret meeting Reform UK leader to discuss cryptocurrency regulation

The Bank of England governor has said he would have put off a meeting with Nigel Farage last autumn had the Reform UK leader’s £5m gift from a crypto billionaire been under investigation at the time.

Andrew Bailey said he did not regret meeting Farage to discuss the Bank’s plans for cryptocurrency regulation last September, months before the controversial donation from the Thailand-based investor Christopher Harborne was revealed by the Guardian in April.

China’s economy grows at 4.3%, one of its lowest rates on record

Worse-than-expected figures for three months to June come amid concerns over lopsided economy

• Business live – latest updates

China has posted worse-than-expected growth figures for the three months to June as its economy expanded by just 4.3% – one of its lowest quarterly readings on record.

The rate, which came in under the government’s target of 4.5% to 5%, was one of the weakest since reporting on official quarterly GDP figures began in the early 1990s.

Flights grounded at D.C.-area airport due to security concerns for Iraqi leader

The Iraqi leader was in Washington to meet with President Trump.

Houston prosecutor could bring charges against ICE agents in fatal shooting

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare, who is investigating the fatal ICE shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, told CBS News ICE's tactics "in no way resemble" the behavior of police agencies he's worked with.

Sadiq Khan backs calls for maximum workplace temperature in UK

Mayor of London backs calls from unions to update health and safety rules in light of more frequent heatwaves

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is backing calls for a maximum workplace temperature as pressure grows on the government to protect workers from the impact of repeated heatwaves across the UK.

The extreme heat has left people struggling to cope as temperatures in some workplaces climb above 40C, causing thousands of schools to close and hospital and transport systems to break down.

Never mind the garage forecourt – carnations deserve a place in your garden

Easy to grow, hardy and charming, these once-maligned flowers are having a much-deserved comeback

You might not know the term Caryophyllaceae but I guarantee you’d be able to spot a carnation, which is part of this family. Garage forecourt carnations have been having a semi-ironic fashion moment as a cut flower for a while now, but I’m yet to see them making a garden comeback.

I’d always dismissed the whole family as fusty, old-fashioned bedding plants for fussy little gardens. But it turns out that whoever is in charge of the carnation comms is having a good run. I keep seeing them around. Rose campion, another Caryophyllaceae, has even turned up in my garden – or rather, it has survived there. I didn’t plant it, and a photo from last July shows a scorched wasteland (it’s now a haven for moths, grasshoppers and bees, which shows what not mowing can do). But they’re biennial (they take two seasons to get from seed to flower), so I guess it was biding its time. It’s bright pink with a soft grey leaf, and not the kind of thing I’d choose, but I’m enjoying it so much I’ll be encouraging it to self-seed in the wildflower patch.

US groups sue Trump administration claiming ICC sanctions violate first amendment

Plaintiffs allege ‘profound’ chilling effect on protected work of international criminal court officials and others

Two US advocacy groups sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, alleging that sanctions targeting Palestinian rights organizations, international criminal court (ICC) officials and a UN expert have unlawfully violated Americans’ first amendment rights.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, argues that the administration’s sweeping 2025 sanctions package has had a “profound” chilling effect on Palestine-related advocacy, compelling Americans to sever professional relationships and abandon constitutionally protected work.

Ali G is back. I really wish he wasn’t | Arwa Mahdawi

Back in the day, he was funny. But that day was 24 years ago – and the character sits uncomfortably in a post-shame world

Have we not suffered enough? The US is currently in the throes of a parasite-induced watery diarrhoea outbreak while being governed by a mad king suffering from a horrible case of logorrhea. Meanwhile, on both sides of the Atlantic the temperature is about a million degrees and the world is experiencing a “Godzilla” El Niño. Thanks to the extreme weather and the Iran war, global food prices are about to rocket. Everything is going to hell, basically. And now, to top it all off, we’ve just had the news that we’re getting an Ali G reboot.

I iz being deadly serious here. News broke last week that Sacha Baron Cohen has finished secretly filming a new Ali G movie – 24 years after the character, a satirical take on privileged suburban kids appropriating black street culture, was last seen on the big screen. Baron Cohen then showed up at Wimbledon over the weekend in character, posting an Instagram proclaiming: “I iz Back!”

The Mitch McConnell mystery is solved. But it doesn’t look good for America | Moira Donegan

The senator is alive, a key requirement to maintain one’s job in the US Senate

Like any good proof-of-life photo, it featured that day’s newspaper. After a nearly month-long disappearance, when it was clear that he had been rushed to the hospital but not clear why or in what condition, Mitch McConnell broke his silence, as they say in the tabloids, by releasing a photograph of himself sitting upright in a hospital bed. He wore a pink button-up shirt, and his vacant, lipless mouth seemed to form something meant to resemble a smile. Beside him was his wife, the comparatively pert former Trump transportation secretary Elaine Chao, her coiffed hair as stiff as the couple’s determination. In a statement, McConnell said that he had been hospitalized after a fall, and was being treated for pneumonia.

The picture was meant to put an end to the rampant speculation over whether the senator, aged 84, was dead or not. You would think this would be a simple enough question to answer. If the man himself wasn’t available to clear up the matter, couldn’t someone have held two fingers to the inside of his wrist to check for a pulse, or propped a hand mirror under his nose to see if it fogged? No such luck, apparently. The Kentucky senator was missing for weeks, with no word, his office only releasing vague and repetitive acknowledgments that he had been hospitalized. Public emergency services records indicate that paramedics were called to his Washington address on 14 June, where they administered CPR on an unconscious person who was allegedly suffering a cardiac arrest – one whose identity has been withheld. McConnell had been in a Washington DC area hospital ever since.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

The U.S. and Iran standoff over the Strait of Hormuz intensifies

Iran threatened to block all oil exporting routes in the region on Wednesday in response to the U.S. maritime blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.

‘People are picking the dumbest fights’: the tortured history of America’s culture wars

In a new book, Isaac Butler goes back to the 1980s to trace how battles started against the arts, from Piss Christ to Mapplethorpe, and looks at what we can learn for today

Isaac Butler is limbering up for an event at Politics and Prose, an independent bookshop and venerable Washington institution, but still has time to explain his arm tattoos.

They variously depict: a logo from his grandparents’ company in the 1960s; a satellite that his father worked on at Nasa; a “jaunty crab” for his wife, who finds crabs “hilarious”; an iris by Japan’s Utagawa Hiroshige for Butler’s daughter, Iris; a drawing of a scene from a production of The Seagull by the Russian theatre maker Konstantin Stanislavski; and an artwork by the American painter and photographer David Wojnarowicz that shows a house on fire.

‘Frank Bough told me: I do have a very big cock’: how Fern Britton survived in TV in the 1980s – and beyond

The much-loved presenter had 10 years on This Morning before suddenly deciding she had to get out of there. She discusses sexual harassment, tabloid intrusion, Phillip Schofield and the power of forgiveness

On the daytime TV behemoth that is This Morning, Fern Britton always had an appealing mix of warmth, no-nonsense capability and a hint of danger, as if she could decide to blow it all up at any moment. And then she did.

On the day she resigned in 2009, Britton didn’t know she was going to do it, but amid rumours of a feud with co-host Phillip Schofield, she took the scorched-earth route and walked away from her high-profile, high-paying job with nothing to take its place. Was she not worried about what she would do next?

If you want your kids to thrive this summer, don’t just turn off their phones – open your front door, too | Lenore Skenazy

Children’s worlds have been shrinking and it’s harming their mental health. It’s time for parents to be brave and allow them a little independence

In books and movies that pack a wallop you will usually find a “charged object” – an item crucial to the plot and freighted with emotion. The slipper in Cinderella. The apple in Adam and Eve. And today, in the story of what has gone wrong with childhood: the smartphone.

It’s not that phones aren’t a real problem. We have all seen it. Kids glued to their phones in a restaurant. Kids glued to their phones at the bus stop. The other day I saw a girl swinging on a swing – the classic summer pastime – glued to her phone. And oh, the content! This study alone will give you pause: ParentsTogether Action reports that children see sex and drug content every few minutes on Snapchat. If only we could take away their phones, a happy childhood would be restored – or so it can seem.

Lenore Skenazy is president of Let Grow, a nonprofit promoting childhood independence and resilience, and founder of the Free-Range Kids movement

American AI is expensive. Some startups are turning to cheap Chinese models

AI is a fast-growing business expense. Some companies are cutting costs by switching to cheaper Chinese AI models.

Todd Blanche faces high-stakes confirmation hearing for attorney general

Blanche won Senate confirmation early in President Trump's second term to serve as the No. 2 official at the Justice Department. Now he's facing a contentious hearing as he seeks the top job.

Morning news brief

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to appear for confirmation hearing, U.S. restarts blockade against Iran amid standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, ICE suspends traffic stops after deadly shootings.

1 dead, 3 missing after boat sinks near Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay

One person died and three were missing in San Francisco Bay on Tuesday after a boat with 20 people on board sank near Alcatraz Island, authorities said.

Hidden Creatures by Dino Martins review – the revolting world of parasites

From maggots to viruses, this gross-out compendium also manages to celebrate the awe and inventiveness of nature

When Craig Venter, one of the mappers of the human genome, set out on a sailboat cruise to map DNA in seawater all across the globe, he found that a teaspoon of seawater contained on average 50m viruses. While this doesn’t sound particularly reassuring, the bad news is mitigated by the fact that most of these are phages that infect marine bacteria and have no interest in us.

Viruses are parasites, and like all their parasitic kind, they get a free ride from living organisms. The whole point of multicellular life is to create a cosy environment for cells to live in, and evolution has invented all manner of stowaways that want this comfort and manage to get on board, either outside or sometimes inside the cells themselves. While it is not generally in the best interest of a parasite to kill its host and be forced to find a new home, some come dangerously close. Most diseases in the developing world are connected in some way or another to parasitic infections.

Shipwrecks of Shackleton and Scott recreated in 3D digital form after deep sea expedition

Canadian scientists visit remains of polar exploration vessels in ‘golden era for shipwreck investigating’

Moments after devouring the final glimmers of light, the seafloor offered nothing but darkness and silt. Then the bow appeared.

More than 1,000ft (305 metres) below the surface of the Labrador Sea, off the coast of Canada, the skeleton of the final ship used by the famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton appeared in its silty grave.

Love and hate collide: England v Argentina is not simply a grudge match | Jonathan Liew

Look beyond the flashpoints and flare-ups and perhaps this is the greatest and most romantic of footballing rivalries

It’s about the ball, right up until the moment it isn’t. On Sunday afternoon Godoy Cruz played Defensores de Belgrano in Nacional B, the second division of Argentinian football, and among the sea of blue home banners were two crosses of St George, apparently expropriated from England fans at the 2014 World Cup. One reads: “Boys & Girls From Oakwell Barnsley.” The other: “Big Al – Y-Bird – South Croydon – CPFC.”

Now I want you to reflect on the levels of pure and gorgeous malevolence – pettiness doesn’t quite cover it, nor does spite – required to travel to Brazil, obtain an English flag, fold it away, bring it home in your luggage, keep it in pristine condition for 12 years, only to unveil it in your second-tier football stadium in the week Argentina play England in a World Cup semi-final. The restraint and optimism required to allow your minor act of territorial banter to fester and mature for over a decade. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a footballing rivalry.

Have the top four teams ever made up the World Cup semi-finalists before? | The Knowledge

Plus: back-to-back heavy wins and defeats, and an unsurprising challenger to a Lionel Messi record

• Mail us with your all of your questions and answers

“The top four teams in the Fifa rankings are also the four semi-finalists at the World Cup,” writes Henry Conroy. “Has this happened before?”

The men’s rankings have updated after every match of the World Cup, and Fifa surely missed a trick by not asking the great Martin Tyler to shout “And they’re live!” It means the order has changed during the tournament but the makeup of the top four was the same going into the semi-finals as it was at the start of the competition.

Brazil (3) v Germany (2)

Netherlands (15) v Argentina (5)

Germany (11) v South Korea (40)

Brazil (2) v Turkey (22)

Germany (19) v Italy (13)

Portugal (7) v France (8)

Spain (6) v Sweden (3)

Australia (10) v England (4)

United States (2) v Germany (1)

Japan (4) v England (6)

Mystery bidder buys T. rex nicknamed 'Gus' for a record $50 million

A Tyrannosaurus rex fossil billed as one of the world's largest and most complete specimens was sold for a record $50.1 million Tuesday to a mystery bidder.

Perverts of the world rejoice! It’s Meta’s new dodgy old mate glasses | First Dog on the Moon

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Sail away to the Côte d’Opale: a watery adventure in northern France

A catamaran service from Dover to Boulogne is the perfect start to a trip exploring the Pas-de-Calais and marshes of Saint-Omer by bike, boat and kayak

“It’s all about tuning into the culture of the sea,” helmsman Chris O’Brien tells me, scanning the rippling cobalt horizon from the wheel of a catamaran. “People find the water, and the meditative experience of sailing, healing.” Meditative isn’t a word that usually comes to mind when talking about cross-Channel ferries on a bank holiday weekend, but this is no ordinary ferry.

Launched last year, SailLink operates a largely wind-powered (engines are only used when necessary) service from Dover to Boulogne up to five times a week between April and mid-September, with a new Shoreham to Fécamp route due to start trials later this year.

Once again we are told AI may be conscious – I study consciousness, and I have my doubts | Anil Seth

Despite Anthropic’s claims, Claude is no more likely to achieve sentience than a simulation of a weather system is likely to generate a real hurricane

For centuries, humans have been fascinated by the prospect of creating artificial beings in our own image. Of developing synthetic minds and artificial bodies that not only think but also feel, and are both intelligent and conscious. For the vast majority of this time, this prospect seemed very distant; a topic for science fiction and philosophy, not for the here and now. But over the past few years, the rapid rise of AI – and especially of language models – has changed everything.

Last week, the frontier AI firm Anthropic published new research on its language model, Claude, in which the researchers claimed to find signs of consciousness emerging within its inner workings. They didn’t claim that Claude is actually conscious in the same way that humans are, but the findings certainly upped the ante on the possibility of consciousness arising in AI.

Anil Seth is professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex, and co-director of the Sussex centre for consciousness science. He is the author of Being You

Lucky review – Anya Taylor-Joy’s daft thriller is classic summer viewing

This series about a conwoman fleeing for her life is packed with explosions and preposterous coincidences. It’s bunkum with bells on – but who can resist it in this heat?

Luciana “Lucky” Armstrong (Anya Taylor‑Joy) is on the run, scampering across the US in her fashionably rumpled sateen blouson and prompting much fist-shaking from the hapless feds on her tail. “Lucky!” they bellow, cheeks puffing in disbelief as the incorrigible grifter bounds across the roofs of parked lorries, wriggles out of an exploding car, scams a sobbing gran and sets fire to a goon’s cowboy boots. “Lucky?! Stop!” But, no, too late, she’s off again; capering, conning and smirking her way through the Apple TV crime thriller that bears her pointedly ambiguous nickname.

Based on Marissa Stapley’s bestselling novel, the story follows thus: after her boyfriend has made off with the proceeds of their multimillion-dollar heist, our penniless protagonist finds herself pursued by the FBI and a ruthless crime boss determined to relieve the duo of their ill-gotten spoils.

Before the gold rush: a South African story – in pictures

Robin Bernstein’s debut book Mapalakata takes us to the edge of the South African frontier to tell a story inspired by folk tales and historical artefacts

A moment that changed me: I started yoga – and saw my scoliosis in a surprising new light

As a teenager I declined a painful operation to straighten my spinal curvature, and it was a decision I sometimes regretted. But through daily stretching and exercise, my relationship with my body was transformed

I was 13 when a spinal surgeon gave me unsolicited career advice. “Scoliosis won’t ruin your life,” he said, peering over his spectacles, “unless you want to do bikini modelling.” As a young teenager, I hadn’t thought much about job prospects, let alone modelling, but his words stung. It also curdled my situation into a lose-lose scenario: either have a painful operation to fuse metal rods with my spine, or endure a lifetime with an abnormally twisted back.

Until this point, I’d perceived my spinal curvature in terms of the inward experience: pain. Now, I became aware of an external dimension: a disfigurement. Something to be hidden. This did me no favours as a teenager in the age of Instagram. While I declined the operation due to the risks and the extended leave from school, the surgeon’s blithe remark burdened me with shame.

Labour must stop just writing a cheque for benefit claimants, says McFadden

Exclusive: Work and pensions secretary signals possible reform to welfare as ministers await key reviews

Labour must stop “simply writing a cheque” for health and disability benefit claimants and will provide more job support instead, the work and pensions secretary has said.

Pat McFadden said the government was preparing to launch a renewed effort at welfare reform with a focus on encouraging more people with health conditions to get into work and off benefits.

Marie Frank’s recipes for strawberry shortcakes and cardenales with apricot compote

Not a ‘cake person’? Loaded with fruit and whipped cream, these luxurious pastries are sure to hit your sweet spot

Strawberry, or any berry, shortcakes are the perfect dessert to make for those in your life who are not cake people. I’m married to a “not cake” person, so I would know. For me, the contrast between the salty, slightly warm shortcake (which is more like a biscuit), whipped cream and macerated fresh fruit is perfection, and hits enough of the sweet spots still to feel like a dessert without actually being cakey. But, first, the cardenal, a truly elegant, light-as-a-feather cake that’s made with alternating rings of genoise sponge and meringue all sandwiched with whipped cream. Though the building blocks are simple – meringue, sponge and cream – when combined, they turn into something really special.

Japan officials hunt bear that raided couple’s fridge amid string of break-ins

Officials set up traps and electric fences after 14 break-ins recored in one town in two weeks, amid fears of a repeat offender

Authorities are searching for a bear that sneaked into the home of an elderly couple and raided their fridge amid concerns it may be behind 14 break-ins across a Japanese town in the past fortnight.

On Monday evening, Mitsuo Matsubara, 87, was confronted by a large Asiatic black bear when he went to investigate a noise in his kitchen. His fridge was open, and food was strewn across the floor. His wife called the police.

Every ICE arrest team will now have an agent with a body camera, DHS says

Every ICE arrest team will have at least one law enforcement officer equipped with a body-worn camera going forward, DHS said Tuesday, after two fatal shootings by agents who didn't have cameras.

‘The world wasn’t ready for me’: Del LaGrace Volcano on photographing S&M scenes, leather-clad lesbians and a drag king self-portrait

Their scandalous work was once banned. Now it’s in museums. The photographer talks about a lifetime defying conformity – and their ‘very active’ sex life

The peaceful Swedish city of Örebro is not where you might expect to find Del LaGrace Volcano, the US photographer known for their subversive images depicting LGBTQ+ communities, drag kings and sexual desire. Yet this is the place they have called home for the last two decades, having moved with their ex-partner, Matilda Wurm, an associate professor at the city’s university. Now, their days are punctuated by walks around a nearby forest and trips to the local outdoor swimming pool with the pair’s two children. It is a far cry from the life Volcano previously had in London, where they lived in squats, attended S&M fetish parties and documented lesbian cruising culture.

“I do miss it. I think London will always be my city,” Volcano tells me when they pick me up from my hotel in Örebro’s (virtually empty) city centre. Halfway between Stockholm and Gothenburg, the former trading hub – known for its medieval castle – is “not a queer city”, the photographer admits. Most of their neighbours don’t even know they are queer. Volcano, 68, is intersex and calls themself a “hermaphrodyke” – but these days they “pass as apparently a little old man”, they say with a grimace.

The scary rise of locksmith scams: ‘I was shut out with my baby – and charged £2,200 to get back in’

In the UK, these scams have become an epidemic, rising 147% between January and March, compared with the same time last year. Why are they suddenly so common? And what can you do if you’re charged thousands for a quick, easy job?

Sarah was alone in her flat with her three-month-old baby when a man put a card machine in her face and demanded she pay £2,209. A few hours earlier Sarah, 30, had been for a walk with her daughter when it dawned on her that she had left her keys at home. She did what most people would do in the same situation: search Google for a nearby locksmith. “I had a screaming baby, so I needed someone to quickly let me in,” she says.

Sarah came across a seemingly legitimate company, near the top of the search results, which was sponsored. The company’s website said prices started at £45 and claimed they had received “4,500-plus five-star reviews and counting”, so she called them. When the locksmith arrived, Sarah says, he “seemed pleasant and relatively quiet” at first. After examining her lock, however, he told her it was a high-security one and the only way to get inside was to drill it open. He broke his way in and changed the lock before delivering another blow: he had accidentally damaged the internal mechanism, which also needed replacing. After Sarah got inside and placed her baby on a changing mat, the locksmith told her the price: £2,209.

‘When she turns eight they will take her’: rising number of Afghan girls being sold into child marriage

Afghanistan is seeing a resurgence in underage brides and mothers as desperate families sell their children in order to eat

Sima* is 18, but has already given birth four times. Her youngest is a newborn, the eldest is four. Sitting with her children in their mud-brick room in Badghis province, Sima says: “After the Taliban entered the country, I had just finished the sixth grade and was supposed to start the seventh. But two months later, my father pressured me immensely to marry my cousin. After being beaten by my father several times, I was forced to accept.”

At 13, Sima became a bride inside the compound where she still lives, and where she has given birth to her children. One child died of pneumonia aged one. She does all the housework: fetching water, tending the cows, baking naan in a tandoor. All the while, her children cling to her legs, crying.

Ride or Die review – Hannah Waddingham’s comedy caper is the perimenopausal TV of your dreams

This tale of a 50-year-old assassin going rogue – and having to confess all to her best mate – is so much fun. The chemistry between its leads is a thing of beauty

The bone-deep magnificence of Hannah Waddingham is such that she could, I suspect, talk most of us into a burning car should she wish to. So selling viewers on the delightfully ludicrous premise of the comedy caper Ride or Die is but the work of a moment. Waddingham plays Whiptail, a deadly assassin for the last 20-odd years whose work has recently become more attention-grabbing than her bosses like. Octavia Spencer (who occupies god-tier comedy status in my heart for her tiny part as Tracy Morgan’s nemesis in 30 Rock alone) is her best friend Debbie. Debbie knows Whiptail as Judith, a forensic accountant, and has no idea that behind the woman she depends on for laughs, emotional support and notes on the latest book club book she hasn’t read is a trained killer.

Debbie is married to David (Jamie Parker), a politician, and is the gentle power behind his throne. His personal and professional life have been shaped and smoothed by her for the past 25 years, and he is now on course to be the next prime minister.