Luigi Mangione pleads guilty in federal case, admits shooting Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione entered a guilty plea in his federal case at a court appearance in Manhattan Friday morning.

Justice Department expands military's power to detain migrants near border

The Justice Department issued a legal opinion giving the U.S. military broader powers to detain migrants near certain areas along the southern border.

Group including Jeff Bezos buys minority stake in Liverpool FC, with option to become controlling owner

The group that includes Jeff Bezos has an option to become the majority shareholder within the next year.

Luigi Mangione pleads guilty in federal case related to UnitedHealthcare CEO killing

Mangione's lawyers immediately argued his federal plea means he cannot be prosecuted in state court for Brian Thompson's slaying due to double jeopardy.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (Aug. 16)

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

Book excerpt: Modesty on the line in "The Summer of Death"

Geoff Williams' account of the deadly heat wave of 1936 includes one Kentucky city's efforts to arrest young women whose warm-weather attire was considered too revealing.

American missionary kidnapped in Niger in October is freed

An American missionary who was kidnapped in Niger in October has been released, his organization says, adding that Kevin Rideout "is in good health in the care of U.S. officials."

Mangione pleads guilty in federal court, leaving fate of state trial uncertain

Mangione has pleaded guilty to stalking charges in connection with the death of Brian Thompson, a health care executive. A separate judge will decide the future of Mangione's state trial.

Belgian student strikes gold worth €9m while digging sewers

Kobe, 18, who made discovery on site of former brewery in Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde, at first thought trove was €1 coins

For a student with a summer job working on a Belgian building site, “money down the drain” has taken on a whole new meaning: excavating the trenches for a sewage system, he stumbled across a hidden trove of gold worth an estimated €9m (£8m).

“We suddenly saw something lying there,” 18-year-old Kobe told the Belgian news network VTM. “At first I thought it was €1 coins. So we started digging them up. Then we saw a gold bar. It turned out to be a bit more than we thought.”

Arsenal in talks over Quansah; transfer news; Giuliani slams Infantino’s critics: football – live

⚽ All the latest football news, comment and previews
⚽ This weekend’s fixtures | Read Football Daily | Mail Dominic

Arsenal are in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over Jarell Quansah. The asking price for the England defender expected to be at least €50m (£43m). He joined the German club from Liverpool last summer for an initial £30m, with the Reds inserting a buy-back clause in the deal.

Luigi Mangione says ‘I shot Mr Thompson’ and pleads guilty on federal charges linked to healthcare CEO’s killing – live

Mangione tells Manhattan court ‘I knew what I was doing was illegal’ as he changes plea on federal stalking charges

at the courthouse in Manhattan

Mangione’s legal team is helmed by Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo. The team has scored several major legal coups in Mangione’s federal and state cases.

Violent crime plummeted in U.S. last year, White House official says

The White House is touting a historic drop in violent crime as the FBI prepares to release the latest data from its annual Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

Luigi Mangione hearing set to start amid discussions about possible guilty plea

Luigi Mangione, accused in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is in discussions about a possible plea deal on federal charges, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

USS Washington aircraft carrier heads to Middle East to replace USS Lincoln

The USS George Washington aircraft carrier departed Vietnam last week and is headed to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, according to a U.S. official.

Trump asks Supreme Court to let White House ballroom construction continue

President Donald Trump tore down the White House East Wing to make way for the ballroom project.

Iberian orca known for ramming boats seen with suspected gunshot wounds

Marine conservationist says deliberate attack would be ‘act of extreme cruelty’ against endangered population

Spanish officials have launched an investigation after the matriarch of an orca pod known for jostling and ramming boats off the Iberian Peninsula was spotted with wounds suggesting she had been shot by a pellet gun.

On Friday, Spain’s environment ministry said Toñi, the oldest living member of the pod, had been seen swimming in the Strait of Gibraltar with markings on her dorsal fin that were “consistent with shots from a pellet gun”.

Hawaii under a hurricane warning as Tropical Storm Lala takes aim

Tropical Storm Lala could bring heavy rain, high winds and dangerous surf and rip currents to the Hawaiian Islands as a hurricane this weekend, forecasters say.

Housing investors say this is their worst market in at least 3 years

Mortgage rates hit a recent low at the end of February but rose sharply at the start of the war with Iran. They are now at their highest level in over a year. 

Feds charge woman for allegedly vandalizing World War II Memorial in D.C.

The top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., said a woman has been arrested and faces two felony charges related to vandalism of the World War II Memorial.

Abbas fought the Taliban alongside US and Australian troops. Now exiled in Iran, he feels abandoned

Five years after the fall of Kabul, the former Afghan soldier is stuck in the middle of a new American war

War is Abbas’s* earliest memory.

As a child, the first iteration of Taliban rule forced his family to flee – with nothing but the clothes on their backs and what food they could carry – for the relative safety of far-distant hills.

Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

Across the world authoritarians want to tell us what a ‘good life’ looks like. Here’s how liberals must respond | Alexandre Lefebvre

From Maga to Hungary’s Fidesz and Australia’s One Nation, politics is returning to its oldest question: what makes a life worth living? And liberalism needs a credible answer

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Those of us who live in liberal democracies carry an image of what a decent state should do. It should protect rights, grow the economy, maintain order, uphold fairness and arbitrate disputes. But on life’s deepest questions – what makes a life worth living, and what sort of person one ought to become – it is meant to show restraint. The state should not privilege one vision of human flourishing, let alone promote it. That is for individuals, families and communities to decide. To borrow the Minnesota governor Tim Walz’s golden rule of politics: “Mind your own damn business!”

Consider birthrates. Across much of the wealthy world, they have fallen below replacement level. Fewer children mean fewer future workers, taxpayers and carers, and more pressure on pensions, health systems and aged care. Yet when liberal democracies encourage larger families, through baby bonuses or affordable childcare, they generally describe the goal as removing obstacles and expanding choice. Crucially, everyone should benefit: gay parents, straight parents, adoptive parents, biological parents, married parents, divorced parents – come one, come all.

Scientists hope to shed light on young universe by using dark side of the moon

UK team seeking to put suitcase-sized satellite in orbit around moon in search for 21cm line radio frequency signal

Little is known about what was happening shortly after the big bang, but now researchers are hoping to shed fresh light on the matter by harnessing the dark side of the moon.

Scientists are hoping to put a suitcase-sized satellite into orbit around the moon, using the data it collects as it passes the far side to search for a radio frequency signal emitted by neutral hydrogen atoms in the early universe.

‘It opens up doors and minds’: inside Sydney’s tattoo convention

While some of the event’s 5,000 attenders arrive sporting full bodysuits and ready to compete, others are gearing up for their first tattoo

At the Sydney tattoo convention, the city’s historic town hall fills with the buzz of tattoo machines, the comforting aroma of hospital-grade sanitiser and the timeless tunes of Linkin Park.

Convention founder and managing director of Thirteen Feet Tattoo studios, Katie Bailey, says it wasn’t easy to secure the 137-year-old venue. When she pitched it to Sydney council for their first event four years ago, “at first they were nervous about it, they had people everywhere checking in on us, but after that first event, they thought it was amazing. Tattooing and town hall just go together.”

Indiana river breaks 1913 flooding record as governor declares state of emergency

The White River in Indiana rose to record-breaking levels as more than 11 inches of rain has fallen east of Indianapolis since Tuesday.

See how much renters pay for a 2-bedroom home in 50 U.S. cities

Nearly half of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Here's what it costs to rent a two-bedroom home in 50 U.S. cities.

Two men charged with attempted murder of Sara Sharif’s father

Steven Sansom and Adam Watson accused of trying to kill Urfan Sharif, who murdered his daughter, in prison

Two men have been charged over what is understood to be the attempted murder in prison of Urfan Sharif, who is serving a life sentence for murdering his 10-year-old daughter Sara.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced the charges against Steven Sansom, 47, and Adam Watson, 39, after an incident at Belmarsh prison in London.

Train derails near Essex town of Wickford

Greater Anglia incident happens day after two passengers seriously injured in East Sussex derailment

A train has derailed in Essex, less than 24 hours after two people were seriously injured in a similar incident in East Sussex.

British Transport Police confirmed the rear carriages of the train derailed “in an upright position” at Wickford railway station, adding that there were “no reported injuries”.

Consumer prices rose 0.1% in July, as expected, putting the annual rate at 3.4%

The consumer price index was expected to increase 0.1% in July, with an annual rate of 3.4%.

Wisconsin, Michigan primaries expose limits of polls and prediction markets

It's the second time in just over a week that polls and prediction markets' odds were off, following a miss in the Democratic U.S. senate primary in Michigan.

We learned 5 important things about the economy this week

From inflation, to credit card debt, to who's actually doing the spending: These are key takeaways from this week in economic news.

Trump asks ⁠US supreme court to allow construction of White House ballroom

Administration ‌asks justices to keep appeals court ​decision to halt work on hold ​while it ​prepares ‌a full ​appeal

• US politics live – latest updates

The Trump administration has asked ⁠the ⁠US supreme court to allow construction of the president’s controversial $400m ⁠White House ballroom to proceed after ​an ‌appeals ‌court ordered work to halt.

In a case testing Donald Trump’s presidential authority, the Washington-based US ⁠court of ​appeals for the District of Columbia circuit ruled last week that the controversial ‌project lacked the necessary approval from US Congress.

Flock CEO responds to abuses of its surveillance technology

The CEO of Flock Safety apologized for alleged abuses of its service by law enforcement officers as the company rolled out new changes to how it operates.

The Taliban has taken a terrible toll on the education of girls -- and boys as well

Saturday marks the 5th anniversary of the current Taliban rule in Aghanistan. They've had a devastating impact on girls' education. A lesser told story is their impact on the education of boys.

Academic badass Amy Hunt sets sights on four golds and place in European history

British sprinting sensation and Cambridge graduate with a passion for the Italian renaissance is creating a masterpiece of her own

When Amy Hunt was a teenager, she was hailed by Vogue as “one of the faces to define the decade”. It has taken a few years, and several painful detours. But the 24-year-old Cambridge University graduate with a passion for the Italian renaissance is set to create an impressive masterpiece of her own.

If all goes as expected this weekend, Hunt will become the first athlete in the 92-year history of the European Championships to win four gold medals over the same week. Already the 100m and 200m crowns are in the bag. And provided the baton gets around, two more will surely follow in the mixed and 4x100m relays on Saturday and Sunday. No wonder she is second favourite to be the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year.

Trump’s dismal Patriot Games were the Hunger Games ordered off Temu | Aaron Timms

Monkey bars, gawky teenagers and a presidential cameo – all given a prime-time showcase by ABC – combined for the most leaden hour of America’s 250th birthday summer

Culturally, it’s been a tough few months for Donald Trump. The UFC night he held at the White House for his birthday got lost amid the froth and excitement of the World Cup. The Great American State Fair on the Washington DC National Mall was a dud. The president’s jokes at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner all bombed. Could the Patriot Games, a nationwide competition to find the American schoolchildren most adept at traversing a set of monkey bars, help rescue the summer?

Last night we got our answer: no. A one-hour prime-time special brought us the best of the Patriot Games, and in a crowded field it managed to offer some of the most leaden TV of the American semiquincentennial. Freedom 250, the White House-backed non-profit that hosted the UFC fight at the White House and the Great American State Fair, produced the event, and put up the $125,000 in college scholarship winnings that went to each winner on the boys’ and girls’ side of the competition. The final round of the Games actually took place earlier this week, at a sports training facility outside Cleveland, Ohio. Last night we just got the best bits, and judging by what that amounted to, we should all be thankful we never had to endure the other bits. This was Trumpworld’s answer to the Hunger Games, but it’s unlikely there will be much clamor for a sequel. The patriots may be hungry for more, but the rest of us? Eh.

Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene in White House ballroom legal fight

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the legal battle over President Trump's White House ballroom.

2 killed as Apache helicopter from Fort Hood crashes in Salado, Texas

Two soldiers aboard an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter based out of Fort Hood were killed in a crash on Wednesday, according to local authorities and the Army.

BP to develop offshore gasfield in Venezuela with firms linked to Trump administration

Move will be one of first large-scale foreign investments in country since US ousted leader Nicolás Maduro in January

BP has answered Donald Trump’s call for oil companies to help rebuild Venezuela’s fossil fuel industry with new plans to develop a large offshore gasfield.

BP will partner with two oil firms with close links to the Trump administration to develop the second phase of the Loran gasfield, in one of the first large-scale foreign investments in Venezuela since the US ousted its leader Nicolás Maduro in January.

AI is driving up consumer prices. That won't stop anytime soon.

Surging AI investment is pushing up the cost of smartphones and other gadgets, according to analysts. Here's why.

Nine life lessons from the happiest man in the world: from embracing tiny changes to not overthinking meditation

Stressed out, endlessly scrolling and never satisfied? Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, the Buddhist monk with off-the-charts levels of contentment, may have the answers …

By some metrics, Buddhist monk Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is the happiest man on Earth. In brain scans, researchers noted that Mingyur’s neural activity showed off-the-charts levels of activation in the left prefrontal cortex, an area associated with positive emotions such as happiness, enthusiasm and joy. In other tests conducted when he was 41 years old, his brain reportedly “resembled that of a 33-year-old”. He also laughs a lot.

Can happiness be taught? I met Mingyur (Rinpoche is an honorary title meaning, roughly, “precious one”) to discover his strategies for a richer life.

Five reservoirs in England and Wales ‘exceptionally low’ as drought persists

Extreme heat and lack of rain threatening public water supply, with ‘real trouble’ predicted if autumn stays dry

Five key reservoirs across England and Wales are “exceptionally low” as drought and extreme heat piles pressure on public water supply that is likely to continue into the autumn.

Most of Europe has endured back-to-back climate crisis-driven heatwaves this summer. The extreme heat, coupled with strikingly little rainfall, means almost three-quarters of England and the whole of Wales is now in drought.

The VC-backed fintech using AI to challenge BlackRock and start a new fee war in ETFs

Corgi Invest plans to rival BlackRock in total number of ETFs, while beating managers of trendy strategies like buffer and single-stock funds with its low fees.

Farage wins Clacton byelection, but was it worth it? – podcast

Nigel Farage has won the Clacton byelection he triggered by resigning from the seat because he wanted to allow voters to ‘stick two fingers up at the entire establishment’. The Reform UK leader’s political finances were under investigation at the time. That process has now resumed, posing the risk of another byelection if Farage is found to have broken the rules. Has his party emerged stronger or weaker as a result of the byelection? And what next for Reform UK and its leader? Alexandra Topping and Rowena Mason discuss the fallout, and what it means

Please keep sending your comments and questions to [email protected].

Please follow and subscribe to the Politics Weekly YouTube channel here.

Italian police recover paintings by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse after heist

Artworks valued at total of more than $10m were stolen from Magnani Rocca Foundation near Parma in March

Italian police have recovered three paintings by the French masters Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse that were stolen earlier this year from a private museum near the northern city of Parma, authorities have said.

The raid took place overnight on 22-23 March at the Magnani Rocca Foundation, about 12 miles (19km) from Parma, after a series of high-profile thefts from other European museums.

Teen caught on video kicking sea lion pleads guilty, faces prison time

Tyler Muehl, 18, pleaded guilty in federal court after a viral video captured him attacking the sea lion at La Jolla Cove.

Continental clash: where world football stands on Fifa and Infantino – explained

With Oceania praising Fifa on Friday, all six confederations have finally had their say on the fallout from the World Cup sell-off plan

The Oceania Football Confederation’s (OFC) decision to belatedly issue a statement following this week’s executive committee meeting praising Fifa’s “progress achieved over the last decade” means all six continental confederations have finally had their say on the fallout from the World Cup sell-off plan that has split world football, with the votes seeming tied at three apiece on the key issue of whether Gianni Infantino should remain as Fifa president.

‘Unprecedented’ rain kills five in Japan as thousands stranded at airport

Evacuation orders issued for 400,000 after flooding, landslide warnings and power outages in Chiba prefecture

At least five people have died in eastern Japan after “unprecedented” heavy rain that left nearly 7,000 stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport and forced thousands to take refuge in government buildings.

The torrential rains hit Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Thursday night, triggering landslide warnings and power outages. Evacuation orders were issued for more than 400,000 people in Chiba and other areas, and about 45,000 homes lost power, as 115mm of rain fell hourly, approximately the same amount usually recorded for the whole month of August.

Wildfires in Europe, Mount Etna and Twinverclyde: photos of the day – Friday

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

As online dating goes into ‘salvage mode’, can AI solve all its problems?

Dating apps such as Bumble forced to adapt as ‘swipe fatigue’ grows

Bumble was supposed to be different. When it launched in 2014, it offered women a simple proposition: if you matched with a man, you had to make the first move. The rule was meant to make online dating safer and less intimidating, while giving women control over who got to speak first.

This week, Bumble abandoned it.

Putin’s recruiters scramble to avoid second mass mobilisation as Ukraine losses mount

Russia is losing 30,000 casualties a month, and the country’s regions are under pressure to feed the ‘meat-grinder’. Experts say it may not be enough

In kitchens and Telegram chats across Russia, the same question is being asked with growing frequency: will Vladimir Putin order another mobilisation?

Nearly five years into the war, Russia is scrambling to find enough soldiers to replenish its ranks, as voluntary recruitment slows and its forces suffer heavy losses on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Some schools are scaling back on how much they rely on screens in the classroom

As students across the country head back to the classroom, some schools, educators and parents are rethinking how much they utilize technology and screen time. Nicole Valdes has more.

Sailor's dad expresses concern over conditions, length of deployment on USS Lincoln

There are growing concerns about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln from families of sailors and members of Congress. After more than nine months at sea, sailors' families say it lacks basic supplies and is affecting mental health. Charlie D'Agata reports.

‘Absolutely unacceptable’: Japan PM Takaichi condemns Putin’s visit to disputed Kuril Islands

Japan protested Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the disputed Kuril Islands, escalating tensions over territory claimed by both Tokyo and Moscow.

Rivers swell in Indiana, breaking records set over a century ago and causing major flooding

There's been more than 11 inches of rain in parts of Indiana since Tuesday, leading to major flooding and evacuations. Ian Lee has the latest.

‘Disgraceful’: what one election photo tells us about British politics in 2026

Results from coastal town of Clacton have been interpreted positively by Nigel Farage and Count Binface, but one spoiled ballot tells its own story

• UK politics live – latest updates

It ended, perhaps fittingly, on a rather baffling note. After 34 days of campaigning to regain the parliamentary seat of Clacton on England’s south coast, Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK party, declined to turn up to the town’s leisure centre to hear himself declared the winner and MP. It was quite the thing. The last high-profile winning candidate to fail to enjoy his moment of victory was Bobby Sands in 1981. The IRA man had his reasons: he was on hunger strike in a prison in Northern Ireland, and went on to die 26 days later.

Instead Farage attended a gathering of his supporters at an airfield on the outskirts of Clacton billed by his party as “Farage Fest”. He told fans he would be damned if he was going to stand on a stage “having won a resounding victory” and “be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies”.

Almost 500 arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires in France this summer

More than 180 minors among those detained, as firefighters tackle blazes across Europe amid record-breaking heatwave

• Europe heatwave – latest updates

Almost 500 people have been arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires in France since the start of the summer, authorities have said, as firefighters in half a dozen European countries tackle ferocious blazes amid a record-breaking heatwave.

With three out of five Europeans facing temperatures of at least 30C on Friday and about 150 million enduring 35C or more, France’s interior ministry said 474 people, including 183 minors, had been detained over wildfires in the country since 1 July.

U.S. missionary who was kidnapped in Niger is released

Kevin Rideout "is in good health in the care of US officials," SIM International said in a statement, adding he would soon be reunited with his family.

Benjamin Netanyahu describes UK as ‘first Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon’

Israeli PM criticised by political rival for attacking an international ally and overseeing ‘horrific diplomatic failure’

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called the UK “the Islamic republic of Britain” in a podcast interview, where he also described the country as the “first Islamic republic to get a nuclear weapon”.

His comments, made during an interview for Israel’s army radio, played into a common far-right Islamophobic trope about Britain’s small Muslim population.

Cocktail of the week: Whiteley’s at Six Senses’ strawberry & basil margarita – recipe | The good mixer

A vibrant and playful twist on the classic cocktail, with a bright, citrus kick and a subtle herbal note

Fresh, vibrant and full of summer character, this is a playful twist on the classic. It’s juicy and refreshing, with a bright, citrus kick and a subtle, herbal note that keeps things light and balanced. It also works very well with non-alcoholic tequila. If you like, double the syrup quantities, because it’s delicious drizzled over pancakes or diluted with sparkling water for a refreshing, summery drink.

Adrian Gonzalez Parrondo, director of bars, Six Senses, London W2

I’m a neuroscientist. Here’s why our brains need pop concerts | Bala Subramaniam

Attending a Nick Jonas show with my kids was an invitation to ‘collective effervescence’. We need these shared experiences now more than ever

Three years ago, I agreed to accompany my children to a Nick Jonas concert. The appeal of the Jonas Brothers, and in this case only one of them, was unfamiliar territory.

The concert happened to land on a particularly inconvenient day. As I sprinted out of the hospital, my mind was filled with the “what if’s” and “should haves” about our work that day.

‘We get 200 tourists a day’: when your house becomes a TV star

What’s it like to live on the set of a soap opera? Or above Ted Lasso’s favourite pub? The residents of the homes made famous by hit TV shows tell all

Half the world recognises the apartment that Carrie Bradshaw lives in. Or the New Jersey mansion where Tony Soprano ate, slept and obsessed over the ducks in his swimming pool. In the 1990s, if you asked a good chunk of the global population where Will Smith lived, they would instantly picture a huge, white abode in Bel Air.

For the real people who call those places home, this can be an issue.

‘The eww holds power’: why disgust shapes how we see nature, queerness and each other

We learn what to fear and reject from those around us. But if disgust can be learned, it can also be unlearned

Vote for your favourite invertebrate of the year

It was the summer of 2021 and I was standing in Hyde Park, London, trying to persuade passing tourists to come bug hunting with me. I was working on a campaign to increase public appreciation of invertebrates and, while I adore bugs, this job was teaching me how differently other people see them.

A woman and her young daughter stopped to chat. Grateful for a few minutes of respite, the woman turned to her phone while the child followed me to a nearby log. We lifted it to reveal one of the largest earthworms I’ve ever seen.

Voting is open for invertebrate of the year and will close at midnight BST on Sunday 16 August; vote here

Evidence of bird strike on plane where man was nearly sucked out window, NTSB says

A bird strike may have been the cause of an incident in which a passenger was nearly sucked out of a broken window aboard a Ryanair flight in Europe last month, the NTSB found.

Feds probe 'mention markets.' And, lawmakers call for investigation into USS Lincoln

Federal regulators are reviewing 'mention markets' that allow wagers on what public figures will say. And, Democratic lawmakers call for an investigation into conditions on the long-deployed USS Lincoln.

The hill I will die on: Questions can go unanswered. Stop pulling out your phone | Helene Rosenthal

I don’t care what the capital of Uzbekistan is. I want to trade celebrity gossip and hear how your marriage counselling is going

It’s been a long, dreary winter. I am at dinner with a group of friends when someone wonders aloud when the first day of summer is. Lizzie insists it’s 21 June, Cleo is equally sure it’s 1 June. Sylvie says she is willing to bet her coveted The Row flip-flops on Cleo’s answer. The social rewards from “arguing” over this far outweigh knowing a trivial piece of information that no one at the table will remember. And yet, we can’t help ourselves.

Invariably, someone pulls out their phone, does a not-so-quick search online, and then declares, as though she has uncovered something truly revelatory, the first day of the astronomical summer is on the summer solstice, 21 June. Whereas 1 June is when the meteorological summer begins.

Helene Rosenthal lives in New York City and writes about families, friendships and relationships

The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup

The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian; Claws Out! by Bella Mackie; Plant Lady by Minyoung Kang; Children of Wolves by Lawrence Osborne; Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian (Hutchinson Heinemann, £18.99)
American bestseller Bohjalian deserves to be far better known in the UK, although, as the first line of his 26th novel points out, “It is neither virtue nor might that rules the world; it’s luck”. Mira Winston’s luck began early, as she was born into a rich family, clever enough to secure a place at Yale, and a talented enough golfer to consider turning pro, but things change dramatically in 1978 when, at the age of 18, a ball she hits on a driving range smashes the temporal bone of a young caddy, killing him almost instantly. The freak accident turns out to be rather more complicated than first thought, not least because it becomes karmically conflated, in Mira’s mind, with her relationship with a married man twice her age. Told as a memoir, with Mira looking back on the derailment of her life and chronicling society’s changing perceptions of agency and privilege, this literary thriller is a masterfully executed ace.

Claws Out! by Bella Mackie (Borough, £20)
Mackie’s third novel centres on Diana, a manipulative grifter whose previous three husbands have died, apparently of natural causes. She’s in the process of getting her feet under the fourth mark’s prosperous Hampstead table when she encounters opposition. David Farrand’s “entitled but otherwise entirely average” daughter Catriona isn’t going to give up her father or her inheritance without a fight, and when she starts investigating Diana’s past, she discovers that her former stepchildren are convinced of foul play. Meanwhile, Diana’s own son, a feckless charmer, is also hoping to benefit from his mother’s matrimonial plans. Some readers may find the arch authorial tone grating, and the sharp-eyed will spot at least one major plot development before it occurs, but the incisive social satire, vinegary humour and expert pacing will keep you laughing as you turn the pages.

‘I’d like a dramatic closeup’: John Oliver takes over daytime TV with delightfully wooden soap opera roles

The late-night host’s recent stints on Days of Our Lives and General Hospital have brought viewers to a dwindling genre

A man in a dark suit steps down from a helicopter into the aftermath of a warehouse shootout. Flanked by machine gun-toting members of his tactical team, he stalks through the carnage. Without breaking stride, he comes to a defeated fighter lying face down, reaching for a handgun, and shoots him at close range. The man stops in front of another fighter clinging to life, causing her to recoil in fear. “Everything’s gonna be OK,” John Oliver says, as the camera eases into focus for his closeup. “I’m here to help.”

For the past two months, US daytime television watchers have been reduced to double takes and stitches as the Last Week Tonight host has embarked on a summer side quest to become a soap opera star. It began with a three-episode arc on General Hospital with Oliver making his grand entrance as Z, head of the deep state-coded World Security Bureau. And it continued this week with another three-episode arc on Days of Our Lives as Devlin St John, chief water inspector for the soap’s mythic town of Salem.

Green groups urge Andy Burnham to break silence on climate crisis

More than 50 organisations say PM urgently needs to show leadership and prepare British people for scale of change needed as UK struggles through another heatwave

• UK politics live – latest updates

The UK’s leading climate organisations have accused the prime minister, Andy Burnham, of “remaining silent” on the climate crisis as the country struggles to cope with its fifth heatwave of the year.

As widespread droughts and devastating wildfires grip the country, green groups have written to Burnham urging him to “show leadership” and be honest with workers and the public that the climate crisis is driving the extreme conditions they are facing.

Sen. Ruben Gallego on handling of USS Lincoln conditions: 'That's not proper leadership'

Lawmakers want answers from the Pentagon chief and the U.S. Navy about living conditions aboard the USS Lincoln. NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona.

From Europe to Asia, floods to heatwaves, world experiences weather shocks

At least eight people died in Japan as heavy rains flooded roads and disrupted traffic while firefighters from Britain to France and Croatia struggled to contain blazes in Europe's fifth heatwave this summer

So Nigel Farage has beaten a man in a bin. But he's in deep trouble, and he knows it | Owen Jones

The Reform leader claims vindication from the people, and it’s too early to write him off. But the problems he now faces may be more than he can bear

Nigel Farage is a rattled, embattled politician. Perhaps he feels buoyed up by securing slightly more votes in a byelection boycotted by all the main parties than he did in the general election two years ago. That was despite 10,000 fewer people turning out to vote. But there was never any question that he was going to win a byelection he called purely to deflect scrutiny of his undeclared £5m personal gift from a Thai-based crypto-billionaire and donations from a convicted fraudster.

Farage chose Clacton as his parliamentary launchpad for a reason. It was here that his previous outfit, Ukip, secured its breakthrough in the byelection of 2014. It is one of the most pro-leave seats in Britain, while Electoral Calculus estimates that almost no other constituency is this rightwing.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist

Ryanair window that passenger was partly sucked out of was broken by engine debris, report finds

Fan blade broke off shortly after takeoff on 10 July flight from Greece to Germany, preliminary findings show

• Business live – latest updates

Broken engine parts were responsible for shattering a window on a Ryanair plane, causing a passenger to be partly sucked out mid-flight in July, US investigators have said.

A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found an engine fan blade broke off shortly after takeoff on the 10 July flight from Greece to Germany shattering the window and damaging the fuselage.

People aged 18-29: tell us about your most extraordinary thrifted finds

As gen Z are driving a boom in antiques and collectibles, we would like younger people to show us their most extraordinary thrifted pieces

Gen Z are driving a boom in antiques and collectibles with over 60% in a recent survey claiming they’re a fan of second-hand fashion, homeware and furniture.

Around a third of the 18- to 29-year-olds polled said they went thrift shopping every week as young people become more drawn to sustainable goods as they feel it adds more character to their wardrobes and homes.

Hillborg: Lost Landscapes album review – sonic imagination and luminous colours

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra/Kuusisto/Lubman/Falk Winland
(Alpha)
Unconventional instrumentation adds to the filmic feeling of these three works by the Swedish composer, played on this recording by a powerhouse orchestra on top form

Anders Hillborg’s stylistically eclectic work resists easy categorisation as these three rewarding works, performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, demonstrate. Lost Landscapes opens with signature glissandi, features a filmic, jazz-inflected chase and ends in an orchestral death spiral. Pekka Kuusisto draws out its luminous colours and richly clustered harmonies.

The Strand Settings, a four-movement song cycle to texts by Canadian poet Mark Strand, was composed at the behest of Renée Fleming. Nature, the elements and a certain forlorn eroticism infuse poetry that Hillborg responds to with tonal and dynamic restraint. Gently pulsing strings with piquant woodwind and brass build atmospheric soundscapes over which Swedish soprano Ida Falk Winland spins haunting vocal lines in impeccable English.

Creating mounds in your garden can take it to another level

From creating informal boundaries to providing a place for kids to play, these tiny mountains of topsoil offer a world of possibilities

So, the works have begun. The scorched scrubland that was the garden is now a large pile of earth and – excitingly – a big old hole for the rainwater harvesting tank that I hope is going to help us navigate these increasingly dry summers and wet winters.

More on that once it’s in. For now, though, the matter of soil. So much of it! Soil everywhere! I am determined to send as little of it off in a skip as possible. And what do you do with mounds of earth? You make mounds.

‘I’ve never done anything like this in my life’: Marina Abramović on making art with balloons

The artist’s latest swerve sees her creating an alien inflatable landscape for New York’s Balloon Museum

Oversized inflatable blades of grass graze my face as I wind a path through the glowing white gallery space. Little papery squares of snow blow, some sticking to my hair. The path through the room curves so that only what is right in front of me is visible: initially, it seemed like I would reach the far side of the room in mere seconds but still my journey, magically, continues. I am at Snowy/Windy/Spring on Planet Z, the latest installation by the performance artist Marina Abramović. It opened earlier this month at New York’s newly opened Balloon Museum, which bills itself as “the first permanent home for inflatable art”.

“I’ve never done anything like this in my life,” a smiling Abramović said, speaking on Zoom from her Manhattan apartment. “But if you give me an assignment then I’ll try to see what I can do with it.” As she began researching balloon art her first thought was that it was “so kitschy – basically for kids and games”. However, the more she contemplated the balloon, the more she saw its resonance with her own practice. “You put air in it, and at some point the air comes out. Or you pinch it and it disappears. The temporality of this is very close to what I’m doing: performance art.”

‘I felt so inspired’: Guardian readers on trying Homer’s epics after seeing The Odyssey

Readers describe how Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster has ignited or reawakened their interest in classical literature

“I’m having a classics summer this year,” says Tommy Maddinson, 26, from London. He’s been inspired by Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey to delve into the subject, which has involved cinema trips, visits to the British Museum, and reading Homer’s epic before the film’s release. “I managed to finish it the day before. Since then I’ve been reading a few other classical texts and commentaries …”

Maddinson is not alone. Thanks to the popularity of Nolan’s film, poetry sales in the UK are on course to reach a record high this year after surpassing £8m during the first 30 weeks of 2026 – an increase of 13.3% on the same period last year, according to the market researchers NielsenIQ.

Albanian ambassador attacks UK right wing for ‘unhinged’ fixation with 2022 migrant surge

Exclusive: Uran Ferizi says arrivals fell sharply after short-lived influx, but country continues to be stigmatised

The number of Albanians who travelled to Britain in small boats four years ago remains the focus of “unhinged” and “hysterical” criticisms from rightwing politicians and the media, according to the country’s UK ambassador.

Uran Ferizi said the influx of more than 12,000 people from the Balkan state in 2022 was “real”, “exceptional” and “short-lived”, but the Albanian community in the UK was still being framed by those events by Reform UK and the Daily Telegraph.

Fill in the blank on this week's quiz: Rep. AOC is documenting ____ on Instagram

Plus, which beloved animal crossed the rainbow bridge, and what bit of papal paraphernalia did Chicago baseball fans get this week?

Rebecca Perry: ‘Lorca hit me like a bolt of lightning’

The poet and novelist on the power of fairytales, being inspired by Frank O’Hara and the joys of Doris Lessing

My earliest reading memory
Reading On the Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan, aged five or so, sitting on the floor of the bedroom I shared with my brother – who, in my memory, was sitting on the carpet next to me.

My favourite book growing up
I had a collection of fairytales in a big yellow hardback, which I was totally entranced by from around the age of seven to 10. I’ll never forget the feeling of despair on turning the page and discovering that the Little Mermaid had become foam on the surface of the water; it was a very early lesson in the helplessness of the reader in the face of a story’s destiny. In particular, though, I loved a Scottish fairytale called The Black Bull of Norroway, which I think, in many ways, has been under the surface of everything I’ve ever written.

How the mob took Hollywood: the story of organized crime and the movies

Hollywood Crime Story: The Mob Takes Over the Movies looks back at how criminals insinuated themselves in the film business

“From the foundation of Hollywood, organized crime is there.” So claims Tom Patterson, producer and director of new three-part documentary series, Hollywood Crime Story: The Mob Takes Over the Movies.

Organized crime’s connection to the film industry actually predates Tinseltown, being present for the foundation of the medium itself, when inventor Thomas Edison sicced his hired goons on competitors in an attempt to maintain total control over early motion picture technology. As covered in Hollywood Crime Story, this resulted in said competitors – mostly Jewish businessmen from the east coast – fleeing westward and establishing the town and studio system that would become synonymous with movies as we know them.

‘What’s happened to us? Where did we get lost?’ Zimbabwe reckons with the reality of violence against women

The deaths of a Bulawayo mother and her daughters spark calls for an urgent action on gender-based violence

The three white coffins were draped in white lace and topped with small sprays of flowers. The mourners who filled a Bulawayo church last week to pay their respects to Zandile Tshuma and her daughters, Natalie, 15, and Nala, five, had not engaged in the usual tradition of first viewing the dead at their home: the bodies of this family had travelled all the way from England to reach their final resting place at Luveve cemetery on the edge of Zimbabwe’s second city, in Matabeleland.

While the deaths attracted few news reports in the UK, in Zimbabwe and South Africa, the tragic case has reignited concern over the region’s high rates of femicide. Many commentators on TV and social media expressed shock that a well-educated woman with a successful career abroad seemed as vulnerable to familial violence as a poorer woman in a southern African township.

ICE uses controversial program to boost deportations. Here's how it works in 1 county

Details on how ICE cooperation agreements work in practice have been hard to come by. NPR took a close look at how sheriff's deputies in Walton County, Fla., approach immigration-related arrests.

At Big Bend National Park, bulldozers begin clearing pristine desert land for border barrier work

A coalition of landowners, outdoor enthusiasts and business owners that say any work in Big Bend National Park would forever change the place often called "Texas' gift to the nation."

Patriot missiles have been a godsend for Ukraine against Putin, but they’re running out. Kyiv needs help and fast | Jack Watling

Europe and Nato have known for years that interceptor production can’t keep up with demand and now disaster looms, putting us all in danger

“Invincible.” That was how Vladimir Putin described Russia’s latest generation of ballistic missiles in 2018. In 2022 he would unleash this arsenal to strike across Ukraine, hitting command centres, critical infrastructure and airfields. Then, in 2023, Ukraine received Patriot air defence systems from its international partners. The US-supplied missile interceptor would prove to be an effective shield against Russian strikes.

But this year, supplies of Patriot missiles have run out and Kyiv has suffered the consequences. Intercepts have gone from more than 70% to none, so that night after night Russia strikes Ukraine’s infrastructure with impunity. This tragedy was long foretold, and there are no quick fixes.

Jack Watling is senior research fellow for applied military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute

Australia bowlers toil as Tanzid Hasan ton puts Bangladesh in command of first Test

• First Test, day two: Australia 198; Bangladesh 351 for 6 in Darwin

• Opener hits maiden Test century as tourists build 153-run lead

A maiden Test century by Tanzid Hasan has given Bangladesh a 153-run lead against an Australian side that were forced to use eight bowlers in Darwin.

In just his second Test match, the 25-year-old left-hander’s brilliant 101 put the Tigers in position to push for what would be their greatest win in long-form cricket.

Tell us: have you struggled to find work later in your career?

We’re interested in hearing from people who have found themselves unexpectedly out of work in midlife and have struggled to get another job despite years of professional experience

For many people in their 50s and 60s, losing a job can be the start of a long and unexpected struggle to get back into work. Despite years – or even decades – of professional experience, some say they are applying for hundreds of roles without success, while others have had to take lower-paid work or claim benefits to make ends meet.

The number of people aged 50 to 64 receiving out-of-work benefits has reached 2.15 million, according to recent analysis by the Centre for Social Justice. We’d like to hear from people across the UK who have found it difficult to find work later in their careers.

Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer, Dafnis Prieto: Fifteen review – Pulitzer winner stirs gorgeous improv patterns

(Nonesuch)
By turns gleeful, sensitive, urgent and ruminative, this is a brilliant set that plays to the trio’s formidable strengths

Though the century-old Pulitzer prize – launched as a celebration of the craft and social necessity of good news reportage – was eventually expanded to include fiction and music by 1943, the US-born art of jazz has only been represented by Ornette Coleman and Wynton Marsalis in their lifetimes, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk posthumously – and most recently Henry Threadgill, for his four-part suite In for a Penny, In for a Pound, in 2016.

Publisher Joseph Pulitzer once declared his dreams for his readership were “to arrest their attention, enlist their sympathy … stimulate their imagination, convince their reason, and awaken their conscience”. Contemporary-classical composer and flautist Threadgill has been doing all that with his music, his personal story, his internationalism and his charisma since the 1960s. Now 82, he releases Fifteen, joining him in a brilliant trio featuring pianist/composer Vijay Iyer and creative Cuban percussionist Dafnis Prieto.

Open Mike Eagle and Kenny Segal: Doomed! review – caustic, crushing breakup album flirts with catharsis

(Backwoodz)
The rapper-producer duo muster a breakup record with glistening beats and lovelorn lyrics that mull over grievances without resolve

Tough as they may be, breakups make for good material. Doomed! is Open Mike Eagle’s entry into that wide canon – sitting alongside Tyler, the Creator’s Igor and Ye’s 808s & Heartbreak in the alt-rap subcategory – and finds the LA-via-Chicago rapper every bit as wide-eyed, caustic and, at-times, crushing as those who’ve Kübler-Rossed their way out of a relationship before him. Out of lemons, lemonade, and all that.

In fact, without the disintegration of his five-year relationship, he and Kenny Segal – the feted Low End Theory-reared producer who helms the entire project – might have been resigned to merely cropping up as occasional features on each other’s records forever. The breakup gave sessions a focal point, and half a decade’s grievances to mull. Or, as Eagle puts it languidly over lounge glockenspiel on Streets of Rage: Public Arguments Edition: “These is true stories told loosely.”

‘This is hell’: British widow ‘sick’ with worry after losing Brexit deportation appeal

Joyce Thomas, 78, faces being forced to leave Sweden after 21 years in growing row over country’s approach to EU withdrawal

• British widow, 78, told to leave Sweden under Brexit rules

The 78-year-old British widow threatened with removal from Sweden after 21 years has said she has been left feeling sick with worry after being told she had lost an appeal against deportation in a growing row over the country’s handling of Brexit.

“I am in shock. I feel sick. An individual’s life is at stake at my age. It is hell. I have done nothing wrong. I don’t take anything from this country. I am self sufficient, I put money in this country, have no criminal record,” said Joyce Thomas from her home in Sweden on Thursday.

Something Wile E this way comes: how the Looney Toons reboot movie came back from the dead

Cartoon royalty were lined for a live-action toon hybrid Coyote vs Acme. Then it was shelved as a tax write-off. But its cast, crew and fans fought for its release. Three years later it’s set to be a surprise summer hit

Back in 2020, Dave Green started making his new film, Coyote vs Acme. Mixing live action with animation, it would be an unconventional courtroom drama that pitched actor Will Forte against a host of 2D Looney Tunes characters – including cartoon royalty such as Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny. This, Green believed, would weave a heady spell for cinemagoers of all ages. Six years later, his film is finally about to be released. When Green first called “Action!”, his dark hair was not yet flecked liberally with grey. It is now.

“We’ve held on to a lot of hope these past few years,” Green says from his home in Los Angeles, “and we never really let go of it.”

Why is Drake barking like a dog? Six things you need to know about the rapper’s midlife pivot

There’s a lot to unpack as this proud son of Toronto closes in on 40 – from his gambling to his very public dates. Here goes!

Even if you can only name a handful of rappers, Drake is probably one of them. Not so many years ago, he was among the planet’s biggest celebrities, named in the same breath as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé and breaking chart records set by the Beatles. Many of his dozens of hit singles – Work, One Dance, Hotline Bling and God’s Plan – were ubiquitous, among the last truly crossover radio hits.

Drake is still landing chart spots (if not critical acclaim), but now it’s his foray into the “creator economy” that’s raising eyebrows – shilling for a crypto casino, fraternising with manosphere influencers and, just last weekend, live-streaming dates with OnlyFans models. So what’s this all about? Is Toronto’s once-golden boy having a midlife crisis – or is it a media-savvy pivot? Here’s how Drake got caught up in the “creator economy”.

‘It’s one huge adventure playground’: readers’ best summer trips in the lakes and mountains of Europe

From the Alpine meadows of Bavaria to a pristine lake in Italy and the pilgrim routes of the Pyrenees, here are some of your favourite discoveries.
• Tell us about a lesser known European island – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher

Haldensee is a clear, sparkling cold lake located at the bottom of the Tannheimer Tal valley in the Austrian Alps (about 90 miles south-west of Munich). We visited last year, just when summer was on its way out, and it was too cold to skinny-dip in the lake (unless you were very brave). Nonetheless, if you’re a hiker, a ski lift takes you up into the Allgäu Alps where you can walk through dense forest to Bad Kissinger Hütte serving refreshing apfelschorle, warming soups and seasonal bakes to refuel for the journey downhill. When going down, we were accompanied by tinkling cattle, ambling along the mountain-side springs, which made the experience so much more memorable.
Kovida

Iris Murdoch artworks from secret room go on display – including self-portrait

Second world war paintings and sketches show novelist ‘engaging with her world in a new light’

For decades, they lay in a secret room in her attic gathering dust. Now, newly discovered artworks by the Booker prize-winning author Iris Murdoch – including the only self-portrait she is known to have painted, four surrealist landscape paintings and three sketches of female nudes – will go on display for the first time on Friday.

The artworks were created at the start of the second world war when Murdoch was a student at Oxford. They expose her early interest in surrealism and fascination with the naked female form.

The Beverly Hills Housewife by James Cahill review – a trip inside Hockney’s world

Muse Betty Freeman sits at the centre of this sun-drenched book about art, eccentricity, and the spirit of Los Angeles

David Hockney was 29 years old when he came to Betty Freeman’s house to photograph her swimming pool. Scouting locations for the pool paintings that would make him a household name, he took preparatory snaps of his partner, Peter Schlesinger, emerging naked from the water. And yet something about his aloof and quietly eccentric host, who dusted the hunting trophies while a handsome young man padded around her patio in the altogether, intrigued the artist. So he asked whether he might photograph her too, and she agreed.

Completed a year later, Beverly Hills Housewife (1966/7) shows a beautiful woman standing outside a beautiful house. The scene is lit by an unbroken sun, her blond bob is undisturbed by any breeze, a lush fern sets off her popping pink dress. She is surrounded by the symbols of mid-century American prosperity: a chair by Le Corbusier, a tasteful modernist sculpture. We don’t need the title to know the place and time, because Hockney’s paintings have come to define them in our imagination: shimmering water and scattered light, bright colours and reflective surfaces, a clean and impassive contentment.

Nigel Farage wins Clacton byelection in contest boycotted by other main parties

Reform UK leader fails to appear for result, despite beating nearest challenger, Count Binface, and 32 other candidates

Clacton byelection – UK politics live

Nigel Farage has seen off Count Binface to win the Clacton byelection in a contest boycotted by every other major political party.

The Reform UK leader in July triggered the byelection in an attempt to shake off a deepening scandal over a £5m gift he received from the cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

Week in wildlife: snake on a car, a careful spider mum and a lazy squirrel

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Helen Goh’s recipe for frozen Eton mess with plum, coconut and raspberry | The sweet spot

The classic British dessert, but with a frozen twist, captures all of the charm of the original with a welcome chill for summer

I love the glorious unruliness of Eton mess, all billowy cream, crushed meringue and tumbling fruit. This frozen version captures all of that charm but in a sliceable, make-ahead dessert that’s perfect for August entertaining. The fruit can even be cooked a day in advance, leaving little more to do than whip everything together before freezing. Thanks to the condensed milk, the cream freezes surprisingly softly, while the meringue keeps its gentle chew and the toasted coconut adds a welcome crunch and nuttiness. Late summer plums bring a lovely tartness that balances the sweetness beautifully, though apricots, peaches and nectarines would also work well.

Nicole Kidman opens up about divorce from Keith Urban – and ‘throwing my career away’ for Tom Cruise

Actor, 59, reflects on high-profile marriages in Vogue interview, saying she felt ‘deeply vulnerable’ after split from Urban

Nicole Kidman has opened up about her divorce from Keith Urban and reflected on her marriage to Tom Cruise, saying she was warned being his wife would overshadow her career.

In a new interview with Vogue, the 59-year-old actor spoke about going through two divorces under intense media scrutiny: with Cruise, who she married in 1990 and divorced in 2001, and musician Urban, who she married in 2006.

‘It was lonely being a young queer artist’: Sam Smith on finding health, happiness – and their hazel-eyed fiance

On their new album, Smith is subverting their singer-songwriter roots to tell a queer love story. They talk about their shifting fanbase, the nasty undercurrents of fame – and finding sanctuary in New York City

Sam Smith logs on to our video call with the username “Lily of the Valley”, the May-born singer’s birth flower. It sets a serene tone. They’re in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the latest stop of a residency tour, titled To Be Free, in support of their fifth studio album. Instead of Smith’s usual jet-lagged arena itinerary, this lower-key excursion stops at smaller venues in only six cities and sheds the ostentatious theatricality of their last outing.

On stage on their last tour, “I was flailing around on a massive gold bum and had, like, seven costume changes,” Smith says with a chuckle. It’s intimacy they’re after now, the ability to satisfy their “craving to look at people again”, which matches the romantic feeling of their fifth album, Hazel Eyes. But for Smith, whose genre-shifting stardom has been accompanied by harsh controversies, it’s also a chance to observe who’s still in their corner: “There’s some wonderful people that have stayed, but it’s a completely different room than it was with In the Lonely Hour,” their 2014 debut.