Prominent N.Y. synagogue targeted in alleged terror plot, prosecutors say

An Iraqi national allegedly plotted to carry out terror attacks in the U.S., including at a prominent synagogue in New York, prosecutors said Friday

Aston Villa v Liverpool: Premier League – live

⚽ Premier League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off
⚽ Live scores | Table | Who should be player of the year?

“Right Rob, let’s get down to brass tacks – Slot, should he be shown the door or given another year?” asks Peadar de Burca. “On the evidence of, let’s say, the last ten games, you’d have to say that the Liverpool manager has been found wanting. That extra little bit of innovation or rough magic hasn’t been there. A lot of talent at the top end of the team and you get the feeling a good manager could have shaped those players into something sharper, as opposed to the butter knife attack we’ve mostly seen. So, give him the boot?

“Well, this is a Liverpool team in transition. I suspect the owners, no mugs, had this in mind back in July after Diogo Jota’s tragic death and saw this as a year to acquire some serious talent, let them bed in with the real aim being the 2026-27 season. You’d hope Jeremy Jacquet will be joined by one or two more defensively minded players and the team will have more balance. The team will have had time to become a team. Let’s not judge Slot now, but in eight months’ time when Isak, Ekitike, Wirtz and Ngumoha are able to read each other’s minds.

Today we are without nine players. The good news is that Florian and Mo are on the bench, but Alex [Isak] is out with a minor injury.

I have to compliment Mo on how hard he has worked to be back. It’s not always straightforward with the type of injury he had.

US PGA Championship 2026 golf: day two – live updates

️ Latest news from second round at Aronimink Golf Club
️ Official live leaderboard | Follow on Bluesky | Mail Matt

Scottie Scheffler’s third at 10, from 44 yards, is no good. It’s 20 feet shy of the flag. He can’t make the par saver, and that’s an immediate backwards step for the world number one and tournament favourite. Matt Fitzpatrick bogeys too, and it’s a double for Justin Rose. They’re -2, +1 and +2 respectively. Meanwhile on Sky, Laura Davies asks Wayne Riley what he thinks the leader will be on at the end of the day. Five under, he answers, without a beat of hesitation. In other words, good luck trying to go low, gentlemen. It’s going to be another hugely entertaining day!

Rose gathers himself and sends a decent wedge into 10, from 77 yards to 16 feet. He’ll have a look at a damage-limiting bogey. Meanwhile Scottie’s lie in the rough on the left isn’t great, and he’s forced to take his medicine, punching back out onto the fairway. Even the strongest hitters in the business aren’t of a mind to take liberties with this rough. To think everyone was talking about bringing Aronimink to its knees with some bomb and gouge at the start of the week! A textbook study in hubris, and that’s before we get around to the subjects of Rory and Bryson.

Cerebras stock falls 10% in first full day of trading after blockbuster debut

Cerebras Systems' shares were lower in early trading Friday, after its blockbuster stock market debut on Thursday.

How will Jerome Powell be remembered as he exits as Fed chair?

As Powell steps down after more than eight years leading the Federal Reserve, economists say he helped steer the U.S. through historic shocks but misread inflation.

Trump told Xi ‘I don't talk about’ whether U.S. would defend Taiwan from China

President Donald Trump spoke about Taiwan after a two-day visit to China, where he said he discussed Iran, and trade deals with Chinese President Xi Jingping.

Trump went big on tech stocks in first quarter of 2026, new filings show

Trump bought shares of Amazon, Meta, Oracle, Broadcom, Motorola and Dell worth millions, new ethics disclosure filings show.

Democrats blast Trump over 'slush fund' in possible IRS lawsuit settlement

ABC News reported President Donald Trump could settle a lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for a $1.7 billion fund to compensate his allies.

Man accused of killing two people outside Washington DC Jewish museum could face death penalty

Prosecutors have described fatal shooting outside of DC’s Capital Jewish Museum last year as calculated and planned

The US justice department will seek the death penalty for the man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum, prosecutors said in a court filing on Friday.

Elias Rodriguez faces federal hate crime and murder charges in the killings of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim as they left an event at the museum last May. Rodriguez shouted “free Palestine” during the shooting and later told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to his indictment.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (May 17): "By Design"

"Sunday Morning" presents its annual edition touching on all aspects of design, hosted by Jane Pauley.

Hantavirus countdown: U.S. cruise passengers settle in for 42 days of waiting

The hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has potentially exposed passengers to a deadly disease. Most returning Americans are now housed in Nebraska. Some may be cleared to quarantine at home. 

Shakira returns to official World Cup song duty, this time with Burna Boy

FIFA's official 2026 World Cup song is "Dai Dai" from Shakira and Burna Boy. There are a number of factors that shape which songs define a tournament — and endure beyond it.

Thirteen years in the making: Madrid’s search for a saviour set to end in Mourinho return

The idea that one day Mourinho might return to the Bernabéu had hung in the air, if not really as a serious possibility. Now the impossible is probable

The last time José Mourinho was at the Santiago Bernabéu, he parked up in the bus. That night in late February the Benfica manager was suspended, a red card from the first leg of the Champions League playoff meaning he wasn’t allowed on the touchline he had prowled 13 years and a lifetime ago, so Real Madrid prepared a media booth for him to watch from. Situated on the eighth floor, Spanish radio to the left of him, Portuguese to the right, Cabin No 6 had been supplied with nuts, fruit, salad and jamón sandwiches. As kick-off approached, a crowd gathered by the door. But if the camera phones were out, he wasn’t.

Mourinho never showed. Instead, he stayed in the basement 10 floors below, watching from an iPad on board the bus and leaving the post-match press conference to his assistant, João Tralhão. The next time he comes, which could be as soon as this season ends, it is likely to be different, poised to be welcomed back as a saviour and their manager now, not hidden away. For a while his has been the only candidate’s name that has remained constant and never dismissed from within, seeming more real with every day.

Underdogs Chelsea have shot at glory at end of season of disruption

A defiant performance against Manchester City could deliver silverware in a year in which the club has already sacked two head coaches

Chelsea fared well as underdogs in their most recent outing in a final. They surprised Paris Saint-Germain in last summer’s Club World Cup, racing into an unassailable 3-0 lead by half-time and disrupting the European champions thanks to a clever tactical approach from Enzo Maresca.

Perhaps there will be more of the same at Wembley. Chelsea have form when it comes to upsetting the odds in a big game, although the one problem with bringing up the PSG win before Saturday afternoon’s FA Cup final against Manchester City is that the challenge of coming up with a plan smart enough to beat Pep Guardiola is no longer Maresca’s responsibility.

Stephen Miran exits the Fed. How he set the stage for Kevin Warsh.

The outgoing Fed governor shares big ideas with the incoming chair.

Traders now see next Fed interest rate move as a hike following inflation surge

The fed funds futures market is pricing in an increase as soon as December.

Pentagon's rush to counter drone threat may pose safety risks, specialist says

The safety specialist's warning appeared in a memo describing how a mini-drone had detonated and injured an Army Special Forces soldier.

What we know about hantavirus cases tied to deadly cruise ship outbreak

Health officials have identified at least 10 confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus tied to an outbreak on the M/V Hondius cruise ship.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Russian drone attacks on Kyiv, Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Trump in Beijing and a mural of Lamine Yamal – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Ebola outbreak kills 65 people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Uganda also reports outbreak and health officials say cases were caused by Bundibugyo strain of virus

An outbreak of Ebola has killed 65 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, health officials said.

There have been 246 suspected cases of the haemorrhagic fever reported so far in the conflict-hit Ituri province, which shares borders with Uganda and South Sudan.

Harvey Weinstein’s New York retrial ends in mistrial with jury deadlocked

Weinstein has been convicted of other crimes in the US and is already behind bars but move leaves rape charge in limbo

Harvey Weinstein’s retrial in New York on a rape charge ended in a mistrial on Friday after the jury deadlocked in the closely watched criminal case that another jury had already failed to decide last year.

The disgraced former Hollywood mogul has been convicted of other sex crimes on the US east and west coasts and is already in jail. But Friday’s declaration of another mistrial leaves the New York rape charge in limbo after three trials.

Bard’s board voted to end Botstein’s tenure as president after independent review of Epstein ties

Leon Botstein announced his retirement on the day the results of the inquiry into his connections with Epstein were released

Bard College’s board of trustees “voted to end” the 51-year tenure of Leon Botstein, the school’s president, last month after board members were presented with the results of an independent review of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, according to emails seen by the Guardian. Botstein framed his departure as a long-planned retirement in a statement on 1 May.

The move appears to have created a rift within the liberal arts college’s board of trustees.

Doe d’oh! Wild deer rescued after escalator escapade in Norwich M&S

Female muntjac given nickname of ‘lucky’ Lucy after being freed from department store’s moving staircase

“There’s a deer trapped in an escalator” was not a phrase anyone at Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk was expecting to hear when staff at a Marks & Spencer department store in central Norwich called last Tuesday.

“In Norfolk, deers often get themselves in trouble,” said the sanctuary’s founder, Wendy Valentine. “They get stuck between walls and sheds, and in gates. It’s quite common for deer to get trapped … but ‘trapped in an escalator’ was a first.”

Inflation rate projected to hit 6% in the second quarter, top economic forecasters say

The recent surge in inflation is likely to get worse over the next several months, according to a survey Friday.

The Trump administration is planning a prayer event on the National Mall. All but one of the speakers is Christian

The event comes as a new survey finds that many Americans aren't comfortable mixing religion and politics.

Harvey Weinstein's third sex crimes trial in New York ends in mistrial

It was the second time in a year a jury was unable to reach a verdict on a rape charge brought by Jessica Mann.

Far-right activists barred from UK before Tommy Robinson rally

Keir Starmer accuses Robinson of ‘peddling hatred and division’ and archbishop of Canterbury urges people to ‘choose hope’

Eleven foreign far-right activists have been blocked from entering the UK before a rally by Tommy Robinson supporters as Keir Starmer accused Robinson of “peddling hatred and division”.

The archbishop of Canterbury urged people to “choose hope” and faith leaders spoke out before the rally on Saturday, the second of its kind, after more than 100,000 attended one last year.

Andy Burnham will push to become PM before Labour conference, allies say

Autumn conference in Liverpool targeted for victorious homecoming but Reform UK to fight hard in byelection

Andy Burnham will push to become prime minister in time to address Labour’s autumn party conference in Liverpool, his supporters have said.

The Greater Manchester mayor cleared his first hurdle to becoming the candidate in the Makerfield byelection on Friday when Labour’s ruling body gave him permission to stand for the seat.

Threatened indictment of Raúl Castro ratchets up US pressure on Cuba

Trump administration move echoes indictment of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro as fuel crisis racks Cuba

Tensions between Cuba and US seem set to rise further amid reports that
Raúl Castro, the country’s 94-year-old former president, may soon face the type of indictment that led to the US abduction of the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January.

Although Raúl is officially retired, he remains the most potent figure in Cuban politics following the death of his brother Fidel in 2016, and by targeting him Washington appears to be heaping pressure on Cuba’s communist leadership at the end of an already extraordinarily intense week.

UK joins European deal to send rejected asylum seekers to third-country hubs

All 46 Council of Europe members sign agreement ‘deplored’ by human rights organisations

The UK and 45 other European countries have signed an agreement that explicitly endorses plans to send unwanted asylum seekers to third country hubs.

A political declaration from the 46 members of the Council of Europe, the body that oversees the European convention on human rights (ECHR), said states had an “undeniable sovereign right” to control their borders.

Maine might boot Sen. Susan Collins. It could hurt the state's wallet for years

Sen. Susan Collins is the lone New England Republican left in Congress and chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Met police preparing for large scale far-right and pro-Palestine protests in London

Officers said to be granted extra powers as marches through capital set for same day as FA Cup final

British police are preparing to mount one of their largest operations in recent memory as more than 100,000 protesters are expected to march through the streets of London on the same day as the FA Cup final in Wembley.

The Guardian understands that officers in vast swathes of central London will be granted extra powers to police the far-right Unite the Kingdom (UTK) march organised by Stephen Yaxley Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson.

Burnham byelection: the small town that could decide next PM – The Latest

Andy Burnham may have a route back to Westminster – and a path to the Labour leadership. But first the Greater Manchester mayor must win the byelection in Makerfield after Josh Simons agreed to step down as the constituency’s MP. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has vowed Reform UK will ‘throw absolutely everything’ at the contest in an attempt to derail the ambitions of one of Labour’s most high-profile figures.

Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s north of England correspondent Hannah al-Othman, who has been talking to voters in the constituency

The Guardian view on Trump in Beijing: the US and China are playing the waiting game | Editorial

The president’s meeting with Xi Jinping was superficially cordial, extending a truce borne of necessity

“American strength back on the world stage,” crowed the White House social media post: a curious remark, when the attached video showed the stars and stripes fluttering beneath a long row of Chinese flags, and People’s Liberation Army soldiers marching in unison.

This week’s visit to Beijing offered the kind of style that Donald Trump enjoys – parading troops, a banquet and a polite if not markedly enthusiastic welcome from a strongman he called “really a friend” – but little apparent substance. The public account of the encounter will be partial: Mr Trump’s former adviser John Bolton has claimed that in previous conversations the US president begged Xi Jinping for help to win re-election and urged him to “go ahead” with internment camps for Uyghurs in Xinjiang. But this meeting appears to have been about stabilising the relationship, not shifting it.

Scottish FA criticises McInnes and media after referee requires police protection

• Official under watch after personal details leaked online

• Hearts manager called Celtic decision ‘disgusting’

The Scottish Football Association has vehemently criticised a “hysterical media narrative” and taken a swipe at the Hearts manager, Derek McInnes, while revealing one of its match officials and his family spent Thursday night under police protection after controversial incidents which have dominated the conclusion to the ­Premiership season.

McInnes called the stoppage-time award of a penalty to Celtic in Wednesday’s win at Motherwell “disgusting”, with that, plus the denial of a spot-kick for Hearts during their fixture at the same stadium days earlier, dominating discussion. Hearts visit Celtic on Saturday needing a draw to become the first non-Old Firm title winners in 41 years.

Questions over Farage’s houses and £5m gift renew scrutiny of finances

Property portfolio in spotlight as Reform UK leader faces official inquiry over money accepted from billionaire

A week ago, Nigel Farage was toasting Reform UK’s successes in the May elections, and bragging about his prospects of becoming prime minister.

But there is a saying about a week in politics – and it has been a long seven days for the party leader, who is now facing questions over a £5m gift and his extensive property portfolio.

Cantona review - Beckham and Ferguson lively defenders as Eric gnomically quotes Baudelaire

Cannes film festival: This lively documentary about everyone’s favourite hot-headed footballer/unlikely Ken Loach star will give more than just fans a kick

Here is a fervent, but repetitive fan-service documentary, perpetually re-using iconic “bad behaviour” clips, all about the tempestuous king of Manchester United (formerly and briefly the tempestuous king of Leeds United).

Eric Cantona was the Frenchman who won the hearts of English football fans in the 90s for his stunning skills, filling the silverware cabinet to bursting having been picked up cheap by Man U having effectively flounced out of French football. He was mentored in those days by that kindly teddy-bear of a man, Sir Alex Ferguson, who is interviewed extensively here, along with David Beckham, Eric’s elderly parents Albert and Éléonore, and of course the gloweringly pugnacious man himself, appearing in what appears to be a deserted church and gnomically quoting Baudelaire.

Pirro threatens charges against parents if their teens violate local curfew

In a move aimed at curbing the growing problem of "teen takeovers," D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is threatening to bring charges against parents if their teens violate the local curfew.

German leader Merz says he ‘would not advise my children to go’ to US

Chancellor says he no longer views US as land of opportunity amid ‘deeply polarising’ social climate

Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, already embroiled in a row with Donald Trump over the Iran war, has said he would not advise his children to study or work in the US in the current climate.

Speaking to a conference of young Catholics in Würzburg, the conservative leader, viewed by many as a transatlanticist, said he no longer saw the US as the land of opportunity.

In the Grey review – Guy Ritchie’s bizarrely buried action caper is a blast

There’s a great deal of fun to be had in the director’s sly and surprisingly serious thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill and Eiza González

While the actual quality might never threaten to float him above a three-star rating, I’ve grown an odd, outsized fondness for Guy Ritchie’s recent run of solidly enjoyable lower-tier action films. Whether deadly serious (Wrath of Man), entirely unserious (Operation Fortune) or somewhere between the two (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare), there’s been a real snap to them, one that’s usually missing from other recent films of that ilk. Ritchie is more deeply invested in the thought-through craft of making a B-movie than many of his peers and there’s a smooth sensuousness to how he moves, each of them looking, feeling and sounding like films he genuinely cares about.

If only audiences, and the companies releasing them, felt the same. While Wrath of Man, a more marketable Jason Statham revenge thriller yet containing more grit than one would expect, managed to make enough money overseas, he’s otherwise struggled to justify his unusually high budgets. Operation Fortune was renamed, resold and pushed around the schedule before misfiring at the box office (it went straight-to-streaming in many countries) while The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare couldn’t even make half of its budget back after another botched release. The trend may well continue with his latest In the Grey, another slick action thriller that was made back in 2023, bought and then sold by Lionsgate before being similarly redated three times, the film now heading for an underwhelming opening weekend (In the Red would be perhaps more appropriate). What’s strangest here is that even critics were kept away this time with no press screenings (I paid for a ticket), suggesting that even those reliable three stars might be out of reach for this one.

Where Cerebras' monster debut puts it among tech's biggest IPOs

Cerebras narrowly missed out on joining Facebook-parent Meta and Alibaba with market cap of over $100 billion on the market close of IPO day.

Martin Rowson on the battle for the Labour leadership – cartoon

Oman caught between US and Iran after Tehran claims of joint strait of Hormuz plan

Muscat silent about plans – opposed by US – to charge fee and demand details on nationality of all transiting ships

Oman has been caught in geopolitical crossfire after Iran said it was coordinating with the Gulf state over the future management of the strait of Hormuz, including Tehran’s plans to impose fees on commercial shipping.

The Omani exclave of Musandam lies to the south of the contested waterway, which normally carries a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil traffic but has been blockaded for 10 weeks since the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February.

The Guide #243: Ear-splitting gigs that were worth the after-ring

In this week’s newsletter: Sometimes they were enough to send our music critics and readers straight back out the door again – but mostly just noisy enough to make their clothes shake

Bowel-shuddering basslines. Drum fills that bounce off the walls like gunfire. Guitars resembling a pneumatic drill drilling into another pneumatic drill. A truly loud gig stays with you, figuratively and literally, as anyone who has spent the days after one accompanied by a troubling ringing in their ears can confirm.

Last week, prompted, strangely enough, by an old Alistair Cooke column suggesting that Janis Joplin’s group Big Brother and the Holding Company was noisy enough to cause permanent hearing damage in guinea pigs, we asked Guide readers to share their own loudest gig experiences. We had a huge response, with tons of you sharing memories of eardrum-piercing encounters with all manner of bands and artists, across genres and decades. So we thought we’d devote this week’s newsletter to your stories of extreme noise terror, along with a few from the Guardian’s music critics, who are often on the frontlines when it comes to aural assault.

Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen drops reelection bid after redistricting

Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee announced Friday that he's retiring from Congress at the end of this term after his district in Memphis was redrawn.

‘So much of it resonates’: The Pitt strikes a chord with UK A&E medics

Doctors and nurses say hit drama paints a mostly realistic picture of the frontline of emergency medicine

It’s the hospital drama that is adored by critics and fans alike, with its hard-hitting, action-packed episodes binged the moment they’re released by HBO Max. The Pitt depicts events in the Pittsburgh trauma medical centre, where the waiting room is always overloaded, cases are more complicated than they first seem and the medical consequences of America’s many ills – fentanyl, shootings, vaccine denial – need urgent attention.

While medical dramas are much loved by the lay viewer, clinicians who are used to seeing fictionalised versions of their daily grind are notoriously hard to please. This, notably, is where The Pitt stands apart. In fact, doctors and nurses in UK A&E units are among some of the show’s most committed devotees.

Giro d’Italia: Jonas Vingegaard makes statement to conquer Blockhaus summit

• Dane goes for broke 5km from top for stage seven win

• Decathlon’s Felix Gall is only other rider to get close

Jonas Vingegaard, the pre-race favourite, proved his Giro d’Italia credentials by going alone to conquer the Blockhaus summit finish and win stage seven on Friday as the Dane made his first telling move of this year’s race.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider, on his Giro debut, went for broke with just over 5km to the top, with the Austrian Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) the only rider to get close as he came in 13 seconds behind the winner.

No more chancers or failures – the coming contest must produce a British PM worthy of the name | Jonathan Freedland

Labour must rise to a historic responsibility by choosing a leader who can win over the nation. The alternative is Farage on the steps of No 10

They’re looking like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. Labour’s upper echelon, both the prime minister and his rivals, have served up a performance of such political ineptitude, walking into doors and tripping over their own feet, that it’s hard to argue with the cabinet minister who glumly told me this was the week when the government did itself damage that can never be repaired, if not the week that Labour confirmed its defeat at the next general election.

As so often, the lead was set from the top. Keir Starmer’s allies had billed his speech on Monday as a major address, one that would meet the scale of the moment and recognise the need for Labour to chart a new course, given the shellacking the party had suffered at the hands of voters in England, Scotland and Wales on 7 May.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

All of a Sudden review – care home drama is tender, meditative and a little too precious for its own good

Cannes film festival: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ocean-hopping treatise on love and mortality is undeniably beautiful – but it works best in its quieter, compassionate moments rather than the flurries of self-conscious solemnity

Falling seriously ill, like falling in love, can happen all of a sudden – although this film is not exactly about either. Drive My Car director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s new movie, co-scripted by Hamaguchi with the Franco-Japanese screenwriter Léa Le Dimna and his first not set entirely in Japan, is a bold and high-minded if rather pedagogic work that spreads itself over three hours. It’s tender and sometimes beautifully made, but also contrived and occasionally features some too-good-to-be-true caring characters. Frankly, it’s rather precious.

Hamaguchi and Le Dimna have taken as their starting point the nonfiction book You and I: The Illness Suddenly Get Worse by Makiko Miyano and Maho Isono, a meditative correspondence between a philosopher and medical professional on the subjects of love and mortality. Hamaguchi has opened this out to create a drama set in Paris and Kyoto, and it’s incidentally hard not to suspect that Hamaguchi, like many a celebrated movie director spending so much time on the international festival circuit, has been led to create an uneasy international mixture.

Belle and Sebastian write Scotland anthem after dramatic World Cup qualifier

Self-deprecating It Only Takes One Lion is partly inspired by team’s current song, Yes Sir, I Can Boogie

The lyrics came to Stuart Murdoch in the hazy aftermath of Scotland’s dramatic qualification for the World Cup.

The Belle and Sebastian frontman had watched his side’s playoff victory over Denmark through his fingers before deciding to write his own anthem to a team he has followed for more than 50 years. “Most people recognised instantly the next day that they’d witnessed the most important Scottish game ever,” says Murdoch. “That was our magic moment.”

Can the NFL's Rooney Rule survive the DEI backlash?

Florida's attorney general says the NFL's Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for top jobs, is discriminatory. Trump's EEOC has challenged such policies elsewhere.

Drake: Iceman / Maid of Honour / Habibti review – ​triple-album comeback is a boring, bloated disaster

(OVO/Republic)
It’s possible that the world’s biggest rapper is using this epic content drop to get out of his record deal, but aside from some bright spots on Iceman, should the public really be subjected to it?

It is easy to over-estimate Drake’s fall from grace. True, he was unanimously declared the loser in the most high-profile rap beef of recent times, and is currently engaged in a protracted legal battle with his own record company over said rap battle that everyone except Drake and his lawyers seems to think smacks of the worst kind of bad loserdom. He is also fighting lawsuits alleging that he illegally misled viewers during gambling livestreams – pretending to bet his own money while actually using funds from an online casino he promotes – and that he furthermore channelled funds from said online casino into artificially inflating streaming figures (Drake has not commented on the allegations; Stake, the casino, described one of the lawsuits as “nonsense”). Also in the lawsuits is Adin Ross, a denizen of the manosphere who Drake has been palling around with, unbothered that the other guests on Ross’s stream have included Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes.

Equally, Drake is still the most-streamed rapper in the world. Had all this really impacted on his mainstream popularity, his last album – Some Sexy Songs 4 U, 2025’s collaboration with PartyNextDoor – would have died at the box office, rather than entering the US charts at No 1 and going on to sell a million copies. If his public reputation is looking a little tarnished, well, we live in an era of short attention spans and shorter memories: it would probably only take one unequivocal banger – a One Dance or Hotline Bling 2.0 – for the slate to be wiped clean.

Czech police find stolen skull of medieval saint encased in concrete

Man arrested after admitting to taking relic from church and planning to throw it in river, say police

An 800-year-old relic believed to be the skull of Saint Zdislava, stolen this week from a Czech church, has been recovered encased in concrete as experts work to extract it, police have said.

A suspect has been arrested, who allegedly confessed to taking the skull of Saint Zdislava of Lemberk from a glass shrine in the basilica of St Lawrence and St Zdislava in the town of Jablonné v Podještědí on Tuesday.

What was Trump’s favourite topic on his trip to Beijing? | Fiona Katauskas

He was having a ball

• See more of Fiona Katauskas’s cartoons here

‘I couldn’t believe we weren’t falling over ourselves for it’: Asia-Pacific art finally conquers Britain

Britain seems to finally have an eye for art from the Asia-Pacific, with several big recent exhibitions, including the new Rising Voices show at the V&A. Why did it take so long?

An imposing new figure is greeting visitors inside the main entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in South Kensington. Standing on one side of the domed hall, across from the galleries dedicated to medieval and Renaissance European art, is a lifesize, fibreglass sculpture of a burly bouncer. The Māori nametag hanging from his belt loop suggests he has travelled a long way from home.

This character, Kapa Haka (Whero) by Michael Parekōwhai from Aotearoa New Zealand, is a symbolic guardian for the exhibition Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Produced in partnership with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, the show includes more than 70 works which have never before been exhibited in the UK, by artists from 25 countries who have featured through the decades in QAGOMA’s Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT).

It’s the latest in a recent wave of shows that have brought works from Australian galleries to international institutions. Last year, Tate Modern hosted Emily Kam Kngwarray in collaboration with the National Gallery of Australia, and the National Gallery of Victoria’s exhibition The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art is now touring the US.

Mali’s forces target rebel alliance in junta’s fight to keep power

Army supported by Russian mercenaries launches airstrikes after offensive by coalition of Islamist extremists and Tuareg separatists

Mali’s armed forces, supported by Russian mercenaries, have launched airstrikes targeting a rebel alliance of Islamist extremists and Tuareg separatists as the ruling junta struggles to maintain its hold on power in the unstable west African country.

Earlier this week warplanes targeted the key northern town of Kidal, which was lost when the rebels launched a surprise offensive across much of Mali in late April.

Supreme Court allows mail access to the abortion pill mifepristone for now

Four years after overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision upheld mail access to the abortion pill mifepristone for now, blocking a lower court ruling. Jan Crawford reports on the court's decision and Dr. Celine Gounder explains what could happen next.

Starbucks to lay off 300 U.S. employees, shutter some regional support offices

Starbucks said the moves will help the coffee chain return to profitable growth.

‘Super-glamorous’: older women in the spotlight at Cannes film festival

Joan Collins, Catherine Deneuve, Isabella Rossellini and Jane Fonda among those representing wider age diversity on red carpet

The Cannes red carpet is, without question, a home of glamour. But in 2026 that glamour has a different spin. The women gaining the most headlines for style are, for once, over 70.

Joan Collins, 92, walked the red carpet this week in a white sculptural strapless gown by Stéphane Rolland. Jane Fonda, 88, wore a floor-length sequined Gucci dress. Isabella Rossellini, 73, has been seen wearing a striking patterned two-piece, while Catherine Deneuve, 82, was chic in forest-green satin and hoop earrings.

Three’s a crowd: what to do when you hate your friend’s partner

Can’t stand your friend’s other half? You could be walking into a minefield, warn experts. Here they share advice, from owning jealous feelings to blowing off steam (with the right person)

Years ago, my best friend fell in love with a man I disliked. He had a habit of looking over my shoulder when I tried to talk to him, and I thought he was too possessive. He spoke to her using a special high-pitched baby voice, and the worst thing was that my friend absolutely loved it, and would baby-talk right back. Thinking that our friendship was bound to outlive her infatuation, I made it obvious that I disliked him. I very pointedly made plans without him, and when I was forced to spend time in his presence I made so many private jokes I was essentially talking to my friend in a horrible baby language all of my own.

To no one’s surprise but mine, this behaviour didn’t have the desired effect. My friend started avoiding me. Her boyfriend won and eight years later he’s still winning. They are getting married next year, and I am not invited.

How a growing El Niño will affect 2026 hurricane season in Atlantic, Pacific

The last time an El Niño pattern occurred was in 2023, when the Eastern Pacific hurricane season produced 20 tropical systems.

A year in hospital and 90% lung damage: how Andrey Zvyagintsev came back from Covid to Cannes

Cannes film festival: The great Russian director of Leviathan, Loveless and The Return has overcome extraordinary obstacles to present his first film in nine years

His films have been hailed as damning allegories of the Russian population’s apathy in the face of state oppression. Yet when director Andrey Zvyagintsev learned of his country’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he too was paralysed, and literally so.

A severe infection with Covid-19 had left the film-maker stranded at a clinic in Hanover, Germany, struggling to breathe with 90% lung damage and unable to move or feel his limbs for several months. “It was in this state that I learned of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine,” he said in a rare recent interview. “It was a shock; I felt immense pain and deep despair.” In all, he spent 11 months in assorted hospitals.

Soldier speaks about reuniting with his wife after she was released from ICE custody

After a month in custody, the wife of an active-duty U.S. solider has been released by ICE. Jose Serrano's wife was detained in April during an immigration appointment that was supposed to protect military spouses from being deported.

Trump touts "fantastic trade deals" with Xi as Beijing summit ends

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded their summit in Beijing on Friday with both countries looking to claim the visit as a win.

A billionaire, a taco, reality TV: the top 4 attack lines in California’s elections

With the primary election less than three weeks away, the gubernatorial and mayoral races have taken a fiery turn

Sparring on the debate stage, well-timed statements addressing the slightest misstep by an opponent and countless social media jabs: election season is heating up in California’s major primaries.

With the primary election less than three weeks away, the gubernatorial and mayoral races have taken a fiery turn as candidates undergo last-ditch efforts to convince voters of their governance chops.

The 100 best novels of all time

A countdown of the greatest literature ever published in English, as voted for by authors, critics and academics worldwide, 40-21. How many have you read? On Saturday we reveal the full list. What’s number 1? Come back at 6am UK time to find out

Trump leaves China without breakthroughs on Iran, Taiwan or AI

US president hails ‘fantastic’ deals, but details remain scarce after pageantry and little progress at much-hyped summit with Xi

• Trump in China – latest updates

Donald Trump left China on Friday after a much-hyped summit of the world’s two major powers that was rich in pageantry and promises of stability, but offered little by way of tangible progress.

The US president had gone into the two-day talks with China’s Xi Jinping weakened by his prolonged war in Iran, and did little to change the perception that he and his nation are diminished on the global stage.

Blackout protests and a butterfly boom: photos of the day – Friday

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

Trump says he will soon make a decision about sanctions on Chinese companies buying Iranian oil

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he will make a decision over the next few days about lifting sanctions on Chinese oil companies that buy Iranion oil.

X to block UK access to accounts linked to terrorist groups in Ofcom agreement

Media regulator announces commitments by Elon Musk’s platform to crack down on terrorist and hate content

Elon Musk’s X platform has promised to block UK access to accounts linked to banned terrorist groups under an agreement with the communications regulator to crack down on terrorist and hate content.

X will also review suspected illegal terrorist and hate content within 48 hours and seek expert advice on how to handle user reports of such content.

From men on dog leads to public breast-fondling, Valie Export’s art demanded a total feminist revolution

The performance artist was a brilliantly subversive pioneer whose work exposed the predicament of women living in a world that was not made for us
• Renowned feminist artist and film-maker Valie Export dies aged 85

Punk, intellectual, feminist, theorist, brave as hell, vulnerable, funny, Valie Export was a hero to many women. Since the 1960s, she was driven by a fierce conviction that art and media would play an essential role in women’s liberation: that women must picture their own reality in the name of social progress. In Women’s Art: A Manifesto (1972), she wrote that women must “use art as a means of expression, so as to influence the consciousness of all of us”. What she demanded was revolution.

I keep returning to her work. Can’t stay away. I have written about her in relation to violence in women’s art. Her work was heavy with explicit threat and pain, and she made evident the violence of forcing women’s bodies to inhabit structures that were not designed for them. For the 1973 performance Hyperbuliashe crept naked through a corridor of electrified wires, exposing herself voluntarily to shocks.

Detroit automakers have cut more than 20,000 U.S. salaried jobs as AI threat looms

Reasons for the job declines vary by automaker, but are generally tied to evolving technological changes in the industry — including the rise of AI.

‘It’s hard to let go of this club’: Nick Evans on 18 years of life and lessons at Harlequins

Quins’ resident New Zealander has some fascinating and forthright views, not least regarding England’s World Cup prospects

After 18 years, it is almost time to say farewell to Harlequins’ resident Kiwi. Not every overseas recruit becomes part of the fabric of a team thousands of miles from home, but that has long been the case with Nick Evans, a Prem winner with Quins as a player and a coach in 2012 and 2021 respectively. As the former All Blacks fly-half conceded this week: “It’s going to be really hard to let go of this club.”

And vice versa. During his playing days, the skilful, popular Evans personified everything good about the way Quins approached the game. As a coach, he has been similarly positive, endlessly seeking fresh ways to crack opposition defences. Quins may have endured a disappointing season, but that should not tarnish the sizeable contribution that Evans, now 45, has made during his residency at the Stoop.

Cocktail of the week: Cafe Kowloon’s shiso daiquiri – recipe | The good mixer

A daiquiri endowed with citrussy lemongrass syrup and a welcome waft of herbal shiso

A daiquiri is a cocktail that shows just how far you can get with only three ingredients: rum, sugar and lime. Our version includes fresh shiso leaves for herbal notes you don’t expect, but absolutely want with rum (and if you use red shiso, the vibrant pink colour it imparts just makes everything cooler). If you have time – even just half an hour – it’s worth chucking a few shiso leaves into the rum ahead of time, then giving it a good shake and leaving it to steep. The syrup can be made with white sugar, but soft light brown sugar will remind the rum of home, and add a warmer, richer finish that works well with the lemongrass.

Abie Lamin, general manager, Cafe Kowloon, London E8

Men in the mirror: Trump and Xi’s suits put ‘chameleon effect’ to test in Beijing

Mirroring of each other’s attire may signal alignment – though the look wasn’t a huge departure for either leader

When Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met for a welcome ceremony in Tiananmen Square this week with the world’s gaze on them, they mirrored one another in strikingly similar suits.

Both were blue, single-breasted with flap pockets. Both had two buttons with only the top one done up. Both wore red ties.

SCOTUS upholds abortion pill telehealth access. And, Trump returns from China visit

The Supreme Court kept access to the abortion pill mifepristone available via telehealth. And, Trump says he made multiple trade deals during his state visit to China.

‘I didn’t want to be the guinea pig’: inside tech’s AI-fueled manager purge

Tech workers say AI-driven restructurings are eroding mentorship, support and paths to promotion across Silicon Valley

As tech companies pour billions into artificial intelligence bets and slash their workforces, middle managers are squarely in the crosshairs.

A trend is emerging: when tech CEOs announce that AI is making it possible to do more with fewer workers, they promise to flatten their structures by cutting away what they call unnecessary management layers and bureaucracy. Just last week, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase laid off 14% of its workforce while gesturing to the thrill of AI-fueled, minimal-management efficiency. In doing so, it joined companies including Amazon, Block and Meta that in the last year have laid off tens of thousands of employees with a specific focus on removing management layers.

‘You look at it and you just feel better’: this year’s Photoville festival highlights

The annual New York-based display of photography contains moving pictures from behind bars and a revealing look at trans lives back in the 1990s

For the 15th installment of the annual Photoville festival, which sees more than 90 exhibits of photographic portfolios from all around the world, festival co-founder Sam Barzilay is thinking about apples – specifically the bizarre and at times cosmic-looking ones in the exhibit Old Apples.

“I was so delighted it got selected,” he enthusiastically told me. “It’s the most whimsical thing we have, it’s about apples and how there are no two apples in nature that are the same.”

The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup

Honey by Imani Thompson; Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Brookmyre; The Final Chapter by CB Everett; The Hollow Boys by Tariq Ashkanani; Shrink Solves Murder by Philippa Perry

Honey by Imani Thompson (Borough, £16.99)
Thompson’s smart and incisive debut centres on Yrsa, a young Black woman studying for a sociology PhD and teaching undergraduates at Cambridge. Irritated by her solipsistic, over-privileged students and tired of situationships, she’s fed up with life, and men in particular. Her first killing – that of a much older supervisor who reneges on his promise to leave his wife for a colleague, and steals her research in the process – is an accident, but Yrsa, who has catastrophically poor impulse control, enjoys the sensation and, more importantly, gets away with it. “It’s theory in action”: as victims pile up, her academic research provides a spurious rationale for justifiable anger, as with Hugh, who used her for bragging rights (“Black girl magic, 20 points”). But somebody is on to her, and things are starting to spin out of control … The best kind of campus novel, satirical and razor-sharp, crossed with a crime story: Thompson is an exciting new voice.

Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus, £22)
Thirty years after Brookmyre’s debut, his latest novel to feature journalist Jack Parlabane makes a tonal return to his earlier, more irreverent style. Now 60, Jack feels increasingly like a “Boomer Ambassador” to the younger colleagues who are snapping at his heels. With his job on the line, he agrees to investigate a cold case: the death, 40 years earlier, of an MI5 operative. It’s thought to be connected to the Maskyn family, creators of much-loved but now contentious Thunderbirds-style TV series The Imaginators, and Parlabane finds himself on the transatlantic cruise liner hosting the 60th anniversary convention as “several hundred emotionally stunted fanboy incels alongside an over-remunerated family of nepo babies, trust fund pukes and outright fascists” duke it out over The Imaginators’ legacy. Masterfully plotted and scalpel-sharp, this is a riotously good read that uses a Golden Age set-up to take aim at the culture wars, while also providing a thoroughly satisfying mystery.

Key takeaways from Trump's China trip

President Trump returns to the U.S. after wrapping up his whirlwind trip to China.

Trump is in China. This company is a cautionary tale of Chinese investment

The Department of Homeland Security raided a Fuyao auto glass plant last year, as its main competitor warns it could be put out of business.

Digested week: Starmer’s day of reckoning was foreseen – just not the level of drama | John Crace

While Tories are quite ruthless about removing a leader, Labour MPs can’t decide whether their regicide is a tragedy or comedy

No one can say they weren’t warned. Last week’s elections had always been marked out as a time of maximum danger for Keir Starmer if the results were as bad as feared. And so it proved. Only no one had anticipated quite the level of drama that would go with it. While the Tories have always been quite ruthless about getting rid of a leader they deem surplus to requirements, Labour MPs seem unable to decide whether their regicide is a tragedy or a comedy. Or a mixture of both.

Ukraine attacks Russia with drones after suffering three days of massive strikes

Large-scale attack on Russian regions and huge oil refinery comes after 24 were killed when missile hit flats in Kyiv

Ukraine has launched a large-scale long-range drone attack targeting several regions in Russia including the huge Ryazan oil refinery, after three days of massive strikes by Moscow against Ukraine.

Kyiv’s attack on Friday followed a series of drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including on the capital, Kyiv, where a cruise missile hit an apartment block on Thursday, killing 24 people including three children.

How Forza Horizon took on Japan with deep research – and 360-degree cameras

The open world driving sim has roared through locations from Colorado to Australia, its authentic feel resting on exhaustive research. But, as the team explain, this was the toughest challenge yet

Since the arrival of the original Forza Horizon in 2012, a game that revolutionised open world driving sims by setting players loose in a virtual Colorado, British developer Playground Games has promised authenticity with its settings. For each instalment, design teams are sent out on location to take thousands of photos, hours of video, even detailed captures of the sky, before construction of a virtual copy begins. It’s a huge undertaking. But it seems that for much of the past decade, one country remained slightly out of reach – an intimidating prospect. “Japan has been on our shortlist for several games now,” says design director, Torben Ellert. “But we just didn’t feel like we were ready to take on the challenge of building it.”

It’s not just about the sheer variety of the country’s landscape. There’s something else going on. Most video game players hold an image of what it is like to explore Japan. It may be inspired by the fictitious rural town of Inaba in Persona 4, or the busy docks of Yokosuka in Shenmue, or perhaps the neon-drenched Kabukichō district of Tokyo, which forms a regular backdrop in the Yakuza series. For decades, gamers around the world have been bombarded with images of the country that are often highly stylised and fragmented, but nonetheless potent and persuasive. As art director Don Arceta puts it, “with Japan there’s such an expectation [of] what gamers want - it’s a certain version of Japan that they picture.”

Weather tracker: Furnace Creek sizzles as snow sweeps Siberia in a week of extremes

Record heat in North and Central America coincides with egg-sized hailstones in eastern China

Extreme weather across several parts of the world this week has brought record-breaking temperatures to Honduras, North America and Indonesia.

Honduras smashed its all-time May maximum temperature record earlier this month – only for it to be broken again on 13 May in Choluteca, known as the furnace of Central America. Temperatures climbed to 42.2C (107.9F), surpassing the previous record of 42.1C. With intense heat forecast to persist over the coming weeks, more records are expected to fall.

The Netherlands is confronting its history of Nazi occupation – but many stolen objects remain unreturned

Eight decades after liberation from the Nazis, silence, shame and a struggling legal system keep Jewish property in Dutch family homes

Several months ago, the Dutch art detective Arthur Brand was surprised to be contacted by a man who had recently made an uncomfortable discovery about his family’s wartime past: he had learned that he descended from Hendrik Seyffardt, a Dutch general who led a volunteer Waffen-SS unit and one of the Netherlands’ most senior Nazi collaborators.

But there was more: the man had also discovered that a painting by the Dutch artist Toon Kelder, looted by the Nazis from the renowned collection of the Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, remained in the possession of the Seyffardt family.

13 men killed by US military boat strikes identified: ‘These were flesh-and-blood people’

All victims of US strikes in eastern Pacific and the Caribbean identified so far came from extremely poor communities

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A five-month investigation has named 13 previously unidentified victims of US attacks on boats allegedly carrying narcotics in a campaign that has killed nearly 200 people in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.

It is unclear if the US has ever identified any of its 194 victims before attacking them, and the names of just three had previously emerged, after their families launched legal cases against the White House.

2 senators call on FAA to study impact of reduced flight attendant staffing

Sens. Tammy Duckworth​ of Illinois and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin say their concern is there may be more emergency exit doors than flight attendants in the event of an evacuation.

Emma Raducanu rehires coach who helped her to 2021 US Open triumph

• Andrew Richardson helped her win slam as an 18-year-old

• Partnership to start at Strasbourg in French Open buildup

Emma Raducanu has rehired Andrew Richardson, the coach who helped guide her to her sensational US Open triumph in 2021, on a formal basis as she prepares to return to competition next week in Strasbourg in the buildup to the French Open.

Richardson will accompany ­Raducanu at the WTA 500 event as she competes for the first time in two months after struggling with a post-viral illness. During the early days of her return to the courts, Raducanu travelled to Richardson’s base at the Ferrer Academy in La Nucía, Spain, near Benidorm, for a clay-court training block that doubled as a trial period for a potential formal partnership.

Henry VIII, the king of rock’n’roll: the Stephen Collins cartoon

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Death toll in attack on Kyiv apartment building now stands at 24

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a Russian missile attack on a Kyiv apartment building the previous day killed 24 people, including three children.

Which Trump cabinet member has a new reality show? The quiz knows

This week, in Warshington, D.C., the Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Federal Reserve and we wrote a quiz question about his name. Enjoy that, and the other nine, too.

‘The nuance of being a Black woman in America’: Is God Is turns righteous rage into gory horror

Actors Vivica A Fox, Kara Young and Mallori Johnson on subverting revenge tropes as Aleshea Harris’s play storms on to the screen

Kara Young remembers the fervor around Is God Is’s off-Broadway run in 2018. Playwright Aleshea Harris’s revenge tale ran at New York’s Soho Rep theater from February through May of that year. Young was performing in a different show at the time, but she knew she needed to see Harris’s play by any means necessary.

“I was lucky to get a ticket,” says the two-time Tony award-winning actor, recalling the buzz about the show that rippled through the theater community and saw it transfer to London in 2021. As soon as she saw it, Young easily understood why: “It blew my mind. Those characters have stayed in my spirit since 2018.”

From phishing to porn star impersonators: how scamming athletes became a billion-dollar industry

Athletes have always been targets for criminals hoping to profit from their wealth. But a new wave of dangers has cropped up in recent years

With exorbitant ticket, travel and hotel prices making fans desperate to find an affordable way of attending this summer’s World Cup, it’s no surprise that security firms and law enforcement agencies are warning that fans are at significant risk of becoming fraud victims.

While major tournaments are moments of heightened vulnerability for supporters, players themselves are increasingly attractive year-round targets for cybercriminals who can use AI to mount ever more sophisticated attacks.

After redistricting, what does representation mean to Tennessee voters?

What does representation look like for Tennessee voters who were split into three new congressional districts last week? NPR traveled from Memphis into the Nashville suburbs to ask.

Meet the horses running in the Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes will feature its biggest field in 15 years with 14 horses in the middle jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown.

Backtalker by Kimberlé Crenshaw review – the audacity of hope

The inspiring life of the Black American activist and legal scholar who changed the way the world thinks about race

Kimberlé Crenshaw’s memoir describes a life shadowed by Jim Crow segregation and racism, but lit up by hope. That the social conditions of her early life did not destroy her family, as they had so many others, must be credited to their extraordinary grit and determination. The journey that led Crenshaw to create the influential legal theory of “intersectionality” begins with the “well of thoughtless devaluation faced by little Black girls”. And for all who think those days have long gone, Backtalker is a must read.

“Backtalking” is how Crenshaw responds to anything that does not make sense. Whether as a five-year-old kindergarten student who was allowed to portray a witch but not a princess in a school play, or decades later, lobbying Harvard’s dean of law to hire Black faculty and being asked whether she wouldn’t prefer “an excellent white professor over a mediocre Black one”, Crenshaw talked back. For her, backtalking is about resilience in the midst of struggle, which sometimes painfully includes talking back to the ones we love.

‘I had to start living for me’: Suzette Charles on winning Miss America, confronting Bill Cosby and releasing her debut album 33 years late

From late-night calls with Stevie Wonder to tours with Frank Sinatra, the US singer seemed primed for pop success – so what caused her to hide from the public for decades? Finally back in the spotlight, she tells her remarkable story

‘I can’t believe this is actually happening!” Suzette Charles says on a video call. At 63, she is about to release her self-titled debut album 33 years later than she had hoped, and her disbelief is understandable. Crowned the first biracial Miss America in 1984, aged 20, in controversial circumstances, Charles went on to suffer a lifetime of adversity. She faced a distressing tour with Bill Cosby and mistreatment by record labels, and her debut album was shelved when her songwriters Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) – who had made huge hits for Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley and more – split up. Then came a decades-long marriage that seemed to end her artistic career altogether. “You can’t make this stuff up,” she says.

But Charles has reunited with Mike Stock to finally finish the most emotional of projects, her appropriately self-titled debut. “I love the way the album’s turned out,” Stock says. “I’ve worked with Paul McCartney, Donna Summer, Cliff Richard – as a singer, I’d put Suzette in that bracket.”

‘We found a charming alternative to touristy Bath’: readers’ favourite UK trips

From Hadrian’s Wall to the locations of Happy Valley and Hot Fuzz, readers share their top discoveries

• Tell us about your favourite UK coast walk – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher

“So this is where Officer Nick Angel [Simon Pegg] chased that swan.” As a fan of Hot Fuzz, I was excited to explore the cathedral city of Wells in Somerset, where much of the film was shot. This charming, compact and walkable city is awash with medieval architecture and magnificent buildings, such as the gothic cathedral, with one of the oldest working clocks in the UK (late 14th century) and the Bishop’s Palace and Gardens. Within easy reach of the Mendip Hills, Cheddar Gorge and the Wookey Hole Caves, Wells makes for a low-key alternative to tourist-soaked Bath.
Alison

Art deco and modernist flats in England and Scotland for sale – in pictures

From a converted art deco hotel in Glasgow to a brutalist apartment in London’s Barbican