Total combines Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ tariffs of 125% and the 20% fentanyl levy, while former US treasury chief criticises Trump’s economic policy

China and the European Union have exchanged views on strengthening their economic and trade cooperation in response to US tariffs, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, according to Reuters news agency.

In a video call on Tuesday, China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao discussed with European trade and economic security commissioner Maros Sefcovic the restart of talks on trade relief and to immediately carry out negotiations on electric vehicle price commitments, the Chinese ministry statement said.

Douglas Alexander’s unpublicised trip to talk with counterparts coincides with that of Adm Sir Tony Radakin

A trade minister has travelled to China for an unpublicised visit this week at the same time as the head of the British military, the Guardian has learned.

Douglas Alexander, the minister for trade policy and economic security, is paying a visit to Beijing this week for talks with Chinese counterparts. He is also due to visit Hainan and Hong Kong.

Exclusive: Racial disparities highlighted as researchers estimate 10 million women have conditions such as fibroids or endometriosis

More than a quarter of women in England are living with a serious reproductive health issue, according to the largest survey of its kind, and experts say “systemic, operational, structural and cultural issues� prevent women from accessing care.

The survey of 60,000 women across England in 2023, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and analysed by academics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, found that 28% of respondents were living with a reproductive morbidity, such as pelvic organ prolapse, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, or cervical, uterine, ovarian or breast cancer.

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It sounds like a number of Man Utd supporters are struggling to make it to the ground in time for kick-off. I’m sure we’ll hear more about that after the game.

Lyon will be missing their young wingers Ernest Nuamah and Malick Fofana when they host Manchester United on Thursday, which is a huge blow given their penchant for attacking down the flanks. The good news for Paulo Fonseca is that he will be able to call upon Rayan Cherki and Thiago Almada to carry out the attacking duties either side of Corentin Tolisso, with Georges Mikautadze leading the line.

Campaign group Everyone Hates Elon organised protest with car bound for scrap heap ‘to create debate about wealth inequality’

Protective helmets were donned and sledgehammers wielded as Elon Musk critics vented their frustration at the Tesla boss and billionaire by smashing up a disused Tesla bound for the scrap heap.

The public art project was organised by the social media campaign group Everyone Hates Elon. A 2014 Tesla Model S was provided by an anonymous donor “to create a debate about wealth inequality�, a spokesperson for the group said.

Steve Bray, who regularly protests by playing music outside parliament, is in court after allegedly flouting a police ban

On a traffic island in Westminster, he played a song titled ‘Brexit Tragedy’ to the tune of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, serenading MPs with the words: “We all live in a Brexit tragedy, a Brexit tragedy, a Brexit tragedy.�

Now, the anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray has apologised after hearing in court that his music made Suella Braverman’s chief of staff feel “exhausted�, “intimidated� and “harassed�.

Exclusive: Cap on payments for patients removed from lists scrapped amid warnings about waits for cancer care

Hospitals in England are being offered unlimited bonus payments to remove people they decide do not need treatment from their waiting lists amid warnings that thousands of patients most in need are still facing unacceptable delays.

The waiting list for hospital treatment fell for the sixth month in a row in February, according to data published on Thursday.

Philippa Baskwill, who worked on child protection, found to have weighed down laptop keys with phone

A detective working on child protection, who was found to have weighed down the keys on her laptop to give the impression she was working at home, has been sacked without notice for gross misconduct after a disciplinary hearing.

Suspicions were raised when keystroke data – the record of the number of times the keys had been struck on the keyboard – revealed DC Philippa Baskwill had pressed the keys on her laptop nearly 3 million times in a single month – compared with the 80,000 to 200,000 average of her colleagues, the hearing was told.

US original’s creator Lorne Michaels to be executive producer of show that is due to premiere in 2026

Over the last 50 years, Saturday Night Live has become a cornerstone of US television and a conveyor belt for new comedy talent, attracting A-list cameos and launching careers. British TV executives are now hoping it can bring some of that lustre across the Atlantic in a deal to bring the show to the UK for the first time.

After numerous failed attempts to recreate the late-night comedy format that has proved so successful in the US, Sky has announced it is making a British version of the show to premiere next year. Crucially, the show’s original creator and champion, Lorne Michaels, will be an executive producer.

Fossil found off Taiwan coast adds to picture of enigmatic human species having a prominent jaw with huge teeth

An ancient jawbone dredged from the Taiwanese seabed has revealed new insights into the appearance and sweeping geographic range of an enigmatic human species called the Denisovans.

The fossil was discovered by fishers trawling the Penghu Channel off Taiwan and is thought to be the most complete fossil that has been genetically identified as Denisovan. The male individual, who lived at least 10,000 years ago, had a strong jaw and very large, powerful molars.

The president’s U-turn after his maverick plan threatened meltdown has echoes of the 2022 UK crisis

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A maverick economic policy announcement from a self-styled disruptor plunges the country’s currency into freefall and puts rocket boosters behind the cost of government debt, prompting warnings of an economic nuclear winter and forcing a pretty undignified U-turn.

If, on top of general concern, there has been a nagging sense of deja vu in Britain over the past 24 hours, then the ill-fated 49-day reign of Liz Truss as the UK prime minister may well be to blame.

Kelly has been called a traitor for leaving her government job to write about immigration. But, she says, something has to be done about the chaos and injustice

One of the migrants who sticks most in Nicola Kelly’s mind is Parwen, an Iraqi Kurdish mother she met in a camp near Dunkirk. Kelly played with Parwen’s seven-year-old daughter and heard about how, before one attempt to cross the Channel, French police had fired teargas and nearly hit her four-year-old son. Kelly drove away from the camp, and made the crossing – easy for her, with her British passport – that so many people were risking their lives to make. “I was about to go home to my husband and son, warm and safe in a house, knowing that probably their tents were going to be ripped away from them that night, and they’d have to sleep out in the rain and the mud,� she says. “There’s a guilt attached to that. It’s like, I wish I could do more, help in some way, other than just writing, which never really feels like enough.�

Kelly’s book, Anywhere But Here, brings such a human and humane perspective to an issue that is politicised and toxic. At the camp, Parwen wished her a safe journey home and, as she was driving away, Kelly spotted some graffiti on a wall which she took for her book’s title – something an asylum seeker might think as they decide to flee, or while forced to survive in a makeshift camp thousands of miles away, but just as easily something people might think about migrants arriving on these shores, or some politicians who wish the issue would go away.

More than 150 Chinese nationals are fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, recruited via videos on social media

The videos are across Chinese social media. Some are slickly produced Russian propaganda about being “tough� men; some sound more like influencer advertisements for a working holiday. Others are cobbled-together screenshots by regular citizens about to leave China. But they all have one thing in common: selling the benefits of becoming a Chinese mercenary for Russia.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced that two Chinese nationals had been captured in the eastern Donetsk region and accused Moscow of trying to involve China “directly or indirectly� in the conflict. A day later, he said the men were among at least 155 other Chinese members of Russia’s armed forces. Then again, on Thursday, he accused Russia of conducting “systemic work� in China to recruit fighters.

(Rough Trade)
The anthemic lead single from the band’s first album in 24 years casts a wary eye over their peak 90s fame – but also suggests that performing is irresistible

• Pulp announce More, their first album since 2001

It seems weirdly fitting that Pulp have premiered their first album in 24 years with a song that appears to fret about the validity of returning at all.

Of all the alt-rock artists hoisted to mainstream fame in the Britpop era, they were the ones who seemed least comfortable with the kind of attention it brought them: a perennially ignored band who’d spent a decade striving to get somewhere, only to find they didn’t much like it when they did. Something of the prickly, confrontational outsider clung to them even at the zenith of their success – 1995’s quadruple-platinum Different Class is an album packed with waspish, witty ruminations on the British class system – while 1998’s This Is Hardcore offered a paranoid and occasionally harrowing examination of their era as celebrities, something its dense, doomy sound also helped to draw to a close.

The Oscar winner plays a soldier turned world leader forced to fight back in Amazon’s simple, serviceable star vehicle

Released just three months after the inauguration, geopolitical action thriller G20 was always going to have unavoidable resonance. While the shoot ended back in March last year, there must have been points during the post-production process when those involved wondered if their film – a rousing story of a Black female president taking charge – would coincide with a similar, albeit less schlocky, real world victory.

But it wasn’t to be and instead the film has landed on Amazon at a far less inspiring time for America when a president has decided to destroy rather than save his country. Any links to be made from fiction to fact push Trump’s agenda closer to that of the bad guys, who aim to tank the global economy and stop a perceived US overspend of foreign aid. While there are moments that might unintentionally insist us to make the connection (lead villain expressing glee at a horribly familiar red stock market arrow), G20 isn’t trying to be The Political Film We Need Right Now, its makers smartly picking brawn over brain.

As a new compilation with unheard material is released, we assess the Cardiff legend’s diamonds and deep cuts

Shirley Bassey apparently hated this Bond theme, protesting that the lyrics were nonsensical. She never performed it live. It’s certainly not up to previous standards, but the disco version that accompanies the film’s end credits is worth hearing – better than her attempt to rejig This Is My Life for the 70s dancefloor.

Age has made me a more fully realized version of myself – I didn’t recognize that until returning to the Philippines

Last month, it was my paternal grandmother’s 105th birthday. It’s unlikely that we’ll have many more chances to visit her, so my husband, daughters and I visited the Philippines to celebrate – my first trip since February 2020.

Despite being born in the US and having lived here since, I still consider the Philippines home. I’ve made the journey at least a dozen times, and it always feels like I’m visiting another version of me only accessible in these islands. This iteration of me is always surrounded by babies and cousins, eats all the green and yellow mangoes she wants and understands more of her native language with each passing day. I am overjoyed to be there, filled with so much emotion that it leaks out of my eyeballs constantly.

The Bafta-winning actor answers your questions about taking Angelina Jolie to meet his grandmother down the pub, working with Danny Boyle and directing Paul Weller

Your new film, Sinners, sounds scary. What scares you? MrSOBaldrick
Loneliness.

I’ve always wanted to act, but I’ve never taken the plunge. Has there been a role where you felt you took a plunge out of your comfort zone? AliciaGrace1
Getting to portray an American comes with inherent impostor syndrome, because so many other US actors could take the role. The roles I’ve played in the US have bigger distinctions from my lived experiences than some of my other roles. But it can be rewarding and fulfilling to do something that’s very different, so it works both ways.

In this second extract from Frances Ryan’s new book, actors, politicians, athletes and models offer their advice on living with physical and mental health conditions

• Read the first extract here

Rosie Jones, comedian
If you have a shot of whisky, and then you have a shot of pickle juice, it tastes exactly like a cheeseburger. Honestly, it does, try it. That, and … be whoever you want to be. Having a disability is not a disadvantage; it’s a different perspective. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses, and sometimes a weakness can become our biggest strength.

Marsha de Cordova, MP
Follow your dreams and pursue your passions, even if you’re afraid. Don’t let your disability – or anyone’s opinion – hold you back. Find yourself a good mentor and have a plan.

After a tricky few years, the world’s pre-eminent film festival has come roaring back and is set to feature new work by Kelly Reichardt, another Joachim Trier drama starring Renate Reinsve and Cannes icons the Dardenne brothers

The Cannes film festival selection has been unveiled by its director Thierry Frémaux, with all its auteur heavyweights and cineaste silverback gorillas, including new work by Kelly Reichardt, Julia Ducournau, Ari Aster, Wes Anderson, Joachim Trier and Carla Simón. Tom Cruise’s final Mission: Impossible movie is showing out of competition; Robert De Niro is getting an honorary Palme d’Or – and probably treating audiences to a characteristically tightlipped onstage interview – and Bono arrives at the red carpet for Andrew Dominik’s documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender. Actor turned director Scarlett Johansson comes to Cannes with her Eleanor the Great, a quirky New York tale starring veteran player June Squibb.

There is also, of course, an appearance from the Belgian social-realist masters and Cannes icons the Dardenne brothers, whose appearance here with The Young Mother’s Home coincides with a mood of sadness, remembering the recent death of their totemic actor Émilie Dequenne, who starred as a teen in their film Rosetta, which won the Palme d’Or and best actress award.

Forever running out of juice? Top up your battery-powered devices with our expert picks, from tiny smartphone chargers to portable power banks and even a power hat

• The best iPhones in 2025: which Apple smartphone is right for you

It’s disempowering when your smartphone, laptop or other important gadget runs out of battery. With the flash of a graphic or a plaintive bleep, we lose a way to entertain ourselves, get things done, stay in touch or even get home safely. There’s a time and a place for a digital detox – but what is the time, and where am I?

Carrying a power bank is your ticket out of electronic oblivion. These pocket-sized cuboids plug into compatible devices and charge them, often via assorted connections, including USB-C and USB-A. Most power banks are made for charging smartphones and smaller gadgets, such as fitness trackers and earbuds, but some models can also charge power-hungrier laptops and large portable speakers.

Best power bank overall:
Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-port 20k
_{£79.99 at Argos}

Best power bank for portability:
Anker Nano
_{£29.99 at Anker}

Best budget power bank:
Belkin BoostCharge 10k with integrated cable
_{£24.99 at Belkin}

Best power bank for speed and power:
Cuktech 15 Ultra
_{£89.99 at Amazon}

Best high-storage power bank:
Anker 165W
_{£89.99 at Anker}

Honor Magic7 Lite smartphone (battery: 6,600mAh)

Honor Magic7 Pro smartphone (battery: 5,270mAh)

Acer Aspire Vero 16 laptop (65W ​three-cell li-ion battery)

There is now little prospect of the growth Labour promised. With Reform nipping at his heels, Starmer must offer protection to the British people

If it’s brown, lie down. If it’s black, fight back. If it’s white, say goodnight.

The rhyme we learned hiking as a family through Yellowstone national park last summer is meant as a cheery reminder of how not to get eaten, if you meet a bear. Brown bears are best appeased by playing dead; black bears need to know this will hurt them more than it hurts you; and luckily there aren’t any polar bears in Yellowstone, because nothing deters them.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

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

The pups are cute – and great for PR – but they’re modified grey wolves. The real work is being done with their red cousins

I’ve been waiting for this. Ever since researchers almost brought a wild goat species back from extinction in 2003, it was only a matter of time until someone came forward and said they had successfully “de-extincted� a species. Now, it has happened.

This week, American biotech company Colossal Biosciences announced it had resurrected the dire wolf, an animal that went extinct at the end of the last ice age. Colossal released a video that invited viewers to “experience the first dire wolf howls heard in over 10,000 years�.

Helen Pilcher is a science writer and the author of Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction and Life Changing: How Humans are Altering Life on Earth

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Reform and the Tories are rubbing their hands with glee as residents once again pay the price for the disarray of the city’s Labour council

• Kate Knowles is editor of the Birmingham Dispatch

I was recently standing on a picket line at Birmingham’s largest waste depot with a case of deja vu. “We are massively underfunded. It does need changing,� Lee, a bin worker and union rep, told me. But the council’s current offer to end the strike isn’t good enough, he said. If it cuts wages the way it wants to, “people will lose their homes�.

We’ve been here before. In 2017, during seven hot and smelly summer weeks, similar interviews were conducted in the same spot and images of sky-high mounds of uncollected rubbish were beamed out of Birmingham. That dispute was almost the same as the one we’re living through now: the council wants to get rid of a role that poses a hefty equal pay risk. Essentially, workers in other parts of the council on a similar grade don’t get the same pay or perks, which means they can make costly claims for compensation via unions or no-win, no-fee lawyers. Although the problem reared its head eight years ago, it wasn’t properly addressed – those strikes ended with essentially the same role in place but under a different name, allowing expensive claims to mount.

Kate Knowles is editor of the Birmingham Dispatch

Absolute free speech is a right enshrined in the law, which is fundamental to British democracy. We must defend it

Knight of the realm and business tycoon Philip Green spends a lot of money on expensive lawyers.

First, he took out an injunction in 2018 to block the media from mentioning him over complaints from his employees at Arcadia Group, overwhelmingly women, about bullying and abusive conduct, behaviour which he categorically denied.

Peter Hain was the Labour MP for Neath from 1991 to 2015 and secretary of state for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007

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

As I discovered then, global problems need international responses. By working together, we can protect jobs and living standards

• This is the first in a two part series on the global response to Donald Trump’s tariffs

No more than a narrow window of opportunity remains if we are to prevent an unnecessary global recession. As China and the US decouple, disruptive trade wars are intensifying and threaten to descend into currency wars; import, export, investment and technology bans; and financial fire sales that will destroy millions of jobs worldwide. It seems barely credible that the world is being brought to its knees by one economy, outside of which live 96% of the population, who produce 84% of the world’s manufactured goods. But even though US officials have previously talked of a tariff policy of “escalate to de-escalate�, Donald Trump’s aim is to force manufacturing back to the US, and his 90-day relaxation of some tariffs does not mean he intends to defuse the crisis.

On Monday, Keir Starmer warned that the world will never be the same again, and reminded us that “attempting to manage crises without fundamental change just leads to managed decline�. He is right. As I learned in the financial crisis of 2008, global problems require globally coordinated solutions. We need a bold, international response that measures up to the scale of the emergency. In the same way that, to his great credit, the prime minister has been building a coalition in defence of Ukraine, we need an economic coalition of the willing: like-minded global leaders who believe that, in an interdependent world, we have to coordinate economic policies across continents if we are to safeguard jobs and living standards.

From fiscal rules to universities, doors have opened that were shut three months ago. Our future depends on which he chooses

It was Bismarck who expressed the art of political leadership most poetically. “A statesman cannot create anything himself,� Germany’s 19th-century iron chancellor once said. “He must wait and listen until he hears the steps of God sounding through events; then leap up and grasp the hem of his garment.�

In other words, when it comes, seize the day. Leadership as Bismarck perfected it combined opportunity, readiness and drive. If circumstances allowed – something Bismarck was brilliant at ensuring – an opening might present itself, through which he could propel the state in the direction he wanted. At such moments, the gales of history seem to intensify, making it possible to achieve things that would otherwise be impossible, or more hazardous, in normal times.

I’ve called the Gaza war a genocide and spoken in favor of sanctions on Israel. I was also in the IDF. I ask the FBI: should you arrest me?

To Kash Patel, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

Given recent patterns, the FBI might need to take a hard look at my actions over the years. If Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, Yunseo Chung, Badar Khan Suri and other recent Ice detainees are considered threats to national security, then so am I.

The US president blinked first, but this is just a time-out. The threat to the global economy remains real.

It was Donald Trump who blinked first. Never forget that. China is unlikely to overlook its importance. A week after launching an all-out global trade war, the US president paused significant parts of it for 90 days. Having insisted that he would stick with the random tariffs he imposed on most trading nations, Mr Trump suddenly decreed that he would reduce most of them to 10%. It was a major humiliation.

Yet 10% is still a significant tariff to bear for nations exporting to the US. This is also only a pause until July, not a withdrawal, so the uncertainty remains. And huge tariffs still remain on China (now hiked to 145%), Canada and Mexico (both 25%), as well as on all US imports of steel, aluminium and cars (also 25%). Mr Trump is now substituting a US-world conflict with a US-China one. The two largest economies in the world – which between them have generated around half of global economic growth in the 21st century – are, in effect, no longer doing business with each other.

As crisis deepens at Scunthorpe, ministers must act to protect UK steelmaking, secure jobs and lead a credible green transition

As John Lennon sang, life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. His lyric must be ringing in ministers’ ears this week. The UK’s last two blast furnaces – the final embers of a 160-year industrial legacy – may go cold within weeks. British Steel, which is owned by China’s Jingye, has reportedly cancelled raw material orders while seeking more government cash. The Scunthorpe site, which supplies 95% of Britain’s rail tracks and supports thousands of jobs, is now running on fumes.

The UK government has a strategy. A consultation. A council. And £2.5bn – eventually. But this crisis demands more than paralysis by analysis. With a global trade war brewing, this is no time to lose industrial sovereignty. The government ought to take the advice of the business select committee chair, Liam Byrne, and nationalise British Steel – because it offers a clear way forward. Keep the furnaces hot. Buy time. Launch a green steel transition – with public oversight, investment in new technologies and workforce planning.

Readers on why they believe the US president’s tariff war could benefit the world economic order and the UK

Although environmental considerations will not have been a motivation for Donald Trump, it is worth examining whether a comprehensive revision of global trade tariffs – notwithstanding the significant transitional economic and human costs – could generate substantial environmental benefits (Here’s one key thing you should know about Trump’s shock to the world economy: it could work, 7 April).

The prevailing model of liberalised global trade facilitates the transoceanic movement of consumer goods, often to countries that possess the capacity to manufacture equivalent products domestically. The associated carbon emissions from maritime and air transport are considerable, particularly given the volume of low-cost, frequently low-durability goods entering developed markets.

Ilyas Nagdee of Amnesty International and others respond to government plans to use personal data to identify people most likely to become killers

Re your article (‘Dystopian’ tool aims to predict murder, 9 April), the collection and automation of data has repeatedly led to the targeting of racialised and low-income communities, and must come to an end. This has been found by both Amnesty International in our Automated Racism report and by Statewatch in its findings on the “murder prediction� tool.

For many years, successive governments have invested in data-driven and data-based systems, stating they will increase public safety – yet individual police forces and Home Office evaluations have found no compelling evidence that these systems have had any impact on reducing crime.

• Follow updates as 2025’s first major gets under way
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Noah Kent qualified for this year’s Tournament by finishing runner-up at the US Amateur. One of five amateurs in this year’s field – along with US Amateur champion Jose Luis Ballester, NCAA individual title winner Hiroshi Tai, US Mid-Am champ Evan Beck and Latin American Amateur winner Justin Hastings – he’s made back-to-back birdies at 3 and 4, and like Davis Riley before him, can now always say he once led the Masters. A fast start for Wolverhampton’s Aaron Rai on debut, too, with birdies at 2 and 3. Rai has yet to make a serious impression on any of the majors, but he broke his PGA Tour duck last year at the Wyndham, formerly the Greater Greensboro Open, so knows what it takes to enter the winners circle. Sandy Lyle’s first victory in the USA was at the Greater Greensboro, incidentally, for anyone interested in extremely tenuous omens.

-2: Z Johnson (5), Kirk (5), Kent -a- (4), Rai (3)

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4 mins: A pretty wild first few minutes, but Spurs have sensibly slowed the pace down with a long spell of not-very-adventurous possession.

2 mins: Chelsea have already wrapped up a handy away win in the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final. Here’s a report:

Tyrique George scored his first Chelsea goal as Enzo Maresca’s side eased past Legia Warsaw to take a commanding lead into the second leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final.

Next week’s return at Stamford Bridge should be little more than a formality and it would take an almighty collapse for Chelsea not to reach the last four from here, after three second-half goals helped purge the memory of another uninspiring first period.

Anne Keothavong is without Emma Raducanu but has plenty of talent on hand in effort to reach finals in China

Five months on from the heartbreak of Málaga, where they came so close to battling for the Billie Jean King Cup trophy before succumbing to Slovakia in a brutal semi-final, Great Britain will begin their pursuit of their sport’s flagship team competition as they face Germany on Friday and the Netherlands on Saturday in The Hague for a spot in the finals.

They will attempt to do so without Emma Raducanu, a key figure in the team’s recent success. Last year, she led them to the finals in Málaga with two-high quality victories against France on clay. She ended 2024 with five wins and no defeats in the competition.

The 26-year-old discusses his epic triple century and the ‘wow’ moment of making Somerset history last weekend

Not content with plundering a club-record 371 for Somerset to start the season, Tom Banton followed it up a couple of days later by nailing his first albatross on the golf course. Given the way England operate these days, taming the 7th hole at Minehead may have impressed Brendon McCullum more. It is Masters week, after all.

Either way, Banton is on the rise, his cross-format form glowing and culminating in that epic at home to Worcestershire. Having never before faced 200 balls in a first-class match, the 26-year-old stitched together 403 at the crease, slotting 56 fours and two sixes, and marching past Graeme Smith (311), Jimmy Cook (313no), Viv Richards (322) and Justin Langer (315 and 342) to sit top of the leaderboard at Taunton.

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Whether it’s Ed Sheeran at Ipswich, Michael McIntyre at Spurs or Hugh Grant and the Osman brothers at Fulham, celebrity fans always need to be on their very best behaviour, given the almost psychopathic obsession TV directors have with cutting away to them as the action on the pitch unfolds. Last night it was the turn of Prince William to find himself under constant surveillance in his VIP seat in nominative determinism’s Parc des Princes, where he and his son, George, were forced to abandon any plans they might have had to pick their noses, flick Vs at Paris Saint-Germain players or offer home fans out for a scrap on the concourse, for fear of being caught on camera and enjoying a surge in public popularity that no end of gladhanding elderly war veterans or official visits to former colonies could ever provide.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

• Reid has had disagreements with Mohammed Ben Sulayem
• ‘Motorsport deserves leadership that is accountable’

The FIA has been rocked by another executive resignation with a very senior figure joining the chorus of dissatisfaction directed at how Formula One’s governing body is run and the organisation’s president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

On Thursday, the FIA’s deputy president for sport, Robert Reid, announced his resignation citing what he called “a fundamental breakdown in governance standards� and “critical decisions being made without due process�.

• Perry will play at least six games in new tournament
• Signing is coup for English domestic women’s cricket

Hampshire have signed the Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry, in a major coup for the restructure of the English women’s domestic game.

Perry, the all-time leading run-scorer and wicket-taker in the Women’s Ashes, has been at the forefront of eight Australia World Cup wins – two in ODIs and six in Twenty20 – and was named the International Cricket Council’s women’s player of the decade in 2020.

Global research reveals most of 400m tonnes produced using fossil fuels, predominantly coal or oil

Less than 10% of the plastic produced around the world is made from recycled material, according to the first detailed global analysis of its life cycle.

The research reveals that most plastic is made from fossil fuels, predominantly coal and oil, despite rhetoric by producers, supermarkets and drinks companies about plastic being recycled.

Dutch group Follow This says it will not file any resolutions against oil and gas companies this AGM season

A green shareholder activist group has decided to “pause� its work pushing oil companies to reduce their emissions amid a growing investor backlash against climate action.

Follow This has confirmed that it will not file any climate resolutions against oil and gas companies during the forthcoming AGM season for the first time since 2016.

Amazon, Google and Microsoft are building datacentres in water-scarce parts of five continents

Amazon, Microsoft and Google are operating datacentres that use vast amounts of water in some of the world’s driest areas and are building many more, the non-profit investigatory organisation SourceMaterial and the Guardian have found.

With Donald Trump pledging to support them, the three technology giants are planning hundreds of datacentres in the US and across the globe, with a potentially huge impact on populations already living with water scarcity.

Nasa cuts contract that convened USGCRP, which released assessments impacting environmental decision-making

The White House is ending funding for the body that produces the federal government’s pre-eminent climate report, which summarizes the impacts of rising global temperatures on the United States.

Every four years, the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is required by Congress to release a new national climate assessment to ensure leaders understand the drivers of – and threats posed by – global warming. It is the most comprehensive, far-reaching and up-to-date analysis of the climate crisis, playing a key role in local and national decision making about agriculture, energy production, and land and water use.

Reform UK leader has ‘no intention’ of agreeing to formal pacts after local elections in England on 1 May

Nigel Farage has rebuffed a suggestion from Kemi Badenoch that Conservative and Reform UK councillors could form coalitions in town halls after the local elections.

Badenoch had opened the door to Tory and Reform councillors entering formal agreements to administer local authorities if it was “right for the people in their local area�.

Sarah Breedon says too early to judge impact on inflation of ‘most significant change in trade policy in a century’

• Business live – latest updates

UK economic growth will be hit by US tariffs, which are the biggest trade policy change in a century, a senior Bank of England official has warned.

Sarah Breeden, the Bank’s deputy governor for financial stability, said on Thursday that business activity was likely to be adversely affected by Donald Trump’s tariff regime, dragging down the UK’s already weak growth rate.

Steve Wright says internal inquiries uncovered dozens of cases where members had used racist slurs or stereotypes

Trade unions are becoming increasingly concerned by a rise in “racist and bigoted� comments online from their own members and officials, the new leader of the Fire Brigades Union has told the Guardian.

Steve Wright, the general secretary of the FBU, said internal inquiries into allegations of racism have uncovered dozens of cases where members have been found to use racist slurs or stereotypes, often regarding asylum seekers.

Exclusive: Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim had been ‘out making friends’ when he was stabbed in the town centre

A teenage Syrian refugee who was stabbed to death in Huddersfield last Thursday had lived in the town for only two weeks before the attack and was out making friends on the day he was killed, his family has said.

Ahmad Mamdouh Al Ibrahim, 16, was stabbed in the neck in the town centre – the second time he had been there – while being shown around by his cousin, his uncle told the Guardian.

Claims by four women are filed at high court, including of rape, coercive control and assault and battery

Andrew Tate told a woman he was “debating whether to rape you or not� before he strangled and forced himself upon her, according to one of four women suing the self-proclaimed misogynistic influencer.

He is also accused of whispering “good girl� as he raped a woman he employed at his webcam business whom he had separately threatened with a gun, and strangling another so often that she developed spots from burst capillaries around her eyes.

Bank is largest UK lender to cut rates in apparent response to turbulence, and experts predict others will follow

• Business live – latest updates

Barclays has become the largest UK lender so far to cut its mortgage rates in apparent response to the financial turmoil sparked by the US trade tariffs, with some deals now priced at below 4%.

It is the first “big six� lender to enter the sub-4% fixed-rate market after similar announcements by some smaller lenders earlier this week, leaving brokers wondering whether this was a one-off move or the start of a new home loans price war.

Scheme in England and Wales covers only heat pumps, uptake of which has been slow

The UK government is considering expanding the boiler upgrade grant scheme for England and Wales to cover sources of low-carbon heating for domestic homes other than heat pumps, the Guardian understands.

The government has a target of 600,000 heat pump installations annually by 2028. But data from the Resolution Foundation on Wednesday revealed worryingly low uptake of heat pumps. Last year, installation of gas boilers outnumbered heat pump installations by 15:1, according to the Resolution Foundation report, and only one in eight new homes were equipped with the low-carbon option, despite the government’s clean energy targets.

Ian Duncan ‘facilitated an introduction’ for Terrestrial Energy, which was seeking government funding

A Conservative peer helped to secure a meeting with a minister for a Canadian company he was advising while it was seeking government funding worth millions of pounds.

Ian Duncan was on an advisory board of Terrestrial Energy, a nuclear technology company, when he “facilitated an introduction� between its chief executive and a new energy minister while the company was applying for a government grant. The revelation raises questions for Duncan about whether his actions broke House of Lords rules.

Broadcaster says it does not condone ‘abusive behaviour’ of its creator after repairs to statue of Ariel and Prospero

A controversial sculpture outside the BBC’s London headquarters has been put back on display behind a protective screen after being restored, with the corporation saying it in no way condoned the “abusive behaviour� of its creator.

The work by Eric Gill, which depicts Prospero and Ariel from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, had been largely out of view since it was vandalised with a hammer in 2022. There have long been calls for Gill’s works to be removed since his diaries revealed he had sexually abused his two eldest daughters.

Home secretary denies Labour is rowing back on pledge after claims it is doing so to avoid offending Muslim voters

• UK politics live – latest updates

Yvette Cooper has said the government is pressing ahead with local grooming gang inquiries, as Labour MPs warned the right was “weaponising� claims that the party watered down its promise to hold them in five areas.

The home secretary moved to defuse a row over the politically explosive issue, after the Conservatives and Reform UK claimed the government had dropped its commitment made in January.

Multitrillion-dollar resolution unlocks path to deliver Trump’s sweeping tax cut and immigration plan

• US politics live – latest updates

The House Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, muscled through a multitrillion-dollar budget framework that paves the way for Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill�, a day after a rightwing rebellion threatened to sink it.

The resolution passed in a 216-214 vote, with just two Republicans – fiscal conservatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana – joining all Democrats in opposition.

Beijing and Pyongyang are aiding Russia in its war against Ukraine, and Moscow in turn is assisting their militaries

The top US commander in the Pacific has warned senators that the military support that China and North Korea are giving Russia in its war on Ukraine is a security risk in his region as Moscow provides critical military assistance to both in return.

Adm Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, told the Senate armed services committee that China has provided 70% of the machine tools and 90% of the legacy chips to Russia to help Moscow “rebuild its war machine�.

‘We want to give negotiations a chance,’ says Ursula von der Leyen in announcement of 90-day pause

• We’ve been spared financial Armageddon, but Trump’s tariff chaos is far from over

The EU has suspended its retaliatory 25% tariffs on US goods for 90 days after Donald Trump’s dramatic climbdown in his trade war.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU would put on hold for 90 days the countermeasures – 25% tariffs on €21bn (£18bn) of US goods – that it had agreed on Wednesday. “We want to give negotiations a chance,� she said. “If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.�

Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk reject criticism of how they abandoned resort and fled to Guatemala

A Danish couple who fled their “forest resort� in Sweden for Guatemala and left behind a large tax debt and 158 barrels of human waste have hit back at criticism and claimed that their handling of the compost toilets was “very normal�.

Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk, both chefs, abandoned their purportedly eco-friendly retreat, Stedsans, in Halland, southern Sweden, last year. They owed large sums to Swedish and Danish tax authorities. They have since set up a business in Guatemala.

Met police detain Will McCallum and four others amid accusations of quashing peaceful pro-Palestinian protest

Scotland Yard has been accused of suppressing a peaceful pro-Palestinian protest after the co-head of Greenpeace UK was arrested for pouring biodegradable blood-red dye into a pond outside the US embassy in London.

Will McCallum, the co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, was among five people arrested when the large pond outside the embassy was turned red on Thursday in what Greenpeace said was a protest at the US government’s continued sale of weapons to Israel.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 64, to stand trial for plotting multiday slaughter carried out by 10 Islamist gunmen

A Pakistan-born Canadian citizen wanted for his alleged role in the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege has landed in New Delhi after his extradition from the United States.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 64, arrived at a military airbase outside the Indian capital under heavily armed guard late on Thursday, and will be held in detention to face trial.

Camilla Hempleman-Adams, who says she is first woman to traverse Canada’s Baffin Island solo, accused of ‘privilege and ignorance’

A British adventurer has apologised after her claims to be the first woman to traverse Canada’s largest island solo were dismissed by members of the Inuit population who criticised her dangerous “privilege and ignorance�.

Camilla Hempleman-Adams, 32, covered 150 miles (240km) on foot and by ski while pulling a sledge across Baffin Island, Nunavut, in temperatures as low as -40C and winds of 47mph during the two-week expedition last month.

‘Liftoff not possible’ for rocket carrying Project Kuiper satellites, due to clouds that could trigger lightning strikes

Weather prevented a rocket carrying the first batch of Amazon satellites designed to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink from lifting off on Wednesday, in a setback for the planned Project Kuiper network.

“Stubborn cumulus clouds and persistent winds make liftoff not possible within the available window,� read a liveblog update from operator United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida had originally been slated for 7pm (2300 GMT).

Secretary of state Marco Rubio says Ksenia Karelina is returning to US after reports of prisoner swap

Moscow has released a US-Russian dual national, Ksenia Karelina, who had been detained in Russia, in a prisoner swap in Abu Dhabi.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, wrote on X: “American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States. She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release.�

Former Sinn Féin president says Facebook owner included at least seven of his books in trawl of copyright material

The former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams is considering legal action against Meta because it may have used his books to train artificial intelligence.

Adams said the tech company included at least seven of his books in a vast trawl of copyright material to develop its AI systems. “Meta has used many of my books without my permission. I have placed the issue in the hands of my solicitor,� he said.

The Ghanaian’s dazzling work has been blasted into space and inspired a Dior collection. But, ahead of a new show, the ‘future of portraiture’ reveals how he originally wanted to be a tennis player

Not every artist who skyrockets to fame makes it all the way into space. But that was the case for Amoako Boafo who, three years after his big break, painted three panels on the top of Jeff Bezos’s rocket ship. “I’ll be honest, I just did it for the experience,� says the Ghanaian artist, whose triptych blasted off in August 2021 and returned (intact) after an 11-minute round trip. If the opportunity should arise, would he ever be interested in taking a tour himself? “No, I like it here,� he replies, tapping the ground with his green Dior trainers.

Boafo’s artistic breakthrough came when his effervescent portraits celebrating Black life caught the eye of Kehinde Wiley on Instagram in 2018. Wiley, the African American artist best-known for painting Barack Obama, tipped off his galleries, and before long Boafo’s canvases, which he began exhibiting in hotel lobbies back home in Accra, were appearing at international art fairs and fetching up to seven figures at auction. A spring/summer collection in collaboration with Dior designer Kim Jones followed in 2021, and in 2022 he was picked up by mega-dealer Larry Gagosian, who has referred to him as “the future of portraiture�. His first solo UK show has just opened at Gagosian’s largest London outpost.

After the US president imposed 125% duties on Chinese imports, Beijing says it will restrict American films opening in its lucrative market

Hours after Donald Trump imposed record 125% tariffs on Chinese products entering the US, China has announced it will further curb the number of US films allowed to screen in the country.

“The wrong action of the US government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favourability towards American films,� the China Film Administration said in a statement on Thursday. “We will follow the market rules, respect the audience’s choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported.�

Premieres of new movies by Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, Ari Aster, Kelly Reichardt, Joachim Trier and Jafar Panahi to screen at film festival – as well debuts by actor-turned-directors Johansson and Harris Dickinson

The Cannes film festival looks set to cement its reputation as the world’s ultimate springboard for serious films with an eye on box office success, with new works by auteur heavyweights Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, Kelly Reichardt and Richard Linklater all set to premiere on the Croisette this May.

Cannes delegate general Thierry Frémaux and president Iris Knobloch announced this year’s lineup at a press conference in Paris on Thursday morning.

Michael B Jordan plays a double role in Coogler’s intriguing period tale of anti-heroic brothers making their way into much wilder country

Ryan Coogler is the film-maker and hit-maker who started in social realism with his debut Fruitvale Station, became the Wakandan emperor of super heroism with Black Panther and put some punch back into the Rocky franchise with Creed. Now he dials up the machismo and the craziness with this gonzo horror-thriller mashup, a spectacular if more-than-faintly hubristic movie appropriately named Sinners – though there are one or two saints dotted around – set in the prewar deep south.

It’s a freaky tale of supernatural evil and the blues that indirectly takes its inspiration from the legend of Mississippi bluesman Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at a remote crossroads in return for fame and fortune. And it’s also, in its forthright way, a riff on the idea of blues as a kind of music that is avidly consumed by its producers’ enemies. As Delroy Lindo’s character says: “White folks like the blues just fine; just not the people who make it.�

The stressful Noah Wyle-led hospital drama has swiftly become the surprise breakout show of the season, speaking to a time of healthcare crisis

It happened slowly at first, then all at once: people asking me “are you watching The Pitt?� As in the medical drama streaming on Max, released at the beginning of January and set over one hellish shift at an overburdened emergency room in Pittsburgh. The question has increased in frequency and urgency over the past month, as more and more people got hooked on weekly episodes that simulate the adrenaline cascade that is emergency medicine, one hour at a time. Friends, acquaintances, strangers at the coffee shop – everyone was watching The Pitt. Or, more accurately, reliving it, because to watch The Pitt is to be absorbed by The Pitt. Such is the nature of binging, but also the show’s design: a long season – 15 episodes, or nearly twice the length of a standard streaming drama, with the finale released tonight – plus a single episodic conceit, self-contained set, mixture of long and short story arcs, and archetypical characters with tight, shrewdly deployed backstories.

In other words, it’s a good procedural, in the lane of some of the best network television; a medical drama with a charismatic lead is not breaking the wheel. In fact, by starring Noah Wyle as Dr Michael “Robby� Robinavitch, a haunted yet persistently cool and competent attending physician, it specifically invokes ER, the grandaddy of all medical dramas. (As well as a copyright dispute: though they share executive producers, Warner Bros would like you to know that The Pitt is not an ER spinoff.)

A startling novelty 30 years ago, the film’s now antique effects and strange anti-Orwell farmyard tale feel dated, but is still a quaintly comfortable place to visit

Thirty years ago, a non-Disney talking-animal adventure became a big movie talking point. Babe, adapted from Dick King-Smith’s children’s book The Sheep-Pig, features an adorable piglet who is rescued from a brutally realistic-looking agribusiness breeding shed as his mum and siblings are taken off to be slaughtered; it is then rehomed in a quaintly old-fashioned farm with lots of different animals, situated in an uncanny-valley landscape of rolling green hills which looks like Olde England but where everyone speaks in an American accent. The lead human is grumpy cap-wearing Farmer Hoggett, played by James Cromwell, later to be hard-faced Captain Dudley Smith in LA Confidential and Prince Philip in Stephen Frears’ film The Queen. The little piglet does his best to fit in and finds his destiny when it looks as if he could be a very talented sheep-herder.

But this is not animation, nor is it precisely live-action. The movie got a (justified) best visual effects Oscar for its mix of animatronics and real animals, modifying their appearance and behaviour onscreen and using CGI for their mouths. It was a startling novelty which was very much of its time. Yet Babe and its innovations didn’t really lead to anything else; they were almost a standalone phenomenon, soon superseded in mainstream family-movie terms by the digital animation of Pixar and Disney’s continuing live-action productions.

From fresh to earthy, floral to spicy, these reed and electric diffusers smell as good as they look

Diffusers are a simple way to keep your home smelling good, whether to mask the many undesirable smells that can pop up or just to give your space a bit of a lift. While scented candles definitely have their place, diffusers can be left unattended so you can be greeted by a lovely aroma as soon you walk through the door (although do keep them out of reach of small children and pets).

Reed diffusers are the most common type and most straightforward to use. It’s simply a case of inserting a pack of reeds – typically rattan – into a container of fragrance oil, whether that’s a synthetic scent or a blend of essential oils in a carrier oil. The reeds slowly absorb the oil and waft the fragrance around the room. They take longer to do their work, so allow 24 to 36 hours to achieve a full fragrance level. They will continue to perfume a room for about two to four months before the oil runs low, though, so can be more worthwhile than their price tag suggests.

Shopping pre-loved can reduce waste and save you money, but there’s a knack to finding a good deal. Our expert reveals how (and where) to shop successfully

There’s a lot to love about shopping for secondhand clothes. It will satisfy retail cravings but comes with less environmental guilt, offering an antidote to the overproduction of fast fashion, and it can be kinder on your bank account.

However, it also comes with its own problems. It’s hard to assess the fit, and returns aren’t always easy. The often next-to-nothing price means it’s tempting to impulse buy, but then you end up with a wardrobe full of unworn pieces that aren’t quite right – speaking from experience. And, it’s not easy to “browse� when each product is essentially one-of-a-kind.

This week: what happens to products after we review them; spring gardening gear; and anti-ageing essentials (including sunscreen)

At the Filter, we test a LOT of products. We’ve put everything from mattresses to treadmills through their paces to try to help you make better-informed shopping decisions. However, that means our expert testers can accumulate a lot of products. After all, you can’t find the best air fryer without taking a few for a spin. So, with sustainability – as well as journalistic independence, unswayed by promises of freebies – in mind, we’ve always promised to return samples to the manufacturer after testing or, where that’s not possible, donate them to good causes.

That’s where I come in. As the Filter’s researcher, it’s my job to not only help find and source products but also rehome them when they’re finished with. I’ve been tasked with getting everything, from blenders to electric toothbrushes and even food, from writers’ homes across the country to charities that can benefit from them the most.

Anti-ageing products that actually work: Sali Hughes on the 30 best serums, creams and treatments

Jess Cartner-Morley’s April style essentials: from sexy spring sweaters to the loafers that won the high street

The best walking pads and under-desk treadmills, tried and tested to turn your work day into a workout

‘Cute, but doesn’t taste too good’: the best (and worst) Easter chocolate treats, tested

Which moisturiser is worth buying? What’s the deal with retinol vs retinal? And do I need an eye cream? (Answer: no.) Our beauty columnist shares her secrets to glowy, firm skin

Anti-ageing – I know, I know. It’s a gross and futile term. I considered using another. Perhaps one of the more modern marketing slogans such as “skin longevity� or “positive age management�. But my commitment to honesty in beauty extends to not fooling myself or my reader: we all know what these terms mean, and I know which one consumers Google in their millions.

I turned 50 recently. I was and am delighted about it. To still be alive, healthy, loved and in love feels like a lottery win. I’ve no desire to return to my 20s or 30s, when I cared more, knew less and had greater insecurities around my appearance than now. I don’t believe many of us at any age wish to be mistaken for someone much younger. And yet we know that people of all ages would like to keep skin glowier, smoother, juicier, firmer and flexible for longer. It’s a fine thing to want, and I find any accusations that this signals shame and desperation around growing old to be hugely patronising and selective. If you don’t care about skin ageing, great. Carry on. If you do, the products here will help in a realistic way.

Prada has secured Versace at a €180m discount amid market turmoil and after months of speculation

Prada has agreed to buy the Versace fashion brand for €1.25bn ($1.38bn) from the fashion conglomerate Capri Holdings.

It comes after months of speculation about a potential deal to combine the two Italian fashion houses and, more recently, rumours that the acquisition was set to collapse after market upheaval in response to President Trump’s tariff policies.

Would you wear hot pink tulle down the aisle? Brides are breaking with almost two centuries of convention by donning zesty lime, azure blue and even black

Weddings tend to be formulaic. Vows. Champagne. Dancing. But, recently, one crucial element is becoming harder to predict: the dress. Instead of choosing traditional white, many brides are opting for something with a bit more of an impact. The anti-trad bridal dress is on the rise. Searches on Pinterest are up 240% for “unique wedding dresses�, while blush pink wedding dresses are up 60% and black 50%.

On Wednesday, the fashion designer Ashish Gupta, whose dazzling sequined pieces are loved by fans including Beyoncé and Rihanna, launched his first bridal range. Instead of trad white gowns, you’ll find a sheer trapeze-shaped dress adorned with delicate hand-embroidered organza flowers in yellow and lilac that look as if they have been plucked from Martha Stewart’s cutting garden, and a halterneck mini-dress smothered in multicoloured glass bead fringing, inspired by Holi, the Hindu festival of colour. Even the customary veil has been reimagined. Ashish’s “confetti� version features shimmering, multicoloured sequins and beads.

They both support the underdog, but can they find common ground on Britain’s past?

Frankie, 28, London

Occupation Aid worker

Questions on general knowledge and topical trivia, plus a few jokes, every Thursday. How will you fare?

The Thursday quiz has taken a brief respite from shouting “chicken jockey� and throwing popcorn at fellow cinemagoers, giving it just long enough to cobble together today’s offering between screenings of the Minecraft movie. Silently waiting for you, like a creeper about to blow up your base, you will find 15 questions that veer from the topical, to general knowledge, to pop culture and back. There are no prizes, but we always love to hear how you’ve got on in the comments.

The Thursday quiz, No 205

Mackerel patties to snack on and deep-fried eggs in a rich curry sauce – both are great for new year on 14 April

Sinhalese and Tamil traditions may differ, but the celebration of the new year in mid-April unites the two communities. It’s a major cultural moment that marks the end of the harvest season, and some key customs include everyone cleaning their home to prepare for the festivities (and to clear away bad luck!), the lighting of oil lamps and, of course, food. That can take the form of special sweets, celebratory treats such as kavum (cakes made with coconut oil), kiri-bath (milk rice), kokis (a crisp fried dough), and everyday favourites such as today’s two dishes.

Chip, memory and webcam upgrades are joined by welcome price cut for the top premium notebook

Apple’s much-loved MacBook Air gets even more power, a much better webcam and an unexpected price cut for 2025, making one of the very best consumer laptops even more tempting.

The company’s thinnest and lightest laptop currently starts at £999 (€1,199/$999/A$1,699) – £100 less than last year’s model – and has Apple’s top M4 chip with a minimum of 16GB of memory, making the cheapest model much more capable.

We’d like to hear from people in the UK who moved to the countryside or coast during the pandemic and have now moved back to the city – or are planning to

Data analysis from the property website Rightmove has found that London is once again the most searched-for location on the website, and the majority (58%) of people living there are looking to stay rather than to leave.

This is a a reverse from five years ago, when in the early months of Covid lockdowns, would-be house buyers were looking for a move to coastal and rural areas as a bigger garden, access to nature and more room for home working became the priorities.

Have you spotted the comet? Share your pictures and tell us about your sightings

A new, bright green comet, officially designated Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN), has been discovered by an amateur astronomer. It was spotted by Michael Mattiazo using imagery from SWAN, an instrument on the European Space Agency’s SOHO spacecraft, in late March. It is now visible from the UK and elsewhere and will remain so until around 14 April.

Have you spotted the comet? You can share photos and tell us about your sightings below.

Perhaps you’ve tried them, are thinking about it, or feel overwhelmed by the hype. Whatever your question, we’d love to hear from you

Weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have burst into public awareness over the last few years, promising dramatic results and stirring up big questions.

Originally developed for diabetes, these medications are now being prescribed for weight management. But the science, ethics, and long-term effects of these drugs are still being explored.

We’d like to hear suggestions from people in the UK about creating a lovely but successful garden as inexpensively as possible

As spring is in the air, we’d like to hear tips from Guardian readers about creating a lovely garden.

Creating a beautiful garden can be expensive but there are ways to make it less so. What have you done with your garden that made a real difference but wasn’t too costly? What is an absolutely necessity to ensure your garden is successful?

Guardian Australia is highlighting the plight of our endangered native species during an election campaign that is ignoring broken environment laws and rapidly declining ecosystems

• Explore the series – Last chance: the extinction crisis being ignored this election
• Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email

A rare “bum-breathing� turtle found in a single river system in Queensland has suffered one of its worst breeding seasons on record due to flooding last December. It has prompted volunteers to question how many more “bad years� the species can survive.

A freshwater species that breathes by absorbing oxygen through gill-like structures in its tail, the Mary River turtle is endemic to south-east Queensland. Its population has fallen by more than 80% since the 1960s and its conservation status was upgraded from endangered to critically endangered last year.

Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email

John Todd’s eco-machine stunned experts by using natural organisms to remove toxic waste from a Cape Cod lagoon. Forty years on, he wants to build a fleet of them to clean up the oceans

John Todd remembers the moment he knew he was really on to something: “There was no question that it was at the Harwich dump in 1986,� he recalls. This was in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, close to where Todd still lives. Hidden away from the picturesque beaches was the town landfill, including lagoons of toxic waste from septic tanks, which was being left to seep into the groundwater below. So Todd, then a 45-year-old biologist, decided to design a solution. What he was “on to�, he came to realise, was not just a natural way of removing pollution from water, it was a holistic approach to environmental restoration that was way ahead of its time, and possibly still is.

An early eco-machine purifying toxic waste on Cape Cod in 1986. Photograph: John Todd

Mario Nawfal has interviewed Serbian, Belarusian and Slovakian leaders and Russian minister of foreign affairs

An online influencer whom Elon Musk frequently boosts on X has been conducting in-person interviews with Russian figures and key allies of Vladimir Putin.

Musk, Donald Trump’s billionaire ally and the owner of X, has consistently reposted and engaged with Mario Nawfal, a Dubai-based Australian influencer who with Musk has given a platform to far-right figures and movements around the world.

As wealth in India has grown, so has the number of arts patrons championing both India’s 20th century modern masters and the next generation

For over seven decades, the masterpiece had gathered dust as it hung in the corridors of a Norwegian hospital. But last month, the monumental 13-panel 1954 painting Untitled (Gram Yatra) – one of the most significant pieces of modern south Asian art – sold for a record-breaking $13.7m in New York.

The auction of the painting sent ripples through the art world. It was not only the highest price ever paid for a painting by Maqbool Fida Husain, one of India’s most celebrated modern artists, but it was the highest ever paid for any piece of modern Indian art at auction – going for four times the estimated price. It also happened to be the most expensive artwork auctioned so far in 2025.

After seeing the farmer mental health crisis up close, Kaila Anderson developed new treatment techniques based on growers’ deep connection to the land

Kaila Anderson stands in front of some photos in the farmhouse where she grew up, near the tiny town of Sabetha, in the north-east corner of Kansas. Outside, frozen February fields of wheat, hay and corn stubble repeat across the rolling hills. This agrarian landscape inspired a breakthrough she made four years ago that now promises to help farmers struggling with their mental health.

A licensed social worker, Anderson knows first-hand that farmers have a high propensity for depression and one of the highest rates of suicide of any occupation, often attributed to the demanding and precarious nature of the job. Yet she has found that crisis-line staffers, doctors and therapists in farm country often don’t have the cultural training to recognize the signs of emotional stress unique to farmers.

Beth Benike, whose products are manufactured in China, is ‘terrified’ what Trump trade war will mean for Busy Baby

Beth Benike knew the tariffs were coming.

The Minnesota veteran invented a placemat with bungee cords that hold toys or utensils, keeping them off the floor when babies toss them. It’s one of several products she created for Busy Baby, a company she runs with her brother. They are manufactured in China.

Do nasal sprays work? Which are the best antihistamines? Can honey help? What about a shower? We’ve got all the answers

For people with hay fever, sunny days lounging on the grass can be anything but pleasant. How can you manage the symptoms without forfeiting summer? As the Met Office issues a “pollen bomb� warning in the UK, allergy doctors advise on the best ways to survive the season.

For the first time, the man the KGB codenamed ‘the Inheritor’ tells his story

Rudi Herrmann took a deep breath and asked his son Peter to sit down. “I have a story to tell you,� he said. Rudi had been preparing for this conversation for several years, running over the words in his mind. He was about to tell his 16-year-old son that everything Peter thought he knew about their family was a lie.

The pair sat on a bench, and Peter waited quietly for whatever it was his father wanted to say. He was an academically gifted and unfailingly polite child, but he had been struggling psychologically. He had few friends and felt overwhelmed at home. Rudi, an ambitious German-Canadian film-maker, was charming with colleagues and friends, but with his son he was something of a tyrant: not violent, but psychologically domineering. He was disdainful of American pop culture, insisting that Peter not waste his time on mind-rotting pursuits such as reading comics or listening to rock music. It was almost as if he was actively trying to sabotage Peter’s efforts to fit in.

Across eight homes and 18 housemates, I have endured it all – from the guy who washed his clothes without detergent to the boyfriend who moved in by stealth

The only people I know who speak glowingly about house shares are the ones no longer living in them. When I hear someone describe their house-sharing era as the “best time of my life�, I know they have had at least two years to forget their trauma. That is not a luxury afforded to me – I am living in my eighth house share with my 18th housemate, still holding on to past horrors like they happened yesterday and facing the anxiety they may happen again. So here they are: the 10 worst moments from my many house shares.

Scientists say a complex mix of factors are making seasonal allergies worse for longer in many parts of the world – but why is it happening and is it here to stay?

The first time it happened, László Makra thought he had flu. The symptoms appeared from nowhere at the end of summer in 1989: his eyes started streaming, his throat was tight and he could not stop sneezing. Makra was 37 and otherwise fit and healthy, a mid-career climate scientist in Szeged, Hungary. Winter eventually came and he thought little of it. Then, it happened the next year. And the next.

“I had never had these symptoms before. It was high summer: it was impossible to have the flu three consecutive years in a row,� he says.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Archie Rhind-Tutt as to talk over the Champions League action

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On the podcast today: PSG get a vital goal in injury time to give them a healthy lead over Aston Villa. There were four brilliant goals in the game but the best of the bunch came from Désiré Doué, whose long-range effort left Emi Martínez planted to the floor.

Switzerland is leading the world in purifying its water of micropollutants, a concoction of chemicals often found in bodies of water that look crystal clear. They include common medicines like antidepressants and antihistamines, but have unknown and potentially damaging consequences for human and ecosystem health.
In the second of a two-part series, Phoebe Weston travels to Geneva to find out how the country has transformed its rivers from sewage-filled health hazards to pristine swimming spots. She tells Madeleine Finlay how a public health disaster in the 1960s spurred the government to act, and what the UK could learn from the Swiss about taking care of a precious national asset.

From sewage and scum to swimming in ‘blue gold’: how Switzerland transformed its rivers

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Why have the city’s bin collectors gone on strike? Jessica Murray reports

“It’s been absolutely unbelievable,� William Timms, a pest controller, tells Hannah Moore.

“Since March, calls have gone up 50%. Usually, I’m dealing with about three or four rodent jobs a day this time of year. And then I’ve got my insect jobs on top.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Nick Ames as Declan Rice scores two incredible free kicks to help Arsenal beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final

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On the podcast today;:Declan Rice scores a free kick for the ages and then somehow follows it up with a second free kick for the ages just 12 minutes later. Arsenal put on a brilliant second-half performance to blow away Real Madrid at the Emirates.