The discussions highlight how seriously senior Labour figures are treating Burnham’s path back to Westminster Andy Burnham has sought advice from Baroness Sue Gray, Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff, on how to manage a potential transition into Downing Street if he returns to Westminster and succeeds the prime minister. Gray is understood to have advised Burnham on how a future government could be formed as Labour’s internal succession chatter intensifies before the Makerfield byelection. Continue reading...

The director of national intelligence was sidelined as the president abandoned his pose as the ‘candidate of peace’ Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence, stayed loyal to Donald Trump until the end – and nurtured the president’s grievances against his political enemies. Last year, she accused Barack Obama and several of his top national security officials of leading a “treasonous conspiracy” to highlight Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. In January, Gabbard showed up at the scene of an FBI raid in Georgia where officials sought ballots from the 2020 election, even though her role is mainly focused on foreign intelligence. On Friday, Gabbard submitted her resignation to Trump, saying she would leave her post on 30 June, so she could support her husband after he was recently diagnosed with cancer. News reports quickly emerged that the White House had forced Gabbard to resign. The Guardian reported last month that Trump had privately asked cabinet members whether he should replace her from the post that oversees 18 US intelligence agencies. Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University Continue reading...

Anna Wintour has welcomed the Bezoses – and their patronage – with open arms. But after a controversial Met Gala, industry insiders are less enthusiastic The press conference for the Met Costume Institute’s spring exhibition is always a stately affair, but this year it was giving “feudal lady addresses her serfs” or perhaps “Marie Antoinette during the last days of Versailles”. Here, among the spectacular marble sculptures of the art museum’s American wing, was a beaming Lauren Sánchez Bezos, who Anna Wintour introduced as a “force for joy”, before adding that “she and her husband, Jeff, have shown with this event that they genuinely, genuinely care about giving back”. Meanwhile, in the outside world, protests against the Bezoses’ involvement had been raging for days. The discrepancy between the word on the street and the deference within the glass-ceilinged room was head-spinning. The Met Gala has recently become a magnet for anti-excess protests, but this was its most controversial yet, owing to the $10m patronage of its honorary co-chairs, centibillionaires Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos. It was not the first time Jeff Bezos bankrolled the gala – Amazon was its lead sponsor in 2012. But this year’s event came at a moment of soaring inequality, as Bezos’s personal wealth has mushroomed and his Donald Trump-appeasing decisions have made him less popular than ever with New York City’s left-leaning fashion and arts crowd. Continue reading...

Fish stew in the south of France doesn’t have to mean a complicated bouillabaise: bourride is a simpler and equally perfect match for a summer’s evening Much as I love bouillabaisse, I’ve never come across rascasse, the spiny Mediterranean rockfish that’s the backbone of Marseille’s signature dish, outside its homeland. Bourride, another southern French fish stew, is a simpler affair that’s much easier to recreate here. Enriched with garlicky aïoli, it’s a lovely thing for a summer’s evening, and can be prepared ahead up to the end of step 7. Prep 20 min Cook 1 hr 10 min Serves 2, generously Continue reading...

Global Pepfar program has long had Republican leadership and bipartisan support, but initiative is under fire US midterm voters overwhelmingly support Pepfar, an initiative to end HIV/Aids that also has strengthened health systems against other infectious disease threats but has come under fire from the Trump administration. About three in four (74%) of likely voters in the US midterm elections say they support funding the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), with voters more likely to back candidates who support Pepfar, according to a recent poll. Four in five (80%) of the voters said there is a moral argument for supporting lifesaving treatment for people at risk for or living with HIV/Aids, regardless of their personal choices. Continue reading...

One or two clauses yet to be clarified, Iran officials tell Pakistani mediators, after US says deal ‘largely negotiated’ Middle East crisis: live updates Iran’s supreme leader and national security council still need to approve the proposed peace deal between Tehran and Washington, Iranian officials said on Sunday. One or two clauses in the proposed peace deal between the US and Iran must be clarified to Iran’s satisfaction before the memorandum of understanding can be sent to Iran’s supreme national security council and the supreme leader Motjaba Khamenei for ratification, Iranian officials said on Sunday, adding this had been conveyed to the Pakistani mediators. Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that a peace deal with Iran “has been largely negotiated”, after calls with Pakistan, Gulf allies and Israel. Continue reading...

⚽ Championship spot on offer at Wembley (1pm BST) ⚽ McBurnie sinks Boro and sends Hull up | Mail Emillia Hello, good afternoon and welcome to coverage of the League One play-off final. The sun is shining and Wembley is looking absolutely glorious. Bolton Wanderers face Stockport County under the world-famous arch for a place in the Championship this afternoon. Join us as we guide you through the action. Continue reading...

After visiting an island brothel in Bangladesh, the novelist was inspired to write an imagined uprising. She explores the radical fictional worlds where women have the power In the spring of 2024, I am finally able to visit Banishanta, the island in southern Bangladesh that has been haunting my dreams. When I arrive I find it is little more than a long patch of grey mud, with a string of flimsy huts lining a craggy shore. Thirteen years earlier, I was on a boat on my way to the Sundarban mangrove forest when a guide casually pointed out the island and told me it was a state-licensed brothel that had been there since the time of the British. When I went home, I didn’t want to think about Banishanta, because if I did, I would have to imagine the terrible things the women there were enduring while I lived a life of casual entitlements many thousands of miles away. Yet the women squatted in my imagination, refusing to leave. I resolved to never write about them, because it would say things about the world I didn’t want to know. It was only when I decided I could write a novel, set on a fictional island, about a rebellion of women, that I allowed them in. Continue reading...

His recent concerts are a thunderous call to fight for democracy. The nation could use more like him The Bruce Springsteen concert I went to in Brooklyn last week was unlike any concert I’ve attended in decades. It was far more than a fabulous, joyous concert; it was also an inspiring resistance event. From the get-go, the Boss made clear that this concert would be part of the anti-Trump resistance. It was a three-hour-long ode to the resistance and a thunderous call to Springsteen fans to step up and do more to fight for democracy and against authoritarianism. In this way, Springsteen is serving as a model for how celebrities can stand up against Trump and fight for what’s right. Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice Singing through the bloody mist Steven Greenhouse is a journalist and author, focusing on labor and the workplace, as well as economic and legal issues Continue reading...

Technological interventions face huge financial or practical challenges, but there is another way In 2019, my scientific research was nearly brought to an early end when my team and I published the bombastic statement that natural forest restoration was the “best climate change solution” available in a paper for the peer-reviewed journal Science. I remember a colleague from the World Wildlife Fund advising me that this message represented career suicide. He argued that people would be furious because reducing greenhouse gas emissions was the most urgent priority. The revival of nature might help with 30% of our carbon drawdown needs, but you cannot stop rising temperatures without cutting emissions. Continue reading...

A student and a salesperson disagreed about drug​ policy and HS2, but would they see eye to eye on the Edward Colston statue? Want to meet someone from across the divide? Click here to find out how Joe, 20, Southampton Occupation Geography student Continue reading...

I’ve worked hard to leave the intimidation I experienced in the past. But when I met the man I wanted to marry, those childhood memories took me by surprise The bullying began shortly after my fifth birthday. My family had moved from Dorset to a small village in Buckinghamshire. I started a new school in September, just before my third sister was born. It should have been idyllic. I remember everyone being excited about the new baby on the way. My school was small and set in the heart of the countryside, with playing fields bordered by woodland. It was about a mile from our new home. If the weather was good, my mother tried to encourage me to walk with her. Sometimes she would repurpose my lunchbox as a punnet and fill it with blackberries picked from the hedgerow on the way home. But she was heavily pregnant, and at the time the mother of three (soon to be four) children aged five and under. It made practical sense for me to catch the school bus. Weird things were already happening at school. Initially I put it down to the shock of the new. The games were boisterous – my sisters and I could be rough with each other, but everything seemed to go a little further and cut a little deeper. I’d been startled by a group of girls who had reached under my skirt and tugged my knickers down to my ankles. Maybe they thought they were being funny? I just wasn’t sure whether I was in on the joke, or whether I was the joke. At first, it felt a little like being in a dream or visiting a foreign country. Almost nothing made sense to me, but I knew I was the only one who couldn’t understand, and it was down to me to work it out. Continue reading...

Labour MP writes to chair amid concerns building societies are overusing quick votes and failing to add members to boards Nationwide is under pressure to address “emerging governance issues” across the building society sector, amid concerns bosses are bundling voting options and failing to allocate board seats for members. The Stockport Labour MP Navendu Mishra has sent a formal letter to the chair of Nationwide, Kevin Parry, outlining growing unease over the way executives, including at Nationwide, have been engaging with members who ultimately own their building societies. A letter raising similar concerns was sent to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Florida’s hard-right governor is trying to distance himself from the notorious detention center as public opinion sours It took three days for Arianne Betancourt’s joy at the release of her father from months of detention in Florida’s notorious so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail to fully evaporate. At first, she was able to overlook his shockingly gaunt appearance and weight loss, hesitant movements and moments of slurred speech. The tonic of being back in her Miami apartment, she thought, would surely hasten his return to health. Continue reading...

Leeds Playhouse Dash Arts’ community-inspired production finds warmth and urgency in the local pub – even if its theatrical elements don’t always cohere The English pub is the perfect crucible for Dash Arts’ latest piece inspired by community workshops from creator and director Josephine Burton. A storm is blowing into the town where the Albion pub sits, both meteorological and political. Inside the rundown establishment, Sanjana is a landlady who is on her last legs and ready to throw in the bar towel. Her husband has died and her loving teacher daughter only returns occasionally these days. That the pub is given the ancient name for Britain is no coincidence – a lot of research has gone into this, not least the workshops around the country attended by more than 700 people, whose conversations were shaped by Barney Norris into the script and by Jonathan Walton into songs. Continue reading...

Project Hail Mary, Jurassic Park: from dino-mosquitoes to a spaceship’s roar, pointless mistakes on the scientific details make me wince On the advice of my teenage son, I recently went to the cinema to see Project Hail Mary. The film has science in it. I am a science writer and so he was convinced I would like it. Imagine my surprise partway through, however, when I found myself seething so hard I thought I would combust. Ryland Grace – the main character and a molecular biologist who should have known better – had just put two plastic tubes into a centrifuge NEXT to each other! Helen Pilcher is a science writer and author of Life Changing: How Humans are Altering Life on Earth and This Book May Cause Side Effects Continue reading...

Proposed framework hinges on a 60-day truce, reopening strait of Hormuz, and revived talks on limiting Iran nuclear programme • Middle East crisis: live updates Donald Trump has said a “memorandum of understanding” in talks to end the US-Israel war on Iran “has been largely negotiated”. Official details of the deal remain scant and it remains possible some aspects of the memo could change, but here is what we know so far about the potential agreement that could bring an end to the war. Continue reading...

When Lucia’s libido dropped, she found imaginative ways to reignite her spark with Edwin • How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously I felt guilty because I love him and want to make him happy Continue reading...

Research by National Preparedness Commission calls for ‘worst-case scenario’ planning by European states Britain’s vital supply chains are unprepared for the prospect of a major shock such as war with Russia, and bold steps are needed to catch up with “worst-case scenario” planning by European states, ministers have been warned. Donald Trump’s “America First” transformation of the US, which has made what was once a trusted UK ally a much less reliable partner, should also feed into that planning, according to a new report. Continue reading...

Swimmer says event is in ‘safest environment possible’ Wada, however, insists it is ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ The former Team GB swimmer Ben Proud has denied that young people will be tempted to dope after watching him in the Enhanced Games. The 31-year-old is on a mid six-figure salary after joining the controversial event and could earn another $1.25m on Sunday night if he swims faster than the 50m freestyle world record. Continue reading...

69 Humber Street, Hull Marc Graham’s debut stretches from festival short to full-length play, tackling inheritance, class and familial resentment with plenty of theatrical confidence There are many reasons to admire Hull’s Middle Child, a small but determined company in Yorkshire’s East Riding. It has a genuine interest in developing new writers, enormous ambition (the founders say they want it to be “the most influential new writing theatre outside London”) and it has become one of the first resident companies at the National Theatre under Indhu Rubasingham. Continue reading...

Gerry ‘the monk’ Hutch comes fourth in contest won by Daniel Ennis of Social Democrats The Irish gangland figure Gerry “the monk” Hutch has failed in his bid for a parliamentary seat in a Dublin byelection. The 63-year-old came fourth in a contest won by Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats, a victory for progressive politics after a campaign dominated by concerns over the cost of living and immigration. Continue reading...

Global prices are approaching a tipping point that could trigger inflation, shortages and, over time, recession If a US-Iran deal is about to be reached, three months on from the launch of Donald Trump’s Operation Epic Fury, it will not be a day too soon for oil markets, which are approaching a dangerous tipping point. The cost of a barrel of crude on the spot market – for immediate purchase, effectively – has bounced about $100 since Iran predictably responded to the onslaught from the US and Israel by closing the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Yes, I could worry about all the money I’ve ‘thrown away’ but, like my fellow renter the Princess of Wales, I’m digging in It was cheering to read that William and Kate’s new lease for Forest Lodge in Windsor stipulates that they must keep the grounds “clean and tidy” and “free from weeds”. Solidarity, comrades! How relatable. For I too am a renter, and know how it feels to live under the landlord’s cosh. My own tenancy agreement says something similar. Not that the landlords have ever enforced it. They take what I might euphemistically call a “hands-off” approach, which I acknowledge is preferable to the alternative. I was outside weeding this very afternoon, not because I’m legally obliged to but because I have decided, after four years of letting it slide, to enjoy my garden again. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Having enjoyed breakout fame on Taskmaster and Last One Laughing, the subversive Australian comic has been handed the reins of his own, very strange sitcom. Get ready for feet animations and a character called Super-Breast … The premise of Make That Movie, Australian comedian Sam Campbell’s deeply strange new Channel 4 series, is not easy to describe. A show-within-a-show, it stars its creator as an alternative Sam Campbell: rather than his real-life idiosyncratic standup self, he’s a pompous director whose well of inspiration has run dry. So he invites the public to share their (invariably bonkers) ideas for movies, which he and his dysfunctional crew then develop into real feature films. This all occurs within the framework of a shonky reality programme; each episode concludes with the film’s premiere. Think Changing Rooms, but instead of Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and Handy Andy renovating somebody’s living room, it’s Campbell and co bringing to life a man called Mick’s fantasy about a couple who can’t be snakes at the same time, yet one of them is always a snake. In other words, the actual Campbell is the one who has been given carte blanche to turn his own invariably bonkers ideas into reality. He claims the production company behind the show were very hands-off – partly because they were so busy working on an animated Ricky Gervais series about cats “so we sort of got left to our own devices”. It helped that Channel 4’s head of comedy, Charlie Perkins – a longtime champion and collaborator of Campbell’s – was also “very trusting. I don’t know if she really got [the concept] when we were first talking about it. When we’d made it, I think she understood it a tiny bit more.” Continue reading...