In and Out has been fully booked since PM ate there, with patrons able to choose from special menu based on his meal Whatever the ins and outs of Westminster politics, Keir Starmer can take small comfort in the fact that there is one place where he is consistently popular. It just happens to be 5,000 miles away. In and Out, an upmarket restaurant in Beijing, has been fully booked since Starmer and his team dined there in January during the first visit by a British prime minister to China since 2018. Continue reading...

Green party leader says specifically outlawing controversial phrase would restrict freedom of speech UK politics live – latest updates Zack Polanski has said he would discourage pro-Palestine protesters from using the chant “globalise the intifada”, but the Green party leader warned against specifically outlawing the phrase or banning a protest planned in London later this month. Speaking earlier in the weekend, Keir Starmer called for “tougher action” against marchers using the chant after last week’s attack on Jewish people in Golders Green, saying pro-Gaza marches risked having a cumulative effect of being intimidating. Continue reading...

Brighton Dome Corn Exchange The timeless parable of a 16th-century horse dealer turned violent protester questions the personal cost of resistance in this awe-inspiring production from Omar Elerian It starts and ends with a circle. Arinzé Kene stands, runs or speaks inside it. For his 16th-century horse-dealer protagonist, Michael Kohlhaas, its circularity represents a world in which all is in order. When its equanimity is disturbed with the theft of two of his most prized stallions at the hands of an entitled baron, he sets about single-handedly taking on the system that upholds this injustice, first taking his case to the law courts, then the emperor, and finally spilling angrily out on to the streets. Based on Heinrich von Kleist’s novella, Michael Kohlhaas (itself based on a real-life case), this is an awe-inspiring production, stupendously directed by Omar Elerian, and resounding across the ages in its exploration of protest as well as the personal cost of speaking truth to power. It could not be more timeless, or more relevant. Continue reading...

Avon and Somerset police declare major incident and say cause is being treated as suspicious Two people have died following a “suspicious” explosion at a house in Bristol. Avon and Somerset police have declared a major incident after the explosion, which happened at about 6.30am on Sunday. The families of those involved had been informed, police said. Continue reading...

Insiders portray defense secretary as increasingly isolated after officers with impeccable reputations forced out Since Donald Trump’s first term, they have been viewed comfortingly as the “adults in the room,” a last line of defense against the impulsive whims of a president with access to the nuclear codes. Now – after an unprecedented wave of firings that has been compared by some to Stalin’s purges – the Pentagon top brass no longer seem like such a reliable bulwark. Continue reading...

We tend to think of intelligence like height – and imagine ourselves being overtaken. That misses the point Until recently, we humans have been able to be smug about our abilities. No other animals play boardgames, write essays or prove mathematical theorems. But lately, progress in AI seems as though it might challenge our self-image as the smartest entities around. AI systems not only beat us at the most complicated games, but can also write polished prose and win medals in maths. Tech CEOs promise us that superhuman AI is just round the corner. So, in an age of AI, are human minds still special, or merely also-rans? Talking about superhuman AI assumes that intelligence is a single scale. My parents used to mark the heights of my younger brother and me on the doorframe of our laundry. Each year he would get a little closer to me, until one year the unthinkable happened and he outgrew me (he’s now 6ft 3in). The current moment feels a bit like that, as we look at these new younger siblings with concern that they might overtake us. Continue reading...

Bringing Manchester’s Curry Mile to vibrant life, the #Merky prize-winning author’s cross-genre work focuses on the lives and language of young British men. He discusses identity and inspiration On a stretch of Manchester road known for kebabs, shisha smoke and restless energy, three young men drive towards a night that already feels like it’s slipping out of control. The premise of Wimmy Road Boyz, the debut novel by #Merky books new writers’ prize winner Sufiyaan Salam, is deceptively simple: “three boyz drive and dream of an impossible night on an endless street”. What follows is anything but. Salam’s novel unfolds over a single evening on the Curry Mile, that dense artery of Rusholme nightlife, where a white BMW carries Immy, Khan and Haris through a series of skirmishes, side quests and emotional unravellings. It’s a book about masculinity, violence and love, but also about language – how young British men speak, perform and fail to articulate what’s really going on inside their heads. Continue reading...

Updates from the first day of the Crucible final Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Daniel Team sports offer us a simple life: we pick one or one picks us, the end. Individual sports, though, are different: on the one hand, who we enjoy doesn’t describe us in the same way but, on the other, it allows us the gift of wanting the best for everyone, the tribalism still present but with all of us gathered as one. It is not, for example, necessarily easy to vibe with Shaun Murphy, his smarts that make the soul sing sometimes encroaching into smarms that make the teeth itch. But no one can challenge what he’s given to this thing of ours, love of the game – yes, and love of himself, a valuable lesson – radiating through him and into us. He wants a second world title as badly as anyone has ever wanted anything, and should he get it, his smooth, natural, beautiful style will deserve it and then some. Continue reading...

Island’s tourism industry been hit hard by severe US pressure – but some say foreigners should still visit Leslie Simon and Marc Bender had arrived in Havana for a 10-day holiday, despite their president’s repeated threats of military action against Cuba. The two retired union lawyers from Los Angeles flew in via Miami sporting badges reading “ICE OUT!” and shared a somewhat negative opinion of the US’s past. Continue reading...

In Roundhay, one of its safest wards, activists say the party must win back progressive voters as support drifts to the Greens On the wide streets around Leeds’ Roundhay Park, Labour canvassers have built up a considerable step count just to walk between each of the stone-built mansions in one of the city’s most affluent suburbs. Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, is with activists in the sunshine admiring the manicured lawns and window-box pansies. This is one of the safest wards for Labour in Leeds, with graduates, doctors, lecturers and small business owners. Continue reading...

Can a sentence affect the course of your life? Five authors reveal the interactions that transformed the way they saw themselves – and the world When I was 14, I had to start a new school. I wasn’t great at starting new schools, even though I had done so quite a few times – once for my dad’s work, once because I wasn’t fitting in at my primary school and once because my parents didn’t like the teachers. Of course, 14 is possibly the most awkward of all the ages to start a new anything. Anyway, it was halfway through the first term at the new school in Newark, Nottinghamshire, and I was taken aside by my history teacher, Mr Philips, at the end of a lesson. He didn’t like me very much. To be fair, I was probably hard to like, from a teacher’s perspective. I had trouble concentrating, I stared out of windows, I clowned around. However, it is difficult to explain the shock to my self-conscious teenage soul when he told me, “I think it would be a good idea for you to join a special needs class.” Now, for context, the year was 1989, and in my state comprehensive at that time the idea of being “special needs” was akin to being given a leprosy bell or being marked with a cross for the plague. It was a binary system. You were either “normal” or you were “special needs”. To make matters worse, I was told that another teacher – my art teacher – had come to a similar assessment. Continue reading...

Deputy leader plays down leadership talk and says party must focus on long-term challenges rather than personnel Labour’s deputy leader has warned there will be “no magic bullet” to solve Labour’s problems – or major challenges facing the country – as its MPs grapple with how to navigate the fallout out from the local elections. Lucy Powell told the Guardian she understood there was “huge anger and despondency” from Labour MPs in the aftermath of the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal, but said the prime minister would not make a similar mistake again. Continue reading...

As potentially seismic Senedd elections loom, competing parties have differing visions of how to reinvigorate the economy It is afternoon rush hour on the M4 and drivers are yet again making slow progress around the city of Newport, often seen as the gateway to south Wales given its location between Cardiff and Bristol. Cars and lorries are stuck in gridlocked traffic in both directions on the approach to the Brynglas tunnels, where the road narrows to two lanes in each direction, while flashing lights warn motorists in Welsh and English of a ciw (queue). Continue reading...

They differed over swearing allegiance to the crown, but could they reach unity over flying the national flag? Callum, 19, Southend Occupation Pre-trade surveyor Continue reading...

The Callais decision is predicated on the idea that American leaders will act justly on their own. That premise has already been proven hollow Six supreme court justices handed down a ruling built, ostensibly, on the belief that the US has changed so much as to render the protections of the Voting Rights Act unnecessary. No one should be that gullible. In 1901, the same year my great-grandfather was born, George H White rose to address the 56th United States Congress for the last time. He was a Republican congressman from North Carolina – the only Black member of the entire body. He was leaving because the state he represented had passed legislation making his re-election impossible. Reconstruction had already been undone. The powers that be had narrowed, then deferred, then erased the promise of multiracial democracy, written in the blood of Union soldiers and freed people alike. Continue reading...

Greater agricultural collaboration can improve food security and resilience to global crises, says policy paper Agricultural co-operatives could “unleash growth” in the UK and improve national food security in the face of crises such as the Middle East conflict by “improving the resilience of UK farms”, according to a report. The policy paper produced by the Co-operative party, which backs influential Labour MPs including Steve Reed and Jonathan Reynolds, calls for “a shift in perspective, not a doubling down of the status quo”. It says co-ops, which enable farmers to pool resources, share risk and invest collectively, can help “reduce exposure to volatile input markets”, such as fertiliser, fuel and animal feed. Continue reading...

Councillors in Leicestershire support move in efforts to reduce flooding as Reform faces divisions on nature policy A Reform UK council has backed the release of wild beavers into the countryside, despite the party’s opposition to rewilding. The Reform-led Leicestershire county council has backed the release of the rodents as part of efforts to reduce flooding. Continue reading...

US secretary of state will be in Italian capital on Thursday and Friday, the one-year anniversary of Pope Leo’s papacy US secretary of state Marco Rubio will travel to Rome this week, a visit reportedly aimed at thawing frosty relations with the Italian government and the Vatican. Rubio will be in the Italian capital on Thursday and Friday, which will also mark the one-year anniversary of the papacy of Pope Leo, the first US-born pontiff. Continue reading...

⚽ Women’s Super League updates, 12pm BST kick-off ⚽ Get in touch: email Emillia and follow us on Bluesky Manchester City head coach Andrée Jeglertz urged his players to keep a level head in their penultimate game of the season today. He said: “There’s quite a lot of teams in the world that emotions affect performances and we talked a lot that no matter what emotions or pressure you have, you can still follow the gameplan and do the things you are good at. “That has to be the thing that you’re also coming back to. That is my job to spread the calmness and not push the players in the wrong direction. We all have a big role in that. Continue reading...

Unintended consequence of US president’s actions will be boon for China, the leading renewables manufacturer Operation Epic Fury has thus far achieved none of Donald Trump’s war aims, but it may well accelerate the global transition towards the clean energy he loves to hate. Last week brought the latest exchange of verbal blows in the standoff over the strait of Hormuz. Iran is “choking like a stuffed pig” on the oil it is unable to export because of the US blockade, Trump claimed. Continue reading...

Updates from the latest County Championship matches Sign up for the Spin | Mail Tanya or comment BTL With an edge in front of slip, McKinney’s eighth half century for Durham. He and Emilio Gay (78) both played for England Lions last winter. I wonder if there is a selector at Lord’s today. While at Grace Road, fifty from 123 balls for Stevie Eskinazi – a great little stop-the-rot innings. Leics 228-8, need another 113 to avoid the follow on. Continue reading...

The 35-year-old, brother of Will Still, lasts three months Watford sack 11th head coach since end of 2020-21 season Watford have sacked head coach Ed Still, just three months into a two-and-a-half year contract, following the Championship club’s dismal end to the season. Still was Watford’s 11th permanent head coach since the end of the 2020-21 season. Still, 35, was appointed in February following the resignation of Javi Gracia and his sacking comes at the end of the Championship season in which Watford lost six of their final seven games. The Hornets finished 16th, 10 points above the relegation zone. Continue reading...

Database could be used to regulate opponents, from ‘shutting off bank accounts’ to healthcare, official warns Donald Trump is attempting to select his own citizenry and control who can vote by gathering the personal details of all Americans, Arizona’s top election official has warned. Adrian Fontes, Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, fears that the Trump administration’s active efforts to forcibly extract voter files from 30 states including Fontes’s own are part of a bigger plan to gather vital information on all US citizens into a centralised database. “Trump is trying to amass a master list that will allow him to declare someone an enemy of the state,” he said. Continue reading...

Linda lost her sexual appetite after a hysterectomy, but making a list of sex cues with partner Elias helped her regain her desire • How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously Since everything on the list is something we both like, when he sends me a suggestion it turns me on Continue reading...

Carriers examining which flights can be cancelled with least disruption under plans to avoid summer travel chaos UK airlines will be able to cancel or consolidate flights this summer under new plans to conserve jet fuel as the war in the Middle East continues to disrupt supplies. The measures are being taken to avoid major disruption as Britons jet off on their summer holidays. Airlines are looking carefully at their timetables to see which flights can be cancelled in advance and cause the least delays. Continue reading...