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

The comedian on coming out at 20, discovering she was funny, and the special moment she marked with a tattoo Born in Portsmouth in 1986, comedian Suzi Ruffell trained at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in London and began her standup career in 2008. As well as touring and appearing on Live at the Apollo, she hosts a podcast, Out With Suzi Ruffell, and co-hosts another, Like Minded Friends, with Tom Allen. She has also written a bestselling memoir, Am I Having Fun Now? Anxiety, Applause and Life’s Big Questions, Answered. She tours her show The Juggle until September. This was taken in the living room of the house I grew up in, in Portsmouth. All the curtains were heavily patterned, as were the carpets. I was 10 years old and deep in my Spice Girls era – especially Mel C, who was on the roster of my early crushes, along with Kate Winslet and Jennifer Aniston. Continue reading...

A new belief set is uniting some of the wealthiest men in the world around a ‘transhuman’ future – actual humanity be damned Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, took to the Internet a few years ago to propose that homo sapiens would be the first species “to design our own descendants”. In his best case scenario, the “merge” between humans and artificial intelligence occurs at some point over the next 50 years. The alternative, where we remain simply human and the machines follow their own path, is more ominous. “If two different species both want the same thing and only one can have it – in this case, to be the dominant species on the planet and beyond – they are going to have conflict,” he wrote. More recently, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who at one point last year was granted the power to reconfigure the US federal government, argued on his social media platform, X, that “it increasingly appears that humanity is a biological bootloader for digital superintelligence” – our role in the history of the cosmos reduced to that of the low level code that boots up a computer before you can run sophisticated programs on it. Continue reading...

Serious health conditions are being misdiagnosed and pregnancies are missed while the internet swells with terrible advice and meno-products. Enough! Ladies! Are you tired all the time, sweaty and hot, or headachy? Do you have a range of the vague complaints (laziness, hysteria, dissolute habits, general languishing) that would have seen you committed to a 19th-century asylum? Are you lacking in joie de vivre? Maybe you’re perimenopausal! Or maybe you’re not: being tired, hot and over everything are also symptoms of simply being alive in spring 2026. That’s not what the internet wants you to believe, though: last week, experts issued a warning about the deluge of perimenopause and menopause misinformation online and the risks that can pose to women, including unwanted pregnancies and a failure to seek a diagnosis for serious health conditions. Continue reading...

Scottish family on low income receives £15,000 more a year than identical household in England The emergence of “welfare nationalism” in the UK has created striking differences in benefit entitlement that result in a Scottish family on a low income receiving £15,000 a year more in state support than an identical household over the border in England. A typical out of work couple with four children would have received £22,000 a year benefit income in York, compared with £32,000 in Belfast and £37,000 in Glasgow, according to new research on the impact of devolved welfare approaches Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts If an alien landed and asked you: “What is this thing you call music?” what would you play for them? And why? Heather, Kent Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday. Due to a production error, a new Notes & Queries question was not published on 24 May. Continue reading...

CTE is caused by repeated blows to the head Family choose to donate brain for research Claude Lemieux’s brain is being donated to the Boston University CTE Center to research the long-term effects of repetitive brain injuries, his family said Saturday in a statement released by daughter Claudia Lemieux Bishop. Lemieux died by suicide at age 60 on Thursday, according to authorities, after earlier in the week serving as the Montreal Canadiens’ torchbearer before a playoff game. He played nearly 1,500 NHL games with six teams from 1983 to 2009 and was known for his hard-hitting style and ability to perform in big games on the way to winning the Stanley Cup four times. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic violence helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is 1800 737 732. Continue reading...

Survey finds consumers cannot reliably access 4G or 5G, highlighting weaknesses in digital infrastructure More than four in 10 consumers struggle to access 4G or 5G on their mobile devices for at least half the time they are on the move, according to a survey that highlights the poor state of the UK’s digital infrastructure. The poll of more than 2,000 people who use digital devices found that 45% feel frustrated with mobile connectivity outside the home at least once a week. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, that figure rises to 57%. Continue reading...

Growing number of people in England and Wales are being released into homelessness with little support Deaths within two weeks of prison release hit record high in England and Wales In the weeks running up to his release from prison, Robert Barraclough began feeling anxious about becoming homeless. He told staff that he feared having to sleep in a tent in the cold, and began to self-harm. He had been serving a 19-month sentence for assault and criminal damage at HMP Nottingham, and initially told prison officers he was looking forward to seeing his family and working at his friend’s scaffolding business on release. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts say homelessness is primary driver of crisis that led to 77 ‘avoidable’ deaths in 2025 Falling through the cracks: ex-prisoners who died within two weeks of release The number of people who die within two weeks of being released from prison in England and Wales has reached a record high, a Guardian investigation has found. Seventy-seven people died within 14 days of being released from prison in 2025, 28% higher than the 60 deaths recorded the previous year and the highest since records began in 2021. Continue reading...

⚽ Hundreds of thousands attend London event (2pm BST) ⚽ PSG dash Arsenal’s Champions League dream | Mail John The crowds really are deep in numbers along the route, with airhorns to the fore. Upper Street is brimming over. A few fans were in Budapest last night and caught flights at 2am to be there. Many who were there will be arriving at a time when the parade is on. The route: Holloway Road, around Seven Sisters, through Blackstock Road to Newington Green, then Essex Road before turning right at Angel station on to Upper Street. But not, note, past the Emirates, which has been cordoned off. Continue reading...

The Guardian’s landmark poll of the greatest novels published in English required collaboration and innovation across multiple desks. This is the story of how it came together Everyone was asking each other the same questions. How many have you read? Which ones are you going to read now? What must-reads do you think are missing? Matt Freeman, a 46-year-old designer from London, resolved to finally get around to Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie: “I’ve had it on my shelf for years – a clothbound edition because I thought that if I invested in a really great copy, I’d read it. And now I’ll finally do so – it’ll mean I can tick another one off this list.” Continue reading...

⚽ FA Cup final updates from Wembley, kick-off 3pm BST ⚽ Vidosic driven by family tragedy | City target the double Growing up in Brisbane with a big time difference to London, Dario Vidosic loved being allowed to stay up past his bedtime to watch a big Wembley final on television next to his father, Rado, before trying to recreate a great goal with him in the garden the following day. On Sunday, Rado will not only be in the Vidosic family’s thoughts but in the hearts and minds of everyone associated with Brighton as the team walk out at Wembley for the Women’s FA Cup final against Manchester City to try to win their first major trophy, four months after Rado – who was working as the women’s team’s head of coaching – died from cancer. Continue reading...

These compulsively snacky salt-crusted spuds are a Canary Islands favourite – and an unusual but excellent way to cook our own early-summer crop If you’ve ever visited the Canary Islands, you’ll be familiar with papas arrugadas – often translated, somewhat unappetisingly, as “wrinkly potatoes” – which pop up on every menu there. And not, generally, as a side dish, but as a standalone snack to be enjoyed with drinks. I do love a place that takes the spud seriously, and perhaps it’s not that much of a surprise, given that the first potatoes to reach Europe passed through the Canaries on their way from Peru, which, along with the similarity between the rocky soils of the Andes and the islands, probably accounts for the long history of cultivation. Though many unusual early varieties are still grown for local sale, the Canaries imports both seed and fresh potatoes from the UK (king edward and arran banner have become quinegua and arambana). Once upon a time, ships would leave the islands laden with winter tomatoes for the British market, and return full of tubers. For this recipe, however, you’ll need new season potatoes with thin, delicate skins, and small enough to cook whole. Cooked in salty water until the salt crystals cling to them like frost, they’re served with a fiery dipping sauce that reflects the strong Portuguese and African influences on Canarian cuisine: an unusual but excellent way to celebrate our own early-summer crop. Continue reading...

Experts hail daraxonrasib as ‘gamechanger’ for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer A daily pill can double survival time in patients with the world’s deadliest cancer, according to the results of a clinical trial that experts are saying is a “gamechanger” and one of the biggest breakthroughs in decades. Currently, there are few treatments for pancreatic cancer, and most do little or nothing to help. For decades, scientists have worked relentlessly trying to find clever solutions for a form of cancer that is often found late. More than half of patients are only diagnosed after it has spread. Continue reading...

The far shorter Middle East war has rapidly revealed the strategic weakness of US firepower in an interconnected world In a 1965 speech justifying the war in Vietnam, Lyndon B Johnson argued that the goal was to ensure “every country can shape its own destiny” since only in such a world could the US secure its own freedom. However, he also admitted “such were infirmities of man that force must often precede reason, and the waste of war, the works of peace”. It was the kind of elegant justification of the country’s moral mission to which successive US presidential speechwriters have turned at times of war. Continue reading...

Ballots are being cast in the first round of the South American nation’s presidential elections Colombians are casting ballots in the first round of the South American nation’s presidential election, choosing between candidates with radically diverging visions for the future of peace in a country haunted by decades of armed conflict. The vote on Sunday, seen as a referendum on outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s policies, comes 10 years after Colombia signed a historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). Continue reading...

Forget dirty nappies. In Silicon Valley, there’s increasing chatter about virtual offspring A few months ago, an AI researcher from Europe attended a dinner party in Silicon Valley. During one of the many courses, the host addressed his guests, all of whom worked in AI. The researcher paraphrased his message like this: “Isn’t it amazing that we are the last generation of humans who will need to think about procreating biologically? We were lucky enough to be born at a time where we can simply upload our consciousnesses instead.” “I didn’t see that coming,” the researcher told me. “I was just enjoying my fish.” Continue reading...

From a young age, the author was told that one of her ancestors had drawn some of the first maps of Ireland. Then she found a photograph, and embarked on a journey to discover his story Every family has its myths. In mine, we were told that one of our antecedents had worked on the first maps of Ireland. As a child, I used to picture a solitary person in unspecified period dress – a tailcoat, perhaps some kind of cravat – striding pensively about fields and mountains, pen in hand. On summer holidays, I would stare out of the window of our red car as Donegal or Galway rolled by and wonder that such a task could be achieved. How did one man set about drawing a map of a whole country, of these towns and strands and trees and rivers? All myths comprise a great deal of fanciful embroidery through which runs the distinct thread of truth: time and retelling will always refract reality. This mapper preyed on my mind. I thought about him, always, when I travelled around Ireland. I thought about him in my final year of school, when my geography exam required me to analyse a square of an unknown map. I wanted, as I often do, to know more, about his life, his work, who he had been and how he had mapped. Continue reading...

The topic of global heating saw temperatures rise, but could they find common cause on asylum seekers? • Want to meet someone from across the divide? Click here to find out how Martyn, 44, Sheffield Occupation IT nerd/solutions architect Continue reading...

The two hatreds have rarely been seen as related dangers. But they overlap even as Muslim and Jewish communities are pitted against each other The shooting at a mosque and school in San Diego has forced Muslim Americans to ask themselves painful questions. After the killing of three people in an armed attack last week, they now wonder if other places of worship will be targeted next, whether they can still send children to school and trust that they will return home unharmed, and whether they can still safely walk the streets as people identifiable by their faith. These are also questions that Jewish communities are reckoning with, most recently after the stabbings in London’s Golders Green neighborhood. Over the past three years, against the backdrop of wars in the Middle East, antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate have flared across the west, with each rising to record levels. But these two hatreds have rarely been seen as related dangers, let alone confronted as a common threat to societies. Continue reading...

Sorting, wearing and even reworking some of Mum’s wardrobe has given me a way to keep her close Only my mum would insist on buying a designer swimsuit on her deathbed. She had always found emotional solace in clothes, but shopping for herself had become futile by that point. She was, after all, lying in a cancer hospital having been told there was no further treatment available for her relentless myeloma; she had exhausted all available options in the 11 years since her diagnosis. But my 37th birthday was coming up and there was no way terminal blood cancer was going to stop Rhona from buying me a present. She loved showering her family with gifts. I would reprimand her for spoiling us. “I can’t spend it when I’m dead, can I?” she used to respond. Of course, there was only one thing I truly wanted that birthday, but I was being forced to come to terms with that being a deluded fantasy. Despite my protestations that I needed nothing, my mum insisted: “Something nice for your holidays, perhaps?” Continue reading...

Midos Management denies ties to property group accused of making millions from bogus prayer rooms A property investor who sells temporary accommodation to local councils is part of a family accused of avoiding tax by hosting bogus prayer sessions, a Guardian investigation can reveal. Publicly available records raise questions about the business interests of members of the Schreiber dynasty, who preside over a nationwide commercial property portfolio via a “family-owned” investment vehicle, Midos Group. Continue reading...

In the newsletter: Our global writers share the shows captivating local audiences, from Côte d’Ivoire’s hottest soap to the next best thing out of Canada since Heated Rivalry • Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here It’s high time for another of our occasional glances at what the world is watching; the TV popular on the beats covered by some of the Guardian’s many global correspondents. Last time we asked our reporters in Brazil, Jamaica, Japan, Nigeria and Poland, and heard about everything from telenovelas to Caribbean breakfast TV. This time we’ve commissioned a different set of correspondents to tell us about what’s driving the watercooler conversation in the countries they currently call home. Read on for Chinese microdramas, a worthy follow-up to Heated Rivalry and the show that has the hair salons of Côte d’Ivoire abuzz. *** Continue reading...

Labour should also drill for oil and gas in North Sea, says former health secretary and leadership candidate Wes Streeting has called for national insurance tax cuts for businesses, and for the government to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea. The former health secretary and Labour leadership candidate told the Sunday Times there should be a “targeted reduction” of employers’ national insurance contribution as a way to “actively incentivise” hiring, particularly of young people. Continue reading...