Half Man is the story of two 1980s schoolboys and their entwined lives. Plus: a reality series following first-time daters. Here’s what to watch this evening 10.40pm, BBC One Richard Gadd’s follow-up to Baby Reindeer comes to regular telly, having premiered on iPlayer last week. Mitchell Robertson and Stuart Campbell are both superb as weak Niall and violent Ruben, a duo of 1980s schoolboys. We flash forward to glimpse Jamie Bell and Gadd himself playing them as adults – who are about to form a toxic lifelong bond. Jack Seale Continue reading...

Journalists face rising threats while media ownership is concentrated in fewer hands, leading civil liberties group warns Journalists in the EU face increasing levels of harassment, threats and violence, while news outlets are owned by a shrinking number of proprietors and public trust in the media has plummeted, a report has found. The Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) said the findings of its fifth annual media freedom report, released on Tuesday, should place EU officials “on high alert”, with media freedom and pluralism “under sustained attack” across mainland Europe. Continue reading...

‘Critical debate’ about party’s identity and direction looms if it loses control of Senedd next month after 27 years in power Welsh Labour is the democratic world’s most successful election-winning machine, coming first in Wales in every general election since 1922 and every devolved election since 1999. Come next month’s Senedd election, however, this history-making run is expected to end. Labour’s collapse has left a vacuum, and former Labour voters are going to opposite ends of the political spectrum. Plaid Cymru and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK are neck and neck in the latest poll, although coalition maths make it highly unlikely Reform would be able to form a government. Continue reading...

A fun, shareable Tunisian chickpea soup for a party, a one-pan moussaka, and a fragrant, layered, chocolate viennetta Traditionally, this would be a Tunisian breakfast, and it’s not a million miles from one of my favourites, Egyptian ful medames. But here I’m proposing it as an evening offering: make a big pot of delicious flavourful chickpeas, then lay out a spread of accompaniments (pickles, olives, capers, boiled eggs). Second, a good traditional moussaka is a wholesome but time-consuming process, but that’s not the case with this simplified version, which you can easily make on a weeknight. Finally, you might not be surprised to learn that this basil viennetta was one of the most popular recipes when we were testing dishes for my new book, MEDesque. First, of course, because it tastes unreal. Second, because everyone got a huge tug of nostalgia, and third, because everyone became giddy with excitement, trying to figure out what the flavour was. Continue reading...

Australia is dependent upon UK’s ability to deliver new submarines but report says ‘cracks are already beginning to show’ “Cracks are already beginning to show” in the UK’s funding for the Aukus agreement that could derail the ambitious nuclear submarine plan, a British parliamentary inquiry has found, highlighting a threat to Australia’s security. UK shipbuilding has been under-funded for decades and the country’s submarine availability is “critically low”, the House of Commons defence committee’s report found. Continue reading...

Tees Transporter Bridge and a former working men’s club in Barrow-in-Furness among sites at risk of decay or neglect Teesside’s Transporter Bridge, a disinfecting station in Hackney and a former working men’s club in Barrow-in-Furness have been included on a list ringing alarm bells for Victorian and Edwardian heritage. The Victorian Society has published its annual top 10 endangered buildings list, intended as a way of drawing national attention to at-risk places in England and Wales. Continue reading...

They’ve been imprisoned, tortured and spied upon. Now dissidents from Europe’s last dictatorship are bringing the sights, sounds, smells and even tastes of brutal repression to the world’s biggest festival of art In a studio down a residential road in west Warsaw, a group of former political prisoners are cutting golden stems of wheat to 90cm lengths and stacking them, ready to be shipped to the Venice Biennale. A giant ball made of books banned in the neighbouring country of Belarus – Harry Potter, Nobel prize winner Svetlana Alexievich, an illustrated history of kink – rests on the claw of a bulldozer. There is the sound of laughter, organ music and an angle-grinder, as surveillance cameras are attached to a towering iron crucifix. This is Official. Unofficial. Belarus., the first major art project by Belarus Free Theatre (BFT). Unusually, this work by the exiled troupe has no performance element but has instead been created by painters, sculptors, composers and even the man recently voted world’s best chef. Rasmus Munk has been concocting a dish at his two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Copenhagen that will taste of detention under an authoritarian regime, the subject of the entire installation. A scent has been commissioned, too: it will smell like a freshly dug grave in the Belarus countryside in late August, laid with rotting flowers. Continue reading...

The Italian PM has walked a tightrope between Europe and the US. But the Iran war – and Trump’s attacks on her – have changed everything The news last week that the Trump administration sounded out Fifa, world football’s governing body, about replacing Iran with Italy at this year’s World Cup jolted insiders and pundits on the beautiful game. It has also cast fresh light on the unusual and evolving relationship between Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni. In recent weeks, the Italian prime minister’s standing as the darling of the US right has been imperilled by an unexpected rift with the Oval Office. Trump dramatically distanced himself from his Italian ally over her refusal to join US attacks on Iran in an interview. “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” the US president told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Riccardo Alcaro is head of research at IAI, Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome Continue reading...

A certain image of the tiger mom – strict, cold and demanding – is ubiquitous in popular culture. Why? In January 2011, the English-speaking world was introduced to a new kind of villain. She arrived in the form of a viral Wall Street Journal article with the headline “Why Chinese mothers are superior”. The author, a relatively unknown Yale law professor named Amy Chua, outlined her strict rules for her two daughters: no sleepovers, playdates or school plays – and no complaining about not being in the school play, either. They were expected to be the top students in all subjects at school (except gym and drama). When her seven-year-old refused to play a song on the piano, Chua threatened her with no lunch, no dinner and no birthday parties for four years until she complied. Another time, after the same daughter misbehaved, Chua branded her “garbage”. The backlash was swift and vicious. Chua was called an abuser, a stereotype peddler, a shock jock. The article was an extract from her memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and Chua did her best to explain that, in the book, she reckons with the limits of her parenting. But it was too late: the controversy had taken on a life of its own. Many Asian American writers responded by sharing their ambivalence or anger about having been raised in this way. “I grew up with a tiger parent and all I got was this lousy psychological trauma” declared one such blog post. Suddenly a ubiquitous but private dynamic was being held up for public debate. There were endless letters, op-eds, blogs, tweets, Facebook posts. My grandparents in China, who are as removed from the American commentariat as one could possibly be, asked me about the American lady boasting about getting her kids into Harvard and giving Chinese people a bad name. Continue reading...

Lord committee says chancellor and recent predecessors have allowed themselves too little room for manoeuvre Business live – latest updates Rachel Reeves should aim to run a “significantly larger” buffer against her fiscal rules, according to a report from a House of Lords committee that says the UK’s public debt is on an unsustainable trajectory. The chancellor raised taxes at last year’s budget in order to more than double the “headroom”, or buffer, against her fiscal rules to £22bn – some of which is expected to be eroded by the impact of the Iran war. Continue reading...

Social media is awash with content about food intolerances and the symptoms to look out for. But figuring out whether you actually have one, and what’s triggering it, is surprisingly difficult. One avenue people are gravitating towards is at-home testing. Madeleine Finlay sits down with health and lifestyle journalist Rebecca Seal to unpick the science behind these tests. Rebecca explains how they purport to work, how accurate they actually are, and how we can all investigate what we might be intolerant to, without breaking the bank. Rebecca’s book Irritated: The Allergy Epidemic and What We Can Do About It, is out now. ‘They’re all junk, and should be banned’: the trouble with at-home food intolerance tests Order Rebecca’s book from the Guardian Bookshop Continue reading...

Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy say criticising Israeli government is not disloyalty but a Jewish obligation The UK’s most senior progressive rabbis have warned that Israel’s current political direction risks becoming “incompatible with Jewish values”, while insisting that criticism of the country’s government is “a Jewish obligation” rather than an act of disloyalty. Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Rabbi Josh Levy, co-leads of Progressive Judaism – the newly formed movement representing around a third of synagogues in the UK – said Israel’s trajectory could pose an “existential threat” not just to the country itself but to Judaism. Continue reading...

The RSF leadership, accused of committing genocide, used UAE as a ‘safe haven’ for family members and their wealth, records show A network linked to the leadership of a militia accused of genocide has amassed a vast property portfolio in Dubai as part of a sprawling “paramilitary-industrial complex” across Africa and the Middle East, an investigation has revealed. Family members, sanctioned individuals, and entities linked to the leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, have acquired more than 20 luxury properties, worth £17.7m, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the Sentry, a US investigative group. Continue reading...

Severing ties with the US can take more than a year and cost thousands of dollars. But Paul, Ella, Margot and thousands of others feel they have no choice When Margot went to renounce her US citizenship earlier this year, she wasn’t able to do it in the UK, her home of 30 years. The waiting list to renounce US citizenship at the London consulate is more than 14 months. It’s a similar story in Sydney and most major Canadian cities. Many European cities currently have six-month waiting lists. So Margot found herself in the lobby of the consulate in Ghent, Belgium. One wall was covered by a picture of Boston Harbour, where she was born. The other had three portraits: Donald Trump, JD Vance and Marco Rubio, their faces glistening – to her mind, with sadistic triumph (the lighting may have been a factor). Momentarily, she felt caught in a vice: everything she loved about her nation; everything she hated. Then she went in, swore under oath that she knew what she was doing, wasn’t being coerced, and wasn’t renouncing her citizenship for the purposes of tax avoidance. The official’s tone was neutral, slightly bored. Continue reading...

Japan Airlines will introduce the robots for trial run at a Tokyo airport amid country’s surge in inbound tourism and worsening labour shortages Japan’s famously conscientious but overburdened baggage handlers will soon be joined by extra staff at Tokyo’s Haneda airport – although their new colleagues will need to take regular recharging breaks. Japan Airlines will introduce humanoid robots on a trial basis from the beginning of May, with a view to deploying them permanently as a solution to the country’s chronic labour shortage. Continue reading...

The crypto tycoon has given millions to Farage’s political parties. But who is Christopher Harborne and what does he want in return? One balmy evening last year at the Kamalaya wellness sanctuary in Thailand, the resort manager welcomed guests to a talk on longevity and anti-ageing medicine. The first speaker was a Thai doctor with impeccable credentials. The second was the resort’s owner, Chakrit Sakunkrit, who is better known as Christopher Harborne. And Harborne doesn’t only own a resort – he could be one of the richest people alive. The Guardian’s investigations correspondent, Tom Burgis, tells Helen Pidd that Harborne is by far and away the biggest donor to Nigel Farage, stumping up two-thirds of Reform UK’s funding. And one of the donations was also the largest single donation by a living donor to a British political party ever. Continue reading...

Yip Shun-Ting Carbon returns for the first time to his apartment to salvage belongings after last year’s fire that killed 168 people, including his mother The Yip family once imagined moving to a country house, all three generations under the same roof, with their own vegetable garden and away from Hong Kong’s dense high-rises. A devastating fire, Hong Kong’s worst since 1948, took that future from them, leaving behind little but rubble and blackened walls. “Whatever we can retrieve is a bonus,” says Yip Shun-Ting Carbon, aged 36, who lost his mother, Pak Shui-lin, in the inferno in November last year that killed 168 people at a large residential complex under renovation. Continue reading...

Efforts continue to free two trapped passengers in wreckage after long-distance train collides with commuter train outside Jakarta, injuring 81 Rescuers were racing to reach survivors on Tuesday morning outside the Indonesian capital of Jakarta after two trains collided overnight, killing at least seven people and injuring scores. Rescuers were working to get to two people still trapped alive in the wreckage, a spokesperson for the state-owned KAI rail company told local television in the early hours. Continue reading...

Hollywood star expected to testify about claim a fellow actor confided in her that she was uncomfortable about a bathing request from another colleague Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Hollywood star Rebel Wilson has entered a courthouse ahead of giving evidence in her high-profile defamation battle against the star of her directorial debut. The Pitch Perfect star is being sued by Charlotte MacInnes, the Australian lead actor of musical comedy The Deb. Continue reading...

Fundraiser for Ukraine was among targets, Lithuanian authorities allege; Kyiv collars Israel over Russian shipments of stolen Ukrainian grain. What we know on day 1,525 Continue reading...

Pakistan officials dismiss Afghan media reports and official statements about strikes on university in Kunar province as ‘blatant lie’ Mortars and missiles fired from Pakistan on Monday struck a university and civilian homes in north-eastern Afghanistan, killing seven people and wounding at least 85, Afghan officials said. Pakistan denied the accusation of targeting a university. Continue reading...

The Guardian named as sports publisher of the year Jonathan Liew wins columnist of the year for fifth time Guardian Sport won two top prizes at the prestigious Sports Journalists’ Association’s awards evening on Monday. The Guardian won sports publisher of the year at the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards night while Jonathan Liew was named columnist of the year for the fifth time in eight years, as well as winning bronze in the football journalist of the year category. Suzanne Wrack won bronze in the women’s football journalist of the year and Andy Bull won bronze in the sports feature writer of the year (long form) category. Continue reading...

Resolution Foundation report says ‘crisis’ stems from rising ill-health and a failing system of benefits and job support Britain has the third-highest rate of young people not in work or education among Europe’s richest countries because of rising ill-health and a failing system of benefits and job support, a report has warned. The Resolution Foundation thinktank said the UK was facing a “crisis” in youth jobs amid a dramatic rise in the number of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (Neets) to almost 1 million – the highest level in more than a decade. Continue reading...

Police warn of violent pornography and ‘toxic’ influencers as suicides outstrip homicides for third year running The first teenage girl has been identified as having been driven to kill herself after domestic violence, as police chiefs blamed violent pornography and “toxic” influencers for being behind a rise in teen abuse. Suicides after domestic abuse have outstripped homicides for the third year running, according to the Domestic Homicide Project, which records deaths in England and Wales after domestic abuse. Continue reading...

NAHT survey says widespread disrepair forcing closure of playgrounds and classrooms, with Send facilities also hit Half of headteachers say parts of their school are either out of use or unfit for purpose due to leaks, damp, mould, asbestos, ageing boilers and malfunctioning fire doors, according to a new survey by the National Association of Head Teachers(NAHT). Among those who say their schools are suffering, almost three-quarters (73%) say they have toilet blocks that are either closed (8%) or not fit for purpose (65%). Continue reading...