Airline says travellers are leaving it longer to book and those buying flights later this year could face higher prices Business live – latest updates Ryanair is “confident” it will not face a jet fuel shortage this summer amid fears over widespread cancellations linked to the Iran war, but warned holidaymakers booking their flights later this year could face higher fares. Neil Sorahan, the chief financial officer at the budget airline, said he was “increasingly confident that we will not see any supply shocks this summer”. Continue reading...

Forgotten psychiatric patients are resurrected with imagination and compassion in this extraordinary book Cork Mental Hospital, also known as Our Lady’s, was once the longest building in Ireland: a monster of 19th-century gothic, much added to before its closure in the 1990s, that stares from the north bank down to the River Lee and the city beyond. In recent years, a lot of the complex has been turned, predictably, into apartments. A developer’s website now invites you to “Live comfortably, live conveniently, live with us”. This, surely, is a spectral sort of invitation: hard for “us” not to conjure, amid bright mockup interiors, the fretful shades of the unwell – and the unwilling. When Doireann Ní Ghríofa – celebrated poet and author of the nonfiction A Ghost in the Throat – began exploring the derelict site several years ago, she recognised it straight away as a place she might herself, but for historical fortune, have ended up. Said the Dead is an intimately researched but also wildly imaginative study of lives (mostly female) lived and often concluded during the hospital’s first 70 years or so. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says Europe must ‘have a strong voice and presence’ amid search for candidate who could lead any talks with Putin In other news, the hantavirus-hit cruiseship MV Hondius has just arrived at the Port of Rotterdam, where it will be disinfected and its crew members will go into quarantine. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested last night that the time has come for Europe to pick its preferred negotiator for eventual peace talks with Russia. Continue reading...

There’s plenty of charm in the low-budget inventiveness of this low-budget murder mystery set in a Wetherspoon’s for interstellar truckers Its eyes and aspirations eternally bigger than its budget and reach, this British sci-fi film provides the answer to an unlikely question: what if someone remade 2011’s Source Code in a rundown outpost of Wetherspoon’s? Amid reported unrest between neighbouring planets Atopia and Cho-Hacha, mumsy anti-terror agent Alana Toro (Zoe Cunningham) receives orders from a hologrammatic James Cosmo to track down and bring in a troublesome rebel group. Her mission stalls, however, when she walks into a bar for interstellar truckers, where the film’s horizons shrink and – thanks to a time-loop device – our heroine gets several goes at interrogating the same skeleton crew of patrons and trying to resolve a convoluted and stubbornly uninvolving murder mystery. Along the way, flickers of B-movie ingenuity and invention catch the eye. The grimy, greasy set design (courtesy of Jamie Foote) conceals some of the budgetary limitations, meaning that this is a rare modern sci-fi that inhabits a palpably physical, non-pixellated space. Costume designer Ciéranne Kennedy Bell clearly had immense fun dressing this troupe in the sort of cyberpunk finery that is a crossover between Red Dwarf and Claire’s Accessories. The score, by Christoph Allerstorfer and James Griffiths, is that of a far more expansive and assured production. Alana herself is a promising pulp creation – a leather-clad, purple-wigged Miss Marple who gets to pull out a space blaster every now and again – even if Cunningham, with her air of a school secretary who’s just uncovered a tuck shop scam, seems more than faintly miscast. Continue reading...

US president says there ‘won’t be anything left’ of country if it doesn’t come to an agreement UAE blames Iran or its proxies for drone strike fire near nuclear plant Oman’s foreign ministry has condemned the drone strike that caused a fire at the perimeter of UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant on Sunday. In a statement shared to X, the ministry expressed its solidarity with the UAE but stressed that it rejected all “hostile and escalatory acts” as it urged for dialogue to address regional issues and called for international law to be respected by all parties. Continue reading...

Deputy PM says Andy Burnham would be ‘great addition to parliament’, but leadership row is an ‘own goal’ for Labour Keir Starmer is not about to set a timetable for his departure from Downing Street, David Lammy, one of the prime minister’s closest cabinet allies, has said, calling on Labour to get beyond the “spectacular own goal” of repeated leadership speculation. While allies of Starmer have suggested he is potentially willing to step aside if Andy Burnham wins next month’s Makerfield byelection and no other challenger emerges, Lammy insisted this was not being considered. Continue reading...

From removal of tunnel cover to turning off concourse TVs, title-chasing Arsenal manager has left no stone unturned It’s being billed as the biggest Premier League game ever hosted at the Emirates Stadium. Tickets for Monday’s meeting with Burnley, who were relegated almost a month ago and returned 1,500 tickets for their trip to north London, were being sold for upwards of £650 last week as Arsenal attempt to edge closer to being crowned champions for the first time since they said goodbye to Highbury. In an attempt to recreate the red-hot atmosphere that inspired the victory over Atlético Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, Arsenal supporters have been encouraged to arrive two hours before kick-off on Monday night to greet the team when they arrive at the stadium. “The players were in the other bus, but I could see straight away all the staff and everybody was there just looking at each other and saying: ‘Wow, we’ve taken this to a different level,’” Mikel Arteta said this week of the Atlético experience. “The engagement, the passion, the enthusiasm of our fans in their eyes, I think that was something special.” Continue reading...

Over the past five years, I’ve spoken to people struggling to get by in post-industrial northern England. They’re crying out for more radicalism, not less Among other defeats, the recent local elections saw Labour lose heavily across the Midlands and the north of England. The results are reminiscent of the 2016 Brexit vote and, with the return of those electoral geographies, some of the old tropes have resurfaced, too. Once again, England’s post-industrial towns are cast as the angry, reactionary counterparts to booming, progressive cities. Certainly, Reform UK is winning there now, but that is not the full picture. These places should not be chalked up as lost causes for the left. Sacha Hilhorst is a Hallsworth Fellow at the University of Manchester and a senior research fellow at Common Wealth Continue reading...

Exposure to high temperatures won’t have a noticable effect – unless your sperm count is already low Could your post-gym spa habit affect your ability to have a baby? It’s a belief that gets repeated regularly online. But Prof Colin Duncan, a fertility expert at the University of Edinburgh, says things aren’t as clearcut as people make out. Cisgender men produce sperm in the testicles. It’s from here that these male reproductive cells are released to inseminate the eggs women produce. Duncan says that repeated exposure to higher temperatures, such as those found in saunas, do inevitably have some effect on how much sperm is made by them. “Testicles are located outside the body because they work better when they’re cooler. If you’re incubating them in a sauna then they don’t work quite as well.” Continue reading...

Relegated three times this century, AGF are the latest surprise champions in a notable trend for Scandinavia When the buses pulled up at Brøndby Stadion on the penultimate weekend of the season, the travelling fans were already celebrating. The final whistle had just blown at Nordsjælland, where Aarhus’s title rivals, Midtjylland, had been held to a goalless draw. That meant Aarhus Gymnastikforening (or AGF for short) could secure the Danish title for the first time since 1986 with a win against Brøndby. The atmosphere was electric before kick-off, the AGF fans displaying a huge tifo with the message: “Let’s write history together.” It didn’t take long for the team to meet the moment, Henrik Dalsgaard, the former Brentford and Midtjylland defender, scoring from a corner after three minutes. The away end erupted, 40 years of hurt swept away in an outpouring of euphoria. “It was one of the greatest days of my life and I think a lot of other AGF fans would say that too,” says Jakob Emil Beikes, the chair of AGF’s fanclub. “When we were celebrating it was just everything, all the feelings coming through. I still can’t believe it, actually. It’s insane.” Continue reading...

Note to politicians: you can just do stuff regular people actually need and want and it’s OK Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news The oil price has risen this morning, which will put more pressure on government bond prices. Brent crude is up 1.77% at $111.16 a barrel, its highest level in nearly two weeks. These attacks serve as a pointed warning: any renewed US or Israeli strikes on Iran could quickly trigger more proxy assaults on Gulf energy and critical infrastructure. “We are no longer in a period where public debt is not a subject.” Continue reading...

Bafflement at Old Trafford, Chelsea’s Wembley drought goes on and Leeds give fans cause for optimism Luke Shaw’s first goal in over three years for Manchester United was a further reminder of the left-back’s capabilities. This has been his best season at Old Trafford having featured in all 37 league games thus far, leaving his injury-prone past forgotten. Considering Shaw’s experience and quality, he should be considered for a spot at the World Cup. Thomas Tuchel does not have a vast array of riches in the position and Shaw’s consistency has been key to Michael Carrick’s turnaround at Old Trafford. “He deserves to go,” said Carrick after the win against Nottingham Forest. “His consistency, his performances, his experience, his qualities. He’s an excellent full-back.” Nico O’Reilly is the current first choice for England and he has a very different profile from Shaw, having converted from playing as a central midfielder under Pep Guardiola. Tuchel may want to take Shaw to provide variety and reliability, which would be a sensible approach. Will Unwin Match report: Manchester United 3-2 Nottingham Forest Match report: Newcastle 3-1 West Ham Match report: Aston Villa 4-2 Liverpool Continue reading...

With state-of-the-art fitness and spa facilities onsite and everything from hiking to kayaking the beautiful Bay of Kotor, it’s a perfect base for an active break I was lying on a bed with no trousers on. A young man helped me into some crotch-high boots and zipped them up. He turned the lights down low, put on some music, pressed a button and left the room. Argh! The boots started to slowly inflate from the toes up, like a giant blood-pressure cuff. As they clenched around my upper thighs, I started to panic. What if they just got tighter and tighter until my legs exploded? As I was about to shout for help, the pressure suddenly released, leaving my legs feeling deliciously light. I took a deep breath and submitted to another 19 minutes of this sweet torture. I was at Siro Boka Place in Montenegro, having compression boot therapy, which is supposed to boost circulation and reduce swelling. “It’s especially effective on women over 35,” my youthful assistant had told me, helpfully. The hotel, which opened last year, is proud of its “state-of-the-art wellness facilities”. In most hotels that means a poky gym. At Siro the facilities are so good the Montenegrin Olympic team is training here ahead of Los Angeles 2028. Continue reading...

Commission led by Sajid Javid and Jon Cruddas asks public to share vision of community and country to help rebuild social cohesion Sajid Javid has warned the country risks “being torn apart by our differences” as figures from across public life launch a project that asks what it means to be British. The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, co-chaired by the former Conservative chancellor as well as the former Labour party policy chief Jon Cruddas, is urging the public to share their personal vision of their community and their country in the National Conversation project. Continue reading...

In this warm and tender debut, the family of Barbados-born Lucinda must try to document her decades in Britain after the Home Office threatens her with deportation There is a particular kind of British cruelty that thrives on politeness. The 2018 Windrush scandal exposed this in full: rather than chaos or spectacle, it revealed a machinery of clinical decisions that stripped Black and brown people of their belonging with bureaucratic precision. It is now part of our national story, often spoken of in the abstract or invoked as a cautionary tale. But what can be obscured, in this telling, is the texture of the harm, the way complicated lives were reduced to paperwork. Smallie, Eden McKenzie-Goddard’s tender debut, insists on restoring the humanity of those Windrush-generation immigrants who were erased by official language. The story begins decades before, in 1961, when 19-year-old Lucinda Brown leaves Barbados for England, in search of Clarence Braithwaite, the jazz musician who fathered her child (who stays in the care of her family) and then disappeared into the promises of Britain. On the boat crossing she meets Raldo, a magnetic Trinidadian – “the type of man women slap each other to point out” – whose easy charm hints at a freer life. Continue reading...

The broadcasting favourites are up to mischief in their first pod together. Plus, a cool new take on Radio 4’s hit series A History of the World in 100 Objects Continue reading...

We cut out one leg of our journey, but a clause allows airlines to cancel a whole journey if a passenger misses just one leg To celebrate my 60th birthday, we used an inheritance to book flights from Glasgow to Mexico City via Heathrow, where our son was to join us. We worried that the transfer time of 90 minutes at Heathrow would be tight, given that there had been storms that week, so in the end, my husband, daughter and I instead took a train from Glasgow the night before. Continue reading...

With Israel blocking imports of building materials, those rebuilding in Gaza are recycling ruins to make new homes It is difficult to see through the dust inside the cramped, low-roofed tent on the eastern edge of Khan Younis. Ibrahim al-Aloul works alongside four others, with a piece of fabric tied over his mouth and nose as his only shield against the toxic grey powder as he sifts and grinds. Outside, a skinny donkey waits with a cart to carry the finished product to the next tent along, where it will be mixed with gypsum, calcium and binding agents before being bagged in flour sacks and sold. Continue reading...

Mid-range Android stands out with huge screen, slick software and dot-matrix display, but falls just short of greatness Nothing’s latest quirky smartphone is a huge aluminium Android with three cameras and a big LED matrix screen on the back that challenges the notion mid-range phones can’t be just a bit more fun. The Phone 4a Pro is a bit of a departure from UK-based Nothing’s previous glass-clad transparent designs. It still has a touch of those elements but only in the camera island at the top, with the rest of the body now solid aluminium – a rare sight in the world of Android phones. Continue reading...

In Paula Rodríguez’s impressionistic documentary, an academic’s South American travelogue brings the painful story of a proud Indigenous society to life Between 1862 and 1885, the Mapuche Indigenous people rose up to defend their homeland against invading outsiders. For these acts of bravery, they were deported, tortured and massacred at the hands of the Chilean and Argentinian military. These painful chapters of history, once suppressed and buried, are seen in a new light in Paula Rodríguez’s moving documentary. The film takes the form of a travelogue led by Margarita Canio Llanquinao, a Mapuche academic; after discovering the testimonials of Katrulaf, a Mapuche prisoner of war, in a Berlin archive, Llanquinao embarks on a journey that links the past to the present, the personal to the collective. Retracing Katrulaf’s deportation route, Llanquinao crosses the Patagonian pampas and the Andes mountain range. Captured in impressionistic wide shots, the visual splendour of the landscape is on full display: vast, dusky deserts give way to lush forests. The sight of animals peacefully roaming free, however, sharply contrasts with the sombre voiceover, taken from Katrulaf’s written interviews. Separated from his own family and stripped of his valuables, he endured harrowing treatment inflicted by captors, including being tied up every night for more than six months. The juxtaposition of sound and image conjures the dark violence that lurks beneath the pastoral calm of the stunning vistas. Continue reading...

When Sousan Samadani saw a video about soil degradation, she suddenly knew she would commit everything she had to the cause. Soon she was travelling thousands of miles to raise awareness, skydiving, hitchhiking and cycling Sousan Samadani was watching videos on YouTube one day when she came across a post about how the world’s soil was degrading so rapidly that it was in danger of extinction. The video – posted by the Save Soil movement – “was like a shock for me”, Samadani says. “I thought: ‘How is it possible that the soil that gives us food is dying?’” Continue reading...

She tells the untold version of the American Revolution in a fascinating two-parter. Plus, the Chelsea flower show kicks off. Here’s what to watch this evening 9pm, BBC Two Another sparky history lesson with expert Lucy Worsley, as she tells the British perspective – or “the untold version” – of the American Revolution. Marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the two-parter starts in New York where George Washington read out “the ultimate breakup letter”, then looks at the events of King George III’s reign that led up to this moment. Hollie Richardson Continue reading...

Ralph Lauren the brand turns 60 next year, with the designer himself now in his ninth decade. A new book, Ralph Lauren: Catwalk, written by veteran fashion journalist Bridget Foley, explores the history of the all-American label’s influential catwalk shows from 1972 to now Continue reading...

‘Concern’ about immigration has now morphed into policing how ethnic minorities exist in our communities Turn away, for a moment, from Westminster and the battle to be the next prime minister – and towards the lives of the ethnic minorities and immigrants who live in England and who just saw many parts of their country turn turquoise at the May local elections. How are these people to be treated by Reform representatives when that party thinks they are lesser humans – and a threat to the social fabric of the very communities they live in? A newly elected Reform councillor has allegedly said “Carnt [sic] believe amount of nigerians in town … should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes”. The deputy leader of Reform, Richard Tice, said that voters have heard all this “smearing and sneering” before when the comment was put to him. Another Reform candidate tweeted that Muslims “never coexist with others” and should be deported, and that Africans have IQs “among the lowest in the world”. And another stated that, “The only solution” was to “remove the Muslims from our territory” – and that Ashkenazi Jews were a “problem” who “caused the world massive misery”. Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...