Former Scottish Labour leader says she understands that expressing respect for author caused ‘worry, anger and upset’ The incoming chair of the LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, says she is “truly sorry” after she expressed “huge respect” for JK Rowling in an interview with the Guardian. Kezia Dugdale, the former leader of Scottish Labour, said she understood that her words had caused “worry, anger and upset and I am truly sorry about that”. Continue reading...

She’s already taken Paris and Venice – now, with husband Jeff Bezos, she’s stormed New York’s Met Gala. And for a mere $75,000, you can be there with her We live in an age when the most successful revolutionaries are not the peasants but the Silicon Valley billionaires. They are the true disrupters, the victorious radicals and the people who have successfully ripped up legacy systems and replaced them with themselves. Revolutionaries used to rebel against governments, but the techlords are now so powerful that meaningful revolt against them could really only come from governments. Governments are the new peasants. The erstwhile peasants, meanwhile, are in endless thrall to the technologies of their overlords, each one carrying in their hands a device pretty much guaranteed to distract them from doing anything other than clicking impotently – and only when they remember – on “change”. Never mind televised; their revolution will be narcotised. Anyhow: I can’t believe Lauren Sánchez hasn’t gone with the above paragraph as the theme for the Met Ball that her husband, Jeff, bought her. Maybe it was too long for the invitations. Either way, we are just over a week away from the biggest event in the fashion calendar, which, like his own fairy godfather, the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, has purchased the honorary chairmanship of for himself and his wife. Cinderella and her Cinderfella shall go to the ball. You cannot imagine how much Silicon there’s going to be at the event. Marina Hyde’s new book, What a Time to be Alive!, is out in September (Guardian Faber Publishing, £20). To support the Guardian, order your signed copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

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

England forward has recovered from achilles injury Calafiori also fit as Arteta targets ‘two big competitions’ Mikel Arteta is hoping the return of Bukayo Saka after a month out can provide Arsenal with “a different energy” as they attempt to beat Manchester City to the Premier League title. The England forward has not played since the defeat by City in the Carabao Cup final owing to an achilles injury and Arsenal have won one of five games without him. Arteta said Saka would be in the squad to face Newcastle on Saturday evening, when Arsenal will have an opportunity to go top again. Continue reading...

Auditor found Sarah Wedl-Wilson approved payments of public money to groups that had not been fully vetted Berlin’s top culture official, British-born Sarah Wedl-Wilson, has stood down over a funding scandal involving the the irregular distribution of €2.6m in public money for programmes to fight antisemitism. As culture senator for the Berlin regional government, Wedl-Wilson had already sacked a state secretary in her department, Oliver Friederici, over the affair this week, but the opposition called him a mere scapegoat. Continue reading...

Royal Festival Hall, London Part of the Southbank’s Multitudes festival, this pairing of silent movie and Messiaen was a feast for the eyes and ears What happens when you pair one of the 20th century’s most hectic and emotionally overwhelming scores with a hyperactive animated movie? The result might easily have been an unholy mess, but what emerged from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s inspired collaboration with the multi-award-winning 1927 Studios was a triumph. Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-symphonie is steeped in the legend of Tristan and Isolde, its 80 luxuriant minutes culminating in a joyous outpouring of sensual and spiritual love. The 100 or so musicians never balked at the work’s complexities as Vasily Petrenko guided them through the knottiest musical thickets in an unusually clear-eyed account of this most challenging of scores. Elastic tempi generated vast orgasmic peaks, and yet not one of the composer’s vivid colours was ever smudged. Steven Osborne, an old hand at the fiendish solo piano part, was particularly impressive in the glittering cadenzas with Cécile Lartigau’s eerie glissandos on the ondes Martenot cutting cleanly through the orchestral maelstrom. Continue reading...

Login method for apps and websites stored on users’ devices provides stronger security and is resistant to phishing and breaches The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has called time on the password – from now on, you should use a passkey. The NCSC said this week it would no longer recommend using passwords where passkeys were available. They should be consumers’ first choice of login across all digital services because passwords were not secure enough to stand up to modern cyber threats. Continue reading...

Whether you’re a beginner, an ultra-runner or a speed demon, our expert clocked up more than 50km in each trainer to find the perfect shoe, no matter your goal • The best running watches, tested Whether you’re just starting Couch to 5k or well on the way to the 100 Marathon Club, finding running shoes that suit your pace, physique and running style is mission-critical. The right shoes can help you run better, ward off injury and, most importantly, help you to build the consistency that unlocks the biggest fitness and mental health gains. The first step out of the door is the hardest, and uncomfortable shoes are just another barrier between you and that sweet endorphin release. Yet with dozens of brands – from Hoka, Adidas and Nike to New Balance, Saucony and On – hundreds of styles, and enough tech jargon to make Susie Dent’s head spin, finding your solemate can be a challenge in itself. Best running shoes overall: Saucony Endorphin Azura Best value running shoes for speed: Kiprun Kipride Max Continue reading...

From cooking at too high temperatures to consuming too little fat, what and how we eat can have a big impact on the way we age. Here’s what you might be doing wrong – and how to fix it One of the challenges with the sheer availability of food in today’s world is that lots of us end up spending many of our waking hours eating. Whether it’s full meals, snacks or desserts, scientists have found that it’s not uncommon for us to be mindlessly grazing at some point during all of our 16 or so waking hours. Continue reading...

Recent European quarter-final was a classic and champions’ Prem trip to the Midlands will likely produce similar Was this the greatest game ever played, people were asking in the aftermath of that quarter-final of the Champions Cup a fortnight ago in Bath. Victory by the odd try in 11; home team roared on to successful comeback victory with that 11th try in the last five minutes; Northampton, the away team, 28-7 up after barely 20 minutes, playing rugby of the gods. A personal opinion is that it certainly was the greatest game ever played … this month. Without wanting to prick any bubbles of enthusiasm that may have swelled in the moments after the latest epic, yes, the match was incredible – and if it had happened in the amateur era would have been consecrated as legend long ago – but have we already forgotten France v England not even a month earlier? What about Scotland v France a week before that? We could go on. Continue reading...

2005 champion hammers Xiao Guodong 13-3 at Crucible ‘We’re going to ship out of Sheffield for a few days’ Shaun Murphy will savour some home comforts after beating Xiao Guodong with a session to spare and reaching the last eight of the World Snooker Championship. Murphy guaranteed himself a night off on Friday with a 13-3 second-round demolition of Xiao – and then revealed he was heading home before his quarter-final gets under way on Tuesday. “Mathematically it’s possible to win with a session to spare but you don’t think it’s going to happen,” Murphy told the BBC after a fluent potting display that produced four centuries and seven further breaks over 60. “I kept getting those little chances and I’m really pleased how I played. It doesn’t happen often because everybody’s so good. We’re going to ship out of Sheffield for a few days. Go home now. This report will update later on Friday Continue reading...

Olly Robbins gave MPs a classic civil servant’s performance – and there are lessons from history about how ministers should respond The Whitehall satire Yes Minister was said to be Margaret Thatcher’s favourite TV show due to its proximity to reality, as the programme’s loquacious top civil servant, Sir Humphrey, might have put it. Yes Minister had a familiar groove: there would be a problem in response to which the mandarin would artfully deploy the most astonishing sophistry to avoid blame or get his own way. Jim Hacker, the largely clueless yet ambitious politician played by the late Paul Eddington, rarely won the day. Continue reading...

A social media clip released before the film hits cinemas, which introduces new character Jin Chao, has been greeted with furious reactions online A minor character in fashion-magazine comedy The Devil Wears Prada 2 has sparked a major backlash online, before the film has even reached cinemas. A 38-second clip released on social media by 20th Century Studios on 16 April was designed to showcase “the former assistant’s new assistant” Jin Chao, played by Helen J Shen; she is shown introducing herself and speaking to Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs, who is newly returned to work at the fictional Runway magazine. Continue reading...

Israeli prime minister says early-stage malignant tumour was discovered during a routine check-up Middle East crisis – live updates Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed that he received successful treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, without specifying when the treatment took place. In a statement on social media, as his annual medical report was released, the Israeli prime minister said an early-stage malignant tumour had been discovered during a routine checkup. The 76-year-old said targeted treatment had removed “the problem” and left no trace of it. Continue reading...

As sales soar, some say trackers can help animal anxiety or weightloss while others advise leaving diagnoses to the vet Pet health and activity trackers are bounding on to the market but experts are split on whether they are the cat’s pyjamas or barking up the wrong tree. As owners monitor their own step count, heart rate, skin temperature and calories burned via wearable tech, a host of companies have developed devices to do the same for pets. According to a report by Future Market Insights, the market for pet fitness trackers is expected to grow to $450m (£333m) by 2035. Continue reading...

Internal email proposes US should reassess support for UK claim to islands because of lack of support for Iran war UK politics live – latest updates The UK’s position on the Falklands is resolute and unchanging, Downing Street has insisted, after a leaked Pentagon internal email proposed the US should reassess its support for Britain’s claim to the islands because of a lack of support over Iran. Keir Starmer’s spokesperson did not push back against the likely veracity of the email but insisted that the UK’s defence and security relationship with the US remained extremely strong. Continue reading...

Crown Prosecution Service launches action plan to help potential victims and perpetrators understand behaviours Young people may not even realise they have been victims of stalking, the Crown Prosecution Service has said as it launched a scheme to tackle a rise in offending. The number of stalking offences charged by the CPS in England and Wales reached a record high last year of 7,168. More than 80% of these were flagged as relating to domestic abuse, meaning most victims were stalked or harassed by someone they knew. Continue reading...

Kiln theatre, London Tom Wright’s play explores how the Fab Four, and a rumoured affair with John Lennon, helped shape the manager’s tragically short life At the age of 30, the Beatles’s legendary manager, Brian Epstein, published his autobiography. At 32 he was dead, and his passing is widely considered the beginning of the end for the band. Tom Wright’s fascinating new play is less concerned with Epstein’s effect on a group of messy haired, leather-jacketed Liverpudlians than with their effect on him. In particular, it focuses on the relationship with John Lennon that would come to define the life of a Jewish gay man who, for all his success, always felt an outsider. We first meet Brian as a young man in his father’s record shop, replacing Bruch’s violin concerto with Elvis’s Hound Dog. His dad is happy to encourage his instincts in the baffling new world of 1960s pop – “Which Richard is the little one?” he’s forced to ask – but as the play’s breakneck opening makes clear, his son’s homosexuality is a source of shame and danger. Tom Piper’s mobile set of spinning closets (the shop also sells furniture) tumbles him down menacing corridors and alleyways; a shadowy Cavern Club reinforces the sense of a life concealed and buried. Continue reading...

The win-now Rams shocked by picking a QB and the Cowboys addressed their disastrous defense as a faster-paced first round reshaped the NFL draft’s opening night The Rams delivered the biggest shock of the night, sticking at pick No 13 and selecting Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. It was a stunner that seemed to take even their head coach by surprise. Sean McVay seemed less than enthusiastic at the Rams’ post-pick press conference, and Simpson said in an interview that he’s never met McVay. Continue reading...

John Ashby to serve minimum of 14 years after admitting rape, robbery, intentional strangulation and religiously aggravated assault A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years for the religiously aggravated rape and assault of a Sikh woman. John Ashby, 32, had admitted charges of rape, robbery, intentional strangulation and religiously aggravated assault on Tuesday. Ashby asked to see his barrister and changed his pleas around an hour after being sworn at and told to “sort your shit out” by a member of the public who approached the dock of Birmingham crown court. Continue reading...

Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge Perfectly timed exhibition of bright blooms bursts your senses into life and reveals intensely human stories of love, loss and jealousy-ridden break-ups Anyone who thinks flower paintings are stuffy should spend a few minutes with Tulip (Helen Josephine) by Rory McEwen. Standing in front of this exquisite watercolour, my senses come alive: I can taste strawberries and cream, and feel the velvety petals between my finger pads. McEwen had a lifelong love affair with plants, which he painted from life, making changes with a pen knife or scalpel, wearing surgeon’s spectacles for the fine details. Crisply defined and gleaming in the light, his tulip is beautifully mesmerising. It’s one of several flower paintings hanging on white and leaf-green walls at Kettle’s Yard. Inspired by the fresh cut flowers and paintings of flowers in the neighbouring house, Handpicked brings together more than 40 artists from the beginning of the 20th century to the present who share a floral passion. It’s a delightful exhibition, perfectly timed, and as I pass between splashy chrysanthemums and dancing fritillaries I’m considering what to pick up from the florist on my way home. But don’t be fooled into thinking that flower paintings are all decor and delight. Folded in with those soft-to-touch petals are intense human emotions and stark reminders of the fragility of life. Continue reading...

A film sequel 20 years in the making shows how luxury brands have turned the tables on once-dominant magazine editors The National Gallery was the grand setting for the party that followed The Devil Wears Prada 2’s London premiere this week. Donatella Versace held court in a roped-off private area beneath Paul Delaroche’s The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. Meryl Streep, reprising her role as Miranda Priestly – Anna Wintour’s fictional alter ego – wore a red satin Prada coat as a nod to the film’s title and black sunglasses as a wink to Wintour. Glossy magazine editors from Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, flown in for the night, nibbled on fried chicken served with caviar and dishes of mac and cheese presented theatrically under silver cloches. Continue reading...

Barbican, London Accompanied by a virtuosic band and powered by her operatic voice, Anohni is as good as Nina Simone at interpreting songs – and her own catalogue proves equally malleable yet strong ‘I never felt a part of this world,” Anohni begins on You Are My Enemy. “I reject the way that we live.” The career-spanning songs and cover versions she has selected for this show, entitled Wilderness, reiterate themes of exile and alienation, to which the answer (as a distorted prerecorded monologue explains) is the power of creativity to remake the world and the self. In the quarter-century since she emerged from the New York art scene, blessed by William Basinski and Lou Reed, Anohni has held fast to the belief that communication through art is of existential importance, and with such unwavering intensity that she makes most singers look like they’re just having a laugh. Wilderness is typically rigorous. Anohni and her virtuosic band – Gaël Rakotondrabe on grand piano, Chris Vatalaro on percussion, Leo Abrahams on guitar and bass – play before a film of swans gliding through the night. Sometimes they change colour, but it really is just 90 minutes of swans. Even swans don’t want to look at swans for that long. It’s much more interesting to watch Anohni herself. With her peroxide-white mane and floor-length black robe, she resembles a cleric or a sorcerer. She barely speaks and, when she sings, she stands motionless but for the hands trembling by her sides, as if making her entire body a channel for her extraordinary, operatic voice and the words it carries. Continue reading...

Executive order to speed access to psychedelic treatments likely to have limited legal impact despite high-profile push The Trump administration issued an executive order earlier this month to accelerate access to psychedelic medication for people with “serious mental illnesses,” but experts say the order is more likely to make a difference symbolically than legally. “Policymakers and the medical field have long struggled to address the burden of suicide and serious mental illness rates in America,” the order reads, noting that some people do not respond to available treatments. Continue reading...

A delicate, elegant and aromatic sour that’s a bit like a floral white lady A delicate, elegant and aromatic sour with notes of floral jasmine tea balanced by bright citrus, making it fresh and perfect for spring. By all means make double or triple the infused gin, if you like, because it also works beautifully in an elevated jasmine gin and tonic (plenty of ice, quality tonic and a lemon twist), or stirred into a simple floral martini with a splash of dry vermouth, or lengthened into a light spring spritz topped with sparkling wine and a dash of soda. Fredi Viaud, bar manager, Julie’s, London W11 Continue reading...