A record of what was published, when, and how it changed.

The best mattresses in the UK: sleep better with our 18 rigorously tested picks

By Jane Hoskyn

From luxury Simba and Otty mattresses to brilliant budget buys, here’s what we recommend – and the best deals to shop over bank holiday weekend • The best mattresses for back pain • The best mattress toppers, tested A good mattress improves your sleep, say mattress makers – and they would, wouldn’t they? But they’re right. The older I get, the more I know it. When I was 20, I could sleep anywhere: a friend’s floor, a

Is Natalie Portman really the subject of Rachel Cusk’s new novel? Nine things you need to know about the literary hoo-haa

By Elle Hunt

Fiction sleuths are obsessed with the idea that the book, Life of M, is a flagrant riff on the actor’s life. And despite being a firm Cusk fan, Portman is reportedly not happy Life of M, the latest book by the critically acclaimed author Rachel Cusk, is being billed by its publisher, Faber, as a “blazing interrogation of fame, power, beauty and truth” – and openly alleged as a thinly veiled portrait of Natalie Portma

• Machine signalAllegation language

Mpox is back – and in new countries. How can this outbreak be contained?

By Kat Lay Global health correspondent

The public health emergencies in 2022 and 2024 saw the virus reported in 145 countries, but in the new cases children appear particularly affected A fresh outbreak of mpox in Guinea Bissau – the country’s first – means the virus formerly known as monkey pox is back in the headlines. So what has changed? Since 2022, there have been almost 190,000 lab-confirmed cases of mpox reported worldwide in 145 countries. Before

On scraps of land and under constant threat, Gaza farmers struggle to survive

By Seham Tantesh in Gaza, and Julian Borger

Efforts to rebuild domestic food production face severe challenges and have come at deadly cost As Gaza’s population of 2.1 million has been hemmed into an ever smaller slice of the territory, farmers are using every last remaining patch of unspoiled earth, no matter how tiny, in their struggle to survive. With severe shortages of water, fertiliser and pesticide, and with more than 80% of greenhouses ruined, it has t

Fake US thinktank set up and funded by Israel sought to game AI for propaganda

By Jason Wilson

In effort to prime chatbots to make pro-Israel arguments the site published 124 reports, over 560,000 words in nine days, Guardian analysis shows A pro-Israel messaging website badged with the name of a thinktank that does not exist has published more than half a million words in nine days, built on a commercial platform that promises to optimize content so that AI chatbots will cite it. The site gives Israel’s posit

This is the question Democrats should ask voters in order to win this November | Robert Reich

By Robert Reich

They should ask the question Reagan asked at the end of his debate against Jimmy Carter: ‘Are you better off now than you were before this presidency?’ The midterm elections are already upon us, and every Democrat and independent running against a Republican should ask voters the question Ronald Reagan asked on 28 October 1980, at the end of his televised debate against Jimmy Carter: “Are you better off now than you

‘Major casualties’ feared after flash floods along Nepal-Tibet border

By Reuters in Kathmandu

Deathtoll of nine likely to rise as floods and mudslide sweep away houses, roads, bridges and power projects Torrential floods ⁠in the Himalayan border areas of ⁠Nepal and China’s ​Tibet have killed at least nine people and destroyed roads, bridges and power projects, as authorities in both countries braced for more casualties and worse damage. Houses and roads were swept away ⁠in Nepal while officials in Tibet said

• Machine signalDeath or self-harm

Bill Gates calls for ‘human-reserved’ jobs in face of AI takeover

By Mark Sweney

In 6,000-word essay Microsoft co-founder also expresses concern governments not prepared for technology’s impact Business live – latest updates Bill Gates has called for “human-reserved” jobs in certain sectors to prevent AI replacing them, and expressed concern that governments are not prepared for the impact the technology will have. In a 6,000 word essay titled The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make are

Manchester City confirm Bouaddi signing as Marmoush and González head out

By Jamie Jackson and David Hytner

Spurs to take Marmoush on loan with obligation to buy City agree £52m Nico González sale to Newcastle Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille for €95m (£81.4m) plus €5m, with the 18-year-old midfielder agreeing a five-year contract. Bouaddi’s arrival comes after City struck deals to loan Omar Marmoush to Tottenham for the season, with an obligation to buy for an initial £50m, and sell

How Mark Carney’s speeches have become political earthquakes | Ted Widmer

By Ted Widmer

The quiet-spoken Canadian prime minister has spoken unutterable truths Is it perhaps a sign of the times that Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada, has become a thrilling orator? A sober banker, he speaks calmly, without many vocal inflections. We expect Canadians to be somewhat flat; even a little boring, and yet Carney has already delivered two remarkable speeches in 2026, and the year is far from over. The fi

Wiped out: US faces surging toilet paper prices amid trade war with Canada

By Lauren Aratani in New York

Paper products among hardest-hit sectors after trade negotiations broke down, with 25-50% tariffs estimated Are you a Canadian boycotting US products? We’d like to hear from you Using the bathroom or having a cry is about to become more expensive for North Americans as the US and Canada enter a full-fledged trade war that threatens to flush away decades of peaceful trading between the two nations. After trade negotia

Americans say they lose weight in Europe – and I think I know why | Arwa Mahdawi

By Arwa Mahdawi

Is it because of differences in the flour that’s being consumed? Or something to do with the European approach to getting around? It’s not just the mass shootings you have to watch out for in the US, it’s also the lettuce – a dodgy bit of iceberg could leave you sick with cyclosporiasis. And then there are the frozen blueberries, recently recalled because of a “reasonable probability” they could “cause serious advers

• Machine signalAllegation language
• Machine signalDeath or self-harm

‘132F’: meet the man calling out NYC’s infernally hot subway stations

By Oliver Milman in New York, with photos and video by Thalia Juarez

Jack Klein takes heat readings, gives fans to overheated passengers and lugs big jugs of water into the stations On a recent August day in the subterranean furnace of New York City’s subway, one bearded, curly haired man was studying his phone for different reasons than the other wilting passengers – to track the soaring temperatures and ponder how underground train stations can cool down in an era of climate crisis.

De Gaulle: Résistance review – a galloping bromance for Churchill and France’s wartime hero

By Peter Bradshaw

This biopic of the great Gallic general – which culminates at Bir Hakeim, in advance of a second film – is a fine, quietly amusing romp with a touch of classic 60s war films Perhaps because it is based on a biography by an Englishman – Julian Jackson’s A Certain Idea of France: The Life of Charles de Gaulle – this very enjoyable and gallopingly eventful biopic, directed by Antonin Baudry, has an element of amused det

• Machine signalInvestigation language

The Spin | England’s troubles with spinners is leaving a generation behind

By Daniel Gallan

Dom Bess is one of many in a long line of England spinners to struggle for a sustained run in Test cricket. Why is there no lasting solution? It is the eighth over of South Africa’s first innings in Gqeberha in January 2020 when Joe Root tosses the ball to 22-year-old Dom Bess. Three overs later, the decision pays off. With the final ball before drinks, Bess takes a return catch to dismiss Pieter Malan. In the final

Max Olesker: Making the Cut review – up close and personal account of comic’s religious conversion

By Brian Logan

Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh This show about Olesker’s lengthy journey to becoming an Orthodox Jew in order to marry his partner is both elegant and nuanced ‘I would do anything for love,” Meat Loaf sang, “but I won’t do that.” Max Olesker would, if his solo show Making the Cut – based on his memoir – is any guide. It recounts the comic and writer’s conversion from liberal to Orthodox Judaism, a process required so he c

• Machine signalDeath or self-harm
• Machine signalInvestigation language

Sky Sports agrees US Open contract extension after boost in female audience figures

By Exclusive by Matt Hughes

Raducanu’s 2021 win played role in Sky interest Sky’s tennis audience in 2025 was 60% female Sky Sports has agreed a new deal to extend its live coverage of the US Open. The three-year contract extension, which is expected to be announced when the singles draw from Flushing Meadows begins next week, will keep the tournament live on Sky until 2030. Under the terms of the new deal, Sky will broadcast more than 12 hours

Tributes pour in after country music legend Dolly Parton dies – latest updates

By Mabel Banfield-Nwachi (now) and Fran Singh,Kate Lamb, Lucy Campbell and Fran Lawther (earlier)

Legendary country singer died surrounded by loved ones after being diagnosed with cancer, her team says; Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Dionne Warwick lead tributes Dolly Parton dies aged 80 Celebrity tributes A life in pictures Parton’s peerless career turned country music cliches inside out Share your tributes and memories of Dolly Parton Our picture editors have collated Dolly Parton ’s life in pictures: In the UK, top

• Machine signalDeath or self-harm

Umyla Hanley was working as a builder two years ago. Now he hopes to play for England at a World Cup

By Gavin Willacy

It looked as if his rugby league career was going nowhere but Ellery Hanley’s son timed his rise to the top perfectly By No Helmets Required Among the unlikeliest visitors to Leigh Leopards’ recent win at Leeds Rhinos was a tortoise. The animal stall was part of a family night at Headingley; presumably unleashing a rhino on the crowded concourse was considered unwise. The Leigh centre Umyla Hanley’s journey to the to

Backwoods Barbie and the ‘God almighty’ PMS Blues: Dolly Parton’s 10 best deep cuts

By Jenny Stevens

From heartbreaking spoken word to wry takes on the double standards women face, here are some of the late country singer’s lesser known gems Alexis Petridis on Dolly Parton’s peerless career Dolly Parton – a life in pictures Share your tributes and memories of Dolly Parton Dolly Parton was one of the most gifted narrative lyricists ever – particularly when it came to telling the stories of women’s experiences. This i

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival – a game so grotesque it scares its own director

By Bex April May

With oversight from Clive Barker himself, and a role reprisal as Pinhead from actor Doug Bradley, Revival aims to introduce new audiences to the discomfort of Hellraiser If a horror game gives its own director a physical reaction, it’s probably doing something right. While researching the images people find hardest to look at, game director Emil Esov discovered he has trypophobia – a fear of clusters of small holes.

The rise of ‘biogossip’: Rachel Cusk’s Natalie Portman novel is the latest in a delicious literary lineage

By Greta Rainbow

The much-discussed Life of M is the latest in a lineage of celebrity satire that spans from Virginia Woolf to The Devil Wears Prada In Rachel Cusk ’s new novel, Life of M, the famous actor protagonist participates in an event at a book store after hours. The actor, M, is joined by “a writer of some renown” and a fashion model who possesses “some vague self-absorption”. A brand sponsored the affair. I spent literal ho

Moringa lattes and tigernut kebabs: the Ghanaians ‘taking back the power’ of their food

By Kaamil Ahmed

In Ghana, a grassroots movement is championing nutritious, homegrown, climate-resilient produce, rather than western imports After three years at catering school in Accra, Abiro Wisdom was certain of one thing – he did not want to go into catering. At least not the route that he might be expected to take. His course had prepared students for working in international hotels, focusing on French, Italian and Mexican cui

‘I remember going: oh hello!’ Dara Ó Briain on comedy, coolness, cruelty and finding his birth parents

By Sam Wollaston

The standup has been the host of the panel show Mock the Week for more than two decades. As it returns to UK screens, he discusses its years as a macho bear pit, the dearth of jokes about Brexit – and why it’s important to punch up Dara Ó Briain is still having photos taken when I arrive at the studio in west London. A comedian requires comedy pictures, so Pål, the photographer, has him sitting on the floor holding u

Shingles vaccine linked to lower risk of heart attack and stroke, study finds

By Hannah Devlin Science correspondent

Researchers say benefits of two-dose Shingrix vaccine could be comparable to taking daily blood pressure medication The current shingles vaccine appears to significantly lower the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to scientists who say it could help prevent thousands of deaths each year. The research, based on records of 70,000 people in the US, found that those who had received Shingrix had a 12% lower risk