A collection of columns by the German Booker winner reveals a keen eye for details that mark the passing of time

Jenny Erpenbeck wrote the pieces collected in this compact yet kaleidoscopic book for a column in the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; published in German in 2009, they now appear in an English translation by Kurt Beals, following the immense success of Erpenbeck’s novel Kairos, which won the 2024 International Booker prize.

It’s interesting and instructive to reflect on what German newspaper readers made of the column in the early years of the new millennium, nearly two decades on from the fall of the Berlin Wall. For while Erpenbeck adopted some of the features of the form – apparently throwaway observations on daily life, such as minor irritation at the difficulty of sourcing proper splitterbrötchen, an unpretentious pastry now pimped for a more elaborate and wealthy clientele – she consistently enlarged and complicated it. Into that recognisable tone of ennui and mild querulousness with which journalists hope to woo a time-pressed but disenchanted or nostalgic readership, Erpenbeck smuggled metaphysics, politics and history.

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© Photograph: Mahler

© Photograph: Mahler

© Photograph: Mahler

The suicidal UK woman who flew to Florida to be "sexually abused and possibly murdered" by a man she met on a fetish website recorded a video with her alleged killer days earlier, describing how she wanted to die.

The reputation of one of America’s leading economists is in tatters since the emergence of emails to Jeffrey Epstein

• Allen sacked eight times in bruising Houston loss

• Rookie Calen Bullock seals win with late interception

• Shakir, Cook star but title-tipped Bills fall to 7–4

Little went right for Josh Allen in a frustrating game Thursday night against the Houston Texans.

And still he came close to willing the Buffalo Bills to a victory before an interception in the final minute sealed their fate in a 23-19 loss.

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© Photograph: Alex Slitz/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Slitz/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Slitz/Getty Images

Former Sports Illustrated cover star shows hip replacement scars in 'get ready with me' video.

Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch has been crowned the 74th Miss Universe, after accusing an organiser in Thailand of insulting her

As contestants prepared to walk the runway for the 74th Miss Universe competition on Friday, the pageant’s organisers were in damage control.

“In light of recent public statements and social media posts, the Miss Universe Organization considers it necessary to clarify certain inaccuracies,” a statement by the organisation began. It was addressing allegations of vote rigging – but it could just have easily been referring to a myriad of other scandals the event has seen over recent weeks.

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© Photograph: Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters

© Photograph: Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters

© Photograph: Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters

“Six guards, four campuses, 24 hours. How does that work?”

Michel, 52, declined to address the court before US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.

The temperature has truly dropped, so get a pot of something warming and delicious going on the stove. Plus: Amy Poon’s perfect post-pub fare

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At the risk of sounding like a British cliche, can we take a moment to discuss the change in the weather? This week’s sudden drop in temperature has our house excited for potential snow (the children are giddy), with everything suddenly feeling a lot more wintry. New coats are on the hooks, thermals are being dug out and a casserole dish filled with some sort of soup, stew or stock seems to be permanently ticking away on the hob. These range from quick, warming weeknight dinners to leisurely, slow-cooked weekend meals.

Whatever the time of year, I always have speedy packets of wontons and gyozas in the freezer, and cook them depending on how I feel (fried and steamed versus boiled and soupy). At the moment, I am craving warmth and nourishment, and Meera Sodha’s quickish vegan wonton soup hits all the right spots; an added bonus is that it is a soup my children can get on board with, too. I rely on my brothy braised chicory and beans (pictured top) to get me through working-from-home lunches, when I don’t have much time, as well as Rukmini Iyer’s spiced black bean and tomato soup, which is equally speedy and comforting.

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© Photograph: Matthew Hague/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Lucy Turnbull. Food styling assistant: Georgia Rudd.

© Photograph: Matthew Hague/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Lucy Turnbull. Food styling assistant: Georgia Rudd.

© Photograph: Matthew Hague/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Lucy Turnbull. Food styling assistant: Georgia Rudd.

It is uncomfortable to watch royals appealing to the nation’s best instincts while an elected government feels compelled to chase our worst

Every child has the right to feel safe, loved and as if they belong.

Put like that, there is nothing remotely radical about what the Princess of Wales used her first public speech since recovering from cancer to say: that families need consistently nurturing environments to flourish; that the world could actually use a bit more tenderness; that we are all responsible for the culture in which future generations grow up; and that (as she told an audience of blue-chip employers) caring for others is work deserving of respect. It’s the reasons why those motherhood-and-apple-pie values don’t always prevail in real life, rather than the values themselves, that are generally too contentious for the carefully apolitical royals. Yet what were once safe, bland nothings are increasingly no longer so – and not just because of the awkward shadow now cast over any royal initiative involving childhood by the former prince Andrew’s infamous association with the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

The Ohio Republican is the latest lawmaker known to have been targeted by former Special Counsel Jack Smith as part of a sprawling investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol – which resulted in the indictment of President Trump. 

Where did I leave my thongs?

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© Illustration: First Dog on the Moon/The Guardian

© Illustration: First Dog on the Moon/The Guardian

© Illustration: First Dog on the Moon/The Guardian

Former Yankees outfielder Cameron Maybin argued that trading for the Tigers ace would let the Bombers “take over the entire league.”

Only Hal Steinbrenner knows where the Yankees’ 2026 payroll will ultimately land — or at least how high he is willing to let it land — though he has made his feelings known on the sustainability of a $300-plus million payroll (“unsustainable”).

The pristine copy of Superman No 1, the character’s first solo title from 1939, was discovered in an attic in California last year

A copy of Superman No 1 that was discovered in an attic in California last year has become the world’s most expensive comic book after selling for US$9.12m (£6.96m, A$14.14m).

Superman No 1 was published in 1939 and was the Man of Steel’s first solo title. It marked the first time a character that debuted in a comic book had their own title devoted entirely to them.

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© Photograph: Heritage Auctions

© Photograph: Heritage Auctions

© Photograph: Heritage Auctions

Rice University is pulling out all the stops to entice its fans to attend this weekend’s game.

This was the type of game that exposed the deficiencies in the Rangers’ lineup.

The UK’s experiment in eating the rich while shrinking the state has left everyone worse off

Meeting marks the first in-person meeting between the US president and New York City’s mayor-elect

Today’s eye-popping valuations are based on the assumption that LLMs are the only game in town

US officials told organisers that President’s attendance in January depended on programme

Magic circle legal firm also shifts work to lower-cost hubs in Poland and India

Major retailers are selling tuna from fisheries where crews say they are exploited and abused

In May, Cannes went weak at the knees for Harry Lighton’s tale of BDSM and bootlicking in suburbia. Ahead of its release, the director and his stars reveal the explicit shots snipped from the final cut and discuss why Pride has become too sanitised

Harry Melling knows the secret to being a good boot-licker. “You want to give a decent, satisfying, sexy lick,” says the 36-year-old actor, who has the umlaut eyes and nasal tones of Nicholas Lyndhurst. “Once you get to the toe-cap, you need to make sure they can really feel your tongue through the leather.”

Melling, barely recognisable from his childhood role as wretched Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films, learned this new skill while preparing for the award-winning BDSM romcom Pillion. He plays Colin, a timid traffic warden who becomes the willing submissive to a taciturn biker named Ray. Listening intently to Melling’s boot-licking tips in this London hotel room are his Pillion partners-in-kink: Harry Lighton, the film’s 33-year-old writer-director, whose flat cap and smirk lend him a roguish look, and Alexander Skarsgård, 49, who plays Ray, and is dressed today in a slobby ensemble – red sweatshirt, blue tracksuit bottoms, black shoes – that fails to spoil his pin-up prettiness.

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© Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Guardian

© Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Guardian

© Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Guardian