Actor Chris Addison narrates a deep dive into the creative partnership of Lennon and McCartney

Another book on the Beatles? It’s hard to imagine a writer shedding new light on the band given the mountain of literature already in existence. But there is a freshness of perspective in Ian Leslie’s book, which tells of Lennon and McCartney’s unique alchemy through the songs they wrote together. Leslie’s background in psychology serves him well in a study that jettisons the usual narrative of male rivalry; their partnership, Leslie suggests, was closer to a marriage.

He begins with the pair’s early songwriting sessions, usually in McCartney’s front room, where rather than each taking ownership of songs, they worked in sync. Other fabled musical partnerships such as Leiber and Stoller, or Rodgers and Hammerstein, divided the labour between lyrics and melody, but Lennon and McCartney worked together on both. Pointing to their profound connection, Leslie notes how in the song If I Fell they performed “an intricate courtship dance, moving apart and close again as the song unfolds, like birds weaving in and out of each other’s flight path, alternately shielding and leading the other”.

California Democrats’ aim is to offset the Republican-drawn gerrymandered Texas map that nets five new US House seats for the GOP in 2026

• Texas Republicans pass gerrymandered congressional map

The government lost its bid to unseal grand jury transcripts in the sex-trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein.

Richard Berman, a federal judge in New York, said the transcripts pale in comparison to the documents the government already has on Epstein and that disclosing them could harm victims.

It’s kind of bizarre that we have a bunch of old, primarily white people who are out there protesting the policies that keep people safe when they’ve never felt danger in their entire lives.

As the all-singing, all-conquering horror-schlocker celebrates its 50th birthday, the genuine one-off retains all its raucous, raunchy, riotous joy

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is now 50 years old, a B-picture horror-schlocker campfest extravaganza based on Richard O’Brien’s original stage musical from 1973; it has carried on as an international theatrical touring phenomenon ever since. That live show, with the vital element of regular audience participation and dress-up, may in fact now have a bit more energy and point than the movie itself, which (whisper it) perhaps suffers a few longueurs.

The undoubted star is the sonorous and feline Tim Curry playing Dr Frank-N-Furter, a vampirically queer alien sex god, proselytising here on Earth for borderless pleasure and describing himself as a “sweet transvestite transsexual from Transylvania”. Dr Furter toys with the affections of the many followers and servants at his giant castle in middle America, including his butler Riff-Raff (played by O’Brien) and tearaway Eddie (played by Meat Loaf). Dr Furter is actually focused on his Frankensteinian project of creating Rocky Horror (Peter Hinwood), the ideal hunky blond male to service his needs. Even Dr Frankenstein didn’t actually want to have sex with his monster.

Serhiy K is believed to have been onboard boat from where 2022 attack on gas pipelines was carried out

A Ukrainian man alleged to have been involved in the 2022 detonation of the Nord Stream pipelines carrying gas from Russia to Germanyhas been arrested in Italy, according to German authorities.

The man, identified only as Serhiy K, is believed to have been onboard the sailing boat from where the attacked was allegedly carried out.

Peter Williams, 44, sentenced to almost 17 years after captaining boat that picked up packages off Cornish coast

A respected fisher who met King Charles and government representatives to discuss the future of the industry has been jailed for taking part in a sophisticated plot to smuggle £18m of cocaine into the UK.

Peter Williams, 44, was sentenced to 16 years and nine months for captaining a boat that went out to pick up packages of cocaine dropped into the sea off Cornwall by a “mother ship” transporting the drugs from South America.

Figures from classified IDF database listed 8,900 named fighters as dead or probably dead in May, as overall death toll reached 53,000

Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare.

As of May, 19 months into the war, Israeli intelligence officials listed 8,900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as dead or “probably dead”, a joint investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call has found.

8,900
Named fighters listed as dead or ‘probably dead’ in Israeli database as of May 2025

Brazilian supreme court judge sets ultimatum after police claim far-right populist sought to flee to avoid punishment over failed coup

A supreme court judge has given Brazil’s ex-president, Jair Bolsonaro, 48 hours to explain police claims he was planning to flee to Argentina to avoid punishment for allegedly masterminding a failed coup after losing the 2022 election.

Bolsonaro’s trial for the alleged attempt to seize power is scheduled to conclude early next month. The far-right populist faces more than four decades in prison if found guilty.

Hospitality giant responded to Guardian story about Ice’s use of Sheraton hotel to hold families prior to deportation

Marriott, the hospitality giant, has not disputed recent revelations that a Louisiana hotel in its portfolio was used to detain migrant families before deportation, which contradicts a 2019 policy that it would not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). In a new statement to the Guardian, the company suggested that its “acceptance of business” did not mean it supported the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

The Guardian reported on Tuesday that a Sheraton hotel in the city of Alexandria, situated close to a major Ice deportation hub, has been used to hold family groups before they are removed from the US. The Sheraton brand is owned by Marriott International.

Boy, 17, had intended to set fire to Islamic centre in Greenock, Inverclyde, after befriending imam

A teenager who listed Hitler, Mussolini and the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik as his inspirations and who planned a terrorist attack on a mosque has been sentenced to 10 years in custody.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, had intended to set fire to an Islamic centre in Greenock, Inverclyde, after befriending the imam and mapping out the building’s interior on his phone.

In the Arms Down program at San Quentin in California, incarcerated men analyze the violence, heartbreak and poor choices that have shaped their lives

On a recent Friday morning, the chapel of San Quentin prison was abuzz as more than 100 incarcerated men and their friends and families took their seats at tables filling the room. A banner with large orange lettering hanging at the front read “Arms Down: Teaching there are options between the first and second amendment”, and the mood was festive, with the men hugging their spouses, parents and siblings.

Now sheltered from the foggy, misty Marin county morning, participants and leaders of this first-of-its-kind program stepped onto the stage and started to talk, about mistaking being feared for being respected, about living with unaddressed trauma, about leaning into misconceptions of manhood and how that led them to rely on firearms as a source of safety and power.

Ahead of a new biography of the late director (whose favourite number was seven), we rundown some of the most offbeat things about this most mysterious modern genius

David Lynch was an artist first, and a film-maker second (later, he’d also be a photographer, a songwriter and musician, a furniture designer and many other things). He would create works of visual art right up to his final days, but the most infamous would remain his “kits” – a pair of pieces he made in the late 1970s and early 80s, in which parts of a real, dissected animal (first a fish, then a chicken) were pinned to a board, along with kid-friendly instructions on how to reassemble and play with it.

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

Farmers that supply supermarket are already harvesting wheat, oilseed rape and oats amid dry conditions

Harvests are coming two weeks early because of drought, Waitrose has said, as it prepares to stock autumnal fruit in summer.

Farmers that supply the supermarket are harvesting wheat, oilseed rape, oats and malting barley a fortnight before they generally would, according to the supermarket. A lack of rainfall coupled with the hot weather has caused the crops to race through their growing stages and mature early.

Caterham was born in Hampshire in August 1909, when Edward VII reigned, and now lives in care home in Surrey

Ethel Caterham, the last surviving Edwardian and the world’s oldest living person, celebrated her 116th birthday on Thursday.

She was born on 21 August 1909 in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, when Herbert Asquith was prime minister, Beatrix Potter had just published The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and one of the bestselling songs was Shine on Harvest Moon.

Herbert Henry Asquith was the UK’s Liberal prime minister and Edward VII was king. William Howard Taft was the US president and Alfred Deakin was serving as Australia’s prime minister for the third time.

The UK’s first state pensions were being paid after the introduction of the Old Age Pensions Act.

Claude Monet’s Water Lilies series had just gone on show for the first time at an exhibition in Paris.

General Electric patented the electric toaster invented by Frank Shailor.

Bulgaria was about to declare independence from the Ottoman empire.

Manchester United had won the first of their FA Cup victories by beating Bristol City.

Arthur Gore was the reigning men’s Wimbledon champion aged 41 – he remains the men’s singles tournament’s oldest winner.

The future matinee idol Errol Flynn was two months old.

The first international flying show occurred in Reims, France.

Selfridges had just opened on Oxford Street in London.

Ahead of their 10th album, Private Music, the vocalist of the Californian alt-metal heroes answers your questions on covering Sade, loving Duran Duran and his terrifying time in Sunday school

Can you remember what your expectations were on the eve of [Deftones’ 1995 debut] Adrenaline being released? JonnyT
I was very excited that we were about to put out a real record, on a real record label. I was a little scared as well – we were this new band, putting ourselves out there. The label sent us physical copies of Adrenaline when it came out – I think we even got cassettes back then. It was so exciting to open it up and have something tangible to hold. But we had no sense of the longevity it would enjoy. I didn’t anticipate people would still be listening to it, or even that we’d still be a band this many years later. We still have nerves, obviously, whenever we release something. But we also have a sense of confidence, especially with this new record.

Do you find your creativity burns brightest in hardship? Or can peace be just as potent? shenead
There’s something to be said for both, and our music has that dichotomy built into its DNA – a lot of our songs have that yin and yang within them. There’s a lot more peace than chaos in our lives at the moment, and I’m happy it’s that way. A lot of our earlier records were made when life was more crazy, and we were able to capture that. But with this record, there’s some of that beauty that comes with this invigorated time we’re living in now. But it’s always good to be able to yell and scream sometimes, right? The pandemic was really difficult for everybody, but as someone who was spoilt by having this outlet my whole adult life, to be able to tour and play shows and express myself … I really came to a dead stop during Covid. It really affected me. Making music – to be able to express emotions, good and bad – has definitely been a gift.

‘Baby brain’ is often referenced jokingly and dismissively when discussing pregnancy and forgetfulness. But a new brain scan study reveals something more profound: pregnancy does not weaken the brain, it rewires it. Neelam Tailor explores what this means for neuroscience and caregiving, and how little we still understand about women’s health

The chief justice of the US has painted himself as a modern institutionalist over the past 20 years. Experts say he’s emboldening Trump’s drive toward authoritarianism

On 4 March, Donald Trump delivered his epic 100-minute speech to Congress, the longest such presidential address in US history. Having finished speaking, in time-honored fashion, he walked down the line of supreme court justices, gladhanding each in turn before coming to a stop before the chief justice, John Roberts.

“Thank you again, thank you again,” Trump said, taking Roberts’s hand into both his own and shaking it vigorously. Then, as he began to step away, the president tapped Roberts on the arm in a gesture of buddy-buddy intimacy, and said: “Won’t forget.”

Demand for pricey bottles is down, and people are keeping one eye on their health, so is it any wonder people like the size, ease and recyclability of canned drinks?

I’ve been asked about the “tinnification” of drinks pretty much everywhere else, so it feels only apt to talk about it here, too, because producers are putting just about everything they can in a can these days. Obviously, canned drinks aren’t anything new – the first canned beer went on sale in 1935, when post-prohibition America saw Krueger’s Finest Beer punted to drinkers in Virginia. Similar attempts had been made many years earlier, but it wasn’t until after two years of testing that the boffins finally developed a special coating that prevented the beer from reacting with the tin can.

And it’s not just beer that’s getting the aluminium treatment. Canned cocktails and canned wine are now going from strength to strength, too (and irrespective of whether you view the latter as a marvel of modern science or a vinous abomination) . Time was when only Provençal rosé and New Zealand sauvignon blanc got the tinned treatment, but now everything from orange wine to English sparkling is getting tinnified.

Erik and Lyle Menendez, sentenced to life over 1989 killings of parents, eligible for parole after judge’s May decision

The Menendez brothers are scheduled to face separate parole hearings beginning Thursday, marking the closest they have been to winning freedom after spending nearly 30 years in prison in the slaying of their parents inside their Los Angeles home.

Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for killing their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. They were 18 and 21 at the time. Defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, while prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.

• Bullet entered Reid’s office and lodged in wall

• Incident said to have occurred in May 2024

A bullet was fired into the office of Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid at the team’s practice facility last spring while he was inside, the Kansas City Star reported on Wednesday.

The Star, citing multiple sources, reported Reid was working alone in his office in early May 2024 when a bullet fired from outside the building broke through glass and left a hole in the window and blinds. It eventually lodged 15ft from where Reid was sitting, in a wall between his bathroom and his office door. The Chiefs installed bulletproof glass soon afterward.

Crystal Palace forward was released by club aged 13 and rejected by others before his breakthrough at QPR

They say good things come to those who wait. But for Eberechi Eze, it has taken 14 years for his dream to come true. The England forward made a dramatic entrance during Crystal Palace’s open training session on Wednesday before their Conference League playoff when he was last to emerge from the changing room with frenzied anticipation that his expected move to Tottenham was close to being agreed.

Even if he had been aware of Arsenal’s intention to step up their longstanding interest in him, Eze was certainly giving nothing away when he signed autographs and spoke to supporters on his way out of Palace’s training ground in Beckenham.

Aimee Betro, 45, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder earlier this month after a two-week trial

An American “hitwoman” who attempted to murder a business owner before going on the run in Armenia has been jailed for 30 years at Birmingham crown court.

Earlier this month, Aimee Betro, 45, from Wisconsin was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and an offence relating to the importation of ammunition into the UK, after a three-week trial.

No show has ever worked harder to have its finger on the nation’s pulse than Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s long-running comedy – and it really shows

Early on in its 27th season, South Park has garnered more controversy than it has in years (possibly ever), along with some of its highest ratings.

Last week’s episode took aim at the Trump administration’s brutal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raids, poked fun at homeland security secretary Kristi Noem’s penchant for puppy murder and cosmetic surgery (Noem has since climbed atop her moral high horse and accused the show of sexism) and, of course, Donald Trump himself. Along with Trump’s martial takeover of Washington DC, this week’s instalment, titled Sickofancy, takes aim at artificial intelligence (specifically ChatGPT) and the larger tech-bro industry.

Rome tour guides call for attractions’ opening hours to be reviewed after death of Giovanna Maria Giammarino

Tour guides in Rome have repeated their calls for a rethink of the summer opening hours of some of the city’s biggest attractions after one of their colleagues died of a suspected heart attack while showing a group around the Colosseum in baking heat.

Giovanna Maria Giammarino, who was 56, collapsed in the amphitheatre at 6pm on Tuesday. Despite the efforts of tourists and the emergency services, she could not be revived and died at the scene.