Guardian readers share their tips and tricks for cutting down food waste when packing school lunches

• Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint
• Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com

Parents of school-age children have their work cut out for them when it comes to providing good nutrition, particularly where school lunches are concerned. But with a bit of planning, there are ways to pack a lunch that gets eaten and reduce waste in the process. Here, readers share their tips for better packed lunches and ways to cut waste.

Council criticised over plan to replace beloved public artwork with 7-metre tall effigy of spaceman created by a former Wall Street trader

• Get our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcast

The City of Perth is under increasing pressure to drop its plans to replace one of the city’s most beloved public artworks with a 7-metre tall effigy of an astronaut, which as been derided as a piece of “factory-produced space junk”.

Until four years ago, Ore Obelisk, affectionately known as The Kebab by the people of Perth, stood in the heritage-listed Stirling Gardens in the heart of the city. The 15-metre work made from local geological minerals, created by the architect, artist and Perth’s first city planner, Paul Ritter, was erected in 1971 to celebrate Western Australia’s population reaching one million, and was one of the city’s first public artworks.

Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter

Even the hardy eucalypts are finding their limits as we experience more frequent bushfires, heatwaves and droughts

• Explore the series – Last chance: the extinction crisis being ignored this election
• Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email

Last week I went to Adelaide to see a man about a tree. The man was Dr Dean Nicolle and the tree was actually 10,000 eucalypt trees and mallees, of over 800 species, which Dean has been planting on a block of land south of Adelaide since 1993.

Dean’s passion for eucalypts is incredible. It makes me realise that so much conservation happens purely because someone is just absolutely captivated by something. And thank goodness Dean is, because his love for the eucalypt made the Currency Creek Arboretum, which is designed to bring together all of Australia’s eucalypt species in one place for research.

The $30,000 biennial Dobell drawing prize is known for pushing the boundaries among Australian artists. Rosemary Lee’s 24-1 – an ‘exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill’ – was selected winner from 56 finalists and 965 entries

• The finalists of the 2025 Dobell drawing prize will be showing at the National Art School Gallery, Sydney, until 21 May

Erik and Lyle Menendez were convicted of parents’ murders at Beverly Hills home in 1989

A judge has decided the resentencing hearings for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents, can continue despite a new Los Angeles district attorney opposing their release after 30 years behind bars.

The brothers appeared in court over Zoom on Friday for the proceedings.

From energy security to boosting internet connections, Taiwan is working on ways to protect its population if China attacks

If war comes to Taiwan, the local citizens might be sent to their nearest 7-Eleven.

No one knows for sure what a Chinese attack on Taiwan will look like, but there are some assumptions made by government planners. They expect Taiwan’s military and maybe police will be sent to frontlines, leaving civilian first responders in charge of care and control.

Get Dolly Parton’s denim look, M&S launch designer PJs, and Tommy Hilfiger sets sail

• Northern Irishman roars into tie for third with sublime 66
• Rose leads on -8 with Bryson Dechambeau one shot back

Rory’s revenge. Rory McIlroy had opted to keep his thoughts to himself after the wounding end to his first round at the 89th Masters. An inspired follow up by the Northern Irishman made it easy to assume he had taken things personally. Did you think the two double bogeys in four closing holes ended his latest attempt at claiming the career grand slam? Think again. Courtesy of spellbinding, stunning golf, McIlroy blasted his way through the Georgia pines and back into contention.

Statistical gurus had insisted glory was already beyond him. Craig Stadler was the last man to triumph here with more than one double bogey on his card. That happened in 1982. What the numerati failed to acknowledge was that McIlroy had 54 holes to recover. With 36 remaining, he sits two from Justin Rose. Buckle up.

Critics say Nasa faces ‘extinction-level event’ with budget plan, with climate research funding also to be slashed

Donald Trump shows no signs of easing his assault on climate science as plans of more sweeping cuts to key US research centers surfaced on Friday.

The administration is planning to slash budgets at both the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (Noaa) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), according to internal budget documents, taking aim specifically at programs used to study impacts from the climate crisis.

Supreme court says overseas voters must prove eligibility or votes will be discarded – which could affect election’s result

The North Carolina supreme court paved the way to throw out thousands of ballots in a race for a seat on the court that was decided by just over 700 votes.

The staggering decision is the latest development in a race in which Democrat Allison Riggs defeated her Republican opponent, Judge Jefferson Griffin, by 734 votes. After multiple recounts confirmed Riggs’s win, Griffin challenged the eligibility of more than 60,000 votes and courts have blocked certification so far. Last week, the North Carolina court of appeals – the body Griffin sits on – gave the challenged voters 15 days to prove their eligibility.

Mahdi, who killed an officer in 2004, endured torture in his childhood and argued he was denied a fair trial

A prison firing squad in South Carolina executed Mikal Mahdi on Friday, the second recent death row killing in the state by authorized gunfire.

Mahdi, 42, was shot dead by corrections employees inside the execution chamber, where authorities have carried out a rapid spree of killings as South Carolina aggressively revives capital punishment.

Study into medication known as ‘King Kong’ of weight loss drugs throws fresh light on effects of longer-term use

People who use the drug Mounjaro are able to sustain weight loss for three years, data from a trial suggests.

Mounjaro, nicknamed the “King Kong” of weight loss drugs, contains tirzepatide and is self-administered in once-a-week injections.

School district says DHS agents, seeking five students in first through sixth grades, were barred from entering

Immigration officials attempted to enter two Los Angeles elementary schools this week, but were turned away by school administrators. The incident appears to be the Trump administration’s first attempt to enter the city’s public schools since amending regulations to allow immigration agents to enter “sensitive areas” such as schools.

At a Thursday press conference, the Los Angeles unified school district superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, confirmed that agents from the Department of Homeland Security were seeking five students in first through sixth grades.

• Rice scored two free-kicks against Real Madrid
• Nicolas Jover had told him to cross the ball

Mikel Arteta has praised Declan Rice for his initiative after the midfielder ignored the instructions of Arsenal’s set-piece coach before scoring the first of his two free-kicks against Real Madrid.

Rice revealed that Nicolas Jover had been telling him to cross the ball rather than shoot in the 58th minute of the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday. Rice had never scored a free kick in 338 appearances but said Jover’s instructions “didn’t make sense” and opted to shoot instead after being encouraged by Bukayo Saka.

S&P 500 and Dow Jones rise sharply after extraordinarily volatile week as experts warn of continued turbulence

Donald Trump insisted his trade war with much of the world was “doing really well” despite mounting fears of recession and as Beijing hit back and again hiked tariffs on US exports to China.

As the US president said his aggressive tariffs strategy was “moving along quickly”, a closely watched economic survey revealed that US consumer expectations for price growth had soared to a four-decade high.

White House has claimed that Khalil’s ‘beliefs and associations’ are counter to US foreign policy interests

• Mahmoud Khalil case – live updates

Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate and Palestinian organizer, is eligible to be deported from the United States, an immigration judge ruled on Friday during a contentious hearing at a remote court in central Louisiana.

The decision sides with the Trump administration’s claim that a short memo written by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, which stated Khalil’s “current or expected beliefs, statements or associations” were counter to foreign policy interests, is sufficient evidence to remove a lawful permanent resident from the United States. The undated memo, the main piece of evidence submitted by the government, contained no allegations of criminal conduct.

Trump administration is cancelling immigrants’ names and legally obtained social security numbers, effectively wiping out their ability to work

• US politics live – latest updates

The Trump administration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead, canceling their social security numbers and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits in an effort to get them to leave the country, according to two people familiar with the situation.

The move will make it much harder for those affected to use banks or other basic services where social security numbers are required. It’s part of a broader effort by Donald Trump to crack down on immigrants who were allowed to enter and remain temporarily in the United States under programs instituted by the US president’s predecessor Joe Biden.

Department seeks instances of bias, with emphasis on Christianity, that may have occurred under Biden

The state department is ordering staff to report colleagues for instances of “anti-Christian bias” during the Biden administration, part of Donald Trump’s aggressive push to reshape government policy on religious expression in his first months back in office.

The internal cable, obtained by the Guardian, establishes a short seven-day window for employees to report perceived religious discrimination committed by state department officials, with particular emphasis on Christianity.

Actor claims working with Oscar nominee on set of thriller Girl is ‘one of the all time worst experiences’ of her life

Bella Thorne has accused fellow US actor Mickey Rourke of bruising her genitals with a metal grinder on the set of a movie that they filmed together during what she described as “one of the all time worst experiences” of her career.

In a story on her Instagram account on Friday, Thorne alleged that the episode was part of a broader campaign to humiliate her while they collaborated on the 2020 thriller Girl. She wrote: “This fucking dude. GROSS” and relayed the account in writing over a copy of a BBC article reporting that Celebrity Big Brother’s producers had reprimanded him for aiming homophobic comments at the singer JoJo Siwa while they competed on the reality show.

• Boulter defeats Tatjana Maria 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 in The Hague
• Kartal takes down Jule Niemeier 6-4, 6-2 on cup debut

An hour into her first national team assignment of the season, the forecast for Katie Boulter was grim. Down a set and a break against a cunning opponent, the British No 1 had been junkballed into oblivion and defeat drew near. Her recent difficult form and her lack of confidence in the surface beneath her feet was plain for ll to see.

From that uncomfortable position, Boulter showed her mental fortitude in full as she emerged with a strong 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Tatjana Maria to clinch a 2-1 win for Great Britain over Germany in their opening tie of the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers in the Hague.

Vanessa Brown called police response in Cobham, Surrey, ‘a complete overreaction’ that left her ‘catatonic’

A history teacher has said she was arrested and blocked from seeing her daughters after she confiscated their iPads.

Vanessa Brown, 50, described her “unspeakable devastation and trauma” after spending seven-and-a-half hours in a cell on 26 March after a claim that she had stolen two iPads.

The aftermath of Trump’s tariffs, Russian airstrikes in Ukraine, raids in the West Bank and Indigenous people in Brasilia: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing

On the face of it the Egyptian’s new contract has no downside – but this is not entirely a free ride for Arne Slot and the club

Well, that’s good then. Things fall apart. But sometime they also don’t. And the centre does actually hold.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Mohamed Salah’s contract extension at Liverpool is the fact this is a rare crossover story, a signing that steps outside its own tribal margins. There will of course be localised delight. Liverpool fans can look forward to their own lost weekend in the sun, a sense that the good times will now continue to roll, that the time bar has shifted. Return to your seats. This is a lock-in.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have a chance to dominate in the desert as Max Verstappen scrambles to stay in touch

Three races into the new Formula One season and this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix represents something of a litmus test as to what may follow for the title protagonists. Everything points to a chance for McLaren to dominate at the Sakhir circuit but there may also be some indication if Red Bull are making real steps forward with their car.

For McLaren, Bahrain is a chance to throw off their hoodoo at the track where they have never won and at which, in recent years, they have struggled for form. This season in testing at the circuit they gave their first evidence that they had a much-improved package; one swiftly reinforced with dominant victories for Lando Norris in Australia and then his teammate, Oscar Piastri, in China.

Meta ending DEI programs, getting rid of factcheckers and changing content moderation policies led to LDF’s decision

On Friday, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) announced its decision to exit Meta’s external civil rights advisory group due to its concerns over Meta’s content moderation and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) policy changes.

In January, Meta made a series of sweeping changes, including ending its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, getting rid of its factcheckers and changing its content moderation policies. These changes, which some saw as aligning Meta with the then incoming Trump administration, informed the LDF’s decision to leave the civil rights advisory group.

• French police used teargas at Europa League tie
• Supporter’ groups criticise response of authorities

Manchester United are investigating the treatment of their fans who attended Thursday’s 2-2 draw at Lyon. The local government admitted French police used teargas but said it was “proportionate” to restore calm.

Posts on social media showed United fans feeling the effect of the spray at the Europa League quarter-final first leg. The Rhône prefecture said in a statement: “English fans were seated in the away section waiting to be allowed to join their bus. They attempted to force their way through the security measures deployed by the national police. Projectiles were also reported to be thrown at the police. The police therefore used moderate, proportionate and necessary force (tear gas) to restore calm.

Mexico’s failure to keep up 81-year-old water-sharing treaty has sparked a diplomatic spat with the US

Mexico will make an immediate water delivery to Texas farmers to help make up its shortfall under a treaty that has strained US relations and prompted tariff threats by Donald Trump, said Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Friday.

Mexico is looking for alternatives to comply with the 81-year-old water-sharing treaty with the US, Sheinbaum said in her regular news conference. A proposal had already been sent to US officials, she said.

Trump ally Richard Grenell sends series of hostile emails to Yasmin Williams despite saying he was ‘too busy’ to do so

The Kennedy Center’s interim executive director, Richard Grenell – a staunch ally of Donald Trump – accused a professional musician of “vapidness” after she emailed him over concerns of the now Trump-controlled center’s rollbacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Earlier this week, Yasmin Williams, an award-winning musician who has performed multiple times at the Washington DC-based performing arts center, emailed Grenell regarding the center’s DEI plans, pointing to the cancellations of a concert by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington as well as Finn, a children’s musical about a shark who feels different from other sharks.

Facial recognition and a ‘journey pass’ stored on passengers’ phones are part of UN-backed plans to digitise air transport

The days of fumbling around for your boarding pass or frantically checking in for a flight on the way to the airport could soon be over under imminent plans to overhaul the way we travel.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN body responsible for crafting airline policy, plans to dramatically shake up existing rules for airports and airlines through the introduction of a “digital travel credential”.

The reason the US president had to back down on tariffs once investors started dumping treasury bonds

Donald Trump’s tariff war has spooked stock markets and heightened fears of a recession in the US and Europe. But neither factor appears to have been what motivated the president’s sudden volte-face this week, when he paused most of his “liberation day” border taxes for 90 days.

The fact Trump could not ignore was a mass sell-off by investors of US government bonds. But what exactly are bonds, how are they traded – and why are they so central to the current crisis?

Experts say prescribing a set solution can distract from therapy’s goal of ‘creating a space of greater understanding’

There was a time when entering couples therapy was seen as the death knell of a relationship – a last-ditch attempt to save a partnership beyond salvation.

“People are afraid that once you’ve gone to couples therapy, you’re on a negative track,” says Dr Matthew Siblo, a licensed professional counselor in Washington DC.

• The Australian reaches last four of Monte Carlo Masters
• He will play either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Lorenzo Musetti

Alex de Minaur has humbled Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov 6-0 6-0 to feast on the first “double bagel” of his professional career while powering into the Monte Carlo Masters semi-final.

The Australian was in merciless mood against the out-of-sorts veteran, taking only 44 minutes to hand the world No 18 one of his most embarrassing defeats on the Monte Carlo Country Club’s main arena, Court Rainier III, on Friday.

‘Average man from Derbyshire’ shocked to find photo of tattoo celebrating child’s birth was used to deport migrants

A British man was shocked to discover that a photo of his tattoo was included in a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document used to identify alleged members of a notorious Venezuelan criminal gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA).

Earlier this week, 44-year-old Pete Belton, who lives in the English county of Derbyshire, told the BBC that he was stunned to find a photo of his forearm tattoo featured in a DHS document among nine images of tattoos intended to assist in “detecting and identifying” TdA members.

The US president adores the attention, but while leaders struggle to mitigate the damage he causes, other emergencies are getting worse

We’re all having to master a vocabulary that was once the preserve of specialists. Now everyone needs to know their tariffs from their treasuries, their levies from their yields. But there’s one more term from the realm of economics that urgently needs to enter our lexicon. Given what Donald Trump is doing to the world economy – and the world – we need to talk about opportunity cost.

Put simply, opportunity cost is the value of opportunity lost. It’s the benefit you could have had if you had chosen a different path. For an economist, the opportunity cost of the Mars bar you bought is the Twix you didn’t.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

• No pay cut for Egyptian forward on deal to 2027
• Salah cites trophies, family and Slot as reasons to stay

Mohamed Salah should keep “trying to reach perfection” according to Arne Slot after ending uncertainty over his Liverpool future by signing a new two-year contract.

Salah agreed to extend his illustrious Anfield career to a decade after months of negotiations between his agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, and Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes. Financial details of the deal, which was confirmed by the player and club on Friday, have not been disclosed but the 32-year-old has not taken a pay cut. His previous three-year contract was worth a basic £350,000 a week, although his overall earnings were about £1m a week.

Move by Danish toymaker appears to reflect US pressure on inclusivity initiatives worldwide

Lego has cut diversity terminology from its annual sustainability report despite trumpeting the recent addition of “diverse” characters to make its toys more “inclusive”.

Most recently the world’s biggest toymaker introduced sets featuring characters with sunflower lanyards, which are worn to indicate a hidden disability. At the time its chief diversity and inclusion officer, Lauren von Stackelberg, said the company was embedding diversity and inclusion in everything it did.

A rum espresso martini topped with white and dark chocolate shavings to give it an extra Easter edge

Coffee and chocolate go together almost as well as Easter and chocolate, and the use of dark and white chocolate shavings in this broody number give the drink a nice point of contrast, as well as different aromas.

Giorgia Di Stefano and Saira Khan, Demon, Wise & Partners, London EC2

The Guardian speaks to Manna Aero founder and orders coffee via startup’s app to be delivered to a suburban home

One drone lifts up into the sky at a shopping centre on the outskirts of Dublin, then another. They rise to 70ft (21 metres), tilt forward and zip away in different directions, each carrying a paper bag.

On a sleepy morning in the Irish capital the takeoffs build to a steady one every few minutes, with barely anyone glancing at the constant stream of aircraft buzzing back and forth.

Maria Matthes, a lifelong koala conservationist, says loss of habitat and the climate crisis have threatened the endangered species in eastern New South Wales. Almost 2m hectares of forests suitable for koalas have been destroyed since 2011. They are one of more than 2,000 Australian species listed as under threat in what scientists are calling an extinction crisis