Royal Albert Hall to host Grand Sumo Tournament marking only the second time a full competition is held overseas

They play Major League Baseball at the Olympic Stadium, Tottenham’s ground is a second home for the National Football League, the National Basketball Association is staging a game at the 02 Arena next year, and South Africa just beat New Zealand in a rugby Test at Twickenham, but it’s been a long time since London has hosted anything on the scale of the Grand Sumo Tournament taking place at the Royal Albert Hall this week. Forty wrestlers have flown over from Japan to compete in it. That’s around six tons of elite athlete to be fed, watered, transported and supported.

“We’ve actually had to source and buy new chairs which can take up to 200kg in weight,” says Matthew Todd, the Royal Albert Hall’s harassed director of programming. “Our usual standard is only 100kg.” They’ve also had to reinforce the toilets. “It’s the ones that are screwed into the wall which are the most challenging,” Todd explains, wearily.

A new documentary, The Lost Boys of Carbis Bay, follows a band of explorers into their underground world

The surf was up off the north coast of Cornwall but a hardy band of adventurers turned their backs on the temptations of the sunny beaches and headed inland to burrow into the darkness.

Over the next few hours members of the Carbis Bay Crew explored the shafts and tunnels of an old mine, laughing, joking and making sure each other was OK as they clambered down precipitous ladders and squeezed through tight gaps.

Mimi’s Shebeen, choreographed by Alesandra Seutin, charts South African legend’s exile and ascendancy with ‘beautiful songs, strong messages and moments that hit’

“You speak about Miriam Makeba in South Africa and it’s like speaking about a queen,” says Alesandra Seutin. The legendary singer Makeba was known as Mama Africa, and the Empress of African Song; but she also hung out in Greenwich Village with Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. She was a teenager sent out to work to support her family in Johannesburg who later became a diplomat for Ghana, then Guinea’s official delegate to the UN. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife of a Black Panther. And her rich life and legacy are the inspiration for choreographer Seutin’s latest work, Mimi’s Shebeen, about to get its UK premiere.

Mimi’s Shebeen blends dance, live music and spoken word in a piece of theatre that’s no straightforward biodrama but draws on Makeba’s history, particularly her story of exile: after moving to New York in 1959 Makeba was barred from South Africa for 30 years because of her anti-apartheid stance. She was later banned from the US after marrying the Black Panther activist Stokely Carmichael. The show comes across like a ritual of remembrance, a deconstructed funeral – part eulogy, part celebration, part provocation – with the fabulous South African singer Tutu Puoane at the centre bringing Makeba’s songs to vibrant life.

Caramelised apples on a buttery biscuit base, and an apple cake with a rubbly topping

It’s easy to forget just how extraordinary apples can be. Often relegated to less exciting regions of the fruit bowl, they actually come in a dizzying array of varieties – sharp, sweet, floral, crisp – and each with their own quirks. And now is the time to celebrate apples, so this week I’m giving them the attention they deserve in a no-bake toffee apple pie (banoffee’s autumn cousin) and a soft, cinnamon-spiced crumb cake.

Allegations related to flood control projects have sparked widespread anger and protests in the Philippines

Philippine health worker Christina Padora waded through July’s waist-high flood water to check on vaccines and vital medications stored in the village clinic, something she had regularly done during previous typhoons.

But this time she didn’t make it. Taking hold of a metal pole that she failed to see was connected to a live wire, the 49-year-old was fatally electrocuted in the water.

The French president dominated the centre ground but has failed to build a legacy there. Labour is in danger of doing the same

Britain and France do not share a fixed quota of political stability such that reduced volatility on one side of the Channel causes chaos across the water. It was just a coincidence that Keir Starmer won a huge majority at precisely the moment last July when legislative elections made France ungovernable for Emmanuel Macron.

It was a misfortune for both men, and for Europe, that their political trajectories were out of sync. Macron had dealt with four Tory prime ministers before finding a potential ally in the ascendant Labour leader. By then his presidency was in spiralling decline. Britain was rousing itself from Brexit delirium just as France was losing the plot.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

Bloc’s first affordable housing plan to cover issues such as tenants’ rights, property speculation and tourist lets

The EU executive will propose rules to tackle the “huge problem” of short-term rentals via platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, as it seeks to confront the “social crisis” of people struggling to afford a home, its first-ever housing commissioner has said.

In an interview with the Guardian and other European newspapers, Dan Jørgensen said it was time for Brussels policymakers to take housing seriously or cede ground to anti-EU populists, who, he said, did not have the answers to the shortage of affordable homes.

Citizens have enrolled with little opposition, albeit with some concerns over security and privacy, as UK plans system

• Keir Starmer to look at India’s digital ID system during visit to Mumbai

For Danish teenagers, getting enrolled for MitID (my ID) has become somewhat of a rite of passage.

From the age of 13, Danes can enrol for the national digital ID system, which can be used for everything from logging into online banking to signing documents electronically and booking a doctor’s appointment.

Few psychiatric conditions are as stigmatised or as misunderstood as narcissistic personality disorder. Here’s how it can damage careers and relationships – even before prejudice takes its toll

There are times when Jay Spring believes he is “the greatest person on planet Earth”. The 22-year-old from Los Angeles is a diagnosed narcissist, and in his most grandiose moments, “it can get really delusional”, he says. “You are on cloud nine and you’re like, ‘Everyone’s going to know that I’m better than them … I’ll do great things for the world’.”

For Spring, these periods of self-aggrandisement are generally followed by a “crash”, when he feels emotional and embarrassed by his behaviour, and is particularly vulnerable to criticism from others. He came to suspect that he may have narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) after researching his symptoms online – and was eventually diagnosed by a professional. But he doesn’t think he would have accepted the diagnosis had he not already come to the conclusion on his own. “If you try to tell somebody that they have this disorder, they’ll probably deny it,” he says – especially if they experience feelings of superiority, as he does. “They’re in a delusional world that they made for themselves. And that world is like, I’m the greatest and nobody can question me.”

The acting may be brilliant in the horrible real-life story of a family whose sordid tale ends in a double murder. But when everything about the subjects is so rotten, why on Earth would you want to watch?

How fascinatingly horrible were the Murdaugh family? Very, according to how much true-crime content they’ve generated. There’s already been a hit podcast about them, untangling a narrative that began in enviable luxury and ended with a sordid double murder. There’s already been a TV documentary. Now the Murdaughs complete the set with Murdaugh: Death in the Family, the plush fictionalised drama retelling the same awful tale.

At its heart is a trio of strong performances, primed for awards season. Jason Clarke – also currently excellent as a different kind of alpha male in The Last Frontier on Apple TV+ – is Richard Alexander “Alex” Murdaugh, a powerhouse personal injury attorney and member of a South Carolina dynasty whose men have been the biggest beasts in the courtroom for generations. Over the years, the Murdaughs – their name looks like “murder” but is pronounced “Murdoch” – have built up a network of acolytes who owe them a living or a favour. Their legal acumen and wealth, combined with a gangster-ish propensity for exploitation and bullying, give them a level of impunity that Alex blithely pushes to its limit. Patricia Arquette is Alex’s wife Maggie, who worries that both his philandering and his opioid addiction have returned – and on the second point at least, she is correct.

Climate advisers warn that current plans to protect against extreme weather are inadequate

Britain must prepare for global heating far in excess of the level scientists have pegged as the limit of safety, the government’s climate advisers have warned, as current plans to protect against extreme weather are inadequate.

Heatwaves will occur in at least four of every five years in England by 2050, and time spent in drought will double. The number of days of peak wildfire conditions in July will nearly treble for the UK, while floods will increase in frequency throughout the year, with some peak river flows increasing by 40%.

• World Cup 2026 cohosts defeat Socceroos 2-1 in Colorado

• USA captain Christian Pulisic injured; Jordan Bos opens scoring

USA captain Christian Pulisic was forced off early with a lower leg complaint as the World Cup cohosts scrapped to a 2-1 win over Australia at Dick’s Sporting Goods Stadium in Colorado on Wednesday.

A double from striker Haji Wright cancelled out a shock opening goal from Socceroos left-back Jordy Bos, handing Tony Popovic his first loss and denying Australia the chance to climb the Fifa rankings and potentially face an easier group at next year’s tournament.

Despite the glowing story, the cover earned the ire of the US president with criticism of his appearance

It is a glowing story in a publication Donald Trump has long exalted – but for one catch. The cover picture, the president decreed, “may be the Worst of All Time”.

Time magazine’s paean to Trump’s role in brokering a Gaza ceasefire, leading its 10 November issue, was accompanied by a photo of the president taken from below and with the sun behind his head.

Court supports home affairs minister’s 2024 decision to reject visa application for planned speaking tour on character grounds

Australia’s high court has unanimously backed the government’s 2024 decision to refuse rightwing provocateur Candace Owens a visa to enter the country.

The full bench of the court ruled on Wednesday that the minister’s denial did not infringe an implied constitutional freedom of political communication.

Chinese president is behind patriarchal turn in politics with activists silenced for ‘promoting gender antagonism’

Addressing dignitaries gathered in Beijing on Monday, Xi Jinping praised the “historic achievements” of women’s rights in China. In the past 30 years, the Chinese president said, maternal mortality rates had dropped by nearly 80%, and women were now participating in the project of national governance with “unprecedented confidence and vigour”.

Xi was speaking at the global women’s summit, an event on Monday and Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of the historic UN’s world conference on women, which took place in Beijing. It was there in 1995 that Hillary Clinton, the then US first lady, delivered her “women’s rights are human rights” speech, lines now often quoted by people in China advocating for women’s rights.

Radoslaw Sikorski, speaking in London, urges drone wall and three-year plan to back Ukraine; Odesa mayor’s ‘citizenship suspended’. What we know on day 1,330

Indonesia’s Prabowo is the latest world leader to fall foul of the ‘hot mic’ – diplomatic snafus that have caused embarrassment to leaders around the globe

Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto thought he was having a private word with US president Donald Trump at the Gaza peace summit in Egypt this week.

Instead what unfolded was a hot-mic slip up, with Prabowo heard asking Trump to line up a call with his son Eric, or his son Don Jr, who both serve as executives at the Trump organisation.

• USMNT host Socceroos in Commerce City, Colorado

• Reach out to Alexander on Bluesky or email him

1 min: We are underway!

After the Australian national anthem and an, uh, interesting rendition of the US counterpart, we are all set to go.

State department says it has ‘no obligation’ to host foreign nationals who ‘celebrate heinous’ death of far-right activist

• US politics live – latest updates

Donald Trump’s US state department said on Tuesday it had revoked the visas of six foreigners over social media comments made about the assassination of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk.

“The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans,” the state department said in a statement posted on X. “The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk.”

Mike Johnson says he won’t negotiate with Democrats as government shutdown enters second week. Key US politics stories from 14 October 2025

Donald Trump has said his administration is planning to produce a list on Friday of “Democrat programs” that will be closed as a result of the ongoing federal government shutdown, after the Senate failed in its eighth attempt to pass legislation that would end the impasse.

He did not specify the programs but indicated to reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the closures would be permanent.

Rise in births to non-Japanese comes as politicians keep dodging the choice between economic decline and a more diverse population

This week brought encouraging news for Japan’s long battle to defuse its demographic timebomb: in 2024, the number of babies born to one sector of the population rose to a record of more than 22,000 – that’s about 3,000 more than the previous year and a 50% increase on a decade ago.

But none of the women who answered calls – invariably issued by conservative male politicians – to have more children were Japanese.

President presented award to Kirk’s widow, Erika, on what would have been the far-right commentator’s 32nd birthday

Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, to the assassinated far-right commentator Charlie Kirk at the White House on Tuesday.

Kirk, who was shot at an event at Utah Valley University in September, was among the most significant rightwing activists in the modern political era, galvanizing a younger generation of conservatives to engage in politics and support Trump’s candidacy ahead of the 2024 election.

New version will allow users to customize AI assistant’s personality in what firm calls ‘treat adults users like adults’ policy

OpenAI announced plans on Tuesday to relax restrictions on its ChatGPT chatbot, including allowing erotic content for verified adult users as part of what the company calls a “treat adult users like adults” principle.

OpenAI’s plan includes the release of an updated version of ChatGPT that will allow users to customize their AI assistant’s personality, including options for more human-like responses, heavy emoji use, or friend-like behavior. The most significant change will come in December, when OpenAI plans to roll out more comprehensive age-gating that would permit erotic content for adults who have verified their ages. OpenAI did not immediately provide details on its age verification methods or additional safeguards planned for adult content.

It started in Scotland and it still has not finished. That night at Hampden was only Luis de le Fuente’s second as Spain coach; it also felt like it might be his last. Two Scott McTominay goals defeated the Seleccion but while just about everyone else thought his spell would be brief, he was talking about a pathway opening and here’s the thing: the man accused of living in Disneyland back then was right. Three years and four days later, Spain moved to within touching distance of the World Cup finals tournament by racking up their 29th consecutive competitive game unbeaten*, equalling their record.

On a night when Pedri played and Mikel Merino made the difference, Spain beat Bulgaria 4-0 to take them to 12 points from 12 in qualifying, close now. The Arsenal midfielder and sometime striker scored the first two and might even have got his second hat-trick in three Spain games but when he was fouled in the last minute he handed the penalty to Mikel Oyarzabal instead. And so it was the Real Sociedad striker, scorer of the winner at the final of Euro 2024, who kept the sequence going, equalling what Vicente del Bosque’s golden generation did between 2010 and 2013.