Amid Trump’s lies and xenophobic rants, people struggling to pay bills and make ends meet are unlikely to be moved

He wanted to give the king’s speech. Donald Trump entered the US House chamber on Tuesday like a medieval monarch, with Republicans lined up eager to touch his royal robes (or, in two cases, grab a selfie with him). But within moments, the illusion was shattered.

As the US president strolled by, soaking up adulation, Democratic representative Al Green of Texas held aloft a handwritten sign: “Black people aren’t apes!” – a reference to Trump recently sharing a racist video depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama.

I was in New Orleans for work, without travel insurance, when the car crashed into me. In the months I spent recovering, I began to think seriously about how I treated my health

The SUV slammed into me at a crosswalk, where I had right of way. It was 2024 and I was on the first night of a work trip to New Orleans. Time slowed down as I flew 2 metres through the air and crashed on to the road in what felt like slow motion. When I managed to stand up, there were waves of adrenaline juddering through me. My friend, Brandy, and a group of strangers helped me to the side of the road, and it was then that I remembered my annual travel insurance had expired the week before. In a prim, defensive tone, like a dowager who’d just had a fainting spell and resented all the fuss, I insisted that I was perfectly fine and didn’t need an ambulance. Then I blacked out.

The paramedics arrived and, despite my protests, they wouldn’t take no for an answer. On the stretcher, I started calculating how much money I had in my current account, how much I could put on a credit card and how much I could plausibly ask to borrow from my parents. My lack of insurance was entirely due to my own fecklessness, but being forced to run these sums with a head injury, after begging not to receive help that I obviously needed, was an almost comically bleak experience.

Human remains found near a golf club in Pitt Town confirmed to be those of Chris Baghsarian

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Police have declared “our work is not done” as the search continues to find the people involved in the alleged kidnapping and murder of 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian, with two men in custody still awaiting charges.

On Wednesday morning, one man, 29, was arrested in Kenthurst and another, 24, was arrested in Castle Hill over the grandfather and widower’s death. Both men, who had been residing at their family homes, were taken to Riverstone police station as inquiries continued.

Throughout the speech, Trump seemed tired. He had difficulty reading from his teleprompter; he gripped the podium with a tightness bordering on desperation

It is one of Donald Trump’s unique talents that he reveals the absurd obsolescence of long-held traditions. In presidential election years, is screaming bloviations on stage make the exercise of gathering the candidates together seem futile. In power, when he divorces facts from policymaking and relies instead on myth and grift to guide his decisions, he renders useless and impotent vast fields of expertise.

When he lies in public, and insists that his fantasies and distortions will dictate the course of government action, he makes those of us in the news business wonder if there’s any point, any more, in gathering and printing the truth.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

Brown is said to be driven by moral anger but insiders suggest he may feel guilty for bringing Peter Mandelson back into government

Before Gordon Brown sent a draft of his 6 February comment piece on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal to the Guardian for publication, he asked friends whether he had gone too far.

The former prime minister had written that he found it “hard to find words to express my revulsion at what has been uncovered about Epstein and his impact on our politics” and the “time is overdue to let in the light”.

Researchers discover rare periods of a few thousands years when climate unexpectedly awoke from slumber

During the ”snowball Earth” period about 700m years ago, Earth’s climate shut down. The planet was encased in ice and insulated from seasonal variations: spring, summer, autumn and winter all stopped. Or at least that was the theory.

Recent examination of some ancient rocks from the west coast of Scotland have now overturned that thinking, suggesting there were periods during snowball Earth when the climate woke up.

Thousands more people across Devon and Cornwall could join case against water firm

A group legal claim against South West Water alleging sewage pollution into coastal waters is harming businesses and individuals has been expanded across Devon and Cornwall.

Thousands more individuals could now join the first environmental community group legal action against a water company over the impact of sewage pollution.

Reform is promising a ‘patriotic school curriculum’ – but what does that mean? In the end it comes down to submission to the leader

In September 2022, seven months into an all-out war in Ukraine that was only supposed to last a few weeks, Russian schoolchildren started compulsory patriotism lessons. Since then, Monday mornings have been set aside for “conversations about what is important” – a class on the glories of national history; western perfidy; the virtue of self-sacrifice for the Motherland; Vladimir Putin’s wise leadership.

Authoritarian regimes never trust people to love their country spontaneously. Organic national identity, the kind that grows without state cultivation, contains stories of dissent and cultural idiosyncrasy. Variety is subversive.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

Guardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink?
On Monday 30 April, ahead of the May elections, join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much of a threat Labour is under from both the Green party and Reform and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader of the party. Book tickets here

A traditional Kashmiri curry and spicy street food bring the best out of this flavourful meat

Mutton rarely gets the attention it deserves. It’s a mature meat, so is naturally sustainable, and it has a depth and richness that younger cuts simply cannot offer. That robustness is exactly what makes it so rewarding to cook with. Mutton’s bold character stands up beautifully to spices, aromatics and slow cooking, so it’s ideal for curries, stews and braises; on the grill, meanwhile, it takes on smoke in a way that enhances its complexity, rather than overwhelming it. You’re unlikely to find mutton in the supermarket, so you’ll need to make a trip to the butcher’s (many halal ones sell it) or order online.

Surface-to-air missiles, which are capable of shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles, will be located on Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island

Japan will deploy missiles to a tiny island near Taiwan within five years, its defence minister has said, in a move that is likely to inflame tensions with China.

The surface-to-air missiles, which are capable of shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles, will be located on Yonaguni – Japan’s westernmost island – by March 2031, Shinjiro Koizumi said.

President hails ‘turnaround for the ages’ but offers few policy pledges and repeats jibes against ‘crazy’ Democrats

Donald Trump proclaimed his first year in office a success at the State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, even as his presidency is dogged by low public approval ratings before November’s midterm elections in which voters could hand control of Congress back to his Democratic opponents.

The annual address to a joint session of Congress came after months of turmoil for the Republican president, including a crackdown on immigrant communities in Minneapolis that resulted in the deaths of two US citizens, and faltering progress on his campaign promise of lowering the cost of living.

Walthamstow Wetlands, London: They’re professional skulkers, loud but highly elusive. And yet there one is, out of the reeds, to be remembered for ever

It’s weather you’d emigrate to avoid. Gloomy and cold – Tupperware sky and drizzle in the air. But tranquil, at least. Small mercies. Walthamstow Wetlands – a 211-hectare nature reserve centred on 10 reservoirs in north-east London. Jewel in the Lee Valley’s crown, and as good a place for waterbirds as any in the capital.

Six tufted ducks drift across – a posse of monochrome floaters on a mission to nowhere. A little grebe – floating powder puff – does its trademark jump-and-dive, surfacing 30 seconds later, 25 yards to the left of where I expected. Extreme peace descends on me. Birdfulness, the best way to be.

A winning combination of schoolies, real estate and fascism – very Queensland coded

• Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published

• Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints

• Coach failed to win any of his nine games since MLS move

• James Morrison is put in interim charge of the strugglers

West Brom have sacked their head coach Eric Ramsay after just 44 days in charge at the Hawthorns.

The 34-year-old was appointed on a two-and-a-half-year deal on 11 January following the departure of Ryan Mason but has failed to win any of his nine matches in charge.

In 1990, Gary Williamson was 18, backpacking in Europe, when his vision began to fail. It was the start of a perilous journey

The first sign that something was wrong was the blurred text in the book Gary Williamson was reading. The problem with his vision had come on suddenly – the day before, it had been normal. Williamson thought perhaps he was tired, or run down. He was 18 and had arrived in Gibraltar after travelling through Europe for two weeks, sleeping rough and not eating or drinking properly. “I’ll go and get some water and something to eat. I thought: maybe it’s nothing. I’ll see how I am tomorrow. The next day, I woke up and it was bad again.” He remembers cautiously getting out his book to test his eyesight: “It’s actually getting worse. I can’t read it now. The lines were starting to blur.” He had relied on a map to get him that far. “I remember thinking: that’s going to become useless very soon. I need to work out what I’m doing.” He needed to get home.

It was 1990, and Williamson didn’t think to call home to ask for help. With no money left – he had made it to Gibraltar four days earlier with the intention to find work – he decided to hitch a lift, thinking a UK-bound lorry would be his best bet. He made it to the gates where the haulage lorries left the port, threw down his backpack by the side of the road and waited. None of the lorries stopped to pick him up. He was, he says, “panicking a little bit, thinking: what do I do? It was harder than I thought it was going to be.” Around 6pm, he gave up. He went back to where he had been sleeping, on a patch of sandy ground behind a sandwich stall over the Spanish border. Before he went to sleep, he wished that he would get a lift the next day, and that his eyesight wouldn’t be any worse. When he woke up, it was.

A quick landgrab has distorted into a complex geopolitical conflict – and even Trump’s fulminations can’t seem to make Ukrainians give in

Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine entered its fifth year on 24 February, with no end in sight despite Russia’s vast material superiority.

Most experts expected Ukraine’s defeat within days. Russia’s population is more than three times Ukraine’s, its GDP around 10 times bigger, its army far larger, its arsenal of tanks, artillery, missiles and warplanes greater. Russia’s leadership, Putin included, expected Ukrainians to capitulate, perhaps even to welcome Russian troops. US and British intelligence predicted the war early, but also projected a rapid Russian victory.

Rajan Menon is a professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York and a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies

Ukrainian Lessons: Art in a time of war. On Wednesday 30 September, join Charlotte Higgins and acclaimed Ukrainian writers Olia Hercules, Sasha Dovzhyk and Olesya Khromeychuk as they reflect on the profound connections between war, art and life. Book tickets here or at guardian.live

Researchers say solitary bottlenose has adapted well to city waters, but tighter controls on boat traffic and human behaviour are needed

Italian scientists monitoring the movements of a dolphin in the Venice lagoon have said humans are the ones who need managing, rather than wildlife.

Known as Mimmo, the bottlenose dolphin has been spotted on several occasions since it made its first appearance in June last year, prompting a research team from the University of Padova to spring into action.

UK Climate Change Committee voices concern over Scotland’s progress on decarbonising buildings and reliance on unproved technologies

Scotland has finally produced realistic short-term plans on cutting its climate emissions, but there is “real concern” about the credibility of its overall strategy, the UK’s climate policy watchdog has found.

Nigel Topping, the chair of the UK Climate Change Committee, said there were “flashing amber lights” about the quality and seriousness of some of the Scottish government’s medium- and long-term proposals to reach net zero by 2045.

Rebound in the country – which has been having demographic crisis – said to be partly because of 3.6 million born between 1991 and 1995 having children

South Korea recorded 254,500 births in 2025, the largest annual increase in 15 years, driven largely by a temporarily enlarged generation – known as “echo boomers” – now in their early thirties, alongside marriage rates recovering from Covid-era delays.

The country’s fertility rate – the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime – rose to 0.80 from 0.75 last year, returning to the 0.8 range for the first time since 2021, according to provisional figures released by South Korea’s ministry of data and statistics on Wednesday.

Four-day Caricom summit dominated by debate about US interventions in the region as military strikes against suspected drug boats continue

US interventions dominated speeches at a summit of 15 nations from the Caribbean and the Americas on Tuesday, as the region’s leaders met amid deadly military strikes against suspected drug boats and an oil blockade on Cuba.

During the opening ceremony of the four-day Caricom summit in St Kitts and Nevis, leaders of the regional bloc called for a strategic collaborations to deal with the impact of recent US policies.

A spokesperson for Falun Dafa – a group associated with Shen Yun - said it had received threats against Albanese if upcoming performances went ahead

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Anthony Albanese was evacuated from his official Canberra residence on Tuesday night as police responded to a bomb threat made against him in relation to upcoming performances of the Chinese group Shen Yun.

A spokesperson for Falun Dafa – a group associated with Shen Yun - told Guardian Australia that one of their colleagues had received two threats in recent weeks, written in Chinese, threatening harm against Albanese if the performances went ahead. The threats, the second of which was received this week, were reported to the Australian Federal Police and are thought to have been the reason for the prime minister to be evacuated from the Lodge and the house to be searched by officers.

Giant glass box on the side of a lake the setting for Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov’s secret getaway

For Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov it became the safe house at the edge of the world.

Now Heated Rivalry fans can relive some of the hit television show’s steamiest moments in Barlochan Cottage, tucked away on the granite-edged shores of Ontario’s Lake Muskoka, which has just been listed on Airbnb.

Australian journalist Ryan Heath, who will lead expansion, says focus will be on journalism that ‘connects the dots globally’

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The US political news site Politico will establish an Australian outlet later this year, bringing its brand of insider politics and policy news to the Canberra press gallery.

Ryan Heath, an Australian journalist who launched Politico’s Brussels Playbook a decade ago, is the edition’s launch editor. A newsletter covering federal parliamentary politics and policy, Canberra Playbook, will launch when parliament returns from a winter break.

Court itself to search devices for documents related to national security inquiry as newspaper calls ruling ‘victory’

A federal judge has prohibited the justice department from searching electronic devices it seized from a Washington Post reporter, ruling that the court will search the devices for documents related to a national security investigation itself.

In his ruling, magistrate judge William Porter criticized the Trump administration for omitting relevant case law in its application for a search warrant to seize the devices in the first place, but acknowledged “the possibility that classified national security information may be among the seized material” complicated the matter.