Kendrick Lamar has sampled my track. I’d love to ask him if he knows my story

Growing up in North Miami Beach in the 1980s was a lot of fun. We might not have had TikTok, but we weren’t bored: we would ride our bikes around and blast music from our boomboxes all weekend. In my mid-teens, I did a work placement at a record store. I loved it, and became something of an expert in R&B and rap, listening to Grandmaster Flash, Run-DMC and 2 Live Crew on repeat.

One day in 1984, when I was 17, a record producer named Tony Butler – better known as “Pretty Tony” – came into the store. He heard me speak and asked me whether I wanted to make some music. I thought, “Why not?!”

After drummer Neil Peart died in 2020, many thought the Canadian prog legends would never reform. As they book a mammoth global tour, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson explain how their lifelong bond drew them back together

The two men on the sofa, Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, have known each other for 60 years now. “When we first met in junior high school, we sat beside each other, and we laughed,” says Lee, the elder by a month. “He’s the funniest guy I’ve ever known, and I make him laugh, too.” Lifeson, who has been gazing at his friend happily, nods vigorously. “Yeah!” The two of them gently tease each other, and speak of each other with such happy admiration, that I feel suffused with warmth from the off. “Everybody wants to have a bestie like this guy!” Lee says at one point, beaming.

It’s only because they like each other so much that they’re in this posh London hotel suite. Lifeson came over to Europe for some health checks, and Lee decided to come with him. Once they were here, they decided they may as well talk to some journalists about Rush’s upcoming R50 reunion tour, and the decision to add 24 European and South American shows to the 58 arena dates they’d already announced for North America (they’ll play the UK in March 2027). The interviews were meant to be separate, but they decided it would be more enjoyable to speak together. Honestly, if you ever want to see a model for male friendship, spend time with Rush and feel cleansed.

With poor Sam Claflin virtually banished from screen, it’s up to the Big Bang Theory star to keep this woefully formulaic show afloat – and it’s a losing battle

Buckle up, buttercups! Three hours of overstuffed nonsense split into four 45-minute bursts is about to come atcha, and fast.

Vanished stars Kaley Cuoco, who found fame in The Big Bang Theory from 2007-2019, then starred in The Flight Attendant a few years back. Cuoco played an ordinary, if functionally alcoholic, stewardess who found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and enmeshed in an ever-deepening mystery, then mortal peril. She found unexpected reserves of courage and resourcefulness and managed to stay half a step ahead of the bad guys until it was time for vanquishings and comeuppances all round.

Vanished is on Prime Video now.

Back then, France punched above its weight when it came to tech. The EU needs it to rediscover its taste for the cutting edge

In the 1960s, France became the third country, after the US and Soviet Union, to independently place a satellite (Astérix) into orbit, and the only country to send an animal into space and – crucially, for Félicette the catstronaut – bring it back alive. A decade later, the Franco-British Concorde flicked passengers across the Atlantic in three and a half hours and the TGV began to propel them through the countryside first at 250km/h (155mph), and then 320km/h. Then, in the late 1980s, the French space agency designed a crewed spaceplane, Hermès, that corrected for the Nasa space shuttle’s vulnerability by being integrated into its launch vehicle rather than perched atop it.

A concerted buildout of nuclear power left France with one of the least carbon-intensive economies in the world. And then, of course, there was the Minitel. More than a decade before anyone was typing “www” into their web browsers, French users were able to buy train tickets, check film showings, do their banking, play games, find recipes, read their horoscopes, or even log into, yes, erotic chats – la messagerie rose, as it was known.

Hannah Spencer elected as party’s first MP in northern England, as Labour sees a 25.3% drop in vote compared to 2024

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The Green party has pulled off a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection in a significant blow to Keir Starmer.

Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority.

The former US secretary of state urged Republicans to question Donald Trump ‘directly under oath’ about his ties with the convicted sex offender

Hillary Clinton appeared before a congressional committee investigating her supposed links to Jeffrey Epstein – and accused its Republican members of targeting her in a bid to distract from Donald Trump’s involvement with the convicted sex offender.

The former US secretary of state answered questions for hours during a closed-door session on Thursday, a day before her husband, the former US president Bill Clinton, was also due to appear.

Clinton delivers withering rebuke and says hearing is an attempt to deflect attention from Trump’s actions

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Hillary Clinton delivered a withering rebuke to a congressional committee investigating her supposed links to Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, accusing its Republican members of embarking on a “fishing expedition” intended to cover up and deflect attention from the actions of Donald Trump.

In a furious opening statement, the former secretary of state suggested the event was “partisan political theatre” and “an insult to the American people” while repeating her insistence that she had never met Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex trafficker who died in 2019.

Turnout in Gorton and Denton byelection over 47%, with 36,903 verified votes cast as Greens, Reform and Labour contest the seat

Labour sources have told the Press Association: “Early signs at the count indicate the Greens have been able to turn out support in a way they wouldn’t be able to replicate at a general election.”

Prof Will Jennings, of the University of Southampton, earlier said the contest was too close to call and that in Britain’s new fragmented politics “anything can happen”. He said a Labour defeat would be “terminal” for No 10’s strategy to try to appeal to right-leaning voters, which has alienated its core progressive supporters.

Federal Aviation Administration bars flights around Fort Hancock after reported use of anti-drone military laser

The Federal Aviation Administration barred flights on Thursday in an area around Fort Hancock, Texas, after congressional aides told Reuters a military laser-based anti-drone system was believed to have accidentally shot down a US government drone.

The FAA and Pentagon did not immediately comment but the FAA cited “special security reasons” in its notice about the restrictions on the airspace near the Mexican border posted on its Notam alert system, shorthand for “Notice to Air Missions”.

Lead plaintiff, now 20, says use of social media made her relationships with friends and family anxious and strained

The young woman at the heart of the landmark trial about the addictive nature of social media testified for the first time on Thursday, saying she got hooked on YouTube starting at age six and Instagram at nine. By the time she was 10, she said, she had become depressed and was engaging in self-harm.

The woman, who is now 20 and known by her initials KGM, is the lead plaintiff in an expansive lawsuit against YouTube and Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook. The crux of the case alleges social media companies intentionally create addictive products, leading to mental health issues in young people.

Study shows lower risk for multiple myeloma as well as pancreatic, prostate, breast and kidney cancers

Vegetarians have a substantially lower risk of five types of cancer, a landmark study on the role of diet has revealed.

The research, using data from more than 1.8 million people who were tracked over many years, found that vegetarians had a 21% lower risk of pancreatic cancer, a 12% lower risk of prostate cancer and a 9% lower risk of breast cancer compared with meat eaters. Combined, these cancers account for around a fifth of cancer deaths in the UK.

Your life may not look the way you thought it would, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, but whatever happens it can still be rich and fulfilling

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I am in my early 30s, unmarried, and increasingly afraid that I may have missed my chance at the life I’ve always imagined. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted children and a loving partnership that embodies safety, warmth and a shared sense of joy in living. But lately, that future feels more like a fantasy than a possibility.

Many of my closest friends are in similar positions, yet one friend is happily married with her first child and already planning a second. Watching the tenderness and stability in her marriage is both beautiful and painful. Her husband embodies so many of the qualities I long for in a partner, and I find myself wondering whether that kind of love is something I will ever experience, or whether it simply isn’t meant for me.

Escalation of violence between the volatile neighbours makes a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shaky

Pakistan bombed Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul and two other provinces on Friday, hours after a cross-border attack, the latest escalation of violence between the volatile neighbours who signed a Qatar-mediated ceasefire in 2025.

Following months of tit-for-tat clashes, Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night in what the Taliban government said was retaliation for earlier deadly air strikes.

It’s no surprise that so many Kiwis are leaving New Zealand behind for a nation with much larger capacity for embarrassment: Australia

I got the news that Aotearoa’s most (internationally) famous prime minister is moving to Sydney in a way that is only possible in New Zealand. I was at the final Splore festival in Tāpapakanga at the weekend (one of our longest-running and arguably most beautiful festivals) when Clarke Gayford, Jacinda Ardern’s husband, popped up next to me on the dancefloor dressed as a giant toadstool. “Yeah, we’re moving to Sydney,” he said to a man in funereal pirate garb. “Can’t wait!”

Maybe it was the joy of a perfect tracklist at 2am, maybe it was getting this breaking news from the horse’s mouth, but I felt thrilled for our former first couple. Like Splore, NZ has the hungover malaise of a party being cancelled and the lights going out.

Johanna Cosgrove is an award-winning actor/writer/comedian. She will perform her show Sweetie at the Melbourne international comedy festival and is now in NZ filming an exciting top-secret feature film

OpenAI-powered assistant will help to ‘understand overall service patterns’, company says, as move sparks backlash

From hospitality workers to retail employees, the exaggerated “customer service voice”, often mocked in internet memes as wildly different from someone’s real voice, has long been a cultural trope. Fast-food giant Burger King is now taking that voice one step further, saying it will detect whether employees are using words like “please” and “thank you” through the assistance of artificial intelligence.

On Thursday, Burger King announced it is rolling out a new AI chatbot connected to employee headsets at hundreds of locations in the US as part of a platform called BK Assistant, powered by OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.

Democracy Volunteers says it saw 32 cases of apparent collusion – the highest levels in its 10-year history

An election observer group has raised concerns over people appearing to collude on voting in the Gorton and Denton byelection.

Democracy Volunteers, an organisation founded by Dr John Ault, and supported by the Conservative peer and psephologist Prof Robert Haywood, deployed four accredited election observers across the constituency.

Chelsea must keep their heads at Arsenal, Anthony Gordon faces his old club and a key return for Sunderland

Unai Emery has seen most things in this game but he has never won at Wolves. In three and a half years at Villa, he has lost two and drawn one of his three away games at Molineux. Twelve months ago they lost this fixture 2-0 and this week Emery shared his poor record to stress the difficulty of the challenge facing his side, particularly given they have won just one of their past five matches in all competitions. Emery even mentioned his visit to Wolverhampton with Arsenal in 2019, when his team trailed 3-0 at half-time and lost 3-1. For Emery, there is no better time to break his duck, with the schedule dictating that Villa could move nine points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea, who visit Villa on Wednesday, before Liam Rosenior’s side travel to Arsenal on Sunday. Victory would enhance Villa’s chances of returning to the Champions League but also pile pressure on a direct rival. Ben Fisher

Wolves v Aston Villa, Friday 8pm (all kick-offs GMT)

Bournemouth v Sunderland, Saturday 12.30pm

Burnley v Brentford, Saturday 3pm

Liverpool v West Ham, Saturday 3pm

It is a peculiarity particular to Crystal Palace that a season of such upheaval and unrest could still end up with Oliver Glasner’s side winning another trophy. Having left the pitch after last week’s first leg with supporters calling for the Austrian manager to be sacked in the morning, Maxence Lacroix and Evann Guessand made it a much more harmonious evening for Glasner and his side.

After being fortunate to escape from last week’s trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina with a 1-1 draw, it could have been very different if Zrinjski Mostar had equalised just before Guessand settled the tie late on. But having been demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League after winning the FA Cup last season, Palace’s first European campaign will continue against either the Cypriot side Larnaca – who they lost to during the group stages – or Mainz from Germany in the last 16.

Experimental therapy of applying stem cells during surgery could be ‘major milestone’ in treatment of birth defects

Giving stem cells to unborn babies diagnosed with spina bifida while they have in utero surgery could be “a major milestone” in the treatment of birth defects, doctors say.

A trial in the US found that applying stem cells from the mother’s placenta to her baby’s spine while it was being repaired was safe and improved the child’s mobility and quality of life.

Pete Hegseth has threatened to cancel $200m contract unless it is given unfettered access to Claude model

Anthropic said Thursday it “cannot in good conscience” comply with a demand from the Pentagon to remove safety precautions from its artificial intelligence model and grant the US military unfettered access to its AI capabilities.

The Department of Defense had threatened to cancel a $200m contract and deem Anthropic a “supply chain risk”, a designation with serious financial implications, if the company did not comply with the request by Friday.

• RFU due to confirm shake-up of rugby’s top division

• Knighthead Capital Management in early discussions

Birmingham City’s owner, Knighthead Capital Management, is among a number of American investors exploring the purchase of potential new franchises in Prem Rugby before a radical shake-up of the sport due to be ratified by the Rugby Football Union on Friday.

The RFU council will vote at Twickenham on proposals to ringfence the 10-team Prem with no promotion or relegation until 2030, when a staged expansion is planned, beginning with the addition of two more teams.

Federal judge in Oregon rejects bid to overturn Biden-era agreement to protect endangered fish populations

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A federal judge in Oregon sided with salmon against the Trump administration on Wednesday, ordering the federal government to change hydropower system operations long considered at the heart of native fish populations’ sharp decline.

At the center of the dispute are eight dams and reservoirs on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in the Pacific north-west that have created devastating obstacles for salmon and steelhead unable to breach their deadly turbines or navigate through the large, warm, artificial pools. The federal agencies and their supporters, which include a group of utilities, water managers and farming organizations, argued that reservoir drawdown would put power reliability in peril.

Martin O’Neill delivered a little piece of history in what will surely be his final European fixture as a manager. He created such wonderful memories for Celtic’s support in this domain during his first tenure that departing with a smile felt appropriate. In Stuttgart, Celtic won their first competitive game in Germany. It took them 17 attempts. “The evening is nothing to do with me,” said O’Neill with needless self-deprecation.

Luke McCowan’s goal inside 30 seconds was irrelevant in the broader context of this tie. Stuttgart’s 4-1 canter in Glasgow a week earlier ensured that. Still, a game that had the whiff of irrelevance for Celtic delivered unexpected cheer. The statistics will show Stuttgart spent much of the evening camped in Celtic’s half – the hosts had 24 attempts at goal – but the Scottish champions played with a diligence and discipline that is worthy of huge credit. Sebastian Tounekti should even have delivered a second Celtic goal in the closing minutes. By then, Stuttgart were going through the motions.

Coroner finds Jeremy Webb’s death in 2022 caused by mammalian meat allergy – one of only two known cases, with other fatality in US in 2024

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On a June night in 2022, 16-year-old Jeremy Webb was camping with friends on the New South Wales Central Coast, north of Sydney, when he vomited after eating beef sausages.

Struggling to breathe, the teenager ran from the campground to knock on the window of a nearby camper van, and asked the occupants to call an ambulance. Then he collapsed.