UK company payrolls have fallen steadily in recent months, pushing unemployment rate to four-year high

• Analysis: The rise in unemployment shows the UK jobs market is cooling, but it is not collapsing

Deutsche Bank’s chief UK economist Sanjay Raja agrees that the UK’s labour market is continuing to cool, with both payrolls and vacancies down.

Raja explains:

Redundancies remain elevated with the May data showing a 114k increase in the three months to May – its highest level in three months. Jobs demand remains weak as hiring plans are near a standstill.

This will continue to see unemployment rise – but we think this will be a slow grind higher as opposed to a whipsaw higher. For the MPC, despite the bump higher in inflation, the loosening in labour market should give the BoE reason to proceed with a gradual dial down of restrictive policy.

The fallout in the labour market from the hikes in National Insurance Contributions and the minimum wage is not as big as previously thought. Even so, as payroll employment is falling and wage growth is easing, the Bank of England will still continue to cut interest rates despite yesterday’s strong inflation release.

Late-night hosts discuss unprecedented backlash from Trump’s base over his refusal to release Jeffrey Epstein files

Late-night hosts dig into the rift between Donald Trump and his most ardent supporters over his refusal to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

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

• Warning: graphic content

A casual mention of Kate Raworth’s theory has grown into the basis for decision making in Tomelilla

In a small town in Sweden, the local authority is carrying out an unusual experiment.

In 2021 one of the team had been reading an article about the concept of doughnut economics – a circular way of thinking about the way we use resources – and he brought it up. “I just mentioned it casually at a meeting, as a tool to evaluate our new quality of life programme, and it grew from there,” says Stefan Persson, Tomelilla’s organisational development manager.

This harrowing account of a British doctor and his shocking experiments on young women includes a testimony from the actor Celia Imrie, who was one of his patients

In a hospital in Waterloo, London, in the mid-1960s was a psychiatric ward full of sleeping women. Suffering from disorders ranging from post-partum depression to chronic anxiety to anorexia, the residents of the “sleep room” were sedated and woken only to be washed, fed or subjected to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). All were under the supervision of psychiatrist William Sargant, who at the time was hailed as a pioneer. Sargant claimed that a combination of enforced narcosis and ECT could fix disturbed minds. Failing that, the treatment would be surgical lobotomy.

The Sleep Room is author Jon Stock’s gripping account of a scandal in which female patients were denied dignity and agency by a man who wielded absolute power over their bodies. The book is ably narrated by actors Richard Armitage, Antonia Beamish and Celia Imrie. The latter’s contributions are unusually personal since, at 14, Imrie had been hospitalised with anorexia and was put under Sargant’s care.

Chua/He/Singapore Symphony Orchestra/Graf
(Pentatone)
The Singaporean violinist plays Mozart with a clean focused tone, an elegant turn of phrase and a quiet wit.

As Chloe Chua points out in her notes, Mozart’s Violin Concertos were written by a teenager – so why shouldn’t a teenage violinist do them justice? Chua – joint winner of the junior Menuhin Competition in 2018, aged 11 – was 15 and 16 when she made these recordings. The framework is conventional – there are no great surprises in the tempos, and she is backed by the modern instruments of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, who give an energised but refined performance conducted by Hans Graf. So far, so traditional. And yet Chua consistently holds the attention with interpretations that are notably mature: balanced, considered and never trying too hard. The faster movements having a gentle momentum, the slow ones plenty of space; everything Chua plays has a clean, focused tone, an unfailingly elegant turn of phrase and a quiet wit.

As well as the five concertos we also get three stand-alone movements, two rondos and an adagio – and, most rewardingly, the Sinfonia Concertante, for which Chua is joined by the violist Ziyu He, another Menuhin Competition winner, his mellow-toned lines dovetailing perfectly with hers. Granted, these performances may not stand out dramatically in a very crowded field, but they are certainly worth your time.

Coca-Cola offers no confirmation of recipe change, saying corn syrup is safe and widely used in US drinks

The Coca-Cola company has defended its use of corn syrup after Donald Trump’s claim Wednesday that he had apparently convinced the brand to switch to using sugar cane in its US drinks, as it does in Mexico and the UK.

“I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola,” Trump said in a social media post late Tuesday.

Hollywood has hitherto been ridiculously soppy over canines. The scrappy, wild and disobedient beast here is as annoying as the real thing

Superman might be one of the most confusing blockbuster films to hit the big screen this year. The tone, as you might expect from a goofball superhero movie that is plainly about the invasion of Gaza, is all over the shop. Too many characters contribute too little to the plot. There are moments when it feels like it was written specifically to provide work for the silly-glasses and ironic-haircut industries. It is a bit of a mess.

But that said, one thing is demonstrably true: the dog is cool. As shown in the trailer, Krypto the superdog is Superman’s secret weapon. A mile away from his last screen outing, where he was muscular and proud and voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Superman’s Krypto is scrappy and wild. He doesn’t obey commands. He destroys whatever equipment is put in front of him. Whenever he may or may not save the day, it seems like he does it out of accident rather than design.

As her European tour with Kendrick Lamar continues in the UK, we rate the former Glastonbury headliner’s best tracks, from 2012’s debut to this year’s collaboration with Don Toliver

A bit of a buried treasure: Hit Different was coolly received on release – SZA ceded the song’s hook to guest Ty Dolla $ign – but it deserved better: the Neptunes’ production is beautifully atmospheric, her vocal is fantastic, the lyrics – in which she perplexingly finds a partner sexier when they’re arguing – are great.

Spate of incidents in Baltic Sea and around Taiwan are harbinger for further disruptive activity, cybersecurity firm says

The risk of Russia- and China-backed attacks on undersea cables carrying international internet traffic is likely to rise amid a spate of incidents in the Baltic Sea and around Taiwan, according to a report.

Submarine cables account for 99% of the world’s intercontinental data traffic and have been affected by incidents with suspected state support over the past 18 months.

I love Jane Austen. But a fresh revival of the idea that what a woman needs most is to marry a man is the last thing we need

What is the main lesson we take away from Jane Austen? I know novels aren’t manuals, but the Austen industry encourages a certain self-help approach to its products – and Austen herself was full of what we no longer call bossy opinions. From the books, there are endless shrewd judgments about how to be a woman of substance. From the screen adaptations, we learn just how nice it would be to have a big house in Derbyshire. There is the general rule of true love overcoming all obstacles. But there is also this: that there is no worse fate to befall a woman than to fail to lock down a man.

Two new Austen adaptations are heading our way: a Netflix miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, and a new movie version of Sense and Sensibility. They join Too Much, Lena Dunham’s new show that riffs on our relationship with romcoms – how we use them as templates and ideals – a clear nod to Sleepless in Seattle, except with Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility as its urtext rather than An Affair to Remember.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist

The pop star, whose hits include Who’s Sorry Now? and Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You, also starred in several films

Connie Francis, the wholesome pop star of the 1950s and 1960s whose hits include Pretty Little Baby and who would later serve as an ironic title for a personal life filled with heartbreak and tragedy, has died at age 87.

Her death was announced Thursday by her friend and publicist, Ron Roberts, who did not immediately provide additional details.

Andy Farrell may look at ease but he knows his team need to be in physical and mental control for the first Test

Sometimes the best place to gauge the mindset of a head coach before a big game is not the training pitch or the press conference room but the pub across the road. Which is where Andy Farrell and his wife, Colleen, were enjoying a relaxing post-team selection drink by an open window when a few of us happened to wander past en route back from dinner.

There may be a huge contest looming but, the closer it draws, the more at ease Farrell is beginning to look. While the competitor in him loves the approaching whiff of cordite he is not a man who believes in sitting and fretting in his room before major contests. He likes to be out and about, getting a sense of the local mood and helping to fill the quiet before the storm.

As annual drills become more significant, this year Taipei civilians have been experiencing what war might feel like

Usually people in Taipei walk quite slowly. Notoriously so. But at 1.27pm on Thursday some were almost sprinting through the busy shopping district of Ximen. They knew they had three minutes to get where they needed to be or they would be stuck in the nearest underground bunker for half an hour.

At 1.30pm exactly, deafening sirens wailed across the city, and a text hit every mobile phone warning: “The enemy has launched a missile attack toward northern Taiwan.”

From shooting with Martin Scorsese at 4am to watching Madonna explode on set, the actor answers your questions

You’ve acted in some killer heels. Which have been your favourite? SarahWales
I hate high heels! I can’t remember any favourites. In between takes, I’d be in slippers or Uggs. If it’s ladylike to be in heels, then that’s not my type of lady.

Do you think the entertainment industry still has issues with strong, outspoken, independent women? CaptainLib
You definitely pay a price for being strong, outspoken and independent. But the women whom I admire, like Jane Fonda and Ava DuVernay, are strong, independent and speak their minds.

The rate of voluntary sterilization among young women jumped abruptly after Dobbs, and there’s no reason to believe it will drop off

Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the US supreme court case that rescinded the constitutional right to abortion, is failing on its own terms. Since the ruling, in June 2022, the number of abortions in the US has risen. Support for reproductive rights is on the upswing. And the rate of voluntary sterilization among young women – a repudiation of Trumpian pronatalism, if a desperate one – jumped abruptly after Dobbs, and there’s no reason to believe it will drop off.

Also rising at an alarming clip are preventable maternal deaths and criminal prosecutions of pregnant people.

When the sun’s out, try using port as a mixer and surprise yourself with a port tonic or any number of citrus punches

Some drinks are so inexorably tied up with specific seasons and circumstances that it’s hard to imagine them anywhere else. Like bumping into a teacher outside school or witnessing someone take off their shoes during a flight. It’s legal, sure, but there’s always a moment of deep discomfort and confusion before acceptance. And that’s pretty much how I imagine many people feel about drinking port in summer. Or, indeed, at any time of the day that isn’t evening, or served alongside anything that isn’t an intriguing, veiny cheese.

Consider Porto, the city responsible for bringing the drink to the rest of the world – do you think that, when the temperatures creep up, everyone there stops drinking the stuff? No, they find new ways to enjoy it. Improvise, adapt, overcome.

Exclusive: 17% increase in military spending will add emissions equivalent to those of some entire countries

Donald Trump’s huge spending boost for the Pentagon will produce an additional 26 megatons (Mt) of planet-heating gases – on a par with the annual carbon equivalent (CO₂e) emissions generated by 68 gas power plants or the entire country of Croatia, new research reveals.

The Pentagon’s 2026 budget – and climate footprint – is set to surge to $1tn thanks to the president’s One Big Beautiful Act, a 17% rise on last year.

AP reports daughter of former FBI director James Comey terminated – but no specific reason given for decision

The justice department has fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey and a prosecutor in the federal cases against Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jeffrey Epstein, two people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

There was no specific reason given for her firing from the US attorney’s office in the southern district of New York, according to one of the people who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

• Updates from the 181km ride from Auch to Hautacam

• Stage-by-stage guide | And you can drop Luke a mail

“I’m OK. Nothing too bad,” Pogacar tells Matt Stephens after his crash yesterday. “My whole left arm is open, burned off skin. And I hit my hip a little bit and my shoulder, but luckily I was back on the bike quite fast. Today is another day. It’s not the first time I crashed and continued the race. It’s more important the legs than my arm. I have a super-strong team around me. I am so grateful I can rely on them, even if I have a hard day today, but I hope not.

“It’s really sad to lose another young talent,” Pogacar says of Samuele Privitera’s death at the Giro della Valle d’Aosta yesterday. “It’s devastating. It’s one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Sometimes the risks we are taking are too far. I’m really sad for all his family. May he rest in peace … he deserves to “not be bothered” now. It’s a sad loss.”

Food Standards Agency warns that the drinks can cause decreased consciousness and low blood sugar

Children under seven should not drink slushies containing glycerol because of the serious health risks they can cause, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said.

Glycerol is a naturally occurring alcohol and sugar substitute that helps slushies maintain their texture by preventing liquid from freezing solid.

The Netflix show’s last season just dropped a trailer full of heavy metal, demons, tornados and flamethrowers. And even better – it might have rediscovered its devastatingly emotional core

Objectively, you should not be excited about the return of Stranger Things. Over the years, the Netflix smash has in many ways come to represent everything bad about television’s streaming era.

It began as a fun piece of fluff, a one-and-done collection of overt 1980s film references, designed as the first part of an unconnected anthology. But then it exceeded expectations, so the Duffer brothers found themselves having to pull an entire mythology out of thin air. And a bloated one at that, full of (at best) bottle episodes about punky young superheroes and (at worst) self-indulgent episodes that grind on for hours and hours.

Lozano Rolong/Araújo
(Somm)
Supported beautifully by pianist João Araújo, and with songs by composers from seven countries, this recording offers a wealth of colour from a hugely promising performer

The Colombian soprano Julieth Lozano Rolong walked away with the audience prize at the most recent BBC Cardiff singer of the world in 2023, and this recording – with the pianist João Araújo, whom she met while studying at the Royal College of Music in London – leaves no doubt as to why.

The songs, all in Spanish or Portuguese, are by composers from seven countries, and switch seamlessly between art song, folk music arrangements and numbers covered by pop singers. There’s a wealth of colour in Lozano Rolong’s velvet-toned soprano, and her words are immediate and expressive – even in the patter of a song such as Uirapuru by the Brazilian Waldemar Henrique, which zips through so much local folklore that its text needs eight footnotes. Other highlights include a haunting lullaby by Argentina’s Gilardo Gilardi, two almost Puccini-esque songs by the Mexican composer María Grever, and another lullaby, this time dreamier, by Colombia’s Luis Carlos Figueroa. The programme doesn’t have an obvious centre of gravity, but it’s full of small-scale discoveries – including two folk song arrangements by the playwright Federico García Lorca. With Araújo offering beautifully judged support, it showcases Lozano Rolong as a captivating and hugely promising performer.

Pope Leo renews ceasefire call after strike on territory’s only Catholic church injures children and clergy

An Israeli strike has hit the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing two people and injuring several others including the parish priest, who used to receive daily calls from the late Pope Francis.

“Two persons were killed as a result of an apparent strike by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family compound this morning,” the Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.