The actor and the director of Train Dreams – a quietly powerful tale of a logger in 1900s Idaho – on the slog of getting it made, the joy of motel living and why human-made things will always beat AI

America was built by men like Robert Grainier, the stoical lumberjack at the heart of Train Dreams. Grainier cuts the trees and tames the forest and lays the ground for railroads and towns. Technically, then, Train Dreams is a western. But he never once ropes a steer, shoots a bandit or circles the wagons ahead of a Comanche attack on the plains. The small print tells a different kind of story.

It was a hard film to pitch, admits the actor Joel Edgerton: an uphill struggle; plenty of studio trepidation. “You go into the meeting and say: ‘Well, it’s a movie about a guy who’s not really making choices for himself. He’s kind of pushed around by life.’”

As the photo booth turns 100, people share their best snapshots – including a private kiss and a chaotic proposal

100 years ago, Anatol Marco Josepho, a Russian immigrant to the US, invented the world’s first fully automated, coin-operated photo booth. When it opened its doors near Times Square in New York City, the “photomaton” – which produced pictures from a carefully orchestrated mechanical darkroom inside – was an instant hit. A reported 280,000 people lined up to use it in the first six months.

To mark 100 years, nine writers shared their favourite photo booth pictures, and we asked Guardian readers to show us their favourites and tell us what they mean to them. Here are some of their stories.

The X-Files star is at his charismatic best as a ruthless multimillionaire who hires Jack Whitehall as a sinister nanny. It’s like The White Lotus meets The Talented Mr Ripley

I can’t say I had “Jack Whitehall stars with David ‘The X Files/ Californication’ Duchovny in glossy TV thriller” on my 2025 bingo card, but here we are, and a good time with it can be had by all. Alongside, perhaps, a smidge of national pride to see the daft lad from Fresh Meat, Bad Education and Travels With My Father all grown up and holding his own.

The glossy thriller in question is Malice, in which Whitehall plays Adam, a tutor promoted to manny (male nanny, for those not au fait with rich people’s terms), who is bent – for reasons as yet unknown – on ruining high-rolling businessman Jamie Tanner (Duchovny). Whether he has it in for the rest of the Tanner family and friends, or they are just doomed to be collateral damage, is not clear, but that doesn’t spoil the machiavellian fun.

I couldn’t repeat a song, and improvisation wasn’t allowed. I needed a very long set list.

The first time I picked up the trumpet was 15 years ago. Before that, I had tried the drums and the clarinet. They didn’t quite stick. But when I blew my first note on the trumpet, it resonated with me in a way nothing else had. From that moment, I knew: this was my instrument.

Since then, I’ve dedicated myself to music. I now teach students at the American International School of Abuja, Nigeria, and share my love for the trumpet with others. I’ve seen first-hand how little recognition musicians and musicologists receive. Music demands so much time, discipline, money, and years of study – yet it is so undervalued. I’d like to change that.

The biggest survey of Reform voters to date reveals unexpected views. Aditya Chakrabortty reports

There are certain stereotypes about who Reform UK voters are: people who want “the old England” back, who think the country is going to the dogs and are obsessed with immigration.

But now the anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate has asked 11,000 people who said they were going to vote for Reform why that is – and the answers may surprise you. The Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty says the results suggest an unwieldy coalition of voters who could be won back by other parties.

From deforestation to emissions trading, vital policies are being watered down in the name of ‘competitiveness’. But Europe is shooting itself in the foot

Climate action has long been a flagship European policy. As negotiators gather in Brazil for Cop30, however, Europe’s leadership risks faltering. Things were very different a decade ago in Paris, when a landmark deal to limit global heating to 1.5C was achieved at Cop21. That agreement relied on an understanding between the US and China – one that would be difficult to replicate today. Its ambition was elevated by Europe acting in concert with a broad coalition of global south countries.

The Paris climate agreement paved the way for the European Green Deal in 2019, which enshrined into law the ambition of climate neutrality in the EU by 2050 and introduced the world’s first comprehensive plan to achieve it, featuring a robust set of pricing, regulatory and funding measures.

Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist

Labour had laid the ground to break a manifesto pledge on taxes for working people but has now made a U-turn

Rachel Reeves is set to abandon a plan to raise income tax in her budget with the chancellor reportedly “ripping up” the main measures in the wake of turmoil in the party.

A source told the Guardian that plans to break the manifesto pledge on income tax had been ditched by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the chancellor.

‘We strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim’, reads statement expressing ‘sincere regrets’ over Panorama episode

The BBC has apologised to Donald Trump over the editing of a Panorama documentary that led to the resignation of its director general, Tim Davie, and the BBC News chief, Deborah Turness.

However, the corporation has rejected his demands for compensation, after lawyers for Trump threatened to sue for $1bn (£760m) in damages unless the BBC issued a retraction, apologised and settled with him.

Exclusive: Move could cause huge disruption and present ministers with major new headache

Hospital consultants are gearing up to join resident doctors in striking over pay in a move that could cause huge disruption for the NHS and present ministers with a major new headache.

In addition, resident doctors – who will tomorrow embark on their latest strike – have decided to adopt a more militant approach in pursuit of their 26% pay claim in which they strike every month, to put pressure on the government.

Investigation by Guardian and Carbon Brief finds just a fifth of funds to fight global heating went to poorest 44 countries

China and wealthy petrostates including Saudi Arabia and UAE are among countries receiving large sums of climate finance, according to an analysis.

The Guardian and Carbon Brief analysed previously unreported submissions to the UN, along with data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), that show how billions of dollars of public money is being committed to the fight against global heating.