From finding love to becoming a better parent … Philippa Perry, Paul Dolan, Orna Guralnik and others reveal the books that will change your life

The former Tory MP and The Rest Is Politics host on a dinosaur he’d bring back to life, being thin-skinned and hating his bandy legs

Born in Hong Kong, Rory Stewart, 53, served as Conservative MP for Penrith and The Border from 2010. He was secretary of state for international development when he launched an unsuccessful bid to become Tory leader in 2019. Later that year, he resigned from the party to stand as an independent in the London mayoral elections. He co-hosts the podcast The Rest Is Politics and is the author of prize-winning and ­bestselling books including The Places in Between and Politics on the Edge. His latest is Middleland. He is married with two children and lives in London.

What is your greatest fear?
I become very anxious if I think I’ve hurt someone.

Bruised and tainted by his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the Labour peer still has admirers – and the drive to go again

The BBC’s interview with Peter Mandelson had offered ample evidence of the Labour peer’s “formidable political brain”, according to Louis Mosley, UK head of the US data firm, Palantir Technologies.

An indefensible error of judgment had been made by Mandelson, Mosley said in a panel discussion with Laura Kuenssberg after the airing of some of the 30-minute interview on her Sunday morning political show, but “he is a masterful interpreter of Trump and we now live in a world where that man will determine much of what happens, and we need people who can be that translation function”.

Yes, ‘corridor care’ horrors persist, yet statistics show my timely, efficient treatment wasn’t a matter of fortune but quite ordinary

It was a bad start to the new year. Slipping on ice, I fell and broke my right wrist, so now I can’t hold a pen with my writing hand. But my experience of the NHS was a good reminder of a few facts.

Heading to the nearest A&E, I expected one of those 12-hour waits and corridors lined with trolleys of the near-dead, rowdy with drunken and psychotic mayhem. The Guardian recently found that violent incidents recorded by 212 NHS trusts in England rose from 91,175 in 2022-23 to 104,079 in 2024-25, the equivalent of about 285 cases reported every day. So I was ready for whatever. Notices warned that there would be zero tolerance of abuse of staff.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

How would you feel if your therapist’s notes – your darkest thoughts and deepest feelings – were exposed to the world? For 33,000 Finnish people, that became a terrifying reality, with deadly consequences

Tiina Parikka was half-naked when she read the email. It was a Saturday in late October 2020, and Parikka had spent the morning sorting out plans for distance learning after a Covid outbreak at the school where she was headteacher. She had taken a sauna at her flat in Vantaa, just outside Finland’s capital, Helsinki, and when she came into her bedroom to get dressed, she idly checked her phone. There was a message that began with Parikka’s name and her social security number – the unique code used to identify Finnish people when they access healthcare, education and banking. “I knew then that this is not a game,” she says.

The email was in Finnish. It was jarringly polite. “We are contacting you because you have used Vastaamo’s therapy and/or psychiatric services,” it read. “Unfortunately, we have to ask you to pay to keep your personal information safe.” The sender demanded €200 in bitcoin within 24 hours, otherwise the price would go up to €500 within 48 hours. “If we still do not receive our money after this, your information will be published for everyone to see, including your name, address, phone number, social security number and detailed records containing transcripts of your conversations with Vastaamo’s therapists or psychiatrists.”

Food critic comes under fire after suggesting health and safety rules ‘don’t really apply’ to elite restaurants

According to a critic who has eaten at every three-star Michelin restaurant in the world, Gareth Ward, the star chef and owner of Ynyshir, on the southern edge of Eryri national park, is a groundbreaking visionary.

“He knows which rules to break and when,” Andy Hayler wrote. “He’s like Picasso; if you look at his early still lifes, they’re unbelievably perfect.”

‘Hands off Greenland’ rallies have been organised in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense and Nuuk

Here are some more images coming out of the “Hands Off Greenland” demonstration in Copenhagen:

Demonstrators have begun gathering in front of City Hall in Copenhagen as part of a series of actions planned throughout Denmark and Greenland in protest of Donald Trump and his plans to take control of Greenland.

White House says seven-strong board, chaired by Trump, will steer Gaza through next phase of reconstruction

Donald Trump has appointed the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and former British prime minister Tony Blair to a newly created Gaza “board of peace”, a body he claims will steer the next phase of reconstruction and governance in the war-ravaged territory.

The White House said the seven-strong “founding executive board” will also include Trump’s special envoy, the property developer Steve Witkoff; the World Bank president, Ajay Banga; and the president’s son-in-law and long-time adviser Jared Kushner. Trump himself will serve as chair, with further appointments expected in the coming weeks.

The views of the former Tory vaccines minister clash with those of high-profile members and the party faithful

There was no shortage of ammunition for reporters seeking to pepper Nadhim Zahawi with questions when the former Conservative chancellor was unveiled as Reform’s newest recruit on Monday.

But one persistent line of questioning seemed to draw a flash of real anger from the defector: did he reject the views of a doctor who was permitted by Reform to use the main stage at its annual conference to claim that the Covid vaccines, which Zahawi had himself rolled out as vaccines minister during the pandemic, were responsible for King Charles and the Princess of Wales’ cancers?

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Michael Carrick is the first manager of United or City to begin a spell in charge with a Manchester derby.

This is how Man Utd’s post-Fergie managers fared in their first derby; all were Premier League games.

David Moyes 1-4 (A) 2013-14

Louis van Gaal 0-1 (A) 2014-15

Jose Mourinho 1-2 (H) 2016-17

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 0-2 (H) 2018-19

Ralf Rangnick 1-4 (A) 2021-22

Erik ten Hag 3-6 (A) 2022-23

Ruben Amorim 2-1 (A) 2024-25

[On Man Utd’s tactics] No, I don’t know. They could play with a four or a back five; they could play with a false nine or Mbeumo up front. I’d love to know but we have to focus on ourselves.

[On the importance Rodri’s return] It’s not news! He’s so important. He was out for a long time, then he had a setback. We’re trying to manage his recovery.