From a new high-speed line to better intercity links, the PM has a chance to tackle problems he criticised as Manchester mayor

For passenger rail travel, the north of England was the future, once. But since that first train from Darlington to Stockton in 1825, many have felt short-changed. As one angry passenger put it, 200 years later: “What is it about the rail industry which makes them think they can treat passengers in the north as second-class citizens?”

That complaint came from the former mayor of Greater Manchester, who frequently set out a different vision for the train services he would like. Now that Andy Burnham is in No 10, he has the opportunity to win those battles – or perhaps see them a little differently. For now, what unresolved issues could the railway expect to be pursued with greater urgency?

As his new film Bitter Christmas is released, the legendary Spanish director turns his fire on Donald Trump, Will Smith, Netflix – and himself

Black sunglasses indoors and a tufty cloud of cotton-wool hair: it can only be Pedro Almodóvar, bourgeois arthouse darling nonpareil and master of everything from screwball romps (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) to clammy thrillers (Live Flesh, The Skin I Live In) – and sumptuous melodramas such as his 24th film, Bitter Christmas, a cautionary tale about the perils of autofiction.

We are sitting in the library of a London hotel and Almodóvar is dressed in a thin black windcheater, grey trousers and white trainers; add a whistle on a string and he could pass for a PE teacher. The 76-year-old director may have won more than 60 awards including two Oscars, five Baftas and six Goyas but when the shades come off today, he looks momentarily sorry for himself. He has been deaf in one ear since childhood, he tells me, and now the other one is giving up the ghost. In addition, a nasty stye has turned his left eye a gluey purple. Might he have picked it up while swimming? “I do swim almost every day because I have a pool,” he sighs. Never can those words have sounded so sorrowful.

The essence of cycling is to keep moving, but London’s chaotic roads often make this difficult. My solution: fewer, not more rules

I plead guilty. I have loved and used the streets of London all my life, as a cyclist, driver and pedestrian. Touch wood, I have done so without accident, blemish or insurance claim. Yet now I find myself perpetually on the wrong side of the law. Regulation has become bureaucratic and chaotic.

When I try to drive at the authorised speed of 20mph on many through roads, I am hooted at and overtaken by vans, cars, coaches and buses. And when I sit dutifully on my bike at a traffic light, I am jostled by swarms of cyclists riding through on red, furious at being treated as if they were car drivers.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

Mother of Billy Caldwell, who has severe epilepsy, celebrates son’s story while pushing for better access to prescription cannabis for families who need it

When Billy Caldwell was a baby he was not expected to survive infancy. A severe form of epilepsy condemned his tiny body to daily seizures – brutal, draining and each one potentially fatal. “They couldn’t get the seizures under control,” his mother, Charlotte, recalled. “Billy was sent home to die – we were told he wouldn’t see past his first birthday.”

That prediction was in 2005. Last month Billy, who is autistic, celebrated his 21st birthday at home in a bucolic corner of Northern Ireland with family, friends, cake and a wide smile.

It was clear it was broken. I could feel the bones grinding together as the paramedics strapped me to a gurney

Growing up in Utah, I was so active that my parents nicknamed me “The Blur”. My older siblings introduced me to rock climbing while I was still at primary school. By the time I was 15, I was hauling myself up cliff faces.

One summer’s day in 2014, when I was 17, my friends and I went paddleboarding on a lake. My friend Trevor and I decided to climb one of the rocky boulders overlooking the water, and jump in.

David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin are back and having a blast nerding around Cambridge solving low-stakes murders. Long may this whimsical, corduroy-clad mystery continue!

Oh, Ludwig – how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Or at least allow me to hold your favourite biro as you scurry around Cambridge in a state of rumpled exasperation, like a Womble that’s just been chased out of Ryman following a misunderstanding over a hole-punch.

National Trust’s Holnicote estate says restored wetlands and rivers offer proof of resilience to drought, wildfires and flooding

Aerial footage of an estate in Somerset has revealed the benefits of rewilding land in the face of extreme weather brought about by the climate crisis.

The area of the National Trust’s Holnicote estate where rivers have been returned to their natural courses and wetlands have been restored have remained green and lush during the five heatwaves across the summer. In contrast, the surrounding countryside has become parched and brown.

July data shows total public debt was £2.98tn, or 94% of GDP – up £96bn on a year earlier

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The UK government ran a larger than expected £1.8bn deficit in July, underlining the challenges facing the chancellor, John Healey, as he draws up his first budget.

City economists had expected a shortfall of zero for July, a month when Treasury receipts tend to be swollen by self-assessment income tax payments.

Exclusive: Bridget Phillipson says politicians have helped fuel hatred and that police are not taking violence against women and girls seriously enough

Racism and sexism have become normalised in Britain, the equalities minister has said, as she warned that young men were being sucked into violent misogyny by the “cesspit” of social media.

Bridget Phillipson said she was increasingly worried about how commonplace misogyny and racism had become, fuelled by online interactions and statements by politicians she said would not have been acceptable a few years ago.

‘Unprecedented’ weather pattern over Pacific Ocean to be felt worldwide with severe droughts expected in southern hemisphere

The El Niño event developing over the Pacific Ocean is likely to be the strongest for more than a 100 years, the UK’s Met Office has said.

Increased rainfall and storms are forecast to hit the UK this autumn as a result of the “unprecedented” weather pattern, which will also cause severe droughts in the southern hemisphere, the Met Office warned.