Experts say reducing ultra-processed foods can be challenging in a world built around convenience, but these strategies can help make it more manageable

I have been trying to eat fewer ultra-processed foods with my family for five years, and it has been challenging.

Many experts agree that ultra-processed foods (UPF) pose health risks, whether because of unhealthy ingredients, links to disease and environmental impacts, or replacing more nutritious foods. Thus, some consumers – including me – are interested in removing them from their daily diet.

Learn techniques: “Once you know how to saute, it doesn’t matter what you put in the pan.”

Develop knife skills: “If people want to get more comfortable in the kitchen, they should take a knife skills class. Those skills are a massive upscale for confidence in the kitchen.”

Know your taste: “Know what you like, then create that, because that’s the starting place. Don’t start by making miso brownies when the core is to make a really good brownie that you like, because then you’ll do it again.”

Fifty years ago, another Healey ran the Treasury. Today’s chancellor may find some things haven’t changed

Some things never change. Fifty years ago, Britain was sweltering in the long hot summer of 1976. The Labour government was acutely aware that the financial markets were scrutinising its every move. And a man called Healey was running the Treasury.

On the surface, the challenges facing John Healey are less severe than those Denis Healey had to grapple with half a century ago. Inflation is a lot lower and the City has reacted calmly to Andy Burnham as prime minister. And, while things could turn nasty pretty quickly, they would have to get a lot worse before Healey Mk II felt the need to ask the International Monetary Fund for an emergency loan.

The Australian actor on posing as a patient for medical schools, having multiple birthdays on The Airport Chaplain and the song ‘nobody likes’ by the Strokes

What is the most disgusting thing you saw on the set of The Pitt?

I mean, American coffee. It’s bad over there. The de-gloved leg was gross. I saw a full vaginal birth. I drilled into a skull!

Drapatyi has long been a critic of the military’s command culture, but experts warn change could take time

Through a haze of smoke, a lone Ukrainian armoured vehicle suddenly burst into view. The BMP-2 accelerated towards a barricade of tyres and debris, smashing through it in seconds as protesters scattered.

Behind the controls, on the chaotic streets of Mariupol on 9 May 2014, was a little-known officer named Mykhailo Drapatyi. The footage became one of the defining images of Russia’s first attempt to seize eastern Ukraine, and made Drapatyi one of Ukraine’s military heroes.

The next men’s World Cup is still four years away, but we take a look at the teams with the firmest foundations who should be primed to contend

The 2026 World Cup provided many an esteemed veteran with what could be their international swansongs, with golden greats Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Neymar, James Rodríguez and Guillermo Ochoa all making teary exits as their tournament ended. As we turn ahead to the 2030 World Cup, any player 32 or older will be sweating their selection status and changing their daily routines to stay sharp against inevitable aging.

For these power rankings, we’re overvaluing sure things. Teams with plenty of leading players comfortably in their 20s can build for this impending four-year cycle with greater confidence than a team replacing an ageless talisman. Consider these the 10 teams with the firmest foundations and viable reasons to hope to reach a quarter-final in four years’ time.

Good taste doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Whether it’s designer-looking cutlery or affordable art, these clever buys start from £2 – but punch well above their price tag

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You don’t need the budget of a boutique hotel to make your home look a bit more pulled together. It’s all down to knowing where to look, picking a few well-made objects, choosing good-quality fabrics and materials, and spotting timeless classics (or designs inspired by them) that won’t date too quickly.

Here are some tricks, hidden gems and affordable-but-stylish finds, from egg cups to art, that will elevate your space – and prove good taste and quality needn’t cost the earth.

Exclusive: Guardian investigation of CT Group uncovers practice that appears to seek hidden influence over public opinion

A political lobbying firm founded by the former electoral strategist for David Cameron and Boris Johnson secretly pays journalists to write pieces for British newspapers that are favourable to its clients, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

In a practice that appears to create a backdoor for private companies to influence public opinion, lobbyists for CT Group – co-founded by the campaign strategist Lynton Crosby – told an undercover reporter they had paid journalists to place apparently independent stories in newspapers.

PM says he wants to make sure ‘everything has been looked at’ after backlash from family of PC Harper

Andy Burnham became immersed in a deepening political row on Wednesday after ordering a review of plans for the early release of thousands of killers, rapists and sex offenders from prison in September.

After the family of PC Andrew Harper expressed outrage that his killers may be eligible for release, the prime minister responded by pledging to make sure that “everything has been looked at again” before a fresh tranche of about 6,000 offenders were freed on tags.

Proposal ‘throws global south countries under the bus’, says ActionAid UK director

• Burnham announces bus fares to be capped at £2

The world’s most vulnerable people will be put at risk by Andy Burnham’s decision to use the aid budget to pay for cheaper bus fares in England, charities have said.

The prime minister announced on Wednesday that he would reduce the fare cap from £3 a journey to £2 next year, funded mainly by changing international climate donations into repayable loans.

Threat from US president comes after US military completes 11th night of strikes on Iran

The Jordanian army said it intercepted four Iranian missiles on Wednesday with two additional missile falling in an open area, AFP reports.

The two missiles that the army did not intercept fell in “two remote, uninhabited areas, without causing any human casualties or material damage” the army said in a statement.