The giant of stage and screen is 87 and still hates looking in the mirror. At home with his husband, he talks about weeping, sleeping with Daniel Craig, terrifying directors and the joys of white wine and a nap

Derek Jacobi is chatting to the photographer in the living room. His voice is unmistakeable – rich, buttered, every sentence beautifully parsed and phrased. I’m in the kitchen with his husband, Richard Clifford, who is making coffee. He tells me they have been together 47 years. “We met when I was 22 and he was 39.”

“I’m a child snatcher,” guffaws Jacobi from the lounge.

I was rushing towards the turnstile when I noticed a bundle of clothes in a corner. I walked over, peeled back a dark sweatshirt, and saw him

In the summer of 2000, I could never have imagined becoming a father. I was 34, living in New York City, with a good job in social care, but still in a tiny apartment. I had been with my partner, Pete, for just over three years; we were serious, but we didn’t live together. Becoming a parent was not on my radar.

One August evening, I had finished work late and was hurrying to a dinner reservation I had with Pete. I was rushing towards the turnstile at Union Square station when I noticed a bundle of clothes in a corner. I saw it move and stopped in my tracks. I walked over, peeled back a dark sweatshirt, and saw him: a newborn baby, with the umbilical cord still attached.

Although it might seem like a minor irritant, the consequences of email incivility can be far-reaching

Received a rude email at work? You’re not alone.

When I was weighing a move from full-time to freelance work, a terse email from a colleague – demanding I redo a task from scratch over a technicality – settled the matter instantly. I quit on the spot. Around the same time, thousands of US government workers received an email requiring them to justify their employment “with approx 5 bullets of what you accomplished this week” – or resign.

Clarissa Brincat is a freelance health and science journalist

Retreating from reality is a brittle way to feel better, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Find people who feel as you do and then face these problems together

• Read more Leading questions

I’m 21, and all my life I’ve been anxious about the future. It’s not getting better. There are a lot of things that worry me – no job prospects even with a degree under my belt; I won’t be able to find a partner who will respect me; I’ll never own a house. And outside these, of course, I’m worried about climate change and global politics.

The advice I have been offered is to “not think about it” or “focus on what I personally can control”. But I have dreams and aspirations; I want to be a writer and an artist and I am working harder than ever to make those things happen, even if AI might make those fields even more competitive. So my question is: How do I balance my dreams and aspirations practically, and take care of myself, without living in a bubble?

He made his name as a conman, but now Bob Odenkirk is on the right side of the law in Normal. He answers your questions about Henry Winkler, Bruce Dern and Shakespeare

You recently agreed in an interview that “life is a meaningless farce”. How come? benpendrey
Oh, I don’t know. You need to talk to God about that. I don’t know why he made it so ridiculous, but it is. I’m not done asking questions and trying to figure things out, but I do think we’re going to end up where Douglas Adams did.

Is biting satire more powerful than political hogwash? Twist27
I sure wish it was, but no. I do think political satire is helpful, but it is not as important as we all wished it was. I’m afraid political satire pales in comparison to political hogwash, as we’re witnessing in my country.

The government is in thrall to the sunk-cost fallacy. Scrap the project, and use the money for a renaissance in urban transit

So it is official, as if that makes a difference. After a 15-month review by the new chief executive, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has revealed that HS2 will now cost up to £102.7bn and trains may not start until 2039. Alexander called the original design a “massively over-specced folly” and called the increase in time and costs “obscene”. Indeed it possibly ranks as the wildest white elephant in British history. In comparison, Donald Trump’s White House ballroom is a garden shed, and Dubai’s Burj Khalifa a mere sandcastle.

This week, Alexander, the ninth transport secretary since HS2 was proposed, admitted the project made her angry. As she dusted off her department’s latest defence of its appalling conduct of this fiasco, she tried to feign surprise. She has been in office 18 months. Don’t tell us she did not know.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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Updated code of practice covering England, Wales and Scotland also relates to changing rooms and follows supreme court ruling

• What is the updated EHRC code of practice about and how does it apply?

Single-sex toilets and changing rooms in England, Wales and Scotland must exclude transgender men and women, according to a new code of practice from the equalities watchdog.

But the long-awaited guidance also says that businesses and service providers have to offer practical alternatives such as gender-neutral toilets for people who do not wish to use services for their biological sex.

Exclusive: Scotland Yard criticises London mayor’s decision as disappointing and warns it could hit policing

Sadiq Khan has blocked a £50m Metropolitan police deal with the controversial US tech company Palantir, sparking a bitter row between the London mayor and Scotland Yard.

After the UK’s largest police force had agreed to use Palantir’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations, Khan intervened, citing “serious concerns” about how the deal had been struck.

Charles conferred LVO after his US visit on James Roscoe who had been standing in for Peter Mandelson

A top diplomat who abruptly left his post at the British embassy in Washington earlier this week after standing in as interim ambassador for Peter Mandelson has been honoured by King Charles.

No reason has yet been given for James Roscoe’s departure. An investigation is now under way into the leak of discussions at a meeting of the UK’s national security council.

Exclusive: Move to establish board comes after criticism that Lammy’s plan to slash jury trials will lead to increase in racial and class bias

David Lammy and the most senior judge in England and Wales are drawing up plans to accelerate the recruitment of minority ethnic and working-class solicitors into the judiciary.

A new judicial and legal diversity board, chaired by Lammy, who is the first black lord chancellor, and Sue Carr, the lady chief justice, has met for the first time to discuss removing barriers for diverse candidates attempting to join the judiciary.