The civil servant says he was pressured by No 10 to get Mandelson’s vetting done; the PM says he wasn’t informed. Who emerges most damaged?

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Being hairless on top has never been in style, but r/bald members encourage one another in the face of insecurity

I was sitting in a cafe a few weeks ago when I overheard a rare bit of sunny talk about advances in medicine and technology when a woman said: “Nobody will be bald in the future.” The way she said it made me think of people in the 1950s imagining the 21st century as a world with flying cars, sassy robot maids and no wars; a world where everybody has hair on their heads is possible.

Bald has never exactly been in style, but these days, it feels like going bald is tougher than ever. It can feel lonely watching all those clumps fall out when you’re in the shower. Yes, there have been plenty of advances in hair restoration, and treatments have been proven to help some people avoid getting to the point where they need a doctor to surgically redistribute the follicles from the back to the front of their heads. But it won’t work for everybody, and people will still lose their hair as long as genetics and hormones have a say.

Part lesson, part lark, these 15-minute episodes are a total joy. They have such a deliriously light touch they will make you want to run outside and plunge your hands into the soil

This might sound like heresy to some, but I can comfortably assert that the reason I am not a skilled horticulturist is Gardeners’ World. When I was growing up, Gardeners’ World – appointment television as mandated by my father – felt like the longest, dullest 30 minutes of the week. When the theme tune came on, I could feel my life force draining away. How different things could have been if This is a Gardening Show had been around back then.

Hosted by Zach Galifianakis, there are moments when This Is a Gardening Show feels like the perfect programme. Part lesson, part lark and part warning, the series’six 15-minute episodes have such a deliriously light touch that it makes you want to run outside and plunge your hands into the soil.

We know what can cause loneliness, from online habits to other cultural shifts – but what makes us feel connected and cared for?

The rise of social media, disappearing third spaces, displeasure with dating apps: in 2026, there are plenty of possible culprits when it comes to loneliness.

But what makes people feel connected and cared for? Below are six stories about the gestures that made Guardian readers feel less lonely.

Inspired by David Attenborough’s Secret Garden? Try these easy, enjoyable tips to turn your outdoor space into a sanctuary for wildlife

• Gardening pros on the tools they can’t live without

It’s happening: spring’s stretching and greenness, vibrant and achingly alive. But the last thing your garden needs is to be tidied up in a rush, for soil to be cleared of debris, for rotten, grey, dead and dying bits to be whisked away. For it’s these bits that hold all the life.

So many small things – overwinter insects, larvae, pupae and eggs – are still sleeping or waiting for just a few more warmer days. In our attempt to spruce things up, we often whisk away their homes in hollow stems and under layers of autumn leaves, and then wonder where the birds have gone.

Iran’s goal is to maintain chokehold on the global economy, even as some say it could run out of oil storage by Sunday

• Middle East crisis – live updates
  

Donald Trump’s indefinite shelving of the plan to bomb Iran’s bridges and power stations on Tuesday night is being widely described as leaving the conflict in limbo, but that is anything but the truth.

Pakistan insists the prospect of talks in Islamabad has not evaporated, and positive messages are still being exchanged, but in the meantime the site of kinetic activity has switched from land to sea.

Sources say cabinet ministers warned PM against alienating civil service after firing of official over Mandelson scandal

Cabinet ministers have expressed concern about Keir’s Starmer’s decision to sack Olly Robbins as the Foreign Office’s top official over the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal as they warned him not to alienate the civil service, sources have told the Guardian.

Several ministers spoke out about the decision to sack Robbins during a gloomy cabinet meeting on Tuesday, according to multiple government sources.

Iranian forces seize two ships in critical waterway as Washington and Tehran maintain separate blockades

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Iranian forces have seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz as the US and Iran doubled down on imposing separate blockades of the critical shipping waterway that have choked global energy markets.

The standoff over the strait – through which about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied fossil gas passed through during peacetime – has raised doubts about whether stalled peace negotiations will resume.

Christopher Trybus, of Swindon, also found not guilty of coercive and controlling behaviour towards Tarryn Baird

A man has been cleared of waging a campaign of domestic abuse and sexual violence on his wife, who went on to take her own life.

Christopher Trybus, 43, was charged with manslaughter, as well as with two counts of rape and coercive and controlling behaviour, but was found not guilty after a seven-week trial at Winchester crown court.

Janet Fordham died in crash after travelling to see man who claimed he would help to recover money from earlier scams

A British woman who was scammed out of up to £1m in a string of so-called romance frauds died in a road crash after travelling to west Africa to try to recoup some of her lost fortune, an inquest in Devon has heard.

Janet Fordham was cheated of her life savings and her home over a period of five years by fraudsters apparently based in the UK, Germany, the US and Ghana, the inquest in Exeter was told.