When Nicola Thorp was growing up in Blackpool, the ‘kebab girl’ who had gone missing less than a mile away, aged 14, was spoken of as a cautionary tale. But what really happened to her? For the last three years, Thorp has been finding out

It has been more than 20 years since 14-year-old Charlene Downes went missing in Blackpool. Last captured on CCTV on a Saturday night in November 2003, Charlene still hasn’t been found, and the truth of what happened to her remains unsolved. Nicola Thorp, an actor, writer and broadcaster, who grew up in the town, describes Charlene’s disappearance, considered to be murder, as “a wound for Blackpool”. Over the last couple of decades, the case has been clouded by rumour, far-right rhetoric and police failures. In a new podcast, she has set out to clear up some of the speculation, and expose how Charlene was repeatedly failed by those around her.

Many in the town, she says, still believe the two men who were first tried in 2007 – a retrial was ordered, which then collapsed amid “grave doubts” about the evidence – got away with murder. That in itself, she says, is an obstacle to finding out who is really responsible.

As he prepares to host The Game of Wool, the Olympian diver talks about trying to get murdered faithfuls resurrected on Traitors – and the time he knitted himself a woollen chandelier

In The Game of Wool, Channel 4’s quest to find Britain’s best knitter, you can’t take your eyes off Tom Daley’s outfits. One of his goals for the series, he says, is that “what I was wearing would get progressively more interesting”, which is ridiculous because in the very first episode he’s wearing a vivid, asymmetrical shawl that in some places reaches the floor, and he looks like a wizard who might seem chaotic but is actually very powerful.

“Sheila [Greenwell, one of two judges, along with Di Gilpin] made that for La Fetiche,” he says, referring to the avant garde house of knitwear. “Later on I wear some stuff by Hope Macaulay, a Northern Irish textiles designer, then Boy Kloves, right out of Central Saint Martins, then towards the end, two archival Stella McCartney looks.”

Born into an independent Ukraine, the lives of these young women changed for ever when Russia invaded their country, forcing them to shoulder huge burdens of responsibility

• Photographs by Julia Kochetova

Ukraine is increasingly a country held together, behind the military lines, by women. Those in their 30s – millennial women born into an independent Ukraine, raised in economic turbulence and thrust into adulthood on the wave of revolution and war – are shouldering huge burdens of responsibility. They are fundraising for the army, or sometimes serving in it. They are running civil society organisations, advocating for their country abroad and becoming activists.

At the same time, unlike their male counterparts who are forbidden from leaving the country and are eligible for conscription, they have choices – to join the army, or not; to stay in the country, or not. For some, the question of whether to have children, when the war shows no sign of abating, looms large. For many of them, exhaustion, stress and grief are constant companions. We spoke to six Ukrainian women aged between 29 and 40 about their lives.

How did an obscure district in a neglected state become India’s byword for digital deceit?

On the surface, the town of Jamtara appeared no different from neighbouring districts. But, if you knew where to look, there were startling differences. In the middle of spartan villages were houses of imposing size and unusual opulence. Millions of Indians knew why this was. They knew, to their cost, where Jamtara was. To them, it was no longer a place; it was a verb. You lived in fear of being “Jamtara-ed”.

Over the past 15 years, parts of this sleepy district in the eastern state of Jharkhand had grown fabulously wealthy. This extraordinary feat of rural development was powered by young men who, armed with little more than mobile phones, had mastered the art of siphoning money from strangers’ bank accounts. The sums they pilfered were so staggering that, at times, their schemes resembled bank heists more than mere acts of financial fraud.

Ahead of the budget, Rachel Reeves should be out making her arguments. Instead, there is silence – and a huge opportunity for Labour’s opponents

Scroll back three years. The person sitting opposite me is yet to take their place at the top of Keir Starmer’s government. Instead, they are a star of the Labour opposition, for whom power advances or recedes with every poll and front page. They have just done a spot of electoral marketing, a photo op at a supermarket 100 or so miles from Westminster, and what they’ve brought home is the politics of the staff.

“They’d all voted for Boris.”

Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist

I was sued over my film that gave a voice to the committed ‘amateur’ whose pivotal role in the search for the remains of Richard III was drowned out by louder voices in academia

About 15 years ago, Philippa Langley set out on a mission to find the remains of King Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England. Almost everyone regarded this as an impossible task. His remains had gone undiscovered for more than 500 years. It was a folly, a fool’s errand. She was out of her depth, an amateur. No letters after her name.

But Philippa diligently did the work and did her research. She had an inner conviction that she would find him, and she did. It was a staggering achievement, and yet when the news broke of this startling discovery, and it was beamed round the world, there was little to no mention of her.

Summit on sidelines of Apec was the first between the leaders of US and China since 2019, and comes after tensions have been strained by Trump’s trade war

In the days leading up to the Trump-Xi meeting, American officials signalled that the US president did not intend to make good on a recent threat to impose an additional 100% import tax on Chinese goods.

Also that China had shown signs it is willing to relax its export controls on rare earths as well as revive buying soybeans from the US.

The relationship with China is very good.

Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.

Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.

US president makes threat in Truth Social post in wake of Russian nuclear-powered weapons tests, and shortly before meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping

• Trump meets Xi in South Korea – latest updates

Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to immediately start matching other nuclear powers in their testing of nuclear weapons, specifically citing Russia and China.

In a Wednesday post to Truth Social, Trump said that “because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”

Exclusive: Five women said Reform leader’s comments that they were victims of other types of sexual abuse were ‘degrading’

Five women have asked for an apology from Nigel Farage after he suggested they were not victims of grooming gangs.

They described the comments by the Reform leader as “degrading and humiliating”, and accused him of “ignorance” of the issues.

Chancellor is backed by prime minister after saying she ‘inadvertently’ failed to pay fee required by London council

Rachel Reeves has admitted to “inadvertently” breaking housing rules by renting out her south London home without the specific £945 licence required by the local council.

The chancellor admitted the error to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and to parliamentary ethics officers, after it was first disclosed by the Daily Mail.