‘Christians complained about the stuffed buzzard wearing a crucifix round its neck. Birds can’t be Christians, they said. It’s the most complaints we ever got’

The first time I saw what was to become Shooting Stars was Vic Reeves – AKA Jim Moir – doing The Big Quiz during Vic Reeves Big Night Out live. I’d never seen anything like it. It was full of meaningless questions and had an attitude. I remember thinking: “There must be something we could do with that.”

The only question now is how it took this long for Labour’s greedy, reckless Prince of Darkness to meet his reckoning

This is the end, beautiful friend, the end. There have been many Peter Mandelson resignations. Twice from the cabinet, once as the UK ambassador to Washington. But the announcement late on Sunday night that Mandelson was resigning from the Labour party somehow felt more final.

In the past, there had always been get-out clauses. Unexpected routes back to the centre of power. Not this time. Somewhat late in the day, the establishment had closed every door. For the first time in decades, Mandy was truly on his own. You might ask what had taken everyone so long. Mandelson hadn’t exactly made much effort to hide his tracks.

Peter Mandelson has resigned his Labour party membership after new details of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein came to light. But why did Labour ever decide to appoint him as US ambassador? Pippa and Kiran chat through what No 10 knew and when

The once-lauded director of Black Swan and The Wrestler has drowned himself in AI slop with an embarrassing new online series

If you happen to find yourself stumbling through Time magazine’s YouTube account, perhaps because you are a time traveller from the 1970s who doesn’t fully understand how the present works yet – then you will be presented with something that many believe represents the vanguard of entertainment as we know it.

On This Day … 1776 is a series of short videos depicting America’s revolutionary war. What makes On This Day notable is that it was made by Darren Aronofsky’s studio Primordial Soup. What also makes it interesting is that it was created with AI. The third thing that makes it interesting is that it is terrible.

With less than six months until kickoff, Guardian readers share their experiences of buying World Cup tickets – or deciding not to

The 2026 World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada is less than six months away. Fifa’s ticketing process has been met with demand and controversy. Security concerns for fans traveling to the US have risen.

We asked readers to share their experiences of buying World Cup tickets – or deciding not to. These are some of the stories we received.

From the Cure winning their first Grammys to a posthumous award for Chick Corea, it was a night of heartening wins and robust politics
• Grammy awards 2026: list of winners

There are arguments to be made about the efficacy or not of celebs making political statements at awards ceremonies – some might say it is just as impotent as celebrities endorsing US presidential candidates. In the case of last night’s Grammys, we hardly need musicians to reiterate that what ICE is doing is morally reprehensible. And yet the sheer force and variety of these statements was bracing, making it clear that the issue should remain paramount in any context.

Met police assessing reports of alleged misconduct in public office after government information apparently shared

Peter Mandelson is facing a possible police investigation into his alleged leak of market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein at the height of the financial crisis.

New disclosures from the Epstein files appear to show Mandelson sent a string of emails to the late sex offender containing confidential information that the government was receiving to deal with the global crash while he was business secretary under Gordon Brown.

A confidential UK government document outlining £20bn in asset sales.

Mandelson claiming he was “trying hard” to change government policy on bankers’ bonuses.

An imminent bailout package for the euro the day before it was announced in 2010.

A suggestion that the JPMorgan boss “mildly threaten” the chancellor.

Abbas Araghchi suggests nuclear programme negotiations could begin imminently, as American forces amass in region

Iran’s top diplomat has said the government is ready for negotiations with the US as the two countries reportedly prepared to send top envoys to Istanbul for high-stakes talks on the Iranian nuclear programme later this week.

As US warships and aircraft have amassed in the region for a potential strike on Iran, the country’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, suggested that talks could take place imminently. Donald Trump on Saturday said Iranians were “seriously talking to us” as he hinted at a deal to avert military strikes against Tehran.

Lady Lawrence tells high court she is ‘a victim all over again’ owing to alleged unlawful information gathering

The mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has said she felt she had been “taken for a fool” by the publisher of the Daily Mail, after she was told about allegations it had targeted her with unlawful information gathering techniques.

Appearing at the high court in London, Doreen Lawrence said she felt angry because of the trust she had placed in the Daily Mail, owing to its coverage of her son’s case.

PM Sébastien Lecornu pushes budget through using constitutional powers that avoided vote in parliament

France has finally passed a budget for this year after the minority government survived a series of no-confidence votes in a long-running political saga that has unsettled debt markets and alarmed the country’s European partners.

The prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, told parliament on Monday, after months of wrangling, that French people “refuse this disorder and want our institutions to function”.