Campaigning in Newcastle before next month’s local elections shows the rise of the far right, the climate and cost of living are concerning voters as much as the Middle East

Mohammed Suleman, a self-described “straight-talking Geordie”, doesn’t love politics. The taxi driver and businessman prefers to focus on community initiatives. But when the time came, he voted Labour as the lesser of two evils.

Then came the war in Gaza.

Claude Mythos’s apparent superhuman hacking abilities are alarming experts as the Trump administration remains blinded by hostility

In June 2024, a cyber-attack on a pathology services company caused chaos across London’s hospitals. More than 10,000 appointments were cancelled. Blood shortages followed and delays to blood tests led to a patient’s death.

Lethal cyber-attacks like this are thankfully rare. But a new AI release could change that – plunging us into a terrifying new world of chaos and disruption to the digital systems that we rely on.

Shakeel Hashim is the editor of Transformer, a publication about the power and politics of transformative AI

Creating a definitive Top 10 list never fails to spark endless debate – but who doesn’t want to give it a shot? Don your capes and shields, and let the arguments begin …

Putting together a Top 10 list of the best superhero movies of all time may just be the critical equivalent of trying to herd thunder through a spreadsheet. Are we rating the best-made movie, the most influential or the most emotionally ruinous? The genre has exploded over the past 20 years to the point where it long ago swallowed cinema whole: we have crime sagas (most Batman flicks), family comedies (The Incredibles, Guardians of the Galaxy), cultural and political allegories (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men, Black Panther), pop-art fever dreams (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and even tales of Wagnerian apocalypse (Watchmen, Avengers: Infinity War).

The sense is that these movies are too varied, the emotional criteria too slippery, the personal attachments some of us have to them too embarrassingly primal, to be placed in a clear hierarchy. Is the No 1 comic book movie of all time the film that made fangirls and boys whimper into their crumpled copies of Amazing Fantasy #15? In which case we might be looking at Spider-Man: No Way Home. Or is it the picture that’s so good it appeals to filmgoers who don’t actually like superhero flicks? That would be The Dark Knight. Is Matt Reeves’ gloriously offbeat, Fincher-esque The Batman too weird and languid to make the list? And does Patty Jenkins’ breezily old-fashioned Wonder Woman get downgraded because it was part of a superhero universe that ultimately tanked?

I Am Maximus, the 2024 winner, heads to Aintree on Saturday as favourite to triumph again. Here is a look at the chances of all 34 contenders

One of two previous winners at the top of the weights and he backed up his 2024 success by pressing Nick Rockett all the way to the Elbow 12 months ago before finally crying enough. He had shown precious few hints of his National-winning form in two runs before that exceptional performance under top weight and has more to recommend him this year, having finished second in a Grade One in December and fifth in the Irish Gold Cup. In strict handicapping terms, he should probably find one or two too good, but Aintree aptitude is a serious weapon and another podium place is no forlorn hope.

Verdict: each-way hope on Aintree form, but no top-weight winner since 70s

Mobility, cardio and strength are important, but power – generating force quickly – is the workout element that will help you stay active for longer, say health and fitness experts

Chasing after your dog, catching yourself before you fall, jumping over a big puddle. These activities all have something in common, and it’s not just that they’re the makings of a very bad day. They rely on power: the ability to generate force quickly. It’s an often overlooked part of the fitness menu that experts think deserves more attention.

Mobility, cardio and strength all help us stay active and healthy as we get older. Strength training in particular has boomed in recent years, as the importance of building muscle mass to keep us strong, protect our bones and help us stay mobile as we age becomes more widely recognised. But when it comes to activities such as pushing yourself up from a chair or moving your arms quickly to break a fall, the size of your muscles will only get you so far. You also need power.

Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder are TV’s funniest and nastiest odd-couple in this Emmy-winning smash hit. But co-creator and star Paul W Downs discusses why things are a lot sunnier and sillier for the pair in its final series

It hit the Vegas Strip running. Since it crashed on to our screens in 2021, Hacks has been a critical darling. This tale of a pair of extremely different comics who end up working together takes the classic sitcom set up, injects it with some HBO gloss, and gives us a grippingly watchable central relationship that is frequently adorable – while also featuring some of TV’s most venomous putdowns. It has a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score, 12 Emmy wins, including outstanding comedy series in 2024, and has propelled its cast into the stratosphere. And it’s about to enter its final season ever.

There’s nothing new about its ending, though. “The concept came to us in 20 … 15?” says Paul W Downs, who created the show with his wife, Lucia Aniello, and their creative partner Jen Statsky. They even had the ending in mind at the first meeting at which they pitched the show to HBO in 2019. “We really had it fully fleshed out, including the final episode, which we pitched to most networks.”

US vice-president flies to Islamabad for negotiations as Iranians insists Israel end its offensive in Lebanon

• Middle East crisis – live updates

JD Vance has warned Iran not to “try and play” the US at talks planned for Saturday in Islamabad, while Tehran said it would not take part until Israel stopped bombing of Lebanon.

The US vice-president made the comments as he boarded a plane to Pakistan for negotiations that could determine whether a ceasefire holds or the war on Iran resumes with grave implications for the global economy.

PM pushes back after Trump’s threats to leave alliance and says European members must do more in light of Iran war

Keir Starmer has said it is in the best interests of the US to stay in Nato and that Europe must do more to support the alliance in light of the war in Iran.

The British prime minister, speaking at the end of a multi-stop trip around the Gulf to discuss the tentative ceasefire and options to fully reopen the commercially vital strait of Hormuz, pushed back against Donald Trump’s threats to leave the defence alliance.

Summer holidays could be hit unless oil flows through strait of Hormuz recommence within three weeks

Airports have said jet fuel could run short within three weeks in Europe if oil supplies do not start to flow through the strait of Hormuz, raising concerns over flight cancellations in the UK and EU going into the summer holiday season.

Jet fuel shortages will become so acute without the resumption of supplies from the Middle East that cancellations across Europe will be inevitable, disrupting travel plans for potentially millions of passengers.

Follow the latest updates as astronauts prepare for fiery re-entry in Earth’s atmosphere after 10-day mission to fly around the moon

• Artemis II crew to end record-setting mission with splashdown

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The scheduled splashdown of Artemis II in the Pacific Ocean, at 8.07pm ET (5.07pm PT; 12.07am GMT), is now just under three hours away.

The Orion spacecraft has completed its third and final return trajectory correction burn (RTC), a nine-second, precise firing of its thrusters to maintain a correct course for Earth.