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.

The allegations of rape and sexual assault made by ‘brides’ on the show reflect what many other women experience. Sadly, so do the responses

She said no. She didn’t want it, she made that very clear, but he did it anyway; pushing her feelings aside as though they didn’t matter, because to him they seemingly didn’t. It’s a story so depressingly common that most women probably carry a private version of it in their heads, either buried in their own memories or confided to them by a friend. But still, there’s something profoundly shocking about the idea of it happening right under the noses of a TV audience.

Perhaps you’ve never watched Channel 4’s hit show Married at First Sight, which involves putting total strangers through a purely ceremonial “wedding” and making them live as husband and wife for six weeks to see whether they actually want to make a go of the relationship. But you’re almost certainly familiar with Panorama, which this week told the stories of three former “brides”. Lizzie and Chloe (not their real names) both say they were raped by their on-screen “husbands” – and, in Lizzie’s case, also subjected to alarmingly violent outbursts of temper and an alleged threat of an acid attack – while Shona Manderson, who has spoken publicly, accuses hers of sexual misconduct. All three men, it should be said, deny the allegations.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

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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.

Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Bryan Cranston and Tig Notaro were among the guests to see off both host and talk show in an 80-minute finale

Series finales for late night shows are, by their nature, a little odd and also exceedingly rare; usually it’s the host’s final episode, and not the entire show’s, as franchises like The Tonight Show or Late Night continue on with someone new at the wheel. But CBS made the, ah, visionary decision to cancel the Late Show, the talkshow it created in 1993 as a new home for David Letterman after he failed to score the Tonight Show job over at NBC. In Letterman’s hands, and eventually Stephen Colbert’s, the show became an institution and the first real, sustained Tonight Show competitor in years.

Indeed, the CBS Late Show leaves the air as the No 1 show in network TV late night, with that 11.35pm real estate immediately and ignominiously rented out to Byron Allen’s longtime syndication seat-filler Comics Unleashed. It’s a stunning streaming-era abdication that will for ever be tied with US president Donald Trump, even as the network has insisted (as echoed by a dolphin in a finale gag) that the decision was purely financial, not political. (Naturally, the show has received plenty of promotion on its way out the door, as if it were just going on its merry way.) Colbert himself has had nearly a year to come to terms with the decision, and was far past using his platform to rail against the corporate dolts on his cheerful (if unavoidably bittersweet) final instalment.

Gardeners tending to allotments were terrified to see animal roaming wild after mauling one of its keepers – but critics have long been concerned

A tiger on the loose among garden allotments. Panicked residents summoning armed police ill-equipped to deal with a dangerous predator. And, behind it all, Germany’s self-proclaimed “Tiger Queen” and her private menagerie.

In startling scenes over the weekend in the eastern town of Schkeuditz, near Leipzig airport, the mix proved fatal for a big cat named Sandokan and left a keeper seriously injured.

Take your lead from Harry Styles and go for short shorts, or dig out your favourite knee-length pair

Parents speak for first time about daughters’ heroism on the day and their courage in dealing with critical injuries, scars and trauma

From the outside, the small gathering of young girls looked like an ordinary playdate. They chatted giddily, practised pilates and twirled around in their new outfits to the music of Harry Styles.

But on the sidelines, some of the parents were in tears. The last time these girls shared a room was on 29 July 2024. That day, they fled in fear as a hooded teenager turned a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport into one of the most horrific attacks on children in modern British history.

Thames Valley police believe more witnesses may be out there in inquiry into alleged misconduct in public office by former prince

Police investigating Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor want witnesses to contact them if they believe they have information about alleged sexual misconduct, corruption, fraud or the sharing of confidential information involving the king’s brother.

In a sign of the potential expansion of their “unprecedented investigation”, Thames Valley police vowed to rigorously investigate claims against the former Prince Andrew.

Party apologises for posts by Chris Kennedy about attack on Jewish ambulances and says he has withdrawn for personal reasons

The Green party’s candidate for the Makerfield byelection has withdrawn from the ballot less than 12 hours after being announced.

Chris Kennedy was announced to be running in the seat for the Greens on Thursday morning, but nine hours later the party said he had dropped out, citing “personal and family reasons”.

⚽ 26-man squad revealed and Premier League finale news
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Barney Ronay on social media makes a pertinent point: “Harry Maguire: anatomy of how NOT to make a case for being the perfect 7-week back-up squad member. No need for Tuchel to explain now. We all save five mins.”

The final man in the 26 is Djed Spence, the Tottenham full back. He can play on both flanks so offers versatility. There is no Trent Alexander-Arnold in the England squad.