A group set up by Nelson Mandela known as the Elders met in Kenya to model a health emergency – and found much still needs to be done, as the subsequent Ebola outbreak has shown

About a dozen people sat around a boardroom table at the emergency hub of the World Health Organization (WHO) just outside Nairobi last Thursday, their eyes glued to an animated presentation on a screen.

Health workers in eastern Chad have reported several deaths among patients with respiratory failure, they are told. Initial samples suggest a novel variant of bird flu, but confirmation requires sending samples to a foreign laboratory. International health regulations require notification within 24 hours of assessment, but Chad’s government is hesitant to notify the WHO, fearing economic repercussions and stigma.

Eccentric public art, strange ruins, eerie landscapes, follies … Britain has a rich store of curiosities. An enthusiast selects 10 of the quirkiest finds from his new book

One thing unites the British more than anything else. It stands there in plain sight but is rarely spoken about. We may try to hide it; we may not admit it to ourselves; but under the surface, deep down, in the nicest possible way, we are all a little odd. Not in a sinister way, just eccentric, weird, unpredictable and downright wonderful. As a nation we have an artistic and creative zest and boffin-like inventiveness. In fields of innovation, we led the tech world with some of our brave and crazy inventions. Even our landscapes are damn weird, with some of the oldest, most mysterious and diverse geological oddities in Europe, and plentiful legends too. I spent years exploring the enchanting strangeness of Britain, discovering follies, eccentric public art, strange buildings, mysterious ruins and eerie landscapes for my Weird Guide, which features about 300 of these curiosities. Here are some of my favourites.

Pensioners vote and young people don’t, so the truism goes. That’s no longer any reason to avoid dealing with the triple lock

Nothing makes you feel more like a de-developing nation than being reprimanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Rachel Reeves can take solace in trace amounts from the fact that the IMF advised her only to “stay the course” on spending limits – whatever energy or inflation crises are down the line, she shouldn’t cave to demands for government support. Basically, “when the facts change, do not change your mind” – the opposite of the economists’ classic, but then, haven’t we all had enough of classics?

It’s a milder rebuke than the one delivered to the then chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, in 2022, about which the BBC’s economics editor, Faisal Islam, admitted “even I was taken aback”, creating a ripple effect: other, lesser economy-watchers were taken aback at the abackness that had taken the unflappable Islam. But it still has a sting in its tail, enjoining Reeves to keep her focus on “controlling the rising welfare bill, as well as delivering further efficiency measures in public services, while protecting the most vulnerable”.

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

Lund Point in east London was once ‘a beautiful community’, according to Tee Fabikun, who has lived there since 1997. Now just four flats are occupied. Why are Fabikun and her friends hanging on? And what happened to the long-promised redevelopment?

Tee Fabikun is sitting in an armchair in her cosy, homely flat, surrounded by her things – papers and letters, family photos, a few Nigerian handicrafts, a forest of houseplants by the window. She is telling me about her neighbours here on the fifth floor of Lund Point, a tower block on the Carpenters estate in Stratford, east London. Next door there’s “a grumpy old man”; well, she thought he was a grumpy old man, but then she saw him in the lift with his granddaughter and he was sweet with her, so maybe he’s not so bad. “There’s always two sides.”

In the next flat along is a young couple who met in the building, maybe in that lift. She was living on a higher floor, but moved down and in with him when they got married, and rented out her place. Then there’s a Bangladeshi family who only speak a little English. Fabikun’s first contact with them was when their daughter knocked on the door holding out an exercise book and just said “homework”; after that Fabikun would often help with her studies. And so on. And it’s not just her immediate neighbours on the fifth floor that Tee knows; she knows pretty much everyone in the 21-storey block.

As the much-loved Late Show host says his final goodnight, a look back at his finest and funniest moments

‘He had a unique ability to be human’: late-night TV says goodbye to Stephen Colbert

This week marks the end of two distinctive eras of network television, as CBS’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will air its final episode. The show was created in 1993 by David Letterman after his controversial exit from NBC, and he held the reins for 22 years before retiring and turning the show over to Colbert, who had risen to prominence on Comedy Central as a member of The Daily Show, and then later host of his own political talkshow, The Colbert Report.

Colbert’s run on the Late Show would last 11 years. Last July, CBS shocked everyone by announcing the show’s cancellation, with the final episode to air on 21 May. Although executives claimed the decision was purely financial – even with Late Show holding the best ratings for any late-night talkshow for nine years running – many saw it as a political gesture towards Donald Trump ahead of an $8bn merger between CBS’s parent company, Paramount, and Skydance.

Martin is happy to vacuum and cook but says Deidre’s mopping technique just spreads germs. You decide whose argument doesn’t scrub up

• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

What gets to me is that whenever I get the mop out, instead of helping, Martin criticises me

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, says the sharp downturn in output means the Bank of England is more likely to hold interest rates in July.

The [monetary policy committee] now face a sharp trade-off between weaker growth and still rampant inflation pressure. The manufacturing price balances tend to be far more sensitive to oil prices than actual inflation is so we ignore those for now. The services output price balance eased to 60.6, from 62.9 in April, consistent with underlying services inflation accelerating to over 6.0% year-over-year from its latest reading of 3.7%.

As a comparison, the services output price balance rose by 5.2 points between January and May 2025, almost the same as between the same months in 2022, suggesting strong pass-through of energy costs to underlying inflation. Firms also noted strong wage growth. The services price balance looks far too high to be plausible, as the PMI measures only the proportion or firms raising prices rather than by how much. But pricing indicators all point to accelerating underlying inflation.

The UK economy is facing a perfect storm as rising political uncertainty adds to the growing impact from the war in the Middle East. Businesses are reporting falling output, surging inflation, supply shortages and job cuts in May.

The May PMI data indicate that the economy contracted at a 0.2% quarterly rate, representing a marked contrast to the robust growth seen earlier in the year. The blame lies first and foremost with the war in the Middle East, though companies are also noting that domestic politics are taking an increasing toll, driving uncertainty higher, in turn deterring spending, hiring and investment.

Decline to 171,000 last year will encourage ministers in what is seen as a battleground issue against Reform

• UK politics live – latest updates

Net migration to the UK fell by nearly 50% to 171,000 last year, according to official figures released on Thursday, in what will be seen as a boost for Keir Starmer’s government.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the difference between the number of people moving to the UK and the number of people leaving was at its lowest level since 2021.

Exclusive: Scotland Yard had been in talks to use Palantir’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis

A £50m Met police deal with the controversial US tech company Palantir has been blocked by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, with City Hall citing a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules.

Scotland Yard had been in talks, revealed by the Guardian last month, to use Palantir’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations. But Khan intervened on Thursday to stop the flagship contract, which would have been Palantir’s largest yet in British policing.

Documents released by government also show late queen was ‘very keen’ for her son to have prominent role

• UK politics live – latest updates

Formal security vetting and due diligence appears not to have been carried out before the appointment of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a trade envoy, the government has said, as it emerged that the late queen was “very keen” for her son to take up a prominent role in promoting Britain’s interests.

The first batch of documents relating to the appointment of the former prince as trade envoy by Tony Blair in 2001 includes a memo dated 25 February 2000 and addressed to Robin Cook, then the foreign secretary, in which the then chief executive of British Trade International, David Wright, said Queen Elizabeth II’s “wish” had been for Mountbatten-Windsor, then the Duke of York, to take on the role.