Fructose, glucose, sucrose. Lactose, maltose, dextrose. Treacle, molasses … honey! The sweet stuff is everywhere, in everything from colas and cakes to fruit and veg. Are some forms healthier than others? And what about artificial sweeteners?

Many people try not to eat too much sugar, yet it is added to so much food and drink, it is hard to avoid. It goes by more than 50 different names on labels, is present even in seemingly savoury products and the alternatives are confusing and controversial. So is the sweet stuff addictive – and should you cut it out completely?

Rochford LGBTQ+ community say Reform council’s ban on flying pride flags or holding events states they’re not welcome

Before Reform gained control of Essex county council in the May elections, Chris Taylor and members of the Rochford LGBTQ+ community already felt they were witnessing a growing tide of political rhetoric around identity.

But they were still shocked when the county’s new leadership moved to ban Pride events in 74 libraries, scaling back events of “any particular groups or themes”, a decision they said was “straight out of Trumpland”.

Touring this bitterly divided constituency, what strikes you most is people want something better. But what exactly?

Keir Starmer teeters. The defence secretary exits, and thereby seems to confirm the prime minister’s demise. Andy Burnham scents a final, belated breakthrough, while most of the national talk is of violence, a country in crisis and malaise. And in Platt Bridge, a neighbourhood at the heart of the constituency where the fates of the Labour party, the current government and the country are all about to be decided, life still seems to be locked into an endlessly familiar pattern.

Amid all the redbrick terrace houses, too many shops are shuttered and empty. The latest casualty was a proudly independent baker who had traded for 40 years, apparently to be replaced by another tanning lounge. The main roads are clogged with traffic, while other streets tend to be eerily quiet. People speak of closed-down pubs, impossible private rents, and that ubiquitous British complaint: “There’s nothing for the kids to do.”

Our favourite music, clothes and books used to be markers of individuality – but the algorithm has made us all sheep. Meet the style rebels fighting back

What are you into? What floats your boat? What music, films, clothes, art, books – anything, really – do you actually like? Do you find these questions more difficult to answer than you would have done 10 years ago? How about 20? You do? You’re not alone.

It has become impossible to ignore: personal taste has been seriously debased – if not completely destroyed – by technological advancement. We know the internet has radically altered the way we form our opinions and beliefs. Now we’re waking up to another sobering truth: it has wrecked our capacity to form our own preferences.

Rebalance Earth is investing in Broughton Sanctuary to generate financial, environmental and social returns

From a high point on the hill, the North Yorkshire landscape unrolls below. The moorland above gives way to grassland, trees and then pasture, divided by the region’s traditional dry stone walls.

The view may be idyllic, but it belies the condition of parts of this land, belonging to the sprawling 1,100 hectare (2,500-acre) Broughton Sanctuary estate, near Skipton.

Alarm over the judgment and behaviour of the world’s most powerful man, and the consequent risks to the world, can only get worse

The main Nuremberg trial ended, Winston Churchill warned of an iron curtain descending across Europe, It’s a Wonderful Life received its premiere and, at Jamaica hospital in the borough of Queens, New York, Donald John Trump was born.

It was 1946, also the birth year of George W Bush and Bill Clinton, but on Sunday the current US president celebrates his 80th birthday in a style uniquely his own. Trump will stage a night of cage fighting on the once-pristine White House south lawn as part of events marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.

Initial peace deal expected to be signed in Geneva on Friday but questions remain over strait of Hormuz, Lebanon conflict and Iran’s nuclear program.

• Peace deal between US and Iran announced, with strait of Hormuz expected to reopen

• Explainer: what do we know about the US-Iran peace deal?

French president Emmanuel Macron said the deal between the US and Iran will be discussed at the G7 summit, which begins Monday in the French resort town of Evian-les-Bains and brings together leaders of the world’s major advanced economies, including president Donald Trump.

“The aim will be to assess the implications of this agreement, support for Lebanon, the long-term reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, of course, reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic (missile) programs,” Macron said in a video posted on X.

US president left last meeting early, but world leaders aim to end Ukraine war and push for resolution in Gaza and Iran

Emmanuel Macron, the host of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, has framed an agenda to make it as palatable as possible to his guest of honour, but the French president has no idea if Donald Trump, a haphazard summit attender, will last the full three days – or disrupt the proceedings every hour he stays.

The US president quit the last G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, early to work on the Iran conflict, and this year, plus ça change, Iran may also draw presidential attention. For good measure, he insulted this summit’s host before leaving Canada last year, describing Macron as “publicity seeking” and adding: “Purposefully or not, Emmanuel Macron always gets it wrong.”

Sources say hardline measures will also prevent young users from being able to talk to strangers on gaming apps

• Why is the UK launching an ‘Australia plus’ social media ban and how will it work?

Keir Starmer is to ban under-16s from major social media apps such as TikTok, Instagram and X in sweeping restrictions described as “Australia plus”, the Guardian understands.

In a major policy shift far tougher than previously briefed, the prime minister will announce that teenagers will be banned from all the main social platforms. Online products that are not covered by the ban – such as gaming apps – will face new restrictions such as having the option to chat to strangers removed.

Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, one of Ukraine’s most significant religious sites, and residential buildings hit across capital

Ukraine has come under a massive Russian missile and drone attack with waves of explosions echoing through the capital, Kyiv, in the early hours of Monday as air raids killed at least nine people across the country.

Among targets hit in the sustained wave of strikes were the city’s historic Dormition Cathedral within the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, one of Ukraine’s most significant religious sites, as well as residential buildings across the city.