Donald Trump’s ‘little excursion’ is likely to have long-term effects, from oil prices to inflation to growth, say experts

In the days after the US and Israel first bombed Iran, financial markets bet the economic fallout from Donald Trump’s “little excursion” in the Middle East would be short-lived.

“There are risks from higher oil prices longer term. But this is a tail risk,” one US-based fund manger said after the airstrike killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “History has shown time and time again that geopolitical flare-ups like this tend to be short-lived. This one should prove to be no exception.’’

At the very moment Trump’s rambling speeches and meme–fied inanity threaten to overwhelm us, fashion, music and film are moving in the opposite direction

Put down your negroni, hang up your Prada handbag and pick up a paperback. Next time someone whips out their phone to take your picture, grab your reading specs, not your lipstick. Smart is the new hot.

Pop stars are launching book clubs – the 1970s had Studio 54, this decade has Dua Lipa’s online literary salon Service95 – or joining Substack, where Charli xcx recently published a 1,800-word essay interrogating why it is that as a pop star “you cannot avoid the fact that some people are simply determined to prove that you are stupid”. The supermodel Kaia Gerber (who is fashion royalty – her mum is Cindy Crawford) passes the time backstage at fashion week reading Didion, Duras and Camus, not Vogue.

Impressions of Keir Starmer, sketches about dodgy skincare products, and some ‘god-awful performances’ aside, the inaugural episode’s ambition was refreshing to see

In the end, it’s a feeling, isn’t it? You can tally up the laughs, work out the ratio of good lines to bad, sketches that fly, sketches that plummet straight into the mire – but in the end, a comedy show leaves you with a feeling that tells you whether it worked or not.

The general feeling, I think, will be that the inaugural episode of Saturday Night Live UK – Sky’s version of the famous 51-year-old American original founded and still overseen by the infamous Lorne Michaels – did work.

It gave us Game of Thrones, The Sopranos and The Wire. But as HBO Max comes to the UK and with new ownership imminent, the network that reinvented television is fighting to stay itself

It’s not TV. It’s HBO.” It might have seemed like a hollow brag at the time, but this aggressively assertive tagline marked the beginning of a new era in small-screen entertainment. The slogan was a statement about what the US cable network aspired to be but, also, a tacit rejection of what most television still was in 1996. It seemed a brave opening salvo: after all, at that point, there wasn’t yet much basis for it.

HBO (Home Box Office) had begun life in 1972 as a subscription service touting a mixture of films and sport. But by the late 80s, this offering was growing stale; threatened by proliferating networks, the protectiveness of big studios and increasing competition. Original, made-for-TV content was the obvious way forward. But how to find a niche?

For some, creating a smash hit puzzle would have been enough to kick back for life. But for the Josh Wardles and Timothée Chalamets of the world, not even the moon is enough

He is one letter away from being a household name. Now Josh Wardle, the inventor of Wordle, has launched a new online game, and in doing so, provided an interesting insight into ambition.

For some, creating a global smash hit puzzle so zeitgeisty and popular it becomes part of millions of strangers’ daily routines and is bought by the New York Times for seven figures would have been sufficient for a lifetime. Rather than face inevitable comparison and potential disappointment by attempting That Difficult Second Album, they would have just kicked back on their yacht and called it a day.

Some people are better at organising, and it sounds as if you all have fun when you do get together, so try not to take it personally

My friends seem genuinely happy to see me when we’re together and usually accept when I suggest meeting up. But if I don’t initiate, I rarely hear from them. Not even a “Hi, how’s the new job?” or a “How are you?” Months can go by.

This makes me wonder if these people are real friends and question whether I’m doing something wrong. When we do get together, we share things about our lives, laugh a lot and do activities we all like, so time together makes me feel connected. But once we say goodbye, I don’t hear from them. It’s all very confusing and discouraging.

US president threatens to take out Iranian energy facilities – ‘starting with the biggest one first’ – if Tehran does not reopen the strait

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Donald Trump has given Iran 48 hours to reopen the strait of Hormuz to shipping or face the destruction of its energy infrastructure, as Tehran launched its most destructive attack yet on Israel.

The ultimatum, made just a day after the US president said he was considering “winding down” military operations after three weeks of war, came as the key oil passage remained effectively closed and thousands more US Marines headed to the Middle East.

Israeli air defence systems fail to intercept at least two projectiles during attacks on cities of Arad and Dimona

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Iranian ballistic missile barrages wounded about 100 people in southern Israel on Saturday, striking the cities of Arad and Dimona after air defence systems failed to intercept at least two projectiles.

Among the injured were a 12-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl, both reported to be in serious condition.

Yet another cost of living crisis looms with fuel, food, holiday, energy and home loan prices expected to rise

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Here we go again. For Britons it has been a rollercoaster few years and just as better times seemed ahead the country has been plunged into a fresh cost of living crisis.

The economic storm caused by war in the Middle East is already pushing up the cost of key household outgoings, including mortgage payments, energy bills and driving. There are warnings that the weekly shop will be next.

‘Problem-solving’, child-focused courts to replace adversarial hearings, with earlier intervention to cut delays

Family courts are “not good enough” and have treated women and children unfairly for decades, a government minister has said.

Announcing a major overhaul of the family justice system in England and Wales that will play a central role in “rebalancing” the family courts, Alison Levitt said often brutal legal showdowns will be replaced with a “problem-solving”, child-focused model.