Hard to fathom exactly why Megxit is over and the self-exiled wonder generators are leaving California. Luckily, the internet sleuths are on the case

Wednesday night brought an absolute cloudburst of psychic rain for our parched land, as it emerged that Prince Harry and Meghan were reversing their self-styled “freedom flight” to California and returning to live in the UK. Nature is healing! Is that … is that how the expression goes? Either way, all humans in Britain have taken the announcement brilliantly, while fatted calf prices climbed steeply at the news that the reverse Megxit is imminent, with only an adequate headline soubriquet yet to be found. Megain? Megraine?

Inevitably, thoughts turned swiftly to what it all meant. One of the funniest aspects of Meghan and Harry coverage is how their decisions are always analysed as though we were parsing the 4D chess moves of 19th-century master strategists. We are forever imagining we are dealing with a couple of Bismarcks or Clausewitzes, as opposed to a resting actor and the “chief impact officer” of a firm designed to offer tech-based solutions to men crying in their cars or something.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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The author and academic explains how an open, questioning mindset can bring people with opposing views closer together – and even change history

Asking a question can change your mood, and having a questioning mindset can change your life – or, as the philosopher Lani Watson, an honorary fellow at the University of Edinburgh, is more likely to put it, “create change in your life”. When you live in an answer-oriented world, your phrasing tends towards the glib certainty, which is one of the things Watson – speaking to me from her home in Edinburgh – seems quite naturally to avoid.

Questioning fosters exploration and curiosity, she says. It changes your relationship to yourself and to others: it can make you fall in love; it can stop you going to war. Watson’s challenging book, Q: The Hidden Power of Questions in a World that Wants Answers, is written with a deceptive simplicity and an almost kindly encouragement, so you’re knee-deep into her proposition before you have even considered that it might turn out to be quite hard work.

From a new high-speed line to better intercity links, the PM has a chance to tackle problems he criticised as Manchester mayor

For passenger rail travel, the north of England was the future, once. But since that first train from Darlington to Stockton in 1825, many have felt short-changed. As one angry passenger put it, 200 years later: “What is it about the rail industry which makes them think they can treat passengers in the north as second-class citizens?”

That complaint came from the former mayor of Greater Manchester, who frequently set out a different vision for the train services he would like. Now that Andy Burnham is in No 10, he has the opportunity to win those battles – or perhaps see them a little differently. For now, what unresolved issues could the railway expect to be pursued with greater urgency?

A crackdown on time wasting, a record number of new people in charge, and some new faces on Match of the Day

The 2026-27 Premier League season kicks off on Friday and while the familiar rivalries return, the English top flight has some alterations this campaign. From evolved rules to new faces and broadcast changes, there is plenty to catch up on before a ball is kicked.

Marco Rose – Bournemouth

Xabi Alonso – Chelsea

Pierre Sage – Crystal Palace

Álvaro Arbeloa – Fulham

Gary O’Neil - Ipswich Town

Andoni Iraola – Liverpool

Enzo Maresca- Manchester City

Matthias Jaissle – Newcastle

Oliver Glasner – Nottingham Forest

With plentiful jobs and community support, one Mexico City neighbourhood has become a haven for those who have lived much of their lives in the US

With its wide avenues lined with tall palm trees, its quaint cafes and old-school cantinas, as well as the mix of English and Spanish spoken on the street, the Tabacalera neighborhood in downtown Mexico City has a certain US feel – so much so that it is has become known as Little LA.

The nickname is about more than appearances, however. In recent years, this corner of the metropolis has become a haven for many Mexicans deported from the US, particularly those who spent years or decades living across the border and for whom Mexico feels like a foreign country. In Little LA, they have found a more familiar place to belong.

As the couple plans their return to the UK, Montecito’s whirlwind stint on the global stage may be coming to an end

The bucolic coastal California town of Montecito was thrust into the limelight six years ago as the backdrop for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s second act following an acrimonious split from Buckingham Palace.

But as the couple plans their return to the United Kingdom, Montecito’s whirlwind stint on the global stage may be coming to an end.

Judge orders payment within seven days towards legal costs in failed case over alleged unlawful information gathering

The Duke of Sussex and six other high-profile claimants must make a £9.54m interim payment by 4pm on 28 August towards the Daily Mail publisher’s legal costs after losing their high court case over allegations of unlawful information gathering, a judge has ruled.

Associated Newspapers Ltd strongly denied the claims made by Prince Harry and co-claimants including Doreen Lawrence and Elton John.

Jason Murphy believes he knows who killed McKee in Derry, but culture of silence and mistrust of police is denying her family justice

When Lyra McKee was shot and killed on the night of 18 April 2019, approximately 150 people were in her vicinity. The 29-year-old journalist had watched in a crowd as rioting broke out in Derry, Northern Ireland. Police footage captured the grainy outline of a man firing a handgun.

“Someone’s fucking shot,” a bystander could be heard crying in mobile phone footage shown as evidence in court. “There’s a fucking kid shot in the head.”

Exclusive: Planning documents show datacentre in North Ockendon would be incompatible with UK net zero targets

A “hyperscale” datacentre in outer London would generate more than 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to the carbon footprint of 27,000 flights from London to New York, planning documents show.

The East Havering Data Centre Campus (EHDCC) in North Ockendon would be one of the largest datacentres in Europe if approved by Havering council, using 218 hectares of green belt to run servers and data storage systems for AI and cloud computing. Its developer, Digital Reef, has described the scheme as “a unique opportunity to create a sustainable datacentre campus of the future”.

Activists who targeted bank in Burnley were found guilty in June of causing damage exceeding £200,000

Five Palestine Action activists who vandalised a Barclays branch in Burnley will not be sentenced as terrorists, a judge has ruled.

Dubbed the Barclays five, Brendon O’Hagan, 28; Amanda Kelly, 31; Hmeera Atiqnisar, 31; Mohammed Malik, 28; and Alma Yaniv, 70, were all found guilty in June of causing damage exceeding £200,000, after breaking windows and throwing red paint at a branch of Barclays Bank in Lancashire in August 2024.