The Oscar nominated actor is the most impressive member of a ragtag Suicide Squad-esque team in an often charmingly unusual yet still baggy adventure

Thunderbolts* can be messy. Not just the movie, with its clumsily forced narrative beats and whiplash tonal shifts. But also, its title characters, the broken and lonely souls who ditch the colourful costumes and wear their emotions on their sleeves, as if it’s their brand.

These reluctant heroes, led by Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, the troubled sister to Scarlett Johansson’s late Black Widow, are defined by how much they need therapy. They wrestle with themselves more than the bad guys, in a way that’s more pronounced than the most unstable among Marvel’s stable of wisecracking world saviors. They’re endearingly vulnerable, at times devastatingly so, and yet still fun and exciting enough to save Marvel.

Scientific recipe for cacio e pepe avoids a lumpy sauce but uses powdered starch instead of reserved pasta water

It may be only pasta, pecorino and black pepper, but cacio e pepe is not nearly as easy to make as some would imagine.

However, researchers have come up with a scientific recipe that avoids a lumpy sauce every single time – but it all gets a lot more complicated.

Described by Ian McEwan as ‘a treasure of English contemporary writing’, the Yorkshire-born novelist’s career spanned 50 years

Jane Gardam, author of books for adults and children including Old Filth and The Hollow Land, has died at the age of 96, her publisher has confirmed.

The Yorkshire-born novelist’s career spanned 50 years, and she was awarded an OBE for services to literature in 2009. Her books were also nominated for the Booker prize, the Orange (now Women’s) prize and the Folio (now Writers’) prize. She remains the only person to have won the Whitbread prize (latterly the Costa) in two categories: she won the children’s book category in 1981 for The Hollow Land and the best novel category in 1991 for The Queen of the Tambourine. Old Filth was named as one of the BBC’s 100 greatest British novels in 2015.

• Mohammed ben Sulayem suggests rule ‘improvements’
• F1 drivers raised concerns over fines and free speech

The standoff between drivers and the president of Formula One’s governing body over the contentious issue of swearing may have taken a step towards resolution.

Ahead of this week’s Miami Grand Prix, FIA leader Mohammed ben Sulayem posted on Instagram that after “constructive feedback” from drivers across the world of motorsport he is considering making “improvements” to the document which lays out the punishments for a range of offences ranging from physical violence to political statements and swearing.

John Niven’s debut play explores rivalry between the two British bands who vied for the No 1 spot in the charts in 1995

It was the great Britpop showdown in the summer of 1995, billed as a contest between cheeky chaps and lairy lads. Thirty years on, a new play is to revisit the fierce rivalry between Blur and Oasis when both British bands put out a new single in the same week and competed to grab the No 1 spot in the charts. Some purchased both releases, many couldn’t care less, but for a few days it was a decision that defined you: whether to spend £2.99 on Oasis’s Roll With It or Blur’s Country House?

The Battle is the debut stage play of novelist and screenwriter John Niven who said of the era: “Music was so central to the culture that two pop groups could dominate the entire summer, the evening news and the front page of every newspaper in the country. We’re going to take you back there.”

The people of Kashmir have had little or no say in their future for as long as I can remember. This cycle must end

• Mirza Waheed was born in Srinigar, Kashmir. His novels include Tell Her Everything and The Collaborator

By all accounts, the 26 people killed last week in a picturesque meadow in Pahalgam in Kashmir were selected for slaughter by the militants on the basis of their religion. We’ve read heart-rending testimony of how the families watched as the men, almost all Hindu, were shot from close range. These were unconscionable killings . We’ve also read how Kashmiri tourist guides and pony operators rescued many Indian tourists, at great risk to their own lives.

Whether this attack was carried out by Pakistani militants, local Kashmiris, or both, is immaterial to the families of the dead. Their lives are destroyed, along with the Indian state’s carefully constructed facade of normality in the region – a facade sustained by the tourism boom of recent years.

Mirza Waheed was born in Srinigar, Kashmir. His novels include Tell Her Everything and The Collaborator

First 27 satellites launched into space from Florida, part of $10bn effort to beam broadband internet globally

The first 27 satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper broadband internet constellation were launched into space from Florida on Monday, kicking off the long-delayed deployment of an internet from space network that will rival SpaceX’s Starlink.

The satellites are the first of 3,236 that Amazon plans to send into low-Earth orbit for Project Kuiper, a $10bn effort announced in 2019 to beam broadband internet globally for consumers, businesses and governments – customers that SpaceX has courted for years with its powerful Starlink business.

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While the last of this season’s three Premier League relegation spots was confirmed the moment referee John Brooks blew his whistle to signal the end of the Championship playoff final between Leeds and Southampton 11 months ago, the late scramble to avoid the bottom three in the second tier has been thrilling by comparison. It couldn’t not be, given that five of the six teams battling to stay out of the two remaining places in the drop zone at stumps on Saturday have each notched up more than the 10 victories Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich have managed between them.

I told them, and I’m not exaggerating here, ‘Guys, bring your boots, bring your shorts, bring your T-shirts, and let’s play every ball together. We want to do something special’. That place has to be something that we haven’t seen before” – John Sitton Mikel Arteta apparently wants Arsenal fans to go the full John Terry when they take on PSG in the first leg of their Bigger Cup semi-final.

If by Barry Glendenning’s reckoning ‘Arsenal are not a serious football club’ ( yesterday’s Football Daily ), I’m left to wonder how he might assess any of the 18 teams destined to finish below them in the Premier League table. I thank him mightily, however, for not only adding ‘heroic begrudgery’ to my phrase book but providing such a convincing demonstration” – Clinton Macsherry.

I have to disagree that Liverpool’s ‘This Means More’ motto has no meaning for their fanbase ( yesterday’s Football Daily ). If experience serves me right, for a generation of youngsters who just developed a passion for Liverpool after watching this season’s procession on the telly, This Means More than finding a team within geographical reach and paying to get in and cheer them on, thus actually, y’know, supporting. And This Means More than any concept of sporting loyalty and glory other than who just won. Hopefully, This Means More when Liverpool have a slight fallow patch down the road and they have to deal with the outrage when sometimes you don’t win. There is a widely spread demographic of folk in their 30s who once suddenly developed an affiliation with Manchester who could perhaps give them some tips for the future” – Jon Millard.

Congratulations to Truro on winning the National League South with a burst of three goals in the opening 10 minutes which gave the other contenders an absolute mountain to climb. Six clubs in the running as you reported last week but John Askey’s boys prevailed. Top contender for manager of the season, any league. No doubt the fans will be looking forward to the possibility of Carlisle, Gateshead and Hartlepool away next season” – Dave Step.

In the midst of all the kerfuffle of the weekend – Real Madrid players as petulant as ever, inflated and deflated managers brandishing their egos – it might have been good to see a mention from you of James Forrest of Celtic who collected his 26th trophy in 524 appearances, overtaking the Lisbon Lion Bobby Lennox. What stands out about Forrest is his loyalty to the club and dedication to training and the squad, even when regularly on the bench. He has scored in each of the last 15 seasons so here’s hoping he grabs one before the end of this one. A model club player – something of a rarity these days” – Danny Sullivan.

Microchip implant with data has been required since 2022 but policy is unpopular because of expense and nuisance

Half of the pet dogs in Berlin are being kept illegally owing to a suspected “boycott” of unpopular registration rules rolled out after a surge in ownership during the pandemic, figures have shown.

Dogs have long been taxed in the German capital, primarily for sanitation costs.