The EastEnders and Cathy Come Home actor had been diagnosed with dementia, his family revealed

Ray Brooks, the British actor who starred in EastEnders, Ken Loach’s drama Cathy Come Home and narrated the 1970s children’s TV show Mr Benn, has died at the age of 86.

Brooks died peacefully on Saturday with his loved ones at his bedside after a short illness, according to a statement shared by his family with the BBC.

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Underbelly Circus Hub on the Meadows, Edinburgh
Brisbane’s Circa are consummate pros, achieving acrobatic feats edged with animal instincts

Some circus shows start with relatively simple tricks and work up to their big finish, saving the impressive stuff for last. Brisbane’s Circa are so confident in the breadth of their skills and invention that right off the bat they bring out a guy who can hold the weight of six other people all balanced in a tower on top of him. It’s quite an opening statement.

Edinburgh fringe is awash with acrobatics and there are plenty of people trying to do what Circa do – stylish circus with choreographic sensibility; athletic and atmospheric – but this troupe has been at it for 20 years and director Yaron Lifschitz has really got it down.

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Extreme tanning | Art nouveau paradise | AI history | Plane travel | Slicing salami | Heightism

I can’t tell you how sad this article makes me ( Burn notice: Gen Z and the terrifying rise of extreme tanning, 6 August ). Sunbeds and extreme tanning cause skin cancer. My son, aged 23, discovered a mole on his back. It took quite a bit of persuasion for him to go to his GP. Seemed quite simple: cut it out, end of. The mole became more moles, more operations. It then became his arms, then his lungs, and then two brain tumours. Two years from his diagnosis, he died. I would plead with people to avoid sunbeds, tanning without sun cream and complacency. I will never get over the death of my son.
Ruth Heggarty
Sheffield

• It is indeed regrettable that art nouveau has long been neglected generally in France ( Editorial, 8 August ), but the city of Nancy is an outstanding exception. Furniture, glass and other works by Émile Gallé, Louis Majorelle and others are richly represented in the Musée de l’École de Nancy. The Musée des Beaux Arts de Nancy has extensive collections, and the Villa Majorelle, the designer’s former home, is devoted to his work. An essential destination for the enthusiast.
Ron Wells
Eastbourne, East Sussex

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Actor who portrayed commander in 1995 Oscar-winning film says Lovell dared to go to places most wouldn’t go

Late Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell has received a tribute from Tom Hanks, the actor who brought him to life in an Oscar-winning movie and said he had gone places most wouldn’t dare.

“There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to places we would not go on our own,” Hanks said of Lovell in a heartfelt Instagram tribute post published after the astronaut’s death was announced Friday. “Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy.”

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Paulo Palado’s pitch-dark production opens up possibilities by putting unsighted and sighted in the same position

In the intimacy of a blacked-out theatre, the smell of freshly made coffee, cheap perfume and stuffed peppers becomes more pronounced. The weight of each character’s footsteps become recognisable.

Welcome to the Blind Theater from Brazil, where every scent is a prop, and an actor’s breathing and tread are their character’s signatures.

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These 16 psychologically probing questions will reveal if you’re at the cutting edge of fashion, food, culture and more

Teen summers before the internet were supposed to be wild and free, but mine were mostly boring, spent clumsily painting my toenails, eating Quavers, alone in a rain-battered tent. The one thing that made all of that tolerable was magazines and, more particularly, teen magazine big summer quizzes. I, for one, loved them. Agonising over my answers, totting up my points using an unnecessarily complex scoring system, then reading earnestly what my “summer style” or “party personality” was or whether I was a “great best friend” was as good as it got.

And so, in honour of the magazines loved and gone, I’ve just wasted spent hours crafting my own summer quiz, which I’m calling “What’s your 2025 vibe?” Apologies to aficionados – it’s insufficiently granular for a proper 90s girls’ mag quiz (true masters could craft 20 psychologically probing questions to tease out what swimsuit style you should try). But if, despite the entirety of the internet, you’re bored this summer, give it a go.

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The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

Is sarcasm the lowest form of wit? If not, what is? Jason Frank, Cumbria

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com .

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The comedian on his sickly childhood, what made him leave his home town and his Matilda-induced anxiety

Born in 1975 in Northampton and raised in Perth, Australia, Tim Minchin is a musician, comedian, actor, writer and director. Starting out in musical theatre, he turned to comedy in 2003, winning the 2005 Perrier best newcomer at the fringe. In 2008, the Royal Shakespeare Company commissioned him to write music and lyrics for a stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda – it has since won seven Olivier awards and four Tonys. He is married with two children and lives in Sydney. His new album, Tim Minchin Time Machine, is out now. Matilda the Musical is playing in the UK and Ireland.

As photos were so rare in the 80s , compared with now, there’s a formality to my physicality here. I look proud, but as I didn’t like primary school, I would have been unhappy that it was time to go to class. I found the whole school experience very scary.

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A 48-year-old woman known only as B has reportedly undergone DNA test to verify her father’s identity

His performances defined an era, and his life story has been dissected in tell-all books as well as on the big screen .

But now further revelations may open up an unknown chapter in the life of Freddie Mercury.

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