Members back dropping men-only rule in place for 193 years, after Guardian revealed details of membership list

• aWhere actors and men of refinement might meeta: Garrick Club history

The men-only Garrick Club has finally voted to allow women to become members, 193 years after the London institution first opened its doors.

The vote was passed with 59.98% of votes in favour at the end of a private meeting where several hundred members spent two hours debating the merits of permitting women to join.

Adult film star cross-examined by defense; judge denies Trump attorneyas motion for mistrial

• Stormy Daniels describes being astartleda by sexual encounter
• Who are the key players in Donald Trumpas hush-money trial?

Trump attorney Susan Necheles reveals that Stormy Daniels is expected to be the prosecutionas second witness for the day.

Sheas fighting to keep details about the alleged sex act between Daniels and Donald Trump under wraps.

Defence minister says operation will continue until militant group is defeated or begins to free hostages

Israel has launched a major military offensive against Hamas forces in Rafah, Gazaas southernmost city, seizing control of a key border crossing and cutting off most aid into the territory a day before indirect talks on a ceasefire deal are due to restart.

Images released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed tanks flying large Israeli flags driving through the post and crushing a concrete sign reading aI Love Gazaa.

Boy aged five months who was taken to hospital after incident on Thursday died on Sunday

A baby who suffered a cardiac arrest at Legoland Windsor Resort has died, police have said.

The five-month-old was seriously injured on Thursday in what Thames Valley police have called a aneglect incidenta. The child died in hospital on Sunday. A 27-year-old woman from Essex was arrested on suspicion of neglect shortly after the incident.

• Champions League semi-final, 8pm BST kick-off (first leg: 0-1)
• Live scoreboard | Read Football Daily | And you can mail Scott

5 min: More room for Hakimi on the right wing. He looks for GonASSalo Ramos in the middle, but shanks his cross towards Kobel at the near post. The keeper gathers. Some positive early moves by the hosts.

4 min: Some space for Hakimi down the right. A low cross is met by GonASSalo Ramos, who hands out a leg and steers a shot straight at Kobel. Not enough power to fox the keeper.

Group includes 11 US citizens, including five minors, but tens of thousands of people remained detained five years after defeat of IS

The United States has repatriated two dozen western citizens, half of them Americans, from Islamic State prison camps in north-eastern Syria where tens of thousands have languished.

The operation is the largest ever of US citizens and comes as rights groups warn of dire conditions in the camps still in use some five years after the ultra-violent extremist movement lost its last territory in Syria.

At least 361 injured and 131 missing in southern part of country from what governor called his stateas abiggest climate catastrophea

The death toll from what authorities call the worst climate disaster ever to strike southern Brazil has risen to 90, after ferocious rain flooded huge stretches of Rio Grande do Sul state, displacing more than 155,000 people and forcing the closure of the main airport in the countryas fifth biggest city.

Photographs of the Porto Alegre airport, one of Brazilas busiest, showed its main terminal had been completely inundated and a cargo plane parked in an expanse of water next to a pair of semi-submerged boarding stairs.

Two Ukrainian colonels allegedly recruited by FSB to kill president as inauguration agifta for Vladimir Putin

Ukraine says it has foiled a Russian plot to assassinate its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and other senior officials, using a network of agents who were recruited by Vladimir Putinas domestic spy agency.

The SBU state security service in Kyiv said the alleged agents had been instructed to find someone close to the presidential guard. The person would take Zelenskiy prisoner a in his office or when he left the building a and then kill him, the SBU said.

Guard was shot inside Drakeas home and had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, while the assailant fled in a vehicle

A security guard at the mansion of Canadian hip-hop artist Drake has been aseriously injureda in a shooting outside the musicianas Toronto home.

The victim, an adult male, was rushed to a Toronto hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries following the shooting early on Tuesday morning.

Holly LeGresley, 37, whose username was aThe Immolatora, uploaded images and videos to online group

A British woman has pleaded guilty to being part of a global monkey torture network.

Holly LeGresley, 37, from Kidderminster in Worcestershire, admitted uploading 22 images and 132 videos of monkeys being tortured to an online chat group.

PA Media contributed to this report

CEO Bob Iger says company will scale back releases in superhero franchise as it seeks to take on Netflix in streaming market

Disney plans to release fewer movies and afocus more on qualitya in its key franchises, following of a string of high-profile flops at the box office.

The Hollywood giant is cutting back on productions from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which ramped up releases in recent years as Disney embarked upon an expensive bid to take on Netflix.

Issue was not existence of men-only clubs but uniqueness of Garrickas powerful membership list casting unflattering spotlight on British establishment

• Garrick Club votes to accept female members for first time

Who cares that an elite organisation full of mostly elderly white men has decided to allow women to join them in a small central London private membersa club?

Such was the reaction of many of the clubas members who had responded with extreme ill-temper to the Guardianas recent decision to publish the names of about 60 of the Garrick Clubas most influential members. There has been an orgy of mansplaining in newspaper comment pieces. The Garrickas rules prohibit networking or even working inside the building, these members say, so it would be very wrong-headed and silly to believe that anything of any consequence ever happens within the clubas four walls. The Garrick is merely a spot for friendly relaxation.

MPs and election candidates to be given guide about conspiracy theories covering topics such as 5G and the climate crisis

MPs and election candidates are being provided with a guide on recognising conspiracy theories a ranging from false claims about 5G technology to others about vaccines and global organisations such as the International Monetary Fund.

The guide was commissioned by Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons, who launched it on Tuesday with the shadow leader, Lucy Powell, amid concern about the impact of conspiracies theories, in many cases with antisemitic overtones.

Beijing joins France in urging Israel against Rafah offensive in latest effort to make its diplomatic mark

Xi Jinping, sensing a diplomatic opening, is stepping up Chinaas intervention in the Middle East crisis, issuing a joint statement with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to urge Israel not to go ahead with an offensive in Rafah.

The rare moment of Sino-European synergy is the latest effort by China to make its diplomatic mark in a region in which it has deep economic interests, but more shallow diplomatic moorings.

They are comedy sparring partners from Green Wing. Can the duo play stricken lovers in The Deep Blue Sea, the eviscerating play Rattigan poured his own heartbreak into? Warning: contains spoilers

On 8 May 1956, Terence Rattigan stood outside the Royal Court theatre in London after the opening night of a revolutionary new drama. This was not one of his own plays but a sally from the upstart generation: John Osborneas Look Back in Anger. Or, as the veteran playwright bitterly renamed it: Look How Unlike Terence Rattigan Iam Being. Refinement was out, the Angry Young Man was in, and the author of Separate Tables and The Winslow Boy had plummeted from favour.

But that all changed in 1993 a with Karel Reiszas revival of The Deep Blue Sea, Rattiganas most penetrating work. Penelope Wilton played Hester Collyer, who is separated from her husband, a primly patriarchal high court judge. She now lives in sin with her younger lover, the carousing ex-RAF pilot Freddie Page. The play begins with Hesteras listless body being discovered by her neighbours. She has tried to gas herself after Freddie failed to return for her birthday. (She would have succeeded had there been enough coins in the meter.) The rest of the day, and the play, is spent raking over the detritus of her life. Freddie bowls in obliviously; her husband tries to coax her back to the marital home; and the enigmatic former doctor, Miller, exhorts her to ago on livinga.

Possession, contractions, plurals a test your ability to use an apostrophe in our fun and completely pedantic quiz

This week there were reports that residents of North Yorkshire were irked that their road signs were having punctuation removed to make it easier for computer databases. Weall just park for one moment how bad your computer database must be in 2024 if it cannot cope with apostrophes. But it did prompt a question: are you better with apostrophes than a North Yorkshire computer database? Find out with our fun but pedantically accurate quiz a|

Itas a moment of truth for Bidenas policy on Israel and the Palestinians a and at the least will make continued prevarication harder to disguise

When Israeli troops paraded through the Rafah crossing with an oversized star of David on Tuesday morning, they were making a point to Hamas a and at the same time driving up to the very edge of Joe Bidenas ared linea.

The Biden administration avoids that phrase at all costs. Its top officials also served Barack Obama, who drew a red line he did not enforce over Syriaas chemical weapons. But there is no hiding from the fact that they have clearly and repeatedly stated US opposition to a Rafah offensive, absent proper humanitarian provision for the more than 1 million people sheltering there.

While the Conservatives have given up, Rachel Reeves didnat make the alternative sound exciting. But maybe thatas OK

The last time most of us saw Rishi Sunak was on Friday lunchtime. He was surrounded by armoured vehicles. His private security detail to protect him from angry Conservative MPs. Appearing in his own BBC hostage video, he declared that it was far too soon to draw any conclusions about the local elections as not all of the results were in.

Nothing escapes our Rish!. For once he was right. The later results were even worse for the government than the earlier ones. Culminating in the loss of the West Midlands mayoralty. One of the Toriesa home bankers. Andy Street couldnat win in Birmingham even without any mention of Sunak or the Conservatives on his campaign literature. The brand is that toxic.

Miatta Fahnbulleh is running for parliament a and, as a black female economist, hopes to broaden parliamentas outlook on athe rules of the gamea

Miatta Fahnbulleh has been talking about economic transformation for as long as she can remember. After she and her family fled civil war in Liberia as a child, the main topics of conversation around the breakfast table in London were politics and economics.

aWhen other people were talking about EastEnders, we were on about changing the economic settlement,a says the 44-year-old former chief executive of the New Economics Foundation (NEF), who is standing as Labouras candidate in Peckham, south London, at the next election.

Star wore two dresses by John Galliano at event cutting across fashion, celebrity and Hollywood

The Met Gala and its red carpet is an annual X-ray of where power lies in fashion and in the adjacent worlds of celebrity, Hollywood and music.

It shows us who is in and who is out, who is up and who is down. It is a heat map showing us the connections between culture and entertainment, between the establishment and new money, between the tech billionaires who have the deep pockets to fund nights like these and the designers whose dresses their wives want to wear. These are the new corridors of soft power, and the Met Gala draws back the veil on the alliances, feuds and fallings-out.

From a man with a mullet letting off fireworks to a Slovenian witch, this yearas Eurovision has some of the wildest entries ever.

The bookiesa favourite, and you can see why. For one thing, it addresses a hot-button social issue a the lyrics deal with Nemo Mettleras non-binary gender identity a thatas also very Eurovision-friendly. In 1998, Eurovision had a transgender winner, Dana International, 34 years before Kim Petras became the first transgender woman to top the UK and US chart with Unholy. More importantly, itas that rare thing, an original-sounding Eurovision entry thatas charmingly preposterous rather than straight-up daft a its drumanabass-influenced rhythm interrupted by high-drama mock-operatics and a vocal that shifts from rapping to falsetto melodrama. You could imagine it in the UK singles chart, which is something one seldom feels with Eurovision songs.

She says I think about sex all the time a but her libido has fallen since our third child and I feel shame at being rejected

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My wife and I have been married for nearly 10 years. We have three children and love each other dearly. We are a good team 99% of the time, but we regularly argue about our differing libido levels. I feel she doesnat instigate sex very much and that when she does itas with messages like: aShall we have a 3pm ameetinga before the kids come home?a I prefer it to be more spontaneous, like after sheas had a few glasses of wine and suddenly becomes more racy. Iave let her know how exciting her racy mode is for me, but I donat want to encourage her to become an alcoholic. She feels that I think about sex all the time and that I am not accepting of her feeling tired or not being in the mood.

After a recent argument, we agreed we have different libido levels. She said she felt hers had gone down, especially after our last child was born. Iam conscious that neither of us need to be afixeda, but equally I struggle with being the instigator most of the time and with the intense shame and rejection I feel when she says no. I donat want her to feel forced into anything; I want her to feel comfortable with me. She says she enjoys sex with me, but doesnat always feel that her body is sexy, something I very much disagree with.

The Israeli PM has rejected the latest deal. Both he and Hamasas leadership must stop playing politics with peopleas lives

The latest twists and turns in negotiations to end the war in Gaza appear labyrinthine and confusing. But itas really not that complicated. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israelas prime minister, must compromise on the outstanding details of the proposed ceasefire deal and Hamasas weekend counter-offer a and immediately halt Israelas criminal bombing of Gaza and reckless military incursions into refugee-populated areas around Rafah.

For its part, Hamas must honour previous understandings about the staged release of Israeli hostages and cease its crude, last-minute haggling, especially about exactly how many Palestinian detainees, and which ones, are freed in return. Its priority should be alleviating the plight of Gazaas civilians, not scoring points. Its demands that Israel agree a apermanenta end to the war at this stage were always unrealistic.

Simon Tisdall is the Observeras foreign affairs commentator

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Roll up for a buffet of baffling outfits, celebs scared stiff of Anna Wintour and an utter refusal to acknowledge the outside world

Tuesday is officially the morning after the Met Gala of the night before, when we civilians get to press our noses up against the glass of our phone screens and pass unsparing judgment on dresses whose trains alone cost more than HS2.

If you havenat sat in mismatched pyjamas huffing toast while remarking what an unacceptable misstep Lana Del Reyas mosquito net was, and how Chanel seems to be going tits up, then you have simply failed to capitalise on the digital banquet spread out for you. These are dark times, and nothing but a| gratitude, I think? a| should be shown for film director Taika Waititias decision to come dressed as a brown pleather three-piece suite, while his wife, Rita Ora, presented as the ribbon curtain tacked over their back door to keep the flies off it.

Trumpas disgraced former attorney somehow frittered away almost $120,000 in January. As a cash-strapped millennial, Iam delighted to share some money-saving tips

aBankruptcya is a surprisingly amorphous term. For poor people, it means not having any money. For corporations and the super-wealthy it means a nifty legal strategy that can shield their riches from lawsuits. And for Rudy Giuliani, the disgraced former mayor of New York City and personal attorney of Donald Trump, it means being forced to try to subsist on a measly $43,000 (APS34,200) a month.

Half a million dollars in spending money a year might seem a princely sum to the common man, but aSira Rudy (recipient of an honorary knighthood) is anything but. Weare talking about a gentleman with elevated tastes here: a bon vivant who, during a legal battle with his estranged third wife, was accused of spending $7,000 on fountain pens and $12,000 on cigars over a five-month period. In that same timeframe, his ex-wifeas lawyer claimed he spent $286,000 on his alleged lover, $165,000 on personal travel and $447,938 afor his own enjoymenta. Thatas a lot of enjoyment.

Heas not the man to lead Scotland to independence, but after a turbulent few years, heas the safe pair of hands the party needs

John Swinneyas accession to the leadership of the Scottish National party has been called a acoronationa. Yet the smooth handover of power that took place yesterday was not a given. That the party avoided another acrimonious battle a like the one last year between his predecessor Humza Yousaf and former finance secretary Kate Forbes a was down to his deft handling of would-be rivals.

After her defeat last year, Forbes, a social conservative who opposes same-sex marriage, became a rallying point for internal disaffection. Had she stood again, as she clearly intended to, the SNPas divisions a between left and right, between opposing views on trans rights a would have become further entrenched. Instead, Swinney persuaded Forbes to throw her weight behind him by promising her a senior cabinet position a a masterstroke that also brought her most vocal backers to heel.

Dani Garavelli is a freelance journalist and columnist for the Herald

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Although chief executive Murray Auchincloss has left himself room to pump more oil and gas, renewables should start generating greater returns

• BP to cut $2bn in costs as profits miss forecasts

The marketas guessing game at BP is waiting for Murray Auchincloss, the chief executive who has been in post permanently only since January, to blink. That is to say, waiting for him to tone down climate targets and decide to pump more oil and gas than planned.

Tuesday was not the day. BPas first-quarter numbers were slightly weaker than the market had expected a profits of $2.7bn versus City forecasts of $2.9bn a but there wasnat a twitch on the strategic tiller. Auchincloss trotted out his refrain about going from aIOC to IECa a from international oil company to integrated energy company. The only fresh news was the promise of $2bn of cost savings over the next couple of years, but thatas the sort of thing energy firms announce routinely.