As their album Fables of the Reconstruction turns 40, we assess REM’s hugely varied discography, from mysterious masterpieces to commercial failures

The REM album that REM appeared to hate: guitarist Peter Buck called it unlistenable, “a bunch of people so bored with the material that they can’t stand it any more”. In truth, the songs aren’t bad, but there’s something lifeless about Around the Sun: its best tracks sound infinitely better on the 2007 REM Live album.

The bromance might be over but Trump has kissed and made up with his enemies before. Enjoy it while it lasts

If you paid attention during physics class you will remember the third law of ego-dynamics. Namely: when two egos of equal mass occupy the same orbit, the system will eventually become unstable, resulting in an explosive separation and some very nasty tweets.

To see this theory in action please have a gander at the dramatic collapse of the Donald Trump and Elon Musk bromance. The news has been a nonstop horror show for what feels like forever. Watching two of the very worst people in the world direct their nastiness at each other is extremely cathartic.

The actor on plans for a new Pitch Perfect, pretending to lick Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi’s ‘fun grandpa vibe’

What’s been the most fun you’ve had on set? FrNthOld
Pitch Perfect, because it felt like theatre camp. We came together in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was like college: hanging out with my friends, having fun, not really acting. For four weeks we were in boot camp, where we’d dance and do conditioning in the mornings – so sit-ups, stretching and learning the choreography. In the afternoons, we’d learn our 10-part harmonies and go into the recording studio. Sometimes we were really dorky and said: on Friday we’re all going to wear the same colour T-shirts, just to be like a squad.

You’ve worked with Sir Derek Jacobi twice – in Juliet & Romeo, and the upcoming Tinsel Town. How was he? Derekj2210
It was pretty cool to be in scenes with him. Even though we weren’t doing the iambic pentameter, it was interesting to watch how the language fell off his tongue. We were filming in this medieval Italian church. It was zero degrees, but he was so easygoing: always telling stories, with this fun grandpa vibe. He’s one of the most amazing Shakespearean actors ever: in his 80s, still crushing every line. I kept wanting to get selfies with him, because he really is one of the greats.

Forget whisky and golf balls: from a sleep mask to a pizza stone, a summer scent to a barbecue multi-tool, these considered gifts will make his day

Dads can be tricky to buy for. They often have everything already, or profess to want nothing. But beneath the smiling veneer of a man unwrapping a pair of novelty socks is someone who secretly wanted some fancy toiletries. Or a massage gun.

So this Father’s Day, why not get your dad a gift he’ll actually use, rather than another pair of novelty socks or the not-so-subtle hint of a nasal hair trimmer? You don’t have to break the bank to do it either, as our carefully curated guide of 83 £50-or-under presents proves. Whatever your dad’s interests, age or tastes, we’ve got Father’s Day covered.

I spent far too many years lonely and angry, thanks to schoolmates who called me ‘weird’ and bosses who dismissed me as ‘hysterical’. But was it my sexuality that put their backs up – or the autism I am still coming to terms with?

My earliest memory is of feeling different. I’m gay, and grew up in the 1980s, in a tough, working-class town in the north of England at the height of the Aids crisis. My gayness was obvious in the way I walked and talked. I was bullied at school, called a “poof”, “pansy” and “fairy”; other children did impressions of me with their wrists limp. I experienced physical violence, too. I was shoved, kicked, my head was slammed against the wall. I was punched in the face more than once.

But it wasn’t just my sexuality that set me apart. I was “weird”. I had a rigid attachment to routine and was terribly shy, sometimes freezing in social situations. I needed to be on my own for long periods; not easy when you’re in a family of five and share a bedroom with your brother. I was obsessive, channelling this at first into the Star Wars films, then the Narnia novels and, as I got older, Madonna. Lots of kids have short-lived interests but mine were intense: I’d collect facts and statistics about Madonna, memorise the chart positions of her singles, then reel them off to anyone who would listen. If anyone criticised her, I took it as a personal attack and would be distraught.

Three years ago, British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, investigates what happened in the first episode of a new six-part investigative podcast series

Tensions over the Republican spending bill burst into public view as the president’s relationship with his former adviser deteriorated

• Tesla share plunge amid Trump feud wipes $152bn off company

Elon Musk called for Donald Trump’s impeachment and mocked his connections to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the US president threatened to cancel federal contracts and tax subsidies for Musk’s companies, in an extraordinary social media feud that erupted between the former allies on Thursday.

The deterioration of their once close relationship into bitter acrimony came over the course of several remarkable hours during which the president and the world’s richest person hurled deeply personal insults over matters significant and insignificant.

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• See all our Ukraine war coverage

We’re about to wrap up this live coverage for now – thanks for reading. Here’s a recap of what happened this morning.

Russia attacked Ukraine with Russian ballistic missiles and drones during a nighttime attack early on Friday, wounding at least three people, officials said.

Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv, the capital, and falling debris triggered fires across several districts as air defence systems tried to intercept incoming targets, said the Kyiv city administration’s head, Tymur Tkachenko.

Authorities reported damage in several districts and rescue workers were responding at multiple locations. Officials urged residents to seek shelter.

The attacks came after Russia accused Kyiv of state terrorism over its drone operation striking Russian heavy bomber planes at air bases in Siberia and the far north at the weekend and said it would respond as and when its military saw fit.

In Friday’s Russian attacks a fire broke out in a 16-story residential building in Kyiv’s Solomyanskyi district and emergency services evacuated three people from the apartment. Rescue operations were continuing. Another fire broke out in a metal warehouse.

A Shahed drone exploded near an apartment building in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, shattering windows and doors, the regional military administration chief said. Explosions from ballistic missiles were also recorded on the city’s outskirts, Dmytro Bryzhynskyi added.

US president Donald Trump said that during a call with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday he urged the Russian president to refrain from retaliating but fully expected Moscow to strike back over Ukraine’s assault on Russian heavy bomber planes.

The UN nuclear safety watchdog’s team at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine heard repeated rounds of gunfire that appeared to be aimed at drones reportedly attacking the site’s training centre, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Thursday. There were no immediate reports of damage to the centre, it said.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Trump in an Oval Office meeting to increase pressure on Russia to end the war.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to “unconditionally support” Russia in the war at a meeting with top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu, Pyongyang state media reported.
With agencies

How and when our military deems it appropriate.

Labour celebrated the ‘incredible’ win in the central seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, as voters rallied around popular local candidate Davy Russell

Scottish Labour is celebrating an “incredible” win in a pivotal Holyrood byelection, beating the incumbent SNP and fighting off Reform UK’s “racist” campaigning, in a result that confounded predictions and will boost the party ahead of next year’s Scottish parliamentary elections.

Voters in the central Scotland seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse rallied round the popular local candidate Davy Russell after a toxic campaign that saw Nigel Farage launch an unprecedented series of personal attacks on Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, labelled racist by SNP leader John Swinney.

Lebanese leaders condemn IDF airstrikes on Hezbollah stronghold in breach of ceasefire on eve of Eid al-Adha

Lebanon’s leaders accused Israel of a “flagrant” ceasefire violation by launching strikes against Hezbollah militants in southern Beirut on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

At least three Israeli airstrikes have hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, after the military said it would target what it described as underground Hezbollah drone factories.