Many of those who love spending time in Britain’s green places say it is awe-inspiring, calming and therapeutic

As a recent study revealed almost half of UK adults now spend less than three hours a week in natural settings such as gardens, parks, fields or woods, we asked readers to tell us about what being outside means to them.

The replies – heartfelt and passionate – came flooding in, with some admitting they just did not have the words to say how important it is.

Fab Four are still making waves 60 years on – and upcoming Sam Mendes films are expected to turn the hype up to 11

If anyone needed a reminder of the enduring cultural clout of the Beatles, the past few weeks have provided a glut. Firstly, there’s the small matter of The Boys of Dungeon Lane, Paul McCartney’s 20th solo album, billed as “an adventurous and limber take on guitar music” by the Guardian.

When England announced their World Cup squad, the soundtrack was Come Together, played alongside a film of fashionable young people in New York and a clip of a young, puckish John Lennon. The same week Stephen Colbert was played off from his final episode of the Late Show by a Paul McCartney rendition of Hello Goodbye.

Reform and Maga are correct that ageing populations are storing up huge social problems, but our prosperity still rests on the hard work of migrants

A growing mountain of reports highlights one of the US’s most fascinating features: the fact that people in red states seem to breed far more than those in the blue ones, and are being newly encouraged to do so by high-profile figures who are desperate for a Maga baby boom. The vice-president, JD Vance, and his wife are expecting their fourth child, and Vance says he wants “more babies in America” – and, presumably, fewer of the people he derided as “childless cat ladies”. Elon Musk is reckoned to be a father of 14, and his views on reproduction reflect his contribution to the Trumpist procreation drive: “If people don’t have more children, civilisation is going to crumble,” he said in 2021. “Mark my words.”

In Europe, Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, says she will somehow tackle a mixture of unprecedentedly low birthrates and ageing population known as the “demographic winter”. Before he was sent packing by voters, the infamous Viktor Orbán was on much the same page: “We need Hungarian children,” he said in 2019, announcing a lifelong exemption from income tax for women with four or more of them.

John Harris is a Guardian columnist

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Curated edits mean people are treating museums as stand-alone shopping destinations rather than simply exit points

First it came for bookshops. Then your favourite coffee shop. Now there is a new frontier when it comes to upping your merch game: museums.

Instead of art print postcards and coffee table books, you are now more likely to find everything from slogan T-shirts to coffee mugs when you “exit through the gift shop”, as museums look to merch-maxx in order to boost revenue

Would you want this to become sexual? If the answer is yes, then think about what might be holding you back

I don’t know whether I am in love with my friend or not. We hang out a lot, because we work together in the same university. My feelings developed over many months and it took us a long time to fit with each other as we do now. I don’t find him perfect; I sometimes don’t like his behaviour, especially when we are with other people. However, I want to be with him a lot: I imagine going on holiday with him and doing things together.

We do have physical contact sometimes – just things like touching arms. I appreciate that and have deep affection for him. So I wonder if this could be love or if I am mistaking great friendship with love just because he is a guy. I do not know whether he is a friend, almost like a brother, or more than that.

Whether it’s Hyrox or CrossFit, some of this century’s biggest exercise trends have one thing in common: combining cardio with strength training. Here’s how to do it

Tough Mudder. CrossFit. Hyrox. Some of this century’s biggest fitness trends have one thing in common: they require feats of both strength and endurance. People used to pick a side: either you used weights and resistance machines to build your muscles or you did cardio for the sake of your heart and lungs. Now everyone wants to be a “hybrid athlete”. So is this the best way to get fit – and where do you start if you’re a complete beginner?

Defence minister announces seizure of fortress as advance against Hezbollah moves beyond Litani River

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Israeli troops have captured the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle and its strategic ridge in southern Lebanon in a significant advance against Hezbollah that took them beyond the Litani River – their deepest incursion into the country in more than 26 years.

After days of intense fighting and airstrikes in nearby villages, the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military had captured the fortress, also known as Qalaat al-Shaqif, which the Israel Defense Forces used as a base during their previous occupation of southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000.

Labour leadership hopeful says NI reduction for firms could ‘incentivise’ hiring, particularly of younger people

Wes Streeting has called for national insurance cuts for businesses, and for the government to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea.

The former health secretary and potential Labour leadership candidate told the Sunday Times there should be a “targeted reduction” of employers’ national insurance contribution as a way to “actively incentivise” hiring, particularly of young people.

Premier Group Recruitment went into administration with debts of £2.9m – including £647,000 owed to HMRC

A recruitment executive – who was allowed to buy back the assets of his bust company in instalments despite it accumulating almost £3m of debt – has fallen behind on promised payments after pledging to send staff on an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas.

The development is the latest case to raise questions about the practice of “phoenixism”, accounting’s controversial art of liquidating companies to allow directors to rise from the ashes with a new entity, free of debts.

Interior minister says rioting took place in about 15 cities in France, with almost 300 people detained in Paris

French police have detained more than 400 people involved in violent clashes in Paris and other French cities that erupted on Saturday night after Paris Saint-Germain defeated Arsenal to win the Champions League title.

Seven officers were injured as football fans set off fires and vandalised shops, the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said, describing the violence as “absolutely unacceptable”. One small group even tried to storm a Paris police station.