China blocks $2bn Meta takeover of AI agent developer Manus
Beijing says domestic tech companies must seek explicit government approval for accepting US investment
The Sheep Detectives review – Hugh Jackman gives a flock in baa-rking mad cosy crime caper
Jackman plays the farmer in this Babe-style feelgood family film about plucky sheep who help solve a murder
Michael might be a cowardly, cursed biopic but his fans are happy to live in a fantasy
The hit success of the critically reviled Michael Jackson movie shows that his fans only want to see the good – not the truth
‘Omar, what the hell are you doing in Chichester?’: when Doctor Zhivago star Sharif came to Sussex
Hannah Khalil’s new play sprang from her surprise at seeing the great Egyptian actor had performed at the Festival theatre in the 1980s. She explains how it entwined with a story of her mixed-heritage identity
Brute 1976 review – throwback slasher summons up spirit of Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Aiming to subvert the all-American exploitation film with progressive comment and a touch of diversity, this horror soon reverts to hokey tropes and carnage
Polish influencer’s nine-day, non-stop live stream raises £50m for cancer charity
Musician Chris Martin, tennis star Iga Świątek and footballer Robert Lewandowski join Łatwogang in epic fundraiser
The Eukrainian review – heroic portrait of the diplomat trying to haul Ukraine into Europe
Viktor Nordenskiöld’s film follows Ukraine’s deputy minister Olha Stefanishyna as she negotiates her country’s path into the EU, but lacks some of the rigour needed
The one change that worked: I swapped doomscrolling for reading comic books
After Donald Trump’s second election, I realised the insidious hold my phone had over my life. So I turned to something I’d loved in childhood to better occupy my attention
‘Bursts off the screen’: why Tombstone is my feelgood movie
The latest in our series of writers drawing attention to their most rewatched comfort films is a celebration of an easily quotable western
The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder review – excavating the memories of civil war in Mozambique
Inadelso Cossa’s documentary grapples with the trauma left by the conflict through witness that wavers between real and imagined truths
Michael is a highly selective version of the singer’s life, and that suits more people than you might think
It’s not just the money-making studio execs – fans, too, are often happy for the darker parts of a subject’s life to be ignored, says Guardian arts correspondent Nadia Khomami
Gina Rinehart calls for immigrants’ social media to be screened in Anzac memorial speech
Mining magnate also claims children are being taught to be ashamed of the Australian flag in a speech to 4,000 people on the Sydney Opera House steps
‘It needs to be loud’: Jozef Van Wissem’s one-man mission to make the lute rock again
The Dutch ex-punk and Jim Jarmusch bandmate talks about his passion to free up a hidebound repertoire and make its strings ‘a real pop instrument’
Phantoms of July review – interlocking tales hop across time in funny-quirky fable with a point
From a disgruntled maid in the 18th century to an Iranian influencer facing snide nationalists, four stories explore what it is to be trapped and longing for more
Harvey Fierstein on Kinky Boots, addiction and survival: ‘When you get sober, it takes five years to get your marbles back’
He found roaring success on Broadway with Torch Song Trilogy, then appeared in blockbusters Mrs Doubtfire and Independence Day. But notoriety had a cost. The 73-year-old stage legend talks recovery, grief and why he’s taking aim at Trump