Andy Burnham hopes we’ll forget the big stuff if he sorts out our minor frustrations and low-level gripes. Pothole politics hasn’t won me over yet, but I know some changes that could

This is a vulnerable confession, but I spend way too much time on the social media of the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Whether he is seemingly effortlessly speaking Mandarin, hanging out with kids or charmingly accepting that he should wear a cycle helmet, the man with the million-watt smile is my antidepressant. (Even more vulnerable confession: I believe, irrationally, he is looking after my elder son, who lives there.)

This means that I know all about Mamdani’s fight against what Business Insider recently deemed the “annoyance economy” – daily frustrations that make you poorer or drive you slowly, miserably mad. These include the absurd complexity of cancelling subscriptions; hidden fees; getting charged more for something you looked up last week, because of cookies; never being able to find a public toilet; and potholes. He has taken to responding when he gets tagged in people’s “Mamdani, fix this” posts to the point where Britons online are even jokily asking him to take on their problems.

Expect gory set pieces and jump scares galore in the return of the supernatural anthology series, with Dan Stevens among the many poor souls terrorised by an evil spirit haunting their ward

Things that go bump in the night? Bad. Things that go bump in the night in a dilapidated psychiatric hospital? Infinitely worse. That, basically, is the premise of Devil in Silver, the latest volume of anthology series The Terror, which began in 2018 with a supernaturally charged tale of a polar expedition to find out what happened to Sir John Franklin’s voyage. Crikey, it does not end well. The next was set during the second world war and was about shapeshifters from Japanese folklore terrorising a Japanese-American community in southern California. A hiatus followed, but now The Terror is back with a double dose of horror: a malevolent spirit moving in and out of the bodies of the patients of New Hyde psychiatric hospital, and the more tangible but no less frightening diabolism of the US mental healthcare system.

Pepper (Dan Stevens, still of Downton Abbey fame despite his many varied roles since) is in New Hyde because the three policemen who arrested him after they caught a few punches he was aiming at his girlfriend’s controlling ex threw him in there rather than completing the paperwork the station would have required. There he meets the lost and suffering souls who have ended up in what amounts, due to underfunding and understaffing, to a holding pen rather than a rehabilitative or care facility. Dorry (Judith Light) is the longest-serving resident – put there decades ago by her husband because of her endless crying fits, though her later memories reveal a greater darkness. Kofi (Chinaza Uche) – or Coffee, as he is called by the rest of his companions until it is too late – was a structural engineer in Ghana but now depends on medication to keep himself steady. Loochie (played by non-binary actor b) ended up in the system after a violent incident with a sibling, but at least one member of staff believes her charge is able to cope in the real world and, as the hospital’s evil spirit gathers strength and wrath, gets the chance to prove it.

Being recognised by the Brits, Grammys and Drake made the singer one of British music’s most famous names – and also left her exhausted. Now, after decompressing in her home town she returns with a record made for raving

It is a sticky, sweltering July afternoon, and I have accidentally found myself at a wake with Jorja Smith. I’m told that the pub where we have met, in the leafiest part of leafy south-west London, is usually a safe bet for an inconspicuous table. But today, sweaty black suits carrying pints drift between tables, and long queues snake round the bar.

Dressed in a simple tank top, bare-faced with her hair scraped back, Smith is waiting for me when I arrive. “I’ve been waiting for my drink for ages,” she says. “But I feel bad saying anything because, you know …”

They relayed to me that the driver wanted more money. I went to grab my wallet, but they told me to put it away

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

I travelled alone a lot when I was younger and often got myself into stupid situations. You think you’re immortal when you’re in your 20s.

One such occasion happened when I was 25 and travelling solo in Egypt, not long after the turn of the century. I had taken an overnight bus from Cairo to Dahab, which dropped me and my fellow passengers off in the middle of nowhere. I had to get a shared taxi into town at about 3am – one where everyone sat up the back in a ute tray – then find somewhere to stay.

Following the all-clear, Kevin and Jade found a new openness in discussing sex and intimacy – and also a shared desire for exploring polyamory

• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

Since the all clear, my relationship with my sexuality has shifted a lot

Farmer Derek Sayer let a boggy field run wild and just one annual hay-cut has led to remarkable biodiversity

Tucked away on a country lane, a small field bursts with yellow and pink flowers. Quail and whitethroats call from the thick hedges and the plants, including common centaury, yellow rattle and marsh and common spotted orchids, bounce with hoverflies and butterflies.

More than 150 plant species have been recorded on Sayer’s Old Meadow, in north Norfolk, England, which is remarkable when there was just one – oilseed rape – growing there 21 years ago.

Emotional tributes paid to PCs Matthew Blades and Tom Clough whose vehicle was in a head-on collision with car travelling wrong way

Cleveland police have published photographs of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough who died when a car travelling the wrong way on the A66 crashed head-on into their police vehicle.

Two 17-year-old boys were among the seven people who were killed in the incident on Teesside.

Many tools fail to help victims find hidden cameras, microphones and trackers, leaving them at risk of ongoing surveillance

Commercial detectors intended to help domestic abuse victims find hidden spying devices may actually give them a false sense of security, a study has found.

The consumer detection tools claim to identify hidden cameras, microphones or trackers through methods such as signal-strength readings, infrared lens detection and scanning for wifi or Bluetooth devices.

UK-born married couples under 35 with children would get priority under proposals to be outlined by Farage’s party

British citizens who were born abroad would be made to wait longer for social housing under proposals to be announced by Reform UK on Monday.

Nigel Farage’s party will announce the policy at a press conference in London. Under the policy, people born in the UK and young married couples with children would be given priority for social housing.

Grassroots groups to urge PM to break with Starmer policy and impose full arms embargo on Israel

Grassroots Labour groups are gearing up for a conference showdown with Andy Burnham over Gaza, as the party’s members seek to force the prime minister to recognise Israel’s actions as a genocide and impose a full arms embargo.

Momentum, Labour & Palestine, the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) plan to ramp up pressure on Burnham before his first Labour conference as prime minister next month.