One HSBC banker was paid up to £16.6m in 2024 while figure at Barclays was £14.8m after loosening of pay rules

The demise of the UK banker bonus cap has sent pay soaring at Barclays and HSBC where the highest paid bankers have received their biggest payouts since at least 2014.

Analysis of pay documents released this month shows payouts for their most expensive staff surged more than 50% to nearly €20m (£16.6m) last year, after the banks took advantage of looser pay rules and allowed staff to be paid bonuses worth 10 times their salary.

The US president has no interest in countering aggressors. His short-termist game plan will cost America dear

The White House meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be remembered as far more than just a diplomatic disaster. It marked the end of international politics as we know it, and was a harbinger for the sunset of Pax Americana. Zelenskyy, reeling from the meeting, arrived in London on Saturday to attend a defence summit with other European leaders. Thanks to Trump’s performance, those leaders now have clarity on where the US government stands on the war in Ukraine – and, more broadly, on how US foreign policy may look in future.

It is hard to overstate what a departure this is. Since the end of the second world war, the US has been the primary architect and guarantor of an intricate network of global institutions anchored by Nato, the World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund. Together, these partners crafted a security umbrella whose benefits far outweighed its expense. It produced political stability and provided US and European companies with unrivalled access to markets and resources. The US was all too happy to share the gains of this order with its allies, and, to a lesser extent, with its rivals and adversaries.

Olga Chyzh researches political violence and repressive regimes. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto

Government must scrap English baccalaureate to make arts more accessible to working-class children, critics say

Leading cultural figures have expressed doubts about the government’s commitment to restoring the creative arts in English schools, with one warning that Labour has “lost the plot” and “the current signs are they are worse than the Tories”.

When Labour won the election, it promised to expand opportunities for working-class children by broadening the school curriculum to include more drama, art, music and sport alongside the core academic subjects.

A humble neighbourhood eatery in Vienna is the hub for a moving exploration of everyday urban existence in a new novel by the International Booker-shortlisted Austrian author

On the face of it, Robert Seethaler’s new book might seem twee. The novel – an instant hit upon its German publication in 2023 – is set in Vienna in 1966. It tells of Robert Simon, who follows a long-held dream when he gives up doing odd jobs around the market to set up a cafe, which becomes a hub of community.

But Seethaler’s prose is unexpected, taking the novel, far from being an easy-sailing story of the simple joys of community-building, somewhere knottier. The author, whose previous works include the International Booker-shortlisted A Whole Life and the German bestseller The Tobacconist, was himself born in Vienna in 1966 – and so the story, set over a decade, tracks the modernising city of his childhood. The cafe sits on the corner of Karmelitermarkt in Leopoldstadt – the historic Jewish district after which Tom Stoppard named his 2020 play.

Air fryers have taken over our kitchens, but which wins the crown for the crispiest cooking? Our expert peeled 5kg of potatoes to find out

• The best blenders to blitz like a pro, tried and tested

Air fryers inspire the sort of feelings that microwaves did in the 1980s. I vividly remember those new-fangled boxes being spoken about often, either dismissively or with delight. A rash of cookbooks followed, and dinner changed across the land. Fast-forward a few decades and air fryers have become the same kind of kitchen “disruptors”, offering time-saving convenience and healthier cooking, but with the added allure of easily achieved, mouth-watering crispiness.

Since launching with a single-drawer design, air fryers have evolved. Sizes range from compact to XL, while drawer configurations can be double, split or stacked. Alongside air frying, many will grill, roast and bake, and some will dip to lower temperatures for dehydrating, fermenting and proving dough. One we tested features steam cooking, allowing you to whip up dim sum as easily as a roast dinner, while another included racks for cooking on four levels.

Best air fryer overall:
Tefal Dual Easy Fry XXL EY942BG0
_{£149.99 at Amazon}

Best single-drawer air fryer:
Lakeland Slimline air fryer
_{£89.99 at Lakeland}

Best air fryer for chips:
Philips 5000 Series NA555/09 dual basket steam air fryer
_{£179.99 at John Lewis}

Best air fryer grill:
ProCook air fryer health grill
_{£179 at ProCook}

Best compact air fryer:
Ninja Double Stack XL SL400UK air fryer
_{£214.21 at Amazon}

Officers in Operation Castle attend every reported break-in and no longer treat such crimes as ‘low level’

When Sean Edwards found his car and his neighbours’ houses had been broken into in Longsight, Greater Manchester, in 2022, he was not expecting much from the police based on previous experiences.

“I expected them to dust for prints and take statements, then give us a crime reference number and nothing else happen,” he said.