‘Fungi fatale’ and ‘death cap stare’: how the world’s media reported Erin Patterson’s guilty verdict

For more than two months, the Australian mushroom triple-murder trial has gripped the world – here’s how it finished up on the front page

The murder trial has spawned podcasts, documentaries, thousands of column inches, viral social media posts – and a rapt global audience.

After a week of deliberation, a supreme court jury found Victorian woman Erin Patterson guilty of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder after three guests died and one almost died after eating her homemade beef wellington lunch.

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TV tonight: hit show Couples Therapy just keeps getting better

Dr Orna continues to offer fascinating insight as she helps clients. Plus: it’s the last visit to Reuben Owen’s farm. Here’s what to watch this evening

11pm, BBC Two
The vulnerability of the clients and the utmost professionalism of Dr Orna (compared to other “experts” on reality shows) is what makes this therapy show such a hit. This week, though, it’s Orna who lets her guard down when one couple quits: “When patients just get up and leave, I do a lot of self-examination. Should/could I have? It’s not easy.” This adds another fascinating new layer, but she’s quickly back to helping the other couples get on track. Hollie Richardson

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‘Like an academic’: private papers reveal John le Carré’s attention to detail

Exclusive: Oxford’s Bodleian libraries to put archive items on display for first time, celebrating spy author’s ‘tradecraft’

The extent of John le Carré’s meticulous research and attention to detail are among insights into his working methods that will be revealed when the master of spy thrillers’ private archive goes on display for the first time this autumn.

His classic cold war-era espionage novels have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide and inspired acclaimed films and television adaptations.

John le Carré: Tradecraft opens at the Weston library, Bodleian libraries, on 1 October, running until 6 April 2026. An accompanying book, Tradecraft: Writers on John le Carré, will be released by Bodleian Library Publishing.

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José Pizarro’s recipe for courgette and almond gazpacho

An authentic alternative gazpacho with rustic appeal, a powerful flavour mix – and not a tomato in sight

Gazpacho has been part of Spanish kitchens for centuries. Long before tomatoes arrived from the Americas, it was made with bread, garlic, olive oil and almonds, which have always been part of our food culture. It began as field food, crushed by hand in mortars and eaten by workers under the sun with nothing but stale bread and whatever else they had to hand alongside. No blenders, no chill time, just instinct and hunger. This version, with courgette and basil, goes back to that idea: take what’s around you and make something good out of it. Simple roots, but full of life.

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To those who question what Labour stands for – look at Best Start. It will change Britain’s future | Polly Toynbee

Sure Start was New Labour’s finest achievement, and the Tories destroyed it. Now it’s back with a mission to put children at the heart of everything

They hunt high and low for Labour’s missing message, vision, purpose or identity. Well, here it is, where it always was, in the future of children. It’s what Labour does best, what it is for: building a society where children come first and everything else falls into place. The foundations have now been laid by Bridget Phillipson by finally bringing back Sure Start to England – the most successful achievement of the last Labour government – now rebranded as Best Start family hubs.

It’s a pity about the new name, but young parents recognise “hubs”, whereas Sure Start is largely gone and forgotten. Its uprooting began the day Michael Gove arrived as education secretary in 2010. He entered the “Department for Children, Schools and Families” – a name chosen to reflect the awareness that children don’t learn without wraparound care for their whole lives – and replaced it with the Gradgrind “Department for Education”. Family stuff was flimflam, distracting from rote learning, and arts, music, drama and sports were expunged from his Ebacc’s core subjects.

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Continue ReadingTo those who question what Labour stands for – look at Best Start. It will change Britain’s future | Polly Toynbee