Financial experts answer pressing questions: from how to split the bill or who should pay on a first date, to how to get a discount

Navigating a cost of living crisis in a world where we can tap and spend without a thought is changing the way we manage our personal finances. Whether asking our boss for a pay rise or negotiating splitting the bill with friends, we have to confront our discomfort about discussing money. But the emotional stakes can feel precarious. So how do we navigate this new money etiquette?

Brad Sigmon, 67, will be first executed by gunfire in US in 15 years as supporters call for clemency

The US will conduct its first execution by firing squad in 15 years on Friday in South Carolina, despite widespread concerns about the safety and cruelty of this method and growing calls for clemency.

Brad Sigmon, 67, is scheduled to be shot to death by three South Carolina prison employees, part of a series of rapid executions the state has pursued in the last six months as it revives capital punishment. After a 13-year-pause in killings, due to limited supplies to carry out executions, the state now directs men on death row to choose their method of death – electric chair, lethal injection or firing squad.

Brad Sigmon, 67, was shot dead by prison staff despite outcry over ‘cruel’ method and calls for clemency

The US has conducted its first execution by firing squad in 15 years, with South Carolina prison officials shooting to death Brad Sigmon, 67, on Friday evening, despite widespread concerns about the safety and cruelty of this method.

Sigmon was the oldest person to be executed in the state’s history and his death was part of a series of rapid killings the state has pursued in the last six months as it revives capital punishment. There had been growing calls for clemency, but minutes before Sigmon was killed, the state’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster, announced he would not be intervening.

Whether you’re practising reformer in a studio or planking in a village hall, here’s the pilates gear that’s actually worth buying, chosen by the experts

• The best massage guns: tried and tested relief for sore, tired muscles

Joseph Pilates had a saying: “If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old; if it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.” As someone who’d worked rehabilitating first world war soldiers, he knew his stuff. His eponymous exercise method is a global phenomenon. In 2024, it was the fitness subscription service ClassPass’s most booked exercise for a second consecutive year.

Classical pilates involves low-impact, controlled exercises that strengthen and balance the body, from the core outwards, and improve flexibility. It’s done on a mat – often with small props – or on apparatus that adds resistance.

Whether you’re practising reformer in a studio or planking in a village hall, here’s the pilates gear that’s actually worth buying, chosen by the experts

• The best massage guns: tried and tested relief for sore, tired muscles

Joseph Pilates had a saying: “If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old; if it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.” As someone who’d worked rehabilitating first world war soldiers, he knew his stuff. His eponymous exercise method is a global phenomenon. In 2024, it was the fitness subscription service ClassPass’s most booked exercise for a second consecutive year.

Classical pilates involves low-impact, controlled exercises that strengthen and balance the body, from the core outwards, and improve flexibility. It’s done on a mat – often with small props – or on apparatus that adds resistance.

Places to drink fine wines from the world’s top 250 wine and champagne houses – if you can afford it

This week, London was crowned “wine capital of the world”. It’s worth noting, perhaps, that this shiny new title comes from the annual Knight Frank Wealth Report, and is based on how many restaurants serve fine wines from the world’s top 250 wine and champagne houses. If this is what matters to you when looking at a wine list, this would put London’s wine offering ahead of New York, and even Paris.

Below, the Guardian’s resident wine expert Hannah Crosbie lists a few old and new wine bars that you can walk into and order a bottle anytime. You don’t have to be rich to drink here (but I’m sure it helps).