Three decades after he channelled his heroin addiction into the cult classic Trainspotting, the Scottish author has discovered the joys of yoga, breathwork and standing desks. But is he quite as ‘Zen’ as he claims?

By rights, Irvine Welsh ought to be photographed somewhere gritty, looking grumpy, he says: “That’s the brand.” Beside a graffitied wall or at the docks, with a beanie pulled low, and definitely not smiling. But here he is, clear-skinned and wholesome in shorts and a T-shirt, drinking tea and – it’s hard to think of anything more off-brand – talking about the health benefits of yoga. Given his reputation for having lived in the worlds his books portray, he should or could look a lot worse. He guffaws at this, eyes a delighted blue, and repeats the phrase as if he’s found a new personal tagline: “Could look a lot worse!”

Over the three decades since his cult debut, Trainspotting, was published in 1993, Welsh’s fiction has explored with humour the darker side of life. Drugs, clubs, alcohol, violence … often alongside psychological or social deprivation. Despite being 17 novels and four short-story collections into his career, selling more than 6m books globally, he remains best known for his first. It achieved, he says, “what most writers want to achieve in a lifetime – the big zeitgeist book that goes into the culture”.

Canadian stuntwoman is only 4ft 6in and stood in for star to make the giant Laestrygonians appear even bigger

A 35-year-old stuntwoman is one of the great unsung heroes of Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster The Odyssey – standing in for Matt Damon and displaying what the actor called “the greatest arms I’ve ever seen”.

Canadian Devyn Dalton was the Hollywood star’s stunt double in a pivotal scene in the film where Odysseus (Damon) and his men are confronted by the Laestrygonians, giant armoured cannibals.

It has 12 movements, 200 musicians and aims to unite America. The great US trumpeter and composer talks about his All Rise symphony, his jazz great mentors – and learning humility from his wife

At Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, Wynton Marsalis is hard to spot. When he first played this venue, in 1984, he was the prodigious 22-year-old soloist out front, blowing Haydn’s trumpet concerto under the baton of Lorin Maazel. Tonight he is embedded in the machinery: half-hidden behind ranks of strings and woodwind, a black-suited figure in the heart of his own symphony.

It’s a strange way for a composer to behave – especially one whose public persona has long been associated with certainty, polemic and the upright authority of a man who can make any argument sound like a moral law. Yet Marsalis seems almost pleased by his disappearance. “It’s my piece,” he says, as we talk in his hotel room the next morning, “but it’s not my show.”

The actor gobbles up food, roars with glee and finds himself deeply moved in this four-part travelogue inspired by the journey of Homer’s hero. It’s a real success of a show

Here comes Richard E Grant, pounding towards us in his tiny leather jacket as he gesticulates wildly at his cobbled surrounds. “Wow,” he gasps. “Look at that.” We look at that. It’s Malta. Specifically, Malta’s Grand Harbour: a sobbingly beautiful gateway to the Mediterranean and the sun-blessed starting line for Richard E Grant’s Very Modern Odyssey, a four-part travelogue “inspired by Homer’s hero” in which the veteran actor traces Odysseus’s “incredible journey” while wearing a succession of increasingly voluminous linen trousers.

Said tracing is not, however, an exact science. This is not one of those awful celebrity things in which our noble hero arms himself with set squares and a scholastic scowl before setting sail on a “voyage” to uncover “the truth”.

Vivian and Thomas both left physically unfulfilling marriages and are rediscovering their sex drives in later life

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

Since menopause and being with Thomas, my interest in sex is much higher

Menstrual and digestive discomfort often coincide, and a researcher who has been looking in to it for a decade tells us what she learned

Every period, right on schedule: the cramps arrive, and right behind them, the urgent need to poop.

If this is your experience, you’re in good company: in one study, 73% of healthy premenopausal women reported at least one significant gastrointestinal symptom in the days before or during their period. Abdominal pain and diarrhea were the most common complaints, but women reported nausea and constipation too.

Party’s deputy leader accused of a possible failure to declare an interest, commissioner says ⁠on ​its website

• UK politics live – latest updates

Britain’s ⁠parliamentary ⁠standards watchdog is ​investigating ⁠Reform UK’s ⁠deputy ​leader, ‌Richard ‌Tice, over ‌a possible failure to declare ‌an interest, ​the commissioner said ⁠on ​its website ​on ​Monday.

More details soon …

Explosives used to move a large rock and let more water flow to cool nuclear power plant

The backstory behind this explosion is that last Friday, Romania has declared a nationwide state of emergency throughout August stemming from a decline in electricity production after record low Danube river levels disrupted power generation.

The peak of the current heatwave is expected on Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures set to cross into 40s C and get close to all time records.

• FAW says under-fire Fifa president has lost its confidence

• ‘This is a failure we cannot accept’

The Football Association will formally withdraw its support for Gianni Infantino’s re-election as the Fifa president, adding to the mounting pressure on his crisis-hit tenure.

In a significant development, the FA will write to Fifa confirming that it no longer backs Infantino for a fourth term in charge, having previously offered its endorsement. Their move comes after the Welsh FA dropped its backing for Infantino’s candidature. More European countries are expected to follow suit in an attempt to force his resignation. The Football Association of Finland became the first nation to withdraw its support last week.

Iranian spokesperson says there are no plans to receive or send a delegation following US president’s assertion that talks would take place on Monday

• Trump says Iran talks set for Monday

Iranian state media is reporting that Iran executed two people on Monday on charges of espionage and ⁠cooperation with Israel, according to Reuters.

Omid Behzad and ⁠Pouria Safvat were accused ⁠of sending ​Israel the coordinates of military and security sites in addition to images and information in the latest conflict that began 28 February as well as during the brief war last summer, judiciary news outlet Mizan reported.