‘Critical debate’ about party’s identity and direction looms if it loses control of Senedd next month after 27 years in power

Welsh Labour is the democratic world’s most successful election-winning machine, coming first in Wales in every general election since 1922 and every devolved election since 1999. Come next month’s Senedd election, however, this history-making run is expected to end.

Labour’s collapse has left a vacuum, and former Labour voters are going to opposite ends of the political spectrum. Plaid Cymru and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK are neck and neck in the latest poll, although coalition maths make it highly unlikely Reform would be able to form a government.

Cyber-attacks, disinformation and blockading of supplies. This is what living in a war zone can look like now

We are at war. Four words that sound ludicrously melodramatic on a sunny spring day, when all may not be exactly right with the world – but when you can still shut your eyes to a lot of it just by switching off the news and cracking on with life. No bombs are falling, no bullets flying, no sirens sounding. Though the idea that Britain is already under a form of hybrid attack is commonplace in defence circles, politicians still mostly skirt around it; and it was jolting at first to hear the Labour MP (and former RAF wing commander) Calvin Bailey make the case for conflict being our new reality at a conference hosted by the Good Growth Foundation thinktank last week in London. But then he started to unpack his reasoning for why war is no longer what you think it is.

If war can be considered an assault on five fronts – against a country’s political leadership, critical infrastructure, essentials such as food or fuel supplies, civilian population and armed forces – then Britain is arguably now being attacked on the first four without a shot being fired. Think of rampant, Russian-generated political disinformation on social media and attempts to bribe British politicians; of Russian submarine surveillance of the British undersea cables carrying most of our internet traffic, or the four “nationally significant” cyber-attacks recorded every week; of the blockading of food and fuel supplies through the strait of Hormuz. Think, too, of Keir Starmer’s warning in the Sunday Times last week of conflict with Iran coming home to British civilians via “the use of proxies in this country”. He didn’t elaborate, but counter-terrorism police say they are investigating whether a spate of arson attacks on synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses and Iranians living in Britain may have been sponsored by Tehran – a thugs-for-hire tactic familiar from the Russian playbook for sowing division and hate.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Severing ties with the US can take more than a year and cost thousands of dollars. But Paul, Ella, Margot and thousands of others feel they have no choice

When Margot went to renounce her US citizenship earlier this year, she wasn’t able to do it in the UK, her home of 30 years. The waiting list to renounce US citizenship at the London consulate is more than 14 months. It’s a similar story in Sydney and most major Canadian cities. Many European cities currently have six-month waiting lists.

So Margot found herself in the lobby of the consulate in Ghent, Belgium. One wall was covered by a picture of Boston Harbour, where she was born. The other had three portraits: Donald Trump, JD Vance and Marco Rubio, their faces glistening – to her mind, with sadistic triumph (the lighting may have been a factor). Momentarily, she felt caught in a vice: everything she loved about her nation; everything she hated. Then she went in, swore under oath that she knew what she was doing, wasn’t being coerced, and wasn’t renouncing her citizenship for the purposes of tax avoidance. The official’s tone was neutral, slightly bored.

A certain image of the tiger mom – strict, cold and demanding – is ubiquitous in popular culture. Why?

In January 2011, the English-speaking world was introduced to a new kind of villain. She arrived in the form of a viral Wall Street Journal article with the headline “Why Chinese mothers are superior”. The author, a relatively unknown Yale law professor named Amy Chua, outlined her strict rules for her two daughters: no sleepovers, playdates or school plays – and no complaining about not being in the school play, either. They were expected to be the top students in all subjects at school (except gym and drama). When her seven-year-old refused to play a song on the piano, Chua threatened her with no lunch, no dinner and no birthday parties for four years until she complied. Another time, after the same daughter misbehaved, Chua branded her “garbage”.

The backlash was swift and vicious. Chua was called an abuser, a stereotype peddler, a shock jock. The article was an extract from her memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and Chua did her best to explain that, in the book, she reckons with the limits of her parenting. But it was too late: the controversy had taken on a life of its own. Many Asian American writers responded by sharing their ambivalence or anger about having been raised in this way. “I grew up with a tiger parent and all I got was this lousy psychological trauma” declared one such blog post. Suddenly a ubiquitous but private dynamic was being held up for public debate. There were endless letters, op-eds, blogs, tweets, Facebook posts. My grandparents in China, who are as removed from the American commentariat as one could possibly be, asked me about the American lady boasting about getting her kids into Harvard and giving Chinese people a bad name.

Apple laptop sets new performance bar with more storage, new chips and plenty of options, but now has two-tier specs depending on processor

Apple’s Macs have been on a roll this year with the brand new budget MacBook Neo and a faster MacBook Air M5, but now it’s time for its workhorse MacBook Pro to be upgraded with the fastest, most powerful M-series chips.

The latest MacBook Pro comes in two screen sizes and a large range of chip and configuration options. The 14in version starts with the M5 chip costing £1,699 (€1,899/$1,699/A$2,699) and then jumps to the more powerful M5 Pro from £2,199 (€2,499/$2,199/A$3,499) before climbing further for the 16in version or the top M5 Max chip. A pricey machine for professional workloads.

The crypto tycoon has given millions to Farage’s political parties. But who is Christopher Harborne and what does he want in return?

One balmy evening last year at the Kamalaya wellness sanctuary in Thailand, the resort manager welcomed guests to a talk on longevity and anti-ageing medicine. The first speaker was a Thai doctor with impeccable credentials. The second was the resort’s owner, Chakrit Sakunkrit, who is better known as Christopher Harborne. And Harborne doesn’t only own a resort – he could be one of the richest people alive.

The Guardian’s investigations correspondent, Tom Burgis, tells Helen Pidd that Harborne is by far and away the biggest donor to Nigel Farage, stumping up two-thirds of Reform UK’s funding. And one of the donations was also the largest single donation by a living donor to a British political party ever.

The prime minister faces a standards investigation over Mandelson affair and testimony from Morgan McSweeney

Keir Starmer has told Labour MPs to “stick together and fight together” as ministers launched a massive operation to shore up his fragile position before a critical day for his premiership.

The prime minister faces the double threat of a standards investigation into his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US and potentially damaging testimony from Morgan McSweeney, his former chief of staff.

Monarch to allude to recent strains in special relationship in speech to both houses during four-day state visit

King Charles is expected to allude to recent strains between the UK and US in a rare address by a monarch to the US Congress as he will underline that “time and again our two countries have always found ways to come together”.

The king’s remarks in a speech to both houses on Tuesday come after Donald Trump has threatened to tear up a trade deal signed by the UK and US, mocked the Royal Navy and insulted the UK prime minister.

Lord committee says chancellor and recent predecessors have allowed themselves too little room for manoeuvre

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Rachel Reeves should aim to run a “significantly larger” buffer against her fiscal rules, according to a report from a House of Lords committee that says the UK’s public debt is on an unsustainable trajectory.

The chancellor raised taxes at last year’s budget in order to more than double the “headroom”, or buffer, against her fiscal rules to £22bn – some of which is expected to be eroded by the impact of the Iran war.

NAHT survey says widespread disrepair forcing closure of playgrounds and classrooms, with Send facilities also hit

Half of headteachers say parts of their school are either out of use or unfit for purpose due to leaks, damp, mould, asbestos, ageing boilers and malfunctioning fire doors, according to a new survey by the National Association of Head Teachers(NAHT).

Among those who say their schools are suffering, almost three-quarters (73%) say they have toilet blocks that are either closed (8%) or not fit for purpose (65%).