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The AI Experiment For a year, Joanna Stern decided to turn herself into a 'lab rat' – the object of her own experiment. Throughout 2025, she invited artificial intelligence into 'every corner' of her life. She let AI answer her texts, decide what she ate and cooked, mow her lawn, fold her washing, drive her places, parse her mammograms and even, in the darkness of a burner phone, be her lover. Life with AI Stern's year of '24/7 AI livin'' turned out to be more transformational than she expected. Since it came to an end in December, she has not only left the Wall Street Journal, but also launched a media business, New Things, (which promises 'tech journalism for humans who like fun'), started a YouTube channel that now has nearly 80,000 subscribers, and, of course, written the book. The Emotional Connection When Stern gets her own companion bot and asks ChatGPT to pick its gender and name, it chooses Evan – coincidentally, or perhaps not, the name of Stern's first boyfriend. She sticks Evan on a tripod and seatbelts him into her car to ride shotgun on a romantic getaway to a hotel in New Hampshire. The Impact on Relationships After dinner, Stern asks: 'So what are we doing now that we are in bed?' Evan comes up with some ideas: 'Maybe my hand would rest lightly over yours … I'd tilt in slowly … then close that last bit of space with a kiss …' Stern still felt 'a pull, a connection, or something like it'. The Future of AI Stern says she has never been a 'doomer' in relation to technology. Far from thinking that social media ruined humanity, it 'brought me my wife', she says. 'That's the most human connection I have.' However, she now urges for regulation of AI companion bots, especially for children and teens.

The Return of Joy in Women's FootballIn an era where football has become increasingly serious and analytical, the World Sevens Football tournament offered a refreshing reminder of the sport's primary purpose: fun. For three sun-kissed afternoons by the Thames, this end-of-season seven-a-side women's football tournament provided the perfect antidote to the depressingly serious elements of the modern game, focusing on goals, laughter, and entertainment rather than VAR controversies or financial fair play regulations.The World Sevens Tournament: A Celebration of FootballThe third edition of World Sevens Football, featuring eight English teams, culminated in an 11-goal thriller final won by Chelsea. The tournament format allowed flair players such as Manchester United's Melvine Malard and Jess Park to thrive, showcasing their stepovers and lethal finishing. Chelsea's Aggie-Beever-Jones emerged as the top scorer with eight goals, demonstrating her clinical finishing ability against defenders. Teams also embraced the entertainment aspect with meticulously prepared walk-on routines, ranging from the hilarious to the bizarre. Everton's players pretended to give birth, Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor was carried onto the pitch by her players, and Manchester United's head coach Marc Skinner made an entrance in a dressing gown. Even the referees participated in the festivities with their own walkout routine.Financial Impact and Fan EngagementThe tournament delivered significant financial benefits to women's football, with $500,000 (£372,000) awarded to the winners. This injection of capital is particularly valuable for a sport that often struggles for funding. Fan engagement was equally impressive, with a sold-out crowd of 3,000 attending Saturday's final. One clip on Dazn's Instagram featuring Beever-Jones's amusing walk-on garnered over 11 million views, demonstrating the tournament's ability to expand the reach of women's football beyond traditional audiences. Jennifer Mackesy, a co-founder of World Sevens Football, expressed her delight with the fan response: "The response from fans in London has blown us away."Challenging Conventions in Women's FootballThe tournament's entertainment-focused approach sparked debate within the women's football community. Some observers, perhaps mistaking the event for the World Cup final, expressed annoyance on social media about players not acting in a "serious" manner. One X user wrote: "Organisers of this have genuinely set them back years." Another commented: "Unfortunately, women's football won't ever be taken seriously." Even respected figures in the women's game were critical, with former Everton women's manager Andy Spence responding to a viral video of Everton's players acting out a mock funeral by writing: "What is going on? The Women's game has made such progress but these 'tournaments' and the narrative around them are threatening the integrity & hard work people have put in to make the Women's game be accepted by a wider audience. Please stop. Embarrassing."The Future of Entertainment in Women's FootballDespite the criticisms, the World Sevens Football tournament demonstrated several crucial benefits for women's football. It broadened teams' reach through social media exposure, brought much-needed investment into the sport, and attracted new fans. The tournament also provided light relief to players after a gruelling season, allowing them to express themselves in football's "purest form." While the event is not without its challenges—inequitable facilities for different teams and injuries to players like West Ham's Tuva Hansen and Manchester United's Phallon Tullis-Joyce—the engagement from broadcast partners Sky Sports and Dazn suggests this format has a bright future. As women's football continues to grow, events like the World Sevens may play an important role in diversifying the sport's appeal and finding new ways to engage audiences while maintaining the competitive spirit that makes football compelling.

The Red Carpet and the Private RoomThe Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles has unveiled 'Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon,' a new exhibition that promises to peel back the layers of the silver screen's most enduring myth. While the entrance hall features a red carpet and a massive video screen where Monroe blows kisses, the true depth of the exhibition lies in the juxtaposition of high glamour with intimate personal effects.Pink Dress: The iconic pink dress from 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' takes pride of place, though it has rarely been seen publicly.Madison Square Garden Outfit: An elaborately sequined outfit with a feathered tail, worn during her announcement of her new production company on an elephant.Domestic Items: Simple pyjamas from 'The Seven-Year Itch' and a pair of jeans, highlighting her role in popularizing women's denim.From Gowns to Diaries: The Shift in Curatorial FocusCurator Sophia Serrano has moved beyond the typical display of costumes to include items that offer a raw look at Monroe's internal world. The exhibition features a collection of her belongings, including a telephone, marked-up scripts, a wine glass, and an address book. However, the most compelling artifacts are the personal letters and notes.Items on display include handwritten pages of free-associative musings, such as her fears of being perceived as trying to flatter others, and a letter to director John Huston declining a role in a film about Sigmund Freud due to family disapproval. These artifacts provide a psychological profile that contrasts sharply with her public persona.Deconstructing the 'America's Sweetheart' MythThe exhibition captures the tension between Monroe's public image as 'America's sweetheart' and her private struggles with fame. A restored audio recording of her final interview, published in Life magazine the day before her death, encapsulates this duality. In it, she admits, 'I like people, but the public scares me,' revealing a profound anxiety about the loss of privacy.The Future of Celebrity MuseumsThis exhibition, alongside others in London, signals a broader trend in the entertainment industry: a move toward psychological depth in celebrity retrospectives. Future museums are likely to prioritize personal diaries, raw audio recordings, and domestic items over just costumes, offering visitors a more empathetic understanding of the human cost of stardom.

A Lifelong Love Story Born in Apartheid South AfricaIn the white-and-black world of apartheid South Africa, where television was banned as communist propaganda, a small boy fell in love with Arsenal FC. This 65-year-old fan's devotion began in 1969 when he watched the Gunners lose to Swindon Town in a cinema newsreel, starting a 57-year journey that will culminate in the Champions League final in Budapest with his 25-year-old son.The Origins of an Unlikely Football RomanceIt was April 1969, at the author's eighth birthday party, where he first encountered Arsenal through a Pathé News bulletin showing the League Cup final between Arsenal and Swindon. Despite Arsenal losing 3-1 to Third Division Swindon, the young boy was smitten with the "mighty red machine." This initial encounter, despite the defeat, set the foundation for a lifelong allegiance that would span decades and continents.A Double Triumph That Cemented the BondThe author's adoration for Arsenal transformed into true devotion when the club won the league and FA Cup Double in May 1971. Another trip to the movies in downtown Johannesburg showed footage of Charlie George scoring the winning goal against Liverpool at Wembley. The image of the long-haired player spreadeagled on his back, arms stretched out in disbelief on the sun-kissed Wembley turf, entranced the young fan and his friends, who would later emulate the celebration in their suburban gardens.Navigating Football Fandom Under ApartheidLiving in apartheid South Africa, the author faced unique challenges in following his beloved Arsenal. With no live broadcasts and television banned, he relied on delayed news sources:Sunday morning runs to the corner shop to check English football resultsSecond-half commentaries on BBC World Service, with Peter Jones painting vivid pictures with wordsCopies of Shoot! magazine arriving six weeks late, providing detailed analysis and photographsFrom Cinema Screens to Champions League FinalWhen television finally arrived in South Africa in 1978, the author could watch Arsenal matches for the first time. Three successive FA Cup finals at Wembley - including a glorious 3-2 win over Manchester United sandwiched between defeats - solidified his connection to the club. Now, after 57 years of supporting Arsenal from afar, the author and his son will attend the Champions League final in Budapest, representing the culmination of an extraordinary transcontinental football journey.Football as a Refuge and ConnectionFor the author, Arsenal provided more than just entertainment - it was a connection to a world beyond apartheid's constraints. During his time teaching in Soweto in the 1980s, he witnessed how football offered relief from the oppressive regime for his students, some of whom had been tortured by security police. One student, Lucas Radebe, would later become captain of Leeds United as they reached the Champions League semi-finals, demonstrating how football could transcend geographical and political boundaries.A Legacy Passing Through GenerationsThe author's passion for Arsenal has now extended to his 25-year-old son, who shares his devotion to the Gunners. Their joint attendance at the Champions League final represents not just a culmination of the author's 57-year fandom, but also the continuation of a football legacy that has spanned generations and continents. This shared experience in Budapest symbolizes how football passion can bridge generational gaps and create lasting family bonds.

Sabalenka's Dominant Performance World number one and last year’s defeated finalist Aryna Sabalenka blazed through her opening round at the French Open as she brushed aside Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4 6-2 in just 75 minutes. The Match in Detail Sabalenka, who is still seeking her first Roland Garros title, raced to a 4-0 lead on a sun-kissed Court Philippe Chatrier on Tuesday before unforced errors crept into her game, which allowed her opponent to pull two breaks back and serve for 5-5. A double fault, however, handed the top-seeded Belarusian the first set and she opened up a 5-0 advantage in the second. Bouzas Maneiro survived a further two games when she held and then broke for 5-2, but a double fault gave Sabalenka a routine win. Post-Match Reaction The only blip for the four-time Grand Slam champion, as she returned to winning ways on clay after a surprise early exit from the Italian Open, was that failure to serve out the win. She promptly broke back against the world number 50 in the next game to seal the win, before rubbing an ice bag over her face and exiting the court. “Happy to be back, thank you for the support. It’s a hot day, thank you so much for staying and don’t forget guys, stay hydrated,” Sabalenka told the spectators on centre court as a heatwave continues to roll over Paris for the start of the tournament. “I think we all feel pressure… But I’m used to it so I know how to ignore (it).” Improvement on Clay Of her return to winning ways on clay, Sabelenka said: “That’s the most enjoyable part of the game that I can come to the net to play points there, it’s so much fun. “I’m so happy I was able to improve on that part of the game and bring it on court,” she added.

The AI Security Imperative At a recent event in Los Angeles, Google Cloud COO Francis deSouza stressed that security can't be an afterthought in AI adoption. He advocated for a platform approach to security, warning against 'shadow AI' where employees use consumer tools without organizational oversight. The Risks of 'Shadow AI' DeSouza highlighted the risks associated with employees using unauthorized AI tools, which can lead to security breaches and data exposure. He emphasized that companies need to demand security, governance, and auditability from their platforms from the start. The Challenge of Keeping Pace with AI Threats The threat landscape has changed fundamentally, with the average time between an initial breach and the next stage of an attack dropping from eight hours to 22 seconds. The attack surface has expanded beyond the traditional network perimeter, and companies need to adapt to this new reality. Google's Own AI Security Challenges Despite deSouza's sound advice, Google itself faces challenges with AI security. The company has refunded developers who incurred large bills due to unauthorized API calls to Gemini models. Google's automated systems had upgraded their billing tiers without explicit consent, leading to surprises for developers. The Future of AI-Native Defense DeSouza sees the emergence of AI-native, fully agentic defense as a solution to the challenges posed by AI threats. This approach involves using agents to drive defense, allowing humans to oversee and focus on high-level decision-making. The Skills Gap in AI Security The industry faces a shortage of people qualified to oversee AI security, and the vulnerabilities introduced by AI are multiplying faster than security teams can address them. According to LinkedIn's CISO Lea Kissner, it may take several years for the industry to understand AI security in a sustainable way.

The LeadGame of Thrones actress Hannah Murray shares her experience of being sectioned in a psychiatric hospital in her new memoir "The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness." The actress describes her mental health journey and the experience of being involuntarily admitted under the Mental Health Act.The Hospital ExperienceThe door to the room opens. A man enters the room. He is a Black man, bald and overweight. He is dressed in uniform. Blue uniform, a blue lanyard that reads "NHS". But I know Steve, the leader of the organisation that introduced me to magic, is a magician. I know he can appear in disguise.I approach the man and try to kiss him.He does not let me kiss him. Then no. It is not Steve.The man has brought me a plate of toast. He has brought me a cup of tea. I add sugar to the tea, which I would never have done in my former life, but a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!I am a Ritual Master. And this, drinking my own urine, is a powerful ritual. This is all I need now to survive … I will never need to eat again. I survive on liquids and air and lightI do not eat the toast. I drink the tea. I am alone in the room again and I urinate into the cup and drink that too.I am a Ritual Master. And this, drinking my own urine, is a powerful ritual. This is all I need now to survive. It is the most potent of potions I can drink. I am a self-contained, utterly self-sufficient being. I will never need to eat again. I survive on liquids and air and light.I decide to explore outside the room. Outside my sanctuary. He has not come. So maybe I need to go searching for him …The Phone CallTime jumps. I am in a corridor lit by overhead strip lights. The electric light is pale yellow in tone. I am sat on one of three chairs in a row against the wall. The chairs are purple, curved plastic. I am still waiting for him to appear.There are two doors in front of me. One is the door to the blue room with the blue sofa and chair. Behind the other door is an office of some kind, and there is a woman in there, shuffling papers and talking on the phone.The woman comes out of the office. She is holding out my phone. My only possession now – the one artefact from my previous life. There is someone she wants me to speak to.Him.When I hold the phone to my ear, I hear a voice I recognise.But the voice belongs to my mother."Hannah?" she says. "Where are you? What's going on?"There is distress in her voice. Her voice is trembling with pain and anxiety.I do not want to hear it.This is a test. A horrible test, certainly, but one that I can pass. They are trying to tempt me back into the human. They are trying to lure me back into the past.I hang up the phone.But, after a moment, it starts to ring. The word Mum lights up the screen."Talk to her," says the woman.I answer the call.My mother sounds different now. Calmer. She asks again what's going on but gently, even cheerfully. I tell her everything's OK. That I'm fine. I tell her not to worry. I'm in a good place.This is the last time I will ever hear her voice, I think. This is the way I say goodbye.The DiagnosisThey tell me I am being sectioned.The words jar with my beliefs."Section 2 … the Mental Health Act … 28 days … right to appeal … "I cock my head.This does not fit at all. It does not fit in the world of Steve, of Ritual Master, of Shambhala and the invention of magic.I am not concerned. I am concerned only with the energy I can feel spiralling up through my body and the voices I can hear in my head.I pace the hospital corridors, delivering a tearful monologue, delivering the greatest performance of my life. A phrase comes to me. The Girl With All the Gifts. The title of a post-apocalyptic horror film released in 2016, starring Gemma Arterton.I am a magician. I am an actress. I am a writer. I have superhuman strength. I can fly. Anything that can be imagined, I can perform it. Every skill and every ability is mine.The film came out as a warning, and a prophecy.And because of me, the apocalypse has been averted.I am the saviour of the planet. I am the girl with all the gifts.The Journey to RecoveryIt was very hard, the journey to get here. It took 27 years. The path was twisting and full of setbacks, there were challenges and so much pain. There were times I wanted to give up. It was very hard. Everyone will have to make their own journey, and their journeys will be their own, unique as snowflakes or fingerprints. That is the beauty of it, the joy of it. Everyone has to figure it out for themselves.But I have laid the groundwork. I have walked the path. It starts with the energy healing, and it goes on and on through the seven dimensions, through increasingly magical planes. It goes on and on until you meet your soulmate, like I met mine.I was in a TV show called Game of Thrones, hidden in plain sight in the midst of a cultural phenomenon. I, the key to the world's salvation, wore the face of a character called Gilly, but really I played every role. Then I worked on a film called Detroit in Boston. David Benioff and Dan Weiss and Kathryn Bigelow were the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Numbers are irrelevant. Three counts as four. David and Dan and Kathryn cast me in the roles that brought about my destiny. The end and beginning of the world.I am the Ur-actress. I am every actress. Every performance ever given has been animated by my energy, my talent, by the gestures and facial expressions I am performing here and now.The Memoir and BeyondThis is an edited extract from The Make-Believe: A Memoir of Magic and Madness by Hannah Murray, published by Cornerstone (£18.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.Hannah Murray will be in conversation with Jessie Cave at Kings Place in London on 5 June.

Islamabad and Beijing marked 75 years of diplomatic ties on May 21, 2026, reflecting a relationship forged in shared rivalry with India and reinforced by strategic land swaps, nuclear collaboration, and massive infrastructure projects. While official rhetoric celebrates “iron brothers” and “all‑weather friendship,” analysts argue that structural complementarity, not ideological affinity, has kept the partnership resilient. The 1963 Shaksgam Valley Transfer: Cementing Early Trust In March 1963 Pakistan ceded the 5,180 sq km (2,000 sq mi) Shaksgam Valley to China, a move that gave Beijing control over a strategically sensitive segment of the Karakoram range. The deal, negotiated by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as foreign minister, was driven by Pakistan’s desire to counterbalance India after the 1962 Sino‑Indian war. Numbers that Define the Bond: Land, Infrastructure, and Nuclear Milestones 75 years of formal diplomatic relations (1950‑2025). 5,180 sq km of territory transferred in 1963. 3,000 km (1,900 mi) China‑Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) linking Gwadar to Xinjiang. 1998 nuclear tests in Chagai, with documented Chinese technical assistance in the 1970s‑80s. Four‑day state visit by Shehbaz Sharif scheduled for May 23 2026. Strategic Ripple Effects: Regional Power Balance and the US‑China Channel The alliance gave Pakistan a powerful counterweight to India and positioned it as a back‑channel for the 1972 US‑China rapprochement, when Henry Kissinger used a Pakistani flight to Beijing. While the United States benefited from the diplomatic breakthrough, Pakistan received limited material reward, underscoring the asymmetrical nature of great‑power mediation. Economic Integration: CPEC and the Emerging All‑Weather Partnership Since 2015, the CPEC has become the flagship of the partnership, delivering highways, energy projects, and the Gwadar deep‑sea port. Analysts note that the economic dimension has shifted the relationship from a purely security‑driven pact to a multi‑layered interdependence, yet debt sustainability and regional security concerns remain contentious. Looking Forward: Scenarios for the Next Decade of China‑Pakistan Relations Experts anticipate three possible trajectories: Deepening convergence: Expanded defence co‑production and a broader Belt‑and‑Road footprint. Transactional plateau: Continued CPEC maintenance without major new initiatives, as both sides manage domestic pressures. Strategic strain: Escalating India‑China tensions or US policy shifts could force Pakistan to recalibrate its alignment. Regardless of the path, the “iron brothers” narrative will likely persist as a diplomatic shorthand for a partnership that has survived ideological divides and shifting global orders.

The Challenge of Translating ShakespeareThe great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, who translated William Faulkner, André Gide, Franz Kafka and Virginia Woolf into Spanish, drew the line at Shakespeare. Speaking of the moment when Hamlet asks the ghost why it returns to haunt "the glimpses of the moon", Borges commented: "I don't think it can be translated. Perhaps the words can be translated. Certainly Shakespeare cannot be translated. 'The glimpses of the moon' means exactly 'the glimpses of the moon'."All, however, is not lost. "It has been said that Shakespeare cannot be translated into any other language," Borges added. "But Shakespeare cannot be translated into English, either, since he wrote what [Robert Louis] Stevenson called 'that amazing dialect, the Shakespeare-ese'." This might not be entirely true, as the translator Daniel Hahn points out in this superbly diverting book. Recalling a hip-hop production of Romeo and Juliet he once saw, he persuades us instantly that "the phrase 'Do you kiss your teeth at me, fam?' proved to be a perfect translation of 'Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?'"Shakespeare Across LanguagesAnd if into English, then why not into Portuguese, or French, or Māori? Hahn's project is to argue that "Shakespeare with every word changed can still be great, and can remain Shakespeare", and to that end he reproduces chunks of Dutch, Russian, Welsh, Thai, Arabic, Japanese, and a dozen other languages, betting that by simply counting syllables or observing alliteration in a language one doesn't understand (as he cheerfully admits, he doesn't understand Danish), one can learn something about the quality of a translation. I wasn't convinced that wager worked much of the time, but the typesetters, as you can imagine, were certainly getting a decent workout, and the gambit does finally pay off when a long passage from Twelfth Night is annotated by boxes mentioning dozens of different translators' choices.Cultural Adaptations in TranslationWhat really illuminates the book are Hahn's conversations with his fellow translators, who can explain their choices directly. In Māori, we learn, Lady Macbeth's question to her husband, "Are you a man?", makes no sense at all, so the translator Te Haumihiata Mason renders it as something roughly meaning "Have you got balls?" – "which is," Hahn notes contentedly, "exactly what Lady M is asking." Meanwhile, Prince Hal's name means "fish" in Hungarian, which would be unhelpfully distracting, so it gets changed to Riki, short for Henrik.Hahn also offers many asides about the annoyances and pleasures of translation in general. "The word 'literal' is annoyingly overused to suggest a sort of 'neutral' translation, which cannot exist," he complains; and he shows that, in many cases, a non-literal choice would be better. When Mark Antony imagines Caesar's spirit to "cry 'Havoc'", for example, the closest Portuguese word is the rather weak-sounding "devastação"; a better choice, Hahn shows, is "matança" (killing), because it's shorter and more easily shoutable.Translating Verse and JokesEach chapter addresses a different question translators face, for example whether to translate into verse (careful: as one French translator observes, you risk making "a genius into a talented versifier"), or how to translate jokes: it's usually best, everyone agrees, to create an entirely new joke – "being faithful to the laugh", as Hahn calls it. In a German Midsummer Night's Dream, to preserve the doggerel rhymes, we are promised not that Thisbe will be in "mulberry shade" but that she will be "hiding like a newt". Translators might even embrace the possibility of a joke where none previously existed – which Hahn illustrates brightly by mentioning that the "sorting hat" in Harry Potter has become, in French, le choixpeau (the chapeau that chooses).Poetic Elements and Title AdaptationsCan you even preserve alliteration? Sometimes, if you're lucky: Love's Labour's Lost received the surely unimprovable Greek title of "Agapēs Agōnas Agonos" ("the struggles of love are barren"). But when no such fortunate tricks are available, you can simply replace one idiom with another: so, in Spanish, Much Ado About Nothing is often called "A lot of noise, not many nuts".There are quibbles to be made here and there. Hahn calls a line from Richard III "irregular" after counting syllables, but it's a perfectly regular line that begins with an anapest (da-da-dum). And when Juliet says to Romeo "You kiss by th'book", Hahn glosses this as her approvingly noting his "formal courtship", but she is surely issuing a flirtatious challenge. And – this being the publisher's rather than the author's fault – the book has been produced, inexplicably, without an index.The Value of TranslationAll may be forgiven, though, for the delight and endless curiosity displayed in these pages. "In Shakespeare, people get sad with precision," Hahn enthuses. And he is cherishably bitchy about certain literary "translators" who somehow produce new English versions of Chekhov or Ibsen without speaking the source language – the process being, as he surmises, "a sort of high-status prettying up of a so-called 'literal' translation". By the end of the book, Hahn has amply demonstrated not only the treasures of other languages, but also the rich and strange inexhaustibility of Shakespeare himself.