New Delhi: Amid a strained economy, Pakistan is going all out with crypto.
In a major policy shift, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday agreed in principle to legalise digital currencies and signalled the formal legalisation of virtual assets like crypto. It also announced its plans to launch a central bank-backed digital currency (CBDC).
According to reports, in a Senate Finance Committee briefing, SBP Deputy Governor, Inayat Hussain, confirmed that the advisory previously deeming cryptocurrencies illegal will be withdrawn. This will lead to a more regulated framework, allowing legal trading and ownership of digital assets across the country. In May, the SBP and the Ministry of Finance had declared crypto illegal, and it was banned in the country.
Analysts say the SBP’s position has been consistent and pragmatic, and it is “the right decision”.
“Technically, the SBP never declared crypto illegal. That is not their mandate. What SBP said in 2018 was that crypto cannot be used in Pakistan by the financial institutions it regulates until a legal framework exists,” Habibullah Khan, CEO of Penumbra, a digital design studio specialising in Pakistan’s digital economy, told ThePrint.
“The reason for this is that there were no laws to regulate crypto, and Pakistan has international obligations with FATF, etc, on compliance and governance. This was the right decision,” he added.
The deputy governor also disclosed that the central bank is actively working on a legal digital Pakistani rupee, one that will be issued exclusively by SBP and used within a regulated ecosystem for purchasing virtual assets. The Senate committee noted that Pakistanis have invested around $21 billion in cryptocurrencies. This digital rupee will serve as a secure and traceable medium for crypto-related transactions, curbing the grey-market dealings that have so far defined Pakistan’s crypto scene.
“The SBP’s earlier and current positions are consistent, as it is only flagging that legislative and regulatory updates are needed to create a framework for ownership and trading of digital assets,” said Uzair Younus, Principal at The Asia Group, a Washington-based consulting firm, to ThePrint.
He further added that formal legalisation won’t cause a seismic shift in the market.
“Those who want to own and trade these assets are already doing so, but in an informal and technically illegal way. Allowing for this trading to occur formally will increase traceability, transparency, and formalisation of the sector.”
But not everyone is as optimistic. Hussain Nadim, a policy strategist and Pakistani AI expert, highlighted the increasing role of the military in the endeavour.
“Pakistan is under a military dictatorship right now, which essentially means that there is no system, processes, or checks and balances in place anymore. The problem is that when you override the existing structures to force something novel like crypto without due diligence or impact assessments, the result will be chaotic,” he told ThePrint.
Laws and regulations
The upcoming Virtual Asset Bill 2025, now under consideration, aims to regulate digital asset transactions across Pakistan. The bill includes the formation of a Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA). This body will oversee licensing, monitoring, and the broader regulatory framework for virtual asset providers and exchanges.
Importantly, while virtual assets will be transferable nationwide, they cannot be used to purchase goods, services, or make investments outside the prescribed digital ecosystem. Nor will they be considered legal tender for general transactions. This contained approach aims to balance innovation with risk mitigation.
Board members of the new authority will include high-ranking officials from institutions such as SBP, Securities and Exchange Commisssion of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue, Federal Iinvestigation Authority, and the Ministries of Finance, Law, and IT.
The Senate Finance Committee has recommended including parliamentary representation on the board and suggested a minimum of five years of experience for the authority’s chairman, with an age cap of 55 years, though exemptions may apply for second terms.
Additional safeguards include strict data privacy requirements for service providers and conflict-of-interest measures that bar board members from insider trading or information misuse.
Pakistan’s crypto future
Habibullah Khan noted that the SBP’s current stance is merely a continuation of its earlier narrative. “You must remember a year ago, in September 2024, SBP Act amendments were proposed that would define an SBP-issued digital currency, paving the way for a CBDC framework.”
He added that Pakistan is in a unique position to capitalise on crypto innovation. “Pakistan is number 3 in global crypto adoption so far in 2025, behind India and the US, and currently has over 40 million crypto wallets. In many places in Pakistan, excess power exists, which would make crypto mining viable. All Pakistan needs is a legal blueprint.”
He praised the Virtual Assets Ordinance 2025, which came into force on 8 July 2025, for establishing a regulatory and sandbox environment through the creation of PVARA. He also credited Bilal bin Saqib, Pakistan’s Minister of Blockchain & Crypto, for his aggressive push to transform Pakistan into a leader in the crypto landscape of emerging economies.
“Bilal is the reason all of this has been done within just one year! He’s also ensuring that Pakistan will set up a Sovereign Crypto Fund that would invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,” Khan added.
Hussain Nadim warned that this could be the start of a major disaster for Pakistan that will take years to undo.
“Pakistan’s crypto move may earn it some good PR, but it could trigger a massive capital flight, helping the ruling elite, and incentivising local investors to park money in a non-productive sector like crypto,” he said, blaming Pakistan’s current military-run, opaque system.
The Trump bailout
With its economy in crisis and heavily reliant on repeated IMF bailouts, Pakistan is looking at a potential lifeline in cryptocurrency, and in a surprising partnership with a company linked to US President Donald Trump’s family.
In February 2025, the Pakistani government established a Crypto Council. In May, that council was elevated into a full-fledged regulatory body named the Pakistan Digital Asset Authority, tasked with overseeing and regulating digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies.
In April, Pakistan entered into a partnership with World Liberty Financial (WLF), a firm reportedly connected to members of Trump’s family. WLF has pledged support in helping Pakistan develop blockchain infrastructure, tokenise assets, and navigate the broader crypto industry. However, the specifics of the agreement remain unclear.
I am on holiday, standing on a coastal headland under a bright blue dome of sky, the wind light and warm, looking at the weather app on my phone. The forecast and the scene are in agreement: it’s a nice day.
I scroll through all the locations where I’ve previously felt the need to check the weather – Exeter, Marseille, York – until I get to London, where, it turns out, it’s also pretty nice.
Normally when I’m on holiday I only check the weather in London in order to gloat. To justify the trouble and expense of travel, you really want it to be 17C and raining at home. But we’ve pushed back an urgent meeting with a roofer in order to go ahead with our holiday plans, so my mood is doubly weather dependent. I would rather it rained on this headland than over the hole in my roof.
“Try to look as though you’re having a good time,” my wife says, catching me up on the path down to the beach.
“I am,” I say.
“You’ve got this terrible pained expression on your face,” she says.
“The pained expression,” I say, “is me trying.”
The dog is capering up and down the narrow, winding path, occasionally disappearing over seemingly sheer drops. I don’t suffer from a fear of heights, but I am susceptible to a form of acrophobia-by-proxy: I feel it on behalf of other people, even strangers, who don’t appear to possess my judicious good sense with respect to precipices. Whatever’s wrong with me, the dog is setting it off.
“I’m just going to wait here,” I say, my heart rate beginning to climb. Our friends, and their dog, are ahead of us.
“Relax,” my wife says. “The dog isn’t going to just jump off a cliff.”
“I’m not sure what you’re basing that belief on,” I say. “But I will relax, as soon as you’re all out of sight.”
I sit on a rock and wait, staring out at the sea and resisting the urge to consult my phone again. After five minutes, when I feel sufficiently alone, I clamber down the rest of the way comfortably, even a little recklessly. Maybe this is the solution, I think: going on holiday by myself.
The tide is out; the flat expanse of sand between our blanket and the water’s edge is immense. The sky, even over the sea, remains cloudless. On Wednesday, I discover, there’s a 35% chance of rain in London.
“What a spot!” says our friend, whom I’ll call Paul, because his name is Piers. “It’s so remote!”
“But with a surprisingly good signal,” I say, waving my phone.
“I’m going swimming,” my wife says. “Will you come?”
“I’ll wait and go in after,” I say.
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“You really don’t have to worry about the dog,” she says.
“I don’t even know what you mean by that,” I say.
The dog follows my wife down to the sea and waits at the edge of the surf. As soon as my wife wades out and dives in, the dog starts barking and leaping into the waves, then panicking and bounding back out. It’s very hard for me to watch. The dog can swim – I’ve seen it swim – but I’m also pretty certain it lacks my judicious good sense. I’m worried that if the dog gets into difficulty I will be obliged to swim out and drown while attempting to rescue it. That’s just how these things work.
I resist the urge to stomp down to the shore, clip the lead to the dog’s collar and stand there waiting, because I’ve been doing that all week, and my wife has made it clear I’m killing the vibe.
Instead I compose a text suggesting a Wednesday meeting with the roofer, even though that would mean coming back a day early, and I would have to wait to consult my wife about that. She probably won’t want to, but looking at my phone slows my anxious heart, so I write the text and then don’t send it.
An extra large wave thunders in. The dog turns and runs up the beach in my direction, spraying sand in its wake. Sitting down next to me, the dog scans the sea in a posture of unrelieved vigilance. Every time my wife’s head disappears behind a giant wave, the dog stands, whimpers, waits, eyes fixed on the spot. When my wife bobs up again, the dog sits.
“Do you do this when I’m in the sea?” I ask it. “Just out of interest.”
The dog shudders along the length of its flank, letting out a high-pitched keening sound.
“I find it helps to look away,” I say. “Slow breath, look away.”
Educating Yorkshire, season two. Photograph: Tom Martin/Channel 4
Summed up in a sentence The joyful return of this school-set, fly-on-the-wall series, just at the point that we could do with a good news story about the state of secondary education in the UK.
What our reviewer said “Is Educating Yorkshire rose-tinted? Probably. Is it filmed and edited to show everyone involved in as positive a light as possible? Almost certainly. Does it feel like a necessary blast of optimism? You bet it does.” Phil Harrison
Read the full review
Further reading ‘So aware of their emotions’: Pupils are standout stars in new series about Yorkshire academy
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I Fought The Law
ITVX; available now
Daniel York Loh as Charlie Ming and Sheridan Smith as Ann Ming in I Fought The Law. Photograph: Anastasia Arsentyeva/ITV
Summed up in a sentence Moving true-crime drama about a woman who forced the government to change the law so her daughter’s killer could be jailed.
What our reviewer said “Sheridan Smith elevates a workaday script that dares not take too many liberties, lest it be seen to dishonour the story, and makes it genuinely moving.” Lucy Mangan
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BBC iPlayer; available now
Summed up in a sentence A compelling documentary following early Premier League footballers who lost it all following investment advice that went wrong.
What our reviewer said “A gripping, moving and human enough tale to inspire more than a little fellow feeling.” Phil Harrison
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Stranded on Honeymoon Island
BBC iPlayer; available now
Summed up in a sentence A dating show where singletons are “married” then marooned at sea. It’s like Married at First Sight meets Love Island.
What our reviewer said “It’s a lot of fun, fuelled by optimism instead of despair and populated by people who genuinely seem to like each other and who are frequently funny. It’s a rare beast.” Lucy Mangan
Summed up in a sentence The science and statistics around Letby’s case are brilliantly unpacked by a considered programme that leaves you filled with questions.
What our reviewer said “In its marshalling and explanation of complicated medical and mathematical issues, it succeeds brilliantly, covering more ground more meticulously in an hour than any documentary I’ve seen in recent years, and perhaps ever.” Lucy Mangan
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Books
If you only read one, make it …
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Reviewed byAmit Chaudhuri
Photograph: AP
Summed up in a sentence The first memoir by the Booker-winning novelist and political activist.
What our reviewer said “The world described in the first part of the book provides much of the material for The God of Small Things. But even if she had never written her novel they would be utterly absorbing. They have a wonderful, self-assured self-sufficiency.”
Read the full review
Further reading Arundhati Roy on her fugitive childhood: ‘My knees were full of scars and cuts – a sign of my wild, imperfect, fatherless life’
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Indignity: A Life Reimagined by Lea Ypi
Reviewed by Sami Kent
The picture of Lea Ypi’s grandparents that sparked her curiosity. Photograph: PR
Summed up in a sentence Troubled by a photograph of her honeymooning in Mussolini’s Italy, the award-winning writer of Free sets out to find out the truth about her grandmother.
What our reviewer said “The narrative is suspenseful, not least because Leman’s adopted family is so close to power – close enough, for example, that she can smell ‘lavender and onions’ on the breath of a young Enver Hoxha, the Stalinist who would go on to rule Albania for 40 years.”
Read the full review
A Short History of Stupidity by Stuart Jeffries
Reviewed by Sam Leith
Summed up in a sentence From Shakespeare’s fools to Donald Trump, this exhilarating read considers stupidity in its many forms.
What our reviewer said “An amiable and rambling tour through the history of philosophy, looking at the idea of rationality and its limitations.”
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Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
Reviewed by AK Blakemore
Summed up in a sentence A small-town family saga of love and war looks beneath the American dream.
What our reviewer said “It is no surprise that Ryan cut his teeth writing short fiction: Buckeye is elevated throughout by the precision with which he captures the tiny, haunting glories of everyday suburban life.”
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The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith
Reviewed byClare Clark
Summed up in a sentence JK Rowling’s eighth Cormoran Strike novel sees the detective determined to tell his business partner how he feels about her at last.
What our reviewer said “For all its fiendish cat’s cradle of a plot, it foregrounds the personal, reminding us yet again what thoroughly good company Strike and Ellacott are.”
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Audition by Katie Kitamura
Reviewed by Sam Byers
Photograph: AP
Summed up in a sentence An actor’s story becomes a radical deconstruction of family relationships and the social roles we play in this Booker-listed novel.
What our reviewer said “Audition thrills at the freedoms made possible through collapse. The result is a literary performance of true uncanniness.”
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Further reading Novelist Katie Kitamura: ‘As Trump tries to take away everything I love, it’s never been clearer that writing matters’
Film
If you only watch one, make it …
Christy
In cinemas now
Daniel Power and Chris Walley in Christy. Photograph: Altitude/PA
Summed up in a sentence Moving and funny Irish drama about two brothers finding their feet after time in care, in a social-realist film with heart and humour.
What our reviewer said “It’s tough, but capable of delicacy and succeeds in conveying something very difficult to achieve without sentimentality: love of your home town. You can come for the drama and stay for the cheeky hip-hop sequence over the closing credits.” Peter Bradshaw
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Honey Don’t!
In cinemas now
Aubrey Plaza and Margaret Qualley in Honey Don’t! Photograph: Focus Features /PA
Summed up in a sentence Ethan Coen returns with another amusing, throwaway queer comedy starring Margaret Qualley as a horny private eye in an easy-going noir.
What our reviewer said “It’s hard to stay mad at a movie for refusing to add things up, or resolve its mysteries in any traditionally satisfying ways, when getting lost with Qualley can be such a pleasure. Besides, following narrative threads through to the finish is just playing it too straight.” Radheyan Simonpillai
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On Swift Horses
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones simmer in a glossy drama of sex and identity that searches for meaning beyond the picket fence.
What our reviewer said “The intention, boosted here by longtime Todd Haynes producer Christine Vachon, is to flag that this moment in American life wasn’t entirely as staid as we’ve been led to believe, that identities were shifting beneath the placid surface of postwar reconstruction.” Mike McCahill
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Jumanji
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence rerelease of startling 1995 fantasy adventure with Robin Williams in winning form in bizarre Kiplingesque fantasy that still holds up.
What our reviewer said “Williams’s wild-man routine is only in evidence in his opening scenes; otherwise he dials it down, perhaps sensing that the way to upstage the loony creatures is to be relatively rational. There is something touchingly innocent in his performance.” Peter Bradshaw
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Now Streaming …
Highest 2 Lowest
Apple TV+; available now
Denzel Washington in Highest 2 Lowest. Photograph: PA
Summed up in a sentence Spike Lee retools Akira Kurosawa’s downbeat noir High and Low, with Denzel Washington on fine form as a record producer whose godson is kidnapped by mistake.
What our reviewer said “This is a big, muscular picture which aspires to the crowd-pleasing athleticism of Spike Lee’s sports icons; it’s very enjoyable and there’s a great turn from Washington.” Peter Bradshaw
Read the full review
Further reading Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest rages against the new but leaves him looking too old
Music
If you only listen to one, make it …
Big Thief: Double Infinity
Out now
Big Thief : Double Infinity album cover.
Summed up in a sentence Classic melodies, spring water acoustics and pared-back poeticism about living in the moment.
What our reviewer said “If anyone can restore your faith in human connection, it’s US folk-rockers Big Thief. Adrianne Lenker’s poetic but unadorned lyrics are a field guide to living well.” Ben Beaumont-Thomas
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David Byrne: Who is the Sky?
Out now
David Byrne: Who Is The Sky? album cover. Photograph: Matador Records/PA
Summed up in a sentence The Talking Heads frontman remains sunny – almost to a fault.
What our reviewer said “More primary-coloured musical optimism, employing Mariachi-style brass, sweeping 40s-Hollywood-musical strings, rhythms that join the dots between Cuban clave and George Michael’s Faith and an off-kilter, vocoder-bedecked take on sumptuous soul.” Alexis Petridis
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Sacred Lodge: Ambam
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Matthieu Ruben N’Dongo amps up the intensity on a second album that makes an uncanny atmosphere out of swarming electronics and polyrhythmic percussion.
What our reviewer said “Both dense and disorientating, Ambam may well be too overwhelming for some listeners. But the more you listen, the more you get sucked into the thrill of N’Dongo’s unapologetic resistance music.” Safi Bugel
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Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto; Helios; Symphony No 5
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The teeming textures of Nielsen’s 5th symphony are controlled with care and refinement by Edward Gardner, with the Bergen Philharmonic.
What our reviewer said “Both works, as well as the early Helios Overture, receive outstanding performances from the Bergen players, and Gardner controls the teeming textures of the symphony with great refinement.” Andrew Clements
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Live
Gorillaz
Copper Box arena, London
Gorillaz performing at the Copper Box arena . Photograph: Bethan Miller/PA
Summed up in a sentence Dressed like a vicar, Albarn leads his band – joined by a choir, a string quartet, De La Soul and more – in renewing Demon Days’ downbeat drama.
What our reviewer said “The show opens with a wartorn newsreel montage and sporadically drenches the crowd in hell-red light. For obvious reasons, the album’s haunting protest against humanity’s appetite for destruction – of people and planet alike – sounds no less apt tonight. Demon days are here again.” Dorian Lynskey
Millions of mobile phones will vibrate and make a siren sound across the UK on Sunday afternoon during a test of a nationwide emergency alert system.
Handset users will also receive a message on their screens reminding them the 10-second alert, which will happen at 3pm, is a test. There are about 87m mobile phones in the UK.
The government has said not all devices will receive the alert, including older phones and those not connected to 4G or 5G networks. The alert will not work on a phone that is switched off or in airplane mode.
The 10-second duration has been designed to “balance the need for comprehensive testing with reducing inconvenience to the public”, according to the government.
There has already been some disruption already, however, withthe Glasgow derby between Celtic FC Women and Rangers Women’s FC has been pushed back to 3.05pm on Sunday to accommodate the alert.
This week Pat McFadden, a senior cabinet minister, described the system as a “national fire alarm” that needed regular testing.
The UK’s emergency alert system is designed to warn people if there is danger to life nearby, including outbreaks of extreme weather in specific areas. It has been deployed five times since the first test in April 2023, with the largest use in January this year when 4.5 million received an alert during Storm Éowyn.
The first non-test use of the system was in Plymouth in February last year when a 500kg second world war bomb was discovered in a back garden – and safely removed by bomb disposal experts.
The government has also published advice for opting out of the alerts, acknowledging that victims of domestic abuse with a concealed phone might want to block the test. However, switching your handset to silent will not prevent the alert.
The alert will not sound if users have their phone switched off or if it is on airplane mode. However, if you turn your device back on shortly after the test, you might still receive the alert. The system works by broadcasting from mobile phone masts in a specific area, alerting every phone switched on within that radius – so tourists with non-UK numbers will also get the alert, for instance.
The first alert test on 23 April 2023 did not reach an estimated 7% of devices, according to the Cabinet Office, which nonetheless declared the trial “successful”. Some mobile phone users said at that time that their devices had not sounded, with the problem traced to specific networks including Three. The government estimated at the time that 5m phones had been affected.
A government spokesperson said problems with the last test were “all resolved within a week of the test being run”.
The National Preparedness Commission, an independent body that promotes policies helping the UK recover from significant shocks, said the test was an important part of the country’s preparations for threats ranging from extreme weather to national security challenges.
The NPC’s chair, Toby Harris, said: “Given what we have got with the strategic defence review, the increasingly volatile and worrying international situation, plus increasingly extreme weather events, the need for this sort of preparedness is becoming even more important.”
Christy Out now Following a prize-winning premiere at the Berlinale, this Irish drama starring Danny Power has been feted as an auspicious feature debut for director Brendan Canty. Telling the tale of two estranged brothers in Knocknaheeny, Cork, it’s a social-realist breakout hit.
On Swift Horses Out now Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Lee (Will Poulter) are newlyweds who move from Kansas to California in the 1950s, with Lee’s brother, Julius (Jacob Elordi). A bond emerges between Muriel and Julius – however, this isn’t a typical love triangle, but an exploration of same-sex attraction in a time and place where that could be life-threatening.
The Conjuring: Last Rites Out now Something wicked this way comes: the ninth and (allegedly) final instalment of the Conjuring franchise, based on the (alleged) exploits of paranormal experts Lorraine and Ed Warren, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, who are investigating the Smurl hauntings of Pennsylvania.
The Courageous Out now In the picturesque Swiss canton of Valais, an eccentric single mother living on the margins attempts to put a brave face on things for her children. What’s a shoplifted birthday cake between family? Swiss-American director Jasmin Gordon’s fiction debut offers lead actor Ophélia Kolb a knotty lead role to get her teeth into. Catherine Bray
Going out: Gigs
A big cagey … Belinda Carlisle. Photograph: Albert Sanchez/PA/PA
Belinda Carlisle 9 to 13 September; tour starts Edinburgh Alongside her latest album, Once Upon a Time in California, Carlisle will use this tour to celebrate her near 40-year solo career. Expect a jukebox’s worth of 80s MOR classics including Circle in the Sand, Leave a Light On and Heaven Is a Place on Earth. Michael Cragg
Post Malone Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, 7 & 8 September As the title suggests, tattoo experimentalist Post Malone’s Big Ass Stadium Tour involves some of the planet’s largest venues. The UK stop features two nights at the north London enormodome, soundtracked by a mix of Postys’s hip-hop and, more recently, country-tinged bangers. MC
Shear Brass Peggy’s Skylight, Nottingham, 6 September The vivacious music of pianist George Shearing, one of the few UK jazz artists to become a legend in the US, is celebrated by this A-list British band, led by his great-nephew, drummer, writer and producer Carl Gorham. Shearing’s much-loved hits of the 1940s and 50s – and some rarities too – spring back to life. John Fordham
Tosca Royal Ballet and Opera, London, 11 September to 7 October The new Puccini production that opens the Royal Opera season will be Jakub Hrůša’s first as music director. But the advance publicity has been all about the casting of the Russian Anna Netrebko in the title role. Andrew Clements
Going out: Art
Pretty in pink … Suzanne Song’s Folding Dawn. Photograph: Suzanne Song
Suzanne Song White Cube Mason’s Yard, London, to 3 October This New York-based abstract artist creates extraordinarily disciplined paintings in which every detail looks calculated. She plays with illusions of spatial depth in patterns of zigzags, lozenges, triangles and cubes that fool and seduce your eyes even as you recognise their flatness. There are echoes of Bridget Riley.
Paul McCartney Gagosian Davies Street, London, to 4 October A few months in midwinter, from December 1963 to February 1964, photographed by a young man who happened to be in the world’s biggest pop group. Here, McCartney reveals what it was like to be a Beatle as Beatlemania grew, including a self-portrait in the attic where he’d write Yesterday.
John Moores Painting Prize Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 6 September today to 1 March This longrunning prize for painting has an astonishing track record of rewarding true excellence. Since it started in 1957, first prize has gone to such inspired and long-lasting artists as David Hockney, Rose Wylie, Peter Blake and Peter Doig. See this year’s artists and spot the next stars.
Schroder Gallery The Holburne Museum, Bath, from 11 September A Renaissance wunderkammer (room of wonders) is recreated by this luxurious new permanent gallery of strange, spectacular treasures. An intricate silver model of a sailing ship complete with a tiny crew, a mechanical model of the universe and suchlike curiosities co-star with paintings by the likes of Holbein and Cranach. Jonathan Jones
Going out: Stage
Things are looking up … Josie Long. Photograph: Stephanie-Gibson
Josie Long 6 September to 12 December; tour starts Mull As you might expect, Now Is the Time of Monsters – the new show from this thoughtful comedian – riffs on politics. Less predictably, it also covers actual beasts: the prehistoric predators she studies with her kids, a hobby that helps Long find hope amid turmoil both global and personal. Rachel Aroesti
Romans, a Novel Almeida theatre, London, to 11 October Alice Birch’s writing is always deeply theatrical and full of fire. Her latest is a kaleidoscopic portrait of masculinity from the 19th century to the present day, starring Kyle Soller. Miriam Gillinson
Emma Theatre Royal Bath, 11 to 20 September then touring Where better to mark Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary than Bath? Ryan Craig’s new adaptation stars India Shaw-Smith as meddling matchmaker Emma. MG
Murmuration Level 2 Peacock theatre, London, 10 to 20 September French dancer Sadeck Berrabah’s career was launched by a YouTube video and led to him choreographing the Tokyo-Paris Olympic handover ceremony. His style leans on tutting: intricate hand and arm movements that look a bit like hieroglyphics, which he uses en masse to striking visual effect. Lyndsey Winship
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Staying in:Streaming
The Wright stuff … The Girlfriend. Photograph: Christopher Raphael/Prime
The Girlfriend Prime Video, 10 September Starring and co-directed by Robin Wright, this UK-set psychological thriller about a woman who grows suspicious of her son’s new partner (Olivia Cooke) cleaves to the current trend for luxury lifestyle-based drama. Can sinister twists and class commentary pierce the glossy surface?
Task Sky Atlantic & Now, 8 September, 9pm This new drama from the Mare of Easttown creator, Brad Ingelsby, has the same dark, painfully realistic energy as his previous hit police procedural. Led by Mark Ruffalo, Task follows an FBI agent investigating a series of violent home invasions in a working-class Philadelphia suburb.
Only Murders in the Building Disney+, 9 September Somehow, we have already made it to season five of this hilarious comedy-drama, which merges brainteasing mysteries with intergenerational humour. This time our podcasting odd throuple investigate the death of their doorman as starry cameos (Renée Zellweger, Dianne Wiest, Beanie Feldstein, Christoph Waltz) abound.
Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams: Ultimate Test BBC One/iPlayer, 7 September, 8.10pm Initially a feelgood documentary about a cricket team for disadvantaged youngsters, this series soon became a moving portrait of Flintoff’s recovery from life-changing injuries. Now, however, the focus is back on sport as the cricketer franchises his original idea across the north-west. RA
Staying in: Games
Out on a limb … Baby Steps. Photograph: Devolver Digital
Baby Steps Out 8 September; PC, PS5 An unemployed brat who never leaves the sofa is forced to get up and explore his alien world in one of the autumn’s weirdest releases. Players control each limb independently, meaning that any progress is challenging and rife with pratfalls. Borderlands 4 Out 12 September; PS5, Xbox, PC The cartoon “looter shooter” returns, promising a frenzy of guns, guts and grappling hooks as players battle a ruthless space dictator and his army of alien monsters. With a new planet to explore and a vast array of randomised weapons (apparently there are 30bn combinations), it’s going to be carnage. Keith Stuart
Staying in: Albums
One for the Heads … David Byrne. Photograph: Shervin Lainez
David Byrne – Who Is the Sky? Out now Assisted by producer Kid Harpoon, and a guest list that includes the Ghost Train Orchestra and Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Talking Heads legend David Byrne delivers a big dollop of DayGlo art-pop on his new solo album. Single Everybody Laughs is like swallowing a huge gulp of sunshine.
Big Thief – Double Infinity Out now On their first album as a trio following the departure of bassist Max Oleartchik, the Brooklyn indie-folk band continue to craft careworn epics that feel undeniable. Songs such as All Night All Day and Los Angeles sparkle like lost classics, while Adrianne Lenker’s warm voice anchors their emotional pull.
Metronomy – Greatest Hits Out now With seven albums, including two UK Top 10s, under their belts, the British alt-pop practitioners have collected their shiniest singles on this greatest hits collection. Why not sashay to the slinky The Look, or do an awkward robot to the crunchy electronics of Heartbreaker?
Saint Etienne – International Out now Keen not to trundle on indefinitely, Saint Etienne – AKA Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs – have announced this 13th album will be their last. It’s a worthy swansong, full of intriguing collaborations, including the Orbital-assisted dance behemoth Take Me to the Pilot, and the 90s throwback Brand New Me, featuring Confidence Man. MC
Staying in:Brain food
The Secret Life of Songs Podcast Anthony T Jackson’s series about the art and context of songwriting takes on the 70s and 80s in a new run. It considers the queer dancefloor influences in Donna Summer’s I Feel Love and Kate Bush’s psychoanalytic references.
Embassy of the Free Mind Online Amsterdam’s Ritman Library has recently digitised more than 2,000 books on occultism. From Latin tracts on alchemy to the English philosophy of Henry More and beautiful illustrations of flora and fauna, there is plenty to flick through.
Music Uncovered: David Bowie – Changeling BBC Sounds, 10 September Exploring David Bowie’s evolution in the first half of the 70s, from Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke, this eight-part series features fascinating archive interviews with Bowie, as well as testimony from his collaborators. Ammar Kalia
Mobile phone retailers are locking their doors during trading hours and considering using “kill switches” to disable stolen devices, as incidents of theft increase more than ninefold in some high streets due to organised crime.
VodafoneThree, which operates the largest retail network with 650 stores across the UK, has experienced a 967% increase in theft incidents in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024.
“In recent months, the telecoms sector has seen an alarming surge in aggressive robberies and attempted robberies in stores, particularly across London and the south-east of England,” said a spokesperson for the company. “VodafoneThree has seen a nine-times increase in these types of incidents.”
In response, the company has introduced measures including a locked door policy in some stores, which requires security guards to open the store’s doors to customers during trading hours, rather than them remaining open at all times. “This is a disappointing, but necessary step,” the spokesperson said.
The newly formed mobile phone company, which employs 4,300 staff at its stores, defines an incident as a robbery, or attempted robbery, by groups of two or more masked individuals who enter a store and threaten staff to gain access to stock cages to steal devices. Retailers have repeatedly raised concerns over increased levels of shoplifting in recent years.
Virgin Media O2, which has 305 stores with about 2,600 employees, has seen more than double the number of robberies and attempted robberies in the first half of this year compared with all of 2024.
The company, which is undertaking its biggest ever investment in boosting security at its stores, said the number of attempted robberies had at least doubled annually for the past three years, albeit from a low base in 2022.
Virgin Media O2 said more than 40 people had been arrested and charged since last July, and the robbery success rate had halved between 2022 and this year. Photograph: Aleksandr Papichev/Alamy
The investment in new security measures includes increasing the number of security guards, a locked door policy in crime hotspots, installing new panic alarms and enhancing security monitoring systems.
The company said it had already reduced the number of successful robberies where the measures had been introduced and, like VodafoneThree, it was collaborating more intensively with the police to catch thieves.
Virgin Media O2 said more than 40 people had been arrested and charged since last July, and the robbery success rate had halved between 2022 and this year.
Will Houldsworth, the director of retail at Virgin Media O2, said: “We have seen an unacceptable increase in attempted store robberies over recent months, driven by the activities of organised criminal gangs targeting mobile phone stores in London and the south-east.
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“Through implementing a ‘locked door’ policy at certain stores at higher risk, and investing in more security guards, panic alarms and enhanced in-house security systems, we’re fighting back and protecting our people and customers.
“We’re continuing to work with law enforcement, and with other providers experiencing similar issues, to tackle this problem and secure arrests and convictions.”
In June, a select committee of MPs accused Apple and Google of profiting from customers having to replace smartphones stolen in multimillion-pound street phone-snatching operations that police said were carried out by organised criminal gangs.
The Metropolitan police provided evidence to the House of Commons science and technology committee which said they had been trying for the last two years to get smartphone companies to prevent stolen devices from accessing their cloud services so that they were no longer “smart”, therefore dramatically reducing their resale value.
Representatives for Apple and Google pointed to other security features built into phones.
Warning signs in London informing pedestrians to be cautious against pickpockets and electronic device thieves. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
While the select committee session focused on mobile phone thefts from members of the public – 80,000 devices of all kinds were stolen in London alone last year – smartphone sellers are understood to be keen to see the introduction of some form of mechanism to make unsold phones that are stolen from stores inoperable – a so-called “kill switch”.
For example, in Apple’s own stores it has enhanced security measures that effectively make their phones unusable if they are taken out of the retail outlet.
When asked for comment Apple pointed to a post on its website last month about how it “protects user data and deters iPhone theft with advanced security protections”.
Apple said it collaborated “with law enforcement agencies across the globe” to tackle device theft and “counterfeit parts operations”.
A recent report by the device insurer SquareTrade estimated that 80% of stolen devices were Apple products.
The company said it had seen a 425% increase in “snatch-related” insurance claims in the UK between June 2021 and May this year.
1. ‘What reconciliation? What forgiveness?’: Syria’s deadly reckoning
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Over a few brutal days in March, as sectarian violence and revenge killings tore through parts of Syria, two friends from different communities tried to find a way to survive. Ghaith Abdul-Ahad followed their story and looked more widely about the violence that still stalks Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
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Boosted by huge investment from the Trump administration, the US Department of Homeland Security is seeking to recruit 10,000 new agents. In an attempt to convince more people to sign up, it is undertaking a concerted, albeit scattergun, social media campaign to attract new recruits. Johana Bhuiyan explored the Uncle Sam memes and patriotic videos aimed at three key demographics: former military and law enforcement; legal professionals; gen Z and early-career professionals.
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3. No moaning about the teachers and definitely no nudes! How to survive the school WhatsApp group
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“Becoming a parent,” wrote Stuart Heritage, “can be one of the richest, most rewarding things you can ever experience.”
“That said,” he added, “it’s a qualified reward, because to be a parent is often to be forced into joining the school WhatsApp group. In theory, a community of like-minded peers who understand that it takes a village to raise a child. In reality, a vortex of petty drama, pointless competition and outright hostility.”
Essential reading if you’ve been back at the gates this week.
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5. Conspiracies, costume changes, and three-hour deep dives: inside the wild west of YouTube video essays
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Mixing dense political ideas with allusions to The Sound of Music and BoJack Horseman, these films have become a thrilling DIY artform – one entirely conceived, written, filmed and performed by their stars. Kirsty Major explored this thriving corner of the internet where these thoughtful deep dives challenge the prevailing common sense in the boardrooms of streaming services and broadcasting corporations that attention – in terms of quality and quantity – is dwindling.
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6. I stopped telling ‘little white lies’ for two weeks. This is what I learned
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After being caught up in a few small lies a couple of times, the Guardian US lifestyle and wellness reporter Madeleine Aggeler decided to try not lying for two weeks: “there were only so many people I could alienate in that time. I also turned to professionals to find out whether honesty is always the best policy.”
German carmakers are already losing their grip on the Chinese market to local players led by BYD Co. Now, they’re mounting a fightback to prevent a similar result on their home turf.
BMW AG, Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Volkswagen AG are launching a fresh push in Europe at the Munich auto show next week, wheeling out new electric vehicles they hope will underline German engineering as a global benchmark and recapture attention from Chinese challengers.
Waving beatifically over the crowd of 50,000 spectators assembled in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on Wednesday, Xi Jinping exuded an aura of confidence that many leaders in the west could only envy. To his left stood North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of an increasingly strident hermit kingdom. To his right was the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Xi’s “old friend” and China’s biggest ally in opposing the US-led world order. The last time that the leaders of these three countries were together in public was at the height of the cold war.
“Humanity once again faces the choice between peace or war, dialogue or confrontation,” the Chinese president told the gathered crowds. His insistence that China would “adhere to the path of peaceful development” was punctured somewhat by the country’s biggest ever military parade that marched through the square beneath his rostrum atop the Gate of Heavenly Peace, the entrance to the Forbidden City that has – on and off – been the seat of Chinese power since the 15th century.
Alongside Xi, Putin and Kim, a gaggle of global autocrats solemnly watched the display of Chinese military might.
Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which provided a forum for networking at a level normally seen only at the United Nations. Photograph: Suo Takekuma/Reuters
The same day, more than 5,000 miles away, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his allies assembled in Paris for a summit on the future of Ukraine, a country that has been racked by war since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The “coalition of the willing”, led by the UK and France, did not include the US. The optics of the new global order could not be clearer: an anti-western bloc, helmed by China, on one side, and a western alliance of democracies, lacking its traditional leader in Washington, on the other.
China’s military parade, in which more than 10,000 soldiers marched in unison alongside a sabre-rattling lineup of nuclear-capable missiles and underwater drones, was designed to celebrate 80 years since the end of the second world war. The parade had two aims: to promote the Chinese Communist party’s narrative about its role in defeating the Japanese in 1945, and to display Beijing’s political and military might on the world stage in 2025. Both serve to underline the legitimacy and power of the party, helmed by Xi, at home and abroad.
Faced with a challenging domestic economy and a bruising trade war with the US, the parade was also a chance for China’s 72-year-old leader to whip up nationalism and provide what some analysts say is a much-needed distraction from China’s problems at home.
“This kind of event is never about building bridges,” said Yu Jie, a senior research fellow at Chatham House. “It is more about building a political theatre to tell your own version of the story.”
The ‘coalition of the willing’ gather in Paris for a summit on the future of Ukraine. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock
In Washington DC, there was a growing sense of unease as Xi feted the leaders of some of the world’s most notable pariah states, including Russia, Iran and North Korea – a trio of countries that, along with China, has been described as “the axis of upheaval”. It is a consolidation of alliances that has been accelerated by Donald Trump’s use of political and economic pressure against his friends and foes around the world.
“It’s being perceived as an inflection point here in Washington, I think also in Europe too,” said Brian Hart, the deputy director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC. Western governments are “seeing that Xi Jinping is doubling down on his relationships with these countries, despite concern around the world”.
Trump, who staged his own somewhat lacklustre military parade in Washington in June, quickly responded on social media.
“May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un, as you conspire against the United States of America.”
A Kremlin aide denied that any conspiring was taking place in Beijing. “No one has been plotting anything,” Yuri Ushakov said. “None of these three leaders had such a thought.”
Still, the show of unity among countries broadly sceptical of the US could not have been clearer.
While the concrete results of the parade and the ensuing meetings between the delegations were limited – and many analysts thought that any real agreements to collude among the US’s rivals would remain hidden – foreign policymakers such as the EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas warned in strident tones that the meeting was “an authoritarian alliance seeking a rapid process towards a new world order”.
‘This kind of event is never about building bridges,’ said Yu Jie, a senior research fellow at Chatham House. ‘It is more about building a political theatre to tell your own version of the story.’ Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images
But the “axis of upheaval” is riven by significant internal fractures, analysts said, and the propaganda effect may have been greater than the real threat to the international rules-based order.
“People in the west are freaking out, as if there is something that’s really big and meaningful and there is this alternative world order and everything,” said Alexander Gabuev, the director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “And I think that the major reason here is really the dysfunction brought into the western family by Donald Trump.”
A Chinese academic, who asked to remain anonymous, also said that there were cracks in the seemingly robust anti-west alliances, particularly between the two most powerful members: China and Russia.
China is “pretending to have a strong relationship with Russia to push back against pressure from the US and other western countries,” the academic said.
“China says there is ‘no limits’ to its relationship with Russia, but in practice, it hesitates, constantly looking over its shoulder, wary of pressure from the west, the EU and Nato.”
Although China has been criticised for providing economic and political support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, the academic noted that Moscow turned to Pyongyang, not Beijing, for extra boots on the ground. North Korea is thought to have supplied about 15,000 troops to the Russian armed forces – something that Putin thanked Kim for in Beijing.
Xi, thought to be keen to assert his dominance in the Russia-North Korea relationship, also held talks with Kim this week. The Chinese leader said China and North Korea were “good neighbours, good friends and good comrades”, according to North Korean state media.
The parade came shortly after the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit took place in Tianjin, a city that neighbours Beijing. The blandly named conference was another diplomatic coup for Beijing. Dozens of leaders travelled to China for the economic and security conference, which provided a forum for networking at a level normally seen only at the United Nations.
Most notable among the guests was India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, whose own relationship with China has been frosty owing to a border dispute and trade spats. Days after being hit with US tariffs of 50% as a punishment for buying Russian oil, Modi was tweeting in Russian about his “excellent” meeting with Putin in Tianjin.
But this week was not just about diplomacy. It was also about guns.
Wednesday’s parade was closely watched by military analysts for clues about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s modernisation. China’s military uplift has in recent years made it a naval power and put it on track to be capable of a full-scale invasion of Taiwan and the potential war with the US that such an act might spark.
Several newly developed weapons and aircraft were revealed during China’s military parade, including hypersonic missiles designed to take out ships at sea, underwater drones, and electronic warfare planes that can fly with fighter jets to track moving targets while also drawing away fire. Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images
Several newly developed weapons and aircraft were revealed, including hypersonic missiles designed to take out ships at sea, underwater drones and electronic warfare planes that can fly with fighter jets to track moving targets for them while also drawing away fire. An unnamed aircraft that was either a real or mocked up stealth drone fighter also turned heads. Meanwhile, the appearance of new submarine-launched and road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles confirmed that China now has a solid and diverse delivery system for nuclear strikes – from land, air and sea.
“Did we know China had a nuclear triad? Yes, we did. But, that image really brings it home,” said Jennifer Parker, an adjunct fellow in naval studies at the University of New South Wales, Canberra.
“That capability sets China apart from other nuclear states, alongside Russia and the US.”
Still, analysts noted that none of China’s shiny new weapons have been tested in combat.
And diplomatically, Beijing still faces challenges. For all its talk of being a stable alternative to Washington, it’s economy is only 60% the size of the US, and its ongoing stability is reliant on agreeing a trade deal with Trump.
“China is far from being able, or willing, to replace the US as a global public goods provider,” said Alicja Bachulska, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Nevertheless, it is willing to exploit the current situation to build its image as a responsible and reliable partner, unlike the US under Donald Trump, and to capitalise on it.”
Additional research by Lillian Yang
Dressing to suit the occasion
It is a sure bet that Xi Jinping’s sartorial choice of suit was as carefully selected as the spotless uniforms of the president’s synchronised soldiers. Composite: EPA, Getty Images
In a show as tightly choreographed as China’s biggest ever military parade, it is a sure bet that Xi Jinping’s sartorial choice of suit was as carefully selected as the spotless uniforms of the president’s synchronised soldiers.
Xi presided over the 50,000 spectators in Tiananmen Square in an instantly recognisable “Mao suit”, chosen to signal the leader’s frugality and revolutionary spirit.
The simple, tunic-style jacket, with four pockets said to represent propriety, justice, honesty and humility, was first adopted by Sun Yat-sen, the nationalist revolutionary who helped to overthrow the Qing dynasty in 1911. Blending Chinese and western elements, the utilitarian jacket symbolised a rejection of imperial decadence. In Chinese, the suit is still known as a “Zhongshan suit”, after the name Sun is known by in China.
But to the outside world the outfit is better known as the Mao suit. Chairman Mao Zedong wore one to declare the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Posters of Mao Zedong in Beijing, who wore a Mao suit to declare the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Photograph: Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images
Since then, the suit has gone out of fashion among the masses, but it is still the outfit of choice for Xi when he wants to project authority as the vanguard of China’s Communist revolution.
The suit is “saturated [in] political meaning,” said Sari Arho Havrén, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. “It commemorates the revolutionary past of the Communist party” and “shows the separation from the west”.
For day to day diplomacy, Xi tends to favour a western-style suit and tie. But for major events, such as when he attended a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in 2015, he dons the Mao suit.
