Some rivers are receiving more rain than before but have lower water flow, according to a study

More rain and snow equals more water in rivers, right? Not necessarily. A new study shows that, despite receiving more rainfall than they used to, river water levels are falling because of changes in climate.

Global heating is intensifying the hydrological cycle, making wet regions wetter and dry regions drier, but how is this affecting river flow? Researchers from the Pennsylvania State University, in the US, have analysed precipitation and river flow records in more than 10,000 rivers between 1951 and 2020. In nearly one-third of rivers, they found that flow trends did not match with the changes observed in rainfall and snow.

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The Naylors’ four-bedroom home in Milton Keynes acts like a mini-power station after retrofitting solar panels, a battery and a heat pump

Clare Naylor paid close attention to how much energy she and her family were using last winter, filling hot-water bottles and bringing out extra blankets to ensure they didn’t go over budget. This year, she won’t have to worry as she is guaranteed not to receive a bill.

While millions of British households face the highest energy charges in three years from today after a 4% rise in the price cap, and predictions of a 16% increase in January, upgrades to Naylor’s home mean she will not have to pay anything.

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Millions of people in Great Britain face increase from Thursday to an average of £1,723 a year for a typical home

John Healey is under growing pressure to offer fresh energy support for households in next month’s budget as millions face a 4% rise in charges from Thursday to an average of £1,723 a year for a typical home.

In his speech at Labour’s conference in Liverpool this week, the chancellor warned that the government had limited resources to cushion the worldwide economic shocks hitting Britain, while arguing his budget would have fiscal discipline at its core.

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Warning of a lack of hostel places for 2,000 criminals due to be released over the next month to ease overcrowding

Hundreds of prisoners are due to be released early from jail on Thursday amid warnings that many will have nowhere to live and the probation system will struggle to monitor them.

About 2,000 criminals including domestic abusers and violent offenders are to be freed over the next month, with another 3,000 in stages over the next year to ease overcrowding. The number was reduced from 6,000 after an intervention by the prime minister, Andy Burnham.

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Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?

Swapping the glitz and glamour of last week’s visit to Istanbul for non-league football, your humble quiz master spent Saturday soaking up the sunshine while watching Walthamstow FC put a mere nine goals past a hapless Lowestoft Town. A quick sympathetic exchange with the shellshocked Lowestoft keeper – “Oh mate, long Saturday afternoon for you” – yielded the weary reply: “Long Saturday? Long fucking season.” Bless him. We hope you feel somewhat more optimistic about tackling these 15 questions on topical news, pop culture and general knowledge. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 267

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Borrowing can be good, there is no such thing as the ‘nation’s credit card’, and, yes, you can buck the markets – as previous governments have shown

Andy Burnham does a nice line in nostalgia. His first party conference speech as prime minister was full of fond memories for the Britain of the 1950s and 1960s, when working-class families could sense their lives steadily getting better. The underlying message of his address was that, given time, he could rekindle that optimism and return the country to how it was before Margaret Thatcher wrecked everything.

Much of what Burnham says is true. The 1980s was a decade of deindustrialisation, asset-stripping and financial deregulation that has shaped modern Britain – and not in a good way.

Larry Elliott is a Guardian columnist

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A deep and ingredient-busy take on the classic, constructed with four layers of pasta and a little geometric thinking

Bearing in mind that lasagne is a construction, it pays to start with some easygoing geometry. That is, think about the size of the dish you want to fill in relation to the size of the sheets you are using and the number of layers you want the lasagne to have. For four to six servings, I use a particular ceramic dish, because its 20cm x 29cm proportions mean that, broadly speaking, two fresh sheets of shop-bought egg pasta or four dried ones make a single layer (homemade pasta can be rolled and cut with scissors to whatever size you like, so is less relevant here).

Having calculated how many sheets are needed for each layer, the next question is: how high do you want your lasagne building to be? Height depends on the density of the filling, which, in the case of this week’s recipe, includes sausagemeat rolled (using wet hands and speed) into small, grape-sized meatballs that act like height-boosters in shoes. This elevation, along with tomato sauce and three cheeses, means that, even with just four layers, this lasagne has depth and cuts into satisfying squares. All this emphasis on the dish is also fitting because the word lasagne seems to derive from the Latin lasanum (cooking vessel), which in turn derives from the ancient Greek λάσανον, which signified either a cooking vessel or a tripod set over a fire.

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Israeli prime minister cautions against early conclusions when asked if there were any signs of Iranian involvement

Benjamin Netanyahu has said it was too early to tell who was ultimately behind the apparent attempt to crash a ⁠Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight, even as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations called the incident a “terror attack”, without apportioning blame.

Danny Danon told Fox News on Wednesday night that Israel had “no doubt that it was a terror attack from a radical individual. We still cannot link it to a terror state or terror organisation, but for sure we know there was an intention to bring that plane down.”

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De publieke ruimte is één grote dramashow geworden. Lastige kwesties worden versmald en oplossingen blijven uit.

De in de Amerikaanse staat Tennessee ter dood veroordeelde Christa Pike was een paar uur na het toedienen van twee dodelijk injecties nog in leven. Haar advocaten spreken van „onnodig lijden”.