This crunchy, spicy wonder has made a fortune for its Chinese creator – and inspired hundreds of British-Asian versions. Time to get tasting …

Walk down the specialist aisle in most British supermarkets and you will find a red jar with the kindly face of a middle-aged Chinese woman staring back at you. Branded Lao Gan Ma, meaning “old godmother”, these jars contain chilli crisp – a spicy, crunchy and moreish umami condiment that has made made hundreds of millions for Tao Huabi, the woman on the label. Doused over steaming dumplings, fried eggs, noodles and even ice-cream, Lao Gan Ma’s chilli crisp has become a social media sensation in recent years and has spawned a thriving cottage industry of independent chilli crisp producers in the UK.

“It’s such a convenient shortcut to flavour when you use it as a condiment,” says Fuchsia Dunlop, an expert in Chinese cuisine. “Every Asian cuisine has a form of chilli oil, but China and Lao Gan Ma invented chilli crisp and now the western world is more interested in authentic flavours, thanks partly to social media.” People, she says, want to have their own taste of that authenticity. “It’s far more exciting than a bottle of ketchup!”

The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, has announced a social media ban for under-16s, as part of an online safety drive that aims to go even further than the world’s first ban, introduced by Australia last year. Many parents have welcomed the proposals, but scientists have pointed to the lack of strong evidence for the efficacy of bans, and some campaigners have argued that the proposal allows social media companies to avoid making meaningful changes on their platforms. Ian Sample is joined by co-host Madeleine Finlay to explore what the evidence indicates about the harms of social media and the impact of banning it outright

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It fell to Robert Jenrick to announce his party’s plans to lift white British people from the bottom of the pile

Now is not a good time to be a white Brit born in this country. Nigel Farage is clear about this. So much so that he wrote a 6,000 word Substack piece about it at the weekend. Or rather someone did. Possibly an intern who had been told to channel their inner Nige.

Or maybe, if Matt Goodwin was involved, ChatGPT helped out. “Write me an essay in the style of an even more deranged Rupert Lowe.” Don’t hold back. Go for it. The UK is unrecognisable. Foreigners everywhere. It’s time that black and disabled people started paying reparations to white people. For all the benefits they have taken off us.

From thousands of lives lost to an economic shock likely to plunge millions into poverty, the world is paying dearly

It would be hard to find a human on Earth unaffected by the US-Israel war against Iran. Several thousand have been killed. Millions more pay are paying each day in steeper food prices or at the petrol pump, and as inflation eats away at the value of their earnings.

For many, the final bill has not yet come, but it will eventually. They will pay for the long-term damage caused by the biggest threat of all to the global economy: uncertainty.

The bar she drank at, the bed she recuperated in, the canals she daytripped to, the studio she stormed out of, the easel she painted her final masterpiece at … ahead of a major Tate show, our writer finds Kahlo’s spirit alive in her home town

‘Today you’re going to eat art,” says Federico Valdez, a chef at the School of Mexican Cuisine and a man so passionate about food he has the word Queso (Cheese) tattooed on his forearm. “Today,” continues Valdez, “you’re going to eat history.” What unfolds, in a sun-filled dining room lined with Mexican flowers, books and artefacts, is a three-course feast inspired by Frida Kahlo, her life, her art and her loves, including her first lesbian affair.

The starter, inspired by her childhood fascination with revolution, is a lightly spiced Mexican take on pirozhki, the Russian favourite. The main dish – served with pulque, an agave-derived drink Kahlo loved – taps into her rebellious spirit. “It’s called Frida Against the World,” says Valdez, as we are presented with a giant stuffed chilli that sits amid a nutty, beany sauce similar to the one eaten at Kahlo’s wedding to Diego Rivera, then the most famous artist in the world, now much more in her shadow.

A cat decided it was the main character during the final scene of a Romeo and Juliet performance by the Imperial Russian Ballet Company in Izmir, Turkey. The cat had a lie down, licked itself and played with Romeo's hair as the performers kept going with their performance undeterred while onlookers chuckled in the background.

Initial deal expected to be signed on Friday but Israel has ruled out withdrawing from Lebanon

• Peace deal between US and Iran announced, with strait of Hormuz expected to reopen

• Explainer: what do we know about the US-Iran peace deal?

The agreement between the United ⁠States and Iran should allow for the “immediate reopening” ⁠of the ⁠Strait ​of Hormuz, EU Commission President Ursula von ⁠der Leyen said on Monday.

“The priority now is ⁠its swift and full implementation ​by all parties,” ‌von der ‌Leyen said about the ‌announced deal.

Meta, YouTube and Snapchat say ban, which would stop children using their platforms, will drive them to ‘less safe services’

• UK politics live – latest updates

• How will the ban work?

• UK parents: how do you feel about the ban?

Britain’s plans to ban social media for under-16s will push teenagers towards more harmful platforms, the world’s biggest technology companies have said as ministers push to enact the new restrictions by next spring.

Meta, YouTube and Snapchat have all criticised the ban, which was announced by Keir Starmer on Monday and would stop younger teenagers from using their services.

Roman Lavrynovych and Stanislav Carpiuc convicted at Old Bailey over attacks on property and car connected to PM

Two men have been found guilty of conspiring to carry out arson attacks on property and a car connected to Keir Starmer.

Roman Lavrynovych, 22, from Ukraine, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27, from Romania, were found guilty at the Old Bailey on Monday. Another Ukrainian man, Petro Pochynok, 35, was cleared of the same charge.

Schoolteacher Jamie Varley described as ‘serial manipulator and a serial liar’ in Lancashire court

A schoolteacher described as a “serial manipulator and a serial liar” has been found guilty of sexually abusing and murdering a baby he and his partner had adopted.

Jamie Varley, 37, of Staining, Lancashire, had denied being responsible for the death of 13-month-old Preston Davey but after an eight-week trial was found guilty of the baby’s murder, as well as two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of cruelty to a child, grievous bodily harm and sexual assault of a child.