‘Nothing to see here,’ says the man who once overruled council planners in favour of Richard ‘Dirty’ Desmond

How unlucky can one man get? You have to feel for Nigel Farage. Why does it keep happening to him? There he is, just minding his own business, trying to make a decent living – those five houses won’t pay for themselves, which is why other people may have done – and yet there’s always someone trying to drag a good man down. Isn’t the “Man of the People (TM)” entitled to have a few multimillionaires as friends to bankroll his lifestyle? Who hasn’t pined for crypto and gold bullion?

First there was the £5m from the British-Thai crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, revealed exclusively by the Guardian. Months later, the stench won’t go away. Even Nige has been at a loss to explain what exactly he was given the money for. Unsure whether it was a payment to cover security or just a little “thank you” for a lifetime’s work in the service of making the country an easier place for grifters to make money. Even now, Nige has gone to ground as he tries to get his story straight.

Karlovy Vary film festival
The film-maker and critic traces a decade of documentaries, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to Michael Moore, via Klaus Barbie and The Wombles

The unmistakable film-making voice of documentary-maker and critic Mark Cousins is raised again, to educate, to intrigue, to challenge. His histories of the movies are invitations to a seance, a chance to participate in the kind of ecstatic trance or dream-state that Cousins himself goes into, almost free-associating from film to film but with an overarching but discreetly emphasised theme – or maybe motif – and always with something shrewd, pertinent and humane to say. I have never watched a Cousins film without feeling that I have learned something new, and so it has proved again.

At Karlovy Vary, he is presenting part of his monumental new The Story of Documentary Film, which comprises 16 hour-long chapters, and of these he is here giving us numbers Eight and Nine, about the 1980s. The first of these begins and ends at the site of Checkpoint Charlie on the Berlin Wall which came down at the end of the decade; Cousins subtitles this episode with a line from Robert Frost: “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” His theme here is empathy, surmounting the obstacle (or wall) of indifference or ignorance; and he talks about the films that questioned the existing order and which pulled away the bricks that caused the Soviet wall to collapse. The second part (chapter nine) is subtitled “detectives”, about the investigative documentaries that demanded answers, particularly to questions about the wartime past, by people like Marcel Ophuls, Claude Lanzmann and Michael Moore.

This new panel show from Romesh Ranganathan’s production company features comics airing their worst opinions – and it feels completely unnecessary

‘You know who we don’t see enough of on British TV? Romesh Ranganathan,” said no one ever. That’s not meant as a slight to the man – who this year has hosted programmes for the BBC, Amazon and Sky, recorded another run of Parents’ Evening for ITV and is to appear on The Celebrity Traitors – but he truly is inescapable. There is an obvious reason for his cameo on this new comedy panel show, which is that it is made for TLC by his production company Ranga Bee. And what an appearance it is. If you have ever wanted to see Ranganathan go full misanthrope and refuse to give an exhausted NHS midwife £500 because the royal family needs it more, then roll up: you’re in the right place.

Unacceptable is – for reasons that aren’t totally clear – a panel show in which comedians defend their worst opinions in front of a studio audience, who are unlikely to agree with their horrible (and horribly confected) views. Ed Gamble hosts, putting in a typically professional stint, but then again Gamble is as unflappable as Ranganathan is ubiquitous, a whirlwind of sarcastic ad libs and hairspray.

Jesús Piñero grew up with the sound of gunfire, but thought he would be safe on the bus taking him to his home in Caracas. Then a mugger came for his phone …

As he rushed up the stairs from the Palo Verde metro station and jumped into the camioneta (small bus) for the five-minute ride to his home in Caracas, Jesús Piñero’s head buzzed with projects and ideas. It was 25 March 2016, and Venezuela was in meltdown, but the 22-year-old was upbeat. Exam results, parties and family awaited after a day with friends shaking a tin on the street for money to buy lightbulbs for the university history department where – in a first for his working-class family – he was a promising student.

His white Blu phone – only $80 (£60) but his most expensive and valued possession – did not stop pinging. His mother, Elisa, was worried. “When are you getting home?” She had been messaging all afternoon. A cake was ready for his brother and sister, who had birthdays that week. The family was gathering. It was getting dark. Street crime was horrendous.

Millions of fans could face a tricky day on Monday if they sleep in – or pull a sickie – after the 1am kick-off

Whether it’s all over or another step closer to home on Monday morning, the usual back-to-work rush hour could be more sluggish than usual. The timing of the Mexico v England game – a 1am kick-off, and the prospect that it could go on until almost 4am if it goes to penalties – means that for many workers choosing to watch the match there will be not much opportunity for a sleep before the alarm goes off.

One hundred years after Virginia Woolf explored the limitations of language in On Being Ill, the Piranesi author reflects on the power of storytelling to shape our experience of sickness

In October 2016 I was in hospital. I had been ill for 11 years with something I called chronic fatigue syndrome, but in the previous six weeks I had been overtaken by a strange, sudden crisis. I was unable to eat – a day when I managed a couple of biscuits was a good day; at times I trembled so violently that my voice shook; at night I was overwhelmed by dread.

In the hospital ward a consultant gastroenterologist appeared.

⚽️ Kick-off time: 6pm local/8pm EDT/1am BST/10am AEST
⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | World Cup draw | Email Beau

It has just been announced that the arrival of the teams at the stadium has been put on hold. So, maybe we won’t be fine ....

And another! Norway are heading through. There’s gonna be a lot of rowing routines on the floors of New York bars tonight.

Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick says Farage accepted staff, security and accommodation from George Cottrell before becoming an MP

Nigel Farage did not declare gifts and benefits provided by a crypto entrepreneur who has previously been convicted of fraud, Reform’s economic spokesperson has admitted.

Robert Jenrick said on Sunday that the Reform leader had accepted staff, security and accommodation from George Cottrell, but claimed they were personal gifts provided before he became an MP and so did not need to be declared.

Exclusive: Prof Simon Baron-Cohen says his language was misunderstood and it is a myth that autistic people lack empathy

The scientist who pioneered the “extreme male brain” theory of autism has said he regrets characterising the condition in this way because the phrase lends itself to misunderstandings.

Prof Simon Baron-Cohen’s theory that autistic people tend strongly towards systemising over empathising has been hugely influential in shaping the popular perception of autism over the past two decades. The underlying science had stood the test of time, he said, but he now views the “extreme male brain” label as unhelpful.

Body of woman, 22, found in field in proximity of Langar airfield, where popular civilian skydiving centre operates

A 22-year-old skydiver has died after a parachuting incident near a Nottinghamshire airfield, police have confirmed.

Emergency services were called to Langar airfield, a former RAF base, at 12.13pm on Sunday and the woman was found in a nearby field, where she was pronounced dead at the scene, a police spokesperson said.