Isabel Fraser

A 24-hour visit to Zagreb reveals an affordable and lively European capital with strong cultural attractions, nightlife and distinctive transport. Highlights include the free Fulir electric buggy, Ban Jelačić Square, Zrinjevac Park, Tkalčićeva Street, the Upper Town, the world’s shortest funicular and the Museum of Broken Relationships. Despite rain and ongoing earthquake repairs, Zagreb is recommended as a worthwhile alternative to Croatia’s better-known coastal destinations, with practical advice on flights, accommodation and the Zagreb Card.

Metro presents the finalists for the uFurnish Home Awards, celebrating attractive and practical UK interiors created by homeowners. Featured projects include Alana Miller’s gothic kitchen renovation, Emily Murray’s skylit bathroom, Bradley Dreha’s handmade dining nook, Sandra Sundén’s low-cost bedroom and Teri Muncey’s £39 renter-friendly feature wall. The awards cover categories ranging from bathrooms and bedrooms to gardens, kitchens, home offices and seasonal styling, underscoring how creativity, reuse and DIY skills can produce striking results without professional designers or large budgets. Anouska Lancaster, an award-winning designer and Renovation Nation contributor, is also featured for her bold use of colour.

Great white sharks are being tracked farther north in Atlantic Canadian waters, suggesting their population may be recovering and expanding its range. Marine scientist Tom Hird says great whites may already occasionally enter UK waters because they can tolerate local conditions and follow prey such as seals and tuna. Climate change is driving marine species toward cooler waters, potentially bringing tropical species such as hammerheads to the UK while displacing native sharks toward the poles. The resulting ecological disruption could threaten polar species, underscoring the need to protect healthy marine ecosystems.

Jo McLoughlin, known as Yellow Sticker Girl, relies on discounted supermarket food to keep within her £40 weekly food budget while maintaining a healthy diet. She shops across supermarkets including M&S and Waitrose and uses Too Good to Go to find reduced groceries, freeze food and batch-cook meals. As an ambassador for The Food Foundation, she has taken her photo poem about food inequality to Parliament. The Food Foundation’s Broken Plate Report says the poorest fifth of earners must spend 85% of their disposable income on food to afford a healthy diet, while healthier foods cost nearly twice as much per calorie as foods high in sugar, fat and salt. McLoughlin argues that people should not have to depend on yellow-sticker discounts to access nutritious food and offers practical advice for making reduced produce last.

A stay at Sofitel London St James in Westminster is reviewed as an extravagant but impressive luxury experience. The historic former bank building, lavish green prestige suite, smart toilet, attentive service and high-quality dining receive strong praise, while the spa is criticized for lacking a sauna, pool and communal relaxation space. A one-night prestige-suite stay costs £1,812.48 before breakfast or cancellation protection, leading the reviewer to conclude that it is far beyond her normal budget but worth recommending to travelers who can afford it.

London Trans+ Pride is expected to draw more than 100,000 trans people and allies in London, with the march moving from Langham Place to Trafalgar Square under the theme “Our Future, Our Fight.” Organizers and supporters say the event has added urgency because new Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance, taking effect on August 5, will implement the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that the Equality Act’s definition of woman is based on biological sex. Interviewees argue that the guidance threatens trans people’s dignity and safety, creates costly and impractical demands for venues and public bodies, and fails to address intersex people. Green Party leader Zack Polanski and Hackney Mayor Zoë Garbett call for investment in communities, trans participation in policymaking and opposition to the guidance, while the event’s organizers vow to continue protesting and asserting trans people’s place in public life.

Interior designer Anna Jacobs argues that powder blue and other softened natural shades are replacing the deep browns, burgundies and earthy tones associated with 2025 interiors. She links the shift to a desire for calm and relief amid social anxiety, citing the relaxing psychological associations of blue and green. Jacobs recommends choosing colours according to personal emotion rather than rigid trends, while noting continued interest in biophilic design, pale corals, pinks and mineral greens.

Alice, identified by a pseudonym, describes nearly two decades of psychological and financial abuse by her former husband, including financial control, coerced relocation to a cottage on his farm and pressure to sign an unfavourable consent order. She says the Family Court dismissed evidence of coercive control and treated her with disbelief, while a Right to Equality report found victim-blaming language or attitudes in 66 of 91 published family law judgments in England and Wales. Alice eventually reached an out-of-court settlement that enabled her to buy a home, but she remains financially insecure after funding legal representation with her pension. Phoenix Futures’ Rachael Clegg argues that courts must support, rather than punish, mothers who are coping with abuse and addiction.

The Court of Appeal increased the sentences of two 15-year-old boys convicted of raping two girls in Fordingbridge, ordering four years in detention after ruling that their original youth rehabilitation orders were unduly lenient. A third boy, aged 14, whose encouragement contributed to one rape, was not resentenced. The court heard that the attacks were recorded and involved 10 rape counts and seven indecent-image offences. Judges and the Attorney General criticized the original sentencing for failing to reflect the seriousness of the crimes and the victims' psychological harm. The victims and their families welcomed the change but said the punishment could not undo the lifelong trauma caused.

A Metropolitan Police detective, still completing a graduate programme and working in his mid-twenties, helped secure Brandon Ruck’s conviction for attempted murder. Ruck stabbed a former friend 16 times at a property in Lewisham, causing severe injuries. The detective built trust with the reluctant victim, helping uncover a 30-second voicemail recorded during the attack in which the victim screamed for help. The recording, alongside medical evidence, was central to the guilty verdict. Ruck is due to be sentenced on July 14.

A 22-year-old writer describes how State Fayre, a new country, folk and rock festival in Chelmsford, changed her previously negative view of large music weekends. Despite its largely millennial lineup, Kings of Leon and Alanis Morissette delivered nostalgic and emotionally powerful performances, while newer acts including Brenn!, Kingfishr and Stephen Wilson Jr. added freshness. The festival’s relaxed atmosphere, respectful audience and eclectic programming made it an unexpectedly memorable experience.

Andy Burnham’s decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election and Keir Starmer’s resignation have made him the likely next Labour leader and prime minister. The article reviews Burnham’s background, parliamentary and ministerial career, two unsuccessful Labour leadership bids, and record as Greater Manchester mayor, including public transport reform, homelessness initiatives and the controversial Clean Air Zone. As prime minister, Burnham is associated with lower taxes for low earners, higher taxes on the wealthy, large-scale council housebuilding, technical education and returning housing, water, energy and railways to public ownership. Questions remain over his limited foreign-policy experience, although he has expressed concerns about Israel’s actions in Gaza and advocated a firm but independent relationship with Donald Trump.

The Court of Appeal is due to review the sentences of three boys convicted over two rape attacks on girls in Fordingbridge, Hampshire. Two 15-year-olds received youth rehabilitation orders rather than immediate prison sentences, while a 14-year-old received a similar order for encouraging rape and an indecent-images offence. Victims’ barrister Charlotte Proudman argues that the review should restore confidence in the justice system, recognise the girls’ lasting trauma and place victims at its centre. She also criticised the original judge, Nicholas Rowland, for avoiding the word “rape” during sentencing despite findings that two defendants posed a high risk of serious harm. The hearing is scheduled to begin on July 1 after Prime Minister Keir Starmer referred the case under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

Charlene Bonnici has spent eight years gradually transforming her South London council flat into a colourful, personalised home while working as a cleaner and raising two daughters. Using paint, second-hand goods, free materials and DIY creativity, she hopes to challenge stereotypes about social-housing tenants and show that attractive homes can be created on limited budgets. The renovation has also helped her manage anxiety and depression, and her work has earned nominations in three Ufurnish Home Awards categories. She advises other tenants to make changes gradually, avoid comparing their homes with others and focus on creating a space that feels comfortable and personal.

A review of Harbour Hotel Guildford finds the Surrey property to be a convenient and good-value weekend getaway around 30 minutes from London by train. The hotel offers comfortable rooms, friendly service, two well-regarded restaurants and a small HarSpa with access from £10 an hour. Although the spa facilities are basic and the building’s exterior appears clinical, the hotel’s central Guildford location, affordable dining, nearby attractions and relatively low overall cost make it an appealing alternative to a London stay.

Channel 4 will broadcast the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final in full colour on June 6, 60 years after England’s victory over West Germany, to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s Society. Sir Geoff Hurst and David Baddiel will introduce the programme, which will pay tribute to former team members affected by dementia and examine concerns about football heading and brain health. The broadcast will include the full match, interviews with contemporary England players including Harry Kane, and calls for donations and dementia research.

Marie Curie end-of-life workers Carol Tefler and Rachel Moore say dying patients most often wish for ordinary emotional and relational experiences rather than adventurous bucket-list activities. Examples include marrying a long-term partner, recreating familiar pastimes such as fishing, preparing for what to expect during death, and reconnecting with estranged relatives. Their experiences highlight the importance of personalized palliative care, emotional closure, and addressing unresolved relationships before death.

Becky Chorlton began reselling clothes on Depop and at car boot sales after graduating from the University of Exeter and needing money for postgraduate study. By sourcing inexpensive clothing, cleaning and repairing it, and marketing it online, she developed the venture into Becky's Bazaar. The business generated about £25,000 part-time during lockdown, exceeded £10,000 in profit within six months, attracted more than 300,000 Instagram followers and now turns over more than £150,000 annually. Four years of savings enabled Becky and her partner to put a deposit on a three-bedroom cottage in North-West England. She advocates reselling and other side hustles as ways for young people to increase income, while Santander cites research that 49% of people use extra income to help buy a home and promotes a mortgage scheme offering up to 95% loan-to-value with a £10,000 deposit.

A Choose Love initiative tied donations to the distance covered by Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom march in London, raising more than £130,000 for refugees and displaced people. The charity says it does not support the march and instead aims to counter anti-refugee rhetoric by funding food, shelter, emergency rescue, support for unaccompanied children and LGBTQ asylum seekers, and care for pregnant women. Its CEO argued that refugees are not responsible for the UK’s problems with jobs, housing or healthcare, while some critics objected to allowing the far-right demonstration to proceed.