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Western wildfires rage in California, Oregon and Washington – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email More than 85 significant wildfires are burning across the west, where a record 2.5m acres have been destroyed in the latest batch of blazes. At least seven people have died and the dense plumes of smoke have turned skies red and amber

OperaThe true story of the French revolutionary soldier was so grotesquely dramatic, we knew it had to be told – with puppets When we first came across the story of Tarrare – a perpetually hungry 18th-century sideshow freak and French revolutionary soldier who ate live animals and amputated limbs, and who was captured smuggling military secrets through Prussia in his stomach, in a box he had swallowed – our first thought was: “Why has nobody turned this into a puppet opera?

Country diaryAnimalsStamford, Lincolnshire: These curious creatures won’t grow into cute froglets, they’ll be menacing little blood suckers In a week, heat, then rain. Heavy air settles, and thunder seems hiding around its edges. Water collects in everything concave. Then my five-year-old daughter comes in and tells us there are tadpoles outside. It’s late for tadpoles. I’ve seen no frogspawn, but she’s insistent. And there, in an outdoor sink, amid leaf rot, detritus and two inches of stagnant rain, is that familiarly sinuous movement: front heavy, tail frantic.

Best books of 2023Best books of the yearReviewElton John scores, Ronnie O’Sullivan delivers on cue, and ‘Bazball’ takes off in the year’s finest sportswriting Watford Forever John Preston and Elton John, Viking The year is 1977. Elton John is one of the most flamboyant and wealthy pop stars in the world. Graham Taylor is a disciplinarian football manager who would, later in life, be immortalised by the Sun as a turnip.

Book of the dayMaggie O'FarrellReviewInspired by Robert Browning’s poem My Last Duchess, this follow-up to Hamnet mingles fact, portraiture and poetic fantasy for the simple tale of a girl forced into marriage Here is a novel inspired by a poem describing a painting portraying a young woman who actually lived. Art and artifice are intrinsic to it. In Maggie O’Farrell’s imagining of 16th-century Italian courtly life, manners make the man, clothes make the woman, and an image is more durable than a person.

UK news This article is more than 5 years oldTwo men jailed for life for torture and murder of Vietnamese womanThis article is more than 5 years oldStephen Unwin and William McFall killed Quyen Ngoc Nguyen near Sunderland last year Two men, who met in prison while serving time for previous murders, have been sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in jail for the torture and murder of a 28-year-old woman.

USAThe 20-year-old is an avatar of US hopes as fans look forward to 2026. In the present he’s a useful tool for Gregg Berhalter’s many critics Gio Reyna admitted on Monday that he sulked after being told he would have a limited role at the World Cup. I know, I know. This is what passes for scandal in Gregg Berhalter’s America. Come back to me if your players butt or bite an opponent, get kicked out of the tournament for drugs, arrested for theft or indulge in a naked pool party.

Portugal holidaysWith cold beer, caipirinhas and great seafood, these bars, from the Algarve up to Porto, are as hot, bright and breezy as the stunning Atlantic coastline itself Best beach bars in France and Spain NORTH OF LISBONBar Do Guincho, Praia do Guincho, Alcabideche Praia Grande do Guincho is a soft stretch of beach just north of Cascais with reliable north-westerly winds; it hosts national and international surf and kitesurfing competitions.

Classical musicObituaryJohn Birch obituaryOrganist, director of music at Chichester Cathedral and professor at the Royal College of MusicJohn Birch, who has died aged 82 after suffering a stroke, was interested in – but by no means limited to – every aspect of the organ and its world. Among those churches which benefited from his skills as a choir trainer and organist were Chichester Cathedral (1958-80) and the Temple Church in London (1982-97).