Cillian Murphy and Eileen Walsh were intoxicating as Pig and Runt – two characters at war with a world that didn’t care about them

‘It’s a play about two pigs who go to a disco.” These intriguing words were spoken by Mike Bradwell , the mischievous, Falstaffian artistic director of the Bush theatre in the late 90s. I was a teenager whose predominant experience of theatre up to that point had been pantos and West End musicals. Mike had come to speak to the Barnes Theatre Company, my local youth theatre. We were not so far from Shepherd’s Bush, where the Bush – then just a claustrophobic black box above a grotty pub – had long established itself as one of the most exciting homes for new writing.

Mike was telling us about a play he had just programmed: Disco Pigs . It was a piece by an Irish writer called Enda Walsh , which he had seen at the Edinburgh festival. It sounded silly. ‘How on earth does a pig go to a disco?’ I asked myself. But I was curious enough to book a cheap under-18s ticket and go along. It was to be 60 of the most visceral and adrenaline-fuelled minutes of my life.

Exclusive: Three-quarters of respondents say mental health was damaged as a direct result of treatment by police

Rape victims in England and Wales have echoed the message of Gisèle Pelicot in France that “shame belongs to perpetrators, not them”, in the largest ever survey of rape and sexual assault survivors, according to the government’s key adviser on the crime.

Three-quarters of respondents to the survey of rape and sexual assault survivors said their mental health was damaged “as a direct result of what police did, or failed to do, in their case” and only one in 10 said they would report again, according to researchers.

During the siege of Leningrad, botanists in charge of the world’s first seed bank had to protect the vast collection from fire, rodents – and hunger

Somewhere in the sky above, the mosquito drone of a plane’s propeller neared. Since Abram Kameraz had begun to commute by train from Leningrad (now St Petersburg) to the suburban town of Pavlovsk earlier in the summer of 1941, attacks by enemy planes had become a frequent cause of delay. Through the carriage window, Kameraz saw the road was littered with bodies. These men, women and children had been killed by German planes which had strafed and bombed the crowds of refugees as they fled towards the city. As Kameraz caught the silhouette of a German Stuka cresting the horizon, the driver stopped the train and ordered the passengers to run to a nearby ditch for cover.

Kameraz, 36, was a potato specialist, one of about 50 botanists who worked at the Plant Institute, the world’s first seed bank, situated off St Isaac’s Square in the centre of Leningrad. The institute’s potato collection contained 6,000 varieties, including many rare cultivars – the largest, most diverse potato collection yet gathered in history, a crop of inestimable scientific importance. And right now, hundreds of delicate South American specimens were planted in sheds in the fields on the outskirts of the city, in the path of the advancing German army.

Trump will reportedly appoint Michael Waltz as his national security adviser and Marco Rubio as secretary of state, as president-elect picks cabinet

• Don’t miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts

Donald Trump is reportedly tapping up politicians who hold hardline positions on China for key roles within his incoming cabinet. The US president-elect has asked US Representative Michael Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser , multiple outlets reported, while the New York Times and Reuters said Florida senator Marco Rubio was favourite for secretary of state.

Waltz is also on the Republican’s China taskforce and is considered hawkish – advocating for a more aggressive foreign policy – when it comes to China. He called for a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to what he termed the “suppression” of information about the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan, and its ongoing mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uyghur population.

Donald Trump has announced that he will nominate Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency , saying the former New York congressman and gubernatorial candidate will focus on cutting regulations. Trump, who oversaw the rollback of more than 100 environmental rules when he last was US president, said Zeldin was a “true fighter for America First policies” and that “he will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions.”

Trump confirmed that New York Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik would be nominated as the US ambassador to the United Nations in his administration. “She will be an incredible ambassador to the United Nations, delivering peace through strength and America First National Security policies!”, Trump said in a statement. He also pointed to her efforts against antisemitism on college campuses amid the war on Gaza.

Trump has reportedly selected longtime adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, to be the deputy chief of policy in his new administration. Miller is one of Trump’s longest-serving aides, and has been a central figure in many of his policy decisions, particularly on immigration. Since leaving the White House, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organisation of former Trump advisers fashioned as a conservative version of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin is reportedly being considered for a position to lead the Department of Interior or Veterans Affairs in Trump’s administration.

Axios reported that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s envoy, Ron Dermer, met Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, and that Dermer also met Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner.

Kamala Harris made her first public appearance since her concession speech at a Veterans Day ceremony. The vice-president did not speak at the event.

Democrat Cleo Fields has won Louisiana’s congressional race in a recently redrawn second majority-Black district. That flips a once reliably Republican seat blue, according to the Associated Press.

Juan Merchan, the judge presiding over Trump’s business fraud trial in New York that saw him convicted of 34 felonies earlier this year, will decide on Tuesday whether to overturn the verdict, Reuters reports . The case is the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to reach a verdict, and Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on 26 November – though now that he is headed back to the White House, it is unclear if that will happen.

Tropical Storm Usagi is days away from making landfall, after Typhoon Toraji, Severe Tropical Storm Trami, Typhoon Yinxing and Super Typhoon Kong-rey

The Philippines issued new weather warnings on Tuesday as the fifth major storm in three weeks bore down on the archipelago, days after thousands were evacuated ahead of Typhoon Toraji.

Now a weakened tropical storm, Toraji blew out to sea overnight after causing relatively limited damage and no reported deaths.

Historic apology by PM Christopher Luxon comes after landmark report that exposed decades of abuse in state and faith-based care institutions

New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon has formally apologised to the more than 200,000 children and adults who suffered “horrific” and “heartbreaking” abuse and neglect while in state and faith-based institutions.

The historic apology follows a harrowing landmark report , released in July, which laid bare the scale of abuse that occurred across care institutions from the 1950s onwards. It was the most complex royal commission inquiry the country has held. The judge who chaired the inquiry, Coral Shaw, described the abuse as a “national disgrace and shame”.

• Deportivo Riestra name YouTube and Instagram personality ‘Spreen’
• Buenos Aires club known for unconventional marketing stunts

Argentina football club Deportivo Riestra have been accused of “a lack of respect for football” after naming a social media influencer in their starting lineup for a top-flight game against leaders Velez Sarsfield on Monday.

Ivan Buhajeruk, who is better known as “Spreen” and has more than 8 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 5 million followers on Instagram, has no professional football experience but was named as a striker in the side by coach Cristian Fabbiani. The 24-year-old was subbed off after only 50 seconds during the first break in play without touching the ball.

After dismissing his defence minister, Yoav Gallant – and with Trump back in the White House – Benjamin Netanyahu’s position is stronger than ever. Julian Borger reports

It should have been a difficult week for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He started the week facing widescale protests against his leadership once more – this time after sacking his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

Seen as the last independent figure in Netanyahu’s coalition, Gallant challenged the prime minister’s war goals and was seen as relatively moderate thanks to his wish to prioritise a hostage deal. When Netanyahu tried to dismiss him in the past he had to back down after demonstrators took to the street in huge numbers. This time, however, the prime minister successfully managed to oust his rival – and the final dissenting voice in his cabinet.

Social media platform has become a ‘refuge’ from the far-right activism on X, experts say, after Elon Musk teamed up with Donald Trump

Social media platform Bluesky has picked up more than 700,000 new users in the week since the US election, as users seek to escape misinformation and offensive posts on X.

The influx, largely from North America and the UK, has helped Bluesky reach 14.5 million users worldwide, up from 9 million in September, the company said.