"I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or as a .400 baseball hitter," said Democratic Party strategist James Carville in the 1990s. "But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody."

US government bonds, known as Treasuries, are "traditionally seen as a safe haven because they are guaranteed by the world's biggest economy", said The Guardian. But recent turmoil in the US bond market has undermined that status – and brought Donald Trump's tariff blitzkrieg to an abrupt halt.

What is the bond market?
Government bonds are "essentially an IOU", said the BBC. Used to raise money for public spending, they are issued with different "maturity" rates, most commonly over two, 10 or 30 years. Investors receive a fixed annual return, known as a coupon rate, for the term of the bond, but they can also sell the bond. This is done mainly by financial institutions such as pension funds, as well as by central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

What are yields?
Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs shook global confidence in the stability of the US economy. Investors began offloading their US government bonds, causing the value of the bonds to fall and their yield – the amount an investor can expect to make in proportion to what they paid – to increase.

And why does that matter?
The yield on 10-year Treasuries – considered "one of the key rates in the economy", said CNN – shot up from 3.9% to 4.5% when the first of Trump's tariffs kicked in earlier this month. That represents a seismic shift, given that movements of 0.2% in either direction are a "big deal", said the BBC.

When yields on existing bonds are higher, the government has to offer higher coupon rates to attract buyers for new bonds to fund new spending. That increases the cost of borrowing, which in turn "underpins a range of other borrowing costs for everyday Americans", including mortgage rates and business loans for everything from small enterprises to large corporations, said CNN. Little wonder that Trump was "spooked" into backing down on his tariff plans, said Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research.

Tributes are being paid to Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre following her suicide at the age of 41.

Giuffre, who died at her farm in Western Australia on Friday, was a "fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking", her family said in a statement. "She was the light that lifted so many survivors."

The Epstein allegations
Giuffre emerged as a "central figure in Epstein's prolonged downfall" after accusing him and Prince Andrew of sexually exploiting her as a teenager, said The Associated Press. She came forward publicly with her story after the initial investigation into Epstein's crimes ended in only an 18-month jail term for the late financier. He made a secret deal to avoid federal prosecution by pleading guilty to relatively minor state-level charges of soliciting prostitution.

In subsequent lawsuits, Giuffre said she was a teenage spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's Florida home, when she was approached in 2000 by Epstein's girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Giuffre said Maxwell hired her as a masseuse, "but the couple effectively made her a sexual servant" for Epstein and his associates. That included Prince Andrew, whom she says she was forced to have sex with three times between the ages of 17 and 18. The prince has always vehemently denied the accusations, claiming in a now infamous 2019 "Newsnight" interview that he had "no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever". In 2022, he settled Giuffre's lawsuit out of court, agreeing to a "substantial donation" to her charity, though admitting no liability.

Unanswered questions
Giuffre's death "will leave questions that are now likely to remain unanswered", said the BBC. Her name will "always be associated with the scandals and criminality" surrounding Epstein and his associates. As a young woman "she had the strength to stand up to a toxic mix of power, money and privilege in the circle surrounding Epstein, who sexually exploited so many girls".

Her family said that the "toll of abuse" was ultimately "so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight". There will now be suspicions, said the BBC, that "the long shadow of Epstein's poisonous misuse of wealth and influence has indirectly claimed another victim".

"What could unite octogenarian Cumbrian farmers, diplomats from Japan, Spain and Australia and Paddington Bear?" said Hannah Al-Othman in The Guardian. "The answer, of course, is marmalade."

The World Marmalade Awards celebrated its 20th year at Dalemain Mansion, near Penrith in Cumbria, this weekend. It was a "showcase of English eccentricity", with a flock of "spray-painted orange sheep", a "giant red squirrel" and Paddington "wandering among the marmalade aficionados".

The event has become a global attraction since being launched in 2005 by local resident Jane Hasell-McCosh, in a bid to lure tourists to Cumbria as the rural county reeled from an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. This year, it drew more than 3,200 entries, from locations as far-flung as South Korea, New Zealand and Botswana.

The contenders featured a variety of quirky ingredients, from Scotland's bright-orange Irn-Bru to Belgian blue beer and Taiwanese orchids. Hitomi Wakamura, from Japan, scooped first place with her yuzu and pear marmalade – the first time in the competition's history that an overseas contestant has been awarded the top prize.

Each jar of marmalade is tasted at the "'Saltburn'-esque house" in the Lake District National Park by a panel of expert judges, said Sophia Money-Coutts in The Times. Marks are awarded on everything from colour and clarity to peel proportion, sweetness and aroma. "I've been to the festival twice, and it's properly magical. Eccentric, totally charming and very, very British. I can't think why Richard Curtis hasn't made a film about it (yet)."

Three problems with a Tory-Reform pact
James Heale in The Spectator
After this week's local elections, new Tory and Reform councillors "will be forced to discuss power-sharing" in areas where there is no overall control, writes James Heale. But "major problems" stand in the way of any broader pact. "Many Conservatives do not want" one, a "sentiment many in Reform heartily reciprocate". Reform's appeal to many voters lies in its "anti-establishment" aura, but that won't fare well allied with a party viewed as the "political embodiment" of the Establishment.

Why I'm Thinking Twice About Traveling to the US
Mihir Sharmer on Bloomberg
Visiting the US "feels worse" now than in even the aftermath of 9/11, writes Mihir Sharma. Passing through US border control "was already an intimidating experience", but "it has gotten terrifying". We hear about "researchers deported for attending a protest" and "innocent tourists" thrown into jail "for minor problems with their travel plans". No wonder tourist numbers are "declining". And "an America nobody wants to visit" will soon cease to be "the center of the world".

Let us hope the Trump-Zelensky meeting in St Peter's is a sign of a better relationship
The Independent's editorial board
"One of the very few upsides of Donald Trump's erratic personality" is that he can suddenly change course for the better, says The Independent. His "earnest, civilised discussion" with Ukraine's president before Pope Francis' funeral was a hopeful contrast to the "infamous meltdown" when they met in the Oval Office. Trump's subsequent social media posts suggest "certain key truths" about Vladimir Putin's intentions are finally entering his consciousness.