The introduction of UK regulations requiring adult websites to use more robust age verification measures marks a "seatbelt moment" for children's online safety, said The Guardian. But not everyone is convinced the newly launched rules will work.

How will they work?
The rules, introduced by regulator Ofcom last week, state that sites hosting adult content now need to have "highly effective" age verification in place. So rather than checks that merely ask users to tick a box confirming they're over 18, site owners will have to verify their users' ages.

Users could be asked to submit photo ID such as a passport or driving licence, or to record a short video clip of their face to be analysed by AI age estimation technology.

What sites will require age verification?
Every company with adult content on its site is obliged to implement age checks. These include adult video sites such as Pornhub – Ofcom estimates that around 6,000 porn websites alone are affected by the change – and also platforms where users are able to share X-rated content as well as more mainstream material, such as Reddit or Discord.

Companies that flout the rules could be fined up to £18 million or 10% of their global turnover, and their sites could also be blocked in the UK.

Will users be able to get around the checks?
Many people are expected to use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to dodge the regulations. VPNs, which are legal, allow users to securely connect one device to another using the internet, so they can "switch" their device's geographical location.

Are the rules enough to protect children?
While workarounds meant the measures may not stop "determined young people" from accessing adult content, the hope is that they will, at least, stop inappropriate material from "popping up unexpectedly" on young people's feeds.

But some experts believe the rules will "ultimately harm children and adults alike", said Wired. Sharing sensitive documents such as a passport or driving licence risks hacking and data breaches that could put users at risk of blackmail, fraud or impersonation.

Once dismissed as "back-of-the-cupboard" fare, tinned fish has become one of Britain's "chicest grocery indulgences" and a "surprisingly sexy new status symbol", said Hannah Twiggs in The Independent. 

In a world filled with UPFs and "scandalously long ingredient lists", there is something "refreshingly simple" about a tin of tuna smothered in extra virgin olive oil. "It's a rare thing: unpretentious but vaguely exotic, convenient but also a conversation starter."

Colourful, retro branding from Spain and Portugal has helped transform ordinary tins of fish into "treasures" to "show off on Instagram" and artfully display in your kitchen, Patrick Martinez, founder of The Tinned Fish Market, told the paper.

The tinned fish snack has become a go-to, "the king of the cupboard", said Steve Dineen in City A.M. And with a subscription, you can get delivery of everything from "impossibly soft and juicy" sardines to "fat little Spanish mussels" straight to your doorstep.

If you want to be "chic", said Xanthe Clay in The Telegraph, simply "plonk a can of fish on the table with some fantastic bread and posh butter, and dig in". Not only are sardines "packed with protein" and "brain-boosting omega 3 oils", they're also considered to be among the most "sustainable catches around".

Of course, prices vary significantly, with those at the upper end of the spectrum costing more than £15 a tin, while supermarket basics can be as little as 50p. If you're planning to use the tinned fish to bulk out a sauce, it's probably not worth splashing out. But for a "treat on toast", fancy brands come into their own. Ortiz's "neat and silvery" sardines "gleaming in dark amber oil" have a "nice meaty texture" and look good enough to "serve straight from the tin".

Or if you're after a budget-friendly option, you can't go wrong with John West sardines in olive oil, said José Pizarro in The Guardian. The flavour and consistency of the fish is "pretty great", especially considering the price (around £1.30). After the blind tasting, it would be "lying if I said I wasn't very surprised indeed" to find out where these were from.

JD Vance won't find Kentucky in the Cotswolds
Harriet Fitch Little in the Financial Times
"Life in the Cotswolds is strange" enough, writes Harriet Fitch Little, but "now there's a new oddity lurking up the long driveways": Americans, seeking a "long-distance rural bolt-hole" – including J.D. Vance. The vice president may have written a paean to the "nobility of country folk" but people like him "don't come here" for "a life of simple rural pleasures"; they want "Hamptons-style clubbishness, minus the decades-long waiting-lists and initiation fees". 

If running is the new religion, I'd rather rest
Emma Duncan in The Times
I'm a "slouch", writes Emma Duncan, but most young people I know run. And, "when they're not running", they "talk about it". I think it's a reaction to "the decline of organised religion, with which running shares many characteristics": "self-discipline" and "renunciation of pleasure", in exchange for "purpose beyond the daily grind". I feel quite "alienated" but, "given that runners are less likely to start wars than religious fanatics, it's probably a healthy development".

Girlguiding's new badges are a vital 'woke' revamp for Gen Alpha
Victoria Richards in The Independent
Girlguiding badges have "gone modern", writes Victoria Richards. Instead of "requiring girls" to keep rabbits "for one year, including rearing a litter", as one 1943 badge did, the organisation's latest challenges celebrate "Healthy Sleep", "Clean Planet", "Bee Rescuer", "Laughter" and "Fandom". "Young people are impassioned and active"  and "Girlguiding, uniquely, appreciates" that if it "doesn't attempt to modernise and appeal to a very different generation", it "risks dying out altogether".