After her death, police dropped a case examining Katie Madden’s former partner, despite evidence he had repeatedly told her to kill herself

• Revealed: The true toll of female suicides in UK with domestic abuse at their core

Hours before Katie Madden took her own life, she had a tense phone call with her former partner Jonathon Russell. Russell was on bail after allegedly assaulting Madden – he was banned from contacting her – but the conversation took place nevertheless.

There was a witness to the call who gave evidence to the inquest into Madden’s death. Mason Jones, a friend of Madden’s, said Russell was “vile” and “abusive”. Although Jones said he could not remember the exact words Russell used, he said: “I recall Jon saying at least once that he was in control of the town and would end her life if she didn’t do it herself.”

A familiar story is unfolding: of lofty aims undermined by meagre budgets, constant anonymous briefing – and a drive to remove families’ basic rights

Where is this government heading, and who is now in charge? Keir Starmer looks even weaker than he did a week ago, uncoupled from the aides who wrote his scripts and picked his fights, and only still in his job because the cabinet and parliamentary Labour party stared into a chaotic immediate future and decided not to pounce – for now. The high-stakes Gorton and Denton byelection arrives in less than two weeks’ time. Policy-wise, meanwhile, we are about to finally be presented with a set of plans that have been fitfully gestating for over a year, and causing a quiet chorus of jangling Labour nerves.

That sound is now getting louder. Any day now, the government will publish the education white paper containing its plans for sweeping reform of England’s provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, or Send. Amid rising fears about current and future costs, that document will shine light not just on the government’s thinking about the system it wants to change, but even bigger questions about Labour’s views on disability and human difference, and the relationship between families and the state. And if the proposals misfire, this most fragile of administrations will find itself back in the nightmarish place it ended up in when Labour MPs refused to pass its cuts to disability benefits – only this time, the resulting chaos could consume it.

John Harris is a Guardian columnist

Thai cuisine’s most delicious curry is also its most complex. Thankfully, our resident perfectionist is here to help you master your massaman

Bickering pleasantly over the menu in a Thai restaurant with my family recently, I realised I was unable to explain exactly what a gaeng massaman was, beyond the fact it was probably a safe bet for those concerned about the three chillies next to the green curry (a dish I first tackled for this column back in 2010). The gap in my repertoire was explained later when I opened David Thompson’s pink bible of Thai Food and learned that “a mussaman curry is the most complex, time-consuming Thai curry to make”. The fact the esteemed Australian chef also describes it as “the most delicious” is scant comfort given I’ve just promised my editor I’ll make at least six of the things … but then I remember how incredibly tasty it is, and knuckle down to my research.

Though the first recipe dates from 1899, massaman, whose name suggests an association with the country’s Muslim minority, probably dates back to the 17th century, and reflects either Persian or Malaysian influence, or perhaps that of the Indian and Middle Eastern spice traders who travelled through southern Thailand on their way to China. It’s unusual in its use of dried spices like cumin and cinnamon, bay leaves and cloves alongside more classic Thai aromatics like lemongrass and galangal to create a richly savoury gravy that cloaks the protein and potatoes like a warm hug direct from Bangkok. Straightforward enough if you have a Thai specialist nearby, it’s still more of a weekend project than a weeknight dinner, but a very worthwhile one nonetheless.

Experts question convicted sex trafficker’s motivations as she claims she can reveal ‘truth’ in exchange for freedom

When Ghislaine Maxwell refused to testify before Congress last week, she nonetheless insisted on her willingness to help.

Maxwell, who was convicted of helping Jeffrey Epstein draw teenage girls into a world of sexual abuse, dangled the prospect of revealing truth before Congress and American public – so long as she was freed from jail.

Lego and Crocs have joined forces to create oversized Lego-shaped shoes. Are they as ridiculous as they sound? We sent our most podophilic writer to find out

Everyone knows that standing on Lego is the worst pain known to man, but standing in Lego Crocs – how bad can they be? And are they really worth £199? I got hold of a prototype pair to test how my feet would survive.

He went from being the east London boy who was expelled from school to becoming the Bafta award‑winning star of Alien: Romulus. Ahead of his prison drama Wasteman, David Jonsson discusses the pressures of being a leading Black British actor

David Jonsson is the kind of actor who disappears so completely into his roles that it’s easy to forget you’re watching the same person each time. In Rye Lane, he’s a lovestruck south Londoner; in Industry, an Etonian banker with ice in his veins; in Alien: Romulus, a paranoid android. He’s now starring as heroin addict Taylor in the ultraviolent British prison drama Wasteman and, for the first time, the 32-year-old actor claims he is playing something close to himself. “This is the most personal role I’ve done,” he says. “It’s so messed up because it’s a dark story about rehabilitation and addiction, but I know these men really well. Especially when you’re growing up somewhere like where I did.”

We meet on a Friday afternoon at a photo studio in Islington, closer to where Jonsson lives now in north London than to Custom House in the East End, where he grew up. He arrives wearing a beanie pulled tight over his cornrows and a windbreaker. He looks stylish but carries a delicate shyness that mirrors his character’s air of desperation. Wasteman, which opens this month after a critically acclaimed festival run that netted five British Independent Film awards (Bifa) nominations including best lead performance for Jonsson, tells the story of Taylor, a young father who has spent 13 years in prison for a crime he committed as a teenager. In the film’s unflinching depiction of the British prison system, he’s referred to as a “nitty” – UK slang for a desperate, pathetic drug addict. Jonsson lost 1.8 stone to embody Taylor’s “wasted” physique. “I was mawga, properly skinny,” he says, slipping into patois.

Exclusive: Research suggests official statistics could track as few as 10% of the true number of cases

• Katie’s story: her abusive ex-partner said ‘kill yourself’. When she did, police dropped domestic violence inquiry

The number of women who are driven to suicide by domestic abusers is being under-reported, and their cases overlooked by police, in what has been described by experts as a “national scandal”.

Domestic violence suicides are already growing at such a rate that a woman in an abusive relationship is now more likely to take her own life than be killed by a partner.

Defence leaders write joint appeal urging public on need to be prepared for war with Russia and resulting costs

• As defence chiefs, we must warn you about Russia and say this: rearmament is not warmongering | Richard Knighton and Carsten Breuer

Britain and Germany’s highest ranking military leaders have made an unprecedented joint appeal to the public to accept the “moral” case for rearmament and prepare for the threat of war with Russia.

The pair said they were making the plea not just as the military leaders of two of Europe’s largest military spenders, but “as voices for a Europe that must now confront uncomfortable truths about its security”.

Unclear how encounter between Britain’s shortest-serving PM and US president was initiated and how long it lasted

After spending time and resources crisscrossing the Atlantic to cultivate the support of the Maga faithful, Liz Truss has finally got the prize she apparently craved: a photo with Donald Trump.

Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister tweeted a photo on Sunday showing her in the company of the US president at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Director of public prosecutions says he is confident police would examine any evidence of potential misconduct

The UK’s top prosecutor has said “nobody is above the law” amid growing pressure on police to fully investigate Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s links with Jeffrey Epstein.

Thames Valley police said earlier this week they were in discussion with the Crown Prosecution Service over allegations of misconduct in public office against the former prince.