Snowfall hit elevations above 1,500 metres in Tenerife as a yellow warning for rough seas was issued

The Canary Islands were plagued by adverse weather this week as Storm Regina, named by the Portuguese weather service, barrelled through the archipelago. The storm swept eastwards towards Africa on Tuesday and Wednesday after bringing strong gusts of up to 64mph to the island of Lanzarote.

Wave heights of 5-6 metres were widely reported, while some peaked above 6 metres along northern coasts in the Canary island chain. As a result, the area was placed under a yellow warning for rough seas. To add to the chaos, snowfall struck elevations above 1,500 metres in Tenerife, closing multiple mountain roads.

Snowfall hit elevations above 1,500 metres in Tenerife as a yellow warning for rough seas was issued

The Canary Islands were plagued by adverse weather this week as Storm Regina, named by the Portuguese weather service, barrelled through the archipelago. The storm swept eastwards towards Africa on Tuesday and Wednesday after bringing strong gusts of up to 64mph to the island of Lanzarote.

Wave heights of 5-6 metres were widely reported, while some peaked above 6 metres along northern coasts in the Canary island chain. As a result, the area was placed under a yellow warning for rough seas. To add to the chaos, snowfall struck elevations above 1,500 metres in Tenerife, closing multiple mountain roads.

Snowfall hit elevations above 1,500 metres in Tenerife as a yellow warning for rough seas was issued

The Canary Islands were plagued by adverse weather this week as Storm Regina, named by the Portuguese weather service, barrelled through the archipelago. The storm swept eastwards towards Africa on Tuesday and Wednesday after bringing strong gusts of up to 64mph to the island of Lanzarote.

Wave heights of 5-6 metres were widely reported, while some peaked above 6 metres along northern coasts in the Canary island chain. As a result, the area was placed under a yellow warning for rough seas. To add to the chaos, snowfall struck elevations above 1,500 metres in Tenerife, closing multiple mountain roads.

The Send Nudes author on rereading Lorrie Moore, finding Dodie Smith at the right time, and the enduring brilliance of Muriel Spark

My earliest reading memory
I remember reading Jacqueline Wilson aloud to my mum in the car. I think it was The Illustrated Mum . My mum couldn’t believe it was a children’s book, and I felt so proud. I always found most children’s books overly virtuous and safe, but Wilson’s never were. I love her for that.

My favourite book growing up
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. I read it again recently, having mostly forgotten it, and loved it just as much. It’s totally alive.

The former homeland security chief was an incompetent figurehead of cruelty. Her departure reflects Trump’s political weakness

Was it the blanket that did it? On Thursday, Donald Trump announced he fired Kristi Noem , the secretary of homeland security, in a post on Truth Social. Noem, at the time, was giving a press briefing in Nashville, and did not seem aware that she had been fired; she later posted on social media to thank the president for the new role that he had created for her as a golden parachute: “Envoy to the Shield of the Americas”, which sounds like something from a children’s superhero cartoon. Noem’s dismissal comes after a chaotic time at the department, in which she had endured successive national outcries over ICE kidnapping operations and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti; corruption and mismanagement scandals within the department; rumors about an alleged extramarital relationship with her top aide and former Trump campaign chief, Corey Lewandowski; and scrutiny over her award of a lucrative advertising contract to a personal ally. Noem’s tenure at DHS seems to have been marked by state violence, managerial incompetence, and shockingly unprofessional conduct. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Lewandowski summarily fired the pilot of a plane Noem was traveling on when a blanket (or possibly a bag ) she had used on her flight was not retrieved for her when she switched planes. The pilot had to be quickly rehired because there was no one else to fly the secretary home.

Noem’s ousting comes just days after her contentious testimony at a pair of Senate committee hearings, at which even Republican House members made a point of being seen to criticize her on camera. Just hours before Trump’s announcement, the Senate had failed yet again to pass a measure which would resume funding for DHS; the department has been the subject of a congressional funding battle in which a partial government shutdown has flowed from Democrats’ demands that new limits be placed on the department’s immigration enforcement activities.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

The Send Nudes author on rereading Lorrie Moore, finding Dodie Smith at the right time, and the enduring brilliance of Muriel Spark

My earliest reading memory
I remember reading Jacqueline Wilson aloud to my mum in the car. I think it was The Illustrated Mum . My mum couldn’t believe it was a children’s book, and I felt so proud. I always found most children’s books overly virtuous and safe, but Wilson’s never were. I love her for that.

My favourite book growing up
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. I read it again recently, having mostly forgotten it, and loved it just as much. It’s totally alive.

The former homeland security chief was an incompetent figurehead of cruelty. Her departure reflects Trump’s political weakness

Was it the blanket that did it? On Thursday, Donald Trump announced he fired Kristi Noem , the secretary of homeland security, in a post on Truth Social. Noem, at the time, was giving a press briefing in Nashville, and did not seem aware that she had been fired; she later posted on social media to thank the president for the new role that he had created for her as a golden parachute: “Envoy to the Shield of the Americas”, which sounds like something from a children’s superhero cartoon. Noem’s dismissal comes after a chaotic time at the department, in which she had endured successive national outcries over ICE kidnapping operations and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti; corruption and mismanagement scandals within the department; rumors about an alleged extramarital relationship with her top aide and former Trump campaign chief, Corey Lewandowski; and scrutiny over her award of a lucrative advertising contract to a personal ally. Noem’s tenure at DHS seems to have been marked by state violence, managerial incompetence, and shockingly unprofessional conduct. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Lewandowski summarily fired the pilot of a plane Noem was traveling on when a blanket (or possibly a bag ) she had used on her flight was not retrieved for her when she switched planes. The pilot had to be quickly rehired because there was no one else to fly the secretary home.

Noem’s ousting comes just days after her contentious testimony at a pair of Senate committee hearings, at which even Republican House members made a point of being seen to criticize her on camera. Just hours before Trump’s announcement, the Senate had failed yet again to pass a measure which would resume funding for DHS; the department has been the subject of a congressional funding battle in which a partial government shutdown has flowed from Democrats’ demands that new limits be placed on the department’s immigration enforcement activities.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

The Send Nudes author on rereading Lorrie Moore, finding Dodie Smith at the right time, and the enduring brilliance of Muriel Spark

My earliest reading memory
I remember reading Jacqueline Wilson aloud to my mum in the car. I think it was The Illustrated Mum . My mum couldn’t believe it was a children’s book, and I felt so proud. I always found most children’s books overly virtuous and safe, but Wilson’s never were. I love her for that.

My favourite book growing up
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. I read it again recently, having mostly forgotten it, and loved it just as much. It’s totally alive.

The former homeland security chief was an incompetent figurehead of cruelty. Her departure reflects Trump’s political weakness

Was it the blanket that did it? On Thursday, Donald Trump announced he fired Kristi Noem , the secretary of homeland security, in a post on Truth Social. Noem, at the time, was giving a press briefing in Nashville, and did not seem aware that she had been fired; she later posted on social media to thank the president for the new role that he had created for her as a golden parachute: “Envoy to the Shield of the Americas”, which sounds like something from a children’s superhero cartoon. Noem’s dismissal comes after a chaotic time at the department, in which she had endured successive national outcries over ICE kidnapping operations and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti; corruption and mismanagement scandals within the department; rumors about an alleged extramarital relationship with her top aide and former Trump campaign chief, Corey Lewandowski; and scrutiny over her award of a lucrative advertising contract to a personal ally. Noem’s tenure at DHS seems to have been marked by state violence, managerial incompetence, and shockingly unprofessional conduct. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Lewandowski summarily fired the pilot of a plane Noem was traveling on when a blanket (or possibly a bag ) she had used on her flight was not retrieved for her when she switched planes. The pilot had to be quickly rehired because there was no one else to fly the secretary home.

Noem’s ousting comes just days after her contentious testimony at a pair of Senate committee hearings, at which even Republican House members made a point of being seen to criticize her on camera. Just hours before Trump’s announcement, the Senate had failed yet again to pass a measure which would resume funding for DHS; the department has been the subject of a congressional funding battle in which a partial government shutdown has flowed from Democrats’ demands that new limits be placed on the department’s immigration enforcement activities.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist