Both Iran and Israel are calibrating their responses. That does not mean the region should breathe easy The danger facing the Middle East is not from wild or impulsive action, but from the considered decisions of men who believe they know what they are doing and how their opponents will respond. Their confidence is not reassuring when their judgment has previously fallen short. On Friday, Iran was quick to play down the overnight strike by Israel, suggesting that it was unclear who was responsible and indicating that there would not be immediate retaliation. Israel had chosen to ..read more

Readers respond to Stuart Heritage’s article on coming to terms with baldness As ever, Stuart Heritage provides the most reliably funny writing in the Guardian (Losing my hair made me miserable. Now I’m as bald as an egg, I couldn’t be happier, 16 April). However, unfortunately I think in this case Mr Heritage is still in denial of his true bald status, despite his conclusions. Let’s not beat about the bush here: I’m talking about compensatory facial hair syndrome (CFHS). Admittedly it’s mild compared with some upside-down heads – usually paired with a lumberjack shirt, a style of shirt t ..read more

The suggestion that the drug may be more helpful than regulated care for mental ill health is dangerous, writes Dr Rachel McNulty Rose Cartwright’s article (I was the poster girl for OCD. Then I began to question everything I’d been told about mental illness, 13 April) claims to expose “the fallacy at the heart of mental healthcare”, arguing that the sector – including but not limited to psychiatrists, occupational therapists, social workers, employment advisers, psychologists, dementia nurses, experts by experience, care home staff, art therapists, carers and support workers – fails to grasp ..read more

Dr Suzy Tutchell champions the work of past and present female artists, while Caroline Higgitt takes Francesco Vezzoli’s challenge If the art world is so “vast and varied”, as the subheading on your article says (Art unlocked, 13 April), why were 10 male artists and only three women artists featured? Why, yet again, are we being asked to consider masterworks, “old and new”, which reflect a not-so-varied, male-dominated canon? It’s 2024, Katy Hessel has written The Story of Art Without Men (to prove female artists have always existed – not just in contemporary times) and in the UK, the Wom ..read more

Guardian readers share perspectives on risk and rural rambling Vaughan Melzer asks if she is alone in being a woman who never feels safe walking in isolated and beautiful places (Letters, 16 April) . Sadly, no; I have met many women with similar beliefs. However, I’m now in my late 60s and have been walking alone in such country for over 30 years, during which I have always felt safe and been safe, apart from dangers caused by weather and terrain. I hope it is not insensitive to other women’s fears to suggest that these are the very places where you are least likely to meet with threats o ..read more

Joy Clancy suggests anaerobic digesters could transform the waste into biogas and liquid fertiliser There is a well-established solution to preventing cow manure spews into our rivers: anaerobic digestion (Most UK dairy farms ignoring pollution rules as manure spews into rivers, 19 April). The manure is put into a closed container and the micro-organisms, already present in the cow’s gut, break down any organic material, in the absence of oxygen, to form a combustible gaseous mixture of methane and carbon dioxide (known as biogas), and a liquid fertiliser. The gas can be burned to produce heat ..read more

The Royal Academy is examining the part it has played in Britain’s history of slavery and empire – and the usual carping suspects will not be pleased Very recent visitors from Mars may not know of the regular attacks on the National Trust for being “woke”, but the rest of us have heard plenty. The trust’s latest onslaught on British values has something to do with the lack of butter in the scones. Never mind that they have been made like this for years; Tory MPs and other critics perceive the keen threat to British values posed by margarine. Such stories never stop coming. This week ..read more

Both seem keen to limit hostilities, and key Arab states are ready to resist Tehran. But real change will require new Israeli leadership When it comes to the Middle East, it’s the pessimists who look smartest. Predict the worst and you’ll rarely be proved wrong. If you are, it’s usually because your forecast was insufficiently bleak. So put on your gloom-tinted spectacles and assess the events of the last week. You’ll see the dawn of a grim new era, in which the region’s two strongest powers, Israel and Iran, trade blows directly. Last weekend, Iran crossed what had previously been a red line ..read more

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Tobacco is already on its way out. The state should not deny adults the right to make personal decisions for themselves Just because Liz Truss and Boris Johnson – both opposed to the government’s proposed new smoking ban – hold a belief does not make it wrong. Smoking is unpleasant, but in this week’s parliamentary debate, the word nicotine could have been replaced by cannabis, alcohol, ultra-processed foods, base jumping or mobile phones for children. All have their dangers. But in each case those in favour of restrictions rely on the same argument; if something produces a burden on the state ..read more