‘My artemia crew swam around behind the kitchen sink, until Mum accidentally knocked them out of the window.’ Photograph: Nora Peevy/Getty Images/iStockphoto‘My artemia crew swam around behind the kitchen sink, until Mum accidentally knocked them out of the window.’ Photograph: Nora Peevy/Getty Images/iStockphotoThe pet I'll never forgetPetsDeprived of pets for most of my childhood, my first came out of a sachet. They were educational and prize-winning, but I couldn’t overlook their incessant sexual bacchanal

The ObserverSpain This article is more than 8 months old‘We need to get out!’ How Gypsy families were driven out of Spanish town by mobThis article is more than 8 months oldMany of the 40 people forced to flee after a local stabbing are still traumatised by Andalucían town’s ‘blackest day’ Almost 10 months on, Ricardo García Carmona still shudders at the way he spoke to his mother when she appeared on his doorstep with an urgent warning a little after 9am on Sunday 17 July last year.

The ObserverHenry V This article is more than 1 year oldBy all means cry God for Harry, England and St George. Just don’t puff out your chest too farThis article is more than 1 year oldTim AdamsA new production of Henry V has been called a ‘woke King Harry’ – but Englishness has always been complexAt the Vote Leave HQ on the night of the Brexit vote, Daniel Hannan leapt on to a table at 4.

Pop and rockInterview‘I considered having kids with Brad Pitt’: Melissa Etheridge on music, motherhood and coming outSimon HattenstoneEighteen months after she lost her son to opioid addiction, the singer-songwriter has released a new album. She talks about her troubled childhood, the happiness she has found with her wife – and her refusal to grieve ‘Helloooooh! How are you? I’m good, I’m good.” It takes me about three seconds to warm to Melissa Etheridge.

Japan This article is more than 1 year oldJapanese government offers families 1m yen a child to leave TokyoThis article is more than 1 year oldGovernment boosts incentives to lure people to ‘unfashionable’ regional areas hit by ageing, shrinking populations Japan’s government is offering 1m yen ($7,500) per child to families who move out of greater Tokyo, in an attempt to reverse population decline in the regions. The incentive – a dramatic rise from the previous relocation fee of 300,000 yen – will be introduced in April, according to Japanese media reports, as part of an official push to breathe life into declining towns and villages.