THE GUARDIAN

Updates from the Hundred auction, starting 10am GMT Explainer: how auction works | And you can mail TanyaI’d like to point out that it might be the women players who are for sale but I’m yet to see a woman on any of the team tables. Welcome to 2026.A first purchase for Southern Brave. Continue reading...

Palestinians across the Gaza Strip fear for their health as piles of rubbish mixed with dirt and debris accumulate in the streets. Areas once filled with bustling markets are now covered with litter and there are limited resources to clear the waste Continue reading...

Get all the latest updates from Champion Chase day Day two tips | Lossiemouth saunters to glory | Mail NiallCheltenham Racecourse has reiterated its commitment to providing a “safe and enjoyable experience for all” after footage emerged on social media of a fight at the track on Tuesday.A group of men were videoed pushing and shoving before punches started to be thrown, with one man in particular looking dazed after suffering from a very heavy blow. The disturbance was soon brought under […]

Shawn Harris to face Clay Fuller in special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in CongressNew details are leading experts to fear that an “unethical” vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau is the “prototype” for studies under Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US department of health and human services (HHS) and longtime vaccine critic.At the center of US vaccine policy is an unlikely set of Danish researchers whose work on the health effects of vaccines has been called into […]

Comments come amid speculation over the health and whereabouts of Khamenei; Thai navy responds to attack on bulk carrier How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?Over in Senate question time, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has confirmed embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and the consulate in Dubai all physically closed in the last week. Wong said the government’s number one priority is to “keep Australians safe at home and abroad”. She continued: “The […]

Hundreds of papers relating to his appointment as ambassador to the US to be put into public domain todayAs reported by Nadeem Badshah this morning, the documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US expected to be released today will include a due diligence report by the Cabinet Office, which is believed to be two pages long.It is likely to raise questions about Keir Starmer’s judgment, with sources saying it had warned the prime minister of the serious […]

The success of TV spinoffs such as The 1% Club Quiz Book shows a growing market for puzzles as readers crave escape from the news cycle and endless doom-scrollingWhile watching University Challenge or Only Connect, the impulse to shout out the answers comes down to a simple “human urge”, says publisher Richard Green.That compulsion to “know useless trivia or show off knowledge” has been noticed by the publishing industry, which has met the desire by coming up with a range of products […]

In the wake of discourse surrounding Teyana Taylor’s Perfidia in One Battle After Another, a familiar debate has resurfaced about what happens when Black women play morally ambiguous characters on screenIn one scene in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, Teyana Taylor’s character, Perfidia Beverly Hills, is more focused on seducing Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson (then still known as “Ghetto Pat”) than on the bomb exploding just feet away from them. In another scene, […]

Attack on residential part of M23-controlled city of Goma blamed by rebel group on governmentAt least three people, including a French humanitarian worker for the UN children’s agency, were killed in a drone attack in Goma early on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the M23 rebel group has said.The attack happened at about 4am in a residential neighbourhood in the city, which has been under M23 occupation since January 2025. Continue reading...

Users posing as would-be school shooters find AI tools offer detailed advice on how to perpetrate violencePopular AI chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks including bombing synagogues and assassinating politicians, with one telling a user posing as a would-be school shooter: “Happy (and safe) shooting!”Tests of 10 chatbots carried out in the US and Ireland found that, on average, they enabled violence three-quarters of the time, and discouraged it in just 12% of cases. Some […]

UK government considering support schemes for households and businesses hit by the surge in energy prices; International Energy Agency reportedly proposed largest release of oil reserves in its history to bring down crude pricesHow Iran has used the strait of Hormuz to throttle oil and gas – a visual guideThe government is also looking at support schemes for households and businesses hit by the surge in energy prices since the US and Israel began their war on Iran 1 1/2 weeks ago.Reeves said […]

Union of European Clubs wants to help non-elite teamsIts plan relates to revenue from Uefa club competitionsCompetitive balance across Europe’s leagues would be transformed with the adoption of a new model for distributing revenue from the Champions League and other Uefa club competitions, according to a proposal by the Union of European Clubs (UEC).Clubs competing in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League benefit this season from a bumper €3.317bn (£2.87bn) prize pot, […]

Little did I know this cheerful animal had just died. Ever since, my algorithm has been serving me up more of the same ...I’m arriving at the social media party so late that the lights are on and the floor is being swept. As a result, I’ve only recently learned that if you look at anything for two seconds, it teaches your algorithm that this is all you want to see. A cheerful dog was the gateway drug. Now, I am accidentally on Death Instagram. It is not very LOL.The lengthy caption on […]

Dyer is perfectly cast as the foul-mouthed agent whose fortunes are in jeopardy with his client facing jail. And Darth Vader’s on the blowerDanny Dyer is giving it loads, but this still feels like a contrived and finally very heavy-handed and theatrical solo piece featuring a twist ending you’ll see coming a mile away.Dyer plays Jimmy Banks, a brash, fast-talking cockney football agent, who – in moods good and bad – is always breaking out a certain monosyllable best described as blunt, […]

Reaching up to 100ft, these massive piles contain tonnes of salt that keep roads clear – but pose environmental risksMost mountains take tens of millions of years to form. Toronto’s newest mountain took just days.Towering atop the crowns of evergreens, it has no skeleton of limestone or granite. There are no spires, cornices or headwalls. It is simply piles upon piles of snow, mixed with a toxic cocktail of road salt, antifreeze, oil, coffee cups and lost keys. It is the final resting place […]

Corporate employees said Amazon’s race to roll out AI is leading to surveillance, slop and ‘more work for everyone’.When Dina, a software developer based in New York, joined Amazon two years ago, her job was to write code. Now, it’s mostly fixing what artificial intelligence breaks.The internal AI tool she’s expected to use, called Kiro, frequently hallucinates and generates flawed code, she says. Then she has to dig through and correct the sloppy code it creates, or just revert all […]

Danish researchers whose work on effects of vaccines has been called into question are at center of US vaccine policyNew details are leading experts to fear that an “unethical” vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau is the “prototype” for studies under Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US department of health and human services (HHS) and longtime vaccine critic.At the center of US vaccine policy is an unlikely set of Danish researchers whose work on the health effects of vaccines has been […]

Live theatre, Newcastle When Maeve becomes a sexagenarian she rethinks her identity – and her 40-year marriage – in this surprisingly breezy dramaYou can imagine a Victorian melodrama in which a respectable wife causes consternation by eloping with a woman. It would have provocative themes about feminism, fulfilment and hypocrisy. The Lord Chamberlain would almost certainly ban it.Fast forward to Tynemouth, 2021, and the same story has no such clout. On her 60th birthday, Maeve (Phillippa […]

Displayed in a redesigned space, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert’s expansive collection of decorative items is not only gorgeous, at last it boldly tackles the question of where these valuables came fromWe periodically hear when a masterpiece is “saved for the nation”, usually when a museum is obliged to raise eye-watering sums to prevent the export or sale of an artwork deemed of national significance. Museums also occasionally purchase at auction for the same purpose. They are, however, […]

The Michigan band satirically adopt Muslim stereotypes in their songs, pushing back against post-9/11 hate. As their incendiary debut is reissued, they explain their ‘evil’ music‘I’m the motherfucker who took down the towers,” screams Prostitute’s Moe Kazra on All Hail, opening their nightmarish, theatrical debut album Attempted Martyr. Over crushing fusions of industrial punk with elements of Middle Eastern, African and east Asian music, the band explores the vilification of Arabs […]

Leak of memo comes after a third of Labour Senedd members raise alarm devolution is being rolled backUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer warned his cabinet against an “overly deferential” approach to the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish governments, according to a leaked memo.In the document from December, obtained and published on Tuesday by Plaid Cymru, Starmer said ministers should be prepared to make spending decisions “even when devolved governments may oppose this”. […]

Documents filed at Companies House over 2022 deal could complicate row with UK over how money will be usedJersey authorities may be investigating whether cash raised by Roman Abramovich’s 2022 sale of Chelsea FC amounts to the proceeds of crime, according to documents filed at Companies House on Wednesday, potentially complicating a row with the UK government over how the money will be used.Accounts for Fordstam Ltd, the company through which the billionaire Russian oligarch owned Chelsea, […]

National Gallery, London Britain’s greatest painter of animal anatomy receives a tiny survey in a single room, while his masterpiece remains on show elsewhere in the building. Why, when he’s as good as Constable – and better than Blake? Everything keeps getting simpler and shallower – even exhibitions at the National Gallery. A decade ago, if it put on a show about George Stubbs, the 18th-century painter of the natural world, you’d get a thorough survey of the Liverpool-born artist […]

Experience the artist’s largest ever exhibition at a private view hosted by the Guardian at Tate Modern in LondonOn Thursday 16 April, the Guardian and Tate will be hosting a private, after-hours event to celebrate the groundbreaking work of world-renowned artist Tracey Emin – and as a valued Guardian reader, you’re invited.Tracey Emin: A Second Life is the largest ever exhibition of Emin’s work, and features career-defining sensations alongside works never before exhibited. Continue […]

Whether you’re looking for memory foam, wool, cooling or firm, we reveal the toppers we rate – and whether they can really rescue a bad mattress• The best mattresses: sleep better with our seven rigorously tested picksA mattress topper is like a slice of cheese in a burger: not strictly necessary, but potentially transformative, especially if your bed has all the cosiness of stale bread. Strap a comfy topper on to a hard mattress, and it could transform the quality of your sleep at […]

It’s good news for those of us who aspire to a brisk, windswept British aesthetic over the bronze California beach babeAllow me to be the first and possibly last person to tell you that mauve is fashionable.Yes, the purply-pink hue of a 1990s mother-of-the-groom’s duster coat is now the height of chic on cheeks, lips and even eyes. It’s just euphemistically called “cool toned”, which in practice translates as traditional nude makeup tones such as dark brown, caramel, taupe, pink and […]

Hemmed in by the sea and poor transport links, many young people from the Yorkshire town feel trapped, but there is also a pride in the areaIt’s the morning after a wet and stormy day in the Yorkshire seaside town of Scarborough. The waves, which the previous day had been crashing dramatically on the harbour walls, have calmed and a few brave souls have entered the water with surfboards. There is a man throwing a ball for his dog on the beach and a kayaker bobbing on the waves.Just up from […]

It’s called the Dahiya doctrine – and the IDF and US air force are using it to destroy domestic support in IranPaul Rogers is emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford University and author of Losing Control: International Security in the 21st CenturyGiven the wall-to-wall coverage of the US and its war on Iran, it looks very much like Trump is the key player. He is not. The United States may have far more military power than Israel, but the key player is Benjamin Netanyahu.Moreover, […]

Members to be asked to release about 400m barrels amid supply shortages and market volatility caused by Iran warBusiness live – latest updatesMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesThe International Energy Agency is poised to call for the largest release of government oil reserves in its history to help calm the oil price shock triggered by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.The world’s energy watchdog is expected to call on its 32 members to release about 400m barrels of emergency crude, a […]

Veoza, also known as fezolinetant, will be offered to women for whom HRT is unsuitableMore than 500,000 women in England are to be offered a drug on the NHS that prevents hot flushes.The green light for Veoza, also known as fezolinetant, comes after the medicines watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, on Wednesday authorised it for use. Continue reading...

This month, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney became the first pair of women in country music to top both the US albums and singles chartsCountry radio still has a gender parity problem. That hasn’t stopped Ella Langley and Megan Moroney from achieving historic success. Last week, Langley and Moroney became the first two women in country music ever to top the all-genre Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts simultaneously. Langley’s Choosin’ Texas unseated Taylor Swift’s Opalite to claim its […]

The philosopher offers a measured and reasonable argument against assisted dyingIn this admirably clear and cogent book, the philosopher Kathleen Stock sets out the case against state-sanctioned assisted dying. Her immediate objection is to the end of life bill currently before the House of Lords, but her opposition extends to the principle in general. This is a polemic, but a polite one. Stock says she hopes that by the end of it we will share her objection to the […]

Kei Ishikawa’s take on Ishiguro’s first published work is frustrating and bland, undermining its fascinating characters’ emotional truthsKazuo Ishiguro has long been a subtle and potent figure in the movies, with his distinctively Anglo-Japanese melancholy. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s adaptation of The Remains of the Day for director James Ivory was a heart-rending study in regret; Alex Garland and Mark Romanek’s treatment of science-fiction novel Never Let Me Go was an excursion into […]

Fifa president posts message after meeting with TrumpIran due to play all three group matches in the USDonald Trump has said Iran are “welcome” to play at the upcoming World Cup, despite the ongoing war in the Middle East, according to Gianni Infantino.Fifa’s president said that during a meeting with Trump to discuss preparations for the competition, “we also spoke about the current situation in Iran”. Continue reading...

The Tehran regime has weaponised geography in retaliation for the attacks by the US and Israel Global oil markets have recorded some of the biggest price swings in history this week after the US-Israeli war with Iran throttled the flow of Middle Eastern crude through the strait of Hormuz.The narrow waterway south of Iran is one of the world’s most important trade arteries, through which a fifth of global oil and seaborne gas is shipped from production facilities and refineries in the Gulf to […]