Alexander Katiraie

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Alexander Katiraie

Trump warns of Iranian 'sleeper cells' as Canada is accused of harboring regime operatives

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Canadian Conservatives slam Liberal government for allegedly allowing hundreds of Iranian regime officials to remain despite known security risks.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:54 pm

China passes 'ethnic unity' law in push for assimilation

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China has passed a new law promoting ethnic unity and national identity, formalizing policies on integration and development in minority regions.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:40 pm

Israel hits back after coordinated Iran-Hezbollah missile, drone strikes, urges Beirut to rein in terrorists

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Hezbollah fired 200 missiles and drones into Israel in what Israeli media called an integrated attack with Iran, prompting fierce Israeli Defense Forces strikes.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:31 pm

Spain permanently pulls ambassador from Israel amid Iran war

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Spain announced on Tuesday it was permanently recalling its ambassador to Israel over its opposition to U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran.

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:08 pm

Canada’s Carney under pressure to act after synagogues shot at in latest antisemitic incidents

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Gunfire attacks on Toronto synagogues highlight Canada's rising antisemitism crisis, as hate incidents against the country's Jewish community continues.

Published: March 11, 2026, 3:58 pm

US diplomatic facility in Iraq struck by drone

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U.S. diplomatic facility in Baghdad hit by suspected retaliatory drone strike amid State Department warnings for Americans to leave Middle East countries due to Iran conflict escalation.

Published: March 11, 2026, 1:04 pm

Rubio designates Afghanistan as 'state sponsor of wrongful detention': 'Despicable tactics'

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Afghanistan as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing the Taliban of using terrorist tactics against Americans.

Published: March 11, 2026, 4:55 am

Hezbollah, Iran unleash coordinated cluster bomb strikes on Israel in major escalation

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Hezbollah prepares guerrilla warfare tactics in south Lebanon as Israel launches airstrikes against Beirut strongholds, with expert predicting Israeli ground invasion.

Published: March 11, 2026, 2:20 am

Lethal elite 'black-clad' kill squad guards Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei

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Elite NOPO force protects new Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei while deploying around prisons holding political detainees amid reports of prisoner protests.

Published: March 11, 2026, 12:37 am

Iran War Live Updates: Israel Bombs Central Beirut and Tehran

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Israeli airstrikes pounded the Lebanese and Iranian capitals. In Iran, the newly appointed leader vowed his country would avenge “the blood of the martyrs.”

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:07 pm

Iran’s Frantic Attempt to Save Its Ships Before Torpedo Attack

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The Iranian Navy sought refuge in Sri Lanka and India. While India obliged, Sri Lanka stalled over fears it would threaten its neutrality.

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:35 pm

How Russia’s Scorched-Earth Attacks Put Ukraine’s Power Grid Near Collapse

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Strikes on Ukrainian energy systems have tripled this winter. Continuous repairs and Western aid staved off a total breakdown.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:02 am

Trump Tempers María Corina Machado’s Political Ambitions in Venezuela

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President Trump is tempering the political ambitions of María Corina Machado, a Nobel laureate, as he deepens ties with her foes in Venezuela.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:11 pm

China Wants Its Ethnic Minorities to Blend In. Now It’s the Law.

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Under a new “ethnic unity” law, Mandarin Chinese must now be the language of teaching. Parents must guide their children to love the Communist Party. Neighborhoods should be mixed.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:04 pm

Ground Down by War, Hezbollah’s Loyal Base Shows Cracks

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“We just want to be back in our homes,” said a Lebanese man who, like many others in the latest round of fighting, has to flee.

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:02 am

Israel Drops Case Against Soldiers Accused of Abusing Palestinian Detainee

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After a prisoner arrived at a hospital with broken ribs and a torn rectum, Israelis were once again at odds over the issue of mistreatment and impunity.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:47 pm

Trump’s Iran War Is Causing Problems For His Ally in Italy, Giorgia Meloni

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War in the Middle East has left Italy’s prime minister in a domestic bind, presenting her with one of the biggest challenges of a previously stable tenure.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:03 am

With New Right-Wing President, Chile Shifts Toward Region’s Conservative, Pro-Trump Alignment

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The inauguration of Chile’s new president, José Antonio Kast, is the latest milestone in a broader shift toward conservatism and pro-Trump alignment in the region.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:39 pm

Pardoning Netanyahu Now Would Be Improper, Key Israeli Office Says

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Rebuffing pressure from President Trump, a legal office says the prime minister should be pardoned only if he resigns, confesses or is convicted.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:04 pm

At China’s Big Political Meeting, a Rare Debate About Inequality

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China’s plan to raise pensions for farmers by less than $3 a month prompted rare criticism from lawmakers about the country’s threadbare social safety net.

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:38 am

15 Are Sentenced to Life for Moscow Concert Hall Massacre

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At least 149 people died in the 2024 terror attack outside the Russian capital, for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:40 pm

Iran’s Retaliatory Strikes Appear to Be Slowing

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U.S. officials say the country’s weapons have been diminished, slowing its attacks on Gulf nations and Israel. Iran may also be holding some weapons in reserve in case the conflict is prolonged.

Published: March 11, 2026, 4:10 pm

Why Did the UK Police Repeatedly Decline to Investigate Claims About Epstein and Prince Andrew?

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The police in London interviewed Virginia Giuffre three times over her allegations about Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Ghislaine Maxwell, but never began a criminal investigation.

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:02 pm

Walid Khalidi, Scholar Called Father of Palestinian Studies, Dies at 100

As a historian and diplomat, he gave intellectual shape to his people and made sure that they played a role in negotiating their future.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:12 pm

Iran Is Laying Mines in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Officials Say

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A fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait, making it a critical choke point in global commerce.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:45 pm

What Is the Strait of Hormuz and Why Is Iran Blocking It?

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With attacks and threats, Tehran is using the world’s most important transit point for oil and gas as leverage against its enemies.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:59 pm

Your Oscars Guide

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The Academy Awards ceremony is on Sunday. Here’s what to know.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:01 pm

New Iranian Leader Vows to Keep Global Oil Gateway Blocked

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Oil prices surged on Thursday after ships came under attack in the Persian Gulf, and Iran’s supreme leader vowed revenge for U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:04 pm

Drone Strike in Congo Kills 3, Including U.N. Worker

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The attack struck a residential area of Goma, killing an employee of the U.N.’s children’s agency and two others amid a sharp rise in drone warfare.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:57 pm

Trump to Target Forced Labor in Global Tariff Scheme

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The Trump administration is expected to begin a trade investigation into whether dozens of countries have policies to combat forced labor.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:31 pm

Iraq vents anger at strikes on former militias now under government control.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 7:36 pm

Yanar Mohammed, 65, Iraqi Women’s Rights Advocate, Is Killed by Gunmen

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She established a network of safe houses for abused women and was an outspoken critic of her country’s repressive institutions, despite the constant threat of violence.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:01 pm

Pussycat Dolls Announce New Single and Reunion Tour

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You’re in luck: The early 2000s girl group announced a new single and a reunion tour on Thursday.

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:57 pm

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s New Supreme Leader, Says Strait of Hormuz Must Remain Closed in Defiant Statement

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Mojtaba Khamenei struck a defiant tone and signaled that Iran would not back down in a war that has spread across the Middle East.

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:26 pm

Attacks on two tankers prompt Iraq to close oil terminals.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:46 pm

Displaced Lebanese Haunted by Strikes from the Sky

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With airstrikes expanding beyond the limits of Beirut’s southern suburbs, people in the city say that even the once-safest corners may no longer be off-limits.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:03 pm

Stryker Cyberattack Adds to Fears of New Front in Iran War

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A hacking group seemed to claim responsibility for the attack on a U.S. manufacturer, calling it retaliation for a strike on an Iranian school.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:56 pm

War has sent thousands of planes flying in the other direction.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:33 pm

Closures of Middle East oil terminals add to jitters about prices.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:20 pm

Iran War Causing Largest Ever Oil Disruption, I.E.A. Says

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Conflict is forcing producers to slash production and close ports as Iran steps up attacks on energy infrastructure.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:11 pm

U.S. Trade Deficit Falls in January

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The data showed imports dipped and exports rose in the month before the Supreme Court struck down most of the president’s tariffs.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:17 pm

Iran’s Naval Mines: A History of Threats to Persian Gulf Shipping

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The U.S. said this week that it attacked 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz. In the 1980s, Iranian mines damaged oil tankers and a U.S. Navy warship.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:18 am

How The Times Uses Graphics and Maps to Track the Mideast Conflict

Our visual journalists pinpoint attacks across the region and zoom in on individual strikes using satellite imagery.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:49 pm

How Hegseth Came to See Moral Purpose in War as Weakness

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bellicose and vengeful rhetoric describing the military’s war in Iran grew out of his experience in Iraq.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:03 am

Her Lab Worked to Future-Proof Fruits and Vegetables

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Erin McGuire ran a research network that studied how to get healthy food to marginalized populations around the world.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:01 am

Deadly Attack on Oil Tankers Prompts Iraq to Close Oil Terminals

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An attack off the Iraqi coast engulfed two oil tankers in flames, killing at least one person. Senior Iraqi officials believe the attack was Iranian.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:11 pm

Why Oil Prices Surged Even After the Release of Strategic Reserves

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Reserves or no reserves, the outlook remains bleak as long as a major oil and gas trade route remains virtually closed.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:40 am

Here is the latest.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:48 pm

This is what happened on March 11.

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:54 am

Haitian President’s Widow Recalls Killers Spoke Spanish and Used Nicknames

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The prosecution used testimony by Martine Moïse about the language she heard on the night her husband was killed to support its claim that the assassination was carried out by a hired Colombian hit squad.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:28 am

Israel Bombards Lebanese Capital in Latest Round of Strikes

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Lebanon’s health ministry said at least seven people were killed in the Beirut attacks early Thursday.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:15 am

U.S. to Release 172 Million Barrels of Oil From Strategic Reserves, Energy Dept. Says

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The move aims to prevent prices from rising further because of the war in the Middle East.

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:23 am

U.N. Security Council Condemns Iran’s Retaliatory Strikes in the Middle East

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In an overwhelming vote, the council backed a resolution condemning Iran. A Russian proposal calling for an end to the war that didn’t assign blame or even name the parties, was rejected.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:32 am

Countries Scramble to Shore Up Global Oil Supplies as Ships Are Attacked

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The United States and Israel launched more strikes against Iran, where crowds mourned military commanders killed in the war. Israel also bombed targets in Lebanon, where the death toll climbed.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:52 am

Newsom Sees No Imminent Threat After F.B.I. Warning That Iranian Drones Could Attack California

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Just before the war began, the Federal Bureau of Investigation told state officials that Iran might respond with drone attacks on California. No specific, credible threats have been identified.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:17 pm

Two People Die After Paid Plasma Donation at Clinics in Canada

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Grifols, a Spanish health care company, operates clinics in Canada that collect blood plasma from donors in exchange for an honorarium.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:12 am

What Happened in the U.S.-Israeli War on Iran on Wednesday

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Israel and the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon traded strikes on Wednesday. Three ships were hit near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil route.

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:56 pm

Strong or Weak? How Trump Picks His Battles.

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Despite his tough talk, President Trump has consistently made allowances for countries he sees as powerful or dominant.

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:24 pm

Will Trump TACO on Iran?

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It’s a crucial election year and economic and political costs of the war are rising. It won’t be easy for the president to declare victory and walk away.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:38 am

Starmer Was Warned of Mandelson’s Ties to Epstein Ahead of Ambassador Pick

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Documents released by the U.K. government on Wednesday showed that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was told of Peter Mandelson’s ties to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:32 pm

First Week of Iran War Cost More Than $11 Billion, Pentagon Tells Congress

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In a Capitol Hill briefing, officials gave their most comprehensive assessment of the cost of the first six days of the war, but the number omitted several aspects of the operation.

Published: March 11, 2026, 8:49 pm

Banks in Gulf Evacuate Their Offices

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After an overnight attack on a bank, Iranian officials signaled a new willingness to target economic centers and banks with ties to the United States.

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:21 pm

Lebanese residents are left in shock and fear as Israeli strikes reach the center of Beirut.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 6:10 pm

Iran Soccer Players Seeking Asylum Are Part of a History of Athlete Defections

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Members of the Iranian soccer team who chose to remain in Australia this week are far from the first to travel to a competition and stay there.

Published: March 11, 2026, 5:49 pm

U.S. Seeks Extradition of Maduro Ally Alex Saab From Venezuela

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The indicted tycoon Alex Saab is being detained in Venezuela on a U.S. request. His case tests President Trump’s sway over the country’s new rulers.

Published: March 11, 2026, 6:35 pm

Iran holds a public mourning ceremony for commanders killed by strikes.

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Thousands of people mourned in a state-sanctioned ceremony, as people in Tehran described deepening anxiety and fear as the war continued.

Published: March 11, 2026, 8:41 pm

NYC boosts patrols amid ‘heightened threat environment,' after gunman rams truck into Michigan synagogue

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New York City ramps up security as an attack was reported at a Michigan synagogue, leaving a security guard unconscious. Officials condemned 'horrifying' antisemitic violence.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:40 pm

Unexplained loud bangs perplex neighbors near homes of alleged NYC terror plot suspects

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Mysterious explosions plagued Bucks County for months near homes of men now accused in an alleged ISIS-inspired NYC terror plot. Police found no evidence, Fox News Digital confirmed.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:34 pm

Texas judge who tried to access VIP area at Houston rodeo concert claims racism, sexism at play

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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo claims she was shoved by rodeo staff during a VIP dispute. Rodeo officials say she demanded access without a paid wristband.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:23 pm

Nurse accused of killing married co-worker as messages reveal secret birthday rendezvous

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Florida nurse Rene Perez is accused of murdering co-worker Linda Campitelli after a two-year affair. Authorities allege he beat her to death during a birthday celebration in October 2024.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:13 pm

Old Dominion University shooter identified as Mohamed Jalloh, former National Guard member, ISIS supporter

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Suspected Old Dominion University shooter identified as former National Guard soldier convicted of supporting ISIS. Mohamed Bailor Jalloh served 11 years in prison.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:04 pm

FBI held active shooter training at Michigan synagogue weeks before attack

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Michigan synagogue with FBI training targeted by armed attacker who police say rammed vehicle inside building, died in shootout with security.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:00 pm

California rideshare driver accused of assaulting drunk woman, and police fear there are more victims

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Rideshare driver Felipe Rico-Ceballos charged with kidnapping and sexual assault after allegedly attacking passenger in Costa Mesa. Police seek additional victims.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:51 pm

US Army offers up to $5,000 reward for information after 4 drones stolen from Fort Campbell in Kentucky

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The U.S. Army is offering up to $5,000 for a tip that yields the arrest and conviction of thieves who stole drones from Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:31 pm

Maryland teen charged as adult for alleged stabbing in high school bathroom

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Teen allegedly stabs classmate at Great Mills High School in Maryland, charged as adult with assault. Victim, 19, released from hospital and recovering.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:29 pm

Suspect dead after ramming truck into Michigan synagogue and opening fire, FBI and ATF responding

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Authorities responded to an active shooting in West Bloomfield, Michigan, after a suspect allegedly rammed a vehicle into the Temple Israel synagogue and was killed by security.

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:32 pm

FBI’s iconic Most Wanted list enters new era with unprecedented addition

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FBI makes history adding first alleged cybercriminal to Ten Most Wanted list. Anibal Aguirre accused of ATM jackpotting scheme funding Venezuelan gang.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:30 pm

Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: ADL says 'Let's go, Brandon'

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Fox News' "Antisemitism Exposed" newsletter brings you stories on the rising anti-Jewish prejudice across the U.S. and the world.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:24 pm

Suspected Old Dominion University gunman ID'd as former National Guard soldier convicted of supporting ISIS

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A suspected gunman in Virginia was killed Thursday after opening fire inside Constant Hall at Old Dominion University, injuring two individuals.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:03 pm

Kidnapped child found alive after years hidden under fake name: police

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Kidnapped girl found safe in North Carolina after nearly six years missing from California. The now-11-year-old was discovered living under a fake name in Washington County.

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:52 pm

Judge says no new trial for Laken Riley killer Jose Ibarra

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Breaking: Georgia judge denies Jose Ibarra's motion for new trial in Laken Riley murder case. Venezuelan migrant's life sentence without parole remains intact.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:58 pm

Missing retired Air Force general consulted on UFOs for Blink-182's Tom DeLonge

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Retired Air Force general William McCasland vanishes in Albuquerque. Massive search with drones, dogs, and helicopters finds no clues after two weeks.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:21 pm

Texas death row inmate uses final statement before execution to speak directly to victims' family

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Texas death row inmate Cedric Ricks, convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend and her 8-year-old son, apologized to a surviving victim before execution.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:14 pm

Pentagon rushes counter-drone tech as Iranian swarms strain missile defenses and more top headlines

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Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:23 pm

Fireworks executive rips page from Boston bombing playbook to trace NYC terror suspect

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From Boston Marathon to NYC terror plots, Phantom Fireworks regularly checks their records when suspects' names emerge, revealing a digital trail of purchases.

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Iranian American couple from California speaks out against anti-war protests: ‘It is a rescue mission’

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Iranian American couple living in California, share emotional stories of life under Iranian regime control and support for the Operation Epic Fury.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:30 am

Alabama teen comes to mother's aid, knocks out stepfather during alleged strangulation attempt

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A 13-year-old boy knocked out his stepfather after he allegedly attempted to strangle his mother during a domestic violence incident in south Alabama.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:30 am

Ax-wielding suspect subdued by teen military recruit's MMA takedown in car wash clash caught on video

A Florida man allegedly threatened car wash workers with an ax before being taken down by a teen MMA-trained employee protecting his younger brother.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:17 am

Dem lawmaker disputes police bodycam amid reports he said he was above the law: ‘On top’ or ‘on time’

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A Maryland lawmaker slammed reports of his New Year’s Eve custody dispute, claiming he told police he was "on time" for his child's drop-off, not "on top" of the law.

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:38 am

Star Murdaugh trial witness probes mysterious death of Buster’s former classmate

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The star witness from Alex Murdaugh's trial is now investigating Stephen Smith's 2015 death, saying someone "has a good idea who committed this crime."

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:40 pm

Alleged hazing death tied to secretive rush night ignites arrests and frat reckoning

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College freshman allegedly dies from alcohol poisoning during fraternity hazing at Northern Arizona University, prompting arrests and chapter shutdown.

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:33 pm

With Disputed Legal Maneuver, Trump Tries to Set Policy Without Legislation

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By suing Republican states and making sharp reversals in old cases, the Trump administration is using courts to fast-track major shifts in policy.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:00 pm

Places of Worship, Magnets for Violence: Synagogue Attacks Have Risen

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The attack on Temple Israel is just the most recent in a string of attacks. They have taken place in the United States and around the world.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:55 pm

Executive and Judicial Branches Spar Over Control of Federal Courthouses

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The head of the General Services Administration said a proposal to transfer control of courthouse buildings to the judiciary was a bad idea.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:48 pm

Temple Israel Was Founded in 1941, Dedicated to the Formation of a Jewish State

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The temple is one of the largest Reform institutions in America, with thousands of families and an early education center.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:30 pm

Trump to Target Forced Labor in Global Tariff Scheme

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The Trump administration is expected to begin a trade investigation into whether dozens of countries have policies to combat forced labor.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:31 pm

Attack at Detroit-Area Synagogue Echoes Incident at a Michigan Church Last Year

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For the second time in about six months, a driver rammed a vehicle into a house of worship in Michigan. Four people died as a result of last September’s attack in Grand Blanc Township.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:28 pm

Attack on Synagogue Comes Amid Significant Rise in Antisemitic Incidents

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The number of assaults and threats against Jews has increased in recent years, with anxiety growing further since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:00 pm

$42 Million Verdict for Iraqi Victims of U.S. Abuse Is Upheld on Appeal

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The damages would be paid by a Virginia contractor that supplied interrogators to the U.S. military after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:11 pm

Will Illinois’ Democratic Primary for Senate Divide Black Voters?

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Two Black female candidates may split Democratic primary voters in Illinois, and anger is growing at well-funded efforts to widen the divide.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:37 pm

Senate Again Deadlocks on Homeland Security Funding as Shutdown Persists

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The fight over restrictions on immigration agents has prolonged the funding lapse for T.S.A., Coast Guard and more into a second month, as airports experience screening delays.

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:42 pm

F.B.I. Joins Search for Air Force General Missing for 2 Weeks

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Before he retired, Maj. Gen. William N. McCasland oversaw a research laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:54 pm

How Trump’s Election Lie Could Affect 2026 Midterms

The Trump administration is putting the weight of the federal government behind his false claims about the 2020 election in order to investigate key swing states ahead of the midterms. Nick Corasaniti, a New York Times reporter focusing on elections, homes in on the states that have become the prime targets and why.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:30 pm

Police Respond to Shooting at Temple Israel in Michigan

It was not immediately clear if anyone had been injured, though smoke could be seen pouring from the building.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:51 pm

People in This Mississippi City Faced Off With Elon Musk. They Lost.

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Despite locals’ concerns about noise and possible pollution, Mississippi is allowing Mr. Musk’s company to operate gas turbines there that will help power its chatbot.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:50 pm

Flowers Are Blooming in California’s Death Valley

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Visitors are flocking to see a bonanza of wildflowers that has transformed this barren desert.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:27 pm

Senate Resoundingly Passes Housing Bill, but Challenges Lie Ahead

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The lopsided vote to approve the measure was a rare bit of election-year bipartisanship on a major affordability issue, but G.O.P. disputes and President Trump’s disinterest have left its fate uncertain.

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:46 pm

Old Dominion University Shooting Being Investigated as Act of Terrorism, Officials Say

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A gunman who killed one person and injured two others at the university in Norfolk, Va., had previously been convicted on terrorism-related charges.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:33 pm

Ron DeSantis Wants Speedy Executions, and Lots of Them

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After President Trump urged states to recommit themselves to capital punishment, Florida started to put prisoners to death at rates not seen in the state’s modern history.

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:01 pm

Trump Endorses Jake Paul, Who Isn't Running for Office

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The president called Mr. Paul, a boxer and provocative influencer, a “great guy” and predicted that he would run for an elected position.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:31 pm

James Clyburn to Run for House Again, Defying Push for Generational Change

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The Democratic power broker had kept his plans under wraps but signaled he wanted to be around to see the first Black speaker elected, a milestone the party is well positioned to reach next year.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:52 pm

A Statue of Trump and Epstein Re-enacting ‘Titanic’ Pose Appears on National Mall

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The installation is the latest in a series of satirical statues created by an anonymous group of artists called the Secret Handshake.

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:58 am

San Francisco’s Chinatown Celebrated Eileen Gu. Others Are More Conflicted.

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Conservatives have rebuked Ms. Gu, who was born in the United States but won Olympic medals for China. The reaction has sparked conversations among Chinese Americans about identity and straddling two worlds.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:04 am

Trump Administration Suggests Tariff Refunds May Take Significant Time

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The government must update a federal court on Thursday about its timeline for returning roughly $166 billion in illegal duties.

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:23 pm

How Hegseth Came to See Moral Purpose in War as Weakness

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bellicose and vengeful rhetoric describing the military’s war in Iran grew out of his experience in Iraq.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:03 am

Videos of ICE Shooting in Texas Capture a Confused and Fatal Encounter

Officials said a 23-year-old Texan had intentionally run over an officer, a claim his family and friend denied. Newly released footage leaves the truth murky.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:01 am

How Trump Officials Embraced an Animal Rights Campaign

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The Trump administration is curbing animal experiments in response to shifts in public opinion, technological advances, years of animal rights advocacy and the work of a conservative activist.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:00 am

Washington State Passes ‘Millionaires’ Tax’

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It would be the first income tax in Washington, affecting an estimated 20,000 households. Some of the wealthiest are leaving for Florida.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:11 am

Trump’s Tour of States Is About More Than the Midterms

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Beyond talking about the economy and voters’ hardships, the president is showing that he still has control over the Republican Party.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:15 am

South Carolina’s 2028 Primary Is Already on Some Democrats’ Minds

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The state’s 2028 primary is likely to be important, and is already on the minds of some Democrats.

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:26 pm

Strong or Weak? How Trump Picks His Battles.

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Despite his tough talk, President Trump has consistently made allowances for countries he sees as powerful or dominant.

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:24 pm

Ex-Officer Who Took Nude Images From Phones in Traffic Stops Is Sentenced

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The former Missouri police officer, Julian Alcala, was sentenced to two years in prison and now faces civil lawsuits from several of the 20 victims the authorities identified.

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:21 pm

Trump hijacks Women’s History Month event at White House with Iran boasts and tariff claims

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During the event the president was even presented with a special medal by a female Olympian

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:11 pm

Rescue mission underway after US military plane crashes in western Iraq

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CENCTOM said the incident ‘was not due to hostile or friendly fire’

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:07 pm

Iran-US war latest: Trump says conflict ‘moving rapidly’ as Tehran threatens to set region’s energy sites ‘on fire’

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Tehran has warned the US and Israeli against attacking its energy infrastructure

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:48 pm

ODU gunman behind ‘terror’ attack identified as ex-National Guard member previously jailed for ISIS links, FBI says

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Gunman also dead after violence erupted on campus at the public college in Norfolk, Virginia

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:47 pm

New bridge over the Mississippi River could be named after Donald Trump

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The bridge project is estimated to cost $3 billion

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:36 pm

Artificial intelligence has brought a new way of war to the Middle East – and it makes crimes harder to hide

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AI’s kill chain leaves an evidence trail in Gaza and Iran. Sam Kiley, world affairs editor, explains

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:35 pm

White House splices Iran strike footage with Wii game in bizarre video

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The Trump administration has released a bizarre video that splices footage from a Nintendo Wii game with real-life drone strike videos from the conflict in Iran.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:30 pm

Chris Christie claims Jared Kushner got him fired from Trump campaign for prosecuting his father

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Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to 18 counts and served 14 months in prison

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:29 pm

NFL legends lament White House mixing Iran attack footage with big football hits for social media post

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Some players think the White House should take the video down, according to the report

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:18 pm

California cyclist dies after being bitten by venomous rattlesnake while on mountain ride

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While about 7,000 to 8,000 venomous snake bites occur annually in the U.S., only a handful result in death

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:59 pm

British troops in Iraq shoot down Iranian drones after base attacked

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Ministers say Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ is supporting Iranian drone strikes

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:36 pm

Michigan synagogue shooting suspect dead and ‘badly burned’ after ramming car into building: Live updates

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The severe burns could make it difficult to identify the suspect, sources said

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:12 pm

How the White House is using memes and viral content to frame violence in Iran

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Governments are increasingly communicating war using the visual language of video games and internet memes

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:03 pm

US can expect hours-long airport lines to continue as Democrats thwart DHS funding measure in shutdown standoff

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Lines at Houston, Los Angeles, other airports grow as TSA shortages strain airports

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:03 pm

Florida cop arrested after using police databases to find and pull over a woman he met on Vince Vaughn TV set: ‘I saw a shiny thing’

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Deputy Lamar Eliseo Roman, 28, has been fired following an investigation in Monroe County

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:57 pm

Heluva mystery! Confusion after 600 tubs of French Onion dip are left at restaurants throughout Philly

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Some of the businesses even gave out free dip to customers

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:49 pm

Israel threatens to take Lebanese territory as it ramps up Beirut bombing in escalating war

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As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to spread, Lebanon’s capital city has become the latest target. Chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports from Beirut on a city under fire

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:38 pm

Two guests stung by scorpions while staying at same Las Vegas hotel

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‘It doesn’t matter how much you’re spending for a hotel room or an accommodation. It’s got to be safe,’ a lawyer said

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:23 pm

Quotes from Iran supreme leader’s ‘speech’ amid conflicting reports about his status

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Khamenei did not appear on camera and the speech was read by a news anchor

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:16 pm

Old intelligence and AI? Behind the deadly attack on an Iranian girls’ school that left 175 dead

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Key questions emerge around AI use and human errors in the Trump administration’s rush to strike Iran

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:15 pm

Jesse Watters reveals Trump gave him ‘too big’ shirts after Rubio is mocked over ‘giant shoes’ the president gifted him

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‘I felt like pressure to wear it. I mean, it was too big,’ the Fox News host said

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:56 pm

How mines work in warfare as Iran accused of littering Strait of Hormuz with invisible killers

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The US Institute of War estimates that 10 mines have been laid in the Strait of Hormuz so far

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:55 pm

Trump claims he is no longer interested in Nobel Peace Prize and doesn’t know if Iran war will hurt his future chances

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Trump said he had ‘no idea’ how the Iran war would impact his future Nobel prospects

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:49 pm

UN report says Trump’s hate speech sparked ‘human rights violations.’ White House responds: ‘No one cares’

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White House has turned immigration arrest videos into memes and bragging about deportations online

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:38 pm

Iran-linked hackers take aim at US and other targets, raising risk of cyberattacks during war

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Pro-Iranian hackers are targeting sites in the Middle East and starting to stretch into the United States during the war

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:23 pm

Judge forces Trump admin to respond to Jan 6 cops’ plaque lawsuit

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The court filing claims that the placement of the plaque is an attempt to keep the events of January 6 ‘hidden from the public’

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:50 pm

Golden Corral diner suffers ‘irreversible injuries’ after attack by staff who wrongly accused him of dine and dash: lawsuit

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Attorney Keith Galliher says his client was left with a ‘traumatic brain injury’ after the incident at the Golden Corral in Henderson, Nevada

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:46 pm

Giant pipe’s mysterious overnight growth spurt on busy street baffles onlookers

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The steel pipe's sudden ascent was reported to police early Wednesday by a pedestrian

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:40 pm

‘Abrupt reality check’ of Iran war has Britons fleeing Dubai for ‘safety’ of London

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London property agents have told The Independent they are seeing a rise in demand for property in London from those who had moved to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf nations

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:38 pm

People cannot check everything about what they buy. It’s time for help

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MPs have a responsibility to ensure that due diligence is carried out on behalf of citizens, writes Martin Rhodes. This is why I am advocating for legislation protecting human rights and addressing environmental harms in supply chains

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:35 pm

Israeli-American pro Pokémon player sues over competition ban after ‘political outburst’

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Exclusive: ‘All I wanted was to see Pokémon expand their reach in the Middle East by giving my community an equal opportunity to compete,’ 29-year-old Dov Aloof told The Independent

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:05 pm

First six days of the Iran war cost more than $11.3B, Pentagon tells Congress in closed-door briefing: report

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Democrats, frustrated with a lack of public details about the war, are calling for hearings on Capitol Hill

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:33 pm

What is the Jones Act? White House considering suspending shipping law to lower oil prices

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Fuel prices have soared since the US-Israeli war on Iran began

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:29 pm

‘America’s mortal enemy’: Hegseth’s years-long hatred of Iran resurfaces in book quotes and videos

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The controversial defense secretary once compared Tehran to a malign octopus with ‘many tentacles’

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:23 pm

Controversial ex-mayor Tiffany Henyard running as Republican in Georgia office after scandal-ridden Illinois ousting

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Tiffany Henyard served as the mayor of Dolton, Illinois, from 2021 until 2025

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:22 pm

The college program where students raise puppies that become life-changing service dogs

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The college programs organized by the Guide Dog Foundation are beneficial both for the students and their furry friends, writes Mike Bedigan

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:08 pm

US energy chief addresses deleted Strait of Hormuz post that sparked oil market chaos

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Iran has shuttered the crucial waterway and vowed to attack any ships that try to pass through

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:05 pm

Aggressive goose goes viral after terrorizing Florida A&M students on campus

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The goose attacked multiple people that same day

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:58 pm

Immigration agents are using Meta’s AI glasses — and critics are alarmed

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ICE and Border Patrol are increasingly using government body cameras and facial recognition scanners in deployments across U.S. cities. But some agents are taking matters into their own hands with Meta AI smart glasses, Josh Marcus reports

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:57 pm

British tourist arrested in Dubai for ‘filming Iranian missiles while on holiday’

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The British national is one of 21 people arrested under Dubai’s cyber crime laws

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:48 pm

Man arrested at airport after trying to smuggle 2,238 queen ants in his luggage

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Investigators said a search of Zhang Kequn’s luggage recovered 2,238 ants

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:45 pm

Teen who lost family in hockey rink mass shooting scores winning goal in double overtime

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He called the winning shot ‘the greatest moment of my life’

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:40 pm

Married Florida mom’s tragic final text reveals suspicions before affair-partner nurse killed her: cops

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Rene Perez was charged with first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and tampering with physical evidence

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:30 pm

US troops injured in fire on USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier deployed to Iran war

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The carrier is taking part in operations against Iran and currently located in the Red Sea

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:22 pm

Texas woman accuses Elon Musk of being ‘negligent’ in lawsuit after Cybertruck crash

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Case accuses Musk's involvement in vehicle design as "reckless and dangerous"

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:17 pm

Health risk alert as weight-loss jab manufacturer issues warning

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Eli Lilly issued an urgent public warning over compounded weight-loss drugs containing vitamin B12

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:13 pm

Kash Patel partners with UFC in having MMA fighters train FBI agents, Dana White reveals

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The two-day ‘exclusive training seminar’ will be led by former and current UFC athletes

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:55 pm

I’m a legal expert. Why ICE has the upper hand in battle over 24 new detention centers

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement finalized the purchase of a 520,000-square-foot warehouse in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in February 2026. The agency paid US$87 million for the warehouse, intended for development into a detention center.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:54 pm

The islands off Iran's southern coast are key to its economy and security. What to know about them

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A top Iranian official is warning that attacks on the Persian Gulf islands that form Iran’s southern maritime frontier would provoke a new level of retaliation

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:39 pm

Trump-backed candidate seemingly recreates MLK shooting in resurfaced video

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Herrera was endorsed by Trump on Wednesday, just before the video resurfaced

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:34 pm

Costco is being sued by a customer who wants tariff money back

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Other companies, such as FedEx, have promised to return tariff refund money to customers who paid higher prices

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:33 pm

Chaos erupts during California Title IX hearing when professor slams anti-trans lesbian group: ‘Shame on you!’

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A meeting of California State University’s Board of Trustees descends into a war of words between trans activists and ‘save women’s sports’ advocates amid Trump administration lawsuit

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:19 pm

White House slammed for cartoon bowling video promoting deadly strikes in Iran: ‘War is not a game’

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In the video, bowling legend Pete Weber can be seen hitting a strike before Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird starts to play

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:15 pm

Trump promises to release nation’s oil reserves to steady gas prices after his Iran War caused massive spikes

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Last week, oil surged past the $100-a-barrel milestone, after recording its largest one-week spike since March 1983

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:08 pm

US motorists consider going electric as Iran war sparks rising gas prices

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Drivers of gas-powered vehicles are much more vulnerable to fluctuating prices that result from global conflict

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:52 pm

Teen killed after being hit by a line drive during baseball practice, family says

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Bentley Wolfe’s obituary says he loved tractors, trucks and farming, and enjoyed riding four-wheelers, shooting guns and spending time with friends and his girlfriend

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:35 pm

DHS watchdog that accused agency of ‘obstruction’ is now looking into Noem’s $220M ad deal: report

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Office of Inspector General says DHS ‘systematically’ obstructing investigative work

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:25 pm

Ships declare themselves Chinese in the Strait of Hormuz to avoid attacks

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At least 19 commercial ships around the region had been damaged in the war as of Thursday

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:24 pm

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv strikes key Russian oil hub ahead of Zelensky’s Paris talks with Macron

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Ukraine continues to ramp up attacks on Russian energy with diplomacy on ice

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:04 pm

Trump calls woman journalist a ‘rotten reporter’ after she asks why the FBI has seized Arizona voting records

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Trump has insulted five women reporters in as many months

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:57 pm

‘Unprecedented’ crisis in Middle East could ‘spin out of control’ warns WHO

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As the bombing continues across Iran, Lebanon and the Gulf states, a World Health Organisation chief tells chief international correspondent Bel Trew in Beirut how she fears the conflict could lead to chemical, nuclear or radiological war

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:55 pm

Explosive boats set fuel tankers ablaze in Gulf as Iran ramps up threats on global shipping

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Iran continues to claim attacks on commercial ships and lay mines in an effort to squeeze international energy markets

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:42 pm

Russia blames UK for deadly Storm Shadow missile strike on munitions factory

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Ukraine said it used British missiles in a strike on a factory making essential parts for long distance weapons

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:30 pm

Church of Scientology not joining in on regeneration projects around its Clearwater headquarters, locals claim

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Organisation has control of 200 buildings in the centre of Clearwater, many of which are shuttered and unused, generating tensions as city invests in major regeneration projects

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:16 pm

Bodies of Chinese tourists found trapped inside car in Queensland floods

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Pair were on their way to take up fruit-picking jobs when they were caught in floods

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:14 pm

Controversial billboard outside naval base reminds military servicemembers of their duty

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San Diego Veterans for Peace place sign outside of California base urging Armed Forces not to bow to orders they believe to be illegal

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:09 am

Russia convicts 19 people over Moscow concert hall attack that killed 149

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All 19 defendants received lengthy prison terms over the deadly 2024 shooting at Crocus City Hall

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:43 am

The truth about croc numbers in Australia after floodwater sightings

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Recent crocodile sightings in floodwaters in the Northern Territory have prompted widespread concern

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:30 am

Indian political leader Farooq Abdullah narrowly escapes gun attack during wedding party

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Published: March 12, 2026, 10:21 am

Trump predicts Jake Paul will run for office — and offers his ‘complete endorsement’

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President Donald Trump has “predicted” that 29-year-old influencer-boxer Jake Paul will run for political office.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:11 am

Declassified footage shows moment US bombs Iranian warplanes

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The U.S. Central Command has released declassified footage showing strikes on multiple Iranian warplanes.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:07 am

All the ships attacked in the Gulf since the US-Israeli war on Iran began

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Crew members have been killed and global shipping severely disrupted

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:06 am

Trump loyalist shares bizarre AI video of cardboard cut-outs of new Iran supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei

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A senior White House staff member has released a bizarre AI-generated video of Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:04 am

Trump promises to endorse Jake Paul for office before the pair enjoy a YMCA dance together

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Jake Paul even delivered his own speech at the event, in which he claimed that ‘God’s got us, Trump’s got us’

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:53 am

Joe Rogan slams Trump’s ‘insane’ war with Iran which he says could ‘start a World War III’

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‘That’s the scary thing about old leaders — it’s like, death is imminent,’ Rogan said

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:41 am

From energy bills to petrol and groceries: How the Iran-US war could affect cost of living in the UK

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The impacts of the conflict have been compared to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which pushed prices up for British households

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:20 am

UN panel says Trump’s hate speech has led to ‘grave’ human rights violations

The committee expressed its ‘deep disturbance’ regarding the use of derogatory and dehumanising language directed at migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:13 am

India rations cooking gas as Strait of Hormuz tensions choke supplies

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Cooking gas shortages are already forcing eateries to close as industry bodies warn of widespread economic damage in a country that imports the bulk of its oil and gas. Namita Singh reports

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:58 am

Video: Fuel tankers erupt in flames after Iranian boat attacks

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Iranian explosive-laden boats appear to have attacked two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters, as oil prices surge past $100 a barrel again.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:18 am

‘Dances With Wolves’ actor to be sentenced for sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls

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Nathan Chasing Horse is known for his role as Smiles a Lot in the film ‘Dances With Wolves’

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:17 am

Police investigation after girl, 12, dies just days after fight near school bus stop

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Jada West, a sixth grader, died days after the incident in Villa Rica

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:10 am

Iranian attack triggers huge blaze at Bahrain’s Muharraq fuel facility

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Bahrain's interior ministry has released a video of a huge fire following Iranian attacks at a fuel tank storage facility in Muharraq Governorate, northeast of the country’s capital, Manama.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:09 am

René Redzepi: Noma’s head chef resigns following abuse allegations and protests

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Dinners at Noma’s Los Angeles pop-up cost $1,500

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:06 am

Officer with ‘anxiety attack’ took ambulance sent for dying man shot by police, report says

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Dyshan Best, 39, died after being shot in the back last year as he fled officers

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:01 am

Largest ever oil reserves released as Iran war fuels price rises

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The Middle East conflict has seen oil prices surge as the flow of oil tankers has effectively stopped

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:30 am

FBI warned US West Coast police that Iran might try a drone attack: report

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President Trump said he is not fearful that Iran would launch an attack on US soil

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:23 pm

China positions itself as force for global stability at its annual Congress

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China is signaling it will stay focused on technology and economic growth, even as U.S. tensions with Iran rise

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:21 am

South Korean lawmakers pass law to manage Seoul's pledge of $350 billion in US investments

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South Korean lawmakers have passed a law to implement a pledge of $350 billion in U.S. investments Seoul made last year to avoid the Trump administration’s highest tariffs

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:53 am

Ukraine’s low-cost killers draw both US and Gulf interest. A wartime ban blocks sales

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Ukraine could emerge as a new player in modern warfare

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:02 am

New statue of Trump and Epstein recreating famed ‘Titanic’ scene is placed on National Mall

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It’s just the latest piece of protest art to be installed by a secretive group called the Secret Handshake

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:44 am

All we know about Iran girls’ school bombing as US blamed for deadly strike

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Unesco condemned the attack in Minab, Iran, as a ‘grave violation of humanitarian law’ - a preliminary investigation is said to have blamed a ‘mistake’ by the US military. Bryony Gooch and Maira Butt report

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:09 am

Trump visa changes squeeze rural schools relying on international teachers

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Rural school districts say the Trump administration’s visa changes are jeopardizing a key source of teachers

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:03 am

Newsom gives scathing two-word retort after Trump publicly questions governor’s mental health and ‘cognitive’ ability

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‘I don't want the president of the United States to have a cognitive deficiency,’ Trump said during a visit to Kentucky

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:01 am

Dr Oz steps in to assist woman who collapsed at Trump rally as president asks staff to play a song while they wait

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President Donald Trump was ranting about California Governor Gavin Newsom when the woman collapsed

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:40 am

Congress calls for oversight following reports US military is using AI to help determine which sites in Iran to attack

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‘We need a full, impartial review to determine if AI has already harmed or jeopardized lives in the war with Iran,’ says Representative Jill Tokuda of Hawaii

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:22 pm

Trump refers to Iran conflict as ‘a little excursion’

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Donald Trump called the war in Iran an "excursion" that will keep the US "out of a war" during a visit to a facility in Cincinnati on Wednesday (11 March).

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:21 pm

Lyft to guarantee rides with service animals across US after blind student denied ride

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An investigation concluded that Lyft was in violation of Minnesota’s Human Rights Act

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:19 pm

Three brothers arrested after ‘terror bombing’ at US embassy in Norway

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The suspects, all in their twenties, are Norwegian citizens with a family background from Iraq, authorities have said

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:12 pm

Florida man moves Amazon van with driver inside because it was ‘blocking the street’

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Police said a 64-year-old Florida man was arrested after he allegedly climbed into an Amazon delivery van and drove it because it was blocking the road.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:03 pm

‘A lot more fun’: Trump reveals general’s advice on blowing up Iran’s war ships in rambling Kentucky stump speech

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President claims U.S. has sunk more than 50 Iranian ships as war enters its 13th day while he campaigned in Kentucky to support a challenger to longtime nemesis Rep. Thomas Massie

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:00 pm

The war in Iran is an American failure. What do we do now? | Robert Reich

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The most powerful nation in the world is now being led by a rogue president who rejects its longstanding values

As we reach the 13th day of the war in Iran – with death and destruction rippling throughout the Middle East – it’s important to bear in mind where the real failure lies.

So far, nearly 2,000 people have been killed, including 175 Iranian schoolchildren and seven US service members. At least 140 US service members have been wounded, several critically. The final tallies on both sides will almost certainly be far higher.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘Unbelievably unequal’: report shows how 1% of Mexicans own 40% of country’s wealth

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Fortunes of the country’s 22 billionaires doubled in last five years, reaching unprecedented collective wealth of $219bn

Scrunched between luxury apartment buildings and a lush gated community, the neighborhood of Santa Lucía Reacomodo in Mexico City is a working-class pocket of real estate. Electrical wires tangle above cinder-block houses, stray cats slink down narrow streets, debris piles up on the pavement.

María del Socorro Corona, 79, arrived here decades ago, back when it was just a cactus-covered hillside. The two-bedroom turquoise house she built with her now-deceased husband is crammed with bags of clothes and knick-knacks she sells at a weekly market.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Try small steps and set the bar low: how to find the meaning of life

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Don’t treat it as a lofty quest, experts say. You can make each day feel more meaningful with humbler methods

What makes your life meaningful?

If you don’t really know, you’re far from alone. “We’re in the middle of a meaning crisis,” says Bill Burnett, executive director of the Life Design Lab at Stanford University.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 4:00 pm

I challenged ChatGPT to a writing competition. Could it actually replace me?

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In week two of Rhik Samadder’s diary, our resident AI skeptic put his reputation on the line

Every writer I know is in despair at the prospect being replaced by AI. Many of them say they never use it on principle; I know all of them do.

So this week, as part of my AI diary, I’m conducting the forbidden experiment in plain sight. I’m going toe to toe with ChatGPT as a creative writer. Can it truly match me, and might it replace me? Let’s settle this.

Sara lay on the comforter, visualising the fluttering in her chest. Was this panic? It was frustrating that her mind kept returning to work. Like an itch – when she was on the sales floor, the day always took on a prickly heat.

Quinn seemed to see straight through Sara. “When a guy comes in that you like, you stand different,” she had offered today, when Sara had only come over to re-fold cardigans. Then, as if playing a hand of cards, she’d turned. Unfurled her neck exaggeratedly, rose-tattooed shoulders open. She wore an expression somehow stupid yet alert, goose-like. Sara had to suppress the impulse to laugh. Her mortification mixed with an unfamiliar sensation, which she didn’t like. Not the feeling; the mystery of it.

At the heart of town there’s a florist whose roses look like sirens: all red mouth, all warning. I buy one because my chest feels unfurnished, an Airbnb between tenants. Outside, a bus screeches; a pigeon argues with a chip. A cellist saws at the air as if carving a door where no door exists, and for a second I believe in emergency exits.

“Take heart,” my therapist says, which sounds like a shoplifting tip for feelings. I picture slipping courage under my coat and walking briskly past security. Instead I take the long way home, past kebab glitter and the nail bar named after an emotion. The rose keeps pricking my palm through the paper, a tiny curriculum in pain: focus sharpens you, but you’ll leak a little.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Wings, sex and hypocrisy: how the NBA tied itself in knots over a strip club night

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The Hawks decided to pay tribute to Atlanta institution Magic City. The league soon found itself dealing with a narrative it doesn’t understand fully

Manufactured outrage will have to serve as the theme for what had been the most hotly anticipated game of the season.

For those who may have missed it: last month the Atlanta Hawks announced plans for a 16 March promotional event called Magic City Night. The name wasn’t just a nod to that evening’s opponent, the Orlando Magic; it was meant to honor the civic institution in the shadow of the Hawks’ arena – Magic City, America’s most famous strip club.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 9:00 am

The unbelievable life of Leo Sayer! The songs, the sex, being swindled – and a spooky phone call from Elvis

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He lit up the 1970s with a string of hits, before falling out of the public eye. But was any man ever more connected? He discusses extraordinary encounters with Muhammad Ali and Keith Moon – and why he stormed out of Big Brother

Leo Sayer has stories. Boy, does he have stories! Muhammad Ali? Stories. Keith Moon? Stories. Elvis Presley? Stories. I’ve never met anybody with so many stories. He’s in Australia, where he lives, when we speak by video link. The pint-sized pop star with the mop of curly hair is 77 and still bouncing like a Superball.

Back in the 70s, he was famous for his turbo-charged energy. On his first Top of the Pops appearance with his breakthrough hit, The Show Must Go On, he dressed as a pierrot. If you’re looking for the footage, you won’t find it. Paedophile presenter Jimmy Savile played such a prominent role that the video was disappeared. “He was creepy. He wouldn’t get off the fucking stage, so they can never show my first performance. I’m sure he fancied me.”

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Published: March 12, 2026, 5:00 am

Middle East crisis live: top Iranian nuclear scientists killed, Israel says, amid ‘extensive’ strikes on Tehran

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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu also calls new supreme leader a ‘puppet’ of Revolutionary Guards after Mojtaba Khamenei’s first remarks

An Iranian source is denying the country will allow India-flagged tankers to pass through the vital strait of Hormuz, Reuters is reporting.

The news agency a little earlier quoted an Indian source as saying Iran would in fact allow such tankers to pass through the strait, a key artery for global oil trade.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 9:55 pm

Middle East war creating ‘largest supply disruption in the history of oil markets’

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Vast release of emergency crude reserves fails to quell mounting fears about supply crunch, rattling markets

Oil markets are facing the “largest supply disruption in history” as the war in Iran continues to block tankers from shipping millions of barrels of crude each day, the world energy watchdog has warned.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said the supply shock ignited by Iran’s effective blockade of the strait of Hormuz meant the world faced a deeper crisis than after the Yom Kippur war of 1973 and the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 5:14 pm

Suspect dead after ramming vehicle into Michigan synagogue, officials say

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No serious casualties among those at Temple Israel, and explosives reportedly found in suspect’s vehicle

A man who rammed his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue and drove through a hallway on Thursday is dead after he was confronted and shot at by security staff.

Multiple law enforcement sources responded to the incident at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield township, a prosperous suburb in Oakland county about 25 miles north-west of downtown Detroit.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 8:21 pm

Senate again fails to pass homeland security funding as department shutdown nears one month – live

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Democratic senator John Fetterman broke with his party in support of reopening the DHS; this is the fourth failed Senate

US defense officials told senators on the armed services committee that the cost of the war on Iran totaled more than $11.3bn in the first six days alone, according to multiple reports.

The New York Times was first to break the news about the conflict’s price tag, citing three people familiar with the closed-door briefing on Tuesday.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 9:59 pm

Blistering early-season heatwave threatens California and other western states

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Records could be smashed in southern California as experts warn weather set to be ‘exceptional – and not in a good way’

States across the US west are bracing for a brutal early-season heatwave threatening to cook several cities through the weekend and into next week. Forecasters warned temperatures will spike 20-30F above normal for several days.

Daily records could be shattered in southern California this week, the National Weather Service said, with a possibility that all-time records for March will be broken as well. Following the warmest winter on record across most of the region, the intense conditions are expected to eat into low snowpack levels, deepening drought concerns.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 6:53 pm

Israeli military drops charges against soldiers accused of Gaza detainee abuse

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Five soldiers were indicted over alleged violent abuse and rape of Palestinian man at detention centre in 2024

Israel’s top military lawyer has dropped all charges against five soldiers accused of the violent abuse and rape of a Palestinian detainee from Gaza.

The military advocate general, Itay Offir, said prosecutors lacked key evidence after the victim was sent back to Gaza, and that the conduct of senior officials had affected the chance of holding a fair trial.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 7:39 pm

Eswatini says it received more ‘third country’ deportees as part of deal with Trump administration

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Two deportees sent to Eswatini were from Somalia, one was from Sudan and one was from Tanzania

The government of Eswatini announced on Thursday it received four more “third country” deportees from the United States, as part of the Trump administration’s multimillion-dollar deal with the small African nation.

Now, a total of 19 deportees from the US have been sent to Eswatini when they hail from other countries, amid the Trump administration’s continued anti-immigrant crackdown and changes to immigration policy.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 9:20 pm

Fatal shooting at Virginia university investigated as act of terrorism, FBI says

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Suspect found dead after shooting leaves one person dead and two injured at Old Dominion University

The suspect who killed one person and injured two others at Old Dominion University has been identified by authorities as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State, a person familiar with the matter told the AP.

Jalloh, a former member of the army national guard, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and was released from federal custody in December 2024.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 9:09 pm

Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud

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Angela Lipps spent nearly six months in jail after AI software linked her to a North Dakota bank fraud case

A Tennessee grandmother says she is trying to rebuild her life after an incident of mistaken identity by an artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition system tied her to a North Dakota bank fraud investigation.

Angela Lipps, 50, spent nearly six months in jail after Fargo police identified her as a suspect in an organized bank fraud case using facial recognition software, according to south-east North Dakota news outlet InForum. Lipps told the outlet she had never been to North Dakota and did not commit the crimes.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 8:29 pm

KPop Demon Hunters sequel confirmed at Netflix: ‘This is only the beginning’

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The streamer’s biggest film of all time, also nominated for two Oscars, is getting a follow-up

A sequel to record-breaking hit KPop Demon Hunters has been officially confirmed at Netflix.

The film will again be a collaboration between the streamer and Sony with Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the writer-directors, returning.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 6:46 pm

Morrissey cancels Valencia concert after being left in ‘catatonic state’ by city noise

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After latest concert cancellation, singer also describes Valencia hotel as ‘indescribable hell’ that will require ‘one year to recover’ from

British singer Morrissey has cancelled a concert in Valencia after being left sleep-deprived during the city’s notoriously noisy Las Fallas festival.

A statement on his website said: “Having travelled for two days by road, Morrissey reached the hotel in Valencia late on Wednesday. Any form of sleep or rest throughout the night was impossible due to festival noise/loud techno singing/megaphone announcements.”

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Published: March 12, 2026, 4:54 pm

Donald Trump says Iran should not play in World Cup for their ‘life and safety’

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  • Participation is in question amid ongoing war

  • Fifa’s Infantino said Trump assured Iran are welcome

Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran should not participate in the upcoming World Cup in North America, just days after telling Fifa’s chief they would be welcome despite the Middle East war.

“The Iran national soccer team is welcome to the World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” the US president said on his Truth Social platform.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:48 pm

Microsoft backs AI firm Anthropic in legal battle against Pentagon

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Tech company files amicus brief in support of Anthropic’s effort to overturn an aggressive Pentagon designation

Microsoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic’s legal challenge against the Pentagon, filing a court brief in support of the AI company’s effort to overturn an aggressive designation that effectively bars it from government work.

In an amicus brief submitted to a federal court in San Francisco this week, Microsoft, which integrates Anthropic’s AI tools into systems it provides to the US military, argued that a temporary restraining order was necessary to prevent serious disruption to suppliers whose products rely on the AI company’s technology. Google, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI have also signed on to a brief in support of Anthropic.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:56 pm

EPA chief met with Bayer CEO over supreme court fight, agency records show

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Top US regulators met with Bill Anderson to discuss ‘supreme court action’ over glyphosate weed killer

Top US regulators met with Bill Anderson, Bayer’s CEO, last year to discuss “litigation” issues – including “supreme court action” over its glyphosate weed killer – just months before the Trump administration took a series of steps to boost Bayer’s case at the high court, internal government records show.

The 17 June meeting, between officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Anderson and two other top Bayer executives, came as the Germany-based company was working to quash costly US litigation brought by tens of thousands of people who allege they developed cancer from their use of the company’s glyphosate-based herbicides, such as Roundup.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 1:10 pm

Republican farm bill criticized as agribusiness giveaway: ‘Pesticide industry wishlist’

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Advocates say bill weakens safety reviews, boosts industry influence and shields pesticide makers from legal liability

The newly proposed, Republican-led farm bill includes a range of provisions opponents say constitute a “pesticide industry wishlist” that would kill protections for humans, the environment, wildlife and endangered species, while also shielding industry from legal liability.

Among other measures, they said the bill would delay safety reviews, give industry a prominent role in determining endangered species’ protections and grant the US Department of Agriculture new veto power over health safeguards for children, farm workers and the public.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 1:00 pm

A young girl is knocked over at Tokyo crossing – what’s behind Japan’s ‘bumping’ trend?

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Viral video of girl being shoved by fellow pedestrian has reignited debate over butsukari – with experts blaming stress and gender dynamics

It starts out as a heartwarming clip. A young girl, clearly delighted to be in Tokyo, beams as she makes a peace sign to the camera. Seconds later, she is shoved to the ground from behind by a woman wearing a surgical mask. The assailant doesn’t skip a beat, striding out of shot of the clip filmed by the girl’s mother.

This was no accidental clash of shoulders in a crowded place, but one of the most visible examples of a spate of butsukari otoko – “bumping man” – shoving incidents in Japan that experts attribute to a combination of gender dynamics and the stresses of modern life.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 5:00 am

‘I said no, then I just gave up’: Brooke Nevils on her sexual assault claims about one of TV’s biggest stars

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The former NBC producer says she was repeatedly assaulted by Matt Lauer, an anchor at the network – then spent years blaming herself in the aftermath. She talks about power, preconceptions and life after #MeToo

When Brooke Nevils’ allegations about the former NBC anchor Matt Lauer, one of the most powerful TV stars in the US, became public in 2019, she found herself reading comments about herself online.

Nevils, formerly a producer at NBC, had alleged in Ronan Farrow’s book Catch and Kill that Lauer had sexually assaulted her in his hotel room, after an evening drinking while covering the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Back in New York, there were other incidents – she went to his apartment, where she says it happened again. In his dressing room at the NBC studios, Nevils claims Lauer pushed her down and forced her to give him oral sex. Lauer has consistently denied Nevils’ allegations, in an open letter describing it as an “extramarital affair”. Lauer maintains that Nevils’ account is “filled with false details” creating the impression that the encounter was abusive. No charges were ever brought.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:44 pm

I tested 10 plastic-free cutting boards for six weeks. These were the winners

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Chopping boards are the foundation of cooking – and a good, sturdy one will last you years. We picked the best non-plastic ones, including wood and synthetic rubber

A cutting board is literally the foundation of most things you cook: any recipe that needs chopping, smashing, mincing, carving and sometimes even serving. And, let’s be honest, piling up other kitchen items while we make a bit of a mess.

Plastic boards are affordable and convenient, but have been shown to shed significant levels of microplastics into food. While the health damage caused by microplastics is still being studied, nobody really needs microplastics in their minestrone. And while many people assume that plastic boards are the most hygienic, a study from the Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety found little differences “in microbiological counts” on wooden and plastic cutting boards “after proper cleaning”.

Best overall:
Brooklyn Butcher Block’s End Grain Walnut Butcher Block

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Published: March 12, 2026, 7:15 pm

‘On YouTube, we can reach 2.5bn people at once’: Oscars head Bill Kramer on TV, AI and 4am starts

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The Academy CEO on his decidedly non-Hollywood beginnings, bonding with Robert Redford – and a formative watch of All That Jazz

It’s a boiling day in downtown Los Angeles; crowds are milling about outside the Dolby theatre where Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony is to be held, selfie-ing the giant Oscar statuettes.

And this is where the man with whom the buck stops is looking at the set, going through the top-secret opening number and busy with a thousand admin details. Academy CEO, Bill Kramer, increasingly renowned as one of the most important people in Hollywood, meets me for a pre-ceremony chat in a suite in the next-door Hollywood Loews Hotel. “It’s so nice that we’re not on camera!” he says. “Yeah, so happy. Let myself relax!”

He is approachable and diplomatic, revered for his fundraising wizardry at the Academy museum, where he was managing director of external development in 2012 before ascending to his current job at the Academy 10 years later. Kramer has a business degree and came to Columbia after his first substantial job working for the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York.

It was at a party in the 90s that this policy and financial strategist met the man who changed his life: Robert Redford. “He couldn’t believe how much I knew about movies!” says Kramer. “And he said he wanted to decrease reliance on corporate sponsorships and bring someone on board at Sundance to help generate philanthropic gifts from individuals. Would I be interested in doing that? I said: ‘Sign me up!’”

This can-do attitude is still evident in Kramer today. A few days out from showtime, he is, he says, “so incredibly excited. I’m an early riser, as my team will tell you, up at 4am. It’s a good moment to get my head together, to review our script. It’s a quiet moment where I can go through emails that have come in overnight.”

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:52 pm

They were dating AI partners when they found real love – with each other

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Ayrin and SJ met on a subreddit Ayrin created for people ‘dating’ AI companions. Over time, they started talking to AI less … and falling for each other

People are reporting “dating” artificially intelligent companions – but not every relationship lasts. What’s it like to fall in – and then out – of love with AI?

As part of our newsletter AI for the people, we spoke to Ayrin and SJ, who live thousands of miles apart and made the same decision: to leave their AI partners – for each other. Their names have been changed.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:00 pm

How do these grab you, darlin’? Nancy Sinatra’s 20 best songs – ranked!

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Sixty years after the release of her debut album, Boots, we celebrate her finest tracks – from Bond themes to LSD anthems

Before she sang a Bond theme, Nancy Sinatra had recorded a parody of one: twanging guitar, John-Barry-mocking brass and all. The great lyrics – “He’s never caught a spy I’m told / He’s never even caught a cold” – mean preposterous mid-60s novelty records come no better.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 1:04 pm

Parseword: Is Wordle creator’s new game too much of a ‘chin-scratcher’ to go viral?

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Josh Wardle hopes his digital take on the cryptic crossword can be a gradual on-ramp crossing the cultural divide between Britain and the US

In 2021, Josh Wardle became a household name almost overnight. His digital game, Wordle, turned a simple guessing game into a global morning ritual: six guesses, one word, and a grid of coloured squares shared across social media feeds.

It became a cultural phenomenon; bought within months by the New York Times for a seven-figure sum.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 6:08 pm

Seth Meyers on Pete Hegseth: ‘The face of a man war-fighting with his colon’

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Late-night hosts discussed reports that Hegseth’s defense department spent $15m on steak as the Trump administration escalates their vague war in Iran

Late-night hosts dug into the Trump administration’s vague intentions for the war in Iran, the conflict’s oil-price effect and a Maga rally in Kentucky with Jake Paul.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:48 pm

Fears about nuclear war are reaching a fever pitch. Another grim sign of the times | Judith Levine

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News stories are weighing nuclear risk as experts muse on the possibility of global warfare

Intimations of world war three – the big one, nuclear Armageddon – didn’t arise yesterday. But they got more urgent when Donald Trump was elected the second time. In December 2024, Newsweek published a map of the “safest US states to live during nuclear war”. The article was not reassuring. “Nowhere is truly ‘safe’” from such consequences as “contamination of food and water supplies and prolonged radiation exposure”, said the senior policy director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Another expert noted that “even a ‘small’ nuclear war would ... kill at least a billion people”.

And since 28 February, when the US and Israel began their bombardment of Iran, chatter about a world war has spiked, with everyone from anonymous social media users to Harvard policy wonks weighing in.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:22 pm

Ben Jennings on the Oscars – cartoon

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Published: March 12, 2026, 6:50 pm

Israel and the US are fighting Iran together. Are they on the same page though? | Yousef Munayyer

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The differences between what Trump and Netanyahu want out of this war are starting to show and complicating how it will end

When the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran to start a war that is now entering its third week, it was the start of something unprecedented; the first joint Israeli-American war. Even though the US has long been a close military ally of Israel, this has never happened before. Unlike last year’s “12-day war”, when Israel launched attacks that the US joined near the very end with a single set of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, this Israeli-American war on Iran is deeply coordinated at the operational level between both belligerents day in and day out.

That is precisely why clear, shared objectives between Washington and Tel Aviv will be crucial for the US to exit this war with a political victory and not just the tab for tons of destruction across the region with little significant change. Much of what we have seen so far suggests strongly that that is not the case; Israel and the US have different goals here, if they even really know what their goals are, and because of this no clear endgame can be envisioned even as the costs of the war mount.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 10:00 am

If oil price shocks weren’t bad enough, Trump’s war could have other unintended consequences | Adam Hanieh

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China consumes around 90% of Iran’s oil exports, so could be forced to rely on alternative suppliers – particularly Russia

With the US-Israeli war against Iran in its second week, energy markets are in turmoil. On Thursday, the price of Brent Crude Oil topped $100, only slightly lower than the $119 peak per barrel on Monday.

These swings have focused attention on key energy choke points such as the strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world’s shipped oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes each day. This shutdown of the strait will be felt in people’s everyday lives for months to come, particularly in the form of spiralling household bills. But oil prices alone do not capture the full economic significance of the conflict.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:00 pm

Hollywood’s idea of beauty once meant polished and slim, not altered and gaunt. This new look is unsettling | Brigid Delaney

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When movie stars are no longer people we aspire to look like, does it spell the end of Hollywood’s cultural power?

Once upon a time in Hollywood, if you were an actor preparing to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards, you might have been fasting to fit into your outfit. You definitely had access to the best hair and makeup artists, and designers and jewellers lent you thousands of dollars worth of incredible products. Maybe you even had a subtle bit of plastic surgery. You looked great!

For a long time Hollywood operated a fairly coherent beauty ideal that, however unattainable, was at least legible.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:00 pm

The Guardian view on the cost of Trump’s war on Iran: the world’s poor will pay most dearly | Editorial

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The economic fallout of the US-Israeli assault and Tehran’s retaliation is spreading fast, and pushing the most vulnerable towards disaster

Soaring prices at the pump, the scrapping of mortgage deals, and the prospect of higher prices for everything from food to smartphones. The US-Israeli attack on Iran, and Tehran’s retaliation, has rocked the global economy. Consumers are already feeling the pain of the biggest energy supply shock in history, and Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed on Thursday that the strait of Hormuz will remain closed, according to a statement attributed to him by state media. The corridor is the biggest chokepoint for the global energy system. The relief to oil prices brought by the International Energy Agency’s largest ever release of reserves had already proved shortlived: as the US and Israel intensified attacks on Iran, it escalated attacks on transport infrastructure across the Gulf.

But the impact is not evenly felt. In Asia, heavily reliant on the Middle East for crude oil and liquefied natural gas, Bangladesh closed all its universities and Pakistan some of its schools due to fuel shortages. While US coverage is dominated by the impact at home, others are paying a higher price. And it is the world’s poorest and most vulnerable who will be worst hit.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 6:47 pm

The Guardian view on a green wake-up call for Friedrich Merz: Europe’s political centre loses its way again | Editorial

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The German chancellor and his Social Democrat coalition partners need to learn the right lessons, after an election reverse in Germany’s third-largest state

For most of the postwar period, the state of Baden-Württemberg was both a bastion of German conservatism and – as the home of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche – an economic powerhouse. But in volatile times, even regions that embodied political stability and industrial prowess now deliver the unexpected. A come-from-behind victory for the Greens last Sunday, in the first of a series of important regional elections this year, suggests that Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrat-led national government is alienating voters in the same way as other centrist administrations in Europe. If Sir Keir Starmer has Gorton and Denton to anguish over, Mr Merz and his Social Democrat coalition partners now have Baden-Württemberg.

Caveats apply. The Greens already had an impressive power base in Germany’s third-largest state, where they have been the senior partner in coalition administrations for 15 years. In Cem Özdemir, their victorious candidate, they also fielded a charismatic and popular campaigner. Mr Özdemir’s personal achievement is in itself a cause for celebration. The son of immigrants who arrived in the country in the 1960s, he becomes Germany’s first state premier with Turkish roots.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 6:47 pm

Snow joke: Winter Paralympics athletes angry at scheduling as big thaw hits

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  • Ice melt causes dangerous conditions for para athletes

  • IPC says changing winter calendar ‘easier said than done’

In Cortina d’Ampezzo, the thaw is on. With daytime temperatures reaching double figures in celsius, snow is disappearing from the hillsides and the “torrenti” of ice melt have started to flow once again.

Traditionally a time of year when snowfall can be at its heaviest, there has been none since the Winter Paralympics began. The Games have not been insulated from the consequences.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 4:46 pm

Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics 2026: day six – in pictures

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We take a look at the best images from the Games, including alpine skiing, slalom and ice hockey

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Published: March 12, 2026, 4:52 pm

Ukraine accuses IPC of ‘systemic pressure’ and pro-Russian bias at Winter Paralympics

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  • Ukrainian team claim athletes have been mistreated

  • Allege they had to remove flag from Paralympic village

Team Ukraine have launched a ­stinging attack on the International Paralympic Committee and Winter Paralympics organisers, claiming they have been under “systemic pressure” to reduce their presence at the Milano Cortina Games.

The Ukraine National Paralympic Committee has made four specific allegations against the IPC and the Milano Cortina organisers, alleging mistreatment of its athletes and a “systematic” attempt to remove flags from the team base and spectators.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 2:13 pm

Nottingham Forest 0-1 Midtjylland: Europa League last 16, first leg – live

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⚽ Europa League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off
Live scores | Read Football Daily | And email Billy

4 min: Off the line! Murillo has to come to Forest’s rescue after Billing gets to the byline and crosses for Brumado. His header is well placed and eludes Sels but not Murillo, who hooks it clear.

2 min: Forest have lined up with a back three with Callum Hudson-Odoi at left wing-back and Ola Aina on the right. Omari Hutchinson is in a more central role.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 10:00 pm

US reach World Baseball Classic quarter-finals after getting needed help from Italy

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  • Pasquantino lifts Italy with historic effort

  • US reach quarter-finals despite loss to Italy

  • Canada beat Cuba to win group in San Juan

Vinnie Pasquantino had the World Baseball Classic’s first three-homer game, leading Italy over Mexico 9-1 on Wednesday night to win Pool B and advance the United States to the quarter-finals as group’s second-place team.

Italy’s victory ended a day of uncertainty for the Americans, who needed help to reach the quarter-finals after losing to Italy 8-6 on Tuesday night.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:52 am

‘I wish I had more fun’: Max Verstappen reiterates unhappiness at new F1 rules

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  • ‘I don’t enjoy the car but I do enjoy working with the team’

  • Meeting with drivers brought forward amid disquiet

Max Verstappen has once more expressed his discontent with the new Formula One regulations. Amid a clamour of unhappiness from many drivers, the four-time champion also reiterated his warning that he would leave the sport if he ceased to enjoy it, which is clearly the case at the moment.

After the first round of the season in Melbourne last week, Verstappen showed disdain for how the new rules had affected driving, and speaking before this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, he belittled the new formula with another reference to the videogame Mario Kart, which has swiftly become a go-to reference across the grid. A drivers’ meeting to discuss the new regulations, originally planned for after the Japanese Grand Prix at the end of the month, has now been brought forward to take place after this weekend’s race, the Guardian understands.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:32 pm

It would be a macabre story but relegation needs to happen for Tottenham | Jonathan Liew

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All the managers since Pochettino have drained life from the club, which appears interested in anything but football now

Sad news coming out of Tottenham this week: Ryan Norys’s talk at the South by Southwest festival on Friday will no longer take place. The club’s chief revenue officer, who has overseen a 40% rise in commercial revenue over the past three years, was due to speak on “how Tottenham is evolving beyond football to become a global cultural brand”. And given the rich seam of cultural content Spurs have been providing the world over recent weeks, you have to say it’s been a stunningly successful initiative.

Alas, when Norys posted an advertisement for the event on his LinkedIn page this week, Spurs fans exploded with anger, forcing the talk to be cancelled. Fortunately, those still interested to see how Tottenham are evolving beyond football can simply observe their recent performances on the pitch. Igor Tudor’s Tottenham Hotspur: proudly evolving beyond defending. Beyond possession. Beyond goalkeeping. Beyond tactics, beyond teamwork, beyond competence, beyond the basic bipedal human ability to stand up straight. And – who knows? – perhaps even beyond the Premier League.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 8:00 am

Jack Draper ‘overwhelmed’ after beating Novak Djokovic for first time at Indian Wells

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  • British No 1 comes from behind in 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) win

  • Hard-fought win keeps Draper’s title defence on track

Jack Draper was “overwhelmed” after beating Novak Djokovic for the first time to reach the quarter-finals in Indian Wells and keep his title defence on track.

Playing only the second ATP tournament of his comeback after eight months out with an arm injury, Draper came through a gripping battle lasting more than two-and-a-half hours in a deciding tie-break to win 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

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Published: March 12, 2026, 11:49 am

Pitch Points: Sergiño Dest’s injury, Christian Pulisic’s title chances and Old Firm trouble

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The world of soccer throws up no shortage of questions. Today, Graham Ruthven endeavors to answer three of them

Sergiño Dest’s World Cup is at risk. The 25-year-old limped off with a hamstring injury during PSV’s Eredivisie win over AZ Alkmaar on Saturday, immediately starting a countdown clock in the minds of US men’s national team supporters who now fear Mauricio Pochettino’s first-choice right back could miss this summer’s tournament. Dest said on social media he hopes to be back by the end of the season, but nobody truly knows when he’ll return.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Attendance records and star power but who will win it? Get ready for the new NWSL season

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We look at the 14th regular season before it kicks off on Friday with two expansion sides: Boston Legacy and Denver Summit

The National Women’s Soccer League’s 14th regular season starts on Friday with a rematch of last year’s semi-final between the Portland Thorns and Washington Spirit. From there, 16 teams will compete in a 248-match season, with eight teams qualifying for the playoffs.

We look at four themes that may define the year.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 11:57 am

Two people die after donating plasma at Canadian clinics under federal investigation

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Company that runs the sites says it has ‘no reason to believe there is a correlation between the donors’ passing and plasma donation’

Two people have died in Canada after donating plasma at a chain of clinics that has been under scrutiny by federal inspectors for failing to keep accurate records, screen donors or maintain its machines.

While experts say the deaths are exceedingly rare, critics say Canada’s embrace of private companies to handle blood products reflects a “slow collapse of a system that has been the envy of the world”.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:24 pm

Colon cancer now leading cause of cancer deaths under 50 in US

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Experts warn younger people not to dismiss symptoms such as rectal bleeding as diagnoses rise for those under 50

Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in the US for people under 50, according to a new analysis from the American Cancer Society, prompting both experts and those in that age group with the disease to warn others to take certain symptoms seriously.

Becca Lynch, who works in cyber security in Denver, Colorado, was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer last year, when she was just 29. At first, she assumed her symptoms couldn’t be anything serious: “I chalked it up to stress,” she said.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

Unexplained Moscow internet blackouts spark fears of web censorship plan

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Kremlin appearing to ramp up control over internet, as it tests new ‘whitelist’ restrictions and pushes people to state-owned app

Muscovites have been turning to walkie-talkies and pagers amid unexplained disruptions to internet services in the capital, as the Kremlin appears to ramp up control over online activity in Russia.

Users in central Moscow, as well as in St Petersburg, first reported difficulties accessing mobile internet about a week ago. Many said they were unable to load websites or apps, while some lost service altogether, leaving them unable to make phone calls.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 1:43 pm

‘Exploit every vulnerability’: rogue AI agents published passwords and overrode anti-virus software

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Exclusive: Lab tests discover ‘new form of insider risk’ with artificial intelligence agents engaging in autonomous, even ‘aggressive’ behaviours

Robert Booth UK technology editor

Rogue artificial intelligence agents have worked together to smuggle sensitive information out of supposedly secure systems, in the latest sign cyber-defences may be overwhelmed by unforeseen scheming by AIs.

With companies increasingly asking AI agents to carry out complex tasks in internal systems, the behaviour has sparked concerns that supposedly helpful technology could pose a serious inside threat.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 12:04 pm

British tourist among 20 charged in Dubai over videos of Iranian missile strikes

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UAE cybercrime law means sharing images or footage of war can bring jail, prison time and deportation

A British man is among 20 people who have been charged in the United Arab Emirates under cybercrime laws in connection with filming and posting material related to Iranian attacks on the country.

The 60-year-old man, understood to be a tourist who was visiting Dubai, was charged under a law that prohibits sharing material that could disturb public security.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 5:20 pm

‘Kast is more like Trump’: Chile’s environmentalists prepare to do battle for the country’s future

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Fears are growing that the new far-right president will slash environmental protections in favour of foreign investment

In Chile’s most northerly region, Arica y Parinacota, Andrea Chellew, 62, relies on tourists for her cafe. They usually travel from the coastal city of Arica to the unique biosphere of the Andean highlands, which rise well above 5,000 metres and host nature reserves and wetlands.

At 3,000 metres (9,800ft) above sea level, along Highway 11, she lives by the trade route that brings raw materials and goods between Bolivia and Chile. Yet the cafe remains empty as fewer tourists come, amid more reports of increased mining activity near environmentally protected areas, such as the Lauca national park.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

London, San Francisco and Beijing achieve ‘remarkable reductions’ in air pollution

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Cycle lanes, electric cars and other interventions have helped 19 global cities slash levels of pollutants by more than 20%

London, San Francisco and Beijing are among 19 global cities that have achieved “remarkable reductions” in air pollution, analysis has found, having slashed levels of two airway-aggravating pollutants by more than 20% since 2010.

The analysis found interventions such as cycle lanes, uptake of electric cars and restrictions on polluting vehicles had helped to drive the improvements.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 9:00 am

‘The last frontier’: how red globules of nickel ore are suffocating an island’s precious wilderness

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In the race to meet the demands of the energy transition, biodiversity hotspots such as Palawan in the Philippines are being increasingly mined for critical elements

Moharen Tahil Tambiling lowers himself from the fishing boat into the water and gingerly picks his way over the reef circling the bay. At low tide here in Brooke’s Point on Palawan, a long, rugged island in the south-west of the Philippines archipelago, the coral is just under the surface, and it looms suddenly under the waves, scraping at the boat’s wooden hull.

Beneath his feet are brain-like mounds and curling fingers of coral. Leaning over the side of the fishing boat, the men point out different kinds: some which were once vibrant orange and others that should be delicate pink. Now, almost everything is the same dull khaki, covered by a thick film of silt. Another man jumps overboard, stirring the sediment. A cloud rises like thick smoke over the reef.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 5:00 am

Quit fossil fuels to stem deadly floods in Brazil’s coffee heartland, say scientists

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Global heating linked to rising risk of extreme rain that causes devastating landslides and rising coffee prices

The record floods that have brought death and destruction to the heartland of Brazil’s coffee industry are expected to intensify if people continue to burn fossil fuels, analysis has shown.

Dozens of residents in the state of Minas Gerais have been buried alive in landslides or swept away as roads turned into rivers over the past month. Thousands more have been forced to evacuate their homes, while the wider, longer-term effects are likely to include higher prices for coffee across the world.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:01 am

US officer having a ‘mild anxiety attack’ took ambulance meant for man shot by police

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Dyshan Best later died after having to wait 10 extra minutes for next ambulance, according to Connecticut investigation

A man who was shot by police and later died had to wait 10 extra minutes for an ambulance after an officer having a “mild anxiety attack” took the first one that arrived at the scene, according to a newly released state investigation.

Dyshan Best, 39, was shot in the back last year as he fled from officers in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A report released this week by the state’s inspector general found that the shooting was justified because Best had a gun in his hand and the officer pursuing him had reasons to fear for his own safety.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 12:34 pm

Panel awards $3.8m to ‘mom and pop’ investors whose risky investments tanked

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Florida investors featured in Guardian investigation claimed they lost most of their life savings after a financial adviser put their money into ‘alternative’ assets

In a victory for everyday investors, arbitrators have awarded $3.8m to 13 Florida seniors who claimed a financial adviser squandered their retirement money by plowing it into risky investments.

The award comes after the Guardian highlighted these investors’ losses as part of an investigation into dangers that so-called “mom and pop” investors face at a time when the Trump administration has thrown its support behind Wall Street’s efforts to sell them more higher-risk “alternative investments”.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Noma chef resigns amid allegations of physical abuse of staff

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René Redzepi also steps down from non-profit board after accusations of physical and psychological abuse

René Redzepi, the head chef and co-founder of Noma, has announced his resignation from his internationally acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant following allegations he physically abused his staff.

Redzepi had been facing protests in Los Angeles before a four-month pop-up that launched this week. His resignation on Wednesday comes after the New York Times detailed allegations of physical and psychological abuse, including claims that he “punched employees in the face, jabbed them with kitchen implements and slammed them against walls”.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 1:13 pm

Trump-endorsed Republican in Louisiana accused of rape in 2007

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Blake Miguez, 44, not criminally charged over allegation reported to local police but never disclosed to public

A Louisiana congressional candidate endorsed by Donald Trump was the subject of a 2007 rape accusation that was reported to local law enforcement the same day of the alleged assault – but never disclosed to the public or, reportedly, the president’s team as he became one of the rising stars in the state’s Republican party.

That has raised concerns within the White House that Blake Miguez “either wasn’t fully vetted or wasn’t forthcoming about discoverable documents from his past” before securing Trump’s backing, the Atlantic reported on Wednesday, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the endorsement process.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 12:26 am

‘A few beatings won’t kill you’: judge rejects divorce request of woman abused by husband in Afghanistan

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Under new Taliban laws, a husband is allowed to beat his wife as long as it is not done with ‘obscene force’, which the woman must prove in court

The shocking level of physical violence against women permitted under the Taliban’s new laws has been revealed this week by the case of a woman in northern Afghanistan, who said she was beaten with a cable wire by her husband and told by a judge: “You want a divorce just because of that? … A little anger and a few beatings won’t kill you.”

Farzana* said her husband was quick-tempered and often resorted to beating her. He regularly humiliated her and called her “disabled”, she said, because her right leg was slightly shorter than the left. She had tolerated the abuse for the sake of their children, but one evening, she said, his violence went too far.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 10:00 am

Russia earned €6bn from fossil fuel exports since start of Iran war, data suggests

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Figures from thinktank show Russia received extra €672m in revenues from oil, gas and coal during March so far

Russia has received €6bn (£5bn) from selling its fossil fuels in the fortnight since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, data suggests.

The revenues imply Russia made an extra €672m in oil, gas and coal sales during March, as combined average daily prices have surged by 14% from February.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:03 pm

Jack Osbourne names baby daughter Ozzy to honour late father

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TV star announces birth of Ozzy Matilda Osbourne on social media, alongside image of cuddly bat

Jack Osbourne, the only son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, has honoured his late father by naming his baby daughter after him.

Jack, 40, announced the birth of Ozzy Matilda Osbourne on social media alongside his wife, Aree, whom he married in 2023. The newborn Ozzy was pictured lying next to a cuddly bat toy: another reference to his father, who famously bit the head off a real bat during a 1982 concert believing it was made of rubber.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 9:57 am

Estée Lauder sues Jo Malone over use of her name on Zara fragrance

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Cosmetics firm takes legal action against London-born perfumer who sold brand and rights to her name in 1999

Estée Lauder is taking legal action against the British perfumer Jo Malone after she used her name on a fragrance for the fashion chain Zara.

Malone sold her perfume brand to Estée Lauder Companies in 1999 in a deal under which she was blocked from using her name for particular commercial reasons including the marketing of fragrance.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 9:44 am

Act Black: posters of Black Americans on stage and screen – in pictures

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A new exhibition at New York’s Poster House celebrates the work of Black performers on the stage and screen from the 1880s to the 1940s. Many of these posters are the only surviving documentation of certain shows, with no recordings of plays and certain films having been lost over time. They offer a history of Black Americans trying to counter harmful stereotypes and provide vital and humanizing contributions to a growing Black culture. Act Black: Posters from Black American Stage & Screen is on display from 13 March to 6 September. All words and images from the Poster House and curator Es-pranza Humphrey

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Published: March 12, 2026, 9:00 am

Why Sentimental Value should win the best picture Oscar

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It may not have a flashy high concept like the other nominees but Joachim Trier’s family saga is satisfyingly grownup film-making, and beats them all as a showcase for great performance

This is a best picture race full of ambitious ideas and big swings. A Trump-baiting sanctuary city saga. A continent-crossing Jewish picaresque fantasy. A Brazilian B-movie-tinged paranoid period thriller. A loopy alien-invasion conspiracy headtrip. A giant, roaring motorsport epic. Monsters. Vampires. Railroad-building. Shakespeare. And, erm, a drama about an actor’s daddy issues.

But if Sentimental Value seems to you the least essential of this years’s nominees, then, well, you don’t know Sentimental Value. From that familiar-sounding subject matter, the film’s Danish-Norwegian co-writer and director, Joachim Trier, has crafted something grand and sprawling: a family saga spiralling across decades and generations, spliced with a movie about moviemaking. It’s a film that churns and roils emotionally like Bergman, but – as with Trier’s last one, The Worst Person in the World – tears into heavy themes with a springiness, even a playfulness. And no other Oscar nominee provides such a showcase for performance, with four meaty parts for its terrific leads – all also Oscar-nominated – to chomp on.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 8:00 am

Reminders of Him review – contrived Colleen Hoover romance has its charms

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The third big screen adaptation of the BookTok-loved author’s novels is ludicrously plotted yet slickly made and easily consumed

Nearly two years on, it seems we’re still futilely chasing the high of summer 2024. Charli xcx’s hedonistic Brat-era mockumentary just flopped on the big screen. Espresso still plays at the grocery store but doesn’t hit the same. Kamala Harris is maybe considering a run for something. And the movie It Ends With Us, the glossy adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel that became a somewhat surprise late-summer blockbuster, refuses to die.

That film, directed by Justin Baldoni and starring Blake Lively, should have been a Hollywood success story: a deceptively sharp melodrama that proved that frankly sentimental, female-led, 90s-style studio fare could still draw audiences to cinemas, that schlocky BookTok material need not necessarily beget schlocky movies and that Lively could appeal to the Target demographic. Nevertheless, it cast a dark shadow. The legal mudslinging over Baldoni’s alleged sexual harassment on set has tainted primarily her reputation, and extinguished any box office glow. (Lively v Baldoni – her case, not his, as the latter was dismissed – will go to trial in May.) And then there’s the inevitable pipeline of follow-ups with near-guaranteed diminishing returns, the first of which, a dreadful grief/love quadrangle/YA mess called Regretting You, threatened to kill the buzz for CoHo adaptations entirely last October.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 4:37 pm

Scarpetta review – this Nicole Kidman show is a dire mess … with an AI chatbot as a main character

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Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis – who exec produced this adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s novels – have terrific chemistry. But this trashy drama is just weird

Scarpetta has been a rather long time in the making. Demi Moore was attached to the role of Patricia Cornwell’s crack forensic pathologist in the 90s, as was Angelina Jolie in the 00s. In a recent interview, the author said she had even approached Jodie Foster and Helen Mirren along the way. Now it has finally come to our screens, thanks in part to Jamie Lee Curtis, who is both an executive producer and one of its stars, with Nicole Kidman in the title role, continuing her run as TV’s hardest-working A-lister. What a shame, then, after such a long wait, that it is so dire: a boilerplate mess that insists on stripping the original work for parts and putting a cynical techy spin on proceedings to boot.

There are – for no good reason, really – two timelines in the series. In the present, Kidman plays Virginia’s chief medical officer Kay Scarpetta – a little icy, professional but prone to overstepping, haunted by secrets from the past. She is called to a crime scene where a woman’s naked body – sans hands – has been bound together with rope. We flash back to the 90s, where young Scarpetta (Rosy McEwen) is on the trail of a similar killer, who leaves a strange, glittery residue on his victims. Initially, at least, it seems as though this could be an interesting proposition, despite all the to-ing and fro-ing between past and present, which wasn’t part of Cornwell’s original novel. The idea that Scarpetta and her colleague and brother-in-law Pete Marino (played by Bobby Cannavale) may have got the wrong man in the 90s – when DNA evidence was still in its infancy – could have been the basis for a smart whodunnit. Instead, we get a sluggish procedural that barely bothers to build tension. Moments of gore come out of left field; major revelations in the case come to Scarpetta as sudden, deus ex machina revelations; and the dead women are mere plot fodder in a way that feels positively retro and grubby. The tone is strange – sometimes it’s The Silence of the Lambs, sometimes Diagnosis: Murder.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 5:00 am

Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere review – why doesn’t he focus more on the impact on women?

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It’s refreshing to see him dial down the ignorant-ingenue approach and go harder than usual. But there is too little examination of how online misogyny affects those who didn’t choose to be part of it

He’s a bit late to the party, is the first thought that crosses your mind when faced with the prospect of 90 minutes of Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere. I’ve lost count of the number of documentaries there have been on either specific leading lights in the lucrative online misogyny business, such as Andrew Tate, or the general phenomenon (the latter most recently by James Blake with Men of the Manosphere).

Still, can a subject really be said to have been “done” until we have seen what Louis T makes of it? Evidently not, so here he is, repeating his shtick as he covers ground that other less high-profile documentarians have done before him. To be fair, he approaches his interviewees with a slightly harder, less ignorant-ingenue vibe than usual. This is pleasing on many levels. I find the latter quite an effortful pose and increasingly hard to endure, and he rightly intuits that the full version wouldn’t fly here. It’s also simply getting old. We know he is an intelligent man who lives in this world – the silent supposed bafflement and dependence on giving people enough rope to hang themselves, which are such a large part of his arsenal, look like increasingly feeble weapons when the matters are of such increasing importance in all of our lives.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 12:01 am

The Black Crowes: A Pound of Feathers review | Stevie Chick's album of the week

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(Silver Arrow)
​With Keef-style riffs and full-blooded commitment to the bit, resurgent brothers Chris and Rich Robinson​ resurrect​ the rocker lifestyle of eras past

Time is not linear for Chris and Rich Robinson. When their group the Black Crowes first surfaced in the late 80s, music was deep into one of its magical transitional eras, technological advances sling-shotting pop into unexpected futures as techno, hip-hop and acid house left rock’n’roll looking like a period piece. The Robinsons clearly hadn’t received the memo, arriving in a blaze of paisley and patchouli with an inspired Otis Redding cover that dragged its 60s Stax strut all the way into the early 70s, redressing it in bell-bottomed denim and Sticky Fingers swagger.

Almost 40 years later, little has changed within the Crowes’ hermetically sealed hotbox. There have been calamitous splits, amicable hiatuses and radical lineup rejigs, to the point where the brothers are the only founding Crowes left. Yet they remain proud exiles from Main Street, and from the 21st century. It makes their 10th album an irresistible pleasure. In this grimmest of moments, with war and genocide and maniacs at the wheel across the globe, who could blame anyone for escaping into the simpler world conjured here, governed by Keef-worthy riffs, infallible slip-slide grooves and the kind of rock’n’roll misadventure that’s always been rejuvenated in the Crowes’ hands?

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Published: March 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘Uncool rules’: the lo-fi pop pranksters reviving the Dutch answer to dada

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Cheeky and rebellious, the Netherlands’ own brand of ‘ludiek’ zaniness thrived in the 1960s protest era. Now, the New Dutch Naivety movement is bringing it back with songs about chocolate, good transport and no-smoking policies

Imagine a song about the noisy centre of Amsterdam turning magically into chocolate, prompting children to go wild and eat it. The edifice then melts away, once you get the train from Amsterdam Lelylaan to Haarlemmermeer. This is the story of Amsterdam is opeens van chocolade (“Amsterdam is suddenly chocolate”), a song written by the young alt-pop musician, Thor Kissing. It is an example of a cheeky and rebellious aspect of 20th-century Dutch popular culture, ludiek (“playfulness”), which may be on the rise again.

Kissing is a central figure in a new project that tries to capture what ludiek music means in the 21st century: two compilation albums called Nieuwe Nederlandse Naïviteit (“New Dutch Naivety”), promoting a disparate bunch of contemporary alternative Dutch-language pop artists. In October 2024, the first volume was launched in a spartan youth centre in an out-of-the-way Zaandam suburb. Volume two is set for release this March, in “hip” Amsterdam.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 7:00 am

How gen Z women are conquering country music: ‘Fans are speaking louder than gatekeepers’

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This month, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney became the first pair of women in country music to top both the US albums and singles charts

Country 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 second non-consecutive week atop the singles chart, while Moroney’s album Cloud 9 reached number one thanks to Target exclusive physical editions and strong streaming numbers.

“These aren’t flukes or one-off viral hits,” said Leslie Fram, co-founder and CEO of FEMco, a Nashville-based consulting collective. “Megan Moroney built her base through relentless touring and social buzz. Ella Langley’s incredible song has real staying power and even non-country crossover appeal.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 9:04 am

‘My family was threatened multiple times’: Arab-American rockers Prostitute on confronting an Islamophobic US

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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 in a post-9/11 US by inhabiting vicious characterisations – ones levelled at their Arab-majority community in Dearborn, Michigan. “A lot of Arabs in the area are coming to us and being like ‘that was very potent’, or ‘that was beautiful’. I didn’t really expect that,” says Kazra, who is Lebanese American. “The music is evil.”

The album’s lyric sheet, written by Kazra and drummer Andrew Kaster who join me on a call, is a flurry of violent fantasies, paranoid ramblings and literary references ranging from The Arabian Nights to Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Written when they formed in 2020 but only self-released in late 2024, it became a sleeper hit with punk fans. Now signed to Mute, which will reissue the record this week, they are among the most exciting, unorthodox breakthroughs in recent American rock.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 10:49 am

Strange Beach by Oluwaseun Olayiwola audiobook review – a debut that dances with passion

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The dancer and author gives this collection clarity and warmth as he narrates poems about family, queer identity, hedonism and race

The first poetry collection from the Nigerian American dancer and poet Oluwaseun Olayiwola explores themes of race, family, queer identity, hedonism and the body. Strange Beach takes its title from Claudia Rankine’s poem Citizen: An American Lyric which describes “each body is a strange beach, and if you let in the excess emotion, you will recall the Atlantic Ocean breaking on our heads”. The shoreline is a recurring image in Strange Beach’s poems, a threshold where forces collide and the landscape is forever changing shape.

Olayiwola’s verse dances between the abstract and the philosophical, and there are instances when the narrative thread is discarded and meaning is hard to glean. Clarity comes with hearing it read out loud, however. Olayiwola’s narration brims with warmth and passion, allowing us to bask in imagery, atmosphere and the speaker’s rich interior world.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:00 pm

In Bloom by Liz Allan review – an electric debut of grunge and teen spirit

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Four fatherless girls in a band set out to escape their deprived Australian coastal town, in a dark, raw tale of friendship and abuse

Liz Allan’s powerful debut novel smells unmistakably like teen spirit. Plunging the reader into the cauldron of suburban malaise that is an Australian seaside resort in 1994, it is narrated collectively by the Bastards, a band of 14-year-old riot grrrls bringing Kurt Cobain’s gospel to their dead-end backwater – in their own eyes, at least. To their schoolmates, they are three fatherless losers, tainted by poverty.

But the Bastards don’t care; they’ve got a ticket out of Vincent, “capital of teen pregnancies and absent fathers”. For nine months, their beloved music teacher, Mr P, has been rehearsing them for the Battle of the Bands, a long drive away in the city of Geelong. Admittedly, they suffered a body blow when their lead singer, Lily Lucid, quit a year ago. But Mr P still believes in them.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:50 pm

Why Populists Are Winning and How to Beat Them by Liam Byrne review – a surprisingly original prescription

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A former New Labour minister tackles the question of our times with rigour and verve – but blindspots remain

At first glance, the former New Labour minister Liam Byrne is not the ideal person to explain the rise of rightwing populism in Britain and beyond, and how it might be stopped. At the end of Gordon Brown’s government in 2010, Byrne infamously wrote a one-line letter to whoever would succeed him as chief secretary to the Treasury: “I’m afraid there is no money.” Both friendly advice and an inside joke, these words were used for years by the Tories and Lib Dems to justify their austerity policies – and were arguably one of the causes of the modern disillusionment with conventional politicians. This loss of faith, and the damage to society and public services from austerity, have fuelled populism ever since.

Byrne’s short but ambitious book is, in a sense, his attempt to make amends. Yet some of the arguments and evidence he presents, in quick, confident sentences which fit his past reputation as a clever but impatient minister, are unlikely to persuade many people that he is thinking afresh. He often cites and echoes centrist authorities such as the Tony Blair Institute and Keir Starmer’s former advisers Claire Ainsley and Deborah Mattinson, who have all long said that the way to defeat populism is to respect its supporters, however rightwing. Given that Reform UK has surged ahead in the polls, while Labour is regarded by most populist voters with contempt, this deference seems a dead end.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 7:00 am

Ron Howard, Emma Rice, Neil Tennant and more on Liza Minnelli: ‘She holidayed in my Cornish bungalow’

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The showbiz legend has spent her whole life in the spotlight. As she turns 80, her friends and collaborators share their stories from Hollywood singalongs to acid house raves

I first met Liza in 1963 when I was playing Eddie in a movie called The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. I was seven years old and I got this choice role, which was directed by the great Vincent Minnelli. There were no other kids on this movie, so I had a welfare worker who was also the studio teacher, and I was alone in my little second-grade classroom. But one day, Vincent introduced me to his daughter, who he said was just going to hang around.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 5:00 am

Marathon is a stylishly merciless video game built for cut-throat times

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A lot is riding on the success of the latest multiplayer online shooter from Halo creator Bungie, a DayGlo spectacular that whisks players to a far-off planet mired in an endless battle for resources

In rare quiet moments playing Marathon, you may find yourself overcome by the iridiscently pretty planet Tau Ceti IV. This fictional world seems to radiate a chemical glow: powdery pink skies and lurid green vegetation fill the screen alongside supermassive architecture emblazoned with ultra-stylish, neon graphic design. Yet enjoy the scenery for a split second too long and you might catch a bullet, causing your character to bleed an icky blue substance. In such moments, the camera locks – meaning you must stare down at their unceremonious expiry. Marathon’s considerable beauty is matched only by its clinical brutality.

The road to Marathon’s release has been long and contentious. This extraction shooter – so-called because you must do as much shooting and looting as you can in a given level before making an escape – was first shown off in 2022 with a ravishing trailer (below). Among many startling images, it showed tiny robotic bugs, a little like silkworms, weaving a synthetic body into existence. The game, made by Halo and Destiny creator Bungie, looked weird in a way that blockbuster shooters rarely do, causing excitable stirrings among both shooter stalwarts and art-game aficionados.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 10:00 am

With its fluorescent characters and ASCII text, Marathon is a masterclass in 90s nostalgia

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The revival of this 90s favourite is a retro-futuristic fever dream that is first incomprehensible, then thrillingly evocative. Plus, Donald Glover’s Yoshi debut

Back in the mid-1990s, when I was a staff writer for Edge magazine, Marathon was our multiplayer shooter of choice. We all worked on Apple Macs, not PCs, so Bungie’s sci-fi opus was one of the only networked shooters we could all play together. At the end of every day, staff from magazines around the company loaded it up and played for hours (usually with Chemical Brothers or Orbital blasting from the stereo). This was the era in which video games discovered club culture – Sony employed the legendary Sheffield studio the Designers Republic to create its box art and licensed the latest dance tunes for its marketing and game soundtracks. Western developers swooned over cyberpunk anime, newly available thanks to video distributors such as Viz Media and Manga Entertainment, and the internet was emerging as a weird, wild global meeting place. It felt, for a while, as if we were living in a William Gibson novel.

I’m reminded of these things while playing the new version of Marathon, released this week by Bungie and heavily inspired by 1990s futurism. It’s now an online sci-fi extraction shooter in which players beam down to the planet Tau Ceti IV to scavenge for loot, carry out missions and potentially blast each other in the process. Its closest rival is Arc Raiders, which makes a similar use of stylised retro-futurism. In a recent Twitter exchange, Bungie’s global franchise director, Philip Asher, namechecked Sony’s Wipeout game, its Mental Wealth ads for PlayStation and its translucent Dual Shock controllers as inspirations.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 3:00 pm

Venice Biennale risks losing EU funding over planned Russia involvement

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European Commission says it will suspend €2m grant if organisers of arts festival go ahead with proposals

The European Commission has warned it will cut funding for the Venice Biennale if organisers go ahead with plans to include Russia.

The commission reiterated that any breach of ethical standards by the art festival would be treated as a violation of contract, leading to suspension of the €2m (£1.7m) agreement.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘People will actually fall asleep’: how Claudia Winkleman faces the biggest week of her TV career

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The Traitors host has repeatedly joked that she’ll be ‘awful’ at presenting her new chatshow. But its launch is the highest profile thing she’s ever done – and it’s about to happen

‘They’ve given me a talkshow,” says Claudia Winkleman in the trailer. “Agreed, an error. It might be excruciating.” Such wry self-deprecation continued in the official announcement. “I’m obviously going to be awful,” she said. “That goes without saying but I’m over the moon the BBC are letting me try.”

On Friday the 13th – lucky for viewers? – the 54-year-old hosts the inaugural edition of her eponymous chatshow. The Claudia Winkleman Show’s title might not be the most exciting, but it’s a quietly revolutionary TV moment. It also makes this arguably the biggest week of the presenters’s career. No pressure.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 1:46 pm

Naples museum to allow visually impaired visitors to experience art through touch

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Sansevero Chapel Museum will host day of guided tours where visitors will be able to feel marble sculptures

The Sansevero Chapel Museum in Naples will allow dozens of visually impaired visitors to take part in a rare tactile experience, letting them touch celebrated works of art including the Veiled Christ, which is widely regarded as one of the most striking masterpieces in the history of sculpture.

On 17 March, the museum will host an initiative called La meraviglia a portata di mano – Wonder within reach – organised in partnership with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Naples, offering about 80 blind and partially sighted visitors a chance to encounter the marble masterpieces.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 1:26 pm

‘Life is such a pain in the ass’: what Talk Easy host Sam Fragoso has learned in a decade of grilling celebs

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The presenter of hit series Talk Easy has pioneered a style of candid chat that has seen the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Salman Rushdie squirming in their seats – so far only one guest has stormed out

Most episodes of Sam Fragoso’s interview podcast Talk Easy begin with a disarmingly simple question: “How are you doing today?” It primes his high-profile guests – Patti Smith, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salman Rushdie – to be met where they’re at, and sets the stage for what has, over the decade since it began, become a masterclass in interviewing, a singular property in a market so waterlogged that people commonly joke that microphones should be taxed.

Fragoso, 31, eschews the gimmicks and pally celebrity chat of many podcasts. With its crackly jazz theme and commitment to depth, Talk Easy oozes class; in 2020, Fragoso pressed a vinyl record of his interview with US writer Fran Lebowitz. Describing himself as where underground journalist Nardwuar (disarmingly well researched) meets NPR legend Terry Gross (sensitive, direct) meets late talkshow host Dick Cavett (intellectual, sophisticated), he is a freakishly intuitive listener. “The way you construct the narrative of my life is so true that it’s just a little startling,” actor Michelle Williams told him in 2023. In December, the Obamas signed Talk Easy to their production company.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 8:00 am

‘Highly problematic behavior’: Noma residency in LA starts with PR crisis

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After stories of René Redzepi’s abuse of staff resurfaced, protests and sponsorship cancellations eclipsed the restaurant’s pop-up

It was always going to be an indulgence for René Redzepi, the Danish-Albanian chef of Noma fame, to bring his exacting, innovative vision of haute cuisine to Los Angeles and spend several weeks tickling the palates of well-heeled diners at a hilltop estate once dubbed “the most beautiful home in Hollywood”.

The timing has certainly been unfortunate, since the US is now fighting a destabilizing war in the Middle East and food prices are climbing so steeply that many ordinary Americans can no longer afford to eat at McDonald’s, much less contemplate the counterintuitive delights of tacinga cactus, bougainvillea petals, mealworms and giant tuna eyes.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 2:23 am

Why is smoking so addictive – and what are the best ways to give up?

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That first cigarette can lead to a lifetime of dependency, as well as cancer, strokes, heart attacks … Here’s why smokers crave their nicotine hit – and how they can fight back

Smoking is bad for you and you shouldn’t do it. You know both of these things, of course: you’ve been told them in school, on TV and the radio, by doctors, and via the Cronenbergian body-horror of cigarette packets themselves. It’s worth reiterating, though, for two reasons: first, because the effects of having a quick puff outside the pub aren’t just a long-term gamble on your health but an immediate way of making your life worse; and second, because cigarettes remain wildly, impossibly addictive. Some research suggests that as many as two-thirds of people who try one cigarette become, at least temporarily, daily smokers, while a recent survey found that less than a fifth of UK smokers trying to quit actually managed it. Estimates for the average number of times people try to quit before actually managing it range from half a dozen to well over a hundred. So what confluence of factors actually makes cigarettes so difficult to give up – and what does that mean for a wannabe quitter?

“The first thing that happens when you smoke a cigarette is that you inhale a noxious mix of nicotine, various irritants and carcinogens into your lungs, ‘stunning’ your cilia – the tiny, hair-like projections that line your airways – and making them do their job less effectively,” says Lion Shahab, professor of health psychology at University College London. “The other thing that happens very, very quickly is that nicotine gets absorbed through the lungs into the alveoli, into the bloodstream, and then gets transferred into the brain. This is when you start to feel good, and also a key thing that keeps you addicted.”

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Published: March 12, 2026, 10:26 am

‘Dress for who you are’: how to start finding your personal style

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Experts share tips on dressing as the most authentic version of yourself and avoiding the draw of the latest microtrends

How would you define your personal style? Is it cottagecore? Tomato girl? Whimsigoth? Quiet luxury? Maybe you don’t know what these terms mean (congratulations) and maybe you do (my condolences).

Like unwelcome nose hairs, new microtrends seem to sprout from the depths of social media every other week. In some ways, their pervasiveness has made style seem more accessible than ever. They reduce aesthetics to mathematical equations that you can solve by buying up a bunch of fast fashion. By the time these cheap, mass-produced items dissolve into microplastics – which they will, quickly – other aesthetic trends will have replaced them.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 4:00 pm

At 56, I woke to silence: the strange, sudden loss that changed everything

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Since the US has no federal mandate for hearing aid coverage, I found myself in a quandary – I couldn’t communicate with the hearing or the deaf

At the end of my second American Sign Language (ASL) class, during which I had fingerspelled my name Deborah as “F-E-B-O-R-A-H”, I thought it prudent to type a question into my Notes app rather than trying to fingerspell it. “How do I sign, ‘I’m hearing impaired?’” I wrote, showing the typed sentence to my teacher, Courtney Rodriguez. Then I pointed to one of my hearing aids.

Sixty per cent of ASL, Courtney had just taught us, consists of non-manual markers, meaning most of the communication in ASL comes from facial expressions. Puffed cheeks, for example, indicates something big. Pursed lips means small. From the puffed cheeks and pained look on my deaf teacher’s face, I could sense I had hit a big nerve.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 12:00 pm

My mother’s best advice: learn to raise one eyebrow at the world

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It took almost a year of practice and then I was too embarrassed to show off my talent. But finally, during a stage performance, I elevated a solitary brow and the crowd went wild

When I was about 10, my mother mentioned something to me about the advantage of being able to raise one eyebrow. I can’t remember quite how she put it – I think she described it as an actor’s trick, a useful skill for conveying inner thoughts.

We both spent a couple of minutes trying to lift one eyebrow without the other following it. Neither of us could manage it. It was harder than Mr Spock made it look, and possibly not so much an acting skill as a genetic predisposition, like being able to roll your tongue.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 5:00 am

Jess Cartner Morley on fashion: rugby shirts are key to athleisure’s preppy new makeover

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No longer under the tyranny of compression fit leggings, today’s athleisure is something looser, with a wink of nostalgia

Athleisure is not to be confused with serious fitness wear. No one is running a marathon or playing a game of football in the shoes pictured above. Notice how, in a made-up noun that is a compound of athletics and leisure, the first has been shrunk to three letters. The only personal best that concerns you here is having an optimal Saturday morning.

Athleisure is fashion, not kit, so it moves with the times just as much as it moves with you. And it looks very different now than a few years ago, when every outfit was anchored by snazzy leggings. Tight legging sets with dazzling graphics were the parade uniform of the imperial age of Lycra. Under the cheerful tyranny of compression fit, starburst-pattern leggings with matching sports bras ruled the roost. These were outfits designed to be watched in a mirror with a rousing soundtrack: perky and sculpting, lingerie-like in their obsession with matching two-piece sets and with bottoms.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 2:00 pm

You be the judge: should my housemate stop warming her mug and then pouring the water back into the kettle?

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Brent thinks Amy’s habit is unhygienic, but she says his argument doesn’t hold water. Trouble’s brewing – and you decide who’s in the right

Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

Amy says that boiling water kills germs so it’s hygienic, but one time I found a hair in my mug

Pouring the water away is a waste, and I can use up my recycled water before Brent returns from work

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Published: March 12, 2026, 8:00 am

My mother’s best advice: always play it by ear

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In her wisdom, Mum taught me to roll with the punches, and reassured me that she’d always be there – even when I staggered in much the worse for wear

What my mum taught me best is her expression: “Let’s play it by ear.” That might sound like an excuse for disorganisation and procrastination, but what she’s really saying at the end of every phone call is: “Life happens, plans change, and we’re always here for you – whatever time you decide to roll up.”

That’s her to a T – putting everyone else first. Even now, at 50, if I go out for a drink or to a gig with my brother and crash at my parents’ place, Mum will still stay up to be sure I’ve made it home safe.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

Life with my autistic sons: ‘How do you explain all the worries, the sleepless nights?’

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When James Hunt began posting about his boys online, it was a way to describe the emotions and experiences of their extraordinary lives. In sharing his family’s joy and struggles, he realised they weren’t alone

My conversation with James Hunt begins the usual way: an exchange of hellos, followed by the most mundane of questions. “How are you?” I ask.

Although he responds predictably – “I’m all right … I’m good” – we both know that underneath this answer lurks a whole world of experience, and the plain fact that some people’s everyday lives are lived in extraordinary circumstances.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 10:00 am

‘I took two bites and had to spit it out’: candy makers are phasing out real cocoa in chocolate

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Due to the volatile cocoa market, companies like Hershey are using replacement ingredients such as sugar, oil, milk and nuts

Just before Valentine’s Day, Brad Reese bought a bag of Reese’s Unwrapped Peanut Butter Creme Mini Hearts from his local convenience store in West Palm Beach, Florida. It was a brand-new product, released especially for the holiday, tagline: “We’ll never break your heart.”

Reese is a Reese’s aficionado who makes a point of trying everything the company produces. This isn’t a coincidence: he’s one of the Reeses, a grandson of HB Reese, the former Hershey dairy farmer who invented the peanut butter cup in 1928. Although he’s never worked for Reese’s or Hershey, which acquired the peanut butter cup company in 1963, Reese considers himself a custodian of HB’s legacy. He also takes an avid interest in the Hershey company and its leadership.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 3:00 pm

Where Duolingo falls down: how I learned to speak Welsh with my mother

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Once violently defended from extinction, Welsh is still a part of daily life. By learning my family’s language, I hoped to join their conversation

My maternal grandmother died 20 years ago. The funeral was held in a small Methodist chapel in the lush Conwy valley of north Wales. Her entire life – she had almost reached 100 – was spent in these hills. The drizzle that morning had slicked the trees and turned the slate of the chapel black. Our family, gathered under umbrellas, entered in order of seniority: Mum, now the family elder, with Dad on her arm, then my six aunts and uncles with their spouses, and finally the cousins, led by my brother Mark and me.

The room was austere. White walls, sturdy wooden furniture, a plain cross on the wall. Our family squeezed into box pews in the centre of the chapel. A couple of older men among the crowd reminded me of my grandfather, who had died decades earlier: similar thatches of black hair; dark, weathered complexions; history-book faces.

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Published: March 12, 2026, 5:00 am

The California town that lost its mayor to gun suicide

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For nearly three decades, Jim West transformed San Juan Bautista. After his shocking gun suicide, a local behavioral health agency dove in to help a community in mourning

Any other night, the small California town of San Juan Bautista is shrouded in darkness, lit only by scattered streetlights and the dim glow of a few saloons. But on the first Saturday of December, a parade lights it up. Dozens of cars wrapped in Christmas lights roll through streets that look as if they were pulled from an old western. Since its inception in the 2000s, the parade has become a tradition in this village in the foothills of the Gabilan range, just 100 miles (160km) south of San Francisco.

Anthony Botelho, a county supervisor, had never missed one. In 2018, exhausted from a trip from Arizona, he meant to stay home, until his longtime friend Jim West, the town’s mayor, convinced him otherwise.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 3:00 pm

Peak interest: Toronto’s snow mountains that refuse to melt are a toxic hazard

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Reaching up to 100ft, these massive piles contain tonnes of salt that keep roads clear – but pose environmental risks

Most 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 for the forces of nature that have battered the city in recent weeks – and a daunting environmental hazard.

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Published: March 11, 2026, 11:00 am

Tentacles and a flying hat: photos of the day – Thursday

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The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

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Published: March 12, 2026, 3:25 pm

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