Trump promised no wars. Now he’s a Bush-style regime change president | Mohamad Bazzi

The America First president who built his political brand on opposing foreign military adventures has unleashed a war of choice aimed at regime change

It turns out that Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed “candidate of peace,” is just as eager to start new wars. Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump pitched himself as the antithesis of his Democratic opponents Joe Biden, and later, Kamala Harris. Trump insisted he would use his deal-making skills to end multiple global conflicts that started under the Biden administration, including Israel’s war on Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In his election night victory speech in November 2024, Trump told his supporters: “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.” Two months later, in his inaugural address, he went even further in trying to establish himself as a global peacemaker. “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end – and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into,” he said.

Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University

Published: March 1, 2026, 8:00 am

An ugly year for the Louvre: where does the world’s biggest museum go from here?

After a heist and the departure of its boss, the French institution wrestles with water leaks, strikes and much-criticised plans for a €1bn renovation

Just over a year ago, Laurence des Cars, the intellectually brilliant (if famously prickly) former head of the largest and most-visited museum in the world, wrote a somewhat alarming note to her boss, France’s culture minister.

Des Cars, who on Tuesday resigned as president of the Louvre, lamented the advanced state of disrepair of the iconic museum’s buildings and galleries.

Published: March 1, 2026, 6:00 am

The moment I knew: I saw her enjoying herself in her perfect little witch’s hat and I was a goner

Comedian Steph Tisdell had a delightful old-fashioned courtship with Jessie – and was struck by her small, everyday acts of kindness

• Find more stories from The moment I knew series

In my early 30s I’d decided I didn’t want to swipe right on another man holding a fish on dating apps and I was taking tentative steps into the world of dating women in my home base of Brisbane.

Things hadn’t got off to a great start and as I tried to refine my approach, a friend posed a question that I’d foolishly never really considered: what did I actually want in a partner?

Published: February 28, 2026, 7:00 pm

‘If it’s cold, they stop mating’: New York City rat population may be on the decline

As a result of New York’s most severe winter in years, the city may see a drop from it’s estimated 3 million rats

Since arriving from Europe in the 1600s, New York City’s rats have survived hurricanes, floods, terrorist attacks, riots, fires, a pandemic (they actually thrived during that), the Dutch and Crocodile Dundee II.

But as a result of New York’s most severe winter in years, when the city saw snow, then a historic deep freeze, then even more snow, the rat population might now be about to decline. For a bit.

Published: February 28, 2026, 3:00 pm

Her husband wanted to use ChatGPT to create sustainable housing. Then it took over his life.

Kate Fox says Joe Ceccanti was the ‘most hopeful person’ before he started spending 12 hours a day with a chatbot

On 7 August, Kate Fox received a phone call that upended her life. A medical examiner said that her husband, Joe Ceccanti – who had been missing for several hours – had jumped from a railway overpass and died. He was 48.

Fox couldn’t believe it. Ceccanti had no history of depression, she said, nor was he suicidal – he was the “most hopeful person” she had ever known. In fact, according to the witness accounts shared with Fox later, just before Ceccanti jumped, he smiled and yelled: “I’m great!” to the rail yard attendants below when they asked him if he was OK.

Published: February 28, 2026, 10:00 am

‘Trump’s not enough. And he knows he’s not enough’: California governor Gavin Newsom on populism, ‘purity tests’ and whether he’ll run for the presidency

He’s the Democratic politician with movie-star looks and a picture-perfect family, dogged by accusations of being a smooth‑talking elitist. Can he really unite the American left and win the most powerful office in the world?

When you think of the politician Donald Trump isn’t, when you think of the norm he broke, the archetype he shattered, you might well picture a man who looks a lot like Gavin Newsom. Tall and handsome, hair coiffed just so, with a blond wife and four photogenic kids at his side, Newsom, who has been the governor of California since 2019 and is often described as the frontrunner to be the Democratic nominee for the White House in 2028, looks the way professional politicians, and especially presidential candidates, look in the movies.

It’s dogged Newsom for years, that look of his, perennially suggesting that he is, in the words of one California newspaper, “too ambitious, too slickly handsome, and too patrician-seeming”, especially for a populist age that cherishes the authentic and has no truck with anything either phoney or “elite”. The elite tag especially has hung around Newsom’s neck for decades, thanks to the fact that his ascent to the top of California politics has seemed smooth and unbroken, apparently eased by a childhood spent in the orbit of the Getty family, when that name was a byword for astronomical wealth.

Published: February 28, 2026, 6:00 am

US-Israel war on Iran live: Israel launches new wave of attacks ‘in the heart of Tehran’ after death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as Iran retaliates in strikes that also hit across Middle East region

• Tell us: how have you been affected by events in the Middle East?

• A visual guide to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran

• How the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded

Loud explosions were heard early on Sunday near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, AFP reported. Thick black smoke was rising from the airport area.

On Saturday, US-led coalition forces downed several missiles and explosive-laden drones over Erbil.

Published: March 1, 2026, 10:32 am

Inside Trump’s decision to attack Iran: ‘a window of opportunity’

The US joined an Israeli assault after intel suggested Iran’s top clerics and commanders could be hit at once

• Full report: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed

• What we know so far: US and Israel wage war on Iran

• War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded

Donald Trump launched attacks against Iran on Saturday as part of a joint operation with Israel after they developed intelligence that they could simultaneously target the country’s leaders and mullahs, according to two people familiar with deliberations.

The Israelis had been tracking the movements of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and determined there was a window of opportunity to launch attacks as they convened, the people said.

Published: February 28, 2026, 11:19 pm

A visual guide to US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response

Missiles and bombs landed across Iran, hitting political and security targets in Tehran, including supreme leader’s residence

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• US and Israel strikes on Iran – what we know so far

The US and Israel have announced the beginning of an unprecedented joint operation against Iran, beginning with a wide-ranging bombing campaign aimed at regime change.

Israeli jets and US missiles struck hundreds of targets across Iran, sending residents fleeing in panic from major urban centres. Among the targets were Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, and Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as weapons facilities across the country.

Published: February 28, 2026, 4:57 pm

Explosions rock Dubai, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait as war spreads across Middle East

War launched by US and Israel on Iran has quickly escalated prompting anxiety and concern in whole region

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• What we know so far: US and Israel wage war on Iran

Iran struck the world-famous Fairmont hotel in Dubai, setting the hotel alight, as the war launched by the US and Israel on Iran quickly spread to the rest of the Middle East on Saturday.

Residents watched in shock as an Iranian missile hit the five-star hotel in Dubai’s luxurious Palm Jumeirah area. Social media videos showed fires breaking out near the entrance of the hotel, which led to four people being injured.

Published: March 1, 2026, 4:28 am

Protesters rally across US after strikes on Iran that killed Khamenei

Crowds gather in DC, New York and beyond to denounce Trump’s Iran strikes as an illegal act of war

• US-Israel war on Iran – latest updates

• Full report: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed

• A visual guide to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response

• War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded

As news circulated that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, had been killed in US and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran, anti-war protesters gathered across the United States, including outside the White House and in New York’s Times Square to voice opposition to US military involvement in the region.

“It wasn’t sanctioned by Congress, so what Trump is doing is on his own terms, it’s making him a fascist and it’s making the country into a fascist state,” said Sue Johnson, a protester.

Published: February 28, 2026, 11:49 pm

War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded

Coordinated daylight assault on Tehran sparked Iranian retaliation and plunged the region into wider conflict

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• What we know so far: US and Israel wage war on Iran

The bombs and missiles started falling on Tehran in full daylight, at about 9.15am, after the working day had started and the streets and offices were full.

Bombing campaigns in the modern era usually start at night, to heighten the target’s sense of disorientation and minimise the effectiveness of air defence.

Published: February 28, 2026, 9:32 pm

What the US–Israeli strikes on Iran mean for the price of oil

A halt on trade flows through the strait of Hormuz could spell trouble for many developed economies

• US-Israel war on Iran – latest updates

The US-Israeli war on Iran has ignited fears that escalating military aggression in the Middle East could send oil prices soaring, push up prices at the pump and drive a global economic downturn.

The US began “major combat operations” in Iran on Saturday morning, shortly after Israel launched a strike against Tehran. Within hours of the US-Israeli strikes, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reportedly warned tankers in the strait of Hormuz that no ship would be allowed to pass through the world’s most critical oil trade route.

Published: March 1, 2026, 9:50 am

Trump’s current war on Iran picks up where a longstanding enmity left off

The mutual resentments that have fueled tensions between the US and Iran have simmered for nearly half a century

For millions of younger Americans, the sudden explosion of Iran onto the national political stage and consciousness may seem like a bolt from the blue.

Yet for older generations and those with deeper historical awareness, Donald Trump’s announcement on Saturday of strikes against a distant foe is more like the outcome of a collision long foretold.

Published: March 1, 2026, 10:00 am

Joe Biden warns that Donald Trump will try to ‘steal’ midterm elections

In a rare public address, former president said US is experiencing ‘dark days’ and urged Americans to vote

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Joe Biden has warned that his presidential successor, Donald Trump, will attempt to “steal” the midterm elections, in a rare public address.

Speaking in South Carolina, where he was being honored for his lifetime achievement in politics, Biden also asserted that the US is experiencing “dark days”, in a speech made hours before the Trump administration launched attacks on Iran.

Published: February 28, 2026, 3:11 pm

‘Viruses don’t know borders’: US anti-vaccine rhetoric could impact global measles crisis

Experts say global measles vaccination rates are falling as Trump officials signal a deprioritization of the virus

The US government has amplified anti-vaccine rhetoric and signaled that it does not consider measles to be a priority, which could have global ramifications as countries around the world have lost or are on the brink of losing measles elimination status.

The World Health Organization announced in late January that six European countries: the United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan had all officially lost their measles elimination status, which means the virus has been circulating continuously in those countries for more than 12 months. In order to contain measles, at least 95% of children should be fully vaccinated against it, according to health recommendations, but vaccination rates have been falling across Europe.

Published: February 28, 2026, 1:00 pm

Man arrested in shooting of prominent Muslim leader in Utah during Ramadan

Imam Shuaib Din was not hit by multiple shots fired by Abdul Raouf Afridi, who ambushed him outside his home

A man has been arrested for recently shooting a gun at prominent Muslim leader Imam Shuaib Din in Utah, the police department in the city of Sandy said Saturday.

Din’s suspected attacker was identified as Abdul Raouf Afridi. Police said the man was arrested on 12 counts of aggravated assault, including felony discharge of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, dangerous discharge of a weapon from a vehicle and possession of a dangerous weapon as a prohibited person.

Published: February 28, 2026, 6:51 pm

OpenAI to work with Pentagon after Anthropic dropped by Trump over company’s ethics concerns

CEO Sam Altman claims military will not use AI product for autonomous killing systems or mass surveillance

OpenAI said it had struck a deal with the Pentagon to supply AI to classified US military networks, hours after Donald Trump ordered the government to stop using the services of one of the company’s main competitors.

Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, announced the move on Friday night. It came after an agreement between Anthropic, a rival AI company that runs the Claude system, and the Trump administration broke down after Anthropic sought assurances its technology would not be used for mass surveillance – nor for autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input.

Published: February 28, 2026, 5:06 pm

Son of rapper Lil Jon drowned after ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms

Body of Nathan Smith, known professionally as DJ Young Slade, was found in pond north of Atlanta in February

The son of the rapper Lil Jon drowned after ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms, officials in the US state of Georgia said.

The body of Nathan Smith, known professionally as DJ Young Slade, was found in a pond north of Atlanta in early February.

Published: February 28, 2026, 7:02 pm

Hundreds of thousands of travellers stranded or diverted amid air space closures in Middle East

Chaos as key transit hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha close, and more than 1,000 flights by major Middle Eastern airlines cancelled

• Full report: Iran state media confirms killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

• US-Israel war on Iran: latest updates

• A visual guide to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response

• War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded

America and Israel’s attack on Iran disrupted flights across the Middle East and beyond as countries around the region closed their airspace and three of the key airports that connect Europe, Africa and the west to Asia halted operations.

Hundreds of thousands of travellers were either stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace. There also was no flight activity over the United Arab Emirates, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said, after the government there announced a “temporary and partial closure” of its airspace.

Published: March 1, 2026, 4:24 am

Shia LaBeouf surrenders to New Orleans police after new warrant adds third battery charge

Actor, originally charged on two counts, also accused of shouting homophobic slurs during attacks on 17 February

Shia LaBeouf surrendered to New Orleans police after they obtained a new warrant Friday to arrest him again in connection with a case that had already left him facing two counts of battery.

The new warrant brought the number of people whom the Transformers film franchise star is accused of battering to three. He turned himself over to police in advance of a bail hearing on Saturday afternoon, after which he posted a $5,000 bond to continue out of authorities’ custody while awaiting the outcome of the case.

Published: February 28, 2026, 10:16 pm

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy says Russia peace talks will depend on situation in Middle East

Ukrainian president voices support for US and Israel strikes on Iran, calling Tehran ‘an accomplice of Putin’. What we know on day 1,467

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the time and place of the next round of peace talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine would depend on the security situation in the Middle East and the level of “real diplomatic possibilities”. The Ukrainian president on Saturday said he would issue new directives to Ukraine’s negotiating team at the talks, without detailing what they were. He had said the next round of talks would probably take place in Abu Dhabi in early March. But the United Arab Emirates has since been caught up in hostilities after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran.

Zelenskyy voiced his support for the US-led strikes, calling Iran “an accomplice of Putin” for supplying Shahed drones and the technology for Russia to produce them and other weapons in its war against Ukraine. He said it was important that Washington acted decisively, but also that hostilities did not escalate into a wider war.

“It is only fair to give the Iranian people a chance to get rid of the terrorist regime, to get rid of it and guarantee the safety of all nations that have suffered from terror originating in Iran,” Zelenskyy said in a video address on social media. “It is important that the United States is determined. And whenever America is determined, global criminals weaken.”

Zelenskyy said that Russia has used “more than 57,000 Shahed-type strike drones against Ukraine – against our people, against our cities, against our energy sector”. “Although Ukrainians have never threatened Iran, the Iranian regime chose to be Putin’s accomplice,” Zelensky said.

Donald Trump is urging Moscow and Kyiv to strike an agreement to end Europe’s biggest war since 1945, though Zelenskyy has complained that his country is facing more pressure to make concessions. Ukraine is seeking iron-clad security guarantees which commit the US and its European allies to action if Russia attacks again after a peace deal is reached. The last round of peace talks, which took place in Geneva last week, did not achieve a breakthrough and was described as difficult by Kyiv and Moscow, although Washington said it saw “meaningful progress”.

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff on Saturday said that Russia said at recent talks in Geneva that it would accept the US proposal for Ukraine’s postwar security guarantees. “At the last talks, the Russian side said for example that they would accept the security guarantees offered to Ukraine by the United States,” said Kyrylo Budanov in an interview aired on Ukrainian television. Budanov also said that at present Russia had not agreed to a summit between Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, which had been floated earlier as a possibility by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Russia on Saturday condemned the US-Israeli strikes on Iran as “a preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state”, demanding an immediate halt to the military campaign and a return to diplomacy.

Russia has maintained a delicate balancing act in the Middle East for decades, trying to navigate its warm relations with Israel even as it has developed strong economic and military ties with Iran. Iranian forces and Russian sailors conducted annual drills in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean last week aimed at “upgrading operational coordination as well as exchange of military experiences,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported. Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed a broad cooperation pact in January last year as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of stinging western sanctions.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday its forces had taken control of the settlements of Neskuchne and Girke in Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Zaporizhizhia regions. And Ukraine’s Naftogaz said Russia struck a gas extraction facility in the Kharkiv region overnight, causing serious damage.

Published: March 1, 2026, 2:26 am

US man issues challenge to disprove his claim of having world’s smallest penis to raise micropenis awareness

North Carolina’s Michael Phillips revealed that he had a 0.38in member in bid to reduce stigma of the condition

A North Carolina man has challenged anyone on earth to disprove his claim of having the world’s smallest penis as he advocates against body shaming and aims to raise awareness about the medical condition known as micropenis.

Michael Phillips, 38, threw down the gauntlet in an interview posted Friday on TMZ’s YouTube channel, in which he purported that his penis was 0.38in (0.97cm) when fully erect – and, holding up the fingernail on his right pinky to illustrate that length, added: “When it’s flaccid, it’s smaller than that.”

Published: February 28, 2026, 3:45 pm

‘Are you willing to fight back?’: Democrats ready to take on party’s old guard ahead of midterms

After Zohran Mamdani’s upset, a new wave of challengers targets incumbents, driven by fury at Donald Trump

They are impatient, unafraid and hungry for change. Inspired by Zohran Mamdani’s shock victory in last year’s New York mayoral race, a wave of insurgents is mounting primary challenges against Democratic incumbents ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The emboldened lineup of primary challengers – often, but not always, from the party’s progressive wing – has been fuelled by anger over the party’s tepid response to Donald Trump’s authoritarianism, complicity in the war in Gaza and a crushing affordability crisis.

Published: February 28, 2026, 5:00 pm

The real winners of Trump’s global tariff war: law firms, hedge funds and AI

Businesses are vying for a refund, with nearly $175bn on the line, but customers are unlikely to benefit from reversal

At 8am, two hours before the US supreme court officially slapped down Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs on 20 February, Joseph Spraragen’s phone was already ringing off the hook.

The seasoned New York-based attorney and his 40-strong specialised trade team at Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt (GDLSK) had spent months filing hundreds of lawsuits for heavy-hitter clients, including luxury brands Prada and Dolce & Gabbana, in protest of the US president’s decision to impose sweeping import taxes last April.

Published: February 28, 2026, 12:00 pm

Midterm ‘blue wave’ could block Trump’s agenda and launch investigations – here’s what’s at stake

Democrats hope to capture the House, but the Senate could be a heavier lift in November’s midterm elections

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On the first Tuesday of November, Americans will decide whether to keep Congress under Donald Trump’s control, or hand power to the Democrats. The first national elections since the 2024 polls that brought Trump back to the White House, the 3 November midterms will be a crucial test of whether the president’s handling of top issues such as the economy and immigration have met Americans’ expectations. On Tuesday, voters will cast ballots in initial state primaries, with more to follow in the months ahead.

Up for grabs in November are all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 seats in the Senate, and if Republicans lose their majorities in either chamber, it will alter the course of Trump’s presidency. Should Democrats take the House, they will gain the power to issue subpoenas as they investigate his administration, and can block the president’s legislative agenda. Should they wrest control of the Senate from the GOP, Democrats could stop Trump from appointing nominees to cabinet positions and the federal judiciary, including the supreme court.

Published: February 28, 2026, 11:00 am

Trump administration warns tariff refund process ‘will take time’

DoJ says it will not ask US supreme court to rehear tariffs case despite president’s complaint on Truth Social

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The Trump administration said refunds of tariffs struck down by the US supreme court “will take time”, according to court documents filed by the Department of Justice.

Businesses including FedEx have lined up to demand reimbursement for US tariffs they have paid but that the court last week deemed were imposed illegally, prompting heavy criticism from Donald Trump.

Published: February 28, 2026, 5:56 am

The rise and fall of Iran’s ruthless and pragmatic Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

The radical cleric took over as supreme leader in 1989 and is likely to be replaced by hardline figures

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• What we know so far: US and Israel wage war on Iran

• War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded

When he appeared in public for the first time in five years in October 2024, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had an uncompromising message: Israel “won’t last long”, he told tens of thousands of supporters at a mosque in Tehran in a Friday sermon.

“We must stand up against the enemy while strengthening our unwavering faith,” the then-84-year-old told the gathering.

Published: February 28, 2026, 8:20 pm

Sicily revokes century-old Mondello beach concession over mafia links

Regional authorities withdraw permit after citing risk of organised crime infiltration linked to a subcontractor

It is one of Europe’s most celebrated shorelines, framed by mountains and 19th-century villas and famed for its Caribbean-blue water and white sand.

But Mondello beach in Palermo, Sicily, has also been mired in controversy, the subject of complaints stretching back a century from residents and tourists who say its private lidos, cabins and deckchairs have left scant room for public access.

Published: March 1, 2026, 5:00 am

Christina Applegate on life with multiple sclerosis: ‘I won’t lie and say any of this is a blessing’

When the Emmy-winning comedy star was diagnosed, her body started giving up on her. She writes about losing control, gaining weight – and refusing to be a ‘good girl’

In 2021 I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. MS attacks your nervous system and slows down your functions – your respiratory system, your organs, everything. The disease eats away at all the things we take for granted. Some of us with MS have a raft of pain; some don’t. I have a lot of it. When I wake up, I often can’t get my arm to move far enough to grab the cup of water by my bed or my phone from its charger. I have infusions every six months to slow the disease’s progress, but those infusions kill all my B cells [a type of white blood cell that makes antibodies], making me prone to infection. My stomach frequently slows to a halt, leaving me to rush to the emergency room in agony. Most days, simply walking across the room feels like scaling a mountain.

One of the worst side-effects of the illness is the exhaustion. It feels as though I’ve been on a three‑day sleepless bender – and that’s how I feel after a good night’s sleep. Hence all the time I spend on and in bed, snuggled up against my heating pad. On the back of that diagnosis and the symptoms I face, I no longer care what I say or how I come across or how it makes anyone feel. I don’t have patience for bullshit any more, for things that are meaningless or merely “extra”. And it’s not just because I’m no longer working. Sure, there’s no one breathing down my neck to represent their business or movie or TV show, things I’ve had to represent, usually willingly and passionately, for almost 50 years. It goes deeper. I’ve become an honesty missile. When your physical situation deteriorates, and your life shrinks to the size of a king-sized bed, suddenly all the things you thought were important shift, too. The truth clarifies, like a camera lens slowly focusing.

Published: March 1, 2026, 6:00 am

A film honors America’s first self-governed town founded by formerly enslaved people

The Spirit We Move With explores the legacy of Mitchelville on Hilton Head Island and its Gullah Geechee community

In 1862, while the American civil war spread across the country, formerly enslaved people on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina were imagining a new future and envisioning new possibilities. They began organizing themselves and eventually created the first self-governed, autonomous city for freed people. It was called Mitchelville, named for the Union army Maj Gen Ormsby Mitchel, who led what would become known as the Port Royal Experiment, a model for how the country might transition away from slavery that served as a precursor to the Reconstruction period.

The freed people, who would come to be known as the Gullah Geechee, built their own homes, elected their own officials, created their own economy and, for the first time in US history, mandated education for their children. Each individual made their own decisions, from what they would wear, to whom they would see, to where they would go – decisions that they were prevented from making when they were kept in bondage.

Published: February 28, 2026, 2:00 pm

My best friend’s ex is turning my partner against her. How can we heal our friendship group? | Annalisa Barbieri

Things will get better in time, but it’s not your responsibility to resolve this

I’ve been best friends with Ellie [all names have been changed] for more than half my life. She’s truly one of the best friends I’ve ever had. I started dating Will three years ago, and we have a good relationship. Ellie was in a long-term relationship with Tim for five years, and for two of those years the four of us were a little friendship group. Six months ago, Ellie and Tim broke up, which really shook our group dynamic. Our larger, mixed-gender friendship circle has now split a bit into “boys v girls”. I still see Tim as he and Will are good friends, but it’s awkward.

The issue is that Tim has been confiding in Will about the breakup. Tim has a lot of anger towards Ellie and it’s causing Will to dislike her too. Ellie and Tim weren’t right for each other and probably should have broken up sooner. Ellie wasn’t a great girlfriend to Tim, but there was no cheating or abuse, just two people who didn’t work well together.

Published: March 1, 2026, 6:00 am

‘By 18 I was having sex to the music of Brian Eno’: Tim Booth’s honest playlist

The James frontman fell for Leonard Cohen as a child and would do Val Doonican at karaoke. But which singer taught him that ‘music could be medicine’?

The first song I fell in love with
My older sister, Penny, played me So Long, Marianne by Leonard Cohen when I was eight, like some kind of initiation, to say: “Now this is a real poet.” It felt like contraband and so different to all the pop flotsam I had heard in my otherwise white, suburban upbringing, and gave me a taste of adult romantic relationships that a child could not possibly understand. I love my sister and I wanted to impress her.

The first single I bought
I was given WH Smith tokens as a child, so I must have used the bloody things. When I was 15, I ordered Hey Joe/Radio Ethiopia by Patti Smith through the post and would play it like it was the word of God.

Published: March 1, 2026, 9:00 am

‘All you need is a chair and a view’: could daily ‘dusking’ make us healthier and happier?

An old Dutch ritual of going outside to watch the coming of night – or dusking – is having a revival across Europe. Fans of the practice say it’s a great way to disconnect from screens and find peace

I’m wandering around a walled garden on the edge of the North York Moors at dusk. The darkening sky is faintly illuminated by a sharp sliver of crescent moon and the first stars. Bats are swooping in search of supper, an owl is softly hooting and the dark outline of a ruined castle looms beyond the walls.

But what is really striking about the scene is what’s missing: artificial light. There are no solar lamps or electric bulbs; no torches or phone screens. As parts of the garden recede into the gloom, others are thrown into sharp relief: the bare branches of winter trees; a russet-coloured hedge; clumps of snowdrops, glowing bright in the moonlight.

Published: March 1, 2026, 5:00 am

‘I never had those deep chats in the smoking area’: Arlo Parks on embracing late night life with her hedonistic new album

In her teens, the Mercury prize-winning musician was stuck on tour buses when she should have been on the dancefloor. Now she is throwing herself into club culture – and living on her own terms

Until only a few years ago, Arlo Parks had never been clubbing. The lack of a party phase makes sense when you consider that while most of her friends were decamping to university at 18, Parks was busy bagging a record deal, releasing her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, a few months after her 20th birthday. “It’s something that I almost didn’t have time to think about,” she says, speaking from LA, where she has lived since 2022, and where she feels very much at home. (This morning has already consisted of gymming and a walk in 28-degree sunshine that’s as bright as her neon-red hair.) “But I definitely did come to the conclusion that I had missed out – I hadn’t really had the time to be silly and have crazy, deep conversations in the smoking area. To be in an anonymous space and feel like you’re part of this whole.”

Now 25, she has very much made up for lost time with her third album, Ambiguous Desire – a paean to the night-time, which fuses elements of house, techno, UK garage and more with Parks’s celestial, feather-light vocals. While she hasn’t ditched the guitars altogether, it’s a long way from where we were when we first met Parks, born Anaïs Marinho, back in 2018. Fresh out of sixth form, where she had honed her craft via GarageBand, hers was a confessional, clear-eyed strain of alt-pop, with influences that ranged from Nick Cave to Erykah Badu. Before long, she had signed with an agent and nabbed that aforementioned record deal with Transgressive, fuelled by youthful chutzpah rather than any nepo connections. While her songs were often laced with perfectly curated cultural callbacks (“You do your eyes like Robert Smith,” she cooed on Black Dog), she didn’t shy away from singing about mental health, romantic rejection or drug abuse. One of the top comments on the YouTube video for her early single Eugene reads: “It’s so undignified for a 51-year-old bloke to be crying on a train about a song but here I am.”

Published: March 1, 2026, 10:00 am

Iran may yet endure this war, but the Islamic Republic as we have known it cannot survive unchanged | Sanam Vakil

The regime may now have to meet Trump’s demands merely to save itself. And he needs a coherent plan to deal with what he has unleashed

The coordinated strikes on Iran launched by the United States and Israel in the early hours of Saturday morning formally reignited a conflict that had been simmering since last summer’s 12-day war. They targeted key command structures and killed senior figures, most notably Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who had been in power since 1989. Donald Trump marked his demise with a post saying “one of the most evil people in history” was dead, adding: “This is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans.”

Israel has also published reports claiming that Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), defence minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and Admiral Ali Shamkhani, head of the defence council, have also been killed. In response, Iranian forces have fired missiles and drones at Israel, at US bases in the Gulf, Iraq and Jordan, and at some civilian targets across the Gulf. Events are moving quickly, but far from predictably.

Sanam Vakil is the director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House

Published: March 1, 2026, 7:00 am

Trump just got much closer to bringing CNN to heel | Margaret Sullivan

With David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance poised to buy Warner Bros Discovery, the president is tightening his grip on the US media

• Get Margaret Sullivan’s latest columns delivered straight to your inbox by signing up here

For many years, Donald Trump has trashed CNN and has taught his loyal followers to do the same.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, angry chants of “CNN sucks!” reverberated at his campaign rallies, and he still jumps at every opportunity to disparage star CNN journalists such as Kaitlan Collins.

Published: February 28, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘Diversionary war’: Trump wants to distract Americans from scandals at home | Christopher S Chivvis

Iran strikes are attempt to hijack the global narrative and drown out Epstein and tariffs with the thunder of cruise missiles

In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq without deciding whether it should. The George W Bush administration failed to ask whether the costs, risks and likely consequences of regime change justified the gamble. The result was tragedy – for Iraq, for the Middle East and for America.

Donald Trump’s attack on Iran now follows the same pattern – but with an even narrower logic of performative power. In the run-up to Iraq, Washington devoted enormous energy to planning the invasion. Almost no attention was given to the more important question: was war necessary, and could it realistically produce a stable political outcome?

Christopher S Chivvis is a senior fellow and director of the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Published: February 28, 2026, 8:00 pm

Black History Month was never ‘given’ to Black people. Thus, it can never be taken from us

The question of who owns and authorizes the month holds particular relevance amid attacks on Black history in the US

There is a myth that persists about Black History Month that can be heard in the common gripe: “They gave us the shortest month of the year” (they, the unnamed powers that be). Jarvis Givens, the author of I’ll Make Me a World: The 100-Year Journey of Black History Month, hates it. “Every time I hear that backhanded comment it doesn’t seem right,” said Givens, an associate professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “If you know anything about the basic origins of Black History Month then you know that we weren’t ‘given’ anything.”

The question of who owns and authorizes Black History Month holds particular relevance now, in its centennial year, and at a time when efforts to celebrate, preserve, and acknowledge Black people’s past in this country are under attack. Official recognition of Black American resistance to centuries of racial injustice is being challenged by local, state, and national efforts to restrict, ban and possibly criminalize such information in public schools, universities and other institutions. So the sentiment that Black history can be quite literally given or taken away by state officials is valid.

Saida Grundy is an associate professor of sociology and African American studies at Boston University, and the author of Respectable: Politics and Paradox in Making the Morehouse Man

Published: February 28, 2026, 11:42 pm

Why in the world is Melania Trump leading a UN security council meeting? | Arwa Mahdawi

The first lady is a Trump and therefore automatically qualified to do anything her heart desires

“We ended DEI in America,” Donald Trump boasted during his State of the Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday.

Unlike many things the president said in his excruciatingly long SOTU speech, this was actually half true. The Trump administration’s “war on woke” has pushed a lot of large companies and institutes to retreat from the diversity, equity and inclusion policies they used to pretend to be proud of.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Published: February 28, 2026, 2:00 pm

I’ve seen some bizarre exercises online. If I were an influencer, this is the one workout I’d recommend | Devi Sridhar

Forget snake yoga. All it takes to increase your life expectancy is factoring a set of simple exercises into your weekly routine

Are you still keeping up with your 2026 resolution to exercise more? Or perhaps you’re just trying to survive the winter doldrums, with exercise the last thing on your mind. Whatever it is, social media is alight with fitness influencers showing off all kinds of bizarre and viral exercise trends.

Take squats, a core exercise move. Those don’t seem good enough any more, so now we have Zercher squats (holding a barbell in your elbow crease like a metal baby), squats on vibration plates, squats while throwing a heavy ball and on and on. Some of these exercises may in fact be good, some useless, but because influencers can’t be seen to be doing the same thing every day, the key thing is that they’re novel and can be sold as “the little-known secret exercise that everyone should be doing”.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

Published: February 28, 2026, 10:00 am

Manchester City close gap to two points at top after Semenyo sinks Leeds

For those wondering if Manchester City are overreliant on Erling Haaland, they offered a riposte at Leeds. It was neither a fluid nor entertaining victory but importantly it closed the gap at the top to two points, increasing the pressure on Arsenal in the process.

It helps that when the league’s top scorer is absent, City can rely on the third man in the charts. Antoine Semenyo scored his 14th of the season on a difficult night for Pep Guardiola’s side, making the full-time euphoria well deserved after what felt like a significant win. A number of City players sunk to the turf once the whistle went, having called on all their reserves to get over the line.

Published: February 28, 2026, 7:36 pm

Arsenal face another title test and buildup to the Old Firm game – matchday live

⚽ News, discussion and buildup before the day’s action
⚽ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Daniel

Arsenal fan Balaji has messaged in to say:

“Should Spurs lose to Fulham or later, Arsenal beat Chelsea, today will mark the St. Totteringham’s Day!

Brighton v Nottingham Forest

Fulham v Tottenham

Manchester United v Crystal Palace

Arsenal v Chelsea

Published: March 1, 2026, 10:40 am

Liverpool’s five-star display heaps more pressure on wobbling West Ham

The contrasting strengths of Liverpool and West Ham are reflected on the balance sheet, the team sheet and ultimately the score sheet. Arne Slot’s side improved their prospects of Champions League qualification with a peculiar victory at Anfield, the winning margin far more resounding than the performance.

In the week Liverpool announced record overall revenue of £703m in their latest accounts, most of it ploughed back into the bank balances of a title-winning team, West Ham warned that players will have to be sold this summer whether they stay up or not having suffered a £104.2m loss in the same financial year. Their prospects of avoiding relegation look bleak in the context of such a heavy defeat yet, strange as it seems, Nuno Espírito Santo could take encouragement from elements of West Ham’s display.

Published: February 28, 2026, 5:13 pm

The ultimate breakdown: everything you need to know about F1’s new regulations for 2026

Get to grips with active aero, boost mode and super-clipping as the adoption of new hybrid engines shakes up the sport before the new season begins next weekend

In a week’s time, a new era will begin in Formula One as a major shift in regulations brings with it an air of unpredictability when the Australian Grand Prix gets under way in Melbourne.

The cars have been made smaller and lighter with the intent of making them more nimble, better to drive and to facilitate improved racing. The wheelbase has been reduced by 20cm to 340cm and the width by 10cm to 190cm. Across changes in the chassis and to the engine, the overall weight has been reduced by 30kg. Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton have declared themselves generally pleased with the improved handling characteristics of the more sprightly rides, which will operate with approximately 40% less drag, but they will not enjoy the same downforce or the same pace as last year’s models and are expected to open the season around one to two seconds a lap off last year’s times.

Published: March 1, 2026, 8:00 am

Oleksandr Usyk to defend title against kickboxer at Pyramids of Giza in Egypt

• Champion will face Rico Verhoeven for WBC belt in May

• ‘I respect people who reach the very top in their sport’

Oleksandr Usyk, who has not fought since a fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois at Wembley in July, will defend his WBC heavyweight title against a kickboxer at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

The bout with Rico Verhoeven on 23 May, dubbed “Glory in Giza”, will be the first title fight held in Egypt, according to The Ring magazine, and will be streamed live on Dazn.

Published: February 28, 2026, 11:14 am

Parker rues ‘injustice’ as VAR denies epic Burnley comeback in seven-goal thriller with Brentford

Scott Parker was left sad and disappointed by more video assistant referee controversy after Burnley’s spirited comeback came to nothing. The home side were 3-0 down in 34 minutes and facing hostility from their own fans, but fought back to level before having a fourth goal ruled out after Jaidon Anthony was adjudged to be a shoulder-width offside.

Mikkel Damsgaard then put Brentford back in front three minutes into injury time only for Ashley Barnes to net and spark scenes of jubilation, but his apparent equaliser was also chalked off, for handball, after a long delay.

Published: February 28, 2026, 5:27 pm

European football: Kane double helps Bayern Munich sink Borussia Dortmund

• England captain scores twice in 3-2 win in Der Klassiker

• Lamine Yamal fires hat-trick in Barça win over Villarreal

Harry Kane scored twice again and Bayern Munich opened an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga with a 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker on Saturday.

Joshua Kimmich let fly with his left boot to score the winner with a volley in the 87th minute, just four minutes after Daniel Svensson equalised for Dortmund with a brilliant volley inside the left post. Nico Schlotterbeck put Dortmund 1-0 up at the break, but Serge Gnabry set up Kane’s response and the England captain got his second from the penalty spot – after a foul by Schlotterbeck on Josip Stanisic – to take his league tally to 30 goals this season.

Published: February 28, 2026, 11:00 pm

Football’s rulemakers to launch review of VAR and plan for ‘Vinícius Law’

• New rules will be added before World Cup finals

• Corners and second yellow cards can be checked

Football’s lawmaking authority, the International Football Association Board (Ifab), is to conduct a two-year review of the video assistant referee to ensure the technology is being used “to its best”. The announcement on Saturday came alongside a flurry of enhancements to the rulebook before the World Cup, including expanding the use of VAR into determining corner kicks.

Another proposal could mean punishments for players obscuring their mouths being fast-tracked for implementation at this summer’s tournament, after the alleged racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni.

Published: February 28, 2026, 3:55 pm

Caribbean countries pledge humanitarian support for Cuba amid rising tensions with US

Disagreement among Caricom members hampers unified response on Cuban sovereignty and US intervention in the region

Caribbean countries have pledged to support Cuba through a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by a US fuel embargo, after a leaders summit defined by regional divisions over Washington’s policies.

The decision to send humanitarian assistance to Cuba was announced during a press conference on Friday to mark the end of the four-day Caribbean Community (Caricom) meeting in St Kitts and Nevis, which secretary of state Marco Rubio attended to discuss US relations with Caribbean governments.

Published: February 28, 2026, 12:00 pm

The Russian honeytrap: alleged spy for Moscow faces five years in US prison

Nomma Zarubina, convicted of lying to the FBI, is the latest Russian woman accused of using her sexual wiles for spying

Nomma Zarubina, 35, now sits in a New York jail awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty last week to charges that she lied to the FBI about her contacts with the FSB, Russia’s biggest domestic intelligence service.

But, in a playbook that comes straight from the cold war, the striking-looking Zarubina – known as “Alyssa” to her Russian handlers – was tasked with meeting prominent Americans in order to lure them into the orbit of Moscow intelligence.

Published: February 28, 2026, 4:00 pm

‘Iron river’: Mexico’s cartel violence fuelled by trafficked firearms from US

Lax American gun laws mean weapons are readily available to buy and smuggle south of the border

Mexico was rocked this week by a wave of brutal violence after the capture of the drug lord Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, AKA “El Mencho”, as members of his powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel blew up trucks, fired on police stations and engaged in gun battles with Mexican security forces.

The chaos eventually calmed but not before 62 people had been killed, including a pregnant woman caught in the cross fire. The scale of the carnage, as well as the arsenal involved, has underscored a key element of Mexico’s struggle against organised crime: cartels are armed to the teeth, and most of their weapons are trafficked from the US.

Published: February 28, 2026, 1:00 pm

Islamic State emerges from rubble of north-east Syria to exploit discontent with al-Sharaa

‘Rebranded’ terror group seeks to recruit those alienated by Damascus government’s western pivot

On the surface, all that remains of Islamic State in the Syrian town of Baghuz are discarded tubs of whitening cream, spent RPG motors and children’s backpacks, with an old grenade nestled in the frayed pink nylon.

It was here nearly seven years ago that IS made its last stand. Its most zealous followers were obliterated along with the blood-soaked caliphate they fought to defend. Their bodies were collected and buried next to the town graveyard, while bulldozers came and sealed the entire area under a layer of heavy yellow earth.

Published: February 28, 2026, 11:00 am

US backs Pakistan’s ‘right to defend itself’ against Taliban after strikes on Afghanistan

Taliban offer to resolve dispute via dialogue after Pakistan bombed cities in Afghanistan in latest escalation with its neighbour

Washington endorsed Pakistan’s “right to defend itself” after it bombed major cities across Afghanistan amid heightened tensions between the two hostile neighbours.

The Taliban government in Kabul stressed it was ready to negotiate on Friday as violence intensified between the two countries.

Published: February 28, 2026, 4:13 am

‘Who’d guess they’re the same species?’ What Italy’s wall lizards reveal about genetic diversity and why it matters

Understanding biodiversity within species is key to our understanding of why nature works the way it does, say researchers

• Words and photographs by Roberto García-Roa

Twelve miles from the heart of Rome, Dr Javier Ábalos pauses his walk, lifts his sunglasses and points. To his right, perched on a rocky wall, sits a beautiful lizard. Its body is coated in charcoal-black tones speckled with striking yellow across a green dorsum, and its head, with a prominent jaw, is splashed with fluorescent blue spots. The reptile basks in the sun, unconcerned by our presence.

About 80 miles (130km) drive farther along the road that connects the capital with the small village of Poggio di Roio, the researcher from the University of Valencia has barely stepped out of the car when he spots another lizard. This one is smaller, with a brownish body and a narrower head crisscrossed by a network of dark stripes.

Researchers fear the common wall lizard of the white morph could be driven to extinction by the arrival of a new variation

Published: February 28, 2026, 7:00 am

North Dakota judge finalizes $345m judgment against Greenpeace in pipeline case

Judge slashed a $667m damages award to Energy Transfer over Greenpeace’s role in Dakota Access Pipeline protests

A North Dakota judge on Friday finalized a $345m judgment against Greenpeace in a lawsuit pursued by pipeline company Energy Transfer (ET.N) over the environmental group’s role in protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The final judgment by judge James Gion was in line with a decision he issued in October, in which he slashed by almost half a damages award of about $667m that a jury had awarded Energy Transfer in March.

Published: February 28, 2026, 2:09 am

Researchers praise ‘stunning’ results of new prostate cancer treatment

Early trials of the drug VIR-5500 showed it shrinking tumours in some patients

A new drug for advanced prostate cancer has shown promise in early trials experts have said, with the medication shrinking tumours in some patients.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in many countries, including the US and UK. About 1.5 million men are diagnosed worldwide each year.

Published: February 28, 2026, 5:00 am

Russia may interfere in Danish election, exploiting chaos sown by US, spies warn

US threats to seize Greenland have created ‘new international fault lines’ that can be used to spread disinformation, Danish intelligence agencies say

Denmark’s intelligence services have warned that a foreign power may try to sway the general election on 24 March, saying the main threat was from Russia over support for Ukraine but also citing the chaos caused by US efforts to seize Greenland.

The PET police intelligence service and FE military intelligence said in a joint statement the election campaign could be marked by disinformation and cyberattacks “to sow division, influence the public debate or to target candidates, parties or specific political programmes”.

Published: February 28, 2026, 5:26 am

Decision to allow UK exports to Armenian firm under review over Russian links

Cygnet Texkimp was approved to export machines to Rydena, but ministers examining deal after Guardian highlighted founders’ links to Kremlin military supply chain

Ministers are reviewing a decision to allow a British company to export hi-tech equipment to Armenia after the Guardian uncovered links to the Russian military supply chain.

Cygnet Texkimp, based in Cheshire, was weeks away from exporting two machines that produce carbon fibre “prepreg”, a lightweight material that can be used in a range of civil and military applications.

Published: February 28, 2026, 1:00 pm

Deaths of 22 children in Channel due to ‘catastrophic failure’ by UK and France, NGO says

Project Play finds UK taxpayers are funding ‘record child fatalities’ and ‘repeated violence’ against children in northern France

The deaths of 22 children while trying to cross the Channel in the last two years, along with the mistreatment of thousands of others, were due to “catastrophic failures” of the UK and French governments, according to a new report.

Project Play, an NGO that has worked with 2,192 children hoping to cross the Channel from northern France to the UK to claim asylum in the last two years, has documented the impact of the hostile conditions in northern France due to regular teargassing, evictions and dinghy-slashing by the French police.

Published: February 28, 2026, 9:36 am

Hard work, romance and bell hooks: how Olivia Dean became British pop’s newest megastar

After a Grammy and a global breakthrough, the 26-year-old singer could sweep the board at next week’s Brits. Her closest collaborators explain her massive appeal

Saturday’s Brit awards will feature performances from heavy hitters such as Harry Styles and Mark Ronson – but all eyes will be on Olivia Dean, the Londoner who has become one of the UK’s biggest breakouts in years, thanks to her second album The Art of Loving and its mega-smash UK No 1 single Man I Need. Nominated for five awards, this year’s ceremony is likely to serve as a coronation for Dean, who has found international success on a scale that most contemporary British artists struggle to achieve.

The Art of Loving focuses on love in all its permutations, applying meditations on friendship and romance to a light, gauzy blend of bossa nova, throwback R&B and indie-pop. Dean delivers each song with unfussy exuberance – she somehow captures both the otherworldly poise of Diana Ross and the charm of your best friend killing it at karaoke – and has become the voice of a generation whose romantic lives have been complicated by dating apps and other digitally mediated mating rituals.

Published: February 28, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘She isn’t sorry’: is anyone rooting for Tyra Banks now? Eight things you need to know

Ever since Netflix dropped its documentary series, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, the supermodel has been under fire. But is there another motive behind all the controversy?

“I was rooting for you,” Tyra Banks famously berated a contestant on America’s Next Top Model some 20 years ago. But who, now, is rooting for Tyra Banks?

The supermodel and reality-TV mogul has been under fire from all sides ever since Netflix dropped its documentary series, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. Long-circling scrutiny of the show’s tasteless extremes, frequent body-shaming and blatant failures of duty of care have come to rest on Banks herself, with viewers, Top Model contestants and even her former friends all expressing outrage at her apparent lack of repentance.

Published: February 28, 2026, 12:00 pm

DTF St Louis: this David Harbour whodunnit about dating apps and infidelity is close to the bone

Steve Conrad’s dark comedy is full of twists and sad laughs. As for the fate of Harbour’s character, does Lily Allen have an alibi?

Last October, Lily Allen released a jaw-dropping album about the sexual politics of her marriage to actor David Harbour. It was a musical assassination – reportedly written in the wake of her personal sleuthing into his long-term infidelities via the dating app Raya. Therefore the timing of DTF St Louis (Monday 2 March, 9pm, Sky Atlantic), in which Harbour plays a man in a stagnant marriage who downloads a hook-up app to enjoy some extramarital boom boom, is juicy. For everyone except his publicist.

From the trailer, this was a hard-to-read show. Was it a dark comedy, a bedroom farce, a police procedural? The answer turns out to be yes, to all of those things. I also wondered whether it might be a televisual return to the erotic thrillers of the 90s. The answer to that one is no, although it’s a show with sex on the brain.

Published: February 28, 2026, 7:00 am

‘A woman screams from a high balcony: “Help me! I’m freezing to death!”’ – novelist James Meek returns to Kyiv

Stepping off the night train, full of memories of his life there three decades ago, the writer finds a changed city fighting for survival

My first flat in Kyiv was a couple of metro stops outside the city centre, just opposite Volodymyrskyy market, in a nondescript mid-20th century block. The lease was arranged by post. It took me five days to drive there from Edinburgh in an old Polo in November 1991. Finding my way to Kyiv was easy – one road from Calais takes you straight there – but once I got to the outskirts, I must have used a paper map to navigate through the city. I spoke no Ukrainian, and enough Russian to ask basic directions, but not enough to understand the answer. I could read the street signs. I found a parking space round the back and began to unload my stuff.

Recently, I went back. I crossed the road from the square by the metro and went through the market. It’s a neater, quieter place than I remember from the early 1990s, not so much because of the war as from the gradual changes over the intervening years, when peasant farmers around Kyiv became fewer and post-communist supermarkets and commercial food distribution systems replaced the old state shops. In the weeks before and after the 1991 referendum, when Ukrainians voted to leave the Soviet Union, precipitating its quick disintegration, I went to the state shops to queue for cheap, rationed, often scarce items such as bread and hard cheese; the market was a place of plenty and, for locals, high prices. Row upon row of countrywomen in aprons sold huge jars of sour cream, chalk-white towers of cottage cheese wrapped in muslin and pots of horseradish in beetroot juice, alongside vendors from the Caucasus offering persimmons, pomegranates and fresh coriander, and pickle merchants with buckets of Korean carrot salad and wild garlic stalks. All this is still abundant in Kyiv, still locally made, but packaged and stacked on supermarket shelves by big firms. Nobody’s selling homemade sour cream now – perhaps they’ll be back in spring? – there’s only one pickle seller, and the meat counter is no longer quite the shrine to pork fat it once was.

Published: February 28, 2026, 5:00 am

‘The kinetic energy is palpable’: Manchester embraces its first Brit awards

Event’s first venture outside London aims to recognise geographical diversity of UK’s music talent

Visitors to Manchester this week have been visibly amused to be arriving into Olivia Deansgate station, with many posing for selfies in front of the temporary sign. The tribute to the chart-busting musician is just one indication of how Manchester is embracing the arrival of the Brit awards on Saturday, the event’s first venture outside London in its five-decade history.

Stacey Tang, theBrit awards chair, said the move to the Co-op Live arena was about recognising the geographical diversity of the country’s music talent. “Creativity doesn’t happen in one postcode in the UK … so the idea that the biggest night in music should always be in London, I think, is ageing out,” she said.

Published: February 28, 2026, 6:00 am

My cultural awakening: Leonardo da Vinci made me rethink surgery – I’ve since mended more than 3,000 hearts

For one heart surgeon, seeing the Renaissance artist’s anatomical drawings gave him a natural understanding of the body that was often overlooked in modern medical science

If you’d asked my teenage self, growing up in a small village in Shropshire, what I wanted to do with my life, I would have talked about art and music long before I spoke of scalpel blades and operating theatres. As an 18-year-old, I intended to go to art school, until my mother sat me down and told me rather bluntly that being an artist wouldn’t earn me much money. As she spoke, a surgical documentary flickered across the screen of the black-and-white television in our living room. I told her, half joking, that that was what I’d do instead. Which is how I ended up repeating my A-levels and fighting my way into medical school, where I qualified in 1975.

By 1986, I was a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Papworth hospital in Cambridge, repairing failing hearts in a nascent field of medicine. Since then I’ve repaired more than 3,000 mitral valves – more than any surgeon in the UK – but the work that truly reshaped me came not from a textbook but from an encounter with centuries-old drawings.

Published: February 28, 2026, 7:00 am

‘I’d hoped to capture the graphic chaos in the window. What I found was an even more tangled scene’: Michael Krupka’s best phone picture

He may not be a cyclist, but the photographer was drawn by this bike shop’s jumble of frames and parts

Michael Krupka had passed Philadelphia’s Via Bicycle repair shop for years before he ventured inside. As a photographer rather than a cyclist, he was drawn by the jumble of frames and parts in the front window. “My father was a machinist and when I was a child we had a workshop at home where he could repair pretty much anything mechanical he encountered,” Krupka recalls. “As an artsy kid, I didn’t inherit those skills, but I do have an aesthetic attraction to machines and mechanical things.”

Krupka was out that day on what he describes as an “intentional photo hunt”. He asked a guy repairing a bike near the entrance for permission. “He just shrugged and carried on,” Krupka says. “I’d hoped to capture the graphic chaos against the backlit window. What I found was an even more tangled scene, with even more bikes in the foreground, which I used for the bottom third of the composition,” he says. “The shot has something of a maze or jigsaw element, too, a kind of puzzle that might have interesting things to find within it.”

Published: February 28, 2026, 11:00 am

Blind date: ‘I was hoping for a lovely time, a fancy dinner and to meet the love of my life. I got two out of three’

Brigitte, 27, an admissions officer for a nursery group, meets Jack, 30, a teacher

What were you hoping for?
Great food, great company and hopefully an evening that could be the beginning of something.

Published: February 28, 2026, 6:00 am

‘Crazy, without limits’: Paris disco haunt of Jagger and Grace Jones to reopen

Legendary nightclub Le Palace, where Serge Gainsbourg and Prince also performed, to rise again

In the late 1970s, Le Palace in Paris’s busy theatre district was one of continental Europe’s most famous nightclubs.

On the opening night on 1 March 1978, Grace Jones stunned VIP guests with her rendition of Edith Piaf’s classic La Vie en Rose. Later, Serge Gainsbourg and Prince came to perform, Bob Marley was photographed there and Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol and Karl Lagerfeld were part of a glittering cast of international celebrities, politicians, designers and models who came to drink and dance.

Published: February 28, 2026, 9:00 am

Tim Dowling: Do I look like a man who would buy stolen wine?

As I attempt garden repairs between downpours, I wonder why I was targeted as a likely purchaser of shoplifted goods

I’m walking to the station in driving rain, under the protection of a £12 umbrella I bought at a newsagent the day before – during a previous rainstorm – which is already turning up on one side. My head is down, and I do not immediately see the young man approaching from the other direction, arms full, who stops in my path.

“D’ya wanna buy one?” he says, holding out one of three bottles of white wine he has clearly just shoplifted.

Published: February 28, 2026, 6:00 am

‘A temple of food’: London’s grande dame Simpson’s in the Strand rises again

As the storied London dining room reopens on its bicentenary, restaurateur Jeremy King honours its heritage while restoring a faded icon

Simpson’s in the Strand was the sort of London institution where nothing changed without very good reason. Founded in 1828 as a coffee and chess club, the restaurant introduced wheeled silver trolleys so waiters could dispense roast beef and gravy without disturbing the players’ concentration, and kept them long after the chessboards had gone. In the 1860s, to emphasise its focus on British food, Simpson’s rejected the French word “menu” in favour of “bill of fare”, and so it would remain.

Ornate, self-consciously stately and a bit stuffy, it was as English as Charles Dickens, PG Wodehouse and Winston Churchill – all of whom, perhaps unsurprisingly, were devoted patrons. Wodehouse described Simpson’s as “a restful temple of food” where, as one of his characters observed, diners were “at liberty to eat till you were helpless, if you felt so disposed”. Not all diners, however: women were barred from the main dining room until 1984.

Published: February 28, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘Liberty Vans’ appear across US to help immigrants – and document ICE raids

Volunteers offer moral and legal support, and document ICE actions with the aim of holding people accountable

As ICE operations ramped up across the US over the past year, vans emblazoned with imagery of the Statue of Liberty have been deployed in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and most recently, Minneapolis. Liberty Vans, or camioneta de la libertad in Spanish, are on a mission to defend vulnerable communities in the crosshairs of federal enforcement.

Volunteers in the small fleet of three vans – which are named for the second world war Liberty ships that delivered supplies to Allied forces – offer moral and legal support, stand in visible solidarity with families and document ICE operations so people can see the human impact of the military-style raids that have become a daily part of American life.

Published: February 28, 2026, 1:00 pm

Trump’s unprovoked attack on Iran has no mandate – or legal basis

US president violates UN charter just days into his Board of Peace era, and chooses to take the biggest gamble of his administration

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• US and Israel strikes on Iran: what we know so far

The first war of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace era has begun – an unprovoked attempt at regime change in collaboration with Israel, with no legal foundation, launched in the midst of diplomatic efforts to avert conflict, and with minimal consultation with Congress or the American public.

Trump’s recorded eight-minute address after the first bombs had fallen made clear that this would be no limited strike aimed at cajoling Tehran into concessions at the negotiating table.

Published: February 28, 2026, 12:43 pm

Tell us: how have you been affected by the latest events in the Middle East?

If you’re living or working in the region and have been impacted by the US-Israel conflict with Iran, we would like to hear from you

• US-Israel war on Iran: latest updates

In a statement posted to social media, the Israel Defense Forces says it is now striking “targets” of the Iranian “regime in the heart of Tehran”.

Iran has launched a new round of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and several Gulf cities, after vowing retaliation for the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who had ruled the country since 1989.

Published: March 1, 2026, 10:14 am