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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:00 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:44 pm

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

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

• The seven best non-toxic cooking pans in the US, tested in a food lab

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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

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:15 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:04 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

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

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

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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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:00 pm

Middle East crisis live: explosions shake Dubai as rescue effort continues after US military plane crashes in Iraq

Blasts heard while fire sends thick smoke across financial hub; US central command says crash in ‘friendly airspace’ was not due to hostile or friendly fire

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

• How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry is saying that two drones have been intercepted and destroyed in the eastern region.

More now after reports of explosions in Dubai on Friday morning: thick black smoke rose over the financial hub’s skyline after what authorities described as a fire in an industrial area of the city-state.

Published: March 13, 2026, 5:53 am

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

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

• Middle East crisis – live updates

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:14 pm

‘We make a lot of money’: Trump downplays rise in gas prices during Iran war

The US president says higher oil prices benefit the country as Iran war pushes petrol costs above $100 per barrel

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Donald Trump on Thursday shrugged off the economic toll the war in Iran is taking on gas prices across the United States, writing on social media that “when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money”.

The president’s comment came as the American Automobile Association reports that the average price for a gallon of gas hit $3.60, a week after the beginning of the US-Israel military operation against Iran prompted the largest price spike since the opening days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:04 pm

Iran war punctures Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ promise on US gas prices, experts say

Fossil fuel supply is more vulnerable to global shocks than renewable power sources and efforts to boost efficiencies

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Donald Trump’s war on Iran has triggered shocks in fossil fuel markets, exposing the perils of an agenda that prioritizes “drill, baby, drill” while sabotaging renewable power and energy efficiency in the US, experts and advocates say.

The US-Israeli war on Iran has already led to hundreds of deaths, created an ecological crisis linked to strikes on oil depots and sent fossil fuel prices haywire across the globe.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:00 pm

Tehran diary: dark and bitter, the terror of life under US-Israeli bombardment

Elahi, a former political prisoner writing under a pseudonym, details a sleepless night in the Iranian capital

It’s 5am on Thursday 12 March. I was finally falling asleep after a day full of fear when the phone rang. Terror rushes through me. It’s not the right time for a call. Someone must need help – or maybe they are alone and frightened.

I answer the phone, exhausted. It’s my younger sister. She is crying and cannot speak. My heart breaks into a thousand pieces. I haven’t seen her for many days. When I was released from prison, she had gone to another city to take care of our mother.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:19 pm

Suspect dead after ramming vehicle into Michigan synagogue, officials say

FBI treating incident as targeted act against Jewish community as temple says all students and staff safe

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A man who rammed his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue and drove through a hallway on Thursday died during the incident, officials said.

There were no other serious casualties at the Temple Israel in West Bloomfield township, a suburb in Oakland county, and the FBI said it was treating the matter as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community”. It was not immediately clear how the driver died, but officials said security staff engaged the suspect and at least one fired shots.

Published: March 13, 2026, 12:23 am

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

Suspect who was convicted in 2016 for supporting Islamic State is dead after attack kills one and leaves two injured

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The suspect who killed one person and injured two others at Old Dominion University on Thursday was identified by authorities as Mohamed Jalloh, a former member of the army national guard who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.

Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Norfolk field office, told reporters the suspect had attempted to commit an “act of terrorism” and shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire. He was subdued and killed by members of the university’s ROTC program in a university classroom, she said, praising them for demonstrating “extreme bravery and courage” and preventing further loss of life. (ROTC is a college-based program that allows students to train to become a US military officer while also earning a college degree.)

Published: March 13, 2026, 1:48 am

Blistering early-season heatwave threatens California and other western states

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:53 pm

‘She is our hero’: Oakland celebrates Alysa Liu after Olympics triumph

After earning gold in Milan, local figure-skating icon accepts a key to the city at a celebration of local artists

Nearly 5,000 people gathered in Oakland on Thursday afternoon to celebrate local hero Alysa Liu – a fitting homecoming for the two-time Olympic gold medalist who joyously shouted out the Bay Area city after her short program in Milan less than a month ago.

Scores of people arrived early Thursday to snag a seat close to the stage in front of city hall at the free but ticketed event, which sold out quickly. One group of women donned striped wigs in tribute to Liu’s famously dyed hair, while others held handmade signs showing pride for the figure skating icon.

Published: March 13, 2026, 1:50 am

‘IG is a drug’: jury to deliberate as US trial over social media addiction wraps up

Meta and YouTube accused of creating harmful products in trial seen as a bellwether for attitudes towards social media

The first-ever jury trial over the potential harms of social media wrapped up on Thursday. Lawyers for Meta and YouTube have argued their platforms are safe for the vast majority of young people, while lawyers for a young woman at the center of the case say the tech companies have designed their products to be addictive, leading to mental health issues in children and teens.

“How did they become such behemoths?” Mark Lanier, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said during closing arguments in Los Angeles superior court on Thursday, according to NBC. “It’s the attention economy. They’re making money off capturing your attention.”

Published: March 13, 2026, 12:45 am

Ukraine war briefing: Putin envoy says US better understands importance of Russian oil amid energy crisis

Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev describes negotiations with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as ‘productive’. What we know on day 1,479

Published: March 13, 2026, 1:29 am

Senate passes bill aimed at making US housing more accessible and affordable

The bipartisan bill’s future is uncertain, though, as Trump threatens to stall all legislation until voter-ID law is passed

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The Senate passed a broad bill on Thursday to make US housing more accessible and affordable, a rare bipartisan effort in Congress to address a growing national problem.

The bill, which passed 89-10, would reduce regulations, regulate corporate investors, and expand how housing dollars can be used to build affordable homes and rentals. It will now head back to the House, which passed a similar bill earlier this year.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:48 pm

Trump news at a glance: president shrugs off highest gas prices in years

Trump claims US makes ‘a lot of money’ when oil prices go up, but rising costs could become political liability – key US politics stories from 12 March

Donald Trump on Thursday shrugged off the economic toll the war in Iran is taking on gas prices across the US, writing on social media that “when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money”.

The president’s comment came as the American Automobile Association reports that the average price for a gallon of gas hit $3.60, a week after the beginning of the US-Israel military operation against Iran prompted the largest price spike since the opening days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Published: March 13, 2026, 4:30 am

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

• 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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:48 pm

Microsoft backs AI firm Anthropic in legal battle against Pentagon

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:56 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:10 pm

The kill line v Chinamaxxing: a window into how China and the US see each other

In China, one social media trend hangs on the idea that a life in the US is always one step from disaster, while another in the US has gen Z revelling in Chinese lifestyle hacks

Across two online worlds that are normally splintered, over the last few months there has been a mirroring of sorts. On TikTok and Instagram, young people are diving into the joys of Chinese culture – from drinking hot water to playing mahjong – all under the banner of “Chinamaxxing”. On the Chinese internet, however, the US is losing its decades-long grip on soft power, and is instead being replaced by a darker trend: the kill line.

The kill line is a dangerous place to be. In gaming, the term refers to the point at which a player’s strength is so depleted that one more blow could lead to total wipeout. In China, the term refers to the risks that come with daily life in the US.

Published: March 13, 2026, 2:42 am

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

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

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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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Mining’s toxic timebomb: dams full of poisonous waste are dotted around the world. What happens when they burst?

While tailings dams are meant to last for ever, extreme weather events are making many unstable – with devastating consequences for nature and humans

As soon as the barrier broke, a flood of poison brought death to the river. Gushing through the fragile wall built to hold back mining waste in Zambia’s copper belt in February 2025, more than 50m cubic litres of acid and heavy metals poured into the Chambishi stream – a tributary of the Kafue River, the country’s longest waterway.

Thousands of lifeless fish rose to the surface as a plume of acid floated downriver, leaving dead crocodiles and other wildlife in its wake.

Published: March 13, 2026, 5:00 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Every Brilliant Thing review – Daniel Radcliffe sells tricky Broadway transfer

Hudson Theatre, New York

The hit one-man show about depression suffers from plain and often corny writing yet is saved by an exuberant turn from the Tony-winning Harry Potter star

Every Brilliant Thing presents a theatrical gauntlet for Daniel Radcliffe, the erstwhile Harry Potter, acclaimed Broadway stage regular and only star of this 13-week limited engagement.

It’s not that the show requires nonstop physical exertion – though it does require some, as in a scene of manic exuberance where Radcliffe’s character attempts to high-five the entire audience – so much as a quick-on-his-feet reactive (and interactive!) warmth. While Radcliffe is the only professional actor in the show, its framework involves pulling audience members, including but not limited to those in a semi-circle of on-stage seats, into the action, all while making sure the sorta-monologue (call it a monologue-plus) runs smoothly. This hybrid of acting, interacting and stage-directing must be exhausting. But apart from a few quick water breaks and one built-in collapse after sprinting around the aisles and doing those high-fives, Radcliffe doesn’t much show it. He appears to genuinely love the job, which requires either superhumanly high spirits or terrific acting. Maybe both.

Published: March 13, 2026, 3:00 am

Snoop Dogg, pigsty fights and the wrong kind of snow: Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan on making the Peaky Blinders movie

The actors and creator Steven Knight discuss the Shelbys’ big-screen swan song, how fans propelled the show to success, and that undercut

In June 2023, Barry Keoghan texted Cillian Murphy to wish him a happy Father’s Day. The pair had shared the screen six years before, in the film Dunkirk. “Cillian and Colin [Farrell] are people I admire greatly, and always keep in touch with,” says Keoghan. A reply from Murphy pinged back soon after: “Thank you. Would you like to play my son in Peaky Blinders the movie?”

Murphy remembers it a bit differently: that he was the one initiating contact (which is how Tim Roth and Rebecca Ferguson came on board). But he’s happy to let Keoghan’s version be recorded as fact.

Published: March 13, 2026, 5:00 am

Experience: I suffered terrible burns as a child – then became a firefighter

I was sick and tired of the world treating me like a victim, so I decided to flip the narrative. At 25, I tried out for my local volunteer fire academy

When I was six years old, my entire body went up in flames. It was 1992, in my home town of Hawthorne, Nevada. My older brothers were out playing and I went to call them for dinner. I followed their voices, just a few houses down from ours, to find them playing with a bowl of kerosene they’d found and a lighter. When they flicked the lighter, the bowl caught fire. My brother freaked out and kicked it over in a bid to contain the flames. They weren’t aware I was just inches away.

Soon I was submerged in flames. The pain was excruciating. I was tackled to the ground by a neighbour I’d never met, who covered me in a sleeping bag, extinguishing the flames. It haunts me to this day to think of what he would have seen: a six-year-old boy on fire outside his house.

Published: March 13, 2026, 5:00 am

My mother’s best advice: the secret to good pastry is cold wrists

When I was growing up, she rarely dispensed advice. Instead, I watched her closely, holding on to her quiet wisdom

I often picture my mother that wild, hot summer we moved to the house of my childhood. She is 5ft 3in in the long grass, wearing a vest and a pair of small cut-off shorts. She is digging borders and battling the sticky bobs. She is telling me about the patch of tiger lilies and the cooking-apple tree; about the light speckling through the unkempt branches. “Glory be to God for dappled things,” she says.

My mother has always been a rare combination of poetry and practicality – I know few others given to quoting Gerard Manley Hopkins while simultaneously hacking down nettles, or tiling walls while listening to John Betjeman records. She has a remarkable gift for transforming the ordinary: a bedroom skirting board would be decorated with a mouse and a mouse hole; a packed lunch’s sandwiches cut at unexpected angles; the most mundane shopping trip often accommodated a detour to the art shop to admire the bottles of Winsor & Newton inks.

Published: March 13, 2026, 5:00 am

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

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.”

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:52 pm

Ireland's basic income for artists changed my life. Other people deserve the same luck | Caelainn Hogan

A pilot scheme offering some artists €300-plus a month for three years is being made permanent. But should something so fundamental be run like a lottery?

I won the lottery. Out of around 8,000 artists, my name was randomly chosen to be one of the 2,000 who the Irish government would pay a basic income. This pilot scheme was a test of whether a policy of supporting artists would pay off in terms of creative work, wellbeing and, calculated down to the cent, the money that society would make back.

For three years, we were paid €325 a week with no strings attached, other than filling out a survey. We could continue earning and applying for artist grants. I am a freelance writer who, like most artists, has always had to work outside my creative focus to afford to live, constantly worrying I will never be able to afford a home myself or to start a family. As such, the basic income was life-changing.

Caelainn Hogan is the author of Republic of Shame

Published: March 13, 2026, 5:00 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:22 pm

Ben Jennings on the Oscars – cartoon

Continue reading...

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:50 pm

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:47 pm

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

• 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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:46 pm

Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics 2026: day six – in pictures

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

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:52 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:00 am

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

• 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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:52 am

Midtjylland weather the storm as Cho stuns wasteful Nottingham Forest

It never rains but it pours. Nottingham Forest, forced to cut their ticket prices twice this week to entice a capacity crowd back to the City Ground, can’t seem to buy a win at the moment. Twice now they have lost to FC Midtjylland in this competition this season after the substitute Cho Gue-sung further dampened their spirits with the only goal on a night when a second-half deluge was so severe the ball started getting stuck in puddles.

What a muddle Forest find themselves in: above the relegation zone only on goal difference, their fourth manager of the season, Vítor Pereira, is without a win in his five games since an opening triumph in Fenerbahce set up this last-16 window of opportunity. But as the Danish players celebrated with their hardy, bare-chested fans in a small, sodden but voluble corner of the Bridgford Stand, Pereira warned them they are far from home and dry.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:10 pm

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

• ‘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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:32 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:00 am

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

• 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).

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:49 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:00 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:57 am

Israeli military drops charges against soldiers accused of Gaza detainee abuse

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:39 pm

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

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”.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:24 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:29 pm

Unexplained Moscow internet blackouts spark fears of web censorship plan

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:43 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:20 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:00 am

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

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

• How nature is being sacrificed for mining across the world – a data visualisation

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:00 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:01 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:34 pm

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

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”.

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Noma chef resigns amid allegations of physical abuse of staff

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”.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:13 pm

Trump-endorsed Republican in Louisiana accused of rape in 2007

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 11:28 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:00 am

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

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

• Business live – latest updates

• Middle East crisis – live updates

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:03 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:20 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 9:44 am

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

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

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

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.”

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:00 am

Why Sentimental Value should win the best picture Oscar

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:00 am

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

(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?

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:00 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:00 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:50 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 7:00 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:00 am

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

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.”

Published: March 12, 2026, 4:54 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 6:46 pm

Venice Biennale risks losing EU funding over planned Russia involvement

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:00 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 1:46 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 2:23 am

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

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.”

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:26 am

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

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

Published: March 12, 2026, 8:00 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 10:00 am

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 12:04 pm

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

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.

Published: March 12, 2026, 5:00 am

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

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

Published: March 12, 2026, 3:25 pm