‘Canadians don’t want to come here any more’: anger over Trump squeezes US border businesses

Shops and restaurants once bustling with tourists now struggle for survival as Canadians think twice about crossing the border

On a warm March weekend in the American border town of Lewiston, New York, bakery owner Aimee Loughran is putting the finishing touches on a special order: a state trooper badge-shaped cake for a local officer’s retirement party.

It should be the last task of a busy Saturday at her Just Desserts shop, which sits just 20 minutes north of the rushing waters of Niagara Falls. Dotted with cafes, restaurants and historic buildings from the 1800s, the Lewiston strip is usually catnip for tourists, including the Canadians whose homes can be seen from the banks of the nearby Niagara River.

Published: March 28, 2026, 9:00 am

Pete Hegseth is imbuing violence with a religious righteousness | Arwa Mahdawi

The defense secretary prayed for ‘overwhelming violence’ against enemies in Iran. He seems to delight in it

Is it woke to wash your hands? Pete Hegseth seems to think so. Back in 2019 when he was still just a Fox News host rather than the guy in charge of “the Department of War”, Hegseth said on-air that he hadn’t washed his hands for 10 years because “germs are not a real thing.” He added: “I can’t see them; therefore, they’re not real.”

Hegseth later claimed he was joking. But even if he was, the defense secretary is never going to be able to wash the blood from his hands. The 45-year-old, one of the strongest backers of the war on Iran, has said he wants “maximum lethality, not tepid legality” to the be the hallmark of the US military, and he’s been making good on that promise. Under his watch, a defense department program aimed at reducing civilian harm has been dismantled, and experts who provide guidance on keeping military operations in line with international law have been fired. And, of course, a school full of little girls has been bombed.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

The assault on freedom with Mehdi Hasan and Arwa Mahdawi
On Monday 8 June, join Mehdi Hasan and Arwa Mahdawi to discuss the current seismic changes in geopolitics, the alarming rise of populism and nationalism, and its global implications. Live in London and livestreamed worldwide. Book tickets here or at guardian.live

Published: March 28, 2026, 1:00 pm

Pop maverick Robyn on sleaze, snobbery and dating during IVF: ‘When there isn’t as much at stake, sex becomes more fun’

The Swedish musician decided to pursue motherhood alone, and found it came with a surprising sexual awakening – a story she lays out on her new album, her first in eight years

Robyn sits silently, eyes closed, for what feels like a full minute. “Wow,” she says. “This is really deep” It has been eight years since this elder stateswoman of alt-pop released music. She is talking about how, since then, her life has fractured and reassembled. The 46-year-old Swede’s previous album, Honey, was finished in the afterglow of repairing her engagement to director Max Vitali. Now, she’s no longer in that relationship, she’s raising a three-year-old son, Tyko, whom she had by IVF, on her own, and she has also reckoned with the scars of her own childhood, growing up in an exploitative music industry.

We meet in a breezy attic above a recording studio in London to talk about her new album, Sexistential – an ode to letting your guard down and feeling things deeply. “Defending my right to be myself and be vulnerable,” she says. She’s wearing biker boots and a mesh hoodie, and has tucked a bomber jacket, two overflowing handbags and a black leather sailor hat into the nooks and crannies of the sofa as if constructing a nest around herself. She’s thrilled to be back. “I’ve never released an album as a parent, so it’s really exciting to work.” She laughs, flashing a chipped tooth. “When I do get time for myself, it’s liberating and fun.”

Published: March 28, 2026, 6:00 am

‘The era of invincibility is over’: the week big tech was brought to heel

Ruling that Meta and YouTube deliberately designed addictive products marks possible watershed moment for social media

The young woman at the heart of what has been called the tech industry’s “big tobacco” moment was on YouTube at six and Instagram by nine. More than a decade later, she says, she still can’t live without the social media she became addicted to.

“I can’t, it’s too hard to be without it,” Kaley, now 20, told a jury at Los Angeles’ superior court. This week, five men and seven women handed down a verdict on the design of two of the world’s most popular apps that vindicated Kaley’s position.

Published: March 28, 2026, 6:00 am

Pochettino, Pulisic and the pressure of the USMNT’s World Cup moment

As a player, Mauricio Pochettino suffered under World Cup pressure. As a manager, he hopes to help the USMNT’s belief in the face of it

US men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino probably understands the pressure of playing for your national team in a way few of his players can.

Pochettino was not involved in Argentina’s World Cup plans in 1994 and 1998. He finally made the squad as a veteran in 2002, part of a stacked team favored by many to win the entire tournament. The country itself was in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis and an entire nation turned to La Albiceleste for a bit of hope.

Published: March 28, 2026, 9:00 am

These CEOs want a starring role in our lives – and there’s not much we can do about it | Larry Ryan

Do we really need a McDonald’s CEO fronting ads or a Gianni Infantino Panini sticker? No. But in the age of Trump, the boss class feels emboldened

A few weeks ago, the CEO of McDonald’s appeared in a video sampling the chain’s new “Big Arch burger”. In the clip, Chris Kempczinski, or “Chris K” as he casually calls himself, labelled it a “product”, matching the sterile tone of the review – all harsh lighting, corporate office backdrop and an awkward man talking and eating while wearing a shirt fitting uneasily under a light wool V-neck.

Why would McDonald’s, with its huge marketing budget and commercial success, choose to platform this guy? His stilted efforts were mocked and memed, with executives at Burger King and Wendy’s posting their own versions – what fun. Inevitably some market watchers claimed it drove engagement and sales. But to me, it seems to be just the latest flagrant example of CEOism: when CEOs/founders/heads of organisations centre themselves in the action – just because they can.

Larry Ryan is a freelance writer and editor

Published: March 28, 2026, 8:00 am

Houthi forces enter Iran conflict with missile attacks on Israeli military sites

Escalation represents dangerous spread of war and brings threat of even more damage to the global economy

• Middle East crisis – live updates

• Parents of Iran school bombing victims describe their worst day

The US-Israeli war with Iran has expanded with the entry of Houthi forces in Yemen, representing a dangerous spread of the conflict and bringing with it the threat of more damage to the global economy.

Pakistan has said it would host a meeting of Middle Eastern powers on Monday in an effort to find a regional approach to ending the conflict. But the talks, which bring together the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, did not appear to include any of the warring parties, casting further doubt on persistent US claims of diplomatic progress.

Published: March 28, 2026, 4:19 pm

‘It didn’t matter whose child I rescued’: parents of Iran school bombing victims describe their worst day

Hours before the world learned that a US missile had hit Shajareh Tayyebeh school, parents were already searching the rubble for their sons and daughters. In this exclusive report, four families describe the events of 28 February

When Marzieh heard the first bang, an almighty crash that rattled the room, her first thought went to her youngest son, Mohammad. He must have got out on to the balcony and discovered a new game, she thought: using all of his small might to smash its sliding doors closed. Marzieh stood up from where she was working at her sewing machine, and shouted for him to stop.

Published: March 28, 2026, 8:00 am

As US troops sail to Middle East, how likely is Trump to order boots on the ground?

Secretary of state Marco Rubio repeats administration’s belief that US can achieve its aims without a ground war

Amid tentative White House efforts at diplomacy to end the war in Iran, US troops have also been arriving in the region to deliver what Donald Trump has hoped could be a knockout blow if he can’t negotiate a ceasefire with Tehran.

Thousands of US marines aboard navy amphibious ships from the 31st and 11th expeditionary units have been deployed to the Middle East from Asia. Another 2,000-odd paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne are also being sent to the theatre – they are tasked with deploying worldwide within 18 hours of notification and execute parachute assaults, including against a “defended airfield” to prepare for further ground operations.

Published: March 28, 2026, 1:00 pm

Third No Kings protests to see millions across US push back on Trump administration

Anti-authoritarian rallies, taking place in all 50 states plus 16 countries, are expected to be biggest in US history

Millions of Americans are expected to take to the streets on Saturday for the No Kings protests against the Trump administration. More than 3,000 events are planned in all 50 states, plus in 16 countries, according to a coalition of organizers that includes “anti-authoritarian” groups Indivisible and 50501, labor unions and other grassroots organizations.

“I would expect March 28 to be the biggest protest in American history,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible.

Published: March 28, 2026, 10:00 am

US House passes stopgap DHS funding bill after Republicans reject Senate deal

Bill passes by 213 to 203 votes in move prolonging weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted travel

US House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate deal to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and instead passed their own funding measure late on Friday, extending a weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted air travel.

The stopgap bill, which proposes funding the DHS in full for eight weeks, passed by 213 to 203 votes after Republicans in the lower chamber refused to take up a Senate-passed deal that excluded money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the border patrol.

Published: March 28, 2026, 12:27 pm

US treasury department demands retraction of story on increased oversight of Federal Reserve

Treasury department said Financial Times article about Scott Bessent’s views on Fed oversight was ‘manufactured’

The US treasury department demanded on Friday that the Financial Times (FT) retract a report on treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s views on the Federal Reserve, accusing the newspaper of publishing “false claims” in a formal complaint that was escalated to the news outlet’s parent company, Nikkei Inc.

The email from treasury officials, addressed to senior editors at the FT and Nikkei, disputed multiple claims in the story and criticized the headline as misrepresenting the underlying reporting.

Published: March 28, 2026, 4:26 pm

Michigan student disciplined for protesting against war on Gaza reaches settlement with school

Teenager alleged she faced racism from teacher who told her to ‘go back to her country’ for refusing to stand for pledge of allegiance

A Palestinian and Arab middle school student in Michigan who was publicly admonished for refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance as part of a personal protest against the war on Gaza has settled with her school district following a lawsuit around her first amendment free speech rights.

The teenager, identified as DK in court documents, said she faced racism from a teacher at the West Middle school in Canton, Michigan, after she did not participate in the pledge. The teacher reportedly told DK to “go back to her country”, Fox 2 Detroit reported.

Published: March 28, 2026, 5:00 pm

‘They feel true’: political deepfakes are growing in influence – even if people know they aren’t real

AI images of people – such as women in military contexts – are making money and serving as propaganda, researchers say

Online content creators are not just building fake images and videos of prominent public figures, they are also fabricating people and using them in military contexts, which can make them money and even serve as effective propaganda, according to artificial intelligence researchers.

Some of these online avatars are sexualized images of women wearing camouflage garb that have generated a significant audience and helped create an idealized image of political figures like Donald Trump, even if the viewer knows the content is not real, according to experts.

Published: March 28, 2026, 11:00 am

Huge crowds take part in London march against the far right – live

Organisers claim half a million people are marching through central London, protesting against the rise of the far right

Some protesters have spoken to PA earmarking opposition to Reform UK, support for Palestine and anti-racism as drivers for their attendance.

Paige Horsford, 34, a media and English teacher from New Romney, Kent, said she joined the Together march because she has witnessed racist incidents at her school.

Published: March 28, 2026, 5:09 pm

Two Iowans accused of lacing lasagna with drugs to cause woman’s miscarriage

Matthew Uthoff and his wife, Amber Dena Snow, allegedly gave oxycodone-laced pasta dish to unknowing victim

Two people in Iowa were accused of giving a pregnant woman a lasagna laced with narcotics with the intention of causing a miscarriage, according to law enforcement.

Matthew Uthoff, 35, and his wife, 36-year-old Amber Dena Snow, are accused of delivering a lasagna containing oxycodone to the pregnant individual. The couple faces several charges including delivery of a controlled substance and purposefully terminating a human pregnancy without the knowledge and voluntary consent of the pregnant individual.

Published: March 28, 2026, 2:59 pm

Ilia Malinin completes redemption arc with third straight world figure skating championship

• US star wins third straight world title after Olympic shock

• Japanese rivals Kagiyama and Sato round out podium

Ilia Malinin claimed a third straight world figure skating championship on Saturday afternoon, completing a swift redemption a month after his shock Olympic collapse with a commanding free skate.

The 21-year-old American entered the final at Prague’s O2 Arena with a commanding lead after Thursday’s short program, where his personal-best 111.29 had put him more than nine points clear of the field. This time, there would be no unraveling.

Published: March 28, 2026, 3:31 pm

Trump news at a glance: Saudi Arabia wants US to intensify its war on Iran – its regional rival

Saudi intelligence source confirms reporting that crown prince has urged Trump to ramp up ‘historic opportunity’ to remake Middle East – key US politics stories from Friday 27 March at a glance

Saudi Arabia has urged the US to ramp up attacks on Iran, a Saudi intelligence source has confirmed, as it decides whether to join the fight directly.

The Saudi source confirmed reporting in the New York Times that said the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has urged Donald Trump not to cut short his war against Iran, and that the US-Israeli campaign represented a “historic opportunity” to remake the Middle East.

Published: March 28, 2026, 1:00 am

Ukraine war briefing: Rubio stridently denies US is demanding Kyiv give up eastern Donbas to Russia

US secretary of state says Zelenskyy’s claims ‘not true’ about Donbas; French TV criticised over Sergei Lavrov interview. What we know on day 1,494

US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, rejected Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s assertion that the Trump administration is demanding Kyiv hand over its eastern Donbas region to Russia to receive US security guarantees in any ceasefire plan. Speaking on Friday, Rubio disputed Zelenskyy’s recent comments and said the US has made no such stipulation in its talks with Ukraine. “That’s a lie,” Rubio said. “And I saw him say that. And it’s unfortunate he would say that because he knows that’s not true and that’s not what he was told.” Zelenskyy this week told Reuters the US was making its offer of security guarantees for Ukraine contingent on the ceding of the Donbas region, the industrial heartland long coveted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

French public television came under severe criticism on Friday for airing a prime-time interview with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. The France 2 television channel aired 10 minutes of the pre-recorded interview during its Thursday evening news, while the full hour-long version was posted online. More than four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion on Ukraine, Lavrov on France 2 claimed Moscow was intent on defending “international law”. Lavrov said US-Israeli strikes on Iran that sparked the Middle East war had breached these rules. But he rejected any notion of Russia breaking international law in Ukraine, claiming its forces never targeted “exclusively civilian” targets.

Ukraine’s ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, said on X people must be wondering why French television had given a platform to “a war criminal”.

And the French foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, responded by saying Russia does not defend international law either in Ukraine or Iran with its actions. “Mr Lavrov was able to calmly spread his propaganda last night on a French television channel … You do not defend international law by launching a war of aggression,” Barrot told reporters on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in France.

Meanwhile, Moscow has denied reports that Vladimir Putin asked Russian oligarchs to donate to fund the Ukraine war, as covered earlier by Nadeem Badshah. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said one of the businessmen at a closed-door meeting on 26 March proposed donating money to the state, and Putin welcomed this initiative.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said the US still has a critical role to play in ending the war with Russia, adding that he had met Rubio on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in France. “Ukraine’s proposals are realistic and doable. Pressure on Russia is key to make Moscow end the war,” Sybiha posted to X on Friday. “We also spoke about the developments in the Middle East. Ukraine’s position is that the regimes in Moscow and Tehran work together to prolong the war.” There are fears the US-Israeli war on Iran has diverted attention away from finding peace in Ukraine.

Published: March 28, 2026, 1:19 am

Fulton county accuses FBI of ‘callous disregard’ over ballot seizures

Lawyers say agency made misrepresentations in affidavit to obtain search warrant for January raid of election offices

Lawyers arguing in federal court for the FBI to return Fulton county’s 2020 election records said the agency’s affidavit to obtain a search warrant relied on misrepresentations that rise to the legal standard of a “callous disregard” for the county’s rights.

“The only element that turns the election into a crime is intent, and nothing in the affidavit shows intent,” Abbe Lowell, who is representing Fulton county, said during the Friday hearing at the Richard Russell courthouse in Atlanta. He argued that the FBI was pursuing crimes for which the statute of limitations has expired.

Published: March 27, 2026, 7:10 pm

Could a Democratic triumph in Florida be a bellwether of a blue wave in red state midterm elections?

Emily Gregory’s victory in district that includes Mar-a-Lago has revitalized the party before the crucial November vote

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Can the Democratic party once again become a force to be reckoned with in Florida? That seemingly implausible question surfaced last Tuesday in the wake of upset victories scored by the party’s candidates in two state legislative races, one of whom defeated a Republican nominee’s bid to represent Donald Trump himself.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, Democrats have flipped more than two dozen legislative districts held by Republican lawmakers nationwide. Amid mounting discontent with the high cost of living, the violent tactics used to enforce the administration’s mass deportation agenda and bewilderment over the erratic imposition of tariffs, Democratic candidates have captured a series of traditionally Republican seats in states spanning deep-red Mississippi to purple Virginia.

Published: March 28, 2026, 4:00 pm

How Trump’s deportation campaign has changed tack after deep unpopularity

Kristi Noem was replaced by Markwayne Mullin as DHS secretary and Gregory Bovino was demoted, signally a change in tone even as arrests have continued

Throughout last year, Donald Trump delivered on his signature campaign promise of mass deportation in draconian and theatrical style. Hardline figures such as Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and Gregory Bovino, the border patrol commander, became the face of Trump’s crackdown, defending a strategy of large-scale raids that sent immigration agents flooding into US cities, terrorizing communities and clashing with protesters.

Then in January, immigration officers killed two US citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, in a matter of three weeks. The killings spurred a sweeping backlash that has led Democratic members of Congress to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for more than a month in an attempt to rein in ICE. Even Trump said “maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch”.

Published: March 28, 2026, 2:00 pm

Young voters shake Italy’s political calm as referendum exposes tensions for Giorgia Meloni

Prime minister is scrambling to clean up her government after youth vote powered a damaging referendum defeat

Filippo Michelini was having a drink at San Calisto, a popular bar in Rome’s Trastevere neighbourhood on Wednesday night. As he chatted to his friends, Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government was reeling from a failed referendum, and her beleaguered tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, had just resigned.

Michelini, a 29-year-old computer scientist who lives in Brussels, was spending a few days in the Italian capital after returning home last weekend to cast his ballot in the plebiscite on judicial changes.

Published: March 28, 2026, 12:00 pm

Blind date: ‘It was truly a great first date’

Adam, 25, a civil servant, meets Tina, 26, who works in advertising

What were you hoping for?
Good food, good company and hopefully a bit of romance.

Published: March 28, 2026, 6:00 am

I tried HigherDose’s $1,400 PEMF mat to help me relax. I got weird dreams and disappointment

This pricey infrared therapy mat claims to help mood, sleep and muscle recovery. It felt more like a glorified heating pad

• Plastic-free cutting boards and $17 bike lights: 11 things you loved in March

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

I have a $1,400 mat stashed under my pink velvet couch.

It’s my roommate’s PEMF and infrared therapy mat, and yes, it costs nearly as much as my monthly rent. Measuring 6ft in length, made of vegan leather, layered with bright-blue amethyst and obsidian crystals and weighing as much as a Siberian husky, the HigherDose mat makes my basic yoga mat feel like a flimsy slab of cardboard.

Published: March 28, 2026, 2:15 pm

Quotations quiz: can you spot what’s Shakespeare, Cantona or chatbot?

ChatGPT allegedly mangled some quotes in Matt Goodwin’s book, but which of these are correct or correctly attributed?

Poor old Matt Goodwin. No sooner had he lost the Gorton and Denton byelection for Reform UK while seemingly having some very sour grapes about the outcome, but his new book – Suicide of a Nation – had come under scrutiny for allegedly relying to some extent on ChatGPT. That reliance appears to have stretched to allowing the chatbot to hallucinate some quotes by famous figures, intellectuals and philosophers, which somehow nobody saw fit to fact check. How awkward.

A former professor of politics, Goodwin has denied this, claiming that “critics would rather nit-pick over interpretations of Latin and historical quotes than deal with my book’s core argument” and that “criticism is coming from notorious left-wing activists”. Still, whatever the truth, we are sure that Guardian readers will be able to spot which of these famous quotes are correct or correctly attributed.

Published: March 28, 2026, 3:00 pm

The great care home cash grab: how private equity turned vulnerable elderly people into human ATMs

When did care homes come to be seen as recession-proof investments? And who pays the price?

On a spring morning in 1987, a 30-year-old man named Robert Kilgour pulled up beside a row of foamy cherry trees in the town of Kirkcaldy, on Scotland’s east coast, to visit an old hotel. The building was four storeys of blackened Victorian sandstone. Kilgour was a big man, a voluble Scot with a knack for storytelling. He already owned a hotel in Edinburgh but wanted to branch into property development and was planning to turn this old place, Station Court, into apartments. A few months after he completed the purchase, however, the Scottish government scrapped a grant for developers that he had been counting on. He had just sunk most of his personal savings into a useless building in a sodden, post-industrial town. He urgently needed a new idea.

Care homes weren’t so different from hotels, Kilgour thought. And the beauty was, their elderly residents were unlikely to get drunk, steal the soap dispensers or invite sex workers back to their rooms. Turning Station Court into a care home seemed like the best way out of a bad situation. Kilgour arranged a bank loan and in June 1989 he launched Four Seasons Health Care, taking the name from a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan where he had once dined.

Published: March 28, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘A full-circle moment’: why Stephen Colbert is an enticing fit for Lord of the Rings

The Late Show host is co-writing a new JRR Tolkien adaptation to be produced by Peter Jackson

Typically, when a famous comedian ventures into writing, it’s in service of a book of humorous essays or a screenplay for a starring vehicle. Stephen Colbert, the comic actor turned beloved talkshow host, is preparing a more unusual pivot: he’ll be working on the screenplay for a new Lord of the Rings movie, to be produced by franchise impresario Peter Jackson, who directed the original trilogy of films based on the JRR Tolkien fantasy novels, as well as a trilogy based on Tolkien’s book The Hobbit. To casual viewers of his about-to-end Late Show on CBS, or those who remember his years as a contributor to Comedy Central’s irreverent The Daily Show, this might seem like an odd fit; Tolkien isn’t known for his satirical edge. Colbert, however, is known for his love of Tolkien – among other things.

Befitting his eventual gig as a political satirist, Colbert was born in Washington DC, the youngest of 11 children in a Catholic family that subsequently lived in Maryland and South Carolina. The family suffered a major loss in 1974 when two of Colbert’s brothers and their father were killed in a plane crash. Colbert was only 10 and became withdrawn after the tragedy, retreating into books – especially fantasy books like the works of Tolkien – and games like Dungeons & Dragons, which he played heavily for four years. This provided some early training in acting and improvisation without him entirely realizing it. “For somebody who eventually became an actor, it was interesting to have done that for so many years, because acting is role-playing,” he told the AV Club in 2006. “You assume a character, and you have to stay in them over years, and you create histories, and you apply your powers. It’s good improvisation with agreed rules before you go in.”

Published: March 28, 2026, 9:00 am

Six great reads: clever is the new cool, HBO UK and the plot to erase Imran Khan

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days

Published: March 28, 2026, 6:21 am

Johannes Radebe: ‘I had always been warned to wear my flesh underwear. I did not that day’

The Strictly dancer on impostor syndrome, having his trousers split on stage and his dancefloor rival

Born in South Africa, Johannes Radebe, 38, was South African Amateur Latin Champion three times and won the Professional Latin Championships twice. He spent two seasons on Strictly Come Dancing South Africa before joining the UK version in 2018. In 2023 he published his memoir, Jojo: Finally Home. Having toured the UK and Ireland in the Olivier-, Grammy- and Tony-winning musical Kinky Boots, he reprises the role of Lola at the London Coliseum until 11 July. He is single and lives in London.

When were you happiest?
When my UK citizenship was approved. It’s taken me eight years and lots and lots of money. I was at home in South Africa when I received the news and my mum said, “I am so happy for you because this is your glitterball.”

Published: March 28, 2026, 10:00 am

The problem goes far beyond Noma – I’ve seen rot creeping into too many kitchens | Lauren Joseph

There’s a system that creates and condones these toxic restaurant environments – and too often it’s rewarded by institutions such as Michelin

• Lauren Joseph is a writer and chef

The fine-dining world has been closely watching the fallout at Noma since chefs spoke out about the physical violence and emotional abuse that the head chef, René Redzepi, subjected them to at his Copenhagen restaurant. There were protests in Los Angeles before a four-month pop-up of the restaurant opened there this month, and Redzepi, in an Instagram video in which he failed to fully assign himself blame (“I’m sorry everyone is in this situation,” he begins), then announced that he has stepped away from the business. The LA pop-up, however, remains and the question lingers: will this be the reckoning an ultra-pressured group of restaurants has long avoided?

It depends on whether we allow ourselves to be distracted by Redzepi and what comes next. I hope every chef who was allegedly intimidated, punched and threatened gets the reparations they seek. Then the story should move on. No waiting for the public redemption arc – but also, no useless vilifying of this man, whose past transgressions have previously been accepted.

Lauren Joseph is a writer and chef

Published: March 28, 2026, 6:00 am

In an Istanbul market, I found an old German phrase book – and a reminder of how not to speak to migrants | Carolin Würfel

Turkish immigrants to Germany in the 60s were seen as temporary labour, not people. Today’s government in Berlin is at risk of repeating the mistake

A few weekends ago, I went to the flea market in Bomonti, a neighbourhood on the European side of Istanbul. I go there regularly, and over the years I’ve accumulated a small collection of things: embroidered napkins, records, old issues of House & Garden, earrings, candle holders. It is usually on the days when you are not looking for anything in particular that you find the most interesting things – or, as the Turkish writer Sabahattin Ali once wrote, “some things we never know we need until we find them”.

That particular Sunday, strolling through the stalls, I came across a book from 1965 titled Türkler için Almanca – Deutsch für Türken (German for Turks). It was among the first language textbooks of its kind, widely distributed to the so-called Gastarbeiter – “guest workers” – who came to West Germany in the 1960s and 70s. The economic boom of the 1950s had created an acute labour shortage, prompting the recruitment of workers from abroad. A bilateral agreement with Turkey, signed in 1961, facilitated the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Turkish men and women to come and work in German factories. Officially, their stay was meant to be temporary. Workers came alone; families stayed behind. A copy of the language book I found 60 years later at a flea market in Istanbul would have been in the suitcases of many of these workers.

Carolin Würfel is a writer, screenwriter and journalist who lives in Berlin and Istanbul. She is the author of Three Women Dreamed of Socialism

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 28, 2026, 5:00 am

The Chappell Roan security incident raises a bigger question: what do celebrities owe their fans? | Tayo Bero

It’s unclear what happened in São Paulo. But our obsessive culture has created a fraught dance between stars and their fans

Last week, the former Chelsea footballer Jorginho made a post on social media claiming that, after his daughter walked past the singer Chappell Roan’s table at a restaurant and smiled at her, a security guard accosted the girl. The security guard apparently spoke “in an extremely aggressive manner”, causing her to be “extremely shaken and [cry] a lot”.

If the story is true, it doesn’t look good for Roan. This wasn’t creepy paparazzi or red carpet hecklers; it was a child. Roan has apologized, adding that the man involved in the incident in São Paulo was not her personal security, and that she didn’t see the girl.

Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist

Published: March 28, 2026, 11:00 am

At last, David has landed a double punch on the tech Goliaths. Now to hit them even harder | Jonathan Freedland

The US court verdicts declaring Meta liable for getting people addicted and ruining lives must be just the start of a global fightback

Good news is so rare these days, you don’t quite know how to take it. You want to celebrate, but a rival instinct tells you it’ll be pulled back somehow, the same feeling you get when your team scores a late winner, but you’re filled with instant dread that the goal will be overturned on a video replay.

I confess that is how I responded to the double legal blow dealt this week to Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, when two US juries on successive days found against it in a pair of landmark cases. First came a verdict in New Mexico, fining the company $375m (£280m) for enabling harm, including child sexual exploitation, on its platforms and for misleading consumers about their safety. Twenty-four hours later, jurors in California awarded $6m in damages to a young user who had argued that Meta (along with YouTube) had deliberately designed addictive products that had hooked her from childhood, causing her grave harm.

Published: March 27, 2026, 5:19 pm

The Guardian view on social media in the dock: tech bros move fast – society is trying to catch up | Editorial

Two court cases have shown how companies can be forced to take responsibility for their impact on public health

Debate about online harms has tended to focus on abusive and hateful content. But the form in which content is delivered is at least as important. That point is central to this week’s momentous decisions against Meta and YouTube, by two US juries. It will take more than these cases to loosen big tech’s tight grip on much of the world’s attention. But the fact that both companies were found liable in California, for deliberately designing addictive products that harmed a child, is a massive win for the coalition of campaigners aiming to use the US courts to force the platforms to change their products.

The second case against Meta, in New Mexico, found it liable over the use of Facebook and Instagram for child sex trafficking, with a Guardian investigation cited in the complaint. The jury ordered it to pay $375m in civil liabilities; the state’s attorney general is seeking platform changes and financial penalties.

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Published: March 27, 2026, 6:11 pm

Tiger Woods released on bail hours after arrest at crash scene on suspicion of DUI

• Tiger Woods arrested after Florida rollover crash

• Golfer charged with DUI after Jupiter Island incident

• Woods to be held eight hours under Florida DUI law

• Trump laments arrest of ‘close friend’ in remarks

Tiger Woods was released on bail on Friday, hours after the golf star’s Land Rover clipped a truck, rolled onto its side and he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to officials.

Martin County sheriff John Budensiek said Woods was driving a Land Rover that overturned after attempting to overtake a truck on a narrow two-lane road shortly before 2pm near Woods’s residence on Jupiter Island. The vehicle clipped a trailer, veered off and came to rest on its driver’s side after sliding along the roadway.

Published: March 28, 2026, 4:02 am

Illinois imposes alcohol limits near campus with Final Four berth at stake

• Alcohol limits imposed in Champaign before tipoff

• Plastic cups replace glass near Illinois campus

• Illini can reach Final Four for first time since 2005

Officials in Champaign have imposed temporary alcohol restrictions around the University of Illinois campus ahead of Saturday night’s Elite Eight game between Illinois Fighting Illini and Iowa Hawkeyes, citing public safety concerns tied to anticipated postgame celebrations.

The emergency order, issued by mayor Deborah Frank Feinen, requires bars in a designated campus area to serve alcohol only in plastic, paper or aluminum containers during a set period before and after the game. Sales of packaged liquor and cocktails-to-go will be restricted after tipoff, while alcohol deliveries into and out of the area will be temporarily prohibited.

Published: March 28, 2026, 12:28 pm

Lawsuit launched after scammer posing as NFL star Xavier McKinney stole $4.4m

A US sports industry loan broker is being sued after allegedly not performing satisfactory due diligence in a deal that turned out to be a scam

A lender to professional athletes wired $4.375m to a borrower it thought was Green Bay Packers star Xavier McKinney, only to learn months later it had allegedly been scammed by someone impersonating the player. The news is contained in Aliya Sports Finance Fund’s (ASFF) lawsuit against a longtime US sports industry loan broker, Sure Sports, for allegedly not performing satisfactory due diligence when it introduced what turned out to be apparently a fake McKinney to the lender. According to court papers, the FBI is probing the transaction.

Aliya, whose parent company is an investor in Reading FC, filed the lawsuit a year ago in state court in Florida, where both Sure Sports and Aliya are headquartered. The case is scheduled for a three-week trial beginning on 13 July.

Published: March 28, 2026, 10:00 am

India legend Ravichandran Ashwin to join US-based Major League Cricket

• India great joins San Francisco Unicorns for 2026

• Ashwin becomes first India-capped player in MLC

• Major League Cricket’s fourth season starts 18 June

India great Ravichandran Ashwin signed a contract to play for the San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket, the team announced Saturday.

Modeled on the hugely popular Indian Premier League, MLC is an annual Twenty20 tournament that launched three years ago in a bid to tap into the US market.

Published: March 28, 2026, 4:52 pm

Tom Pidcock pulls out of Volta a Catalunya after ‘horror crash’ down ravine

• British rider went off road after misjudging corner on Friday

• Jonas Vingegaard blazes to stage six victory

Tom Pidcock has been withdrawn from the Volta a Catalunya because of injuries sustained in a crash during the fifth stage on Friday. The British rider went off the road after misjudging a corner, suffering what he described as a “horror” crash down a ravine.

Although the Pinarello-Q36.5 rider was able to get back on his bike and complete the stage, after medical assessments with his team and also at hospital, it was determined Pidcock could not resume the race.

Published: March 28, 2026, 2:01 pm

Kimi Antonelli on F1 Japanese GP pole in Mercedes lockout with George Russell

• Italian finishes 0.298sec ahead of British teammate

• Verstappen ‘beyond frustrated’ after finishing 11th

Kimi Antonelli demonstrated he intends to be front and centre in the Formula One world championship battle after claiming a commanding pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix, driving his Mercedes with an assured confidence beyond his tender years.

The 19-year-old delivered a hugely impressive lap on a Suzuka circuit that rewards drivers who can push to the edge and beat his teammate George Russell into second by 0.298sec. This was no little feat despite the British driver struggling with setup issues on his car.

Published: March 28, 2026, 7:36 am

Roberto Martínez: ‘It’s a hammer blow when you don’t succeed, but let us dream’

Portugal head coach, who describes the country as a ‘football school’, explains why he is ready to take risks in pursuit of World Cup glory

‘You get there and the mountain is so big, you have no objective other than survive.” It was summer 1995, Roberto Martínez was 21, he had made one brief appearance for Real Zaragoza and just completed military service while playing regional football back in his home town of Balaguer. A complete unknown, he was heading to Wigan, wherever that was, and didn’t speak a word of English. He was also heading to the Third Division, where whatever they played it wasn’t football, not as he knew it. “There is fear: ‘No,’” he says. “But my attitude was always: ‘Why not?’”.

Martínez now stands in the hallway at the Portuguese federations’s base in Oeiras near Lisbon, arms out in a warm welcome. Trophies sit in cases, the Nations League the latest addition. Only one cup is not there, which is why Martínez is. Seventy-five days until the World Cup starts, he takes Portugal into their final pre-tournament international break with matches against two of the co-hosts, Mexico and the United States. The man whose favourite goal was against Scunthorpe at Springfield Park leads a team who are among the favourites to triumph this summer, willing to dream precisely because he never dreamed any of this.

Published: March 28, 2026, 8:00 am

US embassy in Mexico prompts outrage with AI video promoting ‘self-deportation’

AI-generated footage depicts group of men performing a corrido, singing phrases including ‘return to your roots’

An AI-generated video from the US embassy in Mexico encouraging migrants to “self-deport” has sparked disbelief and outrage online.

The video posted this week on official embassy social media accounts depicts a group of men wearing black caps and sporting tattoos performing a kind of traditional Mexican ballad known as a corrido.

Published: March 28, 2026, 12:00 pm

Trump signs executive order instructing DHS to immediately pay TSA agents

Order comes after House Republicans rejected a Senate‑passed deal to fund key DHS subagencies, including the TSA

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Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday instructing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents as the partial shutdown drags on.

Negotiations on Capitol Hill remain stalled after House Republicans rejected a Senate‑passed deal to fund key DHS subagencies, including the TSA. After first announcing on Truth Social that he would pay more than 60,000 airport security workers – without explaining where the money would come from – the president issued the order.

Published: March 27, 2026, 7:58 pm

Nine people sick from E coli linked to raw cheese from California farm, more than half of them children

Raw Farm was also linked to 2024 salmonella outbreak that sickened 165 people and deaths of two cats from bird flu

A California raw milk dairy that was previously linked to a fatal outbreak of bird flu in cats has now been linked to an E coli outbreak involving cheddar cheese, affecting nine people in three states.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an alert that more than half of the people sickened so far are children under age five. Three people have been hospitalized after contracting a dangerous strain of E coli – O157:H7 – with one developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that can lead to kidney failure.

Published: March 28, 2026, 2:39 pm

Police in Paris foil attempted bomb attack outside Bank of America building

Incident in the city’s 8th arrondissement reportedly involved a homemade explosive device

French police prevented an apparent bomb attack outside a US bank in Paris on Saturday when they arrested a man about to set off a homemade explosive device, officials and sources close to the case said.

The incident occurred at about 3.30am (0230 GMT) in front of a Bank of America building in the city’s 8th arrondissement, a couple of streets away from the Champs-Élysées.

Published: March 28, 2026, 3:30 pm

‘It was bonkers’: Samba the runaway capybara inspires a wild rodent hunt

Members of the UK public join the search after specialist dog units and thermal drones have yet to locate her

Barely 24 hours after nine-month-old capybaras Samba and Tango were brought to Marwell zoo near Winchester, they had made a break for it through a hole in their temporary enclosure. The siblings were transferred to Hampshire from Jimmy’s farm and wildlife park in Suffolk on 16 March after being outshone by other capybaras.

Tango was quickly found, but her sister Samba remains at large, and the mission to find her has attracted national and international coverage.

Published: March 28, 2026, 8:00 am

United flight narrowly avoids US military helicopter in California

FAA investigating after plane carrying 162 passengers forced to change course to prevent collision

A United flight came within a few 100ft of a US military helicopter near John Wayne airport in southern California, triggering an alarm directing the airline pilots to change course.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Friday that it was investigating the incident that happened at about 8.40pm Tuesday when a military Black Hawk helicopter returning from a training mission crossed into the plane’s path. The pilots of the passenger plane carrying 162 passengers and six crew members stopped their descent and leveled off to avoid a collision.

Published: March 27, 2026, 7:59 pm

Scientists film whale giving birth while other whales work together to help her

Female named Rounder surrounded by family members when about to give birth to her second calf

Scientists have managed to film a sperm whale giving birth while other female whales worked together to support the mother and her newborn.

A team from Project Ceti, an international effort seeking to understand how whales communicate, was in a boat near a pod of 11 whales off the coast of the Caribbean island of Dominica on 8 July 2023.

Published: March 27, 2026, 4:13 pm

Wily coyote? Urban canines take more risks compared with rural ones, study finds

Researchers believe behavioral gap, which may hold true across species, is probably product of less fear of harassment in cities

Anyone who has lived long enough in a city can tell you – with time, you just stop noticing strange new things. A unicycling bagpiper. A person changing clothes on the subway. Murals that transform streets into art.

Coyotes in cities seem to be bolder as well and less afraid of new experiences. That’s according to a new study that researchers conducted at more than a dozen sites across the US, comparing urban and rural coyotes’ reaction to new stimuli.

Published: March 27, 2026, 2:00 pm

Trump EPA relied on industry science to weaken formaldehyde cancer rules, documents show

Papers reveal how chemical lobby influenced policy, reversing Biden-era limits on a common carcinogen

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A new trove of chemical producer and US Environmental Protection Agency documents reveal an elaborate industry operation that killed strong regulations around formaldehyde, a highly toxic carcinogen widely used in everyday goods from cosmetics to furniture to craft supplies.

The Biden EPA in late 2024 determined any exposure to formaldehyde increased the risk of cancer and other health problems. The Trump EPA in late 2025 moved to undo those findings and replace them with less protective figures.

Published: March 27, 2026, 11:00 am

Danger after disaster: why emergencies come with increased risks for women

After events such as Hurricane Beryl in the Caribbean, shelters offer refuge but no guarantee of safety to women and girls

The grandchildren called the shelter Final Destination, after a favourite film. Tedica Alexander, 61, a resident of Union Island in St Vincent and the Grenadines, recalls with pride – and a tremor in her voice – how her nine grandchildren supported her and others at the Ashton community centre when Hurricane Beryl hit the area in July 2024.

Alexander arrived after she was advised to seek shelter in Ashton, rather than at Clifton school as she had expected as it was closer. As the storm approached, the shelter quickly filled up. The building’s windows shattered, and flood waters rose above ankle height. “If it had lasted one more minute, the door would have given way,” she says.

Published: March 27, 2026, 2:00 pm

North Carolina woman forgives mom for disappearing without a word 24 years ago

Amanda Smith was reunited with her mother, Michele Hundley Smith, on Thursday after decades-long search

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A North Carolina woman whose mother was missing without a word for 24 years before authorities managed to locate her – alive and well – has reunited with her and says she forgives her.

“I know everything is not black and white – there’s a whole gray area,” Amanda Smith said of her mother, 62-year-old Michele Hundley Smith, after they embraced in front of a courthouse on Thursday. “And so I mean, look – life’s too short for me to hold a grudge against her because she’s my mom.”

Published: March 28, 2026, 9:00 am

FBI director’s personal email, photos and documents leaked by Iran-linked hackers

The Handala Hack Team published more than 300 emails from Kash Patel’s inbox between 2010 and 2019

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Iran-linked hackers have broken into the personal email inbox of Kash Patel, FBI’s director, publishing photographs of him and other documents on the internet, the hackers and the bureau said on Friday.

On their website, the hacker group Handala Hack Team said Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims”. The hackers published a series of personal photographs of Patel sniffing and smoking cigars, riding in an antique convertible and making a face while taking a picture of himself in the mirror with a large bottle of rum.

Published: March 27, 2026, 9:30 pm

Hegseth reportedly cuts two Black men and two women from military promotion list

US defense secretary axed the four officers’ names from list to become one-star generals, the New York Times reports

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Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, is reportedly attempting to block the military promotion of four officers – two women and two Black men – to become one-star generals.

The remaining promotion list includes about three dozen officers, most of whom are white men, though a few women and Black officers are still included, according to the New York Times.

Published: March 27, 2026, 4:51 pm

US law enforcement foils plot to assassinate Palestinian American activist

Man was arrested in connection with plan to assassinate Nerdeen Kiswani, following sting by undercover NYPD officer

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Law enforcement officers foiled a plot to assassinate New York-based Palestinian American activist Nerdeen Kiswani and arrested a 26-year old man in connection with the plan.

Kiswani wrote in post on X that late on Thursday, the FBI joint terrorism taskforce informed her that a plot against her life was “about to” take place, and that agents had conducted an operation in Hoboken, New Jersey, in connection to it.

Published: March 27, 2026, 9:43 pm

Two Sudanese men face court in Greece after at least 22 people die off Crete coast

Survivors tell coastguard smugglers ordered victims to be thrown overboard after six days adrift in boat from Libya

Two Sudanese men, believed by Greek authorities to have been behind a smuggling operation in which 22 people were “systematically” thrown overboard after succumbing to days without food or water at sea, have been ordered to appear before a local court on Crete.

Accused of illegally trafficking scores of would-be migrants into the south-eastern European country from Libya, the duo were given 48 hours to prepare to testify before an investigating magistrate on Monday.

Published: March 28, 2026, 4:54 pm

‘Changing a city is complicated’: Anne Hidalgo looks back on 12 years as Paris mayor

Political veteran says she faced ‘French misogyny and machismo’ while making Paris greener and more peaceful

On a sunny spring morning, the highway along the right bank of the Seine is packed with joggers, cyclists, families out for a stroll, roller skaters, dog walkers, picnickers and others taking the air.

In a few months, sand will be spread along a stretch to create the annual artificial Parisbeaches, enjoyed by all but especially city dwellers struggling to make ends meet and unable to afford the real thing.

Published: March 28, 2026, 5:00 am

Firms with more women in top roles more likely to dismiss abusive men, study finds

IFS analysis also finds male-managed companies were more likely to have victim of abuse leave company

Companies who employ more women in senior roles are much more likely to dismiss men accused of sexually or physically abusing their colleagues, according to analysis of international and UK data.

Men were more likely to get sacked for abusing a male colleague rather than a female colleague, according to a recent Finnish study, cited in research about the economic impact of violence against women and girls gathered by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Published: March 28, 2026, 9:00 am

Pope Leo heads to Monaco 488 years after the last papal visit

Decision to choose small, wealthy – but very Catholic – state for first European trip has baffled some Vatican observers

Pope Leo will travel to Monaco, the semi-enclave famous for casinos and superyachts, on Saturday on his first European trip since being elected pontiff, causing bemusement among some Vatican observers, not least because it comes 488 years after the last papal visit.

Leo will travel from the Vatican by helicopter for the one-day trip, and will be greeted at Monaco’s heliport by Prince Albert and his wife, Princess Charlene, before being taken to the palace, which has been the residence of the Grimaldi dynasty since the 13th century. It is the first time a pontiff has visited Monaco since Pope Paul III in 1538.

Published: March 28, 2026, 6:00 am

‘I was in the pit of despair’: Non-speaking autistic novelist Woody Brown on his journey from write-off to writer

As a child, Brown was underestimated, infantilised and dismissed by specialists and teachers. Now 28, he has written an acclaimed debut novel set in an adult day care centre that gives people like him a voice

‘May I say that I’m very glad to meet you,”  Woody Brown taps on his word board. Brown is formal, funny and strikingly eloquent. He has a formidable ability to tell stories that reach into the mind of his characters and express what they are thinking, and what they think others are thinking about them. Brown is also autistic and non-speaking.

His first novel, Upward Bound, tells the story of everyday life at the eponymous adult day care centre in southern California. The title is ironic – the young adults, referred to as clients, are anything but upward bound. By and large, they are stifled, patronised, unheard and unseen. Despite their shortcomings, the staff are portrayed with a surprising tenderness.

Published: March 28, 2026, 9:00 am

I thought I’d been coping with my sister’s death – a Taylor Swift song showed me I hadn’t

As I sat in a park during the pandemic, listening to the Evermore album on my headphones, one song finally released the grief that I’d pent up for five years

When the pandemic hit in 2020, it had been five years since my sister, Emily, had died. She had lived with cystic fibrosis her whole life, yet we were a close, tactile family. We laughed, hugged and sang often. When Emily died, relatively suddenly, aged 30 (I was 27), I coped with it as well as anyone could. In fact, I prided myself on how outwardly resilient I seemed: I spoke to a therapist, started a new job. I poured myself into a packed diary and a big city.

It wasn’t until time stopped, in a way, in 2020, that I really sat with my grief. I was forced to – made redundant like so many others that summer, my days had no shape. Like many people living in city flatshares, my one little freedom was a daily walk.

Published: March 28, 2026, 7:00 am

‘Unapologetically schmaltzy’: how Love Story became Disney+’s most-streamed drama ever

Series about the lives and deaths of Carolyn Bessette and JFK Jr is ‘prestige television without the usual weight’

The plane vanishes. Families are told. Ashes are scattered. So ends Love Story, Ryan Murphy’s schlocky, glossy nine-part melodrama about the doomed marriage between Carolyn Bessette and John F Kennedy Jr. Yet one thing is clear: the myth of Camelot – or at least this version – still captivates.

This week, Disney+ confirmed Love Story is now the most streamed drama in the platform’s history. A rare sleeper hit, later episodes drew 50% more global viewers than February’s pilot, boosted by “social reach” and word of mouth.

Published: March 27, 2026, 6:24 pm

Portobello: how can this TV show about the mafia and a mind-controlled parrot be so wildly dull?

This HBO series about Italy’s top TV host (and his feathered friend) getting embroiled with the mob sounds genius … and yet it’s troublingly tedious

Had a little wager with myself this week, regarding whether HBO Max’s new series is about the west London vintage market, a mushroom, or a coastal suburb of Edinburgh. Even spread-betting, I got cleaned out. Portobello is actually the true story of Enzo Tortora, former host of Italy’s top TV show, who was falsely accused of being a member of the Camorra. How was I supposed to guess that?

At its height, Portobello the variety show had a staggering audience of 28 million, a national cross section from nuns to prison inmates. Among the latter, Giovanni Pandico: a froggy-looking Camorrist and clinical paranoid who becomes fixated, Stan-like, on Tortora. He believes he communicates with the presenter via telepathy, as well as mind control of a parrot which guest-stars on the show. Bizarrely, the mob criminal posts Tortora 20 lace doilies to sell on his show (in a segment actually called Portobello Market, which really spun me out).

Published: March 28, 2026, 7:00 am

Jimmy Kimmel on Mike Johnson’s new award for Trump: ‘You can almost feel his spine exiting his body’

Late-night hosts discussed the Republican party’s inaugural ‘America First’ award and a disturbing new animal story involving RFK Jr

Late-night hosts mocked the Republican party’s inaugural “America First” award for Donald Trump as he finally reveals the “present” he received from Iran.

Published: March 27, 2026, 3:34 pm

‘I wrote The Sopranos to get over my mother wishing me dead’: David Chase on his mob masterpiece – and his new LSD epic

Will the great TV writer ever top his mega hit? He talks us through his new series about the CIA’s attempts to weaponise LSD – and reveals why James Gandolfini called him ‘Satan’

Last week, a plush London hotel became a temple to HBO Max. Pictures of Carrie Bradshaw lined the corridors, HBO Max cushions dotted every chair in sight, and a heaving roster of A-list talent – Lisa Kudrow, Noah Wyle and Steve Carell – were poised and ready to hustle for the streamer’s UK launch.

However, you could argue that this whole circus was constructed because of one man. A few decades ago, HBO was a little-seen backwater of sport and standup. One show propelled it to the forefront of prestige television. That show was The Sopranos. The man who created it is David Chase.

Published: March 27, 2026, 2:19 pm

‘A broken heart can turn somebody into a bad Casanova’: breakout R&B star Leon Thomas on defiance, D’Angelo and his ‘doggie’ persona

Winning two Grammys last month cemented the New Yorker’s transition from producer for the likes of Drake to guitar-soloing superstar. Now he has Stevie Wonder calling him up – though he’s conscious of living up to the greats

Forget viral hits or sold-out shows: you know you’ve reached the big time when the godfather of funk gives you custom-made headgear. Last spring, Leon Thomas was backstage at California’s Coachella festival and due to join Ty Dolla $ign, his label boss, for a performance alongside George Clinton. The cosmic crusader said to Thomas: “‘You’re the kid who does the dog song, right? I made something for you,’” Thomas recalls. “He gave me this cool white hat with a foxtail on it.”

Thomas wore it to play Mutt, his 2024 breakthrough single, followed by a rendition of Clinton’s 1982 P-funk anthem Atomic Dog. But not before Clinton hot-boxed the trailer. “I don’t really smoke weed any more, but I was in the dressing room with him and Ty,” says Thomas, 32. “They both were smoking so much – when I was on stage, I realised, ‘Ohhh, I’m a little buzzed right now!’” A spiritual baton had been passed. “We went up there and rocked the crowd,” Thomas continues. “It was like 12, 13,000 [people] out there, the energy was crazy. I don’t know if you can tell, I’m still buzzing.”

Published: March 27, 2026, 5:00 am

Add to playlist: the coffee-shop pop of Gianna and the week’s best new tracks

With her acoustic guitars and trip-hoppy beats, the London musician recalls a particular era of polished 00s boho-pop, from Nelly Furtado to Corinne Bailey Rae

From London
Recommended if you like All Saints, Frou Frou, Nelly Furtado
Up next EP out now; on tour with After in May

The first time I heard Gianna’s Shadow of a Bird, I was instantly transported to a place that smelled of Impulse body spray. It is a track that has perfectly nailed the polished boho-pop of early 00s Nelly Furtado, All Saints and Corinne Bailey Rae – the sort that features arpeggiated acoustic guitar, vaguely trip-hop beats and a gently distinctive voice swooping through them.

Published: March 27, 2026, 12:00 pm

Flea: Honora review – Chili Pepper turns piper, taking up trumpet for a soulful jazz odyssey

(Nonesuch)
Imaginative interpretations of Funkadelic and Frank Ocean sit alongside starry collaborations and gorgeous instrumentals on the bassist’s brassy side project

While some rock musicians fill the boredom of long tours with nefarious activities, bassist Flea spent Red Hot Chili Peppers’ global jaunt of 2022-24 practising the trumpet, an instrument he first played as a child before funky rock pulled him away. Now, the 63-year-old’s daily routine and open spirit has produced his own deeply meditative and groovy jazz odyssey.

Named after a family member, Honora brings together a star-studded cast of peers and LA jazz and experimental luminaries for 10 tracks spanning Flea-penned instrumentals, chanted mantras and imaginative reinterpretations. The bassist doubles as narrator for spirited track A Plea, a yelled call for sanity (“Live for peace! Live for love!”) amid global madness and takes his trumpet to Eddie Hazel’s famous guitar solo on a beautifully plaintive remodel of Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain.

Published: March 27, 2026, 8:00 am

Benjamin Wood: ‘John Fowles’s The Magus was so frustrating I threw it at the wall’

The author on the Steinbeck novel that moved him to tears, how becoming a father inspired him to reread Marilynne Robinson, and the culinary comforts of James M Cain

My earliest reading memory
When I was eight, my mother bought me Stanley Bagshaw and the Short-sighted Football Trainer by Bob Wilson. I grew up thinking he was the same Bob Wilson who played in goal for Arsenal and presented sport on ITV. That wasn’t true, but it has never dampened my appreciation of this brilliant rhyming picture book, which ought to be reissued to inspire more kids to read. My sons adore it.

My favourite book growing up
The Red Pony by John Steinbeck had a profound effect on me in secondary school. I was amazed by how vividly a writer could evoke a landscape in words. It was also the first novel that moved me to tears, and stories that can do that will always stay dear to me.

Published: March 27, 2026, 10:00 am

Love Lane by Patrick Gale review – a homecoming tale with echoes of Brokeback Mountain

This kindly and companionable story of a man returning to 50s England after living in Canada offers a colourful evocation of the times

Towards the end of Love Lane, elderly protagonist Harry Cane becomes a figure of twinkly-eyed mischief. Gossiping with his granddaughter Pip, he advises her that “people without secrets … are like people with very tidy houses: usually not worth knowing”.

Dangerously buried secrets are very much the order of the day in Patrick Gale’s 18th novel. We start as we mean to go on: Love Lane opens with a recounting of the clandestine relationship between widower Harry and his bachelor brother-in-law Paul Slaymaker, Englishmen who separately emigrated to Canada around the turn of the last century. We first meet them as homesteaders in the unforgiving Saskatchewan wilds; Gale aficionados who encountered Cane in 2015’s A Place Called Winter remember the dark cloud of scandal that hastened his departure from Britain. The “steady tenderness” between Harry and Paul, which is passingly reminiscent of Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain, gives the men succour as their neighbouring farms weather the bitter economic vicissitudes of the 1920s and 30s, but their wordlessly powerful bond is for ever altered by the arrival of Dimpy, a woman down on her luck, and her hard-hearted son, Davy.

Published: March 27, 2026, 9:00 am

No New York by Adele Bertei review – a vivid, vibrant, musical coming of age

1970s and 80s New York are viscerally evoked in this potent memoir of the ‘no wave’ scene

You won’t necessarily have heard of Adele Bertei: she was a member of experimental jazz-punk band the Contortions from 1977 and recorded the pop-house single Build Me a Bridge. But her memoir is an essential slice of New York’s bohemian pizza pie, and works in part because she is a relative unknown, not weighed down by her own cultural baggage.

Following a troubled, itinerant upbringing, she arrives in Manhattan in 1977 to find a city on its knees. The big apple was in the red, both literally (fires were a regular occurrence) and monetarily (there was a municipal debt crisis). But pre-Aids and post-Warhol’s avant garde grip, it was also a place that was creatively open.

Published: March 27, 2026, 7:00 am

Stop the world, I want to get off and run a video rental store in the 1990s | Dominik Diamond

Retail sims aren’t my thing, but the tactile, nostalgic pleasures of hit indie title Retro Rewind have me yearning for the era of physical media, smoking indoors and uncomplicated geopolitics

It’s early doors, but 2026 may be the biggest bin fire of a year in my lifetime. Wars starting, then ending, then starting again in the course of a week. People running their cars on hopes and dreams because a tank of petrol costs more than the vehicle. Manospheric morons making millions. Several depressing celebrity deaths before I’ve so much as eaten my first Creme Egg of the year.

I had no idea that the antidote to my anxiety and rage would be a cheap little title, made by two French blokes, in what I usually regard as the most turgid gaming genre. Retro Rewind is the moment’s indie darling, selling more than 100,000 copies on Steam in a week. In it, you run a video rental shop in the 90s. You need to buy videos. Display them well. Drop flyers. Serve your customers. Buy more stuff. It’s no different from any other retail sim out there, and I normally shun them because I play video games to escape the boring world of work and into an exciting one of dragons, aliens, and being brilliant at sports.

Published: March 27, 2026, 10:00 am

The Guide #236: Is celebrity casting a cynical marketing stunt or does it help to democratise theatre?

In this week’s newsletter: From singers to YouTube stars and TV hosts, more famous faces are treading the boards. Some insiders think it’s killing the industry, but for others it opens up theatre to a wider audience

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Timothée Chalamet might have smirked his way out of an Oscar. Sabrina Carpenter might have been roundly snubbed at the Grammys. But there’s one place both would be welcomed with open arms: the UK theatre scene.

It seems we can’t get enough of celebs on stage (acting chops preferable but not mandatory). This week alone, London’s West End features Stranger Things star Sadie Sink, singer Self Esteem and Strictly cutie pie Johannes Radebe. Meanwhile, Mischa Barton, best known for playing Marissa Cooper in the 00s TV series The OC, is touring the UK and Ireland in a new adaptation of James M. Cain’s crime novel Double Indemnity.

Published: March 28, 2026, 7:00 am

‘The violence of racist tyranny’: African Guernica goes on display alongside Picasso masterpiece

Piece by late South African artist Dumile Feni is part of new series History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, But It Does Rhyme

On the second floor of the Reina Sofía, in the very spot where Picasso’s Guernica was first exhibited when it arrived in the Madrid museum 34 years ago, there now hangs a smaller, near-namesake of the Spanish artist’s most famous work.

While African Guernica, which was drawn by the late South African artist Dumile Feni in 1967, may lack the scale of Picasso’s masterpiece, its depth, anger and unnerving juxtaposition of man and beast, light and dark, and innocence and cruelty, are every bit as disturbing.

Published: March 27, 2026, 7:42 am

20 fabulous family spring days out in the UK

Join the Famous Five in Dorset, relive Springwatch in the Peak District … our selection of Easter treats will keep all the family entertained

Spring has arrived at Wicken Fen, one of Europe’s most important wetlands, and with it the first summer migrants. Chiffchaffs are usually the earliest, with their rhythmic song ringing out across the fens. Then, if the weather is mild, blackcaps and willow warblers might join them. Listen closely, especially early morning or at dusk, for the foghorn-like calls of the booming bittern across the reedbeds. There’s a pushchair- and wheelchair-friendly boardwalk around Sedge Fen, and wheelchair-accessible wildlife hides. Look out for the electric blue flash of a kingfisher, and male marsh harriers performing their dramatic sky-dancing flights as the breeding season gets under way, before the cuckoos arrive in late April.
From £10 adults, £5 children (under-5s free), nationaltrust.org.uk

Published: March 28, 2026, 7:00 am

Tim Dowling: six years of Duolingo and I speak a little Italian, but understand nothing

Luckily, I have learned two phrases that express my helplessness very efficiently

The middle one, the youngest one and I are at a car hire desk in an Italian airport. It has taken us a while to get this far, because we had to take a bus to a different terminal. But we’re here now, some way into the process.

“You are not skiing?” asks the woman behind the desk.

Published: March 28, 2026, 6:00 am

The best Pfas-free rain jackets in the US

Ditch the ‘forever chemicals’ – we tested these jackets in torrential downpour, the shower and on hiking trails

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Rain jackets have evolved so far that a modern shell at any price point will keep you dry. But like non-stick pans, many of them accomplished this miracle with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as Pfas or “forever chemicals”. Now that we understand the harm these chemicals cause in humans and the environment, manufacturers have had to scramble to invent new coatings that perform as well as the tried-and-true.

They’ve risen to the occasion. Every Pfas-free rain jacket we evaluated will genuinely keep you dry in the rain. The real differentiators come down to comfort, breathability and whether a jacket’s design makes sense for how you’ll be spending time in the rain.

Best Pfas-free rain jacket overall:
Peak Performance Trail HIPE 2.5L Shell

Published: March 27, 2026, 1:15 pm

‘At certain points, I had to stop entirely’: what I learned after a week of Hyrox classes

The popular fitness trend is all over social media, and curious, I tried a few classes – they left me totally out of air

I have spent years in and out of the gym, trying the latest fitness trends. Consequently, my social media feed often populates with shirtless, sweaty men promising to transform my workouts.

Then it started. First, it was the occasional video of athletes grinding through a series of herculean tasks: pushing plate-laden sleds, collapsing over rowing machines, sprinting laps and throwing weighted balls at a wall inside of what looked like an aircraft hangar. That trickle became an avalanche, and I became curious.

Published: March 27, 2026, 4:00 pm

Is foraging really feasible to feed myself?

This labor-intensive way of eating isn’t for everyone – and I’m not sure it’s for me. It requires planning and flexibility

When I called Robin Greenfield, an environmental activist and author, his assistant answered. “We’re stopped really quick,” Marielle said, adding “he is harvesting a ton of wild onions right now. He’ll be on in just a minute.”

I waited, curious to see his haul and bemused by his willingness to delay an interview for wild vegetables. I had called Greenfield, who wrote Food Freedom about the year he grew and foraged 100% of his food, to talk about how possible, or hard, it is to do just that.

Published: March 27, 2026, 11:00 am

When a ​football manager’s ​wardrobe ​says ​more ​than ​his​ tactics

From flannel shirts to herringbone tailoring, Pep Guardiola’s stylistic pivot hint​s at a man renegotiating his identity ​in the twilight of ​his footballing era

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Last Tuesday, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola lost to Real Madrid in a £270 shirt.

The grungy flannel number from the cult Swedish menswear brand Our Legacy was so noteworthy it consumed more post-match oxygen than the news that Manchester City had been dumped out of the Champions League before the quarter-finals. Never mind that Guardiola is beginning to look bereft of ideas for the first time in his career. All anyone cared about was whether he’d hired a stylist.

Published: March 27, 2026, 7:00 am

‘The happiness on their faces pulled me back to my own childhood’: Mark Linel Padecio’s best phone picture

The Filipino photographer was delighted to see his usually serious daughter getting muddy with her young cousin

When Mark Linel Padecio is at home in Danao City, Cebu, in the Philippines, family life lies “within a rhythm of schedules, studies and screens”. His 10-year-old daughter, Xianthee, is shaped by the city. “Her days are filled with lessons and responsibilities, and she’s a diligent, serious student, so smiles from her are rare and often reserved,” Padecio says.

Along with his wife, Padecio owns a small farm in Dapdap, a 30-minute drive away. After a fleeting rainfall ended a long and punishing drought last year, the family paid a visit. “Rivers frequently dry up for months, forcing families to suffer crop failures, to ration and face heightened risks of illness,” Padecio says. “So even if the river only trickles briefly, it feels miraculous, instantly transforming hardship into relief and hope.”

Published: March 28, 2026, 11:00 am

Used to measure chilli peppers, what are SHU? The Saturday quiz

From blackjack and knobkerrie to a ‘shivering’ footballer, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz

1 Which 1970s TV hit was based on the writings of Suetonius and Tacitus?
2 Which footballer trademarked his “shivering” goal celebration?
3 Which planet is lashed by winds exceeding 1,200mph?
4 Used to measure chilli peppers, what are SHU?
5 Which poetic couple married on Bloomsday in 1956?
6 Bees and wasps have how many eyes?
7 What is the highest peak in the Pennines?
8 Which chemical element is named after a New Zealander?
What links:
9 Iquitos, Peru; Juneau, Alaska; Norilsk, Russia?
10 1; 11; 21; 1211; 111221; 312211?
11 Embla; Eve; Lilith; Mashyana; Pandora; Shatarupa?
12 Blackjack; knobkerrie; persuader; shillelagh?
13 Billy Connolly; Alex Ferguson; Peter the Great; Lech Wałęsa?
14 Mamdani; Adams; de Blasio; Bloomberg?
15 Spotlight; 1815 battle; distress signal; Italian exclamation; Kathy Burke sitcom?

Dedicated to Laurie Stott

Published: March 28, 2026, 7:00 am

Less stuff, more joy: seven lessons from ‘enoughfluencers’ on how to live a happier, simpler life

Meet the influencers encouraging us to stop buying new

Anna Kilpatrick doesn’t have a bedroom. Or even a bed. The a 52-year-old content creator from East Sussex sleeps on a wide shelf in her hallway so that her two children, 21 and 18, can have their own rooms. And yet, she says, she has “enough”. She doesn’t hanker after a bigger house or shinier car. “Having fewer things is freedom,” she says. Kilpatrick, who shares such ideas with her 104K Instagram followers (@not.needing.new), is part of a small but growing community of “enough-luencers”. The concept is similar to deinfluencing – where content creators discourage followers from buying into trends – but is also about celebrating already having enough, and, crucially, feeling happier for it.

In her new book, Not Needing New: A Practical Guide to Finding the Joy of Enough, Kilpatrick lists the benefits of living with less: “An increased sense of calm, less anxiety through clutter, free time away from maintaining the home, a healthier bank balance and reduced debt, children who are learning how to manage delayed gratification.”

Published: March 27, 2026, 3:00 pm

A finance coach unpacks how she retired at 40 – and the money advice she finds ‘irresponsible’

Bernadette Joy says everyone should have their own vision worth saving for – and stay on budget

• ‘The dreaded B-word’: how to start budgeting

Before she said a word about paying off debt or investing, financial educator Bernadette Joy would ask her clients to draw a picture of themselves in retirement. “Where are you? Who are you with? What are you doing?” she would ask.

No one drew themselves on a megayacht or private plane, Joy said. Instead, she saw depictions of nature and time spent with family.

Create a detailed vision of your dream retirement so you have a clear goal to work toward.

Calculate your investment target by multiplying your yearly expenses by 25.

If you have access to a 401(k), contribute as much as you can – unless you have credit card debt!

Keep a budget and live below your means.

Published: March 27, 2026, 4:00 pm

Faith Kates: the woman who introduced models to ‘dear friend’ Jeffrey Epstein

Former talent agency boss had closer relationship with sex offender than thought, and supported him after 2009 arrest

A female executive at the top of the modelling industry had a close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and introduced him to women on the agency’s books, a Guardian investigation has found.

Until last November, Faith Kates ran Next Management modelling and talent agency, which has represented the likes of Alexa Chung, Milla Jovovich and Billie Eilish, a position she held for decades as the founder of the business. She stepped down quietly just weeks before the first major Epstein files were released, saying she intended to focus on charity work.

18 July 2009 10.18am

I am and will always be your friend...Unconditionally...will always be there for you.

5 September 2009 7.47pm

Thinking of you a lot and hoping you are finally enjoying some please [sic] and quiet..know you are always in my thoughts and prayers. You are a good friend my dear friend..

5 September 2009 7.54pm

thanks,, lets get back to work.

Published: March 27, 2026, 9:21 am

ICE doubled its use of ankle monitors for legal immigrants in the past year: ‘A very harmful phenomenon’

Agency uses devices, which are uncomfortable and interfere with employment, to push people to self-deport, advocates say

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For five years, an asylum-seeking woman attended routine check-ins with immigration authorities without issue. At her most recent appointment in October, she was unexpectedly ordered to strap on an ankle monitor, according to her attorney, Deepa Bijpuria.

Bijpuria, a supervising attorney in the immigration unit of Legal Aid DC, described the client as a single mom who fled her home country because of severe domestic violence, escaping while pregnant with her young daughter.

Published: March 27, 2026, 3:00 pm

A war of regression: how Trump bombed the US into a worse position with Iran

Analysts fear Iran has played a weak hand well and the US has blundered into a defining strategic failure

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Four weeks into a war that was going to take four days, and that has so far cost the US about $30-40bn and Israel $300m a day, Washington is further away from a diplomatic agreement with Iran than it was in May 2025.

Not only has the war failed to persuade Iran to agree to dismantle its nuclear programme in the comprehensive and irreversible way the US demanded in a 15-point paper that it tabled on 23 May last year, Washington is now having to negotiate to reopen the strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that has been open ever since the invention of the dhow, with a short exception of a tanker war in the 1980s between Iran and Iraq.

Published: March 27, 2026, 11:10 am

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Crisis in the Middle East, a Russian drone attack in Lviv, cherry blossom in Tokyo and the return of BTS – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Published: March 27, 2026, 6:19 pm