The US may send thousands of troops to Iran. Have we learned nothing from the past? | Moustafa Bayoumi

In 2003, the US claimed its Iraq incursion would be brief. Now there’s competition for the title of worst-planned war in American history

The US-Israel war on Iran is a colossal blunder of world historical proportions. As clear an act of aggression as one can imagine, the war is blatantly illegal, continuing the death blow to international law and norms that began (most recently) with Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza.

The war has also been launched with magnificently poor planning, as the United States seems shocked by and unprepared for how Iran uses every means at its disposal to restrict shipping in the strait of Hormuz. And with the massive disruption to the international supply of energy and certain necessary commodities, the global economy is teetering on collapse, with the United States and Israel mortgaging the futures of many poorer nations around the world – especially in Asia and Africa – for their own imperial adventurism.

Published: March 31, 2026, 12:00 pm

The Drama review – Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s controversial wedding film delivers on its promise

A woman’s confession on the eve of her nuptials causes uproar in this insouciantly offensive provocation from the director of Dream Scenario

• This review contains spoilers

How much of your past should you reveal to your adorable fiance before the big day? Very tricky issues are probably best avoided in the run-up to the ceremony, but can still be recklessly raised by attractively naive young people who assume the worms surely can’t be that big or plentiful – or difficult to get back into the can.

Such a situation is the centre of this contrived but amusing high-concept, high-anxiety movie from Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli; a Euro-satire of American bourgeois aspiration that sets out to discomfit and excruciate in the spirit of Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure or Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen.

Published: March 31, 2026, 10:00 am

Washington state’s ‘historic’ millionaire tax takes aim at super-rich – will it succeed?

As living costs rise, the state where Gates and Bezos made billions is targeting top earners – could other states follow?

Noel Frame knows exactly how difficult it is to raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy, because she has been trying to do just that – first as an activist, then as a state legislator – for the past 15 years. And until recently almost all of her efforts ended in failure.

She lives in Washington, a solid blue state that should, in theory, be hospitable to the idea of more progressive taxation and has plenty of multimillionaires to target, since it is the home of Microsoft, Amazon and an array of other tech-driven corporations. While the wealth of these tech giants has grown exponentially in recent decades, the state – which levies no income taxes – has struggled to bring in enough revenue to pay for basic services like public schooling and long-term healthcare.

Published: March 31, 2026, 1:00 pm

Chatting dating, jazz and the Harlem Renaissance: the exclusive supper clubs where Black women nourish community

From DC to Florida, dinner clubs are helping Black women slow down, connect and build lasting sisterhood

Dimmed lights and the honey-like vocals of R&B singers greeted guests at Sost, a restaurant in Washington DC, in late December. Though they entered as strangers, the 11 Black women attendees hugged each other before taking their seats. The ambiance was intimate and soulful, with a sparse table setting in a private room that boasted deep red walls. Crystle Johnson, the founder of Kinory, a dining community for Black women, led the group in a moment of silent meditation.

As an icebreaker, everyone shared who they were without talking about their profession. They laughed at each other’s responses over bowls of jollof rice and chicken, a black eyed peas salad and sweet potato fritters. Johnson posed questions that she pulled from a deck of cards during the three courses. One of the cards read: “What’s something you’ve had to unlearn – a belief, habit, or fear – to live more freely?”

Published: March 31, 2026, 3:02 pm

Trump is flailing in Iran. Every word he says adds to the muddle | Ted Widmer

A wartime leader’s words are critically important. But Trump, contradicting himself and denying reality, is no Churchill

During a White House ceremony on 9 April 1963, then president John F Kennedy bestowed honorary citizenship on former prime minister Winston Churchill, remembering how effectively Churchill inspired millions with his words during the second world war. As Kennedy put it, Churchill “mobilized the English language and sent it into battle”.

The same cannot be said of Kennedy’s successor Donald Trump. Their names may be awkwardly conjoined atop the shuttered Kennedy Center, but the comparison ends there. Kennedy, like Churchill, spoke effectively, with great attention to the facts, particularly during the Cuban missile crisis, when the world’s leaders hung on every phrase and participle spoken by the leader of the free world.

Published: March 31, 2026, 11:00 am

‘Death hunted him since he was a kid’: how Lamar Odom survived to become a villain in his own tale

A new documentary charts the tragic events that led to the former NBA star overdosing in a Nevada brothel – and what came next

There’s a version of the Lamar Odom story that ends in a Nevada brothel. It’s not hard to imagine the grand finale – the TMZ bulletin relating his fatal drug overdose, followed by emotional tributes to what was lost: a radical basketball prodigy of the New York tradition, a two-time NBA champion with the Kobe Bryant Lakers, a glittering career that spanned coasts and eras before caving under the weight of addiction. A cautionary tale of incandescent fame, with Odom’s celebrity wife Khloé Kardashian cast as a man-eater to eclipse her more notorious older sister, would have been the epilogue cemented in a thousand think pieces.

But by living to tell the tale, Odom has instead become the latest fallen star to prove a core truism of Western mythmaking: heroes who don’t die young are doomed to live long enough to become the villain in their own tale.

Published: March 31, 2026, 12:11 pm

‘Get your own oil’: Trump launches tirade against Europe for not joining Iran war

Many countries in Europe have called the conflict illegal, with some blocking Israeli and US planes from moving weapons through their airspace

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Donald Trump has launched a tirade against European countries that refused to join his war against Iran, calling out the UK and France, as transatlantic relations soured from the spiralling conflict that has wreaked havoc on the global economy.

On his Truth Social website, the US president told governments worried about fuel prices to “go get your own oil” by force from the Gulf, comments that sent oil prices even higher.

Published: April 1, 2026, 12:06 am

Chatter and fear about US military draft emerge as Trump’s Iran war drags on

Though the US is almost certainly not going to have a draft, media commentary and online anxiety have surfaced

The United States is almost certainly not going to have a military draft to fight Iran. That hasn’t stopped the chatter, and anxiety, across the country.

In recent weeks, Donald Trump has ordered a number of marines and army paratroopers to head to the Middle East, gesturing toward a possible ground war to reopen the strait of Hormuz or secure nuclear weapons material. The provocative military activity has led to speculative conversation about what it would take to invade a country twice the population and three times the territory of Iraq.

Published: March 31, 2026, 7:26 pm

American journalist kidnapped in Iraq, officials say

The journalist was identified as Shelly Kittleson by media advocacy groups as well as Al-Monitor, one of the news outlets for which she worked

An American journalist has been kidnapped in Baghdad by a suspected Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group, the US said, as regional security deteriorates after the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

The state department said it was working to ensure the American’s release “as soon as possible”.

Published: April 1, 2026, 12:07 am

Trump signs order to restrict mail-in ballots in probably unconstitutional move

President has falsely claimed ‘legendary’ fraud for limiting mail-in ballots and himself voted by mail last week

Donald Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to compile a national voter file and to restrict the use of mail-in ballots, an unprecedented move that is probably unconstitutional.

The executive order directs the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Social Security Administration to compile a list of verified US citizens who can vote in every state. It also directs the United States Postal Service (USPS) to begin rule-making on a process that would require states to notify the agency of voters who intend to receive a mail-in ballot and prohibit them from receiving one unless they are on a USPS-approved list of eligible voters.

Published: March 31, 2026, 10:35 pm

US judge orders Trump to halt $400m White House ballroom project

US president demolished East Wing of White House last year to make way for 90,000-sq-ft project

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A US judge has halted the construction of Donald Trump’s $400m White House ballroom.

The US president demolished the historic East Wing of the White House last year to make way for the project.

Published: March 31, 2026, 10:57 pm

TMZ tracks US lawmakers vacationing amid the partial government shutdown

Tabloid outlet has covered Republicans and Democrats relaxing at places such as Disney World as shutdown drags on

When US federal workers were missing paychecks and the partial government shutdown entered its seventh week, Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, was doing what any responsible lawmaker would do: riding Space Mountain and carrying a bubble wand at Disney World in Florida.

Naturally, TMZ had photos of the vacationing senator on its homepage a few days later.

Published: March 31, 2026, 6:17 pm

Hegseth says suspensions lifted for helicopter crews who hovered over Kid Rock home

Pentagon chief’s remarks come after US army said crews suspended amid investigation into incident in Tennessee

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth said the crews of two US army AH-64 Apache helicopters that hovered next to the singer Kid Rock’s swimming pool while he clapped and saluted on Saturday are no longer suspended.

“No punishment. No investigation,” Hegseth wrote on social media. “Carry on, patriots.”

Published: March 31, 2026, 11:30 pm

Judge orders University of Pennsylvania to provide list of Jews to federal agency

Trump administration claims list is part of an EEOC investigation into antisemitic discrimination at university

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the University of Pennsylvania to hand over records about Jewish employees on campus to a federal agency as part of an investigation into antisemitic discrimination but said it did not have to reveal any employee’s affiliation with a specific group.

US district judge Gerald Pappert said employees can refuse to take part in the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigation but the agency “needs the opportunity to talk to them directly to learn if they have evidence of discrimination”.

Published: March 31, 2026, 10:16 pm

US supreme court rules against Colorado ban on ‘conversion therapy’

Court in 8-1 decision sides with Christian counselor who argues law banning the practice violates first amendment

The US supreme court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ children in Colorado, one of about two dozen states that ban the discredited practice.

An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argued the law banning “conversion therapy” violates the first amendment. The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide if it meets a legal standard that few laws pass.

Published: March 31, 2026, 2:35 pm

Tiger Woods says he will step away from golf and seek treatment after DUI charge

• Woods pleads not guilty and demands jury trial

• Deputies cite signs of impairment in affidavit

• Hydrocodone pills found in pocket after arrest

Tiger Woods said he will step away from golf to seek treatment and focus on his health after his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence following a rollover crash near his Florida home.

“I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in today,” Woods said in a statement posted on X. “I am stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health. This is necessary in order for me to prioritize my well-being and work toward lasting recovery.”

Published: March 31, 2026, 11:38 pm

Silicon Valley city to give residents doorbells equipped with cameras

Milpitas approves measure to distribute smart doorbells and says residents can upload footage to police database

A Silicon Valley city will offer its residents free wireless doorbells equipped with cameras to help police collect video evidence.

The city council of Milpitas, a suburb north of San Jose, California, recently approved $60,000 to provide these devices on a one-camera-per-household, first-come, first-served basis, as was first reported by Milpitas Beat and confirmed by the Guardian.

Published: March 31, 2026, 10:47 pm

Italy miss out on World Cup again after Bosnia and Herzegovina’s shootout triumph

The story will be of another Italian apocalypse, yet another infamous occasion for a nation that has won four men’s World Cups but is starting to believe it may never go to another after missing out for the third time in a row.

After a North Macedonian bolt from the blue in 2022, and a stultifying two-legged defeat by Sweden five years before that they found a new way to come up short in 2026 – eliminated on penalties in their playoff final against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Published: March 31, 2026, 9:56 pm

Trump news at a glance: president lashes out at European allies as war on Iran frays relations

Trump taunts allies to ‘go get your own oil’ as some nations dig in heels to oppose conflict and global destabilization – key US politics stories from Tuesday 31 March at a glance

Donald Trump launched a fresh tirade Tuesday against European countries that refused to join his war against Iran, calling out the UK and France, as transatlantic relations soured from the spiralling conflict that has wreaked havoc on the global economy.

On his Truth Social website, the US president told governments worried about fuel prices to “go get your own oil” by force from the Gulf, comments that sent oil prices even higher.

Published: April 1, 2026, 1:00 am

Federal judge blocks Trump order to end funding for NPR and PBS

Citing the first amendment, judge says president’s executive order is unlawful and unenforceable

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Citing the first amendment, a federal judge on Tuesday agreed to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), two media entities that the White House has said are counterproductive to American priorities.

The operational impact of US district judge Randolph Moss’s decision was not immediately clear – both because it will probably be appealed and because too much damage to the public-broadcasting system has already been done, both by the president and Congress.

Published: March 31, 2026, 9:39 pm

‘God squad’ waives endangered species law to allow US drilling in Gulf of Mexico

Critics say exemption for fossil fuels exploits White House’s ‘self-made gas crisis’, and could doom the rare Rice’s whale

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A US government panel on Tuesday exempted oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a move which critics say could doom a rare whale species and harm other marine life.

The Endangered Species Committee – which had not convened in more than three decades – voted to approve the request for the ESA exemption at the request of the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

Published: March 31, 2026, 3:26 pm

Plans for gaudy Trump presidential library in Miami spark ridicule

Video posted on social media depicts a rendering of the proposed 50-storey gargantuan structure decked in gold

In a city of respected art deco buildings, ridicule is being heaped on the latest structure proposed for Miami’s skyline: the Donald J Trump presidential library, unveiled in ambitious plans posted to social media on Monday night.

A 1 minute 40 second video tour of the proposed gargantuan structure revealed it will be decked, almost inevitably, in Trump’s trademark gold, including a giant statue of him, and will feature Air Force One, the $400m Boeing “flying palace” gifted to him by Qatar, in its cavernous lobby.

Published: March 31, 2026, 3:39 pm

‘This feels fragile’: how a satellite-smashing chain reaction could spiral out of control

Today, the space around Earth can no longer be considered empty. More than 30,000 objects are in orbit, and that figure is rising exponentially

Some reports suggest that by the end of this decade there could more than 60,000 active satellites in space. Launch by launch, what began with a handful of scientific and military spacecraft has accelerated into a constant flow of objects, publicly and privately owned, placed into different orbital lanes, each serving a variety of purposes.

There is now a diverse collection of satellites spinning around the globe, ​including communication​ and weather ​satellites​, navigation satellites and Earth observation technology that takes images of the surface.

Published: March 31, 2026, 10:15 am

Israel passes law to give death penalty to Palestinians - The Latest

Israel’s parliament has passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks – a measure sharply criticised as discriminatory by European countries and human rights groups. After the law passed, the Knesset erupted into cheers and the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, brandished a bottle in celebration. The law has been decried as 'an act of institutionalised discrimination and racist violence against Palestinians' by Israel’s leading rights group. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s deputy head of international news, Devika Bhat

Published: March 31, 2026, 5:37 pm

The jobs AI can’t do – and the young adults doing them

For many young people entering the workforce, the stigma of hands-on jobs is fading. There a competitive appeal – and they all require human expertise

Gib and Michelle Mouser are proud of their son’s career – just not in the way they once imagined.

Only 23 years old, Cale Mouser already earns well over six figures, and he’ll end up making substantially more. He is an acknowledged expert in a highly specialized field who spends hours in deep thought solving hard problems. He uses a computer, but he’s not stuck behind it.

Published: March 31, 2026, 4:13 pm

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie review – bland screensaver of a movie that’s actually worse than AI

At this point, it’s trite to say that a bad film feels as if it’s been AI generated, but this simplistic sequel is next-level – it’s nothing more than an Easter holiday cash grab

Here is an inert and uninteresting animated follow-up to The Super Mario Bros Movie, based on the legacy video game about two wacky Italian-Brooklyn plumbers Mario and Luigi, voiced here by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day; this kind of stereotype is evidently the last in mainstream entertainment to be considered offensive. Now they and mushroom-kingdom ruler Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy) have to rescue Rosalina (Brie Larson), the adoptive mother of the faintly Minion-y creatures called the Lumas. She has been abducted by Bowser Jr (Benny Safdie), the son of wicked turtle Bowser (Jack Black), who did very much the same sort of thing in the previous film.

Of course it’s intended for little kids, but it surely didn’t need to be such a visually dull screensaver of a movie, with even more of the cheesy, Euro-knockoff look of that first film. And, again, the paucity of funny lines is a real puzzle. The last film gave us a concerted attempt to spoof the game’s 2D graphics and its left-to-right gameplay movement, with all the running and jumping, making a comic virtue of how absurd it looks. There’s little or nothing of that now, just a pretty uninspired variation of the first storyline, a generic quest adventure whose incidental plot point of Mario’s supposed crush on Princess Peach generates absolutely no interest at all.

Published: March 31, 2026, 7:00 pm

Dan Hurley’s ‘head-butt’ showed Black coaches aren’t given the same grace as white coaches

An incident at the end of the Duke-UConn game reminded Black people of something we already know: we’re treated differently in America

The UConn-Duke game on Sunday night was one for the ages. A last-second game winner from freshman Braylon Mullins took down the top-seeded Blue Devils, who at one point had led by 19 points. It is a moment that will be replayed over and over for years to come.

However, something strange happened after Mullins’s shot. UConn’s head coach Dan Hurley approached referee Roger Ayers and touched foreheads with the official while glaring into his eyes. It wasn’t quite the “head-butt” some called it on social media but it was an eye-catching scene. For his part, Ayers told ESPN the incident was “absolutely nothing” but it wouldn’t have been unusual for Hurley to be given a technical foul, which would have given Duke free throws and a chance to win the game with 0.4 seconds left. Hurley mystifyingly has said he thought Ayers was trying to “chest bump me to celebrate.”

Published: March 31, 2026, 4:22 pm

US college students: are you about to graduate? We’d like to hear about your job-hunting experience

How have you found the job application process? What has been your experience of job hunting so far?

The entry-level job market for US college graduates is the worst it has been since the pandemic, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The unemployment rate climbed to about 5.6% at the end of last year from an average of 5.3% during the third quarter. The underemployment rate rose to 42.5% – its highest level since 2020, the research found.

Published: March 31, 2026, 6:21 pm

The Save Act must be defeated. But it’s just one step in the fight to protect American voting | Austin Sarat

As the US midterms approach, Americans must take action to shield democracy from Donald Trump’s assault

Donald Trump is going all out to pressure the Senate to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which he insists on calling the Save America Act. On 8 March, he posted on Truth Social: “It supersedes everything else. MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed … MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY - ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL … ”

The New York Times reports that the president “has called the measure his ‘No. 1 priority,’ saying it would ‘guarantee the midterms’ for his party.” He has even asked Senate Republicans to use their majority to end the filibuster and pass the bill.

Published: March 31, 2026, 1:00 pm

We live among statues of lone heroes. But change comes through collective action | Rebecca Solnit

As Cesar Chavez Day becomes Farmworkers Day, we must remember that the hero is the movement

The way we commemorate history is often – too often – by celebrating an individual with a statue, a place name, a holiday. While some have been torn down – statues of Gen Robert E Lee have given way in some parts of the US to statues of Harriet Tubman – Republicans are trying to reverse the shift in statuary. To that end, the Trump administration recently plunked down a Columbus statue on the White House grounds, a replica of one thrown into the harbor in Baltimore in 2020 as the Black Lives Matter protests addressed racism and colonialism.

Still, maybe the age of individual heroes is fading. This year, Jon Wiener, a retired history professor and current Nation magazine editor, nominated Minneapolis for the Nobel peace prize for its residents’ valor and solidarity in opposing ICE and defending their neighbors. The magazine’s editors wrote: “Through countless acts of courage and solidarity, the people of Minneapolis have challenged the culture of fear, hate, and brutality that has gripped the United States and too many other countries. Their nonviolent resistance has captured the imagination of the nation and the world.” The Nobel is a longshot, but the Twin Cities – both Minneapolis and St Paul – got the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage award “for risking their lives to protect their neighbors and immigrant community members ... with extraordinary courage and resolve”.

Published: March 31, 2026, 10:00 am

Petrol more than $4 a gallon? Don’t blame JD Vance! | Arwa Mahdawi

The US vice-president still dreams of succeeding Trump in 2028. No wonder he’s desperate to distance himself from the price rises caused by the war with Iran

Bombing little kids in the Middle East? Whatever. Immigration agents killing US civilians in the street and terrorising local communities? Meh. The Epstein files still not being released in full? Annoying, but there’s probably an explanation. Gas prices blowing past $4 a gallon (80p a litre) because of the war on Iran? An outrage!

There are a lot of things that Maga can forgive the dear leader for, but high fuel prices? In a country addicted to cheap energy, that’s a red line. A month into the reckless and unconscionable war on Iran, Donald Trump’s popularity is sinking. According to a national poll by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the president’s approval rating has fallen to 33%, the lowest during his second term. His base is still behind him, but if gas prices keep rising, along with the cost of everything else, even it could turn.

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 31, 2026, 11:50 am

Injectable peptides are touted online as a ‘glow up potion’. Here’s why experts warn against unapproved use | Antiviral

Claims of benefits have been amplified by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr. How does the evidence actually stack up?

• Read more in the Antiviral series

Influencers are telling their audiences that injectable peptides are the “glow up potion” they need for everything from clearing up hormonal acne, thickening hair, relieving back pain and even treating chronic UTIs.

These peptides, intended for research purposes (as some influencers do point out) and not approved for human use, are being increasingly sold through unregulated online channels.

Published: March 31, 2026, 2:00 pm

The Guardian view on Israel’s death penalty: capital punishment is always wrong. This new law is doubly so | Editorial

Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks deemed terrorism face execution – while settlers enjoy impunity despite soaring West Bank violence

The death penalty is morally repugnant. How much more so, then, when it is made the default, must be speedily carried out, cannot be subject to clemency, and is blatantly discriminatory – not merely in practice but inherently. The law passed by Israel’s Knesset on Monday is worded to effectively apply only to Palestinians, entrenching what many – including domestic rights groups, legal scholars and the international court of justice – have identified as practices amounting to apartheid. In setting out law for the illegally occupied West Bank, it is also annexationist. “Its application to residents of the occupied Palestinian territory would constitute a war crime,” said the UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk.

Execution will be the default for Palestinians found guilty of lethal attacks deemed as terrorist acts in the West Bank’s military courts – which have a conviction rate of around 96%. Amnesty International says that the system routinely relies on evidence extracted through torture and abuse. The death sentence will be imposed even if prosecutors do not seek it. Convictions need no longer be unanimous. There is no possibility of pardon. Executions must take place within 90 days. Within Israeli civilian courts, the new law imposes the death penalty for deliberately killing a person with the intention of “negating the existence of the State of Israel”. Life imprisonment can only substitute in unspecified “special” circumstances.

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 31, 2026, 6:04 pm

USMNT fall 2-0 to Portugal in final game before World Cup roster is named

• Christian Pulisic struggled in more attacking role

• Francisco Trincão opens scoring in first half

• US next plays Germany and Senegal before World Cup opener

The US men’s national team met Portugal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Tuesday evening having spent the days leading up to the match preaching about intensity. Following a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of Belgium on the weekend, players and coaches alike stressed the importance of showing well against sixth-ranked Portugal.

Instead, the US closed this window with another flat performance, undone by a talented Portuguese side that easily unlocked the US in front of a sellout crowd of 72,297. The 2-0 loss was the USMNT’s eighth consecutive defeat at the hands of a European opponent, a stretch that’s seen them outscored 22-6.

Published: April 1, 2026, 1:07 am

Mitoma pounces as Japan beat England to give Tuchel World Cup headache

It is not a question that Thomas Tuchel wants to entertain at the World Cup this summer but one he had a run at here in what was supposed to be England’s grand Wembley sendoff. Can the team thrive against good opposition without Harry Kane? The answer was played out across an increasingly frustrating 90 minutes. It was no.

It was not all about Kane, who missed out because of a sore foot. But it was easy to conflate England’s lack of cutting edge with his absence. Tuchel had highlighted on Monday the poor goal returns from his other attacking players. They needed to bring more to the party. There was only bluntness.

Published: March 31, 2026, 9:02 pm

Influential, ambitious, combustible: can Roberto De Zerbi get Spurs back on track?

Brighton fans have fond memories of the Italian, hailed as a genius by rivals, but his time on the south coast went sour

Things may have ended on a sour note but there is a reason why a giant picture of a beaming Roberto De Zerbi adorns the wall outside the home dressing room at the Amex Stadium. It was taken in 2023 at the end of the Italian’s first season at Brighton after he had led the club to sixth in the Premier League – their highest finish – and taken them into Europe for the first time.

Three years later, memories of De Zerbi remain strong among Brighton supporters. It is a legacy that Fabian Hürzeler has found hard to emulate since succeeding De Zerbi, who fell out with the club’s owner, Tony Bloom, over squad recruitment.

Published: March 31, 2026, 5:00 pm

Sinner and Sabalenka’s Sunshine Doubles turn up heat on chasing pack

While Jannik Sinner’s duopoly with Carlos Alcaraz looks unbreakable, Aryna Sabalenka is dominating despite a more competitive women’s top 10

“No, I think it’s all an individual sport,” Jannik Sinner says, chuckling quietly, as he reflects on another triumphant fortnight at the Miami Open after his efficient win over Jiri Lehecka. Sinner had been asked whether he was aware that his win meant the maintenance of one of the defining records of this new era of men’s tennis: since the Madrid Open in April 2024, every tournament with Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz present has been won by either player. The duopoly continues.

Unsurprisingly, Sinner was far more focused on what the victory meant to him. By following his Indian Wells triumph with a title in Miami, he secured one of the greatest achievements of his career in the Sunshine Double. He has now won three consecutive Masters 1000 titles and 34 consecutive sets at this level. This was an immense feat, further underlining his enduring dominance over all challengers aside from his great rival, Carlos Alcaraz.

Published: March 31, 2026, 7:00 am

Women’s Final Four on repeat as UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina fight for title

• Champions UConn face South Carolina on Friday

• Bruins will take on Longhorns in other semi-final

The women’s Final Four is on repeat. No 1 seeds UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina are in the Final Four for the second straight season, just the second time the same teams have reached the sport’s final weekend in consecutive years.

Only the matchups and location will be different this time. Reigning national champion UConn will face South Carolina on Friday in Phoenix after playing UCLA last season. The Bruins will take on the Longhorns.

“I don’t think people understand how hard it is to do it,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “I think it bodes well for all of us, but there’s four or five more teams right there nipping at your heels.”

Just not this season – or last. The only other time the same four teams reached consecutive Final Fours was when UConn, Tennessee, Stanford and Georgia did so from 1995-96.

Everyone will be trying to stop the Huskies in this one. UConn have been the standard in women’s college basketball under coach Geno Auriemma. The Huskies have won 12 national championships, played in 25 Final Fours – a record 14 straight from 2008-22 – and have won 1,288 games in 41 seasons under Auriemma.

Published: March 31, 2026, 11:06 am

US supreme court appears skeptical of jury process in racial bias death row case

Case involves a former prosecutor removing nearly all Black jurors in a 2006 capital murder trial, raising legal questions

The US supreme court appeared skeptical on Tuesday of whether jury selection in a trial was conducted appropriately when they heard oral arguments in a death penalty case about racial bias in jury selection stemming from Mississippi.

Doug Evans, a now-retired prosecutor, removed all but one Black person from a jury that convicted Terry Pitchford of capital murder in 2006. The judge, Joseph Loper, allowed the juror strikes, despite objections from the defense counsel, and Mississippi’s supreme court upheld the conviction.

Published: March 31, 2026, 6:14 pm

Ex-FBI agents who worked on Trump cases sue agency and DoJ over firings

Class-action suit against FBI and justice department alleges agents were wrongfully terminated for investigating Trump

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Three former FBI agents filed a class-action lawsuit against the bureau and justice department on Tuesday, along with the FBI director, Kash Patel, and attorney general, Pam Bondi, claiming they had been wrongfully terminated for working on the criminal cases related to Donald Trump.

The agents – Jamie Garman, Blaire Toleman and Michelle Ball – all worked on a public corruption squad in the FBI’s Washington field office and worked on investigations of Trump. All three were abruptly fired from the FBI last year.

Published: March 31, 2026, 9:01 pm

‘Discriminatory’ Israeli death penalty law would be war crime, says UN rights chief

Volker Türk says bill, which applies to Palestinians convicted of terror charges but not Jewish extremists, must be repealed

A new Israeli law that would allow the execution of Palestinians convicted on terror charges for deadly attacks, but not Jewish extremists accused of similar crimes, would constitute a war crime if enacted, according to one of the UN’s most senior human rights officials.

Speaking amid mounting international condemnation of the bill, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, described the law as “patently inconsistent with Israel’s international law obligations, including in relation to the right to life”. He added that it “raises serious concerns about due process violations, is deeply discriminatory, and must be promptly repealed”.

Published: March 31, 2026, 5:15 pm

Charlie Kirk bullet analysis finds no conclusive link to rifle found near scene

Tyler Robinson’s defense team may try to use analysis to clear him of blame, as prosecutors aim to show there’s enough evidence to proceed with trial

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An analysis from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF) could not conclusively connect a bullet fragment recovered during Charlie Kirk’s autopsy to the rifle found near the scene of the rightwing political activist’s killing – and the FBI is running additional tests, lawyers for Kirk’s accused murderer said in recent court filings.

In the court filings, Tyler Robinson’s defense team also asked for a delay to a preliminary hearing scheduled in May, saying they need time to review the bullet analysis as well as an enormous amount of other material that could contribute to the suspect’s defense.

Published: March 31, 2026, 12:36 pm

The Voorhees law of traffic: when overtaken slow cars seem to always catch up at a red light

UK researcher uses maths to explain seeming inevitability of phenomenon experienced by many motorists

It is a situation experienced by many motorists: one driver overtakes another only to find the slower car is right behind them when they reach a red light. Now a researcher has used mathematics to reveal why the situation feels inevitable.

Dr Conor Boland from Dublin City University has called his work “The Voorhees law of traffic”.

Published: March 31, 2026, 11:01 pm

At least 29 dead after Russian military plane crashes in Crimea

Defence ministry says contact was lost with the An-26 military transport aircraft whilst it was on a scheduled flight over the Crimean Peninsula

A Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed into a cliff in Crimea, killing 29 people on board, Russian news agencies reported the country’s defence ministry as saying early on Wednesday.

Tass news agency, quoting the ministry, said the crash site was located in Crimea, a peninsula jutting into the Black Sea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. The ministry said 23 passengers and six crew members had been killed.

Published: March 31, 2026, 11:09 pm

Human remains found on California beach in 2022 identified as missing man

DNA testing confirmed bones found on Salmon Creek beach belonged to Walter Karl Kinney, a man last seen in 1999

Human remains discovered in the summer of 2022 on a beach in California recently were identified as those of a former banker who disappeared in 1999.

The DNA Doe Project (DDP) on Thursday announced that bones found on Salmon Creek state beach in northern California in June 2022 – by a family searching for seashells – belonged to 59-year-old Walter Karl Kinney, a former banker who lived in nearby Santa Rosa.

Published: March 31, 2026, 4:18 pm

Tennessee library director fired after refusing to move LGBTQ+-themed kids’ books to adult section

Luanne James said as a librarian she had an obligation to protect the public’s right to access information

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A Tennessee library director has been fired after she refused to relocate more than 100 LGBTQ+-themed children’s titles to the library system’s adult section.

The Rutherford county library board on Monday voted to fire Luanne James following a heated emergency meeting that involved supporters of hers chanting “We stand with Luanne!” while wearing shirts that read “Protect the freedom to read.”

Published: March 31, 2026, 7:15 pm

Deepwater discoveries: scientists find more than 110 new fish and invertebrate species in the Coral Sea

Brittlestars, sea anemones and a catshark among new-to-science species collected during expedition off the Queensland coast

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Marine scientists have discovered more than 110 new fish and invertebrate species in the Coral Sea – a figure they believe could exceed 200 as more are identified.

The species were found in waters between 200 metres and 3km deep in the Coral Sea marine park, Australia’s largest marine protected area, which spans nearly 1m sq km to the east of the Great Barrier Reef.

Published: March 31, 2026, 1:01 pm

Trump’s Iran war and drilling push show ‘dangerous volatility’ of fossil fuel era

Critics say president is locking into 20th-century energy systems even as his ‘bet’ on oil and gas ‘isn’t going so well’

By attacking Iran and threatening to seize its oil while taking extraordinary measures to block clean energy back in the US, Donald Trump has inadvertently highlighted the dangerous volatility of the fossil fuel era, critics say.

The US and Israel’s bombardment of Iran and southern Lebanon has caused a humanitarian and environmental toll, with threats of further escalation set to add to these casualties as well as add more planet-heating emissions and destroy drinking water supplies.

Published: March 31, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘Something out of the ordinary’: why are Japan’s oysters dying en masse?

A death rate of up to 90%, attributed to warming seas, is threatening the trade in Hiroshima prefecture, which produces most of the country’s farmed oysters

The Kure oyster festival is doing a brisk trade in beer and grilled meat on sticks. But the longest queues are in front of the oyster stalls, where chefs shuffle piles of mottled shellfish across griddles, waiting for their hinges to ease and reveal their fleshy interiors.

Nobuyuki Miyaoka, who is attending the festival with his son, daughter-in-law and their young children, likes his oysters steamed with sake and served with a few drops of tangy ponzu sauce. “The local oysters were fine until this year,” he says. “They used to be a lot bigger … look how small they are.”

Chefs prepare oysters at the Kure oyster festival. This year, local businesses and consumers say the shellfish have been scarce and smaller than usual

Published: March 31, 2026, 10:00 am

Vanuatu Indigenous leaders raise concerns over plans to build resort for cruise tourists

Exclusive: Environmental impact assessments are ‘incomplete’, say leaders, and private beach club could harm fragile ecosystems

Indigenous community leaders in Vanuatu have raised concerns over plans by the cruise operator Royal Caribbean to build a private beach club on the island of Lelepa, arguing environmental impact assessments by the company are “incomplete” and “misleading”.

The community leaders outlined the issues in a letter sent to Royal Caribbean on 26 February, which has been seen by the Guardian. The leaders also said the development could harm fragile ecosystems and a nearby Unesco world heritage site.

Published: March 31, 2026, 12:40 am

US average fuel price passes $4 a gallon for first time in four years amid Iran war

Stocks rally after reports suggest Trump might end the war soon, saying ‘we’re not going to be there for too much longer’

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Average US fuel prices have exceeded $4 a gallon for the first time in four years, piling pressure on drivers as Donald Trump’s war on Iran continues to boost oil markets.

The nationwide average climbed to almost $4.02 on Tuesday, according to AAA data, capping an extraordinary rise from $2.98 just a month ago. The fuel price last reached this high in August 2022.

Published: March 31, 2026, 8:29 pm

OpenAI, parent firm of ChatGPT, closes $122bn funding round amid AI boom

Company said it achieved valuation of $852bn, mentioning in a blogpost it generates $2bn a month in revenue

OpenAI announced on Tuesday it had closed a fundraising round of $122bn and achieved a valuation of $852bn. The funding cements the ChatGPT maker as one of the most highly valued private companies in the world.

The artificial intelligence firm received multibillion-dollar investments from companies including Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank, which committed $110bn, according to the Wall Street Journal. OpenAI also allowed a select group of individual investors to contribute about $3bn. The funding round ranks among the highest-ever in Silicon Valley. OpenAI said last month it was expecting to raise $110bn in funding, but upped that figure in its latest announcement.

Published: March 31, 2026, 9:55 pm

US marine detained after TSA finds live explosive round in checked bag

Marine told investigators he found the round ‘in the field’ about a year ago and kept it, thinking it wasn’t live

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A US marine was detained at a California airport after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel found a live 25mm explosive round in his checked baggage, police said.

The round was found during the screening process of checked luggage at the Palm Springs international airport on Monday, the Palm Springs police department said in a news release.

Published: March 31, 2026, 4:27 pm

Landmark losses for Meta and YouTube as big tech misses the point

Meta claims social media addiction isn’t real. Juries disagree

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor for the Guardian. I’m hoping futilely for warm spring weather in New York City, but while it’s still cold, I’m sitting inside and reading The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr. Published in 2010 and a finalist for the Pulitzer prize, the book is a fascinating record of our anxieties about technology at a time when the iPhone was just three years old and Facebook was just six. Google Chrome had debuted two years prior, and I think I was using Mozilla Firefox as my main browser. Stay tuned for a fuller analysis once I finish, but my early impression is that Carr’s observations have stood the test of time.

This week in tech, we’re discussing one major topic: two landmark cases against Meta and YouTube over social media addiction. Whether social media is clinically addictive or not, the liability for it has been determined.

‘Accountability has arrived’: dual US court losses show shifting tide against Meta and co

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

How Meta’s victim-blaming failed to sway jurors in landmark social media addiction trial | Technology

I was paid to write fake Google reviews – then my ‘bosses’ tried to scam me

Keep under-fives’ screen time to no more than an hour a day, UK advice says

Wikipedia bans AI-generated content in its online encyclopedia

Federal judge sides with Anthropic in first round of standoff with Pentagon

Bernie Sanders and AOC introduce bill to pause building of new datacenters

Published: March 31, 2026, 3:58 pm

King Charles’s state visit to US will be ‘humiliation’ amid Iran war

Visit with Camilla to go ahead in late April despite calls for delay over conflict and Trump-Starmer tensions

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King Charles will go ahead with a state visit to the US in April, Buckingham Palace has confirmed, despite some politicians saying the trip will be a “humiliation” while Donald Trump’s war with Iran is ongoing.

MPs have privately expressed concerns there is potential to embarrass the king if the US president continues his criticisms of the UK’s armed forces before or during the trip.

Published: March 31, 2026, 1:39 pm

‘Repulsive’: Polish and Irish leaders condemn Hungarian foreign minister’s alleged links to Russia

‘Sinister’ leaked audio appeared to capture Péter Szijjártó telling Moscow he would try to amend EU sanctions list to its liking

Polish and Irish leaders have called the Hungarian government’s actions “repulsive” and “sinister”, after leaked audio appeared to capture its foreign minister telling Moscow he would try to amend the EU sanctions list to its liking.

On Tuesday – days before an election in which Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is facing the toughest battle of his 16 years in power – a joint media investigation published a report that it said was based on leaked phone calls between Péter Szijjártó and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Published: March 31, 2026, 7:03 pm

Merz criticised after calling for Syrians in Germany to ‘go back’ home

The German chancellor has drawn condemnation from NGOs and members of his own government

Friedrich Merz has drawn condemnation from NGOs and members of his own government after he called for the vast majority of Syrians living in Germany to “go back to their homeland”.

The German chancellor, who was elected last year after promising a tough line on immigration in a bid to beat the far right, made the remarks during a visit to Berlin on Monday by the interim Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Published: March 31, 2026, 5:24 pm

Penguin to sue OpenAI over ChatGPT version of German children’s book

Publisher alleges AI research company’s chatbot violated its copyright over Coconut the Little Dragon series

Penguin Random House has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging its chatbot ChatGPT violated copyright by mimicking and reproducing the content of a popular series of German children’s books.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday with a Munich court against OpenAI’s Ireland-based European subsidiary, states Penguin Random House’s legal team had prompted ChatGPT to write a story in the vein of Penguin author and illustrator Ingo Siegner’s Coconut the Little Dragon series.

Published: March 31, 2026, 4:13 pm

Fainting in front of Michael Jackson and feuding with Monica: inside Brandy’s jaw-dropping memoir

The R&B singer’s must-read autobiography candidly describes a life of heady highs and horrific lows

Despite a 30-year-plus discography and a slew of undeniable classics (Sittin’ Up in My Room, The Boy Is Mine, modern R&B blueprint What About Us?) and deep cuts feted by the likes of Solange, Kehlani and Normani, there’s a sense that Brandy, the fan-anointed Vocal Bible, is still underrated. Her vividly told and occasionally harrowing memoir, Phases, co-written alongside Gerrick Kennedy and out on Tuesday, goes some way to explaining why that might be.

As well as detailing her formative years in Mississippi and later California, where she learned her trade singing in church choirs and at youth groups, and later her meteoric rise as a teenage superstar, Phases paints a picture of a young woman whose insecurities were often exposed and abused by others. It also spotlights issues around duty of care in the music industry; in 1999, while nursing an addiction to diet pills, and juggling her role on the hit teen sitcom Moesha with a relentless recording and touring schedule, Brandy suffered a nervous breakdown at the age of just 20.

Published: March 31, 2026, 11:00 am

‘Money! Glamour! Yachts! But not for me!’ Adrian Searle relives 30 glorious years as our chief art critic

He has faced off a fighter jet, ridden a motorised bed and even been a Beano character. As he steps down, the mighty Guardian critic delivers his insights, confesses his crimes and relives his highs

After writing about art at the Guardian for 30 years, I have been asked by my editor to reflect on what I have learned. I am not sure I’m capable of doing that. What I can do is write about what I have seen. Even when you are an eyewitness, things get murky very quickly, and critics are among the most unreliable of narrators.

An unknown woman at a table writes a letter we can’t see, while her maid reacts to something beyond the painted window. We can’t see what she’s smiling at either. How is it that Vermeer’s 1670-71 Woman Writing a Letter, With Her Maid, makes me feel somehow privy to its intimacies when almost everything that matters is withheld? You have to make it up. The stories come barging in, something you can’t quite imagine happening in such an ordered world.

Published: March 31, 2026, 3:13 pm

Love on the Spectrum proves that we still crave wholesome reality TV

A new season of Netflix’s dating show about neurodivergent singletons is a welcome antidote to grim reality TV headlines

Logan is a big fan of Hannah Montana and Spongebob Squarepants. He loves model trains and watches videos of them crashing, because that way he knows that no one was hurt. His favourite dessert is cheesecake. These are touchingly pure interests from a 25-year-old man who lives in the hedonistic capital of Las Vegas. “I describe myself as trying to be well-groomed, very patient, not lazy and always punctual,” he says. “Classy, fancy, romantic – wait, romantic? Is that the word?”

Logan is one of the new participants on Netflix’s Love on the Spectrum, a series that follows a group of neurodivergent young people as they search for a romantic connection, which returns this week for its fourth season. Unlike other dating shows, such as Love Is Blind and Love Island, the stars of this show don’t seem to be motivated by fame and the promise of a Boohoo discount code in their name. In fact, Love on the Spectrum is the antidote to the reality TV of today, which often revolves around controversy and conflict. Watching these young people and their families navigate their search for love isn’t merely wholesome, it makes for life-affirming TV.

Published: March 31, 2026, 10:00 am

From the phone to the plex: why TV shows are turning into movies

A successful cinema release for the new Peaky Blinders movie provided marketing opportunities that could lead to a reverse in the stream-first model

In its first three days on Netflix, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man movie racked up more than 25m views – miles ahead of the competition that week. No matter that it had also had a cinema run in the UK, after a grand red carpet premiere at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on 2 March.

Banijay Entertainment, one of the production companies behind the film, has also launched the official Peaky Blinders shop, an online store selling branded merchandise. Such hoopla highlights how streaming platforms, led by Netflix, are increasingly reversing the traditional content pipeline from the cinema to streaming.

Published: March 31, 2026, 12:28 pm

Ghost Killer review – fantastic karate chopping and gunslinging in in supernatural action-comedy

Top notch choreography features heavily in tale of a student who is inhabited by an assassin’s spirit determined to wreak revenge

On her way home from a bad day at work and a disappointing drinks date with a sleazy social media influencer (Hidenobu Abera), college student and part-time waitress Fumika (Akari Takaishi) finds a bullet casing on a stairway. She unthinkingly picks it up, not realising that her own suppressed rage and need for vengeance will instantly connect her through this object to the ghost of Kudo (Masanori Mimoto), a recently murdered hired assassin with his own load of unresolved emotional issues. Luckily, supernatural happenstance in this action-comedy charmer from Japan will help both of them to grow as people, or in Kudo’s case an ex-person. It turns out that Kudo can inhabit Fumika’s body at will and effectively use her as a karate-chopping, gun-slinging martial arts meat puppet in order to right wrongs, fight bad guys and eventually help him avenge his own murder. Fun!

Star Takaishi and director Kensuke Sonomura have collaborated before on the successful franchise Baby Assassins (wherein Takaishi plays a professional contract killer who poses as a normie, basically the inverse of her character here). Sonomura was the action director for three Baby Assassins features, which might explain that this, his third gig as a main director, feels more weighted towards scenes that showcase fisticuffs and fancy fight choreography rather than character development and emotional nuance. But that’s fine because Takaishi has charisma to burn and an impressive range; she’s equally convincing as a hapless student screaming in shock at the destruction being wrought around her as she is as a dead-eyed killer when Kudo inhabits her body. Meanwhile, Mimoto, a Japanese action film stalwart, is compellingly soulful as a murderer experiencing flickers of conscience rather late in life who hopes he might be a good influence not just on Fumika but also his former protege Kagehara (Mario Kuroba).

Published: March 31, 2026, 8:00 am

‘It was an exorcism’: how heartbreak, queer rebirth and finding love over Only Connect shaped Wendy Eisenberg’s stunning new album

The guitarist made their name on dazzlingly knotty musicianship and collaboration with the likes of Bill Orcutt. So their new album is their most surprising: a startlingly beautiful reflection of love and self-acceptance

It’s 30 December 2023. Wendy Eisenberg is walking and cannot stop. At an all-night rave in Bushwick featuring Detroit house legend Theo Parrish the previous night, they became paralysed by anxiety, returned home, “threw up a lot” and then set off with no destination in mind. “I walked for that entire day,” Eisenberg says by video call from their Brooklyn home. “I couldn’t stop moving my legs. I felt like I needed to reauthor myself, and this was how I was going to do it.”

While out on their fevered walk, Eisenberg ran into an old friend. “She told me: ‘You seem like you’re having a kind of exorcism.’ Then she added: ‘Maybe just play some guitar?’” Thus diagnosed, Eisenberg went home immediately and began writing the music that became their sublime new self-titled album. “I remember reading how Cat Power wrote Moon Pix in 10 hours, in a dream state,” says Eisenberg. Many of these songs were written in a similar state, across three or four months after that “strange, mystical moment”.

Published: March 31, 2026, 1:00 pm

The twilight zone: Nocturnes, from piano to perfume and Russia to Richter

The 19th-century composer John Field was the first to name his gentle and delicate piano pieces ‘nocturnes’. The word – and the genre of ‘sleep music’ it presaged – is ubiquitous today

One of the most familiar topics of our time is the trouble many of us have in winding down at the end of the day. Insomnia is rife: crossing the threshold between day and night has become a challenge for many of us. Music is often recommended as a way to help us relax, and there are countless sleep music playlists on streaming sites to lull us into unconsciousness and bear us towards morning on a current of soothing sounds. Max Richter’s Sleep, “an eight-hour lullaby”, a set of musical episodes that mirror what’s happening in our brains during the various phases of sleep, is, 11 years after its release, currently No 2 in the official classical artist albums chart. It’s been performed all over the world, with audience members provided with camp beds, blankets and pillows and gently serenaded through the night by live musicians playing Richter’s meditative score.

Musing over photos of slumbering audiences, I started to wonder about the history of music being used as an aid to sleep. The lullaby must be as old as humanity, but lullabies are essentially vocal. Their words often work against the grain of the music, sometimes conjuring up some very non-soothing images: “When the bough breaks, the baby will fall / Down will come cradle, baby and all.” Lullabies are a strange hybrid, musically comforting yet often expressing a vein of underlying anguish. Sleep music, on the other hand, tends to be purely instrumental. The absence of a voice makes it more abstract; without words, the meaning of the music remains open and listeners are free to connect however their imagination suggests.

Published: March 31, 2026, 9:00 am

‘Hope, insight and burning humanity’: 2026 International Booker prize shortlist announced

The six finalists include Marie NDiaye and Yáng Shuāng-zǐ alongside Daniel Kehlmann’s second nomination for the £50,000 prize

Daniel Kehlmann, Marie NDiaye and Yáng Shuāng-zǐ are among the six authors shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker prize, as the award marks its 10th anniversary.

The annual prize celebrates the best works of fiction translated into English, and awards £50,000 to one author-translator pair, to be split equally.

Published: March 31, 2026, 1:00 pm

A Rebel and a Traitor by Rory Carroll review – the extraordinary story of Roger Casement

A journalist tells the improbable tale of a British diplomat who worked to free Ireland – and paid the ultimate price

Roger Casement had a life that defies categorisation: an imperial administrator who exposed imperial atrocities; a one-time diplomat for the United Kingdom who enlisted German help in Ireland’s fight for freedom; a closeted gay man who left detailed records of his sexual adventures; a knight of the realm convicted of conspiring against the crown.

TE Lawrence (“of Arabia”), himself no stranger to the hypocrisy of British imperialism and the difficulties of illegal sexuality, called Casement a “broken archangel”. Rory Carroll, the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, retains some of that poetry in this deeply researched and fascinating account of Casement’s role in the creation of the Irish state.

Published: March 31, 2026, 8:00 am

Transcription by Ben Lerner review – a stunning exploration of technology and storytelling

Ranging from quantum mechanics to eating disorders to the nature of fiction, this is a breathtaking interrogation of family, connection and memory

Transcription ends with an epilogue. It’s a letter, or at least an extract from a letter, written by Leopold Blaschka, a 19th-century Bohemia-born artist who, with his son Rudolf, crafted intricate and breathtakingly realistic models of flowers, plants and sea creatures made out of glass. So astounding was their technique, so uncanny, that sceptics assumed they must be using secret devices. “It is not so,” he insisted. “We have the touch. My son Rudolf has more than I have because he is my son and the touch increases in every generation.” Until this point, Blaschka hasn’t been referenced by name even once. But here, in coda form, is the essence of Transcription, a novel about touch, devices and familial inheritances that is itself intricate, uncanny, sometimes breathtakingly realistic.

It begins with a middle-aged American narrator travelling to Providence, Rhode Island, home to Brown University, where Ben Lerner studied poetry and political theory as an undergraduate. He is there to conduct a magazine interview with a polymathic German intellectual named Thomas. No ordinary assignment: Thomas was his mentor at college, the father of his friend Max, and now, at the age of 90, this conversation is expected to be his last will and testament. At the hotel, bathos strikes – the narrator drops his smartphone in a sink; it’s unusable and he’s too embarrassed to confess. Thomas soon gets into his conversational stride, but his rich sentences go unrecorded.

Published: March 31, 2026, 6:00 am

Including online games in social media bans is unworkable, unnecessary and would harm young people

As calls for restrictions on under-16s’ online activities gather pace, some are urging curbs on online gaming. The idea is a mess from top to bottom

Last week, Meta and YouTube were found liable for creating intentionally addictive products that affected the wellbeing of young social media users. The ruling has supercharged an already growing movement from governments and regulators to restrict or ban social media use for under-16s, as has been done in Australia, to protect children from potential harm.

But there is another way that about 85% of kids and teens congregate online – and that is through video games. It has been suggested that curbs on online gaming should be considered alongside social media restrictions in future legislation. There is some precedent: in 2021, China restricted young people’s online gaming time to one hour a day on weekends and holidays. But I have a lot of questions about how such curbs would work, and whether they should be attempted.

Published: March 31, 2026, 2:50 pm

Jon Stewart on Trump: less war leader, more ‘grandpa who’s lost his filter’

Late-night hosts discuss Trump’s refusal to focus on the war while the country suffers, and the No Kings protests

Late-night hosts checked in on Donald Trump’s costly “improv” war in Iran, which he cannot seem to focus on for more than one minute.

Published: March 31, 2026, 3:37 pm

The New York Times drops freelance journalist who used AI to write book review

Writer and author Alex Preston said he “made a serious mistake” after a reader spotted similarities between his review and one that appeared in the Guardian

The New York Times has cut ties with a freelance journalist after discovering he used artificial intelligence to help write a book review that echoed elements of a review of the same book in the Guardian.

It came after a New York Times reader flagged similarities between the paper’s January review of Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea, written by author and journalist Alex Preston, and an August review of the same book written by Christobel Kent in the Guardian.

Published: March 31, 2026, 2:45 pm

Dog Day Afternoon review – Broadway take on heist can’t match Pacino’s punch

August Wilson Theatre, New York
A splashy new production inspired by the real-life 1970s bank robbery stars Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach

The story of Dog Day Afternoon is so familiar that it’s almost a surprise to find out that the movie wasn’t based on a beloved play or novel. But no, the 1975 film was inspired by a real incident in 1972 (and accompanying Life magazine article), when a pair of robbers attempted to hold up a bank in Brooklyn, only to find that much of the expected cash had already been picked up by an armored car. The standoff turned into a hostage situation – and, adding to the headline-grabbing nature of the crime, one of the robbers was supposedly seeking money to pay for his lover’s gender-affirming surgery. The film version starring Al Pacino evidently departed far enough from reality (including mostly changed names) to win the Academy Award for best original screenplay of 1975, and has endured as a classic for half a century. Its combination of timelessness and prescience and capturing a specific moment in New York City history makes it seem like ideal material to transition to the Broadway stage.

But the new stage version of Dog Day Afternoon runs up against the unintended speed bump of hindsight. Details that in the film felt like canny, offhand snapshots of the 1970s now come across as self-conscious in Stephen Adly Guirgis’s production, and even cutesy as the play attempts to re-create famous scenes from the movie with greater retrospective context (to say nothing of eye-rolling additional historical color, like having characters mention that this dirty movie called Deep Throat is now playing at a theater near them). At times, it’s hard not to think of Wes Anderson’s film Rushmore, in which the precocious Max Fischer Players put on a theatrical version of Pacino’s similarly true-life thriller Serpico.

Dog Day Afternoon is at the August Wilson Theatre in New York until 12 July

Published: March 31, 2026, 9:00 am

James McAvoy: ‘I’ve been “that Scottish person”, reduced to a noise that comes out of my mouth’

He went from a Glasgow council estate to Hollywood fame. Now, in his directorial debut, the X-Men star is challenging stereotypes about his homeland via the remarkable tale of a real-life hip-hop hoax

It’s the final night of the Glasgow film festival and James McAvoy is a wee bit out of breath. His directorial debut, California Schemin’, is playing across all three screens at the Glasgow Film Theatre in the city centre, taking the festival’s prestige closing slot.

Usually, a big name would say a few words of introduction in the main cinema then bask in the glory. Not McAvoy. Getting in among it still comes naturally 25 years after he left this city to pursue a career that has blazed from his award-winning Cyrano de Bergerac in the West End of London to playing Professor X, the founder of the X-Men, in the blockbuster Hollywood franchise.

Published: March 31, 2026, 4:00 am

Houseplant hacks: is putting a penny in the soil a copper boost or an old wives’ tale?

Even old pennies corrode too slowly to be useful. You’d be better off saving them up and buying proper plant feed

The problem
If a plant looks a bit yellow or drooping, someone might suggest putting a penny in the pot. The idea is that the copper will leach into the soil, liven up the plant and maybe even ward off fungi. It is one of those tips that refuses to die, passed on like family folklore.

The hack
The promise is simple: pop a coin in the compost and let chemistry do the work. Supposedly, the copper acts as a mini-fertiliser and a mild fungicide.

Published: March 31, 2026, 9:00 am

MacBook Neo review: the budget Apple laptop powered by an iPhone chip

Snappy performance, high-quality screen, best-in-class keyboard and trackpad show cheaper can still be great

Apple’s brand new entry-level laptop is powered by the chip from an iPhone and offers more than just the essential MacBook experience for a great price, putting the PC industry on notice.

The MacBook Neo is the first of its kind from Apple. A 13in laptop that runs on an A18 Pro chip and brings the starting price for a brand new MacBook down to £599 (€699/$599/A$899) – £500 or the equivalent less than the MacBook Air.

Published: March 31, 2026, 6:00 am

US federal student loan borrowers: Have you had your loan forgiven? We’d like to hear from you

How will this affect your life? What plans will you make now in light of the loan forgiveness?

The US Department of Education (DOE) has been informing about 164,000 federal student loan borrowers whether they are eligible for automatic student loan forgiveness.

Those eligible must have attended one of more than 150 colleges that have been accused of misconduct.

Published: March 31, 2026, 4:14 pm

The reckoning over Cesar Chavez signals the perils of building a movement around a single leader

The conflation of Chavez’s image with the fight for farm worker rights is partly because most books on the movement have been written by white people

In the wake of explosive allegations that the famed labor leader Cesar Chavez sexually abused women and girls from the 1960s to the 1980s, rebukes from elected officials have invoked one phrase more than others: that the farm worker movement “was more than one man”.

But Chavez, who organized farm workers and fought for Latino civil rights, has often eclipsed the movement he galvanized. Dozens of public spaces bear his name, and a federal commemorative holiday was created to celebrate his birthday on 31 March. As legislators in California, Texas and Arizona began painting over murals and renaming the streets, schools and a state holiday dedicated to the late union organizer, Latino leaders and historians are grappling with Chavez’s tarnished legacy and the perils of building a cause around a single person.

Published: March 31, 2026, 1:07 pm

A Holy Week procession, white pelicans and apricot blossoms: photos of the day – Tuesday

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

Published: March 31, 2026, 1:37 pm