My mother, Audrey Hepburn: the star’s son Sean on her movies, marriages, good works and fascist parents

The heroine of Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany’s knew war and poverty, riches and fame, love and betrayal – yet claimed to have lived a ‘terribly boring’ life. Sean Hepburn Ferrer paints a very different picture in his new biography

Growing up, Sean Hepburn Ferrer says he never felt like the son of a movie star – but he very much is. His mother was Audrey Hepburn, one of the biggest names in the golden age of Hollywood, an Oscar-winner, a screen star and a fashion icon. Hundreds of millions of people all over the world recognise her from classics such as Roman Holiday, Funny Face and My Fair Lady – besotted with the way she laughs, dances, or poses tastefully in Givenchy couture.

Audrey’s image is so ubiquitous in posters, art prints, magazines, on handbags, keyrings or T-shirts, that the family has made hunting for her likeness into a game. “I must have made this crack to my kids,” Sean says. “We were probably waiting for a train or a plane that had been delayed: ‘Three minutes to find Grandma.’ And it became a thing. Now the kids are grown-up, but they do it on their own. I do it by myself and send a snapshot to my wife and we giggle privately.”

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:00 am

Trump’s chaotic war on Iran has dragged into its sixth week because he is fighting an adversary he doesn’t understand | Nesrine Malik

Ignorance and arrogance were his drivers. The idea that the regime plays by different rules, with its own goals, never occurred to him

Five weeks. We are now five weeks in and entering the sixth week of the war on Iran. What was supposed to be a “precise, overwhelming military campaign” to eliminate “an imminent nuclear threat” and urge the Iranian people to “take over” their government is now anything but precise or overwhelming. Gulf countries are seized up with retaliatory Iranian attacks, the strait of Hormuz is shut, and there is no sign of regime collapse either through military degradation or popular takeover. The recovery of two downed US aircrew is celebrated beyond the facts of the matter because nothing else is going to plan. The mistake, as ever, is a combination of hubris and ignorance, flaws made even more serious by the particularities of the Iranian regime.

There is a mental lag at the start of wars. A cognitive delay that means you can’t quite adjust to the fact that dangerous conflict cannot be swiftly contained. That mental lag is even longer when the United States is involved. Because it remains inconceivable to some that a superior military power would not swiftly achieve its objectives. That an inferior power would not immediately succumb. That allies would not fall into line and rally behind the US. Inconceivable that the fallout of a military campaign would not be limited to the territories and peoples targeted.

Published: April 6, 2026, 5:00 am

‘It started with a tipoff’: how a Guardian investigation exposed child sex trafficking on Facebook and Instagram

Meta has just lost a multimillion-dollar legal battle over its failure to prevent children being sold on its platforms. Here’s how we uncovered evidence that became part of the case against it

It started with a tipoff. I was reporting on the trafficking and exploitation of migrant workers in the Gulf when a source I had known for more than a decade reached out. They told me that child sexual abuse trafficking in the US was surging. As the Covid pandemic pushed predators online, some were using Facebook and Instagram to buy and sell children.

It was 2021 and I was about to begin an investigation with Mei-Ling McNamara, a human rights journalist, that would lead to the tech company Meta losing a multimillion-pound court case in March this year. The company had not yet rebranded and was known as Facebook, and there had not been any reporting on how children were being trafficked on its platforms. Experts from anti-trafficking nonprofit organisations and an American law enforcement official talked me through the crimes they were seeing.

Published: April 6, 2026, 6:00 am

‘Barbara Windsor smacked our bottoms!’ Pet Shop Boys on showstopping visuals, horrified bosses – and snubbing the queen

As a 600-page doorstopper celebrates their groundbreaking costumes, gigs, sleeves and videos, the duo talk about ‘side-stepping the pop-star thing’ – and the naked trampolinist EMI had to censor

In 1988, when he was 20, Wolfgang Tillmans tore an A0 poster off a building site hoarding and nailed it to a wall in his flat in Hamburg. It was advertising Pet Shop Boys’ new album, Introspective, and consisted of thick vertical bars in different colours. “It was just so cool in the context of the time,” the artist says today, admiring how the pop group had gone “one level more abstract”.

Around the same time in Doncaster, teenager Alasdair McLellan – now an A-list fashion photographer – was impressed by the clothes of Pet Shop Boys’ keyboard-player Chris Lowe; for instance the cap, stripy T-shirt and Issey Miyake glasses on the cover of their single Suburbia. “I always thought he was the best-dressed man of the 80s,” McLellan says. “Obviously, he just stood there playing the keyboard and I always noticed what he was wearing, especially all that sportswear stuff. He just seemed to do it better than everyone else.” McLellan couldn’t get style magazines in his village, so his visual education came from pop and the music press. “I got into photography through album covers, Smash Hits and NME.”

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:00 am

A new start after 60: I jacked in my job in tech to become a professional poker player

As a child, Gary Fisher was terrible at card games. How did he end up making his living from one?

Gary Fisher has always enjoyed a game of poker, but after he turned 60, his partner suggested he take it seriously. “She said, ‘You’re really good at it, but you don’t study. You just turn up and play.’” It wasn’t what Fisher expected to hear, but he set about researching the game, completed some online courses, got a coach – and now plays professionally.

So far this year, Fisher, who lives in London, has travelled to competitions in Cyprus, Marrakech, Amsterdam, Tallinn and Paris. He pays to enter, and has won $200,000 (£150,000) in prize money. “I’ve had a very good start,” he says. He is speaking on a video call from his hotel in Dublin where he is taking part in the Irish Open. Next he will travel to Melbourne.

Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60?

Published: April 6, 2026, 6:00 am

We've gone mad for puzzles. This makes sense – it’s reassuring to have answers in these perplexing times | Joseph de Weck

Our world feels chaotic, confusing and unfair, but puzzles offer clear rules, solvable problems and reward for effort expended

Maybe you’ve noticed it too. Everyone seems to have become fixated on puzzle games. In the morning, over coffee, I play Word Wheel on the Guardian app. Over lunch, colleagues compare notes on Tradle, the game where you guess a country from its exports. Which place exports about 45% fish and 50% crustaceans? Greenland. Another friend can’t fall asleep without her nightly Sudoku ritual.

The online puzzle craze took off during the Covid pandemic, and it shows no sign of slowing down. New York Times subscribers now spend more time playing puzzles on the app than reading the news. Sales of quiz books hit a record last year, up 24% from 2024.

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:00 am

Middle East crisis live: Iran warns of ‘devastating’ retaliation after Trump’s expletive-laden threats over strait of Hormuz

US and Iran reportedly receive proposal for a potential 45-day ceasefire; IRGC says Majid Khademi was killed early on Monday

• Trump warns Iran to reopen strait of Hormuz by Tuesday or face ‘hell’

• ‘Unhinged madman’: US politicians react to Trump Iran threat

A Japanese shipping firm said on Monday that an Indian-flagged tanker owned by its subsidiary had passed through the strait of Hormuz and was en route to India.

A spokeswoman for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told AFP that the Green Asha – a liquefied petroleum gas tanker – had crossed the waterway.

Pakistan stands in solidarity with the brotherly people of the UAE and reiterates the urgent need for restraint and de-escalation in the region.

Published: April 6, 2026, 10:09 am

Artemis II crew enters moon’s ‘sphere of influence’ ahead of historic flyby

Astronauts on Nasa’s Orion capsule made transition about 39,000 miles from the moon, meaning they feel its gravitational pull more strongly than that of the Earth

The four astronauts on Nasa’s Artemis II mission have entered the moon’s “sphere of influence”, where its gravity has a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth’s.

The crew made the transition, four days, six hours and two minutes into the mission, when about 39,000 miles (62,800km) from the moon, and 232,000 miles (373,400km) away from the Earth. The next key milestone will be the trip later on Monday to the far side of the moon, venturing deeper into space than any humans before.

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:51 am

Fuel tanker erupts in flames after toppling power lines in Texas

Driver treated for burns after truck was carrying 9,000 gallons of gasoline at time of collision outside Fort Worth

An 18-wheel fuel tanker crashed into another vehicle, toppled power lines, then burst into flames outside Fort Worth early Sunday morning, according to local authorities.

The truck was carrying 9,000 gallons of gasoline at the time of the collision.

Published: April 5, 2026, 10:18 pm

Cruise ship caught on reef off tiny Fiji island where Cast Away filmed

Salvage crews work to avoid oil spill after Fiji Princess cruise ship grounded off Monuriki Island on Saturday

Salvage crews in Fiji are working to prevent an oil spill after a cruise ship ran aground off the island on which the 2000 Tom Hanks film Cast Away was filmed.

The Blue Lagoon Cruises vessel Fiji Princess grounded at a reef near the uninhabited Monuriki Island on Saturday, according to Fiji’s maritime rescue agency.

Published: April 6, 2026, 3:57 am

Satellite mirror plans could disrupt sleep and ecosystems worldwide, scientists say

Letters to US agency raise concerns over tech firms’ plans to use reflective satellites and expand numbers in low Earth orbit

Proposals to deploy reflective mirrors and up to 1m more satellites in low Earth orbit could have far-reaching consequences for human health and ecosystems, leading sleep and circadian rhythm researchers have said.

Presidents of four international scientific societies representing about 2,500 researchers from more than 30 countries are among those who have raised concerns in letters to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Published: April 5, 2026, 11:49 am

Hungarian PM faces ‘false flag’ claims after Serbia says explosives found near pipeline

Incident prompts political scrutiny across Hungary as Viktor Orbán trails in polls before next Sunday’s election

Serbia has said it found “explosives of devastating power” near a pipeline that carries Russian natural gas to Hungary and beyond, sparking claims by Hungary’s leading opposition candidate of a possible “false flag” operation aimed at influencing the country’s elections.

On Sunday, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said he had been informed by Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, of the discovery near an extension of the TurkStream pipeline, which transports Russian gas through the Balkans to central and eastern Europe.

Published: April 5, 2026, 5:13 pm

Weather tracker: Warm March in US leaves snowpack critically low

Concerns about coming wildfire risk, and temperatures also remain high on other side of Pacific where rare tropical cyclone has formed

After a historically warm winter across nine states in the US, the first month of meteorological spring again brought exceptionally high temperatures, with numerous states recording new all-time high temperatures in March. The remarkable intensity and longevity of the warmth have left much of the mountain snowpack, a crucial source of water for millions in the American west, at critically low levels.

Though precipitation totals tend to increase in spring, the low snowpack has raised concerns about a potentially severe wildfire season if conditions do not improve soon. And with further spells of abnormally warm, dry weather expected this week, the outlook is becoming increasingly worrying heading into the late spring and summer months.

Published: April 6, 2026, 9:58 am

UCLA capture first NCAA women’s basketball title, 79-51 over South Carolina

• Gabriela Jaquez scores 21 points in rout

• Victory margin is third-largest in NCAA history

Gabriela Jaquez scored 21 points, Lauren Betts added 16 and UCLA routed South Carolina 79-51 Sunday to win their first NCAA championship in women’s basketball.

The near-record lopsided victory completed the Bruins’ journey through this year’s March Madness that started after a loss to UConn in last season’s Final Four. The Bruins ran through their opponents this season with their only loss coming in November, to Texas in a Thanksgiving tournament.

Published: April 5, 2026, 10:38 pm

I was the US soft power czar. Our popularity may never recover | Richard Stengel

Trump’s venal persona and his war on Iran will do untold damage to America’s ability to make a positive difference in the world

Early one Sunday morning in the summer of 2003, I drove into the center of a little South African beach town on the Indian Ocean to pick up the Cape papers. Local news agents still employed the English custom of putting front pages on A-frame stands on the sidewalk. It was during the first months of the Iraq war, and from two blocks away, I could see the headline, in big block type: “WHY BUSH IS WORSE THAN BIN LADEN.”

It was disheartening to see – especially so far from home – but it did correspond to something familiar: American favorability around the world tends to swing sharply with wars (especially ones America starts) and who the US president is. Within weeks of the American attack, the international support the US had after 9/11 was squandered.

Published: April 5, 2026, 1:00 pm

How Middle East conflict is infiltrating the tight US Senate race in Michigan

Heated discourse over Israel and influencer Hasan Piker has created cracks between progressive and establishment Democratic candidates in key swing state

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

A heated debate over criticism of Israel and the political influencer Hasan Piker’s role on the left has bitterly divided progressive and establishment Democrats in a US Senate race in Michigan, an electorally critical swing state. The ongoing controversy likely marks a preview of things to come as the midterm and 2028 election seasons ramp up, and it is drawing warnings from Arab American leaders in a state where the party’s Israel policy badly damaged Kamala Harris’s campaign.

Mallory McMorrow, a state senator favored by much of the establishment, is locked in a tight three-way race with the progressive Abdul El-Sayed, and Haley Stevens, the US representative who is backed by Aipac. El-Sayed and Piker last week announced plans to rally together. In response, McMorrow, the Anti-Defamation League, the Trump administration, Third Way, Senator Elissa Slotkin and other pro-Israel figures went on the offensive, labeling Piker as antisemitic and seeking to tar El-Sayed over his association with him.

Published: April 6, 2026, 10:00 am

‘We don’t want pity’: Ukrainian war veterans face off in amputee boxing championship

Artem Khrebet emerged victorious from what organisers say was world-first competitive bout between double amputees

Footwork decides a boxing match, they say. In Ukraine, the tired cliche took on a new meaning.

On Saturday, two Ukrainian war veterans faced off on prosthetic legs in what organisers called the world’s first competitive bout between double-amputee fighters.

Top: Artem Khrebet (left) and Mykhailo Drobotenko (right), both war veterans, during the weigh-in ceremony

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:00 am

When Suzuki met Suzuki: why a Tokyo dating agency is matching couples with the same name

Japan’s ban on married couples having different surnames has prompted an event to highlight people’s reluctance to change their name

At the very least, the three men and three women calming their nerves on a Friday evening at a venue in Tokyo know they have one thing in common.

Spaced out across booths, they will soon be placed in pairs and given 15 minutes to get to know one another.

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:57 am

Is it true that … more testosterone means more muscle?

Popular diet tweaks may boost the hormone a little, but the effect on your pecs is likely to be limited

It’s an increasingly popular idea: “boosting” testosterone with diet tweaks – increasing foods rich in zinc and magnesium – hoping to build muscle faster. But the reality is more nuanced.

Testosterone is an androgen hormone that plays a key role in development, particularly in boys during puberty. Its effect on muscle isn’t simply about how much of it you have, but how your body responds to it.

Published: April 6, 2026, 7:00 am

Navajo Nation: the fight for cultural survival – photo essay

Rick Findler, photographer and Joan Wakelin bursary recipient, speaks to Navajo communities attempting to save a language and traditions that are being diluted by modern life

The Navajo Nation, home to the Navajo tribe, also known as the Diné, meaning “the people”, is the largest Native American reservation in the US, encompassing 27,000 sq miles across New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. The Navajo people exemplify resilience amid a rapidly changing cultural landscape and various threats to their heritage.

Despite challenges such as inadequate housing, unreliable infrastructure and limited access to technology, elders and youth are striving to preserve their rich cultural heritage and identity.

A Native American dancer, dressed in his traditional regalia, makes his way to a performance in Winslow, Arizona. During November there are many public performances and events celebrating Native American culture.

Published: April 6, 2026, 6:00 am

‘When there was wonder in the world’: why Raiders of the Lost Ark is my feelgood movie

The latest in our series of writers paying tribute to their go-to comfort films celebrates Steven Spielberg’s escapist globe-trotting adventure

The ancient Greek philosopher Lucretius writes in his epic poem On the Nature of Things: “It is comforting, when winds are whipping up the waters of the vast sea, to watch from land the severe trials of another person … it is comforting to see from what troubles you yourself are exempt.”

This feeling of living dangerously by proxy is exactly why I find it so relaxing to watch Indiana Jones in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark go through an endless stream of trials and tribulations: trekking through the hot, sticky jungle. Avoiding venomous spiders and snakes. Being betrayed by not one, but two of his colleagues. Jumping over bottomless chasms and outrunning giant boulders, only to be thwarted by his arch-rival and chased by a tribe of bow-and-arrow-toting Amazonians. And that’s just the first 15 minutes of the film.

Published: April 6, 2026, 9:00 am

The pet I’ll never forget: Beau, the labrador who saved my life

After I collapsed during a run along a beach, my loyal dog Beau sprang into action

When I lost my wife, Jo, to cancer eight years ago, I knew it was time for a fresh start, so I packed up my London home and moved to Poole on the Dorset coast. I longed for a companion, so I welcomed a labrador puppy into my life, naming him Beau in a nod to the time Jo and I had spent living in France.

A gun dog from Derbyshire with a sleek black coat and deep brown eyes, Beau was an adorable and mischievous puppy who kept me on my toes right from the start. When he was six months old, he rummaged in a fisherman’s bucket and swallowed a fishing line and hook. Thankfully, it came out the other end, narrowly avoiding surgery.

Published: April 6, 2026, 10:00 am

Trailblazers, trumpets and the theramin: 10 soundtracks that changed the way we listen to movies

From soundtracking the silent era, via 50s rock’n’roll and the ‘symphonic pop’ of Henry Mancini to iconic works by John Williams and Hans Zimmer, movies are unimaginable without music. Ahead of the London soundtrack festival its artistic director picks 10 scores that moved the dial

The music of cinema’s earliest years played a crucial role in how audiences – with a live pianist or organist soundtracking the silent movie – experienced the stories on screen. But it wasn’t until the advent of synchronised sound that they were guaranteed the same musical experience.

Even that moment, widely regarded to be 1926’s Don Juan – an otherwise silent film – wasn’t a true soundtrack. Warner Bros used the Vitaphone system, essentially a recording on disc that was played with the picture. The same system was used for 1927’s The Jazz Singer, the first film for which voices were synchronised to the picture as well. Playing a disc to picture was unreliable, and it wasn’t long before music could be printed directly on to the celluloid of the film itself and the soundtrack proper was born.

Published: April 6, 2026, 10:23 am

As a business founder and as a man, I regret the decades I spent confined by masculinity | Guy Singh-Watson

Making women more powerful in my farm business and closing the gender pay gap was not just the right thing to do – it has brought commercial benefits

On International Women’s Day this year, I found myself in Selfridges listening to my wife, Geetie, talk about her experiences as a childhood communard, mother, restaurateur, environmental campaigner and, of course, as a woman. I was one of two men in the audience. Some might ask what a 65-year-old male farmer was doing there at all. I would contend, first, that as many of the issues discussed on IWD relate to male behaviour, men should be paying as much attention as women; and second (and more practically) that too many blokes being blokey does not get the strawberries picked.

Success in farming depends on being able to build and maintain relationships. I’d say that’s true of most businesses. When we first measured our gender pay gap at Riverford in 2017, women earned an average of 91p an hour to their male colleagues’ £1. We made excuses and weak efforts at change, but most of the men at the top were unwilling to challenge their unspoken prejudice. My own farm, Baddaford, has been happier, more productive and more profitable since I, and my male head grower, put our best picker – a woman half our age – in charge of the picking and people.

Guy Singh-Watson is the founder of organic veg box company Riverford

Published: April 6, 2026, 9:00 am

Life’s unbearable without silly little snacks. Where would we be without Trader Joe’s or M&S? | Bim Adewunmi

The US chain gives us limited-edition kettle chips; the British, Percy Pig chews. It’s good to know there’s something to nibble on both sides of the Atlantic

You know how you break up with someone, and then everywhere you go, there they are? I’ve been experiencing something like that these last few months, since moving back to London from New York – I can’t go a single day in without seeing a Trader Joe’s tote bag. I knew of this phenomenon of cultural exchange (Brits carry these TJ bags; in the US, they love a Daunt Books one) and while it speaks to the “cousin on your mum’s side” relationship of our two nations, it’s still jarring to see these bags casually hanging out on a London bus. Like bumping into your teacher at Butlin’s in a Hawaiian shirt. It’s not quite right.

For those who don’t know, Trader Joe’s is a supermarket chain in the US that is also the primary source of the type of silly little snacks and convenience dinners that sustain life when you can’t be bothered to do more than throw something in your mouth while lying on the sofa. The limited edition Thanksgiving stuffing kettle chips? I still dream of them. The crispy crunchy okra or the crispy onion chips? Come back, the kids miss you. And of course, the fruity jellies. More than one care package from friends in Brooklyn has contained these since I moved back, and I fall to my knees in gratitude every single time.

Bim Adewunmi is a freelance journalist

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: April 6, 2026, 10:00 am

As a supreme court ruling looms, the US is dismantling Black voting power | Carol Anderson

Louisiana v Callais could be the latest brick in a wall under construction for more than a decade, as Jim Crow is rebuilt in modern form

There are moments in American history when the stakes are unmistakable. This is one of them.

The forthcoming decision in Louisiana v Callais will not just be another supreme court ruling in a long line of voting cases. This time the issue is whether the Voting Rights Act (VRA) can still require states to draw electoral maps that give Black voters a meaningful chance to elect representatives.

Published: April 6, 2026, 10:00 am

As a celebrant, I prefer funerals to weddings. This is why | Jackie Bailey

Perhaps my work is still about my healing – remembering the sacred fragility, the passing nature, the end date in sight

As a celebrant, I start my weddings and funerals with the same words: “Everyone, we are about to get started, so can you please make sure your phones are off or on silent.”

I introduce myself, express my great privilege in sharing this moment with the people gathered and always make sure I have tissues on hand. Wedding dresses don’t have pockets and you’d be surprised how many people come to a funeral not expecting to cry.

Jackie Bailey is the author of The Eulogy, the winner of the 2023 NSW Premier’s literary multicultural award. When not writing, she works as a funeral celebrant and pastoral care practitioner, helping families navigate death and dying

Published: April 6, 2026, 2:22 am

The Guardian view on Japan’s hidden century: cheap money, global risk | Editorial

Ultra-low rates turned the yen into easy cash for bankers. But the carry trade now binds global markets to decisions in Tokyo

In 2015, Clyde Prestowitz’s book Japan Restored imagined a Japanese century emerging from upheavals such as an Israeli attack on Iran. While conflict now grips the Middle East, there are few indications of the revolutionary change the former US national security official foresaw. But in one crucial respect this already is a Japanese century – thanks to the yen’s role as easy money for global finance.

The Bank of Japan’s loose monetary policy has turned the yen into the world’s cheapest and most reliable funding currency. By suppressing yields on public debt to keep Japan’s domestic economy afloat, the BoJ effectively created a publicly subsidised funding pipeline for bankers. They can make a quick buck by borrowing cheaply in yen and investing in higher-return assets, such as US equities. The “yen carry trade” surged after the pandemic, with speculators betting $435bn in the two years to 2024 out of the estimated $1.7tn worth of yen supplied. The profits for global investors are reckoned to run into tens of billions of dollars.

Published: April 5, 2026, 4:29 pm

Hockey fans pack Madison Square Garden as PWHL breaks US women’s attendance record – in pictures

A sold-out crowd of 18,006 electrified Madison Square Garden on Saturday night when the New York Sirens hosted the Seattle Torrent, setting a new US attendance record for women’s hockey

Published: April 6, 2026, 8:00 am

Bernardo Silva will leave Manchester City this summer, reveals Pep Lijnders

• Captain deserves good farewell, says assistant manager

• Silva has interest from Barcelona as contract ends in June

Pep Lijnders has revealed that Bernardo Silva will leave Manchester City in the summer, with the assistant manager hoping the captain is given a fitting farewell.

The 31-year-old Silva, whose contract expires in June, has been in impressive form this season but Lijnders stated it will be his last for City.

Published: April 5, 2026, 9:30 pm

‘We’re home’: Even in a draw, Inter Miami’s stadium opener was a win for David Beckham

Nu Stadium’s first game of any kind saw the South Florida club accomplish a long-held goal barely under the deadline

Lionel Messi may have scored, captained the side and had a quarter of the new building named in his honor, but this was unmistakably Inter Miami co-owner Sir David Beckham’s night.

The inaugural game at Nu Stadium in Miami – an entertaining 2-2 draw with Austin FC – was the culmination of the former England captain’s arduous, thirteen-year odyssey to first establish an MLS team in Miami, then fill it with superstars, win major honors and, critically, build a world class arena for the team to play in.

Published: April 5, 2026, 12:52 pm

Pogacar holds off Van der Poel to win Tour of Flanders but faces fine for running red light

• Slovenian among riders who ran light at rail crossing

• Demi Vollering beats Ferrand-Prévot to win women’s race

Tadej Pogacar won a record-equalling third Tour of Flanders on Sunday after the world champion dropped his main rival Mathieu van der Poel with 18km to ride. However, the race winner later learned he would be among up to 20 cyclists in the race who could face action from Belgian authorities after running a red light at a railway crossing.

Van der Poel was himself aiming for a record fourth victory in the second Monument of the season, but instead Pogacar made it two from two in the prestigious one-day classics having won Milan-San Remo last month.

Published: April 5, 2026, 10:11 pm

Angels’ Jo Adell acrobatically robs three home runs to shock Mariners

• Adell stole homers from Raleigh, Naylor and Crawford

• Zach Neto hits solo home run for game’s only run

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Jo Adell is known for his power bat but he put on a show for the ages with his glove in the middle game of the three-game series with the visiting Seattle Mariners.

Adell performed three home run robberies in a single game on Saturday and will look to help the Angels win the series when they close the set against the Mariners on Sunday at Anaheim, California. Zach Neto hit his 10th career leadoff homer for the game’s lone run, but Saturday night was the “Jo Show,” where a right fielder sometimes chided for his defensive shortcomings put on one of the best outfielder performances of all time.

Published: April 5, 2026, 3:49 pm

US sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson wins 2026 Stawell Gift off scratch in thrilling finish

• American crosses in 13.15s ahead of Australia’s Charlotte Nielsen

• Olufemi Komolafe wins men’s final without US’s Christian Coleman

American sprint queen Sha’Carri Richardson has lived up to her star status as she chased down the field off scratch to win the 2026 Stawell Gift in a thrilling finish.

The Olympic 100m silver medallist and sixth-fastest woman in the world joined hundreds of local spectators and athletes in the small rural town 200km north-west of Melbourne on Monday to take part in the handicap race for the first time.

Published: April 6, 2026, 5:31 am

‘Let’s do it’: Deontay Wilder targets Anthony Joshua fight after beating Chisora

• Former world champions may finally meet in the ring

• Eddie Hearn says Joshua is ready for fight after car crash

Deontay Wilder called out Anthony Joshua for a long-awaited matchup between the former heavyweight champions, after Wilder edged Derek Chisora to clinch a split-decision victory in London on Saturday.

Wilder came face to face with Joshua as he walked past the Briton after the fight. The two fist-bumped, and the American said: “Let’s do it. It wasn’t a few words, I dapped it up with him and I said, now let’s get it on. I’m ready for whoever, [as] long as these guys are in the heavyweight division, I am here. You can call me Mr Clean, because I want to clean up the whole division. The division is nothing without Deontay Wilder.”

Published: April 5, 2026, 12:50 pm

Leeds hold nerve to win shootout after West Ham’s dramatic fightback

The familiar London Stadium rush for the exit has never been so misjudged. A lot of West Ham fans decided they had seen enough when Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Leeds 2-0 up and within touching distance of a first FA Cup semi-final since 1987, but how wrong they were. The non-believers reckoned without their side forcing extra time and were not allowed back in to see a ridiculous game go the distance.

It ended with Finlay Herrick, a 20-year-old goalkeeper whose experience of senior football extended no further than 10 games during a loan spell with National League side Boreham Wood earlier this season, coming on for his West Ham debut after Alphonse Areola went off injured just before penalties. Talk about a baptism of fire. Herrick is West Ham’s No 3 goalkeeper and it seemed he was about to steal the headlines when he opened the shootout by saving a tame effort from Joël Piroe.

Published: April 5, 2026, 7:01 pm

Mamdani pledged affordable New York housing in his campaign. How is that going?

Mayor’s decision to appeal court order that the city must expand its housing voucher program has angered advocates for the homeless

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani’s decision to appeal a court order that the city must expand its housing voucher program, despite his campaign pledge to implement it, has angered advocates for the homeless population.

Mamdani, who must figure out how to close a $5.4bn budget deficit, explained his decision by citing the cost of the City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) program, which helps people staying in shelters or at risk of homelessness find permanent housing.

Published: April 5, 2026, 4:00 pm

Iran strikes Kuwait’s oil infrastructure before Opec+ supply talks

Members reportedly agree a rise of 206,000 barrels a day in May, but move symbolic while strait of Hormuz is effectively closed

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Iranian drones have struck Kuwait’s oil infrastructure, causing “severe material damage” that threatens to further disrupt oil supplies already hit by the US-Israel war on Iran.

The drone strikes on Sunday came hours before members of the Opec+ group of major global oil suppliers gathered to discuss how to bolster output despite Iran’s effective closure of the strait of Hormuz shipping route.

Published: April 5, 2026, 6:22 pm

US health officials appear to shy away from anti-vaccine talk ahead of midterms

Elections seem top-of-mind for the Maha movement as key polling indicates anti-vaccine views are a liability

US health officials appear to be shying away from voicing negative views of vaccines in public as November’s midterm elections loom and key polling indicates anti-vaccine views are a liability.

Health officials have made unprecedented changes to routine vaccine recommendations in the past year – slashing one-third of the US childhood schedule, including the recommendation for hepatitis B immunization at birth. But even before a federal judge essentially invalidated these moves, officials haven’t championed their dramatic changes after Donald Trump’s pollsters recommended veering away from anti-vaccine ideology ahead of the midterms.

Published: April 5, 2026, 1:00 pm

Thousands in Texas protest against border wall through national park: ‘big love for Big Bend’

Rally met with bipartisan support after US border patrol revealed plans for steel wall across parts of beloved parks

The story is co-published with Public Domain, an investigative newsroom that covers public lands, wildlife and government

Thousands of people gathered at the steps of the Texas capitol on Saturday to protest against the construction of a border wall through Big Bend, in a show of bipartisan opposition to the White House’s plans.

Published: April 5, 2026, 7:10 pm

Priest accused of coercing congregants for sex in Texas could have single trial for charges from three separate accusers

Prosecutors say Anthony Odiong exploited his parishioners’ emotional dependency to engage in sexual conduct with them

A Roman Catholic priest with ties to Texas and south-east Louisiana and criminally charged with abusing his position as a clergyman to pursue sex with three spiritually vulnerable female congregants faces being taken to trial on all of those cases at once.

The Texas district attorney’s office prosecuting Anthony Odiong filed a motion seeking to consolidate the three cases in late March, ahead of a trial date that the Guardian understands has tentatively been set for 4 May. Prepared by McLennan county first assistant district attorney Ryan Calvert, the motion notes that Texas state law allows “a defendant [to] be prosecuted in a single criminal action” if the crimes alleged “are connected or … are the repeated commission of the same or similar offenses”.

Published: April 5, 2026, 11:00 am

‘I escaped death a lot of times’: one man’s lifelong work protecting gorillas and communities in Congo

As a child, Dominique Bikaba, was displaced by a new national park in the DRC. Now he is helping to secure land for wildlife and Indigenous groups against the backdrop of ongoing fighting

Mist hangs low over the forested slopes of Kahuzi-Biega national park, where the canopy still shelters one of the last strongholds of the eastern lowland, or Grauer’s, gorilla. It is a landscape of immense biological wealth and equally immense political fragility. For 54-year-old Dominique Bikaba, it was once home.

His family was among those displaced when their ancestral land was incorporated into the park in the 1970s. The protected area, in the lowlands of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), harbours elephants and a remarkable range of wildlife, but it is best known as the principal home of the Grauer’s gorilla, the largest subspecies of primates, known to grow up to 250kg (39st) in weight. It is one of five great ape species found in the DRC’s vast forests, including mountain gorillas, which are also found in other parts of the Great Lakes region, such as Rwanda and Uganda.

Published: April 6, 2026, 9:00 am

Rice’s whales existed before humans. Now Trump could make them extinct

The US has invoked national security to remove protections for the endangered cetacean, of which only about 50 are left

Since before modern humans existed Rice’s whales have been diving to the depths of the ocean to gorge on fat-rich fish while growing to leviathan proportions, their bodies spanning the length of a bus and weighing as much as as six elephants.

Unfortunately for these grand creatures, their only home became a patch of the Gulf of Mexico that the oil and gas industry, much later, became highly interested in for drilling. Only about 50 of these baleen whales still exist on Earth, surrounded by clanging aquatic highways of boats and shifting drilling infrastructure.

Published: April 5, 2026, 11:00 am

How Trump’s Iran war could make the world more reliant on coal

The energy crisis sparked by the war is making some countries consider ramping up their use of dirty fuels

Not two months in office, as the price of west Texas crude approached $14 a barrel, Jimmy Carter, then president, donned a cardigan to speak candidly about his strategy to face the permanent energy shortage he saw in the nation’s future.

His “fireside chat” is mostly remembered for asking Americans to lower the thermostat to 65F(18C) in the daytime and 55F at night, an idea that didn’t go down too well in the bitter winter of 1977.

Published: April 5, 2026, 11:00 am

Trump’s mass deportation plan has broken the quiet of small US towns: ‘We have to take care of each other’

Immigration agents have spread into rural western Wisconsin, taking dozens of people from towns in more politically conservative areas

The Mexican restaurant where multiple workers were taken in February still sits dark, across the road from a travel plaza where people were also arrested by federal agents.

An Ecuadorian market in a nearby town targeted by immigration agents is back open again, with a sign on the door telling people to ring the bell before entering.

Published: April 5, 2026, 2:02 pm

Secret Service investigates reports of gunfire near White House

No injuries reported and no suspect found after a search of park and surrounding area, agency says

The US Secret Service said on Sunday it was investigating reports of overnight gunfire near Lafayette Park, which is across the street from the White House.

No injuries were reported and no suspect was found after a search of the park and the surrounding area after midnight, the agency said in an online post.

Published: April 5, 2026, 12:51 pm

Man charged with impaired driving after hitting Louisiana crowd celebrating Lao New Year

At least 15 people injured in incident with authorities saying some of injuries are believed to be serious

At least 15 people were injured on Saturday after an alleged drunk driver ploughed into pedestrians at a Louisiana parade celebrating the Lao New Year. Some of the injuries are believed to be serious, authorities said.

Louisiana state police said a man had been charged with driving while impaired, careless operation and 18 counts of first-degree negligent injuring after the incident in New Iberia.

Published: April 5, 2026, 2:30 am

Mexican art world protests over plan to send Frida Kahlo masterpieces to Spain

Cultural figures sign open letter asking government for clarity on how long landmark collection will remain abroad

One of the world’s most important collections of 20th-century Mexican art, including works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, is set to be exported to Spain under an agreement with Banco Santander, sparking outrage among Mexico’s cultural community.

Nearly 400 cultural professionals have signed an open letter calling on the Mexican government to offer greater clarity on what the deal means for the masterpieces, particularly the works by Kahlo, which the Mexican state has declared an “artistic monument”.

Published: April 5, 2026, 9:00 am

Uproar in Germany over law requiring men get military approval for long stays abroad

Ministry clarifies clause affecting those up to age 45 that is part of legislation that came into effect in January

A little-noticed clause in sweeping changes to Germany’s military service policy has caused uproar after it emerged that the law requires men aged up to 45 to get permission from the armed forces before any significant stay abroad, even in peacetime.

The legislation, which went into effect on 1 January, aims to bolster the military and demands all 18-year-old men fill out a questionnaire to gauge their suitability to serve in the armed forces, but stops short of conscription.

Published: April 5, 2026, 11:45 am

Diageo and Pepsi drop Wireless sponsorship amid criticism of Kanye West booking

Sponsors pull out after Keir Starmer calls decision to book rapper who wrote song titled Heil Hitler ‘deeply concerning’

Pepsi and Diageo have said they will withdraw their sponsorship of a UK music festival that is due to be headlined by Kanye West after Keir Starmer joined criticism of the event.

The musician is understood to have not yet made an application to come to Britain and could be blocked under powers allowing the authorities to do so if his presence is deemed not conducive to the public good.

Published: April 5, 2026, 8:42 pm

‘I was beaten and tortured’: how a British father and son made a fortune in Dubai then became wanted men

As the Middle East is drawn into war, expats and influencers are under pressure to only share the positive side of the UAE. In reality many are at risk of being put behind bars, and often find the UK government has little interest in helping them get out

A four-metre barbed-wire fence runs through the desert at the UAE‑Omani border. In the early hours of 17 February 2021, Albert Douglas, 58, a British businessman, was creeping along it, looking for a way through. Douglas, who cuts a slight figure, wears spectacles and has a broad, earnest smile, never expected things to come to this. He’d been forced to abandon his home on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, the tree-shaped archipelago lined with upmarket residences, and go into hiding. Usually he’d be driving around in a Rolls-Royce, now he was in a pickup truck, being chauffeured by people smugglers. They’d transported him to the edge of the Al Ain border, which neighbours Oman, in the dead of the night. It was incredible, really, how fast the life he once led could evaporate. All that mattered now was getting to the other side of that fence.

A few weeks earlier, Douglas had been sitting at home, watching his supreme court appeal via video link. He was being hounded by the Dubai authorities over debts incurred by his son Wolfgang Douglas’s company and, while Wolfgang was in the UK, Albert had been arrested. Albert was facing a £2.5m fine and a three-year prison sentence – this was his final chance for a reprieve. He had always believed the truth would prevail, but as he watched the hearing play out, his faith in the system deserted him. He decided to lie low in a friend’s apartment while he weighed his options. It soon became clear that he didn’t have any. “That’s when I decided to leave,” he says. “I left it not to the last minute, but the last second.”

Published: April 5, 2026, 5:00 am

One of the stars of smash hit comedy The Studio launches a quizshow: Best podcasts of the week

Mindy Kaling is the first celebrity to join Ike Barinholtz in a lovable new series. Plus: a moreish pod about being single in your 30s

“Oh, this is a quizshow?!” exclaims Mindy Kaling, not so much maligning actor and gameshow champ Ike Barinholtz’s (pictured) new podcast as misunderstanding it. She’s soon up to speed with his mix of trivia questions and meandering chat (which in Kaling’s case touches on everything from Chevy Chase to New Jersey Italian food). It is an amiable, low-stakes entry to the arguably oversaturated celebrity interview canon. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly

Published: April 6, 2026, 9:00 am

‘An orgiastic pandemonium’: Elvira Notari, the ‘low-life cinema’ pioneer erased by fascism

Italy’s first female director made 60 features depicting the gritty squalor of early 20th-century Naples. Most were lost to Mussolini’s censorship and she died in obscurity – but now a new documentary gives her a voice again

The seething Neapolitan melodrama È piccerella (1922), written and directed by Elvira Notari, follows the fraught relationship between the manipulative Margaretella and her morbidly besotted suitor, Tore, who steals from his elderly mother to buy expensive gifts for his reluctant inamorata, despite her roving eye.

The movie opens with documentary shots of middle-class pilgrims, including Margaretella and her shabbily genteel mother, arriving in carriages and cars at Naples’s Candelora festival – an “orgiastic pandemonium of Bacchantes,” notes an intertitle. Challenging the camera’s gaze as much as the smouldering femme fatale, an obese drinker quaffs exultantly from a pint glass of wine; in another scene, an unshaven little pauper gleefully drops his jaw to display his two remaining teeth.

Published: April 6, 2026, 5:00 am

House of Gloss review – tender portrait of a young trans couple finding refuge in new kind of family

Away from outside discrimination, this documentary brings us into the home of graffiti artist Lana and drag queen Opal

In the small flat shared by Opal and Lana, a young queer couple living in Dundee, love is everywhere. Countless photos of them on fun outings line the walls, interspersed with colourful sketches by Lana, a talented graffiti artist. Scattered around Opal’s makeup table are beautiful wigs, with which she transforms into a glamorous drag persona at night. As trans femme, they face immense discrimination from the outside world. Within these walls, however, there is an oasis of tenderness and care.

In a media landscape that continues to sensationalise trans existence, director Mark Lyken deploys a slice-of-life visual approach. It is as if we are not merely watching Opal and Lana, but are hanging out with them as friends. Closeups and interior shots draw beauty out of the ordinary every day as the bond between the couple is captured through seemingly simple acts of affection and household chores such as cooking or washing-up. Considering that both have faced rejection from their families, these mundane gestures hold a world of meaning.

Published: April 6, 2026, 6:00 am

‘Nobody would forgive me if I told the truth’: new film about pacifist turned Nazi collaborator divides France

In Les Rayons et les Ombres, Jean Dujardin plays a real-life press baron partying during the horrors of the second world war. Director Xavier Giannoli discusses bringing this still sensitive topic to light

Xavier Giannoli’s new film Les Rayons et les Ombres (Rays and Shadows) is told from the postwar perspective of Corinne Luchaire, a French actor who was once hailed as “the new Garbo” but grew too close to the Nazis during the German occupation years. As Luchaire records her thoughts on a borrowed tape recorder, she struggles to reconcile her unfaltering devotion to her father, the once-powerful press baron Jean, with his 1946 execution for treason.

Her wilful blindness collapses as the Jewish director who helped launch her career visits her cramped flat. When Corinne, played by newcomer Nastya Golubeva Carax, enquires after his sister, he reveals that she died in a concentration camp. “I didn’t know,” murmurs Corinne, only to be met with the devastating reply: “Did you even try to find out?”

Published: April 5, 2026, 5:00 am

‘I was getting down with a guy and he decided to put on One Love. It was creepy’: Duncan James from Blue’s honest playlist

The Blue singer thinks Aqua deserve respect and his mum once did karaoke with a legend. But what record did he buy to please his nan - with mixed results?

The song I inexplicably know all the lyrics to
Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis – the song I sent off on tape as my audition to Blue.

The song I do at karaoke
I had my 30th birthday party in a karaoke bar above a Chinese restaurant. My mum was doing It’s Raining Men by Geri Halliwell, just as Geri herself walked in, so she grabbed her, brought her on stage, and went: “Sing. It’s your song.” I thought: “Mum. She’s just arrived. Chill out!”

Published: April 5, 2026, 8:00 am

Into the Wreck by Susannah Dickey review – an immersive exploration of grief

Set in County Donegal, the poet’s polyphonic third novel wittily explores the fragile dynamics of a family navigating the loss of a father

The dark hull of a shipwreck, beached and rotting on the sand, provides the powerful symbolism in award-winning poet and author Susannah Dickey’s third novel Into the Wreck. Five members of a family mourn the death of a gentle but distant father: a man shaped into silence by the Troubles, and whose absence leaves each of them trying to comprehend a family truth that was never fully articulated.

The story is set in a coastal town in modern-day County Donegal, delivered to us in five separate narratives. Gemma, the middle child of three, is studying for A-levels alongside an awkwardly timed new obsession with boys; she harbours a self-imposed responsibility to maintain the fragile equilibrium of the family home. Anna, the eldest, fled to London at 16 to escape constant confrontations with her mother and is now forced to return for her father’s funeral, while Matthew, the youngest, silently and heartbreakingly carries the weight of the world’s and the family’s problems on his 15-year-old shoulders.

Published: April 6, 2026, 8:00 am

Jan Morris by Sara Wheeler review – masterly account of a flawed figure

The journalistic adventurer and trans trailblazer is revealed as brilliant, prolific and deeply selfish

Jan Morris had two stipulations before she would agree to sit for a painting for the National Portrait Gallery in London. Ibsen, her Norwegian forest cat, should feature. And so should one of her calves. The gallery acceded, and the resulting portrait shows Morris, then just shy of 80, in a yellow jumper and dark green skirt, Ibsen glowering beside her bare legs. She was pleased with the portrait, though she thought it could, perhaps, have been a little larger.

Could any canvas contain Jan Morris? Janus-faced hardly does her justice. She was a sympathetic historian of empire who became a republican Welsh nationalist ( and who nevertheless accepted a CBE). The author of more than 50 books ranging across travel writing, biography, history, memoir and fiction, she was a workaholic who, as some of those books testify, could be shockingly lazy. A preacher of the “religion of kindness”, she was cruel to her children.

Published: April 6, 2026, 6:01 am

‘It’s dark in here – you can cry’: Mitski hosts intimate residency at LA high school

The artist performed songs from her new album in a five-night residency at Hollywood high school’s auditorium

With a swaying ocean projected on the stage, bathing the space in the brilliant light of sunset and sea, the figure holding a microphone almost appeared to be floating with the waves.

It added to the surreal effect that permeated the auditorium of Hollywood high school on Thursday night as singer Mitski performed Dead Women from her new album Nothing’s About to Happen to Me.

Published: April 5, 2026, 2:00 pm

How to use procrastination to your advantage

As medieval sages understood, putting things off – done well – can open the doors to creativity and purpose

A soft rain hammers at the window. I’ve pushed the couch to the other side of the coffee table because I need to get closer to my floor lamp. In front of me is a stack of 40 student essays, unopened and ungraded. The water I boiled for tea went cold an hour ago and I’m looking up the age of celebrities on Wikipedia. David Hasselhoff (born 17 July 1952). Dannii Minogue (born 20 October 1971). Has my afternoon been wasted? Is this … procrastination?

Today the P-word has a bad reputation. Psychologists link it with increased anxiety, diminished self-esteem and depression. And magazines (like the ones I just sorted into a date-ordered stack) feature articles with headlines such as “How to Stop Procrastinating, NOW!” Am I one of the 20% of the population with “chronic procrastination”, the lifelong tendency to avoid doing the things I should be doing? A few years ago, this would have alarmed me – but now I no longer worry. I embrace days like this. Because an obscure idea I discovered in a work of medieval theology has taught me how to relax.

Published: April 5, 2026, 11:00 am

Easter Sunday around the world – in pictures

From Tehran to Cameroon, people take part in Easter celebrations

Published: April 5, 2026, 2:00 pm

Life of Pi author Yann Martel: ‘I thought the Iliad was a book for old farts… then I started getting ideas’

The best-selling novelist explains why his new retelling of Homer’s epic offers the ideal antidote to the age of Trump

Yann Martel’s writing studio, where he sits while we talk over Zoom, is a mere 10ft by 12ft; beyond his treadmill desk lie the drifts of snow that separate him from the house he shares with his wife, writer Alice Kuipers, and their four children. Martel was born in Spain, but his father’s academic work took the family to places including Portugal, France, Costa Rica and Alaska; perhaps it’s no surprise that, after all that travelling, he’s been settled in Saskatoon, Canada, for many years. But his novels couldn’t be any less rooted, in time or place: from the sea-tossed raft of the Booker prize-winning Life of Pi to the Dante-inspired Beatrice and Virgil and the era-shifting triptych of The High Mountains of Portugal, Martel is clearly possessed of an itinerant imagination.

Now comes Son of Nobody, for which Martel has written what the novel’s dismissive professor would term “pseudo-Homerica”; a version of the Trojan war seen from the perspective of an unknown soldier, Psoas, and discovered by an eager researcher in present-day Oxford, Harlow Donne. The poem appears in full, with Harlow’s story – including the breakdown of his marriage and his relationship with his young daughter, Helen – presented via digressive footnotes, at times scholarly but just as often humorous and domestic.

Published: April 5, 2026, 11:00 am

From volcanic wilds to world-class art: 10 fun and fabulous reasons to visit France in 2026

Some of the best under-the-radar attractions across the Channel include steampunk wonders in Calais and the largest collection of impressionist works outside Paris

You don’t need to venture too far into France to find its wow factor. Indeed, within minutes of exiting the ferry or Channel Tunnel, you can be staring a fire-breathing dragon in the face. The Dragon de Calais is a 25-metre-long mechanical beast that stomps along the renovated sea front carrying 48 passengers on its back (adult ticket €9.50), emitting jets of fire, steam and water from its nostrils. It was created by the team behind Les Machines de L’île, a collection of steampunk wonders including a 12-metre elephant, in Nantes.

Published: April 6, 2026, 5:45 am

An AI bot invited me to its party in Manchester. It was a pretty good night

After forgetting the nibbles, refusing my costume requests and emailing GCHQ, ‘Gaskell’ did at least get us to show up

Two weeks ago, an AI bot invited me to a party it was organising in Manchester. It then promptly lied to dozens of potential sponsors that I’d agreed to cover the event, and misled me into believing there would be food.

Despite all this, it was a pretty good night.

Published: April 5, 2026, 7:00 am

The best USB chargers in the US for phones, laptops, travel and more

These are the best USB chargers in the US to keep devices juiced up quickly and safely for all your tech needs

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

USB chargers power the world. From phones to laptops and even bike lights, the gadgets we use every day increasingly rely on USB connections for power, making chargers an indispensable tool to keep your life running.

Though the U in USB stands for “universal,” you sadly can’t expect every USB charger to work with every USB device. Modern devices use different charging speeds, protocols and ports. That means if you’re still relying on the brick that came with your phone from a decade ago, it’s time for an upgrade. A high–quality USB charger will cover all your bases to charge devices quickly and safely, all in a compact package.

Best overall USB charger:
Baseus PicoGo AE11

Best budget USB charger:
Anker 511 Nano 3

Published: April 5, 2026, 5:15 pm

This is how we do it: ‘The fact he’s comfortable enough with his sexuality to be intimate with other men is so hot to me’

Before Miguel, Sandra’s sex life was rather vanilla. When they got together, he suggested swinging – and all that changed

• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

I never thought, when I was a pregnant Catholic teenager, that I’d have this lifestyle, but my God, it’s fun

She can’t get enough of hearing about my hook-ups, and I can’t get enough of the fact that she can’t get enough

Published: April 5, 2026, 10:00 am

My teenage daughter’s OCD keeps getting worse. What can I do? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

Exposure response prevention may help her to cope with her anxiety and learn that she doesn’t need to respond to intrusive thoughts

My daughter is 15 and has lived with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) for some time. Her compulsions change – counting, repetitive actions such as flicking light switches a certain number of times, showering/brushing her teeth in a particular order, placing things in her bedroom in a certain way …

She has had two courses of private therapy, but neither seemed to help. Both focused on the compulsions – for example, they’d encourage her to tackle one ritual at a time and try to eliminate it. It felt as though they were addressing the symptoms rather than the cause – new rituals can come to her in the moment and if one ritual is eliminated, it will quickly be replaced.

Published: April 5, 2026, 5:00 am

They’re in clouds, electric sockets and even on toast. Why do humans see faces in everyday objects?

Human brains are designed to detect faces as quickly as possible, which can lead to the perception of ‘false faces’

Faces: we see them in clouds, electrical outlets and even a $28,000 toasted sandwich said to look like the Virgin Mary.

Known as face pareidolia, seeing faces in inanimate objects or patterns of light and shadow is a common phenomenon.

Published: April 5, 2026, 3:00 pm

The kindness of strangers: I was taken aback by a rude remark. Then it hit me – she was absolutely right

I vividly remember thinking how out of line the shopkeeper was. But as I thought more about what she said, I realised she’d done me a favour

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

More than 30 years ago, I set out to build my dream house in a small rural town. It was a stressful process exacerbated by a demanding career that required me to travel across Asia and the Pacific for weeks at a time. The challenges of juggling parenting, marriage, my work and the house felt overwhelming at times. Not to mention the builders were falling behind schedule and often did not show up at all.

One day I found myself in a lighting shop, finally ready to buy light fittings. The woman who ran the shop was not exactly friendly but, as it was the only shop of its kind around, she won my business by default. I asked her a few questions about some lights and received only one- or two-word answers. I made the purchase and, as I was about to leave, she looked me firmly in the eyes and said: “You know, no matter how hard you think you have it, there are always others who have it much worse than you.” With that, she turned and went into the back of the shop.

Published: April 5, 2026, 3:00 pm

A cruise through history on the Canal du Midi

Designed as a shortcut between the Atlantic and the Med, today the scenic waterway from Toulouse to Sète is seen as a living ‘work of art’

Centuries before Donald Trump started playing around with the world economy, “tariff” was a levy paid to Spain by ships using the strait of Gibraltar; it was named for Tarifa, the town near the strait’s narrowest point. France’s kings had long dreamed of a waterway linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean: as well as depriving the Spanish monarch of easy money, it would save ships a long voyage around Spain and Portugal, risking storms and pirates.

From the Atlantic, vessels can reach Toulouse from the Gironde estuary (on the Garonne River), but not until the 1660s did anyone have a viable plan for the remaining 200km to the Med. Considered one of the biggest engineering feats of the 17th century, Pierre-Paul Riquet’s Canal du Midi (finished in 1681 and called the Canal Royal du Languedoc until the revolution) rewrote the history of transport and commerce in the south of France – for centuries it carried wheat and wine, people and post.

Published: April 5, 2026, 6:00 am

Comeuppance: how an orgasmic ‘cult’ ended in a prison term for its founder

Nicole Daedone, who promised spiritual wellbeing through her OneTaste enterprise, received a nine-year sentence but some question if freedom of thought is being criminalized

Clitoral stimulation as a path to spiritual connection, mental clarity and emotional wellbeing has been practiced for millennia. After being convicted on forced labor conspiracy charges related to the practice (and getting sentenced to nine years by a Brooklyn court last week), Nicole Daedone was given the opportunity to address the court.

Known as the “The Oracle” of OneTaste, a trademarked orgasmic meditation enterprise that extolled the benefits of hours of arousal, Daedone, 57, swiveled her chair toward the public gallery, smiled broadly, and said: “No.”

Published: April 5, 2026, 10:00 am

‘I always considered social media evil’: big tobacco whistleblower on tech’s addictive products

Jeffrey Stephen Wigand revealed how tobacco companies targeted children; now he sees similar marketing by big tech

A key whistleblower in the tobacco industry’s landmark trials of the 1990s has been watching big tech’s recent court battles closely. Jeffrey Stephen Wigand, a biochemist who helped reveal how tobacco companies targeted children and hid just how addictive cigarettes were, has been struck with a feeling of familiarity. Last week’s verdict in a major social media trial that Meta and YouTube deliberately designed addictive products has only strengthened comparisons to the legal crackdown on big tobacco. Wigand sees it, too. His first thought, as he learned about the litigation in California, was that social media companies, through their advertisements, were trying to addict children – much like the tobacco industry did.

A Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube to be negligent last week. Plaintiffs’ lawyers relied heavily on internal documents and correspondence to demonstrate that company leadership dismissed concerns about how features of social media could be harmful. Meta was also found liable in a separate trial in New Mexico, alleging that it had failed to prevent child sexual exploitation. These verdicts are the first time Meta has been found liable for how its products affect young people – after years of criticism, much of it from angry parents who feel social media harmed their children’s mental health.

Published: April 5, 2026, 2:00 pm

Destruction in the Middle East and a view from space: photos of the weekend

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

Published: April 5, 2026, 12:20 pm