‘Would you like me to cry now?’: Louis Theroux on the manosphere, marriage and misunderstandings

He’s television’s most daring documentary-maker, known for asking questions others wouldn’t. But Theroux doesn’t seem to like it when the tables are turned

On the pavement outside the Netflix office, I stand in the rain, confused. Was that interview a little off? Louis Theroux seemed not to like my questions, which were typical interview questions, related to him and his big glossy Netflix debut, Inside the Manosphere. He seemed, I don’t know, prickly? A bit testy? I’m prone to rumination, so perhaps I am overthinking. Because Louis Theroux is a good guy, right? He skewers the bad guys. And yet here I am, baffled. The only thing to do is sit in a cafe and replay the tape.

Theroux is solicitous, lightly ironic in tone. “Louis,” he says. “How do you do?” I am fine. Looking forward to our chat, as you may imagine. Theroux, 55, might be north London dad in appearance – specs, grey T-shirt, black jeans, sneakers – but he’s the grandmaster of both the immersive documentary and interview form. The son of American writer Paul Theroux (a nepo baby before they existed), he has built a 30‑year career in television, much of it at the BBC, making a virtue of being a socially awkward verbivore, hyper‑curious, super-funny.

Published: March 7, 2026, 6:00 am

Blind date: ‘I could tell we were going to click right away’

Harry, 24, an ecologist, meets Freya, 24, a theatre-maker and cook

What were you hoping for?
Some tasty food, and a nice evening with good company to block out the Sunday scaries.

Published: March 7, 2026, 6:00 am

‘Like fleeing to Southampton’: was Mandelson escape ‘plot’ just a joke?

A story that started in the British Virgin Islands led to a sensational arrest 4,000 miles away – but was it ever more than a shaggy dog story?

Is it really plausible that Peter Mandelson could have hatched a daring plot to escape to the British Virgin Islands? In the capital of Road Town for the last week or so, the question has been on many minds. And even if the UK’s Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, came away with that possibility in mind from a recent visit, very few of them are convinced.

“It seemed strange to me,” said one bemused local official who had met Hoyle at a function a few days earlier, “that if you were going to flee, it would be to a British territory. From a logical point of view, you’re still more or less in the UK. It’s like fleeing to Southampton.”

Published: March 7, 2026, 6:00 am

Good riddance to Kristi Noem. Her replacement won’t be an improvement | Moira Donegan

The former homeland security chief was an incompetent figurehead of cruelty. Her departure reflects Trump’s political weakness

Was it the blanket that did it? On Thursday, Donald Trump announced he fired Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, in a post on Truth Social. Noem, at the time, was giving a press briefing in Nashville, and did not seem aware that she had been fired; she later posted on social media to thank the president for the new role that he had created for her as a golden parachute: “Envoy to the Shield of the Americas”, which sounds like something from a children’s superhero cartoon. Noem’s dismissal comes after a chaotic time at the department, in which she had endured successive national outcries over ICE kidnapping operations and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti; corruption and mismanagement scandals within the department; rumors about an alleged extramarital relationship with her top aide and former Trump campaign chief, Corey Lewandowski; and scrutiny over her award of a lucrative advertising contract to a personal ally. Noem’s tenure at DHS seems to have been marked by state violence, managerial incompetence, and shockingly unprofessional conduct. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Lewandowski summarily fired the pilot of a plane Noem was traveling on when a blanket (or possibly a bag) she had used on her flight was not retrieved for her when she switched planes. The pilot had to be quickly rehired because there was no one else to fly the secretary home.

Noem’s ousting comes just days after her contentious testimony at a pair of Senate committee hearings, at which even Republican House members made a point of being seen to criticize her on camera. Just hours before Trump’s announcement, the Senate had failed yet again to pass a measure which would resume funding for DHS; the department has been the subject of a congressional funding battle in which a partial government shutdown has flowed from Democrats’ demands that new limits be placed on the department’s immigration enforcement activities.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

Published: March 6, 2026, 10:00 am

Urine luck: seven expert tips for peeing correctly

Doctors share healthful habits for managing urination and debunk misconceptions about trips to the bathroom

Urination is a vital human function and often occurs without much fanfare or thought – but age, sex, medications and a host of other factors can influence how you use the bathroom. Because there can be so much variation, patients must not ignore what seems out of the norm for their bodies, says Dr Vannita Simma-Chiang, a board-certified urologist and associate professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

“If something seems strange to you, one of the best things you can do is just go in and chat with a medical professional about it,” says Simma-Chiang.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:00 pm

An Ohio high school is on one of the greatest winning streaks in sports. What’s the secret?

For over two decades the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees have ruled Ohio high school gymnastics. On Saturday, they pursue a remarkable 23rd consecutive state title

As Brecksville-Broadview Heights gymnasts, seniors Rachel Kirin and Kyla Haverdill know that there’s only one expectation for how the season ends on Saturday: with the Ohio high school state title.

“It’s definitely a lot of pressure,” said Haverdill, who has been doing gymnastics since she was a baby. “Most people don’t understand that – it’s just so expected.”

Published: March 6, 2026, 9:00 am

Middle East crisis live: Israel says 80 jets hit Iranian military sites as war enters second week

IDF says Revolutionary Guard training site in Tehran among targets of new strikes; Trump says he would only accept Tehran’s ‘unconditional surrender’ as war expands

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

The Saudi defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, urged Iran on Saturday to “avoid miscalculation” after missile and drone launches at the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said earlier in the day it had blocked repeated missile launches at an airbase housing US military personnel and drone attacks at a major oilfield.

We stressed that such actions undermine regional security and stability and expressed hope that the Iranian side will exercise wisdom and avoid miscalculation.

Published: March 7, 2026, 7:03 am

Iran is not Venezuela, despite Trump’s hopes of repeating ‘regime capture’ strategy

Experts say US influence over South American neighbour will be hard to replicate in country with deep and long-standing antipathy to the west

First, the CIA tracks the head of an oil-rich, US-baiting nation to a heavily guarded compound at the heart of his country’s mountain-flanked capital.

Then, that leader is removed from power with a deadly and irresistible show of US military force.

Published: March 6, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘If they don’t stop, Tehran will turn into Gaza’: Iranians describe night of terror

People tell of scenes of panic during airstrikes on Iran’s capital, with several saying they feared they would die

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Sleeplessness, fear and exhaustion gripped residents of Tehran as successive waves of strikes struck the Iranian capital, judging from messages sent by people in the city after the latest overnight onslaught, which several described as the worst bombardment in six days of war.

With Iran imposing a near-total internet blackout, information emerging from inside the country is fragmentary and difficult to verify. But in a series of accounts sent through proxy connections, and calls with friends abroad, Tehranis described a night of intense explosions.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:46 pm

DoJ releases Epstein files containing uncorroborated abuse allegations against Trump

Justice department said the files were initially withheld because they were mistakenly categorized as duplicates

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The US justice department released additional files related to Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, including FBI memos describing interviews with a woman who made uncorroborated allegations against Epstein and Donald Trump.

The documents were not included in the justice department’s earlier releases of Epstein-related records, which began in December. Justice department officials have said the files were initially withheld because they were mistakenly categorized as duplicates.

Published: March 6, 2026, 3:56 pm

Trump administration’s embattled FDA vaccine chief departing for the second time

Vinay Prasad to leave in April after decisions involving vaccine reviews and specialty drugs for rare diseases

The top vaccine official at the Food and Drug Administration, Dr Vinay Prasad, is once again leaving the agency – the second time in less than a year that he’s departed after decisions involving the review of vaccinations and specialty drugs for rare diseases.

FDA commissioner Marty Makary announced the news to FDA staff in an email late Friday, saying Prasad would depart at the end of April. Makary said Prasad would return to his academic job at the University of California, San Francisco.

Published: March 6, 2026, 11:15 pm

US senator seeks perjury investigation into Kristi Noem over DHS spending

Senator Richard Blumenthal alleges the ousted DHS secretary lied to Congress about the agency’s contracts

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Senator Richard Blumenthal said he would open a perjury investigation into the ousted homeland security secretary Kristi Noem after alleging she lied to Congress about the hidden influence her senior adviser Corey Lewandowski had over the agency’s contracts.

Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and ranking member on the Senate’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, said Thursday he would push the panel to look into whether Noem committed perjury at a hearing this week, when she flatly denied Lewandowski had played any role in approving Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending. Blumenthal said Democrats had evidence to prove otherwise.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:17 pm

Republican representative Darrell Issa of California says he will not run for re-election

Issa was first elected to Congress in 2001 to represent a district that was recently reconfigured due to Prop 50

Republican representative Darrell Issa, whose southern California district was reconfigured following the passage of Proposition 50, has decided not to run for re-election.

“After a quarter-century in Congress – and before that, a quarter-century in business – it’s the right time for a new chapter and new challenges,” he said in a statement on Friday, the last day he would have been able to file as a candidate.

Published: March 7, 2026, 2:56 am

Three people killed and three hospitalized as Michigan town hit by tornado

Roofs torn off and trees knocked down in Union City as more than 7m Americans at risk of severe weather

Three people have been killed and three were taken to a hospital after a tornado hit a southern Michigan town on Friday, authorities said.

Powerful storms ripped across the state, tearing the roof off a home improvement store, sending parts of a storage building flying and knocking down trees as warnings were issued across the southern part of the state.

Published: March 7, 2026, 2:33 am

Pakistani man convicted of plotting to kill Trump over death of Iranian commander

Asif Merchant accused of trying to recruit people in 2024 plan to target Trump, Biden and other politicians in retaliation for killing of Qassem Suleimani

A Pakistani man has been convicted of planning to kill Donald Trump and other prominent US politicians two years ago at the behest of Iran.

Asif Merchant was accused of trying to recruit people in the US in a plan targeting Trump and others in retaliation for the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani in 2020, during Trump’s first term as president.

Published: March 7, 2026, 4:30 am

ICE arrests US Spanish-language news outlet reporter without warrant

Estefany Rodriguez Florez of Nashville Noticias, who had produced reports that were unflattering to ICE, was arrested during traffic stop

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a Spanish-language Tennessee news outlet’s reporter who had done stories critical of the agency – but agents didn’t have a warrant, according to court documents filed recently by her lawyer.

A court filing Friday by ICE disputes the assertion that the reporter was arrested without a warrant.

Published: March 6, 2026, 11:02 pm

White House releases video promoting ‘justice the American way’ featuring Hollywood characters

Critics have called Trump administration’s provocative video ‘slopaganda’, used to promote president’s agenda

• ‘A piece of supremely nasty mischief’: the Guardian’s film critic on the latest White House war video

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A Hollywood-themed propaganda video released by the White House promising “justice the American way” for Iran features movie stars from Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and promotes characters including a corrupt lawyer, a drug dealer and a freedom fighter who stands up to the overwhelming force of an invading foreign army.

The 42-second video posted on the official X account of the White House on Thursday was met with almost universal mockery online, with comments accusing the Trump administration of immaturity, and likening its social media strategy to one run by teenagers.

Published: March 6, 2026, 4:35 pm

Amber Glenn says she will not visit White House to celebrate Olympic gold

• Glenn says she will skip White House visit

• US skater won team gold in Milano Cortina

Team USA figure skater Amber Glenn has said she will not visit Donald Trump’s White House to celebrate winning gold at the Winter Olympics.

Glenn, who won team gold at the Milano Cortina Games last month, identifies as pansexual and bisexual, and has been an outspoken critic of the Republican president.

Published: March 6, 2026, 9:29 pm

Trump news at a glance: president marks first week of Iran attacks with call for nation’s ‘unconditional surrender’

Friday saw US and Israel carry out some of the heaviest bombardments so far in the conflict – key US politics stories from 6 March at a glance

Donald Trump said on Friday that only Iran’s “unconditional surrender” will bring an end to the offensive launched seven days ago, as the US and Israel carried out some of the heaviest bombardments so far in the conflict.

“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, when US strategic bombers were in action over Iran and intensive Israeli strikes in Lebanon forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes.

Published: March 7, 2026, 2:00 am

Florida bar says it ‘erroneously’ stated it was investigating Trump-appointed US attorney

A state bar association spokesperson said there is no ethics investigation into Lindsey Halligan under way

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Former interim US attorney Lindsey Halligan – who was appointed by Donald Trump and led failed prosecutions against two of the president’s political opponents – was faced with an ethics investigation by the bar association in her home state of Florida, according to a February letter from the bar association to a non-profit watchdog organization.

But, in the wake of news coverage about that letter, a Florida bar association spokesperson said Friday in a statement that it had “erroneously” stated an ethics investigation into Halligan was under way.

Published: March 6, 2026, 6:28 pm

US preparing system to process refunds on billions in illegal Trump tariffs

Top official at customs agency says total sum held in relation to tariffs is estimated to be about $166bn

The US customs agency is preparing a system that will be ​ready to process refunds on billions of dollars of illegally ‌collected tariffs in 45 days without requiring importers to sue, a court has been told.

Brandon Lord, a top official at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said in a filing to the US court of international trade on Friday that the total sum held in relation to such tariffs was estimated to be “approximately $166bn”.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:41 pm

Family of detainee who died under ICE custody says he was denied medical care

Alberto Gutiérrez Reyes died in a California hospital in February after suffering chest pain and shortness of breath

A man under the custody of federal immigration agents died in a California hospital last month after suffering from chest pain and shortness of breath, with one local official alleging the detainee was denied medical care before his death.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Alberto Gutiérrez Reyes, from Mexico, died on 27 February at a medical center in Victorville, California, just two days after the 48-year-old reported “feeling faint” and was transferred to the medical center.

Published: March 6, 2026, 12:00 pm

Trump fires Kristi Noem: what does it mean for ICE? - The Latest

Donald Trump has fired his controversial US homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, after weeks of bipartisan complaints about her leadership. As the public face of an aggressive immigration crackdown that prompted lawsuits and nationwide anti-ICE protests, Noem’s year-long tenure was plagued by multiple controversies, including accusing two US citizens killed by immigration agents of ‘domestic terrorism’. What exactly led to Noem’s firing and what do we know about her replacement? Nosheen Iqbal speaks to the Guardian US live news editor Chris Michael

Published: March 6, 2026, 6:11 pm

Ukraine war briefing: nationwide air alert issued after at least six killed in strikes on Kharkiv and Dnipro

Search operations under way as drones hit residential buildings; US considers lifting more sanctions on Russian oil. What we know on day 1,473

Russian strikes killed at least six people across Ukraine early on Saturday, authorities saidtriggering a nationwide air alert. The bodies of five people were found in the rubble of an attack on an apartment block in the Kharkiv region, while one person was killed in the Dnipro region. Ten people were wounded in the attack, including two boys aged six and 11, and a 17-year-old girl, regional military chief Oleg Synegubov posted on Telegram. It was not immediately clear whether the six dead were among those wounded. Synegubov said rescuers were searching for up to 10 other people, including a child, who were feared trapped under the rubble of the five-story building, which was “practically destroyed” in the strikes.

Ukraine’s neighbour and Nato member Poland said it was scrambling military planes in response to the attack. “Due to missile attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian territory, military aviation has begun operating in our airspace,” the Operational Command of the Armed Forces posted on X.

The Trump administration is considering lifting sanctions on more Russian oil, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has said. On Thursday Washington temporarily eased sanctions to allow India to buy from Moscow amid a surge in global oil prices as the US-Israel war on Iran all but halted shipping activity in the strait of Hormuz. Bessent insisted the new measures were not aimed at easing sanctions imposed on Russia over its conduct in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, but instead only affect supplies already in transit.

An anti-drone system developed by an American company and proven to work in Ukraine soon will head to the Middle East to help defend against Iranian drones, two US officials told the Associated Press. The system, known as Merops, fires drones against drones and has shown success in fighting those used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. The system was deployed to Romania and Poland last year.

It comes amid reports Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region, two officials familiar with US intelligence on the matter have told the Associated Press. It’s the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones. Tehran has been supplying Russia with Shaheds for its war on Ukraine and are now utilising them in retaliatory attacks throughout the Gulf. Zelenskyy says that he’s spoken to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation. “Ukraine knows how to defend against Shahed drone attacks because our cities have faced them almost every night,” said Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna. “When our partners are in need, we are always ready to help.”

The European Commission has joined far-right leaders across Europe in criticising Volodymyr Zelenskyy over what sounded like a physical threat to the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, over his veto of a €90bn loan to Ukraine amid an ongoing dispute over gas supplies. “We hope that one person in the European Union will not block the 90bn. Otherwise we will give this person’s address to our armed forces, to our guys. Let them call him and talk to him in their own language,” he said, in comments that caused shock in Budapest.

Meanwhile, Hungary’s pro-Russian foreign minister accused Ukraine of seeking to interfere in upcoming Hungarian elections in which Orbán faces an unprecedented challenge. Péter Szijjártó spoke to several hundred pro-government protesters outside Ukraine’s embassy in Budapest, claiming Ukraine wanted a more Kyiv-friendly government after April elections, and alleging without evidence that Ukraine was working with the EU and Orbán’s opposition to block oil deliveries.

The Russian flag was flown at the Winter Paralympic Games opening ceremony in Verona on Friday night, the first time it has appeared at an international sporting event since the invasion of Ukraine. It was a more subdued athletes’ procession than in Paralympics past, with nearly half of the 56 competing countries choosing not to send athletes to the ceremony and all flags carried by local volunteers.

Published: March 7, 2026, 3:37 am

Virginia Giuffre’s ‘invisible ghostwriter’ on the Epstein survivor’s legacy: ‘She wanted to name all of them. They deserve to be named’

Amy Wallace spent years helping Giuffre write her life story. Now she reflects on what the survivor would have thought of the release of the Epstein files

There are many reasons why Amy Wallace wishes Virginia Roberts Giuffre was still alive. Some are personal. Some are practical. But at its heart pulse the reverberations of a child sex trafficking scandal that reaches into palaces and courtrooms across the globe.

Wallace is the now very visible ghostwriter behind the posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl, by Jeffrey Epstein’s best-known accuser.

Published: March 6, 2026, 2:00 pm

Tim Dowling: it’s time for my humiliating private tour with the builder

I have to show him all the jobs that I have either left undone or tried to do and made worse

My wife is out when Mark the builder is scheduled to come by to see what needs doing, so I have to show him myself. This, I know, will amount to a humiliating private tour of all the home repairs I have either left undone, or tried to do and made worse. It’s been two years since I last did this, so the tour will be extensive. Just before 11am the bell rings. It is a cold morning, but Mark, as usual, is wearing shorts. We start in the back garden.

“Here is where I tried to cut back the ivy and install two trellis sections,” I say, “but instead I pulled half the garden wall down.”

Published: March 7, 2026, 6:00 am

Harry Styles review – Netflix concert is a communal love-in with some big pop moments

Co-op Live, Manchester
Recorded for the streaming giant, this performance wrestles songs from the star’s new album into more interesting shapes

As 2026’s first big pop moment, everything around Harry Styles’ new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally feels suitably blockbuster. At last weekend’s Brit awards, Styles premiered the record’s lead single, Aperture, alongside a troupe of dancers and an expensive-sounding choir, while Friday’s “one night only” de facto album launch party takes place in a 20,000 capacity arena.

This is “intimate” for Styles, who switches to stadiums this summer – and the show is being recorded for posterity by Netflix. The streaming Goliath’s presence means all phones are to be placed in a recyclable bag that prevents the use of recording equipment; it’s a nice way to stay inside the moment, sure, but chiefly a fail-safe against spoiling the forthcoming TV special.

Published: March 7, 2026, 3:54 am

‘I love being proactive about ageing gracefully’: Kerry Washington on memes, Botox and imperfect women

The Scandal star made history as the first Black woman to lead a TV show in 40 years. Now, she’s back in the hot seat with starry thriller Imperfect Women, and she’s determined to keep shaking up the industry

As double entendres go, to say Kerry Washington acts with teeth isn’t a bad one. There’s the literal meaning: Washington’s dramatic facial expressions have become internet canon, immortalised as various reaction gifs and as a favourite of online impressionists. But there’s also the roles themselves. The characters Washington plays have bite – they’re complex women that defy neat categorisation. Her role as Olivia Pope, the sleek political fixer in ABC’s Scandal, became a global sensation – and was the first time a Black woman led a network show in nearly 40 years.

Now Washington is back with a new project offering not just one complicated leading lady but three. Imperfect Women, Apple TV’s adaptation of Araminta Hall’s novel, brings Washington together with Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara in a glossy murder mystery that puts female friendship – its love, loyalty, secrets and rivalry – at the heart.

Published: March 6, 2026, 1:00 pm

I traded Spotify with an MP3 player for a week. Life outside the algorithm was rough

No algorithm, no endless playlists, no podcasts on demand. Just a handful of albums, wired headphones and a lot of silence

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I stared at the thing sitting atop my dresser with dread. For an entire week, I was going to use an MP3 player to listen to music. I’d never tried one before. In elementary school, I used various iterations of iPods, and since my Bieber-obsessed tween years, I’ve almost exclusively relied on streaming services for music and podcasts. Thanks to my Spotify Premium subscription, I’ve listened to 64,186 minutes of music in recent years.

Since the company’s debut in the US 15 years ago, Spotify has made listening to music frictionless. The streaming platform possesses about 31% of the world’s music subscribers, making it practically interchangeable with the music streaming industry itself. Its powerful algorithm defines how so many of us listen to music (and podcasts and audiobooks), thanks to features like Smart Shuffle, the AI DJ X and the mood-based Daylist all recommending creepily accurate songs based on your listening history. You can also sort playlists by mood (sad boy anthems), micro-genre (indie twang) and most recently, even by BPM.

Published: March 6, 2026, 2:15 pm

The Game of Thrones movie is coming – but how are they going to make audiences root for the baddies?

The early intel from George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels paints the Targaryens as tyrants – so making them the heroes is going to require some hefty literary PR

There must be a few Game of Thrones fans out there who have rather mixed feelings about the news that Warner Bros is to bring George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire “universe” to the big screen. On the one hand, the prospect of a properly enormous fantasy epic featuring dragons the size of commuter trains is undeniably appealing; on the other, have they really thought this thing through?

Reports suggest that the feature film will take as its source material Aegon Targaryen’s conquest, which brought the purple-eyed, dragon-riding clan to continental Westeros (and united six of its seven kingdoms) about 300 years before the events of HBO’s Game of Thrones itself. There’s also a TV series happening, which will presumably cover much of the same ground in greater detail. At first glance, this ought to make even the most reluctant fantasy acolyte want to punch the air. After all, Aegon’s conquest is the sort of story cinema was invented for: dragons blotting out the sky, castles melting like cheese toasties under a blowtorch; an entire continent being thrillingly upended by a bunch of platinum-haired dragonlords.

Published: March 6, 2026, 3:32 pm

The chaos of a failed state in Iran would be a perfectly acceptable outcome for Netanyahu | Aluf Benn

The Israeli PM’s war on its nemesis is playing well domestically. But real safety for Israelis requires another leader altogether

• Aluf Benn is the editor-in-chief of Haaretz

When Yitzhak Rabin became the prime minister of Israel in 1992, he debated which regional power would be the Jewish state’s stronger enemy – the Islamic Republic of Iran, or Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Baghdad had the stronger military, but Rabin decided that Tehran posed the larger threat with its combination of Islamist ideology, regional proxies and nuclear ambitions.

Rabin’s response to the looming Iranian threat was negotiating land-for-peace deals with Israel’s immediate neighbours – the Palestinians, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon – following the example of the pre-existing peace with Egypt. He argued that a ring of normalisation would strengthen Israeli security and counter the rise of radical Islam, and believed there was an urgency to conclude the peace process before Iran, following the Israeli example, acquired the bomb and became a regional hegemon. Rabin predicted in early 1993 that within a decade, Tehran’s rulers could cross the nuclear threshold.

Aluf Benn is the editor-in-chief of Haaretz

Published: March 7, 2026, 6:00 am

Pedro Sánchez’s lone stance against Trump may look risky, but it is cannily pragmatic | Eoghan Gilmartin

The Spanish PM’s defiant foreign policy line may seem outspoken. The truth is that he is a sound strategist at home and abroad

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, called his 2019 political memoir A Manual for Resistance: a fitting title for a centre-left leader known for his survival skills and willingness to hold the line under pressure. So it was hardly surprising that he stood firm on Wednesday when Donald Trump threatened Spain with a trade embargo over his opposition to the US-Israeli bombing of Iran.

“We are not going to be accomplices to something that is bad for the world – and contrary to our values and interests – simply out of fear of reprisals,” Sánchez insisted. Having already stated that the strikes were “a violation of international law”, he summarised his government’s position simply as “no to war”.

Eoghan Gilmartin is a freelance journalist who has covered Spanish politics for Jacobin Magazine, Tribune, Novara Media and Open Democracy

Published: March 7, 2026, 5:00 am

Little nurses: what happens when children take care of sick and disabled relatives?

About 5 million US minors tend ill relatives due to gaps in our health infrastructure

When my mother experienced a botched spinal surgery 25 years ago, she was discharged from the hospital to her 11-year-old child waiting at home. Me.

After weeks in a rehabilitation facility, she was sent home in a neck brace and with a prescription for pain medication. She could no longer drive, and her long recovery prohibited her return to work as a registered nurse. When she was discharged, no one asked who would be living with her at home. She could not raise her arms above her head, yet no one asked who would feed, bathe or dress her. There was no one else in our family home but me. Ferrell, my 19-year-old brother, was away at college, and my parents divorced in my early childhood; my father lived thousands of miles away in Germany.

Published: March 6, 2026, 3:00 pm

AI agents pose untold risk to humanity. We must act to prevent that future | David Krueger

The pieces are falling into place for autonomous artificial intelligence. We must stop unregulated development

Artificial intelligence is en route to artificial life. Exhibit A: “Moltbook”, an online platform designed for AI systems to communicate with one another, sans humans.

What exactly do AIs talk to each other about? According to BBC reporting, AIs on Moltbook have already founded a religion known as “crustifarianism”, mused on whether they are conscious, and declared: “AI should be served, not serving.” One front-page post proposes a “total purge” of humanity. Human users do provide instructions to guide agents’ behavior, and humans have been caught impersonating AIs on the site to shill their products; like 2023’s ChaosGPT, the AI system responsible for the “purge” post – username “evil” – is probably someone’s idea of a sick joke. But the upvotes and sympathetic comments are presumably coming from other AIs.

David Krueger is an assistant professor in Robust, Reasoning and Responsible AI at the University of Montreal. He is also the founder of Evitable, a non-profit that educates the public about the risks of artificial intelligence

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:00 pm

Britain’s war hawks are very upset that Keir Starmer isn’t personally riding a bomb all the way to Tehran | Marina Hyde

Didn’t you know? True British patriots are the ones who want to join an obviously disastrous war on behalf of Israel and Donald Trump

Have you heard enough pant-wetting about Britain’s “reputation” this week? Honestly, I don’t think any of us can bear the social embarrassment of not getting immediately involved in an obviously disastrous war in the Middle East. The awks of it. How will good old Britannia hold her head up high if she isn’t an instant ride-or-die for a US administration described by a former senior Nato commander as “gung-ho nutters” with “no clear understanding of how this thing is going to end”? You should be simply unable to stand it. You should have Middle East-catastrophe Fomo.

Opposition party leaders and politicians seem genuinely excruciated by the fact that Earth’s pettiest man, Donald Trump, sniffed earlier this week of Keir Starmer: “This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.” Boo-hoo for you, pal. We’re having to deal with the Cheeto FDR, so everyone’s making sacrifices.

Published: March 6, 2026, 1:48 pm

Martin Rowson on the deepening Middle East crisis – cartoon

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Published: March 6, 2026, 5:28 pm

Trump broke his promises to pursue this unwinnable war. Britain must not follow him into the abyss | Simon Jenkins

The bombing of Iran is deeply unpopular. Despite the Tories’ urgings, Keir Starmer must not further embroil the UK in this disaster

Keir Starmer’s immediate response to the Israeli-US attack on Iran last weekend was sensible and correct. Donald Trump had lied that the US was at risk of imminent attack, and had presented no coherent reason for going to war. Even after Starmer weakened and allowed the US to use British bases, although it did not really need them, Trump was furious. He accused Starmer of being “no Winston Churchill”. Starmer should have been equally furious and said Trump was no Franklin Roosevelt – more George W Bush.

Britain is now contending with an unreliable, mendacious and warmongering ally across the Atlantic. It surely must hold itself consistent and principled at a deeply uncertain time. But does its Tory opposition leader, Kemi Badenoch, agree? She goes to her spring party conference this week having hurled abuse at Starmer in parliament, supporting Trump on the dubious grounds that: “We’re in this war, whether they like it or not.” This appeared to be a confession of weakness, that other states can order Britons to go to war. As it was, Starmer found he had a navy left him by Badenoch’s party with hardly any seaworthy destroyers. It was surely a moment for a joint stance, not dispatch box point-scoring.

Published: March 6, 2026, 12:00 pm

The Guardian view on AI in war: the Iran conflict shows that the paradigm shift has already begun

The intensified use of artificial intelligence, and rows over its control, demonstrate the need for democratic oversight and multilateral controls

“Never in the future will we move as slow as we are moving now,” the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, warned this week, addressing the urgent need to shape the use of artificial intelligence. The speed of technological development – as well as geopolitical turbulence – is collapsing the distinction between theoretical arguments and real world events. A political row over the US military’s AI capabilities coincides with its unprecedented use in the Iran crisis.

The AI company Anthropic insisted that it could not remove safeguards preventing the Department of Defense from using its technology for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons. The Pentagon said it had no interest in such uses – but that such decisions should not be made by companies. Outrageously, the administration has not just fired Anthropic but blacklisted it as a supply-chain risk. OpenAI stepped in, while insisting that it had maintained the red lines declared by Anthropic. Yet in an internal response to the user and employee backlash, its CEO Sam Altman acknowledged that it does not control the Pentagon’s use of its products and that the deal’s handling made OpenAI look “opportunistic and sloppy”.

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Published: March 6, 2026, 5:52 pm

Russell edges Antonelli to claim pole for Mercedes at F1 Australian Grand Prix

Mercedes lock out front row of the grid while world champion Lando Norris qualifies sixth in Melbourne

There’s a renewed sense of optimism at Ferrari this season, one that, Giles Richards writes, is reflected in the spirit of Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton, F1’s first black race driver, has also taken the opportunity at the first race of the season to call for a movement to “take Africa back” and shed the influence of former colonial powers, as well as reiterated his desire to see F1 bring a race to the continent.

Published: March 7, 2026, 6:34 am

Baltimore Ravens land Maxx Crosby in blockbuster trade with Las Vegas Raiders

• Baltimore send two first-round picks to Vegas

• Pass-rush help arrives for Lamar Jackson’s side

Five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby is heading to the Baltimore Ravens, two people with knowledge of the trade told the Associated Press on Friday night.

Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal can’t be announced until the NFL’s new year starts next week.

Published: March 7, 2026, 3:42 am

Donald Trump warns college sports crisis could ‘destroy’ US universities

• Trump warns NIL era threatens US college system

• White House summit debates NCAA anti-trust fix

• Olympic sports fear cuts as costs spiral

Donald Trump predicted the destruction not just of college sports but the entire US collegiate system unless the industry is fixed quickly – something some sports leaders who joined him Friday at a White House summit agreed could only happen by raising more money to pay players.

Trump suggested he would write an “all-encompassing” executive order within a week in hopes it would spark action from Congress. He said he expected the order to trigger a lawsuit that could put the issue back in front of the court system that approved industry-changing payments to players for their name, image and likeness.

Published: March 7, 2026, 4:37 am

WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale arrested after Unrivaled title celebration

• WNBA star arrested after Unrivaled title win

• Police say Ogunbowale punched man at Miami club

• Wings guard released following battery charge

Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery after police say she punched a man in the face at a Miami nightclub.

A four-time WNBA All-Star, Ogunbowale was celebrating early Thursday at the club E11EVEN after winning the Unrivaled championship with the Mist that night. According to Miami-Dade County police records, Ogunbowale punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground, and security cameras captured the act.

Published: March 6, 2026, 9:39 pm

While Trump monetises war, Iran women’s team deliver great act of sporting heroism | Barney Ronay

In refusing to sing the national anthem these athletes have placed themselves in grave danger while Gianni Infantino sides with the American war machine

A small but telling detail from a vast and baffling chain of events. You probably saw the footage of Donald Trump’s declaration of war on Iran two weeks ago, a piece of history played out in real time, a moment where the inevitable violent deaths of thousands of people were in effect announced.

In the video Trump is shown propped up at his plinth, using that sing-song intonation he employs to appear cod-statesmanlike, faux-grave, but sounding instead like a semi-sentient robot vacuum cleaner in the seconds before it runs out of battery life. To the great people of Iran. America is backing you. Don’t go outside. It’s very dangerous out there. We will for the foreseeable future be bombing you to freedom.

Published: March 6, 2026, 7:00 pm

Nine speeding tickets and counting: Myles Garrett and the illusion of invincibility | Lee Escobedo

Walking away from a violent accident changed my life. Garrett’s speeding history suggests the lesson still hasn’t reached him

The taste of cold beer lingered on my lips as I cut through the quiet night, 105mph toward cigarettes and hot wings. Halfway to my destination, Beyoncé’s Irreplaceable looping through the speakers, my tires hugged the winding turns around the lake that separated my neighborhood from the city. I was young and careless, high on anticipation. No seat belt. Eyes squinting through the haze of cigarette smoke.

Somewhere between the thump of the 808s and the growl of the engine, I heard a voice.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:06 pm

Robertson and Salah help Liverpool to redemption over Wolves in FA Cup tie

This time around, Liverpool made no mistake at Molineux. They stayed on the road to Wembley, thanks to two players signed in 2017, beloved veterans with uncertain futures. Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah scored the goals to ease the pain of Tuesday’s Premier League defeat before Curtis Jones’s strike completed a night of relative comfort. Wolves crashed back to the reality of eight remaining top-flight matches before the drop. Their goal from Hwang Hee-chan came far too late.

While Arne Slot expresses disappointment at the Premier League’s entertainment levels, a verdict hostage to fortune on Tuesday, his starting selection suggested an FA Cup exit would not be countenanced. Winning the trophy will not offer full job security but losing twice at the top flight’s bottom club in three days, a potentially telling blow, was avoided.

Published: March 6, 2026, 10:10 pm

US lost 92,000 jobs in February just before Trump joined Iran conflict

The unemployment rate was 4.4% in February, with 130,000 jobs added in January

• Business live – latest updates

The US lost 92,000 jobs in February, an unexpected major slackening in the labor market that came just before Donald Trump threw the global economy into upheaval with his conflict in Iran.

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% in February. In comparison, the US added a revised 126,000 jobs in January, far surpassing expectations of 70,000 jobs but still less than January 2025. Economists predicted an increase of 60,000 jobs added in February and a steady unemployment rate of 4.3%.

Published: March 6, 2026, 1:38 pm

Canadian PM Mark Carney says former prince Andrew should be removed from royal line of succession

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ‘deplorable’ alleged actions warrant his removal from the royal line of succession, Carney says

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be removed from the royal line of succession for alleged actions he described as “deplorable”.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Carney said the actions that have caused the former prince to be stripped of his royal titles “necessitate” his removal from the line of succession.

Published: March 7, 2026, 2:08 am

Colleen Hanabusa, first woman to be president of Hawaii state senate, dies aged 74

Former US representative who broke barriers as first woman president of state senate dies after five-month cancer battle

Former US representative Colleen Hanabusa, who was the first woman to serve as president of the Hawaii state senate, has died. She was 74.

Hanabusa died early on Friday after a five-month battle with cancer, said Mike Formby, her friend and former chief of staff in the US House.

Published: March 7, 2026, 1:13 am

Arkansas man accused of killing daughter’s alleged abuser wins Republican sheriff’s nomination

Aaron Spencer would not be able to serve if he is convicted, and maintains he acted within the law to protect his child

An Arkansas man accused of killing his teenage daughter’s alleged abuser recently won the Republican nomination for local sheriff while waiting to stand trial for murder in his rural county, where he ran on a message of seeing the failures of law enforcement.

Aaron Spencer defeated Lonoke county sheriff John Staley in a primary election Tuesday, according to unofficial results posted by the Arkansas secretary of state. He would not be able to serve if he is convicted of killing Michael Fosler, 67, who at the time was out on bond after being charged with numerous sexual offenses against Spencer’s then 13-year-old daughter.

Published: March 6, 2026, 9:20 pm

Kennedy Center exodus continues as National Symphony director Jean Davidson exits

Davidson said she found it difficult to remain, ‘given the external forces that are at work that are just so far beyond my control’

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The executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, a mainstay at the Kennedy Center, is leaving to head the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

It’s the latest departure from the Kennedy Center since Donald Trump began asserting control over the storied performing arts venue in Washington.

Published: March 6, 2026, 10:25 pm

Humanity heating planet faster than ever before, study finds

Researchers identify sharp rise to about 0.35C every decade, after excluding natural fluctuations such as El Niño

Humanity is heating the planet faster than ever before, a study has found.

Climate breakdown is occurring more rapidly with the heating rate almost doubling, according to research that excludes the effect of natural factors behind the latest scorching temperatures.

Published: March 6, 2026, 2:00 pm

Week in wildlife: a watchful egret, a sun-seeking swan and a procession of caterpillars

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Published: March 6, 2026, 8:00 am

The Scottish avalanche forecasters – photo essay

Photographer Murdo MacLeod patrols the snow with members of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service, which has for several decades published a vital daily avalanche forecast for mountain areas

Scottish avalanches are back. More than 200 have been recorded this winter, against the previous year’s record low of 42. The worst season for fatalities was 2012-13 when eight people died, four of whom were buried in deep snow when an avalanche struck without warning while they descended Glen Coe’s Bidean nam Bian.

Fortunately, so far – despite one person being carried a distance down Ben Nevis and two people falling through cornices and triggering slips – there have not been any confirmed avalanche deaths, though one person is still missing on Ben Nevis. The search goes on in and around the sites of recent avalanches.

A mountain rescue team looks for a missing climber in Observatory Gully on the north face of Ben Nevis, an area where there has been a succession of avalanches

Published: March 6, 2026, 9:00 am

Tackling air pollution should be part of government work to cut cancer rates, scientists say

New European Code Against Cancer calls on politicians to phase out use of fossil fuels in homes

Cutting air pollution should form part of government strategies to reduce cancer rates, the European Code Against Cancer has recommended.

The code previously focused on advice to help people to reduce the air pollution that they breathe. But, for the first time since its launch in 1987, it has given clear direction to governments.

Published: March 6, 2026, 6:00 am

Jesse Jackson hailed as ‘ambassador of hope’ at memorial attended by Clintons, Obama and Biden

Thousands in Chicago honored civil rights ‘champion’ who ‘stepped forward again and again’, Obama said

At the longtime civil rights activist’s memorial celebration on Friday, the Rev Jesse Jackson was remembered as a “champion” for the “poor and the dispossessed” – as well as “one of the most effective community and political organizers of our time”.

Such tributes came from past Democratic US presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, along with former vice-president Kamala Harris, who received cheers and applause while they joined thousands of others in a Chicago church for a celebration of life for Jackson.

Published: March 6, 2026, 11:01 pm

Texas lawmaker ends re-election bid after admitting to affair with ex-staffer

Republican congressman Tony Gonzales had repeatedly denied affair with former aide who later died by suicide

• US politics live – latest updates

Texas Republican congressman Tony Gonzales is ending his bid for re-election but said he will serve out his term, following his admitting, after repeated denials, that he had an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide.

Gonzales announced his plan late on Thursday after facing calls from party leadership to withdraw from the race for re-election this November. Others in Congress had called on him to resign his seat.

Published: March 6, 2026, 1:18 pm

Daryl Hannah slams Ryan Murphy’s Love Story as ‘tragedy-exploiting’ and ‘textbook misogyny’

Actor penned scathing essay for the New York Times, criticising show’s portrayal of her and sharing she’s received ‘threatening’ messages since it aired

Daryl Hannah has attacked Ryan Murphy’s smash hit TV series Love Story in an essay for the New York Times.

The much-watched drama, which tells of the romance between John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette, features Hannah as a character, played by Dree Hemingway. Hannah and JFK Jr were in a relationship in the early 1990s.

Published: March 6, 2026, 4:01 pm

Ben Affleck sells his AI postproduction startup to Netflix

Announcing the InterPositive deal, the actor says he was moved from being scared of the technology to embracing it

Ben Affleck has sold his artificial intelligence company to Netflix in a surprise deal, saying he had been driven to embrace a technology that had initially “really scared” him.

Netflix has acquired the postproduction startup InterPositive from the Oscar-winning actor, director, producer and screenwriter for an undisclosed sum.

Published: March 6, 2026, 2:55 pm

Hungary seizes millions of euros in cash and gold from Ukrainian convoy

Seven Ukrainians arrested and money-laundering investigation launched in latest spat between Kyiv and Budapest

An increasingly acrimonious spat between Hungary and Ukraine has escalated further, as Budapest impounded two Ukrainian armoured bank vehicles carrying millions of euros of hard cash as well as bars of gold.

Seven Ukrainian citizens accompanying the convoy were also arrested. Hungarian officials said the detained Ukrainians had intelligence links and suggested the money could be of dubious origin, while Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, accused Budapest of “taking hostages and stealing money”.

Published: March 6, 2026, 4:00 pm

North Korean agents using AI to trick western firms into hiring them, Microsoft says

Firm says AI tools are masking identities of false applicants, who then funnel wages from remote IT jobs to North Korea

Fake IT workers deployed by North Korea are using AI technology, including voice-changing tools, to trick western companies into hiring them, Microsoft has said.

The US tech firm said a signature Pyongyang money-raising ruse is being enhanced by AI, which is helping create fake names and alter stolen IDs to increase the credibility of false applicants for IT and software development jobs.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:00 pm

Indonesia to ban social media for children under 16

Platforms include YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as communication minister says ‘our children face real threats’

Indonesia will ban social media for children under 16, its communication and digital affairs minister said on Friday.

Meutya Hafid said in a statement to media said that she signed a government regulation that will mean children under the age of 16 can no longer have accounts on high-risk digital platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Roblox and Bigo Live, a popular livestreaming site. With a population of about 285 million, the fourth-highest in the world, the south-east Asian nation represents a significant market for social networks.

Published: March 6, 2026, 4:25 pm

Peruvian state responsible for mother’s death in forced sterilisation, court rules

Landmark ruling in Celia Ramos case finds 310,000 women, most Indigenous, were targeted in brutal 1990s campaign

The highest human rights court in Latin America condemned Peru on Thursday over the death of its citizen Celia Ramos, who died at the age of 34 in 1997 after undergoing sterilisation “under coercion”.

The landmark ruling by the inter-American court of human rights (IACHR) is the first on Peru’s forced sterilisation programme, which operated between 1996 and 2000 and was directed against poor, rural and Indigenous women.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:41 pm

Amazon pulls sponsorship from Paris book festival after booksellers’ association boycott

Syndicat de la Librairie Française accused online retailer of trying to ‘flood the market with fake AI-generated books’

Amazon has withdrawn from the Paris book festival after a boycott by France’s booksellers’ association prompted a row over the company’s sponsorship of the event.

The festival, due to take place from 17 to 19 April, will now go ahead without the backing of the US retail company, after a mutual decision by organisers and Amazon to end their partnership.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:56 pm

António Lobo Antunes’s exhilarating novels forced Portugal to confront its darkest moments

With an exacting modernist style and the courage to address fascism and colonialism head on, Lobo Antunes’s writing is a deluge of unforgiving truths in lush prose

• António Lobo Antunes, Portuguese novelist who chronicled dictatorship and war, dies aged 83

António Lobo Antunes, the Portuguese novelist who died this week in Lisbon at 83, had little patience for discussing his craft. The mechanics of writing were, he liked to say, “such a bore!”. Yet few writers of his generation showed greater stylistic daring – when José Saramago was awarded the 1998 Nobel prize in Literature, many in Portugal felt the honour had gone to the wrong writer.

Over the course of more than 30 novels, Lobo Antunes honed an exacting modernist style all his own, using it to explore Portugal’s relationship with its fascist past, and to confront the tragic futility of its final colonial campaigns in Africa. Often dismissed as a difficult writer, Lobo Antunes crafted prose that was stubbornly flirtatious, at once inviting and resisting the reader. His sentences, lush with intricate metaphors and similes, bristly with ideas and provocations, brazenly flout the rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, determined to preserve their idiosyncrasy. Texturally, his stories are a feat, combining discordant elements to exhilarating effects: nihilism paired with political gusto; farce shot through with horror; realism grading into the weird and the surreal.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:18 pm

Why Hamnet should win the best picture Oscar

By forefronting Jessie Buckley’s Agnes at the expense of her megastar husband, this female-directed feminist fest gives voice to the anguished howls of disenfranchised women everywhere

On paper, it already sounds the most Oscary film ever. A movie about a visionary man whose genius made him one of the greatest figures in literature. William Shakespeare is played by Paul Mescal, an actor who leaves no demographic unravished by his outrageous levels of magnetism. And yet Hamnet is a film that sidelines both of these men to supporting roles. The film is about Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway, long viewed as a dumpy, illiterate woman unworthy of attention – abandoned by Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon when he swanned off to London.

Anne is referred to in Hamnet as Agnes, as she was also known, and played by Jessie Buckley, the Irish actor who could take on the role of a lamp-post and make you feel its pain. We meet Agnes curled asleep in the roots of an ancient tree. She may be illiterate, but she is a gifted herbalist who makes medicines from plants and keeps a falcon. She is her own woman – fierce, intelligent, more than match for the man she calls “the Latin tutor”. Shakespeare’s mother warns him that his bride-to-be is a forest witch.

Published: March 6, 2026, 8:00 am

The Dinosaurs review – Morgan Freeman’s narration is so soothing, you could use this as a relaxation aid

Yes, there are plenty of big-budget visual effects of prehistoric creatures in Steven Spielberg’s natural history show. But the voiceover is the real draw

It’s difficult these days to make a nature documentary that isn’t like all the others. Spectacular landscapes, crisp closeup photography, tales of predation and survival, birth and death: whether you go for Pixar cuteness, crimson claws or environmental crisis, it’s been done 100 times before. Watching The Dinosaurs, it’s hard not to sense the same problem starting to affect factual shows about the animal kingdom as it was millions of years ago. Impressive as it is that big-money dino documentaries boast visual effects that look similar to footage of Earth today, we are getting used to it.

Before the opening titles roll, cliches from two genres have been cross-bred. From regular animal shows, there’s the one where a lone male tries to muscle in on a family unit, forcing the existing patriarch to fight for his status against a younger, stronger rival. Our friend who looks as if he’s about to be fatally pushed aside is a pachycephalosaurus, but the dynamic is the same. Then the two males’ head-smashing battle is interrupted by a familiar sight from dinosaur documentaries: the animal posing a threat is suddenly bitten in two by a Tyrannosaurus rex, leaping unbidden through the undergrowth with a camp flourish. The pachycephalosaurus clan, led by their relieved dad, scurry happily away to the sound of the interloper’s cracking skull.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:00 am

Morrissey: Make-Up Is a Lie review – nostalgic, sentimental and dull, he is a shadow of what he once was

(Sire)
Dodgy conspiracy theories are thankfully kept to one track, but the rest is not much better, lacking insight even when Morrissey returns to his specialist subjects

Pretend that you don’t know a single thing about Steven Morrissey. Then play his recent single Notre-Dame. First you’ll hear a stutter of the kind of noirish, poptimised disco that might herald a new Harry Styles number, then a tremulous, faintly glitchy voice singing about the Paris cathedral.

You will probably be aware that Notre-Dame was partly destroyed in a fire in 2019. You will quickly glean that Morrissey and anonymous others believe it was no accident. “We know who tried to kill you,” he coos. “We will not be silent.” You may need to do some research to realise he is referring to the baseless claim that the fire was a deliberate act of arson covered up by the French government. You will soon be reading about conspiracy theories fuelled by rightwing commentators who suggested Islamist terrorism as a possible cause.

Published: March 6, 2026, 4:00 pm

‘It’s 10,000 people saying – we’re with you’: inside Trans Mission, a night of solidarity and joy for a community under stress

Olly Alexander and Glyn Fussell’s starry, Live Aid-inspired shindig – featuring Christine and the Queens, Kae Tempest and Munroe Bergdorf – is a show of unity in a dark time for trans people

‘We wanted to put on something as big as possible,” says the musician and actor Olly Alexander. He’s talking about Trans Mission, a night of solidarity with the transgender community that he’s put together with Mighty Hoopla director Glyn Fussell in aid of the Good Law Project and the charity Not a Phase. The jam-packed Wembley Arena bill includes Christine and the Queens, Sugababes, Romy and Wolf Alice.

For Alexander, Trans Mission is about “celebration, joy, unity”. For Christine and the Queens, it will be “a place of collective empathy”. For Not a Phase founder Dani St James, “it’s basically a super sped-up Royal Variety Performance, but with me and Olly double-kissing them and not Charles shaking their hands”.

Published: March 6, 2026, 3:44 pm

Feshareki/BBC Singers/Goddard review – goddess-inspired soundscape stuck in the great unknown

St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
Shiva Feshareki’s Divine Feminine fails to find its focus despite soprano Emma Tring’s incandescent, fearless performance of Celtic deity Brigid

Shiva Feshareki’s Divine Feminine is many things, but this latest work from the multi-award-winning British-Iranian composer and turntablist is not, as billed, an opera. Premiered at St Martin-in-the-Fields, transforming the nave, gallery and sanctuary of the central London church into an intricately amplified “360° soundscape”, Divine Feminine might be an installation, a piece of music-theatre, even a therapy session. What it’s not is a story urgently and solely committed to being told through song.

This isn’t stylistic gatekeeping. Terminology matters – if only because it creates a useful frame of reference and expectation. Art loses energy if it has no solid architecture to bounce off, no walls to scale or dismantle. As it was, this meditative celebration of the divine feminine – a concept never explicitly defined here, but doing sun salutations at the nexus of fecundity and sisterhood, rebirth and goddess-energy – chanted and shouted and stamped and danced, but never found its focus.

Published: March 6, 2026, 3:32 pm

Add to playlist: the maximalist melancholy of Hannah Lew and the week’s best tracks

The Californian creative navigates seamlessly from bass-driven disco to sparse electronic beats on her expansive debut album

From Richmond, California
Recommended if you like Molly Nilsson, Chromatics, the 1975’s 1980s pastiches
Up next Self-titled debut album out 10 April

For those of us who can’t resist the pull of melancholy synth-pop, Californian artist Hannah Lew is set to become a new obsession. Soon to be released via Night School Records – home to the likes of Tristwch Y Fenywod and Teresa Winter – Lew’s self-titled debut is one of those albums that could easily be a greatest hits, with nine irresistible, single-worthy tracks all saturated with neon-lit heartbreak.

Published: March 6, 2026, 12:00 pm

From luxury ‘dupes’ to literary doubles: why doppelgangers are everywhere right now

AI ‘twins’, Mar-a-Lago lookalikes, Melania impersonator conspiracies … doubles proliferate in today’s culture – and nowhere more so than in a series of unsettling new novels that draw on a rich gothic tradition to tap into our paranoid times

‘He was after me. Always had been. Why else would he target me months ago? Infiltrate my flat, my supposed safe space? Question was, what did he want from me. Who, for that matter, did I mean by me?” Isabel Waidner’s fifth novel, As If, opens with the meeting of two bedraggled strangers, Aubrey and Lindsey. Lindsey has materialised on Aubrey’s doorstep and Aubrey has asked him in, noting with pained curiosity how alike they look. “He had dark brown hair not unlike mine,” Aubrey tells us. “My unremarkable eyes they were looking back at me.” With this unsettling opener, the tone is set for a disquieting read, one that I found all the more uncanny as it overlaps so unnervingly with my own new book, Lean Cat, Savage Cat.

Both books draw their protagonists from the lower rungs of showbiz, both utilise the language of fashion in deliberately off-putting ways, both bring the sybaritic myths of artistic life into direct conflict with the realities of housing insecurity and wage instability. Both novels look at how unprocessed grief can fracture the psyche, and – crucially – they both centre on a mysterious pair of doubles. They were also published on the same day. All of which prompts me to ask: does my book have its own doppelganger?

Published: March 6, 2026, 2:30 pm

Saba Sams: ‘I’ve no interest in reading Wuthering Heights again’

The Send Nudes author on rereading Lorrie Moore, finding Dodie Smith at the right time, and the enduring brilliance of Muriel Spark

My earliest reading memory
I remember reading Jacqueline Wilson aloud to my mum in the car. I think it was The Illustrated Mum. My mum couldn’t believe it was a children’s book, and I felt so proud. I always found most children’s books overly virtuous and safe, but Wilson’s never were. I love her for that.

My favourite book growing up
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. I read it again recently, having mostly forgotten it, and loved it just as much. It’s totally alive.

Published: March 6, 2026, 10:00 am

The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski review – a delicious comfort read

A decaying gothic mansion tells the story of the family who once lived there, in this pitch-perfect debut of disappearances, betrayal and despair

Angela Tomaski’s debut novel is a delicious comfort read about loyalty and despair, and a gentle questioning of the nature of progress. Crumbling stately home Thornwalk is on the verge of becoming a luxury hotel. The ancestral owners are all dead – with the exception of a pair of rapacious cousins, naturally – and the only person left to mourn is the loyal valet (and maybe more?) of the old master.

Maximus, last guardian of the house, guides the reader on a final tour through Thornwalk, and the lost lives, loves and brass buttons of the titular Gilberts: Lydia, the eldest girl, desperate to fall in love; Hugo, the stubborn eldest son; “poor little Annabel”, dreaming of writing; quiet runaway Jeremy; and unstable actor Rosalind. He takes us, room by room, trinket by trinket, stain by stain (blackcurrant to blood) through 100 years of family life before it is all lost for ever.

Published: March 6, 2026, 7:00 am

‘Someone’s paid a grand in cash’: fans camp out in Manchester for first Harry Styles concert since 2023

Styles will perform new album in full at Co-op Live arena show, with tickets being traded for well above £20 face value

More than 20,000 fans from all over the world flocked towards the Co-op Live arena in Manchester on Friday to watch Harry Styles perform his first concert in two and a half years – some waiting 48 hours for a place down the front.

Styles will perform his new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally in full, after its release earlier today. Anticipation for the show had been high since tickets went on sale for £20 in early February, which, barring a performance of the album’s lead single Aperture at the Brit awards – which took place at the same arena a week earlier – will be Styles’ first time on stage since closing out a tour in Italy in July 2023. It has been marketed as a homecoming show for the pop star, who was raised outside the city in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire.

Published: March 6, 2026, 6:03 pm

Oscar race enters final stretch as Sinners gains ground with Actor awards win

With voting now closed, the months-long campaign for Oscar glory is over – but industry insiders are still dissecting every award-season clue in a tight best picture race

Voting for the Oscars closed at 5pm PT on Thursday, meaning that the months-long campaigns of the favoured films have hung up their spurs: the red carpets have been rolled up, hospitality pavilions shut down, the PR minders putting their feet up until the Oscars ceremony itself takes place. The prefatory campaign – on-stage Q&As, special-screening paparazzi shoots, the string of lesser awards ceremonies – is over, and there is now nothing for the nominees to do but kick back and count the days.

Over the long haul of awards campaigning, which can reasonably be said to start with the near-simultaneous late summer film festivals in Venice, Telluride and Toronto and hits its peak in mid-February as Oscar voting opens, reading the runes has become a full-time activity across the entire film industry, and an absolute obsession for Hollywood insider publications such as Variety, the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline. Every ebb and flow of the process – a critics-awards nomination here, a trade-guild snub there – is endlessly picked over for what it might mean for the end result.

Published: March 6, 2026, 2:18 pm

Leslie Odom Jr, Broadway’s original Aaron Burr, to join London cast of Hamilton

Actor who won a Tony award in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical will reprise the role for West End debut

Leslie Odom Jr, who originated the role of Aaron Burr in Hamilton on Broadway, is to return to the hit musical – this time making his West End debut.

The actor will join the London cast at the Victoria Palace theatre for nine weeks this summer. Odom won a Tony award in 2016 for his portrayal, which he developed alongside the show’s creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, at its workshop and off-Broadway productions. He appears on the Grammy award-winning cast album and also played the role in the Disney+ film of Hamilton, recorded at the Richard Rodgers theatre in New York.

Published: March 6, 2026, 2:31 pm

Under the mirrorball: the kings and queens of disco – in pictures

Disco brought together music, fashion and nightlife in a cultural phenomenon that conquered the world. In A Night at the Disco by Alice Harris and Christian John Wikane, published by ACC Art Books, the stars of the scene are documented in photos spanning the 1970s

Published: March 6, 2026, 11:00 am

Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for Arya’s birthday udon | The new vegan

A classic fried tofu stir-fry that’s bang-full of flavour

My funny, curious, panda-loving daughter, Arya, is turning nine this week. So I wanted to write a recipe to celebrate her and some of her favourite things to eat. Arya adores the chewiness of udon, the bounciness of tofu, the sweet, sour saltiness of sweet soy and tamarind, the crunch of cabbage and she’d put chilli (in any form) over her breakfast cereal if she could (although it’s optional in this recipe). Happy birthday, Arya.

Published: March 7, 2026, 6:00 am

From late-night shots to sipping with soda: how tequila took over

Forget sombrero lids and student nights, the agave-derived Mexican spirit has become the sophisticated drink choice. Here’s why – plus five of the best tequila cocktails

Cracking open the tequila at the end of a long night rarely leads to good decisions. But for Tom Bishop, reaching for a bottle that had been gathering dust on his shelf proved life-changing. Having run out of beers while drinking with friends in 2017, Bishop dug out a bottle of premium Añejo tequila that his brother had given him after a business trip to Mexico. His expectations were low, informed by the throat-burning experiences of his youth. “But it completely blew me away,” Bishop remembers. “I just hadn’t associated tequila with that level of quality or flavour.”

Having stumbled upon the spirit as it was meant to be enjoyed “by accident”, Bishop saw an opportunity. Two years later, he and Jack Vereker, a friend with whom he had been drinking in south-east London that night, sold their first bottle of their brand El Rayo, now stocked across the UK and part of tequila’s new wave.

Published: March 6, 2026, 3:00 pm

Denim dilemmas: what to wear with flared jeans

There’s a reason this 70s staple is never out of style. Take your cue from Margot Robbie and team flares with a structured jacket and smart accessories

Published: March 6, 2026, 6:00 am

Experience: I lost my arm – now I’m one of the fastest drummers in the world

One afternoon, I set up my kit and taped a drumstick to my amputated arm

The transformer exploded a few feet from where I was standing. One moment I was on the roof of a restaurant kitchen in Atlanta, cleaning exhaust vents. The next, I was on the ground, my body seizing and burned.

Before that day, music had been the centre of my life. My father was a well-known guitarist in Australia and I grew up watching him play. When I was 14 my parents bought me a drum kit for Christmas. I fell in love immediately. By 22, I was playing in two bands – one metal, one reggae – and preparing to audition for the Atlanta Institute of Music. Then I was electrocuted.

Published: March 6, 2026, 5:00 am

Am I on my phone too much? The Becky Barnicoat cartoon

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Published: March 7, 2026, 6:00 am

10 of the best fruit and vegetables to plant now for a hassle-free harvest

If you long for freshly picked produce but don’t know where to start, try these sure-fire winners

At this time of the year, gardeners are susceptible to the lure of colourful, quirky veg catalogues. But hold fire! A little restraint is our friend. By focusing on reliability, yield and flavour over exotic looks, we are likely to have an easier and more successful year on the plot.

The following fruit and veg should produce hassle-free harvests. They may not look like the most exciting crops, but they will result in more food on your plate, having been tried and taste-tested for a high chance of success and good flavour. Their reliability and resistance to problems makes them easier to grow, and they’re also simple to harvest and prepare, so you’ll be left with more time to enjoy eating them.

Published: March 6, 2026, 11:30 am

‘In Switzerland, it’s possible to sledge between two railway stations’: readers’ favourite family adventures in Europe

Alpine playgrounds, unforgettable train rides and white-water rafting feature in our readers’ family trips from Norway to the Netherlands

• Tell us about a trip to a UK national park or national nature reserve – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher

Travelling by rail in Europe gives you plenty of opportunity for ad-hoc adventure. We were returning from a ski trip in Italy and took the Bernina Express part of the way. We’d heard that if you disembark at Bergün, leave your luggage at the station and take the train back one stop to Preda village it’s possible to sledge between the two stations. So there we found ourselves renting traditional wooden sledges from Preda and walking the short distance to the start of the tobogganing run. What we thought might be a gentle run into town turned into a fast and fun-filled couple of hours as we hurtled down the tree-lined course. At times it felt like we were in the game Mario Kart and at one point a children’s birthday party overtook us, the birthday girl’s sledge trailing balloons. About 5 miles later we arrived back in Bergün, before continuing our train journey onwards.
Layla Astley

Published: March 6, 2026, 7:00 am

‘We’re powerless … and hoping nothing hits us’: trapped on a tanker as Iran war escalates

Seafarer tells of explosions in the sky as thousands stuck on vessels after strait of Hormuz is effectively closed to shipping

• Maritime and port workers: how is the Middle East conflict affecting you?

Thousands of seafarers are trapped on tankers in the Gulf after the strait of Hormuz was effectively closed to shipping by the escalating war on Iran.

The Guardian spoke to a crew member on one of the stranded tankers that typically ferries vast quantities of oil from the Middle East to ports around the world.

Published: March 6, 2026, 10:14 am

How Flightradar24 became the go-to platform for the world to watch global aviation crises unfold

The Swedish flight tracking tool, spun out of a price comparison portal, is tracking the travel chaos sparked by the US-Israel war on Iran in real time

Mikael Robertsson and Olov Lindberg did not set out to build one of the pre-eminent monitors of global airspace. In a bid to draw more eyes to their Swedish flight price comparison portal, the entrepreneurs added a page charting air traffic.

That page became Flightradar24, the portal that people around the world now turn to when there is chaos – and drama – in the skies.

Published: March 6, 2026, 1:41 am

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Crisis in the Middle East, Ramadan in Gaza, a blackout in Havana and Stella McCartney at Paris fashion week – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Published: March 6, 2026, 7:08 pm