Moka pot coffee: unlock cafe-quality iced lattes at home with this $50 Italian staple

Long beloved in Italy, this humble stovetop brewer makes cafe-quality drinks for a fraction of the price

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Despite my Italian heritage, it took a temporary move to Rome to discover the magic of the moka pot. I instantly fell in love with this Italian coffee maker’s ability to brew a beverage on par with the $10 lattes found at my favorite cafes.

Recommended by the Guardian and now subject of an endless library of TikTok tutorials, people have praised the moka pot for steaming mugs of cafe-quality coffee more cheaply than an espresso machine (or a Nespresso machine).

Published: April 6, 2026, 7:15 pm

The Drama: sex, secrets and that gobsmacking twist – discuss with spoilers

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s dark dramedy is a stylish acting showcase, but does it do justice to its weighty themes?

Ever since its first trailer dropped – and, on certain corners of Reddit, even before that – the internet has been abuzz with speculation over just what goes down in The Drama. The auteur production powerhouse A24 somewhat ingeniously pitched writer-director Kristoffer Borgli’s pitch-black film as a tart romantic comedy, with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as a seemingly happy couple derailed by a disturbing revelation a week before their wedding. The actors, among a cohort of vanishingly few young movie stars, appeared as their characters in a fake wedding announcement in the Boston Globe; Zendaya’s rumored marriage to actor Tom Holland became a meta discussion point on a press tour that saw her method dressing in “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”, her wardrobe slowly darkening in a nod to something gone horribly awry.

The Norwegian film-maker’s second English-language film depicts what we could loosely call premarital jitters as a psychological unraveling with a surrealist touch. The Drama is lustrously filmed, virtuosically acted and crisply edited – but, inevitably, attention will focus on its very combustible, deliberately provocative premise, one somewhat spoiled by a pre-embargo TMZ headline citing a recent American tragedy. There’s no way to talk about this movie without talking about “the twist” – which plays out less as a dramatic turn of events than as an unsettling divulgence that, depending on your view, the film may or may not justify. Obviously, spoilers ahead, so tread carefully and, presuming you’ve seen it … let’s discuss.

Published: April 6, 2026, 6:08 pm

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

I never text back – and it’s ruining my relationships

Experts weigh in on why some people have an inexplicable barrier to responding – and what they can do about it

“There’s no such thing as a bad texter. They just don’t want to respond,” said influencer Delaney Rowe last year on the online talkshow Subway Takes. “People go around thinking being a bad texter is like a pathology, but it’s not. It’s a cop-out.”

“I don’t believe in bad texters,” announced radio host Dan Zolot last year. “If you want to answer you will answer.”

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:00 pm

‘Creepy surveillance’: why some cities are shutting down Flock cameras amid privacy concerns

Some cities are cutting ties with firm that provides license plate reader cameras, others are signing new contracts and many are still looking for their footing

In recent city council meetings in Dunwoody, Georgia, a spokesman for Flock Safety, a Georgia-based firm that provides automated license plate readers, has found himself in the hot seat again.

For two months running, some residents of the affluent north Atlanta suburb in the region’s tech corridor have been demanding an end to the city’s contract with the security firm, which has drawn similar protest from California to New York.

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:00 am

He spent years investigating Opus Dei, a Catholic group accused of a vast conspiracy of abuse. Then Pope Leo asked to meet

Gareth Gore’s 2024 book Opus alleges decades of manipulation, which the group has denied. He believes the pope wanted to send a clear message

Gareth Gore was on a research trip to California earlier this year when he was told to expect a call from the Vatican arranging a one-on-one audience with the pope.

Gore was stunned. In 2024 he published the book Opus, a meticulously researched and gripping account of the abuses allegedly perpetrated by Opus Dei, the highly secretive Catholic group started by the Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá in the 1920s. Over a century Opus Dei established itself as a deeply religious order that, they claim, helps ordinary people “love God and serve others through work well done, carried out with honesty and integrity”.

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:00 am

Middle East crisis live: Trump says he is ‘not at all’ worried about possible war crimes as his deadline nears

US demands Iran reopen the strait of Hormuz while Tehran rejects 45-day ceasefire proposal and insists it wants permanent end to conflict

• Talks to end Iran war appear to falter a day before Trump deadline

South Korea has said that it will send officials to Kazakhstan, Oman and Saudi Arabia to secure supplies of crude oil amid disruptions to shipping through the strait of Hormuz.

A special envoy will hold talks with governments, energy firms and ship operators to ensure cargoes reach domestic ports and to support stable supplies of key goods, including medical products, he said.

Published: April 7, 2026, 4:24 am

Trump threatens to jail journalist to find source of second missing airman report

Trump targets media to find ‘leaker’ who revealed that a US airman was missing after being shot down by Iranian forces

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Donald Trump threatened to jail a journalist – or journalists – who reported that a second US airman was missing after being shot down by Iran on Friday in an effort to identify their source.

The badly injured airman hid in a mountain crevice to avoid capture before being rescued by a US recovery team that received heavy fire. The US president announced on Sunday that the service member had been recovered.

Published: April 6, 2026, 8:00 pm

Second ex-staffer accuses Texas lawmaker of sending sexually explicit messages

Republican Tony Gonzales ended re-election bid in March after admitting to having affair with a different aide

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A second former female staffer for Tony Gonzales, a Republican congressman from Texas, has come forward claiming Gonzales sent her sexually explicit messages.

The San Antonio Express-News first reported the text messages on Monday and NBC News later confirmed the report.

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:00 pm

Artemis II swings back around after completing record-setting moon flyby

Astronauts become Earth’s farthest travelled and exceed a 1970 record on the fifth day of the mission

• Blackouts, broken records and a message from the past: five key moments from Artemis II’s lunar flyby

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Artemis II astronauts broke Apollo 13’s distance record at 1.57pm eastern time on Monday, hugging each other in the cramped capsule as they made history for becoming the first four humans to travel the farthest from Earth.

About five hours later, at 7.02pm ET, the crew reached the furthest point in its mission, before swinging back around, at 252,756 miles from Earth – 4,111 miles farther than the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

Published: April 7, 2026, 3:06 am

Steve Bannon appears likely to have criminal conviction dismissed

US supreme court files brief order vacating lower court ruling that had upheld rightwing media host’s conviction

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Steve Bannon, the rightwing media host and ally of Donald Trump, appears likely to have his criminal conviction dismissed.

The US supreme court filed a brief order on Monday that vacated a lower court ruling that had upheld Bannon’s conviction and sent the case back to the US court of appeals for the DC circuit for “further consideration in light of the pending motion to dismiss the indictment”. The Trump administration had moved to dismiss Bannon’s conviction.

Published: April 6, 2026, 3:11 pm

Accused Pinochet agent turned Bondi nanny Adriana Rivas to be extradited to Chile

Woman denies allegations of aggravated kidnapping during Augusto Pinochet’s 1970s military dictatorship

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A former Sydney nanny and cleaner accused by Chile of being a torturer and kidnapper for Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship in the 1970s will be extradited to Chile to face court over kidnapping allegations after losing her seven-year battle to remain in Australia.

Adriana Elcira Rivas, now in her 70s, is accused of participating in the disappearances of seven people in 1976 – including a woman who was five months pregnant – while working for Pinochet’s secret police force.

Published: April 7, 2026, 1:59 am

ICE agents reportedly detain wife of US soldier just days after their marriage

‘She got ripped away from me,’ army soldier Matthew Blank said after his wife Annie Ramos was detained in Louisiana

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents under the command of the Trump administration have reportedly detained the wife of a US army staff sergeant at his military base in Louisiana amid his preparations to deploy.

The arrest of Annie Ramos, 22, took place last Thursday, just days after she married 23-year-old Matthew Blank, a soldier who has served for more than five years and previously deployed to the Middle East and Europe, the New York Times first reported on Sunday.

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:59 pm

Judge says Lil Nas X police battery charges to be dismissed if he completes treatment program

Rapper ‘very thankful’ to be given chance to enter mental health diversion program after arrest in LA last year

A judge has allowed Lil Nas X to enter a mental health diversion program intended to lead to the dismissal of charges of attacking Los Angeles police officers.

Judge Alan Schneider told the rapper and singer on Monday that if he sticks to his treatment program and obeys all laws for two years, his four felony counts will be dismissed.

Published: April 7, 2026, 1:10 am

Trump news at a glance: president’s deadline for Iran and threats against civilian targets loom

Trump claims Iranians welcome US strikes and lower court judges challenge Trump’s ‘war on rule of law’ – key US politics stories from Monday 6 April at a glance

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Donald Trump was asked at a press conference Monday if his war on Iran was winding down or ramping up. His response: “I can’t tell you.”

The US president’s comments came as diplomatic negotiations aimed at halting the war in the Middle East appeared to be faltering.

Published: April 7, 2026, 1:55 am

Down the rabbit hole: Trump offers dark Iran warnings after Easter bunny act

President’s press conference after White House Easter egg roll did little to dispel fears he has lost touch with reality

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Donald Trump began his day standing with a person in a giant bunny costume and boasting about the Iran war to an audience of children.

The annual Easter egg roll on the White House South Lawn conjured a fitting Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland image for a US president who has disappeared down what many would call a rabbit hole.

Published: April 6, 2026, 10:55 pm

Trump uses Neville Chamberlain jibe to mock Starmer over stance on Iran

As UK PM resists pressure to back airstrikes, US president invokes British leader known for his policy of appeasement

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Donald Trump has appeared to compare Keir Starmer to Neville Chamberlain in his latest disparaging remarks about the prime minister, who has refused to back the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

The comments, during an Easter Monday event at the White House, underline Trump’s continued annoyance at Starmer’s scepticism about the aims and legality of the conflict, a view that has not been shifted by the US president’s jibes.

Published: April 6, 2026, 5:46 pm

Trump endorses ex-Fox News host Steve Hilton in California governor’s race

Move to back the Republican candidate could dash party’s hopes of locking Democrats out of the November runoff

Donald Trump has endorsed the Republican former Fox News host Steve Hilton in the California governor’s race, a move that could dash Republican hopes of locking Democrats out of the November runoff.

Trump announced his backing on Monday on Truth Social, writing that Hilton “has my COMPLETE & TOTAL ENDORSEMENT” and pledging federal support for his candidacy. “Steve can turn it around, before it is too late, and, as President, I will help him to do so,” he wrote.

Published: April 6, 2026, 2:35 pm

Tech companies are cutting jobs and betting on AI. The payoff is far from guaranteed

AI experts say we’re living in an experiment that may fundamentally change the model of work

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Hundreds of thousands of tech workers are facing a harsh reality. Their well-paying jobs are no longer safe. Now that artificial intelligence (AI) is here, their futures don’t look as bright as they did a decade ago.

As US tech companies have ramped up investments in AI, they’ve slashed a staggering number of jobs. Microsoft cut 15,000 workers last year. Amazon laid off 30,000 employees in the last six months. Financial-services company Block eliminated more than 4,000 people, or 40% of its workforce, in February. Meta laid off more than 1,000 in the last six months, and, according to a Reuters report, may cut 20% of all employees in the near future. Just this week, the software giant Oracle laid off thousands of workers. Smaller players like Pinterest and Atlassian also made recent cuts, culling about 15% and 10% of their workforces, respectively. Estimates put the total number of tech layoffs in the past year at more than 165,000, according to the tracker Layoffs.fyi.

Published: April 6, 2026, 9:52 pm

US states propose domestic violence registries – but could they harm women?

Tennessee leads way but experts say offender registry could provide a false sense of security – and identify victims

When Amanda Martin started dating Christopher Cendroski, whose family described him as “big-hearted”, she had no idea he had been arrested for domestic assault. Had she known, she said she never would have become involved with him.

A few months into their relationship, which began in 2011, Cendroski started beating Martin, and in May 2012, he nearly choked her to death, she said. Police arrested Cendroski and helped both Martin and her children get to a shelter.

Published: April 6, 2026, 12:00 pm

Private jets, deserted shores and an unbuilt resort: alleged links to sanctioned ‘scam’ empire revealed in Timor-Leste

Exclusive: Investigation finds alleged Prince Group associates were involved in unusual development in tiny nation on Australia’s doorstep, raising concerns about global spread of online fraud industry

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Guests were enticed with the promise of luxury villas overlooking aquamarine seas; a world-first crypto resort where the tech elite could commune over the latest digital innovation in opulent surrounds.

The promotional material from June last year pitched a sprawling, futuristic development that would hug the coastline of Timor-Leste, one of the world’s poorest countries, and donate a percentage of profits to philanthropy.

Published: April 6, 2026, 3:00 pm

‘Coke and booze didn’t help my creativity’: Joe Eszterhas on his wild times – and his supernatural, anti-woke Basic Instinct reboot

He was the screenwriting colossus behind Flashdance, Jagged Edge, Showgirls and more. Now clean, ‘Hollywood’s Shakespeare’ talks about today’s scared studios, his refugee trauma – and taking acid with Hunter S Thompson

Joe Eszterhas was the swaggering pitchman of 80s and 90s Hollywood; the king of the high-concept, precision-tooled blockbuster. He wrote Jagged Edge, co-scripted Flashdance, and pocketed a then record $3m for his Basic Instinct screenplay. Writers typically skulk near the bottom of the industry food chain but Eszterhas flipped the script to make himself a boss and a brand. ABC called him a “living legend”, while Time magazine posed a breathless rhetorical question: “If Shakespeare were alive today, would his name be Joe Eszterhas?”

Pride, as any hack writer will tell you, usually comes before a fall, and so it was with Eszterhas, who confused success with excess and barely got out of the business alive. “The coke and the booze,” he says, remembering. “Those weren’t helping my creativity, they were holding it back.” His best years in Hollywood were conversely his worst.

Published: April 7, 2026, 4:00 am

‘The events still haunt’: New York stage production examines aftermath of Finnish school shooting

Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence delves into guilt, grief and anger over a phenomenon largely thought of as distinctly American

Gun violence, particularly the high-profile incidents that take place on school campuses, are often seen as a uniquely American phenomenon, one that exemplifies the nation’s deep history and complicated relationship with guns.

But an opera set around a mass shooting at a Finnish international school 10 years ago approaches this topic through a global lens. Innocence, which opens at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on Monday, is performed in nine different languages including English, Swedish and Spanish, and delves into themes like guilt, grief, anger and how time doesn’t always heal the damage done by violence.

Published: April 6, 2026, 12:00 pm

David Ellison says 70% of Americans are centrist. Surveys tell a different story

Paramount Skydance CEO has repeatedly cited the statistic when laying out the approach that CBS News and potentially CNN would take

During an early March appearance on CNBC, the Paramount Skydance chief executive, David Ellison, cited a statistic he has come to rely on when laying out his editorial approach for CBS News and, potentially, the cable network he has made a deal to own, CNN. The young media mogul said the networks will prioritize reaching “the 70% of Americans and really around the world that identify as center-left, as center-right”.

The idea of an unaddressed center ground is a powerful talking point. In a world of increasingly partisan politics, Ellison’s promise to address the unheard, silent majority packs a punch – and fits nicely with the approach of one of his most high-profile lieutenants, the heterodox commentator Bari Weiss.

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:00 am

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

‘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

Is a new weight-loss drug making people fall out of love?

Some people using retatrutide, which is not yet approved, are reporting ‘emotional flattening’, but experts point to a more complex picture

• ‘Traceability is vital’: labs test thousands of unregulated substances amid peptide craze

• What are peptides, are they safe and is there evidence to back up the hype?

A recent TikTok video shows a man in a black baseball cap, with text over the video stating: “strange effects of Reta” and “ruining relationships”.

He is referring to retatrutide, an experimental weight-loss drug that targets three appetite-related hormones. It is still in clinical trials but has generated such interest that some users are already sourcing it illegally online before approval. The “weird theory going around”, the TikTok poster says, is that the drug can “make you fall out of love”.

Published: April 6, 2026, 1:59 pm

From ‘stink bugs’ to ‘enemies of the people’: how Viktor Orbán blazed a trail for Trump’s media assaults

Hungary’s prime minister has conducted a systematic attack on independent media. The parallels with the US are chilling

During his state of the nation address earlier this year, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, outlined a chilling vision of the country’s future. Signalling a new level of aggression in his campaign against the truth if he is returned to power in elections on 12 April, Orbán vowed to purge the country of “bought journalists” and “fake civil society organisations”.

Media repression isn’t just a Hungarian problem. According to the V-Dem Institute in Sweden, a leading democracy monitor, it is the most commonly used weapon in the authoritarian arsenal. Strikingly, its latest report finds that US democracy is now at its worst level since the 1960s, marked by a sharp decline in media freedom.

Amrit Singh is professor of practice and founding faculty director of the Rule of Law Lab at NYU School of Law

Published: April 7, 2026, 4:00 am

Don’t believe Trump’s claims about making life more affordable | Steven Greenhouse

The president has boasted about cutting prices of drugs, housing, food and gasoline. It’s grossly exaggerated nonsense

In recent months, Donald Trump has made some absurd comments about inflation, saying the affordability crisis is “a hoax” and “I won affordability,” a clumsy, questionable claim meaning that he somehow conquered inflation. Trump recognizes that affordability is a huge issue, and with his war against Iran proving to be a big political loser, he seems eager to score some political points by telling Americans that he’s moving boldly to cut living costs. But as with everything Trump says, people shouldn’t be tricked by his slick salesmanship.

Trump has boasted about cutting prescription drug prices, housing prices, food prices and gasoline prices. All that might be great public relations for Trump, but it’s grossly exaggerated nonsense. Trump’s much-ballyhooed efforts to fight inflation are essentially diddlysquat. Many of them are mini efforts that have had mini effects in reducing prices. They’re as meaningful as a degree from Trump University.

Steven Greenhouse is a journalist and author, focusing on labour and the workplace, as well as economic and legal issues

Published: April 6, 2026, 12:00 pm

Nicola Jennings on Artemis II reaching the far side of the moon – cartoon

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Published: April 6, 2026, 2:59 pm

Doctors need to stop pretending to have all the answers. ‘I don’t know’ does not mean ‘I have nothing to offer’ | Ranjana Srivastava

Far from losing faith or questioning what kind of ‘proper’ doctor would admit they are ‘not sure’, patients seem to appreciate my vulnerability

I have always thought, and still tell prospective medical students, that the most attractive part of being a doctor is there is something in it for everyone who has a thirst for knowledge.

From the quiet thinker to the gregarious soul, detail-driven to big-picture person, staunch researcher to unabashed clinician, most of us will find a home in medicine, even if, in a sorry postscript, a fraction of doctors will become disillusioned and even leave for reasons that are all too familiar.

Published: April 6, 2026, 3:00 pm

Do we really need truncheons and pepper spray to fight off London’s ‘feral’ teenage shoplifters? | Zoe Williams

I don’t want to minimise the scenes in Clapham High Street. But how about dialling things down a notch?

Last week, some teenagers in the Clapham area of south-west London started running up and down the high street. The terms used to describe them ranged from “feral gang” to “chaotic swarm”; evidently, it is in the eye of the beholder as to whether they were closer to animals or insects. Definitely, positively, some of them shoplifted.

Fireworks were let off, which sounds like the kind of mischief the Bash Street Kids would get up to, but is quite scary in real life, and the line between “Beano” and “scary” is finer than I thought. Marks & Spencer needed a police guard and closed early; Oliver Bonas briefly had a security guard, which was like seeing a bouncer outside a library – either a mad overreaction, or the end of days.

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Published: April 6, 2026, 1:34 pm

The Guardian view on Trump’s apocalyptic threats: a sign not of strength, but of moral and strategic weakness | Editorial

An expletive-ridden post on social media shamed the office of the US president. Its substantive message, if acted on, would be a war crime

Article 52 of the first additional protocol to the Geneva conventions prohibits attacks on civilian targets. It is on those grounds that the international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for Russian military officers and officials responsible for attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Such assaults, and the missiles rained on Ukrainian cities and towns in order to terrify and demoralise, constitute war crimes. Exactly the same would apply to the United States, should Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran back to the “stone age” this week be carried out.

Such basic tenets of international law bear repeating at a time when Mr Trump and his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, appear to speak as if from within a bloodthirsty fever dream. Glorying repulsively in his capacity to order death and destruction from the Pentagon, Mr Hegseth, an Evangelical Christian, has presented Operation Epic Fury as a 21st-century crusade “to break the teeth of the ungodly”. On social media at the weekend, Mr Trump topped that by unleashing a stream of expletive-ridden abuse, ranting that unless Iran reopens the strait of Hormuz to shipping, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day … Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell”.

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, 6:09 pm

Michigan outlasts UConn to win first NCAA men’s basketball title since 1989

• Elliot Cadeau scored 19 points and won Final Four MOP

• Foul trouble haunts Huskies in low-scoring affair

• As it happened: Read Beau Dure’s live play-by-play

High-scoring Michigan had to get down and dirty to dig out the national title Monday, making only two three-pointers all night but still muscling its way to a 69-63 victory over stingy, stubborn UConn.

Elliot Cadeau led the Wolverines with 19 points, including the team’s first basket from beyond the arc, which came 7:04 into the second half. He was later named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

Published: April 7, 2026, 3:38 am

Jason Day hits out at ‘selfish’ Tiger Woods after DUI charge

• Australian golfer saddened by his ‘hero’ facing struggle with addiction

• Five-time Masters champion to miss first major after car crash and arrest

Australian ace Jason Day has expressed sadness at Tiger Woods’ plight but taken issue with the golf great’s “selfish” judgement for driving under the influence.

Woods has reportedly checked himself into rehab in Switzerland after being arrested and charged on 27 March after crashing his car near his home on Jupiter Island in Florida.

Published: April 7, 2026, 12:38 am

The FA Cup still has an important place. This weekend was proof

From exposed anxieties to unexpected heroes, this weekend’s cup contests papered over a weird three-week Premier League break

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The soccer calendar has been particularly quirky this year. There’s always an international break in March, but because this year’s edition involved World Cup qualifying playoffs, most games were scheduled for the Thursday and the Tuesday, which meant there was very little soccer played over the weekend; barely even a smattering of friendlies.

For a Saturday in early spring, it all felt very weird; it was a day for pacing the floors, wondering how on earth people who don’t like soccer fill the time. And with the Carabao Cup final falling the previous Sunday, and the FA Cup sixth round this weekend, that has meant a three-week hiatus in the title race. Which has been disorienting and, perhaps, not entirely to Arsenal’s benefit.

Published: April 6, 2026, 3:45 pm

USMNT striker Patrick Agyemang leaves Derby County game on stretcher

• Agyemang went down with a non-contact injury

• US striker scored in friendly v Belgium

Patrick Agyemang left Derby County’s match on a stretcher after an apparent non-contact injury. The US international striker rose to settle a ball in the 37th minute and collapsed to the ground, with photographs from Pride Park showing the Derby medical staff tending to his left ankle.

On-site accounts reported that the 25-year-old leapt to control the ball with his chest before landing awkwardly and falling to ground. Play was stopped for five minutes before Agyemang was stretchered off. His replacement, Jaydon Banel, scored the opening goal to boost the Rams’ chances of promotion.

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:42 pm

Pogacar among riders under investigation after running red light during Tour of Flanders

• Slovenian cyclist said signal to stop came too late

• Riders could face fine and suspension if found guilty

Tadej Pogacar is among the riders being investigated for running a red light at a railway crossing during the Tour de Flanders on Sunday. Pogacar, who won the race for a record-equalling third time, was in a group of riders who went through the crossing without stopping. Most of the peloton behind them had to stop before the railway.

Belgian officials confirmed on Monday there was an investigation into the riders who allegedly ran the red light. They said no further details were immediately available. Local media said the riders could face a fine and driving suspension if found guilty.

Published: April 6, 2026, 2:06 pm

Retirement gnome? Masters miniatures rumoured to have short future at Augusta

• Gnomes have become collectors’ items since 2016 debut

• 2026 edition retailing at $49.50 inside Augusta National

Everyone says goodbye to the Masters eventually. Sandy Lyle, Ben Crenshaw, Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer used recent years to wave goodbye. Will 2026 be the end for a renowned Augusta National element of more recent times … the Masters gnome?

Speculation is rising that this Masters will be the final time gnomes will be on sale inside Augusta’s merchandise outlets. On face value, this hardly feels dramatic. The quirk, though, is that the household essential for any golf lover has become a victim of its own success. Augusta National has offered no comment when approached on the gnome’s future but the race feels on to collect the final batches of stock before the 14-inch ceramic doll is consigned to Masters history.

Published: April 6, 2026, 1:28 pm

MLS weekend wrap: Revel in the joy and agony of absurd long-range goals

In the era of VAR where most goals get picked apart, strikes from distance offered a much-needed immediate emotional hit

In an era where the sport’s biggest moments are scrutinized in slow-motion to find an inch of infraction, the long-range goal has become a necessary thrill. VAR only comes into play if a loitering teammate is caught between the shooter and goalkeeper. They also hatch a comfortingly familiar point of debate: was there anything that could’ve been done to save it?

We can safely count Zavier Gozo’s wonder goal this weekend among the unsaveable. The Real Salt Lake homegrown has been one of the best players in Major League Soccer’s early weeks, a 19-year-old danger down the right flank who can slot in as a winger or wing back with similar impact. He’s quickly become one of the most proven progressive dribblers in the entire US player pool, and has shot up the scouting priority queues of several major European clubs.

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:00 am

‘Mum, I have to go to Moscow as I am fighting a bear’: Makhmudov on Russia’s grizzlies, God and Tyson Fury

The heavyweight from Dagestan now lives in Canada and describes Saturday’s opponent as the ‘professor’ of boxing

“This guy is the professor,” Arslanbek Makhmudov says of Tyson Fury as he looks forward politely to their fight on Saturday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. There is none of the usual bluster and malice of heavyweight boxing as the huge Russian from Dagestan shows considerable respect for the former world champion who is making yet another comeback to the ring.

“Tyson Fury is the professor of mind and boxing,” Makhmudov continues in his functional but effective English. “A lot of boxing is mental and he is a master. But boxing is also spiritual. I am going to be strong, spiritual and smart. You can say this is a war between mental and spiritual and we’ll see who is more successful. Inshallah it is spiritual.”

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:30 am

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

Scientists identify ‘neural fingerprint’ of psychedelic drugs in the brain

Analysis of more than 500 brain scans finds LSD, psilocybin and other psychedelics increase cross-talk between brain systems

Scientists have identified a hallmark signature produced by psychedelic drugs in the human brain when users experience their mind-altering effects.

The “neural fingerprint” of the psychedelic trip was spotted among hundreds of brain scans of people on LSD, psilocybin, DMT, mescaline and ayahuasca, pointing to a shared impact on the brain’s behaviour.

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:18 pm

California county records sixth person bitten by rattlesnake in under a month

Two fatalities reported in southern California so far, with warmer spring bringing reptiles out on trails earlier

A sixth person has been bitten by a rattlesnake in southern California’s Ventura county in just under a month, two-thirds of the number of people bitten in all of 2025.

Andrew Dowd, a Ventura county fire department spokesperson, said paramedics responded to a call on Sunday for a man who had been bitten by a rattlesnake. The victim said he had been bitten near California State University Channel Islands.

Published: April 6, 2026, 9:24 pm

Iowa can restrict LGBTQ+ books and topics at schools, appellate court rules

Ruling, vacating lower court’s temporary block, applies to classrooms and libraries up to sixth grade

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Iowa can enforce a law that restricts teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ topics with students in kindergarten through the sixth grade and bans some books in libraries and classrooms, an appellate court said on Monday.

The decision for now vacates a lower court judge’s temporary blocks on the law.

Published: April 6, 2026, 9:27 pm

Hatchings of two California bald eagle chicks delight vast livestream audience

Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets emerged from eggs on Easter weekend in Big Bear Valley as watched by thousands online

Over Easter weekend, thousands of people tuned in to celebrate something spectacular unfolding 145 feet up a pine tree in southern California’s San Bernardino national forest – the hatchings of two bald eagle chicks.

Two eaglets were born to Jackie and Shadow, the southern California pair that have become avian celebrities thanks to the webcam that has livestreamed their activities since 2018.

Published: April 6, 2026, 8:53 pm

Wireless festival promoter stands by decision to have Kanye West perform

Performer is being extended ‘forgiveness’ over antisemitic remarks, says Melvin Benn, despite calls for ban

The promoter of Wireless festival has stood by the decision to have Kanye West perform at the event, despite an outcry over the rapper’s antisemitic behaviour and calls to cancel his appearance.

West, who is legally known as Ye, has been criticised for making antisemitic remarks including voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Last year he released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.

Published: April 6, 2026, 9:13 pm

Arizona hiker stung more than 100 times by bees left in critical condition

Man had to be airlifted out of mountain in north Phoenix by rescue teams and was transported to hospital

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A hiker was taken to a hospital in critical condition after bees stung him more than 100 times on an Arizona mountain trail over the Easter weekend – an emergency which required the help of a helicopter crew.

The man reported “over 100 stings” had left him “unable to continue his descent” from the summit of Lookout Mountain Preserve in north Phoenix at about 10am on Saturday, the local fire department said in a statement.

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:29 pm

Jamie Dimon says US should strengthen allies economically, in veiled criticism of Trump

JP Morgan boss warns of risks of higher inflation and interest rates due to Iran war in annual letter to shareholders

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The head of the US’s largest bank has pressed the White House to strengthen Washington’s allies economically in order to “avoid truly adverse consequences”, in the latest intervention in an increasingly testy relationship with the Trump administration.

As the Middle East conflict sparked by US and Israeli attacks on Iran enters its sixth week, Jamie Dimon, the chair and chief executive of JP Morgan Chase, said in his annual letter to shareholders that good US foreign policy should put America first “though not alone”.

Published: April 6, 2026, 3:17 pm

War in Iran is boosting profits for oil and defense companies as US gas prices soar

As Americans struggle with rising prices, Lockheed Martin, Shell and other companies are experiencing gains

Two weeks into the US-Israel war with Iran, the White House was fielding heavy criticism that the conflict would drive up gas prices and frustrate voters. Donald Trump turned to Truth Social to appease Americans about gas prices, which were slowly climbing toward $4 a gallon.

“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” he wrote.

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:00 am

‘A surrender to special interests’: alarm as Utah shields fossil-fuel companies

New legislation comes amid push from big oil, as critics warn polluters’ profits prioritized over Americans’ health

Utah has made it nearly impossible for residents to hold fossil fuel companies legally accountable for climate damages in a move one advocacy group described as putting “profits for the biggest polluters over communities”, with other states expected to follow suit.

The new state legislation comes as part of a push from big oil and its political allies – including groups tied to rightwing impresario Leonard Leo – for legal immunity in red statehouses and Congress, with a goal of winning state and federal legal immunity similar to the liability waiver granted to the firearms industry in 2005.

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:00 am

German mayors call for night-time ban on robot lawnmowers to protect hedgehogs

Leaders say automated mowers’ blades threaten nocturnal animals as studies highlight risks to wildlife

German mayors have called for a nationwide ban on night-time use of robot lawnmowers to protect hedgehogs and other small nocturnal animals from being killed or maimed in the dark.

Recent studies have highlighted the threat lawnmower blades pose to wildlife active between dusk and dawn, prompting growing calls for regulation. Hedgehogs also tend to curl into a ball when threatened rather than running away, making them harder for a robot mower’s sensors to detect.

Published: April 6, 2026, 12:20 pm

‘All we can do now is pray they continue’: Maasai welcome the first rains but know that drought is far from over

Harsh weather is nothing new in Kenya but the country’s climate is showing clear signs of getting hotter and drier

The day is hot and dry but the soil underfoot is soft. “After four months of drought, we received the first rains yesterday,” says Maasai elder Abraham Kampalei. “All we can do now is pray that they continue.”

Kampalei has lived for more than 50 of his 70 years with his family and animals in Oldonyonyokie, a hamlet in southern Kenya’s Kajiado county. He has witnessed the slow decline of the pastures. “I came here because of the abundance of grass for my livestock to graze. Today, there is almost nothing left of it,” he says.

Published: April 6, 2026, 12:00 pm

House Democrats demand end to ‘cruel’ US energy blockade after visit to Cuba

Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan Jackson denounce ‘collective punishment’ amid vast disruption s from US oil blockade

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Two Democratic US lawmakers on Monday called for an end to the “cruel collective punishment” of Cuba after they visited the island to witness the effects of an US energy blockade.

The US House members Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois met with the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, as well as members of Cuba’s parliament during a five-day trip ending on Sunday.

“This is cruel collective punishment – effectively an economic bombing of the infrastructure of the country – that has produced permanent damage,” Jayapal and Jackson said in a statement released on Sunday. “It must stop immediately.”

Published: April 6, 2026, 5:41 pm

Savannah Guthrie returns to Today show for first time since mother’s disappearance

‘Here we go, ready or not, let’s do the news,’ Guthrie said, two months after the disappearance of her mother, Nancy

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Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie made an emotional return to the NBC morning show on Monday, 64 days after her mother, Nancy, was believed to be abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona.

“Welcome to Today on this Monday morning. We are so glad you started your week with us, and it’s good to be home,” Guthrie told viewers.

Published: April 6, 2026, 12:38 pm

New Jersey cannot regulate Kalshi’s prediction market, federal appeals court rules

Commodity Futures Trading Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over sports event contracts, a ‘big win’ for Kalshi

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A federal appeals court ruled on Monday that New Jersey gaming regulators cannot prevent Kalshi from allowing people in the state to use its prediction market to place financial bets on the outcome of sporting events.

A three-judge panel of the Philadelphia-based third US circuit court of appeals ruled 2-1 in finding that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over the sports-related event contracts that Kalshi allows people to trade on its platform.

Published: April 6, 2026, 6:11 pm

‘Traceability is vital’: labs test thousands of unregulated substances amid peptide craze

Experts warn consumers of unknown risks as one lab says about a third of samples fail basic quality checks

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• Is a new weight-loss drug making people fall out of love?

People in the UK are sending thousands of unregulated substances that claim to support weight-loss and wellness to laboratories for testing, as experts say the underground market for injectable peptides has exploded.

The peptide-testing industry has expanded rapidly alongside demand for these substances, with one lab telling the Guardian that a decade ago, they handled a handful of tests a month sent by customers and vendors around the world to check what was in them. Today, they process around 60,000 samples a year, including roughly 2,000 orders from the UK since 2024.

Published: April 6, 2026, 1:59 pm

Ben Roberts-Smith arrested: former Australian soldier to be charged with five war crime murders in Afghanistan

Roberts-Smith previously failed in his attempt to sue three newspapers which published allegations he murdered unarmed civilians and bullied comrades

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Australia’s most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, has been arrested at Sydney airport in relation to alleged war crimes.

The Australian federal police and the Office of the Special Investigator announced details of the investigation in Sydney on Tuesday.

Published: April 7, 2026, 2:47 am

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy reiterates truce offer ahead of Orthodox Easter

Ukrainian president says Russia unlikely to accept – ‘for them, nothing is sacred’; Australian police arrest army reservist for joining war. What we know on day 1,504

Ukraine’s president has renewed his offer to Russia of a mutual ceasefire on strikes against energy infrastructure. “If Russia is ready to stop strikes on our energy infrastructure, we will respond in kind,” he said. “This proposal has been conveyed to the Russian side through the Americans.” Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered last week to observe a ceasefire for Easter, which Orthodox adherents mark on Sunday (13 April) in Russia and Ukraine.

In his remarks on Monday, after an overnight attack on the Black Sea port of Odesa killed three people and injured at least 16, Zelenskyy said Russia appeared unwilling to agree to the ceasefire. “We have repeatedly proposed to Russia a ceasefire at least for Easter,” he said. “But for them, all times are the same. Nothing is sacred.”

Ukrainian drones attacked the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s oil shipping terminal in southern Russia early on Monday, damaging a mooring point and setting four oil tanks on fire, the Russian defence ministry claimed. The Ukrainian army said it had attacked a different terminal in the port of Novorossiysk – without mentioning the CPC, which did not immediately comment. The CPC pipeline handles about 1% of the world’s oil supplies, as well as about 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports.

A reservist in the Australian army has been charged after allegedly working as a drone operator for Ukraine. The 25-year-old man from Felixstow, in the South Australian city of Adelaide, was charged by the Australian Federal Police with working for a foreign military without authorisation, the AAP news agency reported. It is the first time someone has been charged with the offence, with the man facing up to two decades in jail if found guilty. Australian laws limit the work defence personnel can perform with a foreign military, government or company without authorisation. The man allegedly travelled to Ukraine in May 2025 and returned to Australia in January 2026.

A Russian ship carrying wheat believed to have sunk in the Sea of Azov after a drone attack has been found and towed to shore, Russia’s state news agency Tass said on Monday. The death toll has risen to three, it added. Crew abandoned the ship last Friday and made it to shore on Monday, according to Russian reports.

Russia jailed on Monday a former governor of the Kursk border region, where Ukraine’s army broke through in 2024, for 14 years over alleged kickbacks for government contracts related to the construction of fortifications. Since August 2024, the Kremlin has gone after top regional and military officials for failing to stop the incursion – a massive embarrassment for Vladimir Putin. Alexei Smirnov, the former Kursk governor, was “sentenced to 14 years in prison and a fine of 400 million rubles [£3.8m/US$5m]”, a court statement said. Another former Kursk governor, Roman Starovoyt, who led the region until just before the Ukrainian breakthrough, died last year by alleged suicide – a fate that regularly befalls officials who run foul of the Russian president.

Published: April 7, 2026, 12:34 am

Hungary pipeline false-flag claims swirl as JD Vance makes election intervention

Claims explosives found near pipeline come before election in which PM Viktor Orbán is trailing in most polls

Hungary has placed the gas pipeline that straddles the Serbian border under military protection, the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said, as accusations of a false-flag operation continued to swirl before a crunch election at the weekend and an official visit on Tuesday from the US vice-president, JD Vance.

Orbán travelled to Hungary’s southern border with Serbia on Monday, one day after Serbia said it had found “explosives of devastating power” near a pipeline that carries Russian natural gas to Hungary and beyond.

Published: April 7, 2026, 3:56 am

‘Such a mix of people’: Ireland of 1926 was not monocultural, release of census shows

Archive is freely available online from 18 April, revealing the lives, occupations and secrets of 2.9m people

The first years of independent Ireland tend to be remembered, if at all, as a dreary monochrome of parochialism and conservatism.

After the blazing dramas of the 1916 rebellion and the 1919-1921 Anglo-Irish war, the infant state seemed to limp into a grey period of insularity, the dream of freedom giving way to anti-climax and drab conformity.

Published: April 6, 2026, 10:05 am

Becky Shaw review – Alden Ehrenreich shines in dysfunctional dating comedy

Hayes Theater, New York
Ehrenreich is electric alongside The Pitt’s Patrick Ball in this very 2008 send-up of fallout from one disastrous blind date

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more relatable selling point for a New York play than a bad date. The humiliation, disappointment, confusion and hilarity of a date gone awry is an evergreen anecdote, the grist for good gossip and perhaps even better comedy. Such is the pitch of Becky Shaw, Second Stage Theater’s new production of Gina Gionfriddo’s 2008 play, which promises a blind date that, of course, “spirals spectacularly off the rails”. Even nearly 20 years later, one person’s bad date is another’s great theater, though the inciting incident for this taut and frequently funny play’s interpersonal disaster is less romantic horror than four cases of festering emotional trauma. It makes for a strange brew of narcissism, cynicism and manipulation which still somehow, despite its poison, manages to cast a nostalgic glow on the pre-smartphone dating era.

Director Trip Cullman wisely decided against updating the original play’s text for its Broadway debut this season. Instead, the onetime Pulitzer finalist exists, for better and for worse, as a relic of a not-so-distant but totally foreign time to the modern dater. We transport to 2007, an era of flip phones and nude patent leather heels (period-lite costumes by Kaye Voyce), a time when you could plausibly send someone to physically track down the person who has not texted you back. The central foursome in this two-act production, now at the Hayes Theater, may spout dated references to the Green party and the Iraq war, but their archetypes are evergreen: the well-meaning but self-absorbed intellectual, the self-deflecting misanthrope, the self-affirming do-gooder and, last not but least, the perpetual victim.

Published: April 7, 2026, 2:00 am

Trailblazers, trumpets and the theremin: 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

‘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

‘We’re bigger than the news!’ How spine-tingling paranormal show Uncanny took over the world

Knife-wielding skeletons, wild experiments with toilets, an audience with the bassist from The Jam … the team behind the globe-conquering spookfest open up about their astonishing success

‘Oh. Em. Bloody. Gee.” Danny Robins, “high priest of the paranormal”, has removed his trademark red anorak and is pacing around the London Palladium stage telling ghost stories. A phantom baby. A haunted Teams meeting. A … “hairy flasher”. He dissects each tale with parapsychologists Evelyn Hollow (Team Believer) and Ciarán O’Keeffe (Team Sceptic – he exposed Most Haunted’s medium, Derek Acorah, as a fraud in a rift Robins calls “the Biggie and Tupac of the paranormal”). The rapt audience – a harmonious mix of millennials, boomers and gen Z – are eager to share their own stories, too: a woman’s voice quivers into a microphone as she describes a skeleton that wanted to stab her sister. This is the enthralling world of Uncanny.

A lot has happened in the five years since Uncanny started life as a Radio 4 paranormal investigations podcast, with those spine-tingling opening lyrics, “I know what I saw.” In the first episode, The Evil in Room 611, Robins met scientist Ken, who recalled unexplained scares from decades ago in his university halls. Details of an evil dark figure and shaking doors were met with the reaction: “Bloody hell, Ken.” Two experts then shared their theories: parapsychologist Caroline Watt proffered hypnagogic hallucinations, while ordained minster Peter Laws claimed poltergeist activity.

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:19 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

‘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

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

‘I over-articulated to stop my braces sticking to my lips’: how Five Star made Rain Or Shine

‘We performed it everywhere, even on Miss World. Once, on tour, a fan pulled me into the pit – but my hunky Italian security guard put me back on stage’

I had come to England from St Louis, Missouri, in the 1970s to do an album for a singer, and decided to stick around. I was in Slim Chance with Ronnie Lane for a while, and went on tour with Gallagher and Lyle. Then, come the 80s, I started doing more writing and co-wrote songs for Shakin’ Stevens, Elkie Brooks and Paul Young.

Published: April 6, 2026, 1:45 pm

UK minister says Kanye West should not perform at Wireless festival

Bridget Phillipson adds to growing criticism of booking of rapper after his past antisemitic remarks

A senior UK government minister has said Kanye West should be barred from performing at Wireless festival because of his “completely unacceptable and absolutely disgusting” antisemitic remarks.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said she could not comment on whether ministers should heed calls to ban West from entering the country, but said there was “no place for that kind of hatred, bigotry or antisemitism”.

Published: April 6, 2026, 3:34 pm

‘It was a way of processing violences I’ve survived’: how iconoclastic musician Arca beat burnout with frenzied painting

After a meteoric decade in music, supporting the likes of Madonna and Beyoncé, the 36-year-old Venezuelan crashed out. Now the nightmarish paintings that got her back on track are on display

Before Arca had released eight albums, including her Kick pentalogy; before she had collaborated with Björk and Rosalía and supported Beyoncé and Madonna in concert; the electronic musician, real name Alejandra Ghersi, was a young teen in her Caracas bedroom, uploading 3D animations to DeviantArt, the early-00s social media site for artists.

“As many renderings as my family’s computer could handle,” the 36-year-old recalls. This interest in visual art comes full circle when the musician opens her first institutional exhibition at the ICA in London.

Published: April 6, 2026, 11:04 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

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

The unlikely appeal of barefoot hiking: ‘It makes you feel quite primal’

From clay trails in Seoul to remote Australian coastlines, a small but growing number of hikers are hitting the trail unshod. But what happens when you feel the ground beneath your feet?

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When Gen Blades set out to hike South Korea’s Namsan Dulle-gil trail, she didn’t expect to be slipping her boots off halfway along the track.

An outdoor education lecturer and researcher based in Castlemaine, Victoria, Blades was tackling the 147km trail in Seoul when the terrain abruptly changed. Ahead lay a damp stretch of clay – known as “hwangto” – designed for barefoot walking. Naturally, she dived in feetfirst.

“There’s something about that direct contact of the sole of your foot in the clay. It almost feels like mud,” she says. “But then you realise, ‘Oh yeah, it’s oozing up between my toes!’”

Published: April 6, 2026, 3:00 pm

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

Can’t face another mouthful of chicken? You’re probably coming down with the ick

One minute you can’t get enough southern fried drumsticks or peri-peri wings, the next it all tastes foul. Here’s how a psychologist explains it

Name: The chicken ick.

Age: Chickens have been around since, well, eggs …

Published: April 6, 2026, 4:05 pm

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

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

Arab Americans in Michigan warn centrist Democrats attacking Hasan Piker: ‘They haven’t learned from 2024’

Heated debate in a key swing state probably marks a preview of things to come as the midterms ramp up

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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 probably 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

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

Racing pigeons, Tokyo go-karts and Gouda for breakfast: Monday’s photos of the day

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

Published: April 6, 2026, 1:39 pm