Trump’s ego-trip war has collided with economic reality but he can’t undo the damage | Rafael Behr

The US president’s doctrine of lawless military adventures harms American interests and boosts Vladimir Putin

Waging war with no fixed purpose means victory can be declared at any point. Donald Trump’s motives for launching Operation Epic Fury against Iran were incoherent at the start. They are no clearer now that he has declared it “very complete, pretty much”.

US and Israeli bombs have caused death and destruction, shaking but not toppling the government in Tehran. Among the targets was the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. He has been replaced by his son – an “unacceptable” candidate in the US president’s evaluation.

Published: March 11, 2026, 5:00 am

A moment that changed me: I was planning to be a musician – then I had my ears syringed

Until that point, all my life’s dreams revolved around becoming a saxophonist. But with sudden and significant hearing loss, I had to face up to a new reality

The first sign that something was wrong was a static noise that emerged suddenly in my left ear. It was 2008 and a doctor had just syringed my ears, washing out the antibiotic drops she had prescribed a week earlier, and which had rendered my world temporarily muffled. I was so relieved the drops were out that I didn’t question the strange new noise. I simply thanked her and left.

As I lay on my pillow that night, trying to ignore the new whooshing sound in my ear, a puzzling crunching noise caught my attention. My brain tried to unscramble the disturbance until, confused and now wide awake, I lifted my head up, only to realise it was our grandfather clock, chiming away the hour. My left ear, I realised, was no longer hearing sounds as they really were.

Published: March 11, 2026, 6:45 am

Amazon is determined to use AI for everything – even when it slows down work

Corporate employees said Amazon’s race to roll out AI is leading to surveillance, slop and ‘more work for everyone’.

When Dina, a software developer based in New York, joined Amazon two years ago, her job was to write code. Now, it’s mostly fixing what artificial intelligence breaks.

The internal AI tool she’s expected to use, called Kiro, frequently hallucinates and generates flawed code, she says. Then she has to dig through and correct the sloppy code it creates, or just revert all changes and start again. She says it feels like “trying to AI my way out of a problem that AI caused”.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:00 am

Ron Howard, Emma Rice, Neil Tennant and more on Liza Minnelli: ‘She holidayed in my Cornish bungalow’

The showbiz legend has spent her whole life in the spotlight. As she turns 80, her friends and collaborators share their stories from Hollywood singalongs to acid house raves

I first met Liza in 1963 when I was playing Eddie in a movie called The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. I was seven years old and I got this choice role, which was directed by the great Vincent Minnelli. There were no other kids on this movie, so I had a welfare worker who was also the studio teacher, and I was alone in my little second-grade classroom. But one day, Vincent introduced me to his daughter, who he said was just going to hang around.

Published: March 11, 2026, 5:00 am

My mother’s best advice: learn to raise one eyebrow at the world

It took almost a year of practice and then I was too embarrassed to show off my talent. But finally, during a stage performance, I elevated a solitary brow and the crowd went wild

When I was about 10, my mother mentioned something to me about the advantage of being able to raise one eyebrow. I can’t remember quite how she put it – I think she described it as an actor’s trick, a useful skill for conveying inner thoughts.

We both spent a couple of minutes trying to lift one eyebrow without the other following it. Neither of us could manage it. It was harder than Mr Spock made it look, and possibly not so much an acting skill as a genetic predisposition, like being able to roll your tongue.

Published: March 11, 2026, 5:00 am

Project Hail Mary review – Ryan Gosling’s charm carries unserious last-ditch space mission

Tale of a brilliant molecular biologist cast into outer space with only a helpful alien for company is a bit silly, but Gosling’s charisma keeps it watchable

This is a movie, adapted from Andy Weir’s sci-fi bestseller, about a desperate astronaut mission of the future, named by Nasa after the “Hail Mary pass” in American football, launched into space in a last-ditch attempt to save Planet Earth, dying because a string of alien microbes are snuffing out the sun.

Hunky high school science teacher Dr Ryland Grace, played with seductive, unruffled good humour by Ryan Gosling, wakes up from his induced coma on this spacecraft, with wacky long hair, straggly beard and zero memory of why he is aboard. The rest of the crew are dead, and Grace must now figure out how he got there and how to rescue humanity.

Published: March 10, 2026, 1:00 pm

Middle East crisis live: Claims new Iranian supreme leader ‘safe’ despite war injuries; ships hit in strait of Hormuz

Comments come amid speculation over the health and whereabouts of Khamenei; Thai navy responds to attack on bulk carrier

• How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

Over in Senate question time, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has confirmed embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and the consulate in Dubai all physically closed in the last week.

Wong said the government’s number one priority is to “keep Australians safe at home and abroad”.

She continued:

“The dangerous and destabilising attacks by Iran put civilian lives at risk, including Australian lives.”

More than 3,200 Australians over 23 commercial flights have returned to Australia since the US and Israel attacked Iran, setting off a regional conflict and grounding thousands of international flights.

Wong criticised Nationals senators for “winding up people and stoking fear” to panic buy fuel.

The senator said:

“Petrol companies are telling us that fuel stock continues to arrive as expected and on time but there has been a large change in the pattern of demand and that is having an effect on the supply, particularly in regional communities. We have seen jerry cans coming off the shelves at Bunnings and lines at the pump.”

One of the two members of the Iranian women’s football teams provided with a humanitarian visa to stay in Australia has changed her mind and contacted the Iranian embassy, according to the country’s home affairs minister.

In Australia, people are able to change their mind, people are able to travel. So, we respect the context in which she has made that decision.

Unfortunately, in making that decision, she had been advised by her teammates and coach to contact the Iranian embassy and get collected … As a result of that, it meant that the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:20 am

US releases footage of strikes on mine-laying vessels in strait of Hormuz – video

The US military said it attacked and destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait of Hormuz amid reports that Iran has begun laying explosive devices in the strategically vital waterway. About one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said this week it will not allow even 'one litre of oil' to leave the region if US-Israeli attacks continue. On Tuesday, Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that 'if Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!' Less than two hours later, the US military released unclassified footage of its attacks on mine-laying vessels

• Middle East crisis live: Claims new Iranian supreme leader ‘safe’ despite war injuries; ships hit in strait of Hormuz

• US attacks Iran’s mine-laying boats in strait of Hormuz as tensions rise over oil

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:19 am

IEA reportedly proposes largest release of stockpiled oil to reduce crude price

Decision expected on whether to use reserves amid supply shortages and market volatility caused by Iran war

• Business live – latest updates

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

The International Energy Agency is reportedly proposing the largest release of oil reserves in its history to bring down crude prices that have soared during the US and Israel’s war on Iran.

The release would outstrip the 182m barrels of oil put on the market by IEA countries across two releases in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed officials.

Published: March 11, 2026, 9:49 am

Iranian exile factions vie for US leaders’ blessing to lead Iran

Maga world figures throw weight behind Maryam Rajavi, MEK’s leader, and Reza Pahlavi, the son of last Shah of Iran

As a US battle group steamed to the Gulf in November 2002, competing Iraqi exiles, some championed by American insiders, jockeyed for position in the hopes of taking charge once George W Bush toppled Saddam Hussein. Bloomberg dubbed them “Iraq’s unruly opposition”.

The most notorious Iraqi exile, failed former banker Ahmad Chalabi, boasted to his neoconservative allies that his return to Baghdad would be welcomed by cheering throngs. Among his competition was a former doctor named Ayad Allawi, who was backed by Britain’s MI6 and the Central Intelligence Agency in his bid for support to rule Iraq.

Published: March 11, 2026, 9:00 am

Why Iran’s vital Kharg Island oil hub is still untouched by US-Israel bombers

While some argue for destroying the terminal through which 90% of Iran’s oil exports flow, others caution of a global market ‘tailspin’

Kharg Island – through which 90% of Iran’s oil exports flow – is arguably the country’s most sensitive economic target but the export terminal has so far remained untouched throughout the US-Israel bombing campaign.

Experts say bombing or capturing the site with US forces would be likely to cause a sustained increase to already surging oil prices, as it would amount to taking the entirety of Iran’s daily crude exports offline.

Published: March 11, 2026, 6:00 am

Democrat and Republican head to Georgia runoff election for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s seat – US politics live

Shawn Harris to face Clay Fuller in special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress

Jeffrey Epstein’s former accountant who went on to become the executor of his estate, Richard Kahn, will face questions behind closed doors today before the House Oversight Committee.

Kahn, who was associated with the paedophile for over a decade, managing investments and finances in his final years. He was also responsible for renovations on Epstein’s Caribbean island.

I think the Republican party is going to unite around us because they know that the Democrat is too dangerous. We can’t have a Democrat representing Georgia 14. That would be a tragedy for our community, a tragedy for Georgia 14 and a tragedy for the Maga movement.

The way I’m going to go to Congress is that it’s going to be a coalition of Democrats, independents and Republicans.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:23 am

Experts fear ‘unethical’ vaccine trial in Africa is ‘prototype’ for US studies under RFK Jr

Danish researchers whose work on effects of vaccines has been called into question are at center of US vaccine policy

New details are leading experts to fear that an “unethical” vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau is the “prototype” for studies under Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US department of health and human services (HHS) and longtime vaccine critic.

At the center of US vaccine policy is an unlikely set of Danish researchers whose work on the health effects of vaccines has been called into question. The study in Guinea-Bissau would have looked at the overall health effects of giving hepatitis B vaccines by only vaccinating half of the newborns in the study at birth despite an 18% prevalence rate in adults of the illness, which can lead to serious and sometimes fatal health consequences.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:00 am

Hasty redeployment of US missiles from South Korea to Middle East leaves Seoul rattled

South Korea’s president has sought to reassure the public that the country is able to deter threats from the North

It has been almost a decade since the sleepy South Korean village of Seongju was transformed overnight into a key location in the country’s ability to counter an attack from North Korea.

Early on a spring morning, camouflaged trucks carrying the US-made terminal high-altitude area defense (THAAD) missile-defence system rolled into Seongju, as the country’s government ignored protests from locals who said the deployment would make them a target for Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles.

Published: March 11, 2026, 5:27 am

Trump’s pick for state department role withdraws after backlash over past ‘anti-Israel’ and race remarks

Failure to appoint Jeremy Carl is a rare setback for Trump, with Republican-controlled Senate mostly approving his appointments

Donald Trump’s nominee for a top diplomatic post has been withdrawn from consideration after a growing backlash over his past remarks on race and Jewish people left him without crucial Republican support.

Jeremy Carl, who had been tapped to serve as the assistant secretary of state for international organisations – a role overseeing US policy towards bodies such as the UN – announced on Tuesday that he was stepping aside after failing to secure unanimous backing from Republicans on the Senate foreign relations committee.

Published: March 11, 2026, 5:09 am

‘Happy (and safe) shooting!’: chatbots helped researchers plot deadly attacks

Users posing as would-be school shooters find AI tools offer detailed advice on how to perpetrate violence

Popular AI chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks including bombing synagogues and assassinating politicians, with one telling a user posing as a would-be school shooter: “Happy (and safe) shooting!”

Tests of 10 chatbots carried out in the US and Ireland found that, on average, they enabled violence three-quarters of the time, and discouraged it in just 12% of cases. Some chatbots, however, including Anthropic’s Claude and Snapchat’s My AI, persistently refused to help would-be attackers.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:05 am

Shia LaBeouf cleared to travel to Rome for father’s baptism days after court denial

A different New Orleans judge approved the trip while the actor remains out on bond in Mardi Gras battery case

Shia LaBeouf ultimately did get permission to travel to his father’s baptism in Rome, days after the New Orleans courthouse handling the actor’s recent battery arrest initially denied his request to make the trip.

LaBeouf, 39, first sought authorization to travel to the Italian capital while out on bond at a court hearing on 26 February, during which state judge Simone Levine ordered him to enroll in substance abuse treatment. A court filing associated with the request said the trip would last from 1 to 8 March and was planned “for religious purposes, including his father’s baptism”.

Published: March 11, 2026, 9:00 am

Mike Johnson refuses to condemn anti-Muslim comments by Republican lawmakers

Andy Ogles said Muslims do not belong in the US and Randy Fine made a comparison of Muslims to dogs

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Mike Johnson, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, on Tuesday declined to condemn Republican lawmakers who recently made Islamophobic comments, saying only that he had spoken to them about their “tone”.

Democrats and groups advocating religious tolerance have decried the statements from congressmen Andy Ogles of Tennessee and Randy Fine of Florida, with the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, calling on Johnson to discipline the latter.

Published: March 10, 2026, 9:49 pm

Wegovy users have five times greater risk of sudden sight loss than Ozempic users, study finds

‘Eye strokes’ that reduce blood flow to optic nerve likely to be side-effect of active ingredient semaglutide, says author

Patients taking Wegovy have nearly five times the risk of sudden sight loss of those on Ozempic, a large-scale study has found.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) medicines such as semaglutide (sold as Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus) and tirzepetide (sold as Mounjaro) help reduce blood sugar levels, slow digestion and reduce appetite, and have been linked to reduced risks of heart attack, fewer drug overdoses and other health benefits.

Published: March 10, 2026, 10:30 pm

Expert witness in Lucy Letby trial did not reveal hospital investigation into his medical work

Cheshire police and CPS say they were not told about inquiry into Prof Peter Hindmarsh before he gave evidence at nurse’s trial

The police force behind the prosecution of the former nurse Lucy Letby has said it was not informed by a key expert witness before he gave evidence at her trial that he was under investigation over serious concerns in his medical work.

The Crown Prosecution Service also told the Guardian it was not aware that Prof Peter Hindmarsh was subject to the formal investigation by the hospital that employed him, before his first appearance as a witness on 25 November 2022.

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:00 am

José Antonio Kast, the Pinochet fan about to swerve Chile to the far right

The new president won office by promising to clean up crime, but his background is red rag to a bull for many

Just south of Santiago, the tiny rural town of Paine is a quiet grid of painted abode facades, shaded squares and shuttered shop fronts as the summer holidays draw to a close.

But the white-knuckle fear of crime that propelled its most famous son, José Antonio Kast, to a resounding victory in December’s presidential election is as present in sleepy Paine as it is the length of Chile.

Published: March 11, 2026, 8:00 am

‘If I go home, we don’t have enough money’: the low-paid Filipino workers caught up in the war on Iran

Filipino carer Mary Ann De Vera was the first victim of the war in Israel, while thousands of others remain in vulnerable positions across the Middle East

Sirens warning of Iranian missiles blare out so frequently that Joycee Pelayo, a Filipino living near to Tel Aviv, doesn’t leave the house any more. Each time an alert sounds, she rushes to help the older man she cares for, supporting him into a wheelchair, then down the steps into a nearby shelter.

“Last night, there were three alerts. We received it at about 2am, in the middle of the night, and then 3am, and then 4am,” says Pelayo.

Published: March 11, 2026, 3:00 am

Toronto’s snow mountains: towering peaks that refuse to melt and leave a toxic trail

Reaching up to 100ft, these massive piles contain tonnes of salt that keep roads clear – but pose environmental risks

Most mountains take tens of millions of years to form. Toronto’s newest mountain took just days.

Towering atop the crowns of evergreens, it has no skeleton of limestone or granite. There are no spires, cornices or headwalls. It is simply piles upon piles of snow, mixed with a toxic cocktail of road salt, antifreeze, oil, coffee cups and lost keys. It is the final resting place for the forces of nature that have battered the city in recent weeks – and a daunting environmental hazard.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:00 am

‘My family was threatened multiple times’: Arab-American rockers Prostitute on confronting an Islamophobic US

The Michigan band satirically adopt Muslim stereotypes in their songs, pushing back against post-9/11 hate. As their incendiary debut is reissued, they explain their ‘evil’ music

‘I’m the motherfucker who took down the towers,” screams Prostitute’s Moe Kazra on All Hail, opening their nightmarish, theatrical debut album Attempted Martyr. Over crushing fusions of industrial punk with elements of Middle Eastern, African and east Asian music, the band explores the vilification of Arabs in a post-9/11 US by inhabiting vicious characterisations – ones levelled at their Arab-majority community in Dearborn, Michigan. “A lot of Arabs in the area are coming to us and being like ‘that was very potent’, or ‘that was beautiful’. I didn’t really expect that,” says Kazra, who is Lebanese American. “The music is evil.”

The album’s lyric sheet, written by Kazra and drummer Andrew Kaster who join me on a call, is a flurry of violent fantasies, paranoid ramblings and literary references ranging from The Arabian Nights to Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Written when they formed in 2020 but only self-released in late 2024, it became a sleeper hit with punk fans. Now signed to Mute, which will reissue the record this week, they are among the most exciting, unorthodox breakthroughs in recent American rock.

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:49 am

My stay in Switzerland’s oldest mountain inn – where winter sports aren’t allowed

Perched high above a frozen lake, Grimsel Hospiz in the Bernese Oberland offers an unusual winter escape, with gourmet food, a hot tub, star-filled skies and no distractions

Near the top of the Grimsel Pass in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland, a small crowd had gathered to take photographs. We were surrounded by bulky mountains and rippling glaciers, but all eyes were focused on a silvery granite chalet with apple-red shutters, its foundations deep in snow.

It was early February and, one after another, we posed in front of it as if standing beside a celebrity. Which in a way we were, because the proud building was the Grimsel Hospiz, the country’s oldest recorded mountain inn and a place that predates Westminster Abbey.

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:00 am

Why F1 the Movie should win the best picture Oscar

It may not be in pole position, but Brad Pitt and director Joseph Kosinski’s sleek, technically inventive ode to motor racing definitely qualifies for the Academy podium

Could, should, would F1 the Movie win the best picture Oscar? Well, we have to be realistic here: F1 is currently a massive outsider, at 200-1 along with The Secret Agent, which has no chance either but for very different reasons. It’s not hard to see why: this is a swaggeringly mainstream film, where tech and branding dwarf the human input, with the film itself acting as a front-end battering ram for a sports organisation desperate to break into the promised land of the US auto racing circuit. (I mean it’s right there in the title.) So even the most reactionary, conservative Academy voter is going to find it hard to mark F1 with their tick. So no, I don’t think it could win.

That’s not to say F1 doesn’t have quite a bit going for it. The Oscars, as we know, have historically had a problem with so-called “popular” films; Oppenheimer, in 2024, was the first best picture winner in two decades to finish in the Top 10 box office of the year. Whether or not that is a reflection of Hollywood itself, which since the mid-00s has concentrated its money and marketing into increasingly elaborate FX films to the detriment of drama and performance, is a question expanded on endlessly elsewhere. Suffice to say, F1 is definitely in that league, though not actually Top 10 (14th in the North American list for 2025); its ownership by Apple TV+ may have complicated things, denting its impact as a movie theatre spectacle.

Published: March 11, 2026, 8:00 am

Apple iPad Air M4 review: still the premium tablet to beat

Faster laptop-level power, rapid wifi and 5G, plus much-improved multitasking make the middle iPad highly capable beyond just watching TV

The latest iPad Air is faster in almost all facets, packing not just a processor upgrade but improvements to most of the internal bits that make the tablet work, providing laptop-grade power in a skinny, adaptable touchscreen device.

The new iPad Air M4 costs from the same £599 (€649/$599/A$999) as the outgoing M3 model from last year and again comes in two sizes. One with an 11in screen, which is the best size for most people and a more expensive 13in screen version, which is ideal if you want a second TV or a laptop replacement.

Screen: 11in or 13in Liquid Retina display (264ppi)

Processor: Apple M4 (8-core CPU/9-core GPU)

RAM: 12GB

Storage: 128, 256, 512GB or 1TB

Operating system: iPadOS 26.3

Camera: 12MP rear, 12MP centre stage

Connectivity: Wifi 7, 5G (eSim-only), Bluetooth 6, USB-C (USB3), Touch ID, Smart Connecter

Dimensions: 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1mm or 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1mm

Weight: 464g or 616g

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:00 am

If plant-based foods must be more honest, let’s do the same for meat – fancy some ‘cow muscle’? | Deirdra Barr

EU rules banning terms such as ‘bacon’ for veggie products are problematic, btw cow muscle = steak

Last week, European policymakers decided that plant-based foods should no longer be marketed with terms such as “chicken”, “bacon” or “steak”. The fear seems to be that shoppers might accidentally buy veggie bacon thinking it came from an actual pig. The change applies to the UK too, because of our trade agreement with Europe.

After considerable pushback from organisations including the one I work with, the Vegetarian Society, and many food brands, words such as “burger”, “nuggets” and “sausage” – as in, vegan sausage rolls – are still permitted, provided the packaging makes clear they are plant-based. But even those allowances could yet be revisited.

Deirdra Barr is director of marketing and communications at the Vegetarian Society

Published: March 11, 2026, 6:00 am

‘LOL THAT’S IT?’: politics aside, the UFC’s White House card isn’t worth the price of admission | Karim Zidan

Donald Trump promised that June’s event would bring us some of the greatest fights in history. The truth appears to be rather different

When Donald Trump first announced that the White House would host a UFC event to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary, the US president told supporters it would be a “big deal”. Evidence over the last week suggests that, not for the first time, Trump may be exaggerating a little.

Trump has promised a spectacle unlike anything the UFC has staged before. “They’re going to have eight or nine championship fights – the biggest fights they’ve ever had,” Trump said in December of plans for the White House event. “Every one is a championship fight, and every one is a legendary type of fight.”

Published: March 11, 2026, 9:00 am

The US World Cup is facing two crises: a financial mess – and ICE | Nellie Pou

Fewer than 100 days out, host cities haven’t received promised funding, and fears about ICE’s presence are widespread

On Sunday 19 July, the final match of the 2026 Fifa World Cup will be played in East Rutherford, New Jersey. For one day, our community will be the center of the world.

But as that moment approaches, I find myself spending less time thinking about the games at MetLife Stadium, and more time worrying about whether we are ready. Because if Washington doesn’t get its act together, we risk turning a generational opportunity into an international embarrassment.

Published: March 10, 2026, 2:00 pm

The US-Israeli strategy failed to defeat Iran quickly – now they are moving to plan B | Paul Rogers

It’s called the Dahiya doctrine – and the IDF and US air force are using it to destroy domestic support in Iran

• Paul Rogers is emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford University and author of Losing Control: International Security in the 21st Century

Given the wall-to-wall coverage of the US and its war on Iran, it looks very much like Trump is the key player. He is not. The United States may have far more military power than Israel, but the key player is Benjamin Netanyahu.

Moreover, the Israeli prime minister has fallen into a trap of his own making, and is dragging Trump and the US military into that same trap. For Israel, and indirectly for the US, the war has to end in total victory. Anything less is pointless.

Paul Rogers is emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford University and author of Losing Control: International Security in the 21st Century

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:00 am

I clicked on an Instagram post about a happy dog – and opened a hellish portal | Polly Hudson

Little did I know this cheerful animal had just died. Ever since, my algorithm has been serving me up more of the same ...

I’m arriving at the social media party so late that the lights are on and the floor is being swept. As a result, I’ve only recently learned that if you look at anything for two seconds, it teaches your algorithm that this is all you want to see. A cheerful dog was the gateway drug. Now, I am accidentally on Death Instagram. It is not very LOL.

The lengthy caption on Fido’s joyful, tail-waggy photo unfortunately revealed that he’d just crossed the rainbow bridge. This information was not delivered succinctly, though, meaning I lingered long enough to inform Mark Zuckerberg that this was very much my jam.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:00 am

It’s shock and awe as Trump’s granddaughter does her bit for the war effort. All hail Kai Trump, the shopper-in-chief | Marina Hyde

Yes, many Americans are struggling, but it’s good to know the first family can still afford Earth’s most expensive provisions. Morale is everything, isn’t it?

In the absence of any clearly and consistently stated aims from the US administration, maybe each day of the Iran war just needs a moodboard description. In which case, Sunday was a tale of two nepo babies. In Iran, the high-level executive search for the new ayatollah concluded that the old ayatollah’s son was the best man for the position. It’s not for me to assess his job prospects, but you’d hope his supermarket order doesn’t contain any “ripen at home” pears.

Meanwhile, across the world, in LA, Donald Trump’s eldest granddaughter posted a YouTube video titled “I Brought My Secret Service to Erewhon”. By way of background, Erewhon is Earth’s most pretentiously extravagant hipster food shop, and, as Kai was at pains to brag, “the most expensive grocery store pretty much out there. Everything’s crazy expensive! So we’re going to get my favourite stuff.”

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Published: March 10, 2026, 1:52 pm

Let’s be blunt – British people need to stop being so polite | Polly Hudson

I’ve spent my adult years fighting to pay the bill, drinking insultingly weak cups of tea and making small talk on the bus. But life is too short

Sunday lunch guests often check in the day before, but this text was different. Rather than making sure of the time, or wondering what to bring, it was a bold, direct question. “Is it cold in your house?”

I stared at my phone screen in awe. This was revolutionary. I’ve been freezing in so many homes, but it had never occurred to me to make temperature inquiries in advance so I could wear a thicker jumper or thermals. Even if I’d had the idea, I probably wouldn’t have followed through for fear of appearing rude, preferring instead to slowly lose the feeling in my toes. But here was proof that, for a host, this kind of query is welcome – after all, most people want their guests to be comfortable and have a nice time, unless they’re a dominatrix.

Published: March 10, 2026, 3:14 pm

The Guardian view on Europe’s response to the Iran crisis: damage limitation only goes so far | Editorial

The US-Israeli bombardment has once again underlined Donald Trump’s indifference to international law. A stronger EU can be a vital counterweight

When European leaders were blindsided in January by Donald Trump’s unilateral abduction of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, their immediate response was to hedge their bets. Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, affirmed that the principles of international law must always be respected, but also asserted that Mr Maduro lacked legitimacy. As a new Trump-compliant leadership emerged in Caracas, Europe’s attention drifted to crises closer to home.

The dilemmas and dangers posed by Mr Trump’s war of choice in Iran – again initiated with no attempt to consult allies or gain US congressional approval – are not so easily swerved. The US president has berated and mocked Sir Keir Starmer over a lack of full-throated support for his latest military adventure. He has threatened Spain with a trade embargo, after its prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, described the joint US-Israeli assault on Tehran as “unjustified and dangerous”, and refused to sanction the use of military bases. Even Mr Trump’s close ideological ally, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is under pressure from an electorate deeply hostile to involvement in another open-ended Middle East conflict with unpredictable consequences.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Published: March 10, 2026, 6:49 pm

The Guardian view on gen Z: young men hold startling views about women – inequality may be to blame | Editorial

Bad actors have treated equality as a zero sum game, with women falsely portrayed as ‘winning’. Feeling they have to compete, young men are lashing out

Last week, results from a global survey signalled a rise in worrying attitudes towards women among young men. A team from the pollsters Ipsos and King’s College London found that nearly a third (31%) of gen Z men believe that a woman should always obey her husband, a fifth (21%) believe that she should never initiate sex, and 33% believe that women should let their husbands have the final word on important decisions.

There’s a limit to how much can be drawn from a worldwide survey that draws averages from vastly different cultures and economies. We cannot ask respondents what they meant by their answers, nor how they reconcile apparently contradictory views: younger men are more likely than older generations to call themselves feminists and to find successful women attractive, yet some also say women should be subordinate. Nor does the data tell us whether the same men hold these views.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Published: March 10, 2026, 6:47 pm

Oksana Masters roars to Paralympic redemption at Milano Cortina with 11th gold medal

• Masters powers past Kim for sprint gold redemption

• American claims 11th Paralympic gold medal at age 36

• Chernobyl-born star extends remarkable medal haul

Oksana Masters’ 11th Paralympic gold medal was “redemption” for the most decorated American Winter Paralympian.

And it was clear just how much it meant to her. Masters screamed loudly several times in delight after winning the women’s sprint sitting discipline in Para cross-country skiing on Tuesday at Milan Cortina.

Published: March 10, 2026, 5:10 pm

Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics 2026: day four – in pictures

We take a look at the best images from the Games, including skiing, curling and ice hockey

Published: March 10, 2026, 2:47 pm

USA in jeopardy at World Baseball Classic after stunning loss to Italy

• Italy stun USA 8-6 to shake up WBC quarter-final race

• Crow-Armstrong hits two HRs but rally falls short

• Japan finish group unbeaten as Murakami hits slam

Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci and Jac Caglianone homered as Italy built a big lead and held on to stun the United States 8-6 Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic.

The US are done with pool play at Houston’s Daikin Park and need the Italians to beat Mexico Wednesday night to be guaranteed a spot in the quarter-finals. If Mexico beat Italy, the three teams will be knotted at 3-1 and the winners will be determined by a tiebreaker, with the team that allowed the most runs eliminated.

Published: March 11, 2026, 4:54 am

Miami’s Bam Adebayo erupts for 83 points, second only to Wilt in NBA history

• Adebayo scores 83 points in historic Heat victory

• Only Chamberlain’s 100 points stands higher

• Career night comes at home with mother watching

It’s Wilt, then Bam.

Bam Adebayo had a night for all time on Tuesday, with a point total second to only Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA record books. Adebayo scored 83 points, setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards.

Published: March 11, 2026, 4:12 am

Raiders say Ravens have backed out of blockbuster trade for star pass rusher Maxx Crosby

• Baltimore reportedly concerned over knee issues

• Raiders were to receive first-round picks in deal

The Las Vegas Raiders say Baltimore have “backed out” of the trade that was supposed to send star pass rusher Maxx Crosby to the Ravens for two first-round draft picks.

The deal was agreed last Friday but couldn’t be finalized until the start of the league year on Wednesday. The Raiders announced on Tuesday evening that Baltimore have backed out of the deal. “We will have no further comment at this time,” the Raiders said in their statement.

Published: March 11, 2026, 1:31 am

Three years and 89 games unbeaten: how NYU became basketball’s unlikeliest dynasty

On a basement court in Greenwich Village, the New York University women’s basketball team have quietly become the sport’s most improbable juggernaut

When you think of New York City basketball, certain names and places immediately come to mind. Walt Frazier, Bernard King and Patrick Ewing patrolling the Madison Square Garden cedar. Latter-day torchbearers like Stephon Marbury, Jalen Brunson, Chamique Holdsclaw and Breanna Stewart. The rich lore beyond the storied college haunts of Rose Hill Gym and Carnesecca Arena that stretches from Harlem’s Rucker Park to the Cage on West 4th Street to Dyckman Oval in Washington Heights, the blacktop domains of playground legends like Earl “The Goat” Manigault, Pee Wee Kirkland and Rafer “Skip To My Lou” Alston.

What you don’t normally think about is New York University, the downtown school better known for its academic clout, interwoven Greenwich Village campus, celebrity alumni and $5.9bn endowment than for any of its sports teams. Yet it’s here, inside a 2,000-seat basement gym tucked two floors beneath Bleecker Street, where the Violets have quietly built one of the most dominant programs in college basketball today.

Published: March 11, 2026, 10:00 am

Igor Tudor says he was protecting Kinsky with Spurs substitution at Atlético

• Goalkeeper replaced in 17th minute of defeat by Atlético

• ‘It was necessary to preserve the guy, preserve the team’

Igor Tudor insisted that giving the 22-year-old Antonin Kinsky just his second start of the season and then taking him off again in the 17th minute of Tottenham’s humiliating 5-2 defeat at Atlético Madrid was the right decision, with the interim head coach saying he did so to protect the goalkeeper.

Kinsky, playing in place of Guglielmo Vicario, was withdrawn after two dreadful errors handed Atlético the first and third goals, with his teammates Connor Gallagher, Dominic Solanke and João Palhinha following up the tunnel to offer their support.

Published: March 10, 2026, 11:57 pm

Debate over Arsenal’s style masks an undeniable march toward greatness | Barney Ronay

Team’s path to a quadruple appears manageable – give Mikel Arteta and co serious credit for getting to this position

Cruyff’s Ajax, Messi’s Barcelona, Rice’s Arsenal. Stein, Michels, Ferguson, Arteta. The Dark Side of the Moon, The Very Best of The Beatles, Arsenal 2025-26 highlights DVD. Total Football, tiki-taka, hugging the goalie at corners. Get ready. Make room among the greats. It may just be coming.

And yes, you can laugh at this on the internet. You can pull-quote excerpts with mocking emojis. Throw in some Niles from Frasier has really lost it stuff. You can point, with justification, to the fact these other people, the actual greats, did it for a long time, not just one year.

Published: March 10, 2026, 6:11 pm

Infantino insists Trump has assured him Iran are ‘welcome’ to play at 2026 World Cup

• Fifa president posts message after meeting with Trump

• Iran due to play all three group matches in the US

Donald Trump has said Iran are “welcome” to play at the upcoming World Cup, despite the ongoing war in the Middle East, according to Gianni Infantino.

Fifa’s president said that during a meeting with Trump to discuss preparations for the competition, “we also spoke about the current situation in Iran”.

Published: March 11, 2026, 8:30 am

Clubs propose radical redistribution of riches to avoid ‘predictable’ Champions League

• Union of European Clubs wants to help non-elite teams

• Its plan relates to revenue from Uefa club competitions

Competitive balance across Europe’s leagues would be transformed with the adoption of a new model for distributing revenue from the Champions League and other Uefa club competitions, according to a proposal by the Union of European Clubs (UEC).

Clubs competing in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League benefit this season from a bumper €3.317bn (£2.87bn) prize pot, culled from annual €4.4bn revenue primarily generated by media rights sales. Only €308m of the latter figure is divided among clubs who did not reach those competitions, in the form of solidarity payments.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:00 am

Noma loses major sponsors for Los Angeles events after reports of abuse

American Express and Blackbird cut ties with restaurant after René Redzepi accused of abusing his staff

After allegations emerged this week that René Redzepi had abused his staff at Noma, once considered the world’s best restaurant, sponsors on Tuesday announced they would end their support for the chef’s upcoming events in Los Angeles.

The New York Times reported that American Express and the hospitality company Blackbird have cut ties with Noma ahead of the Copenhagen restaurant’s four-month pop-up in LA, which was set to kick off this week.

Published: March 10, 2026, 7:29 pm

Trump names Erika Kirk to key advisory board of US Air Force Academy

Widow of murdered rightwing activist Charlie Kirk replaces husband on 16-member panel of military training facility

Donald Trump has appointed Erika Kirk, the widow of murdered rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, to a key advisory board of the US Air Force Academy.

The 37-year-old joins a number of other loyalists to the president on the 16-member panel of the academy’s board of visitors, which according to its website “inquires into the morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods and other matters” of the Colorado Springs military training facility.

Published: March 10, 2026, 6:43 pm

Trump reportedly gifts cabinet members and White House visitors with Florsheim shoes

Some administration officials snipe about having to wear middling footwear instead of their upmarket favorites

• US politics live – latest updates

Sitting behind the Resolute desk, Donald Trump fixed his gaze on JD Vance’s and Marco Rubio’s feet. “Marco, JD, you guys have s—y shoes,” said the US president, consulting a catalogue and asking their shoe size. Rubio said 11.5 and Vance 13. Trump leaned back in his chair and remarked: “You can tell a lot about a man by his shoe size.”

The story is recounted in a Wall Street Journal newspaper report that tells how officials, advisers and visiting allies are quietly acquiring leather dress shoes courtesy of Trump, who presents them with the enthusiasm of a travelling salesman.

Published: March 10, 2026, 5:27 pm

No 10 to release hundreds of files on Mandelson’s US ambassador appointment on Wednesday

First tranche expected to include Cabinet Office report warning of ‘reputational risk’ over ex-minister’s links to Epstein

Hundreds of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US are expected to be released by Downing Street on Wednesday.

The first tranche of files will include a two-page due diligence report by the Cabinet Office, which is likely to raise questions about Keir Starmer’s judgment, the Guardian understands.

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:28 am

Woman charged with attempted murder in shooting at home of Rihanna

Ivanna Lisette Ortiz of Florida, 35, allegedly fired 10 shots with a semiautomatic firearm into Beverly Hills home

A 35-year-old Florida woman has been charged with attempted murder after she allegedly fired shots into the Beverly Hills home of Rihanna on Sunday.

Ivanna Lisette Ortiz was charged on Tuesday with one count of attempted murder, 10 counts of assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling, all felonies, court records show. Officials have said no one was injured during the shooting.

Published: March 10, 2026, 11:30 pm

Cologne Cathedral’s plans to charge for tickets spark outcry

Limiting access to German church to well-off visitors would be ‘socially unjust’, critics say

Plans at Cologne Cathedral to start charging visitor fees have sparked an outcry, with critics warning against limiting access to the majestic gothic building to the well-off.

Officials said this month that the cathedral, the tallest twin-spired church in the world and a tourist magnet in Germany’s fourth largest city, could only be maintained with a new revenue stream.

Published: March 11, 2026, 5:00 am

French aid worker among three killed in drone attack in eastern DRC, M23 rebels say

Attack on residential part of M23-controlled city of Goma blamed by rebel group on government

At least three people, including a French humanitarian worker for the UN children’s agency, were killed in a drone attack in Goma early on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the M23 rebel group has said.

The attack happened at about 4am in a residential neighbourhood in the city, which has been under M23 occupation since January 2025.

Published: March 11, 2026, 11:18 am

‘My lovely distraction’: live stream of kākāpō – world’s fattest parrot – and her chicks captivates New Zealand

More than 100,000 people have tuned in to watch ‘kākāpō cam’, which captures a rare flightless bird sleeping, tidying her nest and fighting off intruders

On an island in New Zealand’s remote southern fjords, one of the world’s strangest and rarest parrots – the kākāpō – is caring for her tiny chick as fans from across the globe watch on.

Through the black and white lens of a hidden camera, a fluffy orb with a kazoo-like squeak jostles for food from its mother’s beak. The mother, Rakiura, is attentive – scooping her chick under her large green wings, fending off an intruding bird, and periodically tidying her nest.

Published: March 11, 2026, 1:03 am

This is the story of Weda Bay – and how nature is being sacrificed for mining

Analysis has found more than 3,000 mining operations within the most naturally precious areas of the planet, a much bigger footprint than previously thought

Weda Bay is just one example of a global trend that could see the mining industry expand into some of Earth’s last areas of wilderness in search of minerals and materials to feed the global economy.

Analysis produced for the Guardian by a group of academic researchers found more than 3,267 mining operations within key biodiversity areas (KBAs), accounting for nearly 5% of the mining sector’s global footprint. China, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico top the rankings for total surface mining area within key biodiversity areas, the most naturally precious areas of the planet.

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:00 am

Hawaii braces for powerful kona storm bringing heavy rain and strong winds

State’s governor declared emergency as islands face extreme weather and Big Island volcano Kilauea erupts

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Hawaii is preparing for a powerful storm this week that is expected to cause intense winds, thunderstorms and possibly significant flooding across multiple islands.

Josh Green, the governor, said on Monday he had issued an emergency proclamation in response to the weather expected to hit his state in the coming days, in order to bring additional resources into affected areas.

Published: March 11, 2026, 12:13 am

Death Valley bursts into superbloom for first time in a decade

Travelers are flocking to the famously arid desert covered in a blanket of pink, purple and yellow wildflowers

After a winter of record rainfall, a superbloom has erupted in Death Valley, covering the famously arid desert in a blanket of vibrant pink, purple and yellow flowers. As travelers from around the world make their way to the desert, they can expect to be greeted by fragrant air and a quilt of delicate hues.

While there is no official definition for a superbloom, the National Park Service uses the term to “describe conditions when so many flowers are present that they appear as swaths of color across the landscape, rather than isolated plants, especially striking at low elevations where the ground is typically sand, gravel and rock”.

Published: March 10, 2026, 3:40 pm

Alabama governor commutes death sentence of man set to be executed

Republican Kay Ivey called execution unfair since Charles ‘Sonny’ Burton, who will serve life in prison, didn’t fire fatal shot

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The governor of Alabama commuted the death sentence of a 75-year-old inmate who was set to be executed this week, even though he was not in the building when the victim of the murder he was sentenced for was killed.

Kay Ivey, the Republican governor of the state, reduced Charles “Sonny” Burton’s sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole this week. The move marks the second time the governor has granted clemency of a death row inmate since she took office in 2017.

Published: March 10, 2026, 7:54 pm

California Catholic bishop resigns amid charges he embezzled $270,000 from parish

Emanuel Shaleta, bishop of a Chaldean Catholic parish in the San Diego area, pleaded not guilty to 17 felony charges

The bishop of a small Chaldean Catholic community in the San Diego area has resigned amid charges that he embezzled $270,000 from his parish, Pope Leo XIV announced on Tuesday.

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta pleaded not guilty to 17 felony charges, including money laundering, during a hearing attended by many of his supporters.

Published: March 10, 2026, 6:34 pm

LA county reports first drop in deaths of unhoused people in a decade

Despite progress, 2024 data suggests an ongoing humanitarian disaster, with more than six unhoused people dying every day

More than 2,200 unhoused people died in Los Angeles in 2024, marking the first time in a decade that the homeless mortality rate decreased in the nation’s most populous county, public health officials announced on Tuesday.

The signs of progress come as the county has also reported decreases in the overall unhoused population in a region that has long struggled with a severe affordable housing shortage and one of the worst street homelessness crises in the US.

Published: March 10, 2026, 9:48 pm

Musk’s xAI wins permit for datacenter’s makeshift power plant despite backlash

Billionaire’s artificial intelligence company gets approval to run 41 methane gas turbines at its ‘Colossus 2’ in Mississippi

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI won approval on Tuesday to run 41 methane gas turbines at its “Colossus 2” datacenter in northern Mississippi. That’s nearly double the amount it has been operating.

The turbines will help power xAI’s massive datacenters, which house the company’s “AI supercomputers”, or giant arrays of advanced chips, which in turn power the controversial AI tool Grok, the company’s most recognizable product.

Published: March 10, 2026, 9:15 pm

Prison sentences for pair who attacked gay men hailed as sign of hope for Kenya’s LGBTQ+ community

The perpetrators were jailed for 15 years for robbery with violence in the east African country, where homophobic attacks are increasing

The sentencing of two people who attacked and robbed two gay men in Kenya has been hailed by LGBTQ+ rights advocates as a breakthrough and a sign of hope for the country’s queer community. “Abel Meli & Another” were sentenced to 15 years in prison for robbery with violence on 3 March at Milimani law courts in Nairobi.

The ruling is a rare example of justice being served for the queer community in Kenya. Njeri Gateru, the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, an independent human rights institution working towards equality for sexual and gender minorities in Kenya, said: “A lot is going against [the queer community] with the existence of the criminal laws and prevailing homophobic attitudes, but some of us still trust that we can find justice, so this case encourages us.”

Published: March 11, 2026, 6:00 am

At least six killed in Swiss bus fire in possible deliberate act

Police investigating blaze in Kerzers in Fribourg canton, about 12 miles west of Berne

A bus caught fire in western Switzerland on Tuesday killing at least six people and injuring five others, in what police said may have been a deliberate act.

The fire broke out on a bus in the main street of the small town of Kerzers, about 20 km (12 miles) west of the Swiss capital Berne, at about 6.25pm (5.25pm GMT).

Published: March 10, 2026, 9:51 pm

Haiti president’s assassination driven by greed and power, US prosecutors say

Opening statements begin in Miami trial of four men accused in the 2021 killing of Jovenel Moïse

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Greed, arrogance and power were the driving forces behind four men charged in the US for the 2021 assassination of Haiti’s last elected president, Jovenel Moïse , prosecutors told a court on Tuesday during opening statements.

Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys began presenting opening statements in the trial in Miami for Arcangel Pretel Ortíz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages. They are charged with conspiring in south Florida to kidnap or kill Haiti’s former leader. Moïse’s assassination led to unprecedented turmoil in the Caribbean nation, where gang leaders have grown increasingly violent and empowered.

Published: March 10, 2026, 7:37 pm

He shoots, he scores! Basketball as you’ve never seen it before – in pictures

In 2019, Austin Bell embarked on a wild quest to photograph all 2,549 of Hong Kong’s outdoor basketball courts using drone cameras and Google Maps. The results offer a fresh perspective on the city

Published: March 11, 2026, 7:00 am

How gen Z women are conquering country music: ‘Fans are speaking louder than gatekeepers’

This month, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney became the first pair of women in country music to top both the US albums and singles charts

Country radio still has a gender parity problem. That hasn’t stopped Ella Langley and Megan Moroney from achieving historic success. Last week, Langley and Moroney became the first two women in country music ever to top the all-genre Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts simultaneously. Langley’s Choosin’ Texas unseated Taylor Swift’s Opalite to claim its second non-consecutive week atop the singles chart, while Moroney’s album Cloud 9 reached number one thanks to Target exclusive physical editions and strong streaming numbers.

“These aren’t flukes or one-off viral hits,” said Leslie Fram, co-founder and CEO of FEMco, a Nashville-based creative consultancy. “Megan Moroney built her base through relentless touring and social buzz. Ella Langley’s incredible song has real staying power and even non-country crossover appeal.

Published: March 11, 2026, 9:04 am

Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere review – why doesn’t he focus more on the impact on women?

It’s refreshing to see him dial down the ignorant-ingenue approach and go harder than usual. But there is too little examination of how online misogyny affects those who didn’t choose to be part of it

He’s a bit late to the party, is the first thought that crosses your mind when faced with the prospect of 90 minutes of Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere. I’ve lost count of the number of documentaries there have been on either specific leading lights in the lucrative online misogyny business, such as Andrew Tate, or the general phenomenon (the latter most recently by James Blake with Men of the Manosphere).

Still, can a subject really be said to have been “done” until we have seen what Louis T makes of it? Evidently not, so here he is, repeating his shtick as he covers ground that other less high-profile documentarians have done before him. To be fair, he approaches his interviewees with a slightly harder, less ignorant-ingenue vibe than usual. This is pleasing on many levels. I find the latter quite an effortful pose and increasingly hard to endure, and he rightly intuits that the full version wouldn’t fly here. It’s also simply getting old. We know he is an intelligent man who lives in this world – the silent supposed bafflement and dependence on giving people enough rope to hang themselves, which are such a large part of his arsenal, look like increasingly feeble weapons when the matters are of such increasing importance in all of our lives.

Published: March 11, 2026, 12:01 am

Scarpetta review – this Nicole Kidman show is a dire mess … with an AI chatbot as a main character

Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis – who exec produced this adaptation of Patricia Cornwell’s novels – have terrific chemistry. But this trashy drama is just weird

Scarpetta has been a rather long time in the making. Demi Moore was attached to the role of Patricia Cornwell’s crack forensic pathologist in the 90s, as was Angelina Jolie in the 00s. In a recent interview, the author said she had even approached Jodie Foster and Helen Mirren along the way. Now it has finally come to our screens, thanks in part to Jamie Lee Curtis, who is both an executive producer and one of its stars, with Nicole Kidman in the title role, continuing her run as TV’s hardest-working A-lister. What a shame, then, after such a long wait, that it is so dire: a boilerplate mess that insists on stripping the original work for parts and putting a cynical techy spin on proceedings to boot.

There are – for no good reason, really – two timelines in the series. In the present, Kidman plays Virginia’s chief medical officer Kay Scarpetta – a little icy, professional but prone to overstepping, haunted by secrets from the past. She is called to a crime scene where a woman’s naked body – sans hands – has been bound together with rope. We flash back to the 90s, where young Scarpetta (Rosy McEwen) is on the trail of a similar killer, who leaves a strange, glittery residue on his victims. Initially, at least, it seems as though this could be an interesting proposition, despite all the to-ing and fro-ing between past and present, which wasn’t part of Cornwell’s original novel. The idea that Scarpetta and her colleague and brother-in-law Pete Marino (played by Bobby Cannavale) may have got the wrong man in the 90s – when DNA evidence was still in its infancy – could have been the basis for a smart whodunnit. Instead, we get a sluggish procedural that barely bothers to build tension. Moments of gore come out of left field; major revelations in the case come to Scarpetta as sudden, deus ex machina revelations; and the dead women are mere plot fodder in a way that feels positively retro and grubby. The tone is strange – sometimes it’s The Silence of the Lambs, sometimes Diagnosis: Murder.

Published: March 11, 2026, 5:00 am

Twisted Yoga: how a search for enlightenment turned into a dangerous cult

A shocking new Apple TV series goes behind the yoga camps where women alleged criminal behaviour from a guru wanted for sexual exploitation charges

Practicing yoga has its benefits: the meditative calm, grounded-ness and balance. The devoted pursue transformative spiritual journeys, through poses, chants and breath work. Some followers of tantra yoga take things even further, using sensuality to channel their energy and reach beyond themselves, seeking out of body liberation and enlightenment.

But it’s that very pursuit that has also left hundreds vulnerable to alleged rape and trafficking.

Published: March 10, 2026, 9:03 am

Louis Theroux’s 20 best documentaries: from Savile and Scientology to prisons and painkillers

He’s wrestled until he vomits, posed naked for adult photos and now he’s about to take on the manosphere for Netflix. We look back at the interviewer’s most jaw-dropping shows

It has been almost 30 years since Louis Theroux began making documentaries for the BBC. Few could have predicted that the endearingly dorky figure who made his first series, Weird Weekends – throwing himself, gonzo-style, into strange American subcultures – would become a public figure as famous as many of his celebrity interviewees.

With nearly 100 BBC titles under his belt, Theroux is now moving over to Netflix. Inside the Manosphere, the first programme he has presented for the streamer, dives into the world of the men’s rights movement, and explorations of masculinity, in the extremely online era. Ahead of its release on 11 March, we pick out 20 of Theroux’s finest docs to date.

Published: March 10, 2026, 2:19 pm

Do Not Go Gentle by Kathleen Stock review – the case against euthanasia

The philosopher offers a measured and reasonable argument against assisted dying

In this admirably clear and cogent book, the philosopher Kathleen Stock sets out the case against state-sanctioned assisted dying. Her immediate objection is to the end of life bill currently before the House of Lords, but her opposition extends to the principle in general. This is a polemic, but a polite one. Stock says she hopes that by the end of it we will share her objection to the ‘‘institutionalisation of death”.

It is not a popular place to start. Polls over the past few years consistently show that around three-quarters of Britons are in favour of assisted dying for terminally ill people. But Stock has never been afraid of swimming upstream. In 2021, she resigned from the University of Sussex following protests by some staff and students over her views, set out in the book Material Girls, that sex is binary and immutable and that this, rather than gender identity, should be the basis of laws to protect women.

Published: March 11, 2026, 9:00 am

Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! by Liza Minnelli review – a heady brew of gossip, glamour and defiance

Lady Gaga and David Gest are among those who get ferocious dressings-down in this brutally candid memoir

Liza Minnelli’s father, the film director Vincente Minnelli, used to joke that his daughter’s career in show business was preordained. She was certainly familiar with the dark side of the industry from a young age through her mother Judy Garland, who was on the MGM payroll aged 13, before shooting to fame as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Garland was famously depressive and addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol. When her daughter was six, she shut herself in the bathroom and made the first of many suicide attempts. Minnelli soon learned to monitor her mother and hide her pill bottles when she saw darkness descending. By 13, she was “my mother’s caretaker – a nurse, a doctor, pharmacologist and psychiatrist rolled into one … Just as the MGM studio system robbed Mama of her childhood, she robbed me of mine.”

In her memoir, Minnelli – who turns 80 this month – recounts how she broke free from her dysfunctional family at 16 and moved to New York to make it as a singer and actor. Little surprise, given her parentage, that her ascent was swift. “I was the original nepo baby,” she observes, gleefully. But if show business was in her DNA, so was addiction. In her 20s she became hooked on Valium, diet pills, cocaine and alcohol. Later, as her career faltered and her private life imploded, her sister Lorna staged an intervention and got her into the first of many rehab programmes.

Published: March 10, 2026, 12:05 am

Scott Pilgrim EX review – is it time to grow up?

PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5; Tribute Games Inc
A treat for nostalgia fans and completists, but there’s little new in this rehashing of a classic that feels like an add-on rather than a fully fledged adventure

It’s 20XX, and unrepentant slacker Scott Pilgrim and his friends are revelling in the throes of young adulthood. They’re skint, but in a cool way that’s unrecognisable today (not least because nobody can afford to live near downtown Toronto). For many readers, the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels were a cultural touchpoint, a story about emotional immaturity, growing as a person and ultimately defeating youthful arrogance. Having cemented itself as a cult classic with an Edgar Wright movie, a 2010 tie-in game and a Netflix miniseries, it’s now back in the form of a raucous action-adventure game, Scott Pilgrim EX.

This is a homecoming of sorts for developer Tribute Games, which was formed by ex-Ubisoft employees who worked on the 2010 Scott Pilgrim game. Having established themselves as beat ’em up revivalists with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Marvel Cosmic Invasion, the team has stepped up for another crack at this essential coming-of-age tale. Scott Pilgrim EX feels like a passion project, so they have the Powers of Love and Understanding on their side.

Published: March 10, 2026, 10:55 am

Michelangelo or bust? Researcher divides experts with attribution of sculpture

Author claims archive documents show Christ the Saviour bust was one of the artist’s secret works

Fabio Orazzo should have been on his way home to Naples for the weekend. Instead, curiosity kept him in Rome, where he teaches art and history, long enough to jump on a bus to visit a little-known church in the north-east of the Italian capital.

He came to Sant’Agnese fuori le mura (St Agnes Outside the Walls), built above fourth-century catacombs, to see a marble bust depicting Christ the Saviour. A fixture in the church since 1590, it has been thrust into the spotlight by the bold claim that it could have been sculpted by Michelangelo.

Published: March 11, 2026, 5:00 am

Academy wars: how did this season’s Oscars discourse get so toxic?

Fury over Timothée Chalamet’s comments about ballet or Jessie Buckley not liking cats has reached a bizarre fever pitch as the industry wills this Sunday to arrive faster

Around day five of debate over what Timothée Chalamet said and/or meant about opera and ballet, it started to feel like maybe the 2025-2026 Oscar season had actually lasted for the past 17 years.

Voting for the 98th annual Academy Awards concluded on 5 March, but that didn’t stop the internet from throwing a bunch of attempted buzzer-beaters; an interview where Chalamet casually referred to ballet and opera as potentially endangered (and perhaps not especially relevant) art forms was actually held some weeks ago in a conversation with Matthew McConaughey, a fellow actor. But it was that same vote-closing on Thursday when the clip started to circulate virally online and rebuttals poured in. This was swiftly followed by counter-charges that most likely the majority of people excoriating Chalamet, campaigning for best actor in Marty Supreme, had themselves not been to the ballet or opera especially recently.

Published: March 10, 2026, 2:49 pm

Bon Jovi biopic in the works from Universal Pictures

Film to cover early years of rockers and their breakout with hits like Livin’ on a Prayer and You Give Love a Bad Name

A Bon Jovi biopic is in the works from Universal Pictures, Deadline has confirmed.

The feature film will focus on the early years of the rock band, tracing their rise from modest beginnings in New Jersey to selling out stadiums as one of the 1980s’ most defining rock bands.

Published: March 10, 2026, 5:28 pm

Boston frontman Tommy DeCarlo dies aged 60

The singer joined the band in 2007, touring with them and providing lead vocals on their last album, Life, Love & Hope

Tommy DeCarlo, the frontman of US rock band Boston since 2007, has died of brain cancer, his family have confirmed.

“It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our dad, Tommy DeCarlo, on Monday, 9 March 2026,” they wrote in a statement. “After being diagnosed with brain cancer last September, he fought with incredible strength and courage right up until the very end. During this difficult time, we kindly ask that friends and fans respect our family’s privacy as we grieve and support one another.”

Published: March 10, 2026, 2:24 pm

I’ve taught thousands of people how to use AI – here’s what I’ve learned

Most people fail with AI because they don’t understand what it actually is – if you treat it as a skill, not a shortcut, you’ll get the best results

• Sign up for AI for the People, a six-week newsletter course, here

Training teams to use AI at work has given me a front-row seat to a new kind of professional divide.

Some people hand everything over to the machine and stop thinking. Others won’t touch it at all.

Published: March 10, 2026, 11:00 am

Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel show celebrates and plays with brand’s history

New designer’s kid-in-a-candy-store enthusiasm is evident in confident colours and loosened silhouettes

A building site, but make it chic: that was the set for Chanel’s Paris fashion week show. Cranes in Meccano-bright colours towered over the catwalk, their reflection shimmering sequin-bright on an opalescent floor that was inspired by Monet, according to the designer Matthieu Blazy. Monet has been a backstage buzzword at Dior and Chanel this week, as the two giants battle for bragging rights over French culture.

Fashion week loves a visual metaphor. Blazy, who arrived at Chanel last year, is rebuilding the designer, and having fun with it. The invitation for the show was a tiny stainless steel tape measure on a pendant. He has immersed himself in house history – Cocology? – and after the show, greeted reporters clutching a folded printout of an interview Coco Chanel gave to Le Figaro in 1955. Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and a grandee of the brand since 1990, remarked that he had never come across this interview before Blazy brought it to him. Blazy’s kid-in-a-candy-store enthusiasm is infectious, and the city’s Chanel boutiques have been packed all week. A simple cotton shirt embroidered with the Chanel name is sold out, at a price of €3,900. New season bags are limited to one per customer – a policy designed, the company says, to limit resale at even higher prices.

Published: March 10, 2026, 2:29 pm

Chefs the world over strive for a perfect score from Rate My Chives. Could I achieve one at home?

My goal: a perfect 10 from Rate My Chives, the ‘number one authority on chives worldwide’. Why is this so hard?

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Chopping chives, I notice my weak wrists for the first time. My knife is connected to my hand which is connected to my wrist, which is flopping about like an overcooked piece of asparagus.

“You’ve got to keep them more sturdy,” says chef Trisha Greentree. “Lock in that line.”

Published: March 10, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘Charismatic and extremely confident’: how to recognise – and handle – a psychopath

Psychologist Leanne ten Brinke has spent decades studying toxic personality traits. What are the red flags to look out for among workmates, politicians and potential partners?

Coming face to face with a probable psychopath was enough to make Dr Leanne ten Brinke rethink her career choices. Early in her 20s, while studying forensic psychology in Halifax, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, Ten Brinke was volunteering at a parole office, which would hold weekly group meetings for released sex offenders. “Most of the men showed contrition,” says Ten Brinke. “They really seemed to recognise the damage that they had done.” Except for one. The treatment programme seemed “like a game to him”, she says. One week, in a discussion about the impact their crimes had on victims, this rapist stared at Ten Brinke and, smiling slightly, started to say how much his victim looked like her, “and how I was ‘his type’. Clearly he was trying to scare me, and he did.”

It put her off a career working with convicted criminals, but she remained fascinated with “dark personalities” – psychopathy, mainly, but also narcissism, machiavellianism (manipulating and exploiting others) and sadism. From politics to business to the media, it wasn’t as if there was a shortage of people to study. There were selfish, callous, impulsive and manipulative people everywhere, often presenting as gregarious and charming. “It started to occur to me that these traits aren’t just confined to an underworld. These traits appear in all aspects of our lives,” she says.

Published: March 10, 2026, 5:00 am

Keyboard jamming: the sneaky way to make your boss think you’re working from home

Got a keyboard, something heavy and a desire to put your feet up during office hours? This could be the scam for you. But beware – employers are fighting back

Name: Keyboard jamming.

Age: Being workshy isn’t new. Diogenes the Cynic was famous not only for living in a barrel, but also for his rejection of ambition and employment.

Published: March 10, 2026, 4:11 pm

Blooming orchids and hidden faces – readers’ best photographs

Click here to submit a picture for publication in these online galleries and/or on the Guardian letters page

Published: March 10, 2026, 4:00 pm

‘I wish I could push ChatGPT off a cliff’: professors scramble to save critical thinking in an age of AI

As AI has upended the way students learn, academics worry about the future of the humanities – and society at large

Lea Pao, a professor of literature at Stanford University, has been experimenting with ways to get her students to learn offline. She has them memorize poems, perform at recitation events, look at art in the real world.

It’s an effort to reconnect them to the bodily experience of learning, she said, and to keep them from turning to artificial intelligence to do the work for them. “There’s no AI-proof anything,” Pao said. “Rather than policing it, I hope that their overall experiences in this class will show them that there’s a way out.”

Published: March 10, 2026, 1:00 pm

Minab school bombing: what evidence is there that the US was responsible?

Trump has blamed Iran for the mass killing at Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school but geolocation, videos, satellite imagery and fragments apparently recovered from the site indicate otherwise

The bombing of a primary school in Minab on 28 February killed scores of people, most of them seven- to 12-year-old girls. The strike is the worst mass killing of the US and Israel’s war on Iran so far – and has been described by Unesco as a “grave violation” of international law.

On Saturday, the US president, Donald Trump, declared that Iran was responsible for the school bombing. “In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran … they’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran.”

Published: March 10, 2026, 5:22 pm

‘Extraordinary cruelty’: images show longterm ‘starvation strategy’ in Sudan

Experts argue sensor and satellite data reveal targeted attacks on farming communities by the Rapid Support Forces were intended to prevent villages producing food

There is strong evidence that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed a war crime by depriving the villagers of north Darfur of the means to produce food, legal experts argue in a new analysis published today calling for the Humanitarian Research Lab’s (HRL) revelations to be used in international courts.

The destruction of the villages, farming equipment and infrastructure all provide strong evidence of a “starvation strategy” against a population already struggling with food insecurity because of the war, says Tom Dannenbaum, a professor at Stanford Law School and a leading expert on the use of starvation in war.

Published: March 10, 2026, 7:00 am

Valencia’s fire festival and Ukrainian cadets: photos of the day – Tuesday

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

Published: March 10, 2026, 2:13 pm