Trump says U.S. will blockade Strait of Hormuz, intercept ships that paid Iran

President Trump said the U.S. Navy will begin blockading ships from entering or exiting the Strait of Hormuz and intercept vessels that have paid tolls to Iran.

The Masters 2026: Cameron Young forges ahead in final round – live

️ Updates from the final round at Augusta National
️ Ewan Murray’s day-three report | Leaderboard | Mail Scott
️ García warned after breaking club in meltdown

Marco Penge was making a good fist of his Masters debut. Especially as the 27-year-old from Crawley, the reigning Spanish Open champion, took a triple-bogey eight at the 2nd on Thursday. Not the most auspicious start to his Augusta National career, but he limited the first-round damage to 76, then shot 69 and 71. Sadly his final round isn’t going so well, and he’s just dumped two balls in the water at the iconic par-three 12th, the first spinning back off the bank, the second from the dropzone not even getting over to dry land before dunking into the drink. A quadruple-bogey seven. He isn’t the first, he won’t be the last, and things could have gotten a whole lot worse, just ask the Towering Inferno …

Bogey at the last for Jon Rahm. A diminuendo end to a fine round of 68. You have to wonder how much buyer’s remorse Rahmbo has for joining the LIV tour: the 2021 US Open champion and 2023 Masters winner has never been the same player since. Still, his recovery this week from an opening round of 78 will give him a little succour. He ends his week at +1, one shy of the current clubhouse leader Gary Woodland.

Hungary election live: Viktor Orbán concedes defeat in Hungarian election after 16 years in power

Long-serving prime minister beaten by opposition after early results showed clear lead

Europe correspondent

Not a regular observer of Hungarian politics? We’ve got you.

Middle East crisis live: Iranian negotiator says ‘we will not bow to any threats’ as Trump says US navy will blockade strait of Hormuz

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf says ‘if you fight, we will fight’, reports state media, as US president also threatens to bomb Iran’s water treatment facilities

• JD Vance and US delegation leave Pakistan after failing to reach deal with Iran

• Planeloads of negotiators and too little time: US and Iran’s 21 hours of talks

A post about an hour ago on the Israel Defense Forces Telegram channel claimed that overnight, the IDF “identified a rocket launcher positioned and ready to launch toward the State of Israel in the area of Jouaiyya in southern Lebanon”.

Shortly after the identification, the launcher was struck and dismantled in a rapid closure cycle, thwarting the launch before it could be carried out.

‘This is not serious leadership’: Donald Trump and Marco Rubio watch UFC in Miami as Iran talks fail

• President has long been a fan of mixed martial arts

• Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr also at event

Donald Trump and US secretary of state Marco Rubio attended a UFC event in Miami night on Saturday night as peace talks with Iran failed on the other side of the world.

Trump entered the Kaseya Center shortly after 9pm alongside several members of his family and UFC chief Dana White, who has been a supporter of the president since his first term. Seated nearby was Rubio as well as the US ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, the rapper Vanilla Ice and former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino.

One dead and six wounded after mass shooting at Chick-fil-A in New Jersey

Officials say ‘no arrests made at this time’ and that shooting ‘does not appear to be a random act of violence’

Seven people were shot, including one fatally, at a fast-food chain restaurant in Union Township, New Jersey, on Saturday night, according to authorities.

The Gun Violence Archive, a nonpartisan reference resource, listed the reported shooting at the Chick-fil-A restaurant in the 2300 block of Route 22 as the 100th mass shooting documented in the US this year, as of Sunday. The archive defines mass shootings as cases in which four or more victims are wounded or killed.

N.Y. prosecutors investigating sexual assault allegations against Eric Swalwell

A former staffer of Rep. Eric Swalwell said he allegedly forced himself on her after they met for drinks in New York in 2024.

Wout van Aert outduels Tadej Pogacar to win his first Paris-Roubaix title

• Belgian ends decade-old run of bad luck in event

• Franziska Koch beats Marianne Vos in women’s race

Wout van Aert shattered a decade-old jinx to win Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, outduelling the world champion, Tadej Pogacar, in a brutal classic race across the cobbles, while Franziska Koch edged out Marianne Vos in the women’s race.

The 31-year-old sustained a puncture as did Pogacar and their great rival Mathieu van der Poel, who had two mechanical problems and could not contest the final sprint, which went in Van Aert’s favour for his second title in one of the five Monument classics after his Milan-Sanremo victory in 2020.

Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," April 12, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia join Margaret Brennan.

Artemis II crew on their moon flyby: ‘Earth was this lifeboat hanging in the universe’

Astronauts make first remarks at jubilant welcome home event in Houston after their record-breaking mission

Still marveling over their moon mission, the Artemis II astronauts received a thunderous welcome home on Saturday from the hundreds of colleagues who took part in setting a record for deep space travel during the US space agency Nasa’s lunar comeback.

The crew of four arrived at Ellington Field near Nasa’s Johnson Space Center and Mission Control in Houston, flying in from San Diego, where they had splashed down just offshore the evening before.

Britain could adopt single market rules without MPs’ vote as part of UK-EU reset

Exclusive: Ministers planning new legislation for alignment without full parliamentary scrutiny if in national interest

Ministers are planning to fundamentally reshape Britain’s relationship with the European Union, with new legislation that could result in the UK signing up to EU single market rules without a normal parliamentary vote.

In a major development in the prime minister’s push for closer ties with the continent after the Iran war, the Guardian understands ministers are bracing to face down opposition to “dynamic alignment” with the EU from those who “scream treason” over the powers in a new EU-UK reset bill.

Fallout from Swalwell scandal grows as lawmakers eye House expulsion votes

The political crisis surrounding Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell is rapidly escalating into a broader bipartisan showdown that could reshape the makeup of the House.

Manchester City close gap in title race with emphatic victory at Chelsea

After a season dominated by long throws, tortured set-piece routines and rigid football, a killer blend of artistry and firepower is threatening to deliver another domestic treble for Manchester City. They have stirred when it matters most, crushing Liverpool in the FA Cup last weekend, and have their gaze firmly fixed on wounded prey after closing the gap on Arsenal with an expert destruction of Chelsea at a flat Stamford Bridge.

Pep Guardiola’s sharks could smell the blood in the water after Arsenal’s stumble against Bournemouth. City were ferocious and unstoppable. They took this game away from a callow and careless Chelsea with a blistering surge at the start of the second half and, even if there are twists and turns to come, there is no doubt this emphatic 3-0 win has tilted momentum in the title race to Guardiola’s side.

Warner says he'll "take a look" at Trump funding request for Iran war

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said "I'll take a look at anything" when asked whether he would oppose additional funding for the war with Iran.

A country-by-country glance at Pope Leo XIV's trip to Africa

Pope Leo XIV's four-nation, 11-day trip to Africa is so dizzying in its complexity it recalls some of the globetrotting odysseys of St. John Paul II in his early years.

Nigerian airstrike targeting jihadists reportedly kills at least 100 civilians

Officials confirm misfire as Amnesty gives death toll after speaking to survivors of strike on market in Yobe state

A Nigerian air force strike targeting jihadist rebels hit a market in north-east Nigeria, killing more than 100 people and injuring many others, Amnesty International and local media have said.

Officials confirmed a misfire had occurred but did not provide details.

4/12: Face The Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Mike Turner and Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter join. Plus, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and CBS News' Anthony Salvanto.

The Guardian view on US-Iran talks: Trump’s diplomacy falters as risk of war grows | Editorial

An American blockade in the strait of Hormuz raises energy-market dangers after failed negotiations – pushing a fragile ceasefire closer to collapse

As the US vice-president, JD Vance, took to a podium in Pakistan after 21 hours of diplomacy and said no deal had been reached to end the war with Iran, his boss Donald Trump was in Miami watching a mixed martial arts fight. The contrast was stark. Just when the outcome of a war and the stability of global markets hung in the balance, the president chose spectacle over engagement. Mr Trump may intend to project strength. But the impression he creates – in Tehran and among America’s allies – is of a president less interested in the substance of diplomacy than in the politics surrounding it.

The talks in Islamabad didn’t fail accidentally; the US and Iran were talking past each other. Washington’s position is that Iran must abandon its capacity to develop a nuclear weapon, while Tehran insists it is not seeking one and has the right to a civilian nuclear programme. The US vice-president’s “final and best offer” would have required Iran to give up that capacity altogether – terms that looked less like the basis of a negotiation than an attempt to impose the conditions of victory.

The Guardian view on AI politics: US datacentre protests are a warning to big tech | Editorial

In both Republican and Democratic states, scepticism and hostility towards an unregulated construction boom is growing

When blue-collar Trump voters and Maga-friendly midwest states join the same cause as Bernie Sanders and liberal California teachers, something novel is afoot. Last month it was the turn of the Republican party in Texas to express forthright opposition to the construction of datacentres for artificial intelligence, pending adequate environmental safeguards for local communities. Across the United States, similar campaigns are being waged, as voters from across the political spectrum rail against the outsize influence and power of big tech.

For the White House, which has made the rapid rollout of datacentres a priority in its AI action plan, the scale of the protests is an unwelcome surprise. One of Donald Trump’s first acts on returning to office was to authorise the deregulated “build, baby, build” approach demanded by the Silicon Valley backers who helped to fund his campaign. Industry giants such Amazon and Microsoft are driving an estimated $710bn worth of investment in datacentres this year, as they stake their future on staying ahead in the AI race.

Mauritius vows to ‘decolonise’ Chagos Islands after Starmer shelves handover

Mauritian foreign minister pledges to ‘spare no effort’ to regain control of islands, as US fails to give approval of deal

A senior official in Mauritius’ government has vowed that the Chagos Islands will be “decolonised” after Keir Starmer was forced to shelve legislation to hand the islands back to Mauritius.

On Friday, UK government officials acknowledged that they had run out of time to pass legislation within the current parliamentary session, which ends in the coming weeks, after a lack of support from Donald Trump.

This week on "Sunday Morning": The Money Issue (April 12)

This week Jane Pauley hosts "The Money Issue," our annual special broadcast dedicated to the many ways in which money underscores the way we live.

Justin Bieber at Coachella review – pop’s troubled prince mostly hits right notes in low-energy set

Empire Polo Club, Indio, California
For a reportedly record-breaking amount of money, the increasingly reclusive star proves his voice is still golden in a headliner performance light on enthusiasm

Throughout the Strokes’ main stage set on Saturday evening, you could see them: fans, many of them women, unaffected by the New York indie rockers as they pushed forward through the crowd to stake out spots hours in advance for the night’s closer, Justin Bieber. “I know why you’re here … JUSTIN BIEBER!” the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas joked, sort of, between songs. “We’re happy to lube you up for him.”

Perhaps Casablancas picked up on an anxious energy from the crowd: the chance to see Bieber in a Coachella primetime slot seemed at once inevitable and improbable. Save a stripped-down Grammys performance and two very selective LA warm-up shows, the 32-year-old pop star had not performed publicly in over four years, since cancelling his 2022 Justice World Tour amid a host of health issues. Maybe it’s because vulnerability is an established element of a performer who, for years, appeared dead behind the eyes in public, or the fact that Bieber recently ditched the managerial framework that guided his rocky career, or the lingering sting of Frank Ocean’s disastrous headliner set in 2023, when a generationally beloved artist with little recent performance experience cracked under the pressure: few Coachella headliner sets have generated this much buzz – Saturday broke Coachella’s single-day ticket record – and perhaps this much parasocial concern.

4/12: Sunday Morning - The Money Issue

Jane Pauley hosts our annual "Money Issue." Featured: Obstacles to home ownership; fighting health insurance denials; Chinese EVs; opposition to AI data centers; American Girl dolls; skin care mogul Scarlett Johansson; roller coasters; the popularity of bingo!; and is your phone eavesdropping on you?

Nicola Jennings on Trump and the strait of Hormuz – cartoon

Continue reading...

Interest in EVs surges in Europe as fuel prices jump after Iran war

Demand at online marketplaces could settle at a new, higher normal, with the crisis leaving consumers ‘scarred’

Car buyers’ interest in electric cars has surged across Europe since the start of the war in Iran, as the rising cost of petrol highlights the cheaper power available from a plug.

Online marketplaces in the UK, Germany, France and Spain reported huge increases in inquiries about electric vehicles since the start of the conflict in February.

Jannik Sinner beats Carlos Alcaraz at Monte Carlo Masters to reclaim world No 1 spot

• Italian wins 7-6 (5), 6-3 against Spanish rival

• Sinner adds to his victories after Indian Wells and Miami

Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time on Sunday and reclaim the world No 1 ranking from his Spanish rival.

Sinner downed Alcaraz 7-6 (5), 6-3 to capture his third ATP 1000 title of the year after completing the “Sunshine Double” last month with victories in Indian Wells and Miami.

Tottenham and De Zerbi sink deeper into mire after Sunderland’s stroke of luck

Thirty minutes before kick-off Roberto De Zerbi wandered on to the pitch with his gilet zipped high to the neck in the face of a chill Wearside wind. By the final whistle that stiff breeze had dropped a little but so, too, had the morale of Tottenham and their new manager.

In cementing the visitors’ position in the bottom three Nordi Mukiele’s second-half deflected winner ensured Régis Le Bris’s Sunderland rose to 10th and De Zerbi’s uncharacteristically subdued body language suggested he was shivering inside.

Man charged with murder of Finbar Sullivan in Primrose Hill

Oliuwadamilola Ogunyankinnu due to appear in court on Monday over fatal stabbing in north London

A man has been charged with murder after the death of 21-year-old Finbar Sullivan, who was stabbed to death in Primrose Hill.

The Metropolitan police said Oliuwadamilola Ogunyankinnu, 27, of Southbury Road in Enfield, had been charged with murder on Sunday and was due to appear at Stratford magistrates court on Monday.

GSK reports promising early results in ovarian and womb cancer drug trial

Mo-Rez reduced or eliminated tumours in over 60% of patients and is expected to be a blockbuster drug

GSK has revealed positive results for a treatment for gynaecological cancers as its chief executive, Luke Miels, seeks to speed up drug development at the group.

The company said that in an early-stage trial Mocertatug Rezetecan, known as Mo-Rez, shrank or eliminated tumours in 62% of patients with ovarian cancer where chemotherapy had failed, and in 67% of those with endometrial cancer.

Tom Gauld on the manosphere – cartoon

The kindness of strangers: The Ashes heat was unbearable. Then a Barmy Army member offered his seats in the shade

I’m clearly Australian – I had my Adelaide cricket cap on – but that Pommy bloke still lent a hand to someone from the opposition

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

We’re great enemies in cricket, England and Australia. So when the Ashes returned this past summer, my son and I travelled from Ballarat to Adelaide to see the showdown in the third Test. It’s a long drive but we made it a boys’ trip, stopping in at pubs and all that nonsense on the way.

It was a great start to the essential cricket pilgrimage. The problem was when we got to the Adelaide Oval, the temperature was a gruelling 40C. Worse still, by the middle of the day, the sun was beaming directly on to our seats. There was no shade and no reprieve.

Nature: Oak trees in California

We leave you this Sunday morning seeing green – new oak leaves sprouting in the woodlands near Petaluma, California. Videographer: Lee McEachern.

Ex-CIA director calls for ousting Trump: ‘25th amendment was written with him in mind’

John Brennan says president who made volatile remarks about destroying Iranian civilization ‘is clearly unhinged’

The former Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan has added his name to growing calls for the president to be ousted on grounds that he is unfit for the job, arguing that the US constitution’s 25th amendment addressing involuntary removal from office was “written with Donald Trump in mind”.

Brennan, who served as head of the spy agency during Barack Obama’s presidency, told MS Now on Saturday that Trump’s recent volatile remarks about destroying Iranian civilization and the danger he posed to so many lives merited his removal from the Oval Office.

On the hunt for sand dollars

In Florida, correspondent Martha Teichner goes searching for sand dollars – cousins of sea urchins and sea stars – with naturalist Kristen Williams (a.k.a. The Seashell Mermaid). She also goes to the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco to learn what makes these sea creatures so special.

Nationwide boom in AI data centers stirs resistance

To fuel their artificial intelligence initiatives, tech companies are building massive numbers of AI data centers, with more than 4,000 in operation across the country. But some communities, wary of the environmental and financial implications, are fighting back.

Handmade rockets and a golden frog: photos of the weekend

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

Nationwide boom in AI data centers stirs resistance

To fuel their artificial intelligence initiatives, tech companies are building massive numbers of AI data centers, with more than 4,000 in operation across the country. But some communities, wary of the environmental and financial implications of such facilities in their backyards, are fighting back. "Sunday Morning" national correspondent Robert Costa examines the drive to construct AI data centers, and the debate between opponents and AI advocates.

Fury only wants Joshua but after 10 years of wrangling will superfight ever happen?

‘It’s either him or I’m out,’ Fury said of his British heavyweight rival after outclassing Arslanbek Makhmudov

Just before midnight on Saturday, an hour after the first victory of his latest comeback, Tyson Fury paused in the midst of a familiar monologue about a predictable subject. He had just outclassed Arslanbek Makhmudov, the tough but limited Russian heavyweight, over 12 one‑sided rounds. But Fury wanted to talk only about Anthony Joshua and whether or not he and his old British rival would ever fight each other.

In the lavish depths of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Fury sounded perplexed: “Ten years in the making and still, after all this time, there’s uncertainty if this fight’s gonna happen next. I’ve no idea. I hope so but you can’t force someone to do something.”

Planeloads of negotiators and too little time: US and Iran’s 21 hours of talks

The two sides turned up to test one another’s resolve. It was probably unrealistic to expect a dispute that has taken up years of discussion to be settled in one marathon session

• Middle East crisis – live updates

It was as if the two delegations in the Iran-US peace talks in Islamabad hoped that the sheer number of negotiators flown into Pakistan could overcome the handicap of having only a finite number of hours in which to settle a 20-year dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, now overlaid by complex new issues such as future control of the strait of Hormuz and US compensation for its attack on Iran.

Iran sent two planeloads of negotiators. They included many members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), present to ensure that no gains made in the field were relinquished at the diplomatic table. Diplomats fanned out across political, legal, security, economic and military files. One Iranian-drafted technical explanation on nuclear facility safety ran to more than 100 pages.

Fighting for health care claim approvals

Seventy-three percent of Americans say delays and denials of medical treatment by healthcare insurers are a major problem. Now, a company called Sheer Health says they will fight insurance battles on behalf of their clients.

Fighting for health care claim approvals

With health insurance companies frequently denying coverage for medically-requested procedures, 73 percent of Americans surveyed say healthcare delays and denials are a major problem. Now, a company called Sheer Health says they will fight insurance battles on behalf of their clients. Correspondent Susan Spencer looks at how a form of insurance against health care denials may benefit consumers.

That's a bingo!

From American Legion halls to church basements, the simplicity of Bingo and its ability to let large groups play at once is why the game raises billions of dollars for charities and non-profits. Correspondent Luke Burbank looks at the history of this popular numbers game, and checks out some of the new spins on this old favorite.

Saturday Night Live: Colman Domingo makes for season’s best host to date

The two-time Oscar nominee, who will next be seen in the controversial Michael Jackson biopic, helps to usher in an unusually strong episode

Saturday Night Live opens in the Oval Office, where president Trump (James Austin Johnson) dictates an insane, Islamophobic Truth Social post to press secretary Karoline Leavitt (Ashley Padilla). She voices her concern over the backlash she will have to field, but Trump assuages her: “Like I said to Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem right before I fired them, you’re doing a terrific job.” As she takes her leave, Trump gets a huge laugh by breaking the fourth wall to note, “All three of those were played by Ashley, it’s an interesting detail.”

Moving on to more pressing business, Trump rings up Tiger Woods (Kenan Thompson), currently in rehab in Switzerland after flipping his car and getting a DUI but hangs up on him when informed there’s no golf course on site. He then answers a call from wife Melania (Chloe Fineman), who informs him that she has decided “to do a big, random speech completely out of nowhere and say, ‘I am not Epstein victim’.” For once, it’s Trump who’s acting sane by comparison.

Chasing the American Dream

A growing number of young people see themselves as "forever renters" because they can't afford to buy a home, due to short supply, higher mortgage rates, and incomes that haven't kept up with rising home prices.

Chasing the American Dream

A growing number of young people see themselves as ""forever renters"" because they can't afford to buy a home, due to short supply, higher mortgage rates, and incomes that haven't kept up with rising home prices. Correspondent Jo Ling Kent examines the difficulties of today's housing market, and checks out one Midwestern city's program aimed at attracting homebuyers from out-of-state.

‘Part of our souls’: the fight to stop the New Forest being split in two

As government reorganisation ties part of the forest to Southampton, local people are angry

Della Keable could not hold back the tears as she explained how her family had lived in the forest for centuries, making a living among the trees, loving the tight-knit feel of the place. “I’m sorry,” she said as the emotion got too much. “But the forest is part of our souls.”

Keable is among thousands of people protesting against the UK government’s decision to split up the administration of the New Forest as part of local government reorganisation.

‘Disbelief and disappointment’: how Javier Milei’s bribery scandal may have derailed Argentina’s crypto investment

Just as the industry is set to capitalize on country’s political and economic instability, president accused in $5m scheme

The Argentinian president, Javier Milei, is facing his lowest approval ratings since taking office in 2023 as newly published evidence allegedly reveals a $5m financial agreement connected to his public endorsement last year of a controversial crypto project.

The scandal has tarnished crypto’s reputation across Argentina and set back the ambitions of industry insiders who saw the country as fertile soil for the growth of digital money.

‘I didn’t want to be on medication the rest of my life’: veteran runs psilocybin retreats for PTSD before FDA approval

Researchers say ‘magic mushrooms’ can help with traumatic symptoms, but urge caution as states expand access

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

After three combat deployments in Afghanistan, during which he suffered traumatic brain injuries from concussive blasts, army ranger Jesse Gould developed post-traumatic stress disorder and said he “drank almost every night to cope”.

In times of hardship, veterans sometimes turn to “medication and talk therapy, but it tends to be more of a maintenance program than actually overcoming it”, Gould said, but added that at age 38, “I was still very young. I didn’t want to be on medication the rest of my life.”

‘Never been closer’: UFO watchers buoyed by Trump and Vance’s alien ‘obsession’

From Vance’s interest to Trump’s commitment to disclosure, administration’s fascination with UFOs has experts feeling close to evidence of aliens

Like most politicians, Donald Trump did not campaign on the issue of space aliens. But 15 months into his second term, UFO enthusiasts have been buoyed by the Trump administration’s apparent fascination with extraterrestrials, with one expert claiming the human race has “never been closer” to being presented with hard evidence of aliens.

After a largely alien-free first 12 months, the president has committed himself to UFO disclosure in 2026. In February, Trump directed various departments to release “government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life”, and the White House took the unusual step of registering domain “aliens.gov” in March, setting pulses racing among believers online.

‘We waited 12 years’: escapees from Syria’s camps face an uncertain future

A young Albanian woman’s escape from al-Hawl offers rare hope – but as the camp empties many are left stranded, prompting urgent calls for repatriation

For weeks he hovered near Turkey’s border with Syria hoping for good news. In early February, Xhetan Ndregjoni got word of what he was waiting for – his niece Eva was on her way after escaping the squalid desert camp in Syria where she had been held without charge since she was a child.

“I don’t have the words to describe that moment,” Ndregjoni said of their reunion.

Indian music legend Asha Bhosle dies aged 92

Two-time Grammy nominee was one of Bollywood’s most versatile and celebrated voices

The Indian singer Asha Bhosle, whose voice defined Bollywood cinema and whose career spanned almost eight decades, has died in Mumbai at the age of 92.

Bhosle, who recorded more than 12,000 songs, became her country’s pre-eminent exponent of playback singing – recording tracks that were then lip-synced on film by actors. She also boldly embraced cabaret and western-influenced melodies to forge a distinctive musical identity.

At least 30 killed in crush at historic fortress in Haiti

Officials said many killed at popular tourist site were young, with more people reported injured or missing

At least 30 people, many of them young, have died and dozens more are reported to have been injured after a crush at a mountaintop fortress in northern Haiti that is a popular tourist spot.

Jean Henri Petit, the head of civil protection for the country’s Nord department, said the incident took place on Saturday at Citadelle Henry, also known as Citadelle Laferrière, a large 19th-century fortress built shortly after the Caribbean country’s independence from France.

Is AI the greatest art heist in history?

New technologies of reproduction are plundering the art world – and getting away with it

In 2026, its easy to see why generative AI is bad. The internet has nicknamed its excretions “slop”. The CEOs of AI companies prance about on stage like supervillains, bragging that their products will eliminate vast swathes of work. Generative AI requires sacrificing the world’s water to feed its hideous data centres. Around the globe, chatbots induce schizophrenic delusions and urge teens to kill themselves – all while turning users brains to mush.

Who could have predicted this? Artists, that’s who.

The anti-ICE resistance is working | Judith Levine

A mass movement defending immigrants has slowed the Trump administration’s abuses

Resistance, in physics, is the force that hinders the flow of charged electrons as they zigzag from point to point. Resistance doesn’t stop the flow of electricity. Instead, it causes heat.

Popular resistance works the same way. It obstructs and slows the government’s business, creating political heat and slowing it further.

From Andrew Tate to Mountbatten-Windsor, my first name has been dragged through the mud. Can a global community of ‘Drews’ help change that?

The ‘Council of Andrews’ started as a bit of fun – but has led to friendships, financial help and even fiances…

It’s a rough time to be called Andrew. In recent years, notorious figures such as Andrew Tate and the former prince have dominated the headlines, giving us a bad name. Even the CEO caught up in that Coldplay scandal was an Andy. It’s been a bad run. As an Andrew myself, I wanted to unearth some better representatives, so I recently set out on a mission: to find some fellow Andrews doing good in the world.

That’s how I stumbled upon thousands of Andrews at once.

Dining across the divide: ‘We both agreed Brexit was a disaster - but disagreed about who was responsible for that’

A university researcher and a property manager may have found (some) common ground on leaving the EU – but what about affordable homes?

• Want to meet someone from across the divide? Click here to find out how

Graham, 76, Pangbourne

Occupation Property manager

Task for the week: limit the fallout from biggest oil shock in decades | Richard Partington

As World Bank and IMF chiefs gather in Washington, the Iran war is driving up energy prices, fuelling inflation and testing voters’ patience

The world’s finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Washington this week for the half-yearly meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, with the global economy in a perilous spot.

Not since the foundation of the Bretton Woods institutions late in the second world war have global conflicts triggered this much economic turbulence. The volatile 1970s come close. But the US-Israeli war on Iran, coming so soon after the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, take the prize.

Protocol be damned: here’s what King Charles should say on his visit to the US | Simon Tisdall

The king has the chance to offer some tough love. Perhaps he could start with a speech to Congress about the Trump administration’s reckless trajectory

It will be a definitive moment for King Charles III and the British monarchy. And for better or worse, it could help salvage UK-US relations after Donald Trump insulted Keir Starmer. In the public high point of his state visit, the king will mount the rostrum in the US House of Representatives on 28 April to address a joint session of Congress. Of all the British monarchs in the 250 years since US independence, only his late mother, Elizabeth II, was afforded this rare honour – and her accomplished 1991 performance brought the house down. This time could be more tricky.

Times have changed, as has the land of the free, and the biggest change is Trump. He will not be present on Capitol Hill when the king speaks, but his dark shadow lurks everywhere. Trump will undoubtedly portray Charles’s attendance at a separate White House state banquet as a royal endorsement of his person and policies. And it is precisely this galling prospect of a presidential propaganda coup that has led most people in Britain to oppose the visit. Starmer, in contrast, hopes it will set the badly soiled “special relationship” back on track.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

A Hezbollah commander describes battling Israel in Lebanon

In a rare interview, a wounded Hezbollah commander tells NPR about his secretive Shia Muslim militia's new command structure and how it has managed to keep firing rockets into northern Israel.

This is how we do it: ‘I love the idea of only knowing one person intimately for the rest of my life’

Studying on different continents is a challenge for Veronika and Fabio … Can their young love go the distance?

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

There have been days when we’ve been on the phone for 10 hours at a stretch

When I’ve flown back to see her, we’ve tried to make up for lost time

The United States is destroying itself | Rebecca Solnit

The daily news can’t adequately convey the administration’s sabotaging of our government, economy, alliances and environment

The United States is being murdered, and it’s an inside job. Every department, every branch, every bureau and function of the federal government is being fatally corrupted or altogether dismantled or disabled. All this is common knowledge, but because it dribbles out in news stories about this specific incident or department, the reports never adequately describe an administration sabotaging the functioning of the federal government and also trashing the global economy, international alliances and relationships, and the national and global environment in ways that will have downstream consequences for decades and perhaps, especially when it comes to climate, centuries.

Across the branches of government, the services that are supposed to protect us – nuclear stockpile monitoring, cybersecurity, counter-terrorism – are being undermined, understaffed or trashed. A different kind of protection that consists of public health, vaccination programs, food safety, clean air and water, social services, civil rights and the rule of law is also under attack. The federal government that serves us is being starved while the federal government that serves the Trump agenda and the oligarchy is glutting itself on taxpayer money, including the grotesque sums dumped on the Department of Homeland Security and the US military now being warped into Pete Hegseth’s twisted vision of a ruthless mercenary force. Hegseth has reportedly stood in the way of promotions for more than a dozen Black and female officers.

Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. Her newest book is The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change

Trump claims U.S. will close Strait of Hormuz as Iran peace talks collapse

After talks between the U.S. and Iran collapsed, President Trump claimed the U.S. will "blockade" the Strait of Hormuz.

‘Death star’ chandeliers and disco dancefloors: making this year’s most dazzling theatre shows

On productions ranging from Les Liaisons Dangereuses to John Proctor Is the Villain, an army of technical wizards help ensure London’s stage productions are believable and spectacular

What does it take to create a giant chandelier on stage, decked out with more than 100 perfectly balanced, flickering candles? What about a disco floor that dazzles the audience in a play’s final moments but is hidden from view until then? On the eve of the 50th Olivier awards, we meet the artists, apprentices, engineers and designers behind some of London’s most memorable theatrical moments this year.

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Aidan Turner, Lucia Chocarro and Monica Barbaro in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the National Theatre, London

The real space science behind 'Project Hail Mary'

The science fiction blockbuster wowed audiences with its depiction of space travel and more. Here's what NASA staff and other scientists say about the basis for the amazing events of the film.

Can’t beet it! Humble mangelwurzel to star at Chelsea flower show

Formerly unloved vegetable casts off lowly roots to feature in Great Pavilion after online craze among young gardeners

They are an unloved root vegetable traditionally grown for cattle feed, and when pulled from the ground they look like an ingredient destined for a witch’s cauldron.

But the humble mangelwurzel will be in pride of place in the Great Pavilion at this year’s Chelsea flower show (19-23 May), after becoming the subject of an online craze among young gardeners.

From brutal occupation to brazen recruitment: Russia turns Bucha residents against their own

Four years after the Ukrainian town experienced some of the war’s worst atrocities, a 21-year-old planted bombs outside his own apartment building

On a recent evening in March, Bohdan Tymchenko, a quiet and unassuming man from Bucha, logged on to his computer to play the popular video game World of Tanks. Less than two weeks later, he planted two bombs outside his flat.

What unfolded in the intervening days offers a stark glimpse into a growing pattern: Ukrainians drawn in online by Russian intelligence services, promised money or coerced into carrying out sabotage attacks against their own country.

Gout Gout leaves onlookers dumbfounded with record-breaking run drawn from the future | Jack Snape

The sprint sensation was pushed to new heights in the 200m final by an unlikely opponent at the Australian Athletics Championships

It didn’t look good for Gout Gout. He had started the 200m final at the Australian Athletics Championships relatively well, and was positioned just off the lead at the start of the straight.

But, there – who was that? The man wearing all black, two lanes on the inside. An athlete who appeared to match the global phenomenon step by step just when Gout was expected to pull away.

Bunker busters and a Burger King: a visual guide to US military bases on British soil

War with Iran has brought 15 American sites across the UK countryside firmly into the spotlight

They are dotted across the UK countryside, often obscured from public view behind highly secured perimeter fences. Technically, they are on British soil, and misleadingly most have “Royal Air Force” in their name.

But in many respects, these military outposts are under the control of the US president and commander-in-chief.

Am I a happier person for having a child? It’s the wrong question to ask | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

A new study finds that having children leaves your emotional wellbeing unchanged – but the truth is so much more complicated than that

Does having children make you happier? Apparently not, according to a new study published in Evolutionary Psychology which, despite involving more than 5,000 participants in 10 countries, including Britain, could find no strong evidence that parenthood led to a measurable increase in positive emotions. The researchers, led by Menelaos Apostolou of the University of Nicosia, looked at both hedonic wellbeing (day-to-day emotional states such as joy, sadness and loneliness) and eudaimonic wellbeing (a feeling of purpose and meaning). With the exception of mothers in Greece, who felt a greater sense of the latter, there was no statistically significant difference between parents and non-parents, suggesting that becoming a parent leaves your emotional wellbeing largely unchanged.

This was seen as surprising, but is it, truly? I love my son and being his mother has given my life great joy and meaning, but that is not to say that my life has more joy and meaning than that of someone without children. To an extent, comparing my life as a mother with the life of a stranger without children is meaningless: children are not appendages whose presence or absence reveal a static emotional state. The only way you could truly get the data would be by having access to the two timelines. In one, you had children, in the other, you didn’t. The parallel selves would each complete a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) questionnaire which could then be compared.

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist

Remains of missing woman discovered in hidden grave decades later

Kimberly Langwell, a mom in Beaumont, Texas, had dinner plans with her teenage daughter and boyfriend on July 9, 1999 – but she never came home from work. It would take more than 20 years before one man's long-kept secret would expose her killer.

Time-travelling in Cantabria: from the stone age to Sartre via the ‘prettiest town in Spain’

On the north coast of Spain you can see some of the world’s oldest art, explore a stunning medieval village, then watch surfers ride Atlantic swells

Exploring the area west of Santander feels like being in a time machine. Within a half-hour drive of the Cantabrian capital on Spain’s green northern coast, you can stumble upon prehistoric cave art, a perfectly preserved medieval town and a laid-back beach resort.

When I began my weekend trip, it was raining, so my journey started in the Upper Paleolithic period, at the Cave of Altamira, a Unesco world heritage site, staring up at some of the oldest art on Earth. Well, almost. The original cave was largely closed to the public decades ago to protect the fragile paintings, so we were inside the Neocueva, a painstakingly reconstructed replica built beside it that costs just €3 to enter.

A festival of young European photography

The Circulation(s) photo festival has returned to Paris for its 16th edition. On show are works by 26 young European photographers. The projects capture the pulse of young European photography, its intuitions, challenges and commitments

Circulation(s) will take place at the Centquatre-Paris from 21 March to 17 May 2026

I’ve spent 20 years treading water and fear that I’ve wasted so much time. Am I depressed? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

Turn your attention to your internal landscape rather than the next building project. Make your next project yourself

My wife and I are in our late 60s. The past 20 years have felt like treading water, as all my funds are tied up in a property that, for complex reasons, I am unable to sell. We are both creative. Over the past year or so I’ve made some improvements to our house, things that make people say wow. I enjoy seeing their pleasure, but their praise isn’t hugely important to me. In fact, I am somewhat reclusive. I do not enjoy being part of a wider community and I’m content with a handful of close friends.

Last year my father died, and after a period of despair, during which I found myself contemplating suicide (I did not share this with my wife), I turned first to Samaritans, then a therapist.

Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, London WC2: ‘A rollicking list of cosy British joys’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

The British may not have the most sophisticated palates, but we are adorable in our culinary urges

As we sit awaiting the beef rib trolley in the Grand Divan dining room at the whoppingly sized Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, we fizz with ideas of how to describe its wildly unfettered quaintness. “It’s all a bit Hogwarts, isn’t it?” I say to my friend Hugh.

He’s been four times already, but then, Simpson’s is that kind of place: a handy-as-heck, posh canteen a short stroll from Covent Garden. There’s a twinkly, ye olde cocktail bar upstairs as well as Romano’s with its more European-style menu. But, for now, let’s concentrate on the Grand Divan. “It’s all very Samuel Pepys’ London,” Hugh says.

Money to burn? The humble matchbox gets a £235 makeover

Described as the ‘must-have’ home accessory of 2026, sales of ‘posh’ matchboxes are up 121% at Selfridges

Goodbye Swan Vesta, hello Cartier. Matchboxes are the latest home accessory to get a luxury makeover – and some of the price tags are striking.

At the upmarket department store chain Selfridges, sales of posh matchboxes are up 121% year-on-year and it said they were “the must-have home accessory for 2026”. The store has more than doubled its range to meet demand, selling over 100 styles at prices ranging from £5 to more than £230.

White House ballroom construction can continue for now, appeals court says

The order comes as the Trump administration challenges a lower court ruling that the estimated $300-million project requires congressional approval.

U.S. naval destroyers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, CENTCOM says

The destroyers were beginning mine-clearing operations in the vital waterway, U.S. Central Command said Saturday.

Golden eagles could be reintroduced to England after more than 150 years

Study identified eight areas that can sustain a population and government has given £1m for recovery programme

“The world is grown so bad that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch.” So wrote Shakespeare in Richard III, in a line of social commentary that feels ever more relevant with age.

A note of good news then, in a world of so much bad, that the eagles the Bard was probably referring to could finally be reintroduced to England after more than 150 years.

Man arrested for allegedly damaging US military aircraft in Shannon airport

Suspect in 40s arrested after man apparently climbed on to USAF C130 Hercules transport plane on remote taxiway in County Clare

A man has been arrested after entering an unauthorised area of an airport in the Republic of Ireland and allegedly causing damage to a US military aircraft, police have said.

The suspect, aged in his 40s, was arrested for alleged criminal damage and remains in custody over the incident on Saturday at Shannon airport in County Clare.

Trump touts newly released plans for D.C. triumphal arch

The proposed 250-feet-tall, white-and-gilded monument would stand on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., by the Potomac River.

Dems call on Swalwell to drop out of gov race amid sexual assault allegations

The woman alleged the California gubernatorial candidate sexually assaulted her twice when she was too drunk to consent.

The xx at Coachella review – indie trio reunites for spellbinding, rangy set

Empire Polo Club, Indio, California
The English indie rock band’s first festival set in eight years hypnotized with their atmospheric dance sound

When Jamie Smith, Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft took the Coachella main stage on Friday evening, you could be forgiven for forgetting the momentousness of the occasion. The trio known as the xx has not performed together in eight years, save for a couple of warm-up shows in Mexico City before the California festival, though they’ve hardly been absent from the music scene. Smith, the renowned electronic producer known as Jamie xx, is now a festival mainstay, while Madley Croft and Sim have each built on the indie rock band’s signature haunted sound with their solo material, 2023’s clubby Mid Air and 2022’s horror-tinged Hideous Bastard, respectively.

The three childhood friends still collaborate – Jamie produced Sim’s Hideous Bastard – and their long-awaited Coachella reunion, the first outing of a planned festival run and “new chapter”, felt more like peeking into an ongoing mind-meld than one of the buzziest sets of the festival. The group appeared in their signature all-black and launched into their 2009 debut single Crystalised as if no time had passed.

At a concert in Budapest, anti-Orbán sentiments take center stage ahead of election

At a concert in Budapest, musicians and concertgoers express criticism of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's leadership.

How Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's hometown became a symbol of excesses

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has long been accused of corruption. Sightseers now flock to his hometown as groups aim to raise awareness of what they say are the leader's excesses.

In Hungary, upcoming elections could bring an end to Orban's 16-year rule

In Hungary, voters head to the polls Sunday. At stake: the future for populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Europe's longest-serving leader - and an ally of Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Brian Cox: ‘We don’t know how powerful AI is going to become – it’s both exciting and potentially a problem’

The physicist, BBC presenter and author on snowflakes, art v science and the time Paul McCartney quizzed him about one of Saturn’s moons

What is the inspiration behind your latest live show, Emergence?

It came from a book that I’ve loved for years: The Six-Cornered Snowflake by Johannes Kepler. Kepler is most famous for his laws of planetary motion in and around 1610, but he wrote this little book about New Year’s Eve in 1609, when he was walking across the Charles Bridge in Prague in a snowstorm. He was going to his benefactor’s house and he hadn’t bought him a present. So he writes this beautiful little book about looking at the snowflakes landing on his arm and thinking about the symmetry of them and asking, why are they six-sided?

Pope Leo issues latest rebuke of Iran conflict: "Enough with war!"

Pope Leo XIV offered his strongest condemnation yet of the war in Iran on Saturday, appearing to take multiple veiled shots at President Trump.

Pope Leo says 'delusion of omnipotence' is fueling U.S.-Israeli war in Iran

In the first weeks of the war, the Chicago-born Leo was initially reluctant to publicly condemn the violence and limited his comments to muted appeals for peace and dialogue. But Leo stepped up his criticism starting on Palm Sunday.

French man charged with keeping nine-year-old son locked in van since 2024

Police rescued boy after neighbour reported sounds of a child coming from vehicle in Hagenbach in eastern France

A malnourished nine-year-old boy was rescued after being locked in his father’s van since 2024 in eastern France, a prosecutor said.

A neighbour alerted police to “sounds of a child” coming from a vehicle in the village of Hagenbach, near the borders of Switzerland and Germany.

Mullins makes fiendish Grand National puzzle look simple with third win in a row | Sean Ingle

Outstanding trainer of his generation makes history with fourth victory in Aintree spectacular via I Am Maximus

Remember what Gary Lineker said about football being a simple game – you play for 120 minutes and the Germans win on penalties? The Grand National now has its equivalent. Tipping the winner of the most fiendish handicap in racing really is a simple game. Forget spending weeks assessing the form, weights, trends and attributes of the 34 runners. Just trust in Willie and let history do the rest.

For a moment or two, when Jordans established a seven-length lead on the turn for home, the prospect of a 28-1 upset loomed large. But then I Am Maximus began to purr, a packed crowd of 59,962 started to stir, and soon history was being made in a chaotic and stirring race.

04/11: Saturday Morning

The Artemis II crew is back on Earth after a successful splashdown. Meanwhile, the world awaits results of U.S. and Iranian talks in Pakistan.

More than 500 people arrested at Palestine Action protest in London

Arrests and detentions took place at first mass demo since group’s ban was ruled unlawful by high court

More than 500 people have been arrested at the first mass demonstration opposing the proscription of Palestine Action since the group’s ban was ruled unlawful by the high court.

Hundreds of people gathered in Trafalgar Square in London and presented signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Hundreds of demonstrators sat on camping chairs and on the ground as they held up their placards on Saturday afternoon. The Metropolitan police said 523 people had been arrested by midnight, with their ages ranging from 18 to 87.

Kimberly’s story: the tragedy that changed British legal history

Her death led to landmark ruling that sustained domestic violence can make an abuser criminally responsible for their victim’s suicide

On the night of 27 July 2023, Kimberly Milne jumped to her death from a road bridge.

Her suicide came after months of mental health crises, compounded by a campaign of domestic abuse at the hands of her former partner. In this regard, to the officers who attended the scene, Kimberly’s was a depressingly familiar story.

‘We feel this incredible tension at all times’: what happened to small-town USA when extremists moved in

In his new book, Michael Edison Hayden captures the bitter saga between the founders of far-right publication VDare and the residents of a West Virginia town

In 2020, residents of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, learned that a mysterious couple from New York had bought a historic local building known as “the castle”, which the newcomers planned to use as a headquarters and conference space for their non-profit organization. A bitter saga followed – one that the journalist Michael Edison Hayden writes about in his new book, Strange People on the Hill: How Extremism Tore Apart a Small American Town.

The couple in question were Peter and Lydia Brimelow, whose online publication VDare was named for Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas. Critics have accused the anti-immigration publication of being the genteel face of a constellation of white nationalist groups and figures that Hayden refers to simply as “the movement”. (VDare and the Brimelows dispute that characterization; Brimelow has described himself as a “civic nationalist”.) Stephen Miller, the adviser to Donald Trump, is reportedly a fan of VDare’s writing.

‘Casual without being sloppy’: why flannel shirts are making a comeback

From catwalk versions to online vintage finds, the workwear staple is being recast as a marker of laidback cool

In many wardrobes, the thick, checked shirt is usually found among the gardening clothes, or it might be worn as an extra layer on a bitterly cold day. But, in 2026, for the first time since the 90s, it’s becoming a bona fide fashion item.

Flannel shirts have recently been worn by fashion editors and stylists on the front row, by the models Adwoa Aboah and Emily Ratajkowski and the Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola. Brands including Marni, Chloé and Chanel had versions in their recent shows. And more significantly, this week comes the much anticipated new series of the Gen Z drama Euphoria, stills from which show Jacob Elordi’s character, Nate Jacobs, wearing a Bottega Veneta “flannel” shirt made of leather. Originally from the spring/summer 2023 collection, and worn by Kate Moss on the catwalk, it costs £4,600 in the shops.

Vibe check from inside one of AI industry's main events: 'Claude mania'

At the HumanX conference in San Francisco this week, Anthropic's momentum was on everyone's lips.

From Isis recruit to influencer: ‘People think: you’re that evil girl who ran away’

As a young mother, Tareena Shakil fled with her toddler from the UK to Syria and joined Islamic State. Now she’s giving dating advice on TikTok. How did she get here?

If you met Tareena Shakil today, you would have no idea that the person in front of you had served time in prison for terrorism offences and holds the dubious distinction of being the first British woman convicted of joining Islamic State. Now 36, Shakil is glamorous, heavily made-up with long, tousled hair. When we meet at a plush hotel in Birmingham, she wears a sharply tailored dress, waist cinched in with a wide leather belt, and carries a Louis Vuitton handbag. She is bubbly and warm, with a disarmingly open demeanour. In short, this isn’t what springs to mind when you hear the words “terrorism conviction”.

What Shakil actually looks like is an influencer – which is fitting, because that’s what she is trying to be. She has gained most traction on TikTok, where her profile has about 50,000 followers. She gives relationship advice, usually sitting in her car and talking straight to camera. Her content is a mix of humour (“Muslim men who go to the gym while fasting – brother, the world needs more people like you”) and advice about the dating game (“Men are natural born hunters … they love the chase” in one video; “When they block you, it’s a punishment because they know it’s going to hurt you” in another). In among this are videos that hint at something darker (“If your partner hits you, you must leave, it doesn’t matter how much they cry or say they’ll never do it again”). She never directly references her own complicated past but, she tells me: “There’s an element of my own experience in most of the videos I make.”

A ‘weird dream’ of an arts festival began 10 years ago in the California desert – can it survive its growing popularity?

The Bombay Beach Biennale started as an intimate event and has grown dramatically – but some question whether it can sustain its DIY atmosphere

It is hard to imagine a stranger place for a large outdoor art festival than Bombay Beach – a tiny, visibly impoverished California desert town more than 150 miles (240km) east of Los Angeles and 235ft (71 meters) below sea level. The heat is scorching even in March, and the smell of decay wafts over from the nearby Salton Sea, a dying inland lake created by an irrigation engineering disaster more than 100 years ago.

But the Bombay Beach Biennale is not your ordinary art festival.

Celebrity on celebrity: are we losing the art of the big star interview?

The biggest names in and out of Hollywood are choosing to be interviewed by their peers rather than journalists, leaving many more revealing questions on the table

We live in a time where ultra-rich businesspeople have accrued more wealth and power than ever, creating a growing sentiment that they ought to be held to account, no doubt exacerbated by the fact that a wealthy businessman is in his second self-enriching term in the US presidency. So naturally, CNN, Donald Trump’s supposed nemesis, has figured out the best way to use their resources to better interrogate this elevated class: by letting them interview each other about their businesses. The 1 on 1 is named not for an actual journalist going up against a major business leader; they would probably never agree to that. So instead, CEOs can “grill” each other about whatever they mutually agree are the correct things to ask fellow elites. A spokesperson says these conversations will be “refreshingly direct”. Refreshing to who, exactly, is not specified, but you can take a guess.

This is disappointing but also inevitable. Interviews, especially on-camera interviews with people not directly involved with politics, have increasingly become all-subject, no-perspective affairs, starting from the ground zero of the entertainment industry – a leader in content-light mutual admiration. For a splashy new Vogue piece, for example, the journalist whose byline is affixed to a conversation featuring Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour, tied to the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2, takes the fly-on-the-wall version of journalism to an extreme: the “moderator” of this conversation is Greta Gerwig, Streep and Wintour’s fellow celeb. Chloe Malle, the writer and Wintour’s successor as Vogue editor, meanwhile, compares herself to a “court stenographer” without mentioning that in courts, typically the lawyers and judge aren’t all on the same team. There’s no byline at all on the introduction to another recent piece where Marc Jacobs – finally, a leg up for this underappreciated figure! – interviews Sabrina Carpenter. Presumably someone else was actually in the room with them – unless Jacobs brought his own recorder, did his own transcriptions and anonymously wrote that intro. Journalists, apparently, should be neither particularly seen nor heard.

From Peepo! to Middlemarch: 25 books to read before you turn 25

An unmissable book for every year of your early life – with recommendations from Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen, Katherine Rundell and more

The news about reading in general, and childhood reading in particular, is not good. Last year a National Literacy Trust survey of more than 100,000 young people between the ages of 11 and 18 discovered that the number of children who read for pleasure is the lowest since records of this sort began. Only about a third of children say they actively enjoy reading, and the number who report reading daily in their free time is has halved over the last two decades. It’s down to less than one in five.

Whether we blame this on screens, social media, or on a renewed enthusiasm for healthy outdoor activities, the facts are clear. Children are reading less, taking less pleasure in doing so, and there’s already talk of the dawning of a “post-literate age”. Yet books make available the best, wisest and most beautiful things that humankind has conceived, and children’s literature offers a host of classics, old and new, to be introduced to new generations of readers.