Starmer to face PMQs amid spat with Trump over Iran attacks – UK politics live

Minister says PM has approached Middle East crisis with a ‘cool head’ amid repeated criticism of UK’s position from US president

Prime minister Keir Starmer is in position for Prime Minister’s Questions, which is about to begin imminently.

I’ll be bringing you all the latest lines, so do follow along here.

I will come at this review with an open and independent mind. I will review both policy and practice to ensure that everyone can learn free from prejudice and hate. I am also keen to know more about those institutions who are tacking antisemitism effectively so that lessons can be shared widely across the education system.

Saudi clubs have a new strategy: buy up France’s best young footballers

Ligue 1 clubs such as Monaco, Rennes, Nantes and Reims need the money – and Saudi Pro clubs are willing buyers

By Get French Football News

Signing Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté brought eyes to the Saudi Pro League but, in their bid to hold that gaze and avoid a repeat of what happened to the Chinese Super League, Saudi clubs have implemented a new strategy and targeted a new demographic. Eighteen months ago, the league introduced an extra spot in squads for foreign players, provided they were under the age of 21 when recruited. Saudi clubs honed in on France, where they have found willing sellers and enthusiastic recruits.

French football is not a self-sustaining ecosystem. Long dead is the dream of a €1bn broadcast rights deal, announced before last season. In the end, clubs earned less than €500m. This season, with the withdrawal of Dazn and the launch of the league’s own Ligue 1 Plus, broadcasting rights will total around €270m. BeIN Sports are pulling out of their deal to broadcast a game each weekend, so receipts will be even lower next season. The league’s channel is likely to earn just €120m for the 18 top-flight clubs. Alarm bells have sounded and salvation has come in an unfamiliar form.

Weekly mortgage demand surged 11% higher last week, as rates sat near 4-year low

Lower mortgage rates last week caused a run on refinancing and renewed interest from homebuyers, but rates have already moved higher again.

Telehealth abortion is in the courts. Share your experience.

Mifepristone is facing another major legal challenge.

Middle East crisis live: Israel launches ‘wave of strikes’ on Tehran and threatens to assassinate new leader

Tehran yet to choose replacement for late Ali Khamenei as US-Israeli war on Iran enters fifth day

• Analysis: Trump administration still not settled on reasons for war

• Tell us: how have you been affected by the conflict?

Lebanese state media said that four people were killed and six more were wounded in an Israeli strike on a building in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday.

“The initial toll is four killed and six wounded, and work is underway to rescue families from under the rubble,” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

European stock markets rally after report of ‘secret outreach’ by Iran to try to end war

UK’s FTSE 100 up by more than 50 points, while pan-European Stoxx 600 share index rises 1.2%

• Business live – latest updates

European stock markets have rallied on a report claiming Iran is engaging in a “secret outreach” to end the war in the Middle East, after several days of heavy losses on indices around the world.

The New York Times reported that a day after the attacks began, operatives from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence reached out indirectly to the CIA with an offer to discuss terms for ending the conflict.

Spain tells of ‘surprise’ at Merz’s White House comments over Trump’s trade threats – Europe live

Spanish foreign minister says ‘I can’t imagine Merkel or Scholz making statements like that’ after German chancellor appears to support US president

in Madrid

Sánchez’s defiant speech may have been made in response to Trump’s threat to cut off all trade with Spain, but his words were also aimed every bit as much at other EU leaders (and at Spain’s political class).

“A war that, in theory, was said to be waged to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, bring democracy, and guarantee global security, but which, in reality, seen in retrospect, produced the opposite effect. It unleashed the greatest wave of insecurity our continent has suffered since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

“It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are incapable of fulfilling this duty use the smokescreen of war to hide their failure and, in the process, line the pockets of a select few – the same ones as always; the only ones who profit when the world stops building hospitals and starts building missiles.”

“The government of Spain stands with those it must stand with. It stands with the values that our parents and grandparents enshrined in our constitution.

Spain stands with the founding principles of the European Union. It stands with the Charter of the United Nations. It stands with international law and, therefore, stands with peace and peaceful coexistence between countries and their harmonious coexistence.

Strikes resume on Iran, U.S. military says Tehran's defenses 'severely degraded'

Israel's military said it had begun a "broad wave of strikes" in Tehran Wednesday morning. U.S. officials touted early gains, while Democrats warned the war could widen.

World’s largest krill harvester at centre of row over ‘blue tick’ sustainability label

Aker QRILL is facing criticism of its fishery management amid calls by environmentalists for curbs on Antarctic fishing of the keystone species

Environmental groups have objected to the recommendation of a “blue tick” sustainability label being awarded to a Norwegian krill fishing giant, amid concerns over concentrated fishing pressure and dramatic climate-driven effects on the Antarctic’s fragile ecosystem.

Norway’s Aker QRILL, the world’s largest harvester of krill, a tiny crustacean and keystone of Antarctica’s fragile ecosystem, and its sister company, Aker BioMarine, produce feed additives for aquaculture and dietary supplements for pets and humans.

Luke Donald to remain Europe’s Ryder Cup captain and go for historic three-peat

• Englishman has led team to back-to-back triumphs

• Tiger Woods is first choice to take over US captaincy

Confirmation that Luke Donald will captain Europe’s Ryder Cup team for a third time is expected on Wednesday, in a move that will increase pressure on the PGA of America to tie down Tiger Woods to lead the US at Adare Manor next September. Woods, who is the first choice to succeed Keegan Bradley, has been publicly vague on his captaincy status. News on Donald will enhance Europe’s sense of continuity and togetherness with the US picture uncertain.

Donald has been widely lauded for his approach in Rome and New York, where Europe won back-to-back Ryder Cups. After a dramatic success at Bethpage last year, it was apparent players wanted the Englishman to remain in office.

The great shared bed debate is here – and you have to pick a side | Polly Hudson

My friend and her partner just sleep wherever, depending on who gets into bed first. Such chaos is unthinkable

How well do any of us really know our friends? You may be confident of the answer to that, feel secure – smug, even – but be warned. One day, a little detail might accidentally slip out, and you’ll suddenly discover they’re not just a stranger, but also a bit weird.

Turns out my friend and her partner don’t have designated sides of the bed. They just sleep wherever, depending on who gets in first, like animals. She did at least have the decency to look ashamed after revealing this, and – perhaps I’m imagining it – also a little relieved. The burden of carrying such a secret must have weighed heavily.

Polly Hudson is a freelance writer

Noem to face House committee after grilling from senators on immigration crackdown

Kristi Noem's testimony comes after she faced criticism for her record on immigration from Democrats and a pair of Republicans at a Senate hearing.

Democrats tread cautiously around another Trump impeachment after 'illegal' Iran strikes

'No to war’: Spain PM hits back over Trump’s threats to cut trade over military base access

His comments come after the U.S. president pledged to cut off all trade with Madrid over its position on the Iran conflict.

Elite clubs lobby Uefa for bigger Champions League squads but face opposition

• Clubs in favour say squads of 28 would reduce injury risk

• Critics fear move would deepen hoarding of top talent

Elite clubs are lobbying Uefa to expand the size of Champions League squads to 28, arguing it would reduce the risk of injuries. The calls have come at the highest level of the European game and prompted fears that it would deepen the hoarding of top talent.

At a meeting of Uefa’s club competitions committee (CCC) last month, clubs argued that the cap of 25 players should be increased. It is not a view shared by all 16 clubs represented on the CCC, with some strongly against expansion.

The Spin | Going for gold? Why China’s female cricketers may benefit from Olympic aim

The Cricket Research Network was told how the sport is perceived in China and why the women’s side is seen as the national team

The Cambridge wind had a February chill, and the trees at Fenner’s were still without any spring decoration, but the old bleachers to the side and the pavilion, largely unchanged since the 1980s, were reminders of a new season just a turn of the calendar away.

Fenner’s cricket ground sits next door to Hughes Hall, where the Cricket Research Network held their third annual conference last week. The organisation, headed by Raf Nicholson, sometimes of this parish, is a place for cricket academics to exchange ideas, and the conference a chance for rest of us to put an ear to the door of data and detail.

Trump defends war with Iran as conflict widens

Israel sent troops into Lebanon as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran widened, and some of Iran's Gulf neighbors warned that Iran's retaliatory fire could draw them into the spreading conflict.

‘No to war’: Sánchez doubles down after Trump threat to cut off trade with Spain

PM says his country will not be complicit in growing conflict in Middle East ‘simply out of fear of reprisals from someone’

• Middle East crisis – live updates

• Europe live – latest updates

The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has responded to Donald Trump’s extraordinary threat to cut off all trade with Spain over his government’s refusal to facilitate the US’s ongoing attacks against Iran, comparing the growing conflict in the Middle East to playing “Russian roulette with the destiny of millions”.

Sánchez, who has been one of the most vociferous European critics of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, said his government’s position on the widening instability could be summed up in three words: “No to war.”

Burner account or not, Kevin Durant is bitter, petty and entirely relatable

The future Hall of Famer’s behavior over the years has been rash and erratic. But it’s understandable given the scrutiny he finds himself under

They’re calling the posts the “KD Files”. There’s no definitive proof that Kevin Durant is the man behind the X account @gethigher77 (display name: getoffmydickerson), but if he isn’t, somebody has done a phenomenal impersonation. In various screenshots splashed across the internet, getoffmydickerson took shots at Durant’s teammates, as the player himself has done before. There was also creative and amusing trash talk, something Durant has shown a talent for. Some of it crossed the line: the account made a reprehensible joke about supplying drones (Durant invests in the company Skydio, which has provided the Israel Defense Forces with weapons) and called Durant’s teammate Jabari Smith Jr “retarded”. When asked about @gethigher77, Durant said, “I’m not here to get into Twitter nonsense” – far from a denial that he was behind it, and in the eyes of many, confirmation that he was. We’ve got people writing in-depth proofs that the account is real.

Not that getoffmydickerson is Durant’s only problem. Shortly after the tweets blew up, Boardroom, which defines itself as a “sports, media, and entertainment brand” co-founded by Durant and his agent Rich Kleiman, laid off three of its staff writers, rationalizing the move as part of a pivot to video. (An aside: what’s the point of having career earnings of half a billion dollars if you’re not willing to invest some of it to protect your media company from financial headwinds?)

£25 for a cookie? What the baffling luxury bakery boom tells us about Britain

Amid a cost of living crisis, pricey patisserie is all the rage – and not just in London. Our reporter goes on a crawl to find out if a tart can really be worth £45

There was a time when you could get a stuffed vanilla cream slice or a neon-pink Tottenham cake for about £1 on the leafy, residential corner of Hackney, east London, where I stand today. But the branch of Percy Ingle bakery that was here for nearly 50 years is gone. In its place sits Fika, a cafe where a cinnamon bun costs £4.20 and a pistachio croissant will set you back nearly £5.

In comparison with other bakeries, however, Fika’s pastries are a bargain. At Copains, a Parisian favourite that opened its first UK branch in central London late last year, a large babka (about the same size as a supermarket chocolate twist) will set you back £12.50, while an eclair costs £11.90. In Harrods’ food hall, a stuffed, savoury croissant topped with gold leaf is £12. At Cedric Grolet, located inside the luxury Berkeley hotel, a hazelnut cookie will leave you £25 out of pocket. Yes, the age of the £10-plus pastry has arrived.

ICE has spun a massive surveillance web. We talked to people caught in it

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Border Patrol, is using a broad web of surveillance tools — purchased as its budget has ballooned under this administration — to monitor, apprehend and intimidate the people it seeks to deport and the U.S. citizens critical of its policies.

On the brink of death, a woman is saved by a stranger and his family

In 1982, Jean Muenchrath and her boyfriend went mountaineering in California's Sierra Nevada. Then, an unexpected storm veered them dangerously off course. Luckily, their unsung hero found them.

Attacking Iran’s nuclear programme could drive it towards a bomb, experts warn

Fears US-Israeli onslaught could lead regime to push for bomb or embolden other groups to steal uranium stockpile

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The US-Israeli onslaught against Iran is intended to resolve a 24-year standoff over Tehran’s nuclear programme, but it runs the risk of backfiring and driving the regime towards making a secret bomb, proliferation experts have warned.

The regime in Tehran has long insisted that the programme is for civilian purposes and it has no intention of making a nuclear weapon. However, since two undeclared sites, for uranium enrichment and heavy water plutonium production, were discovered in 2002, the programme has been treated with intense suspicion.

The UK scandal of women handcuffed while in labour: ‘I was so shocked when the restraints weren’t removed’

Pregnant women prisoners in England are being handcuffed to prison officers – often male – during intimate vaginal examinations and long, agonising births. Will this dehumanising treatment be stopped?

The worst moment of Joanna’s labour was an internal examination. She was handcuffed with her legs splayed apart and a female prison officer at the foot of the hospital bed saw everything. She had prepared for the arrival of her first baby as carefully as she could. But she understood that birth can be unpredictable – and this was complicated by the fact that, during the latter part of her pregnancy, she was serving a jail sentence.

Joanna was a model prisoner who followed the rules. She had been convicted for a non-violent drugs offence and was not deemed to be at high risk of escape, particularly not in the throes of an agonising labour. She hoped to use hypnobirthing, breathing and relaxation techniques to make the birth calmer and more comfortable. Thanks to information provided by the charity Birth Companions she knew it was her right not to be handcuffed during labour. She had highlighted the handcuffing points in the booklet.

YSL lights up Paris fashion week show with return of Le Smoking suit

Anthony Vaccarello marks decade at helm of fashion house with powered-up take on Yves Saint Laurent’s classic

The most famous suit in the world, Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Smoking, has returned to the Paris catwalk 60 years after its invention.

Designed by the late couturier to be worn by men in smoking rooms to protect clothing from the smell of cigars, he adapted it for women, slimming the trousers and lapels. It wasn’t a runaway success – only one sold from his 1966 collection – but it became a global symbol of power dressing and gender dismantling, and would appear in every collection until Saint Laurent retired in 2002.

5 takeaways from the first primaries of the 2026 midterms

Voters headed to the polls Tuesday in the first primaries of the midterm election season. The latest results from Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas.

Rise of the veavage: how one look came to rule the red carpet

Forget cleavage. A deep V plunging to the waist is the current style – as seen on Gwyneth Paltrow and many others this year. Why is it suddenly so popular?

Good news for anyone looking to portion off their skin in new and creative ways: we have entered the era of the “veavage”. This new term for a deep, V-shaped cleavage plumbed new depths this weekend at the SAG awards. As seen on (deep breath) Kristen Bell, Jenna Ortega, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Paulson, Odessa A’zion and Lauren Miller, this neck-to-navel style appeared on wafer-thin tops and second-skin dresses. In a red carpet first, veavage somehow outweighed cleavage 2:1. Other recent veavage-flaunters about town include Zendaya, Emma Stone, Elle Fanning and Erin Doherty. Think the boyband JLS meets Michael Douglas in Fatal Attraction, by way of a couture gown cut with exacting technical rigour.

The talking point is not the clothes, though. It’s what they leave behind, which is the boobs. Or at least the bit where the boobs usually are. Because the great thing about this trend is that you don’t need boobs to do it. In fact, it’s better without. Or a bra. Nipple tape, which is worn to stop nipples sticking out in frigid temperatures, is probably useful but otherwise you could see it as a cost-saving exercise – a way of using up less fabric. Right?

‘We never imagined this’: the Cypriot village on edge after RAF Akrotiri drone strike

Evacuations near RAF base have reignited debate as Cypriots question the risks of hosting western military sites

All his life, like his parents before him, Giorgos Konstantinos has learned to live next to RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus.

He has dealt with the roar of planes, the comings and going of military vehicles and the war games. But never has Konstantinos, the village’s vice-mayor, witnessed anything quite like the events of the past two days.

Chasing Freedom by Simukai Chigudu review – a powerful memoir of postcolonial unease

A historian and exponent of ‘Rhodes must fall’ explores how political liberation doesn’t always bring personal freedom

To be part of Zimbabwe’s “Born Free” generation was to be handed a promise: that your life would no longer be shaped by colonial rule. Skin colour would not dictate the right to vote, learn or work. For Simukai Chigudu, born in 1986, six years after independence, that promise was stamped on him from the very beginning: “Your name, Simukai, it means to stand up,” his father, a former liberation fighter, tells him.

Yet, as Chigudu reflects in his compelling memoir, the end of colonial rule does not mean freedom from historical events and how they reverberate in everyday life. He tells two interlinked stories: Zimbabwe’s brutal war of independence, and his own search for belonging in the years that followed. It is a wide-ranging, restless book, passing through Uganda, Rwanda, Ireland and Mexico City. Yet at its centre are Zimbabwe and Britain, “former colony and metropole”, and the unfinished business between them.

GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw loses primary to Texas state Rep. Steve Toth, CBS News projects

Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas lost his primary race to Republican state Rep. Steve Toth.

The US and Israel gravely underestimated Iran’s response – here in the UAE, we are seeing the consequences | Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi

My family is in Tehran; I am in Abu Dhabi. Across the region, ordinary people are paying the price for these attacks

Since Saturday, my mind has been torn between the place I live, Abu Dhabi, and Tehran, which has been the focus of my work and research for more than 15 years, and where I still have family. When I saw that Israel and the US had attacked Iran, I started worrying for family, thinking about potential consequences. But I barely had time to consider that before Donald Trump announced that this was about regime change. At that moment, I knew this was going to be big – worse than last June – and that it would lead into a regional schism. Predictably, Iran’s response started shortly after: first against Israel, then against states across the Gulf region, including the United Arab Emirates. It all followed the worst-case escalation scenarios we had been outlining since June, and especially since January, when – in the midst of protests – Donald Trump said “help” was on its way.

I kept on trying to reach family when the internet there was working, which is, at best, for a few minutes a day. Each conversation is short, practical: are you OK? Is your area affected?

Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi is an associate fellow at the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa programme and senior analyst at Control Risks

Why Sinners should win the best picture Oscar

Ryan Coogler’s artful action-horror offers superb performances, rich storytelling, historical detail – and a jook joint scene that tears the roof off

It’s a symptom of the modern entertainment landscape that movies are now either commercially successful or critically acclaimed, but rarely both. Look over the highest-grossing films of 2025 and it’s a familiar roll call of sequels and spin-offs; look over the critics’ favourites and they are mostly fine movies that not enough people watched – all hoping for a boost from awards season. But Sinners ticked both boxes: it was a smash hit (the seventh highest grossing picture in the US and virtually the only original movie in the top 20), and it was a critical triumph (97% on Rotten Tomatoes, 84% on Metacritic). And most importantly of all, Sinners was a true original, combining action-horror excitement with deep, rich, personal storytelling. There’s nothing more gratifying than seeing a film-maker swing for the fences and actually knock it out of the park; against expectations, 39-year-old Ryan Coogler did just that.

What’s more, Sinners contains what’s surely one of the most transcendently cinematic moments of the year: the scene when blues singer Preacher Boy (Miles Caton) performs his new song I Lied to You for a rowdy Mississippi jook joint, which is powerful enough to pierce “the veil between life and death, the past and the future”. As the song builds, reality breaks down. African tribal musicians, Chinese opera performers, modern-day turntablists, P-Funk-style electric guitarists: all join the swirling revelry. Coogler literally tears the roof off the joint: it catches fire from all this energy and we’re in another realm of space and time. Give the film an Oscar just for this!

Cuba charges six exiles with terrorism in wake of deadly speedboat attack

Detainees accused of coming from the US with intent to sow chaos and attack military units on Communist-ruled island

Cuban prosecutors have formally charged six people with crimes of terrorism after a US-flagged speedboat was involved in a deadly shootout with Cuba’s coast guard last week.

The US-based Cuban defendants are accused of packing a boat with weapons and heading toward Cuba in hopes of destabilising the government in Havana.

Sandra Jessen v Essen? Footballers facing nominative opposition teams | The Knowledge

Plus: hat-trick heroes who were not named player of the match, managers sacked after big wins, and more

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“A few weeks ago, Sandra Jessen started for FC Köln against Essen,” notes James Vortkamp-Tong. “Is this the first time a player has contained the opposing side’s name in their own?”

It’s not actually the first time Sandra Jessen has played against Essen, as Alicia Butteriss points out. “From what I can tell she first started against Essen, for Bayer Leverkusen, on the last day of the 2018-19 Frauen Bundesliga,” writes Alicia. “It would be remiss of me not to add that she scored both of Köln’s goals when they beat Essen 2-1 near the start of this season.”

Borthwick’s Six Nations spring clean makes a fresher-looking mix but raises questions over logic | Robert Kitson

Will it be the players’ fault if a slightly cobbled together England goes down in Roman flames after a selection that suggests the head coach’s patience snapped?

The temperatures are rising, the daffodils are out and, within the England camp, the time has come for a major spring clean. Steve Borthwick has certainly snapped on his marigolds with rare vigour in his bid to banish his side’s February blues, with most areas of his team sheet either hosed down or completely flushed away after the less‑than‑fragrant performance against Ireland.

A grand total of 12 changes, three of them positional, is almost approaching Thames Water-levels of murky discharge. Not since the infamous tombola days of the 1960s and 70s, when England’s selectors sometimes called up any old Tom, Dick or Harrovian, has a red rose head coach deviated more strikingly from the strong and stable gospel of devil‑you‑know cohesion.

Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism | Rutger Bregman

As a historian, I’ve studied the major consumer boycotts of history. We can take down ChatGPT and send a powerful signal to Silicon Valley

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is on track to lose $14bn this year. Its market share is collapsing, and its own CEO, Sam Altman, has admitted it “screwed up” an element of the product. All it takes to accelerate that decline is 10 seconds of your time.

A grassroots boycott called QuitGPT has been spreading across the US and beyond, asking people to cancel their ChatGPT subscriptions. More than a million people have answered the call. Mark Ruffalo and Katy Perry have thrown their weight behind it. It is one of the most significant consumer boycotts in recent memory, and I believe it’s time for Europeans to join.

Women behind the lens: ‘The women watched the fuel tanker advance with uncertainty and fear’

On the Ecuador-Peru border the Siekopai people fight to protect the Amazon from the oil industry and other threats – and women are at the forefront of the resistance

In June 2025, I accompanied a group of Siekopai women along the Aguarico River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Mothers, daughters, cousins and granddaughters had reunited to participate in the Binational Ceramics Gathering in Siekoya Remolino, a community that has remained free from oil extraction, mining and African palm monocultures.

They were welcomed by the Keñao Productive Women’s Association, which was founded in 2022 by 26 Siekopai female artisans to promote Indigenous women’s participation and economic autonomy.

Play Dead review – an intriguing high-concept horror set in a murder basement holds its breath

This thriller begins with a grisly jolt of invention before succumbing to diminishing returns

As Carlos Goitia’s low-budget horror movie opens, we begin in medias res as a woman (Paula Brasca) wakes up in a standard murder basement: muted decor, very little natural light, a sturdy workbench with an impressive array of rusty tools, various masks made of skin. She immediately realises she is lying in a pile of corpses – all mutilated women. She herself is badly injured. Not a happy awakening for the character, but it’s not a bad jumping-off point for a horror movie.

In short order, the killer (Damian Castillo) heaves into view. Naturally, he’s an absolutely massive man in a Texas Chain Saw Massacre-type get-up – and our heroine very sensibly plays dead. This is a creepy and interesting conceit – how long is she going to be able to keep up the pretence? What happens once he rumbles the ruse? Unfortunately, Goitia can’t quite assemble enough material to keep the “what if you had to pretend to be dead?” idea in play for a whole feature film, and proceedings start to feel thin and stretched at a point where there is still plenty of movie left to play out.

A moment that changed me: my girlfriend criticised my kisses – and it led to the best decision of my life

She said kissing me was like licking an ashtray, and I knew I had to quit smoking. But with a 40-a-day habit, it was no easy task ...

In 1970, as an 18-year-old college freshman in Boston, living away from home for the first time, I started to smoke cigarettes. A pack a day grew in short order to two packs a day, or a cigarette about every 30 minutes.

I choreographed my life around my smokes, puffing away after every meal, taking a drag with a drink and blowing smoke rings as I wrote, usually late into the night. I needed no pretext for smoking, but found plenty; every occasion fit the bill.

North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam

The race is too close to call between Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee and her anti-establishment challenger Nida Allam in North Carolina's 4th congressional district and is likely headed to a recount.

Want to stop Farage with your vote? At the moment you can’t – and Starmer must fix that | Polly Toynbee

The PM’s in-tray is overflowing. But he can’t afford to neglect the real issue that is distorting our politics and the way we live

At home and abroad, Labour and its leader are under siege. Though the Gorton and Denton result is history now, the repercussions roil his party and underpin the fight for its future.

Abroad, the policy rift within the Labour tribe is just as bad, with the fear that the party will be dragged backwards into the wreckage of another illegal war in the Middle East. Yet again Labour and Starmer are damned both ways, with much of the party raging at its leader and a “very disappointed” Donald Trump angry, not appeased.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

Guardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink? On Thursday 30 April, ahead of May elections join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss the threat to Labour from the Greens and Reform and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader. Book tickets here or at guardian.live

Stuffed peppers and aubergine dip: Sami Tamimi’s recipes for savoury Palestinian snacks

Peppers stuffed with freekeh, lamb and spicy tomato sauce, and a classic Levantine aubergine dip with preserved lemon and dill

I still remember, when I was a kid, the end of spring and early summer when markets in Jerusalem and across Palestine overflowed with freshly harvested freekeh. As you approached, the air carried a smoky, earthy aroma. Freekeh is an ancient grain, a staple across the Middle East and Turkey, made from green wheat roasted over open fires to burn off the husks, which gives it the characteristic nutty flavour. The name comes from the Arabic freek, meaning “to rub”, which describes how the grains are cleaned, dried, cracked and stored for the year.

The girls of my Himalayan valley are not victims – education is the only bridge they need out of their isolation | Amreen Qadir

In my tribe, the Dard Shin, girls’ dreams are often over by 13. It is time we cleared a path towards them all fulfilling their potential

I sit my office in Srinagar surrounded by the steady, safe hum of the secondary school where I work. As academic head, my mind is occupied with curriculums and pupil progress. But my soul is 130km north of the Jammu and Kashmir city, behind the jagged peaks of the Razdan Pass, in the silence of the Tulail valley.

I am a daughter of the Dard Shin. We are a tribe whose history is etched in the Himalayan granite by the glacial water of the Kishanganga River.

‘The camera is my weapon of choice’: Gordon Parks’ era-defining shots of segregation – and those who defied it

The visionary photographer captured the ugliness of racism in America, as well as the strength and dignity of those who opposed it – from cleaners in the corridors of power to Martin Luther King Jr proclaiming his dream

In the summer of 1956, the American news magazine Life dispatched its first Black staff photographer, Gordon Parks, to Alabama, with a brief to document racial segregation in the wake of the Montgomery bus boycott. The trip was a perilous one, but Parks, then in his early 40s, was already on a career trajectory that would mark him out as one of the most consequential artists of his generation. The images he returned with were remarkable: intimate and vivid depictions of the daily disgrace of the Jim Crow south. They still feel prescient today.

The photographs form the backbone of a new survey of Parks’ work, opening this week at the Alison Jacques gallery in London and curated by Bryan Stevenson, the famed civil rights attorney. Stevenson is based in Montgomery where he founded a museum and memorial to commemorate Black victims of lynchings and where some of Parks’ work hangs on permanent display. He selected images taken between 1942 and 1967, the artist’s most active time as a photographer and an acute period of unrest in the American experiment.

Harry Styles: Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally review – nice all the time. Good, occasionally

(Columbia)
The music on Styles’s new album is muted, subtle and pleasant – but from the title downwards, he has a real problem with words

Everything about the launch of Harry Styles’s fourth solo album underlines that its author is a very big deal indeed. Record stores in the UK are opening at midnight or first thing in the morning on the day of release, the better for fans to avail themselves of a copy at once. Styles has been announced as curator of this year’s Meltdown festival at London’s Southbank Centre, an honour previously bestowed on Scott Walker, Patti Smith, Yoko Ono, Ornette Coleman and David Bowie. Last week’s Brit awards featured not merely a beautifully choreographed performance of the album’s lead single, Aperture, but a comedy skit that was, essentially, a two-and-a-half-minute-long advert for Styles’s new album: there was no doubt who the organisers thought the star of the show was. Most striking of all, the accompanying tour largely eschews actual touring in favour of lengthy residencies in one venue per country, or even continent: North America is covered by a staggering 30 dates at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The expectation seemed to be that Styles’s fans are so devoted, they’ll cross the country to see him, rather than vice versa.

This sense, that people will travel wherever Harry Styles wants them to, attends the album itself. It is devoid of unequivocal pop bangers along the lines of As It Was or Watermelon Sugar. Aperture’s hazy, post-club mood wasn’t a soft launch. Whether it’s dealing in mid-tempo house beats topped with plangent piano chords, as on American Girls, or the acoustic singer-songwriter-isms of Paint By Numbers, a lot of what’s here feels like music made in the small hours, with the curtains drawn against the dawn. It somehow manages to sound understated even on Are You Listening Yet? – which variously features a clattering dance rhythm, a bassline not unlike that of Reel 2 Real’s I Like to Move It and a spoken word vocal that inexorably recalls Robbie Williams’s Rock DJ – perhaps because it doesn’t really have a chorus, or rather, the part you assume is going to lead into the chorus turns out to be the chorus itself.

Corinne Bailey Rae: ‘If you weren’t tits-out-for-the-lads, they called you middle of the road’

Her first album was a huge hit – then she faced the sudden tragedy of her husband’s early death. She describes the rupture of grief, her return to music and the harsh reality of fame as a woman in the 00s

Twenty years ago, Corinne Bailey Rae had her first huge hit single, and her only one. Put Your Records On was one of the great feelgood anthems of 2006. A warm, breezy hymn to authenticity, its key message was keep playing those songs you love, and don’t give a toss about what others tell you is cool. The single was accompanied by her first self-titled album, which topped the charts in the UK and reached number four in the US.

If there was one thing Bailey Rae seemed assured of, it was longevity. She wrote or co-wrote her own songs, had a voice that was compared to that of Billie Holiday and Minnie Riperton, there was a timelessness to her music and she was super smart (four As at A-level, if you must know). Then she was hit by a tragedy that derailed her. In 2008, her husband of seven years and fellow musician Jason Rae died of an accidental drug overdose.

US military launches operation in Ecuador to combat drug trafficking

US Southern Command said joint mission with Ecuadorian forces involves ‘decisive action’ against narco-terrorists

US and Ecuadorian forces have launched joint operations to combat drug trafficking, the US Southern Command said on Tuesday, but neither side gave more details.

Southern Command, which encompasses 31 countries through South and Central America and the Caribbean, said in a statement on X that the “decisive action” was aimed at combating illicit drug trafficking.

Pentagon releases names of first U.S. service members killed in Iran war

Six American service members have been killed in the U.S.-Iran conflict, U.S. Central Command said.

Gates among 7 asked to testify before House committee on possible Epstein ties

Last week, Bill Gates apologized to the staff of his philanthropic Gates Foundation for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, which he said began in 2011 and continued through 2014.

Stocks pare losses as Trump says U.S. will insure ships in the Persian Gulf

U.S. financial markets rebounded after shedding more than 1,200 points in earlier trading on Tuesday.

The Iran war has sparked travel chaos. How will flights be rerouted and can other airports meet the surge in demand?

Travellers stuck at major transit airports are slowly being diverted and repatriated on new flights after days of turmoil, while uncertainty remains

It will likely be a “messy” month for airlines operating throughout the Middle East as travellers stuck in major transit hubs are slowly rerouted and repatriated after days of turmoil due to the ongoing conflict in Iran.

Experts say airlines are well-versed in disruptions, with entire teams dedicated to what is known as “irregular operations”. But while minor issues can be resolved in a matter of days, the sheer scale of the airline industry that operates in the region will be a complex puzzle that will take much longer to work through.

Mini miracle on the Hudson as pilot and passenger survive plane crash in icy river

A small plane pulled off an emergency landing on the Hudson River north of New York City, with both people on board suffering only minor injuries. Tony Dokoupil has the story.

Roy Cooper, Michael Whatley set to compete for a high-stakes North Carolina U.S. Senate seat

Former Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will face former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in the state's toss-up U.S. Senate race.

Ukraine war briefing: Merz tells Trump Ukraine must not give up more territory

German chancellor says that he underscored need for continued support for Kyiv during US visit; Trump says Ukraine is ‘very high’ on his priority list. What we know on day 1,470

The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, in Washington for talks with Donald Trump, said he stressed that Ukraine should not have to accept further territorial concessions during his conversation with the US president. He said he also underscored the need for continued support for Ukraine, which last week marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. “We all want to see this war coming to an end as soon as possible. But Ukraine has to preserve its territory and their security interests,” Merz said at the start of his third visit to the Oval Office. He told reporters he thought Trump had understood the point after he showed him a map of the war-torn country.

Trump ensured Merz that negotiating a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine remained “very high” on his priority list, and said he believed the US had plenty of munitions to fight Iran and sell them to Europe for use in Ukraine.

Merz also urged Trump to put pressure on Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine. “Russia is playing for time here, and in doing so is also acting against the will of the American president. In today’s talks, I called for increasing the pressure on Moscow,” the German chancellor told reporters. The US, Russia and Ukraine are taking part in trilateral talks aimed at securing a peace deal. Merz, however, said only a pact supported by Europe could be lasting. “We are not prepared to accept an agreement that is negotiated over our heads,” he said.

A suspected Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker seized by Belgium is being held on a €10m ($12m) bond, after inspections revealed infractions, Brussels said on Tuesday. The Ethera, which Belgium alleges is part of a flotilla of ageing vessels Moscow uses to avoid western sanctions, was seized by Belgian special forces in the North Sea on Sunday. Investigations carried out after it was brought to the port of Zeebrugge confirmed it had been sailing under a false Guinean flag, the Belgian government said. In total inspectors found 45 infractions, including technical defects, leading to the ship being impounded, it added. The tanker’s Russian captain and its 20-strong crew were ordered to remain on board. “The ship will only leave the port once it is compliant and the deposit has been paid,” said Belgium’s mobility minister, Jean-Luc Crucke. Russia has previously described the seizure of its tankers and other vessels carrying its cargoes as acts of piracy.

The US has deployed a low-cost combat drone in Iran modelled on the Iranian Shahed, as it pushes to accelerate weapons programmes because the Ukraine war. The Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (Lucas) drone was deployed just eight months after its Pentagon unveiling. Defence officials said the compressed timeline reflected lessons learned from observing drone warfare in Ukraine, where both sides have employed thousands of low-cost unmanned systems.

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, discussed the Druzhba pipeline, which is at the centre of a dispute with Hungary and Slovakia and has held up approval of a €90bn EU loan to Kyiv. A commission spokesperson said the two leaders had discussed the matter during a call but could not share any details of the conversation. Earlier von der Leyen said on X that they had discussed topics including the loan, sanctions on Russia and “the wider impact of the developments in the Middle East on energy prices, on energy security and on availability of badly needed defence materials”.

Nvidia, Amazon temporarily close Dubai offices, Google employees stranded amid U.S.-Iran war

Tech companies with Middle East operations have scrambled to respond as fighting rippled across the region after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran.

Father of alleged school shooter found guilty of murder

A Georgia jury has found Colin Gray, the man whose teenage son is accused of killing two students and two teachers in a shooting at Apalachee High School, guilty of second-degree murder and all other charges. Skyler Henry has details.

Americans urged to leave 14 Middle East countries amid Iran war

The State Department urged Americans to "depart now" from countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

My grandfather narrowly avoided death under the Iranian regime. But I am not celebrating Trump’s illegal war | Anonymous

While I do not speak for the Australian-Iranian diaspora as a whole, I am gravely concerned for what this attack will cost in innocent lives

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One evening in Tehran in 1980, my grandfather got an anonymous tip that the Islamic Republic of Iran wanted him dead.

That night, he, my grandmother and my 15-year-old mother fled their native Iran on a last-minute flight to Heathrow with the help of a forged passport. With two tightly packed suitcases, they made it out. Eventually, my grandfather’s ingenuity allowed them to immigrate to Australia after three years spent in asylum-seeking purgatory in London. Together, my family built a fresh life in Sydney. We survived.

Americans stranded amid war in Middle East: "Everybody is scared"

The U.S. State Department is urging the roughly 1 million American citizens in 14 countries in the Middle East to leave immediately and saying help is on the way. But with most planes grounded, many are finding escape nearly impossible. Matt Gutman reports.

More than 220m children will be obese by 2040 without drastic action, report warns

World Obesity Federation says half a billion children will be overweight and calls on governments to act to create healthier environments

Without drastic action more than 220 million children could have obesity by 2040, an international report has warned.

Globally, in 2025 about 180 million children were obese. But new figures from the World Obesity Federation suggest that by 2040, about 227 million of all five- to 19-year-olds will have obesity and more than half a billion will be overweight.

Redlight to Limelight review – the powerful tale of 500 sex workers who formed a film collective

This documentary can’t help but be moving as it follows the Cam On group in Kolkata, who are creating a drama based on their experiences – even if it could do with more depth

Cam On is a film-making collective comprising some of the estimated 500 sex workers and their children who live in Boro Goli, the red light district in Kalighat, a desperately poor area on the southern edge of Kolkata. “The street holds many stories,” says Rabin, the son of a Nepalese woman who was sold by her uncle into sex work at 12. “Love and threat at every turn.” He is the director of the film the collective is making, Nupur: The Story of Two Sisters. It’s a fictionalised amalgam of many of the members’ real experiences and tells the tale of an older sister who hopes to escape the fate that seems set for her and a younger one who lacks hope that it is possible.

Redlight to Limelight is the documentary – part of the BBC’s award-winning Storyville strand – by Bipuljit Basu that follows them as they make their film, building art out of suffering, creating something worthwhile in an environment that seems hellbent on allowing nothing.

MPs say Starmer’s UK-EU reset lacks ‘direction, definition and drive’

Foreign affairs committee report finds summit improved political relationship but efforts lack ‘strategic priorities’

Keir Starmer’s efforts to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU are lacking in “direction, definition and drive”, parliament’s foreign affairs committee has said.

A report based on months of expert witness testimony found the summit between the UK and the EU at Lancaster House last May had “substantially improved the overall political relationship” after years of Brussels-bashing by the Conservatives.

UK puts emergency brake on study visas for four countries’ nationals

Shabana Mahmood says UK’s generosity abused as visas halted for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan

The government has imposed an emergency brake on visas for the first time on nationals from four countries, as Shabana Mahmood accused them of exploiting Britain’s generosity to claim asylum.

Study visas for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan have been halted, in addition to work visas for Afghans.

Trump denies that Israel forced US’s hand in launching strikes against Iran

Democrats have decried Marco Rubio’s briefings as inadequate in articulating the goals of war

Donald Trump attempted to counter a simmering anti-Israel backlash in Congress and among his own Maga supporters on Tuesday by denying suggestions that he had been bounced into attacking Iran because Israel had already decided to do so.

Amid growing criticism among opponents and allies alike, Trump rebuffed claims that he had struck Iran only because Israel had forced his hand, a suspicion fueled by comments made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state.

Former Wallabies coach Rennie takes All Blacks job and targets World Cup glory

• Rennie succeeds Scott Robertson in one of biggest jobs in rugby

• ‘I’m really clear on the way I want the All Blacks to play,’ says coach

Dave Rennie has been named the new coach of the All Blacks and charged with taking New Zealand to a fourth World Cup triumph in Australia next year.

The 62-year-old former Wallabies coach beat out Jamie Joseph for one of the biggest jobs in world rugby after an extensive recruitment process that started when Scott Robertson stepped down in mid January after a critical review.

Talarico wins Democratic nomination for Texas Senate seat; Republicans set for runoff

Sen. John Cornyn will face Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May runoff. The winner will face James Talarico, a seminarian and state lawmaker who's emerged as a rising Democratic star.

Prediction market 'gambling' needs state regulation, not feds, Mick Mulvaney says after Iran war bets

Mick Mulvaney also said prediction markets, by offering contracts on events such as wars, could represent a security risk for the U.S.

Epstein files: Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler asked to testify to House panel

Kathryn Ruemmler said last month she would leave Goldman Sachs at the end of June after fallout over her emails with Jeffrey Epstein.

Kristi Noem refuses to retract statement calling Minnesotans killed by federal agents ‘domestic terrorists’

Homeland security secretary was grilled in Senate hearing over immigration enforcement crackdown in Twin Cities

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The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Kristi Noem, on Tuesday would not retract her statements calling the two US citizens who were killed by immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis earlier this year “domestic terrorists”, while also claiming that agents do not abide by quotas for arrests.

Appearing before Congress for the first time since the killings, Noem evaded a question by the Senate judiciary committee’s ranking member, Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, about whether she would take back the false accusations about Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Social media believed to be shooter's is full of antisemitic, anti-Christian posts

The attacker who opened fire at a bar in Austin, Texas, over the weekend appears to have posted antisemitic, anti-Christian and misogynistic messages on social media.

New Zealand coalition votes to make English an official language as critics decry ‘cynical’ bill

Push to give English same status as Māori and NZ sign languages triggers backlash from opposition parties and linguistic experts

A bill to recognise English as an official language of New Zealand has cleared its first hurdle in parliament amid ridicule from opposition parties and linguists who say it is “unnecessary” and “cynical”.

The bill seeks to give English, which is spoken by 95% of the country, the same official status as te reo Māori (Māori language) and New Zealand sign language. The bill said the status and use of the existing official languages would not be affected.

What was really behind Jack Dorsey laying off nearly half of Block’s staff?

CEO cited AI advances in cutting 4,000 workers, but a weak crypto market and declining stock price may also be at play

Jack Dorsey cited AI as the driving force behind cutting 40% of his company’s employees, but other factors such as a weak crypto market, overstaffing and a declining stock price may also have motivated the move.

Last week, the financial technology company Block announced that it would lay off 4,000 of its 10,000 workers. Dorsey, Block’s CEO, said in a letter to shareholders that advances in AI “have changed what it means to build and run a company”.

Most say Trump admin. still hasn't explained Iran goals, CBS News poll finds

Many see the Iran conflict lasting at least months. A majority oppose it, and more say it makes the U.S. less safe.

Syngenta says it will stop making pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease

Company will halt production of controversial paraquat weed killer by end of June as it faces thousands of lawsuits

Syngenta, maker of a controversial pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease, said on Tuesday that it will stop making its paraquat weed killer by the end of June.

The announcement comes as the company is facing several thousand lawsuits brought by people in the US who allege they developed Parkinson’s disease due to their exposure to Syngenta’s paraquat products.

Target to invest $2 billion in AI, stores, staffing as it seeks to reverse slump

Target will invest another $2 billion in its business this year to spruce up stores, remodel locations and invest in workers, the retailer said Tuesday as it outlined plans to try to reverse a persistent sales malaise and reclaim its footing in fashion and home categories.

Target says it's on track to end its sales slump after another lackluster quarter

The big-box retailer Target posted its fiscal fourth-quarter results as it hosted an investor meeting at its Minneapolis headquarters.

United Airlines can now boot passengers who refuse to use headphones

United said it could permanently ban travelers who refuse to wear headphones while listening to audio or video content on its flights.

Tillis calls Noem's leadership a 'disaster' in fiery Senate hearing

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee after coming under fire for her leadership during a nationwide immigration sweep.

US troops were told war on Iran was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’, watchdog alleges

Religious freedom group says 200 troops sent complaints of superiors using extremist Christian rhetoric to justify war

• Middle East crisis – live updates

US military commanders have been invoking extremist Christian rhetoric about biblical “end times” to justify involvement in the Iran war to troops, according to complaints made to a watchdog group.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) says it has received more than 200 complaints from service members across all branches of the armed forces, including the marines, air force and space force.

3/2: The Takeout with Major Garrett

The latest details on Day 3 of war with Iran; video released of the Clintons' depositions on Jeffrey Epstein.

Howard Lutnick agrees to interview with House committee in Epstein probe

Documents released by the Justice Department provided a look into Howard Lutnick's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Howard Lutnick agrees to appear before US House panel on Epstein network

Donald Trump’s commerce secretary has acknowledged visiting convicted sex offender on private island in 2012

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Howard Lutnick, Donald Trump’s commerce secretary, has agreed to appear voluntarily before the House committee on oversight and government reform as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal network, the committee’s chair announced on Tuesday.

James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the panel, said Lutnick had “proactively” agreed to the transcribed interview.

Some baby formula brands contain heavy metals, Consumer Reports says

Tests of dozens of baby formulas by Consumer Reports found that nearly half contained potentially dangerous chemicals.

Third victim dies as Austin bar shooting investigated as potential terrorism act

Jorge Pederson, 30, had been on life support after weekend attack which left more than a dozen others wounded

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A Minnesota-based mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter has been named as the third victim to die in the recent mass shooting at an Austin bar being investigated as a potential act of terrorism in retaliation for US airstrikes in Iran.

The death of 30-year-old Jorge Pederson was announced by the Austin police department on Monday evening. Police told NBC News that Pederson had been on life support after the attack, which left more than a dozen others wounded and ended with officers fatally shooting the gunman.

Trump administration offers shifting narrative for U.S. war in Iran as Democrats pounce

Trump said when the invasion began his objective was to "defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group."

FBI agents Patel fired worked in counterintel, including on cases involving Iran

Many of the agents who were fired last week by FBI Director Kash Patel were assigned to a squad that worked on global counterintelligence cases, including those involving Iran, sources said.

Chaos signals Iran struggling to function as war turns into fight for survival

Strikes on Iranian leadership are putting Tehran under unprecedented military and diplomatic pressure

• Middle East crisis – live updates

• The war in the Middle East in maps, video and photos

Iran endured a day of unprecedented military and diplomatic pressure on Tuesday as US airstrikes pushed the death toll in the country close to 800 and the offices of the assembly of experts – the body due to select a replacement for the assassinated supreme leader, Ali Khamenei – were bombed.

It would be an extraordinary security lapse if it emerges that many of the 88 elderly clerics on the assembly had been in the building in Qom voting at the time. “There was another hit today on the new leadership, and it looks like that was pretty substantial,” Trump said at a White House event, although it was unclear what specifically he was talking about.

Anthropic's Claude AI being used in Iran war by U.S. military, sources say

Two sources familiar with the U.S. military's use of artificial intelligence confirm that the U.S. used Anthropic's Claude AI model over weekend for the attack on Iran — and is still using it.

Half-truths and no truths: Trump’s latest claims on the UK factchecked

From the Chagos Islands to ‘windmills’ and sharia law, the US president’s comments do not bear much scrutiny

Donald Trump has been opining about the UK again, saying on Tuesday that Keir Starmer was “not Winston Churchill” and repeating his complaint about the deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Here are some recent things the US president has said about British issues, and how they compare with reality.

DoJ renews fight against law firms that stood up to Trump in abrupt reversal

Move comes day after department said it would drop fight against law firms that stood up to Trump’s executive orders

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The US justice department abruptly reversed course on Tuesday and decided it would defend executive orders made by Donald Trump to try to penalize law firms that represented clients or causes the president did not like.

On Monday, the department announced in a court filing that it was dropping its appeal against a ruling by a district court judge that blocked Trump’s retaliatory executive actions against four companies that refused to make a deal with him.

Witkoff: Iran said it had enough enriched uranium to make 11 nuclear bombs

President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News that Iranian negotiators said Iran had the "inalienable right to enrich all their nuclear fuel."

Nottingham killer sought arrest at MI5 HQ before 2023 attack, inquiry told

Valdo Calocane approached security at Thames House in 2021 but did not meet threshold for further assessment, public inquiry told

A man who killed three people during a 2023 knife attack in Nottingham had attempted to hand himself into MI5 for arrest two years earlier, an inquiry has heard.

Valdo Calocane, 34, fatally stabbed Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65, during a stabbing spree in the city on 13 June 2023.

DOJ reverses course, will now defend Trump executive orders targeting law firms

The Justice Dept. said in a court filing it seeks to withdraw its motion to voluntarily dismiss appeals of court decisions invalidating executive orders targeting four law firms.

2/24: CBS Evening News

What to expect in Trump's State of the Union address; Russian strikes on power grid have turned winter into weapon against Ukraine.

Game of Thrones film adaptation in the works at Warner Bros

Blockbuster adaptation of George RR Martin’s fantasy world will focus on events 300 years before the HBO series’ pilot

A Game of Thrones film is set for the big screen, with Warner Bros officially developing a prequel set in the world of Westeros.

House of Cards showrunner and Andor writer Beau Willimon has been recruited to write the script based on George RR Martin’s fantasy series.

Ben Jennings on Donald Trump, Keir Starmer and the war in Iran – cartoon

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Video of Clintons' Epstein testimony released by House committee

The House Oversight Committee released recordings of last week's depositions with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

British rapper Ghetts jailed for 12 years for causing death of student in hit and run

Grime artist was speeding and over drink-drive limit when he hit 20-year-old Yubin Tamang in London

The rapper Ghetts has been jailed for 12 years for killing a student in a hit and run while speeding and over the drink-drive limit.

The grime artist, whose real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, failed to stop after his BMW hit the Nepalese national Yubin Tamang, 20, in north-east London. He admitted dangerous driving and causing death by dangerous driving.

The DOJ has been taking down Epstein files. Here's what remains.

The massive tranche of files the Justice Department currently maintains is more than 65,000 pages shorter than what the agency initially released.

Briton diagnosed with rabies after psychiatrist raised fears, inquest told

Yvonne Ford, who died after scratch from dog in Morocco, was referred to mental health expert by perplexed medics

A woman who died in the UK after contracting rabies while on holiday in Morocco was diagnosed with the disease after a psychiatrist was called in to assess her symptoms, an inquest has heard.

Yvonne Ford, 59, died in Barnsley hospital on 11 June, four months after she was scratched by a puppy in February while on a beach in the north African country.