Iran rejects U.S. ceasefire offer, demands sovereignty over Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump has claimed the U.S. and Iran are "in negotiations now." But the Islamic Republic denies any direct talks to end the war.

Prosecutors examined whether Trump disclosed classified map on plane after leaving office

Susie Wiles was on plane and witnessed event, according to files shown to House judiciary committee

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Federal prosecutors examined whether Donald Trump showed a classified map to people on his plane after his first term, including to his now White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, according to justice department materials produced to the House judiciary committee.

The incident was described in a 13 January 2023 briefing memo prepared for the then attorney general, Merrick Garland – roughly six months before special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club.

Trump says he could send National Guard to airports 'for more help'

President Donald Trump says he is considering sending the National Guard to airports where TSA officer absences have led to long lines.

Frederiksen to lead talks on forming new Danish government – Europe live

Role for Social Democrats’ leader confirmed after meeting with king

Speaking at the debate, Frederiksen confirms she has submitted her government’s resignation as it is clear the outgoing three-party government will not have enough mandates to continue.

But she stresses the urgency of the task to form the new government, as “the world is not waiting for us out there and it has only become more unsettled since the election was called.”

Fate of Senate funding deal looks uncertain as DHS shutdown grinds on

Senate Democrats are still pushing for reforms to ICE on Day 40 of the DHS shutdown and plan to put forward a counteroffer. Follow live updates.

TSA official says workers have missed out on nearly $1bn in pay as airport turmoil continues amid shutdown – live

Some airports advise travelers to arrive four hours before their scheduled flights as TSA staff, who have been working without pay for over a month, are not reporting for duty

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Top officials at agencies affected by the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown are testifying on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The lapse in funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has lasted 40 days with little end in sight.

During opening remarks, the Republican chair of the House homeland security committee, Andrew Garbarino, said that the shutdown has caused “massive disruptions” across airports, “weakened our nation’s cybersecurity posture” and “left states unsupported with less than 100 days until the start of major events across the United States, such as FIFA World Cup”.

‘What’s your favourite thing about me?’ How to deal with a conversational narcissist

We all know a person who sees every chat as an opportunity to go on and on about themselves. And sometimes that person is us …

Name: Conversational narcissism.

Age: Christened in 1979.

At the Legacy Museum, facing America's racist past is a path, not a punishment

"There is an America that is more free — where there's more equality, where there is more justice, where there is less bigotry — and I think it's waiting for us," says lawyer Bryan Stevenson.

Swiss sneaker maker On Holding shakes up leadership amid slowing growth

Co-founders to become co-CEOs as On prepares to enter its "next growth phase," the company said in a statement Wednesday. 

A leadership vacuum adds to strains on the CDC

Low morale, staff turnover and budget issues have sapped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The administration is expected to soon name a new director, who will have their hands full.

US has caused $10tn worth of climate damage since 1990, research finds

US, top carbon emitter in history, has ‘a lot of responsibility’ for causing ‘substantial’ harm globally, scientist says

The US has caused an eye-watering $10tn in global damages to the world over the past three decades through its vast planet-heating emissions, with a quarter of this economic pain inflicted upon itself, new research has found.

By being the largest carbon emitter in history, the US has caused greater harm to worldwide economic growth than any other country, ahead of China, now the world’s largest emitter that is responsible for $9tn in GDP damage since 1990, according to the findings of the paper.

Bond between dogs and humans dates back more than 15,000 years, study finds

Research suggests hunter-gatherers were feeding dogs and giving them ritual burials as early as the last ice age

They are humankind’s best friend, and now ancient DNA analysis has revealed that the enduring bond between dogs and humans dates back more than 15,000 years.

The groundbreaking research, published in the journal Nature, pushes back the oldest genetic evidence for domestic dogs by 5,000 years, revealing that hunter-gatherers were feeding the animals and giving them ritual burials long before the emergence of agriculture.

Iran gives negative response to US ceasefire plan amid push for talks

Pakistani intermediaries deliver 15-point plan but some proposals proved intractable in previous negotiations

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Iranian officials expressed initial disapproval of a US ceasefire plan on Wednesday, even as intermediaries suggested direct talks between the two could start as early as this weekend.

Representatives from Pakistan who reportedly delivered the US plan to Iran told the Associated Press that it was a 15-point proposal that would include sanctions relief for Iran, dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme, restricting its use of missiles and reopening the strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20% of the world’s oil.

Skeleton of Three Musketeers hero d’Artagnan may have been found

Archaeologists believe remains found in Maastricht, Netherlands, may be of soldier who inspired novel character

More than three-and-a-half centuries after a musket ball to the throat put an end to decades of exemplary swashbuckling, the French soldier who inspired Alexandre Dumas and went on to be immortalised on the stage and screen – not to mention as a plucky cartoon dog – may rise again.

Workers repairing a church in the Dutch city of Maastricht have discovered a skeleton that could belong to the 17th-century Gascon nobleman Charles de Batz-Castelmore – better known as d’Artagnan – whose exploits led Dumas to make him the hero of the Three Musketeers.

Arm jumps 20% as company expects revenue windfall from new chip, a 'significant shift'

Arm said it expects its new chip to generate six times more revenue in 2031 than the $4 billion it made in 2025.

NBA expansion explained: teams in Vegas and Seattle, LeBron’s role and hungry billionaires

The NBA’s board of governors voted to move forward with the cities as targets for its first expansion since 2004. Here’s what it means for the future of the league

The NBA has moved a step closer to adding teams in Seattle and Las Vegas.

The league’s board of governors met this week and voted to explore bids and applicants for teams exclusively in those two cities, beginning the process for its first expansion in more than two decades. Bids are expected to be in the $7bn to $10bn range per franchise.

DHS funding deal on shaky ground as Trump and Democrats both decline to embrace it

After weeks of start and stop negotiations between Congressional Democrats and the White House, there's an emerging proposal to fund the majority of DHS and tackle ICE enforcement funding separately.

Trump voted by mail in Florida despite calling mail-in voting "cheating"

President Trump has long railed against mail-in voting, but used the method this month in a Florida election, public records indicate.

FedEx to offer same-day delivery as it battles with Amazon, other retailers

FedEx said it will give customers the option of two-hour or end-of-day delivery, including for large and oversized packages.

The shot that shows the absurdity of war: Peter van Agtmael’s best photograph

‘US soldiers would look for “suspected terrorists” in Iraqi homes and usually find nothing. This could be my grandma’s living room – it shows that insane violence can continue amid normal life’

I took this picture during my first time in Iraq, 20 years ago. It was the first entry in a body of work about the US post-9/11, at home and at war, which has occupied a good chunk of my professional life for the last two decades. I had turned 25 the week before and it was a formative journey on a personal level. It was the first time I experienced war, and my understanding of my country and its relationship to the world developed in the crucible of this extremely violent situation, which was descending into civil war while I was there.

I had been embedded in Iraq with the US military for six weeks or so at this point, and had taken some good pictures. But this one was different and it still means something to me today. It was the first I had taken that wasn’t overtly channelling the history of war photography – which largely focusses on violence, horror and victims. Those are important things to show, but I wanted to understand this particular conflict, and how my position as an American of the same generation as those fighting could help me interpret it for the public. I guess the image crystallised something I had seen – this vast machine of military might mobilised in the Middle East; the momentum of all these young men with powerful weapons patrolling cities in search of people identified as enemies of America, enemies of democracy.

Could the continent’s far right be suffering from a Trumplash?

France’s National Rally missed key targets in local elections ahead of next year’s seismic presidential vote – and the mainstream is doing OK elsewhere, too

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The Rassemblement National is not invincible. A year out from a make-or-break presidential vote, that might be the main lesson (though there are others, which may prove more significant) from last weekend’s local elections in France. What’s more, news elsewhere – Giorgia Meloni’s referendum defeat in Italy, Janez Janša beaten in Slovenia, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán in trouble, the left bloc largest in Denmark – might suggest the rest of Europe’s far right are not having it all their own way, either.

But let’s focus first on France – if only because while local elections are rarely a wholly accurate guide to future national outcomes, these ones seem to provide some pointers – and the stakes in the country’s next major election are vertiginously high.

Former Google executive Matt Brittin selected to be next BBC director general

Former Olympic rower to lead corporation as it hammers out future funding model with government

Matt Brittin, Google’s former top executive in Europe, has been named the BBC’s next director general.

Brittin, who stepped down as Google’s president in Europe, the Middle East and Africa last year, will replace Tim Davie at a crucial time for the corporation, as it hammers out its future funding model with the government.

Iran war threatens to delay large offshore wind projects in EU and UK

Industry fears strait of Hormuz closure could disrupt shipping of crucial parts for UK and German North Sea projects

• Business live – latest updates

A string of large offshore wind projects in Europe are facing potential delays as the Iran war threatens to disrupt shipping of crucial parts manufactured in the Gulf.

Industry sources are concerned that components ordered from suppliers in the United Arab Emirates could become trapped if shipping remains effectively blocked through the strait of Hormuz.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen: Denmark’s pipe-smoking kingmaker who cleans his teeth with soap

Man credited with cooling Greenland tensions with Donald Trump is poised to play central role in any coalition deal

• Europe live – latest updates

At the end of a long, gruelling night for the biggest parties on the right and left, there was one veteran of Danish politics who came out of Tuesday’s general election with a smile on his face – and a pipe in his mouth.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the two-time prime minister whose Moderates party is not aligned with the country’s left or right-leaning political blocs, is poised to play a central role in any coalition deal reached in the coming weeks.

Emily Gregory projected to win Florida special election to represent Trump, Mar-a-Lago

President Donald Trump had endorsed fellow Republican Jon Maples in the special election against Emily Gregory, the Democratic nominee.

A timeline of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance as search stretches on

Savannah Guthrie's mom, Nancy Guthrie, was reported missing Feb. 1.

Supreme Court sides with internet provider in dispute over pirated music

The Supreme Court ruled that internet service provider Cox Communications cannot be held liable for copyright infringement by its subscribers.

Edge-walking and musical robots: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

‘It’s like flowers on steroids’: what happened when scientists heated a Rocky Mountain wildlife meadow by 2C?

A long-running experiment in Colorado provides an ‘alarming’ view of how rapidly unchecked global heating could transform fragile ecosystems

Every summer, people descend on the wildflower capital of Colorado to see grasslands flush with corn lilies, aspen sunflowers and sub-alpine larkspur. In January 1991, scientists set up a unique experiment in these Rocky Mountain meadows. It was one of the first (and longest running) to work out how the changing climate would affect an ecosystem.

At the time, it was believed a temperature increase could lead to longer, lusher grasses. But instead of flourishing, the grasses and wildflowers started to disappear, replaced by sage brush. The experimental meadows morphed into a desert-like scrubland. Even the fungi in the soils were transformed by heat.

Prediction markets' new insider trading restrictions aren't enough, bipartisan senators say

Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and John Curtis, R-Utah, said they are optimistic their bill has enough bipartisan support to pass in Congress.

Can Bluey save classical music? Cartoon puppy’s all-encompassing soundtrack plays Bach and Beethoven to billions

In the hugely popular pre-school animation, composer Joff Bush references and rearranges classical tunes in all the right places – and never plays it for cheap laughs. Plus, the Wigmore Hall sees the writing on the wall

Classical music’s continued battle for relevance and impact continues to find new nadirs, from tired experiments with formats to bathetic look-at-me clickbait. But what if there was an answer – a joyous, creative and positive one – staring at us with irresistibly big eyes?

There really might be, in the shape of a blue heeler puppy. I’m talking, of course, about Bluey, the Australian cartoon for children of all ages. The numbers are huge: it was the most streamed show in the US last year, with more than 45bn minutes watched, and a billion streams and counting across the world for Bluey’s albums and soundtracks, all written by Joff Bush, the Australian musician who has led the composition of the music for each of the 154 episodes so far.

Ex-Tory minister Crispin Blunt fined £1,200 for possession of crystal meth

Former prisons minister pleads guilty to four drugs charges stemming from raid on his Surrey home

The former justice minister Crispin Blunt has been fined £1,200 for possessing illegal drugs after he told a court he entered the world of chemsex parties to help inform government policy.

Blunt, 65, a former Conservative MP for Reigate, pleaded guilty at Westminster magistrates court to four charges of possessing methamphetamine – commonly known as crystal meth – cannabis and the chemical sedative GBL.

It’s not just oil and gas. The Strait of Hormuz blockage is rattling another vital commodity

“I'm a lot more concerned about the current crisis than I was when Russia-Ukraine happened four years ago,” one fund manager told CNBC.

Savannah Guthrie gives first interview since mom vanished: "It is unbearable"

Savannah Guthrie said her family is in agony as she made a tearful plea for someone "to do the right thing" nearly two months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared.

Husband of U.S. soldier killed in Kuwait on what her service meant

The Minnesota mom of two and U.S. soldier was days from returning home from her tour in Kuwait when she was killed in an Iranian strike.

FA resists Manchester United lobbying for rebuilt Old Trafford to host 2035 World Cup final

• Home nations frontrunners to host Women’s World Cup

• United’s New Stadium Development wants showpiece

The FA is resisting lobbying from Manchester United to nominate a rebuilt Old Trafford as the venue for the 2035 Women’s World Cup final.

The chief executive of United’s New Stadium Development, Collette Roche, went public with the club’s aspirations to host the 2035 final for the first time on Tuesday but the FA is committed to staging the showpiece occasion at Wembley.

‘It’s going to give us closure’: could there finally be justice for the murder of Patrice Lumumba?

The assassination of the Congo’s first prime minister has been shrouded in mystery – but the impending trial of a Belgian diplomat may provide answers

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Patrice Lumumba was assassinated more than 60 years ago, but his killing still hangs over the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Even for non-Congolese Africans, some born years after Lumumba’s death, his killing symbolises something traumatic – the suffocation of the pan-African liberation dream by western colonial forces.

Last week, after decades of avoidance and denial, there was an extraordinary development. A Belgian court ruled that a former Belgian diplomat, 93-year-old Étienne Davignon, will stand trial in connection with the killing.

Oil trades surged before Trump's Iran post. Some experts are suspicious.

Trading in crude oil futures spiked only minutes before President Trump postponed an ultimatum on Iran, causing oil prices to drop and stocks to surge.

US runners led off course in chaotic half-marathon given entry to world championships

• Lead runners were led off course by guide vehicle

• World Athletics gives runners special entry

Three runners who were led off course in a race that served as a qualifier for the World Road Running Championships have been given entry into the upcoming competition.

Jessica McClain, Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat were leading the USA Track & Field Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta earlier this month when the guide vehicle took the trio off course. Molly Born, who had been more than a minute behind the leaders, came through to win the race, with Carrie Ellwood and Annie Rodenfels in second and third. McClain, Hurley and Kurgat finished in ninth, 12th and 13th respectively, around two minutes behind Born.

A 92-year-old judge will take on the Maduro case. What do we know about him?

Former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro heads to court again this week. The judge overseeing this case is longtime federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein. At 92 years old, Hellerstein is older than the average age of a federal judge by more than 20 years.

Coleman tells Ireland they have a duty to lift country in World Cup playoff

• Ireland face Czech Republic in playoff semi-final

• ‘We are just riding the wave of confidence’

Séamus Coleman believes the Republic of Ireland have “a duty” to lift the country by completing the job of qualifying for a World Cup for the first time since 2002.

The Republic visit the Czech Republic on Thursday in a World Cup playoff semi-final that few would have imagined possible after collecting one point from their opening three qualifiers. Having reignited their campaign with two Troy Parrott-inspired wins over Portugal and Hungary in November, however, Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side will take confidence and momentum into their bid to end a 24-year absence from the World Cup.

Taliban releases detained U.S. citizen Dennis Coyle

The foreign ministry said in a statement it agreed after a letter from his family that Dennis Coyle "would be pardoned and released" for Eid.

Oil giants raise the alarm over energy shortages as Iran war drags on

Shell CEO Wael Sawan warns Europe will be next to face an energy supply crunch.

Mormon Wives star being investigated for third domestic violence allegation

Latest allegation against Taylor Frankie Paul comes days after ABC pulled her upcoming season of the Bachelorette

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Authorities in Utah are reportedly investigating allegations of a third domestic violence incident involving The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives reality stars Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen.

A spokesperson for the West Jordan police department told NBC News that Mortensen contacted the department last month with allegations of domestic violence against Paul stemming from a 2024 incident. Mortensen told them that he was directed to their department by Draper police due to the jurisdiction of the 2024 incident.

Lily James, Andy Murray and a million Britons: padel’s rise nears milestone

• UK participation levels more than doubled in 2025

• 860,000 Britons played padel at least once last year

It was once seen as a quirky upstart or continental fad. But padel now has nearly a million players across the UK after participation levels more than doubled in 2025.

According to LTA figures seen by the Guardian, 860,000 Britons played padel at least once last year – up from 400,000 in 2024 and 129,000 in 2023 – as the racket sport’s dizzying rise continued.

Struggling to cope with the relentless and bleak news cycle? Go to bed early | Jodie Wilson

When we can’t control what’s happening in the world, there is some solace in the predictability of a comforting routine and the safe landing of a warm bed

An early bedtime is my number one prescription when things go awry. It’s a reliable comfort through all life seasons, especially when uncertainty is rife and sleep is disturbed.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I spend a considerable amount of time each day thinking about how nice it would be to get into bed. We’ve just passed the autumn equinox which means we’ll light the first fire soon and “hottie season” will officially commence. Yes, my partner of 20 years is handsome but it’s the hot-water bottle that gets preference when the temperature drops, the world threatens to implode and extra cosiness is required.

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: there may be 50 shades, but there’s only one Correct Grey

The true quality of a fabric is revealed by a neutral tone – one that beautifully offsets the brighter tones of 2026. Just don’t mention John Major

Sometimes a colour name is a whole mood. Rouge Noir: the stamp of cult 1990s glamour. Millennial pink: the colour of overthinking and oversharing. Elephant’s Breath by Farrow & Ball: the imperial age of the gastro pub.

I have a new favourite. Pairs is a lovely little Scottish brand which makes great quality socks at good prices. There are many cute names – Frosting Pink, Milky Tea Beige – but the one I just had to click on was Correct Grey, “a warm grey with nods to a classic British school sock”, according to the website.

Israel used white phosphorus to scorch earth in south Lebanon, researcher says

Human Rights Watch and others say they have documented use of weapon in civilian areas during war on Gaza

When the M825-series 155mm artillery projectile airbursts, expelling its felt wedges containing white phosphorus, it leaves a distinctive knuckle-shaped plume. That is how Human Rights Watch (HRW) researchers said they were able to verify that Israel was again using the notorious weapon over south Lebanon, reigniting accusations that it is breaking the laws of war.

The New York-based rights group said it had verified and geolocated eight images showing airburst white phosphorus munitions exploding over residential areas in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor in the opening days of Israel’s assault during the war on Gaza.

Overseas political funding capped and crypto donations blocked in blow to Reform UK

Legislation subject to MPs’ approval but will be backdated due to urgency of threat to UK democracy, says minister

• UK politics live – latest updates

Political donations from British citizens living abroad are to be capped at £100,000 a year from Wednesday, in a move that is likely to limit further funding from Reform UK’s Thailand-based mega-donor, Christopher Harborne.

In a hugely significant move, the government said it would introduce the strict cap, as well as a temporary ban on donations in cryptocurrency, in its new representation of the people bill.

Requiring third-party campaigners to declare donations all year round, not just election periods, and allowing funding only from permissible donors.

More stringent checks on the source of funds from political donors, bringing it more into line with know-your-customer checks in the financial services industry.

Preventing donations from shell companies by ensuring funding is from post-tax profits rather than revenue.

Requiring foreign consultant lobbyists to join the official register, from which they are currently exempt because they do not charge VAT.

Banning foreign-funded political adverts outright.

Bear cubs taken into care after mom is euthanized for attacking people

The orphaned bear cubs will receive intensive care even as their exposure to humans is limited, the San Diego Humane Society said.

Pentagon has no plan to stop Trump sons profiting from defense contracts: Warren, Blumenthal

Democrats have been hotly critical of the Trump family's business dealings while President Donald Trump serves in the White House.

Shock, disbelief at Houston airport as 36% of TSA officers call out: "Insane"

"This is the first time I've experienced something like this in my entire life," one traveler said as TSA lines snaked through George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Teenager in Wales handed life sentence after killing his mother with a hammer

Tristan Roberts, who expressed misogynistic views and had fascination with American Psycho, carefully planned attack

An 18-year-old man who expressed misogynistic views and had a fascination with the horror film American Psycho has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years and six months for killing his mother with a hammer.

Tristan Roberts carefully planned the crime, researching methods of killing and how to avoid being caught before buying potential weapons such as knives, hammers and an axe.

‘They can reach me wherever’: China using financial tactics to coerce people who flee, says report

UK urged to tackle transnational repression, as dissidents say Beijing has targeted them with tax bills and other threats

“I didn’t feel safe, even though I’m not based in Hong Kong any more,” said Christopher Mung Siu-tat after getting tax bills from Hong Kong authorities. “The regime can reach me by their long arms wherever I am.”

Siu-tat, the executive director at the Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor, a UK-based NGO, fled Beijing’s sweeping national security laws years ago. The letters are the latest example of a series of transnational repression (TNR) tactics the 54-year-old has faced in recent years.

Morgan McSweeney did not disclose his No 10 job in phone theft 999 call, transcript shows

In highly unusual move, Metropolitan police have released full transcript of call made by PM’s then chief of staff

• UK politics live – latest updates

Morgan McSweeney did not disclose that he was Keir Starmer’s chief of staff when he reported the theft of his phone, according to a transcript released by the Metropolitan police.

McSweeney, who left the No 10 role in February, told police it was a government phone when he reported it had been snatched, minutes after the theft in central London. He told police the iPhone had a tracker on it, according to the transcript of the emergency call minutes after it happened. But he did not explain the sensitivity of the phone’s contents, records of the call suggest.

Liverpool and Wales legend John Toshack diagnosed with dementia

• Son Cameron confirms 77-year-old has the disease

• Toshack managed Swansea and Madrid among many

The Liverpool and Wales great John Toshack has been diagnosed with dementia, according to his son Cameron.

Toshack had a celebrated playing career with the Merseyside club, scoring more than 100 goals and winning nine trophies between 1970 and 1978, and earning 40 caps for Wales before turning to management, including roles with Real Sociedad, Real Madrid and his national team.

Record-high temperatures possible in 17 states as heat wave expands

Seventeen states could break daily temperature records on Wednesday, as the heat wave that has been scorching the West expands into the central U.S.

United CEO says "get the deal done soon" as lawmakers negotiate DHS funding

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told CBS News he hopes the stalemate in Washington over DHS funding can be resolved soon, saying, "it's unconscionable that our politicians haven't gotten this done." He also said higher oil prices as a result of the Iran war are forcing his airline to cut flights 5% this summer. Kris Van Cleave has more.

US left without functioning vaccine panel as adviser says ‘drama distracts’

Move comes after judge voided Kennedy’s ACIP picks, leaving key flu, Covid and RSV vaccines in limbo

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Amid upheaval to the US vaccine advisory committee Robert Malone, the former co-chair and controversial figure who has opposed vaccines, says he has been pushed out and will not be involved in any future decisions. The move comes after a federal judge stayed the appointment of 13 members of the advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP), essentially invalidating their roles on the committee and the decisions they have made.

Those new advisers were all hand-picked by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, after he fired the previous 17 members of the ACIP in June – but the judge ruled they were unqualified and not selected properly.

Israel’s death penalty bill for Palestinian prisoners moves to final vote

Legislation initiated by far-right Otzma Yehudit party drew mounting criticism from opponents and rights groups as it moved through the Knesset

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Israel’s parliament has advanced a contentious bill to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of terrorism to its final vote, after the Knesset’s national security committee approved the measure on Tuesday.

The legislation, initiated by the far-right Otzma Yehudit party led by the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has drawn sharp criticism from opponents who warn it would mark a significant escalation in Israel’s penal policy. Members of Otzma Yehudit have worn noose-shaped pins in support of the bill.

Recession odds climb on Wall Street as economy shows cracks beneath the surface

Economists have pulled up their risk assessments of a contraction amid heightened uncertainty over geopolitical risk and a labor market slump.

Backlash mounts over twist in Robert Pattinson Zendaya romcom The Drama

Disquiet aired over the subject matter of film about a couple whose engagement is upended after they reveal to each other ‘the worst thing you’ve ever done’

• This article contains major spoilers for The Drama

The father of a child murdered in the Columbine school shootings has expressed his unhappiness at the film-makers behind forthcoming movie The Drama.

The film, which is written and directed by Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli, is a dark romantic comedy starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya as a couple whose upcoming wedding is cast in doubt after she reveals that she once planned a school shooting, but backed out at the last moment.

Record share of Americans carry credit card debt, can't pay off bills

About 111 million Americans are carrying credit card balances, a 17% increase in five years, new research shows.

Wife of Hawaii doctor testifies at his trial 1 year after he allegedly tried to kill her

Arielle Konig testified that her husband, anesthesiologist Gerhardt Konig, attempted to stab her with a syringe, and when that failed she said he repeatedly bashed her head with a rock during a birthday hike one year ago. Gerhardt Konig has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of his wife. Matt Gutman reports.

Hugo Barra's return to Meta 5 years after exit underscores Zuckerberg's AI urgency

During Hugo Barra's first stint at Meta, the company was pushing heavily into VR. Now, he's back and the focus is AI agents.

Mortgage demand drops more than 10% as rates hit the highest level since October

Mortgage demand continued to tumble last week, as mortgage rates surged higher and affordability weakened further.

Mikaela Shiffrin ties record as she clinches her sixth overall World Cup skiing title

• Shiffrin holds off challenge from Germany’s Emma Aicher

• US star ties record set by Annemarie Moser-Pröll in 1970s

Mikaela Shiffrin secured a record-tying sixth women’s overall World Cup skiing title by holding off a challenge from Germany’s Emma Aicher in the final race of the season.

Shiffrin needed only to finish in the top 15 of Wednesday’s giant slalom in Lillehammer, and the American secured that before Aicher had even began her second run. Shiffrin finished 11th and Aicher – who needed to win the race and hope that Shiffrin finished 16th or worse to clinch her first title – finished 12th.

“It’s quite emotional,” Shiffrin said. “This thing sums up a whole season of work and fighting with the whole team and I have to say to Emma that her skiing has been just outstanding and today it was just so cool to watch her, especially on the first run.

“I think the outcome of this day is that she can do this. And I think that’s the coolest thing about ski racing – that anything is possible,” Shiffrin added.

Heroism, horror and the ‘pits of hell’: inside the last days of El Fasher

Over two days in October 2025, up to 10,000 people are believed to have been massacred; a further 40,000 civilians from the Sudanese city are still unaccounted for. This is the story of what happened

In the pistachio green Toyota Land Cruiser rattling over the desert plain, Aboud Khater pressed his foot to the floor. Behind, the sun rose above El Fasher. Smoke belched from the stricken city. Khater was driving the last vehicle of the final evacuation convoy from El Fasher.

It was 5:45am on 27 October 2025. He couldn’t have waited any longer. The historic capital of Sudan’s sprawling region of Darfur would capitulate in the next two hours.

Baltimore is first U.S. city to sue over Grok deepfake porn as legal pressure mounts on Musk's xAI

Following international regulatory probes, lawsuits are piling up in the U.S. against Elon Musk's xAI and its Grok chatbot.

Mother was allegedly trafficked to US and illegally detained by ICE while accused abuser is free, lawyers say

The woman was arrested at routine ICE check-in and separated from two children, aged 18 months and four

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A Venezuelan mother of two who was allegedly trafficked to the US has been unlawfully detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and could soon be deported, according to her lawyers.

The woman has applications in process for asylum and a visa designed for victims of trafficking.

How to turn old sourdough into a classic pudding – recipe | Waste not

Bread-and-butter pudding us the ultimate zero-waste recipe, transforming everyday off-cuts into a decadent dish

Bread-and-butter pudding is a zero-waste recipe that has stood the test of time, not least because it’s so practical, comforting and thrifty. Like the best no-waste dishes, it transforms something worthless such as old bread into something truly indulgent. This version is based on Raymond Blanc’s classic, with a few of my own simplifications and adaptations over the years.

Epstein accountant and lawyer say federal agents never questioned them

In House depositions, disgraced financier’s associates say they were not contacted after his 2008 plea deal

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Jeffrey Epstein’s accountant and his attorney have both said that federal government investigators never interviewed them about the late financier’s crimes and their work with him, according to deposition videos released by the House of Representatives’ oversight committee.

Richard Kahn, Epstein’s accountant, and Darren Indyke, Epstein’s lawyer, said in hours of closed-door interviews with the committee that they did not witness, nor were involved in, any wrongdoing relating to Epstein, who died in 2019 after being charged with child sex trafficking.

Meta must pay $375 million for violating New Mexico law in child exploitation case, jury rules

Jury reaches a verdict in New Mexico trial in which the state's attorney general alleged that Meta failed to safeguard its family of apps from child predators.

Warning system failed to activate before deadly LaGuardia Airport collision, NTSB says

The National Transportation Safety Board says critical runway surveillance technology failed to activate before the deadly collision at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday between a plane and a fire-rescue truck. Tom Hanson reports.

36% of TSA officers call out at Houston's airport as lawmakers try to negotiate a deal

Senate Republicans on Tuesday sent a proposal to Democrats that would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security except for ICE's deportation division. So far, Democrats have refused to strike a deal without reforms to the agency's immigration enfor

My ​quest to ​preserve VHS-​era ​gaming ​culture​, one eBay bid at a time

As physical media makes an unlikely comebac​k​ among younger gamers, the humble VHS emerges as an unexpected archive of gaming’s messy, magical evolution​ that I saw first time around

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As I am nostalgic and of a certain age, I recently bought a VHS video recorder, just for the retrospective thrill of it; then I won a 32-inch CRT television at an auction in Shepton Mallet. Partly, this was to play a few old videos I had found in my loft, including one of me appearing in a 1990s youth TV show talking about sexism and Tomb Raider. (I was against the sexism, to be clear). But it was also because I wanted a new way of spending my money on fragile video-game nostalgia.

The rise of the games industry in the 1980s and 90s coincided with the explosion of the home-video business, and the two crossed paths in lots of interesting ways. There are the obvious treasures I want to get hold of: VHS copies of Street Fighter: The Movie and the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, naturally, as well as early games-inspired hits such as The Last Starfighter, The Wizard and WarGames. I rented most of these from my local video shop in the 80s – which, like many others, also sold computer games by the budget publisher Mastertronic, another interesting (at least to me) crossover between these two entertainment formats.

The creator of Fortnite has laid off more than 1,000 staff – despite billions in revenue

Huge cuts announced this week show that truly no developer working in games is safe from corporate whims

The video game industry is currently experiencing a seemingly endless bout of ruinous deja vu. Every month, another publisher posts an all too familiar statement about job losses in its development studios. There will be airy expressions of regret and platitudes praising the skill and contribution of the imminently jobless; it is all filtered through layers of corporate doublespeak intended to disguise the human cost of downsizing.

On Tuesday, it was the turn of Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, one of the most successful titles on the planet. In a note posted online, CEO Tim Sweeney announced that more than 1,000 jobs would be lost – this followed the cutting of 830 staff in September 2023.

Revealed: secret plans for two-day London Marathon with 100,000 runners

• ‘Double London Marathon’ plans backed by mayor’s office

• 2027 event would raise tens of millions more for charity

The London Marathon is in advanced talks about staging a two-day event in 2027, allowing tens of thousands more runners to take part in the iconic race and to raise tens of millions more for charity.

While the Double London Marathon, as it is being called internally, has not been granted formal approval it is believed to have the backing of the mayor’s office for it to be staged on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 April next year.

Husband of soldier killed in Iran war reflects on her service

In an exclusive interview with CBS News, the husband of Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor reflects on his final moments with his wife and how he wants her to be remembered. Amor was one of six soldiers killed in a drone attack at a command center in Kuwait a day after the Iran war started.

Yep, a mom's COVID shot during pregnancy protects her baby, a large study finds

A 3-year study published in Pediatrics examined newborns in Norway. It found a clear benefit for the baby when mom gets a COVID vaccination during pregnancy.

US traveller recounts brutal detention in Venezuela’s feared prisons: ‘They beat me, chained me up’

James Luckey’s ordeal sheds light on the mistreatment political prisoners faced under Nicolás Maduro

There were few countries James Luckey didn’t see during three years backpacking across the Americas, from Haiti and Honduras to Bolivia and Uruguay. Early last December, he set off from a budget hotel in the Brazilian Amazon hoping to fill in one of the final gaps.

Luckey’s intended destination was the two-billion-year-old tabletop mountain Mount Roraima, one of the most spectacular corners of South America’s most troubled nation, Venezuela. But within hours of crossing into the border town of Santa Elena de Uairén, that plan went up in smoke.

Mohamed Salah at Liverpool – quiz

The Egyptian is leaving Anfield in the summer. How much do you know about the forward’s time on Merseyside?

Fresh start: Hetty Lui McKinnon’s recipes to celebrate spring

Vegetables take centre stage in this relaxed menu of cheesy asparagus loaf, mushroomy filo tart with a chilli crisp crust, punchy feta salad, and a no-bake strawberry matchamisu

Vegetables are in my blood. I grew up surrounded by them; boxes upon boxes scattered around my childhood home, a perk from my father’s job as a wholesale purveyor (of bananas, specifically) at Sydney’s Flemington Markets (now known as Sydney Markets). Our family enjoyed an embarrassment of nature’s riches; an endless supply of succulent Asian greens, rotund cauliflowers, glossy aubergine, perky spring onions, and bulging cabbages that overflowed from crates in and around the kitchen and dining room. We needed to step over trays of stone fruit and cartons of oranges to get to the bathroom.

In the summer, I gorged on apricots and cherries until I was sick (true story) – I had no self-control when it came to the fresh stuff. This overindulgence ended abruptly when my father died when I was 15. The endless parade of fresh vegetables and fruits ceased but my deep connection with vegetables lives on. Today, chopping a head of broccoli, peeling a carrot or charring a wedge of cabbage makes me feel closer to my dad. It is a daily ritual that keeps his memory alive.

The sense of feeling alive is never more present than during the transition from winter. Spring, or chūn as it’s called in Cantonese, is actually the first season of the Chinese Lunar Year and somehow, that feels fitting for how we should approach eating during this time of year. As the brisk air thaws and the skies lift, the feeling of renewal and new beginnings punctuates my approach to cooking and feeding others. Bright acidity, twists on classic dishes, and pantry staples used in unexpected ways. Spring is the time to be bold, take risks in the kitchen and reawaken your tastebuds.

Ipswich Town have hard questions to answer after Nigel Farage PR disaster | Nick Ames

Reform’s use of the football club has shocked fans and left the ownership red faced but how did it happen?

When photographs of Nigel Farage’s visit to Portman Road went viral on Tuesday morning, a wave of shock quickly spread among Ipswich Town’s staff. Some were furious, others genuinely devastated by the carelessness that saw the club allow itself to be leveraged for Reform UK’s political gain. The anger was palpable and hardly assuaged by an email sent to employees by the chief executive, Mark Ashton, who sought to douse the fire by stating there had been no intention to endorse Farage nor his policies.

The problem for Ipswich is that the horse has bolted. At best, they were grievously naive in letting Farage and his social media team run amok after arriving for a pre-booked stadium tour; a less generous reading would be that they simply stood by and let it happen, fully aware of Reform’s propensity to create sensation from the smallest gulp of oxygen. A photo of Farage holding an Ipswich shirt aloft, seemingly in their press conference room, was swiftly emblazoned as the banner on his party’s X account. Before long Farage, ever the opportunist, was launching a video from the scene and cockily linking himself with the Ipswich manager’s job.

Princess Diana, Donald Trump and toe-curling cringe – SNL UK is saving television from its boredom crisis

The US staple was doomed to fail in cynical Britain. But after grabbing the attention of the most powerful man in the world, we should root for it to ruffle some more feathers

Keir Starmer and Donald Trump’s “special” relationship? It’s complicated. This week, hours before a scheduled phone call between the two leaders, Trump shared a clip of another conversation. It was a sketch from the inaugural episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL) UK, in which a nasal and stressed Starmer, played by George Fouracres, repeatedly tried to get out of calling the president. “I just want to keep him happy, Lammy,” moaned the PM to his deputy. “You don’t understand him like I do – I can change him.”

After weeks of very real tensions over what Trump perceives as a lack of British support for US military action in Iran, the humiliating clip was a nightmare for Downing Street. But you know who it was a dream for? SNL UK, which just had its arrival announced by the most powerful man in the world.

Iran has received Trump's 15-point plan to end war, report says; President says 'in negotiations right now'

It comes amid a messaging clash between the U.S. and Iran on peace negotiations.

Thousands of U.S. troops deploy to Middle East. And, the latest on DHS funding talks

The U.S. is sending thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne to the Middle East. And, congressional Republicans present Democrats with a new deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump’s war in Iran exposes US’s shift from a global guardian to an arbiter of chaos

The US is recklessly spreading economic havoc among global friends and foes while suffering little harm itself

To shield ordinary Indians from the war in Iran, the government in Delhi redirected supplies of liquefied gas to Indian families, for which it is the main cooking fuel, limiting supplies to the plastics industry. The Nepalese government rationed gas and the Philippines trimmed the government workweek to four days. Bangladesh closed universities and rationed fuel.

They have been hardest hit by Iran’s closure of the strait of Hormuz. Economies in Asia import over a third of the energy they consume, on average. Korea imports four-fifths; Japan nine-tenths; Thailand 55%. Most of this comes from the Gulf. About 80% of oil and oil products transiting through the strait in 2025 was destined for Asia, according to the International Energy Agency. But traffic through its waters has collapsed by 90%.

How weaving, glamping and kayak tours are helping to tackle deforestation in Argentina’s Gran Chaco

Small farmers and community-led conservation groups are trying to protect one of the biggest semi-arid forests in the world – under threat from expanding agriculture, wildfires and the ‘logging mafia’

Jorge Luna stands in a piece of Argentina’s Gran Chaco forest that he calls his own. Birds sing as he surveys skyscraping molle trees, known as pepper trees, palo santo and algarrobo, or carob trees. “It’s good wood,” says Luna, 55. “I was about to cut them down.”

Selling timber promises quick and easy money in the sprawling ecosystem that covers parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil. But it comes at a steep price, contributing to rampant deforestation and irreversible damage to the forest.

Does Trump really have news about aliens and UFOs? That would be the first sign of intelligent life | Arwa Mahdawi

The president promised to spill the beans about little green men. Is that why the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency registered the domains alien.gov and aliens.gov?

There are some very important files sitting in a US government building right now, full of shocking details that certain entities would prefer to keep hidden. For far too long the public has been kept in the dark but, thanks to the self-proclaimed “most transparent administration in history”, the truth could be about to be revealed.

Obviously I’m not talking about the Epstein files. I’ve got a funny feeling we’re never going to see the rest of those. FBI agents have been paid nearly $1m in overtime to work on the “Epstein Transparency Project”, also referred to as the “Special Redaction Project”, but even with all that special redacting, more than 2m documents have reportedly not been released. No, I’m talking about proof of alien life – which is far less fanciful than the idea that powerful people might actually face accountability.

‘Asia’s Ukraine moment’: How the Iran war could accelerate a shift into renewables

The fallout from the sprawling Middle East conflict is expected to represent a watershed moment for the energy transition.

Denmark’s PM Frederiksen suffers election setback after standing up to Trump over Greenland

Frederiksen had sought to capitalize on popular support after standing up to Trump's push to annex Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory.

Fireball captured on video as meteor streaks across Pacific Northwest sky

As the number of people with cameras on their dashboards and doorbells has grown, so have reports of such sightings.

Drama amid the deluge: 50 years since James Hunt won F1 world title in Japan

Flamboyant Briton won his first and only world championship in dramatic fashion in Japan in the last race of the 1976 season

Niki Lauda once described James Hunt as “one of my few real friends in racing”, the great rivals sharing a genuine bond even as they fought fiercely for the Formula One world championship in 1976.

Its destination was decided at the Japanese Grand Prix – where the sport heads for the third race of this season on Sunday – with this year marking the 50th anniversary of an extraordinary contest when Hunt won his only F1 title in an engrossing finale.

‘A new world is being born’: author Rebecca Solnit on the ‘slow revolution’ the far right cannot tolerate

It’s easy to focus on authoritarians and their petty victories. But zoom out and the picture is more encouraging, says the woman who popularised the term ‘mansplaining’, whether it’s in feminism, or the environment, or civil rights

When I speak to Rebecca Solnit, she is beaming, and I can’t immediately figure out why. Her new book, The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change, blasts in with a pragmatic positivity, it’s true. She writes with a “pull yourself together, don’t even think about despair” tone. But that’s not why she’s smiling – it’s because Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor just got arrested. “Why is the UK doing these things the US should be doing? Why now? Wow!”

This “feminist chortling” (as she calls it) about the disgraced royal is right in the bailiwick of the writer who virtually invented the term mansplaining. A truly hilarious story about a man explaining her own book to her at a party became the pandemically viral essay Men Explain Things to Me in 2008, then a fierce, controlled critique of the patriarchy in a book of the same name in 2014.

There are no missiles raining down on Havana. But what I saw there was still warfare | Owen Jones

Trump’s oil blockade is starving the island of vital resources. His brute force isn’t making America great again – it’s breeding resentment across the globe

The US has become a power that knows only how to destroy. In the Ramón González Coro maternity hospital in Havana, Cuba, I saw what that looks like in human terms.

Maria lies on a hospital bed, wrapped in a dark blue blanket, two friends at her side. She is 50, with terminal cervical cancer, and nothing but praise for her doctors. But she is also a victim of a decades-long US siege, drastically intensified by Donald Trump’s decision earlier this year to threaten tariffs against countries that deliver fuel to Cuba. The result has been no fuel imports for three months, meaning the island is running out of diesel and fuel reserves. The electricity grid is collapsing and life is grinding to a halt.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist

Kurdish kitchens, baked bean alaska and Mexican soul: the best spring cookbooks for 2026 – review

These are the new titles for your kitchen shelf – plus a classic to dust off

Nandên: Recipes from my Kurdish Kitchen by Pary Baban

Nandên by Pary Baban (Ryland, Peters & Small, £25). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Meta makes 'big bet' on top leaders with stock options as pressure builds to catch up in AI

Meta is granting stock options to top executives as pressure on the company intensifies in the AI battle.

Iran rejects Trump's proposal to end the war and lays out 5 conditions, state TV says

Iran submitted a counterproposal that includes safeguards against future attacks against Iran and the country's right to "sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz," Iranian state Press TV reported.

‘His perspective is so relevant’: the A-listers bringing Henry David Thoreau back to screen

Ken burns’s new three-part documentary shows why it’s not too late for us to learn from the great naturalist

Henry David Thoreau is a new PBS documentary in three parts, each an hour long. The project comes with a voiceover cast of heavyweights, with narration from George Clooney, Jeff Goldblum playing the great essayist and additional voices from Ted Danson, Tate Donovan and Meryl Streep.

The project began life as a short film. Don Henley, the Eagles frontman, has long worked to preserve Walden Pond, in the woodlands outside Concord, Massachusetts, where Thoreau lived between 1845 and 1847 and wrote his great book: Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Seeking to capture the place’s magic, Henley approached Ken Burns, the legendary documentarian. As executive producer, Burns entrusted the project to two regular collaborators, brothers Erik and Christopher Loren Ewers. Like the ferns and fiddleheads that carpet the forest floor at Walden, the film began to grow.