Dow plunges 1,100 points as investors fret over Iran war

Investors are recoiling as the war in Iran intensifies, driving up global oil prices. "Global financial markets are in disarray," one Wall Street analyst said.

Macron to address the nation on Middle East as first wave of stranded Europeans start to return home – Europe live

French president will make his speech this evening; first wave of European travellers arrive home, but hundreds of thousands remain stuck in region

Ahead of von der Leyen’s call with Zelenskyy later today, the European Commission was also asked about Ukraine’s 2027 target for joining the bloc.

A spokesperson for the commission said that it was Ukraine’s ambition, but the EU “cannot have it as our reference” as it needs to go through the formal process and get the political agreement of all other member states.

Middle East war could be decided by who runs out of missiles or interceptors first, analysts say

Stockpiles of the most advanced US-made weapons are limited – while few know how large Iran’s arsenal is

• Middle East crisis – live updates

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

The outcome and duration of the war in the Middle East may be decided by a grim calculus based on the size of Iran’s drone and missile stocks v vital air defence munitions held by the US, Israel and Gulf states, analysts and officials say.

Since Saturday, Iran and its proxies have sought to counter the intensive joint US and Israeli offensive with more than 1,000 strikes against targets across almost a dozen countries spread over 1,200 miles. With its antiquated air force unable to compete with those of Israel and the US, Tehran has relied on its arsenal of missiles and drones.

'Mistakes were made,' Grassley tells Noem about Trump's immigration crackdown

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

Middle East crisis live: Israel launches fresh attacks on Tehran and Beirut

Israeli airforce attacking cities simultaneously with a ‘wave of extensive strikes’ as soldiers are deployed on the ground in southern Lebanon

• US strikes on Iran triggered by Israel’s plan to launch attack, Rubio says

• Anger with Hezbollah boils as war returns to weary Beirut

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has claimed the US attacked Iran after learning that Israel was going to strike, which would have meant retaliation against US forces.

“We knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” he told reporters

The Air Force is now attacking Tehran and Beirut simultaneously

The Air Force has now begun a wave of extensive strikes against the Iranian terror regime and the Hezbollah terror organization.

UK considering sending warship to Cyprus; government to charter flight from Oman ‘in the coming days’– UK politics live

Multiple sources say the deployment of HMS Duncan is under consideration; Yvette Cooper says flight will take off from Muscat this week

Ellie Chowns, the Green party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, has said she has tabled an “armed conflict (requirements) bill’” which would require any UK military intervention to have a lawful basis, viable objective and approval from MPs.

In a letter addressed to the prime minister, which she shared to X, Chowns, who is the Green’s MP for North Herefordshire, wrote:

In recent days we have seen a deeply concerning escalation in conflict in the Middle East following a series of illegal and dangerously irresponsible airstrikes on Iran by the United States and Israel.

You have now confirmed that UK bases will be used by the US for their operations in the area. This is a significant concession to President Donald Trump and one which risks drawing the UK into a dangerous conflict.

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.

Dior turns up springtime-in-Paris for Anderson’s second womenswear show

Northern Irish designer ditches darker undercurrents for seductive vision of Monet’s waterlilies at opening show of Paris fashion week

In a dark news cycle, joy sells. With his second major womenswear show for Dior, the Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson put a pin in the soul-searching of his first season, and plunged gleefully for the springtime-in-Paris jugular. For the opening show of Paris fashion week, Dior offered a seductive vision of Monet’s waterlilies, walks in the Tuileries gardens, and the Eiffel Tower glittering in the sunshine.

Anderson, a keen art collector who moved to Paris for the Dior role last year, has been looking at Seurat’s romantic paintings of ordinary Parisians at leisure, as well as Monet. A promenade across the octagonal pond of the Tuileries was built as a catwalk, and the Sunday sailboats upgraded for the occasion into giant lily pads with vibrant blooms. Dollhouse-sized pairs of classic French green park chairs were sent out as whimsical invitations.

World's largest acidic geyser erupts in Yellowstone after years of silence

Echinus Geyser is about 66 feet wide and is surrounded by rocks that resemble sea urchins.

Target posts another quarter of slipping sales, touts signs of improvement

Target reported another quarter of lower sales and profits as the discounter struggles to regain its footing in an environment where it has faced still-high inflation and shopper boycotts.

Iran continues to hit back at US-Israeli strikes as Trump says it is too late to talk

Iranian drones hit US embassy in Riyadh as Israel bombs Tehran and sends troops into southern Lebanon

• US-Israel war on Iran – live updates

Iran continued its bombardment the Gulf and Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for further Israeli-US airstrikes, as Donald Trump said it was too late for dialogue with Tehran.

“Their air defense, Air Force, Navy and Leadership is gone. They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!’,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform, rejecting what he claimed was an attempt by Tehran to restart negotiations. He said the US was prepared “to go far longer” than a four to five-week war against Iran.

‘I can’t digest it’: deadliest attack on Israel since war began kills nine and destroys synagogue

Fear and grief mix in the small town of Beit Shemesh, where missile struck ageing bomb shelter

With 30 people inside the neighbourhood bomb shelter on Sunday afternoon, and sirens wailing outside, Oren Katz went to close the reinforced door.

It was an act of generosity that was typical of the father of four, and it would cost him his life. As he reached the entrance, the shelter took a direct hit from an Iranian missile.

Amazon says drones hit 3 of its Middle East data center

Drones struck two facilities in the United Arab Emirates directly, and damaged a data center in Bahrain, Amazon said.

Guardiola compares ‘evolution’ of Premier League set pieces to NBA three-pointers

• Man City manager says side must adapt to set pieces

• Erling Haaland faces fitness test ahead of Forest match

Pep Guardiola has said there is no point in complaining about the rising prevalence of set pieces, with Manchester City’s manager recognising the need to adapt.

While City’s 57 goals in the Premier League is one fewer than Arsenal, the leading scorers, only nine have derived from dead balls, a rate of 15.8%, the division’s lowest.

Jon Rahm accuses DP World Tour of ‘extorting players’ by issuing LIV fines

• ‘I don’t know what game they’re trying to play,’ says Rahm

• Spaniard’s stance has put Ryder Cup place in peril

Jon Rahm’s dispute with the DP World Tour has escalated after the Spaniard accused the organisation of “extorting” golfers over fines for competing on the LIV circuit. Rahm’s Ryder Cup future remains in peril with no resolution to the matter in sight, with insiders at the DP World Tour and Europe’s Ryder Cup fans baffled by his stance.

Rahm incurred fines and suspensions as a DP World, formerly European, Tour member playing on what are regarded as competing Saudi-backed LIV events. Rahm signed for LIV in 2023 in a deal reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

US DoJ drops legal case against law firms that stood up to Trump’s executive orders

Case involved Trump orders targeting major law firms for representing clients or causes the president did not like

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The US justice department has dropped legal proceedings against four law firms that stood up to retaliatory executive actions by Donald Trump for representing clients or causes the president did not like.

A number of other law companies made settlements with Trump’s administration in the months after his second presidency began to avoid consequences, including being stripped of security clearances and having access to government buildings terminated.

New York Fed's Williams says tariff burden falls 'overwhelmingly' on U.S. businesses and consumers

Williams said that not only were the tariffs being felt at home, but they also were keeping the Fed from reaching its 2% inflation goal.

North Carolina Democrat says she's running in GOP primary to oppose gerrymandering in the state

Republicans in North Carolina have redrawn congressional maps to favor the GOP. It has led a Democrat in the state to run for a seat in Congress in the Republican primary. Major Garrett reports.

England make 12 changes for Italy game as Borthwick swings Six Nations axe

• Entirely different back line selected for fixture in Rome

• Only three players in same position as Ireland game

Steve Borthwick has wielded the axe and made 12 changes to his England team to face Italy, picking an entirely different back line as he seeks to salvage his side’s Six Nations campaign with the most radical selection of his tenure.

Borthwick has made nine personnel changes as well as moving Tommy Freeman to outside-centre, Ben Earl back to No 8 and Tom Curry to openside. Fin Smith has also been installed at fly-half and with Henry Pollock dropped after just one start.

Inside Cadillac’s F1 journey: ‘Our Silverstone shakedown was a miracle’

Formula One’s newest team liken their effort to the Apollo moon landings and join the grid with the aim of becoming a championship-winning force

When the new Formula One season begins on Sunday in the usual fever of excitement and anticipation, consider amid the maelstrom the Cadillac team. Before the lights go out in Melbourne, F1’s newest entrant will have a deserved chance to take a breath and savour for but a moment, their remarkable achievement of simply having made it to the grid.

The US team backed by General Motors has been built, aside from those involved in the pre-planning, from scratch in what will be a year and a day since its entry was formally approved. As their team principal, Graeme Lowdon, explained, that process had begun in an empty room with a screwdriver and an A4 sheet of paper.

From David Bowie to Fleetwood Mac and Eric Clapton, Mike Vernon’s ear was invaluable to British pop and blues

The musician, producer and label head, who has died aged 81, turned his boyhood passion for blues into a hugely impactful career

Mike Vernon, who has died aged 81, was the ultimate schoolboy blues nut. First he published a blues fanzine, next he persuaded Decca Records to hire him to produce British blues bands, then he started his own indie label issuing 45s of African American blues artists, before CBS agreed to finance his Blue Horizon label. From the 1970s on, he would record and perform as a solo artist and band member; he was a producer for David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton and more. His was a life determined by his love for music, and he served his muse generously for more than 60 years.

Vernon’s upbringing in Surrey was typical of many children born in the mid-1940s: he sang in his church choir, listened to the jazz and show tune LPs his parents owned and was bowled over by the arrival of rock’n’roll, responding most strongly to the likes of Little Richard, Fats Domino and Larry Williams. Inquisitive and determined, he sought out records by older African American blues and R&B artists then, while studying at Croydon Art College, started following the fledgling British blues bands led by Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner.

Videos of Bill and Hillary Clinton's testimonies about Epstein released by House panel

Video depositions of Bill and Hillary Clinton testifying under oath about Jeffrey Epstein were released by the House Oversight Committee. The Clintons both denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes. Caitlin Huey-Burns reports.

The Dutch method: could this improve your sleep – and social life?

Some may balk at Netherlanders’ ‘nothing to hide’ approach, but there is evidence their curtain customs could come with health benefits

Name: The Dutch method.

Age: Possibly in place since the Reformation, making it about 500 years old.

Iran war prediction market bets draw heat: 'Insane this is legal'

Wagers were placed over the weekend about the fate of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the bombardment of Iran.

Democrats question Trump administration's justification of Iran war

At his first public event on Monday since the start of the Iran war, President Trump said the war will continue until Iran's missile capabilities, nuclear ambitions and navy are all destroyed. He justified the attacks' timing, citing Iran's ballistic missile capability. But Democrats who have been briefed on the military operation are challenging the justification. Weijia Jiang reports.

Women everywhere are extolling the single life – not least, Pamela Anderson | Polly Hudson

After five marriages and countless magazine covers, the former Baywatch star makes being makeup-free and unattached look the best of all worlds

Pamela Anderson has been married five times. She has made the kind of romantic decisions – impulsive, reckless, incorrigible – that suggest someone who struggles to be alone. She had known her first husband only a few days; her second marriage lasted four months; she described her most recent, in 2020, as “a disaster”. Now, at 58, she is finally single.

“There’s that great Osho quote – ‘The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love.’ That’s where I’m at right now,” she told AnOther magazine. “I just want to unleash the dragon. I don’t need anybody in my way. I want to get it out. It happens at different times in everybody’s life, and this is my time.”

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To anyone who thinks Trump can bring peace and equality to Iran – I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Going cheap | Marina Hyde

If POTUS can really bomb peace, stability and women’s rights into the Middle East, I’ll take my hat off to him. Judging by his role in Gaza, I won’t hold my breath

Donald Trump says Keir Starmer has damaged the special relationship by not helping him more in the US-Israel war on Iran. But you have to remember that when you do help, Trump pretends you didn’t anyway, and also pisses on your war dead. Still, what could be more enticing than the Americans trying to sell you a timeshare on a war in the Middle East?

And so to Iran. “War is the realm of uncertainty,” said Carl von Clausewitz, who – and not to be a bitch – I still think of as a more impressive military theorist than Pete Hegseth. Certainly, Carl had fewer Crusades tattoos than the US defence secretary. Hegseth is 100% certain about all his nailed-down positions, even the ones in apparent conflict with each other. And it feels like a great sign that he, Marco Rubio and JD Vance already seem to have different rationales for why this war was launched. This is an administration that came to power on an explicit “no more wars” ticket – but look, as Pete keeps saying, this isn’t a regime-change war. If that seems confusing, given he first said it about 10 minutes after US-Israeli strikes had just cratered the ayatollah’s compound, Hegseth has since been on hand to scoff that what’s going down in Iran is “no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise”.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Global economy must stop pandering to ‘frivolous desires of ultra-rich’, says UN expert

Olivier De Schutter says new economic agenda needed to tackle crises of rising inequality and ecological collapse

The global economy must be reordered to ensure it serves ordinary people around the world rather than the “frivolous and destructive demands of the ultra-rich”, according to a leading UN figure.

Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, says politicians must stop prioritising “socially and ecologically destructive growth” that only increases the profits – and serves the consumption demands – of the world’s richest individuals and corporations.

Panel reviewing Trump ballroom plans will also hear from skeptical commenters

At a meeting this week, the National Capital Planning Commission will be hearing from about 100 people who are expected to register their dismay over Trump's plans for a White House ballroom addition.

Don’t bet that the Pentagon – or Anthropic – is acting in the public interest | Bruce Schneier and Nathan E Sanders

The lesson here isn’t that one AI company is more ethical than another. It’s that we must renovate our democratic structures

OpenAI is in and Anthropic is out as a supplier of AI technology for the US defense department. This news caps a week of bluster by the highest officials in the US government towards some of the wealthiest titans of the big tech industry, and the overhanging specter of the existential risks posed by a new technology powerful enough that the Pentagon claims it is essential to national security. At issue is Anthropic’s insistence that the US Department of Defense (DoD) could not use its models to facilitate “mass surveillance” or “fully autonomous weapons,” provisions the defense secretary Pete Hegseth derided as “woke”.

It all came to a head on Friday evening when Donald Trump issued an order for federal government agencies to discontinue use of Anthropic models. Within hours, OpenAI had swooped in, potentially seizing hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts by striking an agreement with the administration to provide classified government systems with AI.

Monsters and madness and men, oh my! The Terror is the unsung treasure of peak television

With a world-class cast that will have you constantly saying ‘hey, it’s that guy!’, this horror drama about a doomed Royal Navy expedition is a grand treatise on colonial folly

There’s an old adage that adventure is extreme discomfort remembered from an armchair. But what if there is no armchair waiting at the end of your journey? What if you never return at all? Well, then you have the first season of AMC anthology series The Terror. Based on the bestselling book of the same name by Dan Simmons, who died last month, it chronicles a doomed Royal Navy expedition dispatched to the Arctic in search of the fabled Northwest Passage.

Under the leadership of Captains Sir John Franklin and Francis Crozier, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, manned with 129 crew, set sail from England in 1845. They became locked in pack ice off King William Island in the winter of 1846. After that, the entire expedition vanished – both ships and all hands lost – a sort of Victorian-era MH370 that has fascinated historians, geographers and artists ever since.

Sam Curran insists India T20 World Cup semi-final holds ‘no fear’ for England

• All-rounder ‘excited for the challenge’ of facing hosts

• ‘Baz and Brooky are keeping the group nice and calm’

England have pledged to go into Thursday’s T20 World Cup semi-final against India with no fear, with Sam Curran describing the fixture as “a dream” and “a brilliant opportunity” about which they are feeling “hugely confident”.

On the face of it the challenge England face is daunting. Though they won all three games in the Super 8 stage to ease into the semi-finals those matches were played in Sri Lanka, where they now have a 100% record in six outings this year. They have since returned to Mumbai, where they were so nearly beaten by Nepal in their tournament opener and then actually beaten by West Indies, and where they can expect nothing but hostility from a sold-out crowd of 33,000.

Sea moss is everywhere on TikTok – yes it’s natural but that doesn’t mean it’s safe or beneficial for all | Antiviral

Consuming algae products won’t make up for a poor diet, despite the benefits claimed by influencers, experts warn

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If you have a weak stomach, I don’t recommend watching one of the many videos on social media of influencers dipping their spoons into a jar of sea moss and putting mounds of the congealed substance – with a texture resembling congealed oil or snot – straight into their mouths.

“People have this assumption that it’s disgusting,” one influencer says, holding a spoonful in her mouth and, while seemingly trying not to swallow, insisting: “It’s really not.” Another dry-retches as soon as it passes her lips.

Voters head to the polls for midterm elections, with high-stakes Senate primary in Texas

There are primary races Tuesday in Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas. The Senate primary in Texas features Republican incumbent Sen. John Cornyn facing off against two challengers while Democrats James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett battle for a chance to flip the seat in November. Ed O'Keefe reports.

‘It was very challenging’: the exhibition memorialising Black trans deaths across the US

Artist Sage Ni’Ja Whitson found an unusual way to remember those who were killed or died by suicide between 2018 and 2025

Between 2021 and 2025, Black nonbinary artist Sage Ni’Ja Whitson visited 91 locations across 15 states – in all of these sites a trans, gender nonconforming, or intersex individual had died, either by murder or suicide. At each site they conducted a ceremony of their own to bear witness to what had happened there.

“It was very challenging in ways that I’m continuing to mend from and rest with,” they said. “It is not ‘inexpensive’ on my body and spirit. That cost I knew would be there.”

Sarah Everard’s mother pays tribute to ‘loving’ daughter on fifth anniversary of her murder

Susan Everard says her daughter ‘added to the beauty of the world’

Sarah Everard’s mother said her daughter “added to the beauty of the world” as she paid tribute to her humour and principled nature on the five-year anniversary of her murder.

Writing for British Vogue, alongside a picture of Sarah taken at V festival for an online street style series in 2010, Susan Everard said she “loved clothes and fashion” and had “her whole life ahead of her” when the photo was taken.

Alabama man on death row for 36 years may get new trial

Michael Sockwell, one of Alabama's longest-serving death row inmates, could soon receive a new trial.

Minnesota launches investigation that could bring charges against US immigration officers

US county attorney is ‘confident’ her office will be able to pursue charges in cases which led to criticisms of use-of-force policies

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A Minnesota state prosecutor announced an investigation Monday that may lead to charges against federal officers, including Greg Bovino, for misconduct during an immigration enforcement crackdown.

Hennepin county attorney Mary Moriarty said in a news conference that her office is already looking into 17 cases, including one where Bovino, a border patrol official, threw a smoke canister at protesters on 21 January.

Mourning in the Middle East and Holi celebrations in India: Photos of the day – Tuesday

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

Trae Young gets ejected before even making his Washington Wizards debut

• Point guard argues with official during team’s loss

• Four-time All-Star arrived in January trade

Trae Young has managed to earn an ejection before even stepping on the court for his new team.

The four-time NBA All-Star guard, who was acquired by the Washington Wizards from the Atlanta Hawks in early January, is not set to make his debut for the Wizards on Thursday night against the Utah Jazz. However, he still found a way to be ejected for leaving the bench area in Washington’s 123-118 loss at home to the Houston Rockets.

Benedetto Santapaola, notorious Italian mafia boss, dies in prison aged 87

Cosa Nostra leader, who controlled most of eastern Sicily, dies while serving multiple life sentences for murder

Benedetto “Nitto” Santapaola, a Sicilian mafia boss and one of the most dangerous figures in Italian criminal history, has died aged 87.

Santapaola, who was widely believed to have been the architect of a campaign of bloodshed that scarred Italy in the 1980s and 1990s, died on Monday in a Milan prison where he was serving multiple life sentences. An autopsy has been ordered.

Why do my potatoes go black after cooking? | Kitchen aide

A drop of lemon and being selective about your choice of cookware could zap any troubles with blackened spuds, as would a highly novel solution from the seaside

Why do some potatoes turn black on cooking, and how do I stop this happening? I usually leave them to cool in the cooking water, but should I plunge them in cold water instead?”
Jean, Hampshire
“We’ve all been there,” sympathises spud queen Poppy O’Toole. “It’s a harmless chemical reaction,” the author of The Potato Book continues, “but it looks rank and only gets worse with the slow cooling process that Jean’s using.” But let’s wind things back for a moment. According to the food science guru Harold McGee, in his bible On Food & Cooking, the darkening of cooked potatoes “is caused by the combination of iron ions, a phenolic substance [chlorogenic acid] and oxygen, which react to form a pigmented complex”. So what’s the solution? Make the pH of the water “distinctly acidic”, which McGee does by adding cream of tartar or lemon juice “after the potatoes are half-cooked”.

Another possible suspect for Jean’s blackening tubers is her cookware: “Reactive metals such as a carbon steel knife or aluminium pan may also be the cause of the issue,” says the Guardian’s Tom Hunt, which is why he recommends using a non-reactive metal (think stainless steel) instead. “Leaving the cooked potatoes in water is also a bad idea,” adds Jess Murphy, chef patron of Kai Galway in Ireland and author of The Kai Cookbook:“They are like little sponges.” Hunt couldn’t agree more: “The potatoes will absorb the water and turn soggy and less fluffy – and never refresh them under cold water or in a cold plunge, either, unless it’s momentary.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email [email protected]

Worldbreaker review – a big bear hug from Luke Evans in father-daughter sci-fi survival drama

A father trains his teenager to fight monsters, while mum, Milla Jovovich, is away leading the human resistance

Perhaps this is just coincidence, but it feels like a lot of action movies these days revolve around grown men and their daughters or daughter surrogates struggling to survive. Although rugged and ready to kill, the men involved are also “girl dads”, protectors and nurturers who train their female offspring to fight as hard as any man in order to survive a world they may not be in themselves someday. Obviously there’s The Last of Us and Stranger Things, but also recent Jason Statham vehicle Shelter, the upcoming feature One Mile: Chapter One, and now Worldbreaker, which is bang on trend.

With its sci-fi frame in which monsters called breakers have emerged from the poisoned earth and can turn humans into a second kind of monster (called hybrids), this feels a lot closer to The Last of Us, but with its own weird extra bangs and whizzes. For a start, Milla Jovovich is in it, in a distinctly supporting role as the female general of the human resistance and leader of what’s become a quasi-matriarchal society (because people with Y chromosomes are more likely to be infected). While Jovovich hasn’t got the best range as an actor, the one thing she’s good at, as proved in all those Resident Evil movies, is fighting monsters.

Five of the most interesting upcoming indie games

From the ghostly Shutter Story to road trip adventure Outbound and strategy puzzler Titanium Court, here are the titles we enjoyed the most from this year’s Steam Next Fest showcase

These days, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that every new indie game is either a co-op extraction shooter or a roguelike deck-builder – fortunately that’s not quite the case. Each February, the week-long Steam Next Fest is a vast and varied showcase of forthcoming titles, all with downloadable demos, and only a minority of them adhere to those dominant genres. It’s a lovely chance to dig into the sometimes bewildering Steam store and pick out interesting treats – and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Here are five of my favourites.

Texas votes in high-stakes primaries in test of appetite for change under Trump

Nominees for key Senate seat to be set while voters choose in congressional contests reshaped by GOP gerrymander

The first votes of the 2026 midterm cycle will be cast on Tuesday, with a pair of high-stakes US Senate primaries in Texas that will test both parties’ appetite for political change in the Trump era.

Voters across the state will decide their nominees for a critical Senate seat, as well as for several key congressional contests reshaped by a mid-decade gerrymander sought by Donald Trump to preserve the GOP’s fragile House majority.

Stock markets slump amid Iran war as gas prices jump 30% to three-year high

FTSE 100 on track for its worst day in 11 months, while Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi also fall

• Business live – latest updates

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The war in the Middle East has plunged financial markets into turmoil for a second day, with oil and gas prices surging, global stock markets slumping and chances of a UK interest rate cut later this month plummeting.

The London stock market has fallen deep into the red, a gloomy backdrop for the chancellor’s spring forecast at 12.30pm GMT. The FTSE 100 index lost about 280 points on Tuesday morning, falling to 10,501 in a 2.6% drop and leaving it on track for its worst day in 11 months – since Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff shock of April 2025. Almost all stocks fell.

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.

Minab school bombing: how the worst mass casualty event of the Iran war unfolded – a visual guide

A strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh school during the US-Israeli bombing campaign killed up to 168 people. The Guardian has pieced together the incident and its aftermath using verified footage and images from the site

Above the pastel murals of trees, paintbrushes, crayons and microscopes, black smoke rises. The glass windows of the school have been blown out by the force of the blast, and its curtains hang shredded from the frames.

Against one burned-out wall, the remains of a playground lie scattered: a red plastic slide, a jumble of child-sized chairs. On an overturned bookshelf a pair of pink plastic sandals have been neatly placed, now covered in dust from the blast.

Baftas host Alan Cumming criticises BBC for ‘broadcasting slurs and censoring free speech’

‘What should have been an evening celebrating diversity and inclusion turned into a trauma-triggering shitshow,’ says host after racial epithet was left in the broadcast

Alan Cumming has joined the chorus of disapproval at the BBC’s failure to edit out a racial slur from their Baftas telecast, saying it turned “what should have been an evening celebrating diversity and inclusion into a trauma-triggering shitshow”.

Before the live event, Cumming warned the audience that disturbances might occur on account of the involuntary tics of Tourette syndrome activist John Davidson, whose life was the basis for multi-award-winning I Swear, and asked for their understanding.

U.S. evacuates diplomats from Middle East. And, what to expect from N.C., Texas primaries

The U.S. has evacuated diplomats in the Middle East and closed several embassies as war in Iran intensifies. And, what to expect from the Senate races in the North Carolina and Texas primary elections.

Oil supertanker rates hit all-time high as insurers drop war risk protection in the Middle East

The cost of hauling crude oil from the Middle East to China rose more than 94% to hit a record high of $423,736 per day on Monday.

I listened to 170 hours of Joe Rogan’s podcast – trust me, he hasn’t turned against Trump | Michael Marshall

The world’s most popular podcaster seemingly disapproving of ICE does not mean he has soured from the administration

Joe Rogan, the world’s most popular podcaster, is struggling to sleep. In an interview last week, he complained that the “madness” of the news cycle – from the release of the Epstein library, to US military strikes on Iran – has him “overwhelmed”. For some, this admission is just the latest sign that the world’s most popular podcaster might be regretting his role in cheerleading Donald Trump back into office.

It follows seemingly scathing criticism of ICE after the killing of Renee Nicole Good. Rogan compared ICE to the Gestapo in a short clip that quickly went viral. It led this newspaper to reasonably ask “Has Joe Rogan fully soured on Trump’s presidency?”, with ABC, Bloomberg and CNN all recently reporting on Rogan’s apparent disapproval of ICE.

Venezuelan man says his rose tattoos got him deported to El Salvador’s brutal prison: ‘I thought my life had ended’

Trump administration accused Luis Muñoz Pinto of being part of the Tren de Aragua gang. Now living in Colombia he hopes to clear his name and study engineering in the US

It was the busiest hour of the evening in Bolivar Square, one of the most iconic spots in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital. Amid the buzz of smiling tourists, however, Luis Muñoz Pinto sat very still, his head in his hands, as memories of his deportation from the United States to a Salvadorian prison flooded back.

Muñoz Pinto, 27, was one of more than 250 Venezuelan men accused by the Trump administration of being part of the dangerous Tren de Aragua gang and deported from the US to the brutal terrorism mega-prison called Cecot in El Salvador last March.

Jennifer Echegini: ‘Winning the Wafcon is on another level. The pride I felt’

The midfielder on her nomadic life, experiencing Nigerian celebrations and the national team’s World Cup prospects

Being an integral figure in the distinguished history of Nigeria’s women’s team is an experience that will never dim in the mind of Jennifer Onyinyechi Echegini. Seven months on from beating the hosts Morocco in a pulsating Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final at Rabat’s Olympic Stadium, in the process winning a record 10th African title, “Joe”, as her Paris Saint-Germain teammates call Echegini – an acronym of her three initials – is yet to come down from her career high.

“Winning the Wafcon is on another level, you know?” the 24-year-old midfielder says from Paris. “The pride and the achievement that I felt … when you’re playing with a group of girls that you love and care for, it makes it even more special.”

OpenAI amends Pentagon deal as Sam Altman admits it looks ‘sloppy’

ChatGPT owner’s CEO says it will bar its technology being used for mass surveillance or by intelligence services

• Business live – latest updates

OpenAI is amending its hastily arranged deal to supply artificial intelligence to the US Department of War (DoW) after the ChatGPT owner’s chief executive admitted it looked “opportunistic and sloppy”.

The contract prompted fears the San Francisco startup’s AI could be used for domestic mass surveillance but its boss, Sam Altman, said on Monday night the startup would explicitly bar its technology from being used for that purpose or being deployed by defence department intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA).

The candy heir vs. chocolate skimpflation

The grandson of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups creator has launched a campaign against The Hershey Company, which owns the Reese's brand. He wants them to stop skimping on ingredients.

Deaf rage and subversive scrawling: the show where disabled artists strike back

Though the art world is supposed to be inclusive, that isn’t the experience of many disabled creatives – and in a groundbreaking online exhibition at dis_place they have poured their frustrations into art

“I had a lot of frustration about the performance of diversity, equality and inclusion,” says curator Nathalie Boobis. Feeling that the art world’s commitment to access for disabled people was often performative rather than manifesting a sincere commitment to change, Boobis decided to step away. But then came an opportunity to be the in-house curator for Disability Arts Online’s new exhibition space dis_place, and she felt this was finally her chance to highlight disabled experiences in art.

Her inaugural exhibition for dis_place is called I Need to Be More Than a Lesson You Learned. Featuring the work of nine artists and collectives working across several media, it explores the ways in which disabled artists have experienced inaccessibility within the art world and wider society.

David Squires on … Gianni Infantino’s accomplishments in 10 years as Fifa supremo

Our cartoonist on a decade of magic moments in the big job for world football’s leading ‘man of the people’

• Buy a cartoon | David’s favourite work of 2025

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

More generals purged as delegates gather for China’s Two Sessions event

Spectre of military upheaval will hang over annual meetings where Beijing’s five-year plan will be launched

The standing committee of China’s top political advisory body has voted to remove three generals from its ranks as a sweeping purge of the military continues before this week’s annual Two Sessions gathering.

The advisory body will meet on Wednesday, while China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC) – which removed nine generals last week – will start its annual session on Thursday. Collectively the concurrent meetings are referred to as Two Sessions, one of the most important events in China’s political calendar when thousands of delegates arrive in Beijing.

What is Trump’s endgame with Iran? | Robert Reich

This is a war without a plan, without a strategy, and without any clear understanding of where it leads or how it ends

I’ve spent the last several days checking with foreign policy experts, analysts and specialists in the Middle East for their understanding of Donald Trump’s real goal in Iran, and how anyone (including him) will know he’s achieved it.

Several told me that Trump is seeking the kind of “war” that the US executed in Venezuela – an abduction of a leader by special forces or, as in June, surgical airstrikes on locations where Iran appeared to be building nuclear bombs.

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now in the US and on 15 March in the UK

Historic harvests and sky-high prices – so why can’t Colombia’s coffee-growers hire pickers?

Though coffee is one of the world’s most important commodities, little of the profit trickles down to the farmers, while workers are abandoning the countryside in search of more lucrative jobs in the city

Mary Luz Pérez Arrubla and her brother, Rodrigo, are fourth-generation farmers cultivating coffee on steep Andean slopes near the town of Líbano, in the rich agricultural region of Tolima. Along with the rest of Colombia, the family has enjoyed a historic harvest amid surging global coffee prices, which hit record highs for the second year in a row in 2025.

Severe US tariffs imposed on Brazil and Vietnam, – the world’s two largest coffee producers – as well as poor harvests there, helped drive the surge. Both countries were hurt by the El Niño phenomenon, a cyclical weather pattern characterised by dry spells and aggravated by the climate crisis.

Scientists make a pocket-sized AI brain with help from monkey neurons

A new study suggests AI systems could be a lot more efficient. Researchers were able to shrink an AI vision model to 1/1000th of its original size.

U.S. evacuates diplomats, shuts down some embassies as war enters fourth day

The United States evacuated diplomats across the Middle East and shut down some embassies as war with Iran intensified Tuesday while President Trump signaled the conflict could turn into extended war.

The Breakdown | Again we dare to wonder if this is Italy’s time – because England’s confidence looks shot

Italy matched France physically and, while England have never lost to the Azzurri, Saturday is a Six Nations chance as good as any for the hosts

Italy and England. On level points in the Six Nations table. Two rounds to go. And England have already played their Wales joker.

All in all, there is quite a lot riding on the fixture in Rome on Saturday, especially if you are interested in the lower reaches of the Six Nations table, a purgatory with which even England are quite familiar. They started this championship ranked third in the world, a whisker behind the All Blacks in second, and feeling (not unreasonably) rather good about themselves after 11 Test wins in succession. Then it was 12 (Wales), and then … oh dear.

Tech firms and AI farming tools ‘playing with the food system’, warns thinktank

Google, Microsoft and Amazon among companies using algorithms and AI to influence what crops are grown and how, say critics

Tech companies and industrial agriculture are “playing with the food system” by using AI and algorithms to undermine farmers in choosing what the world eats, leading food security experts have warned.

Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and Alibaba are working with industrial agriculture firms to influence what crops are grown and how, according to a report by the thinktank International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food).

Iran’s women’s team decline to sing national anthem before Asian Cup tie

• Players silent before loss to South Korea in Australia

• Game is Iran’s first since war in Middle East began

Iran’s women’s football team declined to sing their national anthem before their opening match of the Asian Cup in Australia on Monday, their first fixture since the war in the Middle East began.

Every member of the team stood silently, facing straight ahead, during the anthem prior to kick-off in their Group A match against South Korea, who went on to win 3-0 at the Gold Coast Stadium in Queensland. Iran’s head coach, Marziyeh Jafari, and her players declined to comment on either the war or the death of their long-serving leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when asked by the media.

Alejandro González Iñárritu on his Amores Perros art show: ‘This is an anti-AI exhibition’

Oscar-winning director returns to his breakout 2000 hit for an exhibition seven years in the making, giving visitors a new experiential look at his debut film

Alejandro González Iñárritu, the Mexican director, has been widely celebrated for his innovative approach to storytelling. His 2000 debut, Amores Perros, was labeled a “hypertext film” for how its three main threads spiraled out of a central car crash, but were otherwise disconnected. In an interview where he discussed his new Lacma show, Sueño Perro – which sees Iñárritu return to hundreds of hours of footage that never made it into his debut movie – he shared that his father was the one who inspired his unique approach to film.

“My father was naturally a great storyteller,” Iñárritu told me via video from Los Angeles. “He always started with what was almost the end of the story, so he threw you a hook, but then he went back to the middle. He was a great storyteller, always finding ways to get new hooks here and there, to get you to listen to a long story.”

Trump is using AI to fight his wars – this is a dangerous turning point | Chris Stokel-Walker

The technology most people use only as a chatty tool for daily tasks is reportedly aiding US military aggression. And there is not much we can do about it

There are a lot of things that AI can do. It can sort out your shopping list, and it can keep your kids entertained when they’re mutinous by spinning up a tailor-made bedtime story for them. It can make you more efficient at work, and can help our government operate more effectively.

What is written less about, and what we need to shout louder about now, are the risks inherent in the militarisation of AI. In the last three months Donald Trump’s White House has reportedly used AI twice to effect regime change, or to – in the most recent case in Iran – get as close to doing so as possible, and leaving it up to rank-and-file Iranians to finish the job.

Chris Stokel-Walker is the author of TikTok Boom: The Inside Story of the World’s Favourite App

Overdrawn, underpaid and over it: how four people conquered their debt mountains

It’s easy to let your credit card balance mount up – and hard to admit you have a problem. But help is at hand. We talk to four people who worked their way back into the black

Abbie Marton Bell, a National Debtline adviser, is often the first person her clients will speak to about their debt, after years of carrying the weight of their financial worries alone. Most of the time, they haven’t even told their partner or family, she says, and “you can literally hear the relief in their voice”.

Debt carries a lot of shame, but it’s more common than people might think. In the UK, 84% of adults had some form of credit or loan in the year leading up to May 2024. The average household holds about £2,700 in credit card debt, and it’s only getting worse. Borrowing has been rising at its fastest rate for almost two years, with those hit hardest by the cost of living crisis increasingly using credit to pay for essentials.

Houseplant hacks: can neem oil really beat mealybugs?

This natural pesticide may work on a small infestation – it just requires elbow grease and repeat treatments

The problem
Mealybugs are the clingy exes of the pest world, wedging themselves into leaf joints, hiding in roots and coating everything in white fluff. Left untreated, they suck sap, stunt growth and spread quickly from plant to plant. Once you notice them, they’re usually everywhere.

The hack
Neem oil is a natural pesticide that coats soft-bodied pests and interferes with their ability to feed and reproduce. Used properly, it can eliminate mealybugs without the need for harsher chemicals.

North Carolina and Texas have primary elections Tuesday. Here's what you need to know

The midterm elections are officially underway and contests in Texas and North Carolina will be the first major opportunity for parties to hear from voters about what's important to them in 2026.

College students, professors are making their own AI rules. They don't always agree

More than three years after ChatGPT debuted, AI has become a part of everyday life — and professors and students are still figuring out how or if they should use it.

Melania Trump presides at UN Security Council meeting as U.S. attacks Iran

U.S. first lady Melania Trump presided over a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday focusing on children in conflict, as the United States has joined Israel in attacking Iran.

Morning news brief

U.S. urges Americans across Middle East to leave as war with Iran intensifies, Congress expected to vote on Trump's war powers, voters head to polls for Senate primaries in North Carolina and Texas.

They by Helle Helle review – a novel to make the reader slow down and take notice

Minimalist but never austere, this mother-daughter portrait from the Danish author finds its power in everyday detail

The Danish author Helle Helle’s They, published in the UK in a pin-sharp translation by Martin Aitken, charts the subtle and shifting bond between a teenage daughter and an ailing mother in prose that is minimalist but never austere. It’s one of those novels where little is spoken but everything, by the end, gets said.

The unnamed mother and 16-year-old daughter live above a hairdresser’s in a Danish backwater on the island of Lolland, where nothing much goes on. They walk across the spring-awoken fields, they shop for groceries, they join an evening class. Details of their past are scanty, fugitive: a few house moves, but nothing about the daughter’s father, who exerts a vague apophatic presence. Mostly, they enjoy a frictionless, symbiotic closeness: “They sit by the window a lot, and on the settee, and with the free local weekly … They lift their mugs, sip synchronous mouthfuls.”

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants to Be Loved review – sword, sorcery and smartphones

Those not up to speed on the Miss Kobayashi manga may struggle with the full nuance of this dimension hopping anime, but the visuals are stunningly to look at

You know fantasy has a different constituency these days when, at a pivotal point in this candy-coloured, realm-hopping anime, the protagonist casts a spell that temporarily boosts local mobile-phone signal. During the climactic battle, it’s salarywoman Miss Kobayashi (voiced by Mutsumi Tamura) who is dialling up extra help from Kanna (Maria Naganawa), the moony, bobby-soxed poppet who’s one of the dragons in human guise that have invaded her life (and demanded a smartphone).

Kanna is very much sought after: with a big smackdown brewing between the forces of chaos and harmony in the dragon dimension, her father Kimun Kamui (Fumihiko Tachiki) turns up at Kobayashi’s flat to demand either his daughter return to fight, or give him the dragon orb into which she has loaded her manna. Offended by his saurian sangfroid, Kobayashi refuses to give Kanna up; when her posse start digging around in the other realm, it appears that human mage Azad (Nobunaga Shimazaki) has been stoking tensions between the two factions.

Trump rebukes Starmer over UK refusal to back strikes on Iran

US president says ‘relationship is not what it was’ after PM defends decision not to allow use of British bases

• Middle East crisis – live updates

• US-Israel war on Iran: what we know on day four

Donald Trump has criticised Keir Starmer again over the UK’s refusal to aid the offensive strikes on Iran, saying the “relationship is obviously not what it was”.

Starmer had issued his strongest rebuke yet of Trump’s action in Iran, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies” and defended his decision not to allow the use of British bases to conduct the strikes.

Why Frankenstein should win the best picture Oscar

Guillermo del Toro has overcome the Academy’s aversion to fantasy before and with this heartfelt telling of the monster classic he should do it again

Guillermo del Toro has spent his career humanising monsters, once calling them the “patron saints of our blissful imperfection”, so his adaptation of Frankenstein was always going to be a match made in heaven. The Mexican film-maker’s passion project turns Mary Shelley’s famous novel about the dangers of hubris and playing God into a touching tale about generational trauma, parental abandonment and the healing power of forgiveness. It’s a meticulously crafted, visually sumptuous and powerfully told story that deserves to take home that best picture Oscar.

But it’s not going to be easy. The gothic fantasy seamlessly blends horror, sci-fi and melodrama in its opulent retelling; here Oscar Isaac plays the eccentric scientist, Victor, who brings a hulking creature (Jacob Elordi) made up of dead body parts to life. Fantasy, horror and sci-fi, however, are genres that notoriously don’t do well at the Academy Awards, apart from in the technical categories. Yes, Del Toro is one of the few film-makers to get a best picture Oscar for a fantasy/sci-fi film in 2018 for his amphibian love story, The Shape of Water, but that win was an exception, not the rule.

My sexual freedom odyssey: what ancient African wisdom can teach us about pleasure today

By speaking to women across the continent, I discovered how reclaiming pre-colonial rites and rituals can help us find joy in our bodies

In the kitchen of my Airbnb in Dar es Salaam I stripped down to my underwear and wrapped a colourful kanga cloth around my hips. It was day three of my dance lessons with Zaishanga, but I was showing no improvement. Zaishanga, or Auntie Zai as I called her, is a traditional sex educator, known locally as a somo or kungwi. She told me that learning to dance seductively would ensure that, “no man would ever want to leave you, unless you want him gone”. I never did master the dance, and I really don’t care much if a man chooses to leave me, but my time with Auntie Zai was enlightening.

Dance is just one of a range of seduction tips and tricks that Zaishanga teaches at her “kitchen parties”. She also counsels women on how to maintain a healthy marriage, and gives advice on the importance of self-care, and the need to maintain a standard of beauty and style. These gatherings, where experienced older women – aunties, big sisters, grandmothers – share advice with brides-to-be are rooted in traditional rites of passage into womanhood that date back centuries.

Lucy Letby case expert witness was under fitness-to-practise investigation during trial

Exclusive: Jury was never told about inquiry into key prosecution witness Peter Hindmarsh, which looked into allegations including of harm to patients

A doctor who gave crucial expert evidence about insulin poisoning for the prosecution of the nurse Lucy Letby was under investigation by the medical regulator at the time due to serious concerns about his fitness to practise.

The General Medical Council (GMC) opened an investigation into concerns about Prof Peter Hindmarsh, including that he had harmed patients, on the first day he gave evidence at Letby’s trial in late 2022.

‘Now they only deport’: Afghans trapped in Pakistan arrested and sent back after ‘open war’ breaks out

Journalists and activists who fled Taliban rule are living in fear as Pakistani police hunt and deport refugees after escalating cross-border clashes

At midnight on Saturday, Alma* stood at the check-in counter at Karachi airport in Pakistan with her husband and three-year-old son, holding tickets she believed would finally take the refugee family to safety.

The Afghan journalist, who fled the Taliban in October 2024, had already been stopped from boarding two days earlier, on 26 February. Since they were flying with a tourist visa to a country in Africa, they had booked a flight from Karachi with a return leg that they did not plan to use. But the Pakistani officials at the airport refused to let them board.

The Last Kings of Hollywood by Paul Fischer review – the rise and reign of Spielberg, Lucas and Coppola

An epic account of how three demigod directors, in pursuit of indie freedom, redefined American film-making

Here we are once more: back to the glory days of the New Hollywood that emerged from the ashes of the old studio system in the 1960s and 70s. Our cast is filled with brilliant hotshots and creative risk-takers, energised by the French New Wave, the American counterculture and the industry’s own amazing entrepreneurial past.

Peter Biskind’s breezy, bleary, cynical book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls ranged freely across the 1970s, with controversial anecdotes about egos and drugs (though maybe the definitive book about the role of cocaine in film production has yet to be written). Mark Harris’s Scenes from a Revolution had the witty idea of looking at the five films Oscar-nominated for best picture in the transitional year of 1968, from the supercool Bonnie and Clyde to the squaresville Dr Doolittle, to see what they told us about America’s cinematic mind at the time.

Obex review – surreal Lynchian vibes in inventive retro gaming tribute

Director and star Albert Birney goes through the looking glass to tackle a Zelda-esque dog rescue quest inside his 80s gaming machine in endearingly imaginative fantasy

If David Lynch had been born 20 years later and fetishised 1980s home-computing tech, this is the kind of film he might have made: black-and-white analogue surrealism, with smudges of dot-matrix horror. Director Albert Birney stars as “Computer Conor”, a shut-in who makes a living from virtuosically tapping out ASCII reproductions of people’s favourite photos and, on his downtime, watching several VHSs simultaneously on his three-television-high stack.

Outside is Mary (Callie Hernandez), an unseen grocery-delivery girl, and the unsettling writhings of the biological world in the shape of an emerging cicada brood. But Conor is invaded from within when he subscribes to Obex, a mail-order sword-and-sorcery video game that allows you to personalise your own avatar. Initially disappointed, he becomes more enveloped when his printer of its own accord spits out a command: “Remove your skin.” And then the game’s radiant demon Ixaroth arrives in his apartment and spirits away Conor’s pooch, Sandy.

‘Cultural monstrosities!’ The thrilling visual legacy of punk and post-punk – in pictures

From bold anti-Nazi posters to an acid-drenched take on Jean Cocteau, a new exhibition, curated by writer Philip Hoare, shows how influential the DIY designs of the 70s and 80s became

Nepal’s gen-Z election: can popular former rapper Balen topple a veteran political heavyweight?

With 46% of Nepal’s population under the age of 24, the election will be a test of whether their hopes and frustrations are being taken seriously

In the unassuming, dusty lanes of the Nepali city of Damak, an unprecedented political showdown is unfolding. Pitting an old political heavyweight against a rapper-turned-politician with a penchant for dark sunglasses and sharp suits, the battle is one that could completely reshape the country’s politics.

As Nepal heads into its most gripping election in years, at the forefront stands Balendra Shah, the 35-year-old known simply as Balen. He rose to fame as a popular rapper whose songs criticised the ruling elite, before pivoting to politics and winning a resounding victory to become the mayor of Kathmandu in May 2022.

Iran war heralds era of AI-powered bombing quicker than ‘speed of thought’

Speed and scale of US military’s AI war planning raises fears human decision-making may be sidelined

The use of AI tools to enable attacks on Iran heralds a new era of bombing quicker than “the speed of thought”, experts have said, amid fears human ­decision-makers could be sidelined.

Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, was reportedly used by the US military in the barrage of strikes as the technology “shortens the kill chain” – meaning the process of target identification through to legal approval and strike launch.

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.

3/2: CBS Evening News

Trump says U.S. will "easily prevail" as Iran fights back; House panel releases video of Clintons' Epstein testimony.

2/23: Face the Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," the president's mission to shrink the federal workforce intensifies, and his foreign policy dealmaking reaches a critical juncture. We'll speak with President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York and more.

‘The Epstein files won’t knock him out’: what Anthony Scaramucci learned in Trump’s inner circle

He lasted just 11 days as White House communications director, before being fired from the Trump administration. The financier and broadcaster discusses working for the president – and becoming his biggest critic

‘If somebody walks into your office and says they’re friends with Donald Trump, they’re either exaggerating the relationship, or they don’t understand the relationship,” says Anthony Scaramucci. “Because nobody is friends with Donald. You’re a transaction in this guy’s field of vision.”

Scaramucci should know. He has been non-friends with Trump for more than 30 years, though these days he’s more an outright enemy. Just as the attention-devouring president once stalked Hillary Clinton on the debate stage, Trump looms large in Scaramucci’s story. The two men seem to haunt each other. When we meet in London during a stopover in his hectic schedule, the conversation rarely drifts away from Trump for more than a few minutes. Conversely, the 62-year-old financier and broadcaster has become one of Trump’s most vocal and penetrating critics. “We fight like New Yorkers,” Scaramucci says. “He doesn’t really come back at me, because he knows I’m going to come back at him.” Unlike Trump’s presumptive friends, Scaramucci does understand Trump, he claims. “There’s something called ‘Trump derangement syndrome’; I think I have ‘Trump reality syndrome’. I know what he is, I know what he does, I know what he’s capable of and I know the danger of him.”

Teacher v chatbot: my journey into the classroom in the age of AI

I was a newcomer, negotiating all of usual classroom difficulties for the first time. Throwing AI into the mix felt like downing a coffee in the middle of a panic attack

Two years ago, at the age of 39, I began training to be a school teacher. I wanted to teach English – to help young people become stronger readers, writers and thinkers, with a deeper connection to literature. After 15 years of working as a freelance writer and as a novelist, I felt confident that I had something to offer. But the further I progressed in my training, the more uncertain I felt. One particular question taunted me for my lack of an answer. What to do about artificial intelligence?

The immediate dilemma: what does it mean for English instruction that all pupils now have access to free online chatbots that can produce fluid, fairly complex prose on demand? This question sits atop a teetering pile of timeless pedagogical quandaries: What are we actually trying to do in school? How should we go about doing it? How do we know if we’ve succeeded? I was a newcomer, negotiating all of this for the first time. Throwing AI into the mix felt like downing a coffee in the middle of a panic attack.

Trump’s show of force in the Middle East creates a weakness China can exploit

Beijing can again leverage its critical minerals dominance over an increasingly busy US military, as Taiwan slides further down the White House list of priorities

• US-Israel war on Iran – live updates

As the US and Israel opened a new chapter of chaos in the Middle East, China stands to benefit from a Washington establishment that does not have the political or physical resources to focus on Asia.

Officially, China has condemned the attacks. Wang Yi, the foreign minister, called them “unacceptable” and called for a ceasefire, rhetoric that is typical of Beijing in response to Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic foreign policy moves.

Photo shows slain Texas gunman with Iranian symbol on his T-shirt

The gunman who killed 3 and wounded 13 at a bar in Austin also wore a hoodie that said "Property of Allah."

Woman and dog killed, 3 others stabbed in road rage incident on D.C. beltway

Virginia State Police were called to Interstate 495 southbound near exit 52 in Annandale, Virginia, around 1:20 p.m. on Sunday for a reported road rage incident.

Supreme Court bars redrawing only Republican-held NYC congressional district for 2026 election

The Supreme Court ruling is a potentially significant one for Republicans, who are trying to retain their majorities in both chambers of Congress.

DOJ moves to drop defense of Trump's executive orders targeting law firms

Four different district court judges found President Trump's executive orders targeting the law firms were unconstitutional.

Gas prices are set to rise. Here's what you could pay at the pump.

U.S. motorists could soon see higher prices at the pump as oil prices surge following the attacks in Iran.

Prolonged Strait of Hormuz closure would cause oil prices to surge, experts warn

The Iran war is renewing concerns about the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. A prolonged closure could sharply drive up oil prices, experts said.

6 U.S. service members killed in Iranian strike in Kuwait, Pentagon says

The first U.S. casualties of the war with Iran occurred among American personnel based in Kuwait.

United Airlines flight evacuated after making emergency landing due to engine fire

A United Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Los Angeles due to reports of an engine fire. Kris Van Cleave has more on the dramatic evacuation.