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Michael Carrick is also talking positively before Manchester United take on Aston Villa at Old Trafford tomorrow. He’s not letting his first defeat as United’s interim manager get him down.

“What’s going to be the reaction?” asked Carrick. “What’s the emotions in the group? What’s the motivation for the next game? And driving that forward.

As the risk of measles grows, why are parents so divided on vaccines?

In South Carolina, some parents embrace vaccines, others opt out. Why do people make such different choices? A mix of politics, distrust and misinformation is pushing neighbors apart.

Middle East crisis live: Iran threatens US ‘hideouts’ in UAE after Trump says military targets on Kharg Island ‘obliterated’

Oil loading operations reportedly suspended at key UAE port after intercepted drone sparks fire

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

Iranian media has reported there is no damage to its oil infrastructure on Kharg Island, following US attacks that Trump claimed had “obliterated” military targets on the Island.

Iran’s armed forces have threatened to destroy US-linked oil infrastructure if its own energy facilities are hit. Kharg Island serves as the export terminal for 90% of Iran’s oil shipments.

Brazil's ex-President Bolsonaro is in intensive care with pneumonia, hospital says

One of Bolsonaro's doctor's described the former Brazilian president's medical condition as "serious."

Meta and Google trial: are infinite scroll and autoplay creating addicts?

Features woven into the fabric of platforms have been central to landmark social media harm case in US. How do they work?

It was as “easy as ABC”, claimed the lawyer prosecuting a landmark social media harm case against Meta and Google which heard closing arguments this week. The defendants were guilty, said Mark Lanier, of “addicting the brains of children”. Not true, replied the tech companies. Meta insisted providing young people with a “safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work”.

Features such as autoplay videos, infinite scrolling and constantly chirruping alerts woven into the fabric of online platforms were central to the six-week trial in Los Angeles, which has been compared to the cases against tobacco companies in the 1990s. But how do these features work and what are their consequences? Are they creating addicts rather than users or are they just giving consumers more of what they want?

Fetuses likely have more ‘forever chemicals’ in blood than thought – report

US test of 120 umbilical blood cord samples identified 42 Pfas compounds, which do not naturally break down

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New peer-reviewed research shows fetuses likely have much higher levels of Pfas “forever chemicals” in their blood than previously thought.

Testing of umbilical cord blood typically looks for a small number of common Pfas compounds, like Pfoa and Pfos. However, thousands of Pfas exist, and a new Mount Sinai study tested 120 umbilical blood cord samples that were previously found to contain up to four compounds.

‘Everything is going up’: Americans struggle with affordability despite Trump’s claims

US workers are finding it difficult to afford basic necessities as the president claims ‘the economy is roaring back’

US workers are still struggling with the cost of living despite Donald Trump’s campaign promises to fix the US affordability crisis.

The Guardian spoke to workers as an exclusive poll showed cross-party concerns about the Trump administration’s handling of the US economy.

My sisters and I had the same parents but were raised apart. It taught me there’s more to siblings than meets the eye

After my parents split up, my older sister and I lived with our dad while the youngest stayed with our mum. It became an experiment in nature v nurture - and had a profound effect on our relationships

There is a paradox at the heart of sibling relationships and it is this: that children raised in the same family are for ever bound by shared experiences, yet have different childhoods. The paradox is partly (and most commonly) explained by the topic of birth order theory – the idea that your position in the family shapes your personality and potential. Oldest children, for example, are born into an adult world, full of grown-up language and behaviour. Governed by anxious, inexperienced but still fresh parents, they bask in the glow of undivided attention. Their infancy will be markedly different to that of their little brother or sister who will be born into a family. These second-born children have a toddler as their role model/ally/nemesis, no new clothes, and they also have to share their parents’ attention. These parents are a little less fresh and little more savvy. By the time any subsequent children come along, parents are at their most relaxed and most exhausted. Youngest children get away with a lot (spoken as a true middle sibling).

But neat as birth order theory may be, our place in the family roll call cannot fully account for the ways in which we grow up “together apart” as siblings. To do that, we must examine – and in some cases untangle – all of the knottiness underpinning our accepted roles as “responsible firstborns”, “problematic middles” or “spoilt babies”. We need to look at the home environment, the state of the parents’ relationship, their careers, the pressures placed on each child on account of gender or aptitude, the expectations in families where a child has additional needs – or indeed, in the worst-case scenario, where a child may not have survived – before we can begin to comprehend our brother’s or sister’s version of events. Difficulties typically arise because of the slipperiness of memory, often shot through with profound emotions – making it hard to pull together a coherent and agreed-upon story of our pasts.

Opinion: An ancient, sophisticated palate

Researchers looking at foodcrusts on the pottery shards of ancient humans say there's evidence of a wide variety of ingredients, indicating that they may have been experimenting with "recipes."

Why women have an especially tough time in Senegal's prisons

Women charged with a crime in Senegal are at the mercy of a slow judicial process and prisons that may lack basic supplies. They also face stigma that robs them of familial and community support.

‘Negatives are photographic truths’: the collector who fled Russia with a haul of second world war images

Ukrainian-Russian photojournalist Arthur Bondar has amassed a huge collection of pictures from often unknown photographers

After pulling on white cotton gloves, Arthur Bondar carefully takes a handful of 4cm by 9cm negatives from an old cigarette box and holds them up to the light of his study window. Inverted images of a woman on a horse, a group of women tending cabbages in a field, laughing figures at the seaside, a woman posing as a military ship sails by, hover in front of him, almost ghostlike. Although they are tiny, he is able to make out key details such as the insignia on a uniform, or the name of a ship, that trigger his curiosity and give him a starting point for his research.

Arthur Bondar examines some of his negatives. Photograph: Oksana Yushko/The Guardian

‘As soon as I saw it, I knew the image’: Robby Ogilvie’s best phone picture

A Ford Cortina the colour of the sky against brightly coloured houses in Cape Town was a gift to the Scottish photographer

Edinburgh native Robby Ogilvie was visiting South Africa when he took this image. “I’d spent the first week in and around Kruger national park, photographing the culture, landscapes and wildlife, before moving on to Cape Town.”

Along with a friend from South Africa, Ogilvie visited the neighbourhood of Bo-Kaap. “The area is known for its brightly coloured houses, but it also carries a rich and complex history. There was a real feeling of community, and many of the houses felt like open studios; artists had taken over spaces to exhibit and sell their work.”

Global food supplies could be badly hit if Iran war drags on, says fertiliser boss

Yara’s Svein Tore Holsether says it would be ‘catastrophic’ if the strait of Hormuz was closed for a year

The boss of one of the world’s largest fertiliser companies has said global food supplies could be badly damaged this year if the Iran war becomes an extended conflict.

Svein Tore Holsether, the chief executive of Norway’s Yara International, has called on global leaders to consider the impact that soaring food prices will have in some of the world’s poorest countries “before it is too late”.

War prompts Europeans to switch holidays away from eastern Mediterranean

Summer holidaymakers opting for ‘more familiar, easy-to-reach locations’ as travel industry counts cost of Middle East conflict

Holidaymakers who had planned to visit the eastern Mediterranean this summer are moving their trips to the west and the Caribbean because of the US-Israel war on Iran, travel companies have said.

Travellers from the UK and mainland Europe are increasingly swapping their holiday destinations away from Cyprus, Turkey and Greece towards Italy, Spain, Malta and Croatia, as the region around the Middle East grapples with flight cancellations and airspace closures.

Trump wages war on Iran his own way: commander-in-chaos

Erratic rhetoric, shifting goals and mixed signals leave allies, foes and voters unsure what the president wants from war

“Mr President,” said a reporter. “You’ve said the war is ‘very complete’ but your defence secretary says, ‘This is just the beginning’. So which is it?” Donald Trump’s eyes darted left and right then down. “Well, I think you could say both,” he parried.

The confusing answer at a press conference in Doral, Florida this week did not befit a wartime leader armed with stirring rhetoric and a lucid plan. But it was entirely on brand for the 47th US president. The tumultuous style that Trump brings to election campaigns, dealing with Congress and global trade relations has now been imported to the theatre of war.

Trump faces a ‘personal Vietnam’ in Iran | Sidney Blumenthal

He is stuck in a quagmire. His goals are elusive. His bombing does not force a surrender. He has no exit strategy. Good morning, Vietnam

Donald Trump is lost in his fog of war. He compounds confusion with improvised fabrications as his naive expectation of a lightning victory has been sunk in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, he felt certain, would easily follow the “perfect scenario” of Venezuela, accede to naming a leader who would instantly do his bidding, and there would be no disruption of the oil markets – “a strong game plan”, stated Karoline Leavitt, his White House press secretary, who defends each of his changeable excuses with equal ferocity.

There may be few if any facts underlying the delusions upon which Trump constructs his vapid explanations and evanescent strategies. The belief that coherent sense can be made out of Trump’s shuffling words is a weakness of the rational mind that refuses to accept the impulses of the inveterate demagogue for what they are. Searching for reason in the jungle of Trump’s tales may compel hopelessly sensible people to superimpose logic where there is none in order to satisfy the need for some semblance of soundness.

Don’t denounce Timothée Chalamet for what he said about opera and ballet – prove him wrong | Rebecca Humphries

For these art forms to thrive, they need to attract young people. The Oscar contender’s comments are just the conversation starter they need

• Rebecca Humphries is an actor and author

Timothée Chalamet thinks no one cares about opera or ballet. He told Matthew McConaughey so. Also, the entire world.

“I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this any more’,” Chalamet said in a recorded conversation for Variety.

Rebecca Humphries is an actor and author

This doctor treated migrants’ severe injuries at the US-Mexico wall: ‘Political decisions made it as violent as possible’

Dr Brian Elmore witnessed a public health crisis unfold at the border near El Paso. He reflects on why it was like a ‘perverse Groundhog Day’

In late spring 2024, Dr Brian Elmore was working out of a mobile clinic, providing medical treatment to migrants in Ciudad Juárez, just south of the US-Mexico border wall. One of his patients, a Venezuelan man with a fractured arm and a detached left chest from his sternum and clavicle, told Elmore that Mexican immigration officials broke his arm when he first got to town, and that rubber bullets fired by Texas national guardsmen had caused his chest injuries.

The man somehow had managed to fashion a shoddily made splint for his arm, but his chest would require surgery. When an ambulance arrived, the criminal group that controlled the riverine area refused to let him leave. The Texas guardsmen looked on from the US side of the river. “It was heartbreaking,” Elmore said of the spectacle.

With boom in prediction markets, some lawmakers worry about how to police themselves

House and Senate ethics committees give no financial disclosure guidance on event contracts or prediction markets — unlike stock, cryptocurrency and bond trades.

U.S. military bombs Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export hub, Trump says

President Trump said on Friday the U.S. military had "totally obliterated" military targets in Kharg Island, home to the primary terminal that handles Iran's oil exports. This as all six crew members on a refueling plane that went down in western Iraq were confirmed dead.

Former NBA star Chris Washburn reflects on drugs, downfall and second chances

The former No 3 overall NBA draft pick opens up about addiction, homelessness and redemption in a candid memoir revisiting basketball’s cocaine era

When the Golden State Warriors drafted Chris Washburn with the No 3 pick in 1986, it should have been a dream come true. Instead, it might have been the worst thing that could have happened for the 6ft 11in NC State prospect.

“I put on a smile because they were paying me to be out there,” Washburn, a former three-time high school All-American, tells rhe Guardian. “But I felt alone.”

‘You cannot unsee it’: what happened next for this year’s Oscar documentary nominees?

Films about prison abuse, ovarian cancer, women’s rights in Iran and more have impressed the Academy, but what real-world impact have they had?

• Oscars 2026: how to watch, nominations, what to read and predictions

The year 2025 was a banner one for nonfiction film, with several extraordinary documentaries that provided windows to unfathomable acts of courage, heart and vulnerability. Less so, unfortunately, for nonfiction cinema, it’s a difficult time for the production of politically challenging documentaries, whether in and about the US or abroad, and many projects struggled to find distribution after torturous paths to completion. (Cutting Through Rocks, the first Iranian documentary ever nominated for an Oscar, still has no streaming distribution and is only available in select theaters.)

Nevertheless, five incredible films make up the Oscars documentary slate this year – films that demonstrate how individual actions can challenge immense systems of oppression; how national agendas trickle into the idiosyncratic, marginal every day; and how one can find transcendence in the smallest of daily miracles. The very existence of these films feels improbable: one is composed almost entirely of police footage acquired through legal action. Another was filmed on contraband cell phones within Alabama state prisons. There’s a remarkably candid approach to processing terminal illness; an unprecedented record of Vladimir Putin’s propaganda efforts, filmed by a schoolteacher in rural Russia and smuggled out of the country; and an extremely rare glimpse into small-scale women’s rights efforts in north-west Iran.

‘Rugby is growing in America’: Sammy Sullivan on life as a US Eagle, army captain and Lego influencer

As top teams land in New York for world sevens this weekend, the Olympic star discusses her uniquely American story and her sport’s search for the spotlight

On Saturday, World Rugby’s HSBC SVNS lands in New York – well, New Jersey – for two days at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, a short ride from downtown Manhattan. The governing body will be watching keenly, as two days of traditional warm-weather sport are held at the end of a north-eastern winter. In New York/New Jersey on Thursday, it snowed.

The men’s US Eagles are not playing, having lost their place at the top table. But the Eagles women have hopes of a home-soil win after a third-place finish last week in Vancouver, beating France in a thriller after a narrow loss to New Zealand. Coach Emilie Bydwell’s team are third in the season standings, set for Championship tournaments in spring and summer.

‘My ideas are a little revolutionary’: ecologist Suzanne Simard on intelligent forests, the climate and her critics

Her research popularised the idea of the wood wide web, but the scientific backlash was brutal. As the author of The Mother Tree returns to the forest in a new book, she discusses her battle to reimagine our relationship with nature

In 2018, the ecologist and writer Suzanne Simard was conducting research in the forested Caribou Mountains of western Canada when a thunderstorm rolled in. She was with her two teenage daughters and her close friend and colleague, Jean Roach. They saw flashes of lightning, heard a loud rumble and then they smelled smoke. They were forced to run the half kilometre back to Simard’s truck as the trees behind them caught alight and the air grew thick. As they ran, animals burst out of the forest: a deer, a rabbit, a grey wolf. They reached the truck with no time to spare, all four of them covered in soot and dirt. Overhead, helicopters began circling the orange-black air, dropping water on the flames below.

Wildfires have become an ever bigger problem in Canada. The 2018 wildfires were the biggest in British Columbia’s history, but this record was broken in 2021, and then again in 2023, when fires consumed an area three times the size of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and the smoke travelled as far as New York City. The cause is not only global heating, which has brought hotter, dryer summers, but also the changing makeup of the forest. When logging companies clear forest, they replant it with fast-growing conifer species, but these trees are much more flammable than Canada’s diverse, native forest.

Reframing Georgia O'Keeffe's legacy and protecting the land she loved

Georgia O'Keeffe called the New Mexico high desert "my country," but Pueblo peoples predated her. A more complex view is emerging amid efforts to preserve the land.

Helpful or harmful? How to vet tax advice from social media

So you heard a piece of tax advice from a friend or on social media that sounds interesting. Should you try it? A certified public accountant explains how to vet the claim — and avoid getting scammed.

‘Deliberate attack’: explosion damages Jewish school in Amsterdam

Mayor condemns ‘cowardly act’ on south side of city that caused limited damage and no reported injuries

An explosion has damaged a Jewish school in Amsterdam in what the city’s mayor described as “a deliberate attack against the Jewish community”.

The explosion early on Saturday in a residential neighbourhood on the south side of the city caused limited damage, the mayor, Femke Halsema, said in a press release, as police and firefighters arrived at the scene quickly.

Kimi Antonelli takes historic pole for F1’s Chinese GP after George Russell’s sprint race win

• Italian takes advantage of Mercedes teammate’s technical trouble

• Lewis Hamilton third in qualifying and sprint race for Ferrari

There was an inescapable sense of joy and satisfaction for Kimi Antonelli as he became the youngest pole sitter in Formula One history. Tellingly, there was an air of vindication from his Mercedes principal, Toto Wolff, as the teenage protege came good when it mattered by claiming the top spot for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Italian took pole by beating his older and more experienced teammate George Russell into second, albeit after the Briton endured a technical problem in Q3 and had time to set only one quick lap.

England need to use their eyes and leave gameplan behind to overturn odds in Paris | Ugo Monye

Steve Borthwick must throw off the shackles in Paris to inject some attacking energy into his far-too predictable side

The inquest into England’s Six Nations campaign has already started and when that is the case before the championship has even finished it is never a good sign. Everyone has their own opinions on what is wrong and I’m sure that is the same within the squad too. When you are on runs like England are, different players come up with different reasons for their problems and different fixes – and that makes the situation all the more difficult.

If there is one thing holding England back it is their gameplan. I don’t say that as a reaction to these three defeats, I felt that they stagnated during the autumn and tightened things up despite chalking up four victories. The best illustration I can give is the 2024 tournament. England had lost to Scotland, went to York in the fallow week, contrived to throw off the shackles in attack and it paid immediate dividends.

Fallouts and financial woes: inside Heston Blumenthal’s sinking empire

Current and ex-staff claim demise of London restaurant can be traced back to the departure of chef’s right-hand man

Dinner by Heston was once one of the world’s most revered restaurants, known for its decadent and unusual dishes such as the “meat fruit”.

But Heston Blumenthal announced this week that he is winding down operations at the two Michelin-star restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, London, saying it was because the tenancy had “finished”.

‘You are all worse than each other’: anti-regime Iranians turn on Trump

Mood among some in Iran shifts from hope of being rescued to dismay at destruction of infrastructure, culture and lives

After years of arrests, disappearances and mass killings of protesters, the hatred in Iran from some quarters for the hardline, oppressive governing regime had boiled into such a desperate rage that many believed Donald Trump’s promise that the US would “come to their rescue”.

Now, after a fortnight of war, with US and Israeli airstrikes killing hundreds as they hit residential blocks, shops, fuel depots and even a school, the mood is changing.

What happened the last time Spurs were relegated and are there lessons to learn?

It was a big shock when Keith Burkinshaw’s talented side went down – but will the current team avoid that fate?

Glenn Hoddle was in tears in the dressing room. Others sat in disbelief, wondering what the future held.

Tottenham were the first English club in the 20th century to win the league and FA Cup Double, in 1961, and the first to lift a European trophy when they won the Cup Winners’ Cup two years later. They were renowned for playing attractive football and the goals of Jimmy Greaves.

These are the casualties and cost of the war in Iran 2 weeks into the conflict

The war in Iran has already cost the U.S. billions of dollars. Here's the impact by the numbers.

Wealthy British nationals fleeing Gulf conflict bypass UK to avoid tax bills

High-net-worth residents of UAE heading to Ireland and France to wait out missile attacks before tax year ends

Wealthy UK nationals fleeing war in the Gulf are seeking sanctuary in countries such as Ireland and France to avoid hefty tax bills back home.

In the face of possible demands from HM Revenue and Customs, high-net-worth individuals who had been living in the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring countries are hoping to wait out the missile and drone attacks elsewhere rather than return to the UK.

I had a ringside seat for the Iranian revolution. Foreign meddling didn’t work then either | Paul Taylor

Even as the first western journalist to interview Ayatollah Khomeini, I had no inkling of what was to come. Perhaps we should have learned from history

Watching Iran in flames, I can’t help wondering whether history is coming a grotesque full circle 47 years after the fall of the US-backed Pahlavi dynasty, or whether western powers are simply repeating past errors by attempting violent regime change from outside.

As a young reporter, I had a ringside seat for part of the 1979 revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and installed an austere Islamic republic headed by a Shia Muslim cleric with the titles of “leader of the revolution” and “guardian jurist” (vali-e faqih).

Pristine waters teeming with marine life: a deep dive into the Greek island of Alonissos

Divers come for one of the world’s most significant marine reserves, but there’s plenty to do on land too – from hiking trails and beaches to seafood tavernas

Greek divers surface around me shouting about “megalo” groupers. I’m surrounded by enormous grins above the water and big fish below. A happy place to be. A bunch of us, divers and snorkellers, are hanging around Agios Petros reef off the island of Alonissos, and there’s a reason the groupers are big here. The National Marine Park of Alonissos Northern Sporades, established in 1992, is Greece’s largest working marine protected area (MPA) – two bigger MPAs have just been created, but are not yet operational. The protective measures appear to be working, judging by the size, abundance and diversity of marine life – glassy waters teeming with colourful fish and precious shells make swimming here an absolute dream.

For those who like to go deeper, Alonissos is the site of Greece’s first underwater archaeological park and museum – the impressive Peristera wreck, with its giant cargo of amphorae preserved from the 5th century BC. This one is for certified divers descending with accredited local dive centres. I’m with one of those schools, Ikion Diving, but today we’re doing something more accessible. We’re in the village of Steni Vala for the launch of a citizen science project, the Highly Protected Mediterranean Initiative (much more fun than it sounds). Ikion is partnering with the universities of Thessaloniki and the Aegean to offer free snorkelling and diving trips logging native and alien species. I’m worried about my fish ID skills, but the effervescent biologist Katerina Konsta runs a great briefing and we’re given dive slates with images to mark (imparting a childish delight at playing scientist).

‘Everyone will tune in – she’s one of our own’: Jessie Buckley’s home town abuzz before Oscars

Excitement in Killarney will reach fever pitch on Sunday, when the actor is hotly tipped to become the first Irish woman to win best actress

If Jessie Buckley wins the Oscar for best actress on Sunday night, County Kerry will need no further proof of a cherished truism: to be born in this corner of Ireland really is the greatest gift that God can bestow. The award would be for Buckley’s performance in Hamnet, but for Killarney, her home town in the county nicknamed the Kingdom, credit will stretch back to her childhood, when she acted in local plays.

“Hollywood here we come!” proclaimed the newspaper Kerry’s Eye, underlining a sense that Buckley’s path to Hollywood for the 98th Academy Awards has been a collective journey propelled by her talent, determination and roots.

North Korea fires missiles into the sea as US and South Korea conduct military drills

Missiles were launched from an area near the capital Pyongyang, according to South Korea’s military

North Korea fired more than 10 ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, South Korea’s military said, as the US and South Korean forces conducted military drills and Donald Trump renewed overtures towards Pyongyang for dialogue.

Japan’s coast guard said it had detected what could be a ballistic missile that fell into the sea. It appeared to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK said, citing the military.

A corner of north London where food has become a battleground in the Israel-Gaza war | Jonathan Liew

A smashed window here, a provocative sticker there. In an age when protest feels increasingly meaningless, it’s no wonder that acts of petty symbolism are on the rise

First comes the hummus: studded with chickpeas, anointed with a little reservoir of olive oil, greedily smeared up with hunks of pitta bread and messy fingers. Then the tabbouleh, then some homemade falafels, and then the lentil soup, and already the senses are overloaded, plates and bowls spilling off the edge of the table. But there shall be no reprieve, for the mains are coming.

Maqluba for the meat-eaters – traditional Palestinian upside-down chicken and rice, decorated with lightly browned cauliflower florets, topped with razor-fine almonds. Stuffed aubergine and courgette for the veggies. Before you ask: yes, there will be dessert, and it’s baklava and homemade chocolate. Home time, and slowly you winch yourself upright, stagger sideways towards the door and vow never to do something so gluttonous and decadent ever again.

Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper: ‘Making decisions based on what the US do or say doesn’t feel like sensible foreign policy’

Firing Peter Mandelson, convening with Marco Rubio – then handling the fallout of conflict in the Middle East… it’s been a busy time for the secretary of state, and our writer has had a ringside seat

Before Yvette Cooper joins me in a plush side room at the Foreign Office, an aide comes in and draws the heavy curtains. Outside is Horse Guards Parade. I can see a strip of Downing Street, a patch of the No 10 garden, daffodils in bloom. I say that it’s a shame to block the light on such a beautiful spring afternoon. The aide coughs, embarrassed, and explains that it’s actually for security.

So that people can’t see in?

NHS and MoD will be urged to buy British tech to drive growth amid Iran crisis

Treasury minister Spencer Livermore trails new strategy as chancellor pins hopes on benefits of AI amid global uncertainty

The NHS and Ministry of Defence will be urged to buy British tech, as the government pins its hopes on the benefits of artificial intelligence to kickstart growth in the face of the Iran crisis, Treasury minister Spencer Livermore has said.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will restate her economic strategy in a high profile lecture on Tuesday, just as rocketing oil prices have raised fears of higher inflation and weaker growth.

Invisible datacentres and capricious chips: is UK’s AI bubble about to burst?

Datacentre investment boom is one of the biggest infrastructure gambles of this era, and Britain may be uniquely exposed

Stargate was to be the world’s biggest AI investment: a $500bn infrastructure project to “secure American leadership in AI”. Never shy of hyperbole, its key backer, the ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, promised “massive economic benefit for the entire world” with facilities to help people “use AI to elevate humanity”.

Now, OpenAI appears to be dropping out of a part of the deal – the expansion of a flagship datacentre stretching across a swathe of land in Abilene, Texas, which has become one of the most visible manifestations of a frenzy of investment in the chips and power plants required to build and run AI. There has been a breakdown in negotiations over project financing, as well as the timeline of when the expanded capacity might come online.

Tim Dowling: a curious incident with the dog in the nighttime

Every night I wake up to find the dog staring at me, but tonight a terrifying noise disturbs us all …

In the middle of the night I feel the warm breath of a creature stirring my hair. It’s too dark to see anything, but I know from experience that the dog is standing by the bed, chin resting on the mattress next to my head, gently exhaling into my face.

The point is this: to wake me up without waking my wife.

3/14: The Uplift

A Hawaii man gathers his group of friends to teach surfing lessons to strangers – and there is a powerful reason why they don't charge a cent. Plus, more heartwarming news.

‘It would be an earthquake for France’: is Marseille about to vote in the far right?

A National Rally victory in France’s second city in municipal elections that start on Sunday would be hailed by the party as a step towards taking the presidency next year

Nathalie, a market trader in her 40s, had woken early to prepare a pan of paella rice. She was spooning it into tubs at a market in southern Marseille last week when a crowd of far-right canvassers approached, promising cleaner and safer streets if she voted for them in the local elections.

“Our cash tin was stolen right here at Christmas time,” Nathalie said. “I’ve had a bag stolen too. It tends to happen at the end of the day, around 7pm. I worry for the elderly grandmas. I had a necklace ripped off me in the city centre once.”

The escalation trap: how the Iran war could become more costly and complex

Iran is trying to create wedges between Gulf states and the US, but Trump is very comfortable on the ‘escalatory ladder’

• Middle East crisis – live updates

In its current phase, the Israeli-US war against Iran and its proxies has become a proving ground for two competing concepts of military escalation, each of which threatens to become a trap.

On one side, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have failed thus far in their ill-defined and shifting strategic aims. Despite killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and other key leaders in the opening salvo of the campaign, the clerical regime remains and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium is unsecured. Airstrikes are intensifying and hitting a greater number of targets.

Please drive carefully: scientists plan to transport volatile antimatter for first time

Cern researchers are testing traps capable of moving antimatter, which explodes into energy as soon as it comes into contact with regular matter

When the truck pulls away from the building at Cern, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva, all eyes will be on its precious cargo, a one-tonne device containing some of the most exotic material on Earth.

The 20-minute test run around the campus, pencilled in for later this month, will mark the world’s first attempt to transport antimatter, a substance so delicate that when it meets normal matter, both are consumed in a burst of pure energy.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (March 15)

A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.

DOJ moves to drop charges against man who burned American flag outside White House

Jan Carey was facing two misdemeanor criminal counts in Washington, D.C., federal court.

Fake rooms, props and a script to lure victims: inside an abandoned Cambodia scam centre

Sprawling compound, including mock-up banks and police offices, uncovered by Thai military during border clashes

It is as if you have walked into a branch of one of Vietnam’s banks. A row of customer service desks, divided by plastic screens, with landline phones, promotional leaflets and staff business cards. A seated waiting area and a private meeting room. All of it features the OCB bank’s logo, or its trademark green colour.

This is not a genuine bank branch, however. It’s one of various “mock up” rooms inside a sprawling compound on the Thai-Cambodian border, where criminal groups are accused of using elaborate and industrial-scale fraud schemes to trick victims into handing over money.

Old Dominion gunman was released early from prison after conviction for ISIS support

The suspect, who was killed following the shooting, had previously been imprisoned for several years for trying to support ISIS, the FBI said.

Meta reportedly plans sweeping layoffs as AI costs increase

Sources tell Reuters layoffs could affect 20% or more of company as plans reflect broader tensions within big tech

Meta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers.

No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalized, the people said.

Democrats seek clarity on Epstein accountant's statements on Trump accuser

Richard Kahn, who worked closely with Epstein for more than a decade, testified before the Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

New details emerge on attack at Michigan synagogue and suspect's history

The attacker rammed a vehicle into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield and opened fire, but he was the only one killed, law enforcement officials said.

How a beloved resident has been embraced by his town for more than a half-century

Clinton, New Jersey, is known primarily for its old grist mill, its quaint downtown, and its historic resident, "Dave the Rave."

Michigan synagogue clergy grappling with attack: "None of us signed up for this"

Clergy members at a Detroit-area synagogue are grateful no one was seriously hurt after an armed man rammed his car full of explosives into their building. But the community is now grappling with an endless amount of emotional wounds. Jonah Kaplan has the latest.

Jury finds defendants guilty of terrorism charges in attack on Prairieland ICE center

Nine defendants were on trial on charges related to the July 4 attack on the Prairieland ICE detention center in North Texas.

Man charged with selling stolen firearm used in Old Dominion shooting

The stolen gun used in the Old Dominion University was sold this week to the shooter for $100, according to a federal law enforcement affidavit.

A sobering question after a week of terrorism incidents in America

If not for extraordinary heroism, several terrorism-motivated incidents in the United States could have had even more carnage. "CBS Evening News" Tony Dokoupil reflects on what could have been after returning home from the Middle East.

Dr. Oz pledges to tackle hospice fraud: "Do not steal from the American people"

The Trump administration's Medicare boss reacts to CBS News investigation into California's hospice fraud problems.

Mom of 3 worries she'll have to quit job over increasing gas prices

A mom of three who commutes three hours roundtrip to work is worried she will have to quit her job as gas prices rise. Elaine Quijano has more.

Hegseth says Iran showing "sheer desperation" in Strait of Hormuz as oil tankers remain stuck

With tankers on fire and ships dead in the water, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tried to project the U.S. was in control of the Strait of Hormuz. As Matt Gutman reports, hundreds of oil tankers remain stuck, terrorized by Iranian attacks.

New details about firearm used in Old Dominion shooting

A man is facing federal charges, accused of selling to the gunman the firearm that was used in a deadly shooting at Old Dominion University. Scott MacFarlane has details.

What we know about the Michigan synagogue attacker

A suspect is dead after ramming a truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, in what the FBI said was a "targeted act of violence against the Jewish community." Ash-har Quraishi has more on what we know about him.

Hollywood in the gantry: Welsh derby gets Wrexham-heavy makeover

On fifth anniversary of their takeover, Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac showed off their ‘happy clapper’ credentials

The daily ritual of the modern football fan is well established: check the fixtures and TV listings, then decide which match to half-follow while gawping at social media as a second screen. On most nights in March this year there has been either a Premier League or Champions League game to provide turf-coloured backlight to the doomscroll. Until Friday night.

Clearly the suits at Sky Sports thought Wrexham v Swansea City on a Friday night needed its own sideshow. A clash between two historic Welsh clubs just five points apart in the battle for the Championship playoff places may not appeal to the TikTok generation. If only there were some Hollywood actors on hand to step into the content void, relegating Daniel Mann and Andy Hinchcliffe to second-string commentary choice.

Mortgage rates surge to highest since September, hitting spring housing market

Mortgage rates jumped to a seven-month high Friday as war in Iran pushed bond yields higher.

3/13: CBS Evening News

Michigan synagogue clergy grappling with attack; new details about firearm used in Old Dominion shooting.

Anti-ICE protesters accused of being part of antifa found guilty of support for terrorism in Texas

Case was seen as major test of the first amendment and whether the US could use broad anti-terrorism statute to prosecute leftwing protesters

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A group of protesters in Texas was found guilty of providing support for terrorism and other charges on Friday in a closely watched case in which prosecutors alleged anti-ICE activists were actually part of an antifa cell.

The case was seen as a major test of the first amendment and whether the government could use a broad anti-terrorism statute to prosecute leftwing protesters. It marked the first time the government alleged individuals were part of an antifa terrorist cell in a criminal prosecution.

Judge quashes subpoenas sent to Fed in DOJ criminal probe

A federal judge has quashed a pair of grand jury subpoenas sent to the Federal Reserve Board as part of a criminal probe by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office.

NFL, Paramount discussing media deal that could mean CBS pays an extra $1 billion or more

The NFL is discussing getting rid of its 2029-30 opt-out clause in exchange for an increase on TV rights that could push CBS to pay more than $3 billion a year.

Security detail requested for U.S. official who asked for Lisa Cook, Adam Schiff probes

A security detail has been requested from the federal health department's inspector general for top federal housing official Bill Pulte.

Trump announces Ric Grenell stepping aside as Kennedy Center president

Matt Floca will be the new CEO and executive director of the Kennedy Center, President Trump announced.

3/13: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Six U.S. service members killed in aircraft crash in Iraq; U.S. temporarily lifts sanctions on shipments of Russian oil.

Elon Musk says xAI must be 'rebuilt' as co-founder exodus continues, SpaceX IPO awaits

With xAI now in the hands of SpaceX, Elon Musk says he's rebuilding the artificial intelligence company following high-level departures.

New release of oil reserves will put U.S. supplies at 40-year low

The latest release of oil follows historic withdrawals from the Biden administration to combat gas prices from the Ukraine war.

Chart shows what you're paying for when you buy a gallon of gas

U.S. gas prices are surging as the Iran war drives up the global cost of oil. But what exactly accounts for what you pay at the pump?

Starbucks union sent the company a proposed contract. Here's what baristas want

Discussions between Starbucks and the union representing about 6% of its company-owned U.S. stores hit a wall last year.

High oil prices are boosting airfares. These tips could save you money.

Planning a trip? Travel experts recommend booking your flight soon as the Iran war drives up airline and ticket costs.

Keegan Bradley ‘still heartbroken’ by Ryder Cup loss but open to returning as USA captain

• He shoots 66 to make cut at Players Championship

• Rory McIlroy squeaks into third round with strong finish

Keegan Bradley has admitted to still being “heartbroken” by his American Ryder Cup team’s loss at Bethpage last year. Bradley is also keen to retain the US captaincy at Adare Manor next September, should Tiger Woods knock back the opportunity.

Luke Donald and Europe were set for a Bethpage rout before a rousing US recovery on day three. The visitors still won the trophy for a second time in succession. Bradley, who has returned to playing duties on the PGA Tour, remains wounded by the event and, as is the case with all Ryder Cups, the losing captain has been subject to heavy criticism.

Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics 2026: day seven – in pictures

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

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Crisis in the Middle East, Ramadan in Gaza, the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics and Paris fashion week – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Military exercises in Alaska, Greenland test forces on operating in Arctic conditions

The U.S. military participated in a multi-national exercise in Alaska and Greenland in the austere conditions that officials say military forces need to train in more regularly for the future.

Suspect in Michigan synagogue attack had lost family in Israeli strike on Lebanon

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon and became a naturalized US citizen, lost two brothers, a niece and a nephew in the airstrike

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The armed suspect who drove a vehicle into the hallway of a large Michigan synagogue complex that includes a school had lost four family members in an Israeli airstrike in his native Lebanon just last week, an official said on Friday.

A potential mass-casualty event was averted when security guards already in place at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township on the outskirts of Detroit killed the driver before any harm could come to the synagogue’s staff, teachers and 140 children at the early childhood center there on Thursday afternoon.

Trump tariffs: Refunds to companies should go to workers as bonuses, raises, Greer says

The United States government could end up paying $165 billion of more in refunds for Trump's IEEPA tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled were illegal.

The Guardian view on the Iran war and international law: it’s worse than a mistake; it’s a crime | Editorial

Double standards in Europe and elsewhere are laid bare by the muted response to US and Israeli aggression and the killing of civilians

When Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the international condemnation from Europe and elsewhere was loud and clear. Leaders did not expect legal threats to shift Vladimir Putin or end war crimes by his troops. But they understood the importance of naming what had happened as an illegal act of aggression, and of seeking to hold those responsible accountable.

The same countries have been strikingly muted since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. This too was an act of aggression. Spain’s Pedro Sánchez has been lonely in his forthright condemnation, though Norway and others also pointed to the breach of international law. Meanwhile, Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, offered unreserved support and Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, declared that it was “not the moment to lecture our partners and allies”.

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

The Guardian view on changes to copyright laws: authors should be protected over big tech | Editorial

Writers are voicing their anger at AI theft of their work with ‘Human Authored’ logos and an empty book. The government must listen

In a scene that might have come from a dystopian novel, books were being stamped with “Human Authored” logos at this week’s London Book Fair. The Society of Authors described its labelling scheme as “an important sticking plaster to protect and promote human creativity in lieu of AI labelled content in the marketplace”.

Visitors to the fair were also being given copies of Don’t Steal This Book, an anthology of about 10,000 writers including Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro, Malorie Blackman, Jeanette Winterson and Richard Osman, in which the pages are completely blank. The back cover states: “The UK government must not legalise book theft to benefit AI companies.” The message is clear: writers have had enough.

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

Brazilian president says he has ‘forbidden’ Trump adviser from visiting country

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva revokes Darren Beattie’s visa in retaliation for Brazilian health minister being denied visa for US

Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has said he has “forbidden” one of Donald Trump’s advisers from visiting the South American country in retaliation for his health minister being denied a US visa.

Darren Beattie, a far-right political strategist who was recently tapped for a senior advisory role on Brazil, had reportedly hoped to use a trip to the country to visit the former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup to stop Lula taking power after the 2022 election. Beattie is a longstanding critic of Brazil’s judiciary and president and once called the moderate leftwing leader a representative of “the most destructive and corrosive version” of communism.

Flights are already getting more expensive after a jet fuel spike. When should you book?

Some airlines are already raising fares after a historic surge in jet-fuel costs.

Trump can't 'drill, baby, drill' his way out of this Iran-inspired oil crisis: Experts

Oil prices have skyrocketed in the days since President Donald Trump's war on Iran began.

Even taking Trump’s confused reasons for the Iran war at face value, it’s still a total disaster | Jonathan Freedland

Two weeks in, it’s increasingly clear that the US-led war has taken every problem it aimed to solve – and made it worse

It’s not easy, but let’s try to look at this war in the best, most charitable light. Let’s try to see the US-Israel conflict with Iran as its prosecutors and advocates would want us to see it.

They would say that it has two aims, both legitimate. The first is to weaken if not remove a regime that has done terrible evil to its own people. Who could mourn the supreme leader of a government that, according to one report, gunned down 30,000 of its citizens on the streets in just two days on 8 and 9 January? Listen to those Iranians who long ago reached the glum conclusion that the only way they could be rid of their tormentors was through external military action. As one exiled Iranian put it to me this week: “The Iranian people have been begging the world for help for so many years. They tried voting for change in 2009; they were killed. They tried protesting in 2019, 2022 and this year; they were massacred in the tens of thousands … They were out of all other options.”

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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

Andrew and Peter Mandelson pictured in bathrobes with Jeffrey Epstein

Trio captured relaxing around a wooden table in photo believed to have been taken on Martha’s Vineyard

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson have been pictured in bathrobes alongside Jeffrey Epstein, in the first known photograph of them together.

The trio were captured relaxing outside at a wooden table with mugs decorated with the American flag in the newly unearthed photograph believed to have been taken on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off Cape Cod in Massachusetts that is favoured by the wealthy.

Analysis: The U.S. is running out of ways to get oil prices down. It is up to the military.

Iran's threat to the Strait of Hormuz can't be fixed by releasing oil from strategic petroleum reserves.

The Guide #234: Five big questions before the 2026 Oscars

Where will the best picture gong go? Has Chalamet blown his chances? And will anyone speak out on Iran?

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Happy Oscars Eve eve to you all. The film industry’s glitziest night takes place on Sunday, at an ungodly hour for those of us covering it from the other side of the Atlantic. Coffee will be essential for anyone staying up, as will the Guardian’s annual liveblog, covering every last minute of the ceremony as well as its red carpet run-up. Head over to the homepage on Sunday evening for that, plus news and commentary on the night’s events.

There’s plenty to read before that too: our annual Oscar hustings, making the case for each of this year’s best picture nominees (I sided with Sentimental Value); an interview with Academy top dog Bill Kramer; a piece on the increasingly toxic discourse around many of this year’s nominees; and Guardian film editor Catherine Shoard’s reader Q&A on this year’s race and the state of film in general. There will be plenty more to come over the weekend too.

Temple Israel rabbi and staff say security training help save lives in attack

Temple Israel Rabbi Josh Bennett and staff member Cassi Cohen say their security training prepared them to respond quickly when a man rammed a vehicle into their synagogue.

‘I’m wearing the tree fibre undies right now!’ An audience with the organisers of the Oscar goodie bags

Diamond watches, customisable pre-nups and five brands of marijuana are amongst the rich pickings for the starfluencers in line for acting honours. Our film critic gets a preview

It is now 20 years since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences discontinued their official Oscars goodie bag. Modest by today’s standards, this bundle of presents was subject to a distinctly non-glamorous IRS crackdown regarding the taxation of its contents, which it viewed as non-cash compensation.

But no sooner had that been taken away than a flurry of beneficent gifting moguls swooped in to take their place. Hollywood this week has been gripped by a discreet yet intense gifting frenzy, as rooms in luxury hotels and spas are requisitioned as gifting suites for the A-listers upon whom hugely expensive items will be pressed in the hope that these starfluencers will mention them on their Instagram feed.

Fourth-quarter GDP revised down to just 0.7% growth; January core inflation was 3.1%

The PCE price index for January was expected to show headline inflation at 2.9% and core at 3.1%.

Trump says he thinks Putin is helping Iran

Russian leaders told President Trump they aren't sharing intelligence with Iran as it fights the U.S. and Israel, special envoy Steve Witkoff said this week.

Amazon to hike price of ad-free Prime Video tier by $2 a month

Amazon is boosting the price of Prime Video to $4.99 a month in the U.S., from $2.99 per month for users who want to avoid ads.

Great haul of China: how table-topping nation rose to be a Winter Paralympic power

Their sporting dominance is all the more striking after winning a solitary medal eight years ago but no country can match them now

With two days of competition left at the Winter Paralympics there is no doubt who will finish top of the medal table. At close of play on Friday, China had a total of 33 medals, the same as their nearest rivals the USA and Italy combined. They have won gold in four of the Games’ six sports – cross-country skiing, curling, snowboarding and biathlon – and are in line for a medal in para-ice hockey too. This sporting dominance is all the more striking because, only eight years ago, China was nowhere.

At the Pyeongchang Games, the Chinese won a solitary medal, gold in the mixed team curling. Three of that team are competing here at Milano Cortina and a fourth, Wang Meng, already has a gold medal around her neck after winning the inaugural mixed doubles alongside her partner Yang Jinqiao. “I’m very, very proud, very, very honoured, and also very grateful,” she said after beating the Korean pair 9-6 following a tie-break end. “I’m so grateful to so many people who have helped us along the way, and [to be] finally standing on this podium”.

Another Farmer hat-trick lifts USA to verge of fifth straight Paralympic sled hockey gold

• Farmer hat trick powers USA past Czechia 6-1

• Americans reach fifth straight Paralympic final

• USA move one win from fifth consecutive gold

The United States defeated Czechia 6-1 on Friday in the semi-finals of the Paralympic sled hockey tournament in Milan, advancing to the gold medal game for a fifth consecutive Games.

Declan Farmer scored three goals and assisted on the other three as the Americans pulled away after conceding the opening goal. Farmer’s hat trick – his fourth in four games at these Paralympics – set records for most goals and most points in a single Paralympic tournament. He now has 14 goals and 24 points in Milan.