Oscars winners list for 2026: Live updates

"Sinners" earned 16 nominations, the most ever, and is looking for a historic night at the 2026 Oscars. Here are all the winners and nominees at the 98th annual Academy Awards.

Oscars 2026: follow the 98th Academy Awards ceremony live

Will Sinners beat One Battle After Another to the big prize? Will Timothée Chalamet get pelted with tutus? Can host Conan O’Brien wrap in under four hours? Join us to find out

• In pictures: the best looks from the red carpet
• The winners: the full list - updating live

Felcity Jones has arrived in lemon-coloured Prada proving old Hollywood – sleeveless, a sprinkle of crystals, a little tulle train, hair in a soft side wave – is bomb-proof if you stick to the formula

One of the most miraculous aspects of the night is that Conan O’Brien will once again host. His turn last year saved what had the potential to be a very dull evening, and it is very exciting to think about what he’ll do this year, with films that people have actually heard of. And, for that matter, what he’ll do about Train Dreams, a film so lacking in comedic potential that O’Brien tore into it during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel last week.

What makes this even more miraculous is that it’s been reported that O’Brien will earn $15,000 for tonight’s duties, a figure that simultaneously seems quite high and extremely low. This isn’t just a one-night deal for O’Brien; he’s been writing jokes for the show with his staff since the end of last year, and has been on an exhausting weeks-long press tour for the ceremony. And, to put it into perspective, in 2010 – when he became host of the Tonight Show, then lost the Tonight Show, then received a settlement from NBC – it’s estimated that he made close to $40 million.

March Madness bracket set as Duke nabs top overall seed

Duke is the top overall seed in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, with Arizona, Michigan, and Florida also landing on the No. 1 line.

USA v Dominican Republic: World Baseball Classic semi-final – live

⚾ Winners will play either Italy or Venezuela in final

⚾ Email [email protected] with your thoughts

David will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Japan’s tournament came to a sudden end:

Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on, and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic champion Japan was within reach.

Two dead and 11 seriously ill in meningitis outbreak at University of Kent

Students in Canterbury given antibiotics for fast-acting and invasive meningococcal disease, says UKHSA

Two people have died and 11 are reportedly seriously ill in hospital after an outbreak of a rare form of invasive meningitis at the University of Kent.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it had provided antibiotics to students in the Canterbury area after it detected 13 cases of invasive meningococcal disease, a combination of meningitis and septicaemia.

Cameron Young holds off Matt Fitzpatrick on final hole to win Players Championship

• American pars 18th for victory after birdie on 17

• Fitzpatrick had led at Sawgrass before late slip

The PGA Tour might have lost out in the court of public opinion over whether the Players Championship could be a major. However, the level of drama as shadows lengthened on this Sawgrass Sunday set the tournament aside from most others. It came down to Cameron Young versus Matt Fitzpatrick. As Fitzpatrick agonisingly missed for par on the 72nd hole, Young had secured the biggest win of his career. He had emerged triumphant from a sporting thriller.

Fitzpatrick will rue the 18th hole. He had taken a double bogey there on Saturday. As his tee shot in round four sprayed right and into pine straw, the Yorkshireman was in trouble again. Young had battered his drive 375 yards down the fairway. It was an advantage the New Yorker was unwilling to waste.

UK plans to send minesweeping drones to help reopen strait of Hormuz

Government reluctant to dispatch ships amid concerns complying with Trump’s demands could escalate Iran crisis

Ministers are drawing up plans to send minesweeping drones to the strait of Hormuz amid concerns in Whitehall that complying with Donald Trump’s demand to send ships could escalate the crisis.

The government is considering dispatching aerial minesweepers to help clear the vital waterway of mines in an attempt to allow the flow of oil exports to resume. However, officials said that sending ships, as requested over the weekend by the US president, could worsen the situation given the volatile nature of the war.

First-round of French local elections sees strong showing for National Rally and LFI

Far-right and radical left parties likely to increase their local presence in advance of next year’s presidential race

The first-round of the French municipal elections have seen a strong showing for Marine Le Pen’s far-right the National Rally (RN), as well as for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s radical left, with both parties likely to increase their local presence ahead of next year’s French presidential race.

The French local elections, which now go to a final round runoff on 22 March, are seen as a crucial test of the political temperature before next year’s presidential election. Emmanuel Macron’s two terms in office come to an end in spring 2027 and there is uncertainty about who will next lead the EU’s second-largest economy.

Weather threats bring blizzard conditions, early heat wave to parts of U.S.

More than 11.5 million people are under blizzard warnings, another 4.3 million are under winter storm warnings, and about 20.6 million are under an extreme heat watch, according to forecasters.

European football: Raphinha hat-trick seals Barcelona win, Lazio beat Milan

• Barça thrash Sevilla to restore four-point lead in La Liga

• Isaksen damages Milan’s title hopes with first-half winner

Raphinha hit a hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed Sevilla 5-2 to restore their four-point lead at the top of La Liga. After Real Madrid cut the gap by beating Elche on Saturday, the Spanish champions responded by romping to a comfortable victory.

Dani Olmo and João Cancelo also struck for Hansi Flick’s side, who host Newcastle in the Champions League on Wednesday. Fans streamed to the stadium to vote in the club’s presidential elections, with either Joan Laporta or Victor Font to be announced the new chief later on Sunday night.

Trump weighing options to strike Iran's critical oil hub, UN Ambassador Waltz says

Israel says it has killed two senior Iranian intelligence officials as oil loading reportedly resumes in the UAE's Fujairah port following a fire.

Mother charged with murder of 18-day-old baby girl in central London

Zahira Byjaouane, 43, arrested on Saturday after reports baby fell from property on Horseferry Road in Westminster

A mother has been charged with murdering her 18-day-old baby girl, who fell from a height at a property in central London.

Zahira Byjaouane, 43, was arrested on Saturday morning after reports that a baby had fallen from a property on Horseferry Road in Westminster.

Senate Democrats oppose SAVE America Act as Republicans prepare for floor vote. What to know

Senate Democrats remain opposed to SAVE America Act as Republicans prepare for floor vote this week. Here's what to know.

Aryna Sabalenka ends losing streak against Elena Rybakina to take Indian Wells title

• World No 1 had lost four finals against opponent

• Sabalenka comes back from set down for victory

Aryna Sabalenka snapped her losing streak against Elena Rybakina in a thrilling Indian Wells final on Sunday.

The world No 1 beat Rybakina to win her maiden grand slam title at the Australian Open in 2023 but since then had lost all four finals against the Kazakh, including at the WTA Finals last season and in Melbourne in January.

Crenshaw says Trump is "doing what's needed" in the Middle East conflict

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, whose term as representative of Texas's 2nd congressional district is set to end following his loss in the Republican primary earlier this month​, appeared on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan​" on Sunday.

Democrats blast FCC Chair Carr's broadcast license threats as anti-First Amendment, 'totalitarian'

Carr on Saturday blasted broadcasters shortly after President Donald Trump called reports that Iran struck five U.S. tanker planes "fake news." 

Selection Sunday is here. Here's what to know ahead of March Madness

Brackets for the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments are set to be revealed. Duke is expected to be the men's top overall seed. The undefeated UConn Huskies will likely lead the women's.

Fifth Iranian football player leaves Australia after initially accepting offer of asylum

Minister Tony Burke confirms another member of Iran’s women’s football team left Australia late Sunday night

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A fifth member of the Iranian women’s football squad has left Australia after withdrawing her claim of asylum.

The office of the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed on Monday that the woman had left late on Sunday night.

Restraining and sedating dementia patients ‘routine’ in hospitals in England, study finds

Patients experiencing raised bedside rails, doors and pathways blocked by furniture and physical interventions

People with dementia are being subjected to restraints and non-consensual sedation while in hospitals in England, according to the first study of its kind.

These restrictive practices were found to be an “embedded aspect of routine ward care”, according to the analysis, with such examples including dementia patients having their bedside rails raised, doors and pathways blocked by furniture, experiencing verbal commands to sit down or go back to bed, and physical interventions such as non-consensual sedation.

More countries, bigger audience but controversy lingered in Milano Cortina

Russia’s involvement meant politics could not be avoided at a Paralympics more competitive than ever

The theme of the closing ceremony of the Winter Paralympics, held at the Olympic curling arena in Cortina D’Ampezzo, was “Italian Souvenir”. It followed, through dance and music, the ambitions of a young girl, played by Sofia Tansella who has spinal muscular atrophy, to see her dreams represented in the world. It was of course a metaphor for the Paralympic movement more broadly, a movement that has been boosted by a successful two weeks in Milano Cortina.

The International Paralympic Committee has been able to boast a number of striking milestones at these Games, on the 50th anniversary of the first. Milano Cortina has had the most countries in competition, 55, and the most to win medals, 27. The number of countries winning gold medals, 18, is the joint-highest in history. Although gender imbalance remains a genuine problem, there were more female competitors than ever before, 160, an 18% increase on four years ago and 26% of the total athlete count of 611, another record.

The Other Bennet Sister review – the bookish Pride and Prejudice sister gets her turn in the spotlight

Ella Bruccoleri’s performance as Mary is absolutely lovely. It’s a shame this overly slight drama labours the jokes about her marriage prospects, though

Lydia Bennet – the kickable youngest Bennet daughter from Jane Austen’s famous family unit, with an endless penchant for drama – has been the subject of many retellings. Not to mention unofficial sequels to Pride and Prejudice (unofficial in the sense that Austen has been slightly too dead for slightly too long to write one herself). Elizabeth, obviously, was the subject of the original and it is generally felt that Jane got enough of a look in, too. (Though, in firstborn solidarity, I would like the record to show that if anyone wants to do a full-blown rewrite or sequel from Jane’s point of view, I and a kabillion other dutiful oldest daughters would welcome the chance to escape from our life of responsibility and the burdens of innate superiority in all things for 300 pages or so, thank you.) Kitty is popular as a subject of fan fiction – the lure of bringing her out of Lydia’s shadow is pretty irresistible – and stars in a few more substantial works, such as Carrie Kablean’s fun and perfectly titled What Kitty Did Next.

Now it is Mary’s turn. She has had a few already – including Coleen “The ThornBirds” McCullough’s The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet, and Perception by Terri Fleming, another neat titling. But the most popular by far has been Janice Hadlow’s 2020 bestseller The Other Bennet Sister, now adapted into a 10-part series for television by Sarah Quintrell with additional writing by Maddie Dai.

Salman Rushdie says he is tired of being ‘free speech Barbie’ after 2022 attack

Author says he doesn’t ‘feel symbolic’ and hopes to steer narrative to his books after surviving assassination attempt

Salman Rushdie said he’s tired of being everyone’s “free speech Barbie” four years after the author survived an assassination attempt that left him blinded in his right eye.

“It’s a subject I’m anxious to change,” Rushdie said Friday during a talk with the Atlantic’s George Packer at Tulane University’s New Orleans book festival. “I don’t feel symbolic.

Lindsey Vonn says she will retire on her own terms: ‘Please stop telling me what I should do’

• Skier suffered serious injuries in crash at Olympics

• Speculation has mounted over possible retirement

Lindsey Vonn said she will retire on her own terms, and not those of anyone else.

The 41-year-old, who is recovering from a serious downhill crash at the Milan Cortina Olympics, is still deciding her next steps, something she made clear in a social media post on Sunday.

Trump thanks TSA agents working with no pay amid government shutdown

TSA officers faced their first full missed paycheck Friday.

Israeli police kill two young Palestinian boys and their parents in West Bank

Mother, father and brothers aged five and seven shot in the head as they returned from Ramadan shopping trip

Israeli police have killed two young Palestinian brothers and their parents in the occupied West Bank, shooting all four in the head and face as the family returned from a Ramadan shopping trip.

Mohammed, five, Othman, seven, who was blind and had special needs, their mother, Waad Bani Odeh, 35, and father, Ali Bani Odeh, 37, were driving through their home town of Tamoun late on Saturday when Israeli forces opened fire.

Why the United Arab Emirates is a target for Iran's aggression

Iran is looking to test a state that has positioned itself as the Gulf's safest bridge between East and West — and the future of the region.

Republican rebukes FCC chair’s threats to revoke broadcast licenses over Iran war

Senator Ron Johnson pushes back, saying he’s not in favor of government meddling in freedom of speech

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, Brendan Carr, is facing pushback from a Republican lawmaker after warning on Saturday that broadcasters could lose their licenses if they run what the federal agency deems “fake news” over the Iran conflict.

Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said in an interview on the Sunday Briefing on Fox News that he was not in favor of the government control of private enterprise or efforts to meddle with freedom of speech protected under the constitution.

Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," March 15, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and Rep. Dan Crenshaw join Margaret Brennan.

Twelve arrests at al-Quds Day rally and counterprotest in London

Metropolitan police say they are also investigating chants led by Bobby Vylan at pro-Palestine protest next to Thames

Twelve people were arrested as hundreds joined a pro-Palestinian al-Quds Day demonstration on one side of the Thames, while hundreds more gathered on the opposite bank to back Israeli and American attacks on Iran.

Al-Quds Day is an international demonstration of support for Palestinian rights. The event takes its name from the Arabic for Jerusalem and was established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after Iran’s 1979 revolution.

Richarlison rescues late point for Spurs at Liverpool to ease pressure on Tudor

Igor Tudor has been unable to claim many positives in his short Tottenham reign but he has finally earned the first point of his tenure. Spurs were a match for the Premier League champions and, after missing a collection of chances, the former Everton forward Richarlison became the most unpopular of villains.

After Guglielmo Vicario failed to keep out a Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick, it felt as if a Liverpool victory was inevitable but they could not build on the opener, a frequent shortcoming. Tudor was planning for a familiar feeling at the final whistle until Richarlison fittingly scored with a scuffed effort at the end of a match short on quality. It was the Brazilian’s sixth clear-cut chance, with the previous misses giving the expectation that Tottenham were set for a familiar feeling.

Airline CEOs urge Congress to end shutdown and pay airport TSA officers

Nearly month-long funding lapse has disrupted US air travel and caused long wait times amid security officers’ absences

The CEOs of major US airlines urged Congress on Sunday to move quickly to end a 29-day partial government shutdown that has forced 50,000 airport security officers to work without pay, warning it could further disrupt US air travel.

Absences by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers had already disrupted travel at some major airports over the previous week, raising alarm as the busy spring break travel season continues.

US complete Olympic-Paralympic ice hockey sweep with another victory over Canada

• Americans win Para ice hockey final 6-2

• US get better of their neighbors once again

Three weeks after the United States beat Canada in the Olympic hockey finals, the Americans overcame their neighbors again to win Paralympic gold and complete the three-peat at Milan Cortina.

Jack Wallace scored a hat-trick to help the US beat Canada 6-2 in Sunday’s Para ice hockey final and become the first nation to sweep the hockey tournaments at the Olympics and Paralympics. There is currently no women’s division at the Paralympics as it is classified as an open-gender sport.

US not ready to seek deal to end war with Iran, Donald Trump says

Tehran wants ceasefire but terms ‘not good enough yet’, US president claims, as both sides launch new waves of strikes

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Donald Trump has warned he is not ready to seek a deal to end the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, saying that though he thought Tehran was keen to negotiate a ceasefire, the US would fight on for better terms.

Trump’s comments came as Iran launched fresh missile and drone attacks on countries in the Gulf and on Israel, and Israeli and US warplanes launched new waves of strikes on Iran.

U.S. beats Canada in Para ice hockey final to complete Team USA sweep

The U.S. became the first nation to sweep the hockey tournaments at the Olympics and Paralympics.

Sen. Mark Warner says Iran posed "no imminent threat to the United States" in 2025 briefing

Sen. Mark Warner, the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that in the 2025 worldwide threats briefing, "there was no imminent threat to the United States and I don't believe there was even an imminent threat to Israel from Iran."

Iranians embrace anthem by AI singer created by UK-based, Iran-born artist

‘I did it for the people,’ says Farbod Mehr, of song drawing lyrics from the work of revolutionary 20th-century poet Aref Qazvini

A stirring song – sung, apparently, by a young woman, with lyrics expressing the hope that sacrifice will lead to a better future – has become a soundtrack for Iranians in the first part of 2026, as the country experienced the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests and then the US-Israeli air assault, now in its third week.

However, the singer, called Nava, is a product of artificial intelligence, created by a London-based artist of Iranian origin, Farbod Mehr.

Vulnerable women in England still being arrested over suspected illegal abortions

Nottinghamshire and Met police made arrests in past year, despite MPs voting to decriminalise in England and Wales

Vulnerable women in England are still being arrested and facing police investigations over suspected illegal pregnancy terminations, despite parliament backing changes to the law to decriminalise abortion.

Responding to a freedom of information request, Nottinghamshire police and the Metropolitan police confirmed they had arrested women suspected of illegal terminations between June last year and this January.

Snow and wind batter parts of US, with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes

A broad and erratic patchwork of severe weather rumbled across much of the U.S. on Sunday, dumping heavy snow in the Upper Midwest while damaging high winds swept across the Plains.

IDF says Michigan synagogue suspect's brother was Hezbollah commander

The Israel Defense Forces said Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali was responsible for managing weapons operations for the unit within the U.S.-designated terrorist group.

The Guardian view on post-16 qualifications: the case for V-levels replacing BTecs is unproven | Editorial

Pausing the scrapping of existing qualifications was the right decision. But the wider battle over further education continues

The government’s granting of a stay of execution to popular courses including health and business studies BTecs, while alternatives are developed, is a victory for common sense. It should not have taken a years‑long campaign by the college sector to prevent the over‑hasty defunding of qualifications that are taken by more than 200,000 students each year in England and Wales. Belatedly, the government has admitted as much. Jacqui Smith, the skills minister, said that the previous timetable was “too aggressive”.

Welcome though this admission is, the problems with this package of reforms to 16-19 education go beyond the timetable. Other questionable decisions remain to be either justified or unpicked. The most important of these is the replacement of numerous existing diplomas with brand-new V-levels, which are being designed as A-level-size equivalents, with a view to enabling students to mix and match (for example, studying an education V-level alongside sociology and drama A-levels). Education is one of the first three V-levels due to be launched, along with finance and digital, next year.

The Guardian view on weight-loss jabs and addiction: there is too much moralising about these remarkable medicines | Editorial

Evidence is piling up that GLP-1 drugs can treat addiction. We must learn from the way that obesity has been stigmatised

In the years since so-called weight-loss jabs entered widespread use, there have been reports that these drugs may not just reduce food cravings, but in fact cravings and desires full-stop. Earlier this month, a study using large-scale data from US veterans undergoing diabetes treatment suggested that those on the jabs were less likely to develop addictions to a wide range of drugs. Patients already using substances appeared about half as likely to suffer overdose or drug-related death if they were taking the jab as well.

This is an exciting avenue for future research. These medicines work partly on satiation and reward centres in the brain. It is likely that problematic food and drug cravings share a similar biological basis, and next-generation medicines may be more powerful or more targeted to one or the other. But, in the meantime, we should expect that existing weight-loss drugs will end up recommended (or prescribed off-label) for addiction treatment. This should make us rethink our approach to these remarkable medicines.

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.

Pakistan targets militant hideouts in Afghanistan as conflict continues

Afghan government reports zero casualties and accuses neighbouring country of wanting to ‘fuel the fire of war’

Pakistan has targeted militant hideouts in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province overnight, as the fighting that erupted between the two neighbours late last month showed no signs of abating.

The cross-border attacks, which have included Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul, are the deadliest yet between the countries. Islamabad has referred to the conflict as an “open war”, adding to concerns about regional stability as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran engulfs the Middle East and beyond.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr says broadcast licenses are not a "property right"

In an exclusive interview with CBS News Saturday, Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr doubled down on his warning that broadcast licenses could be revoked amid President Trump's criticisms of media coverage of the war in Iran.

George backs Borthwick to lead England at World Cup and takes aim at South Africa

• Coach ‘the perfect person’ to lead side into World Cup

• Springboks game ‘an amazing opportunity’ for players

Jamie George has insisted England can go toe-to-toe with South Africa when they lock horns with the world champions in July and believes his side will be among the favourites for next year’s World Cup if Steve Borthwick remains as head coach.

England are on a disappointing run of four straight defeats but, while Saturday’s 48-46 loss to France condemned them to their worst Six Nations campaign, the manner in which Borthwick’s side performed – scoring seven tries in Paris – has given rise to renewed optimism.

Oil company shares soar to all-time highs as Middle East war turbocharges price per barrel

Energy supply shock from US-Israeli attack on Iran fuels record valuations for Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron

• Beyond the strait: why attacks on Kargh Island could keep oil prices high

Shares in big oil companies have soared to all-time highs since the war in Iran began and sparked historic price rises on global oil and gas markets.

The combined market value of the six stock market-listed western “super majors” has soared by more than $130bn in the two weeks since the first US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Nicola Jennings on Trump’s Iran war strategy – cartoon

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Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics 2026: day nine – in pictures

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

Office for Students faces judicial review over public funding for bible colleges

National Secular Society to launch court action after failure to investigate alleged breaches of academic freedom laws

A university regulator in England has failed to investigate potential breaches of laws protecting academic freedom at a dozen theological colleges and is now facing legal action, the Guardian has learned.

The National Secular Society says it is preparing to pursue the Office for Students (OfS) through the courts to act on complaints first made five years ago, arguing that the colleges are ineligible for public funding or government-backed student loans because of their commitment to theological doctrine.

Israel claims brother of Michigan synagogue attacker was Hezbollah commander

Israeli military also says on social media brother of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was ‘eliminated in airstrike last week’

Israel’s military claimed on Sunday that the brother of the recent Michigan synagogue attacker was a Hezbollah commander responsible for managing weapons in a unit that has launched “hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians”.

In a statement posted on X, the IDF claimed that Ibrahim Mohamad Ghazali – brother of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali – was a Hezbollah commander within a specialized branch of the Badr unit.

Manchester United sink Aston Villa to tighten grip on Champions League spot

On 71 minutes a classic Manchester United riposte, via Matheus Cunha, to Ross Barkley’s equaliser moments before. From around halfway, the peerless Bruno Fernandes glanced up and steered the ball through an inside left channel for Cunha. United’s No 10 galloped forward and as Emiliano Martínez loomed large the Brazilian’s curled finish was a peach that kissed the far right of the net, Cunha stepping forward before the Stretford End to soak up the ecstatic adoration.

Fernandes’ assist was his 100th in all competitions for United, the contest’s second, and 16th in the Premier League. The last statistic is a club record, this term’s competition high, and a latest argument for winning the player of the season awards.

‘Siegfried wants to have fun, kill the dragon, meet the girl’: Andreas Schager on Wagner’s young bully

The Austrian tenor is making his Royal Opera debut as Siegfried in the third instalment of of the Ring Cycle. He explains why operetta prepared him for the opera’s epic demands, and why Wagner’s loutish adolescent is more hero than zero

Andreas Schager bursts through the door, crosses the room in a single stride and engulfs my hand in a firm clasp. “Sorry I’m sweaty,” he grins. “I’ve been forging Nothung!” It’s a midweek lunchtime in a cluttered back office at London’s Royal Opera House, but hammering out a magical sword is all in a morning’s work for the world’s most in-demand Wagnerian leading man. Currently in rehearsals for Siegfried – the third panel of Covent Garden’s new staging of the Ring Cycle – Schager plans to spend the afternoon slaying a dragon and rescuing his beloved from an enchanted fire (after a spot of lunch, that is). But for now the tenor has a moment to catch his breath.

At 54, Schager is an anomaly in the opera world. Most careers – particularly ones singing Wagner, whose scores are longer and whose roles are bigger and more demanding than any other – are built over decades. As veteran agent Boris Orlob puts it: “You see Wagner singers coming from miles away, it’s a gradual process. You take the stairs, not the elevator.”

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.

Iranian foreign minister says "we don't see any reason" to talk with U.S.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that "we don't see any reason why we should talk with Americans" as President Trump has claimed Iran is seeking a deal to end the war between the U.S. and Iran.

A blocked shot and a green river: photos of the weekend

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

Norovirus outbreak on Princess cruise ship sickens more than 150 people

More than 150 passengers and crew members on a Princess cruise ship fell ill last week due to an outbreak of norovirus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Row over tuition fees cut for European students threatens Starmer’s EU reset

British negotiators ‘blindsided’ by Brussels’ demand for a reduction that could cost universities £140m a year

Britain is in a standoff with Brussels over a demand to cut university tuition fees for European students, in a row that threatens to scupper Keir Starmer’s planned EU reset.

EU officials say European students should pay “home” fees of about £9,500 a year in England and Wales as part of the negotiations over a youth mobility scheme, rather than the higher international rate, which can rise above £60,000. European students would also pay the domestic rate in Scotland, which is set at £1,820 a year, although most Scottish students qualify for free tuition. Fees for Irish students In Northern Ireland are generally capped at £4,855.

Saturday Night Live: Harry Styles pulls double duty in decently silly episode

The star celebrates the release of his new album by playing host and musical guest in another better-than-usual episode with cameos from Ryan Gosling and Paul Simon

For the first time in several weeks, Saturday Night Live doesn’t kick off with a political press conference sketch. Instead, we open on a middle-class family on their way to see their grandmother. Stopping at a filling station, they’re forced to leave one of their kids behind due to exorbitant gas prices. The reason costs are soaring? Simple: “The Epstein Files.”

Enter Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) to break things down: “It’s called butterfly effect, right? Epstein was first domino … bing bing bong … WAR.” As to the stock market, he puts it in terms the Harry Styles fans in attendance can understand: “It’s going one direction: down!”

3/15: Face the Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," amid new strikes from Israel and Iran in the Middle East, Margaret Brennan speaks to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett. Plus, Rep. Dan Crenshaw and Sen. Mark Warner join.

Nature: An ice-covered Niagara Falls

We leave you this Oscar Sunday at one of nature's greatest movie sets: an icy Niagara falls. Videographer: Carl Mrozek.

Britain to raise Winter Paralympic targets after finishing Games with solitary medal

• Neil Simpson’s skiing silver the only podium finish

• ParalympicsGB failed to reach two-five medal target

UK Sport is set to raise performance targets for the next Winter Paralympics after Great Britain returned from Milano Cortina with only a single silver medal.

ParalympicsGB failed to hit a reduced target of two to five medals in Italy, with only Neil Simpson making the podium following a second-placed finish in the men’s visually impaired alpine combination skiing. On Sunday Simpson did not finish either of his runs in the VI slalom, putting a final end to hopes of further success.

U.S. identifies 6 service members killed in refueling aircraft crash in Iraq

Six U.S. service members who were killed in a military refueling aircraft crash over Iraq last week have been identified as members of the Ohio Air National Guard and Florida-based crew members.

Treasure hunter freed from prison after 10 years but location of gold coins still unknown

Tommy Thompson refused to give up the location of 500 missing coins found in 1988 in a historic shipwreck

A US treasure hunter who was imprisoned for 10 years after refusing to reveal the location of missing gold coins has been released from prison, without officials apparently ever learning where that gold is.

Tommy Thompson – a renowned salvager who in 1988 found the long-lost, so-called Ship of Gold near South Carolina – was freed from federal prison on 4 March, records and reports recently indicated.

All in the family

When True, a five-year-old under the care of social services, was dropped off for heart surgery at Children's Nebraska, an Omaha children's hospital, anesthesiologist Dr. Amy Beethe found him in pre-operative care all alone. Beethe decided that True needed a stable home. But what she and her husband, Ryan, gave True when they adopted the boy didn't end there. Steve Hartman reports on a doctor who believed saving lives wasn't just her day job.

The world needs more compliments. Just try not to be weird about it | Emma Beddington

I’m inspired by Barbara from Stroud, who went viral for her way with a kind word. What we don’t need is the corporate nonsense from the likes of M&S and ‘chief compliments officer’ Gillian Anderson

I hope you don’t mind me saying that you are looking very nice today. Ugh, no, sorry, start again.

I have been thinking a lot about compliments – why, how, good and bad ones – because of Barbara from Stroud, whose vox pop went viral when she was asked how to make someone’s day better. “If I see someone and I like their shoes, dress, hat, I say so,” she said. That this quite ordinary comment, albeit from a clearly delightful woman, got millions of views and compliments in return (including from former England goalie Mary Earps) suggests an understandable longing for nano acts of niceness.

How a ‘vacuum cleaner turned the other way’ became a popular solution to snoring disorders

Cpap machines were once used only for severe sleep apnoea but sleep medicine physicians say there has been a rise in prescribing for milder cases

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When Nick went camping in the summer with friends, he would set up his tent 100 metres away from the group.

“It became a bit that I did,” says Nick. As early as his teenage years, he learned to use humour to cope with what was immediately a social problem: the “cacophony” of his snoring.

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Prue Leith looks back: ‘I had a great time on Bake Off, but I don’t think I’ll have any yearning when I see Nigella in that position’

The broadcaster, writer and former television judge on being useless at school, how ‘great parents’ instilled her self-confidence, and dealing with sexism

Born in Cape Town in 1940, Prue Leith is a restaurateur, chef, broadcaster and writer. She made her name with her Michelin-starred restaurant Leiths and founded Leiths School of Food and Wine in 1975, which she sold in 1995. Her career spans more than 16 cookery books, eight novels and a memoir published in 2013. After first appearing on television in the 1970s, she later served as a judge on Great British Menu for 11 years and judged The Great British Bake Off for nine years. Her new book, Being Old and Learning to Love It, is out now.

This was taken when I won businesswoman of the year. The chairman of British Rail, Sir Peter Parker, had been nominating me for 10 years. The board didn’t think I was the right candidate, even though my business was growing all the time. The two previous winners both went bust and they didn’t want the award to be seen as a kiss of death. They gave it to me because I didn’t have any debt. I never spent money – my chefs would get furious with me. They’d ask for a new fridge or fancy oven and I would always reply: “When we can afford it, we will!”

‘I’ve been living under a shadow for 13 years’: life with prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK. But screening is not universal, and charities are divided over whether it should be extended. What do those living with the disease think?

Almost seven years into his retirement, David Bulteel should be enjoying the fruits of his 40-year career in the City. On paper, he has the lot: a tidy pension, delightful grandkids, a big house in the Buckinghamshire commuter belt. He’s naturally upbeat and driven, which he says was in part a reaction to the trauma of losing his right arm in a motorbike crash at 21. He was so energetic and enthusiastic in the office that his nickname was “Tigger”.

“My philosophy has always been that there’s no such thing as a problem that you can’t solve,” Bulteel, 70, tells me from his home, where he’s wearing two jumpers on one of the coldest days of the winter. “The reality now is that I’ve been living under a shadow for 13 years, which has had a huge impact not just on me but on my whole family.”

The kindness of strangers: On an emptied train carriage, a man rubbed his hand on my thigh – then another passenger intervened

It was dark and I was travelling on my own. As panic began to wash over me, I saw a young man walking down the aisle

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

It was already dark when I boarded the train home. I was 19 and making the half-hour journey back from drama school one evening, travelling on my own.

At first, I was completely alone in the carriage – until an older man hopped on. He could have had any seat on the train but chose the one next to me. I was in the window seat and he slumped uncomfortably close to me in the aisle seat, blocking my exit. Completely focused on me, he told me he loved my hair, admired my clothes, asked me where I was from and then started to rub his hand up and down my thigh. Scared, I tried to stand up, but he pushed his hand down hard on my leg to stop me, his other hand moving to my shoulder. As absolute panic began to wash over me, I saw a young man walking down the aisle.

Readers reply: which are more like life, novels or films?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions considers what’s ‘realistic’ in what we read v what we watch …

• This week’s question: travel broadens the mind – what other sayings are patently false?

Most films are limited in how they display thought – often just through the facial expressions and actions of actors. Most novels, though, describe in great detail characters’ inner thoughts. So films, in a way, are more mysterious, because you don’t exactly know what people are thinking. So doesn’t that make them in fact more realistic? Ash Ahmed, by email

Send new questions to [email protected].

Ted Koppel looks back at the 1979 Iran hostage crisis

"Sunday Morning" senior contributor Ted Koppel reflects on how the U.S. government, and the media, reacted to the 1979 kidnapping of Americans in Tehran, whose 444-day ordeal had unpredictable repercussions.

With Iran choking off the Strait of Hormuz, what can the U.S. do?

As the United States continues to intensify its war against Iran, the transit of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is still choked off – and the ramifications are being felt around the world. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin talks with Retired General Frank McKenzie about the hazards facing American ships; and how long it might take the U.S. Navy to open the Strait, a vital shipping channel through which one-fifth of the world's oil flows.

‘Bit of treachery’: US attack on IRIS Dena undermines Indian security ties

Defence analyst says torpedo strike is a ‘humiliation’ for Modi’s government that disregarded a US defence partner

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The distress call came in to Sri Lanka’s maritime rescue coordination centre just after 5am. The ship in trouble, they determined, was well within Sri Lanka’s obligation for rescue, being just over 19 nautical miles off the coast of the southern city of Galle.

The navy swiftly mobilised and, by 6am, the first search and rescue boat was on its way, another soon close behind. It was hard to see through the thick morning mist but officers onboard kept their eyes peeled for a ship in the distance.

Stout clobber? Guinness tie-up features £1,295 ‘pub carpet’ jumper

Brand enlists JW Anderson to help brew up 17-piece range of luxury fashionwear, from ‘beer towel’ shorts to branded trousers and tops

You too can look like a pub carpet – and for the bargain price of £1,295. Such sartorial elegance – perhaps an option for anyone stepping out to celebrate St Patrick’s Day this week – is the aesthetic love-child of a partnership between Guinness and the luxury clothing brand JW Anderson.

The tie-up, launched earlier this month, allows fashionistas to get their hands on a range of Guinness wear that exploits the continuing metamorphosis of the “black stuff” from unfashionable pub staple to social media status symbol.

How to make Irish stew – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

This classic dish needs no deviation from its time-honoured traditions – but mastering it does require some skill

The first time I dared to write a recipe for Irish stew, I was invited on to the national broadcaster, RTÉ, to discuss my choices live on air. And, to my considerable relief, it was eventually decided that I had not dishonoured the memory of my ancestors. It’s tempting for modern cooks to meddle with such resolutely plain classics. Do not! It’s delicious just as it is.

Prep 20 min
Cook 2 hr
Serves 6

I love vultures, mosquitoes and, yes, even wasps. This is why you should too | Jo Wimpenny

No species is a ‘villain’ – and even humans’ least favourite creatures are part of a web that makes all life possible

A wasp has just flown into your kitchen. Do you: a) scream and run away; b) roll up a magazine and try to bash it; or c) open a window and usher it outside? Now imagine it’s a bee – do you respond in the same way?

Our emotional responses towards the other animals on this planet are diverse, complicated and often irrational, and our contrasting perceptions of wasps and bees is a fantastic example. Bees are positively associated with honey, flowers and pollination, while wasps are negatively associated with stings, pain and annoyance – all this despite the fact that bees obviously can sting, while wasps are important pollinators, too. It’s the same for other animal pairs: sharks are mindless killers, while dolphins are paragons of benevolence; vultures are ugly and sinister, while eagles are majestic. I’m here to say that we’ve got them all wrong.

Jo Wimpenny is the author of Beauty of the Beasts: Rethinking Nature’s Least Loved Animals

These aren’t AI firms, they’re defense contractors. We can’t let them hide behind their models

From Gaza to Iran, the pattern is the same: precision weapons, chosen blindness, and dead children. The cost of failing to regulate AI warfare is already too high

There is an Israeli military strategy called the “fog procedure”. First used during the second intifada, it’s an unofficial rule that requires soldiers guarding military posts in conditions of low visibility to shoot bursts of gunfire into the darkness, on the theory that an invisible threat might be lurking.

It’s violence licensed by blindness. Shoot into the darkness and call it deterrence. With the dawn of AI warfare, that same logic of chosen blindness has been refined, systematized, and handed off to a machine.

3/15: Sunday Morning

Hosted by Mo Rocca. Featured: Hollywood, the Dream Factory; "Peaky Blinders" actor Cillian Murphy; Marc Jacobs and Sofia Coppola; John Mayer and McG preserve a Hollywood landmark; a Russian schoolteacher's resistance documented in "Mr. Nobody Against Putin"; and a tribute to documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.

‘I’m back to my best’: Lewis Hamilton marks Ferrari revival with Chinese GP podium place

• Hamilton ends long wait for top-three finish with Ferrari

• Max Verstappen says new rules make F1 like ‘Mario Kart’

Lewis Hamilton said he is “back to his best” after he finished third at the Chinese Grand Prix to claim his first podium at Ferrari.

The 41-year-old Briton beat his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc after a thrilling duel and praised Formula One for delivering what he claimed was the best racing he had ever experienced.

How the U.S. is using AI in the war in Iran

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to Lauren Kahn of Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology about the role of artificial intelligence in war.

Texas's state animals, armadillos, are making North Carolina their home

Armadillos are making North Carolina their home. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with wildlife biologist Colleen Olfenbuttel about how Texas' state mammal has gotten a foothold in the Tar Heel State.

Shahrnush Parsipur: ‘The women of Iran will cause the fall of the Islamic Republic’

As her banned 1989 novella, Women Without Men, is published for the first time in the UK, the Iranian author looks back on a life of resistance and repression

As I write this, Iranians around the world are holding their breath for the end of the murderous Islamic Republic. More than three years after the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement began, amid renewed demonstrations, brutal state crackdowns and now US bombing raids, Shahrnush Parsipur’s banned novella Women Without Men arrives in the UK, where last month it was longlisted for the 2026 International Booker prize.

At 80 years old, Parsipur is one of Iran’s most celebrated living writers, and one of our boldest, most original feminists. In the 1980s, her stories were the talk of Iran’s literary circles and she was imprisoned for nearly five years, without ever being formally charged.

Dining across the divide: ‘If I were queen, I’d abolish the monarchy’

Two Oxfordshire inhabitants disagreed over the role of the royals, but would they see eye to eye over benefits and immigration?

Matilda, 19, Oxfordshire

Occupation Starts a history degree in September

Chaos outside Mamdani’s home brings terror charges for ‘IS-inspired’ teens – and host of questions

Suspects accused of throwing explosive devices at rightwing anti-Islam protesters as tensions rise across US

Early on Monday afternoon, two teens in white plastic jumpsuits were escorted into a Manhattan federal courtroom. Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, who were shackled and handcuffed, quietly took their seats at the defense table.

If not for the metal restraints and jail garb, Balat, 18, and Kayumi, 19, could have been any number of young men who carry themselves with an aura of discomfort about their place in America.

Israeli soldiers fire on family car in occupied West Bank, killing 4

Israeli soldiers fired on a car carrying a family in the northern West Bank, killing four people including two children, the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry said.

Here’s the news from Iran – Donald Trump is making America lose wars again | Simon Tisdall

Humiliating failure now looms, as symbolically damaging to US global standing and national self-esteem as Afghanistan or Iraq

Donald Trump menaces the world. He’s global public enemy number one. He’s steadily losing the illegal war with Iran he started but cannot stop. His violence-addicted Israeli sidekick, Benjamin Netanyahu, is terrorising Lebanon. And ordinary people everywhere, their security threatened, face a huge economic bill for his reckless folly.

Add Trump’s war-making to his daily debasing of democracy, appeasing of Russia, punitive tariffs, climate crisis denial and flouting of international law, and it’s clear this White House travesty has gone on long enough. Americans must put their house in order and act decisively to restrain someone who endangers us all.

America needs a movement to curb billionaires' power | Steven Greenhouse

The country’s 900 billionaires have far too much influence over our government and economy. Here’s how we can reduce the power of the ultra-rich

Not a day goes by without some news about billionaires throwing their weight around to bend the system in their favor or about politicians giving them tax cuts, government contracts or pardons. In today’s new Gilded Age, the 900-plus billionaires in the US have far too much influence over our elections, our economy, our government policies and our news media, and it’s urgent for Americans to create a movement to curb their power in order to preserve what’s left of our democracy and assure we have an economy with some basic fairness.

It’s deeply troubling that billionaires have far more power in shaping our nation’s politics and policies than do average Americans, whether they’re auto workers, teachers, nurses, carpenters or supermarket cashiers. What’s more, it’s deeply disturbing that so many billionaires support the most authoritarian president in US history, whether by donating to his campaign or his gilded ballroom.

Steven Greenhouse is a journalist and author, focusing on labour and the workplace, as well as economic and legal issues

Royals and celebrities warned to watch words as lip-reading videos go viral

Advisers say to ‘assume the cameras are always rolling’ as exchanges can be decoded in seconds and posted online

Royals and celebrities are being warned by their representatives and advisers to watch what they say when they are out of the house – or palace – as a lip-reading phenomenon means videos can be posted online and translated in seconds.

Prince William was recently embroiled after a video of him speaking to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was translated by an expert lip-reader who was working as part of a forthcoming Channel 5 documentary, Lip-Reading the Royals.

Nigeria’s online content creator market has boomed. Can the skit-makers and streamers make it pay?

As platforms make less from advertising, creators are struggling to monetise work – leading to calls for more government investment and tax breaks

On a humid afternoon in Lagos, a shoot for a comedy skit is under way on a set that looks more like a small film production.

Dozens of people mill about: lighting assistants, a sound engineer, a makeup artist and even a content creator recording unscripted behind-the-scenes footage. At the centre is Broda Shaggi, born Samuel Animashaun Perry, who is issuing instructions, rehearsing lines and performing caricatures.

This is how we do it: ‘We’re more adventurous now – I’ve discovered my animalistic side’

When they lived in different countries, sex was spontaneous for Rupert and Eva, but now they cohabit they experiment more

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

We’ve been trying the ‘sex first’ rule when you go out on a date, because you don’t really feel like sex after dinner and a glass of wine

Even if he was on a night shift, I’d sneak into his workplace and we’d have sex there

'We never asked for a ceasefire,' says Iran's foreign minister, as war keeps raging

Israel announced a barrage of new strikes on western Iran on Sunday, while Iran's foreign minister said the country has not asked for a ceasefire as President Trump had claimed.

Can scientists really resurrect the dodo? Inside the company that says it can

Colossal Biosciences’ CEO says its work follows a ‘moral obligation’ while critics say it’s ‘tech bro’ hype that could undermine conservation

Can and should we resurrect animal species that have been extinct for thousands of years? Such weighty, existential questions were once the preserve of science fiction but are now being played out within an unassuming brick building in a Dallas business park.

Colossal Biosciences, valued at $10.2bn after raising hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from investors including celebrities spanning from Tiger Woods to Paris Hilton, has provoked a stampede of acclaim as well as denunciation after announcing last year it had made the dire wolf, a species lost from the world for more than 10,000 years, “de-extinct” via the birth of three new pups.

‘How could this be anything other than funny?!’ Behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live UK

SNL is a US comedy institution – can a British version rise to the challenge of finding the funny in our comparatively beige politicians every week? We speak to the team hand-picked to do just that

It is the calm before the storm. The storm being the impending debut of Saturday Night Live UK, our very own version of the US’s headline-grabbing, agenda-setting, impossibly influential TV comedy institution. The calm is a group of performers and writers sitting round a table in a bare-walled boardroom in west London’s Television Centre, seemingly unperturbed by the gargantuan task of staging a live sketch show – most of which will be written in the week of broadcast – or the prospect of a scathing reaction to it. Can SNL UK breathe new life into our ailing comedy industry? Or will the format fail spectacularly on these shores? I come away convinced I’m more nervous about finding out than the cast and crew are about actually making it.

Perhaps they’re just having too much fun. For the past four weeks, 11 performers and 20 writers have been spending every weekday together in this very building, hashing out premises for skits, workshopping each other’s material and “finding the alchemy”, as cast member and standup Ayoade Bamgboye puts it. For another, actor and TikToker Jack Shep, it’s been like “comedy boarding school”.

The Oscars feel silly in an era of endless crisis. But film still matters | Dave Schilling

It’s hard to be transported by the glitz and glamour when it’s constantly overshadowed by some white-hot new horror

It’s been a full decade now since I attended the Academy Awards ceremony for this very same publication, and chat, I am feeling, like, totally cooked. I’m so unc’d, it’s cringe, fam.

The article was titled “My first Oscars”, which is a terribly presumptuous statement, because it assumes there will be a second or a third. Despite my best efforts, it remains my only Oscars. I reread the piece to prepare to once again write about the Academy Awards for the Guardian, and I was shocked by how mundane the whole experience came across on the page. As befitting the much younger, more crass version of myself, there was a lot of eyerolling and snark about how soulless the event was. Also, I wouldn’t stop talking about seeing Gary Busey.

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

‘You just execute’: 19-year-old pilot makes emergency landing in Florida

Niko Bray, who obtained pilot’s license in January 2025, shares story after averting disaster on busy Jupiter road

A teenage pilot who made an emergency airplane landing on a busy Florida road while averting disaster entirely says “you just execute” when thrust into such life-or-death situations.

“It can happen … so fast,” 19-year-old Niko Bray said in an interview with the Florida news outlet WSVN, nearly a week after authorities say he landed the small airplane he was flying on a six-lane thoroughfare in the community of Jupiter because of an emergency in the skies.

‘The fish fled’: Nile fisherman earning more from collecting plastic than fish

Mohammed Ahmed Sayed Mohammed is among those redeploying his skills for a local recycling company that is cleaning up the Nile

At 6am, Mohammed Ahmed Sayed Mohammed steers his boat from al-Qarsaya island through Cairo’s Nile waters towards the capital’s riverside clubs. Fifteen years ago, he searched for fish. Now he hunts plastic bottles.

“The fish fled from the plastic chokehold,” said Sayed, who has lived on the Giza island since arriving from Assiut, further south on the Nile, as a 14-year-old fishing apprentice. He never returned to his village, marrying locally and raising three children who now live alongside him with their 12 grandchildren on the island housing 200 families.

‘The chef is a metre away from you’: the cosy allure of micro-restaurants

Tiny eateries such as the award-winning Gwen in Wales, which holds just eight customers, are spreading across the UK

It started with the portion sizes, as all-you-can-eat buffets were reduced to bite-size small plates. Then the menus started to decrease, with pages of dishes shrinking to an A5 sheet of paper.

Now restaurants are undergoing another round of downsizing. Micro-restaurants, which usually seat fewer than 20 people, are gradually spreading across the UK.

‘I had never heard something so angry and feminine’: Jehnny Beth’s honest playlist

The singer and actor, formerly of Savages, was shaken up by Le Tigre and gets emotional when hearing Fontaines DC, but which rapper can she no longer bear to listen to?

The first song I fell in love with
I had an incredible piano teacher, who would play me a lot of jazz records that I would learn and sing along to. Chet Baker was charismatic, good looking and stylish. Even though I had a really soft, small voice, I’d give My Funny Valentine my best shot.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
Dollar Days by David Bowie, because I had to perform it recently at the British Library for the 10-year anniversary of his final album, Blackstar.

Edvard Munch’s formative influence on Paula Rego revealed in unearthed painting

‘It’s so impressive that you can’t imagine,’ wrote a 16-year-old Rego to her mother after seeing a Munch exhibition in London in 1951

He is the towering modern artist of the Nordics; she the most influential figurative painter of the Iberian peninsula. But for decades, no one realised there was a line of influence between Edvard Munch and Paula Rego.

Now, the discovery of an early painting and a previously overlooked letter by the late Rego has revealed the formative role the Norwegian painter played in shaping the Portuguese artist’s work and career.

‘I have the island to myself’: how to be a castaway in Cornwall

Book an overnight stay in the cosy smuggler’s cottage on Looe Island and you get to enjoy this marine nature reserve after the day trippers have gone home

It is just after dawn and from a viewpoint on Looe Island, Cornwall, I watch two seals on the beach below. The pair entwine in the surf, her freckled, creamy belly against his, flippers wrapped around each other, eyes closed in blissful bonding. I feel like a peeping Tom, watching from behind a bush. It feels too intimate a moment to be spying upon, but the emerald-eyed cormorants guarding the beach seem unbothered.

I had arrived on Looe Island, also known as St George’s Island, off the south coast of Cornwall, the previous morning via the romantically named Night Riviera sleeper train from London, changing early in the morning in Liskeard, then 15 minutes across the waves in a small fishing boat. The island is managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and can only be accessed on organised visits, and while most people come on day trips, I’m staying for a little longer. I have come loaded down with all the food and bedding I will need for my three-night visit, but also with the mental baggage of workaday life. Now, that weight lifts as I watch the male seal court his lady in the shallows.

‘DM your details’: Travellers warned of scam airline accounts as Iran war disrupts flights

Criminals exploiting Middle East crisis by targeting customers seeking help or refunds from affected carriers

Your flight has been delayed as a result of the Middle East crisis and you want to find out what’s happening, so you go online for an answer. You find a social media account run by the airline you are booked with and post a question, and get a reply offering help.

You’re asked to send a direct message with details, which seems reasonable. A conversation starts and you are told to give your phone number as you may be due compensation. This is where it all starts going wrong: instead of being given money, you have it taken. Although it looked official, the account that replied was a scam.