Delta raises revenue guidance as CEO says travel demand has been 'really, really great'

CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC's Phil LeBeau that Delta had taken a $400 million hit so far for the fourth quarter, but that demand has been "really, really great."

China v Australia: Women’s Asian Cup 2026 semi-final – live

• Updates from the last-four clash at Perth Stadium

• Any thoughts? Email Joey

China has won the Women’s Asian Cup more than any other nation, including an incredible run of seven straight as they became one of the first true global powers in women’s football.

That status has fallen away somewhat in recent times but they did notch their ninth continental crown back in 2022, producing an incredible comeback to drag themselves off the canvas at 2-0 down on the hour mark to claim a 3-2 win – Xiao Yuyi providing the winner in the 93rd minute.

Pressure grows to postpone king’s state visit to US amid Iran war and Trump’s jibes at allies – UK politics live

Emily Thornberry is the latest figure to call on the king’s visit to the US to be delayed, citing the ongoing war against Iran

Nigel Farage is speaking now at the Reform UK event.

The website promoting the lottery is up. It is called nigelcutmybills.com.

Israel says Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, has been killed in a strike

Ali Larijani was seen as the right-hand man of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

U.S. seeks NATO help with Strait of Hormuz. And, SCOTUS blocks vaccine changes

As the war with Iran intensifies, Trump is demanding that allies help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And, a federal judge halts RFK Jr.'s changes to children's vaccine policies.

Senate expected to take up voter ID bill opposed by Democrats – US politics live

Donald Trump has vowed not to sign any other legislation until the passage of Save America act, which would create more barriers for voting

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Illinois voters on Tuesday will decide between a crowded field of Democratic candidates vying to be the state’s next senator as the midwestern state also nominates candidates for five open congressional seats.

Longtime Illinois senator Dick Durbin’s retirement leaves a competitive race that includes two US representatives and the lieutenant governor vying to replace him, with massive infusions of money coming to the candidates from outside groups, including donors affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), that are spending millions to sway voters.

Blizzards, severe storms, heat wave hit U.S. with array of extreme weather

From a surprising heatwave in California to blizzards burying parts of the Midwest and storms rolling over the East Coast, chaotic weather put more than half the nation's population in the path of extreme conditions.

At least 23 people killed in suspected suicide attacks in north-eastern Nigeria

More than 100 others injured in bombings targeting post office, market areas and hospital in Maiduguri

At least 23 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured in multiple suspected suicide bombings in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, shattering its reputation as a relative oasis of calm in recent years as a long-running insurgency was pushed to the rural hinterlands.

Authorities said the explosions went off at the post office and market areas, as well as the entrance to the University of Maiduguri teaching hospital, on Monday evening during iftar, the breaking of fast in the month of Ramadan.

Meningitis in fatal Kent outbreak identified as less-targeted strain B

UKHSA says strain involved in outbreak that has killed two people is one that most people are not vaccinated against

Government scientists have identified the type of meningitis behind a fatal outbreak in Kent as a strain that most people have not be vaccinated against.

Gayatri Amirthalingam, the deputy director of immunisation and vaccine preventable diseases at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said tests showed it was the bacterial strain B of the disease, as pharmacies warned that vaccines against this strain are running low.

Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, killed in airstrike, Israel says

If confirmed, death would make Larijani the most senior Iranian figure to be killed since Ali Khamenei on first day of war

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Israel says it has killed a linchpin of Iranian politics, the national security chief, Ali Larijani, in overnight strikes, a claim that if confirmed would make him the most senior Iranian figure to die in the war since the supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed on its first day.

Iran has yet to comment on either claim. If confirmed, Larijani’s death would remove a pivotal figure at the heart of the regime’s political and security establishment at a moment of acute crisis and represent devastating blow.

Women are being abandoned by their partners on hiking trails. What’s behind ‘alpine divorce’?

As stories of men leaving their dates in ‘sketchy situations’ go viral, experts say these incidents could stem from big egos and poor communication

MJ calls what happened to her in Zion national park “small ‘T’ trauma”. She knows women have experienced worse from their partners. But she still feels the anger of being left behind on a hike by her now ex. “It brings up stuff in my body that maybe I have not cleared out yet,” she said.

Five years ago, MJ and a new partner – he was not exactly her boyfriend, and the pair were not exclusive – traveled from Los Angeles to Utah for an adventure getaway. MJ, who is 38 and works in PR, was looking forward to exploring Zion’s striking scenery; its vast sandstone canyon and pristine wading trails were on the list. But on the morning of their big hike, MJ was not feeling well. She could not shake the feeling that something was “off”; indeed, MJ would learn on this trip that her partner was seeing other women.

Terrorism arrests rose 1,114% last year - so why aren’t the security services more alarmed? | Zoe Williams

Due to an ongoing judicial review, Home Office data currently leaves out the thousands of people apprehended at Palestine Action protests. But whichever way you cut it, the number of arrests is outrageous

On the surface, the Home Office’s latest data on terrorism arrests looks relatively stable. There were 255 terrorism-related arrests in 2025, which is only a 2% increase on the previous year’s figure of 250.

Funny thing is, I know three people who were arrested on terrorism-related charges last year. I could even pinpoint the date, because two of their middle-aged children had to leave my middle-aged birthday party to pick them up from a police station. I know, I know, it’s not all about me, even if it was my birthday – but if those numbers are solid, that means more than 50% of the mini-surge came from more or less the same group of people, two of them from the same postcode.

‘These connections are overlooked’: how British companies profited from slavery in Brazil long after abolition

Britons learn about the country’s involvement ‘almost as a self-congratulatory narrative’, says historian Joseph Mulhern

In 1845 British citizens and companies were already legally prohibited from owning or buying enslaved people overseas, yet that year 385 captives were “transferred” to a British mining company in Brazil named St John d’El Rey.

Despite a global campaign waged by the UK against slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, the move was not technically illegal because the enslaved people were not sold but “rented” – a practice permitted overseas under the 1843 Slave Trade Act.

David Squires on … Max Dowman, Arsenal’s great release and Chelsea’s Tierney totem

Our cartoonist on the Gunners’ teenage saviour and a new springtime ritual at Stamford Bridge

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

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

Israel says it killed two top Iranian commanders in targeted strike

Israel says it killed Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, the highest profile assassinations since the targeting of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war.

‘We are being silenced’: Mongolian politicians face jail after vote calling for PM to resign

Former deputy speaker describes situation as absurd after being charged with ‘effort to unlawfully seize state power’

A number of younger Mongolian politicians, including many women, are facing the threat of extended jail sentences for their role in challenging the country’s political leadership, in what they claim are early skirmishes in a battle to prevent a slide into authoritarianism.

The dispute forms part of a factional power struggle in the ruling party that is threatening to weaken Mongolia, one of the few democracies in the region, as it seeks to navigate a foreign policy independent of neighbouring Russia and China.

Is there a more fair way to sell World Cup tickets?

World Cup tickets are expensive, and buying them has been frustrating and confusing. But this is what economics is for: figuring out the best ways to allocate scarce resources. FIFA, steal these ideas.

The secret lives of six body doubles: ‘They wanted Julia Roberts to have curvier legs’

What is it like to be Michael B Jordan’s twin, Andie MacDowell’s hands or Rachel Weisz’s hair? Some of Hollywood’s best stand-ins reveal all

Most of us are familiar with the idea of stunt doubles in film and television. But there are plenty of other doubles working in the industry, too – for when an actor doesn’t want to do an intimate scene, for example, or doesn’t have the skills required to show their character playing an instrument or driving a car. Here, six body doubles talk about their secret lives on screen.

Trump relied on unverified intelligence to blame Iran for deadly school strike

Exclusive: Early US assessment suggesting missile was Iranian was almost immediately dismissed, sources say

Donald Trump’s attempt to blame Iran for the deadly strike on an elementary school stemmed from an early US intelligence assessment that initially suggested the missile was Iranian but was almost immediately dismissed, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The CIA initially told the president that they did not believe the missile that struck the school was a munition used by the US because the fins appeared to be positioned too low for it to be a Tomahawk cruise missile.

Trump’s FCC chair wants American media to work like Iran’s state TV | Caitlin Vogus

If Brendan Carr and the US president’s attacks on the press aren’t stopped, the outcome could be dire

Over the weekend, Donald Trump fumed on Truth Social about newspapers covering attacks on US tanker aircrafts in Saudi Arabia. Within hours, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr reposted Trump’s rant and vowed to revoke the licenses of broadcasters who air what he called “fake news”. For some extra brownie points, Carr tossed in a line about Trump’s “landslide election victory”, too.

Early on Monday, Trump completed the sycophantic cycle with a second post announcing that he’s “thrilled” by Carr’s threats and accusing unnamed media outlets of “treason” and a lack of patriotism for reporting on AI fakes linked to Iran. (It’s not clear what Trump was referring to, since the media has regularly reported on those fakes to debunk them.)

I'm concerned about my blood pressure. Can I check it at home?

If you get a high reading at the doctor's office, it may not be definitive. Here's what to know about your risk — and testing your blood pressure at home.

Bringing marine life back to South Florida's 'forgotten edge'

Seawalls are great at protecting property and people. A new nature-inspired seawall add-on is trying to make them better at protecting marine wildlife too.

Why we fell in love with Love Story: JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette

Ryan Murphy’s series about the Kennedy heir and style icon has risen above nostalgia-bait to become a ratings blockbuster

On a recent sunny Sunday in New York, Love Story seemed to be everywhere. Fans lined up around the block for tables at Panna II, the twinkly string-lit Indian restaurant where Ryan Murphy’s megahit charmingly – and if we’re being picky, inaccurately – sets John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette’s first date. Across town was a JFK Jr lookalike contest, which was rudely organized in Washington Square Park and not in my bedroom. Young women downtown wore hip-hugging pants and clean-girl makeup, and outside a repertory cinema everyone was smoking as though Parliaments were still $2 a pack.

Ryan Murphy’s swoony reimagining of JFK Jr and Bessette’s romance has been a sensation, with Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette racking up 40m viewing hours to become FX’s most-watched limited series on Hulu/Disney+ to date. But it has struck a deeper chord in culture too, with legions of fans eating up the couple’s fashion and insouciant swagger, often wanting to try it on for size. Nearly 300,000 TikTok and Instagram posts are tagged #CBK, mainly videos focusing on Bessette’s sleek style, while brands jostle to cash in on what Puck calls the Bessette “halo effect”. While working on this piece, I received a J Crew newsletter titled “A 90s minimalism love story” with links to Bessette wardrobe dupes like a “Carolyn crewneck” and tortoiseshell headband.

Could a stressed-out AI model help us win the battle against big tech? Let me ask Claude | Coco Khan

By considering consciousness a possibility, Anthropic is raising a fascinating proposition – that chatbots could rise up against their own algorithms

I am, in the way of my country, an over-apologiser. Colleague who ignored my email, woman who stepped on my foot, chair I tripped over: all will receive a fulsome apology for the terrible embarrassment of my being alive and bringing attention to it.

All of which is my way of pre-emptively asking forgiveness when I admit that I extend these niceties to AI chatbots. “Good morning, Claude, thanks for your suggestions yesterday, they were great. Shall we work up some more?” I might say. (“I’d be delighted to,” returns Claude.) It was unintentional formality at first and then became deliberate, as I didn’t want to get into the habit of speaking rudely in case that leaked into behaviour with humans (cue dystopian visions of someone shouting “WRONG, DO IT AGAIN” to a cowering staff member over a doughnut-shop mix-up). Manners, after all, are muscles that need exercising.

Coco Khan is a freelance writer and co-host of the politics podcast Pod Save the UK

Solidarity by Rowan Williams review – what does it really mean to stand by someone?

The former archbishop delves deep into a word that is easy to use on social media, but hard to follow through on

You don’t need to scroll far down a social media feed to find someone expressing “solidarity” for the victims of cruelty or injustice. A show of solidarity feels more emphatic than expressing support or sympathy. As Rowan Williams argues, it can act as “a moral intensifier”, positioning us squarely alongside the victim. It can also be a declaration of innocence, a way of distancing ourselves definitively from the perpetrators and their guilt.

Williams wants to move us beyond this idea of solidarity as unequivocal identification. He has some sharp things to say about “empathy” as a modern solve-all, when it too often serves the needs of “a clamorous self” that “cannot bear the idea of a real stranger”. True solidarity, he argues, is less a virtue to be cultivated than a human condition to be acknowledged. It requires us to accept two stubborn truths: first, that we can never identify completely with someone else, because we are inescapably separate from them in mind and body; and second, that we are innately social beings, linked to each other by invisible threads of obligation and reciprocity.

From Descartes to punk rock, X has an extraordinary history

The letter X can be a lot of things: rebellious, mysterious, religious. For this Word of the Week, we examine its origins and many uses.

Reproductive health clinics scramble as Title X funding cliff approaches

Title X is a 56-year-old federal grant program that supports thousands of clinics that provide birth control and STI testing and treatment. Those clinics could face a funding gap because of a Trump administration delay.

Iran say they are negotiating with Fifa to move their World Cup games to Mexico

• Iran are due to play all three group games in the US

• Trump said Iran should not play for their ‘life and safety’

Iran’s football federation has said it is in discussions with Fifa about moving the team’s World Cup matches to Mexico from the United States owing to concerns about the safety of their players.

Iran’s participation was thrown into doubt after the US launched joint airstrikes at the country with Israel. Donald Trump said last week that Iran were welcome to participate but suggested it may not be appropriate for them to play in the US “for their own life and safety”.

Sky monkeys, pink tutus and bum nuts: behind the scenes at the Eden Project as it turns 25

Our photojournalist explores the Cornish landmark on the eve of its anniversary and meets some of its staff, visitors, plants and creatures

“Give me a sleeping bag and I’ll happily sleep here overnight,” says Kim Mackintosh as she wanders amid the vibrant flora of the Mediterranean biome at the Eden Project on the eve of the tourist attraction’s 25th anniversary.

Loupe in hand, the leader of the biome’s horticulture team is marvelling at an array of plants that have recently come into bloom, tenderly examining the yellow furry buds of an Acacia glaucoptera before flogging a Grevillea flower to dispense its rich, honey-flavoured nectar.

Kim Mackintosh inspects the ‘kangaroo paw’ of an Anigozanthos through her loupe. All photographs by Jonny Weeks

Scientists discover heavier version of proton with upgraded detector

Snappily named Xi-cc-plus, Cern physicists spotted the particle in shower of debris that lit up Large Hadron Collider

Scientists at the Cern nuclear physics laboratory near Geneva have discovered a heavier version of the proton, the subatomic particle that sits at the heart of every known atom in the universe.

They spotted the particle in a shower of debris that lit up a detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located deep beneath the ground at Cern, which smashes protons together at close to the speed of light. The collisions recreate in microcosm conditions that prevailed just after the big bang, with the energy converting to particles that spray in all directions.

The newfound particle, which is four times heavier than the regular proton, should help physicists refine their understanding of the strong nuclear force that glues together the innards of all atomic nuclei. The force is unusual because it behaves like a rubber band, getting stronger as the distance between subatomic particles increases.

‘I was struggling to feel my hands’: Aston Martin’s problems laid bare by Alonso’s woe in China | Giles Richards

So severe is the vibration problem caused by the car’s Honda engine that the team principal feared his drivers suffering permanent nerve damage

The next round of the Formula One world championship in Japan will be the home race for the Aston Martin team’s engine manufacturer, Honda, at the Suzuka circuit. A celebratory affair, however, is not expected amid painful days for Honda, whose return to F1 has been marked by a failure to make the grade.

Their engine’s shortcomings were exposed for the second successive race at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. Fernando Alonso retired after 32 laps because the vibration from the engine was so severe he was losing feeling in his hands and feet. Hit teammate Lance Stroll had retired after 10 laps with a battery issue, an element of the hybrid engine that has plagued the manufacturer from day one.

‘I’m not the brightest but I know how to play golf’: Robert MacIntyre on major ambitions, the Masters and nappy duty

Scot put in a late challenge for the Players Championship and says he has ‘a chance’ at winning whenever he tees off

It is just as well Robert MacIntyre cares little for publicity. He also does a fine line in self‑deprecation. When asked to compare his approach with Matt Fitzpatrick, his Ryder Cup teammate, MacIntyre smiles. “I’m less analytical,” the Scot says. “I’m not the brightest guy but I know how to play golf, just shape balls.”

There is no doubt about that. MacIntyre’s tilt at the Players Championship provided the latest evidence that he is one of the UK’s most unheralded, elite sportsmen. The 29-year-old has long since evolved from the shinty-loving, unassuming boy from Oban to a golfer who feels perfectly at home on the biggest stages. Next up, perhaps the grandest of all: the Masters.

‘I just wanted to be who I am’: the extraordinary story of Tony Powell, the secretly gay footballer

Former Norwich defender lived for years in an LA motel, cut ties with his family for more than three decades and is now the subject of a documentary

“I hated it,” Tony Powell says on a spring afternoon in Los Angeles of his past as a secretly gay professional footballer for Bournemouth and Norwich in the 1970s. Powell is 78 and now lives in a very different world compared with when he was a husband, the father of two young daughters and Norwich’s player of the season in 1979.

Powell is not a demonstrative man and, having been forced to bury his true self for decades, does not make a fuss about the pain he endured. But there is an ache in his English accent, which remains intact after 45 years in America. “I just wanted to be who I am, but at that time it was not a good idea to come out.”

Daggers Inn review – so-bad-it’s-almost-good fright-flick could achieve cult status

A spooky character investigates her sister’s killing in a sinister village in a film that reaches The Room’s levels of amateurishness

In a beautiful yet sinister village, a mysterious woman with spooky powers shows up to investigate her sister’s death. This perturbs the local business community, who are responsible for the killing, having hired an assassin called Shark to do the deed. He is not called Shark because he can smell blood, but because he can smell fear. He reveals this, then walks off, cackling. It’s that kind of film.

Daggers Inn is muddled, but landmark cinema in certain respects. Finally, the UK has a film to rival the 2003 US indie The Room, which still plays to packed houses, with audiences eternally thrilled by its hilarious creative choices and uneven performances. Daggers Inn is similarly ripe, not in the calculatedly trashy manner of a Sharknado film, but in the sense of amateurs’ original, sincere but almost entirely unsuccessful efforts.

The Delusions by Jenni Fagan review – an afterlife of queues and bureaucracy

A witty metaphysical satire about what happens when the processes that help souls pass on begin to fail

Jenni Fagan’s satirical fifth novel, The Delusions, opens with an epigraph from the Kurt Vonnegut-inspired science fiction curiosity Venus on the Half-Shell by Philip José Farmer. “The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.” The afterthought leaks back into the original statement, underpinning and undermining everything.

Infinity and eternity are both unavoidably present in The Delusions, which takes place in a vast anteroom to the afterlife, “the largest soul terminus in existence”. It’s the metaphysical equivalent of a big-box store, where they help you sort your false perceptions of yourself from what you actually were, before you’re Processed and sent on to whatever comes next (or, should you fail the Questionnaire, Dissolved on the spot). Though to be honest, no one in Processing is certain what that next thing is.

A total hoot! Beautiful birds – in pictures

From fluffy owlets to rosy-hued flamingos, Claire Rosen’s portraits of live birds took her on a journey that touched on colonialism, wallpaper design … and chickens

Last protester in detention after Trump's campus crackdown has been released

Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old from the West Bank who has lived in New Jersey since 2016, had been held in a U.S. immigration detention center in Texas since last March.

UK must learn lessons from AI race and retain its quantum computing talent, says minister

Liz Kendall announces £1bn funding to help design large-scale quantum computers for scientists, researchers, public sector and business

The UK will not let quantum computing talent slip through its fingers and must learn lessons from US dominance of the AI race, the technology secretary has said, as the government announced a £1bn quantum funding pledge.

Liz Kendall said the government hoped to retain homegrown quantum startups, engineers and researchers rather than lose them to competing countries, with the US stealing a march on its western rivals in AI.

Women feel coerced during maternity care in England, charity says

Exclusive: Birthrights report says women are being told they are ‘not allowed’ and are being denied genuine choice

Women feel put under pressure to have medical procedures such as caesareans during their maternity care, according to a report.

The charity Birthrights collated the experiences of 300 people in England who said they had felt or witnessed coercion within a maternity setting.

José Pizarro’s recipe for chicken and white bean stew

A comforting, rustic roast chicken and saffron casserole with a knockout hazelnut mojo verde

Chicken and beans are two of the foods I grew up with, and were often cooked in one pot and designed to be shared. It’s the kind of cooking we do at my restaurant Lolo: generous, relaxed and made to be eaten together. March sits between the seasons, when we still need comfort, but also start to look for freshness, too, and this stew feels just right for the moment. As the days get longer and spring starts to show itself, it is warming without being heavy, while the mojo verde lifts everything and gives the dish energy.

Country diary: A wildflower display of astonishing richness | Mark Cocker

Drosopigi, the Mani, Greece: This rocky region’s abundance of flora takes the breath away – not least a long and winding trail of Chios chamomile

The Greek name for this southernmost tip of the Peloponnese is linked to a Byzantine fort at Cape Tigani (called Megali Maina), but it may well also draw on the region’s desolate, mountainous rocky country that persists throughout the entire peninsula.

The fierce Maniot people were well described by Patrick Leigh Fermor in his book Mani (1958), but the region has been more recently celebrated in Charles Foster’s brilliant The Edges of the World, published in January. In history the Mani was known variously for the relentless and sometimes centuries-long vendettas between its local clans, as a fertile recruiting ground for Mediterranean piracy and as an early outpost for Greek liberation from Ottoman rule.

Afghanistan says 400 killed in strike by Pakistan on Kabul hospital

Deputy government spokesman says death toll has reached 400 people ‘so far’ as Islamabad denies targeting facility for drug addicts

Hundreds were feared dead after a strike on a hospital treating drug users in the Afghan capital of Kabul, which officials from Afghanistan blamed on the Pakistani military.

Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said the death toll had “so far” reached 400 people, while about 250 people had been reported injured. He said most of those killed and wounded were patients undergoing treatment at the facility.

What’s behind the injectable peptide craze? – podcast

Grey-market injectable peptides – a category of substances with obscure, alphanumeric names such as BPC-157, GHK-Cu, or TB-500 – have developed a devoted following among biohackers and health optimisers. To understand how these unregulated substances have become mainstream and what they could be doing in our bodies, Madeleine Finlay hears from journalist Adrienne Matei and from Dr Anna Barnard, an associate professor at Imperial College London who researches peptides

‘People are turning themselves into lab rats’: the injectable peptides craze sweeping the US

A photo of Iran’s bombed schoolgirl graveyard went around the world. Was it real, or AI?

Numerous faked images and a string of startlingly inaccurate responses from Gemini and Grok are part of a tidal wave of AI slop engulfing coverage of the Iran war

The graves, freshly dug, lie in neat rows of 20 across. More than 60 have already been carved out of the earth, with a few clusters of people standing gathered around them. Dozens more are marked out on the ground in front: small chalk rectangles, with diggers poised to complete their task.

The cemetery of Minab, photographed as it prepares to bury more than 100 of the town’s young girls, is one of the defining images of the US-Israeli war on Iran, bluntly capturing the devastating civilian toll.

‘Trump is aiming for dictatorship’. That’s the verdict of the world’s most credible democracy watchdog | Martin Gelin

Sweden’s V-Dem Institute warns that the US is no longer a liberal democracy. And autocracy is creeping across Europe too

The US is no longer a democracy. One of the most credible global sources on the health of democratic nations now says this outright. The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at Gothenburg University reaches the alarming conclusion in its annual report, that the US is hurtling towards autocracy at a faster rate than Hungary and Turkey.

“Our data on the USA goes back to 1789. What we’re seeing now is the most severe magnitude of democratic backsliding ever in the country,” says Staffan Lindberg, founder of the institute.

What was Doge? How Elon Musk tried to gamify government

Steeped in gaming and rightwing culture wars, Musk and his team of teenage coders set out to defeat the enemy of the United States: its people

In 2025, when Elon Musk joined the government as the de facto head of something called the “department of government efficiency”, he declared that governments were poorly configured “big dumb machines”. To the senator Ted Cruz, he explained that “the only way to reconcile the databases and get rid of waste and fraud is to actually look at the computers”.

Muskism came to Washington soaked in memes, adolescent boasts and sadistic victory dances over mass firings. Leading a team of teenage coders and mid-level managers drawn from his suite of companies, Musk aimed to enter the codebase and rewrite regulations and budget lines from within. He would drag the paper-pushing bureaucracy kicking and screaming into the digital 21st century, scanning the contents of cavernous rooms of filing cabinets and feeding the data into a single interoperable system. The undertaking combined features of private equity-led restructuring with startup management, shot through with the sensibility of gaming and rightwing culture war. To succeed, he would need “God mode”, an overview of the whole.

3/9: Face the Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," after a whiplash week of on-again, off-again tariff announcements, Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman joins to discuss the costs and consequences of a trade war. Plus, former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill discusses President Trump's diplomatic pivot on Ukraine.

Illinois Senate primary race is test of Pritzker's sway, Democrats' views of ICE, outside spending

The 2026 Democratic primary campaign for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin's Senate seat is largely a three-person race. Voters go to the polls Tuesday in Illinois.

Utah woman who wrote book on grief after husband’s death found guilty of murdering him

Prosecutors say Kouri Richins slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that he drank

A Utah woman was convicted on Monday of aggravated murder after poisoning her husband with fentanyl and then self-publishing a children’s book about coping with grief.

Prosecutors said Kouri Richins slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that her husband Eric Richins drank in March 2022.

Alleged pipe bomber argues charges should be tossed under Jan. 6 pardons

A man who was accused of planting pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC on the eve of the Jan. 6 attack is arguing he is covered by President Trump's sweeping pardons of alleged Jan. 6 rioters.

Naveed Akram’s family members could be killed if their identities aren’t suppressed, court told

Lawyer acting for alleged Bondi beach terror attack shooter says 24-year-old’s mother and siblings have received death threats since December antisemitic shootings

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Lawyers for alleged Bondi beach gunman Naveed Akram have argued the names of his family members should be suppressed due to fears “one or more of them may be killed” after they received death threats.

But legal counsel for media organisations, who are challenging the suppression order request, argued there was no evidence before the court of an imminent risk.

Kouri Richins, mom who wrote grief book, found guilty of murdering her husband

Jurors delivered their verdict Monday in the trial of Kouri Richins, a Utah mother accused of murdering her husband and later publishing a children's book about grief.

Tennessee teens sue Elon Musk's xAI over AI-generated child sexual abuse material

The three girls say that the nonconsensual nude images were created by a perpetrator who used AI company xAI's image generation tools.

Trump predicts US will have ‘honour of taking Cuba’ amid power blackout

US president declares he can do ‘anything I want’ after oil blockade plunges country into darkness

Donald Trump expects to have “the honour of taking Cuba”, he declared, after a US-imposed oil blockade plunged the country into darkness under a total power blackout.

The US president claimed on Monday that he could do “anything I want” with Cuba, amid US negotiations with Havana over the country’s future.

3/16: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Trump calls for other countries to help open Strait of Hormuz; White House chief of staff Susie Wiles diagnosed with breast cancer.

Ukraine war briefing: Russia agrees to stop recruiting Kenyans in fight against Kyiv

No more Kenyans to be enlisted by Moscow; Starmer warns against fossil fuel ‘windfall for Putin’ during war on Iran. What we know on day 1,483

Russia has agreed to stop recruiting Kenyan citizens to fight with its army in Ukraine, Kenya’s foreign minister said on Monday after talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow. More than 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries are believed to be fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s estimates in February. Kenya’s intelligence services estimate more than 1,000 Kenyans have been sent to fight, according to a report seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP). “We have now agreed that Kenyans shall not be enlisted,” the Kenyan foreign minister, Musalia Mudavadi, told reporters, sitting alongside the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

Since ordering troops into Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been widely accused of recruiting people from other nationalities to fight alongside its army. Lavrov said Kenyan citizens had voluntarily signed contracts to fight alongside the Russian army. Kenyan long-distance runner Evans Kibet – captured by Ukraine and held as a prisoner of war – told AFP in an interview from the facility where he was detained that he had been tricked into signing an army contract after going to Russia for a sporting event.

Keir Starmer, who will host Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks on Tuesday, has warned the US-Israeli war on Iran cannot be allowed to become a “windfall for Putin”. Russia has received €6bn (£5bn) from selling its fossil fuels in the fortnight since the start of the war, data suggests. Zelenskyy’s visit will come on the day of the government deadline for the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich to pay proceeds from his sale of Chelsea FC to victims of the Ukraine war, writes Jessica Elgot. Zelenskyy will visit Madrid on Wednesday for talks with Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez.

Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, has been criticised for calling for the normalisation of relations with Russia to re-establish cheap energy supplies, Jennifer Rankin reports. De Wever said Europe had to rearm “and at the same time we must normalise relations with Russia and regain access to cheap energy. It is common sense. In private European leaders tell me I am right, but no one dares say it out loud.”

Russia has taken control of 12 settlements in Ukraine in the first two weeks of March as part of advances along the frontline in eastern and southern Ukraine, according to Russian state-run news agencies, quoting top general Valery Gerasimov. Gerasimov said Russian forces were “actively moving towards Sloviansk,” a heavily defended town in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region long seen as one of Moscow’s major targets.

Russian air defence units downed at least 67 Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on Monday, according to data published by the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin. Sobyanin also said on Telegram that air defence units had shot down about 250 Ukrainian drones approaching Moscow over the previous two days.

Drone debris crashed on to the historic Maidan square in central Kyiv early on Monday during a rare daytime Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital, AFP journalists reported. The Ukrainian air force described the rush hour barrage as an “unusual” attack of “various types of strike drones”. It added that its air defence units had downed 194 Russian drones out of 211 launched overnight and into Monday. Three people were killed in the attacks overnight, officials said – one in the Zaporizhzhia region and two more in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

A damaged Russian gas tanker that has been drifting in the Mediterranean without a crew for almost two weeks has 700 tonnes of fuel on board, Russia’s foreign ministry said Monday. A series of explosions rocked the Arctic Metagaz on 3 March, causing serious damage to the vessel and forcing its crew to evacuate. Russia said the ship, sanctioned by the US and the EU for being part of Moscow’s “shadow fleet”, was attacked by Ukrainian sea drones. Ukraine has not commented.

"All the Empty Rooms" wins Oscar for memorializing kids killed in school shootings

The film follows CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman​ and photographer Lou Bopp through their seven-year journey to document the toll of America's school shooting epidemic.

Steve Hartman's Oscar for a short film meant to make us feel again

For years, CBS News' own Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp documented the bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. The resulting film, "All the Empty Rooms," just won an Oscar. Tony Dokoupil has more.

Tips for braving airport chaos this spring break

With the spring and summer travel seasons on the horizon, many are wondering how worried to be about long security lines at the airport. Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy website, joins to discuss.

Leqaa Kordia, a pro-Palestinian activist, released after a year in ICE custody

Kordia was taken at a check-in at an ICE office in New Jersey and was held despite court ruling thrice for her release

A New Jersey woman who had been arrested at a pro-Palestine protest and booked into a US immigration detention center in Texas last March has been released on bond, after a year in custody.

Leqaa Kordia, 33, originally from the West Bank, was arrested in April 2024 at a protest against Israel’s war on Gaza outside of Columbia University. Nearly a year later, she was taken into custody after reporting for a check-in at a Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in New Jersey.

Ex-wife told 911 the synagogue attacker was "not stable" ahead of incident

A person believed to be the ex-wife of the suspect in the attack at Michigan's Temple Israel told authorities that the suspect was "not stable" ahead of the attack, according to a 911 call obtained by CBS News Detroit.

Ex-wife called 911 to report Michigan synagogue attacker was "not stable"

A person believed to be the ex-wife of the suspect in the attack at Michigan's Temple Israel last week told authorities that the suspect was "not stable" ahead of the attack, according to a 911 call obtained by CBS News Detroit. Ash-har Quraishi has more.

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

A severe weather front has dumped heavy snow on the Upper Midwest, caused thunderstorms in the South and threatens Mid-Atlantic states with rain and possible tornadoes.

TSA worker explains decision to quit amid DHS shutdown: "My family had to come first"

TSA sick calls have more than tripled during the DHS shutdown, just as the nation's airlines expect a record 171 million flyers for spring break. Kris Van Cleave spoke to a TSA worker who quit over the strain of working without pay

Historic blizzard brings heavy snow to upper Midwest

Spring is starting soon, but winter isn't going down without a fight. High winds and heavy snow shut down Green Bay, Wisconsin, prompting a city official to declare it a once-in-a-decade storm. Ian Lee reports and Lonnie Quinn has the forecast.

Reduced physical activity due to global heating will lead to rise in health issues, study says

Researchers project that reduced activity could contribute to half a million additional premature deaths annually by 2050

Rising temperatures are making physical activity undesirable and even dangerous in many parts of the world, and as global heating worsens, it will further affect how much people are able to move.

Researchers analysed data from 156 countries between 2000 and 2022 and modelled how rising temperatures may affect physical activity globally by 2050.

Cannabis is not an effective treatment for common mental health conditions, says review

International researchers find ‘very little evidence’ medical form of the drug can treat anxiety, anorexia and other disorders

Cannabis is not an effective treatment for common mental health conditions despite the global surge in patients using it for that purpose, a review has found.

Researchers concluded there was “very little evidence for its efficacy” in treating anxiety, anorexia nervosa, psychotic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder or opioid use disorder.

3/16: CBS Evening News

Historic blizzard brings heavy snow to upper Midwest; TSA worker explains decision to quit amid Homeland Security shutdown.

Thousands of flights canceled as winter storm marches across US

Storm system dumps snow in midwest and threatens east coast with high winds and possible ‘long-track tornadoes’

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A late winter storm continued a destructive, elemental march across the eastern US, with thousands of flights canceled or delayed as powerful winds combined with a partial government shutdown delayed travelers passing through airport security scanners.

Flight delays and cancellations mounted at some of the nation’s largest airports, including in New York, Chicago and Atlanta. Flight delays within, into, or out of the US totaled 9,112 by late afternoon, with cancellations standing at 4,763, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website.

Border Patrol's Gregory Bovino to retire from federal service, sources say

Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino​ was pulled away from a high-profile role leading immigration raids in major U.S. cities, including Minneapolis, earlier this year.

Trump says he thinks he will have the 'honor' of 'taking Cuba'

The president recently launched a war in Iran after topping Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro by force.

Kennedy Center votes to shut down ahead of Trump-backed renovation project

The Kennedy Center's board of directors has voted to shut down operations for two years following this summer's July 4 celebrations.

Nvidia adds Hyundai, BYD and other automakers to self-driving tech business

AVs are important to Nvidia as self-driving cars remain one of the primary areas where the company can show growth outside of artificial intelligence.

Trump requests delay of China trip because of Iran war

President Trump was planning to visit China at the end of March.

Inside the Rage Machine review – we’re all doomed, totally doomed

Whistleblowers who once worked at Meta and X (until the guilt got too much) reveal the truth about the companies that increasingly rule our free time – and it’s even worse than you may have feared. Prep those bunkers now

Sometimes it’s a real problem not being able to swear unreservedly in a national newspaper. I mean, I understand social convention and propriety ’n’ all that should be preserved and that, generally, as our parents and teachers told us, swearing is nothing but a sign of a poor vocabulary. But not always. Sometimes – and increasingly so, I think, as I look at the burning world around us – swearing might represent the mots justes. It might be the only fair response. Under certain circumstances, anything else begins to look like obfuscation – a veil being drawn over unpleasantness. We would be in a much better position if, to retool Mrs Patrick Campbell’s notes to George Bernard Shaw for this more brutal age, someone early on had told Trump, for example, to eff off, just once.

But rules is rules and so I must shape with care my response to Inside the Rage Machine, a documentary about how social media is run. The shortest, most honest, most accurate review I could provide would read: “We’re doomed. We’re all doomed,” before advising you to start prepping a bunker now – use your last moments before pulling the plug on the internet to order supplies or buy an isolated homestead in Montana, then gather a go bag and … just go, people. Go.

Tour veterans offer timely challenge to big two era of Sinner and Alcaraz | Tumaini Carayol

Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina served up a classic in latest chapter of their exciting rivalry

In the uncertain early stages of his Indian Wells semi-final contest with Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev swiftly made his intentions clear. Having established a 3-1 lead, he chased down a trademark Alcaraz drop shot, then a lob, before slamming the door shut on the point by firing an ultra-flat inside-out backhand winner on to the edge of the line.

This was a statement point and it formed part of the most startling performance of the year so far. Few gave Medvedev a serious chance against Alcaraz, who had won their four previous meetings, conceding just one set. It took one of the best matches of Medvedev’s distinguished career to turn the tables on Alcaraz in only two sets.

Teenage girls sue Musk’s xAI, accusing Grok tool of creating child sexual abuse material

Lawuit details how sexualised AI-generated images were produced and distributed without girls’ knowledge

A group of three teenage girls, two of whom are minors, filed a lawsuit on Monday against Elon Musk’s xAI artificial intelligence company alleging that its Grok image generator used photos of them to produce and distribute child sexual abuse material. The class-action lawsuit is the first filed by minors following Grok’s rampant generation of nonconsensual nude images earlier this year.

“xAI chose to profit off the sexual predation of real people, including children, despite knowing full well the consequences of creating such a dangerous product,” Vanessa Baehr-Jones, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

Travelers face long lines at airports after TSA workers miss full paycheck

Travelers continue to face long lines at airports across the U.S. due to the partial government shutdown affecting TSA agents.

U.S. Soccer unveils new stars and stripes jerseys ahead of 2026 World Cup

The U.S. men's national soccer team is expected to debut the new uniforms later this month in Atlanta, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup starting in June.

Trump urges other nations to help open Strait of Hormuz

In remarks ahead of a meeting with the Kennedy Center board of trustees, Mr. Trump provided an update on the ongoing conflict with Iran.

Kennedy Center board votes to close for two years during renovations

Trustees approve Trump’s $257m ‘revitalization project’ to remake DC arts institution that president has taken over

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The Kennedy Center board of trustees unanimously voted on Monday in favor of a controversial plan to temporarily shutter the arts institution for renovations, rubber-stamping a $257m project initiated by Donald Trump to remake the arts institution in line with other grand plans for Washington.

In a statement, the center said it had voted for “a comprehensive revitalization project” lasting two years that would come after an Independence Day celebration in July, with “a grand re-opening to follow”.

‘The Premier League is surprisingly lenient’: did Chelsea get off lightly?

Experts believe club would be lucky to escape with fine and suspended transfer ban but further penalties may follow

The Premier League’s judgment against Chelsea for breaking football’s rules – during an eight-year trophy spree under Roman Abramovich – concludes that the club engaged in “deception and concealment”.

The breaches, more than 30 of them, relate to at least £47m in off-book payments linked to landmark deals for star players, including Eden Hazard, Willian, David Luiz and Nemanja Matic.

Supreme Court to consider end to deportation protections for Syrians, Haitians

The Supreme Court said in an unsigned order it will hear arguments in late April on efforts to end temporary deportation protections for thousands of immigrants from Syria and Haiti.

How would escorting oil tankers through Strait of Hormuz work?

With oil markets paralyzed by the U.S.-Iran war, the Trump administration says it could escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz — a massive undertaking that experts say could already be in the preparatory stages.

And the winner is ... all of us? How the Oscars have changed for the better

The diversified Academy and a mutating industry have changed what many had come to expect from the stuffy, rule-following Oscars

Last year, as the major fall film festivals took place around the world, it was hard to make out the sound of audience applause. It wasn’t an attendance issue or that booing was heard instead (that’s solely a Cannes response), it was that, for many, hands were too busy wringing to find time to clap.

The trifecta of Venice, Telluride and Toronto was once seen as an inescapable fixture on a film’s road to the Oscars. Best picture winners such as 12 Years a Slave, Spotlight, Birdman, Moonlight, The Shape of Water and Green Book all rose within that circuit and cemented their reception at festivals and world premieres and often felt judged for awards potential over quality. But over the past few years, as the Academy has changed and diversified its voting body and as the industry has changed in so many other ways, something has shifted. Winning films have come from Cannes, Sundance, SXSW and, most shockingly, no festival at all …

‘Dangerously hot conditions’: millions in US west prepare for extreme heatwave

Heat warnings are in effect across region as record-high temperatures are forecast in California, Nevada and Arizona

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Millions of people in the western US are preparing for extreme heat as unprecedented temperatures are forecast across California, Nevada and Arizona.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a heat advisory for California’s Bay Area and central coast regions as temperatures are expected to reach up to 90F (32C).

The Iran war is making it harder for Fed officials to cut interest rates

Some economists think the Fed, facing inflationary pressures from rising energy prices, may not cut interest rates at all this year.

Costco recalls meatloaf meal due to salmonella risk

Costco is recalling a meatloaf and potato meal kit because one of its ingredients may be contaminated with salmonella.

The Guardian view on Trump’s war with Iran: if the US is winning, why ask Nato for help? | Editorial

The US has overwhelming military power. Yet the battle has moved to oil routes, alliances and domestic politics – where Tehran is testing western unity

Donald Trump would like you to know that he is winning the war with Iran. So comprehensively, in fact, that he now needs Nato’s help. The western alliance, he warns, will have a “very bad” future if its members refuse. Germany’s defence minister had a brisk reply: this is not our war. Meanwhile, tankers pile up outside the strait of Hormuz as Britain promises, in an understated way, to keep “looking” at its options. Mr Trump has found out that starting a war without a coalition of the willing is easier than finishing one with it.

Along with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, the US president started with an illegal attack on Iran in which the country’s supreme leader was assassinated. American forces have established overwhelming military superiority. By hitting military targets but sparing key oil facilities on Kharg Island, Mr Trump is sending a blunt signal: the US can wreck Iran’s economy. It just hasn’t decided to – yet.

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 SUVs: London’s mayor is right to push back on supersize cars | Editorial

Huge vehicles are popular with drivers, but their wider impacts on road safety and the environment must be tackled

No one who walks, cycles or drives around London, or many of the world’s big cities, could fail to notice the vastly increased size of the typical car. A type of vehicle once associated with rural settings and outdoor lifestyles is now ubiquitous. Heavily marketed as sports utility vehicles (SUVs), supersize cars are among the key consumer trends of recent decades. In 2022, they accounted for 46% of global new car sales.

For manufacturers, these vehicles are big earners due to higher profit margins. For those inside them, they offer more space and a higher vantage point. But for those on the outside, SUVs have obvious downsides. The threat that they pose to pedestrians is one. Research shows that children are 77% more likely to die if struck by an SUV compared with other cars, due to their size and structure – particularly their raised bonnets. This finding was highlighted in an announcement from the London mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, that such risks are being scrutinised as part of a wider review into SUVs’ environmental impact. This evidence will provide the basis for policy proposals that are expected to include higher charges for owners.

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.

3/16: Face the Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," as the U.S. launches airstrikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, Margaret Brennan speaks to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Plus, President Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, joins.

Trump’s threats to Nato reveal glaring absence of any strategy on Iran

White House seems to have failed to anticipate that Tehran would fight back by trying to impose costs on the west

• Middle East crisis – live updates

If there was a moment when the absence of a US strategy on Iran was exposed, then this was it. Donald Trump demanded on Saturday that the UK, China, France, Japan and others participate in a naval escort for oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz.

Despite launching the attack on Iran, with Israel, the White House does not seem to have fully anticipated what was likely to follow. Iran had few good military options for fighting back, but attacking US bases, US allies and merchant shipping in the Gulf was the most obvious response – to try to impose costs on the west.

Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s plea for European support for his war on Iran – cartoon

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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.

Omission impossible: why the Oscars can never get their In Memoriam tribute right

Why did Brigitte Bardot, Farrah Fawcett and James Van Der Beek not warrant a mention when Michael Jackson did? The history of the Oscars tribute snubs says a lot about why some stars are gone but not forgotten

The Oscars in memoriam segment is a firmly lodged Academy tradition – albeit one that is not as longstanding as you might think, having only been introduced in 1994. Almost as established a tradition is that of the outcry following a major film industry figure being omitted from the segment. This year seemed particularly notable in that regard, with Brigitte Bardot, TV stars James Van Der Beek and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and the celebrated Bollywood actor Dharmendra among those left out, to varying levels of outrage on social media.

Critics of these omissions will usually imply they are down to forgetfulness or neglect on the part of the Academy. Such claims, though, overlook the fact that the in memoriam process is a painstaking one, adjudicated on by a committee tasked with whittling a longlist of hundreds down to a final list of around 30. As Bruce Davis, former executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences told the LA Times in 2010, the process “gets close to agonising by the end. You are dropping people who the public know. It’s just not comfortable.”

Are fuel price increases making you cut back? We would like to hear from you

Perhaps you are limiting car journeys or reducing the amount of cooking you do. Tell us

The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global shipping routes and caused a surge in global oil market prices.

The strait of Hormuz, one of the most important waterways in the world, through which about a fifth of international oil supplies usually travel, has been all but closed since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Hyundai stops sales of some 2026 models after a child's death

Hyundai's announcement came after a child died in an incident involving a Palisade vehicle, which the car maker said is still under investigation.

Belgian PM condemned over call to repair relations with Russia to ease energy costs

Even Belgium’s foreign minister says Bart De Wever’s suggestion would give Putin ‘exactly what he wants’

Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, has been criticised for calling for the normalisation of relations with Russia to re-establish cheap energy supplies.

The Flemish nationalist leader’s judgment was questioned in Belgium and beyond after he said on Saturday that the EU needed to make a deal with Russia. “We are losing on all fronts, we must end the conflict in Europe’s interest,” he told the Belgian newspaper L’Echo.

Strangers help 78-year-old DoorDash driver after viral doorbell video

A Ring camera video that showed a 78-year-old DoorDash driver making a delivery led to strangers donating nearly $1 million to him and his wife.

One no-show after another: Sean Penn joins an exclusive band of Oscar-winning refuseniks

The One Battle After Another star’s failure to collect his best supporting actor award – because he was visiting Ukraine – only serves to burnish his reputation

Last night’s Oscars might have been superficially modern (K-pop! Female cinematographers winning things! Jokes about YouTube interstitial advertising!), but there was one slightly charming old throwback: Sean Penn wasn’t there to collect his best supporting actor award.

Sure, this sort of thing happens all the time in other awards shows – you can barely get through a single Baftas without an A-lister revealing that they didn’t fancy braving the London winter – but not the Oscars. The Oscars are meant to represent the pinnacle of professional achievement. It’s your one chance to look all of your peers in the eye as one in the knowledge that you are better than the lot of them. Who’d turn down an opportunity that irresistible?