Elon Musk’s Grok ordered to stop creating AI nudes by Dutch court as legal pressure mounts

A Dutch court issued a $115,000 penalty for every day xAI fails to remove non-consensual AI-generated nude images created by its chatbot Grok.

House to consider DHS funding deal that could end partial shutdown – US politics live

If passed, the deal would mean TSA staff, who screen airport passengers, baggage and cargo, would start being paid for the first time since mid-February

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

Peter Ticktin, an 80-year-old Florida lawyer who has various ties to Donald Trump and represents some 2020 election deniers, has become an outspoken advocate for an emergency executive order on US elections that would overhaul voting rules and rights by ending machine and mail-in voting.

The exact nature and extent of Ticktin’s contact and influence with Trump and other administration officials is not clear. But election experts and analysts see Ticktin’s push for an executive order as worrying, and part of a broader drive by fellow election conspiracists who are now promoting similar and legally dubious emergency order plans to revamp voting rules this year in order to boost Republican fortunes in the fall elections.

England v Uruguay buildup, World Cup playoffs reaction and more: football news – live

⚽ All the latest football news going into the weekend
⚽ Results and reports | Today’s matches | Mail Billy

Thomas Tuchel has acknowledged that Ben White needs to clear the air with his teammates after returning to the England squad, but the head coach is confident the defender will not be booed by the Wembley crowd during tonight’s friendly against Uruguay.

White has not been part of the setup since exiting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar early for personal reasons and the decision to end his international exile has not gone down well with some people. The Arsenal player has never explained the reasons for his departure and subsequently making himself unavailable for selection for the rest of Gareth Southgate’s time in charge.

TSA funding update: Senate advances DHS bill, tees up House vote to end government shutdown

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed in February, leading to chaos at airports.

DHS funding live updates as Senate-approved bill heads to House

The pressure now shifts to the House to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown that has severely disrupted air travel in some major airports. Follow live updates.

Wikipedia bans AI-generated content in its online encyclopedia

Ban includes two exceptions: AI can still be used for translations, and to make minor copy edits

Wikipedia has banned the use of artificial intelligence in the generation or rewriting of content for its voluminous online encyclopedia.

In a recent policy change, Wikipedia said that the use of large language models (or LLMs) “often violates” its core principles and will not be allowed. The English language version of Wikipedia has more than 7.1m articles.

Her dad's dementia inspired her to create a guide for family caregivers

Wambūi Karanja of Kenya is "one to watch," says the Alzheimer's Association. Coping with her dad's condition inspired her to develop a training program for families on the art of caregiving.

Middle East crisis live: Israel to ‘intensify’ strikes on Iran, says defence minister

Israel Katz says his country will step up its attacks and Iran will pay a ‘heavy price’

More now on India slashing taxes on diesel and petrol amid the global disruption in energy supplies: finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the move would “provide protection to consumers from rise in prices”.

The country is one of the world’s largest crude oil importers and relies on foreign suppliers for more than 85% of its oil needs, with Russia being the biggest supplier.

Netflix raises its subscription prices for the second time in 2 years

The price hike raises the cost of the standard plan with ads by $1 per month and the cost of the standard and premium plans by $2.

UN’s landmark slavery ruling energises African Union’s fight for reparations

Despite resistance from states who had role in chattel slavery, many feel this is an idea whose time has come

John Mahama knows a thing or two about beating the establishment. On Wednesday, less than two years after completing a remarkable comeback as Ghana’s president with a landslide defeat of the ruling party candidate, he rallied the world to ratify a landmark vote against transatlantic chattel slavery, despite major opposition from the same western entities that drove it for centuries.

The resolution to declare the practice as “the gravest crime against humanity” passed with a decisive majority at the UN general assembly and has been largely welcomed across Africa. Yet the details of the tally reveal a world still deeply divided on the gravity of the sin of enslaving more than 15 million people as chattel over the course of 400 years.

American is 'seriously considering' bringing back seat-back screens to narrow-body fleet, in in-flight revamp

American Airlines is considering a big upgrade to its in-flight entertainment and internet providers, including potentially bringing back seatback screens.

Utah mom speaks out after another parent allegedly kidnapped her child over bullying claims

A Utah mother is speaking out, alleging the mom of one of her son's classmates grabbed him off the street last September. Shannon Tufuga is accused of kidnapping Amberlee Collazo's son, driving him to her home and forcing him to apologize to her child whom she claimed he bullied. Collazo spoke exclusively to CBS News about the incident.

‘Tempolimit? Nein, danke!’: why German petrolheads won’t slow down – despite the energy crisis

Driving fast is in ‘the German DNA’, say lovers of the speed-limit free autobahn, but support in the country for a restriction is growing

Death-defying thrills are not what draws Lutz Leif Linden to zip down the autobahn faster than a plane taking off. Instead, the feeling of freedom and an appreciation of technological mastery play a part in his “almost loving relationship” with driving cars faster than most people can imagine.

The top speed he has reached on the road in Germany, the world’s only democracy without a blanket speed limit on motorways, is 400km/h (249mph). “It’s like an airplane,” said Linden, the president of the Automobile Club of Germany (AvD). “You are faster than an Airbus at start.”

‘The most painful TV experience I’ve ever had!’ Hugh Bonneville on his excruciating office comedy

Before he was Paddington’s dignified dad, the star nailed British awkwardness in Bafta-winning satire Twenty Twelve. Now he’s back as long-suffering manager Ian Fletcher, taking on Trump, the World Cup – and his foolish old intern

When Hugh Bonneville was first asked to reprise the role of Ian Fletcher – protagonist of John Morton’s Bafta-winning workplace satires Twenty Twelve and W1A – his feelings were mixed. “I was on the one hand absolutely delighted,” says the actor, now most famous for playing dignified patriarchs in Downton Abbey and Paddington. “On the other hand, I was terrified because it’s the most painful and horrible experience I’ve ever had on television.”

In Twenty Twelve, Fletcher flexed his managerial muscles as “Head of Deliverance of the Olympic Deliverance Commission,” guiding his team through the chaotic run-up to the 2012 London Games. In W1A, he landed a job as “Head of Values” at the BBC, where he waded through a series of absurd disasters. Nine years on, a weary Fletcher is back in back-to-back meetings as the “Director of Integrity” of a nameless international football organisation hosting a nameless international football tournament (its blindingly obvious real-world basis is never identified due to “an overabundance of caution on the production’s part,” says Morton).

Cocktail of the week: Albers’ premix piña colada – recipe

Keep a batch of this premix in the fridge, and you’ve got the tropical on tap

Make a batch of the premix, and it’ll be there in the fridge whenever you fancy something tropical. If you prefer, use Bristol Spirit Co’s Nogave, which is a remarkable, agave-free syrup that has all the taste of agave but none of the air miles. And if you want to go to town with the garnish, sprinkle sugar on a slice of tinned pineapple and grill until caramelised.

Zac Spooner, general manager, Albers, London N1

Here's some new dirt on an unusual source of antibiotic resistance

New research suggests drought can stoke antibiotic resistance in soil bacteria — and that can have an impact on humans.

Americans seek redemption at figure skating worlds, just weeks after the Olympics

Figure Skating World Championships in Prague end on Saturday. Americans Amber Glenn and Ilia Malinin are within medals' reach after disappointing finishes at last month's Olympics.

Close call between United Airlines flight, Black Hawk helicopter in California

In Southern California, a California Air National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crossed the path of a United Airlines flight on Tuesday. The apparent close call comes after the TSA tightened rules last week for helicopters operating around airports. Kris Van Cleave reports.

Man jailed for assaulting woman in London attack witnessed by Barron Trump

Matvei Rumiantsev, who became jealous of woman’s friendship with US president’s son, jailed for four years

A Russian man has been jailed for four years for assaulting a woman in an attack in London that was witnessed on a video call by Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron.

Matvei Rumiantsev, 23, attacked the woman when he became jealous of her friendship with Trump, 19, after she met him through social media, a court heard.

Markets now see the Fed's next move as a potential rate hike as inflation fears mount

Traders in the futures market shifted the probability of a rate increase by the end of 2026 to 52% on Friday morning.

Savannah Guthrie is returning to "Today" show on April 6, NBC says

Savannah Guthrie stepped back from her NBC duties almost two months ago when her mother, Nancy Guthrie, disappeared. The investigation is ongoing.

Elon Musk's Boring Co. tunnels aren't wanted by most Nashville residents

A new survey by Vanderbilt University found that most Nashville residents don't want Boring Company tunnels in their city.

George Russell: ‘I can’t spit my dummy out over something that I can’t control’

The F1 world championship leader on how he learned to channel youthful frustration at the back of the grid and the mental strength he gains from those closest to him

George Russell endured a baptism of fire, battling a recalcitrant Williams car at the back end of the grid in his debut Formula One season. Yet the then 21-year-old was perceptive from the off, observing at that season’s British Grand Prix: “In F1 it’s not just about driving, it’s about the whole package.” Seven years later, he believes the package is all but complete, leading the world championship and a strong favourite to go on to win his first title.

He heads into this weekend’s Japanese GP with a win and second place from the first two races and – thanks also to a sprint victory in China – has a four-point advantage over his teenage Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli. With their car thus far the class of the field, Russell has demonstrated the calm, assured control and execution long-promised by his talent. The attitude he takes into his title tilt was fashioned from that time at Williams and later Mercedes.

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

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

Cabinet Office to ask Mandelson to provide messages from personal phone

Concerns that exchanges about US ambassador appointment may have been lost after theft of McSweeney’s phone

• UK politics live – latest updates

Peter Mandelson will be asked to supply messages from his personal phone as part of the investigation into his appointment as Keir Starmer’s ambassador to the US.

In February, MPs forced the government to commit to publishing tens of thousands of documents after a controversy erupted over the prime minister’s awareness of the former peer’s links to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before he was given the prestigious posting.

UK music industry figures call for more black talent in executive roles

Report shows black music accounts for 80% of money generated by UK industry in past 30 years

Leading figures in the UK music industry are calling for more work to be done to support black talent in executive roles as a report finds that 80% of UK music revenue has been generated by black music in the past 30 years.

A recent report by UK Music states that black music has made £24.5bn out of the £30bn generated by the UK music industry in the past 30 years. However, industry figures have highlighted that black people are still kept out of top executive roles.

Helicopter crash off Hawaii leaves 3 dead, 2 injured, authorities say

A helicopter crashed Thursday afternoon on a remote beach on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, killing three people and injuring two, authorities said.

What comes next? Three attack scenarios as U.S. sends thousands more troops to Middle East

One of Iran's top lawmakers has said that they were anticipating a potential ground invasion of one its islands.

Number of AI chatbots ignoring human instructions increasing, study says

Exclusive: Research finds sharp rise in models evading safeguards and destroying emails without permission

AI models that lie and cheat appear to be growing in number with reports of deceptive scheming surging in the last six months, a study into the technology has found.

AI chatbots and agents disregarded direct instructions, evaded safeguards and deceived humans and other AI, according to research funded by the UK government-funded AI Safety Institute (AISI). The study, shared with the Guardian, identified nearly 700 real-world cases of AI scheming and charted a five-fold rise in misbehaviour between October and March, with some AI models destroying emails and other files without permission.

‘My heart is breaking’: Lebanese family grieve daughter killed by Israeli bomb

Narjis, one of 121 children killed in Lebanon this month, wanted to be a doctor and ‘was like a blossom’, her mother says

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Rania Jaber told her husband that if God blessed them with a daughter, she would be named Narjis, Arabic for daffodil. After having twin boys, Jaber wanted a little girl she could dress up.

Jaber got her girl and made good on her promise: Narjis was born in 2020. Her mother was delighted to find that just like her namesake flower, her daughter’s hair was light. Narjis seemed “wise beyond her years”, Jaber said, recalling how her daughter would comfort her whenever she would cry.

Canada’s Ali Ahmed on home World Cup dream: ‘I want to win our group’

Norwich winger on ‘perfect setup’ of Toronto and Vancouver games as co-hosts look to punch above their weight this summer

Ali Ahmed watched the last World Cup at home with friends and family. “It was goose bumps seeing Canada walking out,” the winger says. “I haven’t seen that in my lifetime. It was surreal.” This time around he will again be at home but also very much at the heart of the action in two cities that are dear to him.

Jesse Marsch’s side face Qatar and Switzerland in Vancouver after an opener against a European playoff winner (possibly Italy) in Toronto. Italy in Toronto, Ahmed’s home town, would be special, not only because of the city’s vast Italian population – “the stadium might be more blue than red,” Ahmed jokes – but also because his parents, who are from Ethiopia but lived for two years in Italy, are big calcio fans. “Football was ingrained in all of us in our family,” he says.

Add to playlist: the coffee-shop pop of Gianna and the week’s best new tracks

With her acoustic guitars and trip-hoppy beats, the London musician recalls a particular era of polished 00s boho-pop, from Nelly Furtado to Corinne Bailey Rae

From London
Recommended if you like All Saints, Frou Frou, Nelly Furtado
Up next EP out now; on tour with After in May

The first time I heard Gianna’s Shadow of a Bird, I was instantly transported to a place that smelled of Impulse body spray. It is a track that has perfectly nailed the polished boho-pop of early 00s Nelly Furtado, All Saints and Corinne Bailey Rae – the sort that features arpeggiated acoustic guitar, vaguely trip-hop beats and a gently distinctive voice swooping through them.

The new Trump coin will have an eagle on the back. Here are some better options | Dave Schilling

The real defining image of this presidency should be the bank statement of the average American citizen

Shockingly, inexplicably, Donald Trump keeps finding new places to put his face. Also, his name. Or initials. Or one of those drawings of a turkey a kid does by tracing the outline of their hand. He’s got his ballroom, the Kennedy Center and a proposed 250ft arch that would become one of the tallest buildings in all of Washington DC – a city with longstanding height restrictions for development. His signature will be on US dollars later this year, in a first for a sitting president. I’d ask if he was getting tired of all the attention, but I think we know the answer to that. Up next is a commemorative gold coin – worth exactly $1 – featuring Trump’s scowling visage looming menacingly over the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

It’s a pretty classic Trump pose, designed to make a nearly-80-year-old man with a variety of mystery bruises who eats McDonald’s on a regular basis look physically intimidating. Beyond the president sporting a classic gen Z pout, the Commission of Fine Arts (a panel appointed by You Know Who) recommended this coin be “as large as possible”, which immediately makes me think of the giant penny Bruce Wayne keeps in the Batcave. Good luck trying to feed a parking meter with that.

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

Michael Jordan says he was "all in" on NASCAR lawsuit

In a rare interview, Michael Jordan discusses settling his antitrust fight with NASCAR, his passion for racing and more.

Almost half a million Lloyds customers had personal data exposed in IT glitch

Letter from group published by MPs blames 12 March glitch on software update to its mobile banking apps

Lloyds Banking Group exposed the personal data of nearly 500,000 customers in an IT glitch that left people’s payments, account details and national insurance numbers visible to other users, a committee of MPs has revealed.

A letter from Lloyds, published by MPs on the Treasury select committee on Friday, blamed the glitch on a software defect introduced during an IT update to its Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland mobile banking apps overnight into 12 March.

Alleged Long Island serial killer intends to change plea to guilty, sources say

Rex Heuermann, 62, who is accused of murdering seven women over 17 years, is due to appear in court next month

The man accused in Long Island’s infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings intends to plead guilty in the case next month, according to two people familiar with his decision.

Rex Heuermann, a former architect charged with murdering seven women over 17 years, is set to change his plea from not guilty at his next scheduled court hearing on 8 April, they said.

Jordan Bos strikes late to spare Socceroos’ blushes in stodgy win over Cameroon

• Australia ramp up World Cup preparations with 1-0 victory

• Ajdin Hrustic has penalty saved after dour first half in Sydney

Childhood fans of the venerable Fifa Series (making its debut in Sydney) will not remember the Socceroos 1-0 win over Cameroon as a classic of the genre. It will go down as a game decided when Jordan Bos’ quick wits in the 85th minute allowed him to seize upon a Paul Okon-Engstler pass that went through Ajdin Hrustić, and fire home, sparing the latter’s blushes for a penalty missed in the 70th minute.

Maybe with the benefit of hindsight it will be seen as the launching point for a successful World Cup campaign, with the win snapping a three-game losing run for Tony Popovic’s side that begun against the United States last October, as well as netting their first goal since that defeat in Colorado. Perhaps there will be something about how snazzy the new kits the Australians debuted looked in action, or that the fixture marked the starting debut of an 18-year-old Lucas Herrington – the youngest defender to do so since Brett Woods in 1981.

Senate votes to fund most of DHS. And, Trump extends Iran's deadline to reopen strait

The Senate has voted to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security. And, President Trump extends the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Three killed as tourist helicopter crashes on Hawaiian island of Kauai

Two others injured after sightseeing aircraft comes down on remote beach on Na Pali Coast

A tourist helicopter crashed on a remote beach on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, killing three people and injuring two others, authorities said.

The helicopter was carrying one pilot and four passengers when it crashed on Thursday afternoon at Kalalau Beach, the Kauai fire department said. The beach is on the Na Pali Coast on Kauai’s north shore. The area is otherwise reachable only by hiking or boat.

A war of regression: how Trump bombed the US into a worse position with Iran

Analysts fear Iran has played a weak hand well and the US has blundered into a defining strategic failure

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Four weeks into a war that was going to take four days, and that has so far cost the US about $30-40bn and Israel $300m a day, Washington is further away from a diplomatic agreement with Iran than it was in May 2025.

Not only has the war failed to persuade Iran to agree to dismantle its nuclear programme in the comprehensive and irreversible way the US demanded in a 15-point paper that it tabled on 23 May last year, Washington is now having to negotiate to reopen the strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that has been open ever since the invention of the dhow, with a short exception of a tanker war in the 1980s between Iran and Iraq.

Is foraging really feasible to feed myself?

This labor-intensive way of eating isn’t for everyone – and I’m not sure it’s for me. It requires planning and flexibility

When I called Robin Greenfield, an environmental activist and author, his assistant answered. “We’re stopped really quick,” Marielle said, adding “he is harvesting a ton of wild onions right now. He’ll be on in just a minute.”

I waited, curious to see his haul and bemused by his willingness to delay an interview for wild vegetables. I had called Greenfield, who wrote Food Freedom about the year he grew and foraged 100% of his food, to talk about how possible, or hard, it is to do just that.

Trump’s strategy to get his way: declare one fake ‘emergency’ after another | Steven Greenhouse

The US president’s tactic could put this fall’s elections at risk. A supreme court decision could go far to protect them

Hating legal constraints, Donald Trump has repeatedly taken unilateral actions for which he had zero legal authority unless he found some national emergency to declare. So Trump, no stickler for the truth, has conveniently invoked numerous national emergencies to justify his unilateral actions – whether imposing tariffs on dozens of countries or deporting immigrants without due process – even when there wasn’t anything close to a real emergency.

A recent example involves Trump’s anger at Spain. Early this month, Trump was so furious at Spain for not letting the US use its air bases to help his illegal war against Iran that he called for cutting off all trade with Spain. Trump said he would order a trade embargo, with his treasury secretary suggesting that he’d invoke a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

U.S. ambassador to EU: Stop fining Big Tech

Andrew Puzder sat down for an interview with CNBC's Ian King.

Five firms including Autotrader and Just Eat investigated over fake review failings

CMA also looks into Pasta Evangelists, funeral operator Dignity and review company Feefo in latest crackdown

• I was paid to write fake Google reviews – then my ‘bosses’ tried to scam me

• Business live – latest updates

The UK competition watchdog has launched investigations into five companies including Autotrader and Just Eat over concerns they have not done enough to tackle fake and misleading online reviews.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has previously investigated the tech companies Amazon and Google, said its latest crackdown includes the funeral services operator Dignity, the review company Feefo and the restaurant chain Pasta Evangelists.

Senate approves most DHS funding, hours after Trump promised to restart TSA pay

The Senate agreed early Friday to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to end a standoff in Congress that led to massive lines at many airports.

‘Anything is possible’: Kosovo one game away from World Cup fairytale

The minnows just need to win a playoff against Turkey at home to complete a qualification campaign that has become a rallying cry for national pride

They are a World Cup fairytale, a footballing nation barely a decade old with fewer people than the state of South Australia. A Balkan West Virginia, but with a fraction of the area, and a chequered past.

Minnows Kosovo are just one game away from their first appearance at a World Cup, and a place beckons in Group D alongside Australia, Paraguay and co-hosts the United States.

‘It helped me feed my six children’: how Africa’s first water fund supports farmers to protect Kenya’s biggest river

Conserving the watershed of the Tana and improving farming methods is securing water supplies and livelihoods alike in a changing climate

When in 2017 David Nyoro became one of the first farmers to partner with Africa’s first water fund to conserve the watershed of Kenya’s biggest river, he received 180 high-value avocado seedlings. The 67-year-old’s farming methods had been dominated by annual crops that left large sections of his five-acre piece of land bare, increasing soil erosion and contributing to river sedimentation. “We used to lose a lot of topsoil to the river. Such loss of soil nutrients and poor farming practices meant we had less farm produce,” he says.

The avocado seedlings enabled him to grow his farm income to close to 2m Kenyan shillings (about £11,500 at today’s exchange rates), with each mature avocado tree yielding 70kg (154lbs) annually. He introduced cover crops to improve soil health and reduce soil erosion and sediment loads.

Stop the world, I want to get off and run a video rental store in the 1990s | Dominik Diamond

Retail sims aren’t my thing, but the tactile, nostalgic pleasures of hit indie title Retro Rewind have me yearning for the era of physical media, smoking indoors and uncomplicated geopolitics

It’s early doors, but 2026 may be the biggest bin fire of a year in my lifetime. Wars starting, then ending, then starting again in the course of a week. People running their cars on hopes and dreams because a tank of petrol costs more than the vehicle. Manospheric morons making millions. Several depressing celebrity deaths before I’ve so much as eaten my first Creme Egg of the year.

I had no idea that the antidote to my anxiety and rage would be a cheap little title, made by two French blokes, in what I usually regard as the most turgid gaming genre. Retro Rewind is the moment’s indie darling, selling more than 100,000 copies on Steam in a week. In it, you run a video rental shop in the 90s. You need to buy videos. Display them well. Drop flyers. Serve your customers. Buy more stuff. It’s no different from any other retail sim out there, and I normally shun them because I play video games to escape the boring world of work and into an exciting one of dragons, aliens, and being brilliant at sports.

Ready to order? 10 rules for restaurant diners

Show up, speak up … and just be nice. Here is one anonymous server’s advice for a happy meal

Hospitality is in a right state at the moment, what with the seemingly never-ending shitshow of rising rents and rates, extortionate VAT, higher staffing, produce and utility costs, and all those other well-documented socioeconomic pressures (don’t mention the Bre*it word, please). So the last thing those of us who work in this beleaguered industry need right now is to be kicked in the proverbials by the very people we rely on perhaps more than anyone. And, yes, by that I mean you, our lovely customers. So here is some advice on how to avoid infuriating your serving staff.

Turn up …
Pre-Covid, most restaurants didn’t have the balls to take card details or charge for late cancellations and no-shows, but that’s all changed now (thank God). If you buy a ticket to the football or a gig, say, you’ll be out of pocket if you can’t be arsed to turn up. Why should restaurants be any different? What’s more, even if we have charged you a cancellation fee, remember that we’ve still lost out on drink sales and service charge.

As told to Bob Granleese

Scientists watch sperm whales work as a team to assist a birth

An unprecedented look at the birth of a sperm whale found that mother and calf were supported by other whales throughout the process.

Taylor Swift, a cloned sheep and China fashion week: photos of the day – Friday

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

Rubio heads to Europe to try garner support for Iran war

Representatives of the world's wealthiest democracies gather in France today for a G7 meeting, where U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to try to shore up support among reticent allies for the Trump administration's war on Iran.

Faith Kates: the woman who introduced models to ‘dear friend’ Jeffrey Epstein

Former talent agency boss had closer relationship with sex offender than thought, and supported him after 2009 arrest

A female executive at the top of the modelling industry had a close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and introduced him to women on the agency’s books, a Guardian investigation has found.

Until last November, Faith Kates ran Next Management modelling and talent agency, which has represented the likes of Alexa Chung, Milla Jovovich and Billie Eilish, a position she held for decades as the founder of the business. She stepped down quietly just weeks before the first major Epstein files were released, saying she intended to focus on charity work.

18 July 2009 10.18am

I am and will always be your friend...Unconditionally...will always be there for you.

5 September 2009 7.47pm

Thinking of you a lot and hoping you are finally enjoying some please [sic] and quiet..know you are always in my thoughts and prayers. You are a good friend my dear friend..

5 September 2009 7.54pm

thanks,, lets get back to work.

Our quiz writer made yet another Tom Bombadil reference this week. Can you spot it?

How well do you know your "Lord of the Rings"? What about AI, Washington landmarks and TSA wait times? Find out!

Love Lane by Patrick Gale review – a homecoming tale with echoes of Brokeback Mountain

This kindly and companionable story of a man returning to 50s England after living in Canada offers a colourful evocation of the times

Towards the end of Love Lane, elderly protagonist Harry Cane becomes a figure of twinkly-eyed mischief. Gossiping with his granddaughter Pip, he advises her that “people without secrets … are like people with very tidy houses: usually not worth knowing”.

Dangerously buried secrets are very much the order of the day in Patrick Gale’s 18th novel. We start as we mean to go on: Love Lane opens with a recounting of the clandestine relationship between widower Harry and his bachelor brother-in-law Paul Slaymaker, Englishmen who separately emigrated to Canada around the turn of the last century. We first meet them as homesteaders in the unforgiving Saskatchewan wilds; Gale aficionados who encountered Cane in 2015’s A Place Called Winter remember the dark cloud of scandal that hastened his departure from Britain. The “steady tenderness” between Harry and Paul, which is passingly reminiscent of Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain, gives the men succour as their neighbouring farms weather the bitter economic vicissitudes of the 1920s and 30s, but their wordlessly powerful bond is for ever altered by the arrival of Dimpy, a woman down on her luck, and her hard-hearted son, Davy.

Miroslav Vitous: Mountain Call review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month

(ECM)
Jack DeJohnette and Michel Portal – both of whom died recently – are phenomenal foils for the Weather Report alumnus’s classical-influenced jazz

Czech double bass virtuoso and composer Miroslav Vitous must by now have shrugged off any residual irritation about the oft-circulated fact that he was a founding member of the legendary jazz-rock fusion band Weather Report in 1970. Vitous’s dislike of the band’s drift away from improv toward electric music and popular global funk saw him leave as their star was rising. His CV would turn out just fine: Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Jan Garbarek, John Surman and Jack DeJohnette were among his many classy playing partners. Seven years in the making, with Vitous now 78, Mountain Call reflects a lifetime’s immersion in classical music alongside jazz, and the balance of spontaneity, nuance and cinematic atmospherics that offered him.

Across multiple improv dialogues and two suites (all short, Vitous being no fan of loquacity), the set prominently features DeJohnette, who died in October, with Esperanza Spalding, saxophonist Bob Mintzer and the phenomenal French clarinettist Michel Portal, who died in February. Eight duo tracks for Vitous and Portal (mostly all-improvised) are worth the album alone, for their ever-shifting mix of mellow lyricism and challenging curiosity. In four improvisations on a standard clarinet, Portal segues graceful swoops, plaintive queries and staccato punctuation against Vitous’s turbulent undercurrent of muscular plucked runs and percussive accents. On bass clarinet, the Frenchman sweeps from resonant deep sounds to breathtaking glissando ascents hurtling to the upper register.

These trees brought a fishery back from the brink. They can help you too

A community fishery in Cambodia was struggling. There weren't enough fish to make ends meet, until local fishermen started planting a specific type of tree.

Do you lean optimistic or pessimistic? Take this quiz and find out

A glass-half-full outlook can keep you engaged and hopeful in hard times. Take this quiz to find out your level of optimism, then learn how to train yourself to become more optimistic.

Kansas City nun reflects on life spent caring for kids

For StoryCorps, a nun in Kansas City reminisces about helping families in need of low-cost childcare.

I was paid to write fake Google reviews – then my ‘bosses’ tried to scam me

Undercover reporter gets a taste of the sprawling fraud industry in which cryptocurrencies play a crucial role

• Five firms including Autotrader and Just Eat investigated over fake review failings

The holiday flat near(ish) the Roman ruins of Pompeii was “disgusting”, and smelled of “a mix of dampness and sewage”, according to one reviewer on Google Maps. I never visited, but I gave it five stars.

I did the same for a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel across the River Thames, an Ibis budget hotel in east London that is part of the Accor group, a central Travelodge and the nearby Hyatt Place – some of the best-known hotel brands in the world. Scattered in there were requests for reviews for hostels and B&Bs in Genova, Naples, Maastricht, Krakow and Brussels. For a few days I had a new job: writing fake reviews on Google Maps in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Trump says he'll order DHS to start paying TSA officers as shutdown drags on

President Trump said he will sign an executive order to restart pay for TSA officers, who have gone more than a month without a full paycheck.

Chess: iconic Reykjavik Open sparks memory of Bobby Fischer from 1973

The US legend declined a $25,000 offer from shoe firm Clarks to meet the cream of England’s juniors

The nine-round Reykjavik Open, which began on Wednesday afternoon at the Harpa Conference Centre and which continued with two rounds on Thursday, is an iconic event. It was first played as an all-play-all in 1964, when Mikhail Tal won, and is close to the Hotel Reykjavik Natura, formerly the Hotel Loftleidir, which featured prominently in the epic Bobby Fischer v Boris Spassky match of 1972.

The top seed in the capacity entry of 422 players is Iran’s Amin Tabatabaei, the only 2700-rated player in the field, with Romania’s Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2655) next, and the veteran Ukrainian Vasyl Ivanchuk (2624) the fourth seed.

Buttler looks for form as IPL returns with riches, political rancour and aftermath of tragedy

Former England captain seeks inspiration from the pioneering Kevin Pietersen as he heads a 12-strong contingent of compatriots in 2026’s tournament

“I will always be grateful for what the IPL gave me,” Kevin Pietersen tells Jos Buttler. “It gave me a lot of controversy, I earned a lot of money, but it also saved my career because I made trusting relationships that I was able to call upon to give longevity to my career.”

The conversation is on Buttler’s podcast, For The Love Of Cricket, released on Tuesday, with the pair hailing their experiences of playing in the Indian Premier League. (For the love of content, they also discuss Pietersen’s new career as a YouTuber.) The 45-year-old was there in the early years, rebelling against English cricket’s uneasy relationship with a revolutionary startup, exhilarated to call Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis his teammates.

Mendelssohn: Symphonies and Oratorios album review – Andris Nelsons’ prodigious talent on full display

Gewandhaus Orchestra/Nelsons/Schuen/Zeppenfeld
(Deutsche Grammophon)
The Latvian conductor finds dynamic light and shade in seven discs’ worth of special performances with an orchestra once led by the composer himself

Andris Nelsons’ tenure may have been prematurely terminated in Boston, but this handsome box set with his other ensemble, the venerable Gewandhaus Orchestra, is proof positive of the Latvian conductor’s prodigious talent. Of course, Mendelssohn is in the orchestra’s DNA – after all, the composer held the reins in Leipzig from 1835 until his death in 1847 – but these performances, especially of the five symphonies, are pretty special.

Recorded live between 2021 and 2024, tempi are brisk, though never rushed. It’s the phrasing, elastic and full of dynamic light and shade, that brings these accounts to life. Listen to the ultra-lithe opening movement of the Italian Symphony, or the filigree woodwind in the Scottish Symphony’s scherzo. In Nelsons’ hands, the First Symphony – often the Cinderella of the set – takes its place alongside its more colourful cousins.

Four wives, two passports and a very elusive butterfly: one woman’s search for her lepidopterist father

Rena Effendi’s film Searching for Satyrus began with a quest for the endangered insect that bears her family name. Before long, she was reckoning with secrets, lies and the mysterious life of her wayward dad

High in the Caucasus mountains, the photojournalist Rena Effendi is searching for the butterfly that bears the name of the father she hardly knew. It is rocky, bleak, beautiful – and impossible. The grass is fried yellow by the increasingly fierce summer sun, the butterfly’s food has been grazed by sheep and, if it exists at all, Satyrus effendi usually flies only as a single insect across a square kilometre of rock, scree and slope.

A butterfly hunt makes an unlikely subject for a prize-winning documentary, but Searching for Satyrus is a gripping quest that reveals a remarkable part of the world little known to western audiences while examining issues from war and nationalism to global heating and extinction. Ultimately, however, Effendi’s search for her father’s butterfly becomes a moving reckoning with the secrets and lies in her family and the life of her wayward father.

‘The violence of racist tyranny’: African Guernica goes on display alongside Picasso masterpiece

Piece by late South African artist Dumile Feni is part of new series History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, But It Does Rhyme

On the second floor of the Reina Sofía, in the very spot where Picasso’s Guernica was first exhibited when it arrived in the Madrid museum 34 years ago, there now hangs a smaller, near-namesake of the Spanish artist’s most famous work.

While African Guernica, which was drawn by the late South African artist Dumile Feni in 1967, may lack the scale of Picasso’s masterpiece, its depth, anger and unnerving juxtaposition of man and beast, light and dark, and innocence and cruelty, are every bit as disturbing.

When a ​football manager’s ​wardrobe ​says ​more ​than ​his​ tactics

From flannel shirts to herringbone tailoring, Pep Guardiola’s stylistic pivot hint​s at a man renegotiating his identity ​in the twilight of ​his footballing era

• Don’t get Fashion Statement delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

Last Tuesday, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola lost to Real Madrid in a £270 shirt.

The grungy flannel number from the cult Swedish menswear brand Our Legacy was so noteworthy it consumed more post-match oxygen than the news that Manchester City had been dumped out of the Champions League before the quarter-finals. Never mind that Guardiola is beginning to look bereft of ideas for the first time in his career. All anyone cared about was whether he’d hired a stylist.

Your Friends and Neighbours to Portobello: the seven best shows to stream this week

Jon Hamm is back as the charismatic banker-cum-cat burglar, plus an irresistibly strange show about the TV host accused of being a mafioso

No one does problematic but sneakily likable middle-aged man like Jon Hamm and his charisma carries this black comedy about financier-turned-burglar Andrew “Coop” Cooper. Despite being offered his old job back, Coop has decided to continue with his riskily enjoyable crisis. While he emerged from season one’s explosive climax smelling of roses, he’s soon on a collision course with his squeeze/nemesis Samantha Levitt. And worryingly, age is catching up with Coop as a back spasm curtails his latest robbing spree. Every now and then, the show edges towards a satire on jaded suburban overconsumption. But it is slightly too keen to have its aspirational cake and eat it, so remains a flimsy (albeit fun) romp.
Apple TV, from Friday 3 April

No New York by Adele Bertei review – a vivid, vibrant, musical coming of age

1970s and 80s New York are viscerally evoked in this potent memoir of the ‘no wave’ scene

You won’t necessarily have heard of Adele Bertei: she was a member of experimental jazz-punk band the Contortions from 1977 and recorded the pop-house single Build Me a Bridge. But her memoir is an essential slice of New York’s bohemian pizza pie, and works in part because she is a relative unknown, not weighed down by her own cultural baggage.

Following a troubled, itinerant upbringing, she arrives in Manhattan in 1977 to find a city on its knees. The big apple was in the red, both literally (fires were a regular occurrence) and monetarily (there was a municipal debt crisis). But pre-Aids and post-Warhol’s avant garde grip, it was also a place that was creatively open.

President Trump's 2026 State of the Union Address and the Democratic response

President Trump delivers the longest State of the Union address in recent history, followed by the Democratic response from Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger.

‘She broke the rules, fearlessly’: exhibition explores Vivienne Westwood’s revolutionary work

Show draws almost entirely from collection of Lancashire schoolteacher Peter Smithson, a fan since he was 10

Peter Smithson’s wife, Belise, has never minded when he receives a corset from Japan or a pair of fur-trimmed knickers and they are not for her.

“No, she’s never seen it as strange,” said Smithson, a chemistry teacher and Vivienne Westwood supercollector. “She has never judged it. She gets it. She knows it is part and parcel of who I am.”

Motherhood, makeup and Zumba: the rehabilitation of one of Mexico’s most dangerous prisons

In Modulo 2, a renovated wing of a high-security facility in Cancún, female prisoners find moments of solidarity, pride and creativity in their confinement

At the end of a road in the city of Cancún, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, a tall watchtower rises behind barbed wire and perimeter walls closely monitored by the army. This is where the Cereso stands, a high-security prison complex housing a men’s facility as well as a section called Modulo 2 that is reserved for females. A total of 284 women are held there.

Inside, time moves slowly. Days unfold according to a strict schedule, structured around chores and workshops organised by the prison administration.

A morning Zumba session in the yard of the Cereso. Physical activities are part of the facility’s daily routine

Aryna Sabalenka sinks Rybakina to set up Miami Open final showdown with Gauff

• World No 1 wins semi-final 6-4, 6-3 at Hard Rock Stadium

• American beats Muchova 6-1, 6-1 to continue domination of rival

Aryna Sabalenka believes she is ready for the challenge of facing her rival Coco Gauff in the Miami Open final as she stands one win away from winning Indian Wells and Miami in the same year for the first time in her career.

“She’s a fighter,” Sabalenka said of Gauff. “She’s a great player, of course. We played a lot of matches, a lot of tight matches, a lot of big finals. And, yeah, she’s a great player and I’m really excited to face her in the final. I think it’s going to be a great battle and I cannot wait to play that match.”

Experience: I’ve spent decades collecting over 260 postboxes

It started with an obscure railway postbox that had been thrown in a skip – now my museum has pieces from Scotland, Ireland and Hong Kong

Back in 1994, I went to north Wales to see the miniature steam trains – I was a fan of railways. On a platform at Rhyl station, I noticed the painted outline of a postbox – it was all that remained of one that had stood there since the late 1800s.

It turns out it had been vandalised, set alight and chucked in a skip. I asked the station manager if I could see it and he jokingly said: “Give me 20 quid and you can take it away with you.”

Progressive Paris has many weapons to fight the far right, but the best? Spaces where you can simply hang out | Alexander Hurst

Drop into any of the French capital’s ‘third places’ and you’ll find food, culture, community – and an antidote to the disaffection extremists feed on

Paris’s success in removing cars from its streets has been more widely praised than its progress in opening up mixed-use spaces. But the city’s enthusiasm for bringing what urbanists call “third places” to life is exactly why I found myself, just hours after voting in the first round of Paris’s municipal elections, dancing in telecoms company Orange’s former offices in Ménilmontant, the “seventh-coolest neighbourhood in the world”..

The building currently housing Print, a new pop-up, offers a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower, poised against the sunset – and, for now at least, it is an ephemeral temple to Millennial culture. It’s a five-storey space hosting photography exhibits, a coffee shop, sourdough pizza, two bars, a red-lit and mirror-adorned dance area and a sunset terrace. As well as pizza and fancy coffee, you can buy hoodies and art and design books – but most importantly, Print contains plenty of space where you can just be, without needing to spend a single euro.

Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir Generation Desperation is out now

Partner of flight attendant missing in Colombia: "I want to believe that he's alive"

A search is underway for an American Airlines flight attendant whose disappearance while on a layover in Medellín, Colombia, has left his loved ones desperate for answers.

Human rights experts raise concerns over Olympics transgender women athlete ban

• Critics say new IOC guidelines violate fundamental human rights

• AOC backs new rules but accepts issue is ‘challenging and complex’

Over 100 human rights, sports and scientific groups have criticised the International Olympic Committee’s new gender eligibility guidelines as “a blunt and discriminatory response that is not supported by science and violates international human rights law”.

The IOC’s new guidelines, announced on Friday, mandate genetic sex tests for all athletes competing in its women’s categories, as well as blanket bans of people who identify as transgender, intersex or with sex differences.

More than 100 daily high temperature records expected this week

As a searing heat wave slowly expands over the western two-thirds of the U.S., more than 100 daily temperature records are forecast through Sunday.

House Dem accused of stealing FEMA funds faces rare ethics "trial"

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida is accused of using part of the $5 million to bolster her campaign and on luxury goods.

Two humanitarian aid boats heading to Cuba have gone missing, Mexico says

Navy searching for two boats that left Isla Mujeres last week bound for Havana with nine crew members of different nationalities on board

Mexico’s navy said on Thursday it had activated a search-and-rescue operation in the Caribbean to locate two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba after the vessels failed to arrive in Havana as scheduled.

In a statement, the navy said the two boats left Isla Mujeres, in the Mexican Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, last week bound for Havana with nine crew members of different nationalities on board.

Anthropic wins preliminary injunction in DOD fight as judge cites 'First Amendment retaliation'

A federal judge in San Francisco granted Anthropic's request for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against the Trump administration. 

Maduro held in a "jail inside of a jail" under special restrictions, sources say

Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife appeared Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. Here's a look at his life behind bars.

Sen. Warren rips Federal Reserve chair pick Kevin Warsh: 'You have learned nothing from your failures'

Kevin Warsh's nomination as chair of the Federal Reserve has been in limbo because of a criminal investigation of Chair Jerome Powell.

Trump says he's granting Iran's request to extend pause on energy site strikes

President Trump announced the extension of the pause "per Iranian government request."

Why this week's social media verdicts could hold tech giants to account

Experts say the rulings could expose tech companies to more litigation and pressure them to make changes to their apps.

Black Hawk chopper crossed path of United flight in California, FAA says

United Airlines said the pilots saw the helicopter, received a traffic alert and leveled the aircraft.

Maduro held in near-total isolation inside Brooklyn jail as legal fight unfolds

Nicolás Maduro, the deposed Venezuelan leader, and his wife both appeared in federal court in Manhattan nearly three months after American forces invaded his country and brought him to the U.S. to face narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges. Lilia Luciano has details.

Savannah Guthrie says she fears her fame made her mom a target

In her first interview since her mother Nancy's kidnapping, "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie says she feared her fame made her mom a target. Jonathan Vigliotti has more.

‘Accountability has arrived’: dual US court losses show shifting tide against Meta and co

With two unprecedented trial defeats, big tech firms face crisis akin to that faced by cigarette makers in the 1990s

In the span of just two days, the most powerful social media company in the world faced a more severe public reckoning than it has in years.

Jurors in California and New Mexico gave back-to-back verdicts this week that for the first time ever found Meta liable for products that inflict harm on young people. For years, lawmakers, parents and advocates have raised red flags over how social media can hurt children, but now the tech firms are being held to account via court rulings that could set long-lasting precedents.

8th grader has the only perfect March Madness bracket left

People filled out more than 40 million NCAA tournament brackets across the men's and women's games, but there is just one bracket left that is perfect. Tony Dokoupil has the story.

Close call in California involving United Airlines flight and Black Hawk helicopter

A California Air National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crossed the path of a United Airlines flight headed towards John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. Kris Van Cleave has more.

TSA officers selling plasma to make ends meet as travelers miss flights

Over 40 days into the partial government shutdown, nearly 500 TSA officers have quit. Jason Allen reports.

Siblings indicted after explosive device found outside Air Force base

MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, is home to U.S. Central Command, U.S. Special Operations Command and the Air Force's Air Mobility Command.

Siblings indicted after explosive found outside MacDill Air Force Base

Two siblings have been charged after an improvised explosive device was left outside MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, earlier this month, federal prosecutors announced. Cristian Benavides has details.

Trump says he will sign an executive order to 'immediately pay' TSA agents

Lawmakers are stalled on funding the Department of Homeland Security as airport delays mount.

C-3PO head used in Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back sells for more than $1m at auction

Memorabilia from Jaws, Cast Away and The Lord of The Rings also went under the hammer

A light-up C-3PO head used in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back has fetched more than US$1m at an auction.

The prop was part of a collection of film and TV memorabilia that went under the hammer on Wednesday as part of the Spring Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction at Propstore auction house in Los Angeles.

Putin asks oligarchs to donate to Russia’s dwindling defence budget

Russian president expected to continue invasion of Ukraine until his forces have secured remaining areas of eastern Donbas

Vladimir Putin has asked Russia’s oligarchs to donate to the country’s dwindling defence budget to continue its invasion of Ukraine, it has been reported.

The Russian president is expected to continue the conflict, which began in February 2022, until Moscow has secured the remaining areas of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region not under its control, according to the Financial Times.

Federal judge sides with Anthropic in first round of standoff with Pentagon

Face-off is over company’s refusal to let defense department use its Claude AI model in autonomous weapons systems

A federal judge in California sided with Anthropic in its case against the Department of Defense on Thursday, ordering a temporary pause on the government’s punitive measures against the artificial intelligence firm.

Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic’s request for a temporary injunction while the northern district court of California hears the company’s case. Anthropic argued that the Department of Defense and Donald Trump violated its first amendment rights in declaring the company a supply chain risk and ordering government agencies to cease using its technology.

Trump's signature to be featured on U.S. paper currency, Treasury says

The Treasury Department plans to add President Trump's signature to new U.S. paper currency, a first for a sitting president.

Trump extends pause on attacking Iran energy facilities to April 6

Trump announced the U.S. would continue a pause on energy sites in Iran as key stock market indexes fell and oil prices rose.