Chubb set as main U.S. insurer for Persian Gulf shipping amid Iran war

The insurance giant will work with the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. to help backstop shipping.

Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal: Champions League last 16, first leg – live

⚽️ Champions League news from the 5.45pm GMT kick-off
⚽️ Live scores | Today’s Football Daily | Follow on Bluesky

1 min Peep peep. Arsenal kick off from right to left as we watch.

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Middle East crisis live: three ships hit in strait of Hormuz as ‘largest ever’ oil reserve release agreed by 32 countries

Thai navy responds to attack on bulk carrier; sources say Iran has deployed a dozen mines in the strait

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

Over in Senate question time, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has confirmed embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and the consulate in Dubai all physically closed in the last week.

Wong said the government’s number one priority is to “keep Australians safe at home and abroad”.

She continued:

“The dangerous and destabilising attacks by Iran put civilian lives at risk, including Australian lives.”

More than 3,200 Australians over 23 commercial flights have returned to Australia since the US and Israel attacked Iran, setting off a regional conflict and grounding thousands of international flights.

Wong criticised Nationals senators for “winding up people and stoking fear” to panic buy fuel.

The senator said:

“Petrol companies are telling us that fuel stock continues to arrive as expected and on time but there has been a large change in the pattern of demand and that is having an effect on the supply, particularly in regional communities. We have seen jerry cans coming off the shelves at Bunnings and lines at the pump.”

One of the two members of the Iranian women’s football teams provided with a humanitarian visa to stay in Australia has changed her mind and contacted the Iranian embassy, according to the country’s home affairs minister.

In Australia, people are able to change their mind, people are able to travel. So, we respect the context in which she has made that decision.

Unfortunately, in making that decision, she had been advised by her teammates and coach to contact the Iranian embassy and get collected … As a result of that, it meant that the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was.

Three Norwegian brothers arrested over US embassy blast in Oslo

Trio held on suspicion of ‘terrorist bombing’ that caused minor damage but no injuries

Three Norwegian brothers have been arrested on suspicion of a “terrorist bombing” at the US embassy in Oslo that caused minor damage at the weekend but no injuries.

The police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference that the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and that police were investigating the motive.

Hawaii volcano eruptions shoot fountains of lava 1,000 feet in the air

The eruptions at Kilauea prompted closures at a national park and part of a highway because of falling glassy volcanic fragments, including ash.

US responsible for deadly missile strike on Iran school, preliminary inquiry says

Strike that killed at least 175 people, most of them children, reportedly due to targeting mistake by US military planners

• Minab school bombing: a visual guide

A preliminary US military investigation has reportedly determined that Washington was responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school in February that killed scores of children.

According to the New York Times, quoting unnamed US officials and others familiar with the initial findings, the investigation has concluded that the strike on 28 February on the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building was the result of a targeting mistake by the US military planners.

Indianapolis Colts to give quarterback Daniel Jones two-year deal worth up to $100m

• Quarterback had promising start to Colts career

• 2025 season ended in series of injuries

Daniel Jones plans to stay with the Indianapolis Colts for at least two more years.

The two sides agreed to a new contract, a deal that will pay the quarterback up to $100m, a person with knowledge of the contract told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

Jones will receive $88m over the next two seasons with $50m guaranteed. He can make an additional $12m through incentives.

IEA agrees to release record 400 million barrels of oil to address Iran war supply disruption

The move comes as the Iran war continues to choke off traffic through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

Ben Jennings on Trump and Hegseth: mission accomplished? – cartoon

Epstein's longtime accountant tells Congress he didn't know about abuse

Richard Kahn was one of Epstein's closest associates in his final years, managing his finances and investments.

Iran war: Trump says he's not worried about domestic terror attack

President Donald Trump said oil companies should send tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained effectively closed due to the war on Iran.

Kit clash farce looms as France set to wear special pale blue shirt against England

• Anniversary kit marks 120 years of fixture

• England to wear their traditional white

England’s Six Nations finale in Paris on Saturday could descend into farce with France set to wear a special edition pale blue kit that threatens to clash with the white strip worn by Steve Borthwick’s side.

Fabian Galthié’s side have confirmed they will don the anniversary kit, which is significantly lighter than their traditional blue strip, for a match that marks 120 years of rivalry between France and England. It is understood, however, that England will still wear their traditional white kit despite the potential for a clash. Match officials are also understood to have given both kits the green light.

U.S. deficit tops $1 trillion through February but runs below year-ago pace

For the fiscal year to date, the deficit totaled $1.004 trillion, about 12% lower than the comparable period in 2025.

Il Etait Temps keeps his head for Cheltenham glory as jockeys’ start row spills over

• Champion Chase first benefits from Majborough howlers

• Irish rider Queally accuses De Boinville of ‘horrific’ abuse

Il Etait Temps survived a slip after jumping the last to land an incident-packed renewal of the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Wednesday, on an afternoon when the drama was not confined to the closing stages and Nico de Boinville, one of the sport’s top jockeys, was accused of “horrific” abuse before the start of the opening race by an Irish amateur having his first ride at the meeting.

De Boinville, who was riding the well-fancied Act Of Innocence, and Declan Queally, who is both the trainer and rider of the Grade One-winning I’ll Sort That, could be seen exchanging words as a tightly packed field of 21 runners jostled for position before the start of the Turners Novice Hurdle.

Swiss bus fire that killed six caused by ‘disturbed’ man setting himself alight, prosecutor says

Man in his 60s from Berne area had been reported missing before incident, say authorities in Fribourg canton

Police investigating a bus fire that killed at least six people in western Switzerland have said they believe it was started by a “marginalised and disturbed” Swiss man onboard who set himself ablaze.

The vehicle, operated by a service that transports passengers and mail, went up in flames on Tuesday evening in Kerzers, a town of about 5,000 people about 12 miles (20km) west of Berne in the canton of Fribourg.

The AI assistant was offering me any help I needed. All I wanted was a living, breathing human | Adrian Chiles

When I heard ‘Rachel’ answer the helpline number in her metallic voice, my soul felt as empty as the batteries of my malfunctioning car

Something went wrong. The car charger wouldn’t work. Terrible, enervating, life-shortening faff ensued. It was to do with the wifi to which the car was linked having to be changed. I find this stuff so boring that I have been known to simply slump to the floor and fall into a deep sleep.

But this wasn’t an option, as I had to drive miles to work and my car’s batteries were as empty as my soul. I’d already been on the road for five hours listening to Antony Beevor’s history of the second world war. Man’s inhumanity to man is so very disappointing, even more disappointing than a malfunctioning EV charger on a wet and windy day. I resolved to dig deep. The human spirit would prevail. If only I could find another human to help me out.

Epstein files: Senators seek probe of DOJ over release, redaction of sex offender's documents

The Department of Justice has come under fire for its handling of documents related to disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Meta disables over 150,000 accounts in crackdown on south-east Asian scam networks

Company also launches tools to spot scammers as Thai police arrest 21 people

Meta disabled more than 150,000 accounts and Thai police arrested 21 people in a sweeping international crackdown on south-east Asian criminal scam centers that targeted people around the world, the social media company said Wednesday.

The operation was led by Thailand’s Royal Thai police anti-cyber scam center, alongside the FBI and the US justice department’s scam center strike force, with Meta investigators acting on intelligence shared in real time by law enforcement.

Will releasing millions of barrels of oil stockpiles really bring down fuel costs?

Despite rare act of multilateralism, there is no guarantee the IEA’s release of 400m barrels from reserves will depress prices

• IEA orders largest ever release of stockpiled oil to reduce crude price

• How the Iran conflict could affect energy prices – video explainer

When the global economy was still in the grip of the devastating 1970s oil crises, exposing the chokehold exerted by a few important oil states, the International Energy Agency (IEA) was created, in the hope of limiting future shocks.

Almost half a century on, the IEA’s 32 members have drawn up plans to hit the emergency button, for only the fifth time in its history.

Consumer prices rose 2.4% annually in February, as expected

The consumer price index in February was expected to show a 2.4% increase from a year ago, according to the Dow Jones consensus.

‘The shine has been taken off’: Dubai faces existential threat as foreigners flee conflict

Tens of thousands of residents and tourists have left UAE since the US and Israel started bombing Iran two weeks ago, leaving beach bars, malls and hotels eerily empty

In the playground of the rich, nobody wanted this war. For decades, Dubai built itself up as a sanctuary of unadulterated consumerism visited by tourists the world over.

But now, the city in the United Arab Emirates faces an existential threat, as the war between the US and Israel and Iran has shaken the foundations of the “Dubai dream” that so many foreigners had bought into.

No Nobles Day: Britain's Parliament boots its last hereditary Lords after 700 years

Government minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said the change put an end to "an archaic and undemocratic principle." The removed aristocrats are 92 of the House of Lords' 800 members.

Investor ban on buying homes stalls housing affordability bill

A bill to increase housing supply and decrease costs is set to sail through the Senate on Thursday, but House leaders foresee further negotiations.

Reminders of Him review – contrived Colleen Hoover romance has its charms

The third big screen adaptation of the BookTok-loved author’s novels is ludicrously plotted yet slickly made and easily consumed

Nearly two years on, it seems we’re still futilely chasing the high of summer 2024. Charli xcx’s hedonistic Brat-era mockumentary just flopped on the big screen. Espresso still plays at the grocery store but doesn’t hit the same. Kamala Harris is maybe considering a run for something. And the movie It Ends With Us, the glossy adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel that became a somewhat surprise late-summer blockbuster, refuses to die.

That film, directed by Justin Baldoni and starring Blake Lively, should have been a Hollywood success story: a deceptively sharp melodrama that proved that frankly sentimental, female-led, 90s-style studio fare could still draw audiences to cinemas, that schlocky BookTok material need not necessarily beget schlocky movies and that Lively could appeal to the Target demographic. Nevertheless, it cast a dark shadow. The legal mudslinging over Baldoni’s alleged sexual harassment on set has tainted primarily her reputation, and extinguished any box office glow. (Lively v Baldoni – her case, not his, as the latter was dismissed – will go to trial in May.) And then there’s the inevitable pipeline of follow-ups with near-guaranteed diminishing returns, the first of which, a dreadful grief / love quadrangle / YA mess called Regretting You, threatened to kill the buzz for CoHo adaptations entirely last October.

Tim Scott hopes Fed Chair Powell investigation 'goes away' to clear Kevin Warsh confirmation

President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair, but the process has been blocked amid a federal investigation into Powell.

‘Dress for who you are’: how to start finding your personal style

Experts share tips on dressing as the most authentic version of yourself and avoiding the draw of the latest microtrends

How would you define your personal style? Is it cottagecore? Tomato girl? Whimsigoth? Quiet luxury? Maybe you don’t know what these terms mean (congratulations) and maybe you do (my condolences).

Like unwelcome nose hairs, new microtrends seem to sprout from the depths of social media every other week. In some ways, their pervasiveness has made style seem more accessible than ever. They reduce aesthetics to mathematical equations that you can solve by buying up a bunch of fast fashion. By the time these cheap, mass-produced items dissolve into microplastics – which they will, quickly – other aesthetic trends will have replaced them.

Tom Gauld on a bookplate for every genre

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Mandelson was offered highly classified briefing before vetting completed

Newly released documents suggest Foreign Office may have begun to brief new US ambassador while higher-level checks ongoing

• UK politics live – latest updates

Peter Mandelson was offered a highly classified briefing from the Foreign Office as US ambassador before he finished the formal vetting process, newly released documents reveal.

The documents were released after the Conservatives forced the disclosures about the appointment of Mandelson, who was sacked in September last year because of his close association with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Who is Markwayne Mullin? Trump ally will bring conservative immigration policies to DHS

Republicans are optimistic about Markwayne Mullin taking over the reins at DHS, while Democrats warn his tenure will be more of the same after Kristi Noem.

Football Daily | Agent of chaos Tudor reduces Spurs rabble to international laughing stock

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If any single moment sums up Igor Tudor’s thus far short but ignominious reign as Tottenham’s interim head coach, it was the sight of the Croatian pointing to his temples as he urged his players to maintain their composure against Atlético Madrid in Madrid on Tuesday. Composure? What composure? Spurs were 3-0 down after 17 minutes and the players in question were watching their goalkeeper trudge disconsolately from the pitch after suffering the public humiliation of being replaced for being rubbish. Studiously ignored by his manager, the crestfallen 22-year-old was followed down the tunnel by a trio of more senior players eager to console their mate. Only Tudor knows why João Palhinha, Conor Gallagher and Dom Solanke weren’t making themselves useful out on the pitch but his decision to leave all three seasoned professionals on the bench for a Bigger Cup tie that always had the potential to become the stuff of nightmares is just one of many inexplicable calls the Croatian has made since replacing Thomas Frank.

Are we looking at the shortest Tudor reign since Lady Jane Grey?” – James Vortkamp-Tong.

I watched Tottenham’s dire game and noticed their current interim manager has the initials ‘IT’ on his jacket. Taking other Stephen King novels into account, wouldn’t MISERY be more appropriate?” – Nigel Sanders.

Imagine a bearded leader who callously throws a young person to the wolves because of their foolhardy desire to radiate power on a Europe-wide stage. This could only be a Tudor regime” – Mark McFadden.

I was shocked on my way to work this morning to see a huge poster for an upcoming London theatrical comedy extravaganza, featuring a tall man in completely inappropriate footwear splayed on the floor while a balding manager type looks on helpless. Apparently it’s called Kinsky Boots?” – James Maltby.

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How the Iran war is disrupting air travel -- and advice if you're planning a trip

The war in Iran is roiling jet fuel prices and airlines are beginning to hike prices, unsettling travelers far from the Middle East. If you're booking a flight soon, here are things to know.

IEA to release 400 million barrels of oil in move to lower energy prices

The emergency oil release — the largest in the multinational organization's history — could help ease oil prices in the short term, according to analysts.

Promotion burnout: why women are quitting the race to be boss

In a survey of 1,000 professional women, more than half said they felt less motivated to progress in their jobs than they did two years ago

Name: Promotion burnout.

Appearance: Disturbingly feminine.

How the Iran war could impact hyperscalers' massive AI buildout in the Middle East

Tech companies have funnelled billions of dollars into Middle East AI projects — the Iran war means questions will be asked about future investments

Howard Schultz leaves Seattle as local lawmakers mull millionaire tax

Howard Schultz said he and his wife will move to Florida as Washington weighs a roughly 10% annual tax on earnings over $1 million.

Jim Ratcliffe gives up Ineos Grenadiers naming rights in €100m rebrand deal

• Danish IT supplier Netcompany is new title sponsor

• Team to be renamed and have a new kit

Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Grenadiers cycling team will be renamed and rebranded with a new lead sponsor and new kit before the start of this year’s Tour de France in Barcelona on 4 July.

The Guardian understands that while Ratcliffe and Ineos head of sport, Dave Brailsford, will retain ownership and management of the team, the new title sponsor of the World Tour cycling team will be the Danish IT supplier Netcompany.

Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics 2026: day five – in pictures

We take a look at the best images from day three of the Games, including curling, cross-country skiing and ice hockey

‘Stunned, sidelined and disunited’: how war in the Middle East paralysed the EU

Amid fears the conflict will strengthen Russia, Ursula von der Leyen’s embrace of US-backed regime change already looks like a doomed strategy

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The message from Ursula von der Leyen was blunt. “Europe can no longer be a custodian for the old-world order” and needs a “more realistic and interest-driven foreign policy”. In a major foreign policy speech this week, the European Commission president said the EU would always “defend and uphold the rules-based system” but in a precarious and chaotic world, that could no longer be relied upon. On the day she spoke, missiles were raining down on Tehran and southern Iran as the war entered its 10th day, proving her point.

Reverberating around Europe, the Middle East conflict has triggered a range of responses. France is sending a dozen naval vessels to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. EU officials convened an ad-hoc summit with Middle Eastern leaders in a show of solidarity with the region. EU humanitarian aid for Lebanon is being dispatched to help 130,000 people, after at least half a million were displaced by Israeli bombs and evacuation orders.

ChatGPT might give you bad medical advice, studies warn

New research finds AI can point people in the wrong direction. And the quality of health information it imparts depends on how well you prompt the tools.

French aid worker among three killed in dronestrike in east DRC, M23 rebels say

Rebel group blames government for attack on residential area of M23-controlled city of Goma

Three people including a French UN aid worker have been killed in a drone attack in Goma, a spokesperson for the M23 rebel group has said.

The attack took place at about 4am on Wednesday in the upmarket residential neighbourhood of Himbi in the city, which has been under M23 occupation since January 2025.

‘I took two bites and had to spit it out’: candy makers are phasing out real cocoa in chocolate

Due to the volatile cocoa market, companies like Hershey are using replacement ingredients such as sugar, oil, milk and nuts

Just before Valentine’s Day, Brad Reese bought a bag of Reese’s Unwrapped Peanut Butter Creme Mini Hearts from his local convenience store in West Palm Beach, Florida. It was a brand-new product, released especially for the holiday, tagline: “We’ll never break your heart.”

Reese is a Reese’s aficionado who makes a point of trying everything the company produces. This isn’t a coincidence: he’s one of the Reeses, a grandson of HB Reese, the former Hershey dairy farmer who invented the peanut butter cup in 1928. Although he’s never worked for Reese’s or Hershey, which acquired the peanut butter cup company in 1963, Reese considers himself a custodian of HB’s legacy. He also takes an avid interest in the Hershey company and its leadership.

Surely if you rule the manosphere, you can be your own boss? These influencers aren’t even that | Elle Hunt

Content creators claim they’ve escaped the 9 to 5, yet as Louis Theroux’s new show reveals, they are mere serfs to algorithms and audiences

Who wouldn’t want to be an influencer? You’re famous and maybe even rich, just for doing what you’d be doing anyway: working out at the gym, hanging out with your mates and mucking about on the internet. You get paid to say what you think (or are at least sent free stuff), and no one’s telling you what to do. Surely only a sucker would do anything else.

At least that is the influencing dream, and many young men are buying into it. “Content creator” has for years been cited as the most desirable career by generation Z and now gen Alpha. The preferred platforms might have changed over time, with streaming on Twitch and Kick now supplanting posting on Instagram and YouTube, but the aspiration remains the same: to escape the drudgery of a desk job.

El Salvador’s mass arrest policy may have led to crimes against humanity, study shows

Experts documented murder, torture and disappearances under president Nayib Bukele’s policy targeting gangs

The draconian mass incarceration policy of El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, may have led to crimes against humanity, according to a new study by legal experts.

By locking up 1.4% of the population without due process, Bukele turned El Salvador from one of Latin America’s most violent countries into one of its least violent – but at the cost of human rights and the rule of law.

Why has one of the world’s great conductors been shown the door?

Andris Nelsons is to leave the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The shock decision is strongly opposed by the players. What is going on, and what, should a music director’s role be? Plus: why Timothée Chalamet is an eejit

The Boston Symphony Orchestra ending its contract with Andris Nelsons, its music director since 2014, has come as a shock to players and conductor alike. “The BSO and Andris Nelsons were not aligned on future vision,” read a terse statement released last week by orchestra’s board and Chad Smith, its president and chief executive. Nelsons will leave the orchestra after the summer 2027 Tanglewood season. In the glacial world of conductorly handovers and orchestral music programming, where decisions are often taken years in advance (look at the LPO), this feels disconcertingly hasty.

The BSO is one of the US’s most distinguished and celebrated of orchestras, one of the so-called “Big Five”. Nelsons won two Grammys with the Boston Symphony players just last month (for Messiaen and Shostakovich), so why has the board decided to end the relationship? Is this a board v players and management spat? There’s no suggestion of any misconduct or breach of contract; perhaps the face-value interpretation is the right one: artistic differences over the orchestra’s “future vision”.

Would Michigan investigators be able to prove murder in a case without a body?

After Dee Warner, a Michigan businesswoman and mother, disappeared from her home, her family believed she has been murdered and suspected her husband Dale Warner. But without physical evidence, they knew it would be hard to prove.

Billboard trolls missing woman's husband suspected of her murder

Dee Warner's brother, Gregg Hardy, says he was being sarcastic when he wrote the billboard in Lenawee County, Michigan, that read "Help Dale Find Dee." Dale Warner denies he ever harmed his wife.

Becky the dog steals the show: John Dean’s best photograph

‘In 1976, Nottingham’s Victorian buildings were being torn down to make way for newer council housing. I’d go to the park and regularly bump into this man. To me, this picture seems very English’

This was taken 50 years ago by my 20-year-old self. I was away from Baltimore for the first time, where I had been at art school while still living at home. My tutor at Maryland Institute College of Art, and his friend, a tutor at Nottingham Trent University, had decided to set up an exchange programme. So I spent one spring semester in Nottingham with no classes to attend: it was strictly photography and strictly on my own, which was kind of new.

I stayed with a young family – I lived on the third floor in their Victorian house. They had a baby boy who turned one when I was there. I have pictures of the birthday. I was really embedded, as they’d say today, with this family. We had dinner together. I remember we made marmalade, using the pips to get the pectin.

Starmer attacks Badenoch and Farage over Iran war support U-turns at raucous PMQs

PM says UK would ‘be at war’ now if it were up to Tory and Reform leaders and accuses both of changing position

• UK politics live – latest updates

Keir Starmer has attacked Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage over their stance on the war in Iran, accusing both of U-turning on their support for Donald Trump.

At a raucous prime minister’s questions, Starmer accused the leader of the opposition of making the “mother of all U-turns” and furiously trying to backpedal after on Tuesday she denied calling for the UK to join the US president’s war on Iran, after previously saying Starmer should do more to “stop the people who are attacking us”.

‘I’ve always had this blind faith’: Morgan Nagler on writing with alt-rock’s biggest names – and making her solo debut at 47

After starting out as a child actor, the US artist found music. Now co-writing with Phoebe Bridgers, Haim and Kim Deal, her dogged, DIY career has been powered by conviction

The title of Morgan Nagler’s solo debut, I’ve Got Nothing to Lose, and I’m Losing It, speaks to the sort of wisdom you can only accrue after several decades in the game, the kind that compels you to put your name to an album for the first time at the age of 47. But Nagler’s MO was there from day one, as an 11-year-old child actor going for a bit part as a popular girl on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. “I showed up and there were 200 girls there,” says Nagler. “I remember thinking, I’m never gonna get this. So I decided to read the lines as a super-nerd.” The producers rewrote the part and hired her to kiss Carlton.

Today, Nagler lives in the same neighbourhood as Will Smith himself – not Bel-Air but a semi-rustic enclave of Malibu, California, albeit in the guesthouse of her friends’ place rather than a celeb mansion. She started acting around age five, after her family moved from rural Oregon to California. She did it for two decades, taking parts in shows including Frasier, Star Trek and Clueless. But, at 26, Nagler jacked it all in to pursue music after realising how fulfilled she was playing guitar in her trailer between takes. Some people told her she was making a mistake, but she knew otherwise. Music, says Nagler, “is the only thing that makes me feel connected in any meaningful way. For me, that’s way more important than comfort or stability. I’ve always had this blind faith.”

Greetings from a Shanghai temple where you can ward off bad luck in the Year of the Horse

According to Chinese mythology, those born in the Year of the Horse will clash with Tai Sui, a heavenly general. Luckily, there are ways to appease Tai Sui, including amulets at Shanghai's Jade Buddha Temple.

Countries agree to a historic release of stockpiled oil to ease global disruption

Members of the International Energy Agency have announced a coordinated release of 400 million barrels of stockpiled oil in an attempt to counter the disruption in oil trade triggered by the Iran war.

Mojtaba Khamenei was hurt in strike that killed his father, Iran’s Cyprus ambassador confirms

Alireza Salarian says Iran’s new supreme leader was lucky to survive strike that killed six of his family members

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was injured in the 28 February attack that killed six of his family members, including his father, Tehran’s ambassador to Cyprus has confirmed.

In an interview conducted at his embassy compound in Nicosia, Alireza Salarian elaborated on the circumstances in which Khamenei, 56, was injured, saying he was lucky to survive the strike, which levelled the late ayatollah’s residence.

Inflation held steady in February before Iran war drove up gas prices

The inflation data captures the period before the Iran war broke out. Since then, oil prices have surged, driving inflation fears.

Ukraine accuses IPC of ‘systemic pressure’ and pro-Russian bias at Winter Paralympics

• Ukrainian team claim athletes have been mistreated

• Allege they had to remove flag from Paralympic village

Team Ukraine have launched a stinging attack on the International Paralympic Committee and Winter Paralympics organisers, claiming they have been under “systemic pressure” to reduce their presence at the Milano Cortina Games.

The Ukraine National Paralympic Committee has made four specific allegations against the IPC and the Milano Cortina organisers, alleging mistreatment of its athletes and a “systematic” attempt to remove flags from the team base and spectators.

Argentina grants asylum to Brasília rioter in move that may sway Brazil vote

Decision to shield pro-Bolsonaro truck driver sentenced for 8 January 2023 attack could inflame Brazil election politics

Argentina has granted asylum to a Brazilian fugitive convicted for his role in 2023 pro-Bolsonaro riots – a decision that analysts say could reverberate in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election.

A week after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, took office, hundreds of people ransacked Brazil’s congress building, presidential palace and supreme court on 8 January 2023, in an attempt to overturn former president Jair Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat. Investigators later concluded the attacks were the culmination of a broader plot aimed at staging a coup.

TSA absences at airports double during shutdown, 300 officers quit

TSA officer call-out rates have climbed into double-digit percentages at some airports, including half the officers at Houston's Hobby Airport, straining screening operations and contributing to longer security lines.

Harold ‘the Kangaroo’ Thornton: the extraordinary, forgotten life of the ‘greatest genius who ever lived’

The Australian artist was a relentless self-promoter, prolific painter and pro wrestler. He loved a tall tale – but his true story was remarkable

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If you checked out the Archibald prize finalists back in 1983, one painting in particular might have caught your eye. Taking up seven feet of wall space, Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz is a psychedelic portrait of the then Greens leader, Bob Brown, rendered in rich colours and filled with hidden details: from faces smuggled into the trees to little green men walking around Brown’s feet.

But just as noteworthy as the painting was the man standing next to it. Clad in hand-painted clothes, with painted false teeth in his mouth and a walking stick he didn’t really need in his hand, stood Harold “the Kangaroo” Thornton, the artist and self-described “greatest genius that ever lived”.

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Jess Cartner Morley on fashion: rugby shirts are key to athleisure’s preppy new makeover

No longer under the tyranny of compression fit leggings, today’s athleisure is something looser, with a wink of nostalgia

Athleisure is not to be confused with serious fitness wear. No one is running a marathon or playing a game of football in the shoes pictured above. Notice how, in a made-up noun that is a compound of athletics and leisure, the first has been shrunk to three letters. The only personal best that concerns you here is having an optimal Saturday morning.

Athleisure is fashion, not kit, so it moves with the times just as much as it moves with you. And it looks very different now than a few years ago, when every outfit was anchored by snazzy leggings. Tight legging sets with dazzling graphics were the parade uniform of the imperial age of Lycra. Under the cheerful tyranny of compression fit, starburst-pattern leggings with matching sports bras ruled the roost. These were outfits designed to be watched in a mirror with a rousing soundtrack: perky and sculpting, lingerie-like in their obsession with matching two-piece sets and with bottoms.

Meta rolls out in-house AI chips weeks after massive Nvidia, AMD deals

Meta's latest generations of its MTIA series of in-house chips for artificial intelligence will help support the company's massive data center expansion plans.

An earthquake anniversary and a Renaissance exhibition: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

Porsche to cut more jobs after costly reversal of electric car strategy

German carmaker has struggled with rising competition in China, a key market for European luxury brands

Porsche is to cut more jobs after profits were largely cancelled out by a costly writedown on reversing its electric car strategy, as the luxury manufacturer also battled a prolonged sales slump in China.

The German carmaker appointed a new chief executive, Michael Leiters, on 1 January after four profit warnings last year that also contributed to it tumbling out of Germany’s DAX stock index.

What is the SAVE America Act? What to know about the bill Trump is pushing

President Trump and his allies are pushing Senate Republicans to pass an elections-related bill known as the SAVE America Act.

Vehicle crashes into barricade near White House, Secret Service investigating

A vehicle crashed into a barricade near the White House on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

‘The moon is safe’: asteroid is not on collision course, scientists confirm

ESA’s Planetary Defence team allays fears 100-metre-wide object could hit Earth’s moon and disrupt satellites

Fears that a 100-metre-wide asteroid could be on course to collide with the moon appear to have been misplaced, according to new observations.

Discovered in December 2024, asteroid 2024 YR4 was briefly considered the “most dangerous asteroid” in decades after scientists initially estimated it had a 3.1% chance of colliding with the Earth in 2032. Closer observations quickly ruled out a “city killer” scenario, but instead astronomers calculated there was a 4.3% chance that the moon lay in the path of impact.

Global Entry program restored as DHS shutdown continues

Officers normally assigned to process Global Entry travelers had been reassigned to process other arriving travelers during the pause.

Tornadoes hit Illinois, Indiana and Texas as severe storms sweep US

Two people killed in Indiana as officials warn millions from Texas to Michigan remain at risk of severe weather

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A series of tornadoes hit parts of Texas, Illinois, and Indiana late Tuesday and overnight, as forecasters warn that the threat of severe weather, including flooding, will continue on Wednesday for tens of millions of people from Texas to Michigan.

At least four tornado touchdowns were reported in eastern Illinois, the National Weather Service (NWS) said, leaving a trail of damage stretching into Indiana, where at least two people were killed.

At least 65 Nigerian soldiers killed in jihadist raids in country’s north-east

Gunmen from Islamic State West Africa Province overran four military bases and abducted 300 civilians, say reports

At least 65 Nigerian soldiers have been killed in jihadist raids across the country’s north-east in the last two weeks, as the west African state battles to contain one of the world’s deadliest terror groups.

On 5 and 6 March, gunmen from Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) overran four military bases in Borno state, the epicentre of the insurgency. Nigerian daily the Punch reported that about 40 soldiers were killed in total in these attacks.

First grizzly of 2026 spotted at Yellowstone, feeding on bison carcass

An image of the sighting showed the massive bear standing over the carcass near Yellowstone Lake.

Iran’s sports minister says football team will not play at 2026 World Cup

• Participation ruled out after killing of Khamenei

• Trump said to have told Infantino Iran are welcome

The prospect of Iran playing at this summer’s World Cup appears remote after the country’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, said on Wednesday that “under no circumstances can we participate”.

Donyamali is the first Iranian government representative to address the issue of the World Cup since the US, one of the co-hosts, began bombing the country with backing from Israel 10 days ago.

How to Make a Killing review – one man on a bloody quest for his inheritance is a remake too far

Glen Powell tries his best as a desperate serial killer in this update of Kind Hearts and Coronets, but it’s a mere pretender to the original’s throne

Remaking Robert Hamer’s 1949 British classic Kind Hearts and Coronets – the greatest Ealing Studios comedy and, in my own fevered opinion, the greatest film of all time – needs the chutzpah of Cecilia Giménez, the amateur Spanish artist who “restored” a painting of Christ and left him looking like a gibbon. This remake isn’t actually quite as gibbony as it could have been. But as with the Coen Brothers’ uneasy version of Ealing’s The Ladykillers, or indeed Todd Phillips’ heavy-handed remake of Hamer’s School for Scoundrels, the question is: why do it at all, especially when the new American setting means losing the all-important element of class-consciousness and class shame?

The original starred Dennis Price as Louis, an Edwardian draper’s assistant who is distant heir to a dukedom, and who is living in genteel poverty because his late mother was cruelly rejected by her snobbish family for marrying beneath her – for love, in fact. Louis vengefully sets out to murder all the family members that stand between him and the coronet – and all of them are expertly played by Alec Guinness, a Fregoli nightmare in which all Louis’s enemies are the same entitled monster. Joan Greenwood plays Sibella, the cynical minx whose snobbish cruelties trigger Louis’s plan, and Valerie Hobson is Edith, the refined widow of one of his victims with whom he falls in love.

How to use up limp herbs in a flavoured butter – recipe | Waste not

A tasty and easy way to give a small bunch of drooping herbs a new lease of life

Compound butter is simply butter that’s been mixed with flavourings, both sweet and savoury, and is a tasty and easy way to give a small bunch of tired herbs new life. It can be melted over vegetables, stirred through pasta, grains or pulses, basted over meat or fish, spread on toast, or frozen in slices to use a little at a time. Think of this less as a recipe and more as a framework: taste as you go and decide whether you want something bold and explosive or a more gentle experience.

‘Imagine, if everyone had a sex auntie’: Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah on tradition as a basis for pleasure

The author tells how chronicling the sex lives of African women led her to many examples of openness around the body grounded in love and care

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I first met Nana five years ago. The Ghanaian writer had just published The Sex Lives of African Women, a book I still think about often for how surprising and eye-opening its accounts of contemporary, quietly radical sexual practices in parts of the continent are.

She is back with Seeking Sexual Freedom: African Rites, Rituals and Sankofa in the Bedroom. When I spoke to her, I found a writer in transition who is still as surprising.

2 dead in Indiana as tornadoes devastate homes, communities in Midwest

A string of tornadoes touched down in multiple states as severe weather stretched from Texas to Michigan.

Foreign hacker reportedly breached FBI servers holding Epstein files in 2023

Cybercriminal reportedly accessed a server at the FBI’s New York field office, according to a source and DoJ documents

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A foreign hacker compromised files relating to the FBI’s investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a break-in at the bureau’s New York field office three years ago, according to ​a source familiar with the matter and recently published justice department documents reviewed by Reuters.

The details of who accessed a server at the FBI’s New York field office, ‌including the allegation that a foreign hacker was involved, are being reported here for the first time.

MoneyWatch price tracker shows how much food, utility, housing costs are rising

These charts track prices consumers pay for groceries and other goods now compared to five years ago.

Weekly mortgage demand from homebuyers increased despite big interest rate volatility

Mortgage rates surged higher last week to due rising oil prices, causing a recent boom in refinancing to pull back.

Tornadoes devastate parts of Midwest: "Complete annihilation of homes"

A string of tornadoes touched down in at least five states, leveling entire blocks in some communities. The storm system also dumped softball-sized hail in some areas. Lana Zak reports.

Bam Adebayo just scored 83 points in a game. Was it down to brilliance or stat padding?

The Miami Heat star scored the second-most points in a game in NBA history on Tuesday night. Some may question exactly how he got there

Second in points, last in ethics?

That will be the accusation against the Miami Heat and Bam Adebayo, after the big man moved into second on the NBA’s single-game scoring list with 83 points against the woeful Washington Wizards on Tuesday. Adebayo surpassed the 81 points that Kobe Bryant scored in a 2006 game and left only Wilt Chamberlain, with 100 in a game in 1962, ahead of him on the all-time list.

Oracle stock jumps 10% on earnings beat and increased guidance as cloud revenue climbs 44%

Oracle boosted its revenue backlog total by $30 billion during the February quarter.

‘Severe water stress’: why desalination plants are the Gulf’s greatest weakness

Recent attack on plants led to fears of escalating strikes, but Iran knows drought has left it equally vulnerable

• Middle East crisis – live updates

In 1983, the CIA determined that the most crucial commodity in the Gulf was its desalinated potable water.

Although the loss of a single plant could be handled, “successful attacks on several plants in the most dependent countries could generate a national crisis that could lead to panic flights from the country and civil unrest”. And the greatest threat to the region’s water supply? “Iran.”

Edinburgh international festival will explore America’s creativity and cruelty, says director

August festival presents largest-ever jazz programme alongside full-scale operas and Scottish folk music

This year’s Edinburgh international festival will showcase American art that celebrates the creativity and energy of the US, while also exposing its cruelty and hypocrisy, its director has said.

Nicola Benedetti, the Grammy-award winning violinist now presenting her fourth festival, said Donald Trump’s explosive second term as president made that quest more important than ever.

At 56, I woke to silence: the strange, sudden loss that changed everything

Since the US has no federal mandate for hearing aid coverage, I found myself in a quandary – I couldn’t communicate with the hearing or the deaf

At the end of my second American Sign Language (ASL) class, during which I had fingerspelled my name Deborah as “F-E-B-O-R-A-H”, I thought it prudent to type a question into my Notes app rather than trying to fingerspell it. “How do I sign, ‘I’m hearing impaired?’” I wrote, showing the typed sentence to my teacher, Courtney Rodriguez. Then I pointed to one of my hearing aids.

Sixty percent of ASL, Courtney had just taught us, consists of non-manual markers, meaning most of the communication in ASL comes from facial expressions. Puffed cheeks, for example, indicates something big. Pursed lips means small. From the puffed cheeks and pained look on my deaf teacher’s face, I could sense I had hit a big nerve.

Amazon's Zoox partners with Uber to reach more robotaxi riders — first in Las Vegas, then LA

A multiyear partnership will put Zoox robotaxis on the Uber app for riders in Las Vegas this summer, extending to Los Angeles in 2027.

My mother’s best advice: wear bold, bright colours

I used to hide away in all-black sport-core until I allowed myself to wear space-age silver dresses or a large-collared, lemony faux-fur coat

Maybe adolescence wasn’t the ideal time to receive my mother’s advice to wear an array of colours. What better way to express how you feel on any given day, and convey that mood to the world, she would say. It was important to the eye, to the soul.

It really isn’t the best advice to give any teenager, especially a sulky one who’s hoping to disappear in baggy, all-black sport-core. I’d cringe when she would try to push big, loud colours on me on shopping trips, talking in what I thought was mumbo jumbo about mood-lifting lilacs, energising reds and skin-warming oranges.

The Spin | How a small town near São Paulo made Brazil a standard bearer for cricket’s global growth

A chance romance helped Poços de Caldas become a hotbed for the sport that, from East Timor to Nigeria, is spreading its wings like never before

In the south-east of Brazil, about 250km due north of São Paulo, lies the town of Poços de Caldas, home to about 150,000 people and remarkable for a few reasons: its thermal baths, its magmatic rock structure – the town is home to Brazil’s first uranium ore concentration plant – and its love of cricket.

“You walk down the street and you have people with English shirts, with Australian shirts, people with Test match names and numbers on their white polos,” says Roberta Moretti Avery. “You walk around Poços de Caldas, you feel like you’re in a foreign country with how much cricket stuff is walking around.”

Why Black women playing villains on screen still feels controversial

In the wake of discourse surrounding Teyana Taylor’s Perfidia in One Battle After Another, a familiar debate has resurfaced about what happens when Black women play morally ambiguous characters on screen

In one scene in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, Teyana Taylor’s character, Perfidia Beverly Hills, is more focused on seducing Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson (then still known as “Ghetto Pat”) than on the bomb exploding just feet away from them. In another scene, she holds Sean Penn’s Steven J Lockjaw at gunpoint while simultaneously provoking an erection. These are some of the perceived brazen, morally slippery choices Perfidia makes that have unsettled some viewers since the movie’s premiere.

“I absolutely hate what this means for the representation of Black women in Hollywood,” YouTuber and cultural commentator Jouelzy said in a video posted a day after Taylor won the Golden Globe award for best supporting actress. “So often the institutional powers that be only reward us for portrayals that are stereotypical characters of Black women. One Battle After Another was such an offensive film.”

Americans skeptical of the Iran war, poll says. And, DOJ gives guns back to felons

A majority of Americans oppose the U.S.' involvement in the war with Iran, according to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. And, the Department of Justice is quietly restoring gun rights to felons.

‘Happy (and safe) shooting!’: chatbots helped researchers plot deadly attacks

Users posing as would-be school shooters find AI tools offer detailed advice on how to perpetrate violence

Popular AI chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks including bombing synagogues and assassinating politicians, with one telling a user posing as a would-be school shooter: “Happy (and safe) shooting!”

Tests of 10 chatbots carried out in the US and Ireland found that, on average, they enabled violence three-quarters of the time, and discouraged it in just 12% of cases. Some chatbots, however, including Anthropic’s Claude and Snapchat’s My AI, persistently refused to help would-be attackers.

Clubs propose radical redistribution of riches to avoid ‘predictable’ Champions League

• Union of European Clubs wants to help non-elite teams

• Its plan relates to revenue from Uefa club competitions

Competitive balance across Europe’s leagues would be transformed with the adoption of a new model for distributing revenue from the Champions League and other Uefa club competitions, according to a proposal by the Union of European Clubs (UEC).

Clubs competing in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League benefit this season from a bumper €3.317bn (£2.87bn) prize pot, culled from annual €4.4bn revenue primarily generated by media rights sales. Only €308m of the latter figure is divided among clubs who did not reach those competitions, in the form of solidarity payments.

Peak interest: Toronto’s snow mountains that refuse to melt are a toxic hazard

Reaching up to 100ft, these massive piles contain tonnes of salt that keep roads clear – but pose environmental risks

Most mountains take tens of millions of years to form. Toronto’s newest mountain took just days.

Towering atop the crowns of evergreens, it has no skeleton of limestone or granite. There are no spires, cornices or headwalls. It is simply piles upon piles of snow, mixed with a toxic cocktail of road salt, antifreeze, oil, coffee cups and lost keys. It is the final resting place for the forces of nature that have battered the city in recent weeks – and a daunting environmental hazard.

Experts fear ‘unethical’ vaccine trial in Africa is ‘prototype’ for US studies under RFK Jr

Danish researchers whose work on effects of vaccines has been called into question are at center of US vaccine policy

New details are leading experts to fear that an “unethical” vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau is the “prototype” for studies under Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US department of health and human services (HHS) and longtime vaccine critic.

At the center of US vaccine policy is an unlikely set of Danish researchers whose work on the health effects of vaccines has been called into question. The study in Guinea-Bissau would have looked at the overall health effects of giving hepatitis B vaccines by only vaccinating half of the newborns in the study at birth despite an 18% prevalence rate in adults of the illness, which can lead to serious and sometimes fatal health consequences.

Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea FC sale cash may be under investigation as ‘proceeds of crime’

Documents filed at Companies House over 2022 deal could complicate row with UK over how money will be used

Jersey authorities may be investigating whether cash raised by Roman Abramovich’s 2022 sale of Chelsea FC amounts to the proceeds of crime, according to documents filed at Companies House on Wednesday, potentially complicating a row with the UK government over how the money will be used.

Accounts for Fordstam Ltd, the company through which the billionaire Russian oligarch owned Chelsea, show that the proceeds of the sale – currently frozen and gathering interest in a Barclays Bank account – have risen to £2.4bn.

Sharks are taking a bigger bite of fishermen's catch in Hawaii

The growing incidents, known as shark depredation, have grown common in Hawaii's coastal waters and other parts of the Pacific.

‘When I leave, part of me stays’: why Scarborough’s youth won’t turn their backs on the seaside town they love

Hemmed in by the sea and poor transport links, many young people from the Yorkshire town feel trapped, but there is also a pride in the area

It’s the morning after a wet and stormy day in the Yorkshire seaside town of Scarborough. The waves, which the previous day had been crashing dramatically on the harbour walls, have calmed and a few brave souls have entered the water with surfboards. There is a man throwing a ball for his dog on the beach and a kayaker bobbing on the waves.

Just up from the seafront in the centre of town, Jack and Charlie, both 17, are leaning forward listening to a story from 19-year-old Keane about his recent visit to a drama school in London, where he is hoping to apply for a place on an actor training course once he has saved enough money.

Scarborough, on the North Yorkshire coast, was one of England’s first seaside resorts

The US-Israeli strategy failed to defeat Iran quickly – now they are moving to plan B | Paul Rogers

It’s called the Dahiya doctrine – and the IDF and US air force are using it to destroy domestic support in Iran

• Paul Rogers is emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford University and author of Losing Control: International Security in the 21st Century

Given the wall-to-wall coverage of the US and its war on Iran, it looks very much like Trump is the key player. He is not. The United States may have far more military power than Israel, but the key player is Benjamin Netanyahu.

Moreover, the Israeli prime minister has fallen into a trap of his own making, and is dragging Trump and the US military into that same trap. For Israel, and indirectly for the US, the war has to end in total victory. Anything less is pointless.

Paul Rogers is emeritus professor of peace studies at Bradford University and author of Losing Control: International Security in the 21st Century

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 U.S. attacks Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz

Attacks and counterattacks continued throughout the Middle East Wednesday. Two cargo ships were struck in the Gulf, as some lawmakers in Washington pressed for answers on the war's rationale.

Over puppy yoga? Try it with snakes.

You've heard of yoga with kittens, and goats, and maybe even reindeer… but what about a bunch of pythons and one baby Columbian Common Boa named Mango?

How gen Z women are conquering country music: ‘Fans are speaking louder than gatekeepers’

This month, Ella Langley and Megan Moroney became the first pair of women in country music to top both the US albums and singles charts

Country radio still has a gender parity problem. That hasn’t stopped Ella Langley and Megan Moroney from achieving historic success. Last week, Langley and Moroney became the first two women in country music ever to top the all-genre Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts simultaneously. Langley’s Choosin’ Texas unseated Taylor Swift’s Opalite to claim its second non-consecutive week atop the singles chart, while Moroney’s album Cloud 9 reached number one thanks to Target exclusive physical editions and strong streaming numbers.

“These aren’t flukes or one-off viral hits,” said Leslie Fram, co-founder and CEO of FEMco, a Nashville-based consulting collective. “Megan Moroney built her base through relentless touring and social buzz. Ella Langley’s incredible song has real staying power and even non-country crossover appeal.

‘LOL THAT’S IT?’: politics aside, the UFC’s White House card isn’t worth the price of admission | Karim Zidan

Donald Trump promised that June’s event would bring us some of the greatest fights in history. The truth appears to be rather different

When Donald Trump first announced that the White House would host a UFC event to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary, the US president told supporters it would be a “big deal”. Evidence over the last week suggests that, not for the first time, Trump may be exaggerating a little.

Trump has promised a spectacle unlike anything the UFC has staged before. “They’re going to have eight or nine championship fights – the biggest fights they’ve ever had,” Trump said in December of plans for the White House event. “Every one is a championship fight, and every one is a legendary type of fight.”

Do Not Go Gentle by Kathleen Stock review – the case against euthanasia

The philosopher offers a measured and reasonable argument against assisted dying

In this admirably clear and cogent book, the philosopher Kathleen Stock sets out the case against state-sanctioned assisted dying. Her immediate objection is to the end of life bill currently before the House of Lords, but her opposition extends to the principle in general. This is a polemic, but a polite one. Stock says she hopes that by the end of it we will share her objection to the ‘‘institutionalisation of death”.

It is not a popular place to start. Polls over the past few years consistently show that around three-quarters of Britons are in favour of assisted dying for terminally ill people. But Stock has never been afraid of swimming upstream. In 2021, she resigned from the University of Sussex following protests by some staff and students over her views, set out in the book Material Girls, that sex is binary and immutable and that this, rather than gender identity, should be the basis of laws to protect women.