FDA approves higher dose version of weight loss drug Wegovy as Novo Nordisk tries to win back market share

The high-dose Wegovy helped patients with obesity lose an average 20.7% of their weight after 72 weeks in a phase three trial.

Epstein's lawyer tells Congress he had "no knowledge whatsoever" of crimes

Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer testified to the House Oversight Committee that he "had no knowledge whatsoever" of his client's crimes.

Midtjylland v Nottingham Forest: Europa League last 16, second leg – live

⚽ Updates from the 5.45pm GMT kick-off in Denmark
⚽ Live scores | Read Football Daily | Mail Daniel

Question: what is the exact thing the Premier League – and wider world of football – does not need?

Answer: this.

Ex-FBI agents who worked on Trump 2020 election probe sue over firings

Two former FBI agents who helped investigate President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results sued the federal government, alleging they were wrongfully terminated.

Middle East crisis live: Israeli officials push back on US claim that Trump knew nothing about gasfield attack

Three Israeli officials tell Reuters that the US actually helped coordinate Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gasfield

• A visual guide to the oil and gas site attacks in the Middle East

Turning to Australia now, a petrol tsar will manage “unprecedented” supply issues caused by the Middle East conflict as the finishing touches are put on measures to address dire shortages in many regional areas.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese convened a snap virtual meeting of the national cabinet on Thursday to discuss major price shocks and shortages driven by the US-Israel war on Iran.

My government will be announcing more measures to prepare the nation for supply chain challenges over coming days and weeks.

Our fuel supply is currently secure. However, I want us to be over-prepared.

Trump confirms he will ask Congress for $200bn to fund war on Iran, calling it ‘a small price to pay’ – US politics live

President says there are a ‘lot of reasons’ for extra funding without going into details about those reasons

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Answering a reporter’s question on Iran’s missile capabilities, considering the country has managed to strike numerous states in the Gulf, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said Tehran retains “some capability” to attack American assets.

“They came into this fight with a lot of weapons.,” he said, adding that the US continues to be “as aggressive and assertive” in striking Iran.

Indian film board blocks release of Oscar-nominated Gaza drama The Voice of Hind Rajab

Distributor says authorities warned screening Tunisian film-maker Kaouther Ben Hania’s docudrama could harm India–Israel relations

The Indian release of The Voice of Hind Rajab, the Oscar-nominated Tunisian film about the death of a five-year-old girl during the Israel-Gaza war, has been blocked by the country’s ratings body, according to the film’s Indian distributor.

In a report by Variety, Manoj Nandwana of Mumbai-based Jai Viratra Entertainment said that he was told that if the film was released, it would “break up” India-Israel relations.

Traders now see little chance of an interest rate cut this year following Fed decision

All of the positive economic talk out of this week's Federal Reserve meeting had a negative impact on investors

Concerns raised over ex-Putin interpreter’s key role in monitoring Hungary vote

Daria Boyarskaya coordinating OSCE mission overseeing vote in which pro-Moscow Viktor Orbán could lose power

Hungarian rights groups have raised concerns over the appointment of Vladimir Putin’s former interpreter to a key role in an international election monitoring mission, amid fears of Russian interference ahead of Hungary’s crucial vote next month.

Daria Boyarskaya, who worked for many years for Russia’s foreign ministry and interpreted in numerous high-level meetings including one between Putin and Donald Trump, is now a senior adviser at the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE-PA), based in Vienna. She is coordinating the body’s mission to monitor next month’s parliamentary election in Hungary.

Trump administration is deporting parents without their children in violation of its own policies, report finds

Dozens said they weren’t given chance to arrange care for their kids after being deported at short notice, study shows

The Trump administration is deporting a significant number of parents without asking them if they have children or allowing them to decide whether to bring their children with them, in apparent violation of its own policies, a major report has found.

In interviews with dozens of parents deported to Honduras, as well as physicians and psychologists, government officials and staff at reception centers for deportees, researchers found that many parents were deported quickly after they were detained, without a chance to arrange for the care of their children.

Photo of Michigan synagogue attacker shows him with AR-style rifle

The man who attacked a synagogue in Michigan last week sent a photo of himself with the AR-style rifle he had during the attack to a family member in Lebanon, according to a U.S. official.

Uber to invest up to $1.25 billion in EV maker Rivian in deal to launch 50,000 robotaxis

Uber plans to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian as part of a deal to deploy up to 50,000 robotaxis in several countries through 2031.

Meningitis vaccine eligibility expanded after Kent outbreak rises to 27

Anyone who was at Club Chemistry in Canterbury from 5 March to 15 March advised to get antibiotics and vaccination

The government has announced a major expansion in vaccination against meningitis in Kent after seven new cases of the disease were confirmed in the county, taking the total number of cases to 27.

On a visit to the University of Kent, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, said anyone who attended the Club Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury from 5 March until 15 March should come forward for antibiotics and vaccination.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come review – comedy horror sequel goes big and you should stay home

There’s even more screaming, running, swearing and exploding rich people in a follow-up to the 2019 sleeper hit that expands mythology we didn’t need expanded

To give 2019’s grating comedy horror Ready or Not some reluctant credit, it did arrive before Trump-era eat-the-rich became an entire, increasingly exhausting subgenre in itself. The film, about a woman finding out her new husband’s wealthy family members are game-playing devil-worshippers, was clearly indebted to/inspired by Get Out, but it landed before The Menu, Blink Twice, Triangle of Sadness, The Hunt, Knives Out, Infinity Pool, Opus and the many, many others, a medal for speed if not much else.

The follow-up has then taken a surprising amount of time, mostly due to the team behind it (directing duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) being busy with the rebooted Scream franchise as well as toothless vampire dud Abigail, but also one imagines because of the difficulties in extending a film in which everyone, bar final girl, had spontaneously combusted at the end. In a world where both horror and superhero franchises have increasingly started to resemble daytime soaps in their absurd, no-rules-apply plotting (not dead, all a dream, different universe, etc), Ready or Not 2: Here I Come was still inevitable regardless of logic. What’s odd given the seven-year gap is that the second film takes place directly after the first, a la Halloween II, with heroine Grace, played by Samara Weaving, looking noticeably, understandably different.

Nigel Farage stops accepting Cameo requests after revelations about his use of platform

Reform leader ‘unavailable’ on service after Guardian investigation unearths clips of him repeating extremist slogans

• Farage videos reveal support for rioter, neo-Nazi event and far-right slogans

Nigel Farage has stopped using the personalised video platform Cameo after revelations that the Reform UK leader has filmed a string of highly questionable paid-for clips.

On Thursday morning, Farage’s page on the website said he was “unavailable”, and a source said he had paused his use of the platform over security concerns.

New bill would bar ICE raids near World Cup matches in US host cities

Nellie Pou’s bill follows refusal of ICE chief Todd Lyons to rule out enforcement near stadiums and fan festivals

A New Jersey congresswoman introduced legislation on Thursday to block immigration enforcement from conducting raids within a mile of a Fifa World Cup soccer match or fan festival in the US this summer.

The Save the World Cup bill, introduced by Nellie Pou, a Democrat, is meant to assure visitors that they will not be detained and to remove the chilling effect of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations on the events, she said in a release. The World Cup’s first US match begins on 12 June.

January new home sales plunge to the lowest pace since 2022

New home sales fell to the lowest level in four years, despite lower interest rates and builder incentives.

Lollipop people: share your experiences of the job

We are looking to speak to lollipop people about their experiences on the job

Lollipop people in Suffolk have become the latest neon-clad, road patrollers to don body cams amid a rise in abuse. We are looking to speak to lollipop people about their experiences on the job.

The council has launched a six-week awareness campaign called “Lollipops Aren’t Just For Children” to remind drivers to slow down, be patient, and show respect at patrol points. The cameras have been used by school crossing patrols in Greater Manchester, Clacton and Basildon for similar reasons.

Meta to cut back on third-party vendors in favor of AI for content enforcement

Meta is beginning a multiyear rollout of more advanced AI systems that will handle content enforcement-related tasks like catching scams and illegal media.

Can prolonged eye contact really make couples feel closer?

I made my husband stare into my eyes for four minutes, on the advice of a happiness researcher. Did it work?

In January, business professor and happiness researcher Arthur C Brooks appeared on the Modern Wisdom podcast to offer advice on optimizing morning and evening routines. His tips seemed reasonable – think exercising early and no alcohol before bed. Then, for couples, he made a kookier suggestion: every night before going to sleep, spend five minutes holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes.

“This is the best thing ever,” he enthuses, explaining that it can help with mood management and to strengthen your relationship.

I asked AI to explain my mother to me. It translated her worldview

A chatbot won’t fix your family drama, but it might help you hear what someone’s really trying to say

• Sign up for AI for the People, a six-week newsletter course, here

Last autumn, I was pacing my living room with my phone on speaker, trapped inside one of those looping conversations with my mother, the kind that starts politely and ends in static.

We were talking about land and legacy – what gets passed down, and what doesn’t – that familiar terrain where ideals and inheritance collide.

Denmark reportedly flew blood bags to Greenland in preparation for a US attack

Amid Trump threats, Copenhagen also sent over explosives intended to blow up runways, according to Danish media

Denmark reportedly readied itself for potential attack from the US in January – flying bags of blood to Greenland and explosives to blow up runways in case of a battle with its former closest ally.

During the tense days when Donald Trump threatened to take over Greenland – a largely autonomous territory that is part of the Danish commonwealth – “the hard way”, Copenhagen was so shaken that it started preparing for US invasion, according to Danish public broadcaster DR.

Tesla faces intensifying NHTSA probe of 'Full Self-Driving' in reduced visibility

The investigation involves Model S, X, 3, Y and Cybertruck EVs that can use the company's FSD-branded driver assistance systems.

‘Doomsday scenario’: a visual guide to the oil and gas site attacks in the Middle East

Attacks on facilities by both sides in the conflict this week threaten grave consequences for the global economy

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The escalating attacks on key oil and gas projects in the Middle East are expected to fuel a new phase of the ongoing conflict, with profound consequences for the world’s energy supplies and the global economy.

The Iran regime has vowed to target a string of key energy infrastructure across the region after warning that an Israeli strike on a production facility for its largest gasfield at South Pars on Wednesday had ignited a “full-scale economic war”.

ICE detainee deaths on record pace, with Afghan one of latest to die

Even after accounting for record-high detention populations, the rate of deaths per 10,000 ICE detainees was the highest in 2025 than in any year since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

Trump's DHS pick Markwayne Mullin advances out of Senate committee after tough confirmation hearing

President Donald Trump tapped Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., earlier this month to replace Kristi Noem.

Gabbard, intel officials face more sharp questions on Iran war at House hearing

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard faced another round of sharp questions about the Iran war from lawmakers on Thursday

Senate committee advances Markwayne Mullin's nomination for DHS secretary

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced Sen. Markwayne Mullin's nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

'Movement never lies': 100 years of the Martha Graham Dance Company

Graham was a creative force in the performing arts. She wanted dance to express authentic, human emotions — a revolutionary idea in the late 1920s.

California spot ties U.S. temperature record for March amid heat wave

A California desert community tied the highest March temperature ever recorded in the U.S., amid a record-breaking winter heat wave in the Southwest.

‘The male ego is even more fragile than it ever was’: Kim Gordon on shyness, AI and Zohran Mamdani’s cool

As she releases her new solo album, Play Me, the former Sonic Youth star answers your questions on acting for Kristen Stewart, doing Basquiat’s photocopying, and who really invented punk rock

Did you plan to change rock music for ever? Were you envisaging a decades-long career, or was it all a bit more haphazard? Nepthsolem
When Sonic Youth first started, there had been such a high bar set for music that achieved something that people hadn’t done before, it was difficult to know how to add to that. There was the Velvet Underground, who cast a huge shadow, and then all the no wave bands, and when you’re faced with all that coolness, and you feel like you don’t belong, how do you make something happen? You have to focus on the thrill of making something that is like nothing that existed before. It sounds pretentious to say, “We wanted to do something new”, but that was it, and then you have to see what happens. And that’s still my approach. Honestly, I had no intention of doing solo records – I’d been playing in an improv-based project with Bill Nace, Body/Head, but that was all. And it was this producer in LA, Justin Raisen, he kept bugging me to make a solo record. There was no plan; in the end, again, I was like, let’s see what happens.

Your memoir, Girl in a Band, is one of my favourites. It reads almost like a novel. Have you ever considered writing a novel? timwthornton
I’ve thought about it. I consider myself more as a visual artist who writes, rather than a writer. I won’t say I won’t ever try to write a novel, but writing is always a challenge, just the getting started part, and I’m such a procrastinator. But once I get into it, I really, really enjoy it. It’s the thinking I love. A lot of times I actually don’t know what I think about something until I start writing about it.

Barcelona thrash Newcastle while Spurs offer a glimmer of hope – Football Weekly Extra

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Mark Langdon to review Wednesday night’s Champions League action and to look ahead to the Carabao Cup final

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email.

Barcelona hit seven against Newcastle at Camp Nou. The visitors equalised a couple of times but Barça kept scoring and scoring and scoring.

Liam Rosenior reveals Chelsea have ‘dealt’ with mole behind team leaks

• ‘It’s not come from any place of malicious intent’

• Manager has spoken to Fernández ‘at length’ about future

Liam Rosenior has revealed that Chelsea have found the mole leaking team news. The starting XI was published by French media before the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain. A week later, it also emerged before kick-off that Wesley Fofana was not in the lineup and that Trevoh Chalobah and Jorrel Hato were at centre-back.

“We know [who it is],” Rosenior said. “And it’s not come from any place of malicious intent to me or the team. We know where it’s come from and we’ve dealt with the situation.” Rosenior did not elaborate but it is understood that the information did not come from a player or staff member.

NHS was ‘on brink of collapse’ during pandemic, Covid inquiry finds

Heather Hallett says ‘superhuman’ efforts of workers were at times the only reason health service survived

• UK politics live – latest updates

The NHS “teetered on the brink of collapse” during the Covid pandemic and only managed to survive thanks to the “superhuman” efforts of healthcare workers, an official inquiry has concluded.

In a damning assessment of how the UK’s healthcare systems dealt with the unprecedented pressure of the pandemic, the Covid-19 inquiry chair, Heather Hallett, said the impact of the virus was “devastating” due to the NHS being in a “parlous state” before the outbreak.

The NHS entered the pandemic with low bed numbers, high numbers of staff vacancies and high bed occupancy, meaning it was already in a “precarious position” and ill-prepared to deal with a pandemic.

There was not enough PPE at the start of the pandemic, meaning healthcare workers had to put themselves and their families at risk to care for patients.

Infection control in the early stages of the pandemic was flawed as it assumed Covid-19 was spread by physical contact, rather than being airborne.

The “stay home, protect the NHS, save lives” public message may have inadvertently led to a decline in hospital attendance of life-threatening emergencies such as heart attacks.

80% of healthcare professionals said they acted in a way that conflicted with their values during the pandemic, with some saying they felt they were “playing God” as they were unable to give everyone the treatment they needed.

Pete Hegseth says "largest strike package yet" coming today in Iran war

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. has struck more than 7,000 targets across Iran since the war began.

Through the Centuries: Songs of Madeleine Dring album review – puts paid to any idea that she was not a serious composer

(Chandos)
Whately/Drake
Kitty Whately and Julius Drake perform the fervent, fun and intoxicating works of a British musician whose fresh assessment is richly deserved

Born in 1923, Madeleine Dring studied at the Royal College of Music, where her teachers included Herbert Howells and Vaughan Williams. An unconventional career, including stints in theatre, pantomime and cabaret, was cut short by her death from a brain aneurysm at 53. Already considered a maverick, the fact that much of her music remained unpublished until the late 1990s threatened to condemn her to obscurity.

Enter Kitty Whately and Julius Drake, whose wide-ranging survey puts paid to any idea that Dring was not a serious composer. Drawing on poets from Shakespeare and his Elizabethan colleagues to the composer’s contemporaries, Dring’s canny knack for word-setting proves as effective as her ability to find a distinctive new melody for an old chestnut such as It Was a Lover and His Lass.

The Barbecue at No 9 by Jennie Godfrey audiobook review – secrets and lies in suburbia

Gemma Whelan and Stephen Mangan are among the cast in this multi-voiced tale of family tensions and trauma, set during the 1985 Live Aid charity concert

It is July 1985, two days before Live Aid, the historic charity concert taking place simultaneously in London and Philadelphia to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Goth teenager Hanna Gordon has been asked by her mother, Lydia, to distribute invitations to their neighbours for a get-together at their house “in aid of the children”. Hanna suspects Lydia’s intentions may not be entirely charitable and that she wants to show off their new barbecue. Hanna’s longsuffering dad, Peter, isn’t keen, complaining “it’ll cost a fortune to feed the whole bloody street”.

Hanna, who is keeping a secret from her family, may be mortified at her mother’s party plans but she nonetheless does what she asks, delivering the invitations around their suburban cul-de-sac while only dimly aware of a mysterious figure lurking in the shadows. When Lydia spots the same figure a day later skulking in their garden, it is clear something is afoot on Delmont Close.

Micron revenue almost triples, tops estimates as demand for memory soars

Micron's stock has soared this year while its tech peers have struggled, as the impact of rising memory costs ripples across the industry.

Tropical Cyclone Narelle to make landfall in far north Qld on Friday as category 5 storm, bringing 315km/h wind gusts

Massive storm tracking a path to Queensland coast, which intensified offshore Thursday morning to category 5, fuelled by warm waters in Coral Sea

• Cyclone Narelle path tracker map

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Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is expected to make landfall in far north Queensland on Friday morning as a monster category 5 storm, bringing destructive wind gusts of 315km/h, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The severe cyclone rapidly intensified over the past 48 hours and on Thursday morning had built to a category 5 storm that was barrelling west, sitting about 355km east of the small town of Coen. Coen has a population of approximately 330.

Joseph Duggar arrested, facing child sex abuse charges

Joseph Duggar, one of the stars of the reality show "19 Kids and Counting," has been arrested and is facing child sex abuse charges. He's accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl six years ago in Florida. Tom Hanson reports.

Surging U.S. gas prices could erase bigger tax refunds, analysis finds

Stanford economists estimate that the typical U.S. household will spend an additional $740 on gas this year because of the jump in global oil prices.

Inside the ICE crackdown: post your questions for US immigration reporter Maanvi Singh

The Guardian’s Maanvi Singh has been on the frontline of the Trump administration’s brutal ICE crackdown. Post your questions about what it’s been like to cover this stark moment in American history.

The unprecedented occupation of American cities by a bulked up Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has led to a series of shocking scenes over the past 12 months, including the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal officials in Minneapolis. It has also led to an incredible community response as people banded together to protect their neighbours.

Guardian US immigration reporter Maanvi Singh has spent the past few months covering this story, including spending a week on the block where Alex Pretti was killed.

Humanoid art and Eid al-Fitr preparations: photos of the day – Thursday

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

‘My taste is superb. My eyes are exquisite’: Dianne Wiest’s 20 best film performances – ranked!

The Oscar-winning star of Bullets Over Broadway and Hannah and Her Sisters has three major movies coming up. To mark her 78th birthday, we cast an eye over an (almost) immaculate back catalogue

Every great performer should have at least one baffling movie on their CV, and this curio, produced by Ismail Merchant, is Dianne Wiest’s. The plot is bananas: she plays an opera singer leading her gay teenage son to believe that his father (Simon Callow) is dead, by taking the boy to visit a fake grave each year. Guess what? He’s alive! Not for long, though: he’s soon murdered by his own gay pickup, with his son witnessing it all from inside a wardrobe. Wiest flails around Paris in a turban and a tizzy, while Jane Birkin is a fake therapist under the illusion that she is Vanessa Redgrave. The real Redgrave pops up briefly, as does Jerry Hall, because why not?

Here's what changed in the new Fed statement

This is a comparison of Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed's previous policymaking meeting in January.

The SAVE Act faces long odds in the Senate. GOP-led states are picking up the cause

Several Republican-led states are passing their own versions of the SAVE America Act, Trump-backed legislation that would introduce new proof-of-citizenship requirements to register to vote.

Family of college student who disappeared on trip to Spain speaks out: "We're very worried"

An urgent search is underway for James Gracey, a University of Alabama student who went missing on a spring break trip to Europe. The 20-year-old's family says he was visiting friends in Barcelona when he disappeared outside a popular nightclub early Tuesday.

Príncipe Discos: how Black DJs from Lisbon’s suburbs made Europe’s most exciting record label

From near-empty dancefloors to sold-out nights at Lisbon’s biggest club, the imprint has spent 15 years championing Afro-Portuguese beats, reshaping the city’s musical identity in the process

It’s just after 11.30pm on a Friday in early March, and the air at Lux Frágil is already thick with excitement. Groups of people are streaming in through the Lisbon club’s staircase, past a giant disco ball, and local DJ and producer Xexa is dazzling the crowd with a live set of vocal-sprinkled synthscapes. Soon, the downstairs disco will be heaving with sweaty dancers for scene heroes DJ Marfox, DJ Nervoso and Dariiofox, bodies bumping to the pulse-quickening batida.

Come the early hours of Saturday morning, the upstairs floor is bursting at the seams, with partygoers spilling on to the balcony overlooking the River Tejo, as they raise a 15th birthday toast to Príncipe, Portugal’s gamechanging dance music label, which has taken over the world-renowned nightspot for the first time.

Fear, defiance, and anger: Iranians describe life under bombardment

In messages to NPR, Tehran residents describe largely deserted streets roamed by paramilitary officials and vigilantes. They say security forces are banning gatherings for Nowruz, the Persian new year, this week.

Record crowds, empty seats and the Matildas in a dream final: has the Women’s Asian Cup been a success?

Tournament organisers point to strong TV audiences and reaching a wider range of fans even as Australia have failed to sell out matches on home soil

Sarah Walsh has heard the naysayers, heard the voices sniggering about half-empty stadiums and unsold tickets. The chief operating officer of the Women’s Asian Cup knows the insinuation behind them all: that the Matildas – clearly Australia’s favourite sporting team during the run to the World Cup semi-finals three years ago – have lost their lustre.

But the woman who played 70 times for Australia also has a voice, and she wasn’t shy in using it on Thursday to address “segments” of the country who want to see the Matildas fail.

‘One in, one out’ asylum seekers sent to France return to UK in lorries

Exclusive: At least four people have travelled back to the UK by lorry in the last two weeks

Asylum seekers who arrived in the UK in small boats and were forcibly returned to France under the controversial “one in, one out” deal have returned to the UK in lorries, the Guardian has learned.

When asked about the recent returnees, the Home Office said that people who came back to the UK after removal to France were detained and returned to France at the earliest opportunity. Amnesty International UK has called for “one in, one out” to be scrapped.

Show us your dome! Hot, balding, confident men are bringing sexy back | Rebecca Shaw

From Ed Harris to Stanley Tucci, women everywhere are desiring and dating balding men, fondly stroking their thinning manes

The Oscars were this week, and as usual I took the day off to judge the red carpet looks from my tracksuit pants-ed position on the couch, pick apart the monologue (love you Conan), declare I could write better presenter segments, and keep an eye on social media to see which stars cause the most buzz.

This year, I noticed something interesting: in a room full of classically handsome stars such as Chris Evans and Michael B Jordan, as well as newly minted hotties like Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams, I was reading many appreciative and deeply thirsty tweets about … bald 75-year-old Ed Harris.

Prolonged high oil prices could ‘crimp’ AI boom, WTO warns

Iran war and its impact on energy and fertiliser costs is the main risk to the global economy, report says

• Business live – latest updates

An extended period of high oil prices as a result of war in the Middle East could “crimp” the AI boom, the World Trade Organization’s chief economist has warned.

The war and its impact on energy and fertiliser costs is the main risk to the global economy identified in the WTO’s latest Global Trade Outlook.

Trump warns U.S. will 'blow up' South Pars gas field in Iran if strikes against Qatar energy continue

World leaders are scrambling to contain a spiraling Middle East conflict on Thursday after Israel and Iran traded strikes on gas production facilities.

Over a third of TSA officers call out at 3 major U.S. airports in single day

"The morale is getting worse by the day because no one knows when this is gonna end," said Cameron Cochems, a lead TSA officer in Boise, Idaho.

Overheated hikers rescued as dangerous heat wave shatters records in West

The last week of winter is ushering in extreme temperatures in the western U.S. Fire crews in Phoenix have already rescued multiple overheated hikers since Monday. Kris Van Cleave has the latest.

‘Unjust and ridiculous’: Senegalese football fans bewildered by Afcon debacle

Supporters of national side struggle to come to terms with decision to declare Morocco the winner of Africa Cup of Nations

Two days after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) stripped Senegal of its 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title and instead declared the host nation, Morocco, champions, Alhassan Hann remains in shock.

“We didn’t expect this at all,” the 23-year-old Dakar university student said. “This decision is unjust. Personally, I find it ridiculous. I think it doesn’t give a very good image of African football.”

British schoolgirl stranded in Denmark after return flight blocked over UK border rules

Exclusive: Hanne, 16, from Sussex, was denied board on flight to London after weekend in Copenhagen

A 16-year-old British schoolgirl has been left stranded in Denmark after she was refused board on a flight to London because of new UK border rules introduced on British dual nationals.

Hanne*, from Sussex, was stopped from boarding a flight home on 8 March after a weekend seeing her British father, who is an academic on a short work stint at a university in Copenhagen.

Has your child been refused board on a flight because of the new rules? If you want to share your story, email: [email protected]

* Names have been changed.

Over a third of TSA officers called out at 3 major airports Tuesday amid partial shutdown

Travelers continue to face long lines at airports with no end to the partial government shutdown in sight. Atlanta was one of three major U.S. airports on Tuesday where more than one-third of TSA officers called out of work. In Philadelphia, flyers found three of six TSA checkpoints closed on Wednesday. Skyler Henry reports.

We visited an LA building with 89 registered hospices. Here's what we found.

Advocates said the Van Nuys building looked like an example of "clustering" — a red flag for hospice fraud.

Champions League review: more trauma for the Premier League as Europe’s big beasts stir

Only two of the Premier League’s last-16 teams made it to the quarter-finals while European giants are coming into form when it matters

Another traumatic week for the self-worth of the Premier League, one in which Europe’s big beasts got into their stride. The defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, put on a devastating display at Chelsea. Bradley Barcola’s goal, their second, was the highlight of a 3-0 win. Barcelona ran out 7-2 winners over Newcastle, having been level at half-time at 2-2, 3-3 on aggregate. Real Madrid continue to be Pep Guardiola’s great tormentors, with Vinícius Júnior getting both goals at Manchester City. His crybaby celebration was aimed at those City supporters who mocked him after Rodri pipped the Brazilian to the Ballon d’Or in 2024. Bayern Munich continue to look irresistible. Harry Kane scored twice, and Lennart Karl’s strike continued his trajectory as German football’s next big thing in a 4-1 win over Atalanta, a mighty 10-2 on aggregate.

Striking gambit: Erling Haaland invests in new world chess championship

• ‘There are clear similarities to football,’ says Norwegian

• Compatriot Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, likely to play

Erling Haaland has become a significant investor in a new world chess championship tour that is expected to star his fellow Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, the Guardian can reveal.

The deal was agreed shortly before Manchester City played at West Ham last Saturday, with Haaland shown on Sky Sports wearing a Norway Chess cap as he entered the London Stadium – without anyone noticing.

Spring has officially sprung – reawaken your palate with zingy, zesty seasonal ingredients

From asparagus fritters and crab cakes to rhubarb tarts and barely dressed baby potatoes, now’s the time to embrace fresh, bright flavours

• Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, Feast

After what felt like months and months of endless rain this winter, in the UK at least, the arrival of spring is more welcome than ever this year. It’s undeniable that a few days of sunshine and milder temperatures change everything: my mood, my palate, my dinner table (see below for my achilles heel: serveware).

And to mark the change in season, the Guardian is launching a new seasonal food magazine. This Saturday will see the arrival of the Guardian Food Quarterly, for which I have showcased crab – one of my favourite spring arrivals. I have written five recipes, including a speedy, spicy crab cake banh mi with quick pickles, and a hot cheesy crab and chive dip inspired by the American south. If you are in the camp that thinks that cheese and seafood are a no-no, then I hope you will trust me on this one. Just be sure to use that sweet, punchy brown meat in the mix, too, for maximum flavour.

‘Our lead actor doesn’t know he’s in a television show!’ The return of an unbelievable TV hoax

Jury Duty’s first season convinced a member of the public he was taking part in a documentary about how courts work – but it was really a reality show where everyone else was actors. Its company retreat-based sequel ups the stakes brilliantly

If ever there was a TV show that you’d think should be left at a single season, it would be Jury Duty.

The Amazon series became a slow-burning, word-of-mouth hit through 2023 for pulling off a frankly unbelievable stunt: successfully convincing one man, Ronald Gladden, that he was taking part in an LA courtroom documentary when, actually, everything about the process was staged and he was the only participant who was not an actor.

Europe’s biggest airlines say fuel price spike caused by Iran war will drive up fares

Carriers warn they cannot hold off passing on costs for long, while some airlines plan to increase flights via Asia

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Europe’s biggest airlines have said the rise in fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East will drive up fares and are advising passengers to book early.

While carriers have partly hedged the price of jet fuel, bosses said they could not avoid passing on additional costs to passengers for long.

There’s more to Mexican spirits than tequila

From mezcal to sotól, the agave plant delivers a bounty of styles and flavours to explore

“We were amazed,” wrote the Spanish conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo as he beheld the extent of the Aztec empire in 1521. “Some of our soldiers even asked whether the things that we saw were not a dream.” I remember feeling a similar vertigo when I first saw the wall of agave spirits at the long-since-closed Los Angeles mezcaleria Petty Cash more than a decade ago. Agave spirits are distilled from the fermented heart (or piña) of the agave plant – not a cactus, but a succulent, like aloe vera or that thing dying on your windowsill.

Tequila, from Jalisco, is the most famous kind, but it’s far from the only one, much as burgundy is just one way the French make wine. And here was an entire continent to (respectfully) explore: not only refined tequilas, but hundreds of mezcals from wild, untamable agaves: madrecuixe, arroqueño, tobalá and pulquero, some of which take 25 years to reach maturity. Beyond these foothills were spirits that had barely penetrated European bartending consciousness: sotól and raicilla, bacanora and pox (“posh”) made from maize, as well as pechuga, whose ingredients include, yum, poultry breasts. And all this at a time when a lot of tequila sold in Britain came topped with red plastic sombreros.

Underscores: U review – ultra-imaginative auteur has pop’s most brilliant brain

(Mom+Pop)
Performing, writing and producing everything herself, April Grey pares back her hyperpop electronics for an LP in thrall to 90s pop-R&B, with songs that big stars would die for

April Grey is a US bedroom producer beloved of an impressive range of other artists – experimental pop duo 100 Gecs are fans, so is rapper Danny Brown and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker – but thus far it’s been hard to accurately pin her down. It’s a challenge to sum up the sound of the first album she recorded under the name Underscores, 2021’s Fishmonger, or its follow-up, a concept album based around three young female inhabitants of a mythical Michigan town called Wallsocket: there really was an awful lot going on on both of them. But if you were forced to come up with a shorthand description, you might plump for hyperpop meets emo pop-punk, a sonic cocktail that, as you might imagine, occasionally proved a bit too flavoursome for its own good.

There was no getting around the heavily-caffeinated pop thrills provoked by her best work, but while Wallsocket was bombarding you with distorted guitars, stammering vocal samples, dive-bombing brostep basslines, honking rave electronics, nu-metal riffs, heaving shoegaze textures, gunshot sound effects, vintage video-game bleeps, drums that split the difference between dancefloor pulse and the double-time thunder of hardcore punk, and vocals alternately delivered in a bratty drawl or a full-throated, heavily distorted scream, there were definitely moments when you wished Grey might consider the wisdom of the old adage about less sometimes being more.

In the killer world of online gaming, there are no hits any more – just survivors

The fates of two ostensibly similar online games released this year, Marathon and Highguard, prove that success is becoming close to unattainable

What does success look like for developers of online video games? In 2026, the answer could not be clearer: no one has a clue.

Consider Highguard, 2026’s first big flop. Signs were promising on its launch on 26 January, with a peak of 100,000 concurrent players on Steam – plus those enjoying the game on PlayStation and Xbox, which do not make player counts public. As a free-to-play game, the barrier to entry for Highguard was low. And thanks to a prime advertising placement at the end of December’s The Game Awards – a buzzy spot usually reserved for known hitmakers, not free-to-play upstarts – curiosity was high.

St Patrick’s Day float referencing Epstein files draws condemnation in Ireland

Charities call display, which mimicked a sexual assault, ‘an act of public grooming’ that normalises sexual violence

Rape crisis charities in Ireland have condemned a St Patrick’s Day float that mimicked a sexual assault and featured signs saying “Epstein files”.

Rape Crisis Ireland called the display “an act of public grooming” that normalised sexual violence, while politicians labelled it a disgrace.

Uefa plans to offer Champions League streaming service direct to fans

• Trial planned from 2027, potentially in big Asian market

• Uefa rejects call to end league phase ‘country protection’

Uefa hopes to follow in the Premier League’s footsteps and trial a new direct-to-consumer streaming service for Champions League matches in the next television rights cycle.

If implemented successfully the trial could pave the way for games to be streamed more widely via a dedicated platform. Discussions are in their early stages and it is unclear whether the service would be offered free of charge. A major Asian market such as Indonesia or India could be an attractive starting point for UC3, the joint venture set up by Uefa and European Football Clubs (EFC) to manage their competitions’ commercial rights, as it seeks to determine the project’s viability.

As Pakistan and Afghanistan declare truce, civilians in Kabul count the cost of war

At the Emergency Hospital, dozens crowded around a thick book to check the names of the victims killed in an airstrike on a rehabilitation center. The U.N. says over a hundred people were killed.

Rapper wins lawsuit against police over mocking their raid: "It's for Americans"

Afroman spoke to CBS News after he won the case, which tested the limits of parody and the license artists can take in social commentary directed at public figures.

Eli Lilly’s next-generation obesity drug retatrutide clears first late-stage diabetes trial

Lilly is betting big on retatrutide as the next pillar of its obesity portfolio after its weight loss injection Zepbound and its upcoming pill, orforglipron. 

How Google Maps is shaping where we eat – video

Josh Toussaint-Strauss discovers that great restaurants are disappearing on Google Maps, despite having lots of reviews and high ratings, so he sets out to get to the bottom of it and finds out that what Google Maps shows us isn't necessarily what we want to see. Josh discusses the issue with Lauren Leek, a social data scientist, who grew so frustrated with Google's results that she decided to build her own map of London's restaurants. You can check out Lauren's alternative map here

Stir-fries, crab cakes and carbonara: Georgina Hayden’s crab recipes

Sweet and delicate crab is a taste of spring. Here are five dishes perfect for lighter, sunnier days

It’s hard not to be excited by the arrival of spring and all the produce that will soon be gracing our kitchens. Asparagus, spinach and new potatoes can’t come soon enough, but it’s not just fruit and vegetables that I count down the days for – there’s plenty of seafood to celebrate too, and in particular crab. Sweet and delicate, its freshness mirrors the arrival of brighter, sunnier days. If you’re lucky enough to pick through a fresh crab, then it needs very little in way of adornment – a squeeze of lemon perhaps, and warm bread and salty butter. Thankfully for the time-poor among us, you can also buy pots of it pre-cooked and picked, which is glorious lightly spiced in a dip or for folding through pasta. However you decide to enjoy crab, though, make sure it is allowed to sing.

Here's how much U.S. families need to make to feel economically secure

Many Americans feel like they live in a "hamster wheel economy," said one expert who studies economic security.

Coast Guard investigating deaths of 2 crew members on barge off Alaska

Two tugboat crew members were killed and two others were injured in what the Coast Guard called a "confined space incident" aboard a barge in Alaska.

Israel and Iran attack gas facilities. And, Cesar Chavez accused of sexual abuse, rape

Attacks on gas facilities by Israel and Iran have escalated the war and impacted global markets. And, renowned union leader and labor rights advocate Cesar Chavez is accused of sexual abuse and rape.

Jeffrey Epstein’s elite relationships visualised: the banker, the economist and the director

Day 2 of our Guardian analysis of more than a million Epstein emails exposes the child sex offender’s deep relationships with more high-profile figures

The Epstein files have led to intense scrutiny over links between the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the rich and powerful. But the vast trove of information has made it difficult to assess the extent of some of those connections.

In this second of a two-part series, The Guardian has focused on Epstein’s links to high-profile people in business and the arts – including the renowned economist and former US treasury secretary Larry Summers, the New York film director Woody Allen and Jes Staley, the former head of Barclays.

Glamming up ‘dirty war’: Teens in Mexico glorify 1970s secret police on TikTok

AI videos let young people adopt the guise of DFS agents, sparking debate over glorifying corruption and impunity

Young people in Mexico are taking to TikTok to imagine themselves as agents from the country’s 1970s secret police, the DFS – a force which was infamous for torturing, murdering or disappearing thousands during the country’s “dirty war”.

The trend, which has sparked condemnation by some users on the social media platform, has seen young people use AI to transform themselves into agents glorifying the “absolute impunity” afforded to the notoriously corrupt and brutally violent secret police.

I let AI guide me through London for a day. Why do I keep being sent underground?

In week three of Rhik Samadder’s diary, our resident AI skeptic let AI give him a tour of London’s best-kept secrets

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I recently met a friend for a drink who’d just visited three galleries. She was having a cultural day – curated for her by AI. Based on what it knew about her, it suggested exhibitions she’d enjoy, places to eat, even the best routes between stops. I was stunned. (Was I part of the itinerary?)

As part of my skeptic AI diary, I decide to use it to rediscover my hometown. I ask the ChatGPT to plan a full day out about town in London, packed with activities I might not normally choose. I tell the AI to ask me a few questions first, to gauge what I’ll enjoy and steer clear of neighbourhoods I already know well. I also ask it to check in after each stop, to vibe-check what comes next and offer backup options.

Japan's prime minister visits the White House under shadow of Iran war

Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will be the first U.S. ally to visit the White House since President Trump asked for help in sending ships to patrol the Strait of Hormuz.

The war on Iran cost the US $12.7bn by day six. Here’s how it’s been spent – in charts

Now, the total is likely to have exceeded $18bn and counting. Where are America’s war dollars going, in a war that was never declared in the first place?

Dear allies of America, please don’t confuse our president with us | Robert Reich

We are trying our best to resist him, contain him and remove him from office as quickly as we possibly can. Thank you for your patience

Donald Trump is alone.

That’s different from the United States being alone.

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now in the US and in the UK

We can tell you who will really get rich from this oil crisis – and how we can stop them | Isabella Weber and Gregor Semieniuk

Soaring oil costs signal the great transfer of wealth away from households, but also a new opportunity to redistribute it

The strait of Hormuz is now at the centre of the world. While the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic leads to death, destruction and pollution across the Middle East, the whole of the global economy is bracing for the fallout from the conflict. Shipping through the narrow passage has come to a near halt. Already, crude oil prices have shot to above $100 per barrel, up from $60 a barrel at the beginning of the year, while gasoline prices are jumping and airlines are announcing price hikes. Governments of oil-importing countries are scrambling to contain the fallout, announcing measures ranging from shorter work weeks to conserve fuel to price regulations. What they are not yet discussing – and what they should – is who, exactly, is about to get very rich from this.

The 2022 oil and gas crisis offers a template. It was the last time we saw a price explosion of this magnitude, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In our recently published paper in Energy Research & Social Science we map, in unprecedented detail, where those profits went. We also suggest there are ways to prevent profiteering, and redistribute the gains and losses from these shocks more fairly.

Isabella Weber is an associate professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of the forthcoming book Anti-fascist Economics. Gregor Semieniuk is an associate professor of public policy and economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and researches the economics of climate change mitigation

New autism group meets to counter MAHA's 'ideological agenda'

Autism experts plan to convene in Washington Thursday to propose a research agenda at odds with the one endorsed by the Trump Administration.

Cursive is back. But should students be learning the skill?

A Virginia after-school cursive club went viral. More than two dozen states require cursive in their curriculums. Is it an effective learning tool or just nostalgia?

Meta on trial over child safety: can it really protect its next generation of users?

New Mexico prosecutors allege Meta prioritized profit, even as child abuse surged on Instagram and Facebook

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Meta is facing a reckoning over its child safety practices as a trial surfaces fresh allegations that the company prioritized profit incentives and engagement over protecting children.

The landmark trial in New Mexico has now completed its fifth week, with the state attorney general resting the case on 5 March. Proceedings are expected to continue for another week as Meta presents its defense before the jury begins deliberations.

A Queer Inheritance by Michael Hall review – the National Trust’s LGBTQ history revealed

It’s recently been accused of turning ‘woke’ – but the institution has been gay since the beginning, argues this deeply researched book

When it emerged that the National Trust had put vegan scones on the menu, it was seized on by some newspapers as a marmalade dropper – or strawberry jam dropper, perhaps – proof that the institution was woke. Wait until they hear about all the queer men and women who helped to make the Trust what it is today. The charity’s 5.4 million members and others visit its grand piles for a nice day out and a tea towel, unaware that they are surrounded by the ghosts of these figures. They are brought to life by Michael Hall, a former architecture editorof Country Life and author of books on Waddesdon Manor and the gothic revival in Britain.

Some of them, such as the buttoned-up Henry James, who lived at Lamb House, Rye, merely lent their lustre to properties that were later taken over by the trust. Others introduced features to the estates that continue to delight trippers to this day. They include Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, partners in a lavender marriage, who created the gardens at Sissinghurst, appropriately enough.

Midwinter Break review – sad, spiky and brilliantly acted portrait of rupture and rapture

Polly Findlay’s barnstorming drama about interpersonal and religious tumult in late middle age is a triumph, swerving any sense of sentimentalism

Movies about ageing empty-nesters going on a bittersweet holiday and unexpectedly having to confront something about their relationship are common enough. Roger Michell’s Le Week-End starred Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan as an oldster couple having a Eurostar break in Paris; and in Paolo Virzì’s sucrose The Leisure Seeker, Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren impulsively head off in a Winnebago. There is often something soft and fuzzy and depressing in the wrong way about these films’ lenient sunset-sentimentalism – but not so with Polly Findlay’s fiercely sad, spiky and wonderfully acted film, based on a novel by Bernard MacLaverty (the author of Cal).

Gerry and Stella, played by Ciarán Hinds and Lesley Manville, are a late-middle-aged couple from Northern Ireland who left for Scotland in the 1970s, traumatised by the Troubles, and are taking a restorative midwinter break in Amsterdam. They appear perfectly happy and affectionate, but Gerry has a drinking problem and Stella feels lonely because Gerry does not share her Catholic faith. In Amsterdam, Stella is struck with epiphanic rapture at the peaceful beauty of the Begijnhof, the city’s enclosed 14th-century courtyard that historically housed unmarried Catholic women who wanted to devote themselves to God.

This tax season, there's a new deduction for interest on car loans

Taxpayers who purchased a new vehicle in 2025 may qualify for a new deduction on their taxes — even if they're not itemizing. But not everyone is eligible.

As overseas terrorists regroup, is the Iran war increasing danger in the U.S.?

Investigators in the U.S. search for motives in three recent instances of targeted attacks, and whether they are related to the war in Iran.

Women and girls bearing brunt of water shortages globally, UN warns

Unesco calls for action as lack of access and sanitation hit health, education and food security of women

Women and girls are bearing the brunt of water shortages and a lack of sanitation around the world, hindering the economic and social development of poorer countries, the UN has warned.

Women are responsible for collecting water in more than 70% of rural households that do not have access to mains water across the developing world. Women and girls collectively spend 250m hours a day collecting water globally.

‘The only thing left for me was death’: meet the meth-addict long jumper who has been to hell and back

Three years ago Luvo Manyonga knew he must change his life or die. In Poland this week, the former world champion makes an extraordinary return to athletics’ top table

Sprawled prone in the dirt, the cold metal of a baseball bat cracking against his skull, spine and down to the legs that had once propelled him to glory, Luvo Manyonga experienced an epiphany. This existence could not continue; he must change his life or die.

Manyonga had been a drug addict for as long as he could remember, seeking recreational highs that provided the opposite of the performance-enhancing shortcuts that some of his deceitful athletics rivals might have pursued.

You be the judge: should my boyfriend hold my hand in public?

Chantelle would like Hugo to show more affection when they are out. You decide who is being touchy
• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

Friends and family have noticed that we don’t hold hands and it’s become a running joke

I find holding hands annoying. Besides, I’m quite caring and I tell her I love her on a daily basis

Leo Varadkar: LGBTQ+ rights in Europe face ‘chill wind’ from east and west

Ireland’s former taoiseach warns of conservative Russian influence and says US is now ‘off the pitch’ under Trump

LGBTQ+ rights in Europe are caught in a “chill wind” from east and west as Vladimir Putin’s Russia exports its conservative agenda and the “Americans are off the pitch” under Donald Trump, Ireland’s former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

Varadkar, who in 2017 became Ireland’s first out gay prime minister, said Europe needed to “step up” to avoid the continent becoming further squeezed by global forces seeking to chip away at recent progress.

Mare by Emily Haworth-Booth review – profound story of a woman’s love for a horse

Where does it come from, this passion for an animal that isn’t even hers? An astonishing debut delves into deep truths about love, motherhood and care

Mare, Emily Haworth-Booth’s wonderful first novel for adults, is about a woman confronting three life-altering crises. The first is an early menopause that means that she can now never have a child. Second, after years of success as a children’s book writer, she finds herself bereft of ideas. The third should, by all rights, be the least important: a passion for a horse that isn’t even hers. She pays to ride, feed, groom and muck out for the animal a few times a week. Perverse though it seems, this horse soon becomes the centre of her life: her beloved.

In a sense, Mare is about childlessness. It opens with reflections on motherhood: “I knew a mother who said, You want to know what it’s like? Write a list of all the things you love doing and then cross them out, one by one.” But also: “I knew a mother who knew all the other mothers. As she walked through the park … this mother stopped every few strides to be greeted by other mothers, some with buggies, some pregnant. Other mothers stuck to this mother like burrs. Meanwhile I hung by her side, dragged along like a limp kite.” The narrator has decided against having a baby, not for things-you-love-doing reasons, but because the idea of her child’s future in this ailing world terrified her. Considering it, her mind filled with images of “abandoned landscapes hostile to life. Burning cities, flooded cities, desertified meadows.”

Can an Austrian hostel give a luxury ski chalet a run for its money?

Ski accommodation can be prohibitively expensive, but a cosy youth hostel puts the Montafon resort and its glorious runs within reach for those on a budget

‘Want to come skiing in Austria at half-term?” I asked my 13-year-old son. “It’ll be just like one of those luxury chalet holidays, only we’ll make our own beds, cook our own dinners and carry our gear back to our accommodation ourselves.” Osian didn’t hear the caveats. “Sounds amazing,” he said, his eyes glazing to a cinematic sweep of white powder and the chance to perfect his 360.

For many families, the dream of a catered chalet – and its ready-lit fires, homemade strudels and chauffeured lift shuttles – remains just that. Apartments offer access to the slopes at less vertigo-inducing prices, but they tend to come with a minimum seven-night stay. If you only have a few days to spare, or a budget that won’t stretch to a full week’s lift pass, hotels fill the gap, but then you’re back navigating the moguls of cost.

Thousands of seabirds dying on western Europe’s coasts

Puffins, guillemots and razorbills are being washed up dead or dying on Europe’s Atlantic coast in what scientists call a ‘wreck’

Thousands of seabirds – mostly puffins, but also many guillemots and razorbills – are being washed up dead or dying on the Atlantic coasts of western Europe, in what scientists call a “wreck”.

This year’s events, the consequence of a series of severe storms during the late autumn and winter, are the worst since 2014, when as many as 54,000 birds were found stranded. Of these, well over half – between 30,000 and 34,000 – were puffins.

We need to be honest about Iran – and how our rampant greed for oil is causing mayhem | George Monbiot

Oil has empowered capitalism, and some of the world’s most exploitative regimes. Move away from it and we can solve some of the key issues we face

I realise this is a serious breach of etiquette. But could we perhaps abandon good manners and contextualise Donald Trump’s attack on Iran? The intense western interest in the Middle East and west and central Asia, sustained for more than a century, and the endless attempts by foreign governments to shape and control these regions, are not random political tics. They are somewhat connected to certain fuel sources situated beneath the ground.

Trump’s war aims are typically incoherent: apparently incomprehensible even to himself. But Iran would not be treated as an “enemy of the west” were it not for what happened in 1953, when Winston Churchill’s government persuaded the CIA to launch a coup against the popular democratic government of Mohammad Mossadegh. The UK did so because Mossadegh sought to nationalise the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company: to stop a foreign power from stealing the nation’s wealth. The US, with UK support, tried twice to overthrow him, and succeeded on the second attempt, with the help of some opportunistic ayatollahs. It reinstated the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1954, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company became British Petroleum, later BP.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist