Select committee says ‘late’ decision to overturn exclusion of fans ‘did little more than inflame tensions’ The government’s response to West Midlands police’s ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans was “clumsy”, “late” and “did little more than inflame tensions”, a group of MPs has found. A report by the home affairs select committee, published on Sunday, analysed the original decision to ban away fans from a Europa League fixture with Aston Villa in November, as well as the advice that led to it. Continue reading...

‘Intelligence-based, selective operations’ carried out against Pakistani Taliban camps, says information ministry Pakistan carried out strikes along the border with Afghanistan on Saturday night, stating it was targeting hideouts of Pakistani militants it blames for recent attacks inside the country. Islamabad did not say in precisely which areas the strikes were carried out or provide other details. There was no immediate comment from Kabul, and reports on social media suggested the strikes were carried out inside Afghanistan. Continue reading...

Fofana’s first of two bookings was for fouling Hannibal Burnley: ‘There is no place for this in our society’ Hannibal Mejbri and Wesley Fofana have both been racially abused on Instagram in the wake of the former’s Burnley side drawing 1-1 at Chelsea after the latter was sent off. Hannibal, who was fouled for the first of the two yellow cards that led to Fofana’s dismissal, posted the abuse he had received via a direct message on Instagram and wrote: “It’s 2026 and there still ppl like that … Educate yourself and your kids pls.” Fofana likewise posted the abuse he received. Continue reading...

White paper proposes changing criteria under which schools get funding to support the most disadvantaged students Plans to halve the attainment gap between the poorest pupils in England and their more affluent peers will be set out by the government on Monday. The schools white paper will detail proposals to change the criteria under which schools receive funding to support the most disadvantaged students. Continue reading...

Manchester City are timing their title run-in perfectly, to give Pep Guardiola a fine chance of a seventh title in a decade and to break Arsenal’s hearts yet again. For fans of each team squeaky posterior time is officially entered. For the neutral the final 11 matches for City and the Gunners promise to be a cannot-miss spectacle. Continue reading...

This BBC take on the warm, funny books renders various characters totally cheerless. It works fine as a drama, but the humour of the novels is sadly missing Any fan of Marian Keyes (and we are legion, as her 23 books, 30-year career and millions of sales attest) can give you a potted but passionate account of why (most often) she loves her. Keyes captures life as it is truly lived. It is lived as part of a family (Keyes is mercilessly attuned to the specific cadences and attitudes of a large, Irish Catholic one, but she is adept at rendering it universally relatable). We live as part of a couple, part of an office, part of a community (wanted or – if you are, for example, an addict, a woman having fertility treatment, or a domestic violence victim – unwanted). Or as a sister, a daughter, a polished professional, or a hot mess (the last two by no means mutually exclusive). In Keyes’ version, all life’s highs are burnished and its lows made bearable by the human capacity for finding the humour in everything. Her books – once dismissed as “chick lit”, “romcoms” or AN Other of the sniffy labels people have attached to novels written by women, largely for women, about largely female experiences (though I think we are starting to move out of that tiresomely reductive era) – hold all these elements in perfect balance. Continue reading...

Colón’s music combined jazz, rock and salsa, incorporating rhythms from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Africa American salsa legend Willie Colón, the pioneering trombonist, vocalist and composer, died on Saturday at age 75, his family said in a statement. “While we grieve his absence, we also rejoice in the timeless gift of his music and the cherished memories he created that will live on forever,” the family said on Colón’s Facebook page. Continue reading...

Great Britain 6-9 Canada Mouat’s side take silver after falling short in last end Sometimes the silvers you win feel more like the golds you lose. After an excruciatingly tense three-hour final, there’s no doubt which way Bruce Mouat and the British men’s curling team will see this one. They were beaten 9-6 by Canada, in a game that took several twists and turns on its way to the very last stone of the 10th end. It is their second Olympic silver medal, after the one they won when they lost to Sweden in Beijing in 2022. After 10 days of competition, the Olympic title is still the one thing in the sport that this world champion team haven’t won, and that will sting. The British rink had the better start. They forced Canada to settle for one from the 1st end, even though they had last stone advantage. But Grant Hardie is a gnarly competitor and he and his team worked their way into a 4-3 lead at halfway with a couple of double take-outs in the 3rd and 5th ends. In the 4th, when Britain had the hammer, they were made to play the same clearing shot four times in a row, before Hardie finally nailed it. Then Mouat missed with his penultimate stone, which clipped his own guard on its way home. Continue reading...

German director İlker Çatak’s Turkey-set film tackling creeping authoritarianism gave the jury ‘chills’ Yellow Letters, a drama set in Turkey about creeping authoritarianism, has won the Golden Bear top prize at the Berlin film festival, after a 10-day event overshadowed by a row over politics in cinema. The film by German director İlker Çatak, born in Berlin to Turkish immigrants, tells the story of two luminaries of the Ankara theatre scene whose marriage comes under severe strain when they lose their jobs after falling out of political favour. Its title comes from the colour of the official dismissal notices. Continue reading...

Tottenham have rolled the dice and an injury-ravaged side’s anxiety may only get worse as West Ham close the gap When did the reality dawn? Perhaps it was towards the end of the first half of West Ham’s game at Chelsea at the end of January with the away side leading 2-0. Or perhaps it was when West Ham took the lead against Manchester United 10 days later. As it turned out, West Ham won neither fixture; had they done so they would have had five points more and so been level with Tottenham going into this weekend. And then Tottenham’s proximity to relegation could not have been denied. West Ham’s revival means this isn’t like last season, when a win at Ipswich at the end of February took Tottenham to 33 points and as good as confirmed their continued presence in the Premier League, allowing Ange Postecoglou to focus on Europe. Were Spurs to pull off something extremely unlikely and beat Arsenal on Sunday, they would move to 32 and, for all the glee their fans would feel, nobody would feel secure. Continue reading...

When it comes to the back end of May and West Ham United are reflecting on the season that was, there is every chance that this soggy Saturday will go down as a missed opportunity that proved crucial in their survival plight. Victory here would have raised the possibility of Nuno Espírito Santo’s side ending the weekend out of the relegation zone for the first time since early December. In keeping with those of recent weeks, much of the performance was befitting of another three points. But, thanks to a couple of smart Djordje Petrovic saves and some profligacy in front of goal, they had to make do with a draw – an expected goals (xG) total of 2.87 from 20 shots yielding a blank in the only column that matters. Continue reading...

Fifth round: Birmingham 8-0 Chatham Hurtré 26 59 68, Sarri 53, Louis 65 89, Lee 70, Leidhammar 76 For just under an hour, Chatham kept themselves in this contest at 1-0 down. Given they are paid only their travel expenses, while their opponents are full-time professionals chasing promotion to the Women’s Super League, that was an admirable effort from the lowest-ranked side remaining in the Women’s FA Cup fifth-round. They were powerless, though, to stop Birmingham charging into the quarter-finals with a hat-trick from Océane Hurtre. Anybody hoping to see a rare upset in this competition was left disappointed as the hosts, second in WSL 2, cup winners in 2012 and heavy favourites for this tie, opened the floodgates in the later stages. It was a game they would have had wrapped up before half-time had it not been for an inspired performance from the Chatham goalkeeper, Simone Eligon, who represents Trinidad and Tobago. Continue reading...

In the 2000s, the queer scene in Queensland felt small, but Melania Jack fell for Patty Preece big time Find more stories from the moment I knew series Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email It was 2007 and I was heading out to work on the regional program of an Indigenous arts festival called Stylin’ Up. A car entourage of arts workers were headed to Cherbourg to run beatmaking, songwriting and dance workshops. As I drove up into Highgate Hill, the sun was just coming up. Ahead of me I saw Patty leaning against a yellow ute wearing a striped ’70s men’s T-shirt, a rat’s tail catching the light. She looked electric. I remember thinking: Uh oh. This person is literally shining. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Melania Jack and Patty Preece perform as the multidisciplinary arts duo The Ironing Maidens Continue reading...

Australian collections of the endangered and notoriously unpredictable flowers have popped off in recent years, as ‘personas’ like Putricia, Stinkerella and Smellanie prove a hit with nosy spectators Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here From little things glorious fetid things grow. Corpse flower blooms, once vanishingly rare, are becoming more commonplace in Australia. More than a dozen bloomed across the country in 2025, including the infamous Putricia in Sydney, Morpheus in Canberra, Big Betty in Cooktown, and Spud and co in Cairns. But with plants kept in gardens across the country, and blooming more frequently after their first flower, you could catch a whiff of one soon. Continue reading...

Applying cosmetics for concerts and competitions is part of dance culture but many now question the tradition I recognised the signs straight away: the twirling, the mirror glances, the obsession with her music box. I didn’t need my daughter to ask if I wanted to see her “magic dance show” to confirm it – she was a dance kid. Despite efforts to offer trucks and tutus, sports with sparkles, I was quietly thrilled. I’d been a dedicated dance kid (and later an unhinged ballet teen) and was excited to see her join the tribe. But when I mentioned ballet lessons to my partner, he was horrified. He spiralled about the pressure, the body image, the gender stereotypes and, most of all, the makeup. Continue reading...

The actor on bloodcurdling stage experiences, back yard cricket and the best advice he’s ever received Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email In the spirit of your role as Lord Davenport in Fackham Hall – what is the poshest thing you have ever done? Taking a helicopter to Royal Ascot. That is one of the poshest things I have done. I became aware of how posh it was when I started calming down and realised I wasn’t going to fall out of it. Continue reading...

Agency statement comes one day after announcement of 6 March target for astronauts’ mission to circle the moon Nasa said in a blog post on Saturday it is taking steps to potentially roll back the Artemis II rocket launch after discovering an interrupted flow of helium. The agency said it is taking steps to roll the Artemis II rocket and Orion spacecraft back to the vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Continue reading...

⚽ Premier League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off ⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Bluesky | And email Scott Both teams are in if-it-ain’t-broke mode. Manchester City name the same starting XI from their last Premier League match, the 3-0 home win over Fulham, with one exception: Omar Marmoush comes in for Phil Foden, who drops to the bench. Newcastle also make one change. This is from their actual last game, the 6-1 Champions League romp at Qarabag. Jacob Ramsey replaces Harvey Barnes, who is named as a sub. Continue reading...

Wales 23-26 Scotland Finn Russell scores 11 points in second-half turnaround Scotland pulled off a dramatic comeback win against Wales to back up their impressive Calcutta Cup success the previous week. Hosts Wales had the lead at half-time thanks to a spark lit by the wing Josh Adams but the visitors managed to fight their way to victory with a feeling they were lucky to come away with five points. Continue reading...

‘Given the opposition too many points,’ says head coach ‘We have let everyone down,’ admits Ellis Genge Steve Borthwick says England have only themselves to blame for their steep decline in this season’s Six Nations. After his side’s record humbling by Ireland on Saturday, Borthwick said his side are being punished for their poor starts to games and are leaving themselves “a mountain to climb” against quality opposition. This was England’s worst Six Nations defeat since they lost 53-10 at home to France in 2023 and Borthwick said he was “bitterly disappointed” with his team’s latest sub-par first-half showing. “Unfortunately, for two weeks now, we have given the opposition too many points and we have not got scoreboard presence. We will be looking closely at that and how I set the team up to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Continue reading...

New signing makes mark as leaders see off Falkirk Dundee win at Aberdeen; Kilmarnock snatch draw Hearts got their Premiership title push back on track with a 1-0 win over Falkirk at Tynecastle. The Jambos, beaten 4-2 at rivals Rangers last weekend, broke the deadlock just before half-time when the January signing Islam Chesnokov lashed home his first goal for the club. Hearts held out to move five points clear of Rangers, who travel to bottom side Livingston on Sunday. Ethan Hamilton’s late goal gave Dundee a 3-2 win at 10-man Aberdeen, who had Liam Morrison sent off just before half-time. The Dons had gone in front after 13 minutes when Kevin Nisbet’s shot was fumbled by the Dundee keeper, Jon McCracken, and looked to have gone over the line before Toyosi Olusanya knocked in the rebound. Continue reading...

Our pick of the best images from the penultimate day of the Games, from biathlon to speed skating Continue reading...

Fatalities and injuries reported in avalanches across Tirol after prolonged snowfall and windy conditions At least five people have been killed in a string of avalanches in Austria, authorities said on Saturday. The government office of the Tirol region said intense snowfall over the last week led to accumulations of up to 1.5 meters (5ft). Combined with windy conditions and weak snowpack below, the conditions were especially susceptible to avalanches, it said. Continue reading...

DC Mark Luker used offensive language about Romas, Gypsies and Travellers in a WhatsApp group A police officer who was one of the first on the scene of the 2017 London Bridge terror attack has been sacked for gross misconduct after using “derogatory” language about Romas, Gypsies and Travellers. DC Mark Luker of the British Transport Police (BTP) used offensive language in a WhatsApp group he was in with other police officers. Continue reading...

It felt like the day Aston Villa’s faint title hopes were extinguished despite Tammy Abraham’s late equaliser. Anton Stach’s incredible free-kick looked set to secure the win for Leeds until the 88th minute but it felt like another important point in their fight for survival. Unai Emery’s side have only won once in their past four Premier League home games and fell short once more to leave them seven points behind leaders Arsenal. They were punished for a sloppy opening 45 minutes when they failed to get almost anything right against their more aggressive opponents. Continue reading...