⚽️ Champions League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off ⚽️ Live scoreboard Read today’s Football Daily | Mail Scott It’s been a slow crescendo – poco a poco – but the Champions League has been building up to this: a summit meeting between the best two teams in the competition. On the face of it, you’d have a good job confidently predicting the outcome of a tie between the outrageously talented holders and a side who have won 11 of their 12 games in the competition this season and simply don’t know when they’re beaten. But then Bayern have won the last five games between the clubs, and seven in the last eight, including the 2020 final, so apologies for clouding your mind. The Paris Match begins at 8pm BST. C’est parti! Continue reading...

Vote goes PM’s way but he faces anger from his own MPs who accuse him of creating perception of ‘cover-up’ UK politics live – latest updates Keir Starmer saw off an opposition bid to refer him to a standards committee over Peter Mandelson’s appointment after Downing Street deployed its full weight to force Labour MPs to shore up the prime minister. However, the Labour leader bore the brunt of anger from some of his own backbenchers who accused him of creating a situation where they would be perceieved as being complicit in “a cover-up.” Continue reading...

King will probably press his passion for nature during US state visit, but his advocacy will fall on deaf ears Of the many clashes in worldview between King Charles III and Donald Trump, the greatest is on an issue the White House has sought to silence: the future of the planet. For more than 50 years, as the Prince of Wales, the environmentally minded Charles spoke out frequently, addressing UN summits and closed gatherings alike, to urge better guardianship of nature and strong action on the climate. Continue reading...

The bank shouldn’t sound the all-clear, but two screw-ups doesn’t mean the current credit cycle will end in tears Barclays cuts back risky lending after £228m hit from UK mortgage firm MFS Barclays boss CS Venkatakrishnan, having seen the bank hit in the space of six months by two high-profile blow-ups in the world of shadow banking, is pledging to take more care. “We are constraining lending to certain structured finance counterparties who operate more vulnerable business models and cannot convince us of the quality and independence of their financial controls,” he said. There’s an obvious response to that vow of greater vigilance: what were you doing previously? Wouldn’t it have been a good idea in the first place not to lend to high-risk outfits with unconvincing financial controls – for example those with large mortgage exposures but small audit firms? There was, in other words, a sense in the chief executive’s comments of stable doors being shut rather too late. Continue reading...

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Kremlin-controlled paramilitaries also alleged it inflicted ‘irreplaceable losses’ on insurgents avoiding civilian casualties Russia’s defence ministry has claimed its Africa Corps – the successor to the former Wagner mercenary group – had prevented a coup in Mali over the weekend, avoiding mass civilian casualties and inflicting “irreplaceable losses” on rebel insurgents. It said in a statement that its troops in the desert town of Kidal near the Algerian border had fought for more than 24 hours while completely surrounded and vastly outnumbered. It also alleged without providing evidence, that the militants had been trained by European mercenary instructors including Ukrainians. The casualty toll was not specified. Continue reading...

The technology secretary spoke amid concerns the UK was struggling to make its own way in AI Britain must seize the initiative in AI or be left at the “mercy and whim” of a future shaped by the technology, Liz Kendall has warned. The UK’s technology secretary said the country must have greater control over the industry as she highlighted big tech’s grip over its development, with 70% of the world’s artificial intelligence computing power provided by US companies. Continue reading...

Tech company is latest Silicon Valley firm to sign agreement with US military despite widespread employee opposition Google has reportedly signed a deal with the US Pentagon to use its artificial intelligence models for classified work. The tech company joins a growing list of Silicon Valley firms inking agreements with the US military. The agreement allows the Pentagon to use Google’s AI for “any lawful government purpose”, the report from the Information added, putting it alongside OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, which also have deals to supply AI models for classified use. Similar agreements, both at Google and other AI firms, have sparked significant disagreements with the Pentagon and major employee pushback. Continue reading...

Key testimony over whether decision to grant security clearance despite vetting advice was influenced by No 10 UK politics live – latest updates The latest two witnesses to testify to parliament over Peter Mandelson’s appointment had plenty to offer headline writers. “A toxic hot potato” was how Philip Barton, the former top civil servant in the Foreign Office, described Mandelson’s links with Jeffrey Epstein, a view he would have shared with Downing Street if only he’d been asked. “A knife through my soul” was how Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s former chief adviser, described the moment he found out the true nature of Mandelson’s relationship with the convicted sex offender. Continue reading...

Readers respond to an editorial on the need for more provision of toilets in our towns and cities In response to your editorial (Public spaces need public conveniences, 24 April), our research has found that one of the biggest barriers preventing the restoration of existing provision or building new provision of public toilets is our wider cultural taboo of bodily functions. Time and again we have found that regeneration documents refer to public toilets as “amenities”, “necessities”, or “facilities”. Our research has also found that while large percentages of the UK population want more public toilets, nearly the same percentage would not use a public toilet, because of the taboo reputation such provision also carries. Continue reading...

Readers respond to an article by Daniel Lavelle about his alien chasing expedition in the US Daniel Lavelle went “alien-chasing” in the US and wrote a book about it. The late Nick Pope called it a “hugely entertaining, gonzo-style examination of UFOs, ufology and ufologists”. In his Guardian article (The Pentagon released its UFO videos – so I went to the US to chase aliens. This is what I found, 22 April), Lavelle concludes: “Of course, there isn’t a shred of evidence that aliens have visited our planet – and it’s highly unlikely that there ever will be”. After that, he trots out the old story about interstellar distances and propulsion technology – as if the extraterrestrial hypothesis were the only play in town. Continue reading...

Erik Millstone and Tim Lang look at the evidence. Plus a letter from a woman who had campylobacter while pregnant You were right to report (23 April) that government officials have actively considered how to respond to US pressure to accept imports of “chemical-washed chicken” and other processed products. This matters to the public, for whom chlorinated chicken has become a test case for whether UK standards are lowered for commercial and political reasons. Continue reading...

David Holmes says the home secretary’s language may be coarse, but her immigration controls respond to a genuine public concern Zoe Williams criticises Shabana Mahmood’s recent language as showing “contempt for the values of her own party”, but I disagree (Shabana Mahmood’s expletive was shocking. But not for the reason you think, 23 April). In today’s polarised climate, too many on the progressive side treat any divergence on issues like immigration as indistinguishable from Reform UK. That simply isn’t true. Mahmood’s language may have been coarse, but her frustration is understandable. People should be able to disagree on migration and migrant rights without being dismissed with lazy labels like “out-Reforming Reform” or having bigotry implied. That’s playing the man, not the ball. Continue reading...

Home secretary is challenging high court decision that PA’s proscription interfered with freedom of speech The ban on Palestine Action has created a “culture of fear” among those campaigning for Palestinian rights and judges were right to deem it unlawful, the court of appeal has heard. Shabana Mahmood is challenging the high court’s decision in February that Palestine Action’s proscription, the first of a direct action protest group, represented a “very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech and assembly. It also found that the ban, which remains in place pending the appeal, was a breach of the home secretary’s own policy on proscription. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer has faced another bruising day as the saga surrounding Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador continues. The prime minister faced harsh criticism from his own MPs over efforts to stave off a standards investigation, while his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney admitted pressuring the foreign office to expedite Mandelson’s posting in highly anticipated evidence to a parliamentary committee. Lucy Hough speaks to policy editor and host of Politics Weekly, Kiran Stacey Continue reading...

New HarperCollins study finds that daily reading for pleasure among five- to 17-year-olds fell from 39% in 2012 to 25% in 2025 The “relentless” focus on measuring literacy progress in schools has “pushed reading for pleasure to the margins”, according to a new report. “Parents and schools both recognise that reading for pleasure matters, but their understandable focus on literacy skills is actively undermining it,” found the study, which analysed survey data on reading trends among UK children, drawing on data from HarperCollins, NielsenIQ and The Reading Agency. Continue reading...

Mikel Arteta’s side were at their best when they routed Atlético in October and though that confidence has been replaced by nerves the final is in reach It was the night when Arsenal made their first big statement of the season in the Champions League, when they advertised their desire to go all the way in Europe’s most glamorous competition; to create club history. They had welcomed Atlético Madrid in the third round of league phase matches and it turned into a showcase for all of the best bits about Mikel Arteta’s team. The bolted door defence. The furious counterpress. The physicality. The speed and ruthlessness. The set-piece productivity. And, linked to everything but trumping the lot, the total self-belief. Arsenal were unable to find a way through in the first half or the early part of the second – it was tight – but they did not panic because they knew the goal would come. It was inevitable. They were inevitable. Continue reading...

Pirates appear to be taking advantage of international naval strength being diverted elsewhere in region Three vessels have been hijacked off the coast of Somalia in the past week, raising fears of a resurgence in piracy around the Horn of Africa – and adding to the woes of the global shipping industry. The merchant vessel Sward was taken over on 26 April, a day after a dhow was seized. These followed the 21 April hijacking of Honour 25, a motor tanker carrying 18,000 barrels of oil, according to the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO), the tracking service of the EU’s naval force. Continue reading...

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of the British rock group Traffic who clashed with the frontman Steve Winwood The singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave Mason, who has died aged 79, was the superstar who never was. He first found fame as a founder member of Traffic, and wrote some of the most popular songs from their early repertoire, but could never quite see eye-to-eye with the band’s precocious genius Steve Winwood. Mason’s self-evident talents, which included copious skills on acoustic and electric guitars and a grainy, soulful singing voice, then allowed him to form creative relationships with some of the biggest names of late-1960s and 70s rock, including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Delaney & Bonnie, George Harrison, Cass Elliot and Crosby Stills and Nash – though never on a long-lasting basis. Continue reading...

Trial is culmination of a years-long feud between Musk and Altman that has become increasingly vicious The trial pitting Elon Musk against Sam Altman and OpenAI began in earnest on Tuesday with opening arguments, as lawyers for the two tech moguls seek to convince a California jury of their client’s version of the AI company’s history. The trial is set to feature testimony from both billionaires, as well as some of the most powerful executives in the tech industry. Musk argues that Altman, OpenAI and its president Greg Brockman broke a foundational agreement to better humanity when the non-profit pivoted towards a for-profit structure. Musk, who left OpenAI in 2018 after co-founding it with Altman and Brockman three years earlier, also alleges that his co-founders unjustly enriched themselves as the company raised billions of dollars and grew into the AI behemoth it is today. Continue reading...

These negative comments about bodies and faces permeate society and could lead to some tough talks with friends Hi Ugly, How do I respond to my friends when they criticize their bodies, faces, skin? Why is this column called ‘Ask Ugly’? How should I be styling my pubic hair? How do I deal with imperfection? My father had plastic surgery. Now he wants me and my mother to get work done Continue reading...

We would like to hear from younger people about how often they go to the cinema People born after 1997 are now the most frequent cinemagoers, According to a US-based survey by Fandango, with 87% saying they have seen at least one film in a cinema in the past 12 months. With this in mind, we would like to hear from people aged 18-29 about how often they go to the cinema. Do you prefer it to home viewing, and why? What is the best film you’ve seen at the cinema recently? Continue reading...

Diplomat described Keir Starmer as being “on the ropes” over Peter Mandelson scandal in private meeting with students The UK’s new ambassador to the US has described Keir Starmer as having been “on the ropes” over the Peter Mandelson scandal and said it is Israel rather than Britain that has a “special relationship” with the White House. Christian Turner, who took office in February to replace Mandelson as the UK’s most senior diplomat in Washington, made the remarks privately to a group of students visiting the US in the same month he was appointed. Continue reading...

City face crucial games on 13 May, 16 May and 19 May Alternative date for Palace game has been chief problem Manchester City are understood to be frustrated after being left facing three decisive fixtures in the space of seven days next month. City’s match against Crystal Palace, which was postponed from 21 March owing to their participation in the Carabao Cup final, has been scheduled for Wednesday 13 May. The trip to Bournemouth, originally scheduled for 17 May, had to be moved after City progressed to the FA Cup final to face Chelsea on 16 May, and has been slated for 19 May. Continue reading...

PM’s former chief of staff looked far from happy when forced into the open to face Commons committee He walks! He talks! He breathes! For most people, Morgan McSweeney is a quasi-mythical creature. A being that exists almost entirely in the shadows. If at all. Away from the public gaze. The legendary slayer of the Labour left, rumoured to have been shaped in the dark arts by Peter Mandelson, who went on to become the eyes and ears of the prime minister. Possibly even his brain. It was often said the only ideas Keir ever had were ones he had been force-fed by Morgan the Mighty. But on Tuesday morning, Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff was forced out into the open, summoned to Westminster to give evidence to the foreign affairs select committee about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. McSweeney looked far from happy at the exposure. Head down, no eye contact with the public as he sped down the corridor. Maybe he was worried about being out and about in daylight. The darkness has been kind to his skincare regime. He looks far younger than his 49 years. Continue reading...