Key told ECB review of willingness to change after Ashes McCullum has had poor record in white-ball cricket Rob Key’s position as England’s managing director of men’s cricket is looking increasingly secure after the initial stages of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s review of the Ashes defeat, but the future of Brendon McCullum as coach remains uncertain and will be heavily influenced by his side’s performances at next month’s T20 World Cup. Key is understood to have spoken to the ECB chief executive, Richard Gould, and chair, Richard Thompson, and taken responsibility for England’s poor preparation for the Ashes and some bungled selections while on tour. He is believed to have indicated a willingness to do things differently if allowed to stay on, a crucial concession that could end up saving him. Continue reading...

Keelman’s hospital, which housed dockers in 1700s, awarded £4.6m lottery grant after lying empty for 16 years It was built 300 years ago as an almshouse for men who did some of the most backbreaking and dangerous work on the River Tyne. Most recently it provided fun, if chilly, accommodation for students. Now a new chapter is to be written in the history of a building considered the most at-risk structure in Newcastle, with the announcement of £4.6m lottery money to convert it into affordable housing. Continue reading...

She grew up on a Manchester council estate. Now she’s gone stratospheric for her pivotal role in Sinners. The star talks about leaving Britain for LA – and the £30 bus trip that changed her life ‘I do love a Greggs,” says Wunmi Mosaku, as she settles into a sofa in a hotel in London’s Holborn. She’s extolling the virtues of the high-street baker after I jokingly suggested that’s what she could have for lunch, now she’s back in the UK from her base in Los Angeles. Despite being Stateside for the best part of a decade, she has lost none of her Manchester twang or sense of humour. “You know what I love about Greggs?” she asks, leaning in. “In each city, they have something specific to that place. So in London, they’ve got the Tottenham cake. Manchester’s got the Eccles cake. In Liverpool, they’ve got the scouse pie. In Newcastle, they’ve got … a ton of breads. You can’t get them anywhere else!” Continue reading...

⚽ Champions League updates; kick-off 5.45pm GMT ⚽ Live scores | Table | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Barry City are enduring something of a crisis at the back which they have attempted to alleviate by signing Marc Guehi but like his fellow new recruit, Antoine Semenyo, the former Crystal Palace defender is ineligible to play in the Champions League until the knockout stages. Continue reading...

Palestinian refugee agency compound is demolished, while teargas is fired at UN vocational school in West Bank Israeli crews have started bulldozing the Jerusalem headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem and fired teargas at a UN vocational school in Qalandia, in the West Bank. Israel accuses the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unwra) of collaborating with Hamas – a charge the agency denies – and last year banned it from operating on its territory. The demolition marks Israel’s latest step against Unrwa, which provides aid to millions of Palestinian refugees. Continue reading...

Culture secretary ‘minded to’ intervene and ask Ofcom whether the £500m deal harms media plurality The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, intends to ask the UK’s media and competition watchdogs to examine the proposed £500m takeover of the Telegraph titles by the owner of the Daily Mail. Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) agreed a deal in November to buy the titles, in a move that will create a right-leaning publishing powerhouse. Continue reading...

Labour must urgently seek new roles and alliances, while also enhancing the UK’s own military capabilities Stella Creasy is chair of the Labour Movement for Europe If the threats of Donald Trump prove anything, it is that the mantra of “shared values” with his administration is as much use as a chocolate teapot. Countries across the world are scrambling to adjust. Canada has announced a trade realignment towards China – and talk grows of counter-sanctions in Europe. If the UK wants to avoid being caught in the crossfire, there really is only one alternative: to finally take the brakes off rebuilding our common future in Europe. In the past few weeks, Nato has suffered life-changing injuries. This should not be surprising, given the repeated signals from Washington, from the anti-European screed in Trump’s National Security Strategy to the harassment of President Zelenskyy at the White House. When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time and act accordingly. Stella Creasy is chair of the Labour Movement for Europe and the Labour and Cooperative MP for Walthamstow Continue reading...

Neighbouring states warned of chaos if IS prisoners were freed from camp they regard as hotbed of extremism Kurdish-led forces in Syria have announced a withdrawal from a detention camp in north-east Syria housing tens of thousands of Islamic State-linked detainees, as Syrian government forces continued to advance in the region. The fate of al-Hol, which houses among others the most radical of foreign women suspected to have been members of IS, and their families, is of great concern to neighbouring states and the international community. These states have for years warned the camp is a hotbed of extremism and chaos could result if a jailbreak were to occur. Continue reading...

Comments come day after son publicly aired grievances and said he had no interest in reconciling with family David Beckham has said parents must let their children “make mistakes” just a day after his son Brooklyn publicly aired his grievances with his family in an Instagram post that drew global media attention. Brooklyn, 26, made a host of claims regarding the former England footballer and his wife, the singer and fashion designer Victoria Beckham.. Continue reading...

Comedian, 50, appeared via video link from US over charges of rape and sexual assault in relation to two women Russell Brand has appeared in a UK court via video link from the US charged with two further sexual offences, including rape. The 50-year-old comedian was charged in December with one count of rape and one count of sexual assault in relation to two women. The two alleged offences took place in 2009. Continue reading...

We would like to hear about the shows that leave you confused, yet entertained all the same What is a TV show that leaves you confused, yet entertained all the same? The Guardian’s writers are compiling their favourites – and now we would like to hear yours. If you’re having trouble using the form click here. Read terms of service here and privacy policy here. Continue reading...

Everyone was trying not to mention the one thing on everyone’s mind as they welcomed the US House speaker So. That went well, then. A day after Keir Starmer gently pointed out that the US would be wrong to seize Greenland and that a period of calm diplomacy was needed, Donald Trump goes mad. Again. Having already rubbished the Norwegian prime minister for not awarding him the Nobel peace prize, the US president took aim at the UK prime minister. No good deed goes unpunished and all that. The Chagos Islands deal was an act of gross stupidity, The Donald posted on his Truth Social platform. No matter that nine months previously he had warmly endorsed it. No one knows if he could even find Diego Garcia on a map. Sure, he can. Next to Greenland. That’s loyalty and consistency for you. And teach Starmer not to take anything he does or says for granted. Let’s face it, not even Trump is entirely sure what Trump will do next. Depends on how he is reacting to his meds on any given day. The world is one step closer to chaos. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Back in the 1990s, when sitting in a TV studio chair gravely intoning that “you’ll never win anything with kids” became fashionable, Manchester United fans took grave exception to what they viewed as the excessive number of highly decorated former Liverpool players being given a platform from which to pontificate because they felt they were all too biased. Fast forward to the present day and increasing numbers of United fans are similarly miffed by the ubiquity of highly decorated former players from their own club because they’re not biased enough. Of course the advent of podcasts and round-the-clock subscription TV means there are far more jobs for the boys available and no shortage of United alumni have been recruited. We have now reached a point of such super-saturation that even Paul Scholes, who maintained an almost heroic public silence throughout the entirety of his playing career, seems unable to keep quiet. On the grounds that it is better for a Stockport County fan to post this rather than someone who will take the mickey, the own goal scored by Rotherham on Saturday was very funny, but it didn’t matter. Here it is, ho ho ho. Funnily enough I had just been pondering on the absence of comedy OGs in recent years at Edgeley Park. Has there been a more ludicrous one this season?” – Dan Levy (not that one). To whomever is meant to be in charge: by all means fiddle around with offside, meddle with the last-man red card or dabble with the yellow card goal thingy but please, please, please turn your attention to the WWE shenanigans that happen every time there is a corner. We may well roll our eyes at the events in the Afcon final but the players there acted like proper gentlemen compared with the childish behaviour shown in Premier League penalty areas. Back to a darkened room for me” – Nick Smyth. I was relieved to learn that, when faced with the question Ta Bi or not Ta Bi, Sunderland decided in the affirmative. In football as in life, ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’” – Peter Oh. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...

As Labour shakes up regulation, suppliers are finally investing – but face problems such as contractor shortages and inflation Water firms could be let off pollution fines as part of government overhaul When a sluice gate failed 24 metres below the water’s surface at Thames Water’s Queen Mother reservoir near London’s Heathrow airport, there were no easy fixes available. Emptying 37m cubic metres (1,307m cu ft) of water was not an option, meaning that helmeted divers were limited to 98-minute stints in the high-pressure environment. The risky project required a team on a floating platform with a crane to cut out the broken equipment with thermal lances, bolt a plate on to the reservoir wall, and install the new equipment. It took more than a year until last October to complete, according to Glenfield Invicta, the contractor that carried out the work for Thames Water. Continue reading...

Mangal Dalal sent sexualised content to footballer Behaviour made Höbinger feel ‘anxious and scared’ A man who stalked the Liverpool midfielder Marie Höbinger has been handed a two-year restraining order and an 18-month community order. Westminster magistrates court heard that Mangal Dalal, 42, sent the Austria international sex messages on Instagram, told her he wanted to have babies with her and sent her pictures of underwear. Continue reading...

A five-year-old girl has convinced her parents to legally change her real name to the nickname she prefers. But giving someone an unexpected epithet can come fraught with problems Determined things come in small packages. A five-year-old from Michigan who steadfastly rejected her name all her life has finally won her battle, convincing her parents to legally change it as a birthday present. In a now viral social media post, Amanda Biddle announced that she and husband, Dan, were giving in, and letting their daughter officially become what they have always called her instead – her nickname. “She’s hated her name since she could talk,” Amanda said. “If we ever called her ‘Margaret’​ she would instantly say, ‘I’m not Margaret. I’m Maisie.’ She has always rejected the name Margaret despite my attempts at warming her up to it by turning it into a song that I always sang, and saying it at times when I would want her attention or if she’s being a stinker.” Continue reading...

Ex-nurse, who is serving 15 whole-life prison terms, was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more The former nurse Lucy Letby will face no new charges, the Crown Prosecution Service has announced. Letby, 36, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others in the year to June 2016. Continue reading...

Tesla boss clashed with Michael O’Leary when airline boss rejected installing Starlink technology on aircraft Business live – latest updates Elon Musk has floated the idea of buying the budget airline Ryanair, escalating his public spat with the Irish carrier’s boss, Michael O’Leary. The two outspoken businessmen have locked horns since last week, when O’Leary was asked whether he would follow Lufthansa and British Airways in installing Musk’s Starlink satellite internet technology on his fleet of 650 aircraft. Continue reading...

Denmark and its former colony have a complex relationship, but for now they must speak with one voice against US colonial ambitions There are two tales about the relationship between Greenland and Denmark; both contain truth and blindness. One is the story told by the ruling classes in Denmark, the other is the narrative that unites progressives and nationalists in Greenland. The moral of the first tale is that Greenland, as a part of the Danish kingdom, has managed the extremely challenging transition to a modern society without sacrificing its culture or identity. This is a rare and impressive achievement. Greenlanders are among the only indigenous people in the world with their own parliament, political institutions and education system and who have maintained their own language. And they have access to the same welfare services as other citizens of Denmark. Continue reading...

Chief secretary to prime minister will also bring in small, risk-taking task forces to target specific problems Keir Starmer’s chief enforcer Darren Jones says he is going to bust “the sludge” in Whitehall by bringing in risk-taking task forces to deal with problems and the ability to sack senior civil servants who do not deliver. Jones, who is chief secretary to the prime minister, said civil servants should feel “jeopardy” if they are underperforming – highlighting that only seven out of 7,000 senior civil servants are on improvement plans. Continue reading...

John Owen was key figure in titles won from 2014 to 2021 Audi to unveil first car in Berlin on Tuesday evening Mercedes have announced that their leading car designer, John Owen, will leave this season as Formula One enters the first year of a major change in regulations. Owen has played a key part in the enormous success Mercedes has enjoyed in the modern era when the team secured eight consecutive constructors’ championships. There are no indications as yet that Owen intends to join another team, with Mercedes stating he will continue in his role until mid-season to manage the transition process, after which he will take a period of gardening leave and what the team described as “a break from F1”. Continue reading...

Always wondered what everyday stuff celebrities buy, where they shop for food and the basic they scrimp on? Dawn O’Porter talks fabulous kaftans, Lyma lasers and Jones Road foundation • Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Dawn O’Porter is the bestselling author of Paper Aeroplanes, Goose, The Cows, So Lucky, Life in Pieces, Cat Lady and Honeybee. She’s also well known for her TV work, journalism, podcasting and designs for Joanie Clothing, and is one of the co-founders of the NGO Choose Love. She was also runner-up on the most recent series of Celebrity MasterChef. After years living in LA, Dawn recently resettled in the UK with her husband, Chris O’Dowd, her two boys, Art and Valentine, and a menagerie of animals. Continue reading...

From David Bowie being reincarnated as a kettle to Reese Witherspoon in space, our writers list the TV head-scratchers they can’t get enough of With a gun to my head, I couldn’t tell you with any degree of accuracy what Tim Robinson’s The Chair Company is actually about. In terms of straight plot, it’s the story of a man who is drawn into a conspiracy after a chair breaks when he sits on it. But beyond that, it’s honestly anyone’s guess. Continue reading...

In All Is But Fantasy, the fates of Juliet, Lady Macbeth, Cleopatra and more are given a thrilling twist by US writer, director and singer Whitney White. She talks about untimely deaths – and being left speechless by Judi Dench Whitney White is practically swooning. “I have more respect and love for William Shakespeare than I can honestly communicate,” she says on a video call from Stratford-upon-Avon. When she went to Holy Trinity Church to visit his grave, she says: “I just wept, because the language is so beautiful to me.” White’s first encounter with Shakespeare’s work was in Chicago at high school, where A Midsummer Night’s Dream unleashed her inner “theatre nerd”, she says. “I remember thinking, ‘Shouldn’t all theatre have music and dance and text and fights and be as full as possible?’ Then you grow up and start doing theatre – and we segment the business into musicals and plays.” Continue reading...

From repurposed engagement rings to parties, tattoos and the wild home renovations of #DivorcedMomCore, relationship splits have entered a surprising new era Name: Divorce rings. Age: Relatively new. British Vogue is reporting that they are a thing. And if it’s in Vogue the chances are it’s in vogue. Continue reading...