John Healey warns of ‘very real and rising threat’ from Iran as US and Israeli military action divides political opinion US-Israel war on Iran – latest updates The UK defence secretary has said few will mourn Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, whose death was announced after US and Israeli airstrikes. John Healey, a senior cabinet minister, described the Iranian regime as “evil” and said it had menaced the west by sponsoring at least 20 terror plots to attack the UK as well as involvement in proxy wars. Continue reading...

John Healey warns of ‘very real and rising threat’ from Iran as US and Israeli military action divides political opinion US-Israel war on Iran – latest updates The UK defence secretary has said few will mourn Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, whose death was announced after US and Israeli airstrikes. John Healey, a senior cabinet minister, described the Iranian regime as “evil” and said it had menaced the west by sponsoring at least 20 terror plots to attack the UK as well as involvement in proxy wars. Continue reading...

If you’re living or working in the region and have been impacted by the US-Israel conflict with Iran, we would like to hear from you US-Israel war on Iran: latest updates In a statement posted to social media, the Israel Defense Forces says it is now striking “targets” of the Iranian “regime in the heart of Tehran”. Iran has launched a new round of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and several Gulf cities, after vowing retaliation for the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who had ruled the country since 1989. Continue reading...

The mutual resentments that have fueled tensions between the US and Iran have simmered for nearly half a century For millions of younger Americans, the sudden explosion of Iran onto the national political stage and consciousness may seem like a bolt from the blue. Yet for older generations and those with deeper historical awareness, Donald Trump’s announcement on Saturday of strikes against a distant foe is more like the outcome of a collision long foretold. Continue reading...

In her teens, the Mercury prize-winning musician was stuck on tour buses when she should have been on the dancefloor. Now she is throwing herself into club culture – and living on her own terms Until only a few years ago, Arlo Parks had never been clubbing. The lack of a party phase makes sense when you consider that while most of her friends were decamping to university at 18, Parks was busy bagging a record deal, releasing her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, a few months after her 20th birthday. “It’s something that I almost didn’t have time to think about,” she says, speaking from LA, where she has lived since 2022, and where she feels very much at home. (This morning has already consisted of gymming and a walk in 28-degree sunshine that’s as bright as her neon-red hair.) “But I definitely did come to the conclusion that I had missed out – I hadn’t really had the time to be silly and have crazy, deep conversations in the smoking area. To be in an anonymous space and feel like you’re part of this whole.” Now 25, she has very much made up for lost time with her third album, Ambiguous Desire – a paean to the night-time, which fuses elements of house, techno, UK garage and more with Parks’s celestial, feather-light vocals. While she hasn’t ditched the guitars altogether, it’s a long way from where we were when we first met Parks, born Anaïs Marinho, back in 2018. Fresh out of sixth form, where she had honed her craft via GarageBand, hers was a confessional, clear-eyed strain of alt-pop, with influences that ranged from Nick Cave to Erykah Badu. Before long, she had signed with an agent and nabbed that aforementioned record deal with Transgressive, fuelled by youthful chutzpah rather than any nepo connections. While her songs were often laced with perfectly curated cultural callbacks (“You do your eyes like Robert Smith,” she cooed on Black Dog), she didn’t shy away from singing about mental health, romantic rejection or drug abuse. One of the top comments on the YouTube video for her early single Eugene reads: “It’s so undignified for a 51-year-old bloke to be crying on a train about a song but here I am.” Continue reading...

Sales beat wider retail sector last year thanks to customers inspired by websites such as Vinted, industry body says Young people inspired by secondhand fashion websites such as Vinted and Depop are helping charity shops thrive despite rising energy and employment costs. Save the Children’s retail sales rose 3% last year, helped by a surge in December when the charity rang up 11% more than the same month a year before, raising more than £1m for its causes. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Labour’s Rushanara Ali plans to intervene in elections bill amid warnings of foreign interference A former Labour minister has added her voice to those of a growing list of experts and senior MPs calling for a ban on political donations in cryptocurrency as concerns grow over foreign interference in British elections. Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP who helped draft the elections bill when she was a minister in the communities department, called for the government to strengthen the legislation with an outright ban on donations in digital currencies. Continue reading...

A halt on trade flows through the strait of Hormuz could spell trouble for many developed economies US-Israel war on Iran – latest updates The US-Israeli war on Iran has ignited fears that escalating military aggression in the Middle East could send oil prices soaring, push up prices at the pump and drive a global economic downturn. The US began “major combat operations” in Iran on Saturday morning, shortly after Israel launched a strike against Tehran. Within hours of the US-Israeli strikes, tankers in the strait of Hormuz were reportedly warned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that no ship would be allowed to pass through the world’s most critical oil trade route. Continue reading...

The James frontman fell for Leonard Cohen as a child and would do Val Doonican at karaoke. But which singer taught him that ‘music could be medicine’? The first song I fell in love with My older sister, Penny, played me So Long, Marianne by Leonard Cohen when I was eight, like some kind of initiation, to say: “Now this is a real poet.” It felt like contraband and so different to all the pop flotsam I had heard in my otherwise white, suburban upbringing, and gave me a taste of adult romantic relationships that a child could not possibly understand. I love my sister and I wanted to impress her. The first single I bought I was given WH Smith tokens as a child, so I must have used the bloody things. When I was 15, I ordered Hey Joe/Radio Ethiopia by Patti Smith through the post and would play it like it was the word of God. Continue reading...

Australia set India 410 for victory in Hobart Updates from the ODI at Bellerive Oval Any thoughts? Get in touch with an email 2nd over: Australia 11-0 (Healy 9, Litchfield 2) Kashvee opens the bowling from the other end – she was certainly the pick of the bowlers for India on Friday. However, Litchfield is keen to get going and finds a gap in the infield immediately, driving it through cover for a single. And that has inspired Healy into action as well, she cuts it well for four – the first boundary of the match. Litchfield chases after a wide delivery and cuts it into the deep late in the over – she picks up a single, but it might provide India some hope that they can lure her into more risky shots and pick up a boundary. Healy finishes the over with another four. Continue reading...

Updates as Matildas host football tournament opener in Perth Kick-off time is 5pm local/8pm AEDT Any thoughts? Email Joey Lynch If you are just checking in after a long break, it shouldn’t take you too long to come to grips with who is in the squad and who isn’t as, for all the talk of renewal and generational change under Joe Montemurro, there’s plenty of familiar faces in the 26-player squad. Here’s a player-by-player guide of each and every member. Drawn in by the prospect of another home tournament (assuming you live in Perth, the Gold Coast, or Sydney), are you checking back in for the first time since that fateful semifinal agianst England just over three years ago? Wondering what’s happened with the Matildas since? Continue reading...

⚽ News, discussion and buildup before the day’s action ⚽ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Emillia The game of the weekend so far took place at Turf Moor yesterday, where Brentford clinched a dramatic 4-3 win against Burnley. The visitors went 3-0 up in the first half but Scott Parker’s side brought it back to 3-3 in the 60th minute. Burnley then had a potential winner disallowed for an offside before Mikkel Damsgaard scored Brentford’s fourth. The Clarets equalised late through Ashley Barnes but that goal was also ruled out due to a handball. Bournemouth 1-1 Sunderland Liverpool 5-2 West Ham Newcastle 2-3 Everton Burnley 3-4 Brentford Leeds United 0-1 Manchester City Continue reading...

⚽ News, discussion and buildup before the day’s action ⚽ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Emillia Yesterday’s Premier League results Bournemouth 1-1 Sunderland Liverpool 5-2 West Ham Newcastle 2-3 Everton Burnley 3-4 Brentford Leeds United 0-1 Manchester City Continue reading...

Get to grips with active aero, boost mode and super-clipping as the adoption of new hybrid engines shakes up the sport before the new season begins next weekend In a week’s time, a new era will begin in Formula One as a major shift in regulations brings with it an air of unpredictability when the Australian Grand Prix gets under way in Melbourne. The cars have been made smaller and lighter with the intent of making them more nimble, better to drive and to facilitate improved racing. The wheelbase has been reduced by 20cm to 340cm and the width by 10cm to 190cm. Across changes in the chassis and to the engine, the overall weight has been reduced by 30kg. Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton have declared themselves generally pleased with the improved handling characteristics of the more sprightly rides, which will operate with approximately 40% less drag, but they will not enjoy the same downforce or the same pace as last year’s models and are expected to open the season around one to two seconds a lap off last year’s times. Continue reading...

Get to grips with active aero, boost mode and super-clipping as the adoption of new hybrid engines shakes up the sport before the new season begins next weekend In a week’s time, a new era will begin in Formula One as a major shift in regulations brings with it an air of unpredictability when the Australian Grand Prix gets under way in Melbourne. The cars have been made smaller and lighter with the intent of making them more nimble, better to drive and to facilitate improved racing. The wheelbase has been reduced by 20cm to 340cm and the width by 10cm to 190cm. Across changes in the chassis and to the engine, the overall weight has been reduced by 30kg. Drivers such as Lewis Hamilton have declared themselves generally pleased with the improved handling characteristics of the more sprightly rides, which will operate with approximately 40% less drag, but they will not enjoy the same downforce or the same pace as last year’s models and are expected to open the season around one to two seconds a lap off last year’s times. Continue reading...

The America First president who built his political brand on opposing foreign military adventures has unleashed a war of choice aimed at regime change It turns out that Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed “candidate of peace,” is just as eager to start new wars. Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump pitched himself as the antithesis of his Democratic opponents Joe Biden, and later, Kamala Harris. Trump insisted he would use his deal-making skills to end multiple global conflicts that started under the Biden administration, including Israel’s war on Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In his election night victory speech in November 2024, Trump told his supporters: “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.” Two months later, in his inaugural address, he went even further in trying to establish himself as a global peacemaker. “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end – and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into,” he said. Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University Continue reading...

The south-east London club have promotion to League One within sight in just their second season in the EFL with their manager central to the transformation With half an hour to go before kick-off , a roar echoes round the ground. MK Dons have levelled with Cambridge United via a penalty deep into injury time, Aaron Collins scoring from the spot to deny the hosts victory. In the 20-minute interlude between Shayne Lavery’s opener at the Abbey Stadium and the referee’s fateful whistle, Cambridge looked set to go top of the table. Instead Bromley get under way against Accrington Stanley with a one-point lead at the summit of League Two, much to the relief of the home fans. Continue reading...

Breaking from European traditions would bring a TV boost and help build a schedule that works both for players and fans The announcement that Major League Soccer (MLS) is to switch from a summer season to a winter one has reignited the debate about the National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) schedule. This is not a new conversation: the pros and cons of alignment with the European calendar have been considered for many years by the NWSL. Continue reading...

The south-east London club have promotion to League One within sight in just their second season in the EFL with their manager central to the transformation With half an hour to go before kick-off , a roar echoes round the ground. MK Dons have levelled with Cambridge United via a penalty deep into injury time, Aaron Collins scoring from the spot to deny the hosts victory. In the 20-minute interlude between Shayne Lavery’s opener at the Abbey Stadium and the referee’s fateful whistle, Cambridge looked set to go top of the table. Instead Bromley get under way against Accrington Stanley with a one-point lead at the summit of League Two, much to the relief of the home fans. Continue reading...

Breaking from European traditions would bring a TV boost and help build a schedule that works both for players and fans The announcement that Major League Soccer (MLS) is to switch from a summer season to a winter one has reignited the debate about the National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) schedule. This is not a new conversation: the pros and cons of alignment with the European calendar have been considered for many years by the NWSL. Continue reading...

Woman deceived into relationship tells spycops inquiry the trip was not to meet Italian socialists, as Carlo Soracchi claims An undercover police officer is facing allegations that he used taxpayers’ money to pay for a romantic break in Venice with a woman he was deceiving into a long-term relationship, the spycops public inquiry has heard. Carlo Soracchi pretended to be an activist for six years while he infiltrated socialist and anti-fascist campaign groups. Continue reading...

Investors are shifting toward physical assets that are partially insulated from disruption, says Goldman Sachs Investors have a new mantra as they prepare for AI to shake up the global economy – the Halo trade. Interest in Halo – short for “heavy assets, low obsolescence” - has risen as investors seek out companies with tangible, productive assets, which might be insulated from AI disruption, such as energy and transport infrastructure companies. Continue reading...

Diagnosed with a rare and incurable condition, Nihal is estimated to be 4,000 times more likely to develop skin cancer than unaffected people. Despite this, she remains determined to live an active, fulfilling life. Photojournalist Paul-Louis Godier has been documenting her daily struggles Nihal walks into the large building that is the HQ the French national television network. She pulls a small black monitor from her pocket and points it toward the large glass windows covering the broadcast office lobby. The readout tells her the ultraviolet levels have dropped to zero, which means it is safe to lift off her helmet. Minutes later, she steps forward to tell her story before millions. Continue reading...

Spring is (almost) in the air and our fashion expert is celebrating with everything from vintage brooches to a smile-when-you-see-it card case • How to have a guilt-free wardrobe clearout Spring is coming. It’s not here yet, but on a good day, you can feel it. Magnolia buds on the trees. A sliver of daylight on the evening commute. Taking your gloves out of your handbag. (Not the umbrella, though. That would be reckless.) From a chic and bouncy new pair of trainers to a classic spring jacket – or the vintage accessory that could revamp the jacket you’re wearing right now – read on. Continue reading...

This rugged promontory is thriving thanks to community-run cafes, restaurants and inns, which can all be visited on a spectacular coastal walk Cliff is sitting in his farm truck scanning the hillsides with powerful binoculars. “It’s the rams,” he says. “They can stray at this time of year.” I follow his direction of gaze, down a golden hillside covered in bracken and boulders to a dark patch in the valley bottom. “Hopefully not down there,” he adds. “That’s the quaking bog.” Sometimes a chance encounter can transform your appreciation of an area, and that is about to happen for me. I’m heading up Craig y Garn mountain to catch the sunrise over the Llŷn peninsula and the first rays are already stealing over the tops of distant Cadair Idris, rousing giant shadows from under the trees. Cliff, who also happens to be my landlord for the week, points to the house on a hill above the bog: “Where you’re staying was my great-grandmother’s house – or at least what is now the living room. She kept one pig, one sheep and one cow, and made buttermilk where the conservatory is.” Continue reading...