Victim in her 20s was attacked after leaving Labyrinth Epsom nightclub between 2am and 4am on Saturday A woman was raped by several men outside a church after leaving a nightclub in Surrey, police said. The woman in her 20s reported she was attacked after being followed leaving Labyrinth Epsom between 2am and 4am on Saturday. Continue reading...

After a season dominated by long throws, set-piece wrestling and rigid, overly controlled football, all of a sudden the overwhelming artistry and firepower at Manchester City’s disposal is threatening to take over when it matters most. This game was taken away from Chelsea during a blistering spell of attacking at the start of the second half and, by the end, it was impossible not to feel the same applied to the title race. Strike up the Jaws music – Pep Guardiola’s sharks are circling. There was blood in the water after Arsenal’s defeat by Bournemouth and, after meandering through a tepid first half, City eventually found their bite at Stamford Bridge. Continue reading...

Officials confirm misfire as Amnesty gives death toll after speaking to survivors of strike on market in Yobe state A Nigerian air force strike targeting jihadist rebels hit a market in north-east Nigeria, killing more than 100 people and injuring many others, Amnesty International and local media have said. Officials confirmed a misfire had occurred but did not provide details. Continue reading...

The Place, London This double bill from choreographers James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight features fluent steps, tension and expression, but their expressed human connection to an AI-driven world was hard to discern There’s a particular look you see on dancers sometimes, as if taking a slow, deep inhalation of something expensive, unfixed gaze, slightly furrowed brow. It’s hard to describe – you know it when you see it – but what it signals is emotional gravitas. It’s often coupled with portentous or overtly emotive music. Both of these things appear in PCK Dance’s double bill Into the Light, along with other signifiers: dark and ominous atmosphere, even an overwritten blurb in the programme. The thing is, choreographic duo James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight don’t need this heavy-handed help, which can drown out the subtleties of the dance, because they are actually really good crafters of movement. The pair are former members of Company Wayne McGregor who’ve been picking up steam as choreographers, and you can see that pedigree in their strong, slick, finessed dancing (and the way their legs whip into the air at extreme angles). They have a talent for stringing together steps in fast but clear sequences packed with movement, like the chatter of a motoring brain. It’s made with fluency and attention to form. Continue reading...

Police arrest man, 37, on suspicion of being in charge of dog dangerously out of control and causing injury resulting in death A 19-year-old woman who died after a dog attack in Essex has been named by police as Jamie-Lea Biscoe. Police said the victim was found with serious injuries by emergency services after they were called to a property in Long Hide, in the village of Leaden Roding, at 10.45pm on Friday. Biscoe was pronounced dead at the scene. A 37-year-old man from Dunmow, who was arrested on suspicion of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury resulting in death, has been bailed until July while inquiries continue, Essex police said on Sunday. The canine, which was a family pet and believed to be a lurcher cross, was seized and tests are under way to formally establish the dog’s breed, the force added. Assistant chief constable Stuart Hooper said: “Our thoughts remain with all those who knew and loved Jamie-Lea. Her young life has been so tragically cut short. “Our detectives are continuing to work around the clock to establish exactly what happened and specialist officers are continuing to support Jamie-Lea’s family. “This is unimaginable for her loved ones and friends and, as such, I would ask people to respect their grief and privacy at this extremely difficult time. “Our officers remain at the scene and anyone with concerns or information can speak with them there or contact us in the usual way.” A post-mortem examination is due to take place on Sunday, police said. Anyone with information that could assist the investigation has been asked to contact Essex police through their website or anonymously through independent charity Crimestoppers. On Thursday, a three-month-old baby died in a suspected dog attack at a property in Redcar, North Yorkshire. The baby girl is believed to have died as a result of a dog bite in the Dormanstown area and a woman, aged 31, was treated in hospital for an injury to her arm from a bite, police said. Armed officers destroyed one dog that had gone on to the street and a second recovered by police has since been destroyed. A man, aged 45, was arrested on suspicion of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death and was released on conditional bail. Continue reading...

An American blockade in the strait of Hormuz raises energy-market dangers after failed negotiations – pushing a fragile ceasefire closer to collapse As the US vice-president, JD Vance, took to a podium in Pakistan after 21 hours of diplomacy and said no deal had been reached to end the war with Iran, his boss Donald Trump was in Miami watching a mixed martial arts fight. The contrast was stark. Just when the outcome of a war and the stability of global markets hung in the balance, the president chose spectacle over engagement. Mr Trump may intend to project strength. But the impression he creates – in Tehran and among America’s allies – is of a president less interested in the substance of diplomacy than in the politics surrounding it. The talks in Islamabad didn’t fail accidentally; the US and Iran were talking past each other. Washington’s position is that Iran must abandon its capacity to develop a nuclear weapon, while Tehran insists it is not seeking one and has the right to a civilian nuclear programme. The US vice-president’s “final and best offer” would have required Iran to give up that capacity altogether – terms that looked less like the basis of a negotiation than an attempt to impose the conditions of victory. Continue reading...

In both Republican and Democratic states, scepticism and hostility towards an unregulated construction boom is growing When blue-collar Trump voters and Maga-friendly midwest states join the same cause as Bernie Sanders and liberal California teachers, something novel is afoot. Last month it was the turn of the Republican party in Texas to express forthright opposition to the construction of datacentres for artificial intelligence, pending adequate environmental safeguards for local communities. Across the United States, similar campaigns are being waged, as voters from across the political spectrum rail against the outsize influence and power of big tech. For the White House, which has made the rapid rollout of datacentres a priority in its AI action plan, the scale of the protests is an unwelcome surprise. One of Donald Trump’s first acts on returning to office was to authorise the deregulated “build, baby, build” approach demanded by the Silicon Valley backers who helped to fund his campaign. Industry giants such Amazon and Microsoft are driving an estimated $710bn worth of investment in datacentres this year, as they stake their future on staying ahead in the AI race. Continue reading...

Mauritian foreign minister pledges to ‘spare no effort’ to regain control of islands, as US fails to give approval of deal A senior official in Mauritius’ government has vowed that the Chagos Islands will be “decolonised” after Keir Starmer was forced to shelve legislation to hand the islands back to Mauritius. On Friday, UK government officials acknowledged that they had run out of time to pass legislation within the current parliamentary session, which ends in the coming weeks, after a lack of support from Donald Trump. Continue reading...

Empire Polo Club, Indio, California For a reportedly record-breaking amount of money, the increasingly reclusive star proves his voice is still golden in a headliner performance light on enthusiasm Throughout the Strokes main stage set on Saturday evening, you could see them: fans, many of them women, unaffected by the New York indie rockers as they pushed forward through the crowd to stake out spots hours in advance for the night’s closer, Justin Bieber. “I know why you’re here … JUSTIN BIEBER!” the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas joked, sort of, between songs. “We’re happy to lube you up for him.” Perhaps Casablancas picked up on an anxious energy from the crowd: the chance to see Bieber in a Coachella primetime slot seemed at once inevitable and improbable. Save a stripped-down Grammys performance and two very selective LA warm-up shows, the 32-year-old pop star had not performed publicly in over four years, since cancelling his 2022 Justice World Tour amid a host of health issues. Maybe it’s because vulnerability is an established element of a performer who, for years, appeared dead behind the eyes in public, or the fact that Bieber recently ditched the managerial framework that guided his rocky career, or the lingering sting of Frank Ocean’s disastrous headliner set in 2023, when a generationally beloved artist with little recent performance experience cracked under the pressure: few Coachella headliner sets have generated this much buzz – Saturday broke Coachella’s single-day ticket record – and perhaps this much parasocial concern. Continue reading...

Readers respond to Reform UK’s threat to deny visas to citizens of countries seeking compensation for slavery It is not necessary to agree with the slavery reparations movement in order to see through the crude and threadbare logic of Zia Yusuf’s tirade against it (Reform UK would stop visas for people from countries seeking slavery reparations, 7 April). Britain’s prominent role in ending the slave trade and subsequently slavery neither absolves its involvement in those enterprises nor erases their effects. Endless reiteration of it does, however, encourage a sentimental attachment to a single, insular version of history. Similarly, to claim that advocates for reparations are using history “as a weapon to drain our treasury” is a wilful misrepresentation, designed to jolt the indignant reflexes of Reform UK supporters too lazy to engage with extensive argument. Continue reading...

As Stella Creasy’s experience shows, these encounters follow a pattern typically comprising seven elements, writes Dr Susan Watson Reading Stella Creasy’s piece about the online abuse she received after sharing an image of herself enjoying a silent disco in her constituency filled me with a mix of anger and weary understanding (When I get abused just for dancing, it shows how far hatred of politicians has gone, 7 April). My own research in this area, which now spans almost a decade, has consistently shown that women working across the public sphere are targeted with misogynistic online abuse, and that what happens in digital spaces echoes other forms of gender‑based violence. Continue reading...

Jess Bassett was frustrated to find chips with everything on a recent holiday, but Brittany Ferries’ offering on the return trip was a delightful surprise Ellie Violet Bramley’s efforts to find the perfect kids menu resonated deeply with me as a mum just back from a trip to France, where every child’s option was nuggets, burger or fish with chips (‘Before I can stop her, my daughter is licking crumbs from the table’: my search for the perfect kids’ menu, 7 April). Perhaps naively, I’d imagined a better offering from our French counterparts, but staying in a popular ski resort at Easter, I concluded that maybe they knew who they were catering for. Continue reading...

James Kyle responds to an article by Keir Starmer on supporting the less well off in society For the most part in his recent article (Workers, pensioners and children: all better off. Ignore the critics – we really are standing up for working people, 5 April), Keir Starmer rightly flags up the introduction of policies supporting the less well off in this society. However, I believe it was an ill-considered move to include the statement about increasing the state pension. As a pensioner I am not seeing a straightforward improvement and instead seeing a policy that is reducing the benefit of those increases. The triple lock, established by a Conservative–Liberal Democrat government in 2010, was designed to ensure that pensioners who had made tax and national insurance contributions throughout their working lives did not see their pension watered down. However, under the current approach this is actually being undermined. The outcome of freezing the personal allowance means that a significant and increasing proportion of pensioners, based on pension-related income alone, will have to pay tax, thus offsetting the intended benefit of the triple lock. This is made worse for any pensioner with even a small amount of additional income, and will become more burdensome as the personal allowance freeze continues into subsequent years. Continue reading...

Cate Blanchett, Rachel Zegler, Bryan Cranston and a host of stars arrive for the Olivier awards, marking their 50th anniversary, at the Royal Albert Hall in London Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ministers planning new legislation for alignment without full parliamentary scrutiny if in national interest Ministers are planning to fundamentally reshape Britain’s relationship with the European Union, with new legislation that could result in the UK signing up to EU single market rules without a normal parliamentary vote. In a major development in the prime minister’s push for closer ties with the continent in after the Iran war, the Guardian understands ministers are bracing to face down opposition to “dynamic alignment” with the EU from those who “scream treason” over the powers in a new EU-UK reset bill. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Health secretary warns of dangers of protest vote as he pitches NHS as key battleground in May elections Voters in May’s local and devolved elections risk putting the NHS in jeopardy if they vote for populist parties, Wes Streeting has said, as he sought to make the health service a key battleground. “The founding principles of the NHS are at greater threat than at any time since the NHS was founded in 1948,” the health secretary said. Continue reading...

Continue reading...

Astronauts make first remarks at jubilant homecoming in Houston after their record-breaking moon flyby Still marveling over their moon mission, the Artemis II astronauts received a thunderous welcome home on Saturday from hundreds who took part in setting a record for deep space travel during the US space agency Nasa’s lunar comeback. The crew of four arrived at Ellington Field near Nasa’s Johnson Space Center and Mission Control in Houston, flying in from San Diego, where they splashed down just offshore the evening before. Continue reading...

Demand at online marketplaces could settle at a new, higher normal, with the crisis leaving consumers ‘scarred’ Car buyers’ interest in electric cars has surged across Europe since the start of the war in Iran, as the rising cost of petrol highlights the cheaper power available from a plug. Online marketplaces in the UK, Germany, France and Spain reported huge increases in inquiries about electric vehicles since the start of the conflict in February. Continue reading...

Italian wins 7-6 (5), 6-3 against Spanish rival Sinner adds another victory after Indian Wells and Miami Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time on Sunday and reclaim the world No 1 ranking from his Spanish rival. Sinner downed Alcaraz 7-6 (5), 6-3 to capture his third ATP 1000 title of the year after completing the “Sunshine Double” last month with victories in Indian Wells and Miami. Continue reading...

️ Updates from the final round at Augusta National ️ Ewan Murray’s day-three report | Leaderboard | Mail Scott Exactly 30 years ago, give or take two days, this happened … … so the blowing of a six-shot lead at the Masters isn’t exactly a new thing. And hey, unlike the poor old Great White Shark, at least Rory has 18 more holes still to play, and with them an opportunity to do something about it. Continue reading...

Belgian ends decade-old run of bad luck in event ‘It’s everything to me … I stopped believing a lot of times’ Wout van Aert shattered a decade-old jinx to win Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, outduelling the world champion, Tadej Pogacar, in a brutal classic race across the cobbles. The 31-year-old suffered a puncture as did Pogacar and their great rival Mathieu van der Poel, who had two mechanicals and could not contest the final sprint, which went in Van Aert’s favour for his second title in one of the five Monument classics after his Milan-Sanremo victory in 2020. Continue reading...

Thirty minutes before kick-off Roberto De Zerbi wandered on to the pitch with his black padded gilet zipped high to the neck in the face of a chill Wearside wind. By the final whistle that stiff breeze had dropped a little but so, too, had the morale of Tottenham and their new manager. In cementing the visitors’ position in the bottom three with six games to go, Nordi Mukiele’s second half winner ensured Régis Le Bris’s Sunderland rose to 10th. De Zerbi’s unusually subdued body language suggested he was shivering inside. Continue reading...

On a typically nervy afternoon on the Trent, one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon arrived in the seconds after the final whistle, news over the speakers that Tottenham were still trailing at Sunderland. For Nottingham Forest, a creditable draw against Aston Villa takes them another precious point towards Premier League safety, Neco Williams’s low strike cancelling out Murillo’s own goal; confirmation that Forest are now three clear of the relegation zone was greeted as warmly as one would expect. These teams could meet again at the end of the month in a Europa League semi-final but, for now, there are more pressing priorities for both teams. For the fourth successive season, Villa again left the City Ground without the full bounty and they wasted a series of chances to earn victory, Morgan Rogers skying a shot from close range and Ollie Watkins also sent a shot sailing over the bar. Continue reading...

Go back to last April and Newcastle brought the thrills against Crystal Palace, putting five past Oliver Glasner’s side at St James’ Park, the victory closed by an Alexander Isak special. How things have changed. At Selhurst Park this time round, the visitors succumbed to a third successive defeat, Jean Philippe-Mateta’s penalty in injury time adding to the misery for Eddie Howe’s team. William Osula’s close-range finish before half-time, against the run of play, had put Newcastle in front if not in control. Howe’s side looked short of confidence even with the lead, still on the mend from those sapping defeats last month by Barcelona and, crucially, Sunderland. Continue reading...