We all know a person who sees every chat as an opportunity to go on and on about themselves. And sometimes that person is us … Name: Conversational narcissism. Age: Christened in 1979. Continue reading...

Money-off vouchers won’t do. Instead, the government needs to offer a lasting vision for energy security – because we already know what Reform’s is In a time of fear, heroes must rise. There’s a gathering storm rattling at the windows, tearing through the family WhatsApp groups. Use your air fryer instead of the oven. Book your summer holiday now to avoid spiralling flight costs. Colin, a caller on LBC, has heard a rumour (the radio phone-in equivalent of “forwarded many times”) that there are abundant oil and gas reserves off the Falkland Islands and wants the government to fund an expedition to go and get them. Meanwhile, Ed Miliband has been on TikTok, patiently explaining to his 26,800 followers what the government is doing to protect you from the coming war-flavoured price shock. Energy bills are coming down in April. There’s a £50m heating oil fund for poorer households. Fuel duty is being frozen until September. There are unspecified “measures to advance our plans for clean power”. And, of course, the government is “working with our allies to bring this conflict to an end”, which definitely seems to be doing the trick so far. Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

She has survived heartbreak, death threats and nauseating sexism. In her Mayfair club, the Yorkshire star talks about superfans, viral hits, running away to sea – and her bid to become a Nashville icon Whatever else has changed for Jane McDonald, between the working mens’ clubs the cruise ships and the arenas she is increasingly packing out, one thing has remained. It’s there on TV, where she remains the only Bafta-winning broadcaster liable to go full Cilla and break into song: she plays to the women. “Never acknowledge the men,” she advises cheerfully. There are a lot of husbands. “And they’re like, ‘Oh God …’” She pulls a face. “‘Jane McDonald.’” Increasingly, however, her audiences may not contain many straight men: her social media-led renaissance as an icon of northern high camp means she will perform at London queer festival Mighty Hoopla this summer. I meet McDonald at her members’ club in Mayfair on the morning she releases her 12th album, Living the Dream. At the age of 62, she’s gone country. Recorded at the elite Blackbird Studios in Nashville – Coldplay and Taylor Swift have recorded there – she is dealing in unabashedly big country flavours. Less Cilla, more Shania. Continue reading...

Some gen Z men are using the term to describe an easy meal consisting of ground beef, rice, and a vegetable or fat Recently, after a long day of sending emails, I assembled a bowl of food I had prepared over the weekend: brown rice, ground turkey and half an avocado, all drizzled in hot sauce. As I snarfed my meal on the couch, my husband peeked into my bowl and said: “Having some boy kibble?” It turns out he was not just making a rude comment about my slop. On social media, health-conscious gen Z men have started using the term to describe a quick and easy meal: ground beef, rice, and sometimes a vegetable or fat. The brown, lumpy concoction is praised by gym bros as an easy, relatively cheap way to get the carbs and protein necessary to maximize their workout gains. Salmon with rice and vegetables Greek yogurt with fruit and granola Eggs with whole grain toast and avocado Stir-fry with tofu, vegetables, buckwheat noodles, and crushed nuts and sesame seeds A whole grain wrap filled with black beans, guacamole, veggies, cheese and salsa Whole grain pasta with turkey meatballs, zucchini spirals, olives, parmesan cheese and tomato sauce Continue reading...

Research suggests hunter-gatherers were feeding dogs and giving them ritual burials as early as the last ice age They are humankind’s best friend, and now ancient DNA analysis has revealed that the enduring bond between dogs and humans dates back more than 15,000 years. The groundbreaking research, published in the journal Nature, pushes back the oldest genetic evidence for domestic dogs by 5,000 years, revealing that hunter-gatherers were feeding the animals and giving them ritual burials long before the emergence of agriculture. Continue reading...

US, top carbon emitter in history, has ‘a lot of responsibility’ for causing ‘substantial’ harm globally, scientist says The US has caused an eye-watering $10tn in global damages to the world over the past three decades through its vast planet-heating emissions, with a quarter of this economic pain inflicted upon itself, new research has found. By being the largest carbon emitter in history, the US has caused greater harm to worldwide economic growth than any other country, ahead of China, now the world’s largest emitter that is responsible for $9tn in GDP damage since 1990, according to the findings of the paper. Continue reading...

Pakistani intermediaries deliver 15-point plan but some proposals proved intractable in previous negotiations Middle East crisis – live updates Iranian officials expressed initial disapproval of a US ceasefire plan on Wednesday, even as intermediaries suggested direct talks between the two could start as early as this weekend. Representatives from Pakistan who reportedly delivered the US plan to Iran told the Associated Press that it was a 15-point proposal that would include sanctions relief for Iran, dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme, restricting its use of missiles and reopening the strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20% of the world’s oil. Continue reading...

Archeologists believe remains found in Maastricht, Netherlands, may be of real-life soldier who inspired novel character More than three-and-a-half centuries after a musket ball to the throat put an end to decades of exemplary swashbuckling, the French soldier who inspired Alexandre Dumas and went on to be immortalised on the stage and screen – not to mention as a plucky cartoon dog – may rise again. Workers repairing a church in the Dutch city of Maastricht have discovered a skeleton that could belong to the 17th-century Gascon nobleman Charles de Batz-Castelmore – better known as d’Artagnan – whose exploits led Dumas to make him the hero of the Three Musketeers. Continue reading...

The NBA’s board of governors voted to move forward with the cities as targets for its first expansion since 2004. Here’s what it means for the future of the league The NBA has moved a step closer to adding teams in Seattle and Las Vegas. The league’s board of governors met this week and voted to explore bids and applicants for teams exclusively in those two cities, beginning the process for its first expansion in more than two decades. Bids are expected to be in the $7bn to $10bn range per franchise. Continue reading...

Barbican Hall, London John Butt’s Dunedin Consort premiered Davies’s new Passion: a startlingly sensual meditation with a sense of ritual – and an electric guitar hidden amid the baroque instrumentation Most period-instrument bands spend Lent playing as many Bach Passions as they can schedule, but here were the Dunedin Consort and conductor John Butt adding to their already impressive list of premieres with a brand new Passion. A co-commission with the Edinburgh international festival, where it will be heard in August, it is the fruit of the composer Tansy Davies’s long fascination with the elusive figure of Mary Magdalene. Davies’s text draws on several sources including the second- or third-century, non-canonical Gospel of Mary, and weaves in evocative poetry by Ruth Fainlight. It unfolds steadily in a 90-minute span divided into seven episodes, related by eight singers – four women, four men. Mary Magdalene herself, radiantly sung here by Anna Dennis, is a visionary, with long passages of almost mystical words, the melody leaping from note to note; the other three women sing in chords, giving voice to an Oracle. It’s more of a meditation than a Passion-setting in the traditional sense, but there’s no new-age looseness: Davies’s score is tautly written. And the story gets told, if not in quite the usual way. Jesus’s first words – addressed here by the otherwise velvet-voiced baritone Marcus Farnsworth to Tim Lilburn’s countertenor demon – are an angry “Shut up!”, and some of Fainlight’s poetry is startlingly sensual. Continue reading...

Late-night hosts discussed Trump’s restrictive voting bill, ICE agents at US airports and a mysterious ‘gift’ from Iran Late-night hosts mocked Donald Trump’s mail-in voting as he tries to end mail-in voting, ICE agents in US airports and a mysterious “gift” from Iran. Continue reading...

‘US soldiers would look for “suspected terrorists” in Iraqi homes and usually find nothing. This could be my grandma’s living room – it shows that insane violence can continue amid normal life’ I took this picture during my first time in Iraq, 20 years ago. It was the first entry in a body of work about the US post-9/11, at home and at war, which has occupied a good chunk of my professional life for the last two decades. I had turned 25 the week before and it was a formative journey on a personal level. It was the first time I experienced war, and my understanding of my country and its relationship to the world developed in the crucible of this extremely violent situation, which was descending into civil war while I was there. I had been embedded in Iraq with the US military for six weeks or so at this point, and had taken some good pictures. But this one was different and it still means something to me today. It was the first I had taken that wasn’t overtly channelling the history of war photography – which largely focusses on violence, horror and victims. Those are important things to show, but I wanted to understand this particular conflict, and how my position as an American of the same generation as those fighting could help me interpret it for the public. I guess the image crystallised something I had seen – this vast machine of military might mobilised in the Middle East; the momentum of all these young men with powerful weapons patrolling cities in search of people identified as enemies of America, enemies of democracy. Continue reading...

Ministers to introduce temporary ban on cryptocurrency donations to political parties after review UK politics live – latest updates Ministers are introducing a temporary ban in cryptocurrency donations following an official review. Philip Rycroft, a former senior civil servant, made the recommendation as part of a review into countering foreign financial influence and interference in UK politics. Continue reading...

Man credited with cooling Greenland tensions with Donald Trump is poised to play central role in any coalition deal Europe live – latest updates At the end of a long, gruelling night for the biggest parties on the right and left, there was one veteran of Danish politics who came out of Tuesday’s general election with a smile on his face – and a pipe in his mouth. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the two-time prime minister whose Moderates party is not aligned with the country’s left or right-leaning political blocs, is poised to play a central role in any coalition deal reached in the coming weeks. Continue reading...

The comedian on learning from Stewart Lee, forging gags from chats with friends and his niche joke about Magic FM Who did you look up to when you were starting out as a comedian? I wanted to learn everything at once, so I found as many DVDs and videos of standups as I could. The people who stood out were the ones doing it a bit differently. Obviously, the standard answer is Stewart Lee. When I saw his 41st Best Standup Ever show, I realised you can do anything when you’re up there. People like Rhod Gilbert, Lee Mack and Noel Fielding, in the early days before they were famous, also blew my mind. How would you describe your style of comedy? I do one-liners. I’m a joke teller. A gagsmith. Mark Simmons: Jest to Impress is on tour in the UK and Ireland until 28 November. Continue reading...

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...

A long-running experiment in Colorado provides an ‘alarming’ view of how rapidly unchecked global heating could transform fragile ecosystems Every summer, people descend on the wildflower capital of Colorado to see grasslands flush with corn lilies, aspen sunflowers and sub-alpine larkspur. In January 1991, scientists set up a unique experiment in these Rocky Mountain meadows. It was one of the first (and longest running) to work out how the changing climate would affect an ecosystem. At the time, it was believed a temperature increase could lead to longer, lusher grasses. But instead of flourishing, the grasses and wildflowers started to disappear, replaced by sage brush. The experimental meadows morphed into a desert-like scrubland. Even the fungi in the soils were transformed by heat. Continue reading...

Playful dressing is back, and our menswear expert has picked his top staples and styling tweaks for the new season, from stripes to moustaches • How to buy secondhand clothes online that you’ll actually wear Over the past couple of years, the runways have felt hushed: classic colours, minimal silhouettes, understated accessories. This season feels like a gear change: the mood has lifted, and designers are getting playful again. We’re talking colour, stripes, brooches, bandanas, resort wear, jewellery, denim jackets, even pyjamas … Personality and feelgood dressing are back on the agenda. I’ve put together a list of 50 tips and tricks to get you on top of your fashion game for the upcoming season. For spring, your best investments will be transitional layers that wake up your wardrobe – think denim jackets, long-sleeve bretons and argyle knits. Continue reading...

In the hugely popular pre-school animation, composer Joff Bush references and rearranges classical tunes in all the right places – and never plays it for cheap laughs. Plus, the Wigmore Hall sees the writing on the wall Classical music’s continued battle for relevance and impact continues to find new nadirs, from tired experiments with formats to bathetic look-at-me clickbait. But what if there was an answer – a joyous, creative and positive one – staring at us with irresistibly big eyes? There really might be, in the shape of a blue heeler puppy. I’m talking, of course, about Bluey, the Australian cartoon for children of all ages. The numbers are huge: it was the most streamed show in the US last year, with more than 45bn minutes watched, and a billion streams and counting across the world for Bluey’s albums and soundtracks, all written by Joff Bush, the Australian musician who has led the composition of the music for each of the 154 episodes so far. Continue reading...

Industry fears strait of Hormuz closure could disrupt shipping of crucial parts for UK and German North Sea projects • Business live – latest updates A string of large offshore wind projects in Europe are facing potential delays as the Iran war threatens to disrupt shipping of crucial parts manufactured in the Gulf. Industry sources are concerned that components ordered from suppliers in the United Arab Emirates could become trapped if shipping remains effectively blocked through the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Leaseholders criticise plan to reclaim funds spent on destroyed Spectrum Building in Dagenham People who lost their homes when a tower block in Dagenham burned down say they are being made to pay for the building’s fire safety works after the government demanded its money back. Former leaseholders of the Spectrum Building, a seven-storey block of flats which was demolished after a major fire in August 2024, said it was “absolutely outrageous” the Greater London Authority (GLA) was seeking to reclaim £6m for the safety works because the blaze meant they were never completed. Continue reading...

Home nations frontrunners to host Women’s World Cup United’s New Stadium Development wants showpiece The FA is resisting lobbying from Manchester United to nominate a rebuilt Old Trafford as the venue for the 2035 Women’s World Cup final. The chief executive of United’s New Stadium Development, Collette Roche, went public with the club’s aspirations to host the 2035 final for the first time on Tuesday, but the FA is committed to staging the showpiece occasion at Wembley. Continue reading...

The assassination of the Congo’s first prime minister has been shrouded in mystery – but the impending trial of a Belgian diplomat may provide answers Don’t get The Long Wave delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Patrice Lumumba was assassinated more than 60 years ago, but his killing still hangs over the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Even for non-Congolese Africans, some born years after Lumumba’s death, his killing symbolises something traumatic – the suffocation of the pan-African liberation dream by western colonial forces. Last week, after decades of avoidance and denial, there was an extraordinary development. A Belgian court ruled that a former Belgian diplomat, 93-year-old Étienne Davignon, will stand trial in connection with the killing. Continue reading...

Lead runners were led off course by guide vehicle World Athletics gives runners special entry Three runners who were led off course in a race that served as a qualifier for the World Road Running Championships have been given entry into the upcoming competition. Jessica McClain, Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat were leading the USA Track & Field Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta earlier this month when the guide vehicle took the trio off course. Molly Born, who had been more than a minute behind the leaders, came through to win the race, with Carrie Ellwood and Annie Rodenfels in second and third. McClain, Hurley and Kurgat finished in ninth, 12th and 13th respectively, around two minutes behind Born. Continue reading...

Ireland face Czech Republic in playoff semi-final ‘We are just riding the wave of confidence’ Seamus Coleman believes the Republic of Ireland have “a duty” to lift the country by completing the job of qualifying for a World Cup for the first time since 2002. The Republic visit the Czech Republic on Thursday in a World Cup playoff semi-final that few would have imagined possible after collecting one point from their opening three qualifiers. Having reignited their campaign with two Troy Parrott-inspired wins over Portugal and Hungary in November, however, Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side will take confidence and momentum into their bid to end a 24-year absence from the World Cup. Continue reading...