The dancer and author gives this collection clarity and warmth as he narrates poems about family, queer identity, hedonism and race The first poetry collection from the Nigerian American dancer and poet Oluwaseun Olayiwola explores themes of race, family, queer identity, hedonism and the body. Strange Beach takes its title from Claudia Rankine’s poem Citizen: An American Lyric which describes “each body is a strange beach, and if you let in the excess emotion, you will recall the Atlantic Ocean breaking on our heads”. The shoreline is a recurring image in Strange Beach’s poems, a threshold where forces collide and the landscape is forever changing shape. Olayiwola’s verse dances between the abstract and the philosophical, and there are instances when the narrative thread is discarded and meaning is hard to glean. Clarity comes with hearing it read out loud, however. Olayiwola’s narration brims with warmth and passion, allowing us to bask in imagery, atmosphere and the speaker’s rich interior world. Continue reading...

Last year’s celebrated French hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is nominated in 12 categories this year, with Ghost of Yōtei, Dispatch, Death Stranding 2 and Indiana Jones also making strong showings The 22nd Bafta games awards are coming up in April, and the 2026 nominations list is dominated by the impeccably stylish French breakout hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – a game that has already won game of the year prizes at December’s Game Awards in the US, the UK’s Golden Joysticks last November, and February’s Dice awards in Las Vegas. Dispatch, a game about a benched superhero roped into running a team of superpowered misfits at a call centre, has nine nominations. Among them is a best performer in a leading role nod for its star Aaron Paul, and one for Jeffrey Wright in supporting role. Sony’s samurai epic Ghost of Yōtei came out with eight nominations, including best game and best performer in a leading role for Erika Ishii, who plays Atsu. Continue reading...

Ayrin and SJ met on a subreddit Ayrin created for people ‘dating’ AI companions. Over time, they started talking to AI less … and falling for each other Sign up for AI for the People, a six-week newsletter course, here People are reporting “dating” artificially intelligent companions – but not every relationship lasts. What’s it like to fall in – and then out – of love with AI? As part of our newsletter, AI for the People, we spoke to Ayrin and SJ, who live thousands of miles apart and made the same decision: to leave their AI partners – for each other. Their names have been changed. Continue reading...

Top British army officer tells John Healey Iranian pilots are flying Shaheds much lower, making them more effective Middle East crisis – live updates Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” lies behind Iran’s military methods, the UK defence secretary, John Healey, has said, after a night in which drones struck a camp used by western forces in Erbil, northern Iraq. Healy was speaking after British officers at the UK’s military headquarters in north-west London had told him that Iranian and Iranian proxy drone pilots were increasingly adopting tactics “from the Russians”. Continue reading...

(Warner Classics) Radulović/Philharmonia/Rouvali/Favre-Kahn/Dalene Radulović brings irresistible swagger to selections from Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella, while a more restrained duet fosters a fine sense of dialogue There’s a daredevil freshness about Nemanja Radulović’s playing that makes this generously filled disc of Prokofiev particularly rewarding. Over 86 minutes, he tackles the Second Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia under Santtu-Matias Rouvali, a pair of underperformed sonatas and a clutch of original works and transcriptions with pianist Laure Favre-Kahn. The concerto receives a subtle, supportive reading from Rouvali, who is happy to play second fiddle to the star turn. Radulović plunges in, his audacious attack and intonational high-wire act almost upsetting the applecart in the oompah-pah finale. The same fearless commitment pays dividends elsewhere: in the jaunty Heifetz arrangement of the Gavotte from the Classical Symphony, for example, or in the spiky march from The Love for Three Oranges. Continue reading...

Tech company filed amicus brief in support of Anthropic’s effort to overturn an aggressive Pentagon designation Microsoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic’s legal challenge against the US Pentagon, filing a court brief in support of the AI company’s effort to overturn an aggressive designation that effectively bars it from government work. In an amicus brief submitted to a federal court in San Francisco this week, Microsoft, which integrates Anthropic’s AI tools into systems it provides to the US military, argued that a temporary restraining order was necessary to prevent serious disruption to suppliers whose products rely on the AI company’s technology. Google, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI have also signed on to a brief in support of Anthropic. Continue reading...

Four fatherless girls in a band set out to escape their deprived Australian coastal town, in a dark, raw tale of friendship and abuse Liz Allan’s powerful debut novel smells unmistakably like teen spirit. Plunging the reader into the cauldron of suburban malaise that is an Australian seaside resort in 1994, it is narrated collectively by the Bastards, a band of 14-year-old riot grrrls bringing Kurt Cobain’s gospel to their dead-end backwater – in their own eyes, at least. To their schoolmates, they are three fatherless losers, tainted by poverty. But the Bastards don’t care; they’ve got a ticket out of Vincent, “capital of teen pregnancies and absent fathers”. For nine months, their beloved music teacher, Mr P, has been rehearsing them for the Battle of the Bands, a long drive away in the city of Geelong. Admittedly, they suffered a body blow when their lead singer, Lily Lucid, quit a year ago. But Mr P still believes in them. Continue reading...

The former NBC producer says she was repeatedly assaulted by Matt Lauer, an anchor at the network – then spent years blaming herself in the aftermath. She talks about power, preconceptions and life after #MeToo When Brooke Nevils’ allegations about the former NBC anchor Matt Lauer, one of the most powerful TV stars in the US, became public in 2019, she found herself reading comments about herself online. Nevils, formerly a producer at NBC, had alleged in Ronan Farrow’s book Catch and Kill that Lauer had sexually assaulted her in his hotel room, after an evening drinking while covering the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Back in New York, there were other incidents – she went to his apartment, where she says it happened again. In his dressing room at the NBC studios, Nevils claims Lauer pushed her down and forced her to give him oral sex. Lauer has consistently denied Nevils’ allegations, in an open letter describing it as an “extramarital affair”. Lauer maintains that Nevils’ account is “filled with false details” creating the impression that the encounter was abusive. No charges were ever brought. Continue reading...

Glasgow’s only fire engine with a high-reach ladder was unavailable on Sunday as an office block was gutted Concerns have been raised about the capacity of Scotland’s fire service to deal with large fires like the one that gutted a Victorian office block in Glasgow as it emerged that the city’s only remaining fire engine with a high-reach ladder was unavailable on Sunday. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that, while standard city-based fire engines were on the scene within minutes of the first 999 call, the nearest available high-reach appliance – which adds vital additional capacity to tackle a large blaze – came from Coatbridge, an 18km, 26-minute drive away in light traffic. Continue reading...

Marlowe theatre, Canterbury Weilerstein gave a virtuosic account of Gabriela Ortiz’s Grammy-winning Cello Concerto in a concert hall whose dry acoustic made things challenging at times There are venues that boost a performance – spaces that subtly polish or burnish or clarify – and those that hinder. The latest concert in the Philharmonia’s residency at Canterbury’s Marlowe theatre suggests this handsome building is unfortunately among the latter. The acoustic isn’t so much dry as desiccated, exposing the slightest flaws and offering all the atmosphere of an anechoic chamber. The orchestra’s dynamo principal guest conductor, Marin Alsop, presumably knew what she would be up against, having made her local debut last year. The concert began with a deliciously natty performance of Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No 2. The opening episode – dusky clarinet, piano, claves, string pizzicato – was loose-limbed. A trumpet solo was served with outrageously slow vibrato, the strings strutted to order. Continue reading...

European Commission says it will suspend €2m grant if organisers of arts festival go ahead with proposals The European Commission has warned it will cut funding for the Venice Biennale if organisers go ahead with plans to include Russia. The commission reiterated that any breach of ethical standards by the art festival would be treated as a violation of contract, leading to suspension of the €2m (£1.7m) agreement. Continue reading...

When movie stars are no longer people we aspire to look like, does it spell the end of Hollywood’s cultural power? Once upon a time in Hollywood, if you were an actor preparing to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards, you might have been fasting to fit into your outfit. You definitely had access to the best hair and makeup artists, and designers and jewellers lent you thousands of dollars worth of incredible products. Maybe you even had a subtle bit of plastic surgery. You looked great! For a long time Hollywood operated a fairly coherent beauty ideal that, however unattainable, was at least legible. Continue reading...

China consumes around 90% of Iran’s oil exports, so could be forced to rely on alternative suppliers – particularly Russia With the US-Israeli war against Iran in its second week, energy markets are in turmoil. On Thursday, the price of Brent Crude Oil topped $100, only slightly lower than the $119 peak per barrel on Monday. These swings have focused attention on key energy choke points such as the strait of Hormuz, where about one-fifth of the world’s shipped oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes each day. This shutdown of the strait will be felt in people’s everyday lives for months to come, particularly in the form of spiralling household bills. But oil prices alone do not capture the full economic significance of the conflict. Continue reading...

As the first tranche of documents relating to the hiring of Peter Mandelson are released, how bad will the fallout be for Keir Starmer and the government? Pippa Crerar is joined by Peter Walker to discuss. Plus, the fuel duty row that Rachel Reeves thought she could avoid Continue reading...

Real Madrid left Erling Haaland marooned and picked off an unbalanced Manchester City in the Champions League Pep Guardiola’s wry and serial observation is that only victory makes the head coach appear a sage of the tactical battle. If defeat is endured then, fair or not, it is open season on the man who lives and dies by results. Cut to Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League last-16 hammering of Manchester City by Real Madrid and Álvaro Arbeloa emanated a seer-like cool in the post-first leg briefings, while Guardiola was forced into explaining why he sent out a 4-2-2-2 that crumpled so easily before Federico Valverde, who scored a memorable first-half, 22-minute hat-trick. Continue reading...

Stage and screen actor hailed for her work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and for her TV role as Marie Curie There was a streak of European exoticism in the voice and acting of Jane Lapotaire, who has died aged 81. Her poise and the lustrous sheen of her acting led her to the top of the Royal Shakespeare Company tree, where she was an honorary associate artist, and to leading roles at the National Theatre under Laurence Olivier. On television she seemed perfect casting as, say, the Dowager Empress Dagmar of Russia in the Edward the Seventh (1975) mini-series starring Timothy West, or as an irresistible Cleopatra opposite Colin Blakely’s Antony in 1981, directed by Jonathan Miller, though, surprisingly, she never played that role on stage and was terrified of snakes (discovered when playing Charmian in the 1972 film version with Charlton Heston). Continue reading...

Latest figures from thinktank show Russia received extra €672m in revenues from oil, gas and coal during March Russia has received €6bn (£5bn) from selling its fossil fuels in the fortnight since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, new data suggests. The revenues imply the country took an extra €672m in oil, gas and coal sales during March, as combined average daily prices have surged by 14% from February. Continue reading...

The Traitors host has repeatedly joked that she’ll be ‘awful’ at presenting her new chatshow. But its launch is the highest profile thing she’s ever done – and it’s about to happen ‘They’ve given me a talkshow,” says Claudia Winkleman in the trailer. “Agreed, an error. It might be excruciating.” Such wry self-deprecation continued in the official announcement. “I’m obviously going to be awful,” she said. “That goes without saying but I’m over the moon the BBC are letting me try.” On Friday the 13th – lucky for viewers? – the 54-year-old hosts the inaugural edition of her eponymous chatshow. The Claudia Winkleman Show’s title might not be the mots exciting, but it’s a quietly revolutionary TV moment. It also makes this arguably the biggest week of the presenters’s career. No pressure. Continue reading...

Kremlin appearing to ramp up control over internet, as it tests new ‘whitelist’ restrictions and pushes people to state-owned app Muscovites have been turning to walkie-talkies and pagers amid unexplained disruptions to internet services in the capital, as the Kremlin appears to ramp up control over online activity in Russia. Users in central Moscow, as well as in St Petersburg, first reported difficulties accessing mobile internet about a week ago. Many said they were unable to load websites or apps, while some lost service altogether, leaving them unable to make phone calls. Continue reading...

All six of the Premier League’s last-16 teams have plenty of work to do in their second legs. Bodø/Glimt, meanwhile, have eyes on a fairytale quarter-final A rude awakening for the English Premier League, a week when European football reasserted itself; financial dominance need not mean dominance on the field. Real Madrid’s first-half destruction of Manchester City was chastening. This was a Madrid team shorn of Kylian Mbappé, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham and yet City were soundly beaten 3-0. Arsenal’s drab 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen showed Mikel Arteta’s team will require more than set pieces to prevail in the competition. Continue reading...

Sansevero Chapel Museum will host day of guided tours where visitors will be able to feel marble sculptures The Sansevero Chapel Museum in Naples will allow dozens of visually impaired visitors to take part in a rare tactile experience, letting them touch the celebrated works of art including the Veiled Christ, which is widely regarded as one of the most striking masterpieces in the history of sculpture. On 17 March, the museum will host an initiative called La meraviglia a portata di mano – Wonder within reach – organised in partnership with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Naples, offering about 80 blind and partially sighted visitors a chance to encounter the marble masterpieces. Continue reading...

Tottenham want fans to have ‘full clarity on next season’ Redknapp claims Levy would have brought him in Tottenham have pushed back the deadline for supporters to renew their season tickets to allow them more time to make their decisions based on which division the club will play in. In the previous two campaigns, fans have had to renew very shortly after the final game but this time, as the team fight for their Premier League survival, they have been given until 7 June – two weeks after the last match, which is at home against Everton on 24 May. Continue reading...

Over 80,000 people in appeal queue against initial rejection at end of 2025 – 91% more than a year before The backlog of people awaiting asylum appeals after having their initial application turned down has nearly doubled in a year, threatening to undermine a key pledge of Keir Starmer’s government. Home Office statistics released on Thursday show more than 80,000 cases were waiting to be reassessed at the end of 2025 – a 91% increase on a year before. The backlog significantly outnumbers the number of people waiting for their initial decision, which was 64,000 at the end of December 2025. Continue reading...

Sixty years after the release of her debut album, Boots, we celebrate her finest tracks – from Bond themes to LSD anthems Before she sang a Bond theme, Nancy Sinatra had recorded a parody of one: twanging guitar, John-Barry-mocking brass and all. The great lyrics – “He’s never caught a spy I’m told / He’s never even caught a cold” – mean preposterous mid-60s novelty records come no better. Continue reading...

In spring, a wine-drinker’s fancy may well turn to youthful reds from the Loire, made from pinot noir, cabernet franc and even hillside gamays Can wine ever be good for you? The question has surely occurred to most of us after a night on the chȃteau de migraine, especially if we’ve read the increasingly dire warnings on alcohol consumption. Still, as with chocolate, a lot depends on what type of alcohol you drink. After all, a 90% cocoa solids situation is probably going to do less harm than, say, a family tub of Celebrations, and, while all alcohol is, I hate to break it to you, alcohol, there are definitely better choices you can make. Red wine, for example, contains more heart-protecting polyphenols than white wine does, as well as a richer variety of minerals. But it needs to be young, not too tannic and not too sweet, either. It should also be low-alcohol (about 12.5% ABV, say) and ideally drunk with food. You should also seek out unusual grape varieties, too, not least to increase your variety of gut microflora. This, at least, is the counsel of Dr Tim Spector, who swears by two glasses a day. Continue reading...