‘Iconic performers’ will visit 10 European cities, as event reels from boycott over Israel’s 2026 participation
The Eurovision song contest will go on its first ever tour to celebrate its 70th anniversary, its organiser has said, as it reels from a boycott due to Israel’s participation.
Five countries have pulled out of the contest over Israel’s war in Gaza, leaving 35 to participate in the world’s biggest live televised music event – the fewest since entry was expanded in 2004.
British roads will host the start of both races next year
First time both Grands Départs have been outside France
The men’s Tour de France will start in Scotland for the first time in 2027 and make its first visit to Wales when Britain stages the Grand Départ of the men’s and women’s races in the biggest festival of elite cycling on the isles since London 2012.
Across six days of racing on British roads, the men’s Tour will visit Edinburgh, Carlisle, Keswick, Liverpool, Welshpool and Cardiff, while the Tour de France Femmes races from Leeds to Manchester, then to Sheffield and also includes a central London stage. On Thursday night all host cities were illuminated by yellow beams in recognition of them staging the Tour.
Fears that attack could lead to conflict across region prompted lobbying by longstanding US allies
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Oman urged Donald Trump not to launch airstrikes against Iran in a last-minute lobbying campaign prompted by fears that an attack by Washington would lead to a major and intractable conflict across the Middle East.
The warnings of chaos from the longstanding US allies appear to have helped persuade Trump late on Wednesday to hold off for the moment on a military assault. In the case of Saudi Arabia, its reticence led it to deny the US use of its airspace to mount any attacks.
Scot recovers to deny Zhao Xintong 6-5 in the last eight
Judd Trump faces Mark Allen in later Thursday match
John Higgins benefited from an outrageous fluke as he came from 5-3 down to beat world champion Zhao Xintong 6-5 on the final ball and reach the semi-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace.
Higgins made a horrible mess of a plant, only for one of the reds to fly into the opposite pocket and the cue ball to somehow land on the black, en route to squaring the match at 5-5. The 50-year-old Scot then took a tight decider, clearing the table from the final red to move one step closer to a third Masters title.
The Trump administration has paused immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries. We’re looking to speak to applicants, especially those close to a final decision, about the impact of the suspension
We would like to hear from people from countries on the visa ban list who are currently in the immigrant visa application process, particularly those who are at an advanced or final stage.
Survivors of the regime like me are reliving our nightmares as brave Iranians fight for their freedom. They say they have nothing to lose but their chains
It has been more than 40 years since I was imprisoned in Iran for speaking out against human rights abuses and state executions, and for defending women’s rights. I spent eight years behind bars in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. I was tortured. I remember it as if it happened yesterday.
Every few years, uprisings erupt across Iran – and each wave of resistance is deeper and more widespread than the one before. In 2022, it was women who led the Woman, Life, Freedom movement after the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by the country’s “morality police”, and it revolutionised my country. Today, women wear what they want, go out in public with their boyfriends – even live with them – without fear of being arrested. Women earned these rights with their lives. In late December 2025, the spark was once again lit – this time in an old bazaar in Tehran.
Nasrin Parvaz is a women’s rights activist and torture survivor from Iran. Her books include A Prison Memoir: One Woman’s Struggle in Iran, and the novel The Secret Letters from X to A
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Robert Jenrick has been sensationally sacked from the shadow cabinet and suspended from the Conservative party after Kemi Badenoch said she was presented with ‘irrefutable evidence’ that he was planning to defect.
The shadow justice secretary was Badenoch’s leadership rival and had long been said to have been prepared to do a deal with Reform UK’s leader, Nigel Farage.
Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s head of national news, Archie Bland
After a series of cryptic billboards teasing fans, the As It Was singer reveals the title and release date of his first record since 2022
After a brief teaser campaign in which billboards around the world promised “we belong together” and “see you very soon”, Harry Styles has announced his fourth solo album.
Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally will be released on 6 March. It was produced by Kid Harpoon, the British songwriter and producer who has worked on all of Styles’ previous albums. The artwork shows the 31-year-old pop star wearing sunglasses and ducking beneath a disco ball seemingly suspended from the night sky.
It’s becoming more common for people to use AI chatbots for personal guidance – but this doesn’t come without risks
If you’re like a lot of people, you’ve probably ditched your new year resolutions by now. Setting goals is hard; keeping them is harder – and failure can bring about icky feelings about yourself.
This year, in an effort to game the system and tilt the scales toward success, some peopleusedAI for their 2026 resolutions. It’s the latest step in an ongoing trend: in September 2025, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, released findings showing that using the AI chatbot for personal guidance is very common.
Monumental levels of camp, explosively powerful showdowns, glorious chaos: this season finally proves that matriarchs are Traitors’ best characters. Has anyone ever been more legendary than Harriet?
Wednesday’s episode of The Traitors was explosive: Matthew’s recruitment deal with Traitors Stephen and Rachel “confirmed”, James stealing a shield, Rachel revealing her “FBI training”. But let it be known, if I ever go missing I want Harriet Tyce on the case. Her behaviour was nothing short of Shakespearean – dropping the secret writer and criminal barrister bomb, calling out Rachel against the dramatic backdrop of a gothic chapel, publicly prosecuting her at breakfast then presenting nothing but vibes-based evidence at the round table. To top it all off, she is the first Faithful in the show’s history to ask to be banished simply to prove a point. I fear Harriet is operating on levels of camp no TV show has ever seen before.
It’s a common trend that emerges every season: a woman over 50 captures the nation’s heart and becomes a viral sensation, elevated to “mother” status by fans. And this mother is always powerful, outspoken and often utterly incomprehensible. In series one, we had Amanda Lovett, the then 54-year-old estate agent turned Traitor, masking her ruthless “Welsh dragon” instincts behind a clueless appearance. Series two brought us Diane Carson, the 63-year-old Faithful and former teacher, who came armed with blunt directness and a ginger bob only to be offed by fizzy rosé as Ross, her secret son, took part in her funeral procession. Turn to 70-year-old Linda Rands in series three, a retired opera singer who clung on as a Traitor until episode seven despite blunders so blatant they made billboards.
Manager stresses squad harmony crucial at tournament
Two friendlies in March to come before naming squad
Thomas Tuchel stressed talent alone is not enough to make his World Cup squad because the right “social skills” and personality will be needed for England to stand a chance of glory this summer.
The head coach has spoken extensively of building a “brotherhood” and placed heavy emphasis on ensuring there is the right mentality within the camp. England are one of the favourites but the shirt has weighed heavily in the past and Tuchel will look at how players interact with each other before he names his 26-man squad for the finals.
There is still time before 2027 World Cup to rescue the drooping silver fern but rebuilding an international team is hard and New Zealand’s aura has faded
As a keen surfer Scott Robertson is well aware how abruptly situations can change. One minute you are riding the perfect wave, the next you’re being dumped from a great height and having your world tipped upside down. Which is essentially how “Razor” will now be feeling after being ousted as All Blacks head coach barely two years into his tenure.
On the surface he was everything New Zealand rugby could have wished for. The serial domestic winner who had guided the Crusaders to seven successive Super Rugby titles, the empathetic everyman with the break-dancing skills to match. If anyone could connect with younger generations and encourage everyone to fall in love with the ABs again, surely he was da man?
The Renaissance composer wrote hauntingly sublime music – and committed a grisly double murder before descending even further into psychosis. As a new stage work revisits his life, its director asks if art can be separated from artist
Carlo Gesualdo wrote some of the most darkly sublime music of the late Renaissance. He also savagely murdered his wife and her lover in their bed. Now be honest: which would you like to discuss first?
The art will always be secondary to the atrocity, however magnificent the madrigals and sacred music. Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, had been cuckolded by the Duke of Andria in a long-running tryst that had become the scuttlebutt at court. The premeditated double murder of 1590 was a truly grisly affair, concluding in the public display of their mutilated bodies on the steps of the palazzo for several days.
UK users will no longer be able to create sexualised images of real people using @Grok X account, with Grok app also expected to be restricted
Elon Musk’s X has announced it will stop the Grok AI tool from allowing users to manipulate images of people to show them in revealing clothing such as bikinis.
Record 3.5 million visited in 2025 and plans are afoot to ensure gallery does not become overburdened like Louvre
The head of the Prado has said the Madrid art museum does not need “a single visitor more” after it welcomed a record 3.5 million people last year, adding that plans are being drawn up to ensure it does not become a victim of its own success like the Louvre in Paris.
In 2025 the Prado, which is home to such masterpieces as Velázquez’s Las Meninas and Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, was visited by 3,513,402 people, an increase of more than 56,000 from the previous year. Visitor numbers have risen by more than 816,000 over the past decade.
Three House members claim they’re being targeted for saying that troops don’t need to comply with illegal orders
Three House Democrats confirmed on Wednesday they have been approached by federal prosecutors investigating their participation in a November video about military duty, widening the circle of legislators being targeted by the Trump administration.
Representatives Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania disclosed that the US attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, led by Jeanine Pirro, had requested interviews about the 90-second video in which they said troops don’t need to comply with illegal orders.
Robert Jenrick has defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, after being sensationally sacked from the shadow cabinet and suspended from the Conservative party.
Kemi Badenoch said she made the decision to sack her shadow justice secretary after she was presented with ‘irrefutable evidence’ that he was planning to defect.
Jenrick was Badenoch’s leadership rival and had long been said to have been prepared to do a deal with Reform UK’s leader, Nigel Farage.
Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s head of national news, Archie Bland – watch on YouTube
Ruling delivers victory to Trump administration in its efforts to deport the pro-Palestinian activist
A federal appeals court on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that ordered the release of the former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from immigration detention, delivering the Trump administration a victory in its efforts to deport the pro-Palestinian activist.
A 2-1 panel of the Philadelphia-based third US circuit court of appeals ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit Khalil filed challenging his detention after finding that federal immigration law stripped the lower court of jurisdiction over his claims.
$1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease
The controversial US-funded study on hepatitis B vaccines among newborns in Guinea-Bissau has been halted, according to Yap Boum, a senior official at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“The study has been cancelled,” Boum told journalists at a press conference on Thursday morning.
The multimillionaire financier who has been made leader of Reform UK in Scotland has refused to say how wealthy he is, claiming that is a private matter.
Malcolm Offord, formerly a Conservative party life peer, was announced by Reform’s leader, Nigel Farage, as the party’s first Scottish leader, 10 weeks before a Scottish parliament election in which Reform is expected to win up to 18 seats.
Letters sent using campaign group’s template as Keir Starmer indicates Australia-style move being considered
MPs’ inboxes have been flooded with letters calling for an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s, as the prime minister indicated such a move was being considered.
More than 100,000 people have contacted their local MP since the grassroots organisation Smartphone Free Childhood launched an email campaign on Tuesday evening with a template calling for “reasonable, age-appropriate boundaries”.
US Coast Guard and others boarded foreign-flagged crude carrier Veronica in a pre-dawn operation
The US military has seized another oil tanker at sea in support of Donald Trump’s sanctions against Venezuela, military officials announced on Thursday.
Veronica, a crude oil tanker that marine records suggest is sailing under a Guyanese flag, was boarded in a pre-dawn action by US marines and sailors, the US Southern Command said in a post on social media.
Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive!, one of the bestselling live albums of all time, is turning 50. You won’t find that on this list, however: instead there’s metal, soul, and an ‘indecently exciting’ No 1 …
Already stars in Black America, Maze became the ultimate if-you-know-you-know band among British fans of underground soul thanks to Live in New Orleans. It perfectly encapsulated their appeal: smooth but not slick, an awesomely tight band making breezily relaxed music, one fantastic song after another.
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