US president had recently said that the plan was the best deal Starmer could make

Donald Trump has urged Keir Starmer not to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius, warning he was “making a big mistake”.

Under the deal agreed last year, Britain would cede control over the British Indian Ocean Territory but lease the largest island, Diego Garcia, for 99 years to continue operating a joint US-UK military base there.

Unite Here, the US’s largest hospitality workers’ union, says ICE crackdown is harming tourism and costing jobs

Donald Trump’s immigration policies are having a chilling effect on the hospitality industry, where nearly a third of workers are immigrants, according to the largest hospitality union in the US.

The number of employed hospitality workers dropped by 98,000 from December 2024 to December 2025, according to a report from Unite Here, which represents 300,000 workers across the hospitality, food and tourism industries in the US and Canada.

Through more than 300 photos, the New York City artist Clémence Polès Farhang captures the immigrant story and unconventional womanhood

Clémence Polès Farhang started Passerby magazine around the time she immigrated to New York City. She says she wanted to explore womanhood as she navigated her own, and used publishing as a way to “deconstruct the internalized misogyny” from her own education. Polès Farhang’s mother, who left Iran during the revolution, believed women should have the right to choose what to do with their bodies, “yet would dismiss any woman who didn’t conform to conventional expectations,” says Polès Farhang, such as those didn’t dress “in a way she considered put together, or didn’t marry into heteronormative relationships within the right social class.”

“I remember being scolded in my early 20s for embarrassing her by leaving the house barefaced,” she says.

When, on the eve of kick-off, Qarabag’s manager, Gurban Gurbanov, said Newcastle had “a style of play that does not suit us”, there were suggestions he was playing mind games.

Long before half-time it was fully apparent that, if anything, Gurbanov had rather understated things. Had this been a boxing match it would surely have been stopped after a matter of minutes. Qarabag were utterly overwhelmed by the pace of their guests and that of Anthony Gordon in particular. Gordon scored four times, taking his tally in the Champions League this season to 10.

Meta chief says it has improved identifying underage users but adds ‘I always wish we could have gotten there sooner’

The Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, testified at a landmark trial of social media companies on Wednesday. Plaintiffs’ lawyers grilled Zuckerberg about internal complaints that not enough was being done to verify whether children under 13 were using the platform.

Zuckerberg claimed Meta had improved in identifying underage users but also said: “I always wish that we could have gotten there sooner.”

Dozens of world leaders head to Washington for what White House says will largely be a fundraiser on Thursday

Dozens of world leaders and national delegations will meet in Washington DC on Thursday for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, as major European allies declined to join the group and criticised the organisation’s murky funding and political mandate.

The White House has indicated that the summit for his new ad hoc council at the renamed Donald J Trump Institute of Peace will heavily function as a fundraising round, with Trump announcing on social media that countries have pledged more than $5bn toward rebuilding Gaza, which has been devastated in the war with Israel and remains in a humanitarian crisis.

• Mitch Marner scores in overtime to seal 4-3 win

• Canadians lose star Sidney Crosby to injury

Nick Suzuki tied the game on a deflection with 3:27 left, Mitch Marner scored in overtime, and Canada avoided what would have been a stunning quarter-final exit at the Olympics by rallying to beat the Czech Republic 4-3 on Wednesday.

“I never had a doubt, but it was getting a little nerve-racking,” defenseman Drew Doughty said.

Exclusive: After investigators concluded an abuse incident occurred, women speak out for first time – ‘I was so scared to tell anybody’

Two women incarcerated in a California prison are calling for the prosecution of a staff cook who they say sexually assaulted them.

The women say Marcus Johnson, a former supervisory cook at the California Institution for Women (CIW), raped them in 2020 while they were working for him in kitchen jobs. The women, who were making under 40 cents an hour, said in federal civil complaints he threatened disciplinary action if they reported him.

Leadership disputes claim of political motive for ousting Jeffrey Rosen, who was praised for non-partisan approach

The first and only museum dedicated to the US constitution has been plunged into turmoil over the sudden departure of its president, a legal scholar widely respected for his commitment to non-partisanship.

The National Constitution Center (NCC) in Philadelphia announced last month that Jeffrey Rosen would step down after 12 years to be replaced by Vince Stango on an interim basis.

Trump’s disapproval rating indicates he’s less popular with Americans than some insects like ants. Will it mean anything in November?

• This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland; sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday

A couple of years ago, the polling company YouGov asked people about insects. The resulting survey found that butterflies are America’s favorite insect, with eight in 10 people having a “very or somewhat positive” reaction to them.

Many journalists will tell you to never trust the polling, and they’ve been proven right many times over. Still, aren’t you curious how a random group of 1,148 adults feels about bugs?

⚽ Premier League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off
⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Bluesky | And email Scott

2 min: It’s not a pleasant evening weather-wise. It’s raining in the West Midlands, and that rain could turn to sleet or snow later. Slapstick entertainment not yet off the menu.

Wolves get the ball rolling. “A quiet night is wanted, I think, from all parties, at least in the sense of avoiding the ghastly shenanigans on view in the notorious match last night,” begins Charles Antaki, who speaks for us all. “Raucous is good, animated is fine, full bloodedness welcome, but none of the other stuff, please. British football has been pretty free of it these last years, for which we should all be grateful.”

⚽ WCL updates from the second leg (first leg: 0-4)
⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Sarah

There is going to be a revival of el Clasico in the quarter-finals as Real Madrid secured their spot in the last eight where they will play Barcelona. Real beat Paris FC 5-2 on aggregate to go through.

I would love to hear from you. Anything from how you think this tie will shake out, what you might be giving up for Lent or, on the opposite end of the scale, what you are treating yourself to in terms of snacks while watching the game. Email me and let me know.

While most hybrids are said to use one to two litres of fuel per 100km, a study claims they need six litres on average

Plug-in hybrid electric cars (PHEVs) use much more fuel on the road than officially stated by their manufacturers, a large-scale analysis of about a million vehicles of this type has shown.

The Fraunhofer Institute carried out what is thought to be the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, using the data transmitted wirelessly by PHEVs from a variety of manufacturers while they were on the road.

The Brazilian has seen this before, football has seen this before and yet why does it feel like nothing ever changes?

José Mourinho: against provoking opposition fans. José Mourinho: in favour of restrained celebrations. José Mourinho, once of the poke-in-the-eye, sprint-down-the-touchline, accost-the-referee-in-the-car-park school of footballing expression: now apparently very big on showing respect to the game. Well, it seems like we’ve all been on a journey here.

“I told him the biggest person in the history of this club was Black,” Mourinho recounted when asked about his conversation with Vinícius Júnior on Tuesday night. “This club, the last thing that it is, is racist.” And doubtless these words will have been a profound source of comfort to Vinícius in his lowest moment, having been insulted on the pitch by an opposition player in a Champions League playoff.

Portuguese managed Fenerbahce and leads his new side into their Europa League playoff sounding confident

As Vítor Pereira wrapped up his pre‑match media duties at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Wednesday evening, his assistant Luís Miguel Moreira da Silva waited at the mouth of the tunnel. “Let’s go?” he said as Pereira eventually emerged, before the Nottingham Forest squad followed the pair on to the pitch.

Then it was down to business, Pereira’s first assignment in charge of Forest at one of his 13 former clubs, Fenerbahce. For Pereira, the Kadikoy district of Istanbul represents familiar territory, having lived in the city across two enjoyable but trophyless spells here as a manager, most recently in 2021.

The threat of Russian aggression makes a compelling case for urgent continental cooperation

For Vladimir Putin, peace talks with Ukraine are war pursued by other means. That is why progress has been so slow in negotiations, which resumed in Geneva this week. The Russian president demands the surrender of territory that his army has failed so far to win in combat. Since Mr Putin cannot be trusted to honour any agreement, Volodymyr Zelenskyy rightly insists on robust security guarantees. The Kremlin remains committed to restoring national pride through territorial expansion. Mr Putin might accept a lull in the Ukraine conflict, but only to regroup. He must be deterred from resuming a campaign aimed at extinguishing Ukraine’s sovereignty.

His country’s economy and propaganda apparatus are increasingly oriented towards sustaining a long war. He has shown little sign of abandoning efforts to weaken Nato and punish European democracies for backing Kyiv. The intent is signalled by a campaign of constant provocations: sabotage, maritime and air incursions, cyber-attacks and online disinformation.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

The Grammy winner will star alongside Edward Norton and Javier Bardem in a film inspired by an early 20th century revolutionary, directed by rapper Residente

Fresh off his victorious Super Bowl half-time show, Bad Bunny will take on his first lead acting role. The rapper and sometime actor will star in Porto Rico, a love letter to his home of Puerto Rico directed by the veteran rapper René “Residente” Pérez Joglar.

As announced by Deadline, the film boasts a starry cast including Viggo Mortensen, Javier Bardem and Edward Norton, as well as executive producer Alejandro G Iñárritu, director of Birdman and The Revenant.

Novelist George RR Martin says RSC is ‘obvious choice’ to put on new play The Mad King, which will open after spring

A new prequel to George RR Martin’s blockbuster fantasy saga Game of Thrones is to be staged this summer by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The bestselling author, whose novels have been turned into a juggernaut TV franchise, said the RSC was the “obvious choice” to put on the play, Game of Thrones: The Mad King, because Shakespeare had been a constant source of inspiration to him. “Not only that, he faced similar challenges in how to put a battle on stage,” added Martin. “So we are in good company.”

Without AI you will be a ‘weaker and poorer nation’, says former UK chancellor two months into job at US firm

The former chancellor George Osborne has said countries that do not embrace the kind of powerful AI systems made by his new employer, OpenAI, risk “Fomo” and could be left weaker and poorer.

Osborne, who is two months into a job as head of the $500bn San Francisco AI company’s “for countries” programme, told leaders gathered for the AI Impact summit in Delhi: “Don’t be left behind.” He said that without AI rollouts they could end up with a workforce “less willing to stay put” because they might want to seek AI-enabled fortunes elsewhere.

Conductor and pianist highly regarded for his elegant interpretations of Chopin and Liszt

The Hungarian pianist Tamás Vásáry, who has died aged 92, was highly regarded for his elegance and clarity of execution in music by Chopin and Vásáry’s compatriot Liszt. His first concerts in the early 1960s, in London, New York and other major cities such as Milan, Vienna and Berlin, gave promise of a new talent that was exciting for its poetic expressivity rather than for daredevil virtuosity.

That priority was maintained as his career unfolded, and although his repertoire was also to embrace Debussy, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Schumann, as well as the concertos of Rachmaninov and the chamber music of Brahms, it was Chopin and Liszt to which he constantly returned.

• Backing a sign of improved relations between presidents

• Tournament expected not to be held every two years

Uefa is ready to back Fifa’s proposed expansion of the Club World Cup to 48 teams for the next edition in 2029 in a sign of improving relations between their respective presidents, Aleksander Ceferin and Gianni Infantino.

The European football governing body had opposed plans to grow the Club World Cup over concerns an expanded tournament could threaten the status of the Champions League, but Uefa is now willing to back Fifa in return for an undertaking that the competition will not be held every two years.

Kerstin G froze to death on Großglockner when Thomas P descended mountain to fetch help

An Austrian mountaineer is to appear in court accused of gross negligent manslaughter after his girlfriend died of hypothermia when he left her close to the summit on a climb that went dramatically wrong.

The 33-year-old woman, identified only as Kerstin G, froze to death on 19 January 2025, about 50 metres below the summit of the Großglockner, Austria’s tallest mountain, after an ascent of more than 17 hours with her boyfriend, Thomas P, 36.

Threat of 9.5% property tax increase puts pressure on Governor Hochul, who is seeking re-election this year

Zohran Mamdani, New York’s democratic socialist mayor, has unveiled two new budget proposals for the city – one to raise income and corporate taxes, or another to raise property taxes – triggering resistance from some political figures in and out of the state.

Mamdani’s two proposals include either raising taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents – which would require approval from New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul – or a “last resort” measure of a 9.5% property tax increase, which could affect “more than 3 million single-family homes, co-ops and condos and over 100,000 commercial buildings”, according to the New York Times.

(Island)
On their first collection of new songs since 2017, the quartet have a crispness that has been lacking in their 21st-century material, as they nimbly react to shocking news stories

• News: Bono lambasts ICE, Putin, Netanyahu and more as U2 release first collection of new songs since 2017

It’s nearly nine years since U2 released a collection of original material, 2017’s Songs of Experience. They’ve hardly been idle since: two tours, two films, a 40-date residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, nearly three hours of stripped-down re-recordings of old material on Songs of Surrender, plus Bono’s autobiography, which spawned a solo tour, a stint on Broadway and another film. An impressive workload by any standards.

Still, you could take the gap between original albums – the longest in U2’s history – as evidence of a problem that’s bedevilled the band for nearly 20 years: where do U2 fit into the current musical landscape?