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The cross-country bit gets going at 1pm, and I’m looking forward to that. It’s a scientific fact that here’s no kind of race a human can devise that is uncompelling.

In the Nordic, teams of two both have a go at ski jumping, and Germany have just leapt into the lead; they’ll start the cross-country portion with no time penalty, because Austria have just completed this part of things, and only landed far enough for fifth. Norway are second, Japan third and Finland fourth.

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3rd over: Australia 20-0 (Voll 13, Mooney 7)

Renuka resumes and immediately Voll finds the first boundary of the night, opening the face of the bat and working it to the boundary for four. A single next ball that she doesn’t quite middle, but it goes over the field and falls safely to bring Mooney back on strike. She gets in on the fun, coming down the pitch to meet the ball and driving it past long off for four. Next ball she pulls away aggressively, but there’s a fielder on the boundary to restrict her to a single. Voll flirts with the field again, but lifts it high enough to come away with two runs – a great over for Australia.

The appointment follows allegations she was previously spoken to about her management style

This is what the Cabinet Office says about Antonia Romeo in its news release about her appointment.

Dame Antonia Romeo is currently the longest-serving permanent secretary in government and will become the first female cabinet secretary in the more than 100-year history of the role …

Antonia is the longest serving permanent secretary in government, with nearly a decade of leading economic, public services and security departments. As permanent secretary of the Department of International Trade, Antonia set up the new department from scratch as the UK left the EU, bringing together trade policy with promotion and finance for the first time.

As permanent secretary of the Ministry of Justice she led the official response to the civil unrest of summer 2024, working across the criminal justice system to keep the country safe, and launched the Sentencing Review.

At the Home Office she has launched a plan to restore order and control to the asylum system and the biggest reform of policing in decades, and led the publication of the strategy to build a safer society for women and girls in support of the home secretary.

It is a huge privilege to be asked to serve as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service.

The civil service is a great and remarkable institution, which I love. We should be known for delivery, efficiency and innovation, working to implement the government’s agenda and meet the challenges the country faces.

I look forward to working with all colleagues across the civil service to do this, in support of the prime minister and the government.

Ukrainian president expresses growing frustration with Russia and the US over lack of progress on a deal

The Kremlin said that it had nothing to add about this week’s peace talks on Ukraine in Geneva beyond what its chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky already said.

Medinsky said on Wednesday that the U.S.-mediated talks had been difficult but businesslike, and that a new round would be held soon, Reuters reported.

PM argues party wants to send women back to ‘old days’, as he also urges Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to speak to authorities

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Reform UK’s plans to repeal the Equality Act are “shocking” and un-British, Keir Starmer has said, warning legislation that has provided decades of protection for women would be ripped up.

In a pre-recorded interview with BBC Breakfast, the prime minister said the legislation was British at its core and represented “basic values”, before arguing Reform wanted to send women back to the “old days” when they were not treated equally.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, featuring celebrations, prayers, pre-dawn breakfasts and post-sundown meals, began at sunrise in the Middle East and a day later in much of Asia. In the Muslim lunar calendar, months begin only when the new moon is sighted, which can lead to variations of a day or two

After the Fab Four fell and Wings took flight, McCartney embodied a strange, stylised sense of uncool, which would become bestselling success. A new documentary of old material memorialises his second coming

Another hefty legacy project for Paul McCartney, who acts as off-camera interviewee and executive producer in this documentary by Morgan Neville. Man on the Run is comprised of archive film, photos and audio recordings of McCartney and his late wife, Linda, his children and others. Some of McCartney’s overlaid commentary seems to be new, and some pre-existing.

The film tracks his tense, complicated, fruitful career from the endgame of the Beatles in 1969 to the definitive demise of his next band Wings in 1981, a few months after John Lennon’s death – although what exact psychological role Lennon’s life and death played in Wings’ beginning and end is not explicitly discussed. (The film does, once again, show us that startlingly strange and casual-seeming interview McCartney gave after Lennon’s shooting, his shock resulting in an apparently cold attitude – but what he may really have been thinking is something else not explored here in detail.)

A producer shares his tips for tight storylines, but they’re marred by verbal incontinence and hyperbole

Creative writing handbooks are almost an industry in themselves: the fledgling author, dramatist or screenwriter can choose from hundreds of titles, all offering to unlock the secrets of storytelling. These books are of limited utility for literary fiction, where plot is secondary, but if you’re writing for the screen or stage, or working on genre fiction, they can be helpful. Commercial, plot-driven storytelling is, this is an inherently formulaic business, and a working knowledge of narrative structure is a crucial foundation for an aspiring writer.

In his bestselling 2014 treatise on the mechanics of narrative, Into the Woods, John Yorke demonstrated the uncanny prevalence of five-act structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement) in many popular movies, plays and television dramas. He reprises this theme in his new book, which starts with a lengthy disquisition on plot architecture. The five-act framework, Yorke explains, is elegantly conducive to an emotionally compelling journey, with the protagonist typically undergoing a transformative revelation at the story’s mid-point. He illustrates this with reference to hit TV programmes such as I May Destroy You, and films including Star Wars and Terminator 2.

French president rejects US criticism as António Guterres and Narendra Modi warn on child safety and AI monopolies

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Emmanuel Macron has hit back at US criticism of Europe’s efforts to regulate AI, vowing to protect children from “digital abuse” during France’s presidency of the G7.

Speaking at the AI Impact summit in Delhi, the French president called for tougher safeguards after global outrage over Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot being used to generate tens of thousands of sexualised images of children, and amid mounting concern about the concentration of AI power in a handful of companies.

Move is a temporary measure as J.League transitions to European schedule but could benefit national team in US, Canada and Merxico this summer

Cynics may say it is no coincidence the J.League has introduced penalty shootouts to replace draws just before the World Cup. Japan have identified the quarter-finals as the target this summer after failing to progress past the last 16 on three of the past four occasions, with two of those disappointments coming after failures from the spot.

The 2022 tournament was the worst, with the Samurai Blue, who should have seen off Croatia during normal time, losing the shootout 3-1 in dismal fashion.

Marta wants her scent to be unique, but Elsa thinks copying her friend is just sharing the joy. Do you smell a rat?

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My individuality is very important to me and I like to keep my style and my scent unique

I’m not trying to copy her whole identity. Friends having similar tastes is just sharing the joy

After eight years of personal highs and lows, the American dominated the women’s slalom to put her greatness beyond question

High above the jagged peaks of the Italian Alps, Mikaela Shiffrin stood at the top of the podium once again. After eight long years without an Olympic medal, the American produced two sublime runs to win the women’s slalom by a commanding 1.50sec – the third-largest margin of victory in Olympic history for the event. In doing so, she became the first American skier to claim three Olympic alpine gold medals and further cemented her status as the greatest alpine skier of her generation.

The setting in the Dolomites was spectacular. The skiing was even better. Leading by 0.82sec after a blistering first run, Shiffrin held her nerve in the second, overcoming a brief wobble to deliver a performance no rival could touch. When she crossed the finish line, the release of emotion was immediate. The Swiss silver medallist Camille Rast and Sweden’s bronze medallist Anna Swenn Larsson embraced her before she shared a long, tearful hug with her mother and coach, Eileen.

Ireland’s pack was rocked by Italy in their Six Nations meeting and England have taken note

Two snapshots will be nagging away in Irish minds before Saturday’s visit to south-west London. The first is the sobering sight of Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan, both distinguished British & Irish Lions, being rocketed skywards by Italy’s power in the set scrums last Saturday. The second dates back 14 years to another Anglo-Irish contest that epitomised the “no scrum, no win” ethos that remains non-negotiable at the highest level.

The airborne Furlong footage has certainly caught the eye of England’s front-rowers and a quick dip into the archives will also remind both teams of what can happen when things up front go pear-shaped. In 2012, Ireland were left badly exposed when Mike Ross injured his neck at the first scrum and ended up conceding a penalty try, six scrum penalties and three scrums against the head as they subsided to a humbling 30-9 defeat.

The actor and musician’s first film role was the musical prodigy in the surprise hit horror. Now he’s up for a Bafta and about to perform live at the Oscars – and it’s all still sinking in

It’s lunchtime in New York City, and Miles Caton is still in bed. That morning, the 20-year-old star of Sinners set his alarm for 8.30am so he could watch the Oscar nominations live. “As soon as I woke up, I went straight to YouTube,” he says, where he learned Sinners had been nominated for 16 Academy Awards, more than any other film in Oscars history. Unsurprisingly, his phone has been blowing up: he’s been so busy responding to messages, he’s yet to get out of bed.

A southern gothic horror musical set in the 1930s, about the bloodsucking of Black culture, Sinners was the unexpected box office smash of 2025, earning $368m in ticket sales globally. The film co-stars Michael B Jordan and comes from the imagination of Ryan Coogler, the writer-director behind Marvel’s Black Panther franchise and the Rocky reboot, Creed. “I watched Black Panther for the first time when I was 12 years old,” says Caton, who remembers going to the cinema to see the director’s Afrofuturist superhero movie with his whole family. “It was ‘Wakanda Forever!’ We was putting our fist up!” he says, motioning a Black power fist at the screen. “To me, a Ryan Coogler film was culture,” he says.

• League leaders squander 2-0 lead at bottom side

• Arteta: ‘We didn’t perform at the level required’

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal “have to blame ourselves” after they surrendered a two-goal lead to draw at Wolves. A 94th-minute equaliser cost the Premier League leaders two points as they allowed their rock-bottom opponents back into the game, further calling into question their title credentials.

Arsenal are five points clear of Manchester City but have played a game more. The Gunners looked on their way to victory after goals from Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapié, only to be pegged back by Hugo Bueno and Tom Edozie.

Ex-leader sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour over failed martial law declaration in 2024

A South Korean court has sentenced the former president Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment with labour over his failed martial law declaration in December 2024, finding him guilty of leading an insurrection and making him the first elected head of state in the country’s democratic era to receive the maximum custodial sentence.

The Seoul central district court found that Yoon’s declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024 constituted insurrection, carried out with the intent to disrupt the constitutional order.

Once a PM is seen as hapless, there is no way back. But Labour has good plans – and with the political landscape fragmented, it could yet prevail

This patchwork tribute to a cultural phenomenon that sent Cillian Murphy’s undercut hairstyle global is a rather unambitious affair

Given the global reach of the Peaky Blinders, next month’s Netflix-backed movie threatens to be as momentous as a new Downton or Bridgerton, only with razor blades concealed about its person. This week, that anticipation secures a pay-per-view release for this hour-long meat-and-potatoes primer, fashioned by Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s dad, Robin Bextor, out of much the same combo of talking heads, drone shots and fair-use clips you would normally encounter on free-to-air Channel 5.

Uppermost in the edit is a recognition that Steven Knight’s creation was one of those peak TV shows that blurred the televisual and cinematic. Heaven’s Gate, The Godfather and Rio Bravo provide contextualising material; critic Michael Hogan positions the show as Knight’s answer to Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, the 2002 Shane Meadows comedy.

A trail named after a brutal marcher lord passes through tranquil countryside between Shropshire and Herefordshire but is rich in reminders of the area’s turbulent past

In the UK, there is a proud tradition of naming long-distance walking paths after talented reprobates. I mean the various opium fiends, international terrorists and child murderers who make up our colourful national tapestry (see the Coleridge Way, Drake’s Trail and the Richard III Trail). So perhaps a 30-mile weekend walk dedicated to the Mortimers, and their most notorious scion, Sir Roger, is an appropriate addition to the weave.

After all, this is the man who allegedly slept with a reigning queen (Isabella), probably killed her husband (Edward II), and certainly became de facto tyrant of the realm for three turbulent years in the 1320s, feathering his own nest relentlessly during that time. They don’t make world leaders like that any longer, do they?

From mid-January until the end of carnival, mamuthones and issohadores take to the streets of Mamoiada, in the mountainous heartland of Sardinia. This is a time when herders and farmers across the Mediterranean turn to the power of masks to cast off winter and foster the coming of spring

The follow-up to Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line explores the history of colonial exploration through a perilous 19th-century odyssey

With her peripatetic and philosophical second novel, Deepa Anappara travels into uncharted territory. Her dazzling 2020 debut, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, was part caper and part social satire, set in an Indian shantytown. In The Last of Earth, she points her writerly compass towards the mountains of mid-19th-century Tibet – a region then closed off to European imperialists – to meditate on the chequered history of colonial exploration, cartography and the impermanence of human existence.

“It’s in the nature of white men to believe they own the world, that no door should be shut to them.” For years, the British train, coax and bribe Indians to cross over, conducting surveying expeditions on their behalf; they also venture into the “Forbidden Kingdom of Tibet” in thinly veiled disguises. Intricately researched and meticulously plotted, this immersive novel is told through the alternating perspectives of two protagonists. Balram is an Indian schoolteacher and surveyor-spy who plays guide to an English captain, clumsily dressed as a monk and intent on being the first man to personally chart the route of the revered river Tsangpo and discover where it meets the sea. Meanwhile Katherine, of part Indian heritage, is on a mission to become the first European woman to reach Lhasa and set eyes on the Potala Palace after being denied membership of the all-male Royal Geographical Society in London.

The Last of Earth by Deepa Anappara is published by Oneworld (£14.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?

It is time for the Thursday news quiz. The scorpion of knowledge, delightfully illustrated by Anaïs Mims, has 15 questions for you. They are designed to lull you into a false sense of security before delivering a very small but memorable sting. Or an in-joke punchline you’ve seen 1,057 times already. One or the other. There are no prizes, but we enjoy hearing how you got on in the comments. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 235

In a fiery speech in Los Angeles, the Vermont senator criticizes ‘grotesque’ levels of economic inequality

Billionaires are “treading on very, very thin ice,” Bernie Sanders warned on Wednesday during a fiery speech in Los Angeles, imploring California voters to fight “grotesque” levels of economic inequality by approving a proposed tax on the state’s richest residents.

The Vermont senator railed against the “greed”, “arrogance” and “moral turpitude” of the nation’s “ruling class”, calling it “fairly disgusting” that some ultra-wealthy tech leaders have fled California – or are threatening to do so, if the proposed wealth tax becomes law.

I see violence against women as a national emergency. The posting of non-consensual intimate images is part of that crisis, and it must stop

Tackling violence against women and girls is not just a priority for my government. It is central to who I am.

Before entering politics, when I led the Crown Prosecution Service as director of public prosecutions, I worked with victims of rape, domestic abuse and sexual violence, and I saw, up close, the lifelong damage these crimes cause. And I learned that when systems fail victims, the harm does not end, it deepens.

Keir Starmer is UK prime minister

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