The Tehran regime has weaponised geography in retaliation for the attacks by the US and Israel
Global oil markets have recorded some of the biggest price swings in history this week after the US-Israeli war with Iran throttled the flow of Middle Eastern crude through the strait of Hormuz.
The narrow waterway south of Iran is one of the world’s most important trade arteries, through which a fifth of global oil and seaborne gas is shipped from production facilities and refineries in the Gulf to buyers around the world.
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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Coach says his club are always favourites as he prepares to cross swords with Manchester City in the Champions League knockout stages for fifth year in a row
This is Real Madrid. We know this because Álvaro Arbeloa keeps saying so. At the start of another press conference, his 25th since being promoted from the B team two months ago and the last before facing Manchester City, the club man who became the club manager was reminded of something he had said after beating Monaco. That night, he was told, you claimed that Madrid are always favourites. So, came the inevitable follow-up, the “even” left unsaid but hanging heavy: “Now are you favourites?”
There was a familiar look, the hint of a smirk, and a familiar answer too. “If I said Madrid are always favourites, that’s what I think,” Arbeloa replied. “We are Real Madrid. We never feel less than anyone, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of who we have in front of us. We’re Real Madrid, we shouldn’t feel inferior. We know our opponents, how good City are – champions two years ago – and how difficult it will be, but we go into it with enthusiasm, looking them in the eyes.”
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© Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images
Plus: privately-educated players, surviving despite away-day woes; and the trophy-less 1909 Scottish Cup
Mail us with your questions and answers
“Are the 23 red cards shown in the game between Brazilian clubs Cruzeiro and Atlético Mineiro in the Campeonato Mineiro final a record?” asks Tom Reed.
In case you missed it, the Campeonato Mineiro final descended/ascended into a festival of hand-throwing. Cruzeiro won the football match 1-0 and the red card contest 12-11. We had a similar question back in 2002, when the world record was 20 in a Paraguayan league match between Sportivo Ameliano and General Caballero. But modern life is febrile, and that record was obliterated by events in Claypole, Argentina, in February 2011. Don’t take our word for it, read this excerpt from Guinness World Records:
The highest reported number of players sent off in a single football match is 36 in the Argentine Primera D game between Club Atlético Claypole and Victoriano Arenas refereed by Damián Rubino (Argentina) at the Estadio Rodolfo Capocasa, Claypole, Argentina, on 27 February 2011. All 18 players on each side (11 on-field players and seven substitutes) were sent off following what the referee described in his post-match report as a ‘Generalised Brawl’ that seemed to have been the result of a series of confrontations and heavy tackles that had taken place throughout the feisty encounter. The game was the 23rd round of matches in the Primera D, the fifth tier of Argentine football, in what was in theory a regulation league match, there was no historic rivalry between the sides.
Over the course of a 20-year playing career from 1995 to 2015, Gerardo ‘the Beast’ Bedoya (Colombia) was sent off 46 times. The tough-tackling defender/defensive midfielder earned 49 caps for his national team. On 24 March 2016, Bedoya made his debut as a coach of Colombian side Independiente Santa Fe during their match against Atlético Junior, and was sent off after 21 minutes for berating the officials.
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© Photograph: Pedro Vilela/Getty Images
© Photograph: Pedro Vilela/Getty Images
© Photograph: Pedro Vilela/Getty Images
US tour holds upper hand as deal with European counterpart is up for renegotiation, though LIV and its backers will be watching with interest
What price a strategic alliance? The golf world might just be about to find out as the PGA Tour considers its partnership with the DP World Tour.
A little-known element of the updated deal between the PGA and DP World Tours from 2022 – at a time when LIV disruption was in full flow – relates to a break clause. While the contract in theory runs until 2035, the strategic alliance can end in 2027. There is no present, strong sense of the agreement being curtailed but it is clear the PGA Tour wants at least a renegotiation before taking up their extension option.
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© Photograph: Marta Lavandier/AP
© Photograph: Marta Lavandier/AP
© Photograph: Marta Lavandier/AP
The new president won office by promising to clean up crime, but his background is red rag to a bull for many
Just south of Santiago, the tiny rural town of Paine is a quiet grid of painted abode facades, shaded squares and shuttered shop fronts as the summer holidays draw to a close.
But the white-knuckle fear of crime that propelled its most famous son, José Antonio Kast, to a resounding victory in December’s presidential election is as present in sleepy Paine as it is the length of Chile.
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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Unadventurous team will need to improve significantly on multiple fronts if they are to poop France’s potential title party in Paris
So let’s rewind for a moment. Just four weeks ago England had beaten Wales 48-7 in round one and were looking towards Scotland with a collective glint in their eyes. “The message to the players is: go out, move the ball, play fast, play brave,” Steve Borthwick said after announcing a pretty settled side for Murrayfield. “It suits the team we have.”
And now? Not unlike the Ashes cricket series in Australia this winter, the team sheet for the final game of an already torpedoed campaign is a case of too little too late. Similarly to the cult of Bazball, the bell is tolling for the Borthball era. Even if the head coach remains in post, it is inconceivable that England’s tactical approach can remain unchanged.
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© Photograph: Dan Mullan/RFU/The RFU Collection/Getty Images
© Photograph: Dan Mullan/RFU/The RFU Collection/Getty Images
© Photograph: Dan Mullan/RFU/The RFU Collection/Getty Images
Who should win? Who’s been snubbed? Guardian film editor Catherine Shoard answers your Oscars questions
Guardian writers have been making their pitches for best picture winner at the 98th Academy Awards in our Oscars hustings series.
Has Chase Infiniti been snubbed? Should Train Dreams win for best cinematography? Who’s the bigger monster, Frankenstein’s or Marty Mauser? Guardian film editor Catherine Shoard answers your 2026 Oscars questions.
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© Composite: Guardian Design
© Composite: Guardian Design
© Composite: Guardian Design
Chen Kuei-jen escorted out of stadium by police for referring to Taiwan
Former national coach was encouraging crowd in Sydney to chant
A former Taiwanese football head coach and delegate of the Taiwan women’s national team was removed from their match at Parramatta Stadium on Tuesday night after leading the crowd in chants containing the word “Taiwan”.
Chen Kuei-jen, who represented Taiwan 11 times as a player in the 1990s and was head coach of the Taiwan men’s national team from 2012-2016, was spotted leading a small but boisterous group of fans in their final Women’s Asian Cup match against India.
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© Photograph: Luis Veniegra/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Luis Veniegra/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Luis Veniegra/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
In 2019, Austin Bell embarked on a wild quest to photograph all 2,549 of Hong Kong’s outdoor basketball courts using drone cameras and Google Maps. The results offer a fresh perspective on the city
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© Photograph: austinbell
© Photograph: austinbell
© Photograph: austinbell
Analysis has found more than 3,000 mining operations within the most naturally precious areas of the planet, a much bigger footprint than previously thought
Weda Bay is just one example of a global trend that could see the mining industry expand into some of Earth’s last areas of wilderness in search of minerals and materials to feed the global economy.
Analysis produced for the Guardian by a group of academic researchers found more than 3,267 mining operations within key biodiversity areas (KBAs), accounting for nearly 5% of the mining sector’s global footprint. China, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico top the rankings for total surface mining area within key biodiversity areas, the most naturally precious areas of the planet.
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© Composite: The Guardian
© Composite: The Guardian
© Composite: The Guardian
Faster laptop-level power, rapid wifi and 5G, plus much-improved multitasking make the middle iPad highly capable beyond just watching TV
The latest iPad Air is faster in almost all facets, packing not just a processor upgrade but improvements to most of the internal bits that make the tablet work, providing laptop-grade power in a skinny, adaptable touchscreen device.
The new iPad Air M4 costs from the same £599 (€649/$599/A$999) as the outgoing M3 model from last year and again comes in two sizes. One with an 11in screen, which is the best size for most people and a more expensive 13in screen version, which is ideal if you want a second TV or a laptop replacement.
Screen: 11in or 13in Liquid Retina display (264ppi)
Processor: Apple M4 (8-core CPU/9-core GPU)
RAM: 12GB
Storage: 128, 256, 512GB or 1TB
Operating system: iPadOS 26.3
Camera: 12MP rear, 12MP centre stage
Connectivity: Wifi 7, 5G (eSim-only), Bluetooth 6, USB-C (USB3), Touch ID, Smart Connecter
Dimensions: 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1mm or 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1mm
Weight: 464g or 616g
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© Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
© Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
© Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
Cheshire police and CPS say they were not told about inquiry into Prof Peter Hindmarsh before he gave evidence at nurse’s trial
The police force behind the prosecution of the former nurse Lucy Letby has said it was not informed by a key expert witness before he gave evidence at her trial that he was under investigation over serious concerns in his medical work.
The Crown Prosecution Service also told the Guardian it was not aware that Prof Peter Hindmarsh was subject to the formal investigation by the hospital that employed him, before his first appearance as a witness on 25 November 2022.
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© Photograph: MURRAY SANDERS
© Photograph: MURRAY SANDERS
© Photograph: MURRAY SANDERS
Perched high above a frozen lake, Grimsel Hospiz in the Bernese Oberland offers an unusual winter escape, with gourmet food, a hot tub, star-filled skies and no distractions
Near the top of the Grimsel Pass in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland, a small crowd had gathered to take photographs. We were surrounded by bulky mountains and rippling glaciers, but all eyes were focused on a silvery granite chalet with apple-red shutters, its foundations deep in snow.
It was early February and, one after another, we posed in front of it as if standing beside a celebrity. Which in a way we were, because the proud building was the Grimsel Hospiz, the country’s oldest recorded mountain inn and a place that predates Westminster Abbey.
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© Photograph: David Birri
© Photograph: David Birri
© Photograph: David Birri
Until that point, all my life’s dreams revolved around becoming a saxophonist. But with sudden and significant hearing loss, I had to face up to a new reality
The first sign that something was wrong was a static noise that emerged suddenly in my left ear. It was 2008 and a doctor had just syringed my ears, washing out the antibiotic drops she had prescribed a week earlier, and which had rendered my world temporarily muffled. I was so relieved the drops were out that I didn’t question the strange new noise. I simply thanked her and left.
As I lay on my pillow that night, trying to ignore the new whooshing sound in my ear, a puzzling crunching noise caught my attention. My brain tried to unscramble the disturbance until, confused and now wide awake, I lifted my head up, only to realise it was our grandfather clock, chiming away the hour. My left ear, I realised, was no longer hearing sounds as they really were.
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© Photograph: Courtesy of Freya Bennett
© Photograph: Courtesy of Freya Bennett
© Photograph: Courtesy of Freya Bennett
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