The Swedish flight tracking tool, spun out of a price comparison portal, is tracking the travel chaos sparked by the US-Israel war on Iran in real time

Mikael Robertsson and Olov Lindberg did not set out to build one of the pre-eminent monitors of global airspace. In a bid to draw more eyes to their Swedish flight price comparison portal, the entrepreneurs added a page charting air traffic.

That page became Flightradar24, the portal that people around the world now turn to when there is chaos – and drama – in the skies.

Ukrainian president orders equipment and expertise to be provided to US in return to diplomatic support against Russia, saying ‘we help to defend from war those who help us’

The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

Various countries, including the US, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against the Iranian drones, Zelenskyy said late on Wednesday. He said he has spoken in recent days to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation.

‘Stopgap measure’ designed to keep oil flowing into global market as Middle East crisis disrupts crude shipments

The US treasury issued a 30-day waiver on Thursday allowing India to buy Russian oil currently stuck at sea.

“To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the treasury department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil,” treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement posted to social media.

Early in a life of service, LaFayette did the risky groundwork for the voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama

Bernard LaFayette, the advance man who did the risky groundwork for the voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama, that culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has died.

Bernard LaFayette III said his father died Thursday morning of a heart attack. He was 85.

Sam Ruthe, 16, was the youngest person to break the four-minute mile in 2025 and this year the ‘remarkable’ running talent extended his record streak

Before the teenage New Zealand runner, Sam Ruthe, took to Boston University’s famous indoor track in January, he told his father he was aiming to run a 3.48-minute mile.

The 16-year-old had already stunned the athletics world in 2025, when he became the youngest person ever to break the four-minute mile barrier – aged 15 – but his father, Ben Ruthe, raised his eyebrows over his son’s aspirations for his next race, which if achieved could mean he will be considered for New Zealand Commonwealth Games selection.

Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, of Florida among several January 6 defendants charged with new crimes

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A Florida handyman who was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for molesting two children had been convicted of storming the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, but pardoned by Donald Trump.

Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, is among several January 6 defendants who have been charged with new crimes since Trump’s sweeping act of clemency for Capitol rioters. On his first day back in the White House last year, Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences for or ordered the dismissal of cases for all 1,500-plus people charged in the attack.

Briton with cancer operated on by doctor located 1,500 miles away using four-armed robot fitted with 3D camera

The patient was in Gibraltar. The surgeon was in London. The outcome was a remarkable triumph for remote robotic surgery that saved the life of a 62-year-old football fan with prostate cancer.

Inside the operating theatre at St Bernard’s, the only hospital in the British overseas territory, a hi-tech robot with four arms, and fitted with a 3D camera, removed the prostate of Briton Paul Buxton, who moved to Gibraltar 40 years ago.

Garnacho gets his chance to stake a claim, a big day for Port Vale and more scheduling concerns for Guardiola

Who would have thought approaching mid-March Wolves would be the Midlands team – at least in the Premier League – with the most to cheer? Aston Villa, while fourth and still capable of securing a place in the Champions League, are wobbling. Nottingham Forest are fighting relegation. In the Championship, Coventry are at the summit but West Brom and Leicester are in danger of dropping into League One. Wolves and third-tier Mansfield are the only Midlands sides remaining in the FA Cup and, while the latter host Arsenal, the former may quietly fancy their chances when Liverpool visit Molineux for the second time in four days. Rob Edwards’s side triumphed on Tuesday and, while it got lost amid the stoppage-time drama, he made several changes with Friday’s Cup tie in mind. “Does it have to be one or the other?” Edwards said. “No, so we are going to try and win both. It is going to be a really exciting night.” Ben Fisher

Wolves v Liverpool, Friday 8pm (all kick-offs GMT)

Mansfield v Arsenal, Saturday 12.15pm

Wrexham v Chelsea, Saturday 5.45pm

Newcastle v Manchester City, Saturday 8pm

• ‘Lack of hard work’ has undermined Borthwick’s squad

• England off to Rome after successive Six Nations defeats

Jamie George is braced for England’s “toughest ever” Test against Italy but believes Saturday’s Six Nations clash can be the defining moment for a much-maligned squad.

George also admitted England’s Six Nations collapse, which has ruled them out of contention for the title for another year, has been down to a lack of “hard work” and “fight”, insisting the players owe it to supporters and Steve Borthwick to make amends in Rome.

Cause of death of 19-year-old in January was drowning ‘in the setting of multiple injuries, due to, or as a consequence of a dingo attack’

Canadian backpacker Piper James died “as a result of drowning” following a dingo attack at K’gari, the Queensland coroners court says.

The court on Friday said Piper’s cause of death had been determined by a forensic pathologist and accepted by the investigating coroner.

• Chinese world No 71 swears at heckler after breaking club

• Lowry finishes with a bogey to compound weekend pain

“Snap another one!” You find brave people in hospitality areas at golf tournaments. The order came to Li Haotong, moments after his caddie had delivered a broken lob wedge to a bin at the back of the Bay Hill driving range. “Fuck off!” barked Li in immediate reply, with a gesticulation to match. What a scene.

Gaining entry to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the last minute, as a reserve, was not sufficient to boost Li’s mood. He finished round one horribly, with a double bogey rounding off a 77. Li’s tugged approach to the last (a bad workman etc) was plugged in a greenside bunker, from where he opted to putt. The ball crawled out of the sand, which Li booted in anger. The ranting continued all the way to and on the practice area, much to the amusement of assembled guests. Li’s poor bag man was at the opposite end of a verbal tirade. It was pitiful, embarrassing petulance for which Li should be reprimanded by the PGA Tour.

• Tottenham beaten 3-1 by Palace as Van de Ven sent off

• Interim manager admits the situation is ‘very difficult’

Igor Tudor insisted that the “boat is going in the direction I want to go” despite a shambolic 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, deepening Tottenham’s relegation fears.

Although the atmosphere was toxic on another grim night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tudor is confident that he can steer his new side to safety. Tottenham have lost each of their three games under their interim manager and are a point above the bottom three after Micky van de Ven’s red card kickstarted an implosion against Palace.

The US president welcomed the 2025 MLS Cup champions in a ceremony beset by tangents and awkward asides

Nine minutes and 43 seconds. As Inter Miami’s players stood behind the dais at the East Room in the White House with club owner Jorge Mas stood to the left and Lionel Messi to the right; with MLS commissioner Don Garber sat alongside Fifa World Cup 2026 task force executive director Andrew Giuliani in an audience replete with celebrities and sports stars, it took nine minutes and 43 seconds for US president Donald Trump to talk about why any of them were there.

Inter Miami won the 2025 MLS Cup; a solid win in an exciting final that merited this traditional visit for champions of US pro sports leagues. But in those minutes and seconds before it was acknowledged, Trump did as he did with Juventus players in an Oval Office appearance during last summer’s Club World Cup: he made sports figures the wallpaper for his political and cultural aims. Trump provided an update of sorts on his administration’s sudden and ongoing war against Iran, alluded to a potential conflict with Cuba and offered his own glowing assessment on the supposedly booming US economy. All the while, Luis Suárez, Messi and every other Miami player gazed blankly from behind him.

• Forward says all that matters is they keep winning

• Saka unconcerned by lower goals and assist tally

Bukayo Saka says he is untroubled by the rising tide of criticism against Arsenal and wants to do one thing and one thing alone – win. The winger marked his 300th appearance for the club with the only goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 victory at Brighton, which moved Arsenal seven points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. City have a game in hand.

It was an emotional night at the Amex Stadium. Fabian Hürzeler had complained about Arsenal’s timewasting beforehand, the Brighton manager raged about it during the match – as did the home crowd – and he signed off with another blast, saying Arsenal had again taken advantage of the inability of referees to combat delaying tactics.

Meta CEO, grilled about children’s safety, says in taped deposition a user pool of billions will include bad actors

Harms to children, such as sexual exploitation and detriments to mental health, are inevitable on Meta’s platforms, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram leader Adam Mosseri said in taped depositions played at a trial in New Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“I just think if you’re serving billions of people, the unfortunate reality is that some very small percent of them are going to be criminals, and we should work as hard as we can to stop that activity from happening,” said Zuckerberg. “I don’t think that the standard for our platforms would be that you should assume that it will ever be perfect.”

Democratic-backed measure that would have forced US to withdraw troops failed by a vote of 212-219

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The US House of Representatives on Thursday voted down a Democratic-backed measure to halt hostilities with Iran, as Republicans cleared the way for Donald Trump to continue the conflict that has drawn in countries across the Middle East, but criticized as having unclear goals.

By a vote of 212-219, the House voted to reject a war powers resolution proposed by Thomas Massie, a Republican representative, and Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative, which would have forced the US to withdraw from the conflict until Congress authorized military action. The vote was largely along party lines, with two Republicans breaking with their party to support the resolution, and four Democrats voting against it.

• Email includes ‘FAQ’ on crossing picket line

• Active player calls letter ‘a bunch of bullshit’

• USL declines to comment

On Wednesday night, the United Soccer League (USL) emailed every player contracted in the second-division Championship with information about the procedures for crossing a potential picket line and resigning their membership in the USL Players’ Association, multiple sources have confirmed to the Guardian.

The USL, which runs the second-division Championship and the third-division League One as its professional US men’s leagues, has been locked in labor talks with Championship players for more than a year, with tensions recently spilling into the public. The previous agreement between the league and the USL Players Association (USLPA) expired on 31 December 2025.

Think back to the reason you started making art, advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes, then separate this from the money or acclaim

• Read more Leading questions

I’m an artist in my 30s without any major success. Before the pandemic I had quite a lot of opportunities. Unfortunately Covid and then political and personal matters beyond my control shattered my work and social circles. I lost contacts and had no time for networking.

My art evolved with me and has become less conceptual, more narrative and accessible. The most fulfilling moment in the last few months was when I surprised a local cashier by giving her an illustration. Nevertheless, I’ve started to doubt that I can move people with my art.

Reports say talks have resumed between defense department and startup over military’s use of company’s AI, but

• US politics live – latest updates

• Trump ousts DHS secretary Kristi Noem

Donald Trump boasted about severing ties between the US military and Anthropic on Thursday, the same day multiple reports said that negotiations between the Department of Defense and the AI startup had resumed.

They’re among the latest developments in the twisting rift between the US government and the AI company.

The Shed, New York City
At a six-night residency, the singer creates an immersive world filled with wry humor and big emotions

Mitski was one of the great social media posters before the internet tried to swallow her whole. “I used to rebel by destroying myself, but realized that’s awfully convenient to the world,” went a 2016 tweet from the musician, who long ago nuked that account. “For some of us, our best revolt is self-preservation.”

As her career has skyrocketed with multiple TikTok-powered streaming juggernauts following the 2018 viral hit Nobody, Mitski has gradually withdrawn from the public eye and declined most interviews. Over her last few albums, she has adopted a mode of performance that contrasts with the emotion of her lyrics: on the tour to support 2018’s Be the Cowboy, she used plain folding chairs and tables as props in a performance that felt almost robotic in its precision.

Lawsuit says president does not have authority to impose levies and demands refunds from federal government

A coalition of Democratic attorneys general and governors across 24 US states are suing Donald Trump to block his latest round of tariffs.

The White House is planning to enact a new 15% tariff on all imports after the supreme court declared Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs illegal. The tariffs have yet to go into effect, though the White House said the new rate would start this week.

Critics sceptical Pentagon chief’s plan for increased military force – amid rising US intervention – will stop drug gangs

Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, has urged Latin American countries to adopt a more aggressive approach against drug cartels, warning that the Trump administration may otherwise act unilaterally in the region.

Hegseth’s remarks come in a context of escalating US intervention in the region, both militarily and in elections, which culminated in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro – the first US ground military attack on a South American country.

Lawmakers will outlaw use of 31 meat-related names as part of efforts to help livestock farmers in food supply markets

EU lawmakers have agreed to ban meaty names such as steak and bacon for vegetarian and vegan foods, but “veggie burgers” and “meat-free sausages” will remain on the table.

Negotiators from the European parliament and EU council of ministers found a recipe for compromise on rules for food names on Thursday, although critics said they were creating needless complexity.

• Caf reschedules tournament after weeks of speculation

• Decision due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has confirmed the postponement of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations to July and August, just 12 days before the tournament was due to start.

The decision ends weeks of speculation as to whether it would go ahead as scheduled this month but leaves teams without games to play during this international break.