Updates from the match in Colombo; 1.30pm GMT start
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2nd over: New Zealand 8-0 (Seifert 7, Allen 1) Liam Dawson with the second over, spin and pace from England. Seifert attempts a reverse swipe but misses completely. He then goes for a straight sweep off the next ball and connects, the ball loops behind square for the first New Zealand boundary of the match. Archer coming back for more, can Seifert lay bat on him this over?

1st over: New Zealand 0-0 (Seifert 0, Allen 0) Seifert is in all sorts of problems to Archer, the bowler cuts him in two twice in the over with balls zipping off the pitch. Seifert is then given out on the field caught behind but reviews it immediately. Sure enough it was back pad rather than bat. NOT OUT. Archer is on the money though and stitches together a maiden to begin the match.

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With most Scots supportive of reintroducing the wild cat, charities are focusing on those whose jobs would be affected

Could lynx, the elusive wild cat driven to extinction in Britain more than 1000 years ago, become the new Loch Ness monster? “Whether Nessie’s there or not, she draws tourists,” said Margaret Luckwell, a resident of Moray, Scotland. “It would be the same with lynx. I’d love to see a lynx in the wild.”

Luckwell’s view is a majority one among local people gathering at village halls across the Highlands, as a painstaking consultation slowly gathers momentum for the apex predator’s return to Scottish forests.

Darren Connor also charged with possession of class B drugs; while a second man has not been charged

A man has been charged with possession of an offensive weapon after an individual allegedly entered a mosque in Manchester with an axe.

Darren Connor, 55, was arrested at Manchester Central mosque in Rusholme on Tuesday after police were alerted to him and another man entering the building and apparently acting suspiciously. Police have announced that the second man has not been charged in connection with the incident, but has been charged with an unrelated breach of a criminal behaviour order.

Department of State also authorises non-essential officials and their families to book flights anywhere

The US has authorised the departure of non-essential government workers and their families from Israel as the threat of an American strike on Iran looms.

US citizens should “consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available”, the Department of State advisory added. It also urged against travel to Israel.

Trade between the EU and two South American countries may start within two months under a provision application of the deal

Trade between the EU and two South American countries may start within two months under a provision application of the Mercosur deal.

“The law allows the provisional application of the deal can happen two months after notification has been exchanged between both sides in the form of a ‘note verbale’ that the deal will enter into provision application.”

“The president reached out to member states and to MEPS, that’s what it means. She reached out to member states and MEPs, and I remind you that the member states as the European Council, endorsed and approved the EU Mercosur agreement and empowered the European Commission to move forward with provisional application.”

Six movies in, the series about characters linked to the web-slinger is looking ever ropier. More are on the way – but with no sign of the obvious way refresh the franchise

The old adage goes that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The news this week that Sony is planning to reboot its once much-vaunted, now completely risible “Spider-Man Universe”, shows there must be a few Hollywood executives who still believe in it.

Speaking on The Town podcast this week, the studio’s chief executive and chair Tom Rothman was asked about the future of the bafflingly superfluous superhero franchise that gave us three lukewarm Venom films, the odious Morbius and the tonally anaemic Madame Web. Despite scant clamour for more movies, he confirmed that the saga will live to fight another day. “Is the larger Spider-Verse dead?” Rothman was asked. “No,” he replied. “Are you going to go back to those at some point?” asked his interviewer. “Yes,” Rothman said. “But it’ll be a fresh reboot?” “Yes.” “New people?” “Yes, yes.” Rothman then added: “Scarcity has value … you got to make the audience miss you.”

Honey and cinnamon bring a warming, Istanbul-inspired spin to a classic

The scent of honey and warm pastry that spills out of the late-night baklava shops on Taksim Square in Istanbul is the inspiration for this twist on the classic old fashioned. The honey, cinnamon and walnut slip in perfectly without overpowering proceedings.

Andrea Ena, bar manager, Nora, London E22

The Emmy-winning singer and actor was so struck by the standup’s autobiographical one-man show Sugar Daddy that he signed on as producer. The pair discuss ‘bears’, blood sugar and bridging the divides between generations of gay men

Sugar Daddy is a one-man show about “love, grief and insulin” by the 31-year-old standup Sam Morrison. An autobiographical monologue that turns tragedy into comedy, it tells of how Morrison fell in love with Jonathan, who was 24 years his senior, after meeting him at a gay bear festival in Provincetown, Massachusetts. In 2021, two and a half years into their relationship, Jonathan died from Covid.

For the last four years, Morrison has been performing Sugar Daddy around the world; next month he brings an updated version to London’s West End. The co-producer is Billy Porter, 56, the Emmy-winning singer, actor and director whose credits include Pose, American Horror Story and Cabaret.

Scientists say crackdown on gender-affirming care could have impact on healthcare of all Americans

As more health systems end gender-affirming care for patients amid a crackdown from the Trump administration, scientists and advocates say the science of sex and gender is being misrepresented – and will have major repercussions for the healthcare for all Americans.

Trump officials “don’t actually understand the science at all”, said Jey McCreight, who is the founder of Beyond X&Y and has a doctoral degree in human genomics. McCreight, who uses they/them pronouns, added that using misinformation to limit who can seek healthcare is a warning for all patients.

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Media Matters over critical coverage. It’s just one example of the administration’s approach

The Trump administration is embracing an intimidation strategy to silence critical media coverage. Here’s how it works: a federal agency launches a pretextual investigation into a perceived enemy, keeps the investigation open to coerce compliance, and resists any effort to have a court review the lawfulness of the agency’s actions.

There’s no better example than the Federal Trade Commission’s retaliatory investigation of Media Matters for America for its critical coverage of one of the Trump administration’s most powerful allies.

David Bralow is counsel to the Intercept

As the actor’s hi-tech conspiracy thriller returns for a third series, she spills the beans on her worst stunt injury – and why the police are now ‘dressing like the cops on the telly’

You’ll never wheel your suitcase through an airport in the same way again. Hit techno-conspiracy drama The Capture makes its long-awaited comeback with a chilling, thrilling opening sequence at Heathrow Terminal 5. When a hostile Russian asset lands in the UK, he hacks CCTV cameras and uses real-time image manipulation to bypass border controls and passport checks. He’s travelling under a deepfake avatar – and let’s just say he’s not in London to visit M&M’s World or see the Paddington musical.

Written and created by former documentary-maker Ben Chanan, The Capture’s ripped-from-the-headlines mix of government AI usage, state-sponsored cyber-attacks, dark web data analytics and deepfake doppelgangers will make you fear for the future. The show’s star Holliday Grainger compares it to “a longform Black Mirror”.

• 66-year-old rapper is longtime women’s sports supporter

• Team did not attend Trump’s State of the Union address

The rapper Flavor Flav will host a Las Vegas event in July to honour the US women’s ice hockey team’s gold medal at the Milano Cortina Olympics and celebrate other female Olympian and Paralympian achievement.

The Hall of Fame rapper announced on X on Thursday that he will host a She Got Game weekend event from 16-19 July in partnership with MGM Resorts to honor the women’s hockey team as well as other female athletes.

State election leaders have been raising concerns about the intent behind Trump’s recent moves on elections

After the FBI seized elections materials from Fulton county last month, Donald Trump returned once again to his false claim that he beat Joe Biden in Georgia in the 2020 election.

“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’” Trump said to Dan Bongino on the former FBI staffer’s podcast earlier this month . “We should take over the voting in at least – many – 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

Later that week, it was revealed that the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who was present at the Fulton county raid, led an investigation into Puerto Rico’s voting machines – taking some machines to examine – last May to identify what her office said were potential vulnerabilities in the island’s electronic voting systems. Taken together, Trump’s comments and actions are pointing toward a possibility Democratic voters have until now only contemplated: the federal government seizing voting machines across the country in a way that disrupts voting in the 2026 midterms.

If the federal government declared some digital voting machines off-limits at the last minute, it would set off a chain of emergency court hearings, leaving elections directors scrambling to find another way to print and count ballots before those cases resolved. Early voting could crater. Election Day voting could be curtailed. And results might not be ready for weeks.

The group reimagines Corsica’s ancient music for modern female voices with fresh spiky arrangements that remain heavy with the pain of the past

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Idrîsî Ensemble are a useful corrective to the stereotyping of medieval music as smooth, pious and sleepy. Hearing the howls of this London-based group – sometimes powered by up to 19 members – you’re reminded of song’s inexhaustible capacity for conjuring fresh pain.

Tapalpa deserted and scared by day of terror when military raid brought feared drug lord’s reign to an end

Two days before one of the world’s most powerful drug lords was killed while trying to flee a chalet in the hills outside Mexico’s second biggest city, the Tapalpa Country Club posted an advert on Instagram inviting lovers to visit a place where they could “inhale peace [and] exhale stress”.

“Date idea: Escape to Tapalpa,” read the message, advertising romantic private cabins, picnics with spectacular lake views and a golf course “to have fun together”.

• Geoff Scott appointed in medical department overhaul

• He had 20 years at Spurs but clashed with Postecoglou

Nottingham Forest have appointed a new director of performance, Tottenham’s former head of medicine and sports science Geoff Scott, amid concerns that injury problems have exacerbated their struggle to avoid relegation.

Scott spent 20 years at Tottenham until leaving two years ago after a clash with the then manager, Ange Postecoglou, who was in charge of Forest for eight matches this season.

A shout of ‘racist’ could also be heard during the segment at France’s version of the Oscars

A tribute to Brigitte Bardot at the Césars, France’s version of the Oscars, on Thursday was greeted with boos. In a video clip posted by Paris Match, boos can clearly be heard among the applause as the tributes, and a shout of “racist!” is also audible.

Bardot, who died in December aged 91, became arguably the most celebrated figure in postwar French cinema for films such as And God Created Woman and Contempt, but after quitting acting in the early 1970s her later years were marred by increasing political activity on the far right, resulting in a string of convictions for inciting racial hatred.

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Both sides are reporting they have inflicted heavy casualties on each other, but it is difficult to know the true numbers when they are presenting sharply divergent figures.

Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar claims 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed, with more than 200 injured. Of its own soldiers, Tarar says that two were killed in the cross-border fighting, while three were injured.

The UK is deeply concerned by the significant escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We urge both sides to take immediate steps toward de‑escalation, avoid further harm to civilians, and re‑engage in mediated dialogue.

Met arrests man on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage after slogans including ‘Zionist war criminal’ sprayed

A 38-year-old man has been arrested after the statue of Winston Churchill outside the Houses of Parliament was defaced with graffiti calling the former prime minister a “Zionist war criminal”.

The Metropolitan police said the man was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage on Friday morning.

• Australian F1 driver was replaced after 2025 Miami GP

• Doohan revealed threats and abuse on Drive to Survive

Jack Doohan has said he received death threats and called police to resolve an encounter with armed men around the time of last year’s Miami Grand Prix, just before he lost his Formula One drive with Alpine.

In the latest series of the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive, released on Friday, the Australian driver said he had been threatened by email, describing the atmosphere around what proved to be his final race as “pretty heavy stuff”.

Knowing how much water and warmth different seeds need to germinate will improve your changes of getting a great crop of vegetables

Many of our minds will soon – if they haven’t already – turn towards sowing seeds. While germination appears to happen willy-nilly in the wild, this process requires a certain set of factors to take place. Different seeds require different conditions, and knowing what your seeds need will mean more successfully germinate and fewer are wasted.

To an unimaginative eye, a seed looks inert. Yet they are packed with genetic information and biological processes poised to unfold. All it takes is the right configuration of signals and stimuli from the environment to let them know it’s time to dare to grow.

Local river defenders force U-turn by occupying grain terminal operated by one of US powerhouses of world trade

“A victory for life.” That was the triumphal message from Indigenous campaigners in the Brazilian Amazon this week after they staved off a threat to the Tapajós River by occupying a grain terminal operated by Cargill, the biggest privately owned company in the United States.

“The river won, the forest won, the memory of our ancestors won,” said the campaigners in Santarém when it was clear their actions had forced the Brazilian government into a U-turn on plans to privatise one of the world’s most beautiful waterways and expand its role as a soy canal.

The Egyptian queen has fascinated me from childhood, but following the archives led only to ancient gossip and Roman propaganda. Fiction was the way to liberate her from misogynist myth

Witch, whore, villain – there are few women who have been as vilified through history as Cleopatra VII. The disdain of ancient sources that sought to dismiss her as exotic and seductive has corrupted her legacy. But I take pleasure in knowing that her name has permeated through time with far more recognition than the men who wrote about her. Ask a 10-year-old child who Plutarch is and they’ll scrunch up their brows – but Cleopatra? Their eyes light up with glee.

Mine did when I was tasked by my schoolteacher to draw Cleopatra. My small hands searched through the box of crayons. I picked up the brown, its tip pristine from lack of use. It was the loneliest colour in the box, used only to draw mud or bark. The face I drew reflected my own in features and colour.