• New rules will be added before World Cup finals

• Corners and second yellow cards can be checked

Football’s lawmaking authority, the Ifab, is to conduct a two-year review of the video assistant referee to ensure the technology is being used “to its best”. The announcement on Saturday came alongside a flurry of enhancements to the rulebook before the World Cup, including expanding the use of VAR into determining corner kicks.

Another proposal could mean punishments for players obscuring their mouths being fast-tracked for implementation at this summer’s tournament, after the alleged racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni.

In a rare public address, former president said US is experiencing ‘dark days’ and urged Americans to vote

• Sign up for This week in Trumpland, a free newsletter on the latest from the Trump administration

Joe Biden has warned that his presidential successor, Donald Trump, will attempt to “steal” the midterm elections, in what for him is a rare public address.

Speaking in South Carolina, where he was being honored for his lifetime achievement in politics, Biden also asserted that the US is experiencing “dark days”, in a speech made hours before the Trump administration launched attacks on Iran.

• Leicester stay in drop zone after fourth straight home loss

• Hull match 60-year record with victory at Portsmouth

Norwich condemned relegation-threatened Leicester to a fourth successive home Championship defeat to end Gary Rowett’s unbeaten start as manager.

The second-half substitute Anis Ben Slimane drilled Norwich ahead just six minutes after coming off the bench at the King Power Stadium before Ali Ahmed’s close-range finish sealed a seventh win in nine league games.

As a result of New York’s most severe winter in years, the city may see a drop from it’s estimated 3 million rats

Since arriving from Europe in the 1600s, New York City’s rats have survived hurricanes, floods, terrorist attacks, riots, fires, a pandemic (they actually thrived during that), the Dutch and Crocodile Dundee II.

But as a result of New York’s most severe winter in years, when the city saw snow, then a historic deep freeze, then even more snow, the rat population might now be about to decline. For a bit.

For those Sunderland fans making the 700-mile round trip from Wearside, some beginning their journey at midnight, they arrived to the welcome sight of Granit Xhaka’s first start since 17 January. Could the captain’s return inspire Sunderland from the slump that began in mid-December? On the south coast, a losing run came to its end. Régis Le Bris’s team claimed the point their determined performance deserved.

“To have a natural leader like that come into the team is great,” said the Sunderland defender Dan Ballard. “We’ve missed him.” Patrolling in front of defence, Xhaka maintained constant dialogue with his colleagues, encouraging, directing into position, veering into the territory of player-manager. “After three defeats it’s not easy to react and for a newly promoted side, confidence is always a topic,” said Le Bris. “I am happy with the team spirit.”

As the storied London dining room reopens on its bicentenary, restaurateur Jeremy King honours its heritage while restoring a faded icon

Simpson’s in the Strand was the sort of London institution where nothing changed without very good reason. Founded in 1828 as a coffee and chess club, the restaurant introduced wheeled silver trolleys so waiters could dispense roast beef and gravy without disturbing the players’ concentration, and kept them long after the chessboards had gone. In the 1860s, to emphasise its focus on British food, Simpson’s rejected the French word “menu” in favour of “bill of fare”, and so it would remain.

Ornate, self-consciously stately and a bit stuffy, it was as English as Charles Dickens, PG Wodehouse and Winston Churchill – all of whom, perhaps unsurprisingly, were devoted patrons. Wodehouse described Simpson’s as “a restful temple of food” where, as one of his characters observed, diners were “at liberty to eat till you were helpless, if you felt so disposed”. Not all diners, however: women were barred from the main dining room until 1984.

The Spirit We Move With explores the legacy of Mitchelville on Hilton Head Island and its Gullah Geechee community

In 1862, while the American civil war spread across the country, formerly enslaved people on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina were imagining a new future and envisioning new possibilities. They began organizing themselves and eventually created the first self-governed, autonomous city for freed people. It was called Mitchelville, named for the Union army Maj Gen Ormsby Mitchel, who led what would become known as the Port Royal Experiment, a model for how the country might transition away from slavery that served as a precursor to the Reconstruction period.

The freed people, who would come to be known as the Gullah Geechee, built their own homes, elected their own officials, created their own economy and, for the first time in US history, mandated education for their children. Each individual made their own decisions, from what they would wear, to whom they would see, to where they would go – decisions that they were prevented from making when they were kept in bondage.

The first lady is a Trump and therefore automatically qualified to do anything her heart desires

“We ended DEI in America,” Donald Trump boasted during his State of the Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday.

Unlike many things the president said in his excruciatingly long SOTU speech, this was actually half true. The Trump administration’s “war on woke” has pushed a lot of large companies and institutes to retreat from the diversity, equity and inclusion policies they used to pretend to be proud of.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Panic about antisocial behaviour and theft has broken through from social media to boardrooms and diplomatic circles

“Just visit London and you’ll see that it’s filled with crime,” the tech billionaire Elon Musk said as he was beamed into Tommy Robinson’s far-right rally in the UK capital last September.

The comments by the SpaceX and Tesla boss, part of a roving speech that was later condemned by the UK government, added to a growing wave of anti-London disinformation that has spread in recent months. That includes Donald Trump’s notorious comments of London “no-go zones” and Nigel Farage’s warnings against wearing jewellery after 9pm in the West End.

Home secretary will defy ‘plain wrong’ calls from unions and leftwing MPs that she is alienating Muslim voters

Shabana Mahmood will press on with hardline immigration policies despite calls for a reversal from unions and left-leaning Labour MPs after the Green party’s byelection victory.

Senior Labour sources insisted that the home secretary would continue to roll out changes to asylum policy, dismissing as “plain wrong” claims that it would further alienate Muslim voters.

⚽ Keep up with all of Saturday’s football as it happens
⚽ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Emillia

It’s full-time across the grounds in the lunchtime games. Let’s take a look at the results…

Premier League:

Bournemouth 1-1 Sunderland

Leicester City 0-2 Norwich City

Derby County 3-1 Blackburn Rovers

Portsmouth 0-1 Hull City

Leyton Orient 1-3 Barnsley

Northampton Town 1-1 Peterborough United

Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Walsall

Swindon Town 1-1 Bristol Rovers

Cambridge United 1-1 MK Dons

Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Walsall (live)

Swindon Town 1-1 Bristol Rovers (live)

Cambridge United 1-0 MK Dons (live)

Fleetwood Town v Newport County

Crewe Alexandra v Tranmere Rovers

Barnet v Chesterfield

Notts County v Grimsby Town

Oldham Athletic v Crawley Town

Colchester United v Salford City

Barrow v Gillingham

Bromley v Accrington Stanley

Tehran says strikes on country, which targeted key leaders and have killed at least 40 children, breach UN charter

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• US and Israel strikes on Iran: what we know so far

Iran has launched a barrage of retaliatory missiles aimed at Israel and US bases across the region, denouncing the two countries’ airstrikes as a breach of the UN charter and an act of flagrant aggression designed to end any possibility of a diplomatic resolution.

Iran’s foreign ministry called on Muslim and non-aligned states to demand an urgent meeting of the UN security council, pointing out that the US-Israeli strikes on Saturday were the second such attack in a year while Iran was in the middle of sensitive negotiations over its nuclear programme.

Lax American gun laws mean weapons are readily available to buy and smuggle south of the border

Mexico was rocked this week by a wave of brutal violence after the capture of the drug lord Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, AKA “El Mencho”, as members of his powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel blew up trucks, fired on police stations and engaged in gun battles with Mexican security forces.

The chaos eventually calmed but not before 62 people had been killed, including a pregnant woman caught in the cross fire. The scale of the carnage, as well as the arsenal involved, has underscored a key element of Mexico’s struggle against organised crime: cartels are armed to the teeth, and most of their weapons are trafficked from the US.

Cygnet Texkimp was approved to export machines to Rydena, but ministers examining deal after Guardian highlighted founders’ links to Kremlin military supply chain

Ministers are reviewing a decision to allow a British company to export hi-tech equipment to Armenia after the Guardian uncovered links to the Russian military supply chain.

Cygnet Texkimp, based in Cheshire, was weeks away from exporting two machines that produce carbon fibre “prepreg”, a lightweight material that can be used in a range of civil and military applications.

Experts say global measles vaccination rates are falling as Trump officials signal a deprioritization of the virus

The US government has amplified anti-vaccine rhetoric and signaled that it does not consider measles to be a priority, which could have global ramifications as countries around the world have lost or are on the brink of losing measles elimination status.

The World Health Organization announced in late January that six European countries: the United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan had all officially lost their measles elimination status, which means the virus has been circulating continuously in those countries for more than 12 months. In order to contain measles, at least 95% of children should be fully vaccinated against it, according to health recommendations, but vaccination rates have been falling across Europe.

US president violates UN charter just days into his Board of Peace era, and chooses to take the biggest gamble of his administration

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• US and Israel strikes on Iran: what we know so far

The first war of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace era has begun – an unprovoked attempt at regime change in collaboration with Israel, with no legal foundation, launched in the midst of diplomatic efforts to avert conflict, and with minimal consultation with Congress or the American public.

Trump’s recorded eight-minute address after the first bombs had fallen, made clear that this would be no limited strike aimed at cajoling Tehran into concessions at the negotiating table. He warned that if Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) did not surrender they would be killed, and the country’s armed forces, its missile and navy would be smashed.

From being a writer for hire in the 1950s to his solo pop stardom and emphatic 1970s comeback, the late musician’s catalogue is stuffed with stunning, surprising songcraft

• News: Neil Sedaka, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do singer and pop song hitmaker, dies aged 86

As a young jobbing songwriter charged with devising a hit for Connie Francis after the singer released a couple of flops, Neil Sedaka was unsure about Stupid Cupid: modest to a fault, he suggested that Francis, “a classy lady”, would be insulted by its daftness. Instead, she literally jumped up and down with excitement when she heard it. Understandably so: if Stupid Cupid is certainly silly – listen to the off-key guitar twangs – it’s irresistibly silly, a perfect encapsulation of a certain kind of 50s pop innocence, and Francis’s vocal completely sells it.

Thousands flock to Oxford Street in Darlinghurst to participate in the 48th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or to watch the parade roll past

With more than 170 floats and 10,000 marchers, the 48th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebration was an explosion of colour.

Disagreement among Caricom members hampers unified response on Cuban sovereignty and US intervention in the region

Caribbean countries have pledged to support Cuba through a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by a US fuel embargo, after a leaders summit defined by regional divisions over Washington’s policies.

The decision to send humanitarian assistance to Cuba was announced during a press conference on Friday to mark the end of the four-day Caribbean Community (Caricom) meeting in St Kitts and Nevis, which secretary of state Marco Rubio attended to discuss US relations with Caribbean governments.

When I found out my father had been adopted, I was curious to know more about his side of the family. Nothing could have prepared me for what I would discover …

Above my grandma’s bed hung a framed black‑and-white photograph of my dad. As a small child I quietly admired it; his luminous eyes, dark hair and gentle smile. He embodied a tender yet spirited early adulthood, staring into the future. Handsome and seeking.

As I grew older, I would discover that it was not, in fact, a photograph of my dad but of a man called Elvis Presley. Apparently he was very famous. My grandma had been a lifelong fan. My parents laughed – an adorable mistake – but I felt a hot pulse of humiliation.

Businesses are vying for a refund, with nearly $175bn on the line, but customers are unlikely to benefit from reversal

At 8am, two hours before the US supreme court officially slapped down Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs on 20 February, Joseph Spraragen’s phone was already ringing off the hook.

The seasoned New York-based attorney and his 40-strong specialised trade team at Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt (GDLSK) had spent months filing hundreds of lawsuits for heavy-hitter clients, including luxury brands Prada and Dolce & Gabbana, in protest of the US president’s decision to impose sweeping import taxes last April.

The question of who owns and authorizes the month holds particular relevance amid attacks on Black history in the US

There is a myth that persists about Black History Month that can be heard in the common gripe: “They gave us the shortest month of the year” (they, the unnamed powers that be). Jarvis Givens, the author of I’ll Make Me a World: The 100-Year Journey of Black History Month, hates it. “Every time I hear that backhanded comment it doesn’t seem right,” said Givens, an associate professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “If you know anything about the basic origins of Black History Month then you know that we weren’t ‘given’ anything.”

The question of who owns and authorizes Black History Month holds particular relevance now, in its centennial year, and at a time when efforts to celebrate, preserve, and acknowledge Black people’s past in this country are under attack. Official recognition of Black American resistance to centuries of racial injustice is being challenged by local, state, and national efforts to restrict, ban and possibly criminalize such information in public schools, universities and other institutions. So the sentiment that Black history can be quite literally given or taken away by state officials is valid.

Saida Grundy is an associate professor of sociology and African American studies at Boston University, and the author of Respectable: Politics and Paradox in Making the Morehouse Man

With David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance poised to buy Warner Bros Discovery, the president is tightening his grip on the US media

• Get Margaret Sullivan’s latest columns delivered straight to your inbox by signing up here

For many years, Donald Trump has trashed CNN and has taught his loyal followers to do the same.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, angry chants of “CNN sucks!” reverberated at his campaign rallies, and he still jumps at every opportunity to disparage star CNN journalists such as Kaitlan Collins.

Ever since Netflix dropped its documentary series, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, the supermodel has been under fire. But is there another motive behind all the controversy?

“I was rooting for you,” Tyra Banks famously berated a contestant on America’s Next Top Model some 20 years ago. But who, now, is rooting for Tyra Banks?

The supermodel and reality-TV mogul has been under fire from all sides ever since Netflix dropped its documentary series, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. Long-circling scrutiny of the show’s tasteless extremes, frequent body-shaming and blatant failures of duty of care have come to rest on Banks herself, with viewers, Top Model contestants and even her former friends all expressing outrage at her apparent lack of repentance.