The Reform MP Rupert Lowe has been suspended from the party. What’s behind his feud with its leader? Eleni Courea reports

On Friday, the MP Rupert Lowe criticised Nigel Farage in an interview with the Daily Mail, saying Reform UK was a “protest party led by the Messiah”, and that it was “too early to know whether Nigel will deliver the goods” and become prime minister.

The next day, Lowe was suspended by the party. Reform UK published a statement making a series of allegations against him, including that he had made threats against the party chair, Zia Yusuf.

Islamophobia in Australia report details 309 in-person incidents between early 2023 and late 2024, with girls and women bearing the brunt of the attacks

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Islamophobic incidents – including physical attacks, verbal harassment, people being spat on and rape threats – have more than doubled in the past two years, with girls and women bearing the brunt of hatred towards Muslims in Australia, new research shows.

The fifth Islamophobia in Australia report details 309 in-person incidents between January 2023 and December 2024 – a more than 2.5-fold increase from the previous reporting period. Verified online incidents more than tripled to 366.

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The Australian is out to challenge for the driver’s championship in 2025 after helping McLaren to the Formula One constructors’ crown last year

He has the face of a child and the nutritional preferences to match, but nobody doubts Oscar Piastri deserves his place at the Formula One grown-ups’ table. The 23-year-old helped McLaren to the constructors’ championship with two race victories last year, and has emerged as a genuine contender for the driver’s crown in 2025.

Days before this week’s first race of the season in Melbourne, the chocolate milk-loving, chicken parmigiana-ordering Victorian isn’t tempering expectations. “It’s hard to not be confident when you’ve got the championship-winning team around you,” Piastri said at his latest sponsor’s engagement on Wednesday evening, for McLaren partner Airwallex.

Exclusive: Jotham Napat said pact must be taken ‘back to the drawing board’ and should reflect climate change as security issue

Vanuatu’s new prime minister has said his government intends to “revisit” a security agreement with Australia, arguing it does not reflect his country’s priorities including climate change and travel mobility for its citizens.

Jotham Napat, who was elected in February, said the pact with Canberra had to be taken “back to the drawing board” as he sought a “win-win situation” in a renegotiated deal.

The thorn that Carlo Ancelotti said was wedged in Atlético Madrid’s side remains buried in their flesh, deeper and more painful than ever before, never to be removed. For a sixth time they faced their city rivals in Europe – 2025 joining 1959, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 – and for a sixth time they were defeated. Utterly, perhaps eternally defeated. The team that lost one European Cup final derby after a 93rd-minute goal and another on penalties fell once more, and this time may even have been the worst of all, another chapter in the never-ending story.

All of which may sound a bit much for a last-16 tie but the pain accumulates, each loss crueller than the last, and if the final result was oddly inevitable, how it happened was unthinkable, even for a battle between these two. If Atlético didn’t beat Real this time, they may feel they never will. Just when it seemed that fate might have shifted their way at last, it twisted the knife again. “I go in peace,” Diego Simeone said after, insisting that in their silent, lonely moments Real will reflect that over all these years no one made them suffer like his team. Perhaps they will, yet they always survive, and here they did it again.

Polish research also finds increased risk of both sexes being overweight if married

Marriage triples the risk of obesity for men, but does not affect women, according to research.

Global obesity rates have more than doubled since 1990, with more than 2.5 billion adults and children classed as being overweight or obese. Worldwide, more than half of adults and a third of children are predicted to be overweight or obese by 2050.

The new digital ‘mantra’ prompts unions to warn PM to stop blaming problems on Whitehall officials

AI should replace the work of government officials where it can be done to the same standard, under new rules that have prompted unions to warn Keir Starmer to stop blaming problems on civil servants.

As part of his plans for reshaping the state, the prime minister will on Thursday outline how a digital revolution will bring billions of pounds in savings to the government.

On a night when Arsenal ended the game with four left-backs on the pitch, this may not have been the biggest stage of Raheem Sterling’s illustrious career. But after a dismal loan spell from Chelsea during which the former England forward has failed to live up to his reputation, Sterling will be relieved to have finally made a contribution as Mikel Arteta’s side eased into a quarter-final with Real Madrid.

Sterling provided two assists in the first half as goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Declan Rice ensured Arsenal were never in danger of surrendering their record-breaking 7-1 advantage from the first leg. This time PSV Eindhoven proved more of a challenge and deserved to come away with a draw on the night thanks to equalisers from Ivan Perisic and then a sublime chip from Couhaib Driouech that denied Arteta’s side a place in the history books for the joint-biggest aggregate victory in the knockout stages.

When Unai Emery accepted the challenge of reviving Aston Villa at a time when the club was fretting about relegation to the Championship, he voiced his desire to return to European competition.

It was punchy, part of a grand plan and, for supporters, a particularly exciting soundbite, but back then the prospect of a Champions League quarter-final date with Paris Saint‑Germain, one of Emery’s former clubs, felt fanciful. The Villa manager has delivered unequivocally on his wish. The Champions League furniture – the oversized badges, the giant tifos and 3D signage – will get at least another outing this season.

I think of AI as alternative intelligence – and its capacity to be ‘other’ is just what the human race needs

• ChatGPT firm reveals AI model that is ‘good at creative writing’
• ‘A machine-shaped hand’: Read a story from OpenAI’s new creative writing model

I think of AI as alternative intelligence. John McCarthy’s 1956 definition of artificial (distinct from natural) intelligence is old fashioned in a world where most things are either artificial or unnatural. Ultraprocessed food, flying, web-dating, fabrics, make your own list. Physicist and AI commentator, Max Tegmark, told the AI Action Summit in Paris, in February, that he prefers “autonomous intelligence”.

I prefer “alternative” because in all the fear and anger foaming around AI just now, its capacity to be “other” is what the human race needs. Our thinking is getting us nowhere fast, except towards extinction, via planetary collapse or global war.

US president said of Senate minority leader: ‘He’s not Jewish any more. He’s a Palestinian’

Donald Trump has been condemned by a leading US Muslim civil rights group for seeking to use the word “Palestinian” as an insult when he attacked the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, as “not Jewish any more”.

“President Trump’s use of the term ‘Palestinian’ as a racial slur is offensive and beneath the dignity of his office,” said Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or Cair.

On third day of cross-examination, the actor claimed accusers voluntarily engaged in sexual conversation

Noel Clarke is trying to create “moral equivalence” between his alleged sexual misconduct and the behaviour of his accusers, the high court has heard.

Giving evidence in his libel claim against the Guardian, the 49-year-old actorclaimed that some of his accusers voluntarily engaged in or initiated sexually loaded banter, were promiscuous and bragged about their sexual exploits.

Touched her on her thighs including between her legs.

Said they should go to the mezzanine floor above to have sex.

Rated women out of 10 for their sexual attractiveness.

Said of a pregnant woman that he would “bang that” because she could not get pregnant again.

The Age of Disclosure, a provocative new documentary that argues for the existence of extraterrestrials, has drawn gasps and criticism at the SXSW film festival

A splashy new documentary that asserts the presence of extraterrestrial life on Earth and alleges a US government effort to hide information on possible alien activity is making waves at SXSW.

The Age of Disclosure expounds upon years of congressional activity and testimony surrounding the presence of Unexplained Anomalous Phenomena (or UAP, a rebranding of the stigmatized UFO), in the United States, drawing both buzz and skepticism at the Austin, Texas-based cultural festival.

Activists horrified as EPA reverses pollution laws and reviews landmark finding that gases harm public health

Donald Trump’s administration is to reconsider the official finding that greenhouse gases are harmful to public health, a move that threatens to rip apart the foundation of the US’s climate laws, amid a stunning barrage of actions to weaken or repeal a host of pollution limits upon power plants, cars and waterways.

Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an extraordinary cavalcade of pollution rule rollbacks on Wednesday, led by the announcement it would potentially scrap a landmark 2009 finding by the US government that planet-heating gases, such carbon dioxide, pose a threat to human health.

Court document claims ‘potentially serious foreign policy consequences’ amid outcry over Palestinian activist’s arrest

The US government is relying on a rarely used provision of the law to try to deport a prominent Palestinian activist who recently completed his graduate studies at Columbia University, where he was a leader in last year’s campus protests.

A government charging document addressed to Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent US resident and green card holder who is currently being held in a Louisiana detention center, said that secretary of state Marco Rubio “has reasonable ground to believe that your presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”.

• Warner reunited with former Australia coach Langer
• Anderson and Roy both ignored in latest draft

David Warner will call Lord’s home this summer. The former Australia batter is in line to make his Hundred debut after he was recruited by London Spirit in the competition’s latest draft, with Jimmy Anderson – another recent retiree from the international game – left unsold.

Warner will be reunited with his former Australia head coach Justin Langer, though the 38-year-old will not sit in the highest salary bracket for the men’s tournament. Jamie Overton (Spirit), Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad (Manchester Originals), David Willey (Trent Rockets) and New Zealand’s Michael Bracewell (Southern Brave) all secured £200,000 deals, with Warner a rung below at £120,000.

Premier League almost won but contracts are ending and key players ageing, necessitating a summer of change

It’s the 94th minute at Estádio da Luz in October. Benfica are winning 4-0 and Atlético Madrid are in utter disarray. Zeki Amdouni runs the ball into an entirely unpatrolled Atlético area, gets a free shot from 14 yards and misses a glorious chance to make it 5-0. Nobody cares. Least of all Liverpool, even though this miss will in effect end up, five months later, knocking them out of the Champions League.

Of course, we’re in the realm of the absurd here, although when it comes to the new Champions League format this is a system with margins exactly, and absurdly, this fine. By virtue of this one goal not scored – and of course you could pick out many others – Benfica end up finishing 16th in the 36-team group phase rather than 15th: a position from which they, rather than Paris Saint-Germain, would probably have ended up facing Liverpool in the last 16.

• Sky/BBC deal runs for five years from next season
• No relegation would mean meaningless ties on TV

The Women’s Super League’s £65m TV contract with Sky Sports and the BBC will have to be renegotiated if it removes relegation from the top flight.

As revealed last month by the Guardian, the clubs are considering radical proposals to pause relegation from the 2026-27 season as part of a plan to expand the WSL and Championship to 16 teams each, with a vote expected at the end of the season.

Verstappen is under pressure from a revitalised Hamilton at Ferrari with McLaren’s Norris set to challenge from the off

Car MCL39 Engine Mercedes Principal Andrea Stella Debut Monaco 1966 GPs 970 Titles 9 Last season 1st. In position to build on securing the constructors’ championship in 2024, McLaren will be quick out of the blocks. The car was the standout in testing and confidence is high. Lessons were learned through questionable execution last year and they have two outstanding drivers who are both hungrily eyeing the team’s first drivers’ title since 2008. How they manage them may be key from the off.

For now Keir Starmer can say there is a middle way, but Donald Trump will soon force Britain to pick a side

No country can avoid the economic impact of Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy. There are no exceptions to the president’s global tariff on aluminium and steel and no escaping the general volatility and constant uncertainty provoked by a capricious regime. But Britain is lucky not to be a direct target.

Mr Trump has no border-related grievance against the UK, as he does with Mexico and Canada. The balance of bilateral trade is neutral enough for Britain to avoid being listed among the nations that sell more to the US than they buy from it. The White House sees that asymmetry as a devious scam, for which tariffs are a form of retribution.

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The tone of relations with the US may depend on whether second-placed Naleraq ends up inside the government

It was an election that was fought on the global stage with sporadic commentary from Donald Trump. But in the end, it was domestic issues that drove Greenlanders to the polls to vote overwhelmingly for change.

Ever since his son, Donald Trump Jr, touched down in a Trump-branded plane at Nuuk’s new airport in January, the US president has made no secret of his renewed desire to gain control of the Arctic island, refusing to rule out economic or military force to do so.

• Jockey O’Sullivan’s double from 2023 repeated at festival
• Jazzy Matty completes emotional second day at meeting

At the moment of his greatest racing triumph, after a lifetime in the sport as a spectator, an amateur jockey, owner and now a trainer, Barry Connell’s thoughts after Marine Nationale’s victory in the Queen Mother Champion Chase on Wednesday turned, immediately and inevitably, to Michael O’Sullivan, who rode the same horse to victory in the Supreme Novice Hurdle here two years ago and died last month, from injuries ­sustained in a fall.

“The obvious thing is how raw and poignant it’s all been over the last four weeks,” Connell said. “Michael and myself went on a journey with this horse, he rode him in all his races in his novice season over hurdles. He started as a 7lb claimer with us and I asked him to turn pro, and he ended up winning three Grade Ones as a claimer and was leading rider [with two wins] on the first day [at ­Cheltenham two years ago].

‘Joey from Friends’ has gone viral for his lack of drive. This is what the world needs – someone who’s happy with nothing rather than everything

‘Nothing will come of nothing,” King Lear said. He was totally wrong, I’m afraid. The truth is, a lot can come from nothing. More specifically: great life satisfaction can come from doing very little.

You know who is well aware of that? Matt LeBlanc (AKA Joey from Friends), the king of 90s primetime TV. A TikTok featuring resurfaced interviews in which LeBlanc extols the joys of sloth is generating enormous enthusiasm online. The TikTok pulls from a 2018 interview in which LeBlanc gushed about how much he enjoyed taking time off after Friends and then cuts to a 2017 interview in which he said: “I should be a professional nothing.” Speaking to Conan O’Brien, LeBlanc explained: “Because I think I would like to do not a fucking thing. That’s what I would like to do. Just nothing. Nothing. Zero.” (Same, Matt, same.)

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The Trump administration is not interested in combating antisemitism. It just wants to silence its opponents instead

On Saturday night, agents of the Department of Homeland Security arrested and detained the Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil. He is still in Ice custody in a remote Louisiana lockup known for extreme human rights violations, from denial of food and water to medical “care” verging on torture.

Khalil, a Palestinian Syrian, emerged as a leader in Columbia’s Gaza solidarity encampment last year and a level-headed negotiator with university officials on behalf of the student protesters. Married to a US citizen, he holds a green card. Neither his American wife, who is eight months pregnant, nor his lawyers were warned of the arrest or told where he would be held.

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“You have to feel for Nathan Butler-Oyedeji,” writes Kieran McKintosh. “He’s 22, still not had a proper first-team appearance, not even scored on loan at Cheltenham or Accrington, and even in a game like this where it basically doesn’t matter who Arteta plays, a defender who is leaving at the end of the season gets a start up top before he does. Ouch.”

I have a feeling the young lad’s long-term future is not at Arsenal.

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4 min: … while on the touchline, Diego Simeone tries his level best to retain his supercool. Carlo chewing at his gum with a bit more vigour, though.

2 min: The roof of the Metropolitano, as you’d expect, is currently spinning off towards Catalonia. The poor clearance Griezmann intercepted was by Raúl Asencio. Everyone in Real white looking around at each other stunned!

Health secretary, under fire for his response to the measles outbreak, attacked seed oils in Sean Hannity interview

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary, appeared with a cheeseburger and fries in a nationally televised interview on Fox News – a highly unusual move for a federal health official.

The appearance, in which he endorsed the decision of the burger chain Steak ‘n Shake to cook its fries in beef tallow, comes as Kennedy has attacked seed oils and made claims about the measles vaccine that lack context.

Authorities are preparing for flooding and debris flows after recent wildfires have stripped vegetation from hillsides

California is bracing for a powerful atmospheric river storm that is expected to drench large swaths of the state with rain and bring several feet of snow to the mountains.

Much of northern California was under a winter storm warning because of the gusty winds and heavy snow in the forecast that the National Weather Service (NWS) said would lead to “difficult to impossible travel conditions”.

Blood tests on migratory chicks fed plastics by their parents show neurodegeneration, as well as cell rupture and stomach lining decay

Ingesting plastic is leaving seabird chicks with brain damage “akin to Alzheimer’s disease”, according to a new study – adding to growing evidence of the devastating impact of plastic pollution on marine wildlife.

Analysis of young sable shearwaters, a migratory bird that travels between Australia’s Lord Howe Island and Japan, has found that plastic waste is causing damage to seabird chicks not apparent to the naked eye, including decay of the stomach lining, cell rupture and neurodegeneration.

Israel Katz reaffirms IDF will continue holding Mount Hermon area beyond contested northern Israeli borders

Israel’s defence minister has reaffirmed the country’s intention to occupy a swath of Syrian territory beyond Israel’s contested northern borders for an “unlimited amount of time” during a visit to the strategic Mount Hermon.

“The IDF is prepared to stay in Syria for an unlimited amount of time. We will hold the security area in Hermon and make sure that all the security zone in southern Syria is demilitarised and clear of weapons and threats,” Israel Katz said on a visit to the peak on Wednesday.

Canadian government says it will follow ‘dollar-by-dollar’ approach and institute 25% tariffs on US imports

Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on nearly $30bn worth of American imports after US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports went into effect on Wednesday.

The Canadian government said it will be following a “dollar-by-dollar” approach and institute 25% tariffs on American imports, including steel, computers and sports equipment.

Travellers from country now need visas with decision reportedly made in response to rising asylum claims

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Trinidad and Tobago has described Britain’s new visa requirement for tourists from the twin island state as a disproportionate and disappointing response to the issue of false asylum applications.

Trinidad and Tobago nationals previously could visit the UK without a visa, only requiring the electronic travel authorisation (ETA), which was introduced in January for all visa-exempt nations.

The Bear actor called Musk a fascist and an idiot after his reaction to a post from a rightwing account that claimed she was replacing Johnny Depp

Ayo Edebiri, the actor best known for her Emmy-award winning work on The Bear, has said she received “insane death threats” after Elon Musk shared a fake news report about her being cast in a film.

On her Instagram, Edebiri recalled the furore that met Musk’s reposting of a story by “Unlimited L’s”, a rightwing account with no apparent Hollywood connection or insight, that she was to replace Johnny Depp in a reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Photographers’ Gallery, London
The photographers up for the £30,000 prize show work that ranges from the spiritual and scintillating to the smug and glib

• One giant leap: The Deutsche Börse photography in pictures

The Deutsche Börse photography foundation prize is back, with four shortlisted artists, each nominated for a solo exhibition or book presented or published in the last year. It’s a quiet, solemn and laconic show ranging from lyrical, captivating portraits of Versace-clad Black cowboys in the American south to a woman hugging rocks.

The show begins with the least interesting work. Cristina de Middel, a former photojournalist and now president of Magnum, is nominated for the second time. Here, a slice of her vast exhibition Journey to the Center, staged in a spectacular 15th-century church during the Arles festival last year, is re-created. The installation tries to be dynamic – a bright orange wooden framework cuts through the middle of the space; photographs are placed next to blown-up versions of Mexican Lotería cards – but it can’t cover up the blandness of De Middel’s work.

Break in talks comes as Trump escalates trade war with Canada and threatens its sovereignty

The United States has paused negotiations with Canada on a key water-sharing treaty as Donald Trump continues both his threats to annex his northern neighbour and to upend major agreements governing relations between the two counties.

British Columbia’s energy ministry said officials south of the border were “conducting a broad review” of the Columbia River Treaty, the 61-year-old pact that governs transnational flood control, power generation and water supply.

Oil giants retreat on climate pledges, embrace Trump-era fossil fuel policies at CERAWeek in Texas

At a major oil and gas conference in Texas this week, companies publicly retreated from their flashy climate pledges of years past, redoubling their commitment to planet-warming fossil fuels.

The withdrawals illustrate the companies’ allegiance not to ordinary Americans, but to their shareholders and the climate-skeptical Trump administration, advocates said.

As the US ramps up enforcement, scenes of family separation and despair from Trump’s first term are repeated

The United States has resumed placing immigrant families in detention, re-embracing harrowing operations where scenes unfold such as toddlers learning to walk under the supervision of private prison corporations and children marking their birthdays at government facilities they can’t leave.

If the Obama and first Trump administrations are anything to go by, parents will have to watch their little ones go hungry without familiar foods, the kinds families cook if their children aren’t stuck in so-called “baby jails”.

‘It look so artistic under the water,’ staff at Washington state aquarium says of Pepper

A baby sea lion toting an artificial kelp strip was filmed performing intricate rhythmic gymnastics-style circles through the waters of an aquarium in Washington state.

Although only nine months old and still reliant on her mother’s milk, Pepper has become the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s most acrobatic sea lion, said Noelle Tremonti, a staff biologist for the aquarium.

The Russian president remains unwavering in his demands, making wider sanctions and tariffs ineffective

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

Ukraine’s agreement to support a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its war against Russia’s invasion has focused attention on what Moscow may or may not agree to, and what pressure can be brought to bear on Vladimir Putin by the Trump administration.

While the question has frequently been asked over the last few years as to what leverage Putin might have over Trump, the question here is what leverage Trump might have to persuade Putin.

SXSW film festival: The star of I Think You Should Leave brings a similar brand of comedy to this strange and genuinely funny film about a friendship breakup

Few adult experiences sting as much as a friendship breakup, a rejection in some ways more personal, hurtful and confusing than that of a romantic partner. And few actors are better equipped to mine the weird vulnerabilities, fixations and feelings of a platonic split like the cult comedy king Tim Robinson, co-creator and star of the Netflix sketch show I Think You Should Leave (ITYSL). Over three seasons, Robinson has built up a devoted in-the-know following for his situational comedy, generationally playing unrepentant characters with no impulse control or allegiance to social scripts, people whose untidy feelings derail otherwise normal situations into absurd tangles.

In other words, not the type of people to take rejection well. With Robinson as the unfortunate half of a buddy dump, Friendship, writer-director Andrew DeYoung’s strange and hilarious debut feature, spins comedy gold out the straight male loneliness epidemic. Robinson goes for broke as Craig, a typical ITYSL character: pathetic, awkward, estranged from social rituals, an oddball at once sweet and a little creepy. A guy baffled by the ease of other men and desperate for their approval, whose face displays the big emotions – anger, love, jealousy – in amusingly bold, bright primary colors.