Rishi Sunak, a man well-versed in seismic defeats, was present to watch another. The former prime minister was among the spectators in Mumbai as India’s Abhishek Sharma struck a staggering 54-ball 135 to set up a 150-run win over England in the fifth and final Twenty20 international.
Sharma’s hands flew on the way to 13 sixes, his final return the highest score by an India batter in T20 internationals. Forget the English, none of his teammates could match him either; Shivam Dube’s 13-ball 30 was the next-best contribution as India put together a total of 247.
Experts say success of shows such as The Night Agent and Prime Target reflects growing public distrust of the state
If television dramas are a reflection of society, then it is safe to say we are feeling extremely suspicious right now. It does not take an intelligence operative to spot the number of spy thrillers that have infiltrated TV streaming services, in what has been hailed as a golden age for the genre.
This week, season two of The Night Agent climbed to the top of Netflix’s chart, while Prime Target, an espionage thriller starring Leo Woodall, became Apple TV’s most watched show. Other series such as Black Doves, The Diplomat (both Netflix), Slow Horses (Apple TV+), The Day of the Jackal (Sky Atlantic) and The Agency (Paramount Plus) have also been huge hits.
Federal investigators are still working to piece together the events that led to the crash that killed 67 people
Families of victims of the deadliest US air disaster in nearly 25 years visited the crash site on Sunday amid a swirl of ongoing questions on what caused the mid-air collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter at an airport just outside Washington DC.
Dozens of people walked along the banks of the Potomac River near Reagan National airport, close to where an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into each other on Wednesday, killing all 67 aboard.
President Sheinbaum and politicians across the spectrum condemn accusation, which follows imposition of US tariffs
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has hit back at Donald Trump’s “slanderous” claim that her government had joined forces with drug bosses, amid anger and incredulity at the US president’s attack on the leaders of Latin America’s second biggest economy.
Trump made the claim on Saturday as he announced 25% tariffs against Mexico that the US said were a response to illegal immigration and the “intolerable alliance” between drug trafficking organisations and Mexico’s government, which had allegedly offered safe haven to “dangerous cartels”.
In this forceful and lucid memoir the author details the impact of her father’s crimes on the family and her decision to never forgive or forget
“I was sacrificed on the altar of vice,” said Gisèle Pelicot in her opening testimony of a trial that shook France and the world between September and December 2024. Waiving her right to anonymity, the 72-year-old made her ordeal public so that, in her words, “shame must change sides”. For nearly 10 years, her husband of 50 years Dominique had invited dozens of men via an online site (now closed) to rape her while she lay comatose in bed in their home near Avignon. Each time, he had sedated her with a mix of anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills slipped into her food and glasses of wine. He filmed the rapes and stored the videos neatly in his computer under the title “abuse”.
Dominique Pelicot may never have been arrested had it not been for the perseverance of supermarket security guards who noticed him making upskirt videos of female shoppers. They convinced three of them to file a complaint to the police in September 2020. A young police officer then seized Pelicot’s computer and electronic equipment to investigate further. Police technicians unearthed more than 20,000 pornographic videos and pictures documenting his crimes against his wife. In just a few weeks, the police established that Gisèle Pelicot had been raped at least 200 times, the equivalent of once a fortnight for almost 10 years. Convinced that she was in mortal danger because of the repeated sedation, they worked night and day until they could gather enough evidence and arrest Dominique Pelicot. On 2 November 2020, Gisèle accompanied her husband to the police station in Carpentras, near where they lived. He had admitted to upskirting and had cried for her forgiveness. While police officers dealt with her husband (he would never walk free again), Gisèle Pelicot was invited into a room by the young investigative officer, who started revealing the torture she had endured unknowingly. She now understood why she had suffered from severe memory losses, fainting and gynaecological problemss. She did not have Alzheimer’s, as she had feared.
Ruben Amorim’s wish to “create some danger” flamed at the start of each half, then faded, as Manchester United were sucker-punched by Jean-Philippe Mateta’s second goal on 89 minutes that sealed a first defeat in four games.
United and Crystal Palace were becalmed in front of goal except for when the Eagles twice took advantage of the home side’s slipshod backline.
Tottenham were in no position to spurn a crucial goal off somebody’s backside and, give or take a few centimetres, that is exactly what they were handed here. Their season had been in freefall but a first league victory since 15 December was well earned, particularly given the scratchy resources at Ange Postecoglou’s disposal. Another makeshift backline, in which Archie Gray was outstanding, withstood one of the division’s toughest physical examinations and deserved their luck at the other end through Vitaly Janelt’s first-half own goal.
The Brentford goalkeeper Hákon Valdimarsson, making his first top-flight start due to Mark Flekken’s injury, should have spared Janelt’s blushes in dealing more decisively with the corner that struck his teammate. But he was less culpable three minutes from time when Pape Sarr, finishing deftly after being played through by Son Heung-min, made the points safe. Postecoglou, who knew his team would have to scrap, leapt off the bench and punched the air.
Barcelona closed the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid to four points, but were reliant on Robert Lewandowski’s second-half goal to beat struggling Alavés.
The hosts dominated possession with Alavés, who sit in 18th place, happy to sit back and defend. Barça almost scored near the half-hour mark when Manu Sánchez’s attempt to clear Raphinha’s cross went to Lewandowski, but the Polish striker put his shot wide.
Two of the best players in the NBA are reportedly swapping teams. The Mavericks could benefit this year but the Lakers look winners in the long-term
Every lifetime, you get to experience a few “where were you when?” moments. Finding out Michael Jackson died. The American presidency being called for Donald Trump in 2016. And any true NBA fan will remember where they were on the evening of 1 February 2025. I was waiting in line for a drink at a bar in Los Angeles when a friend tapped me on the shoulder and asked: “Have you seen this fake Shams tweet?”
The tweet, as it turns out, was real, as unbelievable as it still may be. The Dallas Mavericks have, indeed, traded Luka Dončić, the 25-year-old who was supposed to be the face of the franchise for years to come, to the Los Angeles Lakers. In return, they will get the man who was supposed to lead the Lakers for the next five years or so, 31-year-old Anthony Davis. There are a few more players involved in the trade (who will be discussed below), and even a third team in the Utah Jazz to help facilitate the deal. But for all intents and purposes, this was the most dramatic case possible of bona fide Top 10-superstar musical chairs.
How can neighbors have such a fundamental disagreement about seemingly basic concepts of rightness and justice?
In 2016, it was easy for the left to process Donald Trump’s election as a fluke – thanks to the electoral college, he’d essentially won on a technicality. But as he took office once again this month after winning the US popular vote, there is a sense that his every action comes with the tacit endorsement of the voting public.
Trump is, of course, far from the first American leader to be accused of cruelty. What’s striking about him is that he doesn’t pretend otherwise. Presidents in recent memory at least paid lip service to compassion; the new one has made exclusion, spite and bullying his brand. He seems to celebrate violating the basic rules we’re taught from infancy: be kind to others, share resources, welcome those who may seem different.
People who have lost homes feel an overwhelming sense of uncertainty as impact on their lives becomes clearer
When Marcus Beer and Shawna Dawson Beer first returned to their charred Altadena home, they were in shock. Visiting the Los Angeles neighbourhood for the second time last weekend, they fully comprehended the destruction.
“It very quickly felt like a graveyard,” Shawna said. Someone had tied pink ribbons with black polka dots on trees and buildings on their street, which floated in the breeze and looked pretty. “I thought it was a solidarity thing and thought ‘oh, isn’t that really nice’,” Marcus said. “But we found out it meant the cadaver dogs had gone by and no bodies had been found on the property.”
Hadi Matar, 26, accused of stabbing author 10 times in case likely to draw world’s media to tiny upstate New York town
A man accused of attacking Salman Rushdie as he was being introduced at a literary lecture in New York state in 2022 is going on trial this week in a case likely to create global headlines.
The trial could upend life in the tiny upstate New York village of Mayville, whose population of less than 1,500 is not accustomed to finding itself at the center of a media circus covering the attempted assassination of one of the world’s most famous writers.
A North Yorkshire couple’s home celebrates their creative individuality
If a house can change your mood, I just don’t know why you wouldn’t want to concentrate on the joy.” Neil Bedford has been asked about his thoughts on beige homes and he’s trying his hardest to be diplomatic. “A house like this makes coming home a little more exciting,” agrees partner Daisy Fry, gesturing to their Selfridges-yellow staircase. “It cheers you up.”
The couple moved into this early Edwardian terrace in the North Yorkshire coastal town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea in 2021. Neil is a photographer, while Daisy, who has a masters’ degree in creative practices and has dotted the house with her “soft sculptures” – is now taking time out to be at home with the couple’s young son, Solo.
Our increasingly noisy world has been linked to cardiovascular disease, anxiety and depression, as well as hearing loss. But that’s not the only reason we need more peace and quiet in our lives
No dogs barking. No lawnmowers. No revving engines. No sirens or car alarms. No planes. No construction work. No delivery lorries. Just pure, blissful silence. My ears could barely believe what they weren’t hearing when I opened the door, stepped into the garden and listened. It was autumn last year and I had just moved 600 miles north, from south-east England to Abernethy Forest in the Scottish Highlands. Occasionally, the wind shushed through the tree tops, like a slow wave breaking on the shore. Then it was quiet again. I lay in bed that night, letting my ears explore the faint thrum of silence, and for the first time in ages I didn’t reach for my earplugs.
In the ensuing months, my ears let go, by degrees, of a tension that I hadn’t been aware I was holding. I almost expected to look in the mirror and find them drooping, like those of a drowsy puppy. “Isn’t it a bit quiet for you there?” people asked – either mystified by our move, or concerned that we wouldn’t hack it. But I can’t get enough of it.
Starbucks wants people to stop hanging out in its US branches without buying anything. But sometimes we all need somewhere to sit that isn’t home
There has been a kerfuffle about cafes recently. In the US, Starbucks’ new “Coffeehouse Code of Conduct” is making people buy something or leave, reversing its previous laid-back attitude. Meanwhile, in Paris, cultural barricades are being raised between trad cafes and the kind that sell €5 almond milk cortados. The New York Times last month set out the “zinc bar v barista” philosophical divide between classic community hubs and hipster roasteries in the city, while a Parisienne on TikTok has posted a video pointing out three new-gen coffee shops within 50 metres of each other in the Marais, explaining that French people “take our time to have a coffee … we sit on a terrace”, but now “les Américains” are demanding takeaway americanos.
This is about what cafes are for – and the answer has always been more than coffee. Seventeenth-century coffee houses offered a democratic meeting space (well, unless you were a woman). Revolution brewed in US and French ones in the 18th century. They were also, historically, a refuge. In one of her memoirs, Simone de Beauvoir described spending whole days in the Café de Flore through the freezing winter of 1942-43, arriving early to get the hottest spot, next to the stovepipe. “We always had a shock of pleasure, emerging from the cold darkness, coming into this warm, bright den,” she wrote. She and others who did the same became a “family” of regulars. “We felt at home, safe.”
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
How do some people manage to wear shorts all through the winter? Jane Shaw, France
3rd over: India 39-1 (Abishek 23, Varma 0) Archer is flashed over cover for four by Abishek and then plooped for two over mid off, the fielder not quite able to scrabble back and get under the catch. SIX! What a shot that is – an uppercut outside off stump, the ball wasn’t even that wide – but was flayed away. SIX more! Abishek follows up with a majestic launch over cover! Eighteen off the over and Jofra Archer has been clobbered for 34 runs off two overs. Gulp.
2nd over: India 21-1 (Abishek 5, Varma 0) Tilak Varma is the new batter. England move a leg slip in place for the flick in the air. Wood goes outside off stump and the new batter leaves it alone. A lesser spotted leave.
Spanish football federation’s former president is accused of sexual assault and coercion over incident in 2023
Spain’s former football chief Luis Rubiales will go on trial in Madrid on Monday over the unsolicited kiss he planted on the World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso, a gesture that stunned millions of TV viewers and unleashed a backlash against sexism in sport.
Rubiales, 47, is accused of sexual assault as well as coercion after allegations that he tried to force Hermoso, 34, into publicly declaring that the kiss, which occurred as she celebrated her team’s victory in the 2023 World Cup in Australia, was consensual.
Employees condemn ‘unprecedented and scary’ effort to push out those who had worked on diversity programs
Jeremy Wood thought he was safe from the shuttering of federal government diversity initiatives that he expected to start as soon as Donald Trump was sworn in.
A Raleigh, North Carolina-based career civil servant in the US agriculture department, Wood had been among those tasked with implementing policies ordered by Joe Biden to curtail discrimination on the basis of race, sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal government.
The UK is likely to make a cut this week; Trump has made it very clear he wants his central bank to follow suit
The Bank of England is preparing to announce a cut in UK interest rates on Thursday, with central banks around the world facing increased scrutiny as Donald Trump ramps up his attacks on the US Federal Reserve.
Trump wants lower borrowing costs to boost the economy, even though the US has maintained the highest rate of growth in the G7 richest nations for several years and has every prospect of topping the G7 poll in 2025.
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