• Updates from the F1 GP season opener in Melbourne
• Qualification session starts at 10pm PST/5am GMT/4pm AEDT
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Only Haas’ Ollie Bearman logged fewer laps than Lawson across practice, the Brit crashing out in FP1, missing out on getting out onto the track by 120 seconds in FP2 after frantic efforts to fix his car, and then just registering a couple of laps in P3 until he spun out and beached his car.

A total of 13 laps completed. Well… 13 and a half, if we’re being generous.

US secretary of state accuses Ebrahim Rasool of being a ‘race-baiting politician who hates America’ and Donald Trump

The United States is in effect expelling South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, with secretary of state Marco Rubio accusing the envoy of hating the country and President Donald Trump.

“South Africa’s ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” Rubio posted on X on Friday.

• Andreeva defeats Swiatek 7-6, 1-6, 6-3
• Sabalenka crushes Keys 6-0, 6-1

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva beat defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the Indian Wells final for the first time as she sets her sights on back-to-back WTA 1000 titles.

After a tight first set, the 17-year-old Andreeva was flawless in the tiebreak, leaning over and letting out a roar when she enticed a forehand error from Swiatek on set point.

Democrats dismayed after some help Republicans avert government shutdown; Trump vents about prosecutions while taking DoJ victory lap – key US politics stories from Friday at a glance

The US Senate averted a government shutdown just hours before a Friday night deadline after 10 Senate Democrats joined nearly all Republicans to clear a key hurdle that advanced the six-month stopgap bill.

The vote deeply dismayed Democratic activists and House Democrats who had urged their Senate counterparts to block the bill, which they fear would embolden Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s overhaul of the US government.

The success of Shit You Should Care About has been down to Lucy Blakiston’s focus on social media at a time where news avoidance is growing

Lucy Blakiston, the 27-year-old founder of a thriving global media company, loves being underestimated. And swearing.

“I wear on purpose the girliest, pinkest, most colourful outfit to an event of tech-Bros,” she tells the Guardian from her home in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington.

Falcon 9 rocket takes off on journey to replace duo who have been at International Space Station since June

The replacements for two Nasa astronauts who have been stuck at the International Space Station for nine months launched on Friday evening, paving the way for the pair’s long-awaited return.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7.03pm ET (11.03pm GMT) in Florida carrying the four astronauts who will take over from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the orbital lab since June.

Birdwatchers’ thrill of seeing birds up close that usually spend their lives at sea is tempered by sadness and pity at the extent of injuries

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Most people in Brisbane were battening down the hatches ahead of the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Alfred. For a few, though, it was one of the most exciting natural events of their lives.

Over the course of the weekend and into Monday, throngs of birdwatchers lined the shores of Bramble Bay in the bayside suburbs of Shorncliffe, Sandgate and Redcliffe, telescopes and cameras at the ready.

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Sam Jones, who left Australia on Friday, posted a 900-word statement questioning outrage in country where ‘slaughter of wombats’ is permitted

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A US hunting influencer who caused outrage in Australia after grabbing a baby wombat from its mother says she is sorry for the incident but was only trying to ensure its safety by removing it from a road.

Sam Jones left the country on Friday morning after the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said immigration authorities were checking if she had breached the conditions of her visa.

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In hourlong victory lap, president railed against Biden officials and their ‘bullshit’ case while boosting his lawyers

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Taking over the justice department headquarters for what amounted to a political event, Donald Trump railed against the criminal cases he defeated by virtue of returning to the presidency in an extraordinary victory lap the department has perhaps never before seen.

The event was billed as a policy address for the administration to tout its focus on combating illegal immigration and drug trafficking, but the majority of the president’s freewheeling remarks focused instead on his personal grievances with the department.

Liverpool captain watched his daughter star in the school play before taking centre stage in the Carabao Cup final

Virgil van Dijk’s attention was not on football on Thursday night or checking on the state of contract negotiations. Instead he was watching a school production of Fantastic Mr Fox. His daughter Jadi, like her father on the pitch, had a starring role: she was Mrs Fox, while Wataru Endo’s son was a rat. It was the perfect antidote to going out of the Champions League on Tuesday to Paris Saint-Germain and waiting for Sunday’sCarabao Cup final against Newcastle.

“I’m also a normal father, husband, man, and I like to do normal things,” Van Dijk says. “And when you’ve been seen as normal as well, and it’s difficult, but going to school is a nice thing. Some of the kids are looking up, thinking: ‘What are you doing here?’ The most important thing in life is my kids and my wife’s life. These things are definitely important, but they fully understand as well when it’s time to fully focus on the task ahead.”

• Defender has not played for country since 2022
• White now back in frame under Thomas Tuchel

Mikel Arteta has defended Ben White’s “brave” decision to make himself unavailable for England under Gareth Southgate and revealed the 27-year-old had been “struggling” with the national team.

The Arsenal defender has not played for his country since leaving England’s squad at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for personal reasons after a rumoured falling-out with the then assistant Steve Holland, but is back in the frame after talks with Thomas Tuchel. The new England manager confirmed White “would love to be back in the squad” despite not being picked for the World Cup qualifiers against Latvia and Albania as he returns from a long spell out after knee surgery in November.

• ‘I feel that it is not just a given,’ says manager
• German attended 25 matches featuring England players

Thomas Tuchel will not sing the national anthem before his opening matches in charge of England and will do so only when he senses he has earned the privilege.

The manager, who named his first squad on Friday for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley, is aware of the controversy that ensnared his predecessor, Lee Carsley, who held the role on an interim basis for the autumn internationals. Carsley, born in England and of Irish heritage, chose not to sing the anthem.

Former Spice Girl watches Wonderwall finish well clear of her and husband Christian’s horse at famous jumps meeting

Girl power took on Britpop at Cheltenham on Friday but a horse owned by Geri Horner proved no match for Wonderwall in the Hunters’ Chase, better known in racing as “the amateurs’ Gold Cup”.

The former Spice Girl added a touch of glamour to the final day, and in the paddock beforehand she admitted she was looking forward to seeing Lift Me Up, named after her 1999 No 1, be come her first runner at the festival. “I’m very excited,” she said. “It’s amazing. I’m very excited.”

Family of Monica Cameroni De Adams, 65, files $50m damages claim as lawyer accuses city of ‘burying her alive’

An unhoused woman living out of her van in San Diego was towed away by authorities, who did not realize she was inside the car until she was discovered dead in the vehicle a month later, according to a legal claim and autopsy records made public this week.

Monica Cameroni De Adams, 65, was inside her parked Honda minivan at about 1am on 5 November 2023 when a driver crashed into her vehicle and another parked car, lawyers for her children outlined in a wrongful death claim against the southern California city.

• ‘It’s not the first time he’s said that’
• Capello said Guardiola ruined Italian football

Pep Guardiola has responded sarcastically to Fabio Capello’s claim that he is arrogant, has “ruined Italian football” and has made the sport boring. The former England coach offered his view of Guardiola to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo this week. On Friday Manchester City’s manager was asked whether he listened to someone of the Italian’s stature in the game.

“I listen to everything that people say about me. Everything. So be careful. I am controlling you,” he said as a joke. “It’s not the first time that Mr Fabio Capello said that. I’m not good enough to win Italian football. Italian football is much, much more important than the way you do it. A big hug from Fabio. A big hug.”

UK PM to host virtual meeting of ‘coalition of the willing’ nations who have agreed to help enforce peace

Keir Starmer has warned that Vladimir Putin cannot be allowed to “play games” with the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine, as he prepared to present proposals for a peace deal to a coalition of about 25 world leaders.

The UK prime minister will host a meeting on Saturday of the “coalition of the willing”, a group of nations that have agreed to help keep the peace in Ukraine. He will seek to pile pressure on the Russian president to “finally come to the table” and “stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine” after Kyiv agreed this week to an immediate 30-day ceasefire.

Sprawling storm system to affect vast swath of territory from Canada to Texas with tornadoes threatening in south

The National Weather Service has predicted extreme weather across a vast swath of the US encompassing more than 100 million people, with powerful winds gusts up to 80mph (130km/h) being forecast from the border with Canada to Texas.

A sprawling storm system crossing the US on Friday overturned semitrucks on highways and fanned wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma, where officials called for evacuations in at least one town. Tornado threats loomed for the Mississippi valley into the night and the deep south on Saturday.

Former agency leaders, including two Republicans, say rollbacks by Lee Zeldin could cause ‘severe harms’

Three former Environmental Protection Agency leaders sounded an alarm on Friday, saying rollbacks proposed by the EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, endanger the lives of millions of Americans and abandon the agency’s dual mission to protect the environment and human health.

Zeldin said on Wednesday he planned to roll back 31 key environmental rules on everything from clean air to clean water and climate change. The former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy called Zeldin’s announcement “the most disastrous day in EPA history”.

Swedish company’s valuation jumped 24% in 2024 as ‘buy now, pay later’ market is projected to top $160bn by 2032

The Swedish fintech firm Klarna disclosed on Friday that its revenue jumped 24% in 2024 as the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) pioneer made public its filing for a much-anticipated US stock market listing.

The company, which reshaped online shopping through its short-term financing model, drew investor attention as its valuation soared from $5.5bn to $46.5bn in just two years, fueled by three funding rounds between mid-2020 and 2021.

Vladimir Motin was in charge of the Solong when it hit a tanker off East Yorkshire coast, leaving one man dead

The master of the container ship the Solong, which crashed into another vessel in the North Sea, has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

Vladimir Motin, 59, a Russian national, was in charge of the ship when it collided with a tanker carrying jet fuel on Monday about 12 miles (19km) off the East Yorkshire coast, leaving one man dead.

Arizona senator had also clashed with billionaire over the latter’s ‘traitor’ jibe after Kelly posted about his Ukraine visit

The Arizona Democratic senator Mark Kelly announced he was ditching his Tesla car, because of brand owner Elon Musk’s role in slashing federal budgets and staffing and attendant threats to social benefits programs.

“Every time I get in this car in the last 60 days or so, it reminds me of just how much damage Elon Musk and Donald Trump is doing to our country,” Kelly said, in video posted to X, the social media platform owned by Musk.

A tournament that has produced tries galore reaches its glorious climax on Super Saturday with England and Ireland hot on the heels of favourites France

The best Six Nations campaigns tick two crucial boxes. The first is a consistent sense of jeopardy from start to finish and the second is a level of entertainment that elevates the tournament into the mainstream consciousness. When both occur simultaneously, as they have done this year, the championship’s final round ranks among the most gripping days in modern team sport.

This particular “Super Saturday” certainly has all the necessary spicy ingredients, starting with the prospect of France’s second title since 2010 if they can beat Scotland in Paris. A bonus-point win for England over Wales in Cardiff, though, could yet be enough to sneak the trophy in the event of a breathless Scotland win. Which, from a Scottish perspective, looms as the ultimate catch-22 scenario.

Syed, convicted of 1999 murder and jailed for life, maintains innocence in long-running case of legal twists and turns

A Maryland judge has formally sentenced Adnan Syed to the time he has already served in prison, appearing to finally bring to a close a long-running case with numerous legal twists and turns that received worldwide attention from the true-crime podcast Serial.

Judge Jennifer Schiffer had already decided that Syed would remain free in a recent written ruling, even though his conviction in the murder of his ex-girlfriend in 1999 when they were in high school still stands.

Shaken by rail protests, Kyriakos Mitsotakis brings in new transport minister while tacking right on migration

The Greek prime minister has appointed a former far-right student activist to the helm of the migration ministry as part of a broad reshuffle aimed at “resetting” his government amid public outrage over its handling of a deadly 2023 train crash.

In an attempt to stem declining approval ratings, Kyriakos Mitsotakis placed the self-described nationalist, Makis Voridis, in the sensitive post while selecting a number of younger officials to key portfolios including the transport ministry.

PM has been urged to ‘get a grip’ on messaging after railing against the ‘flabby’ state and the civil service’s ‘tepid bath’

Keir Starmer has been warned against adopting the language of Elon Musk after railing against “blockers and checkers” and the “flabby” civil service this week.

Gus O’Donnell, the former cabinet secretary, was one of those urging the prime minister to “get a grip” on his messaging, telling the Institute for Government podcast: “My God, he has mishandled the communications on this terribly.”

• Pass rusher signed record deal to stay in Cleveland
• Team have underperformed during Garrett’s tenure

Myles Garrett has sacked 31 different quarterbacks during his eight-year NFL career. On Friday, the four-time All-Pro edge rusher had to stand in his own pocket and take the pressure of fielding questions about his decision to sign an extension with the Cleveland Browns instead of trying to follow through on his trade request.

“I think I had some frustration. And you know, I feel like that helped us grow and have conversations that were difficult, but needed to be had,” Garrett said. “I think the fans will see that my heart is in the right place. It has never been about money. It’s always been about winning. That’s where my frustration lies.”

Garrett’s four-year contract extension has an average salary of $40m and makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

The deal ended a month-long saga that began during Super Bowl week when the 2023 AP Defensive Player of the Year asked for a trade, saying he wanted to win a Super Bowl. The Browns were firm, however, that they would not entertain offers from other teams.

Ex-music mogul accused of forcing long hours on workers and threats to those not compliant in sex-trafficking scheme

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs pleaded not guilty on Friday to a new indictment, which added accusations that the hip-hop mogul forced employees to work long hours and threatened to punish those who did not assist in his two-decade sex trafficking scheme.

Combs, 55, entered his plea to the new indictment before the US district judge Arun Subramanian at a hearing in Manhattan federal court. A trial remains scheduled for 5 May.

• Northern Irishman two off lead after improved driving
• Tommy Fleetwood in contention with second-round 66

It looks as if the world’s best golfers should have enjoyed this while it lasted. If forecasted gusts of up to 30mph land at Sawgrass on Saturday, this Players Championship will descend into a war of attrition. Day four carries a 70% chance of storms. The PGA Tour’s marquee event could be about to get grisly.

There was a time in the dim and distant past when Rory McIlroy shied away from playing in poor conditions. How things have changed. The Northern Irishman now relishes the battle. McIlroy’s second round of 68 placed him just two off the lead, held by Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia.

Russian airstrikes in Donetsk, protests in Buenos Aires, floods in Brisbane and International Women’s Day: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing

A spokesperson offered no evidence for the claim after 26 people were killed on a train that was hijacked in Balochistan province on Tuesday

Pakistan’s military has accused neighbouring India of sponsoring militant groups in the south-west of the country as survivors recounted their ordeal from an unprecedented attack that killed 26 passengers on a hijacked train.

The scope of the attack in Balochistan province underscores the struggles that Pakistan faces to rein in militant groups.

We’d like to hear from people in a relationship how they handle personal finances with their partner, and how their approach is working

For many couples, shared finances are no longer the default model – even when living together or combining other assets.

Coming to a mutual agreement about finances both parties are happy with is however important in a relationship, and with the cost of living rising, many couples report that financial pressures have put a strain on their relationship.

• Deal for 17-year-old winger worth about £42m
• Chelsea also want Dario Essugo from Sporting

Chelsea have flown under the radar to agree a shock deal worth about €50m (£42.1m) for the Sporting winger Geovany Quenda, who was a target for Manchester United.

The 17-year-old attacker played for Ruben Amorim at the Lisbon club and was widely expected to link up with his former manager at Old Trafford. But Chelsea have swooped in, with sources saying Quenda will move to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2026.

New manager is a supremely bright anglophile and logical choice in the win-things-now world of international football

Well, it didn’t feel like a birthright sale or a betrayal of Albion. Maybe if you squinted a bit, or just heard the vowel sounds. Perhaps if you’ve already performed some kind of ad hoc self-lobotomy using a chisel made from cheddar cheese, pork pie meat and fear. Maybe then, maybe then.

But also perhaps not, because Thomas Tuchel’s first squad conference was in the event a highly convincing production, expertly phrased, and hitting just the right note of hope versus realism. So yeah. Good luck with that. How far can we go with this? Because as ever the dynamic remains the same, an appointment to this strange semi-sporting role that will tell us a great deal more about England than the latest smiling man in front of the boards covered in adverts.

Though many would rather forget the pandemic, we are living with its consequences. Are we any better prepared for the next one?

“When asked what was the biggest disaster of the twentieth century, almost nobody answers the Spanish flu,” notes Laura Spinney in her book Pale Rider, of an event that killed as many as one in 20 of the global population. “There is no cenotaph, no monument in London, Moscow or Washington DC.”

Most of us will better understand that absence after Covid-19, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization five years ago this week. Some cannot put those events behind them: most obviously, many of those bereaved by the 7 million deaths worldwide (not including those indirectly caused by the pandemic), and the significant numbers still living with long Covid. Others want to forget the loss of loved ones, the months of isolation and the costs to businesses, families and mental health.

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• Hot favourite shocked by JP McManus’s late entry
• Winner could be put forward for Grand National

As one tilt at racing immortality came up short, another even more elusive achievement suddenly came into sharp focus as ­Inothewayurthinkin, in the famous green and gold colours of JP McManus, powered away from Galopin Des Champs, the defending two-time champion, to win the ­Cheltenham Gold Cup by six lengths.

There are still just four horses with three Gold Cup victories to their name, and there is still just one – Golden Miller, who features on both lists – who has won the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season, 91 years ago in 1934. Within a month, though, there could be two, if McManus and Gavin Cromwell, Inothewayurthinkin’s trainer, decide that the seven-year-old has come out of Friday’s race well enough to take his place in the 34-strong field at Aintree on 5 April.

Tiny lightning streaks in fine spray can power chemical reactions that generate molecules for life, scientists say

Charles Darwin thought it started in a warm pond. Others point to comets that ploughed into Earth. And some suspect a bolt from the blue, a lightning strike into the ocean.

How life started on Earth may forever be a mystery, but new research proposes a radical idea: that crashing waves and waterfalls may have kicked off the process by throwing up mists of water.

• Sources indicate deal worth around £63m a year
• ITV to show all five of England men’s matches

The Six Nations will remain on free-to-air TV until 2029 after striking a new deal in which ITV will broadcast all England matches. Despite fears that the championship would disappear behind a paywall, ITV and the BBC have brokered an arrangement to keep the annual tournament on terrestrial TV for the next four years.

As part of the new arrangement, ITV will have the rights to all five of England men’s matches and will show 10 fixtures a year. Under the current deal which ends after this year’s championship, the BBC shows all Wales and Scotland home fixtures, meaning they will screen Saturday’s clash between Wales and England.

England will drive back to an empty stadium if France slip up, but their performance in Cardiff will define campaign

If all goes well for England, somewhere around half past nine on Saturday they will be preparing to clamber on to the team bus and head back to the stadium. They will have decamped to their hotel a couple of miles away in Cardiff Bay but if they have held up their end of the bargain against Wales and it appears that Scotland could do them a favour, England are due back at the Principality Stadium just after 10pm for a possible trophy presentation.

It will be a replica trophy in Cardiff – the real thing is in Paris given France remain hot favourites – but broadcasters and sponsors want their champagne moment, come what may, and as a result England must oblige, even in an empty stadium. It means that England could be left a touch red-faced if France leave it late to put Scotland to the sword. All dressed up at the Principality with nowhere to go.

Betar US is among far-right groups supporting Trump effort to deport students involved in pro-Palestinian protests

A far-right group that claimed credit for the arrest of a Palestinian activist and permanent US resident who the Trump administration is seeking to deport claims it has submitted “thousands of names” for similar treatment.

Betar US is one of a number of rightwing, pro-Israel groups that are supporting the administration’s efforts to deport international students involved in university pro-Palestinian protests, an effort that escalated this week with the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, an activist who recently completed his graduate studies at Columbia University.

From the workplace to romance to friends, everything you need to know about rejection – and how to move on from it

Rejection is an inevitable part of the human experience, but despite suffering major and minor rebuffs throughout our lives, every time it happens still feels painful. From the first “no thanks” from someone you fancy at school to the kick in the stomach of a “we have decided to move forward with another candidate” letter, every rejection dents our ego.

Humans are hardwired to crave acceptance. “It’s in our blood,” says Hilda Burke, a psychotherapist, couples counsellor and author. In early human societies, she explains, “to be rejected by your community would have posed a serious threat, as individuals did not have the resources to survive alone. We are pack animals.”