Real Madrid are firmly in charge of their Champions League round of 16 tie against Manchester City courtesy of a first-half hat-trick from Federico Valverde.
He opened the scoring at the Bernabéu after 20 minutes after he latched on to a long ball from Thibaut Courtois and beat both the defender and the goalkeeper before finishing from a tight angle.
Seven minutes later, he was in for his second of the night after being found by a through ball from Vinícius Júnior.
Before the break, he completed his hat-trick by beating Gianluigi Donnarumma from close range to round off another solid move from the home side.
Tonight’s goals mean Valverde has not only scored scored his first-ever Champions League hat-trick on his 76th appearance in the competition, but also his first in a Real Madrid shirt.
Even more impressive is that the Uruguayan has stepped up in the absence of Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé – who have so often been Real Madrid’s standouts on the European stage.
He also joins Lionel Messi as one of two players in Champions League history to score a first-half hat-trick against an English opponent.
Can Man City muster up a response, or will Real Madrid cruise through these two legs and into the quarter-finals?
BBC -Dozens of countries have agreed to release a record amount of oil from their emergency reserves to try to tackle supply shortages and soaring prices.
All 32 of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) members — including the UK, the US, and many of the world’s richest nations — will release 400 million barrels to combat what the group said were challenges “unprecedented in scale”.
The US-Israel war with Iran has caused oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 25% of global oil supplies by sea, to virtually stop and production in the region to slump.
The oil price is nearly a quarter higher than when the war began and experts say the IEA’s move would only be a short-term solution.
The release is more than double the previous record amount released by the IEA’s members following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
The IEA’s member and associate countries represent two thirds of global energy production and 80% of consumption.
Member countries are required to keep 90 days’ worth of their nation’s oil use in reserve in case of global disruption.
Collectively, the members hold over 1.2 billion barrels in emergency stockpiles, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation.
Releasing a third of the stocks its governments hold is not something that it can repeat frequently.
The oil itself is not in a single place. For example, producers like Shell and BP keep stocks at terminals and refineries around the UK and can earmark stocks held elsewhere as counting towards their reserves.
When it is released, it does not mean a sudden flood of new oil starts moving.
Instead, producers will make more available in the market for refineries to order, though energy analysts have told the BBC that there is a shortage of refining capacity.
The other issue with releasing reserves is that it is not something you can do again.
“Once you release them, they don’t exist,” said Nick Butler, former head of strategy at oil giant BP.
Jorge Leon, an energy analyst at Rystad Energy, said the release “helps but it doesn’t fully offset that disruption”.
“Everyone knew there would be a release of emergency reserves […] but prices haven’t come down as much as you would expect,” he added.
Meanwhile, the IEA’s executive director Fatih Birol said the decision will not help the global gas market, which he described as “very challenging”.
He said there are “few options” available to deal with a 20% slump in liquid natural gas (LNG) supplies caused by the conflict.
The benchmark UK LNG price has shot up around 70% since the conflict began, though it remains far from the heights it reached following the Russia-Ukraine war.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The UK is playing our part in working with our international allies to address the disruption in oil markets.”
Kai Havertz scored a late penalty as Arsenal came from behind to draw with Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the BayArena.
The German forward who spent 10 years at Leverkusen before moving to Chelsea for £71m in 2020, slotted the ball past Janis Blaswich in the 89th minute after Noni Madueke had been brought down by Malik Tillman.
Arsenal had gone behind for the first time in the competition this season when Robert Andrich headed in a well-worked Alex Grimaldo corner just one minute into the second half.
The Gunners came into this match with an 100% record in the Champions League this season and boss Mikel Arteta looked to take charge of the tie as he made 10 changes to the side that comfortably beat Mansfield in the FA Cup fifth round at the weekend.
Arsenal started well and came close to the opener when Gabriel Martinelli – who has six Champions League goals this term – was found by Viktor Gyokeres and slammed a shot against the crossbar.
But Leverkusen defended resolutely and almost caught the visitors cold at the start of the second half with a well-worked kick-off routine that ended with a header from Martin Terrier being tipped over by keeper David Raya.
But from the resulting corner, Andrich was left unmarked at the back post to power in a header.
Arteta introduced Madueke and Havertz from the bench after going behind and both were involved in the leveller.
England winger Madueke’s strong run into the box was ended by a stretching challenge from Tillman and a penalty was awarded much to the dismay of the home support.
Havertz showed poise to slot his spot-kick into the corner and the 26-year-old forward’s celebration was muted against the club he joined as a youngster in 2010.
Despite losing their winning record in the competition, Arsenal will be pleased to have snatched a draw and go into next Tuesday’s return leg as favourites.
The deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia constitutes a crime against humanity and a war crime, the UN has said.
A new report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine says Russian authorities “at the highest level” have deported “thousands” of children from the occupied areas of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin’s “direct involvement” has been “visibile form the outset,” it adds.
Ukraine says almost 20,000 children have been illegally sent to Russia and Belarus.
The UN Commission has so far identified 1,205 cases of children who were taken from Ukrainian territories by Moscow in 2022.
Eighty percent of these children have not yet been returned, the report says, and many parents and guardians are to this day unaware of the whereabouts of the minors.
This amounts to enforced disappearance and unjustifiable delay in repatriation, which are crimes against humanity and war crimes respectively, according to the UN.
The majority of the children mentioned in the UN report lived in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics – Ukrainian regions which Moscow illegally claims control over.
The report says that just before it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow evacuated these children to the Russian Federation, claiming they were at risk of an imminent attack by Ukraine. Then, the children were placed in families or institutions and given Russian citizenship.
Moscow has always dismissed accusations of forcibly removing children from Ukrainian territory.
Vladimir Putin once said that “the story of the ‘child abductions’… [was] exaggerated” and insisted that the children in question had been “rescued” from a war zone. At the time, he also insisted there was “no problem” returning the children to their homeland.
But Kyiv has always argued that was not the case and the UN report says that children have faced huge difficulties travelling back to Ukraine.
This forced removal and severed ties with their homeland, combined with a “coercive environment” in Russia, “has been a source of deep distress for the children”, according to the UN.
The children who manage to return suffer from “trauma, anxiety and fear of abandonment”, the report says, often due to harsh treatment in Russia. One child was told by staff in a Russian orphanage that his country, Ukraine, “does not exist anymore, everything has burnt down, and your parents have probably died”.
“I am still looking for my daughter, and I am terribly afraid of what she might think of me and how she survives [in Russia], where many people hate Ukrainians,” the report quotes a mother who has been unable to track down her child as saying.
In 2023 the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him and his commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova of the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children.
Lvova-Belova gave an interview in which she described “taking in” a 15-year-old boy from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which Russia currently occupies, and “re-educating” him despite the fact he “did not want to go” to Russia.
Ukraine says it has so far recovered 2,000 children.
US First Lady Melania Trump has reportedly been involved in facilitating the reunification of children. Last year, she said she had an “open channel of communication” with Putin after he responded to her letter of concern about the child victims of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The war in Ukraine continues unabated despite several rounds of talks involving Moscow and Kyiv’s negotiating teams and, most recently, an American delegation.
The conflict – now in its fifth year – has killed more than 15,000 civilians, injured more than 41,300, and displaced 3.7 million.
BBC -Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy after a teenage girl was stabbed at a secondary school.
The victim was taken to hospital with minor injuries after the incident at Thorpe St Andrew School, near Norwich, on Wednesday.
Pupils were told to switch off their phones and hide under their desks when the school was put into lockdown at about 10:25 GMT, the BBC has been told.
Norfolk Police said the boy was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent after searches of the area.
A photo taken from within a classroom showed an armed police officer at the scene
He was taken to Wymondham Police Investigation Centre for questioning and remains in custody.
Laundry Lane remained shut in the aftermath of the incident, while images circulated on social media showed armed officers searching the school.
In an update from the force at 17:49, it said while it had previously reported the boy who had been arrested was 16, he was actually 15.
The force added the road was reopened at about 14:00 and multiple police cordons remained in place around the school.
Officers would be conducting reassurance patrols both at the school and around the area, police said.
Police were called to Thorpe St Andrew School at 10:24 GMT
An email sent to parents in the evening confirmed the school would reopen on Thursday.
However, principal Penny Bignell said she would respect parents who wanted to support their children at home.
“Today was obviously an incredibly traumatic day for our school community,” she wrote.
“We have been assured by the police that the event was an isolated incident, there are no ongoing concerns and that the community is safe.”
Norwich North MP Alice MacDonald said the stabbing was “deeply alarming”
Earlier, about 150 parents gathered at the school gates as they awaited news on their children, some of whom had messaged to say they were scared and hiding in classrooms.
In an email to parents, the school confirmed the victim was a pupil and said it “went into full lockdown, with all children staying in their classroom with their teacher”.
The school announced it would close at 13:00, and students began to emerge a few minutes later.
Sixteen-year-old Letizia was in a maths class when it was decided everyone should barricade the classroom door.
“I thought at first it could be a drill, but then we started locking everything and I saw the teachers walking through the corridors,” she said.
“Everyone then started to panic.”
Pictures shared with the BBC show some children hiding underneath their desks
Letizia found out about what happened after seeing it on the news.
She said: “It’s so upsetting something happened at school. It’s a good school, but this was very weird.”
Her father, Leon, 35, who rushed to the scene, added: “The police couldn’t tell us anything. You are standing there in the dark.”
Leon rushed to pick his daughter, Letizia, up from school after hearing of the stabbing
Genevieve, a trusted adult of a 17-year-old student, was one of the people who headed to the scene.
“They were all really frightened. All the blinds had been closed,” she said of the pupils.
“Even the teacher in her classroom is under the desks with them and they aren’t leaving.
“I think we are all feeling a bit sick inside. We just want to have cuddles and know everyone is all right.”
Genevieve told the BBC she received a “flurry” of messages at 10:33
Alice MacDonald, the Labour MP for Norwich North, said the stabbing was both “incredibly serious and deeply alarming”.
Posting on X, she wrote: “Immediately, we need to give the police time to ensure that everyone at the school is safe.
“My thoughts are with all of them and their families, especially the victim who has been taken to hospital.”
The MP said her office was trying to learn what had happened.
The school, which was rated Good in its 2025 Ofsted inspection, is thought to be Norfolk’s largest, and also has a sixth form.
According to the Department for Education, it has 1,834 pupils.
Parents stood outside the school as they awaited updates on their children
Owen Jenkins, chief executive of the Broad Horizons Education Trust which runs the school, said: “This has obviously been a distressing experience for our whole community.
“Our focus now is on making sure all students feel supported as we begin to understand what happened.”
East of England Ambulance Service has been contacted for comment.
Major UK tourist attractions including Chester and Edinburgh Zoo are calling for changes to the way weather forecasts are displayed on mobile phone apps – warning that “misleading” rain icons cost venues up to £137,000 a day.
The Cheshire zoo has led the push on behalf of more than 80 outdoor attractions which also includes Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Lancashire and a range of other venues and destinations.
They argue a single rain cloud icon summarising a 24-hour period can imply a washout even when much of the day is expected to be dry – meaning families often cancel plans from a quick glance at a phone screen.
The Met Office said it was working on improvements.
The attractions claim “spontaneous visits” are highly weather-dependent, and cite research which suggests about 70% of people check forecasts before heading out.
Some report attendance falling by up to 30% following an unfavourable forecast.
The group stressed it was not challenging forecast accuracy – but how the information is visually presented, particularly by third-party apps that may show overnight rain as an all-day rain symbol, for example.
Dom Strange, of Chester Zoo, said: “When families see a raincloud icon, many simply stay home.
“The reality might be a brief shower at 6am – but the symbol suggests a washout.
“We’re speaking up for the wider visitor economy – from heritage sites to theme parks – and the thousands of jobs that depend on spontaneous visits.”
Strange added: “The Met Office is the UK’s most trusted weather authority and in a unique position to help lead the way on clearer forecasting so other apps follow their leads.”
Penguins are not too bothered if it rains…
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), which runs Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park, has joined in calls for changes as the issue was resulting in a huge drop in visitors.
Ben Supple, of the RZSS, said: “During the school holidays this can reduce visitor numbers at Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park by 2,000 people and cost our charity up to £40,000 in a day, which is enough to feed all our penguins for more than a year.”
Attractions have now urged the Met Office, government and major weather app developers to explore practical improvements.
They suggest separate daytime and overnight weather icons, clearer written summaries such as “showers early, brighter later” and indicators showing the proportion of expected dry hours.
Olly Reed, marketing director at tourism consultancy Navigate, which works with more than 50 UK visitor attractions, said it tracked attendance patterns against forecast weather data.
He said: “The picture is consistent – when an unfavourable weather icon appears, visits can drop by an average of around 30%.
“This is reflective of analysis across a diverse portfolio of heritage sites, gardens, zoos and theme parks.
“Bookings don’t just shift with the weather itself, they shift with how that weather is framed.
“In a sector driven by spontaneity, small design choices in forecast presentation can have disproportionate economic consequences.”
Pleasure Beach Resort Blackpool is backing the campaign
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Resort has also backed the call for clearer forecast presentation.
Spokesman James Cox said: “In the current economic climate… families see a leisure day out as a considered investment, rather than the throwaway discretionary spend of old.
“The impact of the weather forecast is therefore intensified, particularly for outdoor attractions.
“A significant amount of our bookings come within 24 hours of any given day, because people rely on that weather icon.
“Accurate reports with imagery that better reflects overall conditions are vital.”
A Met Office spokesperson said: “We are seeking to develop an engagement plan with [the tourism sector] to integrate this with our existing plans to improve weather services for tourism and more generally.
“We know the weather forecast is an important part of making plans, especially in the UK, which is why the Met Office has already delivered a series of improvements to enhance the presentation of weather information which can support the visitor economy, with further developments planned.”
BBC -A couple from the UK have died at a beach in New South Wales, Australia, after being pulled from the water, police have said.
Emergency services were called at around 11:10 local time (00:10 GMT) on Wednesday to Shellharbour beach after reports two people were struggling in the water.
“Members of the public pulled a 66-year-old man and 64-year-old woman from the water and commenced CPR,” New South Wales Police said.
Police added that paramedics continued to attempt resuscitation but the married couple died at the scene.
The Foreign Office said it was supporting the family of two British nationals who died in New South Wales and were in contact with local authorities.
Lake Illawarra Police district inspector Luke Geradts spoke to local media on Wednesday, calling the incident “tragic” as he sent condolences to the family of the couple.
“I want to take the opportunity to commend the members of the public in particular who assisted in the initial response including two female off-duty nurses and a young male who pulled the couple from the water and gave the couple the best chance for survival,” he said.
“Although a tragic outcome today, their efforts are to be commended and really did give the couple the best chance.”
Geradts added that the incident was a timely reminder of the “dangers and the unpredictability of the ocean”.
The sale of a 15 per cent government stake in Safaricom to Vodacom, valued at Ksh.204 billion has been approved.
A report tabled by a joint parliamentary committee on Finance and National Planning and Public Debt and Privatisation endorsed the proposed divestiture on condition that the deal will not result in any job losses.
The proceeds from the sale are expected to bolster the newly established National Infrastructure Fund kitty.
The sale of the 15 per cent government stake in Safaricom was debated for the first time in Parliament after the report was tabled by the joint committees on Finance and National Planning and Public Debt and Privatisation, with Members of Parliament divided over the divestiture.
“The deal was undervalued… Kenyans have been given a raw deal…The joint committee is incompetent,” said Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro.
Molo MP Kuria Kimani on his part said: “Ndindi, why can’t you give us an alternative model for valuation?”
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, on his part, stated: “Ndindi is moving around markets, misleading Kenyans.”
“Ndindi is right and you who support this should stop misleading Kenyans,” said Suba South MP Caroli Omondi.
“This government cannot be trusted… I don’t know why Kalonzo Musyoka scares Ichung’wah so much… he keeps on mentioning him,” added Kitui Central MP Makali Mulu.
In approving the sale of the shares to Vodacom valued at Ksh.204 billion, the joint committees observed that the valuation exercise applied safeguards to protect public interest.
The committees noted that the negotiated price of Ksh.34 per share aligns with market movements, adding that negotiating with Vodacom minimises execution risks and preserves market confidence.
They also assured that personal data will be protected under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act.
The committee further recommended that Safaricom’s 855,000 direct employees’ jobs be safeguarded.
It also proposed that Vodacom pays Ksh.40.2 billion dividend upfront to the government and that proceeds from the transaction be ring-fenced under the National Infrastructure Fund.
A Chinese national was arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) while attempting to smuggle queen garden ants out of the country on Wednesday, March 11.
Authorities stated that the suspect is the mastermind behind a global garden ants trafficking syndicate. The suspect was later arraigned and detained to allow further investigations.
Kenya Wildlife Service investigators say Zhang Kequn was intercepted in the early hours of Tuesday as he attempted to smuggle close to 2,000 queen garden ants sealed for shipment to China.
Part of the ants were packed in test tubes, while about 300 were concealed in tissue paper rolls hidden in his luggage.
“His personal search, and within that luggage 1,948 garden ants were packed in specialised test tubes. A further 300 live ants were also recovered which were again concealed in three rolls of tissue,” stated Allen Mulama, prosecutor at JKIA Law Courts.
The arrest comes nearly one year after another attempt was foiled at the same airport where two Belgian nationals, one Vietnamese national and a Kenyan were arrested with 5,000 giant African harvester ants bound for China.
Investigators now link those arrests to the same trafficking ring believed to be coordinated by Kequn.
The suspect was arraigned before Magistrate Njeri Thuku, who allowed prosecutors to detain him for five days to enable detectives conduct forensic analysis on his phones and laptop.
Detectives have also extended their investigations to Nakuru, Naivasha and other towns where ant harvesting is suspected to be ongoing.
Principal Secretary Stephen Isaboke today appeared before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation, chaired by Hon John KJ Kiarie, Member of Parliament for Dagoretti South, as part of the ongoing budget review process.
The session focused on deliberations around the State Department’s Supplementary I Budget for FY 2025/2026, with discussions centred on strengthening the broadcasting, telecommunications and digital ecosystem.
The Principal Secretary welcomed the insightful engagement and constructive feedback from Members of the Committee, noting that their input remains critical in guiding the State Department’s efforts to enhance service delivery for all Kenyans.
The PS was accompanied by senior officials and CEOs of parastatals from the State Department.
