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Midway through the fifth day of the County Championship’s second round, Ollie Pope joined an elite group by becoming the 11th centurion in Division One this season. Five of those centuries belong to Surrey, with Jamie Smith already on two. The pre‑season favourites, despite a drawn opening match, looked formidable at the close of play, sitting at 412 for six.Leicestershire’s situation could not be more contrasting. Fresh from promotion, the side suffered a defeat to Sussex in their opener and, by the second session, appeared short on confidence, ideas and quality. Late‑stage wickets offered a brief spark, but the scoreboard told a different story.A crowd of 4,700 spectators braved a brisk early‑spring day at the Oval. With Surrey’s top six all boasting international caps, the match was inevitably examined for potential England implications. The first surprise came from Leicestershire’s own Josh Hull, who marked the second anniversary of his solitary Test appearance.Now 21, Hull has shed the rawness of his debut against Sri Lanka in September 2024, showing improved pace and reliability. He opened his season with a wicket in his first over, dismissing Dom Sibley lbw, and later produced a short ball that struck Pope’s helmet and an edge from Smith before being pulled after a brief spell.When Hull returned for a fourth spell deep in the final session, Smith repaid the effort with a brutal low‑flying pull for six, pushing his total past 150 runs. The partnership underscored Surrey’s growing dominance as the day progressed.Jamie Smith’s 166 from 240 balls marked his second century in the opening two Championship games, a knock highlighted by a patient start – one run from his first ten balls – before accelerating with a flurry of boundaries.Smith’s innings unfolded with cautious intent: after a modest 28, he unleashed three fours in as many deliveries, eventually reaching 166 before being caught by Ajaz Patel off Ben Green’s 90th over. The innings demonstrated both resilience and flair, cementing his role as a key run‑maker.For Pope, the century arrived after a seven‑month drought without a first‑class fifty and a solitary century against India at Headingley 21 innings earlier. His 24‑run start, achieved on half the balls faced by Smith, quickly turned into a commanding display as he steadied the innings.Both batsmen left the Oval with the confidence of seasoned internationals. A delayed emergence of Dan Lawrence after Pope’s boundary suggested the wicket was never in serious contention. Ben Foakes contributed a steady 62, while Leicestershire, with an average of 226 for the season, will need to conjure more surprises to bridge the gap.

Stefano Gabbana left his post as chair of Dolce & Gabbana effective 1 January 2026, describing the move as part of a "natural evolution" of the company’s organisational structure and governance.The luxury house stressed that the resignation will not affect Gabbana’s creative responsibilities within the group.According to Bloomberg, Alfonso Dolce – Domenico’s brother and the group’s chief executive – assumed the chairmanship in January, taking over the role from the co‑founder.Sources indicate that Gabbana is exploring options for his 40 % equity stake as the brand continues negotiations with its bank lenders. In parallel, former Gucci chief Stefano Cantino has been appointed to a senior management position as part of the reshuffle.A D&G spokesperson added that the company “has no statement to make at this time” regarding its debt position, as talks with banks remain ongoing.The Italian label, founded in 1985, is grappling with a slowdown in the high‑end fashion market, a trend intensified by uncertainty surrounding the war in Iran – a region that represents a crucial market for luxury brands.In March, Dolce & Gabbana hired Rothschild & Co as its financial adviser to prepare for creditor discussions. At that point the group carried €450 million (£391 million) of bank debt, incurred after a 2025 refinancing aimed at supporting a new growth strategy while preserving independence. Lenders had temporarily waived certain borrowing terms.Ownership of the company remains split: each designer holds a 40 % stake through a holding vehicle, while the remaining shares are owned by Alfonso Dolce and their sister Dorotea.Founded by Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce, the brand quickly became synonymous with a “molto sexy” Italian aesthetic, gaining global visibility after Madonna commissioned costumes for her 1993 Girlie tour. By 2009, Dolce & Gabbana reported a turnover of €1 billion.Despite its commercial success, the house has faced a series of controversies over the past 15 years, ranging from accusations of racism and homophobia to backlash over culturally insensitive advertising, which have at times threatened its market position.

The European Parliament's decision to block the extension of a law that permits big tech firms to scan for child sexual exploitation on their platforms has created a legal gap that child safety experts say will lead to crimes going undetected. The law, which was a temporary measure allowing companies to use automated detection technologies to scan messages for harms, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), grooming, and sextortion, expired on April 3.Google, Meta, Snap, and Microsoft have expressed disappointment over the EU's decision, stating that they will continue to voluntarily scan their platforms for CSAM. In a joint statement posted on a Google blog, the companies said, 'We are disappointed by this irresponsible failure to reach an agreement to maintain established efforts to protect children online.'Child protection advocates had warned that allowing the legislation to lapse would probably trigger a steep fall in reports of child sexual abuse. They point to a similar legal gap that occurred in 2021, when reports of such material from EU-based accounts to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) fell by 58% over a period of 18 weeks.The EU's decision to prohibit scanning will have ripple effects in other regions around the world, child safety experts said. Many internet crimes are cross-border, with perpetrators sending illegal images to people or targeting children in other countries. 'The offender can be anywhere in the world, but they could have unfettered access to minors in Europe now that there's legal uncertainty around those safeguards and protections to identify when a child is being groomed,' said John Shehan, vice-president at NCMEC.In 2025, NCMEC received 21.3m reports that included more than 61.8m images, videos, and other files suspected of being related to child abuse, from around the world. About 90% of these reports are related to countries outside the US.

The Colin Currie Group has released an album of Steve Reich's works, The Sextets, to celebrate the composer's 90th birthday and the group's 20th anniversary. Formed to honor Reich's 70th birthday with a performance of Drumming, the group has now released its fourth Reich album on Currie's own label.The Sextets, from 1985, features two keyboardists playing piano and synthesizers alongside four percussionists on various instruments. The recording, led by Colin Currie, showcases subtle nuances with a naturalistic sound that is less closely mic'd than Reich's own classic accounts.The album also includes Six Marimbas, a rescoring of 1973's Six Pianos, and The Double Sextet, composed in 2007, which features instrumentalists performing against a recording of themselves. Dance Patterns, written for choreographer Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, rounds out the album.Currie's relaxed approach to the music results in a chilled and enjoyable interpretation, with Six Marimbas clocking in at 22 minutes, compared to Reich's 16-minute version.

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, has taken legal action against the state of Colorado over a new law regulating AI systems. The law, set to take effect in June, aims to protect state residents from 'algorithmic discrimination' in sectors such as education, employment, healthcare, housing, and financial services.The lawsuit, filed in US district court in Colorado, seeks to block the state from enforcing the law, which xAI claims infringes on its First Amendment free-speech protections. The company argues that the law would force xAI to 'promote the state's ideological views on various matters, racial justice in particular.'Colorado was the first state to pass comprehensive legislation to regulate AI. The law has been met with resistance from xAI, which makes the chatbot Grok. Grok has faced accusations of spewing racist, sexist, and antisemitic content. The company is seeking an injunction to block the enforcement of the Colorado law and a court declaration saying the legislation is unconstitutional.The lawsuit comes as battles rage at the state and federal level over how to regulate the fast-growing technology. States such as California and New York have been working to rein in AI with regulations, while the Trump administration has been trying to loosen the rules and place a moratorium on state laws.Katie Miller, a former spokesperson for xAI and the wife of Trump adviser Stephen Miller, heralded the lawsuit in a post on X, stating that Colorado wants to force Grok to follow its views on equity and race, instead of being maximally truth-seeking.Jared Polis, Colorado's Democratic governor, signed the bill into law in 2024 but said it was 'with reservations'. He has called on state legislators to amend it. The legislation was intended to go into effect in February but was pushed until June 30.

Afika Bambaataa, the Bronx‑born architect of modern hip‑hop, passed away at age 67 in Philadelphia early Thursday morning, with officials citing complications from cancer as the cause of death. The Hip‑Hop Alliance, chaired by veteran rapper Kurtis Blow, released a statement honoring Bambaataa’s role as a founding figure of the culture. The group praised his creation of the Universal Zulu Nation, which promoted the movement’s core values of peace, unity, love and fun, while also acknowledging the complexity of his legacy in light of recent abuse allegations. During the 1980s, Bambaataa helped define the sound of hip‑hop, most notably with the 1982 electro‑funk anthem “Planet Rock”. The track, which sampled German pioneers Kraftwerk, positioned him at the forefront of a new musical frontier and led to collaborations with artists such as John Lydon, George Clinton and James Brown. Born Lance Taylor, he launched the Universal Zulu Nation in the late 1970s, drawing inspiration from DJ Kool Herc and the solidarity of South Africa’s Zulu people. This collective became a cultural hub that spread hip‑hop’s ethos worldwide. In the early 1980s Bambaataa also performed with the electronic group Ebn Ozn, further cementing his reputation as a bridge between American street culture and European synth‑pop. His work helped crystallize the electro‑funk genre that dominated clubs across the globe. His activist side emerged in 1985 when he joined Artists United Against Apartheid to produce the landmark protest single “Sun City.” The project featured a roster of high‑profile musicians—including Bob Dylan, Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Run‑DMC—united against South Africa’s apartheid regime. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s Bambaataa continued to record, culminating in his final album, “Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light” (2004). While his musical output waned, his influence on subsequent generations of artists remained unmistakable. However, Bambaataa’s later years were marred by serious accusations. In 2016, several Bronx men alleged sexual misconduct, which he publicly dismissed as “baseless and cowardly.” A former bodyguard later claimed to have witnessed inappropriate behavior involving teenage boys. The allegations resurfaced in May 2025 when an anonymous plaintiff filed a civil suit alleging four years of abuse beginning in 1992. Bambaataa failed to appear in court, resulting in a default judgment against him. As the hip‑hop community mourns a foundational artist, it also confronts the enduring debate over how to reconcile his cultural contributions with the serious allegations that have come to define the final chapter of his public life.

The latest Cannes lineup reveals a clear pivot from the usual Hollywood glamour toward a roster dominated by celebrated world‑cinema auteurs such as Pedro Almodóvar, Cristian Mungiu and Asghar Farhadi. While last year’s festival was anchored by a Mission: Impossible spectacle starring Tom Cruise, this edition offers a more eclectic mix, including debut features from Andy Garcia (who also stars in his crime drama Diamond) and John Travolta, who directs the aviation‑themed Propeller One‑Way Night Coach based on his own novel.Under the stewardship of director Thierry Frémaux, Cannes continues to bar films that are exclusive to streaming platforms, a stance that has been vindicated by recent Oscar successes for festival selections. The festival also entered the AI debate: Steven Soderbergh’s documentary John Lennon: The Last Interview employs artificial intelligence to reconstruct visual elements of the legendary interview, sparking both fascination and unease among attendees.Gender representation remains skewed, with a noticeable predominance of male directors in the competition slate, although the final list is still pending. Notably absent are any British filmmakers, despite the inclusion of Polish auteur Paweł Pawlikowski, whose biopic of Thomas Mann, Fatherland, could be loosely claimed as a UK entry given his long residence there.Geopolitical undercurrents are hard to ignore. Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev returns with Minotaur, a film about a beleaguered Russian businessman. Zvyagintsev, once favored by Vladimir Putin, now lives in exile in France, adding a layer of political intrigue to his work amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.The competition also features a strong historical thread: László Nemes’s Moulin revisits occupied France, Emmanuel Marre’s Notre Salut explores Vichy‑era France, and Lukas Dhont’s Coward follows a Belgian soldier’s harrowing experience in World‑I trenches.Among the more provocative entries, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell promises shock value in the out‑of‑competition slot, while the Un Certain Regard section showcases Jane Schoenbrun’s queer slasher Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, likely to become a festival highlight.

The son of a British couple detained in Tehran on espionage charges has called on Keir Starmer to prioritize their case in the “very opportune moment” of a ceasefire in the Iran conflict.Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, were arrested while on a five-day trip across Iran in January last year and have been held in Evin prison for 15 months.As Starmer visits the Gulf to discuss efforts to uphold the ceasefire, the couple’s family have called on the prime minister and the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, to raise the case in all diplomatic discussions.Lindsay’s son, Joe Bennett, said: “If peace is genuinely part of the agenda, then that has to include the release of innocent people. I don’t see how it can be peaceful and that’s the case.”The 31-year-old said it was a “very opportune moment” for the prime minister, and the government should “take courage” from the release this week of two French citizens. Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris had been detained in Iran for almost four years on espionage charges and were also held in Evin prison before they were released but barred from leaving Tehran.“Macron was incredibly vocal, he was championing above all else, and I think that’s where we can take some courage and have a look at how do we apply that kind of pressure in the right way,” said Bennett. “There’s a genuine opportunity for resolution here.”The UK government has faced claims that it is in denial about the extent of hostage-taking by foreign states and has failed to fulfil its promise to appoint a special envoy to combat the issue.Bennett has been campaigning for the couple’s release with significant cross-party parliamentary support. Despite several meetings with the foreign secretary, and a hearing into their case held by the all-party parliamentary group on arbitrary detention and hostage affairs, he said there had been no visible progress in 15 months.On Thursday morning, Bennett spoke with his mother in Evin prison. The past 48 hours had been tumultuous, he said, after a supposed ceasefire was agreed on Tuesday, little more than an hour before a self-imposed deadline by Donald Trump, who had threatened Iran’s “whole civilisation” would die if it did not meet his demands.The comments made Bennett feel “pure fear” until news of the two-week ceasefire was announced. The potential for peace talks had given the couple some hope that “they’ll be fought for” by the UK government, he said.“Yvette Cooper called it unjustifiable and that she would be fighting relentlessly to get them home. I need to see signs of that,” said Bennett.Despite a UN legal submission, significant cross-party parliamentary support, and several meetings with the foreign secretary and a hearing into their case by UK parliamentarians from the APPG on arbitrary detention and hostage affairs, he said there has been no visible progress to date towards securing their release.A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The UK government continues work to safely return Craig and Lindsay to the UK.”

The Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) announced that Noa‑Lynn van Leuven is barred from competing in any Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) women‑only events with immediate effect, after the governing body ruled that only biological females may participate in women’s tournaments.Under the new policy, van Leuven – a 29‑year‑old who has claimed six titles in the PDC Women’s Series – will be ineligible for the series and the Women’s World Matchplay, a competition she was on track to qualify for this summer.The DRA justified the decision by referencing a report commissioned from Dr Emma Hilton, a developmental biologist who has published extensively on sex categories in sport. The study concluded that darts is a "gender‑affected sport" and identified several physical differences that give males an advantage, including greater height, longer limbs, broader shoulders, increased muscle mass and stiffer tendons. These attributes, the report argued, enhance reach, stability and throwing mechanics, thereby influencing consistency and precision.This ruling arrives shortly after the International Olympic Committee announced a ban on transgender women from female Olympic events, set to take effect at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.Van Leuven responded on Instagram, describing the decision as a forced retirement. She wrote, "I just got an email… apparently I’m retired, not by choice, but because I am no longer allowed to compete." She added, "This isn’t just about me; it’s another huge hit for the trans community. Every day it is getting harder for trans people just to exist, to compete. If you think this stops with me, it doesn’t. We just want to be."While barred from women‑only events, van Leuven could still aim for the open professional tour, which is gender‑neutral. Currently, Beau Greaves is the sole female player on the tour, and former women’s world champion Lisa Ashton held a two‑year tour card in 2020‑2021.