The dancer and author gives this collection clarity and warmth as he narrates poems about family, queer identity, hedonism and race

The first poetry collection from the Nigerian American dancer and poet Oluwaseun Olayiwola explores themes of race, family, queer identity, hedonism and the body. Strange Beach takes its title from Claudia Rankine’s poem Citizen: An American Lyric which describes “each body is a strange beach, and if you let in the excess emotion, you will recall the Atlantic Ocean breaking on our heads”. The shoreline is a recurring image in Strange Beach’s poems, a threshold where forces collide and the landscape is forever changing shape.

Olayiwola’s verse dances between the abstract and the philosophical, and there are instances when the narrative thread is discarded and meaning is hard to glean. Clarity comes with hearing it read out loud, however. Olayiwola’s narration brims with warmth and passion, allowing us to bask in imagery, atmosphere and the speaker’s rich interior world.

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Last year’s celebrated French hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is nominated in 12 categories this year, with Ghost of Yōtei, Dispatch, Death Stranding 2 and Indiana Jones also making strong showings

The 22nd Bafta games awards are coming up in April, and the 2026 nominations list is dominated by the impeccably stylish French breakout hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – a game that has already won game of the year prizes at December’s Game Awards in the US, the UK’s Golden Joysticks last November, and February’s Dice awards in Las Vegas.

Dispatch, a game about a benched superhero roped into running a team of superpowered misfits at a call centre, has nine nominations. Among them is a best performer in a leading role nod for its star Aaron Paul, and one for Jeffrey Wright in supporting role. Sony’s samurai epic Ghost of Yōtei came out with eight nominations, including best game and best performer in a leading role for Erika Ishii, who plays Atsu.

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Ayrin and SJ met on a subreddit Ayrin created for people ‘dating’ AI companions. Over time, they started talking to AI less … and falling for each other

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People are reporting “dating” artificially intelligent companions – but not every relationship lasts. What’s it like to fall in – and then out – of love with AI?

As part of our newsletter, AI for the People, we spoke to Ayrin and SJ, who live thousands of miles apart and made the same decision: to leave their AI partners – for each other. Their names have been changed.

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Top British army officer tells John Healey Iranian pilots are flying Shaheds much lower, making them more effective

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Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” lies behind Iran’s military methods, the UK defence secretary, John Healey, has said, after a night in which drones struck a camp used by western forces in Erbil, northern Iraq.

Healy was speaking after British officers at the UK’s military headquarters in north-west London had told him that Iranian and Iranian proxy drone pilots were increasingly adopting tactics “from the Russians”.

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(Warner Classics)
Radulović/Philharmonia/Rouvali/Favre-Kahn/Dalene
Radulović brings irresistible swagger to selections from Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella, while a more restrained duet fosters a fine sense of dialogue

There’s a daredevil freshness about Nemanja Radulović’s playing that makes this generously filled disc of Prokofiev particularly rewarding. Over 86 minutes, he tackles the Second Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia under Santtu-Matias Rouvali, a pair of underperformed sonatas and a clutch of original works and transcriptions with pianist Laure Favre-Kahn.

The concerto receives a subtle, supportive reading from Rouvali, who is happy to play second fiddle to the star turn. Radulović plunges in, his audacious attack and intonational high-wire act almost upsetting the applecart in the oompah-pah finale. The same fearless commitment pays dividends elsewhere: in the jaunty Heifetz arrangement of the Gavotte from the Classical Symphony, for example, or in the spiky march from The Love for Three Oranges.

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Tech company filed amicus brief in support of Anthropic’s effort to overturn an aggressive Pentagon designation

Microsoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic’s legal challenge against the US Pentagon, filing a court brief in support of the AI company’s effort to overturn an aggressive designation that effectively bars it from government work.

In an amicus brief submitted to a federal court in San Francisco this week, Microsoft, which integrates Anthropic’s AI tools into systems it provides to the US military, argued that a temporary restraining order was necessary to prevent serious disruption to suppliers whose products rely on the AI company’s technology. Google, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI have also signed on to a brief in support of Anthropic.

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Van weinig F1-teams wordt zoveel verwacht als van Aston Martin, dat beschikt over de beste faciliteiten, een briljante ontwerper en een topcoureur. Maar vanwege een onbetrouwbare Honda-motor is het seizoen tot nu toe een farce.

Studio Bungie maakte naam als koning van de ‘eeuwige game’, maar heeft het zwaar. Het eigenzinnige maar moeilijk te plaatsen ‘Marathon’ moet het bedrijf redden – lukt dat?

MONTREAL (ANP/BLOOMBERG) - De kosten van vliegtickets kunnen met 9 procent stijgen nu de brandstofprijzen scherp zijn gestegen door de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten. Dat zegt de topman van de International Air Transport Association (IATA) Willie Walsh.

Walsh noemt het "onvermijdelijk" dat de ticketprijzen zullen stijgen als de olieprijzen hoog blijven. De prijs van kerosine, die voor een groot deel uit het Midden-Oosten komt, is in vergelijking met vorige maand met ruim 70 procent gestegen. "Je kijkt waarschijnlijk naar een stijging van 8 of 9 procent in de ticketprijzen," aldus Walsh.

Volgens de directeur van de internationale luchtvaartindustrieorganisatie maken brandstofkosten ongeveer een kwart uit van de uitgaven van luchtvaartmaatschappijen. "Het probleem voor luchtvaartmaatschappijen is altijd de volatiliteit, de snelheid waarmee de olieprijs verandert," zei Walsh. "Bij een zeer snelle stijging is het moeilijk voor maatschappijen om die extra kosten onmiddellijk te compenseren."

Een graf kopen voor je zoon van 29. Voor Martin en Arianne Versluijs uit Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht is het de hartverscheurende realiteit. Hun zoon Benito kreeg de diagnose PLS, een agressieve vorm van ALS. Het plekje voor Benito op de begraafplaats is inmiddels gereserveerd. Dit weekend lopen Martin en Arianne de ALS Sunrise Walk om aandacht en geld op te halen voor onderzoek naar de dodelijke ziekte.