• Howman: ‘We are not effective enough at catching cheats’

• Former Wada director general urges more ambition

One of the most senior figures in global anti-doping has warned that too many drug cheats in sport are evading detection – and criticised the current system as “ineffective”.

David Howman, the former director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the chair of the Athletics Integrity Unit, urged anti-doping bodies to be more ambitious in catching elite athletes again rather than focusing on compliance issues.

Scottish rock band says image ‘meant to provoke debate, not hate’ after many at concert accuse group of antisemitism

The Scottish rock group, Primal Scream, has defended displaying an image of a swastika inside a Star of David during a London gig, in response to accusations of racism and antisemitism.

During a performance at the London’s Roundhouse, a video was shown on stage of a swastika in the centre of a Star of David that was then superimposed over eyes of images of political figures, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the US president, Donald Trump.

We want to hear from the public and healthcare workers about the impact of the ‘worst-case scenario’ flu crisis

Flu cases rose 55% in one week in England this month, as the NHS braces for a “worst-case scenario” in the next fortnight as hospitals, GP surgeries and ambulances services come under intense strain.

It comes as the British Medical Association has lined up strike action for resident doctors in England next week over concerns on pay.

Mohammadi ‘violently’ detained along with other activists at memorial event in Mashhad, according to her foundation

Iranian security forces have “violently” arrested the 2023 Nobel peace prize winner Narges Mohammadi at a memorial ceremony, her supporters said.

Mohammadi, who was granted temporary leave from prison in December 2024 , was detained along with several other activists at the ceremony for Khosrow Alikordi, who was found dead in his office last week, her foundation wrote on X .

The 21-year-old came to rugby via an unusual route, but it is one that may soon see him in the England squad

To announce Afo Fasogbon as English rugby’s next big thing is not entirely accurate. He may be big – 6ft 4in tall and around 130kg – but as far as the internet is concerned he arrived some time ago. Video footage of the young Gloucester prop waving off the more experienced Ellis Genge after edging a scrummaging duel at Kingsholm last year went viral almost before Genge had reached the touchline.

Should the 21-year-old make a strong impact off the bench against Munster in Cork on Saturday evening, however, he could soon be vying for even greater recognition. England are suddenly lighter in the tight-head department after Will Stuart’s unfortunate recent achilles injury, with Asher Opoku-Fordjour also currently out of action. If Leicester’s Joe Heyes so much as breaks a fingernail, alarm bells will start ringing at Twickenham.

In World Cup parlance, Qatar was Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s qualifier. Now it’s the big time for Trump’s dictator-curious protege

I used to think Fifa’s recent practice of holding the World Cup in autocracies was because it made it easier for world football’s governing body to do the things it loved: spend untold billions of other people’s money and siphon the profits without having to worry about boring little things like human rights or public opinion. Which, let’s face it, really piss around with your bottom line.

But for a while now, that view has seemed ridiculously naive, a bit like assuming Recep Erdoğan followed Vladimir Putin’s election-hollowing gameplan just because hey, he’s an interested guy who likes to read around a lot of subjects. So no: Fifa president Gianni Infantino hasn’t spent recent tournaments cosying up to authoritarians because it made his life easier. He’s done it to learn from the best. And his latest decree this week simply confirms Fifa is now a fully operational autocracy in the classic populace-rinsing style. Do just absorb yesterday’s news that the cheapest ticket for next year’s World Cup final in the US will cost £3,120 – seven times more than the cheapest ticket for the last World Cup final in Qatar. (Admittedly, still marginally cheaper than an off-peak single from London to Manchester.)

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Comforting reassurance was once the work of the church. Now it’s increasingly being sought from the machine

A few summers ago I attended two funerals in a week.

One was for a man who was atheist and had lots of worldly success. The second was for a woman who was Catholic, raised three children and lived a much quieter life.

This is a special way of being afraid
No trick dispels. Religion used to try,
That vast moth-eaten musical brocade
Created to pretend we never die …

Lilian Greenwood condemns Conservative ‘mixed messages’ and promises a system that works for everybody

• UK politics live – latest updates

Conservative policies that pitted drivers against cyclists risked making the roads less safe by inflaming tensions, a minister has said, promising that the era of transport culture wars is over.

Lilian Greenwood, whose Department for Transport (DfT) role includes road safety and active travel, said seeking to divide road users into categories was pointless given most people used different transport methods at different times.

In sprawling landfills, thousands of Argentinian families scavenge for survival amid toxic waste and government neglect, dreaming of steady jobs and escape

The sun rises over the plateau of Neuquén’s open-air rubbish tip. Maia, nine, and her brothers, aged 11 and seven, huddle by a campfire. Their mother, Gisel, rummages through bags that smell of rotten fruit and meat.

Situated at the northern end of Argentinian Patagonia, 100km (60 miles) from Vaca Muerta – one of the world’s largest fossil gas reserves – children here roam amid twisted metal, glass and rubbish spread over five hectares (12 acres). The horizon is waste.