Tinariwen went from Saharan weddings to Grammy-winning acclaim – but violence has forced the desert blues masters into exile. Now, a new generation is stepping in to help

Since their formation in 1979, Tuareg guitar band Tinariwen have been constantly moving. Based variously in Mali, Libya and Algeria, the Grammy-winning group have used their desert blues music as a lament for a wandering refugee status that continues to this day.

Co-founder Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni says the group are currently in Algeria, after band members had to flee their homes in Mali in October 2024. “The Malian military and the Russian mercenary group Wagner have been burning villages, slaughtering animals and raping women,” he says. “No one is talking about what is happening – no politicians or journalists – so we have to let the world know through our music.”

People from across the world queue for hours to get a video taken on the famous ‘Gateway to Heaven’ rooftop in the heart of Brazil’s most iconic city

It was day three of the British family’s holiday in Brazil and, as the sun rose over Rio’s undulating mountains, they set off for the city’s most talked about tourist haunt.

“It’s our first time in Brazil. We’re really looking forward to it,” said Paul Boswell, a 58-year-old builder from Basildon, Essex, before clambering on to the motorbike that would carry him there.

The world No 3 is backed to become the challenger but lost twice this week, to Wesley So and Levon Aronian

Fabiano Caruana, the world No 3, reigning US champion and 5-2 favourite to win the world title Candidates at the Cap St Georges Resort, Pegeia, Cyprus, from 29 March to 16 April, planned to warm up with two events at his home town St Louis, but events have not followed the script.

Caruana was second to the former Russian, Mikhail Antipov, in the Saint Louis Masters, though he was unbeaten with 7/9, so this was still a good result. But then, in the American Cup, a double elimination format knockout, he lost to both Wesley So and Levon Aronian in similar fashion, winning the first classical game with White, losing the second with Black, then losing the speed tie-break 1.5-2.5.

Tinariwen went from Saharan weddings to Grammy-winning acclaim – but violence has forced the desert blues masters into exile. Now, a new generation is stepping in to help

Since their formation in 1979, Tuareg guitar band Tinariwen have been constantly moving. Based variously in Mali, Libya and Algeria, the Grammy-winning group have used their desert blues music as a lament for a wandering refugee status that continues to this day.

Co-founder Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni says the group are currently in Algeria, after band members had to flee their homes in Mali in October 2024. “The Malian military and the Russian mercenary group Wagner have been burning villages, slaughtering animals and raping women,” he says. “No one is talking about what is happening – no politicians or journalists – so we have to let the world know through our music.”

People from across the world queue for hours to get a video taken on the famous ‘Gateway to Heaven’ rooftop in the heart of Brazil’s most iconic city

It was day three of the British family’s holiday in Brazil and, as the sun rose over Rio’s undulating mountains, they set off for the city’s most talked about tourist haunt.

“It’s our first time in Brazil. We’re really looking forward to it,” said Paul Boswell, a 58-year-old builder from Basildon, Essex, before clambering on to the motorbike that would carry him there.

The world No 3 is backed to become the challenger but lost twice this week, to Wesley So and Levon Aronian

Fabiano Caruana, the world No 3, reigning US champion and 5-2 favourite to win the world title Candidates at the Cap St Georges Resort, Pegeia, Cyprus, from 29 March to 16 April, planned to warm up with two events at his home town St Louis, but events have not followed the script.

Caruana was second to the former Russian, Mikhail Antipov, in the Saint Louis Masters, though he was unbeaten with 7/9, so this was still a good result. But then, in the American Cup, a double elimination format knockout, he lost to both Wesley So and Levon Aronian in similar fashion, winning the first classical game with White, losing the second with Black, then losing the speed tie-break 1.5-2.5.

Sweden winger was a serial winner at Barcelona and hopes her experience can help Manchester United claim their first Women’s League Cup trophy on Sunday against Chelsea

When a club is preparing for its fourth major cup final, it helps to have somebody in the squad whose tally of Champions League final appearances alone surpasses that. Enter the serial winner Fridolina Rolfö, who has helped Manchester United reach a final at the first attempt in her first season in England. What else did we expect? It is just what she does.

The Sweden winger, who arrived from Barcelona last summer, is speaking to the Guardian about Sunday’s Women’s League Cup final against Chelsea, the holders, and her winning mentality quickly reveals itself when she says of reaching the final: “Yes, we should be proud, but of course we’re not happy – we want to win the final as well.

İlker Çatak’s Yellow Letters and Emin Alper’s Salvation both won headline honours at the Berlin film festival and show dissenting cinema is thriving in the face of Erdoğan’s repression

‘I want calm in our building,” says the landlord of a couple who have been purged from their jobs in the film Yellow Letters, before asking them to leave the premises. “We’re all responsible for keeping the calm here”. Turkish cinema, however, has never been less inclined to keep the peace. İlker Çatak’s Yellow Letters and Emin Alper’s Salvation , two politically outspoken films that examine Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s autocratic regime, shared the top prizes at this year’s Berlinale: the Golden Bear for Çatak and Silver for Alper.

These striking works share a lot more. Both titles are co-produced by Liman, an indie film company from Turkey. Nadir Öperli, Salvation’s producer, co-produced Yellow Letters alongside Enis Köstepen who produced and co-wrote Çatak’s film. Both in their mid-40s, they are key figures in the new wave of Turkish cinema that has risen from the ashes of Yeşilçam, the national film industry body that collapsed in the late 1980s. Aesthetically bold yet accessible, and steeped in Turkey’s rich tradition of dissent, their projects expose Turkey at a precarious moment of political repression and economic hardship.

İlker Çatak’s Yellow Letters and Emin Alper’s Salvation both won headline honours at the Berlin film festival and show dissenting cinema is thriving in the face of Erdoğan’s repression

‘I want calm in our building,” says the landlord of a couple who have been purged from their jobs in the film Yellow Letters, before asking them to leave the premises. “We’re all responsible for keeping the calm here”. Turkish cinema, however, has never been less inclined to keep the peace. İlker Çatak’s Yellow Letters and Emin Alper’s Salvation , two politically outspoken films that examine Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s autocratic regime, shared the top prizes at this year’s Berlinale: the Golden Bear for Çatak and Silver for Alper.

These striking works share a lot more. Both titles are co-produced by Liman, an indie film company from Turkey. Nadir Öperli, Salvation’s producer, co-produced Yellow Letters alongside Enis Köstepen who produced and co-wrote Çatak’s film. Both in their mid-40s, they are key figures in the new wave of Turkish cinema that has risen from the ashes of Yeşilçam, the national film industry body that collapsed in the late 1980s. Aesthetically bold yet accessible, and steeped in Turkey’s rich tradition of dissent, their projects expose Turkey at a precarious moment of political repression and economic hardship.