The diversified Academy and a mutating industry have changed what many had come to expect from the stuffy, rule-following Oscars

Last year, as the major fall film festivals took place around the world, it was hard to make out the sound of audience applause. It wasn’t an attendance issue or that booing was heard instead (that’s solely a Cannes response), it was that, for many, hands were too busy wringing to find time to clap.

The trifecta of Venice, Telluride and Toronto was once seen as an inescapable fixture on a film’s road to the Oscars. Best picture winners such as 12 Years a Slave, Spotlight, Birdman, Moonlight, The Shape of Water and Green Book all rose within that circuit and cemented their reception at festivals and world premieres and often felt judged for awards potential over quality. But over the past few years, as the Academy has changed and diversified its voting body and as the industry has changed in so many other ways, something has shifted. Winning films have come from Cannes, Sundance, SXSW and, most shockingly, no festival at all …

• ‘We can create many chances in minutes’

• Rüdiger believes he can keep Haaland quiet

Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City require a “perfect game” to overturn Real Madrid’s 3-0 lead in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.

Álvaro Arbeloa’s team are firm favourites to progress to the quarter-finals after their victory at the Bernabéu last week when Madrid’s captain, Federico Valverde, scored a first-half hat-trick .

PM refuses to be drawn into wider conflict as Germany and Italy defy Trump’s call to help reopen strait of Hormuz

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Keir Starmer insisted on Monday that the UK would not be drawn into the wider war in the Middle East as European leaders ruled out sending warships to the strait of Hormuz .

In his clearest signal yet of the UK’s divergence from Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, the prime minister said he would stand firm in the face of US pressure despite the decision being “difficult, there’s no hiding that”.

Heat warnings are in effect across region as record-high temperatures are forecast in California, Nevada and Arizona

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Millions of people in the western US are preparing for extreme heat as unprecedented temperatures are forecast across California, Nevada and Arizona.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a heat advisory for California’s Bay Area and central coast regions as temperatures are expected to reach up to 90F (32C).

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Pre-match reading.

Brentford (4-3-3): Kelleher; Kayode, Van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Damsgaard, Henderson, Jensen; Outtara, Thiago, Ouattara

Subs: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Yarmoliuk, Nelson, Ajer, Donovan, Furo, Bentt, Shield

As protracted negotiations enters ninth month a framework of proposals to save utilities firm still remains sketchy

It is two years since the shareholders of Thames Water threw in the towel, declared the company “uninvestible” and accepted their shares were worthless. Yet the water torture goes on and on. We are now in the ninth month of negotiations between Thames’s senior creditors and the regulator, Ofwat, on a rescue deal – and still an outcome is thought to be weeks away.

Monday’s updated sketch of the proposal contained a few new details. The amount of fresh equity that would be injected into Thames has increased from £3.15bn to £3.35bn. The day-one debt facility has been boosted by a billion pounds to £3.25bn. Ofwat also appears to have insisted creditors underwrite a further £3.3bn debt facility in case Thames, circa 2028, can’t raise borrowings from the market on commercial terms by then; that precaution is probably wise.

Effective closure of strait of Hormuz also affecting Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, which have brought in crisis measures

Sri Lanka is introducing a shorter four-day working week to preserve its shrinking fuel and gas reserves, as the Middle East conflict continues to severely disrupt energy supplies in the region.

Countries across south Asia are facing crippling shortages of fuel and LPG gas, which are used for everything from home cooking to cremating bodies, as most supplies have been held up in the Gulf since the US and Israel began bombing Iran.

• ‘No one cares about you,’ says Lancashire all-rounder

• The 32-year-old alleges England group is too cliquey

Liam Livingstone has given a scathing account of his handling by the current England regime, claiming “no one cares about you”. The Lancashire all-rounder has exactly 100 caps for his country across all three formats but has not featured in more than a year and seems resigned to things staying that way.

In an interview with Cricinfo, the 32-year-old was highly critical of interactions with the director of cricket, Rob Key, and described his time at the Champions Trophy last year as “the worst experience I’ve had playing cricket” and said he did not miss being part of the recent T20 World Cup.

The US has overwhelming military power. Yet the battle has moved to oil routes, alliances and domestic politics – where Tehran is testing western unity

Donald Trump would like you to know that he is winning the war with Iran. So comprehensively, in fact, that he now needs Nato’s help . The western alliance, he warns, will have a “ very bad” future if its members refuse. Germany’s defence minister had a brisk reply: this is not our war . Meanwhile, tankers pile up outside the strait of Hormuz as Britain promises, in an understated way, to keep “ looking ” at its options. Mr Trump has found out that starting a war without a coalition of the willing is easier than finishing one with it.

Along with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, the US president started with an illegal attack on Iran in which the country’s supreme leader was assassinated . American forces have established overwhelming military superiority. By hitting military targets but sparing key oil facilities on Kharg Island , Mr Trump is sending a blunt signal: the US can wreck Iran’s economy. It just hasn’t decided to – yet.

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