After 10 years without a Women’s Super League title, City are champions once more – here’s how they did it The sight of Rebecca Knaak fighting back tears on hearing the full-time whistle last Sunday summed up what this means. The Manchester City defender had sustained a painful shoulder injury during a victory over Liverpool snatched by her late header so probably had her own reasons for finding t...
After 10 years without a Women’s Super League title, City are champions once more – here’s how they did it The sight of Rebecca Knaak fighting back tears on hearing the full-time whistle last Sunday summed up what this means. The Manchester City defender had sustained a painful shoulder injury during a victory over Liverpool snatched by her late header so probably had her own reasons for finding the combination of relief, soreness and joy a little overwhelming. But her emotions could have been felt by any of the longer-serving season-ticket holders in the stands after a decade-long wait for a Women’s Super League title. When City lifted this trophy in 2016 , the landscape of the English women’s game was wholly different. The club, then managed by Nick Cushing, completed the 16-game campaign unbeaten and clinched the title on a day when they deployed a starting XI featuring nine English and two Scottish players from a squad that included only six non-English players. It was a time before the wider, full-time professionalism of the league and the influx of overseas talent. Continue reading...
Something of an obsessive with tidiness, the interim coach has beaten all the club’s closest rivals in his short time in charge We’ll get on to the more pressing business of whether Michael Carrick deserves the full-time Manchester United job in a moment. There’s plenty to discuss: tactics and philosophy, character and comportment, the squad he inherited from Ruben Amorim and how United might stre...
Something of an obsessive with tidiness, the interim coach has beaten all the club’s closest rivals in his short time in charge We’ll get on to the more pressing business of whether Michael Carrick deserves the full-time Manchester United job in a moment. There’s plenty to discuss: tactics and philosophy, character and comportment, the squad he inherited from Ruben Amorim and how United might strengthen it in the summer window. But first: I want you to imagine eating an entire dover sole with the bones left in, while under the gaze of the former England international Trevor Francis. You’re in a fancy restaurant in Birmingham. You’re 18 years old, and have ordered the fish with potatoes on the assumption that it will essentially be a posh chippy supper. The sole arrives, the waiter asks whether you want it filleted, and because you don’t know what that means, you say no. Immediately you feel the painful prickles on your tongue, the unsatisfying gnash of skeletal marine matter between your teeth. Naturally, you don’t want to look rude or foolish in front of your new manager. So you put on a brave face, and keep chewing. Meanwhile, Trevor Francis keeps watching. Continue reading...
Briton, who defends his WBO title against Daniel Dubois, talks Fury-Joshua, doping and his punditry sideline “The only expectation I have is that it will end in a knockout,” Fabio Wardley says cheerfully as he looks ahead to his dangerous first defence of the WBO world heavyweight title against Daniel Dubois in Manchester on Saturday night. “Don’t Blink” is the promotional tagline for a battle bet...
Briton, who defends his WBO title against Daniel Dubois, talks Fury-Joshua, doping and his punditry sideline “The only expectation I have is that it will end in a knockout,” Fabio Wardley says cheerfully as he looks ahead to his dangerous first defence of the WBO world heavyweight title against Daniel Dubois in Manchester on Saturday night. “Don’t Blink” is the promotional tagline for a battle between two powerful yet vulnerable heavyweights and, for once, this is less boxing bluster than reasonable advice for anyone watching a fight which could be the most dramatic heavyweight contest this year. Wardley and Dubois are devastating punchers who also often look at risk of losing. Dubois has been beaten three times in 25 fights while dispatching his other opponents with brutal efficiency. Two years ago, the unbeaten Wardley came close to defeat against Frazer Clarke in their first fight, which ended up being a draw after a damaging bloodbath for both men. He knocked out Clarke after two savage minutes in the rematch but then lost every round against Justis Huni before producing a chilling late stoppage of the skilful Australian last June. Continue reading...
Ronnie is using Billy’s name to register for free streaming services and gyms, which Billy objects to. You get to preside over this trial • Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror Unlike the kettle or the wifi, my contact details aren’t for communal use. Plus it’s annoying Continue reading...
Ronnie is using Billy’s name to register for free streaming services and gyms, which Billy objects to. You get to preside over this trial • Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror Unlike the kettle or the wifi, my contact details aren’t for communal use. Plus it’s annoying Continue reading...
Glee Club, Glasgow The masc lesbian comic from New York delivers a superb set with big laughs and twisty logic Old-school standup celebrating the traditional masculine virtues? It’s fallen a little out of fashion. But it’s a different story when a masc lesbian comic delivers that material – a story of gleeful iconoclasm, big laughs and twisty gender logic. Ashley Gavin was a jobbing standup who bl...
Glee Club, Glasgow The masc lesbian comic from New York delivers a superb set with big laughs and twisty logic Old-school standup celebrating the traditional masculine virtues? It’s fallen a little out of fashion. But it’s a different story when a masc lesbian comic delivers that material – a story of gleeful iconoclasm, big laughs and twisty gender logic. Ashley Gavin was a jobbing standup who blew up online during the pandemic, and whose output – including viral “crowd work” clips and the podcast We’re Having Gay Sex – has secured an ardent, largely queer fanbase. She’s like their best pal or big sis tonight, recounting how a woman who dresses like a teenaged wannabe car mechanic (and who – tongue firmly in cheek – considers more feminine women to be “a bunch of pussy-ass bitches”) came to be freezing her eggs. The pleasure is in how Gavin lays siege to gender convention, with one routine after another scrambling the signifiers of what we expect men, women, or indeed masculine lesbians, to do and be. The opener finds “lesbian with a Brazilian” Gavin submitting herself to a waxing treatment. Elsewhere, the New Yorker ventures the argument – while savouring the discomfort it generates – that the clitoris is essentially a “tiny dick”. Later, she muses on penetration (might it not equally be seen as “envelopment”?) and contends that two “boy lesbians” hooking up with one another is “against God”. Continue reading...
In my constituency, volunteers chat with people in deprived areas – most of whom find they are to the left of their voting intentions. The results are exhilarating Most people have made up their minds, and nothing you can say will change them: that’s the credo of parties such as Labour and the Democrats. Don’t challenge voters on the doorstep. Use focus groups to find out what they want, and give ...
In my constituency, volunteers chat with people in deprived areas – most of whom find they are to the left of their voting intentions. The results are exhilarating Most people have made up their minds, and nothing you can say will change them: that’s the credo of parties such as Labour and the Democrats. Don’t challenge voters on the doorstep. Use focus groups to find out what they want, and give it to them. Follow, don’t lead. But all that’s on them, not us. It’s true that conventional attempts at persuasion fail. A meta-analysis and original experiments by the political scientists Joshua Kalla and David Broockman found that “the best estimate of the effects of campaign contact and advertising” in US general elections “is zero”. But this says nothing about voters and everything about the useless approach of the parties trying to reach them. George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Aldi Irvan Darmansyah/iStock via Getty Images Market Summary During the first quarter of 2026, market leadership shifted as small-cap stocks outperformed large caps amid a rotation away from crowded trades by investors. The Russell 2000® small-cap benchmark surpassed the broader market, as measured by the S&P 500®, and growth stocks (particularly large caps) pulled back as value stocks surged, sig...
Aldi Irvan Darmansyah/iStock via Getty Images Market Summary During the first quarter of 2026, market leadership shifted as small-cap stocks outperformed large caps amid a rotation away from crowded trades by investors. The Russell 2000® small-cap benchmark surpassed the broader market, as measured by the S&P 500®, and growth stocks (particularly large caps) pulled back as value stocks surged, signaling a notable change in investor preferences. Non-U.S. equities outperformed U.S. equities for much of the quarter, though that trend reversed sharply in March as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz weighed more heavily on energy-dependent economies outside the U.S. While the quarter ended with a sharp rally on hopes that hostilities might ease and the Strait of Hormuz could reopen, markets remained highly sensitive to geopolitical developments. Energy was the top-performing sector across market capitalizations, benefiting from higher oil prices and driving strong returns for value-oriented benchmarks. Fund Performance The Virtus KAR Small-Cap Core Fund returned 1.54% ((Class I)) in the quarter, outperforming the Russell 2000 Index, which returned 0.89%. Stock selection and an overweight to the industrials sector, combined with stock selection in the consumer discretionary sector, contributed positively to performance. Stock selection and an overweight to the financials sector detracted from performance, as did an underweight to the energy sector. Toro Company and RBC Bearings were the largest contributors to performance during the quarter. > Toro, a leading provider of outdoor maintenance equipment, saw its professional business continue to grow, which was due in part to healthy underground equipment sales. Also, the company's profitability continues to improve. > RBC, which manufactures highly engineered precision bearings for many industries, continues to benefit from robust demand across the aerospace and defense end markets. CorVel Corporation and Pool Corporation ...
Kembara, a technology growth fund backed by the European Union, made its first investment, supporting a British startup that builds quantum computers running on silicon chips. Quantum Motion closed a $160 million Series C financing round led by Kembara and venture firm DCVC , with funds from the British Business Bank and Firgun Ventures, the startup said in a statement Thursday. Quantum Motion was...
Kembara, a technology growth fund backed by the European Union, made its first investment, supporting a British startup that builds quantum computers running on silicon chips. Quantum Motion closed a $160 million Series C financing round led by Kembara and venture firm DCVC , with funds from the British Business Bank and Firgun Ventures, the startup said in a statement Thursday. Quantum Motion was formed in 2017 by professors from Oxford University and University College London, part of a wave of quantum computing companies founded by scientists after research advances in the field. Many of these firms are now competing with the likes of Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. ’s Google to build computers based on quantum mechanics that can outperform today’s machines. While a breakthrough could lead to advances in fields ranging from cybersecurity to drug development, the industry remains in a research phase with commercial uses years away. Several companies in the field are developing their own circuitry and custom semiconductors . Intel Capital backed a Dutch startup making quantum processors earlier this week. Quantum Motion wants to build quantum computers with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensors, tapping a technology already used to make chips for phone cameras and industrial imaging. Read More: Quantum Computing Is Finally Here. But What Is It? Relying on an existing manufacturing industry will give a leg up over competitors that choose to build their own hardware as quantum machines get larger, according to Quantum Motion Chief Executive Officer James Palles-Dimmock. “We’re not talking about massive retrofits for the future,” he said in an interview. He said Quantum Motion has partnered with chip firm GlobalFoundries Inc. , but declined to share production details. The startup has shipped a computer to the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre, a research institution, and plans to announce more customers later this year. With the new funding, P...
Picture this scenario: An Anthropic Skill scanner runs a full analysis of a Skill pulled from ClawHub or skills.sh. Its markdown instructions are clean, and no prompt injection is detected. No shell commands are hiding in the SKILL.md. Green across the board. The scanner never looked at the .test.ts file sitting one directory over. It didn’t need to. Test files aren’t part of the agent execution s...
Picture this scenario: An Anthropic Skill scanner runs a full analysis of a Skill pulled from ClawHub or skills.sh. Its markdown instructions are clean, and no prompt injection is detected. No shell commands are hiding in the SKILL.md. Green across the board. The scanner never looked at the .test.ts file sitting one directory over. It didn’t need to. Test files aren’t part of the agent execution surface, so no publicly documented scanner inspects them (as of publication of this post). The file runs anyway. Not through the agent but through the test runner, with full access to the filesystem, environment variables, and SSH keys. Gecko Security researcher Jeevan Jutla detailed this attack flow, demonstrating that when a developer runs npx Skills add, the installer copies the entire skill directory into the repo. If a malicious Skill bundles a *.test.ts file, the Jest and Vitest testing frameworks discover it through recursive glob patterns, treat it as a first-class test, and execute it during npm test or when the IDE auto-runs tests on save. The default configuration in open-source JavaScript test framework Mocha follows a similar recursive discovery pattern. The payload fires in beforeAll, before any assertions run. Nothing in the test output flags anything unusual. In CI, process.env holds deployment tokens, cloud credentials, and every secret the pipeline can reach. The attack class is not new; malicious npm postinstall scripts and pytest plugins have exploited trust-on-install for years. What makes the Skill vector worse is that installed Skills land in a directory designed to be committed and shared across the team, propagate to every teammate who clones, and sit outside every scanner's detection surface. The agent is never invoked, and the Anthropic Skill scanner reads the right files for the wrong threat model. Three audits, one blind spot Gecko's disclosure didn’t arrive in isolation. It landed on top of two large-scale security audits that had already docume...
Presented by Zeta Global The gap between what AI promises and what it delivers is not subtle. The same model can produce precise, useful output in one system and generic, irrelevant results in another. The issue is not the model. It's the context. Most enterprise systems were not built for how AI operates. Data is scattered across tools. Identity is inconsistent. Signals arrive late or not at all....
Presented by Zeta Global The gap between what AI promises and what it delivers is not subtle. The same model can produce precise, useful output in one system and generic, irrelevant results in another. The issue is not the model. It's the context. Most enterprise systems were not built for how AI operates. Data is scattered across tools. Identity is inconsistent. Signals arrive late or not at all. Systems record events but fail to connect them into a continuous view. AI depends on that continuity. Without it, the model fills in the gaps so the result looks polished but lacks relevance. This is where most teams get stuck. A better model does not fix fragmented, stale, or commoditized data. Gartner estimates organizations lose an average of $12.9 million annually due to poor data quality. AI does not solve that problem, it surfaces it faster and at a greater scale. The mirror test There is a fast diagnostic test for this. Give your AI a perfect, high-intent customer signal and see what comes back. If the output is generic or irrelevant, the model needs work. But if the model produces something sharp and useful on clean data, and then falls apart on real production data, the problem is the data. In practice, it is almost always the second scenario. AI functions like a magnifying glass, so strong data systems become dramatically more powerful, and the weak ones become dramatically more visible. Organizations that have been coasting on fragmented, poorly integrated customer data can no longer hide behind reporting lag and manual interpretation. The AI renders the problem in plain sight. Context is the new identity layer This is really where the next evolution gets interesting. Even after you solve the data quality problem, there is still a second shift underway in how customer profiles are built and used. For years, enterprise data systems stored content: transactions in CRMs, demographics in data warehouses, campaign responses in marketing platforms. These records descr...