There were 15 seconds left on the clock when a 19-year-old college basketball player launched a 16-foot winning shot that would change sports marketing forever.
Watching that day was marketing executive and grassroots promoter Sonny Vaccaro. He was so impressed by what he saw that two years later he would bet his job at sports manufacturer Nike on backing this relatively untested player.
That player was Michael Jordan.
But not the Jordan we know now. At the point Vaccaro witnessed him score the shot that won the 1982 NCAA championship for North Carolina Tar Heels, Jordan was just a freshman.
When, two years later, Vaccaro urged his bosses to spend their whole yearly basketball endorsement budget on him, Jordan was only 21 and had never competed in the NBA. And no-one was talking about his footwear.
Vaccaro says his conviction in the youngster’s potential was forged the moment he watched him take that shot at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans.
“That shot changed the world because of what Michael Jordan became,” the 85-year-old told BBC Sport.
“When he took the shot, it convinced me that he would take any shot in the world.”
But it was Vaccaro who had to take a shot first.
In his memoir, Legends and Soles, he describes how he had to convince his bosses to take a chance on an up-and-coming star, while competitors such as Converse were endorsing household names including Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson.
By that time, Vaccaro had established himself as a basketball insider with an extensive knowledge of young players. In 1964, aged 24, he established The Dapper Dan Roundball Classic – the first national high school all-star basketball game.
The tournament ran under different guises until 2007, showcasing future NBA stars including Moses Malone, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love, Kobe Bryant, Patrick Ewing and Shaquille O’Neal.
He also founded the ABCD basketball summer camp in 1984 – an invitational that gathered the country’s highest-ranked high school players.
Nevertheless, Vaccaro told BBC Sport former Nike boss Phil Knight was not satisfied with the Jordan proposal “until the last minute”.
Their gamble turned the company’s fortunes around, transformed the way basketball was viewed globally and left an indelible print on sneaker culture worldwide. The story was popularised in 2023 film Air, in which Vaccaro is played by Matt Damon.
In his book, as well as detailing the Jordan deal, he describes how he was able to spot the potential in future stars including Bryant, Tracy McGrady and James, whom he narrowly missed out on signing to an endorsement in 2003.
These include stricter tests for personal independence (Pip) payments, affecting hundreds of thousands of claimants, and a freeze on incapacity benefits.
About 10,000 civil service jobs are expected to go, including staff who work in HR, policy advice, communications and office management.
Aid and defence
The chancellor will argue that “the world has changed”, and the government must respond accordingly.
Reeves is expected to confirm a £2.2bn increase in defence spending. This will help the government meet its existing pledge to spend 2.5% of national income on defence by 2027.
Tax changes
Personal tax rises have been repeatedly ruled out. But UK taxes on big firms may change as part of a deal to avoid US trade tariffs.
UK inflation fell by more than expected in February, driven by a drop in clothing and shoe prices due to an unusually high number of sales.
Inflation decreased to 2.8%, down from a rate of 3% in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The latest figures come ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement, where she will set out her economic plans.
Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said women’s clothing “was the biggest driver for this month’s fall”.
“This was only partially offset by small increases, for example, from alcoholic drinks”, he added.
Overall prices for clothing and footwear fell in the year to February for the first time since 2021, with children’s clothing and accessories such as hats and scarves also having an impact.
The ONS said another factor was an unseasonably high number of clothing sales. Discounting usually drops off in February as January sales end and spring ranges enter the shops, but that did not happen this year.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected that inflation – which measures the rate at which prices rise – would dip to 2.9% in February. However, despite the bigger than expected fall, the figure is still above the Bank of England’s target of 2%.
The rate of price rises is also expected to increase in the months ahead, with council tax and energy and water bills all set to rise in April.
In addition, a recent survey from the ONS found that almost a half of businesses are considering price rises as they brace for next month’s tax rises and increase in the National Living Wage.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the Bank of England was unlikely to cut rates at its next meeting because February’s fall was “not an enormous change” and inflation “is still significantly above target”,
“Although policymakers won’t want to keep rates too high for too long given the stagnation in the economy, they are set to stay cautious with a rate cut looking more likely to come in June and another later in the year”, she said.
She is also expected to confirm a downgrade to official economic growth predictions.
Some economists have raised concerns about the possibility of ‘stagflation’, where prices rise faster than the central bank’s target but the economy fails to grow.
“Economic growth is miniscule and risks going backwards, but should inflation continue to refuse to get back near the 2% target, it is difficult to see what the Bank of England can do with interest rates,” said Lindsay James from wealth manager Quilter.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said the government’s “number one mission is kickstarting growth” and pledged to go “further and faster on growth through our plan for change”.
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said the Conservatives left government in July “with inflation bang on target” and urged Reeves take “urgent action” in her Spring Statement or “working families will continue to pay the price”.
The Liberal Democrats said the inflation figure “will be of no comfort to the millions of families across the country who are struggling”.
Watch: Hanni got emotional as the group reacted to court ruling
“It took a huge amount of courage to speak out,” NewJeans have told the BBC in their first interview since a court blocked their attempt to leave their record label, in a case that has rocked the K-pop industry.
“This fight is necessary. Although it will be extremely difficult and arduous, we will keep doing what we have done so far and speak up,” said Haerin, one of the band’s five members.
“We thought it was important to tell the world about what we’ve been through. All the choices we’ve made so far have been the best choices we could have made.”
NewJeans looked invincible in the charts when they launched what was an unusual rebellion in the high-pressure, tightly-controlled world of K-pop. Hanni, Hyein, Haerin, Danielle and Minji stunned South Korea and fans everywhere with their decision in November to split from Ador, the label that launched them.
They alleged mistreatment, workplace harassment and an attempt to “undermine their careers”, which Ador denies. It sued to enforce their seven-year contract, which is set to expire in 2029, and sought an injunction against any commercial activities by the group.
On Friday, a South Korean court granted it, ordering NewJeans to stop all “independent” activities, including song releases and advertising deals, while the case was still under way. NewJeans has since challenged the injunction in court.
Friday’s ruling was a “shock”, the group told the BBC.
“Some people think that we’re famous enough to do whatever we want and say whatever we please. But the truth is, it’s not like that at all,” Hyein said. “We held it in for a long time, and only now have we finally spoken up about what we think, what we feel and the unfairness we’ve experienced.”
BBC/ Yujin Choi
Danielle (R) said Friday’s ruling was a “shock”, while Haerin said that the fight, although difficult, was also necessary
The K-pop industry has repeatedly come under fire for the pressure it puts on its stars not only to perform and succeed, but to appear perfect. But rarely do conflicts spill into the public, exposing stars’ grievances and rifts with their labels.
NewJeans’ dramatic announcement last year followed a long and public spat with Ador and its parent company, Hybe – South Korea’s biggest music label, whose client list includes K-pop royalty such as BTS and Seventeen.
Ador told the BBC in a statement that the contract with NewJeans still stands, adding that “most of their claims have risen from misunderstandings”. The court said that NewJeans did not “sufficiently prove” that Ador had violated the contract, adding that the label had upheld “most of its duties, including payment”.
The girls were rehearsing for a performance in Hong Kong, when news of the ruling dropped. They found out when Minji got a worried message from her mother: “She asked me, ‘are you okay?’ And I was like ‘what happened?'”
“I was stunned,” Minji says. So were the others when she told them. “At first I thought I didn’t hear her properly,” Danielle says. “We were all kind of in shock.”
This was their second of two interviews with the BBC in as many weeks. In the first interview, which happened before the ruling, the group had been excited to release their new single, Pit Stop – their first since they announced their break from Ador and renamed themselves NJZ.
They spoke about how they coped with a difficult period, including finding comfort in cooking. “I’m not really good at it but it’s kind of healing,” Minji had said, before promising to cook an “amazing dinner” for the group.
BBC/ Yujin Choi
L-R: Minji, Haerin, Danielle, Hyein and Hanni were upbeat in their first interview
In the second interview, which was 24 hours after the ruling, they seemed disheartened and unsettled, less sure of what was to come. “If we knew we were gonna go through this, maybe we would have chosen…” Hanni trailed off as she teared up.
Seconds later, she continued: “Even if we do everything we can and it doesn’t work out the way we hope it does, then we’ll just have to leave it to time. I’m sure time would figure it out for us.”
The following night, they took to the stage in Hong Kong and, despite the court order, performed Pit Stop under their new name. But the evening, which they had pitched to fans as a fresh start, ended in tears as they told the crowd they were going on a hiatus.
“It wasn’t any easy decision to make,” Hyein said on stage, as each of them took turns to address their fans. “But at the moment for us, it’s about protecting ourselves, so that we can come back stronger.”
Just three years into their debut, the future of the young stars – they are aged between 16 and 20 – is now in question.
But they tell the BBC that this is not the end of the road for them as they “find more ways” forward. With the legal battle expected to last for months, if not years, Minji says that gives them time to plan what they want to do next.
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NewJeans have been hugely successful and are among the world’s top-selling acts
Ever since they debuted in July 2022, NewJeans have delivered remarkable success with each new release – OMG, Ditto, Super Shy, Attention. A year on, they were the eighth biggest-selling act in the world.
Critics called them a “game-changer” as their uniquely playful blend of 1990s R&B and sugar-coated pop melodies broke through a K-pop market dominated by electronic beats. And their breezy dance moves stood out among super-synchronised videos.
They were still on the rise when Min Hee-jin, their long-time mentor and Ador’s former boss, began trading accusations publicly with Hybe. Min had launched Ador and NewJeans, before she sold Hybe a majority stake in the agency.
Hybe was now accusing her of plotting Ador’s takeover and Min, in an emotional press conference, accused them of undermining NewJeans by launching another girl group with a similar style. The fight got uglier and Min left the company, alleging she was forced out.
That’s when NewJeans broke their silence – they demanded Min’s return in two weeks in a livestream.
They were not able to contact her for a while, Danielle told the BBC in the first interview: “We didn’t know what was happening and we didn’t have a way to support her. That itself was a hard thing because she was always there for us and… in a way a person to look up to.”
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(L-R) Haerin, Danielle, Minji, Hanni and Hyein at the press conference where they annnounced their split from Ador
Ador had said Min could not return as CEO, but could continue as an internal director and NewJeans’ producer. When Min didn’t return, NewJeans announced that they were leaving Ador and accused the label of not meeting other demands: an apology for alleged bullying and actions against what they claimed were controversial internal reports.
Ador, which denies all these allegations, appears to blame Min for their dispute with NewJeans. “The core of this issue lies in the label’s ex-management providing distorted explanations to their artists, leading to misunderstandings. They can be fully addressed and resolved upon the members’ return to the label,” Ador told the BBC in a statement.
In the months since, Hanni, a Vietnamese-Australian, testified in tears to South Korean lawmakers in an inquiry into workplace harassment. “I came to the realisation that this wasn’t just a feeling. I was honestly convinced that the company hated us,” she told them, after describing several incidents where she said the group felt undermined and bullied.
Then in December, NewJeans took another rare step by supporting fans who were calling for the impeachment of South Korea’s disgraced president, Yoon Suk Yeol who had briefly imposed martial law – the group provided free food and drinks to fans who showed up at the huge protest rallies.
With each round of publicity, there was also criticism, much of it involving their age. Some said they had “crossed the line”, while others called them “stupid and reckless,” and even “ungrateful” for picking a fight with Ador. Others questioned if they were making their own decisions.
Being young doesn’t mean they should be taken less seriously, the group says. “That’s an easy way to devalue the fact that we are actually trying to do something,” Hanni says. “The decisions we’ve made in the past year have been decided through a very, very large amount of discussion between us.”
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NewJeans at the first court hearing for the lawsuit by Ador on 7 March
As the dispute has dragged on, the critics have got louder, dubbing the girls as troublemakers rather than game-changers. Following the ruling, which their critics welcomed, NewJeans says they have been “very aware of the intense scrutiny and judgment” ever since they held that press conference last year.
“There hasn’t been a single moment when we’ve expressed our opinions without worry or tension,” Minji says. “We’ve thought more than anyone else about how much responsibility each of our actions carries, and we’re currently bearing that responsibility ourselves.”
It’s not clear how long their hiatus will last. Ador says it hopes to meet with the group soon to discuss the future, but NewJeans insists it don’t feel protected enough to go back.
Their lawsuit with Ador will return to the headlines next week when the hearings begin – and so will all five of them.
The one thing that seems constant is their determination to get through this together.
Two weeks ago, Hanni had said: “We’ve always said to each other, if one person doesn’t want to do it, then we’re not going to do it. It has to be all all five of us that agrees to do it. That’s how we’ve gotten here and that’s how we are going to get to the end.”
On Saturday, she repeated: “We’re gonna get through it.”
Mike Waltz says he doesn’t know the journalist who was added to group chat
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for a group chat in which high-ranking officials planned military strikes in Yemen in the company of a journalist who was inadvertently added.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group,” Waltz told Fox News on Tuesday, adding it was “embarrassing”.
President Donald Trump and US intelligence chiefs have downplayed the security risks and said no classified material was shared.
But Democrats and some Republicans have called for an investigation into what several lawmakers have described as a major breach.
Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he was accidentally added to the Signal chat by a user named Mike Waltz.
In his article that broke the story he says he saw classified military plans for US strikes in Yemen, including weapons packages, targets and timing, two hours before the bombs struck. That content was held back from the piece.
Waltz was unable to explain in his Fox News interview how Goldberg came to be on the chat but – contradicting Trump – he said a member of his staff was not responsible and another, unnamed contact of his was supposed to be there in Goldberg’s place.
“We’ve got the best technical minds looking at how this happened,” Waltz continued, adding that Goldberg’s number had not been on his phone.
“I can tell you for 100% I don’t know this guy,” Waltz said, adding that he had spoken to Elon Musk for help in finding out what happened.
President Trump played down the incident, calling it a “glitch” that had “no impact at all” operationally.
Speaking to Newsmax, Trump said somebody who worked with Mike Waltz at a lower level had Goldberg’s phone number.
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who were part of the group, denied at a Senate hearing on Tuesday that any classified information was shared in the message chain.
The Signal group chat also included Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Mark Warner, Democratic vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said: “This Signal chat situation sheds light on a sloppy and grossly incompetent national security strategy from the Trump administration.”
Watch: President Trump says he will ‘look into’ government use of Signal messaging app
In his reporting, Goldberg said the officials on the chat had discussed the potential for Europe to pay for US protection of key shipping lanes.
“Whether it’s now or several weeks from now, it will have to be the United States that reopens these shipping lanes,” the account associated with Waltz wrote on 14 March.
He added his team was working with the defence and state departments “to determine how to compile the cost associated and levy them on the Europeans” – at Trump’s request.
At one point in the thread the Vance account griped that the strikes would benefit the Europeans, because of their reliance on those shipping lanes, adding: “I just hate bailing Europe out again.”
The user identified as Hegseth responded three minutes later: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”
The revelation has sent shockwaves through Washington, prompting a lawsuit and questions about why high-ranking officials discussed such sensitive matters on a potentially vulnerable civilian app.
Some national security experts have argued that the leak was a major operational lapse, and archive experts warned that it violated laws on presidential record keeping.
American Oversight, non-partisan watchdog group, sued the officials who participated in the chat for alleged violations of the Federal Records Act and Administrative Procedure Act.
The group said that by setting the chat to automatically delete messages, the group violated a law requiring White House officials to submit their records to the National Archives.
The National Security Agency warned employees only last month of vulnerabilities in Signal, according to documents obtained by the BBC’s US partner CBS.
With additional reporting by Kayla Epstein, Bernd Debusmann Jr and Brandon Drenon
His average qualifying deficit to team-mate Max Verstappen has been 0.88 seconds. Verstappen finished second in Australia, third in the sprint in Shanghai and fourth in the Chinese Grand Prix.
Lawson will return to Red Bull’s second team, Racing Bulls, alongside French rookie Isack Hadjar.
Japanese driver Tsunoda was asked at the Chinese Grand Prix whether he would accept the promotion to Red Bull if it was offered.
He said: “Yeah, why not? Always. In Japan? Yeah, 100%. I mean, the car is faster.”
When the scenario was put to Lawson, he responded: “I’ve raced him for years, raced him in junior categories and beat him – and I did in F1 as well, so he can say whatever he wants.”
Lawson was promoted to Red Bull this season following the team’s decision to pay off Sergio Perez, despite the Mexican having two years remaining on his contract.
That decision was made after a difficult 2024 for Perez, who failed to finish on the podium after the fifth race of the season.
Perez’s performances contributed to the team finishing third in the constructors’ championship last year, behind McLaren and Ferrari.
As Perez’s slump in 2024 had mirrored a similar pattern of performance in 2023, Red Bull decided the time had come to get rid of him.
They had the choice between Lawson and Tsunoda as a replacement and chose the New Zealander, despite the fact he had completed just 11 grands prix split over two seasons – whereas Tsunoda has raced for the company since 2021.
Scotland forwards coach John Dalziel and England assistant Richard Wigglesworth are confirmed as part of the British and Irish Lions coaching staff to take on Australia this summer.
The Duke of Sussex has resigned from a charity he set up after a row between the trustees and the chair of its board.
Prince Harry co-founded Sentebale in 2006 in honour of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, to help people in southern Africa living with HIV and Aids.
He stepped down with his co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, and the board of trustees because their relationship with chairwoman Dr Sophie Chandauka “broke down beyond repair” after she was asked to resign and took legal action.
Dr Chandauka said she reported the trustees to the UK Charity Commission and had “blown the whistle” about issues including abuse of power, bullying, sexism and racism.
The Charity Commission said it is “aware of concerns about the governance” of Sentebale and is looking into them.
In a joint statement, the duke and Prince Seeiso said they were resigning from their roles with “heavy hearts” and in “solidarity with the board of trustees”.
“It is devastating that the relationship between the charity’s trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation,” they said.
They said the trustees “acted in the best interest of the charity” by asking Dr Chandauka to step down, but that her decision to take legal action to retain her position was “further underscoring the broken relationship”.
They added they would be sharing their concerns with the Charity Commission “as to how this came about”.
Former trustees Timothy Boucher, Mark Dyer, Audrey Kgosidintsi, Dr Kelello Lerotholi and Damian West described their decision as “nothing short of devastating” for all of them.
They said they had lost trust and confidence in the chairwoman but her legal action to block them from removing her meant they had no other option than to resign.
They said this was in the “best interest of the charity”, as it could not take on the “legal and financial burden” of the lawsuit.
In response, Dr Chandauka said her work at Sentebale had been “guided by the principles of fairness and equitable treatment for all”.
“There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct,” she added.
This, she said, was the “story of a woman who dared to blow the whistle about issues of poor governance, weak executive management, abuse of power, bullying, harassment, misogyny, misogynoir [discrimination against black women] – and the coverup that ensued”.
She said the High Court had accepted her application to hear her case.
The trustees and princes have not responded directly to her allegations.
Dr Chandauka, a corporate finance lawyer, had previously served on Sentebale’s board between 2009 and 2015 before becoming chair, according to the charity’s website.
She has worked for companies such as Morgan Stanley, Meta and Virgin Money, and was appointed an MBE for her contributions to diversity in business in 2021.
The charity itself said it had “not received resignations from either Royal Patron”, but it did confirm a “restructuring” of its board on Tuesday.
It said it was looking to bring in more experts “with the capabilities and networks to accelerate Sentebale’s transformation agenda”.
The charity added that it had announced plans last April to move from being a development organisation addressing the impact of HIV and Aids on children and young people in Lesotho and Botswana to “one that is addressing issues of youth health, wealth and climate resilience in Southern Africa”.
“The recalibration of the Board is, therefore, part of Sentebale’s ambitious transformation agenda,” the charity added.
The Charity Commission said it was “aware of concerns” over Sentebale’s governance, adding: “We are assessing the issues to determine the appropriate regulatory steps.”
Heather Knight has been sacked as England captain following her side’s 16-0 loss in Australia.
Knight has been in the position since 2016, but has overseen a difficult winter, with a series win in South Africa sandwiched between a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign and a tumultuous Ashes tour of Australia.
On Friday, head coach Jon Lewis was also removed from his position after a review of the tour led by England director of women’s cricket Clare Connor.
Knight, 34, led the side in eight Tests, 94 one-day internationals and 96 T20s, with 134 wins from her 199 matches in charge.
“I have loved being England captain, it’s been the most rewarding period of my career,” said Knight.
“But for now I’m excited to focus on my batting and supporting the team and the new captain in the best way I can.
“Winning the ICC Women’s World Cup on home turf at Lord’s in 2017 will always be a huge highlight, but being a part of the huge steps forward made in the women’s game off the pitch brings me just as much pride.”
Connor said Knight was an “outstanding leader and role model”.
She will remain available for England selection as a player only, but the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are yet to confirm who will be her successor.
Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones have both deputised for Knight when she has been absent because of injury, while off-spinner Charlie Dean has been touted as a potential permanent candidate.
England’s home summer starts with a white-ball series against West Indies starting in May, before they take on India in June and July.
Israel says it has hit dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers and a command centre in southern Lebanon after rockets were fired from there into Israel for the first time since November’s ceasefire deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “to act forcefully against dozens of terror targets”.
Lebanon’s state media said one person was killed in the Israeli strikes.
The IDF said three rockets were intercepted in the northern Israeli town of Metula on Saturday morning. There were no injuries. No group has so far admitted firing the rockets, and Lebanon’s prime minister warned against his country being dragged “into a new war”.
The ceasefire deal ended 14 months of fighting with Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group backed by Iran.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, said it was “alarmed by the possible escalation of violence”, urging both Israel and Lebanon to “uphold their commitments”.
Local reports in Lebanon said artillery had fired into some southern locations of the country.
The Lebanese army said it had conducted a search operation, discovering “three primitive rocket launchers” which it dismantled.
The truce has been fragile: Israel has carried out nearly daily air strikes on what it describes as Hezbollah targets, and has indicated that attacks will continue to prevent the group from rearming.
In addition to that, the Israeli military is still occupying five locations in southern Lebanon, in what the Lebanese government says is a violation of the country’s sovereignty and a breach of the ceasefire deal, which required the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Israel says the Lebanese military has not yet fully deployed to those areas, and that it needs to remain at those points to guarantee the security of its border communities.
Saturday’s rocket attack into Israel will put even more pressure on the Lebanese government, and probably be used as proof by Israel that the Lebanese army does not have full control of border areas.
Despite Israel’s constant attacks, Hezbollah has not responded. The group faces the huge challenge of providing financial help to its communities affected by the war, and pressure from its opponents to disarm.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, who came to power in January, has said only the state should have arms in the country, in what is seen as a reference to Hezbollah’s arsenal. Lebanon’s international partners say they will only help the country if the government acts to curb Hezbollah’s power.
Hezbollah launched its campaign the day after the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The longstanding conflict escalated and led to an intense Israeli air campaign across Lebanon, the assassination of Hezbollah’s senior leaders and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
The offensive killed about 4,000 people in Lebanon – including many civilians – and led to the displacement of more than 1.2 million residents.
Israel’s stated goal in its war against Hezbollah was to allow the return of about 60,000 residents who had been displaced from communities in the country’s north because of the group’s attacks, and to remove it from areas along the border.
Lewis Hamilton hit out at “yapping” critics after taking his first win for Ferrari in the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion followed up his win in only his second event for his new team with fifth place on the grid for Sunday’s main event but said he was “optimistic” of a good result.
Hamilton did not identify the people he was referring to but said they “lacked understanding” of how difficult it was to achieve success straight away with a new team.
The 40-year-old said: “People just love to be negative at any opportunity. Even with the smallest things, they’ll just be negative about it.
“That’s just the difficult time that we’re living in.
“I see certain individuals – and again, I don’t read the news, but I see bits here and there – see people that I’ve admired for years just talking out of turn.
“Clearly some of them really just making uneducated guesses of what’s going on, just a real lack of appreciation.
“The amount of critics and people I’ve heard yapping along the way just clearly not understanding. Maybe because they never had the experience or just unaware.”
Hamilton had a difficult first race for Ferrari in Australia last weekend, qualifying eighth and finishing 10th.
But he took pole for the sprint event in Shanghai on Friday and followed it up with a dominant win in the sprint, leading home McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
“I felt unusually calm in myself,” Hamilton said. “I would say definitely more so than usual. I’m generally a relatively calm person, but I think today there was a stillness in me that I haven’t felt for a long time
“I got in the car extra early because I just wanted to be present and enjoy it because I haven’t been there for a while. Good start. Challenging race.
“It’s hard to put into words what it feels like. Obviously it’s a sprint race. It’s not the main race. But even just to get that is just a good stepping stone to where I’m working towards.”
Ferrari made some changes to their car after the sprint, and other teams maximised their own result to leave Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc together on the third row.
Piastri took pole from Mercedes’ George Russell and Lando Norris, who won in Australia for McLaren.
Verstappen is fourth on the grid for the grand prix, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc.
Hamilton said: “We made some changes to improve race performance., It was definitely harder over a single lap.
“The car became quite snappy. The lap wasn’t as clean at the end. I probably should have been 0.2secs further up or maybe 0.1secs. We’re not too far away but not ideal.
“I feel optimistic for tomorrow, would like to get a good start and jump at least one car. And then slowly work my way up. Tonight I will make a masterplan and then I have to try and execute it.”
Leclerc said: “As a team we maximised the potential of the car but the most important thing is we understand where has gone the potential of the car.”
Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen overtakes Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi in the final stretch to win the 3000m gold medal – the first world indoor title of his career at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Nanjing, China.
A British bomb disposal expert has been injured in an attack on a UN facility in the Gaza Strip, the charity he works for has said.
The 51-year-old, who was not named, was one of five people injured in an explosion that also killed a UN worker at the facility in Deir al-Balah on Wednesday morning, the Mines Advisory Group said.
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary general, told BBC Newshour a full investigation into the incident would be needed.
The Israeli military has denied reports it targeted the UN compound and has said the explosion was not caused by Israeli fire.
Israel said earlier it was resuming fighting in Gaza following a two-month ceasefire – launching a wave of strikes that killed more than 400 people, according to the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The injured Briton is an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) expert who works for the Manchester-based mine clearance charity.
The charity’s chief executive, Darren Cormack, said the man had been conducting an explosive hazards assessment at a UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) building at the time of the incident.
He was initially taken to hospital in Gaza for treatment and has since been moved to a hospital in Israel, Mr Cormack said.
“The UN has confirmed that today’s incident did not occur in the course of normal EOD operations and resulted from ordnance being fired at or dropped on the building in which the team was working,” he added.
“It is shocking that a humanitarian facility should be subject to attacks of this nature and that humanitarian workers are being killed and injured in the line of duty,” he said. “Attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law.”
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein wrote on X: “The circumstances of the incident are being investigated.
“We emphasize that the initial examination found no connection to IDF activity whatsoever.”
Gaza’s health ministry blamed an Israeli strike for the attack.
The UN’s Farhan Haq told the BBC: “We are making it clear that all military operations have to be conducted in a way that ensures that all civilians are respected and protected.”
The head of the UNOPS, Jorge Moreira da Silva, said he believed the explosion was “not an accident”, adding that the situation in Gaza was “unconscionable”.
The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 back to Gaza as captives.
Israel responded with a massive military offensive, which has killed more than 48,500 Palestinians, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says, and caused huge destruction to homes and infrastructure.
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, called for “restraint” during a telephone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday night.
“The Prime Minister underscored that he is deeply concerned by the return to fighting and urged for Israeli restraint,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Match of the Day Top 10 returns as Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards discuss their Top 10 Champions League captains and why Paolo Maldini is labelled as one of the best.
Next week’s Spring Statement will include the “biggest cuts since austerity”, the Guardian reports, after major reforms to disability benefits were announced earlier this week. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will tell MPs on Thursday she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by “billions more than expected”, the paper says. Economists have said the cuts will “harm key public services”, it adds.
Reeves will not raise taxes when she delivers the Spring Statement on Wednesday, the i Paper reports. But future cuts to benefits are “now likely”, it says. It adds that rebellion is “still brewing” within Labour over the government’s plan to save £5bn on disability and welfare payments.
Other front pages focus on triple-murderer Nicholas Prosper, who was “arrested by chance” on the way to carry out more killings at his former school, the Metro reports. “Stopped on massacre mission” is its headline.
The Daily Express says that “‘evil’ family killer” Prosper was “forced to hear his fate” in court after a judge ordered him to stop “cowering in his cell”. The teenager was jailed for 49 years on Wednesday for killing his mother, brother and sister.
An independent review finds that biological sex has been “erased from official data”, the Daily Mail reports. Crime and health records are instead listing a person’s gender, the paper adds.
The Daily Telegraph says criminals are “free to pick their own gender” because the government is “refusing to force police to record biological sex”. Its story is also based on a review into sex and gender data collection.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore received a “flippering fab welcome home” after nine months stuck in space, the Daily Star says. Dolphins are pictured alongside the pair’s capsule in the sea on the paper’s front page.
The US Federal Reserve has slashed its growth forecast as President Donald Trump’s tariffs have “cast a shadow” over the economy, the Financial Times reports.
Trump is eyeing a “takeover of Ukraine’s atomic sites”, according to the Times. The president has now “moved beyond” a proposed minerals deal with the country which did not mention nuclear power, the paper says.
“I’d do it all again” is the Daily Mirror’s headline, alongside a picture of a smiling Matt Hancock. The former health secretary defended the “VIP lane” for pandemic-era PPE contracts at the Covid inquiry on Wednesday, which allowed “pals of the Tories” to be “fast-tracked” for deals, the paper reports.
Former Casualty star Amanda Mealing crashed her car while on cocaine, “seriously injuring a nurse”, the Sun reports. The actress admitted drug-driving and was handed a 22-month driving ban on Wednesday. The crash took place in Lincolnshire in January of last year.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has visited the crew of HMS Vanguard after the submarine returned to UK waters after months of undersea service.
The nuclear-armed submarine had been patrolling for more than 200 days, marking one of the longest deployments in British Royal Navy history.
Sir Keir, who was accompanied by Defence Secretary John Healey, was the first prime minister to visit the boat’s “Day Zero” at Barrow-in-Furness in more than a decade.
The prime minister told reporters the Kremlin respected the UK’s nuclear arsenal because “we’ve got our own independent deterrent and we’re committed to Nato”.
“What is obviously important is they appreciate that it is what it is which is a credible capability,” he said. “And that it most certainly is.”
Britain is hosting a closed meeting on Thursday of senior military officers from the “Coalition of the Willing” as they draw up plans for a proposed peacekeeping force for Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump has held what he described as a “very good” hour-long phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, a day after speaking to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky said afterwards that he believed that “lasting peace can be achieved this year” under Trump’s leadership.
Possible US ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants was also discussed, the White House said, although Zelensky later stated this was only about the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia facility.
The tone of the call seems to be in contrast to Zelensky’s visit to the White House last month, in which the two leaders – along with US Vice-President JD Vance – were involved in a tense exchange.
Wednesday marked the first time the two men have spoken since the meeting in the Oval Office – although since then, their teams have met in Saudi Arabia and negotiated a proposed 30-day ceasefire.
While it is backed by Ukraine and the US, Putin rejected the proposal for a widespread pause in the conflict during his phone call with the US president on Tuesday.
During his conversation with Trump, Zelensky said he was open to a partial ceasefire involving a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, rail and port facilities that could be established quickly – but the Ukrainian president warned his country would retaliate if Moscow violated the terms of the ceasefire.
“I understand that until we agree [with Russia], until there is a corresponding document on even a partial ceasefire, I think that everything will fly,” he said, referring to drones and missiles.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the call was aimed at aligning Ukraine and Russia “in terms of their requests and needs”, adding that ceasefire efforts were on track.
Later, in a more detailed statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had agreed to help Ukraine source additional air defence systems, particularly in Europe.
The two leaders “agreed to share information closely between their defence staffs as the battlefield situation evolved”, he said.
Rubio’s statement also said Trump and Zelensky had discussed “Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants” with Trump saying “the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise”.
“American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure,” Rubio’s statement added.
Zelensky said the topic of power plants had been raised, but that they had only mentioned the Zaporizhzhia facility.
The developments will come as a relief for Zelensky, who described his conversation with Trump as “positive”, “frank”, and “very substantive”, during an online briefing to journalists on Wednesday.
“We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” he wrote on X.
During the video call with reporters, Zelensky said he believed Putin would not agree to a full ceasefire while Ukrainian troops remained in Russia’s western Kursk region, after Kyiv launched a surprise attack on the region in August last year.
While both Zelensky and Putin have said they would agree to halt attacks on energy infrastructure. However, both have since accused each other of continued attacks.
Trump said Wednesday’s call with Zelensky lasted about an hour.
“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Technical teams from Ukraine and the US are expected to now meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.
In the White House last month, Trump told Zelensky he was not thankful enough for US military and political support, and that he was “gambling with World War Three”.
The US temporarily then suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but diplomats were able to improve relations and on 11 March the two sides agreed on a ceasefire.
During his call with Trump on Tuesday, Putin agreed to halt Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
But he said a full ceasefire would only work if Ukraine’s supporters stopped giving military assistance – a condition Kyiv’s European allies have previously rejected.
Hours later both Ukraine and Russia launched attacks, with Kyiv saying hospitals had been targeted.
Officials in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said that a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a small fire at an oil depot.
Despite the strikes, Kyiv and Moscow carried out an exchange of prisoners on Wednesday. Each side released 175 POWs.
Zelensky described the swap as “one of the largest”, adding that Russia included an extra 22 “severely wounded” soldiers.
Watch: Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits UK nuclear-armed submarine earlier this week
The UK is hosting a closed meeting on Thursday of senior military officers from the “coalition of the willing” as they draw up plans for a proposed peacekeeping force for Ukraine.
More than 20 countries are thought to be involved.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to attend on Thursday afternoon after first visiting Barrow, where he is due to lay the keel of one of Britain’s next generation of nuclear-armed submarines.
Plans for a Western-led peacekeeping force for Ukraine are said to be moving to an operational phase.
Senior military officers from nations that make up the “coalition of the willing”, led by Britain and France, are due to discuss how this would work in practice when they gather at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood.
But there remain some major obstacles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will not tolerate the presence of any Nato member troops in Ukraine, regardless of their role.
The US is also proving reluctant to provide the necessary air cover that prospective members say they need.
Sir Keir is expected to attend part of the meeting after first visiting Barrow where he will lay the keel of HMS Dreadnought, one of the next generation of ballistic nuclear submarines.
On his visit to the town, Sir Keir will say Barrow is a “blueprint” for how defence spending can benefit a community.
He is due to announce that the King has agreed to grant Barrow the title of “Royal” in recognition of its contribution to national security.
Earlier he visited the crew of one of Britain’s nuclear submarines, HMS Vanguard, as it returned to Scotland after patrolling the waters of the north Atlantic.
The prime minister told reporters the Kremlin respected the UK’s nuclear arsenal because “we’ve got our own independent deterrent and we’re committed to Nato”.
“What is obviously important is they appreciate that it is what it is which is a credible capability,” he said. “And that it most certainly is.”
Defence Secretary John Healey, who joined the prime minister on the visit, stressed the government’s “unshakeable” commitment to the UK’s nuclear deterrent, which he called “the ultimate guarantor of our national security and the security of our Nato allies”.
