Paul Thomas Anderson’s revolutionary epic took home six awards while Sinners scored four including for best actor

• Oscar winners 2026: the full list

• In pictures: Jessie Buckley, Michael B Jordan and Jacob Elordi at the afterparties

Paul Thomas Anderson’s counter-culture caper One Battle After Another has won the Oscars war, taking home six awards after a hotly contested season.

The big-budget comedy thriller, inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, was named best picture and also won director, supporting actor for Sean Penn, adapted screenplay, editing and the first ever Oscar for casting, a category long-petitioned for within the industry.

The best looks from the red carpet at the 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles

• Oscars 2026 winners: the full list

• In pictures: Jessie Buckley, Michael B Jordan and Jacob Elordi at the afterparties

As One Battle After Another swept the Academy Awards, Paul Thomas Anderson, Javier Bardem and Conan O’Brien gave a welcome reality check to the glitzy ceremony

• Oscar winners 2026: the full list

In his opening monologue to the 98th Academy Awards, host Conan O’Brien issued a note of caution to easily offended viewers.

“I warn you, tonight could get political,” O’Brien said. “If that makes you uncomfortable, there’s an alternative Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock at a Dave & Buster’s down the street.”

In a year that largely stuck to script, host O’Brien’s antics and the It Was Just an Accident director’s stare at Kevin O’Leary got the internet talking

• Oscars 2026 winners: the full list

Jafar Panahi, the Iranian political dissident and director of the excellent film It Was Just an Accident – a best international feature nominee from France, as it was made without the permission of the Iranian government – looked, well, not impressed by Shark Tank judge and Marty Supreme castmember, Kevin O’Leary, on the red carpet. If there’s one moment that transcended the Oscars this year, it’s this dead stare.

The great, the good and the glamorous headed this year to aftershow parties including the Governors Ball dinner and the Vanity Fair bash at the LA County Museum of Art. Here are our pick of images from the evening

• Oscars 2026 winners: the full list

In honouring One Battle After Another, Academy voters finally welcomed Hollywood’s prodigal son into the fold

Oscar night climaxed with a metaphorical whiff of gunpowder and a defiant rebel yell as One Battle After Another broke late to claim the crowning best picture and director awards at the Dolby theatre in downtown Los Angeles. If it is true that Americans get the presidents they deserve, it follows that they should get the appropriate Academy Award winner as well.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s rambunctious counter-culture thriller is the perfect film for an imperfect USA, brilliantly reading the tea-leaves of Donald Trump’s second term with its tale of leftist activists in a proto-fascist California. One Battle After Another was the most overtly political of this year’s best picture nominees and that might have made the difference. But it was arguably the most ambitious, rousing and lip-smackingly satisfying too.

Response muted to president’s call amid soaring oil prices

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Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has said she has no immediate plans to send her country’s maritime self-defence forces to help protect tanker traffic in the strait of Homuz.

We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done ⁠within the legal framework.

I would like to ⁠engage in solid discussions based on Japan’s views and position regarding the need for early de-escalation.

Government reluctant to dispatch ships amid concerns complying with Trump’s demands could escalate Iran crisis

Ministers are drawing up plans to send minesweeping drones to the strait of Hormuz amid concerns in Whitehall that complying with Donald Trump’s demand to send ships could escalate the crisis.

The government is considering dispatching aerial minesweepers to help clear the vital waterway of mines in an attempt to allow the flow of oil exports to resume. However, officials said that sending ships, as requested over the weekend by the US president, could worsen the situation given the volatile nature of the war.

There is little sign of imminent regime change in Iran as its blockade of strait of Hormuz shocks global economy

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Few doubt that in the first days of the new war in the Middle East, the initiative belonged to the US and its ally Israel. Now it seems less sure, however.

Mohsen Rezaee, a senior officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, on Sunday said “the end of the war is in our hands” and called for the withdrawal of Washington’s forces from the Gulf and compensation for all damage caused by the assault.

Another weekend of violence compounded global market concerns over war in the Middle East, following US strikes on the vital oil hub

Oil prices have climbed again amid mounting supply fears after the US struck Iran’s vital Kharg Island oil hub and Donald Trump demanded allies help reopen the strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.8% to $104.98 per barrel during early trading on Monday. Another weekend of violence across the Middle East compounded concerns over the conflict, and its ramifications for global energy markets.