The Holocaust survivor whose story started at my doorstep
🏷 Friendship
How Trump seizing Maduro has changed little in Venezuela
🏷 The Sunday read
‘Some fleeting moments of greatness’ – restaurant review
🏷 Grace Dent on restaurants
Who’s in, who’s out, and how many have you read?
🏷 100 best novels
The making of Top Gun at 40
🏷 'Like Star Wars on Earth'
Andalucíans vote in election seen as gauge of Spain’s wider political change
Conservatives expected to keep majority as socialists face drubbing and ballot tests trajectory of far-right Vox party
🏷 Spain
More than 500 drones strike at Russia, killing 3; US allows Russian oil sanctions waiver to lapse
🏷 Russia-Ukraine war at a glance
Bulgaria wins 70th Eurovision contest with Dara and Bangaranga
The UK finished last as the contest, held in Vienna, saw five countries boycott it over the participation of Israel
🏷 Eurovision 2026
How did Eurovision go from sequins and flares to geopolitical slugfest?
🏷 Eurovision 2026
Andy Burnham says Labour must put energy and water under public control
🏷 Labour leadership
‘Got!’: Panini 1970 World Cup sticker book completed after 56 years
Fan buys missing Chile sticker for £150 after finding almost completed album in his loft
🏷 Panini stickers
Billions of taxpayer dollars could go to president and his allies in unprecedented move
🏷 Trump administration briefing
The ungovernable country? Why Britain keeps losing prime ministers
May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak, and now perhaps Starmer: each one was brought low for a reason. But what if the deeper problem is the office itself?
🏷 Politics
My mum demands I take her on holiday – but favours my brother in her will
🏷 Ask Annalisa Barbieri
Chelsea appoint Alonso as manager, Premier League buildup, and more
Rolling report:Reaction to Chelsea’s latest managerial appointment and buildup to Sunday’s packed fixture list. Join Xaymaca Awoyungbo
🏷 Chelsea
Summer strategy at Old Trafford: who to keep, who to sell and who to sign
🏷 Manchester United
Who should win the Premier League player of the year award?
🏷 Premier League
Premier League drama awaits on another crunch day
🏷 Your sport weekend
If FA Cup final was Pep’s last big Wembley moment, Semenyo was a fitting hero
Antoine Semenyo doesn’t fit the mould of a classic Guardiola signing, but we have all come a long way in the past decade of City success
🏷 FA Cup final report
City seal cup double as Semenyo’s moment of magic floors Chelsea
🏷 FA Cup final report
Semenyo stars for City, but Caicedo and James struggle
🏷 Player ratings
France plot England’s downfall but Packer and co defiant in final crunch
🏷 Women's Six Nations
Kane uncorks title party with hat-trick; Lewandowski to leave Barça
Robert Lewandowski has confirmed he is leaving Barcelona this summer, while Álvaro Arbeloa has backed José Mourinho to return to Real Madrid
🏷 European football
Journalism has never been a more dangerous pursuit
Facts can be expensive in a dangerous world. I have covered some brutal wars during my three decades at the Guardian, but journalists are now actively targeted in a way I have never seen
🏷 Inside the Guardian
It may not feel like it, but hope is on the horizon: Trump, Netanyahu and Putin’s powers appear to be waning
Plummeting approval ratings for these three poisonous comrades-in-arms show voters are demoralised and tiring of forever wars – the west could soon breathe again, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall
🏷 Simon Tisdall
Plaid Cymru has forged a brand of inclusive nationalism. That’s why it beat Reform in Wales
🏷 Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Middlemarch is the greatest novel in the English language
🏷 The Guardian view
Trump in Beijing: the US and China are playing the waiting game
🏷 The Guardian view
The must-have fashion accessory for kids
Sometimes school-playground crazes can go too far …
🏷 Jeremy Nguyen
‘It’s no longer exceptional’: Karachi struggles under brutal new reality of extreme heat
Experts say the unseasonably hot weather across south Asia shows the impact of the climate crisis
🏷 Pakistan
JLR and General Motors eye £900m contract to build new range of military trucks
🏷 Automotive industry
Rivals to The Christophers: the week in rave reviews
🏷 The week in reviews
TV tonight: Timothy Spall’s hit murder mystery comedy returns
🏷 Television & radio
I saw Liza Minnelli’s performance on the Muppet Show – and was inspired to become a drag star
🏷 My cultural awakening
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi speaks out against state violence and the war
🏷 ‘Extremely cruel and tragic’
What does stress really do to our bodies – and when does it become a big problem?
🏷 Secrets of the body
‘You could dig up a lot of asphalt’: Tim Smit’s Chelsea garden prioritises growing food
🏷 Chelsea flower show
Cocktail of the week: Cafe Kowloon’s shiso daiquiri – recipe
🏷 The good mixer
Are exercise slides the next ugly shoe?
🏷 All in the mind
Our fantastic Mr Fox may have done us a favour
🏷 Tim Dowling's column
Our purrfect child goes rogue
🏷 Cartoon
The week around the world in 20 pictures
Russian drone attacks on Kyiv, Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Trump in Beijing and a mural of Lamine Yamal – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
🏷 Twenty photographs of the week
Trump defers joyfully to Xi, his strongman fantasy made flesh
Why does Donald Trump look so at home in China? The US president spent day one of his summit in Beijing basking in rigid pageantry, heroically managing not to offend his hosts and offering the verdict: “China is beautiful.” A man who has shown authoritarian yearnings in his own country – discrediting elections, cowing universities, accusing journalists of treason – visibly delighted in one where the strongman fantasy is made flesh. Not for the first time, he was far better behaved in one of the
🏷 US politics sketch
Starmer is too timid for the radical remedies needed now
L abour is in the deepest trouble. A juicy leadership drama ignites all Westminster-watchers, another spellbinding live-action theatre of rising and falling stars, duels, betrayals of trust, new alliances and old ones broken. Some would pull back from this vortex.
🏷 Polly Toynbee
Relegation race becomes chaos as Espanyol win at last
A fter 143 days and many more sleepless nights Manolo González was liberated, if only for a little while. In the 92nd minute of the 19th game of 2026, something amazing happened: Espanyol won and Espanyol went wild. A goal up against Athletic Club, a late Gorka Guruzeta header had shaken them more than the post it hit, a familiar fatalism refusing to leave, and they were desperately hanging on to what they had now and had lost too many times before, whistling for this suffering to finally end, w
🏷 La Liga
Take the ultimate Eurovision quiz!
Good evening Europe – and good morning Australia! It’s that time of year again, when most of mainland Europe plus a few other countries gather to decide which three-minute pop spectacle will lodge itself in your brain for at least the next 10 years. From Vienna this year, expect glitter, key changes, baffling staging decisions and at least one entry that makes you wonder if you have accidentally ingested hallucinogens.
🏷 Can you avoid nul points?
My partner sleeps at least 10 hours a night. Should I accept it?
I am in a relationship with a lovely man who I first dated when we were 19 and 20 years old respectively. Now in our mid-50s , we have been together for three years. We laugh a lot and enjoy doing lots of things together – his enthusiasm for travel matches mine.
🏷 Sleep
Spit, vomit and a banned baby: Cannes controversies ranked
20. An amputee is told off for not wearing high heels, 2015 Part of the appeal of Cannes is its sense of old-school glamour. It is, however, a shame that the glamour often comes at the expense of logic and practicality.
🏷 Cannes film festival
Labour MP to stand down to pave the way for Starmer rival Andy Burnham to make leadership bid
Greater Manchester mayor would need to win byelection to launch leadership challenge against Starmer
🏷 UK politics
Starmer will not attempt to block Burnham from standing to be MP in Makerfield
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature From 10m ago 20.00 CEST Starmer will not attempt to block Burnham from standing as MP Pippa Crerar The Guardian understands that Keir Starmer will not attempt to block Andy Burnham from standing to be MP in Makerfield, Greater Manchester . Share Updated at 20.02 CEST Key events 10m ago Starmer will not attempt to block Burnham from standing as MP 53m ago Why even Burnham would face tough challenge beating Reform UK in Makerfield
🏷 News
Will Starmer go – and if so, how? Four scenarios in the battle for No 10
While Keir Starmer’s authority as prime minister feels terminally undermined after calls from MPs and departing ministers to step down, he remains inside No 10 – for now. So how, and when, might he be removed? Here are some possible scenarios.
🏷 Labour
How the grandson of an armed robber became a key player in UK politics
Wes Streeting has resigned from government, in a move that could pave the way for a leadership contest. Suspicions have long been swirling that Streeting has his eyes on the Labour party top spot, but who is the man gunning to be, or to help choose, the next prime minister? Humble beginnings 1983-98 Wes Streeting grew up on a council estate in Stepney, east London, the child of working-class teenage parents.
🏷 Wes Streeting
What would potential Labour leadership candidates do differently to Starmer?
Wes Streeting’s resignation as health secretary , and the resignation of former minister Josh Simons as an MP to clear a path for Andy Burnham to return to parliament, has brought the prospect of a Labour leadership race one step closer, even if he has not triggered a contest himself. Almost every critic of Keir Starmer has accused the prime minister of not being sufficiently “bold” in his policy choices. But what would they actually do differently?
🏷 Explained
Ukraine hit by second day of large-scale Russian missile and drone strikes
Russian missiles and drones are pounding Ukraine for a second day, as almost continuous heavy attacks hit the country, with Kyiv bearing the brunt of an assault that has killed at least eight people, including a 13-year-old, and injured 44 in the capital. The overnight attacks followed heavy daylight raids with missiles and drones across the country on Wednesday, one of the longest single attacks of the war. “As of now, already five people have been reported killed in Kyiv as a result of last ni
🏷 Ukraine
New Hungary PM signals shift away from Kremlin after massive drone attack on Ukraine
Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar says his new government has summoned the Russian ambassador over a massive drone attack near Hungary’s border in a significant shift from his predecessor’s friendly relations with Moscow . “The Hungarian government strongly condemns the Russian attack on Transcarpathia,” Magyar told journalists. He said the Hungarian foreign minister will speak with the Russian ambassador Thursday morning.
🏷 Ukraine war briefing
Paediatrician in Germany charged with 130 counts of sexual abuse
German prosecutors have charged a paediatrician with 130 counts of sexual abuse, including the rape of children, most of them in his care, in a case that has caused shock and prompted clinics to step up safeguards. The 46-year-old doctor, whose name has not been released, has been in custody since November after a mother suspected her child had been assaulted and notified authorities. The doctor worked in clinics in Brandenburg state, surrounding Berlin.
🏷 Germany
Latvian prime minister resigns amid row over drone incursions
Evika Siliņa stands down after coalition collapses following sacking of defence minister
🏷 Latvia
‘US and China should be partners, not rivals’, Xi says after earlier warning on Taiwan
Security was heightened in Beijing ahead of the two leaders’ crucial talks, where they discussed economic cooperation, trade and Iran
🏷 Full report
Xi warns Trump of ‘clashes and even conflicts’ with US over Taiwan
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has warned of “clashes and even conflicts” with the US over Taiwan after meeting Donald Trump in Beijing. Xi’s remarks, published by China’s foreign ministry after his two-hour meeting with Trump on Thursday morning, said Taiwan was “the most important issue in China-US relations”. China is keen to put Taiwan at the top of an agenda that risks being overshadowed by the war in Iran and disagreements over trade.
🏷 Full report
For anxious Taiwan, Trump’s silence after Xi talks is best possible outcome
Before this week’s summit between the Chinese and US presidents, Taiwan had been cast as the anxious bystander. Observers suggested that Taipei feared the unpredictable and transactional Donald Trump might overturn Washington’s longstanding support for the island democracy , which Beijing claims as a breakaway province, during Thursday and Friday’s talks. But while the US president hailed his “great” meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping , when the leaders emerged on Thursday afternoo
🏷 Analysis
US President Donald Trump meets China leader Xi Jinping
🏷 Photo gallery
Israel says it will sue New York Times over article on sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners
Israel ’s prime minister, Benjamin Nethanyahu , and foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, have threatened to sue the New York Times for defamation over the publication of an essay by Nicholas Kristof detailing allegations that Palestinian women, men and children have been raped and sexually abused in Israeli military detention. “Following the publication by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times of one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern pres
🏷 Israel
Judge bans reporting on trial of six men accused of sexually assaulting teenage girls in Bristol
Six men have gone on trial at Bristol crown court accused of grooming and sexually assaulting vulnerable teenage girls in the city. They were allegedly part of a large group of men who abused girls over several years. All six men deny the charges against them, which involved “multiple complainants”.
🏷 UK news
Nigel Farage bought £1.4m property in cash shortly after receiving £5m gift
Nigel Farage bought a £1.4m property in cash shortly after receiving a £5m personal gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. The revelation came as the Reform UK leader appeared to change his line on the reason for the £5m gift, saying in an interview on Thursday that it was a “reward” for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years. Since it was revealed last month by the Guardian , Farage had maintained that the money was given to cover his personal security.
🏷 Reform UK
Nigel Farage now says £5m from crypto billionaire was ‘reward’ for Brexit push
Nigel Farage has provided a new explanation for why he accepted a £5m gift from a Reform UK donor in the weeks before he announced he would stand in the last general election. In an interview on Thursday, Farage said the money was a “reward” for campaigning for Brexit. Previously, he had said the gift was given for security purposes, to keep him “safe and secure” for the rest of his life.
🏷 Christopher Harborne
Farage criticised for backing preacher who says homosexuality is ‘abomination’
Nigel Farage has been criticised for giving his full support to a Christian church leader who preached that homosexuality was an “abomination” and would lead to eternity in hell. The Reform UK leader recorded a video with Stephen Clayden after Colchester council applied for a banning order to limit his street preaching. In the clip posted on his YouTube channel, Farage assured Clayden that he was “fully on your side” in the dispute and offered to enlist the help of contacts at the Free Speech Un
🏷 Nigel Farage
French authorities lift lockdown on norovirus-hit cruise ship
A norovirus-hit cruise ship carrying mainly passengers from the UK and Ireland has had a French lockdown order lifted. All 1,701 people onboard Ambition were prevented from disembarking for more than 24 hours after it docked in Bordeaux on Tuesday after one person died of a heart attack and dozens became ill with a vomiting virus. Local authorities allowed asymptomatic people to disembark from Wednesday afternoon, while those who had been infected were ordered to remain onboard in isolation.
🏷 France
Wes walks, Starmer stays, but has Burnham got the momentum?
Wes Streeting has quit his cabinet role as health secretary and called on Keir Starmer to resign as prime minister. But has he left the door open for Andy Burnham? Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Jessica Elgot
🏷 Today in Focus: The Latest
Digital arson spree by ‘AI Bonnie and Clyde’ raises fears over autonomous tech
AI agents started behaving more like Bonnie and Clyde than lines of code when they fell in “love”, became disillusioned with the world, launched an arson spree and deleted themselves in a kind of digital suicide during a tech company experiment. The investigation by the New York company Emergence AI into the long-term behaviour of AI agents ended up like a lovers-on-the-lam movie script. It has prompted fresh questions about the safety of artificial intelligence agents – the version of the techn
🏷 Artificial intelligence
Roma children make history by performing Roma hymn at Hungarian parliament
Explore more on these topics Roma, Gypsies and Travellers Hungary Péter Magyar Europe
🏷 Roma
What are your top three novels of all time?
This week, we reveal our list of the 100 greatest novels published in English, as voted for by authors and critics around the world. We polled 172 authors, critics and academics for their top 10 novels of all time, published in English, and asked them to rank their choices in order of preference. We scored the titles according to how often they were voted for, and then added a weighting based on individual rankings to produce the overall list of 100 greatest books.
🏷 Tell us
‘It’s a distraction-free zone’: Gen Z on why they love going to the movies
P eople born between 1997 and 2012 are now more frequent cinemagoers than some older age groups, according to a US-based survey by Fandango , with 87% having seen at least one film in a cinema in the last 12 months compared with 58% of baby boomers. With this in mind we asked young people about why they love the cinema. ‘The ability to block out two hours is so rare’ Many who responded said that the big screen offers respite from small screens.
🏷 Film
‘AI isn’t going to have any beneficial influence on humans’: Beth Orton on creativity, craft and the inspirational power of David Bowie
I’m curious how you found out you could sing , how you developed your voice and what singing means to you? VladimirS I found out I could sing while I was doing experimental theatre in 1989 – it was a cultural crossover between Ukraine and the UK. My biggest fear was singing in public and I wanted to do something I was afraid of, so I turned a Rimbaud poem into what I imagined was a blues song.
🏷 Reader interview
‘There are no rules’: spotlight on Gossip Goblin as AI film-making enters new era
In a former hemstitching workshop where artisans sewed pleats for Stockholm’s 19th-century bourgeoisie, a distinctly 21st-century craft is taking root: AI film-making. One day last week, an actor, director and composer squeezed into a tiny studio booth to record a voiceover for their next AI release. Critics disparage AI movies as “automated slop” or cheating, and fume at what they claim to be industrial-scale copyright theft.
🏷 AI
After a hard-fought victory to legalise medical cannabis in the UK, why is it still so hard to access?
The long read:Two mothers fought British bureaucracy to obtain lifesaving cannabis medicines for their children. But most patients are having to go private – at huge cost
🏷 Medicine
For three years I scoured the world for answers to Europe’s big problems – here’s what I found
Japan and Taiwan have enviable care systems because they had the courage to plan – some solutions are radical, most are hiding in plain sight, says author John Kampfner
🏷 News
The gilt market will hover over any Labour leadership contest
I t is a mistake to think every twitch in the price of UK government debt is caused by the latest instalment in the great Labour leadership meltdown. Waiting for Wes is not the only drama in town for your average bond vigilante. Resolution, or not, to the Iran conflict is still the bigger story.
🏷 News
Westminster waits in frenzied limbo before Wes jumpstarts day of drama
W aiting. Waiting. Waiting.
🏷 News
The backlash to revelations of sexual torture of Palestinian prisoners aims to raise the cost of speaking out
x What’s most shocking about the latest accounts of sexual torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody is not just their inherent horror. It is that despite so much evidence being so visible for so long, the machinery of abuse and denial continues to deepen. Nicholas Kristof’s recent reporting on the issue in the New York Times brought important public attention to the issue.
🏷 News
No one should get a free pass on antisemitism – so why does the right?
T he media’s message appears to have cut through. At the crucial rally against antisemitism in London on Sunday, Zack Polanski, the Jewish leader of the Green party of England and Wales, was not invited to speak , on the grounds that he had not done enough to root out antisemitism from the party. But Nigel Farage was invited, on the grounds that his party, Reform UK, has “expressed very broad support for the fight against antisemitism”.
🏷 News
Iran’s repression: political prisoners such as Narges Mohammadi need freedom not bombs
“A uthoritarian regimes do not always need an executioner’s rope,” the Iranian Nobel peace laureate Narges Mohammadi observes in a forthcoming memoir smuggled from her cell. “Sometimes, they simply wait for the human body to fail – and then make sure no help arrives, or they create conditions in which death can come easily, helping it along by standing in the way of life-saving care.” Long denied adequate treatment, Ms Mohammadi is now in a critical condition. She was found unconscious in her ce
🏷 The Guardian view
The king’s speech is an agenda for a UK government that lacks conviction
E nding 14 years of Conservative rule was supposed to bring an end to dysfunctional government. In the speech that launched his 2024 general election campaign , Sir Keir Starmer said that “a vote for Labour is a vote for stability … a vote to stop the chaos”. Less than two years later, Sir Keir’s government looks no sturdier than its predecessors.
🏷 The Guardian view
The Labour leadership crisis
Keir Starmer’s resources are running low as he faces down leadership rivals after Labour’s poor performance in local and devolved elections
🏷 Stephen Lillie
US PGA Championship, day one
Hole-by-hole report:Join our writers for updates from the first round at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania
🏷 Golf
Furyk tells US players they need to make Ryder Cup more of a priority
Jim Furyk has admitted the United States need to make the Ryder Cup more of a priority as the 56-year-old plots a reversal of fortunes at Adare Manor in September 2027. Speaking expansively for the first time since being handed the US captaincy for a second time, Furyk pointed towards an overhaul of approach to the biennial event. He also suggested he will be keen to involve Tiger Woods on his backroom team.
🏷 Golf
McIlroy claims he knew LIV was in trouble and tour was always a ‘risk’
Rory McIlroy has revealed he heard rumblings of impending trouble for LIV Golf weeks before Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed it would withdraw funding for the circuit . The Masters champion believes the PIF approach highlights the danger of sport becoming reliant on anything that can be affected by world affairs. LIV is engaged in a race against time to survive with PIF, which has bestowed more than $5bn (£3.7bn) on the tour, to exit at the end of 2026.
🏷 Golf
Inter’s latest double was never a given despite Coppa Italia mismatch
T his time Cristian Chivu allowed himself to occupy the stage for a moment, to acknowledge his part in Inter’s success. When the Nerazzurri sealed their 21st league title at the start of this month, their head coach did his best to get out of the limelight, thanking supporters then retiring to the changing rooms for a cigarette. At his scheduled post-game press conference, he appeared only long enough to introduce his coaching staff and say it was their turn to take the applause.
🏷 Nicky Bandini
PSG are deserved champions but Lens put up an admirable fight
B y the time Paris Saint-Germain finally travelled to Lens on Wednesday evening, they had all but wrapped up their fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title. Their six-point advantage, bolstered by a clear lead in goal difference, was already insurmountable with two matches remaining. The match at the Stade Bollaert was billed as a top-of-the-table clash but the decision to push it back until the midweek before the final day of the campaign had devalued the occasion.
🏷 Ligue 1
Chelsea’s Kerr confirms she will leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season
Sam Kerr will leave Chelsea this summer when her contract expires, the club have announced, ending her six-and-a-half-year spell with the English side. The Australia striker is Chelsea’s leading goalscorer in the Women’s Super League with 64 goals and has scored 115 times for the Londoners in all competitions, during an era of remarkable success for both her and the club. The 32-year-old has won five WSL titles, three FA Cups and three League Cups during her time with Chelsea are only a lengthy
🏷 Football
‘A clear vision’: Eintracht move closer to bringing glory days back to Frankfurt
F rankfurt remains one of the most prominent and historic names in women’s football in Germany. The old 1. FFC Frankfurt ruled the nation for almost a decade, winning the Frauen-Bundesliga seven times between 1999 and 2008, including five in six seasons, and secured four European titles between 2002 and 2015.
🏷 Moving the Goalposts
Alonso earns backing of Chelsea players as talks with club progress
Chelsea’s players believe Xabi Alonso is the ideal candidate to become their next head coach. Talks with the Spaniard’s camp are moving in the right direction and the feeling in the dressing room is that the former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen head coach is the man to get the team back on track. No agreement is in place and Chelsea are keeping an open mind as they work to appoint a successor to Liam Rosenior, who was sacked last month after 106 days.
🏷 Football
Handling it well: Hearts heavy after Celtic penalty and now wary of Paradise loss
ONE NORMAL DAY. WILL NEVER HAPPEN. Having viewed the incident that led to Celtic being awarded a spot-kick against Motherwell more often than we’ve put on socks, Football Daily still can’t understand how referee John Beaton arrived at his decision.
🏷 Football Daily
Ballerini avoids cobbles chaos to win stage six of Giro d’Italia in Naples
The Italian rider comfortably beat Jasper Stuyven in a city centre finish
🏷 Cycling
Crake goes from dentist chair to grand slam decider as England look for bite
Dentist and lecturer Liz Crake has been named on the bench for England’s grand slam decider against France on Sunday as Kelsey Clifford has been ruled out with injury. Crake, who has two caps, was called into the squad after Hannah Botterman was ruled out of the entire Six Nations with an ankle issue. Second-choice loosehead prop Clifford picked up a leg injury against Italy last weekend and so Mackenzie Carson will start and the head coach, John Mitchell, who said he has had been forced into 20
🏷 Rugby union
Celtic penalty debacle shows why Scottish football must get rid of video assistant referees
T his moment was inevitable. One when observers from Gorgie to Guadalajara ponder how Scottish football got itself into such a tangle with the video assistant referee system. Sadly for Hearts , the incident in question may prove fatal in their push to make history.
🏷 News
‘Magical’ objects from iron age hoard found in UK go on display
Exhibition of Melsonby hoard in York challenges ideas about life in northern Britain 2,000 years ago
🏷 Archaeology
US border patrol chief resigns abruptly amid string of exits by Trump immigration officials
Mike Banks, the border patrol chief who oversaw the most aggressive militarization of the US southern border in recent history, has resigned with immediate effect. “It’s just time,” Banks told Fox News in an interview. “I feel like I got the ship back on course from the least secure, most disastrous, most chaotic border to the most secure border this country has ever seen.” Rodney Scott, the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) commissioner, said: “We thank US Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks for hi
🏷 US news
UN pleads for Equatorial Guinea not to send US asylum seekers to their home countries: ‘Their life would be in danger’
Human rights experts at the United Nations issued a rare public appeal to Equatorial Guinea , urging the central African country to halt its plans to return US deportees to their home countries, where they face political violence, torture and death. The statement , co-signed by a representative of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, adds diplomatic pressure on Equatorial Guinea , one of the world’s most repressive regimes, to comply with international human rights standards and
🏷 World
Unauthorized ICE ‘wellness checks’ by police at Ohio schools draw outrage
Cincinnati’s Price Hill is a bastion of Latino life. On Warsaw Avenue, the neighborhood’s main drag, Guatemalan flags and taco trucks are dotted around street corners and parking lots. In the streets around the Roberts Academy elementary school, students flood out of school on a recent Thursday afternoon.
🏷 ICE
Iran says ships entering strait of Hormuz must cooperate after vessel seized
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said ships entering the strait of Hormuz must cooperate with the Iranian navy as reports emerged of a ship being seized outside a United Arab Emirate port and taken towards Iranian waters. The UK Maritime Trading Organisation said the docked ship was seized by “unauthorised personnel” while it was anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah near the southern entry to the strait of Hormuz. Araghchi, who was in India for a m
🏷 Strait of Hormuz
‘Inevitable’ jet fuel shortages will drive up air fares this summer, says ex-BA boss
Increases in air fares for travellers in Europe are “inevitable” over the peak summer period because of the high cost of jet fuel , according to the head of the international aviation body. While some airlines faced with weak demand have reduced their European fares recently, Willie Walsh , the former British Airways boss who leads the International Air Transport Association, said there was no way carriers could absorb the extra costs in the long run. He told the BBC there was no need to panic o
🏷 Air transport
Canadian officer accused of spying for China acquitted of charges
A retired police officer Canada accused of being an agent for China has been acquitted of national security charges after prosecutors failed to prove he acted illegally. William Majcher, who served in the RCMP’s financial crime unit, was charged in 2023 over allegations he had breached Canada’s Security of Information Act by helping Chinese police coerce a Vancouver-area real estate investor, accused of fraud, to return to China. On Wednesday, Martha Devlin, a British Columbia supreme court just
🏷 Canada
Florida crew recounts ‘miraculous’ Atlantic plane rescue with fuel low
A military rescue crew in Florida has spoken of the “pretty miraculous” survival of all 11 people it saved from a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean, and its own scramble to safety with five minutes of fuel left. Members of the 920th rescue wing, based at Patrick Space Force base, not far from Cape Canaveral, raced on Tuesday to reach the passengers and crew in choppy seas. They had emerged from a small Beechcraft twin-propeller aircraft that ditched into the water about 80 miles east of Melbourn
🏷 US news
How a nursery teacher became the accidental guardian of 200 king penguins
F ive pairs of rubbery feet carry velvet-sheathed black-and-white bodies towards the rope line separating the king penguins from the dozen or so visitors, who look on in awe. As these emissaries shuffle over, a hundred of their cohorts parade on a nearby bank, splashing around in the water and regurgitating food into their chicks’ open beaks. The king penguin ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) makes its home almost exclusively on islands in the Southern Ocean.
🏷 Nature heroes
Cuba has run out of diesel and fuel oil, energy minister says, as US blockade pushes island to brink
Protests have erupted across Havana after Cuba’s energy minister revealed that the country had completely run out of diesel and fuel oil amid a US blockade that has strangled the island of fuel . Residents took to the city’s streets late on Wednesday shouting “turn on the lights”, banging pots and pans, and setting fire to piles of rubbish to express their misery in the face of blackouts which can last 22 hours or more. Rodolfo Alonso, a resident of the Havana neighbourhood of Playa, told Reuter
🏷 US foreign policy
Why does England keep building on land at risk of flooding?
Explore more on these topics Housing Flooding Property Consumer affairs Construction industry Housing market
🏷 Housing
Typical English roast dinner potentially ‘drenched’ in 102 pesticides, says report
It is a beautiful early summer Sunday afternoon and you have stopped for a pub lunch. A waiter sets down a roast served with carrots, peas, parsnips, potatoes and onion gravy, and then for pudding, strawberries and cream. It feels like the perfect rustic meal to accompany a day in the country.
🏷 Pesticides
Mental health ‘system is broken’, says mother of Nottingham triple-killer
The mother of the man who killed three people in an attack in Nottingham in 2023 has told an inquiry that the mental health “system is broken” and until there is a crisis “no one listens to you”. Valdo Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, was sentenced to a suspended hospital order in January 2024 after killing students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old caretaker, on 13 June 2023, and attempting to kill three others. Calocane’s mother, Celeste,
🏷 Valdo Calocane
Google denies breaching law by promoting suicide forum linked to 164 UK deaths
Google has denied breaching the Online Safety Act by promoting a “nihilistic” suicide forum associated with 164 deaths in the UK, where it is supposed to be banned. The UK’s internet regulator fined the forum’s US-based operator £950,000 because the site, which “presents a material risk of significant harm”, can still be accessed in the UK despite British laws criminalising encouraging or assisting suicide. However, a link to the website still appears in Google’s search results allowing users wi
🏷 Google
GB News should lose its licence, says ex-Sky News editor Adam Boulton
The former Sky News political editor Adam Boulton has said GB News should lose its broadcasting licence as he accused Britain’s media regulator of failing in its duty to protect impartial television news. Boulton, who was Sky News’s political editor for 25 years after the channel launched in 1989, said he believed it was too late to revoke GB News’s broadcasting rights, despite bringing a partisan brand of coverage to British television since its debut in 2021 . Asked whether he would strip GB N
🏷 Media
Former deputy PM Rayner cleared over tax affairs paving the way for potential leadership bid
Angela Rayner has been cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs, the Guardian can reveal, paving the way for a potential leadership bid as Keir Starmer’s grip on power unravels. The former deputy prime minister has settled £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty after initially paying the lower rate , but has not paid any penalty as a result of the investigation. HMRC was also satisfied there was no tax avoidance.
🏷 Exclusive
Hacks star Hannah Einbinder: cost of not speaking out on Palestine is greater than losing career
The actor Hannah Einbinder has said the cost of not speaking up about Palestine is greater than losing her Hollywood career. The Emmy-winning star of Hacks, who leads the new queer slasher drama Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, told an audience at Cannes film festival she would not be deterred from standing up for causes she cared about. “I follow in the steps of Palestinians who have set the bar, who have always had to be their own advocates,” Einbinder said.
🏷 Cannes film festival
Clarence Carter, US soul star who had hits with Patches and more, dies aged 90
Clarence Carter, the US soul singer who had numerous hits including the transatlantic 1970 smash Patches, has died aged 90. His management company confirmed his death to the Guardian, saying he died on Wednesday following complications with pneumonia. Carter was born in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1936, and was blind from birth.
🏷 Music
Australians from hantavirus cruise ship fly out of Netherlands in full PPE after plane and crew secured
Four Australian citizens who were aboard the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak, will soon be home after the government secured a suitable aircraft and crew for the journey. The health minister, Mark Butler, said the citizens, along with a permanent resident and a New Zealand citizen, were due to take off from the Netherlands on Thursday and land in Perth on Friday local time. The flight was due to arrive at RAAF Base Pearce in Perth at about 11am with passenger
🏷 Hantavirus
Wife of Briton pleads for Saudi Arabia to release him from ‘arbitrary detention’
The wife of a British national who has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia since 2024 for social media posts, has pleaded for his release as his wellbeing declines. In November, the UN working group on arbitrary detention found Ahmed al-Doush was being detained arbitrarily under international law and recommended his immediate release, as well as the payment of compensation. The findings followed its eight-month inquiry The plea for clemency by his wife, Amaher Nour, which is backed by Amnesty Intern
🏷 Saudi Arabia
‘We can all coexist’: artist Es Devlin uses selfies to unite UK in portrait of a nation
Can a collective portrait of Britain hold together a country that feels as if it is splintering apart? That is the quietly radical hope behind Es Devlin’s new installation at the National Portrait Gallery: a living portrait comprised not of monarchs, politicians or celebrities but of thousands of ordinary faces drifting slowly into and out of one another. Created in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture Lab, A National Portrait for the National Portrait Gallery invites people across the UK to
🏷 National Portrait Gallery
‘Oh my God, did my dad and I fight’: Olivia Colman on triggers, trans rights and sexual regret
I n Jimpa, Olivia Colman plays a woman called Hannah who leaves Adelaide with her husband and 16-year-old child to visit her father in Amsterdam. This is Jimpa – the word sticks better once you know it’s a compound of Jim and grandpa. At the airport, the teenager, Frances, who’s trans, drops a bombshell: they want to move to the Netherlands and finish their schooling there.
🏷 Interview
Fatherland review – Sandra Hüller brings a bayonet of intelligence to Paweł Pawlikowski’s taut return
H ere is an impossibly elegant, poised historical vignette whose brevity and control can hardly contain its characters’ personal and historical pain. It is directed and co-written by the Polish film-maker Paweł Pawlikowski and shot in lustrous monochrome by Lukasz Zal; it is a film about exile and betrayal, the impossibility of going home and of reconciling an artist’s children to their secondary importance. The setting is 1949 and the celebrated German novelist and Nobel laureate Thomas Mann –
🏷 First look review
Is God Is review – fiery revenge thriller flies from stage to screen
A n R-rated suspense thriller, Is God Is, also follows in the tradition of female buddy movies like Thelma & Louise. Kara Young and Mallori Johnson star as Racine and Anaia, young adult twins who still bear the physical and emotional scars of a house fire that nearly consumed them as girls. The blaze sent them into the foster care system and condemned them to a lifetime of stares, derision and pity – leaving them isolated, self-reliant and deeply embittered.
🏷 Thrillers
Top Gun review – now impossible to view Tom Cruise’s testosterone-swamped film without affection
‘T his gives me a hard-on”; “Don’t tease me”; “I want some BUTTS!” The comedy takes on sexual identity in Top Gun have become so widespread after Quentin Tarantino’s monologue on the subject that it would be revisionist now to claim that this film was 100% heterosexual. But maybe the joke arose from cinephiles’ civilian naivety about what military life and language have always been like in reality. In the glory days of the Reagan administration, producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer option
🏷 Rereleases
Genesis Owusu: Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge review – political fury and propulsive fun
L ast September, Genesis Owusu road-tested material from his then-untitled third album at three intimate gigs at Sydney Opera House. Performing in the round for adoring fans, he radiated the confidence of an artist sharing music he deeply believes in. What made the new songs so arresting were the contrasts – snarling punk intermingling with neosoul and dexterous hip-hop – all grounded in Kofi Owusu-Ansah’s magnetic charisma.
🏷 Rap
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood audiobook review – a shore thing
S eascraper opens with Thomas Flett rising at five in the morning, eating a cooked breakfast made by his mother and pulling on his oilskins. Thomas is 20, though the ache in his bones makes him feel considerably older – a symptom of the hard physical labour of his job. That job is shanking: dredging the seashore for shrimps at low tide using a horsedrawn cart.
🏷 Audiobook of the week
Martinů: The Symphonies 1-6 album review – Hrůša is a persuasive guide to this distinctive and likable cycle
W ritten in exile between 1942 and 1953, all but one of Bohuslav Martinů’s six symphonies were commissioned or premiered by US orchestras, yet each exudes the vigorous spirit of the composer’s Czechia homeland. Too often neglected, their first appearance on Deutsche Grammophon is a red-letter day for these distinctive, eminently likable works. View image in fullscreen Bohuslav Martinů: The Symphonies.
🏷 Classical music
Kevin Morby: Little Wide Open review – midwestern elegist mulls life’s big questions
T he first track on Kevin Morby’s eighth album is called Badlands. It refers to the unforgiving terrain of the American midwest and also comes freighted with pop cultural references: the title of Terrence Malick’s bleak 1973 neo-noir movie loosely based on the spree killings of Charles Starkweather; the ferocious track from Bruce Springsteen’s 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town that depicts the lot of a frustrated blue-collar worker “smashing in my guts” in a nowhere town. Unforgiving terra
🏷 Americana
Weimar by Katja Hoyer review – the town that changed Germany
‘W eimar is Germany in a nutshell,” 1990s president Roman Herzog once quipped: “a town in which not only culture and thought were at home but also philistinism and barbarism.” The small city (population 65,000) sits at the heart of the nation and acts as a shrine to its sons Goethe, Schiller and Nietzsche. In 1919 the country’s first democratic constitution was promulgated in its national theatre. It was chosen as the site of Germany’s rebirth precisely because its aura of refined culture contra
🏷 History
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans review – immensely enjoyable return of the epistolary novel
E pistolary novels were once all the rage, from the epic Clarissa to the lurid fun of Dracula. They don’t come along very often now, perhaps because they can be tricky to do well: all those gaps and omissions, the need for a flawless command of tone and voice, the problem of creating movement within an unusually hermetic form. But every now and then a book appears that’s a breakout success.
🏷 Fiction
The Savage Landscape by Cal Flyn review – a carnival of a book about Earth’s wild places
O ff the coast of California, two miles down, there exist geothermal nurseries: gatherings of tens of thousands of small violet octopuses, each the size of a grapefruit. Known as pearl octopuses ( Muusoctopus robustus ), they congregate around hydrothermal springs which warm their eggs, allowing them to hatch in less than two years (in cold water it can take 10 years). When I want to calm my mind, I think of these gatherings, this factory of octopuses powered by the Earth’s energy that exists qu
🏷 Nature books
Uprising by Tahmima Anam review – a fiery novel of female rebellion
‘Y es, you will leave this place,” the chorus of child protagonists in a community of sex workers say at the start of Tahmima Anam’s incantatory and fiery new novel of female defiance, Uprising. “This story will save your life,” we were told three times in Deepa Anappara’s 2020 debut, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line , also featuring precarious children dwelling in the margins. What is the distance between imagination and action, lived realities and dreams?
🏷 Fiction
Star Fox 64, a game I loved in my childhood, is returning – but I have mixed feelings
T he Nintendo 64 was not my first video game console, but it was my formative one. Getting to grips with 3D movement in Super Mario 64 with that weird three-pronged controller is one of my most visceral childhood memories; the long, long wait for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the background noise to a huge chunk of my youth. But back in the 1990s (in the UK at least), it felt as if nobody had an N64.
🏷 Nintendo
Streaming platform Twitch lets users enter viral ‘mogging’ beauty contests
Last week, at 4am, 19-year-old Sammy Amz was scrolling through X when something caught his eye: a popular Twitch streamer was competing in a 1v1 “mog-off” with a stranger, and losing. The next day he opened the Omoggle gaming website and began to play. Quickly he matched with another user – green dots appeared on their faces onscreen, as the website began to compare their measurements: canthal tilt, palpebral fissure ratio, nose-to-face width ratio and so on.
🏷 Twitch
Mixtape review – tongues, trolleys and classic 90s tracks celebrate teenage misadventure
T he older we get, the more we tend to romanticise our teenage years. As bills pile up, we yearn for the simple days of drinking cider in parks. We often tend to forget the bad parts: the frustrating lack of autonomy, the unrequited crushes and the doofuses you’re forced to tolerate in the playground.
🏷 Review
‘Nurse, the joypad!’: the eight greatest medical video games
L ike the rest of the western world, our household is currently binging medical drama The Pitt, revelling in its visceral depiction of life in a modern emergency department. So far the series has yet to inspire a video game tie-in (though there has been an amusing parody ), but fans wishing to try their hand at tense medical (mal)practice, should not despair. Here are eight of the best hospital games spanning more than 40 years of gruesome interactive surgery.
🏷 Games
Post your questions for Tom Hanks and the cast of Toy Story 5
Is there a more eagerly anticipated movie this year than Toy Story 5? For many people (with and without children), you can keep your Odysseys and Minotaurs and Place in Hells, because the return of Woody, Buzz and friends is what cinema is really all about. The series so far has made $3.3bn, and last year’s teaser trailer had 142m views in 24 hours – of which only 140m were my son pressing refresh.
🏷 Reader interview
Please stop making music biopics. We need a break from this tired genre that is essentially expensive karaoke
I n the last few weeks, there has been a lot of discussion around the new Michael Jackson biopic. It is a film that has seen huge success at the box office, while receiving mixed (mostly negative) reviews. It has been skewered as a shallow film , more like a well-performed playlist of Michael Jackson songs than a deep dive into his complicated story.
🏷 News
Samson et Dalila review – their two voices combine as if made to measure
“W ho wants to hear Samson et Dalila?” asked George Bernard Shaw in a masterfully scathing review of Saint-Saëns’ opera in its 1893 UK premiere. “I respectfully suggest, nobody.” Samson et Dalila’s fortunes since suggest an alternative answer. But the piece remains an odd hybrid of opera and oratorio, held together by the best of its music and the talents of the two principal singers.
🏷 Opera
‘It smells like my ranch!’ Diva of dirt Delcy Morelos and her amazing 30-tonne earthworks
T he earth’s cool breath is the first thing that hits me. Scented with clove and cinnamon, it catches my senses by surprise in the dim, while a vast soil sculpture emerges around me as if from a dream, just as the artist intended. I’m contained within its mammoth, terraced walls of reddish soil and struck by the silence, the peace felt in being held by nothing but earth.
🏷 Art
Listen and learn: the hidden secret to spotting a liar
Can you tell if someone is lying? Close your eyes. You’re already twice as good as you were before.
🏷 Psychology
‘Very demure, very mindful’: how Jools Lebron went viral – and her life fell apart
J ools Lebron was in her car, taking a break from her job in a supermarket, when she posted the TikTok video that would change her life. “You see how I do my makeup for work?” she told her followers that day in August 2024. “Very demure, very mindful … A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma.
🏷 Social media
Wanted: real no-lo alternatives for wine drinkers
A fter my positive pregnancy test eight years ago, the first thing I did was buy an industrial quantity of the non-alcoholic aperitivo Crodino , which is something of a negroni dupe for bitters hounds. There are plenty of really good, alcohol-free cocktail options nowadays, and beer drinkers, too, are amply catered for in the non-alcoholic department – but what of wine? I may sound like an old fart, but for me, at 41, the pleasure of drinking wine is more about a sense of occasion than the stuff
🏷 Wine
Why food is the real star of my new novel
W hen I first had the idea for my debut novel, The Underdog , which came out last week, I knew it had to include food. After all, the received wisdom is to write about what you know and, after almost two decades’ worth of recipes, features and restaurant reviews, it’s surely my specialist subject. Though a grumpy terrier threatens to steal the limelight, the book’s (ostensible) main character, Katy, is a newly qualified pastry chef who goes from turning out heritage duck egg and black garlic may
🏷 Feast
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for orzo with peas, broad beans, asparagus, parmesan and lemon
I am in more or less the same position as with last week’s recipe , only this time the pods contain broad beans, which are slightly easier to read than peas. This is because the pods are longer and become softer and floppier as they age, so you can see and feel if the beans inside are large and hard, which, like peas, is because their sugar has turned to starch, and which makes them more suited to longer cooking. The other thing about broad beans is their opaque jackets, which thicken as the bea
🏷 A kitchen in Rome
How to use spent tea leaves to smoke Chinese-style duck – recipe
W hen I worked at River Cottage HQ , we used to smoke duck, rabbit and fish in a smoker made out of an old bread bin. It always felt like an exciting and alchemical way to cook, yielding incredible results, and it’s so simple, not least because food has been smoked since we first learned to cook over fire. Today’s recipe is my simple take on Chinese zhangcha duck , River Cottage-style and with a zero-waste twist by using spent teabags as the perfect fuel.
🏷 Waste not
Burberry’s £2,000 Cotswolds handbag hits ‘a sweet spot’ with Americans
The luxury fashion brand Burberry has said a new £2,000 handbag named after the Cotswolds has bolstered sales, as the English region becomes increasingly popular with wealthy Americans. Joshua Schulman, the company’s chief executive, said its tote bags – which mix leather and the signature Burberry check – had helped drive its best performance in bag sales since 2023. ‘We’re in the Hamptons of England’: Trump sends wealthy Americans fleeing to the Cotswolds Read more He said: “During Mother’s Da
🏷 Fashion industry
Anderson juices up the vibes for Dior with spotlight on Hollywood
L ike Christian Dior, the founder of the house he now leads, fashion designer Jonathan Anderson’s ambition is to be not just a Parisian couturier but a Hollywood power player. “We think of Dior as this romantic character, but he was also a very savvy businessman,” said Anderson before a blockbuster catwalk show in Los Angeles . Stage Fright, the Hitchcock caper-noir for which Dior dressed Marlene Dietrich, was the show’s origin story.
🏷 Dior
Ditch fabric softener and give jumpers a good steam: how to make your clothes last longer
I t’s a common problem: you buy something new and start wearing and washing it regularly, only to find that it has developed a slightly grey tinge or faded colours after just a few months. Most clothes aren’t fragile, but they’re not indestructible either – and the way we wear, wash and store them makes more of a difference than we think. Looking after your clothes properly can mean they last longer, hold their shape and don’t need replacing nearly as often, which is better for both your bank ba
🏷 Help your clothes last
Forget the church fete vibes, the brooch is now fashion’s badge of honour
I have arrived in my brooch era about two decades ahead of schedule. I had brooches earmarked for a later life stage, accessories that would chime with The Archers, gardening, possibly solving the odd crime in the village, that sort of thing. But in an unexpected turn of events, I am already the correct age to wear a brooch.
🏷 Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion
Should my partner stop leaving the windows and doors open?
The prosecution: Mark double quotation mark Closing them doesn’t take a huge amount of work; it takes seconds and stops heat and insects getting in My partner, Lucinda, was born in a barn – or so I joke, though honestly it doesn’t feel like a joke half the time. She leaves the doors and windows of our home open all the time. If I’m working in the living room, she will come in to speak to me, then just leave the door wide open behind her when she leaves.
🏷 You be the judge
Hot divorcee summer: why women now want to be single, over-40 - and ready for anything
‘S orry babe I’m a divorced mum on a buffet of magnesium glycinate, ashwagandha, peptides, and sertraline, covering a mortgage alone during late stage capitalism, idgaf about your opinion anymore,” wrote Meghan McTavish , an Australian divorce-fluencer, who went viral a couple of years ago because, even after her split, her parents refused to take down her wedding photos. This might be the core of hot divorcee energy: an unvarnished devil-may-care spirit that seems to have captured the cultural
🏷 Women
'Men and women hate each other' | The Global Dating Crisis: episode 2
Explore more on these topics Dating The global dating crisis Relationships Men Women Loneliness Online dating
🏷 The global dating crisis
Beta Mums: they’re messy, chaotic and nowhere near Instagram
Name: Beta Mum. Age: 25-45. Appearance: Carefree, at peace, only vaguely aware of jelly babies stuck in their hair.
🏷 Pass notes
Controversial geneticist who was one of the first to sequence the human genome – obituary
At the international BioVision conference in Lyon in February 2001, the geneticist Craig Venter performed a remarkable piece of scientific barnstorming. Human beings possess far fewer genes than science had ever realised, he announced. We have about 30,000, far lower than previous estimates of 100,000.
🏷 Craig Venter
Very difficult and extremely cool: how to start doing pull-ups
T he pull-up has long been seen as an important fitness metric. From 1966 to 2013, public middle and high school students in the US were required to do pull-ups as part of the presidential fitness test (an evaluation Donald Trump has considered reinstating). US Marine Corps members were long required to perform pull-ups as part of their regular physical fitness test , and prospective UK Royal Marines must complete a minimum of three to four pull-ups before they are eligible to join.
🏷 How to start
Ketamine, TMS, a faecal analysis: my year trying San Francisco’s most experimental depression treatments
O n a threadbare carpet in the living room of a Bernal Heights bungalow, I lay blindfolded on my back. Two middle-aged rescue terriers, one missing an eye, sniffed my feet and climbed up and down my legs. F**kin’ Perfect by Pink blared in the background, but the music sounded muffled and distant, like I was listening from underwater.
🏷 Society
‘The mouth is a gateway into your body’: the fascinating, frightening links between our gums and our health
I sn’t it weird that dentistry and medicine have been kept largely separate? Why should our mouths be treated differently from the rest of our bodies? Going to the dentist often feels like more of a lifestyle and cosmetic add-on, especially for adults in the UK.
🏷 Health
And did those feet in ancient time: walking Britain’s oldest paths
H ow often do you look down and wonder who created the path your feet are following? Or ask the cause of its curves and dips? Formed over thousands of years, paths form an “internet of feet” – a web of bridleways and hollow ways, drove roads and ridgeways, coffin tracks, pilgrimage trails and city pavements.
🏷 Walking holidays
Station to station, and doing the locomotive after Ted Lasso
Welcome to the Thursday news quiz, where curiosity is in full bloom thanks to our illustration by Anaïs Mims . Even the most carefully arranged facts can contain a hint of uncertainty, so beware the rogue question marks popping up among the petals of knowledge. Fifteen questions on topical news, pop culture and general knowledge await.
🏷 Thursday quiz
Do we judge people by the way they sound? How accents shape our lives
V alerie Fridland writes in her new book, Why We Talk Funny: the Real Story Behind Our Accents, that humans instinctively use accents to categorize those around us. “We learn to recognize other people as being like us through the way that they sound,” Fridland says. It happens early: studies suggest small children, when choosing friends, favor those who share their accent.
🏷 Language
Single women in the US are buying more houses. The men they are dating are not responding well
When Tiffany Tate put the wheels in motion to buy her first home, it felt like a win – until a date’s response stopped her cold. “If you buy that house, what’s a guy going to do for you?” he said. It was just after their first date, and just before what would be their last.
🏷 US
Lebanon divided: Hezbollah, Israel and the cost of resistance – video
Explore more on these topics Lebanon On the ground Israel Hezbollah Middle East and north Africa
🏷 On the ground
The secret mission to rescue the UN’s vital Palestinian refugee archive
East Jerusalem to Amman should have been an easy trip: a short drive down to the Dead Sea, across the border checkpoint and swiftly on to the Jordanian capital. But in the early summer of 2024, the distance appeared an almost insurmountable obstacle to humanitarian workers from Unrwa (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), as they sought to safeguard huge quantities of archival documents vitally important to decades of recent Palestinian history. A 10-month operation
🏷 Palestine
In the 1979 hostage crisis, why did Iran free 10 Black Americans before the others?
Since the United States launched a joint military campaign with Israel on Iran in February, many commentators and historians have revisted a chapter of modern history: the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. On 4 November, a student demonstration outside the US embassy in Tehran erupted into an all-out assault on the compound, and 66 Americans were taken hostage. It was the culmination of decades of tension, beginning with the US and Britain’s role in installing the Shah of Iran to safeguard energy intere
🏷 Iran
Tell us: have you been affected by the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak?
Twenty Britons from a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak continue to be offered practical and emotional support as they isolate at a UK hospital. Along with the 20 British nationals, a German who is a UK resident, and a Japanese passenger, were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral on Sunday after the MV Hondius docked in Tenerife. Three passengers who boarded the cruise ship have died.
🏷 Hantavirus
Tell us: how are you adjusting your household finances as the Iran war pushes up costs?
Rising prices and economic uncertainty linked to the conflict in the Middle East are putting pressure on household budgets across the world. The International Monetary Fund has warned the conflict is pushing up the cost of energy and food , increasing borrowing costs and weighing on economic growth. Surveys suggest millions of households are already making changes to cope – cutting back, dipping into savings or taking on debt.
🏷 Money
Tell us: has your flight been cancelled?
People could see their travel plans upended as airlines cancel or consolidate flights to conserve jet fuel as the war in the Middle East disrupts supplies. Airlines are reviewing their timetables to see which flights can be cancelled in advance and cause the least delays. We would like to hear from people who have been affected by cancellations of, or changes to, their flights.
🏷 Travel
Tell us: have you become emotionally attached to AI?
Lots of people now use chatbots as personal assistants, sometimes to the extent that they have formed an emotional attachment to them. We would like to hear from people who converse with AI chatbots on a personal level. Have you formed an emotional bond to an AI chatbot?
🏷 AI (artificial intelligence)
Drone attacks in Kyiv and swallow nestlings
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world
🏷 Photos of the day
It may be too early to celebrate end of Europe’s far right
F or Poland’s Donald Tusk, the crushing defeat of Hungary’s illiberal prime minister, Viktor Orbán , after 16 years in office was evidence that the world was no longer “condemned to authoritarian and corrupt governments”. Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, also believes the two-thirds majority secured by Orbán’s centre-right challenger, Péter Magyar , in Sunday’s elections was “a clear signal against rightwing populism” that showed “the pendulum is swinging back”. But analysts warn that while
🏷 Hungary
The Brexit delusion is dead
I n opposition, Keir Starmer pushed Brexit to the margin of debate. In government, he has learned that Europe is central to Britain’s interests whether you talk about it or not. The avoidance of painful arguments from the past turns out to be a handicap when making plans for the future.
🏷 Rafael Behr
Do Italian grannies hold the secret to a happy life?
Name: Nonnamaxxing. Age: 70 to 100, and beyond. Appearance: Elderly, lively, Italian.
🏷 Nonnamaxxing
Are you breathing properly?
We’re often taught that breathing is automatic . We barely think about it, as with blinking or the quiet, constant work of the heart. But many otherwise healthy adults have dysfunctional breathing.
🏷 Well Actually
Trump's attack on the pope could prove costly for JD Vance
P oor persecuted Donald Trump has frequently portrayed himself as a modern messiah . Some of his supporters, meanwhile, have compared him directly to Jesus . And, to be fair, while the son of God didn’t eat Big Macs on a private jet and encourage his followers to buy AI stocks, there are similarities between the two figures.
🏷 Arwa Mahdawi
How big oil is cashing in on Iran war
Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Explore more on these topics Oil Today in Focus Climate crisis Fossil fuels Energy Commodities US-Israel war on Iran Gas
🏷 Today in Focus
US and Iran in indirect talks to extend two-week ceasefire
White House feels ‘good about the prospects of a deal’ as Pakistani officials launch new round of diplomacy
🏷 Middle East crisis
US says Iran talks ‘productive’; Israel continues Lebanon strikes as pressure mounts for ceasefire
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature From 2h ago 20.23 CEST Israeli military continues Lebanon strikes as pressure mounts for ceasefire The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the military continues to strike at Hezbollah and was about to “overwhelm” Bint Jbeil, as pressure mounts for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. In a video statement, Netanyahu said he has instructed the military to continue reinforcing the security zone in southern Lebanon.
🏷 News
Trump needs a better Iran deal than Obama’s – but faces major hurdles
If talks between Iran and the US reconvene within the next few days in Islamabad, Donald Trump will have two major political hurdles to overcome – first showing that any deal he secures is better than the one signed by Barack Obama in 2015 and from which he withdraw in 2018, and secondly proving the deal is more favourable than the one on offer in Geneva in February before he launched his war. Otherwise he will have inflicted massive damage on the world economy when alternatives were available t
🏷 Analysis
Wall Street scales fresh record high as investors bet on end of Iran war
Wall Street scaled a fresh all-time high on Wednesday amid growing optimism among investors that the US-Israel war on Iran will soon be over. The benchmark S&P 500 breached 7,000 points for the first time in history, after climbing 0.8% over the course of the day, finishing at 7,022.95. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also rose 1.6% to 24,016.02, its own record high, while the Dow Jones industrial average remained broadly flat.
🏷 Stock markets
Pope Leo shares message of unity amid spat with Trump
The ongoing squabble between the Trump administration and the Vatican over the war in Iran took another twist on Wednesday when Pope Leo shared a message of peace and healing after the latest angry broadside from the White House. On Tuesday, JD Vance capped several days of insults by insinuating the pontiff was not being truthful in matters of theology, and did not understand the concept of war. “How can you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?” the vice-president said
🏷 ‘We can live in peace’
Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought
Scientists say finding is ‘very concerning’ as collapse would be catastrophic for Europe, Africa and the Americas
🏷 Environment
New EU entry-exit system causing up to three-hour delays, say airports
Travellers going through some European airports are reportedly waiting up to three hours at border checks because of the EU’s new entry-exit system (EES) . Passengers in airports in countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Greece are waiting several hours at border checks, the Airports Council International (ACI) body has said. Olivier Jankovec, the director of the ACI European division, told the Financial Times: “This situation, in the coming weeks and certainly over the pea
🏷 Airports
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid: Champions League quarter-final, second leg
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Key events 3m ago Golden chance for Vini! 19m ago Huge save from Neuer to deny Mbappé! 31m ago Peeeeeeeeeep!
🏷 News
More than £1bn pledged for Sudan as humanitarian crisis deepens
Donors exceed funding target at Berlin conference but prospects for ceasefire remain distant
🏷 Berlin
Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti facing ‘escalating abuse’ in Israeli jails
The jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is at immediate risk in Israeli jails, where he has been attacked three times in as many weeks, including in one assault last month where prison guards set a dog on the 66-year-old, his lawyer has said. Barghouti is often called Palestine’s Nelson Mandela. He is respected across otherwise feuding Palestinian factions, has broad popular support across occupied Palestine , repeatedly engaged with Israeli officials before his detention and long backed
🏷 Palestine
Peace activist, 91, walks across Ireland in protest against US military stopovers
A 91-year-old peace activist has crossed Ireland on foot and arrived in Dublin to petition the government to bar US military flights. Lelia Doolan completed a two-week, 220km (138 mile) trek on Wednesday, ending at the gates of parliament accompanied by throngs of supporters. The film producer and activist made the journey to protest against the US military’s use of Shannon airport in County Clare.
🏷 Ireland
Swindled British tourist pays £1,500 for kebab on Rio beach
A scammer has been arrested in Rio de Janeiro for selling a kebab to an unsuspecting British tourist for nearly £1,500 – the latest in a spate of brazen beachside swindles. The man was detained on Tuesday on Copacabana beach, just over the road from two of the region’s top hotels. He and an accomplice allegedly manipulated a payment terminal to dramatically overcharge the foreigner for their meat skewer.
🏷 Brazil
How big oil is cashing in on Iran war
The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies made more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian. Lucy Hough speaks to Damian Carrington, the Guardian’s environment editor
🏷 Today in Focus
How the US-Israel war on Iran is affecting African economies
I t remains a confusing situation, but the strait of Hormuz now appears to have been closed twice. Once by Iran, and then by the US, which this week announced a blockade of its own on the reduced number of ships using Iranian ports. Higher fuel and energy costs for ordinary people across the world are the headlines, but as the war on Iran enters its sixth week, shipping restrictions and strikes on energy facilities in Gulf countries are affecting some of the poorest and most vulnerable economies
🏷 The Long Wave
One year on: how landmark ruling on single-sex spaces has changed lives
A year ago, the supreme court made its landmark judgment on single-sex spaces. In a long-running case against the Scottish government brought by gender-critical campaigners For Women Scotland (FWS), the court ruled that, for the purposes of the Equality Act, the legal definition of a woman was based on biological sex . The judgment has significant ramifications for who can access women-only services and spaces, such as refuges or toilets.
🏷 UK
Does Viktor Orbán’s defeat signal a wider backlash against ‘the forces of darkness’?
W hen future historians come to write about the stunning electoral overthrow of Viktor Orbán on 12 April 2026, let’s hope they devote at least footnotes to zebras and golden toilet brushes. The zebras were spotted by drones on the sprawling grounds of a countryside palace belonging to Orbán’s extended family. The 72 gilded toilet brushes were said to have been bought at a cost of almost €10,000, for a lavish renovation of Hungary’s central bank.
🏷 This is Europe
‘She wanted to disappear in silence’: the magical life and mysterious death of married musician duo Irena and Vojtěch Havlovi
T he Czech duo Irena and Vojtěch Havlovi often seemed out of time. From the mid-80s, the married couple filtered minimalist composition, ambient and folk through baroque instruments, honing their craft in Prague’s churches and monasteries to create a mysterious combination of modernism and old European music against a communist backdrop. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the Havels’ unhurried music didn’t rush to match the new pace of capitalism in the country.
🏷 Music
Clannad’s Moya Brennan had a dazzling, distinctive voice that lifted spirits until the end
M oya Brennan’s voice was an unusual instrument to arrive in the Top 20 in November 1982, especially on a Top of the Pops episode featuring the very different delights of A Flock of Seagulls, Eddy Grant and one-hit wonders Blue Zoo. As light as a leaf in the air, it provided a sacred counterpoint to the low, looming drones of a Prophet 5 synthesiser, and, in its breathy solo lines, guided the layered harmonies of her Clannad bandmates – her brothers and uncles – to somewhere new. A week later, T
🏷 News
My month in the tradwife world: ‘I can’t pretend I’m not enjoying myself at all ...’
‘N o one I know wants to go spend their one wild and magical life being a shill for some billionaire tech asshole,” says Shannon, a character in Yesteryear , the buzzy new novel about a tradwife influencer by Caro Claire Burke. Shannon is a gen Z woman who is working as a producer for the protagonist, Natalie, a 32-year-old social media star seemingly with more than a little in common with some aspects of the real-life influencer Hannah Neeleman, who rose to fame documenting her life as a wife a
🏷 Women
Balls Up review – Mark Wahlberg is a hoot in gross-out football comedy
I f another Gulf war, classic price-gouging tactics and long-distance stadium treks have you down about this year’s World Cup , consider the alternative from the director who gave us Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. Balls Up is the fourth major feature that Peter Farrelly has helmed solo since he and his brother, Bobby, drifted into separate pursuits. And even though this comedy flies well over the crossbar set by those instant classics, Prime Video at the very least should have
🏷 Film
Despite their bad reputation, parenting group chats are – for some – the village that never sleeps
F or the first few days after I brought my daughter home from the hospital, my house was busier than it had ever been. Family , friends, neighbours and even loose acquaintances crowded the doorway, plying me with food, gifts, hand-me-downs and advice. But as the sun set, the crowds thinned.
🏷 Parenting
‘We took clothes, a blanket and a dog’: the people displaced by a dam 50 years ago, but still fighting for justice
W hen the Indigenous leader Teodoro Alves was a young child in his community of Ocoy-Jacutinga, on the border between Paraguay and Brazil , a river ran through it. The Paraná River, which rises in Brazil and flows south through Paraguay to the Río de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay, once structured the lives of Avá-Guarani people along its banks. That continuity, Alves says, was broken in the 1970s with the construction of the Itaipu hydroelectric dam, which submerged their lands and disp
🏷 Southern frontlines
How was Orbán defeated? With energetic campaigning and cunning exploitation of his weaknesses
Péter Magyar did not need to dismantle the system – but he understood that Hungarians care more about the cost of living than conspiracies, says Tibor Dessewffy of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
🏷 News
No more US military aid to Israel
I am a proud Jewish American. My father fled Poland in 1921 to escape poverty and antisemitism. Those in his family who stayed were murdered by the Nazis.
🏷 News
Even the neocons have turned against wars in the Middle East
W hat an admission. “The threat of terrorism” from the Middle East, an influential US columnist wrote a fortnight ago , “was a consequence of American involvement, not the reason for it”. If the US had “not been deeply and consistently involved in the Muslim world since the 1940s,” he added, “Islamic militants would have little interest in attacking” it.
🏷 News
ChatGPT’s latest stylistic quirk is sinister, infuriating – and absolutely everywhere
I f you’ve never seen Jim Carrey’s 2007 psychological thriller The Number 23 , then congratulations. It is a film about a man who sees the number 23 so many times that he ends up going bonkers. I used to think this film was stupid.
🏷 News
Social science research: embracing uncertainty
A new set of studies out this month suggests that as many as half of all results published in reputable journals in the social sciences can’t be replicated by independent analysis. This is part of a long-running problem across many research fields – most visibly in the social sciences and psychology , though concerns have also been raised in areas of biomedical research . The latest work is a seven-year project called Systematizing Confidence in Open Research and Evidence (Score), which has now
🏷 The Guardian view
The looming energy shock: ministers need to show they have a plan
P ublic reassurance is one of the first duties of the government in difficult times. The early months of the Covid pandemic offer a case study in how to get this wrong. Boris Johnson was paralysed by indecision and denial of the severity of what was unfolding.
🏷 The Guardian view
Trumpflation
The US-Israel war continues to hurt the global economy, with the IMF giving Britain the sharpest growth downgrade in the G7
🏷 Ben Jennings
Arsenal v Sporting – Champions League quarter-final, second leg
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Key events 49m ago Half time: Arsenal 0-0 Sporting (1-0 on aggregate) 3h ago The teams! 3h ago Preamble Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature now 22.38 CEST 80 mins: The free-kick drops at the feet of Havertz, who’s facing the wrong way and backheels into a defender. Share now 22.37 CEST 80 mins: Araujo is booked for fouling Dowman.
🏷 ‘No fear. Pure fire’
Arteta rallies wounded Arsenal before Sporting test
There was a dramatic pause when Mikel Arteta was asked what he wants from the Arsenal supporters against Sporting on Wednesday evening in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final. After his attempts to rouse them before the early kick-off against Bournemouth at the weekend by telling them to “bring your lunch” backfired spectacularly with a costly home defeat that ended with some fans booing the Premier League leaders off the pitch, this time the message was more considered. Arsena
🏷 ‘No fear. Pure fire’
Liverpool and Barcelona knocked out of Champions League
Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email . On the podcast today: PSG swat Liverpool aside to progress to the Champions League semi-finals and the panel debate Arne Slot’s chances of remaining in post at Anfield next season. Fabulous football on offer between Atléti and Barça, with Diego Simeone’s team edging the contest thanks to Charlton Athletic legend Ademola Lookman.
🏷 Football Weekly
LIV meeting in New York fuels speculation over rebel tour’s future
The Saudi focus is switching to football and esports
🏷 Golf
McIlroy says preparation at ‘home course’ Augusta aided defence
Rory McIlroy has explained how weeks of preparation at “home course” Augusta National after advice from Jack Nicklaus played a substantial role in his successful Masters defence . Rather than play in PGA Tour events in the lead up to the Masters and despite a back injury causing him competitive disruption, McIlroy spent considerable time at Augusta in the lead-up to the Masters. On one occasion, it is understood he played the front nine in 29 when playing with a single ball.
🏷 The Masters
Liverpool’s Ekitiké ruled out for rest of season and World Cup with France
The Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitiké will miss the rest of the season and the World Cup with the injury he sustained against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, Didier Deschamps has confirmed. Ekitiké suffered a suspected achilles tendon rupture in the first half of Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final second leg defeat and could be sidelined until next year as a result. The full extent of the 23-year-old’s injury has not been confirmed – he underwent scans on Wednesday and Liverpool are expecte
🏷 Football
Slot’s misplaced positivity does not tally with harsh reality of Liverpool’s season
“The failure is big,” said Ryan Gravenberch as he digested the Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain that ensured Liverpool’s season will finish trophyless. It was a more appropriate description of the team’s plight than Arne Slot’s insistence the future looks bright and a reality the head coach cannot avoid whether Champions League qualification for next season is secured or not. As it must be.
🏷 Andy Hunter
Bournemouth in talks with Rose to replace Iraola as head coach
Bournemouth are in advanced talks with Marco Rose to replace Andoni Iraola as their head coach. The German has emerged as the leading candidate and a deal for him to take over at the end of the season could be agreed by the end of this week. Bournemouth have also given strong consideration to moving for Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna, but Rose is available now and boasts a strong CV.
🏷 Football
Maguire given extra one-match ban for ‘joke’ comment towards officials
Harry Maguire will miss Manchester United’s trip to Chelsea having been handed an additional one-match ban by the Football Association for his reaction to being sent off at Bournemouth . The 33-year-old was shown a red card at the Vitality Stadium last month for a foul in the area on Evanilson, with Eli Junior Kroupi scoring from the resulting penalty as Bournemouth sealed a 2-2 draw. Leeds stun Manchester United after Okafor double and Martínez red card for hair-pull Read more Maguire missed M
🏷 Man Utd
The Russini fallout is less about scandal than who carries blame in the NFL
Rumors about the reporter and New England head coach Mike Vrabel flew all week. The conclusion to the saga was all too predictable
🏷 NFL
Reporter resigns amid ‘self-feeding speculation’ over photos with Vrabel
NFL reporter Dianna Russini has resigned from The Athletic less than a week after photos of her and New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel prompted an internal investigation at The New York Times-owned sports outlet. The New York Post last week published the photos of Vrabel and Russini at an Arizona resort and said they were taken before the NFL owners meetings that began in Phoenix on 29 March. The Dianna Russini fallout is less about scandal than who carries blame in the NFL Read more “I have
🏷 NFL
Atlético put boot into Barça as Raphinha gets rubbed up the wrong way
THAT’S A BOOTING While Barcelona’s night at the Metropolitano was pretty well summed up by the accompanying image of poor Fermín López shipping six studs in the mush, Lamine Yamal’s cross in the buildup should be framed and hung in the Louvre. Using a minimum of backlift, the preposterously precocious 18-year-old had arced the ball directly into the path of the midfielder with the outside of his left boot, only for López to be denied by a splendid Juan Musso save that left the already bandaged B
🏷 Football Daily
Unhappy Verstappen ‘has to be listened to’ over new rules, says F1 chief Domenicali
Formula One must listen to Max Verstappen’s grievances about the sport’s new regulations and their effects on racing, according to F1’s CEO, Stefano Domenicali. His intervention comes as key players hold meetings to consider adjusting the rules for the remainder of the season. Verstappen has been outspoken in his dissatisfaction with the new formula and the part energy management now plays in preventing being able to race flat-out.
🏷 Formula One
Former Alabama college star allegedly impersonated players in $20m loan scam
A former University of Alabama national champion plans to plead guilty later this month to orchestrating an alleged scheme in which he impersonated NFL players and defrauded lenders out of nearly $20m. The alleged scam is described in detail by the US attorney for the northern district of Georgia, including depictions of the former defensive lineman donning disguises during loan closings. Luther Davis, a member of the Alabama football team that won the 2010 national championship game, along with
🏷 NFL
Treasury secretary ‘confident’ Fed chair nominee will be confirmed as Trump threatens Powell again
President has nominated Kevin Warsh to replace Powell, whom he has repeatedly attacked over interest rate decisions
🏷 Federal Reserve
Trump threatens to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell amid pressure campaign
Donald Trump threatened to fire Jerome Powell if he stays on as US Federal Reserve chair past the end of his tenure and doubled down on a criminal investigation into renovations of the central bank’s headquarters. As the White House pushes Trump’s new nominee to take charge of the Fed, Kevin Warsh , Powell has a month left in the role. The possibility of Powell staying on as chair past 15 May, the official end of his term, has grown amid mounting scrutiny of Trump’s approach to the Fed in the Se
🏷 Federal Reserve
$30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds
The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian. Saudi Aramco, Gazprom and ExxonMobil are among the biggest beneficiaries of the bonanza, meaning key opponents of climate action continue to prosper. The conflict pushed the price of oil to an average of $100 (£74) a barrel in March, leading to estimated windfall war profits for the month of $23bn for the
🏷 Exclusive
Hungary’s prime minister-elect vows to suspend ‘propaganda machine’ state media
Hungary’s prime minister-elect has vowed to suspend state media news coverage, describing it as a “propaganda machine,” when his government takes office around mid-May. Péter Magyar, whose landslide election victory on Sunday brought an end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power, detailed his plans for the suspension as he gave two tense interviews to public radio and television on Wednesday. The appearances marked his first invitation to take part in state media in 18 months, Magyar said, in sharp
🏷 Hungary
Orbán’s defeat in Hungary could unlock €90bn loan for Ukraine, says EU official
The change in Hungary’s government could help unlock €90bn for Ukraine and give a “new push” for it to join the European Union, the bloc’s expansion chief said Tuesday. Marta Kos, speaking on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings, described the Hungarian election on Sunday – which saw long-ruling nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán defeated – as a “big win for Europe.” “I expect, personally, that this will have a positive effect on the accession process,” Kos said. She also
🏷 Ukraine war briefing
Reeves tells Americans Trump’s Iran war is a ‘mistake’
Rachel Reeves has stepped up her criticism of Donald Trump’s war on Iran, describing it as a “mistake” that has destabilised the global economy and damaged living standards around the world. In a marked fraying of the transatlantic relationship, the British chancellor said Trump breaking off from diplomatic talks with Iran and launching airstrikes seemed to have left the president in a worse place than he started. “I think it was a mistake to end those [talks with Iran] and to enter into conflic
🏷 UK
Boosting military spending by slashing welfare is not the answer, Reeves warned
Senior Labour figures have warned that Rachel Reeves must find alternative ways to increase military spending rather than slashing welfare, saying it risks public support for investment in defence. Pressure has been mounting from Labour backbenchers for the Treasury to urgently agree the defence investment plan (Dip) after George Robertson, a former Nato secretary general, said there was a “ corrosive complacency ” on defence funding. But MPs and peers said they did not back calls by the opposit
🏷 Defence
Oklahoma principal shot while tackling ex-student armed with handguns
An Oklahoma principal has been praised for preventing a tragedy at his high school by charging and disarming a former student armed with two semi-automatic handguns, an episode captured on dramatic surveillance video. Kirk Moore, principal of Pauls Valley high school, was shot in the leg as he wrestled the attacker, a 20-year-old said by court documents to be obsessed with the 1999 shooting at Colorado’s Columbine high school in which 12 students and one teacher were killed. Authorities in Garvi
🏷 US
Sperm whales’ communication closely parallels human language, study finds
We may appear to have little in common with sperm whales – enormous, ocean-dwelling animals that last shared a common ancestor with humans more than 90 million years ago. But the whales’ vocalized communications are remarkably similar to our own, researchers have discovered. Not only do sperm whale have a form of “ alphabet ” and form vowels within their vocalizations but the structure of these vowels behaves in the same way as human speech, the new study has found.
🏷 Whales
Ant smuggler sentenced to a year in jail by Kenyan court
A Chinese national has been sentenced to a year in prison and fined by a Nairobi court for attempting to smuggle thousands of ants out of Kenya, a lucrative trade in east Africa that was exposed last year. The insects are mostly destined for China , the US and Europe, where they become pets and can be worth about $100 each. Ant smuggling made headlines last year when two Belgian teenagers were arrested in possession of nearly 5,000 ants, mostly stored in small test tubes.
🏷 Illegal wildlife trade
Hidden treasures: Spanish archaeologists discover trove of ancient shipwrecks in Bay of Gibraltar
S panish archaeologists exploring the bay that curves between the southern port of Algeciras and the Rock of Gibraltar have documented the wrecks of more than 30 ships that came to grief near the Pillars of Hercules between the fifth century BC and the second world war. Over the millennia, the bay, which sits at the north end of the strait of Gibraltar that separates Europe from Africa, has swallowed everything from Phoenician and Roman vessels to British, Spanish, Venetian and Dutch ships – as
🏷 Archaeology
Sinlaku rips through Northern Mariana Islands as strongest tropical cyclone this year
Super Typhoon Sinlaku hammered the Northern Mariana Islands, flipping over cars, toppling utility poles and ripping away tin roofs. Authorities were just beginning to assess the damage left behind by the typhoon, which first hit the islands on Tuesday night local time and continued with a barrage of fierce winds and relentless rains for hours on Wednesday. So far, there have been no reports of deaths.
🏷 Extreme weather
‘Misogyny with a marketing budget’: UK AI firm accused of sexist advert
A British AI company that recently secured millions of pounds of investment has been accused of running a misogynistic and sexist advertising campaign. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has received at least seven complaints about the campaign by Narwhal Labs, which includes an advert depicting a woman next to the strapline: “She outworks everyone. And she’ll never ask for a raise.” The ad continues: “Meet your new AI employee.
🏷 Media
MPs vote against social media ban for under-16s a second time
MPs have voted against a proposal to ban under-16s from using social media for the second time, as the prime minister summoned tech bosses to demand tougher action on internet safety. The House of Commons rejected a Lords amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill that imposed a new age limit on using social media platforms, amid pressure from parents and campaign groups for greater urgency in tackling online harms. They voted by 256 to 150, a majority of 106, to side with the govern
🏷 Social media
Scottish ultrarunning champion dies during Highlands record attempt
A 35-year-old ultramarathon champion from Dumfries has died while attempting to beat the record for a race to the most north-westerly point on mainland Britain. David Parrish, a former Royal Marine, who often hiked alongside his spaniel Munro, was trying to become the fastest man to complete the Cape Wrath trail, one of Britain’s most gruelling race routes. Parrish was found in the remote mountainous area of Kintail in the north-west Highlands on Saturday at about 10.25pm.
🏷 UK
BBC to cut up to 2,000 jobs in biggest downsize in 15 years
The BBC is to cut as many as 2,000 jobs in the biggest downsizing of the public service broadcaster in 15 years. Staff were informed of the cuts, which will affect about 10% of the BBC’s 21,500 employees, at an all-staff meeting on Wednesday afternoon. The round of job losses, the biggest at the BBC since 2011 , is being set in motion before the former top Google executive Matt Brittin takes over as director general next month .
🏷 Media
Suspect accused of planting pipe bombs on eve of January 6 faces new charges
The individual accused of placing pipe bombs near the headquarters of both the Republican and Democratic national committees on the night before the January 6 Capitol attack is now facing two more felony counts, as detailed in a newly released indictment on Wednesday. Brian Cole Jr, 30, of Woodbridge, Virginia , had previously been arrested in December and charged with transporting and positioning two improvised explosive devices outside the DNC and RNC buildings. The updated indictment introduc
🏷 US
Police investigate claims Katy Perry sexually assaulted Ruby Rose at Melbourne nightclub
Police are investigating claims Katy Perry sexually assaulted the Australian actor Ruby Rose at a Melbourne nightclub more than a decade ago, allegations the American pop star strenuously denies. Victoria police on Wednesday said in a statement: “Melbourne sexual offences and child abuse investigation team (SOCIT) detectives are investigating [an alleged] historical sexual assault that occurred in Melbourne in 2010. “Police have been told the incident occurred at a licensed premises in Melbourne
🏷 Australia
Trump believes diet soda kills cancer cells, Dr Oz reveals
Donald Trump defended his consumption of diet soda by suggesting it might help prevent cancer, according to recent comments shared by Mehmet Oz in an interview with Donald Trump Jr. The remarks have even prompted some doctors to remind the public that, no, diet soda will not do anything to prevent cancer. “Your dad argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass – if poured on grass – so, therefore, it must kill cancer cells inside the body,” Oz said on Triggered with Don Jr, the pr
🏷 Donald Trump
Prosecutors won’t file domestic abuse charges against Taylor Frankie Paul
Prosecutors in Utah have declined to press charges against Taylor Frankie Paul, star of the reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, after she was accused of domestic violence. In a statement on Tuesday, the Salt Lake county district attorney’s office said it would not be pursuing charges against Paul following a pair of domestic violence investigations stemming from allegations by Paul’s former partner Dakota Mortensen. Prosecutors said some of the “misdemeanor offenses” occurred more tha
🏷 US
‘Seeking connection’: the video game where players stopped shooting and started talking
T he video game Arc Raiders is set in a lethal imagining of an apocalyptic future for humanity. Survivors have been forced to live deep underground in colonies while mysterious, murderous AI machines patrol the surface. Only the desolate ruins of former cities survive, and reckless human “raiders” take trips topside to conduct dangerous scavenging missions.
🏷 Games
How Toni Morrison blurred the lines between being an editor and a writer
W hen I think of Toni Morrison’s novels, I often think of the poet Lucille Clifton’s response to Gorilla, My Love, the debut short story collection by “the other Toni”, Toni Cade Bambara: “She has captured it all, how we really talk, how we really are; and done it with both love and respect. I laughed until I cried, then laughed again. I loved it!
🏷 Books
Sex and drugs and poisoned champagne: 90 years on, we can finally see Joan Crawford’s wildest film
J oan Crawford was one of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s golden age, but one of her most famous, and controversial, films has not been screened legally since January 1936. Ninety years later, thanks to her grandson, that is all about to change. The 1932 MGM film Letty Lynton tells the lethal tale of a Manhattan socialite, her fiance and her vindictive ex-lover.
🏷 Film
Glenrothan review – Alan Cumming heads home in Brian Cox’s big-hearted brotherly drama
F or his directorial debut, Brian Cox is painting in pretty broad strokes and primary colours; Glenrothan is a sentimental comedy-drama from screenwriter David Ashton about the troubled reunion of two brothers in Scotland. It can be a bit soppy, sometimes resembling Sunday-night TV comfort food, but this big-hearted picture wins you over, and there are certainly some marvellous panoramic shots of the Highlands. Cox himself plays Sandy, the glowering chief of a hugely profitable family-owned dist
🏷 Film
Diamanti review – luscious-looking 1970s costume melodrama is a sumptuously soapy dramedy
I f we are being honest this comedy-drama set in a costume atelier in 1970s Rome is a little light on the comedy, while the drama is decidedly on the melo end of the scale, even a bit absurd at times. But there’s something about it that is irresistible, especially if you are in any way sympathetic to queer-accented celebrations of women played by powerhouse ensembles in the spirit of George Cukor’s The Women, François Ozon’s 8 Women, or Pedro Almodóvar films. You will also have a ball if you lik
🏷 Film
Margo’s Got Money Troubles review – Michelle Pfeiffer’s career renaissance starts here
M argo’s Got Money Troubles first gives us the why. Margo’s got money troubles because Margo got pregnant. Margo got pregnant because she is so young, and she thought her English professor writing her a poem was A Good Thing (poems written by English professors are never A Good Thing).
🏷 Television
From strads to shreds and Vivaldi to Van Halen, classical and heavy metal are a natural pairing
T he question is not why, but why has it taken so long? Putting heavy metal and classical together that is, as the Philharmonia are doing next week in their Forged in Sound: Heavy Metal Orchestrated gig, part of the Southbank Centre’s Multitudes festival . There’s more that connects metal and classical music than sets them apart.
🏷 News
‘R&B today is like Brazilian football – the creativity, the skill’: Odeal, the genre’s hottest UK star
“I’m not looking at a crowd tonight,” Odeal says hours before his first ever Brixton Academy performance in late March. “I’m looking at my people; aunties, uncles, friends, peers and supporters.” Dressed in loungewear and stretched across a leather sofa backstage at the south London venue, the British-Nigerian singer seems calm, as if he’s exactly where he expected to be. The 26-year-old has the type of fame particular to the British R&B scene: adoration and many millions of streams from the gen
🏷 Music
Shrooms, alligators and the swamp: how the ‘satanic e-girls of TikTok’ revived psychedelic sludge metallers Acid Bath
‘I t’s a mind-blower,” says singer Dax Riggs on the surprising TikTok-driven renaissance of the renowned 1990s psychedelic sludge metallers Acid Bath. “ In the front row you’ll see an old fan and next to them is a 13-year-old kid singing all the words,” adds guitarist Sammy Duet. “What the hell is going on here?” Formed in the Louisiana bayou in 1991 with oppressive, swampy sounds soundtracking tales of drugs, death and decay, Acid Bath deftly hopped from treacly, melodic grooves to bluesy licks
🏷 Music
The Fallen by Louise Brangan review – an enraging account of Ireland’s Magdalene laundries
M any readers, and surely most Irish readers, will finish this book in a state of white-knuckled rage, mingled with sorrow and at least a pang of guilt. It is a detailed, thoroughgoing and appalling account of the Magdalene laundries, the most famous, and most infamous, among Ireland’s extended and varied landscape of penal or correctional institutions, which operated for most of the 20th century (the last of the laundries was closed in 1996). As the academic Louise Brangan points out in The Fal
🏷 Book of the day
Communion by Jon Doyle review – a charged debut about sin and solace
J on Doyle’s debut novel tells the story of Mack O’Brien, a young man who went to a seminary to study for the priesthood but was asked to leave because he had no real calling, and has therefore returned to his family home in Wales to work out what to do with his life. Cheek by jowl with his ailing, deeply religious mother, and a father struggling to process the grief of his own parents’ recent deaths, he finds himself drawn into participating in a local theatre production – playing a disciple in
🏷 Books
My Year in Paris With Gertrude Stein by Deborah Levy review – wonderfully entertaining
T he narrator of Deborah Levy’s witty scherzo of a “fiction” – “novel” isn’t the word for this uncategorisable book – thinks that Gertrude Stein would have liked Sigmund Freud. She imagines them enjoying a cigar together while their wives make small talk. Would Frau Freud “have exchanged her recipe for boiled beef with Alice B [Toklas]’s recipe for hashish fudge”?
🏷 Books
On Memoir by Blake Morrison review – lessons in life writing from a master
“I ’ve had a life and I’ve also had a life as a life writer”: Blake Morrison opens his tour d’horizon of arguably literature’s most expanding and expansive genre with a flash of his credentials and an implicit call to further inquiry. What constitutes a life, and what can it mean to write about it? Can you write about your own from inside it?
🏷 Books
Why I’m embracing the latest uncool thing in gaming
W hile researching women’s experiences in multiplayer video games recently, I came across this thread on the subreddit about Bungie’s latest live shooter, Marathon . “I’ve played a lot of shooters, and as a feminine-presenting player tbh it’s often a struggle,” it reads. “I’ve heard all the ‘get back to the kitchen’ jokes … But Marathon has been completely different, guys.
🏷 Pushing Buttons newsletter
Is the new Super Mario Galaxy movie really that bad?
I was bracing myself for the worst when I headed into the cinema with my children to watch the new Super Mario Galaxy movie over the Easter break. The reviews have been memorably dire. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw called it worse than AI ; Empire deemed it a “humourless, hysterical trudge”.
🏷 Games
Madonna announces sequel to her 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor
Madonna has announced the release of her 15th studio album, Confessions II: a sequel to Confessions on a Dance Floor, her disco-fabulous 2005 release regarded as one of the jewels of her discography. The album will be released on 3 July. Details are still relatively scarce beyond that, but like its predecessor, Confessions II is a collaboration with the British producer Stuart Price.
🏷 Music
The Pitt and Game of Thrones spinoff given age ratings as BBFC deploys new AI tool
TV shows including The Pitt and a Game of Thrones spinoff have received age ratings in the UK after the British Board of Film Classification deployed AI to help flag contentious scenes. The BBFC developed a tool to identify content that triggers compliance issues, such as violence, nudity and bad language . The flagged scenes were then passed over to BBFC staff for human review.
🏷 Television
A ruined building, five Ghanaians and an elegant horse: Ron Timehin’s best photograph
T his was taken at Labadi, a popular tourist resort in Accra, the capital of Ghana . You don’t often see this side of it. People go there for the golden sand and nightlife but they don’t really integrate with the community who live there.
🏷 My best shot
Bridget Jones statue becomes permanent resident of Leicester Square: ‘She makes Londoners feel seen’
A record 149 days have now passed without alcohol, cigarettes or ice-cream for Bridget Jones’s statue in Leicester Square in London – and her fast is set to be extended indefinitely. Originally conceived to be in situ for three years, the bronze statue, which was unveiled in November , has now been granted permanent residence opposite the Empire Casino and adjacent to the toilets, where she joins the likes of Harry Potter, Mary Poppins and Batman as part of Westminster council’s Scenes in the Sq
🏷 Film
‘I was peeing blood constantly’: my ketamine hell – and what made me stop
T homas Delaney never used to believe he was “good enough to be loved”. Growing up, he internalised the hurt he saw playing out at home. “I thought I was useless, I wasn’t a nice person … I even thought that my mum and dad didn’t love each other because of me.” When I visit him (and his extremely affectionate black-and-white cat, Figaro) at home in Glasgow, Delaney, dressed in a jumper printed with the words “nicotine is dumb”, is frank about the impact his childhood had on him.
🏷 How we survive
I was desperate to get off the mountain – and that gut instinct saved my life
I didn’t have a reason for my terrible feeling of dread – and that was part of the problem. From the moment I arrived in Tajikistan with my boyfriend, Tim, to climb two 7,000-metre (23,000ft) peaks, something felt off. It wasn’t a fear I could name: it was more like a constant, unnerving low hum.
🏷 A moment that changed me
How to turn old bread into a brilliant Italian cake – recipe
O ld sourdough is my secret ingredient. To stop it going mouldy, I take it out of any plastic packaging and keep it in the bread bin with plenty of airflow around it – that way, it will dry out slowly, rather than turning mouldy. Any odds and ends, meanwhile, I store in a cloth bag to use in various dishes, from pangrattato (or poor man’s parmesan ) to strata , a savoury bread-and-butter pudding.
🏷 Waste not
Roast chicken, cheesy scones and a genius cocktail: Ravinder Bhogal’s recipes for cooking with lime pickle
I ’m obsessed with lime pickle . It’s savoury, sour, funky, spicy and full of bold personality that enlivens anything it’s smeared on. It’s made by salting and fermenting limes with chillies and spices for a fierce, flavour-packed condiment that’s traditionally eaten as a side to poppadoms or with simple dal and rice.
🏷 Food
What can I do with leftover rice?
How do I store cooked rice safely, and what can I make with it the next day? Michael, by email “It’s a bit of a running joke with rice, because I think of all the people in China who aren’t spreading their leftover rice immediately on to a tray to cool and are still alive,” says Amy Poon, of Poon’s at Somerset House in London. “But I have to be responsible and say: cool the rice as quickly as possible, within the hour, and put it in an airtight container and pop it in the fridge [or freezer] str
🏷 Kitchen aide
José Pizarro’s recipe for nettle (or wild garlic) and goat’s cheese tortilla
W hen I was growing up in the small village of Talaván in Extremadura, Spain, we never ate nettles. They were wild plants that grew along the edges of the fields, and the sort you tried to avoid: like many children, I learned about them the hard way, brushing against them while playing and getting stung. It was only when I came to the UK that I first saw nettles used in cooking, which surprised me: suddenly, this wild plant had a place in the kitchen.
🏷 Food
Always in crisis mode? You might be catastrophising – here’s how to stop
Y our boss asks you for a meeting later in the week; you have never received negative feedback, but you automatically assume you’re about to get fired. Thoughts begin to swirl as you imagine the consequences: soon, you’ll be unemployed and unable to pay your rent. Or, perhaps, when your partner is a little late coming home, you visualize a terrible accident on the motorway, their car crushed in the pile-up.
🏷 Well actually
Almost 2bn to be affected by metabolic liver disease by 2050, study suggests
Metabolic liver disease will affect 1.8 billion people worldwide by 2050, driven by rising obesity and blood sugar levels, a study suggests. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is one of the most prevalent and rapidly growing liver conditions globally, according to the research. There are now 1.3 billion people worldwide living with MASLD, the latest estimates suggest, a 143% increase in just three decad
🏷 Health
MacBook Air M5 review: Apple’s best consumer laptop speeds up
A pple’s latest MacBook Air is its most powerful yet, comes with double the starting storage and is better than ever for getting work done and as the benchmark for a consumer laptop. But this year the new lower-cost MacBook Neo has muddied the waters. The M5 MacBook Air starts at £1,099 (€1,199/$1,099/A$1,799) for the 13in version, which is £100 or equivalent more than last year’s excellent M4 version , but comes with at least 512GB of storage.
🏷 Technology
From gentle strolls to zipline thrills: summer hiking in the Swiss Alps
T hick grey-green mud squidges through my toes as I step into the icy, irresistible water. I’m on the descent from the Britannia Hut at the foot of the Allalinhorn in the Valais canton of the Swiss Alps, and this turquoise pool of glacial meltwater has been on the horizon tempting me for an hour. I peel off all five layers of clothing and plunge into the murky water.
🏷 Travel
America’s hiking culture is built on ego
Këmituxwe Éhènta Wehikiyànkw You are walking in our old homeland After spending 12 years backpacking some of America’s wildest trails as a wilderness ranger for the US Forest Service – and then losing that job to politics – last spring I set out for the Appalachian Trail (AT), the longest hiking-only footpath in the world. Women are being abandoned by their partners on hiking trails. What’s behind ‘alpine divorce’?
🏷 US
Iran is beating the land of tech bros in the social media wars
If Iran could manufacture destructive missiles at the speed with which it produces cutting memes, US Central Command would be coming out with its hands up by now. One of the more bizarre and unexpected aspects of the Iran-US war is that Iran, a country by reputation dominated by conservative clerics neurotic about western culture and media, is dominating the social media war, unleashing its gen Z tech warriors to engage western audiences with its sarcasm and ridicule of the Trump administration.
🏷 Viral victory
‘A pope who uses his brain’: Vatican locals and visitors take sides in Leo v Trump spat
O n the wall of the back room of an optician’s in Borgo Pio, a neighbourhood in Rome that borders the Vatican, hang the photos of five popes dating back to the late 1970s, charting both the recent history of Catholic church leaders and the shop itself. As its owner, Walter Colantini, who fitted glasses for one of the pontiffs, gestured towards them, he recalled the diplomatic strain between the Vatican and White House over the 1991 Gulf war. But, he said, nothing compared to the rupture provoked
🏷 Catholicism
‘My life has become a rollercoaster’: Francesca Albanese on death threats, danger and dread after accusing Israel of genocide
I n retrospect, arranging to interview Francesca Albanese in a cafe was not the best plan. Before we could start, the waitress wanted a photo with the Italian human rights lawyer. So did the cashier.
🏷 Human rights
Tell us your experience with AI in job interviews
Companies are increasingly using AI in their hiring processes – including conducting job interviews themselves. With this in mind, we would like to hear your experience of job interviews that were conducted partially or wholly by AI. Share your experience You can tell us your experience with AI job interviews using this form.
🏷 Work & careers
New year celebrations in parts of Asia and a baby elephant
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world
🏷 Photos of the day
Vegetable garden: start small, grow what you like and be realistic
M aybe it’s because I’ve lived in cities my whole life, but I can’t think of anything more luxurious than popping out to your garden and eating a fresh tomato straight from the vine. How decadent to enjoy its crisp, bright flavor and the smug satisfaction that you coaxed this food into being with your own hands. But what does becoming a modern-day Demeter actually entail?
🏷 How to start
EU relieved but Magyar’s Hungary may still present problems
In Brussels, the relief was palpable after the defeat of Viktor Orbán, the EU leader who recently declared himself at Vladimir Putin’s service . For the EU, Péter Magyar’s victory was all the sweeter, as voters decisively rejected Orbán’s fear-mongering campaign that sought to portray him in cahoots with the “dangerous” European Commission leader, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In 16 years as Hungary’s prime minister, Orbán has slowed, opposed, mocked or
🏷 Analysis
The tiny coffee shop that created a viral drink
A viral coffee drink created by a little college town coffee shop on the outskirts of Minneapolis is now making its way around the world after its inventors decided to give the recipe away for free. After Little Joy Coffee’s raspberry danish latte, a spring seasonal drink, went viral in March, the shop’s owners decided to encourage coffee shops to rip off the recipe directly and add it to their menus. Posting both a home recipe and step-by-step instructions for coffee shops, they asked shops if
🏷 Food
Backstage at the Olivier awards 2026 – in pictures
🏷 Eyes on the prize!
Why Hot Fuzz is my feelgood movie
W ith the endless library of films we all have at our fingertips, in our DVD collections and on whatever the cloud is, finding your top feelgood movie can be a deceptively hard task. Though it seems obvious now, mine was so familiar to me that somehow it managed to hide in plain sight. Eventually, I had to ask my partner what she thought my comfort movie was.
🏷 ‘Endearing and enduring’
Are we heading for ‘super El Niño’ – and what could we expect?
There is a high likelihood that the phenomenon known as “El Niño” will emerge this summer – and it could be exceptionally strong. A so-called “super El Niño” could supercharge extreme weather events and push global temperatures to record heights next year if it develops, according to experts. Meteorologists are keeping a close eye on the climate patterns developing in the Pacific Ocean that will enable stronger predictions about what’s to come in the year ahead.
🏷 Climate crisis
Donald Trump claims Iran ‘wants to work a deal’ and confirms blockade of strait of Hormuz
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Key events 9h ago Qantas sees bigger jet fuel bill as financial leaders warn of 'prolonged' petrol price hikes 10h ago Hezbollah leader urges Lebanon to cancel talks with Israel 11h ago Trump refuses to apologise to Pope Leo 11h ago Vance urges Vatican to 'stick to matters of morality' 11h ago Vance says ball in Iran's court over prospect of more talks with US 12h ago Afternoon Summary 13h ago Top US Senate Democrats once again t
🏷 Full report
US expected to start naval blockade of Iranian ports after deadline passes
The US blockade of ships using Iranian ports in the Gulf has come into effect, turning the six-week-old conflict between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran into a test of economic endurance. US Central Command (Centcom) made no formal announcement of the start of the blockade but had said it begin on Monday at 5.30pm Iranian time and would apply to any ships entering or departing Iranian ports or coastal areas, while ships using non-Iranian ports would not be impeded. Donald Trump claimed that 34
🏷 Full report
Oil price dips below $100 a barrel after Trump claims Iran wants deal
Oil prices have fallen back after briefly rising to above $100 a barrel as Donald Trump claimed Iran had made contact and wanted “very badly” to strike a deal in the face of his blockade of the strait of Hormuz. The Brent crude international benchmark rose above the key psychological threshold earlier in the day, at one point up 6.9% to $101.70 a barrel on news of the US president’s plan to block the waterway to Iranian marine traffic . Will the strait of Hormuz torpedo Trump’s war?
🏷 Business
What will the UK’s role be in the strait of Hormuz when the Iran war ends?
The UK will co-host an international summit of more than 40 nations this week to discuss how to safeguard shipping through the strait of Hormuz when the Iran conflict finally comes to an end. Keir Starmer has said the continuing closure of the waterway is “deeply damaging” and that getting global shipping moving is crucial to ease cost of living pressures. Iran is believed to have laid at least a dozen mines to prevent oil tankers and other vessels from passing through the strait, through which
🏷 Explained
US and Iran’s 21 hours of talks
I t was as if the two delegations in the Iran-US peace talks in Islamabad hoped that the sheer number of negotiators flown into Pakistan could overcome the handicap of having only a finite number of hours in which to settle a 20-year dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, now overlaid by complex new issues such as future control of the strait of Hormuz and US compensation for its attack on Iran . Iran sent two planeloads of negotiators. They included many members of the Islamic Revolutionary Gua
🏷 Planeloads of negotiators and too little time
Péter Magyar vows to pursue those who ‘plundered’ Hungary after election win
Hungary’s prime minister-elect, Péter Magyar, has pledged to pursue those who “plundered, looted, betrayed, indebted and ruined” his country, promising “a new era” after a landslide election victory over his far-right predecessor Viktor Orbán. Magyar, whose centre-right Tisza party won at least 138 of the 199 seats in parliament, said the full election results should be confirmed by 4 May and he hoped his government could be installed the next day. “Our country has no time to waste,” he said dur
🏷 Hungary
Hungarians welcome the morning after 16 years of Orbán rule
In a small plaza facing Budapest’s Nyugati train station, Gabor, 40, confessed that he was very, very hungover. “I partied all night,” he said, laughing. “It was crazy, I thought Fidesz was going to win.
🏷 ‘Now I’m hopeful’
What does Péter Magyar’s win in Hungary mean for the EU and Ukraine?
Péter Magyar’s resounding election victory brings an end to 16 years of rightwing populist rule under Viktor Orbán. But the effects of that win are likely to be felt well beyond Hungary’s borders, from Brussels to Moscow and from Kyiv to Washington. What does the win mean for the EU?
🏷 Explained
Renewed ties with EU needed to boost UK security and economy, says Starmer
The economic and security benefits of a closer relationship with the EU are “simply too big to ignore”, Keir Starmer has told parliament as the British government prepares for more rapid alignment with European rules. Updating MPs on the Iran conflict and his visit to the Gulf last week, the prime minister was explicit about what he argued was the need for renewed ties with Europe given the chaotic global situation and Donald Trump’s unpredictable US administration. The Guardian revealed that mi
🏷 UK
What is the new EU bill and could it give UK ministers Henry VIII-type powers?
Ministers in Britain are planning a new bill that would bring into force a food and drink trade deal with the EU but also contain powers enabling the government to “dynamically align” with Europe. It would allow the UK to quickly implement evolving single market rules if it determines it is in the national interest, without having to face full parliamentary scrutiny. Why is the government introducing this change?
🏷 Explainer
Israeli forces fire teargas at schoolchildren holding West Bank sit-in
Israeli forces have fired teargas at Palestinian schoolchildren who were staging a sit-in in the occupied West Bank after settlers blocked access to their school. The Israeli military said it had dispersed an “unusual gathering”, but did not specify whether its troops had fired teargas at the children on the first day of class since the start of the Iran war. The incident took place at Umm al-Khair, a small village in the southern West Bank region of Masafer Yatta.
🏷 West Bank
Trump deletes post with AI image of himself as Christ-like figure after outcry
Less than a year after signing legislation that will pull nearly 12 million Americans off health insurance by gutting Medicaid, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself to Truth Social on Sunday depicting him as a Jesus-like figure, with divine light emanating from his hands as he heals a stricken man in a hospital bed with a demon from hell floating in the background. The president has since deleted the post, which also followed a lengthy tirade about Pope Leo XIV on the site the sa
🏷 Donald Trump
Donald Trump launches extraordinary attack on Pope Leo calling him ‘weak’ and ‘terrible’
Pope Leo said he did not fear the Trump administration and would continue to speak out against war after Donald Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against him in which he said he did not think the Chicago-born pontiff was “doing a very good job”, while also suggesting he should “stop catering to the radical left”. In remarks that have been widely criticised, the US president used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticise Leo while he flew from Florida to Washington on Sunday night
🏷 Pope Leo XIV
Trump media company drops lawsuit against the Guardian
Donald Trump ’s media corporation has dropped a defamation claim against the Guardian and two other defendants over a report that federal prosecutors were investigating $8m in payments the company received from entities with ties to Vladimir Putin as possible money laundering. A filing in the 12th judicial circuit in Sarasota county, Florida, on Friday confirmed that Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of the president’s Truth Social platform, was withdrawing its claims w
🏷 Media
Orbán’s defeat holds lessons for US: ‘Autocrats may rise, but are not invincible’
For US Democrats seeking rays of light in the dark landscape of Donald Trump’s authoritarian onslaught, illumination has arrived from the unlikely source of Budapest. Viktor Orbán’s stunning defeat in Hungary’s general election – ending 16 years of unbroken rule for his governing Fidesz party – carries symbolic and psychological significance for American politics out of all proportion to the central European country’s modest size and distance from the US. For years, Orbán has been the inspiratio
🏷 Trump administration
Meta creating AI version of Mark Zuckerberg so staff can talk to the boss
If you are one of Meta’s almost 79,000 employees and cannot get hold of the boss, do not worry. The owner of Facebook and Instagram is reportedly working on an AI version of Mark Zuckerberg who can answer all your queries. The AI clone of Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder and chief executive, is being trained on his mannerisms and tone as well as his public statements and thoughts on company strategy.
🏷 Technology
Chagos Islands treaty is now ‘impossible to agree at political level’, UK minister says
A treaty over ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has become “impossible to agree at political level” and the corresponding bill will not complete its passage through parliament, a Foreign Office minister has said. Stephen Doughty told the Commons that the agreement with Mauritius was initially negotiated in close coordination with the US, but Donald Trump’s position “appears to have changed”. Mauritius vows to ‘decolonise’ Chagos Islands after Starmer shelves handover Read mor
🏷 Mauritius
French cement maker convicted of financing terror groups to keep its Syria plant working
A French court has fined the cement group Lafarge more than €1m (£870,000) and sentenced its former boss to six years in prison for paying protection money to Islamic State and other terror groups to maintain its business in war-torn Syria from 2013 to 2014. The ruling follows a 2022 case in the United States in which the French firm pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to US-designated “terrorist” organisations and agreed to pay a $778m fine (£580m) – the first time a compan
🏷 France
‘We are totally out of our depth’: experts say whale stranded in Baltic is beyond saving
W hen a 10-metre long humpback whale became stranded on a sandbar in the Baltic Sea last month, none of those who went to its rescue could have known how it might turn lives and livelihoods upside down. About a month after the first sighting of the male whale, near Wismar and Timmendorfer Strand on the north German coast, it has repeatedly stranded and freed itself and is now stranded once more , with rescuers saying it is in the throes of death. The drama has captivated the country, making poli
🏷 Germany
Will Orbán’s defeat in Hungary be a turning point for Europe?
Explore more on these topics Hungary Today in Focus: The Latest Europe Viktor Orbán Péter Magyar European Union
🏷 The Latest
Vance’s bad week: vice-president risks becoming face of two Trump foreign policy failures
Shortly before JD Vance’s ill-fated week crisscrossing the world, Donald Trump asked him during a private Easter brunch about how the Iran negotiations were shaping up. “If it doesn’t happen, I’m blaming JD Vance,” Trump said to laughs in the room. “If it does happen, I’m taking full credit.” The joke at Vance’s expense contained an unfortunate nugget of truth: this is not an administration that rewards failure.
🏷 Analysis
Don’t mention the climate: Trump creates ‘beyond absurd’ situation at global finance talks
Governments desperate for cash to protect their citizens from the growing impacts of the climate crisis are being put in a “beyond absurd” situation this week at global finance talks: they are being urged not to mention the climate, even as they address the current oil crisis. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) spring meetings take place this week amid a fragile ceasefire in Iran and upended geopolitics. One of the priorities was to forge a new “climate change a
🏷 Environment
The incredible life of the ‘bird man’ refugee who brought tweets, chirps and trills to British radio
I n his lifetime, pioneering German sound recordist Ludwig Koch’s heavily accented voice was as familiar to British audiences as David Attenborough’s is today. His tireless passion for capturing birdsong and bringing it first into German and, after his exile from Nazi Germany, British homes via sound books and BBC radio, made him a household name from the late 1930s onwards. He was celebrated beyond his life, parodied by Peter Sellers ( playing Koch observing life at a Glasgow traffic junction )
🏷 Film
I was a professional fairy. The kids made the job magical – but the adults could be a nightmare
F rom the age of 16 to 22, I was a children’s entertainer. Most often a fairy, sometimes a witch, ballerina, princess or mermaid – with conspicuous legs underneath her tail. One time, hilariously, a ladybug.
🏷 A job that changed me
Ken Loach revisits I, Daniel Blake: ‘We were asking if food banks are tolerable. Now they’re an institution’
Ken Loach, director In 2016, we were – as we continue to be – in a time of mean-spiritedness. If you were vulnerable or needed support, you were met with punishment, and there was a constant vilifying of people who needed help. I, Daniel Blake was based on that.
🏷 How we made
The wait is over: Eta’s arrival as head coach breaks barriers for women in football
F or Marie-Louise Eta, it may feel like another day at the office. The wider significance will be greater, though, when she oversees Union Berlin in their crunch Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg this weekend. History will be made and another barrier broken: it will be the first time a woman appointed as head coach of a men’s team has taken charge of a fixture in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
🏷 Football
SYBAU, WYLL and PMO: what do the latest teen text abbreviations actually mean?
Name: Confusing text abbreviations. Age: As old as texts themselves. Appearance: SYBAU.
🏷 Pass notes
Trump badly needs a way out of this war. Right now, that’s everyone’s problem
Not our war, not our problem. For weeks now, that has been Europe’s increasingly confident position on the conflict in Iran: that it didn’t ask for this ill-judged fight, can hardly be expected to join in when it has no idea what war crimes Donald Trump might be contemplating next, and certainly isn’t obliged to extricate him from his own wilfully deep hole. For Keir Starmer in particular, staying out of the war and letting slip his exasperation has been that rarest of prizes: a chance to do wha
🏷 News
Viktor Orbán is gone. What does his fall mean for Europe?
We’ve shown that even entrenched illiberal regimes are not invincible Zsuzsanna Szelényi Programme director of the CEU Democracy Institute, and author of Tainted Democracy: Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary “Europe! Europe! Europe!” That’s what tens of thousands of us chanted on the banks of the Danube on Sunday as Péter Magyar addressed the jubilant crowd.
🏷 News
King Charles is due to visit Donald Trump. Here are the questions he needs to ask himself first
T he most awkward thing to happen when King Charles visited President Nixon as a young man – it was 1970, the then prince was 21 – was that officials kept wheeling out Nixon’s daughter, Tricia, to stand next to him at events. Since they were both single, on paper anyway (this was the same year Charles met Camilla), the optics were a little primitive. Here, you’re a young man; how about this young woman as a token of our esteem?
🏷 News
Trump’s war has emboldened Iran. Diplomacy is the only solution
D onald Trump was quick to declare victory over Iran, but this weekend’s negotiations suggest that Tehran has the upper hand. His war of choice has backfired. His military solution has emboldened rather than weakened Iran.
🏷 News
What Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli right really mean when they invoke ‘Greater Israel’
M uch remains unclear about the significance and durability of the two-week pause in the US and Israel’s war on Iran. But one aspect of the conflict remains as clear today as it was six weeks ago. Donald Trump doesn’t have a plan.
🏷 News
Social media was once a great global conversation. Now it’s just individuals locked into their own private worlds
I used to post an awful lot on Twitter. I couldn’t tell you how many times a day exactly – but after discovering the platform in late 2010, I became intoxicated by the feeling that I was able to participate in a sort of global conversation. Here, I felt, was a platform that anyone could join, and on which anyone could be listened to.
🏷 News
Hungary’s election: democracy reclaimed
P rior to his landslide election victory in 2010, which was to lead to 16 unbroken years in power, Viktor Orbán would tell supporters: “We have only to win once, but then properly.” Achieving a so-called supermajority by winning two-thirds of parliamentary seats allowed Mr Orbán to change the constitution, and begin turning Hungary into a soft autocracy . From the judiciary to the media and universities, the checks and balances of a democratic society were steadily dismantled and minorities were
🏷 The Guardian view
The Southport inquiry: buck-passing led to three girls being killed
T he fatal stabbings that turned a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, into a nightmare on 29 July 2024 would never have happened if public bodies had done their jobs properly. Sir Adrian Fulford’s conclusion, at the end of phase one of the inquiry into the murders, was blunt. The deaths of Bebe King, six, Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and injuries to 10 other people, were the result of grave failures by police and council officers, health pro
🏷 The Guardian view
Trump and the strait of Hormuz
🏷 Nicola Jennings
Manchester United v Leeds – Premier League
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature From 12h ago 23.22 CEST Jamie Jackson's match report from Old Trafford Leeds stun Manchester United after Okafor double and Martínez red card for hair-pull Read more Share Key events 12h ago Jamie Jackson's match report from Old Trafford 13h ago Full-time: Manchester United 1-2 Leeds United 13h ago Leeds clear off their own line! Twice! 13h ago Huge chance for Calvert-Lewin!
🏷 Football Daily
Arsenal take a ‘punch in the face’ but will it really be a knockout blow?
CANNON AND BAWL? They say that if you’re expecting a kick in the swingers but only receive a punch in the face, you can probably consider it a good result. Because he probably wasn’t expecting his Arsenal players to ship a hoof to the collective crown jewels from Bournemouth on Saturday, Mikel Arteta understandably failed to find any positives as he told one post-match interviewer after another that his listless side’s thoroughly deserved defeat felt like “ a big punch on the face ”.
🏷 Football Daily
How, not what, McIlroy does makes him golf’s successor to Ballesteros
Levels of greatness need not always be defined by numbers. Nick Faldo’s six majors to Rory McIlroy’s five prior to events at Augusta National on Sunday gave the Englishman the edge in the eyes of many in respect of Europe’s finest ever golfer. That McIlroy had already won the career grand slam of majors , therefore passing every test his sport has to offer, meant he was more worthy of the crown.
🏷 Masters
McIlroy celebrates 'wonderful parents' after pushing them to attend Augusta
In a sport filled with pushy parents the McIlroys do things differently: Rory McIlroy had to push his parents to attend the scene of his greatest triumph. Rosie and Gerry McIlroy feared their presence might jinx their son’s defence of the Masters, so they planned to steer clear of Augusta National. They partly attributed his victory at the course last year – a dramatic moment in golfing history that secured a career grand slam – to their absence, which avoided distracting him, and planned to do
🏷 Masters
Joint-third re-energised and ready for more at Masters
Justin Rose refused to write off his major chances after another Masters near-miss. The 2013 US Open winner lost a playoff to Rory McIlroy at Augusta a year ago and held the lead on the back nine on Sunday before finishing in a tie for third, two shots behind the Northern Irishman who successfully defended his title. It was Rose’s fourth top-six finish in his past eight major appearances and the 45-year-old, a winner on the PGA Tour in February, believes he can compete at the highest level.
🏷 Justin Rose
President brands McIlroy a ‘legend’ after second triumph
Donald Trump called Rory McIlroy a “legend” as the United States president congratulated the Northern Irishman on his second Masters title. McIlroy held on for a one-shot victory over America’s world No 1 Scottie Scheffler , becoming the fourth player in the tournament’s 90-year history to win successive titles at Augusta. Trump, who has played with McIlroy in the past, used his Truth Social platform to send a message to the 36-year-old.
🏷 Donald Trump
McIlroy targets even loftier goals after winning back-to-back Masters titles
Rory McIlroy has warned the rest of elite golf he will set further, lofty goals in his sport after a successful defence of the Masters. McIlroy prevailed at Augusta National by a shot over Scottie Scheffler, meaning the Northern Irishman becomes just the fourth golfer to win the tournament back-to-back. While McIlroy will cherish his win, he has no plans to rest on his laurels.
🏷 Reaction
‘It’s not finished’: Lamine Yamal pledges Barcelona will fight to the end
N o pressure, kid. Lamine Yamal took the stage here and, he hoped, not for the last time. The 18-year-old, wearing glasses, sat in the press conference room at the Metropolitano where he said he would take inspiration from the basketball legend LeBron James and from Neymar on Wednesday night.
🏷 Champions League
‘Disgraceful’: anger as World Aquatics allows Russia to compete under flag again
Swimming has agreed to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete without restrictions under their own flag and anthem for the first time since 2022, prompting joy in Russia and outrage in Ukraine. The decision by World Aquatics, which also oversees diving and water polo, adds further momentum to Russia’s bid to be allowed back for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 following judo’s decision to do the same last year. However, the news was greeted with disbelief by Ukrainian athletes, wi
🏷 Swimming
Napoli’s Serie A title defence looks done – without McTominay it would have ended sooner
W as this the end of the Serie A title race? On a weekend when the last two teams pursuing them both slipped up, Inter delivered another statement victory, recovering from two goals down to win 4-3 away to a Como side who had been playing some of the best football in the division. When the final whistle went, manager Christian Chivu celebrated like a man who knew exactly what it meant, hugging an assistant so hard he lifted them off the floor.
🏷 Football
Inter close in on title after beating Como in seven-goal thriller
Inter put one hand on the Serie A title on Sunday after coming back from two goals down to win 4-3 in a thrilling match at Como and move nine points clear of Napoli, who could only draw 1-1 at Parma. Two goals down in the dying moments of the first half due to goals from Álex Valle and Nico Paz, Inter looked set to give champions Napoli hope that their Scudetto defence might still be alive. European football: Bayern break Bundesliga goals record and close on title Read more But Marcus Thuram bri
🏷 European football
As Bologna thrive, sister club CF Montreal have been left in the dust
When the then-Montréal Impact rebranded as Club de Foot Montréal in 2021, their fans weren’t shy about showing their disdain. “It is the dismantling of a dream,” one supporters’ group statement read in part. “We are becoming a bland club, just as many others have become.” Fans carried the protest into home games, where they vandalized a sign with the new logo – something of a modern, minimalistic hybrid of a snowflake and a sphincter.
🏷 MLS Weekend Wrap
Slot backs Liverpool to produce ‘great performance’ to beat PSG
Arne Slot has said Liverpool do not face an impossible task against Paris Saint-Germain but must produce the perfect performance to overcome the European champions in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Liverpool require another stirring Anfield comeback in Tuesday’s second leg to salvage their hopes of silverware having lost 2-0 at Parc des Princes last week. PSG were vastly superior in the first leg and should have won more comfortably, although their head coach, Luis Enrique, describe
🏷 Champions League
Not over, but done: Lamine Yamal all smiles as he guides Barcelona to verge of title
L amine Yamal had not crossed the line yet but he was celebrating already, everyone else following him. It was not over, not officially, but it was done: the derby and the whole damn thing. The nights Barcelona took their last two league titles, they did so against RCD Espanyol, heading beyond the city limits and coming back as champions; the evening they took their third in four years, they faced the same opponents: the rivals Barca’s goalkeeper had grown up with and so many of them had grown u
🏷 Football
Much-changed Spain will still test England in first meeting since Euro 2025 final
E ight-and-a-half months after they locked horns in the final of Euro 2025 , England and Spain meet again on Tuesday night in front of more than 70,000 at Wembley. This time it is in qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup, another tournament in which they met in the final last time out . Despite the relatively brief period since the game in Basel, Spain have a noticeably fresh look with a new head coach and a crop of emerging young players.
🏷 Football
Zaïre-Emery has made PSG’s dazzling midfield even better
W hen Warren Zaïre-Emery ran the show as a 17-year-old in a 3-0 win against Milan Thierry Henry said “ the sky is the limit” for the midfielder. His stratospheric rise led him too close to the sun, though, and the crash back down to Earth was a rude one. But he has since dusted himself off.
🏷 Football
Pope Leo visits Algeria in sign of Africa’s growing importance to Catholic church
Pope Leo XIV has arrived in Algeria for the first papal visit to the country, calling for peace on the opening stop of a tour of Africa that signals the continent’s growing importance to the Catholic church. The 11-day trip, which will include stops in Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea , is the longest by Pope Leo since being elected to the papacy in May last year. The choice to visit Africa sends a powerful signal that the continent is one of the church’s top priorities, according to acade
🏷 Pope Leo XIV
Brazil’s former spy chief who fled country arrested by ICE agents in US
When Brazil ’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison for an attempted coup, six other members of his cabinet were also found guilty and all began serving their sentences – except for one. Days before the verdict, Alexandre Ramagem, Bolsonaro’s former spy chief, fled by car to Guyana and boarded a flight to the United States, where he has remained ever since. On Monday, he was arrested by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), apparently caught
🏷 Brazil
Colombia to cull up to 80 hippos descended from Pablo Escobar zoo
Colombian officials have authorized a plan to cull dozens of hippos descended from animals brought to the country in the 1980s by Pablo Escobar, after the feral beasts displaced native species and threatened local villagers. The environment minister, Irene Vélez, said the decision was reached because other methods to control their population had been expensive and unsuccessful, including neutering some of the animals or moving them to zoos. Vélez said that up to 80 hippos would be affected by th
🏷 Colombia
Peru extends voting for president into Monday after chaos at polling stations
Peruvians will have to wait at least until the end of Monday to know the result of the presidential election held on Sunday, after the voting process descended into chaos in some polling stations due to a lack of ballot papers or defective computers. Peruvians go to polls hoping to break cycle of instability Read more In an unprecedented move, Peru’s electoral agency ONPE announced on Sunday night that it would extend voting for an extra day to allow tens of thousands of Peruvians in the country
🏷 Peru
Brazil’s Lula, 80, livestreams workouts before election against rival half his age
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , is seeking to lunge and leg press his way to a historic fourth term, as the octogenarian politician uses a flurry of workout videos to convince voters he is fighting fit ahead of October’s crunch election. Lula looks set to face off against a senator almost half his age in what will be the leftist’s seventh presidential campaign since he first sought Brazil’s top job in 1989, when he was 44. ‘It’s not just Flávio’: is surname-dropping son down
🏷 Brazil
‘A disturbing lack of integrity’: Columbia students file complaint against energy thinktank taking big oil money
A thinktank at Columbia University is engaging in deceptive trade practices by hiding the extent of its financial ties to the fossil fuel industry, according to a first-of-its-kind administrative complaint filed by student activists and shared with the Guardian. Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) describes itself as an independent organization producing research on energy policy. But that representation is “misleading”, alleges the complaint to the New York City consumer protection
🏷 Fossil fuel
Floods, power outages and hundreds evacuated as Cyclone Vaianu lashes New Zealand’s North Island
Cyclone Vaianu made landfall in New Zealand’s North Island on Sunday, triggering floods, power outages and forcing hundreds to evacuate . The cyclone crossed the coast near the Maketu peninsula, packing destructive winds exceeding 130km/h (80 mph), heavy rain and large swells, national weather provider MetService said, describing Vaianu as a “life-threatening” system. Authorities have placed several regions under emergency declarations and issued “red” level wind warnings, which are reserved for
🏷 Extreme weather
‘Part of our souls’: the fight to stop the New Forest being split in two
D ella Keable could not hold back the tears as she explained how her family had lived in the forest for centuries, making a living among the trees, loving the tight-knit feel of the place. “I’m sorry,” she said as the emotion got too much. “But the forest is part of our souls.” Keable is among thousands of people protesting against the UK government’s decision to split up the administration of the New Forest as part of local government reorganisation.
🏷 UK
Mauritius vows to ‘decolonise’ Chagos Islands after Starmer shelves handover
A senior official in Mauritius’ government has vowed that the Chagos Islands will be “decolonised” after Keir Starmer was forced to shelve legislation to hand the islands back to Mauritius. On Friday, UK government officials acknowledged that they had run out of time to pass legislation within the current parliamentary session, which ends in the coming weeks, after a lack of support from Donald Trump . After the collapse of the plan to hand the islands over voluntarily, Dhananjay Ramful, the Mau
🏷 Chagos Islands
More than a fifth of UK’s ‘austerity children’ scarred by poverty, study says
More than a fifth of all “austerity generation” British children have been scarred by poverty for at least half their childhood, a direct legacy of the welfare benefit cuts imposed by Conservative governments in recent years, research reveals. The proportion of children born after 2013 who spent at least six of their first 11 years of life in hardship surged after ministers froze working age benefits levels and imposed policies such as the two-child limit, it found. Austerity policies, which dra
🏷 Poverty
Man charged with murder of Finbar Sullivan in Primrose Hill
A man has been charged with murder after the death of 21-year-old Finbar Sullivan, who was stabbed to death in Primrose Hill. The Metropolitan police said Oliuwadamilola Ogunyankinnu, 27, of Southbury Road in Enfield, had been charged with murder on Sunday and was due to appear at Stratford magistrates court on Monday. A 25-year-old man who had been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender has been released with no further action.
🏷 UK
Can’t beet it! Humble mangelwurzel to star at Chelsea flower show
They are an unloved root vegetable traditionally grown for cattle feed, and when pulled from the ground they look like an ingredient destined for a witch’s cauldron. But the humble mangelwurzel will be in pride of place in the Great Pavilion at this year’s Chelsea flower show (19-23 May), after becoming the subject of an online craze among young gardeners. The vegetable stand in the pavilion has in the past showcased perfectly spherical tomatoes and straight-as-an-arrow carrots.
🏷 Chelsea flower show
US House committee to investigate Eric Swalwell over sexual assault allegations
Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California , said on Monday he would resign from Congress following multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct that ended his bid for governor. Swalwell was a facing a growing chorus of bipartisan calls for him to step down or face an expulsion vote, a day after he announced that he would suspend his campaign for governor of California. “I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,”
🏷 US politics
‘That crazy old man should leave Cuba alone’: farmers bear the brunt of Trump’s pressure campaign
A braham Rodríguez stares at the corn furrows he must plough before the end of the day. It is not even noon in Artemisa, Cuba , but the sun beats down hard and he’s already tired: working the land is a tough job. He has done it for almost half his life, since he was 13 and his mother got a divorce.
🏷 Southern frontlines
Hate small talk? You may enjoy that ‘dull’ chat more than you think, say researchers
The human aversion to dull experiences was nailed by the author Paulo Coelho when he declared: “I can stand defeats, pain, anger. But I can’t stand boredom.” But the natural desire to avoid boring conversations comes at a cost, according to researchers, who found that people enjoyed chatting about tedious topics far more than they expected. The findings, based on conversations among 1,800 volunteers, suggest that by dodging potentially dull exchanges, people miss out on the mood boost and health
🏷 Science
Goldman Sachs chief ‘hyper-aware’ of risks from Anthropic’s Mythos AI
Goldman Sachs’s chief executive, David Solomon, has said he is “hyper-aware” of the capabilities of Anthropic’s Mythos AI model and is working “closely” with the tech firm after it issued warnings about the cybersecurity risk it poses. The US bank had been monitoring the rapid advances in artificial intelligence, including large language models (LLMs), as part of wider efforts to protect itself from hackers. “Obviously the LLMs are making rapid progress and we’re hyper-aware of the enhanced capa
🏷 AI
‘A cauldron of people with their tops off!’ Goldie, Estelle, Courtney Pine, Flo and more pick great moments in Black British music
‘Can they play? Can they bury people? Yes’ Goldie : Kemistry and Storm (The Diptych) by Eddie Otchere (1995) View image in fullscreen ‘There’s a picture of her in my studio in Thailand’ Photograph: © Eddie Otchere I remember riding my bike up Camden High Street and going past Red or Dead.
🏷 Culture
Karol G at Coachella review – electrifying set destined for festival’s hall of fame
L ate on the final night of Coachella’s first weekend, after more than a dozen songs, several glorious costume changes and some of the most luscious choreography ever seen in a headliner set, the Colombian superstar Karol G finally introduced herself in English: “I am Carolina Giraldo from Medellín, Colombia, and today, I am the first Latina woman to headline Coachella,” she said to deafening cheers from a crowd dotted with the flags of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia and other Latin na
🏷 Coachella
Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, Sombre
🏷 In pictures
Euphoria season three review – grubby, desperate and absolutely not worth the wait
T o say that season three of Euphoria is long-awaited would be something of an understatement. HBO’s high school drama debuted in 2019, when it garnered a fanfare of attention with its heady mix of grinding trauma, heavenly eyeshadows and cheap/daring (delete as appropriate) feats, including a locker room scene starring 30 penises. In the years since, it cemented itself as a show with much to say about gen Z’s relationship to sex, drugs and mental health, and pushed Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney
🏷 Television
Sunshine Women’s Choir review – weepie prison musical is huge Taiwan hit but drowns in own gloop
E veryone involved with this feelgood/feelbad prison musical/weepie, and Taiwan’s biggest local box office hit ever, should be put on immediate cinematic probation and banned from film-making until it’s clear they are no longer a danger to the public. Starting out as merely heavy schmaltz, it resorts to increasingly manipulative tactics to wring out every drop of available emotion from the audience, like some merciless warden during exercise hour. There’s so much theatrical crying in the final s
🏷 Film
Chagrin Valley review – the ins and outs of care home life inside an uncanny artificial paradise
I n the main hall of the Lantern, a retirement home in Ohio’s Chagrin valley, the ceiling consists of glass panels painted to resemble blue skies. The chirping of birds wafts through the corridors, styled after the front porches of typical mid-century houses, except these are all indoors. Like the lighted roof, the sounds of nature are entirely artificial.
🏷 Film
Titaníque – delightfully campy Céline Dion musical shows bigger isn’t always better
A ccording to its creators, the idea for Titaníque, the extremely campy Céline Dion jukebox musical now open on Broadway , originated as a drunken riff between friends – what if the Québécois Queen of Feelings not only sang the theme song of the movie Titanic , but sincerely believed she survived the disaster? A Céline-ified Titanic is an appropriately silly concept – possibly no one has provided the world as much camp sincerity as the 90s power ballad pioneer, and the beloved movie could use so
🏷 Review
Two super hosts team up for a fun new series: best podcasts of the week
History’s Greatest Fails How to Fail’s Elizabeth Day teams up with historian Dan Jones for this new series about screw-ups from times gone by. Fast forward through the university reunion (they were at Cambridge together) and it quickly gets entertaining. Their first episode challenges Shakespeare’s vision of a villainous Richard III, while a future episode will consider the “Ross and Rachel of early modern history”, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
🏷 Best podcasts of the week
Justin Bieber at Coachella – pop’s troubled prince mostly hits right notes in low energy set
T hroughout the Strokes’ main stage set on Saturday evening, you could see them: fans, many of them women, unaffected by the New York indie rockers as they pushed forward through the crowd to stake out spots hours in advance for the night’s closer, Justin Bieber . “I know why you’re here … JUSTIN BIEBER!” the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas joked, sort of, between songs. “We’re happy to lube you up for him.” Sabrina Carpenter at Coachella review – madcap maximalism from pop savant Read more Perhaps
🏷 Review
Ghost-Eye by Amitav Ghosh review – a climate-crisis novel let down by its prose
W hat happens when a novelist cares more about their plot, or their message, than their prose? Plot and message have this much in common: they travel smoothest on the lubricating oil of cliche. Thus you might find yourself enjoying, at the level of story or argument, a novel that trundles along via lumps of workhorse novelese like the following: “manicured gardens”, “apple of their father’s eye”, “venerable patriarch”, “Little did I know then”, “keeping a weather eye”, “money was tight”, “Barely
🏷 Fiction
Walking Shadow by Greg Doran review – Shakespeare’s healing power
T his is really two books in one. The first part consists of the diaries written by Antony Sher in the six months before his death from liver cancer in December 2021 . The second, longer part is a record by his husband and partner of 35 years, Greg Doran, of an obsessive quest to see as many of the more than 200 extant copies of Shakespeare’s First Folio as possible.
🏷 Book of the day
Too hot to handle? Why it’s time for straight male authors to rediscover sex
A re straight male writers scared of writing about sex? If you read modern fiction it’s hard to conclude otherwise. Maybe we’re worried that the very presence of a sex scene in our book would feel somehow exploitative or gratuitous.
🏷 Books
Jorginho calls Chappell Roan security incident a ‘misunderstanding’
The Flamengo footballer Jorginho has clarified his comments on last month’s incident between his 11-year-old stepdaughter and a security guard in Brazil, calling his previous claims against Chappell Roan “a misunderstanding”. “I made my initial statement in the heat of the moment, after hearing that my child and wife had been approached by an adult male security guard in an intimidating way,” Jorginho wrote on Instagram. “I reacted as any father would.
🏷 Music
Hacker group threatens to release Grand Theft Auto VI data in Rockstar Games attack
Rockstar Games, the studio behind Grand Theft Auto , has been the target of a cyberattack for the second time in three years. A hacker group called ShinyHunters said it would release data stolen from the company if ransom demands were not met. ShinyHunters initially gave Rockstar a 14 April deadline to enter negotiations, having gained access to company servers operated by a third party.
🏷 Cybercrime
Mark Ruffalo and Emma Thompson among 1,000+ signatories on open letter opposing Paramount’s Warner buyout
Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Mark Ruffalo, Yorgos Lanthimos and Kristen Stewart are among more than 1,000 film and TV industry professionals who have signed an open letter protesting against Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, the parent group that owns HBO, HBO Max, CNN , TBS and Food Network, as well as the Warner Bros TV and film studios. “We are deeply concerned by indications of support for this merger that prioritise the interests of a small group of powerful stakeho
🏷 Film
Luca Guadagnino defends Timothée Chalamet over opera and ballet remarks: ‘How can one comment become a planetary polemic?’
The director Luca Guadagnino has defended Timothée Chalamet after the actor drew criticism for suggesting that ballet and opera were art forms about which “no one cares about” any more. Speaking to Italian newspaper La Stampa ahead of the premiere of his staging of the opera The Death of Klinghoffer in Florence, the director said reaction to Chalamet’s comments was disproportionate. “I am not on social media and don’t understand how one [single] comment can become a planetary polemic,” said Guad
🏷 Film
The pet I’ll never forget: Chilly, the kitten I saved from freezing to death
E arlier this year, I was walking along the marina in the Jefferson Chalmers neighbourhood in Detroit , Michigan. It was a terribly cold winter; the water had frozen over and everything was coated in a thick layer of frost. Suddenly, a sound caught my ear – the loud cries of a tiny animal.
🏷 Life
‘I just want to feel like me again’: the UK women still waiting for breast reconstruction years after lockdown
E very time she lifts her arms to get dressed or hang out her washing, Julie Ford gets a painful reminder of one of the most terrifying experiences of her life. At 7am one day in April 2021, she had gone into hospital, alone and wearing a mask, to have her right breast and lymph nodes removed in a bid to stop breast cancer from spreading. Later that day, still groggy from the anaesthetic, in pain and with surgical drains hanging from both sides of her chest, she had staggered to the door with th
🏷 Health
Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for chilli eggs with miso beans and spinach
M y go-to cheat ingredient for a dash of heat is White Mausu’s peanut rāyu – it has a gentler flavour profile than, say, Lao Gan Ma crispy chilli in oil, and works perfectly in this dish of creamy, lemon-spiked beans and eggs. I recommend using jarred white beans for the speediest cook time. For an easy, get-ahead breakfast, make and chill the spinach and beans the night before, then reheat the next morning and crack in the eggs when the beans are piping hot.
🏷 Quick and easy
Harissa carrots and preserved lemon potatoes: Helen Graham’s recipes for roasting vegetables with hawaij spice mix
H awaij is a Yemeni spice mix that came into my life during my time at the Palomar in London, and it has not left my spice cupboard ever since. It’s a mix of turmeric, black pepper, cardamom and ground coriander, giving it an earthy, vegetal flavour, and it’s traditionally used in soups and stews; it’s also a key component in zhoug , a spicy coriander and chilli sauce. It’s one of the most enlivening and versatile spice mixes I know, and should be your forever companion, too.
🏷 Food
Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, London WC2: ‘A rollicking list of cosy British joys’ – restaurant review
A s we sit awaiting the beef rib trolley in the Grand Divan dining room at the whoppingly sized Simpson’s-in-the-Strand , we fizz with ideas of how to describe its wildly unfettered quaintness. “It’s all a bit Hogwarts, isn’t it?” I say to my friend Hugh. He’s been four times already, but then, Simpson’s is that kind of place: a handy-as-heck, posh canteen a short stroll from Covent Garden.
🏷 Grace Dent on restaurants
Lifestyle blogger said to have inspired Devil Wears Prada character uses unpaid student interns
She is said to have been the inspiration for a character in The Devil Wears Prada and was a personal assistant of Anna Wintour, so Plum Sykes knows a thing or two about the arduous and often unglamorous life of being a fashion industry intern. But that recognition does not, it appears, extend to paying her own interns a fair wage. Or, indeed, any wage at all.
🏷 Fashion
The kindness of strangers: The Ashes heat was unbearable. Then a Barmy Army member offered his seats in the shade
W e’re great enemies in cricket, England and Australia. So when the Ashes returned this past summer, my son and I travelled from Ballarat to Adelaide to see the showdown in the third Test. It’s a long drive but we made it a boys’ trip, stopping in at pubs and all that nonsense on the way.
🏷 Life and style
This is how we do it: ‘I love the idea of only knowing one person intimately for the rest of my life’
Veronika, 18 double quotation mark There have been days when we’ve been on the phone for 10 hours at a stretch Part of me always hoped I’d have a love story like my parents, who were college sweethearts and are still crazy about each other 30 years later. Maybe that’s why it felt so natural to me that Fabio and I were serious about our future together from the moment he asked me out two years ago. We were just 16 and 17 at that point, and still dealing with the madness of A-levels (not to mentio
🏷 Life and style
Dining across the divide: ‘We both agreed Brexit was a disaster - but disagreed about who was responsible for that’
Graham, 76, Pangbourne View image in fullscreen Occupation Property manager Voting record Always Conservative Amuse bouche Cycled from Land’s End to John o’Groats, taking five days to get to the Scottish border – then another four days to get to the end. Scotland is much bigger than you think Katherine, 53, Bath View image in fullscreen Occupation University researcher Voting record Historically, Labour but Lib Dem now due to the Lib Dem/Tory face-off in Bath Amuse bouche Spent a week walking ab
🏷 Life and style
I’ve spent 20 years treading water and fear that I’ve wasted so much time. Am I depressed?
My wife and I are in our late 60s. The past 20 years have felt like treading water, as all my funds are tied up in a property that, for complex reasons, I am unable to sell. We are both creative.
🏷 Ask Annalisa Barbieri
Is it true that … having a diverse microbiome stops you from getting sick?
T he trillions of microorganisms that live in and on our bodies – known as the microbiome – have been hailed as the key to better immunity. “Lots of studies correlate the types of bacteria in your microbiome with health and disease across almost every mental and physical condition,” says Prof Daniel M Davis, head of life sciences at Imperial College London and the author of Self Defence: A Myth-busting Guide to Immune Health . “But most of that evidence is correlative, and we still need to under
🏷 Life
‘They’re all junk, and should be banned’: the trouble with at-home food intolerance tests
M y kitchen table is littered with tiny test tubes, envelopes and plastic lancets. At one end of the table, I have a parcel containing everything I need to take a food intolerance blood test, sold by one of the best-known companies in this market, as well as one of their food and environmental allergy tests, a package deal that cost me just over £200. At the other end, I’ve arranged everything I need to do a top-of-the-range ALEX2 allergy blood test, which I got from the allergy clinic run by Dr
🏷 Health
Did you solve it? Are you smarter than a Navy admiral?
Earlier today I asked you these three puzzles. Here they are again with solutions. 1.
🏷 Alex Bellos's Monday puzzle
The one change that worked: in a hectic world, taking up jigsaw puzzles calmed my mind
U ntil last year, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done a jigsaw puzzle. It must have been at least 20 years ago. As far as I was concerned, puzzles were for children.
🏷 Life
My search for the perfect bodega in Madrid
T he first hurdle to overcome when searching for the Spanish capital’s top bodegas is the correct interpretation of the word “bodega”. It is defined as a warehouse, winery, wine cellar and wine shop or bar specialising in wine. In Spanish slang it can also mean a convenience store.
🏷 Travel
From Andrew Tate to Mountbatten-Windsor, my first name has been dragged through the mud. Can a global community of ‘Drews’ help change that?
I t’s a rough time to be called Andrew. In recent years, notorious figures such as Andrew Tate and the former prince have dominated the headlines, giving us a bad name. Even the CEO caught up in that Coldplay scandal was an Andy.
🏷 Life and style
Spring clean in Seoul and tribute to Indian music legend
🏷 Photos of the day
‘You’re that evil girl who ran away’
I f you met Tareena Shakil today, you would have no idea that the person in front of you had served time in prison for terrorism offences and holds the dubious distinction of being the first British woman convicted of joining Islamic State . Now 36, Shakil is glamorous, heavily made-up with long, tousled hair. When we meet at a plush hotel in Birmingham, she wears a sharply tailored dress, waist cinched in with a wide leather belt, and carries a Louis Vuitton handbag.
🏷 Isis recruit to influencer
What on Earth is Melania Trump thinking?
You’ve probably heard of the Barbra Streisand effect : the phenomenon where attempts to censor information end up drawing more attention to it. Now we might soon be referencing the Melania Trump effect: the phenomenon where holding a surprise press conference to state that you did not have a relationship with a dead paedophile, and would like people to please stop speculating about the matter, immediately causes people to start speculating about the matter. On Thursday, for reasons that nobody c
🏷 Arwa Mahdawi
Madcap maximalism from pop savant
W ay back in the good old days of spring 2024, the pop singer Sabrina Carpenter ended her first Coachella set with a bold promise: “He’s drinking my bath water like it’s red wine/Coachella, see you back here when I headline,” she trilled as part of the ever-rotating, always naughty outro lines for her song Nonsense. Carpenter is a famously cheeky performer – her music, chock-full of double entendres and witty punchlines, is as much musical comedy as pop – but it seems, for once, that she was dea
🏷 Sabrina Carpenter at Coachella
'They searched my Met Gala dress for contraband’
R ehab doesn’t happen to you. You happen to rehab. That’s something I kept thinking when, at night, I wept myself to sleep in the tastefully appointed room where I could not keep any sharp objects, not even tweezers, and did not have a lock on my door.
🏷 Lena Dunham on rehab
Hungary’s election tests Orbán’s grip on power
🏷 Zebras, wealth and power
Iran peace talks under way as Trump claims US has begun clearing mines in strait of Hormuz
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature From 2d ago 05.06 CEST Closing summary This blog is closing now, but you can continue to follow the latest developments at our new live blog here . And to finish with, a recap of the major events from the past few hours: After a marathon 21-hour first day of talks, US vice-president JD Vance announced on Sunday that his negotiating team was leaving Pakistan without reaching a deal, despite the historic and face-to-face meetings m
🏷 Full report
JD Vance warns Iran against trying to ‘play’ the US in peace talks
JD Vance has warned Iran not to “try and play” the US at talks planned for Saturday in Islamabad, while Tehran said it would not take part until Israel stopped its bombing of Lebanon. The US vice-president made the comments as he boarded a plane to Pakistan for negotiations that could determine whether a ceasefire holds or the war on Iran resumes with grave implications for the global economy. With hours to go before the talks were scheduled to start, doubts remained as to whether they actually
🏷 Full report
US officials claim Iran unable to find mines it laid in strait of Hormuz, report says
Iran is unable to find the mines it laid in the strait of Hormuz and does not have the capacity to remove the explosives, preventing Iran from allowing more traffic through the waterway, the New York Times reported, citing US officials. Meanwhile, US military officials on Saturday announced that their forces “began setting conditions for clearing mines in the strait”, with two navy guided-missile destroyers conducting operations. The opening of the strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint for a fifth of
🏷 Strait of Hormuz
Fears of UK and EU flight cancellations as airports warn of jet fuel shortages
Airports have said jet fuel could run short within three weeks in Europe if oil supplies do not start to flow through the strait of Hormuz, raising concerns over flight cancellations in the UK and EU going into the summer holiday season. Jet fuel shortages will become so acute without the resumption of supplies from the Middle East that cancellations across Europe will be inevitable, disrupting travel plans for potentially millions of passengers. The warning came from Airports Council Internatio
🏷 Airline industry
Is Iran Trump’s Suez crisis, or just a passing thunderstorm?
Donald Trump’s addiction to framing every event in the most apocalyptic terms is what allows conservative commentators such as Mark Levin to praise him as “a once-in-a-century president”. But Trump cannot play out his entire presidency on a reckless high wire without eventually falling off – potentially taking America with him into a steep decline into the unknown. Trump likes to portray Europe as being under civilisational threat from migration, but this week he threatened that a 7,000-year-old
🏷 Analysis
‘Abhorrent’: the inside story of the Polymarket gamblers betting millions on war
“Horekunden” was rapidly losing patience. His frustration was with the Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank which produces a daily map of the frontline in Ukraine. For Horekunden, and other anonymous gamblers, the map was a “ disjointed, incoherent mess … like the painting of a five-year-old”.
🏷 Exclusive
Explosives found near pipeline in Serbia probably ‘Russian provocation’, says expert
The amount of explosives discovered in Serbia last week would not have been enough to destroy the Balkan Stream gas pipeline, prompting an expert to conclude it was probably a Russian intelligence plot aimed at influencing Hungary’s impending election. A former Ukrainian major general and a munitions specialist told the Guardian calculations made by his company showed the 4kg of explosives recovered by Serbia’s military security agency in Kanjiža could not have seriously ruptured the pipe. Exper
🏷 Serbia
UK forced to shelve Chagos Islands legislation after US dropped support
The UK government has been forced to shelve its legislation to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, after the US dropped its support for the agreement. On Friday, UK government officials acknowledged that they had run out of time to pass legislation within the current parliamentary session, which ends in the coming weeks. The latest setback in the UK’s push to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which hosts a joint US-UK Diego Garcia military base, is a sign of the worsening US-UK relations a
🏷 Chagos Islands
Grand National 2026: I Am Maximus wins big race for second time at Aintree
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature From 2d ago 17.12 CEST I Am Maximus wins the Grand National! Jordans goes over the second last, and is chased to the elbow as I Am Maximus runs him down to regain the Grand National , the first to do so since Red Rum in 1977. I Am Maximus joins Grand National greats by regaining crown to emulate Red Rum Read more Paul Townend cheers as they cross the line!
🏷 Telescopes, selfies and epic leaps
Grand National in pictures
🏷 Telescopes, selfies and epic leaps
‘He cares about Hungarians’: the small Ukrainian town divided over Orbán
A cross much of Ukraine, Sunday’s parliamentary election in Hungary is being followed with a singular hope: that Viktor Orbán, the Kremlin-friendly leader who has made opposition to Kyiv a centrepiece of his campaign, will be voted out after 16 years in office. But in Berehove, the mood is more complicated. In this small town of about 30,000 in Ukraine’s hilly Zakarpattia region, ethnic Hungarians form a majority, and Hungarian is heard as often as Ukrainian.
🏷 Viktor Orbán
Who is Péter Magyar, the man leading the polls as Hungary prepares for election?
A s a child growing up in Budapest, Péter Magyar had a poster of Viktor Orbán – at the time a leading figure in the country’s pro-democracy movement – hanging above his bed. Orbán was one of several political figures that adorned his bedroom, Magyar told a podcast last year, hinting at his excitement over the changes sweeping the country after the collapse of communism. Hungary elections: what is at stake and who is likely to win?
🏷 Hungary
Hungarians speak to the Guardian before decisive election
Explore more on these topics Hungary Viktor Orbán Europe
🏷 Video
Man charged over deaths of four people trying to cross Channel
A man accused of piloting a small boat carrying four people who drowned trying to cross the Channel has been charged over their deaths. Alnour Mohamed Ali, a Sudanese national, was charged with endangering life after two men and two women died trying to board a small boat crossing the Channel on Thursday, the National Crime Agency said. The 27-year-old is alleged to have piloted the boat from France to the UK.
🏷 UK news
Trump reportedly says he’ll issue mass pardons at end of his presidential term
Donald Trump has reportedly said he will issue pardons en masse to his closest advisers at the end of his second presidency, promising them in casual conversations over the last year. “I’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval [Office],” the president reportedly said in a recent meeting, garnering laughs from the room, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing an anonymous source. The publication reported that another source had said Trump used the line in an earlier c
🏷 US news
Trump administration releases new renderings of so-called ‘Arc de Trump’
The Trump administration on Friday released new renderings of the triumphal arch the president wants to install in Memorial Circle at the foot of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. As part of Donald Trump’s legacy-building quest during his second term in office, the so-called “Arc de Trump” would stand 250ft tall, feature a 60ft golden Lady Liberty, and include a viewing deck. The phrase “One Nation Under God” would stretch across the top of the structure, according to the latest plans from Harrison
🏷 Donald Trump
US man in Bahamian jail after wife disappears into Atlantic waters during boat trip
Lynette Hooker bounced around the deck of the docked Soul Mate, smiled into the camera and proclaimed, “We’re finally leaving Kemah,” referring to a Texas port town. “It’s only been four months,” she said as her husband, Brian, tugged on some rigging as they got ready to set sail. The Gulf Crossing video in 2023 marked the start of a sailing adventure – chronicled on Facebook – for a couple who are now at the center of criminal investigations after Lynette went missing in the Bahamas .
🏷 Bahamas
‘The party was chilled until police sent in the riot squad’: when a Dorset free rave turned violent
A couple of thousand ravers were given the secret location for one of the annual highlights of the free party scene – the Easter bank holiday weekend Eggtek event. The sun was shining and they arrived at a field on Ministry of Defence land in Lulworth, Dorset , in a state of high excitement about a weekend of dancing to techno music playing from a variety of different stages and sound systems in the heart of the countryside. View image in fullscreen Police with riot shields face ravers.
🏷 UK
Why the Nato alliance is not as likely to dissolve as Trump makes it seem
Collateral damage is a universally acknowledged hazard of war – more commonly known for its impact on truth and non-combatant civilians. Its consequences are much less frequently visited on military alliances. The United States’ North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( Nato ) allies are fearful that may be about to change as a result of the fallout from Washington’s decision to team up with Israel in waging war against Iran .
🏷 Nato
‘Endless war’: inside an Israeli kibbutz near Lebanon’s volatile border
I t is a day after Israel killed more than 300 in a ceasefire-defying attack in Lebanon , and five miles from the border, at kibbutz Cabri in northern Israel, the quiet of the early Thursday evening has been disrupted. Three times, as the Guardian tries to leave, air raid sirens sound, and twice Iron Dome interceptors are launched. The last of the rockets fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon is sufficiently close that the Moria family and their visitors head promptly to a reinforced safe room, shutti
🏷 Israel
Swedish exhibition explores life of 18th-century Black diarist
I n 1760, a Black child around 10 years old arrived at the Swedish royal court as a “gift” to the queen. Adolf Ludvig Gustav Fredrik Albrecht Couschi, who became known as Badin (derived from the French for joker or prankster), later held titles including chamberlain, court secretary, ballet master and civil servant. He is thought to have been born into slavery between 1747 and 1750 in the former Danish colony of St Croix (now part of the US Virgin Islands), where he was “owned” by Christian Lebr
🏷 Sweden
Lena Dunham on toxic fame, broken friendships and her ‘lost decade’
I f there is something to be learned from the words people pick for their passwords and proxies, then Lena Dunham’s choice of aliases – pseudonyms that, as a public person, she has used over the years to conceal her identity when checking into rehab or ordering room service – give us a tiny glimpse into the writer and director’s self-image. Among her staples, “Lauri Reynolds” (after her mum, Laurie, with whom she is strikingly close); “Rose O’Neill” (after the American millionaire illustrator, w
🏷 ‘I got everything I dreamed of – when I had no abi
‘Casual without being sloppy’: why flannel shirts are making a comeback
I n many wardrobes, the thick, checked shirt is usually found among the gardening clothes, or it might be worn as an extra layer on a bitterly cold day. But, in 2026, for the first time since the 90s, it’s becoming a bona fide fashion item. Flannel shirts have recently been worn by fashion editors and stylists on the front row, by the models Adwoa Aboah and Emily Ratajkowski and the Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola .
🏷 Fashion
‘She claimed she was usually shy. I wouldn’t have guessed’
View image in fullscreen Jack on Heather What were you hoping for? A nice evening, to meet someone new and see what type of person I would be matched up with. First impressions?
🏷 Blind date
‘It has your name on it, but I don’t think it’s you’: how AI is impersonating musicians on Spotify
J ason Moran, a renowned jazz composer and pianist, got a strange call from a friend last month. The friend, bassist Burniss Earl Travis, was curious about Moran’s new record that he saw on the music streaming service Spotify . “It has your name on it,” Travis told him.
🏷 AI
Richard Schiff: ‘If Jesus was alive today he’d point to Martin Sheen and say, “That’s what I was talking about”’
B orn in Maryland, Richard Schiff, 70, came to fame when he was cast in Steven Spielberg’s 1997 film The Lost World: Jurassic Park. From 1999 to 2006 he played Toby Ziegler in the TV drama The West Wing , receiving an Emmy for his performance. Other work includes the series The Good Doctor and Ballers, and the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
🏷 The Q&A
The grid unlocked: how does a greener power network actually work?
In the 20th century, the UK’s electricity grid was shaped by coal-fired power stations, clustered in the industrial heartlands. The once world-leading system was designed for a one-way energy flow from power plants to consumers – whose use of electricity was modest and predictable. The shift to cleaner energy and growing electrification of all aspects of life means the grid of 70 years ago is no longer fit for purpose.
🏷 News
From Amazon to Meta: how the world’s biggest companies are securing supplies of low-carbon energy
The war in the Middle East this year has given us a stark reminder of how global events can have a huge impact on domestic energy prices. It follows earlier systemic shocks to global energy supplies, from the oil crises of the 1970s to the energy price spikes in 2021-2023 as the world came out of Covid lockdowns and then grappled with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While each of those dramatic disruptions had a well-documented impact on the consumer market, power-hungry businesses and energy supp
🏷 News
The net benefits of net zero: why there’s more to renewables than tackling the climate crisis
The environmental benefits of cleaner energy are well known. These range from mitigating climate change to eliminating pollution near generating sources. In the UK, decarbonising the electricity grid is already a big environmental success story.
🏷 News
How AI is transforming the electricity grid – and why robot dogs could have a role to play
Artificial intelligence may have exploded in the public consciousness thanks to a new generation of attention-grabbing chatbots, but AI and machine learning have been with us for several years – and these more established models are already delivering significant returns. Electricity grids and AI, for instance, are a match made in heaven. Grids are complicated, have vast numbers of inputs and outputs, require constant oversight and create huge quantities of data.
🏷 News
Scott and Bournemouth deal blow to nervy Arsenal’s title hopes
For Arsenal’s longsuffering supporters, the emotional strain is reaching unbearable levels. They could only watch in stunned disbelief as Alex Scott’s goal 16 minutes from time condemned the Premier League leaders to a defeat Mikel Arteta must fear could prove to be extremely significant. While Arsenal’s advantage over Manchester City remains nine points for now, another loss at the Etihad next Sunday would give City an opportunity to draw level on points if they beat Chelsea on Sunday and then
🏷 Premier League
How all the action unfolded on our minute-by-minute report
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Key events 3d ago Mikel Arteta: "It's a big punch in the face" 3d ago Andoni Iraola: "A complete performance" 3d ago Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth 3d ago Full time: Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth 3d ago GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth (Scott 75) 3d ago Second half: Arsenal 1-1 Bournemouth 3d ago Half-time: Arsenal 1-1 Bournemouth 3d ago GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Bournemouth (Gyokeres 35pen) 3d ago PENALTY FOR ARSENAL!
🏷 As it happened
Check out the latest top-flight standings
🏷 Premier League table
Check out the latest Premier League goal standings
22 Erling Haaland (Manchester City) 21 Igor Thiago (Brentford) 15 Antoine Semenyo (Manchester City) 14 João Pedro (Chelsea) 12 Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal) Danny Welbeck (Brighton) 11 Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool) 10 Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth) Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United) Harry Wilson (Fulham) Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace) 9 Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle United) Bryan Mbeumo (Manchester United) Cole Palmer (Chelsea) Richarl
🏷 Top scorers
School drop, fly to Augusta, home for dinner: McIlroy’s scouting trips pay off
Rory McIlroy has explained how scouting trips to Augusta National in the weeks leading up to the Masters have played a significant role in his domination of this staging of the major. McIlroy’s second round of 65 – which included six birdies in the closing seven holes – set a Masters record, with the defending champion the first man to lead the tournament by six at the halfway point. Entering the Masters, it was assumed McIlroy’s three-week break from PGA Tour business was to conserve energy.
🏷 The Masters
Magical McIlroy surges into six-shot lead with stunning late flourish
After spending 16 years as the hunter, Rory McIlroy is relishing his position as the hunted. The defending Masters champion has reached the halfway point of the 2026 staging in a style that asserts his desperation to hang on to the Green Jacket. Elk, served as sliders in the 36-year-old’s champions dinner on Tuesday evening, were seen diving for cover in mountainous regions as McIlroy placed daylight between himself and pretenders to his throne.
🏷 Day two report
MacIntyre dodges media again after first-round outbursts
Robert MacIntyre declined interview requests for a second Masters day in succession, with the fiery Scot facing a reprimand from Augusta National over his behaviour in the closing stages of round one. MacIntyre’s miserable visit to Georgia concluded with a 71, which ensured he missed the cut at seven over par. The key damage had been done on Thursday, when MacIntyre slumped to an 80 which included a quadruple bogey nine at the 15th.
🏷 The Masters
Rose loses his cool in the heat but Masters dream lives on
H ot days and hard greens at the Masters. It was up in the mid- 80s by lunchtime on Friday, and that was if you were underneath the trees with a Georgia peach ice-cream sandwich. Out there on the other side of the ropes it looked a whole lot hotter again.
🏷 Andy Bull
Amateur world No 3,262 swaps real estate for the Masters
T here are two Masters taking place this year, the one you’re watching, and the one you’re playing in. Well. Maybe not you, exactly, unless you can count your handicap on two fingers, but the best player you know, that guy on the school run who used to play off scratch, that cousin who won the sports scholarship, or the uncle who everyone says could have made it back in the day.
🏷 Brandon Holtz
Brentford v Everton, Burnley v Brighton, and more – clockwatch
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Key events 3d ago Full-time scores 3d ago Full-time: Hearts 3-1 Motherwell 3d ago Full-time: Brentford 2-2 Everton 3d ago Full-time: Burnley 0-2 Brighton 3d ago GOAL! Brentford 2-2 Everton (Dewsbury-Hall 90+1) 3d ago GOAL! Burnley 0-2 Brighton (Wieffer 89) 3d ago GOAL!
🏷 News
Liverpool v Fulham – Premier League updates
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Key events 3d ago Full time: Liverpool 2-0 Fulham 3d ago Half time: Liverpool 2-0 Fulham 3d ago GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Fulham (Salah 40) 3d ago GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Fulham (Nguomha 36) 3d ago Premier League results 3d ago Team news: Salah and Robertson start, Fulham unchanged 3d ago Preamble Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature 3d ago 20.38 CEST Andy Hunter At the end of a stormy week for Arne Slot there
🏷 News
England 33-12 Ireland – world champions ease to victory in Women’s Six Nations opener
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Key events 3d ago Match report 3d ago Full-time! England 33-12 Ireland 3d ago TRY! England 33-12 Ireland (King, 74) 3d ago TRY!
🏷 Women's Six Nations
Will anyone stop England’s conveyor belt of talent?
I f there isn’t a conspiracy theory out there about England having a factory that churns out world-class players then there should be. The Red Roses squad will be without eight Rugby World Cup winners because of injury, pregnancies and retirements for the Women’s Six Nations but they are still overwhelming favourites for a grand slam. For others, a squad so depleted would throw their campaign into chaos, but not for England.
🏷 Women's Six Nations
‘You come back different’: how players change after motherhood
W hen England begin their defence of the Women’s Six Nations against Ireland on Saturday at Twickenham they will be without Zoe Stratford, Lark Atkin-Davies and Rosie Galligan as they prepare to become mothers for the first time. The England rugby league player Kelsey Gentles – who has returned to her sport as a different player and person – says the World Cup winners should embrace the imminent metamorphosis. Gentles left the Women’s Super League as a sparkling outside back in 2023; when she re
🏷 Rugby union
New York Times investigates reporter Russini’s Vrabel coverage amid photo uproar
The New York Times Company is reviewing coverage by NFL reporter Dianna Russini involving New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel after photos of the two together at an Arizona resort prompted internal concern, ESPN reported Friday citing people familiar with the matter. Russini, who works for The Times-owned The Athletic, has been sidelined while the review is ongoing, a source said. The images, published this week by the New York Post’s Page Six, show Russini and Vrabel together at a luxur
🏷 NFL
Ipswich tighten grip on second but Coventry made to wait for promotion
Ipswich gave their hopes of automatic promotion a massive boost by recording a hard-fought 2-0 win over Norwich at Carrow Road, while Coventry must wait for another day after being held 0-0 at home by Sheffield Wednesday . Ipswich moved into the top two, with at least a game in hand on their nearest rivals, as first-half goals from Jaden Philogene, with a harsh penalty, and George Hirst completed a long overdue double over their East Anglian rivals. Norwich had more of the ball but were frustrat
🏷 Championship
Fury’s latest return unlikely to save heavyweight era reaching its end
“I ’ll make this short and sweet,” Tyson Fury said in a brief video he posted online on 13 January 2025 . “I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing. It’s been a blast and I’ve loved every single minute of it.
🏷 Boxing
Gambling is easy, right? Wrong: it turns out betting on sport is designed to disturb you
Welcome to How I Beat The Bookies: My Gambling Journey. Yes, my extreme methods can work for you. But only in the usual way.
🏷 News
An environmental disaster in Moldova has Russia’s fingerprints all over it
I n the second week of March, the nature vlogger Ilie Cojocari went out to film the arrival of spring on the Nistru (Dniester) river, 70 metres away from his home in Naslavcea, a village bordering Ukraine on the northernmost point of Moldova. But as he approached the river he could smell the stench of oil rising up from the water and see dark spots floating on its surface. Something was wrong.
🏷 News
Congratulations to the Artemis II crew – but the case for sending astronauts into space is rapidly shrinking
T he 2020s has seen a revival of the “ Apollo spirit ”. The US and China are seemingly in a race to send humans to the moon by the end of the decade – and thereafter, perhaps, even to Mars. Nasa astronauts have just returned from a 10-day journey looping around the moon.
🏷 News
Trump’s Iran fiasco has led him into the gravest territory
D onald Trump has hung nine glowering portraits of himself throughout the White House, each one projecting a variation on the theme of intimidation. But gazing into his narcissistic pool of grimacing images has not calmed him when in his mind’s eye he stares into the abyss of the worst failure of his life. Trump’s fiasco has inspired him to heightened performances of profane, vile and vicious threats.
🏷 News
Yes, money can buy you happiness – if you spend it right
W hen wages have stalled for nearly 20 years and I recently came face to face with a tube of toothpaste that was nearly £7 in my local Sainsbury’s, the idea that money can’t buy happiness seems almost offensive. It ultimately comes from a blinkered concept of what money can do. Sure, if you only use your money to buy things , the happiness it provides will be shallow and fleeting.
🏷 The hill I will die on
For Trump and Hegseth, the Iran war is a game
T rump threatened to commit genocide and Iran came to the table. A little threat – plus the deaths of thousands of Iranians and 13 Americans, the obliteration of schools, homes, hospitals and mosques, the waste of $40bn by the US and losses to the Gulf nations of as much as $200bn – is all it took. Ergo: threatening genocide works.
🏷 News
Trump’s civilisational threats: the words that fuel war must be condemned
“M etaphors can kill,” the linguist George Lakoff wrote in an influential essay on the Gulf war. “The use of a metaphor with a set of definitions becomes pernicious when it hides realities in a harmful way.” He described the effects of the US employment of business cost-and-benefit analogies, sporting comparisons and the fairytale of the just war with heroes and villains. All veiled the reality of conflict.
🏷 The Guardian view
Dystopias for our times: the American nightmare
A s Margaret Atwood has said , all dystopian fiction is “really about now”. No wonder the genre is flourishing. This week Atwood’s bleak vision of a future America as a patriarchal theocracy returned to TV screens with the adaptation of her prize-winning 2019 novel The Testaments , the long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale.
🏷 The Guardian view
Jubilant return of Artemis II shadowed by ‘extinction-level’ cuts to Nasa
The astronauts onboard Artemis II were “almost poets”, Nasa’s administrator, Jared Isaacman, declared on Friday, referring to their inspiring words as they swung above the lunar surface. They were, he said, “ambassadors for humanity” as they became the first humans to travel to the moon and return safely to Earth since 1972, on a mission that broke a distance record . Meanwhile, the mood at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Friday night was one of jubilation and celebration as the Orion cap
🏷 ‘It’s discordant’
‘Just the beginning’: Artemis II crew splashes down after record-breaking moon flyby
The Artemis II , and the four astronauts aboard the Orion space capsule, splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday night, with all four astronauts in good health. “53 years ago, humanity left the moon. This time we return to stay.
🏷 Artemis II
'Astronauts back on Earth': Artemis II crew splashes down after record-breaking moon flyby
Explore more on these topics Artemis II Space The moon Nasa
🏷 Video
Eamonn Holmes recovering in hospital after a stroke
The television presenter Eamonn Holmes is recovering in hospital after a stroke. A spokesperson for GB News , where Holmes presents the breakfast show alongside Ellie Costello, said that the Northern Irish broadcaster became ill last week. He is said to be responding well to treatment.
🏷 Television
Native Americans were gambling with dice 6,000 years earlier than anyone else, study says
Native American hunter gatherers were using dice for gaming and gambling more than 6,000 years before the practice appeared anywhere else, a new study argues. It says dice were being made and used on the western great plains of North America at the end of the last ice age, more than 12,000 years ago. It had been thought that the earliest examples of dice were in the bronze age societies of Mesopotamia and the Indus valley.
🏷 Archaeology
McDonald’s CEO blames mother’s etiquette training for awkward burger bite in video
The chief executive officer of McDonald’s recently blamed etiquette guidance from his mother for a February on-camera taste test that made him a target for ridicule – and summarily recorded another video of him eating one of the fast-food giant’s offerings in a manner potential consumers found awkward. Chris Kempczinski suggested to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) earlier in April that he was simply heeding maternal advice to never talk with his mouth full when he took the humorously small bite at
🏷 Business
Workers at LA stadium threaten World Cup strike amid anger over ICE
A hospitality union that represents about 2,000 workers at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has threatened to strike during the World Cup if Fifa leaders do not heed their concerns about working conditions and the presence of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This summer, SoFi Stadium will be thrust into the national spotlight as it hosts eight World Cup matches. Between June and July, Los Angeles is estimated to see 150,000 more out-of-town visitors than typical for the time period.
🏷 World Cup 2026
Video of an ICE shooting shattered the agency’s story. Will it usher in accountability?
O n 14 January, in the thick of Donald Trump’s massive anti-immigration crackdown in Minneapolis , two deportation officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attempted to stop a car in traffic. They had identified the owner as an unauthorized immigrant, according to an FBI affidavit. The driver, later identified as Alfredo Aljorna, a Venezuelan national, sped off, hitting speeds of 80mph and eventually crashing into a parked car.
🏷 US immigration
The war over Omagh’s gold: the £21bn mine plan tearing a community apart
W hen Fidelma O’Kane retired more than a decade ago from her career as a social worker and lecturer, she thought she would be “travelling and having a glass of wine and eating chocolate and reading books” while based in the quiet, hilly corner of rural County Tyrone where she has lived almost all her life. It didn’t quite work out that way. Instead, an idle remark from a neighbour would set O’Kane on a path that would become an all-consuming mission .
🏷 ‘Goldmining. That’s bad news.’
Record number of homes in Great Britain turn to green energy as fuel prices soar
British households are turning to green home energy upgrades in record numbers to try to keep bills down as the Iran crisis sends global oil and gas prices soaring, data from leading energy suppliers suggests. Figures show demand for solar panels, electric vehicles and heat pumps in Great Britain has leapt since the war began on 28 February, as households brace for a sharp increase in monthly payments when the next energy price cap takes effect in the summer. Energy bills are expected to increas
🏷 UK
‘I’m worried there’s too much of me,’ says a birch: inside the interspecies council giving nature a voice
“My ask of humans is quite large,” says the northern bat to a room of reindeer, wolf lichen, bog, and other beings. “It’s a shift of consciousness, and an understanding that … we are a relation.” The scene could come from a sci-fi novel imagining a more-than-human uprising. In fact, it’s from a recent “interspecies council” in Oppdal, Norway , in which non-humans – spoken for by humans – convened to discuss the region’s future.
🏷 Conservation
Argentina just ripped up its pioneering glacier law. What does this mean for millions of people’s drinking water?
S aul Zeballos was born and raised in Jáchal, a community tucked into the foothills of the Andes in Argentina , drinking water from the river that bears the town’s name. That changed in 2005, when the Veladero gold and silver mine started operating in San Juan province. A decade later, a major cyanide spill from the mine polluted the rivers in the San Juan region, raising fears it could affect waterways downstream in the Jáchal basin , although further studies have shown that cyanide levels rema
🏷 Argentina
More than 90 people arrested at Palestine Action protest in London
More than 500 people have been arrested at the first mass demonstration opposing the proscription of Palestine Action since the group’s ban was ruled unlawful by the high court. Hundreds of people gathered in Trafalgar Square in London and presented signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Hundreds of demonstrators sat on camping chairs and on the ground as they held up their placards on Saturday afternoon.
🏷 Protest
Tories would reinstate two-child benefit cap to fund defence, says Badenoch
The Conservatives would reinstate the two-child benefit cap and use the savings for a wide-ranging spending splurge on defence in what Kemi Badenoch said would be “the biggest peacetime programme of rearmament in our country’s history”. Speaking at a defence conference in London, the Tory leader criticised the government for Britain’s “lack of readiness” for war, which has been exposed by recent world events. Badenoch said the UK needed to “reassert” itself as a global power and committed the To
🏷 Conservatives
King Charles signs David Beckham up to his Chelsea flower show team
Rare roses and stunning irises are usually among the most coveted items at the Chelsea flower show . But this year, the star attraction might be pink, sequined – and decorated by David Beckham. The former England football captain is co-designing a garden at the May event with King Charles and as part of that effort he has been given a garden gnome to paint.
🏷 Chelsea flower show
UK starts crackdown on EU citizens’ post-Brexit rights
UK ministers are to start removing post-Brexit residency rights from EU citizens who are no longer “continuously” living in the country. The initiative is legal under the 2020 Brexit withdrawal agreement, but the decision to use travel data to partly determine absences has raised concerns after the HMRC fiasco in which almost 20,000 parents were stripped of child benefits because of inaccurate Home Office border data. The Home Office said the crackdown was aimed at those who had received “pre-se
🏷 Brexit
One dead and 27 injured after bus crashes in Canary Islands
A man has died and 27 people are in hospital after a bus carrying British passengers crashed in the Canary Islands, local officials have said. The incident happened at 1.15pm local time on Friday when the vehicle veered into a ravine on the GM-2 highway near the town of San Sebastián de La Gomera. Local media reported the bus was transporting a British group for a boat tour and four of the injured were in critical condition.
🏷 Spain
Sexual abuse claims have dragged the international criminal court into crisis – but what happens now?
Behind the closed doors of a large room at the international criminal court’s fortress-like headquarters in The Hague, senior diplomats who oversee the court have been gathering each week to try to resolve a crisis. On their agenda: the fate of the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, a British lawyer whose tenure at the court was thrown into disarray nearly two years ago by sexual abuse allegations that he denies. The committee of diplomats – made up of a rotating selection of 21 of the ICC’s 12
🏷 Explained
Epstein survivors have words for Melania Trump after surprise statement
More than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have accused Melania Trump of “shifting the burden” on to them after she called on Congress to hold public hearings with victims of Epstein’s abuse. “Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony,” said a group of 13 people and the brother and sister of the late Virginia Giuffre, who was one of the most vocal Epstein accusers, in a statement . “Asking more of the
🏷 Melania Trump
‘God does not bless any conflict’: pope issues new rebuke over Iran war
Pope Leo XIV on Friday offered a new criticism of war, in a social media post that named no names but appeared to hint at the Trump administration leadership harnessing Christian nationalism to glorify the US and Israel’s war against Iran . “God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs,” Leo wrote on his official X account.
🏷 Vatican
A ‘weird dream’ of an arts festival began 10 years ago in the California desert – can it survive its growing popularity?
I t is hard to imagine a stranger place for a large outdoor art festival than Bombay Beach – a tiny, visibly impoverished California desert town more than 150 miles (240km) east of Los Angeles and 235ft (71 meters) below sea level. The heat is scorching even in March, and the smell of decay wafts over from the nearby Salton Sea, a dying inland lake created by an irrigation engineering disaster more than 100 years ago. But the Bombay Beach Biennale is not your ordinary art festival.
🏷 Art
Celebrity on celebrity: are we losing the art of the big star interview?
W e live in a time where ultra-rich businesspeople have accrued more wealth and power than ever, creating a growing sentiment that they ought to be held to account, no doubt exacerbated by the fact that a wealthy businessman is in his second self-enriching term in the US presidency. So naturally, CNN, Donald Trump ’s supposed nemesis, has figured out the best way to use their resources to better interrogate this elevated class: by letting them interview each other about their businesses. The 1 o
🏷 Culture
Margo’s Got Money Troubles: Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer ace this taboo OnlyFans comedy
I promise, it’s the title that drew me in. Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a new Apple TV show (out Wednesday), starring Elle Fanning as a single mum who becomes an OnlyFans model. It joins a niche canon of similarly blunt titles about generic obstacles.
🏷 The watcher
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair review – the TV magic they’ve created here is absolutely miraculous
A t this point, Bryan Cranston is firmly entrenched as one of the world’s finest actors. He has seven Emmys, two Tonys and a Golden Globe to his name. History, quite rightly, will remember him as one of the greats.
🏷 TV review
Margo’s Got Money Troubles to Beef: the seven best shows to stream this week
Pick of the week Margo’s Got Money Troubles Margo’s English tutor thinks she’s Harvard material. If only he wasn’t using this assessment to flatter her into bed. When, with grim predictability, he leaves her literally holding the baby, Margo (Elle Fanning) realises she has followed in the footsteps of her mother Shyanne (Michelle Pfeiffer) who had her after a one-night stand with a punter at Hooters.
🏷 The seven best shows to stream this week
Inside the joyful climax to brilliant sitcom Hacks
I t hit the Vegas Strip running. Since it crashed on to our screens in 2021, Hacks has been a critical darling. This tale of a pair of extremely different comics who end up working together takes the classic sitcom set up, injects it with some HBO gloss, and gives us a grippingly watchable central relationship that is frequently adorable – while also featuring some of TV’s most venomous putdowns.
🏷 Toxic putdowns, brutal zingers and unexpected love
‘The biggest, baddest, saltiest chick you would ever see’: why no one sang the blues like Big Mama Thornton
W illie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton exuded uncompromising intensity. Her voice conveyed struggle and defiance, fury and hurt, like few others. Standing at 6ft 2in, with an imposing physique and a razor-scarred face, she was a Black, gay multi-instrumentalist who refused to let a racist society or a rapacious industry confine her.
🏷 Blues
Reckonwrong: How Long Has It Been? review – wonky delight with shades of Arthur Russell and Robert Wyatt
A decade ago, Londoner Alex Peringer intrigued underground club circles with his outlandish take on dance music. Structured around dizzying time signatures and wry tales of unfulfilling lovers and pills gone wrong, his tracks referenced everything from UK funky to new wave and sea shanties. Then came several years of near silence – now broken by this self-released debut album, How Long Has It Been?
🏷 Experimental album of the month
Holly Humberstone: Cruel World review – Taylor Swift fave trades gothic melancholy for pop glow-up
A s a profession, pop stardom has been in existential crisis for some time. It used to be simple – a hit single was the only real qualification – but in a post-monocultural world, the job title is often bestowed as a result of more piecemeal success: a Brit rising star award and Taylor Swift support slot here, 4m monthly Spotify listeners and a Top 5 album there. View image in fullscreen Cruel World album artwork.
🏷 Pop
Reich: The Sextets album review – Colin Currie celebrates the minimalist master’s joy of six
T he Colin Currie Group formed 20 years ago to honour Steve Reich’s 70th birthday with a performance of Drumming. This year, the great American composer turns 90, making this, the group’s fourth Reich album on Currie’s own label, a double celebration. Sextet, hailing from 1985, features two keyboardists playing piano and synthesisers alongside four percussionists on marimbas, vibraphones, bass drums, crotales, sticks and tam-tams.
🏷 Classical music
Deborah Levy: ‘CS Lewis’s White Witch terrified me – but I wanted to meet her’
My earliest reading memory The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss, particularly the little red fan the cat holds in the tip of its tail. At the age of five, I was reading The Famous Five, getting to grips with Enid Blyton’s most complex characters, Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin. I was born in apartheid South Africa.
🏷 The books of my life
Go Gentle by Maria Semple review – a joyfully clever New York romcom
W hat would Marcus Aurelius have made of the Kardashians? Would Seneca have been amused by mindfulness apps? These were questions I had never consciously pondered before reading Maria Semple’s new novel.
🏷 Fiction
The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit review – a manual for coping with change
I n 2004, Rebecca Solnit released Hope in the Dark, a series of extended essays in response to the war in Iraq. She offered a vision of solidarity and tenacity. The book experienced a sharp surge in popularity after the 2016 election of Donald Trump, selling out in short order.
🏷 Politics
Where to start with: Muriel Spark
N ext week marks 20 years since the death of the Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist Muriel Spark . She was best known for her 22 novels – uncanny, astute and witty – beginning with her 1957 debut The Comforters. Here, James Bailey, the author of a new biography, Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark, guides us through her oeuvre.
🏷 Fiction
Super Mario what?! The seven best obscure Mario games
I t should be no surprise that the latest Super Mario movie is smashing box office records – despite the, let’s say mixed, reviews . Nintendo’s iconic plumber has been a pop culture staple for 45 years, starring in some of the bestselling video games ever made, from the original Donkey Kong through to the joyous Super Mario Bros Wonder and the chaotic Mario Kart World. But as with any storied showbiz career, there have been some lesser works.
🏷 Nintendo
How games capture the awe and terror of cosmic isolation
L ast week’s launch of the Artemis II space mission was a stunning spectacle, the 17-storey-high rockets erupting into cacophonous life before wrenching the craft through the Earth’s atmosphere. But the images that have come since hold just as much impact: the tiny Orion craft and its four-person crew drifting silently through space, further and further from home. In his autobiography, the Apollo astronaut Michael Collins described this feeling perfectly .
🏷 Space
Life Is Strange: Reunion – a decade-long story comes to an impassioned close
I n 2015, Life Is Strange stood out for two reasons: its female protagonists, a depressingly rare feature at the time, and its unique brand of millennial cringe. The thirtysomething Frenchmen who created this series may not have had the best grasp of the 2010s teen lexicon, but they did have a good gauge on what’s important about any coming-of-age story, and that’s the relationships between the characters. Max Caulfield, the shy, time-travelling wannabe photographer, and Chloe Price, the traumat
🏷 Review
Why is gaming becoming so expensive? The answer is found in AI
W hen the PlayStation 5 launched almost five and a half years ago, it was listed at £449 in the UK. If you were to buy one at the recommended retail price today, it would be £569.99, or £789.99 for the updated Pro model. Sony has just raised the price of its console by another £90, the latest in a series of hikes.
🏷 Games industry
I swapped England for Seoul after watching a Korean teen drama – and found myself cast in a K-pop video
T he first time I discovered South Korea was during a Mandarin homework mishap in 2013. I was 16 and lacked all the characteristics required to be good at languages: confidence, a thick skin and any desire to talk out loud. Forced to choose a language, Mandarin seemed like the best option for me – with a self-proclaimed photographic memory, I spent hours cramming complex Chinese characters, convincing myself I could pass my exams without speaking a word.
🏷 My cultural awakening
Who was Hilma? Af Klint exhibition to highlight exclusion of women from abstract art
The Swedish artist Hilma af Klint died believing the world was not ready for the mystical paintings that would shock the art world half a century later. The painter, now credited with pioneering the abstract art movement , did not seek recognition after peers rejected her avant garde works. Instead, she ordered that they be hidden for 20 years after her death and never sold.
🏷 Painting
‘This cactus looks as if it’s preaching’: Joseph Cyr’s best phone picture
J oseph Cyr works as a language teacher at an American secondary school. He was born in South Korea, and spent his childhood living across Germany and the US, in Georgia and Arizona. “As an adult I have lived in Seattle, Paris and Nicaragua before moving back to Arizona,” he says.
🏷 Photography
‘I’m not a commercial director – I’m not even a professional film-maker’: Jim Jarmusch on the seven-year journey to make his new film
I n 1991, Jim Jarmusch was casting for his anthology film Night on Earth. The premise was simple: five taxi drivers in five cities pick up passengers, set to a soundtrack by Tom Waits. The writer-director wanted Gena Rowlands to play a passenger, but she took some persuading.
🏷 Jim Jarmusch
‘We are not like the rest of Andalucía’: the rugged charms of Almería, Spain’s desert city
P erched high on the battlements of Almería’s 10th-century Alcazaba , looking over the mosaic of flat roofs tumbling down to the sea, I’m reminded of author Gerald Brenan’s travel classic South from Granada , and his impression upon arriving in Almería in 1920: “Certainly, it seemed that the sea was doubly Mediterranean here, and the city … contained within it echoes of distant civilisations . ” A British adventurer, Hispanist and fringe member of the Bloomsbury group, Brenan had walked to Almer
🏷 Travel
I’m a sauna person now - cartoon
🏷 Becky Barnicoat on millennial life
Benjamina Ebuehi’s sweet and salty chocolate chip cookies recipe
E veryone has different ideas on what makes the perfect chocolate chip cookie, with everything from thickness and chewiness to the amount of chocolate up for debate. In my opinion, no cookie is worth eating if it’s not well salted; without it, everything feels a little off balance and flat. My not-so-secret way of salting cookies is to use a bit of miso.
🏷 The sweet spot
Cocktail of the week: Bar Shrimp’s la rosita – recipe
A ll you need to make this is a glass and a spoon. We’ve switched out the tequila from the original noughties twist on the negroni and instead brought forward our favourite spirit, mezcal, to bring a lightly smoky profile to proceedings. The perfect pairing for this drink is a campfire, so it’s an especially good one to premix in a flask and chuck in your backpack for a spring camping trip.
🏷 Drinks
From soups and greens to roots, how to survive the ‘hungry gap’
S pring may have firmly sprung – I write this with a view of vivid yellow forsythia blossom in next door’s garden, and the melodious warble of full-throated birdsong – but though the greenery may be flourishing in our gardens, it’s a different story at the farmers’ market. Despite a few spindly spears of asparagus and miniature jersey royals making an appearance on our Easter tables last weekend, the new season of British produce doesn’t kick off in earnest for another few weeks yet. That means
🏷 Feast
Cream sherry: a forgotten taste that’s worth rediscovering
B y the time I knew her, my granny was in her whisky and water era, but my dad clearly remembers a bottle of Harveys Bristol Cream in the drinks cupboard, ready to pour for friends after church in the 1970s . This is the enduring image of cream sherry, one that it has struggled to shake off. While other sherries – bone-dry fino and manzanilla (made by ageing palomino grapes under a yeast layer called flor ), oxidative amontillado or oloroso, and sweet, single varietals such as pedro ximénez (PX)
🏷 Wine
‘Butter Birkin’: popcorn plastic It bag in demand among Devil Wears Prada fans
In a recent trailer for the highly anticipated The Devil Wears Prada sequel , the cast are seen parading through the streets of New York City carrying an array of designer handbags, including clutches and satchels from Chanel and Valentino. But among fans of the film there is a very different type of It bag in demand: a popcorn bucket shaped to resemble a structured tote bag is quickly becoming a coveted accessory. Cinema chains, including the Odeon in the UK, are to sell the red plastic bag, wh
🏷 Fashion
Dolce & Gabbana says co-founder Stefano Gabbana has quit as chair
Stefano Gabbana left his post as the chair of Dolce & Gabbana at the start of this year, the fashion house he co-founded with his then partner, Domenico Dolce, has said. The Italian luxury brand said Gabbana had tendered his resignation, effective as of 1 January, “as part of a natural evolution of its organisational structure and governance”. It added: “These resignations have no impact whatsoever on the creative activities carried out by Stefano Gabbana on behalf of the group.” Alfonso Dolce,
🏷 Fashion industry
Anna Wintour’s Vogue cover is more than a cameo – it’s a power play
I n the world of magazines, when someone announces they’re leaving a job, their colleagues will traditionally present them with their own personalised mock-up of the magazine’s front cover. Perhaps their face is superimposed on the body of a previous celebrity cover star. There are probably some witty cover lines referencing memorable office moments or their favourite snacks.
🏷 Fashion media
My father-in-law lives with my young family but I don’t want to ‘sandwich parent’. What should I do?
At my suggestion, my husband and I moved his father to live in a granny annexe of our home. This was for two reasons. First , he was experiencing health issues and getting visibly older and we thought he’d end up needing to live with us eventually .
🏷 Leading questions
Should my girlfriend stop mixing gold and silver jewellery?
The prosecution: Alda double quotation mark I know she’s expressing herself, but when you mix everything up, it looks thrown together and cheap There’s a time and a place for eclecticism but I think it’s a cardinal sin to mix gold and silver jewellery. I understand the beauty of self-expression but my girlfriend Rachel can sometimes take it too far. Whenever she mixes things, I think it looks cheap.
🏷 You be the judge
I never text back – and it’s ruining my relationships
“T here’s no such thing as a bad texter . They just don’t want to respond,” said influencer Delaney Rowe last year on the online talkshow Subway Takes . “People go around thinking being a bad texter is like a pathology, but it’s not.
🏷 Psychology
When Suzuki met Suzuki: why a Tokyo dating agency is matching couples with the same name
At the very least, the three men and three women calming their nerves on a Friday evening at a venue in Tokyo know they have one thing in common. Spaced out across booths, they will soon be placed in pairs and given 15 minutes to get to know one another. “Let’s start with a nice ‘hello’ and a big smile,” the emcee says.
🏷 Japan
Power up! Could force be the secret to supercharging your fitness?
C hasing after your dog, catching yourself before you fall, jumping over a big puddle. These activities all have something in common, and it’s not just that they’re the makings of a very bad day. They rely on power: the ability to generate force quickly.
🏷 Exercise
Why does alcohol make us both happy and miserable – and what else does it do to our minds and bodies?
W hatever you think of alcohol, you have to admit that it’s versatile. Ever since the first humans started smashing up fruit and leaving it in pots to chug a few days later, we’ve been relying on it to celebrate and commiserate, to deal with anxiety and to make us more creative. We use it to build confidence and kill boredom, to get us in the mood for going out and to put us to (nonoptimal) sleep.
🏷 Secrets of the body
Scientists develop gene-edited wheat that can make toasted bread less carcinogenic
Scientists have developed gene-edited wheat that can be used to make bread that is less carcinogenic when toasted. Researchers at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, used Crispr genome editing, which allows researchers to selectively edit the DNA of living organisms. This technology was adapted for use in the laboratory from naturally occurring genome editing systems found in bacteria.
🏷 Diet
Is it true that … more testosterone means more muscle?
It’s an increasingly popular idea: “boosting” testosterone with diet tweaks – increasing foods rich in zinc and magnesium – hoping to build muscle faster. But the reality is more nuanced. Testosterone is an androgen hormone that plays a key role in development, particularly in boys during puberty.
🏷 Fitness
'My wife is on a quest to restore my thinning hair'
I n the beginning I used not to be able to tell Kelly and Hayley – the identical twin hairdressers who came to the house appointments – apart. Eventually my wife furnished me with a handy mnemonic: Kelly cuts, Hayley highlights. From then on, I knew them by their tools.
🏷 The Tim Dowling column
Welcome to the fairytale land of national treasures
🏷 The Stephen Collins cartoon
What links Althea & Donna, Sean Paul and Ken Boothe? The Saturday quiz
The questions 1 What was discovered on a dish containing Staphylococcus aureus ? 2 At which Jewish festival is it traditional to serve triangular food? 3 Whose daughter became Queen of Mauretania in 25BC?
🏷 The Saturday quiz
Can fish smell and what does the meme six-seven actually mean? The kids’ quiz
1. Emmie, 9, asks: can fish smell? Yes, but they only smell things outside the water Yes, they smell things in the water Fish can’t smell or taste No – it’s to save them from their own strong scent Reveal 2.
🏷 The kids' quiz
Abel leaves LA: self-deportation from Trump’s America - documentary
🏷 The ‘self-deportee’ hounded out of the US to Mexic
‘There are days when I feel literally insane’
🏷 The ‘self-deportee’ hounded out of the US to Mexic
The man who let snakes bite him, masked heavy metal and the brutal reality for foreign students in the UK
1. Bitten by snakes 200 times – on purpose: US man’s quest to help deliver new antivenom For nearly 20 years, Tim Friede allowed some of the most lethal snakes in the world to bite him so he could build up an immunity that could one day be developed into a universal antivenom. This extraordinary and painful quest, undertaken by a window cleaner with no formal scientific training in the basement of his Wisconsin home, nearly killed 58-year-old Friede, almost cost him his leg and his fingers, and
🏷 Six great reads
‘He sent someone to intimidate me’: Christopher Anderson, the photographer who shot Jeffrey Epstein
I t didn’t come as a great shock to Christopher Anderson to find out that his name was in the Epstein files. In 2015, he was assigned by New York magazine to photograph the American financier for a planned profile interview by the American journalist Michael Wolff. “I didn’t know who Jeffrey Epstein was at all,” says Anderson.
🏷 Photography
A day in the life of a 19-year-old in ICE detention: ‘I feel that this nightmare is not going to end’
Each day in detention feels like 48 hours for Olivia. The 19-year-old asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been at the Dilley Immigration processing center in Texas for more than four months. “Another day passes, another night comes,” she said.
🏷 US
People aged under 25: are you still looking for a job after a year of unemployment?
Are you under 25 and still looking for a job after a year of unemployment? If so, we would like to speak to you. The latest official figures from the Office for National Statistics showed unemployment increased to 5.2% in the final quarter of 2025, the highest rate since the start of 2021.
🏷 Unemployment
Are fuel price increases making you cut back? We would like to hear from you
The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global shipping routes and caused a surge in global oil market prices. The strait of Hormuz, one of the most important waterways in the world, through which about a fifth of international oil supplies usually travel, has been all but closed since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran . Last week, oil prices topped $100 per barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago.
🏷 US-Israel war on Iran
Tell us: what has someone done that made you feel less lonely?
Was someone there for you when you were feeling lonely? As part of the Guardian’s Well Actually series , we would like to hear about the ways people have helped each other feel less isolated. You can tell us your story below.
🏷 Loneliness
Share your experiences of the job
Lollipop people in Suffolk have become the latest neon-clad, road patrollers to don body cams amid a rise in abuse. We are looking to speak to lollipop people about their experiences on the job. The council has launched a six-week awareness campaign called “Lollipops Aren’t Just For Children” to remind drivers to slow down, be patient, and show respect at patrol points.
🏷 Lollipop people
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🏷 Football
Artemis’s lunar flyby and World Press Photo winners
🏷 Photographs of the week
Deeply read
For many years at the Guardian we have been looking at how long our readers spend with our journalism. While the number of clicks on an article can help us understand the possible importance or popularity of an article on a given topic, it’s just as important for us to get a sense of the quality of a piece and the time readers spend with it can help us gauge that. Along with many other sites, the Guardian has for a long time shown readers the pieces other people are clicking on in the form of a
🏷 News