Inside the Fed: Powell vows he won't be a 'shadow chair,' but a Warsh clash will be tough to avoid

When the Fed gathers again, it will mark the first time a sitting and former chair conduct business together in nearly 80 years.

U.S. senators ban themselves from prediction markets trading

The move came after Democratic lawmakers asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to prohibits event contracts on elections, war and military actions.

DHS shutdown set to end after House passes bill to fund most of agency, including TSA

The House on Thursday passed a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that the Senate had approved more than a month ago.

U.S. House primaries in Louisiana are suspended after Voting Rights Act ruling

Louisiana suspended its upcoming primaries for the U.S. House, following Wednesday's U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that the state's congressional map is an "unconstitutional racial gerrymander."

Spotify's new badge identifies human artists as AI music floods include

As AI-generated music spreads, Spotify says it wants to help users "trust the authenticity" of what they're listening to.

Louisiana suspends House primaries for May 16 elections

Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry said Thursday that the state will suspend its May 16 House primaries in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down​ the state's Congressional map.

Senate rejects 6th Iran war powers resolution ahead of 60-day deadline

The Senate rejected Democrats' sixth attempt to limit President Trump's authority to wage war on Iran.

Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa: Europa League semi-final, first leg – live

⚽ Europa League semi-final updates, 8pm BST kick-off
⚽ Shakhtar v Palace – live | Latest scores | Mail Daniel

Villa, on the other hand, are more likely to build through the middle. They’ll condense the play and look for quick interchanges, Ollie Watkins attacking the space in behind – especially in the absence of Murillo – with Emi Buendia in particular but also John McGinn looking to feed him in.

And as Gibbs-White does for Forest, so Rogers will do for them, mooching about dropping grenades, while Youri Tielemans will look to conduct from deep and arrive on the edge of the box to hit shots.

Shakhtar Donetsk v Crystal Palace: Europa Conference League semi-final, first leg – live

⚽ Conference League semi-final updates, 8pm BST kick-off
⚽ Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa – live | Scores | Mail Taha

The players walk out of the tunnel. Shakhtar’s players each wear the Ukrainian flag.

If you don’t want to hang out here, this is the link for the other one:

USMNT’s Mauricio Pochettino says nation lacks ‘emotional relationship’ with soccer

• Coach says basketball, American football have deeper ties

• Calls for more publicly accessible playing spots in US

• On World Cup expectations: ‘All is possible in football’

In a podcast appearance released Thursday, Mauricio Pochettino defended the tournament prospects of his US men’s national team, but gave a mixed answer when asked if the hosts feel excitement brewing stateside, questioning the “emotional relationship with the game” of the American public writ large.

“The kids don’t develop until they are 11, 12, or 13,” Pochettino explained in his appearance on Stick To Football. “The difference within other countries – for me, I know Argentina – the way that I developed my emotional relationship with football is before I started to walk because I started to kick the ball. That is the problem. The relationship is with basketball or American football. They take the ball with their hands, first thing. [Elsewhere] you kick the ball with your feet.”

Camp Mystic halts summer reopening after Texas flood deaths

Decision follows pressure from lawmakers and families as investigations continue into response to deadly disaster

The embattled Camp Mystic organization on Thursday halted plans to reopen this summer in a decision that followed months of intensifying outrage by political leaders in Texas and the families of 27 young campers killed last July when massive floodwaters swept through the all-girls Christian camp in the middle of the night.

The decision comes after days of pointed questioning by Texas lawmakers who are investigating camp officials’ response to the devastating flood on July 4 that claimed the lives of the campers and two teenage counselors. The camp’s owner, Dick Eastland, also died in the flooding.

Trump to get briefed on potential Iran strikes before war hits key 60-day deadline: Reports

Iran has rejected further negotiations unless the U.S. blockade is lifted, but President Trump has said he won't do so until Tehran agrees to a nuclear deal.

PM vows to act against people ‘venerating the murder of Jews’ as terror threat level raised

Keir Starmer pledges crackdown on protesters chanting or displaying antisemitic slogans as terror attack is assessed to be ‘highly likely’

Keir Starmer has pledged to crack down on those “venerating the murder of Jews” at protest marches as the UK terror threat level was raised to “severe” in the wake of the Golders Green attack.

The prime minister promised to do “everything in our power to stamp this hatred out” after meeting emergency workers and community leaders near the scene in north-west London where two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday.

Google cloud growth tops Microsoft and Amazon as all three beat estimates on AI demand

Amazon, Google and Microsoft all reported better-than-expected first-quarter cloud results, signaling an acceleration of AI demand

Trump taps Nicole Saphier for surgeon general after pulling Casey Means nomination

Means' nomination had stalled in the Senate over concerns about her controversial stances on vaccines, birth control, pesticides and psychedelics. 

Hegseth ‘dangerously exaggerated’ US military triumph in Iran, Senate hears

Senator Jack Reed says at hearing that defense secretary failed to give Trump accurate picture of war in Iran

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Pete Hegseth has failed to give Donald Trump an accurate picture of the war on Iran while resorting to “dangerously exaggerated” statements to create an inaccurate picture of a US military triumph, a senior Democrat told a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday.

Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate armed services committee, told Hegseth, the defense secretary, that far from victory, US citizens were having to bear the cost of a war they did not support in the form of increased fuel prices.

House approves Senate bill to fund DHS and end 76-day shutdown

The House on Thursday unanimously approved a Senate-passed bill to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, sending it to the president's desk.

Gianni Infantino tells Fifa congress that Iran will play at World Cup in US as planned

• Iran’s participation was in doubt following US/Israel attacks

• Team scheduled to play in Los Angeles and Seattle

• Potential round of 32 match v US could happen in Dallas

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that Iran will participate in the 2026 World Cup, with their games set to take place in the United States as planned.

“Let me start at the outset confirming, straight away, for those who want to say something else or write something else, that of course Iran will be participating at the Fifa World Cup 2026. And of course Iran will play in the United States of America,” Infantino said, to kick off his comments at Fifa’s annual congress in Vancouver.

German artist Georg Baselitz dies aged 88

Prominent contemporary visual artist explored range of techniques across six decades of work

• Georg Baselitz obituary

The German artist Georg Baselitz, whose expressive paintings and sculptures stirred controversy before winning him global acclaim and the admiration of politicians in high office, has died aged 88.

The Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, which had a longstanding professional relationship with the artist, confirmed his death on Thursday. It said Baselitz had “defined German visual art for a generation” and had died peacefully.

US reinstates ‘gun show loophole’ amid rollback of firearms restrictions

DoJ announces changes including ‘loophole’ that allows people to buy guns at shows without background check

The US justice department has rolled back several significant restrictions on guns, including reinstating the so-called “gun show loophole”, which allowed people at such events to buy firearms without a background check.

The changes, announced by the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, amount to a shift in firearm policy advocated by supporters of the second amendment, who are prominent in Donald Trump’s supporter base.

Venice Biennale jury quits amid row over participation of Russia

Decision follows backlash from Italian government and European Commission

The jury of the Venice Biennale has quit just days before the prestigious art exhibition is due to begin, amid a row over the decision to allow Russia to participate.

The resignation of the five-member international jury was announced late on Thursday in a brief statement by the Venice Biennale organisers, and came a day after the Italian culture ministry sent inspectors to Venice in search of information about the decision to allow Russia to have a pavilion at the event.

Samsung reports record quarterly profit as chip income jumps almost 50-fold

The AI boom is worsening a global memory chip shortage, which Samsung predicts will continue into 2027

Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported record quarterly profit driven by a 49-fold jump in chip income, saying it expects a severe supply shortage to deepen next year as clients spend on AI, driving up prices of its memory chips.

A boom in the construction of AI datacentres has spurred Samsung and chipmaking peers to allocate production capacity to advanced chips that Nvidia uses in its so-called AI accelerators. Even so, chipmakers are struggling to meet demand while the move also squeezes the supply of conventional chips.

Thermos recalls 8.2 million containers after stoppers caused vision loss

The Thermos Stainless King Food Jars and Thermos Sportsman Food & Beverage Bottles were sold at Walmart, Target and Amazon.com.

‘An epidemic’: is antisemitism out of control in the UK? - The Latest

The stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, north-west London, has become the latest in a series of antisemitic attacks. So is rising antisemitism now a national emergency? And is more security for the Jewish community really the answer? Helen Pidd is joined by columnist Rafael Behr

‘In every drop of paint he slurped, you see the Holocaust’: the genius and torments of Georg Baselitz

The German artist lived through Nazism and communism – and his horrific, shaming works, including a masturbating Hitler, forced his country to face its past. Yet in later life, he beautifully captured human frailty, portraying himself and his wife nude

Georg Baselitz was a living thread of history and his death robs us of the truth he knew when we need it more than ever. He was one of the only two people I have spoken to for whom Nazi Germany was a living memory: Baselitz was born in 1938, making him far too young to bear any personal guilt but old enough – seven when the Third Reich fell – to retain direct experience and images of it.

In his art, he cut those images up, gored and eviscerated them in paintings of uniformed young enthusiasts with blood spurting from mangled limbs or entire bodies fed through some hellish grinder and roughly remade. Into the woods they went, these ironically titled “Heroes”, chopping and being chopped in the guilty depths of the German forest.

Louisiana postpones primaries as states rush to redraw districts after supreme court ruling

More governors call for special sessions following supreme court’s decision severely weakening Voting Rights Act

Louisiana moved to postpone its May primaries on Thursday in a move that came as other southern states are also scrambling to redraw congressional districts in response to the supreme court’s Wednesday ruling that severely weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act.

Before the supreme court’s decision eliminating a key protection against racial discrimination in drawing voting maps, some states had already begun initiating processes to redraw districts and gut Black voting power. More states have now followed, with governors calling for special sessions to redraw congressional districts, potentially before the midterm elections in November.

In real-world test, an AI model did better than ER doctors at diagnosing patients

Researchers evaluated how well an AI model could diagnose and make decisions about patient care.

AI outperforms doctors in Harvard trial of emergency triage diagnoses

Researchers say results mark a ‘profound change in technology that will reshape medicine’

From George Clooney in ER to Noah Wyle in The Pitt, emergency department doctors have long been popular heroes. But will it soon be time to hang up the scrubs?

A groundbreaking Harvard study has found that AI systems outperformed human doctors in high-pressure emergency medicine triage, diagnosing more accurately in the potentially life and death moments when people are first rushed to hospital.

The Onion's bid to take over Infowars hits another snag

A Texas appeals court granted Jones's request to pause a deal that would allow the satirical website The Onion to license the Infowars brand name and turn the show into a mockery of itself.

After Golders Green, this is what British Jews need from the government, the police – and the rest of society | Dave Rich

Jews in Britain are facing a wave of hate spread by hostile states, and some homegrown. We can only tackle it by working together

Another week, another attack on British Jews; and rather than synagogues being petrol-bombed in the middle of the night, now it is ordinary Jews being stabbed in broad daylight. It’s been described as this country’s biggest national security emergency for almost a decade by the UK’s terrorism watchdog. Finding a solution will mean some hard questions, not just for government and police but for wider society too.

The immediate move is, of course, more policing and more funding for security. The first job of government is to protect its people, and this should be done without question. Prosecutions should be expedited through the courts, as they were with the riots that followed the Southport attack. But physical protection is, in a way, the easy part.

Dave Rich is director of policy at the Community Security Trust and the author of Everyday Hate: How Antisemitism is Built into Our World – and How You Can Change it

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

The Guardian view on the Golders Green attack: the public as well as the state must tackle antisemitism | Editorial

Policing and government policy are essential, but not sufficient to address rising hate crime against Jews

The stabbing of two men in north-west London on Wednesday by an attacker described as seeking anyone “visibly Jewish” would be horrifying under any circumstances. That it comes amid rising antisemitic crime in the area, in the UK and around the world makes it all the more frightening.

A community persecuted throughout history faces a fresh wave of hatred and abuse. Shock and grief are mixed with fear, with some British Jews asking whether they can be safe in the UK. This is the third attack in five weeks in the same part of Golders Green alone. Last October, two people were killed in an attack on a synagogue in Heaton Park, Manchester, on Yom Kippur. In December, two men were found guilty of plotting to infiltrate and open fire on a march against antisemitism in the same city. That month, a pair of gunmen killed 15 people at a Hanukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Cole Allen agrees to stay in jail before Trump assassination attempt trial

Prosecutors say Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and several knives when he tried to storm the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

The Guardian view on Trump’s war on science: politicising a generation of researchers | Editorial

By attacking the basic settlement between scientists and the state, the US president has proved that experts can’t avoid these fights

Donald Trump’s war on science has been vicious and hugely damaging, but it is worth noting that he has lost some of its biggest battles. Last year, Mr Trump demanded that US federal scientific and medical research funding be cut by about half. But the budget Congress passed in February actually delivered a slight increase in overall funding – although specific Trump targets such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were cut. He also continues to chip away at science in other ways such as dismissing the board overseeing the National Science Foundation this week.

Maga’s attacks on science have been nakedly political. Its defeats have been politics of a different sort, showing that the bipartisan pro-science consensus is still intact, and for the moment has the power to hold Mr Trump in check. Scientists themselves appear to be waking up to the potential of such politics. The organisation 314 Action, which supports Democratic scientists running for office, reported that more than 700 candidates – vying for local, congressional and gubernatorial positions – have sought its support ahead of the midterm elections this year, three times the usual number. Many gave the White House’s war on science as the reason for their political turn.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Trump pulls Casey Means' nomination as surgeon general, naming new pick

President Trump blamed Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy for Casey Mean's nomination stalling in the Senate.

Congress ends record shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security

Thursday's vote in the House provides funding for DHS after a more than two-month shutdown, but does not include dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

Pricey NFL, NBA ownership stakes are pushing investors to smaller leagues and driving valuations higher

Priced out of the NBA and NFL, investors are asking bankers about opportunities to buy minority stakes in teams with lower valuations.

House strips MAHA-hated pesticide provisions from farm bill

MAHA advocates said the language that was stripped could have provided liability protection for Bayer in lawsuits involving its Roundup weedkiller.

Myanmar junta says Suu Kyi moved to house arrest, doubts linger

The secrecy surrounding Suu Kyi's new location has alarmed her son, Kim Aris, who says he has received no authoritative confirmation of her wellbeing.

Eli Lilly blows past quarterly estimates, hikes outlook as Zepbound and Mounjaro sales skyrocket

Lilly hiked its full-year sales outlook by $2 billion, and also raised its adjusted profit guidance.

Met police arrest two Green election candidates over alleged antisemitism

Lambeth council candidates Saiqa Ali and Sabine Mairey understood to have been detained over social media posts

Two women standing as Green party candidates in the local elections have been arrested over alleged antisemitic social media posts.

The women, running in seats for Lambeth council, south London, were arrested by the Metropolitan police on Thursday morning.

Man charged with attempting to assassinate Trump to remain in custody

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, allegedly stormed the White House correspondents’ association dinner

The man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump by rushing the black-tie press gala in Washington DC at the weekend where the US president was a guest, agreed on Thursday to remain in custody while his federal criminal case moves forward.

The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, was not planning immediately to contest prosecutors’ arguments that he was a danger to the community and should remain in jail, his attorney, Tezira Abe, said during a federal court hearing in the capital.

Israel intercepts and detains crews of Gaza aid flotilla near Crete

Global Sumud Flotilla describes interception as ‘violent raid’ while Turkey condemns it as ‘act of piracy’

Israeli forces have intercepted and detained the crews of at least 22 boats near the Greek island of Crete from a flotilla that is attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of about 58 vessels carrying people from across 70 countries, departed from Italy on Sunday.

Meta tanks 9%, Alphabet climbs 7% as each company raises capex spend

Both Alphabet and Meta said they expect their capital expenditures to keep growing this year, but investors sent Alphabet's shares up, while Meta's stock slid.

Original Blair Witch team added to reboot after voicing outrage

A new reboot of the 1999 horror hit will feature two of the original stars and the directing team as executive producers

The reboot of The Blair Witch Project will now boast those involved with the original as producers after they voiced their frustration.

The 1999 indie smash was made for $35,000 but made $248m, becoming one of the most profitable films ever made.

Blockx rocking to beat champion Ruud as Andreeva holds off Baptiste in Madrid

• Belgian is fourth lowest-ranked player to reach last four

• Mirra Andreeva sees off late challenge against Baptiste

Alexander Blockx’s dream run in Madrid continues with the 21-year-old Belgian beating the defending champion Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open on Thursday.

The 69th-ranked emerging talent had not won an ATP Tour match on clay before his third-round run in Monte Carlo three weeks ago. He has also defeated the third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime and Francisco Cerúndolo on his way to the last four in the Spanish capital.

Divers find wreck of iconic U.S. ship torpedoed in WWI, killing 131

The sinking of the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa killed 131 people, making it the largest loss of life on any U.S. combat ship during the war.

Ben Jennings on the antisemitic terror attack in Golders Green – cartoon

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Press freedom at lowest level in 25 years amid growing authoritarian pressure

World Press Freedom Index, which assessed 180 countries, finds established journalism is ‘being asphyxiated’

Press freedom around the world is at its lowest ebb in a generation, according to an influential annual index that highlights growing authoritarian pressure on the media.

The average score for the 180 countries assessed by the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), was the lowest in the index’s 25-year history.

Higgins hits back to level up tight world snooker semi-final clash with Murphy

• Scot battles back to 4-4 from 3-1 in opening session

• Mark Allen facing Wu Yize in the second semi-final

Shaun Murphy was reminded his mission of ending a 21-year wait for a second world crown will not be straightforward as he was pegged back by the four-time champion John Higgins in their semi-final.

The 2005 champion has moved through the gears since squeaking out a 10-9 first-round win over Fan Zhengyi, easing past Xiao Guodong in round two before conquering the reigning world champion Zhao Xintong in the quarter-finals to set up a last-four showdown with Higgins and a repeat of the 2009 final.

This report will update

U.S. soldier pleads not guilty to charges of gambling on Maduro raid

A U.S. soldier pleaded not guilty to charges that he used classified information about the mission to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to win more than $400,000.

Puffy legs, heavy aches, rippled skin: what is lipedema?

This underdiagnosed condition, which causes leg pain and swelling, affects one in 10 women, yet most doctors haven’t heard of it

The first thing Becca Gold noticed was her pants.

Throughout the spring and summer of 2023, her pants stopped fitting. Her legs became puffy, with a rippled texture and heavy ache. Within a year, the 32-year-old, Austin-based podcaster went up four pant sizes, gained 30lb and found herself in constant leg pain. She had always had a little bit of cellulite, she says, but while her upper body appeared mostly unchanged, now her legs seemed to belong to a “different person, overnight”.

‘Making the scarlet letter into my career’: my life as a sex writer

I thought my mother was ashamed of my taboo profession. Then I realized our experiences were more similar than I thought

My first viral personal essay was titled: “In Defense of Casual Sex”.

It was 2008. I was 24, living in San Francisco, and working at the online magazine Salon. I was responding to a series of books about hookup culture, including one warning young women that they were ruining themselves for love and marriage by sleeping around.

Political donations are poison to our democracy – but there’s an easy antidote to that | George Monbiot

As revelations about Reform UK’s donors emerge, it’s clear that increasingly complex forms of patronage can’t be regulated effectively. We need a clean sweep

How do we know whether political funding is corrupt? Mostly, we don’t. A plutocrat delivers a sack of cash to a political party. A few weeks later, it announces a policy that happens to favour the donor’s business. Are the events linked? We might suspect it; we cannot prove it. But the suspicion itself is corrosive and demoralising.

The current funding system, perhaps more than any other factor, turns us away from politics, breeding disillusionment, alienation and cynicism. A survey by the Electoral Commission last year found that only 18% of respondents believed spending and funding are transparent. A government survey in December discovered that 87% of people are “concerned about the possibility of corruption” among politicians. A further survey concluded that political donors are believed to wield the most influence of any elite faction. Disillusionment with politics drives people into the arms of the extreme right. This is paradoxical, as it tends to be highly receptive to the ultra-rich.

Neo-Nazi who planned mass gun attack convicted after MI5 undercover sting

Senior police officer warns of young people being drawn into violent extremism as Alfie Coleman found guilty

More and more young people are being drawn into the world of violent extremism, a senior police officer has warned after a young neo-Nazi caught in an undercover MI5 sting was convicted of planning a mass gun attack.

Alfie Coleman, a former supermarket worker from Great Notley in Essex, compiled a hate-list of colleagues and customers he branded with racial slurs or as “race traitors”. He wrote a “manifesto” in a diary and identified potential targets, including the “lord mayor of London” and a mosque.

Suspect in D.C. shooting held in "safe cell," agrees to remain jailed ahead of trial

Cole Allen, 31, is facing three charges related to the attack outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner, including attempting to assassinate President Trump.

Hershey says GLP-1s are driving higher gum and mint sales

Sales of Hershey's Ice Breakers rose 8% in the first quarter, thanks to the trend.

Lindsey Vonn remains unsure of future after Olympic crash: ‘I’m still in survival mode’

• American nearly lost leg after crash at Winter Games

• 41-year-old does not rule out return to racing

Lindsey Vonn says she is still recovering physically and emotionally from her crash at the Winter Olympics and does not know when, or if, she will race again.

The 41-year-old has undergone eight surgeries after suffering a complex left leg fracture – one that nearly led to a leg amputation – in the women’s downhill in February. She needs at least one more operation to repair a torn ACL in the same knee.

Buying a computer? AI is making it more expensive.

A memory chip shortage is driving up computer prices for consumers, reversing a decades-long drop in hardware costs.

New York officials return more than 650 antiquities valued at $14m to India

Move comes after mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke of return of the Koh-i-noor diamond after UK royals’ visit to New York

Hundreds of antiquities valued at $14m have been returned to India by New York authorities, including some connected to the alleged art smuggler Subhash Kapoor, in a move that is likely to raise the pressure on others to make similar gestures.

The return of 657 antiquities was announced by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg Jr, on Tuesday, and came as New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, waded into the historically contentious ownership of the 105.6 carat Koh-i-noor diamond.

‘A profound depiction’: Michael Jackson fans support divisive biopic as film smashes records

The long-delayed film has fans dancing in the aisles and has taken more than $200m at the box office

On Wednesday evening, revelers gathered in the lobby of New York City’s Regal Union Square movie theater before filing into the night’s slate of Michael screenings. The King of Pop has become box office royalty after the film moonwalked into the biggest opening weekend for a biopic ever (even surpassing 2023’s Oppenheimer). Now, its success has resulted in even more attention worthy of Michael Jackson’s immense star-power, with videos circulating online of fans dancing in the aisles at screenings and a sequel likely in the works.

However, much like Jackson’s current polarizing force in culture, it’s all a tale of contrasts. The movie’s Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of a paltry 38%, compared with a 97% audience score is a rare chasm. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw was one of many who lambasted the Antoine Fuqua-directed film, saying it was “bland, bowdlerised and bad”, as well as “frustratingly shallow”.

Craig Venter, pioneering human genome decoder, dies at 79

Pioneering scientist J. Craig Venter has died at 79. His "whole genome shotgun method" helped genome sequencing become faster and cheaper.

FEMA's disaster relief fund hits red zone ahead of hurricane season

FEMA's disaster relief fund has dropped below $3 billion, triggering Immediate Needs Funding, which means the agency must limit spending to only the most urgent, life-saving needs amid the partial government shutdown.

Beethoven: The Sonatas for Piano and Cello album review – Watkins and Bax have a shared impulse to deliver eloquence

Paul Watkins/Alessio Bax
Signum Classics
Cellist Watkins’ career-long immersion in the composer pays dividends in his pairing with Alessio Bax’s unfussy virtuosity

As cellist of the Nash Ensemble and the Emerson Quartet, Paul Watkins has immersed himself in almost all the chamber music Beethoven wrote. Now he brings those years of experience to his first recording of the cello sonatas. He approached the pianist Alessio Bax for this project after hearing him play the Moonlight Sonata, and his instinct was good: their playing here seems to come from a shared impulse, unflaggingly eloquent without ever seeming to strive for effect.

Together these five sonatas span Beethoven’s composing life. The earliest two date from around the time of his first piano concertos, and they find Beethoven breaking new ground in the way he writes for cello and keyboard as equal duet partners. Both sonatas have slow, serious introductions leading into extended movements showcasing the virtuosity of the pianist, to which Bax rises with a light, crisp touch. The expansive third, Op 69, which Beethoven worked on alongside the Fifth Symphony, centres on a perky middle movement akin to a symphonic scherzo; it’s nicely weighted here, the momentum continuing through all the changes in texture. The final pair of sonatas harness Watkins’s full powers of expression, in particular No 5, the only one of all these to have a full-blown slow movement. It begins in reticent, almost hymn-like style and blooms into something deeply felt; Watkins and Bax handle its closing passages with tightly controlled restraint, then gently clear the air with the introduction to the wrangly little fugue of the finale. It’s all beautifully done.

FDA proposes excluding Novo, Lilly weight loss drugs from bulk compounding list in win for the companies

If that proposal is finalized, the exclusion would likely limit the mass compounding of those medicines ​unless they appear on the FDA's ⁠drug shortage ⁠list.

If you’re a fan of laughing, you should invest in Australian comedy – take my (and Nick Offerman’s) word for it | Rebecca Shaw

With widespread praise for Colin from Accounts and the release of Bad Company, Australian TV comedy is finally getting its flowers

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Last week, Parks and Recreation star, and most importantly Megan Mullally’s husband, Nick Offerman, was asked on Amy Poehler’s podcast what he’s been laughing at recently. He revealed he has been loving the Australian comedy Colin from Accounts. A few days later, during promo for The Devil Wears Prada 2, award-winning actor and the Princess of Genovia herself, Anne Hathaway, also said she loves Colin from Accounts (maybe less surprising given it features her DWP2 co-star).

In both those instances, I felt an unfamiliar sense of national pride. I’m genuinely excited to see an Australian TV comedy getting its flowers like this. Not because it means it will get more American viewers, but because it’s external validation that the comedy we make in this country can be excellent. We can be world class – if we are given the chance.

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‘Do I put Sleeping Beauty on my CV?!’ Ballet dancers on their next steps, from midwifery to the House of Lords

Six dancers who made bold career pivots reflect on ballet’s transferable skills, what they miss about the stage – and what they were glad to leave behind

Lana Jones, midwife, former principal dancer at the Australian Ballet

MDMA approved to treat post-traumatic stress in active-duty US soldiers

Hope that sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy could help soldiers fight longer by helping them process trauma

A new doctrine could soon take hold in part of the US war on drugs: psychedelic drugs for active-duty soldiers suffering from PTSD.

In two studies funded by the Department of Defense (DoD), 186 service personnel with PTSD will likely next year undergo multiple sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy.

‘You can be any Bond you want’: the inside story of 007 First Light

Hitman developer IO Interactive’s pluralistic take on the British secret agent – his first video-game outing in almost 15 years – promises a Bond for all eras. Here’s what you need to know

If you want to tell the tale of a young James Bond, you first need to pick which James Bond he’s going to grow into. This was the task handed to Hitman developer IO Interactive, the studio taking digital custody of the spy in 007 First Light, Bond’s first video game in almost 15 years. So what’s it to be? Will their agent take baby steps towards Sean Connery’s gruff masculinity, or is he practising Roger Moore’s arched eyebrow in the bathroom mirror? That’s if he’s a “movie” Bond at all. For a generation of gamers, the character exists most vividly as a hand at the bottom of the screen in GoldenEye 007.

As it turns out, 007 First Light’s Bond, depicted by Patrick Gibson (cornering a specific market, having played the serial killer-to-be in the Dexter origins show) is an amalgam: the facial scar is an Ian Fleming detail, but the sweet-talking charm is straight from the Pierce Brosnan playbook, and the second you barge a goon into a bookcase you know someone’s been studying Casino Royale on a loop. Trying to devise a Bond for all fandoms could risk satisfying none, but in the demo we played, the performance works. Crucially, Gibson brings an outsider’s unease that’s all his own, anchored by the arrogance that’ll one day be weaponised by MI6.

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Banksy confirms statue of man blinded by flag in London is his work

Artist posted social media video showing large sculpture being towed into Waterloo Place in middle of night

A new Banksy statue, featuring a man with his face covered by a flag, was this week erected in the dead of night in central London.

His new work of art was first spotted on Wednesday, and the artist’s signature was scrawled at the base of the statue’s plinth.

'Fool me once…' Lawyers argue Kennedy Center should not meet same fate as the East Wing

Lawyers made arguments in hearings for two separate lawsuits against President Trump and the Kennedy Center's board this week. Both lawsuits want to halt plans to close the performing arts venue for two years for renovations.

Germany was largest exporter of plastic waste in 2025, sending 810,000 tonnes overseas, analysis finds

UK was close behind, exporting 675,000 tonnes, with much of the waste sent to Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia

Germany was the world’s largest exporter of plastic waste in 2025 and sent more than 810,000 tonnes abroad, according to analysis of trade data carried out for the Guardian.

The UK followed close behind, according to the analysis by Watershed Investigations and the Basel Action Network. It exported more than 675,000 tonnes, its highest level in eight years and enough to fill about 127,000 shipping containers.

Democrats urge CFTC to rein in prediction markets sports betting, insider trading

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., led a letter — first reported by CNBC — to the CFTC asking for stricter rules for companies like Kalshi and Polymarket.

Jerome Powell says he will continue to serve as a Fed governor, calls Trump criticism 'unprecedented'

Powell addressed the question of whether he will stay on as a Board of Governors member after his term as chair ends.

‘I did receive bottles on stage. There might have been urine’: Melanie C on Spice Girls mania, impostor syndrome and her date with a Chili Pepper

As she releases a clubby new album, Sweat, the former Sporty Spice answers your questions on her raver days, scouse cuisine and Sex Pistols covers

Your acid remix of Jessie Ware’s Free Yourself was a bit unexpected, I admit. Were you a hardcore raver back in the early 90s? Coopertapes
I absolutely was. I discovered raving on my first holiday without parents, just me and three of the girls I was at college with. This was the first environment I’d been in where I heard house music and everyone was dancing, and really expressing themselves. I was like, “Oh my God, I’ve found my people.” That’s where I got the bug. Then we’d also go to a club in Essex called Berwick Manor. I also remember going to the Cross, which was in King’s Cross. It was such a tiny little window of my late teens because the Spice Girls happened so quickly after it. I’d almost compartmentalised it and left it behind until I started DJing eight years ago.

Once the Spice Girls started and your schedule was much tighter, were you ever able to go out like that again? laurasnapes
Absolutely not. That was the thing, although all of my wildest dreams were coming true through being part of the Spice Girls, real life was put on hold. The schedule was brutal. There was very little time for socialising. Also, you remember those times in the 90s, right? The tabloid media and paparazzi were on you like a hawk. So we were terrified. Anything we ever did was usually published in a newspaper, so in our downtime we tried to keep it low key.

U.K. calls antisemitism an emergency after arson and stabbing attacks on Jewish people

The British government pledged to increase security for Jewish communities after a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing. But members of the community lashed out at the government.

Janet Mills ends Senate campaign in Maine, paving way for Graham Platner

Maine Gov. Janet Mills' exit from the race all but assures Graham Platner will get the Democratic nomination to take on Sen. Susan Collins.

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams audiobook review – the insider story that Meta tried to stifle

The author reads her account of her time as a senior executive at Facebook with a mixture of dark humour and astonishment at the working culture in which she finds herself

Sarah Wynn-Williams’s memoir documenting her seven years working at Facebook opens, unexpectedly, with a shark attack. The New Zealander was 13 years old and swimming in the sea when the shark bit her torso and shook her from side to side. She lived to tell the tale, but her near-death experience awakened in her a desire to leave the world better than she found it.

Wynn-Williams went on to take a job at Facebook’s public policy department in 2011, having seen the potential of the platform as a global meeting place. But what she found was a senior staff high on power and untroubled by ethical concerns such as privacy or the dissemination of hate speech and misinformation. All were resistant to political interference and dedicated to rapid expansion, no matter the consequences, claims that Meta has called out of date and false. The author also encountered a working culture where employees enjoyed perks but had to be available around the clock – a situation that led to her responding to emails while in labour.

It’s time to tax AI slop | Mike Pepi

We are stuck in a deluge of meaningless content that threatens human creativity. Here’s a simple way to mitigate its harms

As the US midterm elections approach, voters are voicing concern about AI. According to an NBC News poll of registered voters, 57% believe the risks of AI outweigh the benefits. A rising political cohort is particularly concerned. A Pew Research poll showed that 61% of adults under 30 say more AI in society will make people worse at creative thinking. A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that 74% of Americans think the government is not doing enough to regulate AI.

Can you blame them? The CEOs of the largest AI companies chose a curious tactic: scaring their prospective users into submission. “Use it or get left behind” is the narrative, buttressed by gleeful proclamations that AI will destroy whole industries and cultural institutions.

‘My own contribution’: the Ottawa immigrants learning to retrofit homes and fight the climate crisis

A Canadian social enterprise hopes to help solve the urgent need for retrofits and shortage of skilled workers

John Mava was looking for work when a construction project started behind his house. When he visited the site and saw how different construction was in Canada compared with his native Nigeria, his interest was piqued.

“I said it would be great for me to have knowledge about this,” said Mava, who learned that in Canada, construction uses timber rather than bricks and has a focus on the environment.

UK stole 25m years of life and labour through slavery in Barbados, says report

Experts put estimate for economic harm done by 200 years of chattel slavery at $2tn, but stress this is ‘not an invoice’

Britain stole 25 million years of life and labour through slavery in Barbados, according to research by a team of international experts.

Their report concludes that Barbados’s population of African descent have suffered damages estimated at up to $2tn (£1.5tn) from 200 years of chattel slavery.

LIV Golf races against time for investment with confirmation Saudi funding will end in 2026

• PIF ends investment after five years and $5bn

• LIV announces new independent board in funding push

LIV Golf’s race to secure at least a watered-down future is formally under way after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed it will cease to fund the breakaway circuit at the end of this year. Fears over LIV’s existence are inescapable given the PIF has bestowed in excess of $5bn on the tour since 2021. Tournaments started in the following year; there is a very real chance the 2026 season will prove LIV’s last.

LIV had already confirmed appointment of new board members, aimed with the specific task of raising finance, by the time the PIF stipulated its position on Thursday. “PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season,” read a statement. “The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy. This decision has been made in light of PIF’s investment priorities and current macro dynamics.

What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in April

Luke Kennard, Sophie Ratcliffe and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

This is a really good year for new fiction. I don’t think anyone writes about contemporary Englishness as astutely, mercilessly and affectionately as Claire Powell, and her latest novel, All In, puts her perfectly observed characters in the pressure cooker of an all-inclusive holiday. It’s a kind of meta-beach read, and I loved it.

Coast Guard operating in "crisis" as shutdown halts pay, strains missions overseas

The Coast Guard will run out of funding to pay personnel on May 1, with the first missed paychecks expected May 15.

Curfews, conspiracy theories … and a cancelled concert: Mali’s capital tries to shrug off violence on its doorstep

Surprise coordinated attack by jihadists and separatists last weekend has rattled the regime and its security ally Russia

“The Grand Ball of Bamako”, as organisers tagged the Saturday evening soiree at the Hotel de l’Amitié in the Malian capital, was meant to provide one of the west African country’s biggest headlines last weekend.

Many sponsors including Orange Mali, the local subsidiary of the French telecoms company, had bankrolled the show, which organisers hoped would demonstrate Mali’s capacity to put on big cultural events in the teeth of a security crisis raging on multiple fronts. On the eve of the concert, a convoy of cars picked up the main attraction, Grammy award-winning Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour, from the Modibo Keita international airport.

GDP rose at 2% annual rate in first quarter as U.S. economy rebounds

The AI boom propped up U.S. economic growth in the first quarter, but inflation due to the Iran war is casting a cloud.

Core inflation rate hit 3.2% in March as first-quarter growth disappointed at 2%

Consumers faced escalating prices in March as the Iran war sent oil soaring and created a new level of challenges for the Fed.

Republicans could still win the House in the 2026 midterm election: Scalise

The election is high stakes and will effectively determine whether Trump enters '27 as a lame duck or maintains a governing majority for the end his presidency.

David Allan Coe, singer who wrote "Take This Job and Shove It," dies at 86

David Allan Coe also had hits with "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" and "The Ride" among others.

The Purge but for sex? One Night Only might be the year’s strangest romcom

A new trailer depicts a normal meet-cute before setting it on the one night a year when single people can legally have sex

For the most part, the trailer for the upcoming film One Night Only looks like the sweetest possible version of a romcom. A handsome, sensitive-looking man (played by Callum Turner) flirts relentlessly with a big-eyed oddball in a sexy dress (played by Monica Barbaro). They bump into each other, nudge each other, roll their eyes at each other. As a YouTube comment underneath the trailer (that has been liked more than 3,000 times) says: “Romantic comedies are back.”

However, tucked away in this adorable little trailer is a premise that might just be the most confusing in living memory. As Turner’s character walks lovelorn through the streets of New York City, his voiceover says: “Finding love is hard enough. Try doing it on the one night of the year single people are legally allowed to have sex.”

French teenager charged in Singapore over vending machine straw-licking video

Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 18, accused of mischief and public nuisance over alleged stunt in mall

A French teenager has been charged with committing mischief and public nuisance in Singapore after posting a video on social media of himself licking a straw from an orange juice vending machine and then putting it back.

Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 18, was charged on 24 April and has not entered a plea, the city-state’s largest English-language newspaper, the Straits Times, reported. He allegedly committed the offence at a shopping mall on 12 March, and his video spread rapidly when it surfaced, the report said.

Cuba is running out of time. We need fuel now to save lives | Francisco Pichón

With the US blockade cutting off oil, the island’s healthcare has been wrecked, access to clean water lost and babies put at risk

Four months into Cuba’s deepening energy crisis, the consequences are no longer abstract: they are visible in the rhythm of daily life. Streets fall silent before night has fully set in. Hospitals scale back operations. Small businesses close due to a lack of supplies. At dawn, exhaustion shows on people’s faces after long nights without electricity.

But the most serious toll is measured not in inconvenience but in health.

Negotiations to bail out Spirit Airlines have stalled. Here's how travelers may be impacted.

Sources tell CBS News that Spirit Airlines only has enough cash available on hand to operate for a matter of days and if it runs out, the budget carrier would have to cease operations. For now, Spirit continues to operate normally amid discussions over a possible government bailout. Kris Van Cleave reports.

Oil prices hit wartime peak, with Brent crude touching $126 a barrel

Brent crude surged past $126 a barrel early Thursday, while U.S. gasoline prices jumped to $4.30 a gallon.

Merck beats quarterly estimates on strength of Keytruda and new products, narrows outlook

Merck narrowed its 2026 sales guidance and hiked its adjusted profit outlook.

New Orleans sheriff indicted after investigation into escape of 10 inmates

Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson was indicted on 30 felony counts after a probe into one of the largest jailbreaks in U.S. history, which occurred under her watch.

A river rescue and samurai celebrations: photos of the day – Thursday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Raghu Rai’s masterful images of Indian life – in pictures

Recruited to Magnum Photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson in 1977, the veteran photographer, who has died aged 83, made defining images of grand and intimate Indian life for five decades

Why we care so much about preserving family recipes

What we inherit in the kitchen isn’t only a list of ingredients, but a living tradition – one that shifts with our lives, our fridges and the people we feed

• Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, Feast

“Chicken, leek, flour, a few more ingredients.” That was it: my grandma’s WhatsApp response to me earnestly asking if she’d mind sharing her time-honoured chicken pie recipe. She wasn’t being obtuse – well, not deliberately. She had simply never before committed a dish that was second nature to paper, let alone an iPhone screen.

It wasn’t how she’d learned it and it wasn’t how I’d go on to learn it, either. I knew I’d have to make her chicken pie many times to get it even close to her standard, that I’d have to learn by watching as well as by asking, and that even then there’d be elements I’d miss. Such is the nature of a family dish – indeed, of any dish that has taken time, repetition and love to master, and for which, even then, perfection remains ephemeral. There is more to their method, meaning and flavour than can ever be confined to and conveyed by a recipe.

Say hello to my little compendium! Al Pacino films – ranked

As the actor turns 86, we rate his greatest screen performances and ask which Godfather was the best of the trilogy

With greased-back hair, dainty spectacles and bristly chops, Pacino is a former Little League baseball coach turned locksmith. But – symbolism alert! – who holds the key to his clenched heart? One scene gives good cringe: over a would-be romantic dinner with a bank teller (Holly Hunter), he starts reminiscing about his great lost love, oblivious to his date’s escalating indignation.