A humanoid robot sprints past the human half-marathon world record in Beijing race

The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, running faster than the human world record in a show of China's technological leaps.

Son of Nobody by Yann Martel review – Life of Pi author discovers a long-lost poem from Troy

An epic poem about the Trojan war is merged with the domestic heartbreak of the scholar who discovers it in this ambitious, structurally problematic novel

In Yann Martel’s fifth novel, a Canadian classicist, Harlow Donne, has been offered a year’s fellowship at Oxford University. His wife, Gail, has a full-time managerial job, and they have a seven-year-old daughter, Helen. Who will pour out her breakfast cereal and pick her up from school while Harlow is away? He and Gail quarrel. He leaves for England, and as she sees him off Gail whispers in his ear: “Don’t come back.”

So far, so everyday: but once Harlow gets to Oxford, the narrative shifts its form and becomes odder and more interesting. His prescribed task is to help sift through and translate a hoard of ancient papyri from Oxyrhynchus, in upper Egypt. It’s tedious work. Soon, though, Harlow is piecing together from words or half-words on wisps of desiccated reeds what he believes to be a long-lost epic poem. It relates the story of the Trojan war, but not, as Homer tells it, from the viewpoint of princely warriors and gods. The protagonist is a common soldier, a “son of nobody” named Psoas.

Sonos Play review: a great jack-of-all-trades portable speaker for home or away

Quality wifi bookshelf speaker can go mobile with Bluetooth, long battery life and water resistance, in return to form

The Play is a new portable wifi and Bluetooth home speaker that packs the best of Sonos into a jack of all trades that is intended to be a reset point in the company’s recovery from its app debacle that lost it faith, favour and a chief executive.

It is the first truly new music speaker since Sonos launched its new app in May 2024, which junked fan-favourite features while causing stability and usage problems for new and old customers alike. The company has spent the best part of two years fixing mistakes, bringing back core features and ensuring the system actually works.

Where to find Scotland’s best seafood. Clue: these places are just metres from the water

The Highlands and Islands are rightly lauded for their superb seafood – but these days it’s not reserved for fine dining and can be found at the simplest waterside shacks and inns

The best oysters of my life arrive on a polystyrene tray, eaten elbow-to-elbow with strangers at a table littered with empty shells and damp paper napkins. We huddle beneath a tarpaulin, sheltering from the fine spray of rain rattling on the roof, the wind whipping around the hulking CalMac ferry moored metres away, and the beady-eyed scavenging gulls.

“Have you tried this? You have to,” says a woman who has driven from Glasgow just to eat here, pressing a rollmop herring into my hand. I take a bite, the thick skin giving way to sweet and salty flesh, juices running down my chin. Elegant dining this is not, but all the better for it. This is Oban Seafood Hut, tucked beside the ferry terminal for boats heading into the Sound of Mull. Diners shuffle around a shared table, listening for order numbers, with plates piled high with langoustines, crab and oysters. It’s cash only. In the back room, a team of women butter thick slices of soft white bread for crab sandwiches, wrapping them in clingfilm without ceremony, to be sold within minutes.

U.K police investigating if attacks in London are the work of Iranian proxies

U.K. police said Sunday they are investigating whether a string of arson attacks on Jewish sites in London are the work of Iranian proxies, the latest of which caused minor damage on Saturday night.

Trump’s presidency is what evil looks like: absurd, frightening, cruel | Nesrine Malik

Commentators have said that the US president’s clownishness and lack of ideology somehow make him less dangerous. They’re wrong

Over the past few weeks, a random kaleidoscope of images has been flashing through my head. Some are characters from movies not seen since childhood. Others are snippets from literature or iconic art. What joins them all is an exaggerated, almost kitschy evil.

These images seem to be standing in for the real carnage my brain is trying to process: the bodies pulled from the rubble in Gaza, a school full of young pupils blown apart in Iran. The more than 1 million people in southern Lebanon expelled en masse from their homes. (Alex in the film of A Clockwork Orange appears, eyes clamped open as liquid is dripped into them, unable to blink away what is scorching his vision.)

Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist

Fish suppers: fritters, fried and poached – Nathan Outlaw’s haddock recipes

Haddock three ways: grilled with braised leeks in a warm mayo sauce; poached and served in roast mushroom rarebit; and smoked haddock fritters with cheese sauce

Haddock is a fish that deserves a bit more love. It’s a member of the cod family that, like cod itself, is one of those unfortunate fish that’s been in such high demand that it’s been overfished for decades. That said, the fisheries in the Nordic region are notably well managed, so fish from there is a really good option. Haddock grows quickly, too, so hopefully in future we’ll see an increase in the catch, so long as quotas are obeyed and the industry works hard on the way it’s fished.

Quarter of a million people could lose job by middle of 2027 as UK ‘flirts with recession’, analysis says

Twin reports from top accounting firms underline scale of economic threat as Iran war shatters business confidence

A quarter of a million people could lose their jobs by the middle of next year as Britain “flirts with recession”, analysis suggests, after business confidence was shattered by the US-Israel war on Iran.

As the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, summoned bank chiefs for talks aimed at containing the fallout, twin reports from top accounting firms underlined the scale of the economic threat facing the UK.

Handcuffs, dog bites and avian warfare: how personal grudges sullied Alfred Hitchcock’s reputation

The director liked to create tension on-set to draw out stronger performances. But have stories about his psychological tricks been inflated in the retelling?

In 1978, shortly after publishing The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, biographer Donald Spoto met the director one last time. At one point, Hitchcock appeared to fall asleep mid-conversation, signalling the end of his involvement with the author. On another occasion, Spoto recalled being bitten by Hitchcock’s West Highland terrier, Sarah, leaving a bruise on his hand. When Hitchcock admonished the dog, Spoto noted it was the first time in four years the director had addressed him by name.

These accounts have surfaced in an unearthed transcript of a previously forgotten interview between Spoto and the actor Tippi Hedren in 1980, six months after Hitchcock’s death. But they also suggest something else: an uneasy relationship from the outset, shaped by misreading, distrust and a degree of personal grievance.

‘The Moon and The Zoo’: Simon Armitage poem celebrates 200 years of ZSL

Zoological Society of London commissions poet laureate for animation to mark its 200th anniversary

Over its two centuries, acclaimed writers and artists have found inspiration at London zoo, from Edwin Landseer’s Trafalgar Square lions, to AA Milne’s naming “Winnie” after resident bear Winnipeg, and Sylvia Plath’s poem Zoo Keeper’s Wife.

Plath’s husband, Ted Hughes, who would become poet laureate, worked at the zoo briefly as a dish washer, an experience said to have helped fuel his inspiration for The Thought-Fox.

Get a grip on ‘scandal’ of illegal child social care in England, ministers are told

Vulnerable children placed in caravans, Airbnbs and holiday camps, with children’s commissioner saying practice must stop

Ministers must get to grips with the “national scandal” of England’s shadow child social care system, the children’s commissioner has warned, as a shocking new report reveals the number of children in unregulated settings has increased by more than 370% in five years.

Some of the most vulnerable children in England are being temporarily placed in unregulated caravans, Airbnbs and holiday camps, which risk the “accumulation of increasing levels of harm for children who have already faced enough distress for several lifetimes”, according to a new report.

Arrests fuel fears among Madagascar’s gen Z protesters that new regime no better than one they overthrew

Jubilation is turning to disenchantment as young activists arrested after protest calling for election date to be set

The arrest of several protesters in Madagascar has increased fears among young people that the military regime that took power last year after huge Gen Z demonstrations will be no better than the government it overthrew.

Four Gen Z activists, Herizo Andriamanantena, Miora Rakotomalala, Dina Randrianarisoa and Nomena Ratsihorimanana, were arrested on 12 April, one of their lawyers said, two days after taking part in a protest calling for an election date to be set.

‘Every time I write, I doubt myself’: Michael Rosen at 80 on deep grief, self-belief and chocolate cake

The children’s author answers questions from readers, friends and writers on losing his son Eddie, surviving Covid, who he’d invite to his perfect birthday dinner and where he goes for inspiration

Whether you know him from reading his classic picture book We’re Going on A Bear Hunt as a child, from his viral YouTube videos or his tireless support for children’s literacy and the NHS, Michael Rosen has been a household name in the UK for decades. As he turns 80, we gave his peers and Guardian readers the opportunity to put to him the questions they’ve always wanted to ask.

Which do you prefer, asking or answering questions? Roger McGough, poet
Probably asking. I always worry if I’m answering questions I’m being boring. It feels quite exciting if you ask questions. And, as Roger knows, the moment you pick up a pen and start to write, you’re actually asking questions. You’re saying: “What’s the next word? What’s the next phrase? Why am I writing in this shape? Why am I writing in this tone of voice?”

4/19/2026: Iran's HEU; One Mother's Story; Wild Concerto

First, U.S. eyes Iran's highly enriched uranium. Then, Rachel Goldberg-Polin | 60 Minutes Interview. And, turning recordings of animals into music.

Strike on alleged drug boat kills 3 in Caribbean Sea, U.S. military says

The U.S. military said it launched another strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea.

4/19: CBS Weekend News

Eight kids killed in Louisiana shooting; U.S.-Iran ceasefire on shaky ground.

Fire destroys 1,000 ‘stilt’ homes in Malaysia’s Sabah, displacing thousands

Blaze struck a ‘water village’ that is home to some of Malaysia’s poorest residents

A huge fire destroyed about 1,000 makeshift homes, many of them built on stilts over water, and displaced thousands of people in a coastal village in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Sunday, authorities said.

The blaze broke out early on Sunday morning in a “water village” in Sandakan district in Sabah’s northeast, where some of Malaysia’s poorest residents, including indigenous and stateless communities, live in closely packed, wooden stilt houses.

Kanye West’s European tour in doubt as more concerts cancelled in Poland and Switzerland

FC Basel and Polish stadium stop US rapper’s upcoming shows, after similar cancellations in France and UK over antisemitic comments

Kanye West’s upcoming concerts in Poland and Switzerland have been cancelled, as a growing number of European countries have stopped or postponed the US rapper’s performances amid a furore over his past antisemitic comments.

Swiss football club FC Basel, which is responsible for concerts and events that take place at its St Jakob-Park ground, told Reuters on Saturday that after reviewing a request for West to perform there in June, it decided against it.

Man kills 7 of his children and 1 other in Louisiana shooting, police say

The shooter, who is also dead, shot 10 people in total, according to police. All eight who died were children under the age of 14, police said.

A day with a baby squirrel foster mom

Retired California teaching assistant Angel Barba has been a baby squirrel foster mom for the last seven years. Italy Hod reports.

LensCulture portrait awards 2026 – in pictures

Winning and shortlisted works move seamlessly between documentary and invention. Across these images, tender couples hold each other close, people reclaim their identities from the burden of colonial memories and the harsh realities of the war in Ukraine come sharply into focus

• Australian photographer wins at world photography awards with ‘barefoot volcanologist’ image

The struggles of first-time homebuyers

First-time homebuyers make up just 21% of the market, and they face record-high prices, high interest rates and stiff competition from baby boomers. Carter Evans reports.

Latest news on Iran as ceasefire nears end

Charlie D'Agata, Olivia Rinaldi and Lana Zak report on the current state of Iran war, what we know about peace talks and how the conflict is spiking fuel prices here at home.

Farmers facing harsh fuel prices as Iran war disrupts oil shipments

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that gas prices pumped up by the war may not drop below $3 per gallon until next year. Nearly two months into the war, a gallon of regular averages $4.05 and diesel prices average $5.61 a gallon. Lana Zak spoke with farmers in Iowa about how they're dealing with those costs.

White House says Vance will lead more talks with Iran

The White House says Vice President JD Vance will lead talks with Iran in Pakistan, but questions remain about who from the Iranian side is authorized to make a deal or if they will even attend. Olivia Rinaldi has more.

Trump says U.S. seized Iranian vessel, Iran closes Strait of Hormuz, ceasefire winding down

The fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire this week, with both countries accusing the other of violations over the weekend. More American troops are on their way to the region. Charlie D'Agata reports.

5 wounded in shooting near University of Iowa, including 3 students

Officers from the Iowa City Police Department heard gunfire while responding to a report of a large fight, the department said.

5 hurt in shooting near University of Iowa

Five people were injured Sunday in a shooting near the University of Iowa's campus in Iowa City. No arrests have been made yet.

Details on Louisiana shooting that killed 8 children

Eight kids ranging in age from 1 to 14 were killed Sunday morning in a Shreveport, Louisiana, mass shooting. Jason Allen reports.

Ukraine war briefing: Europe needs homegrown missile defence in a year – Zelenskyy

Ukrainian president discusses Patriot alternative with other countries; Bulgarian election may be new headache for Kyiv. What we know on day 1,517

Europe must have its own defence system against ballistic missiles and Ukraine is holding talks with several countries to create one, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday. Ukraine relies heavily on scant supplies of the Patriot system, produced by the US, to shoot down Russian missiles, which are often fired at Ukraine’s electricity generation and transmission systems. “I believe, and my idea is, that we should have a European anti-ballistic missile defence system. We are in talks with several countries and are working in this direction,” Zelenskyy told the national TV channel, Marathon. “We need to build our own anti-ballistic missile defence system within a year.”

Fire Point, maker of Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missile, told Reuters this month that it was in talks with European companies to launch a new air defence system by next year, creating a low-cost alternative to the Patriot which is in increasingly short supply amid extensive deployment in the Gulf because of Donald Trump’s war against Iran. Europe’s only anti-ballistic system, the Italo-French SAMP/T, is produced in relatively small numbers.

A “massive” night-time drone strike on Chernihiv in northern Ukraine killed a 16-year-old boy and wounded four others, the head of the city’s military administration said on Sunday. Russian drones also attacked the southern city of Kherson on Sunday, local officials reported. A man died of his wounds after a drone hit a van driving through the city centre, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the regional administration. A second man was hospitalised with blast injuries, regional authorities said.

Ukraine hit the Atlant Aero drone factory in the city of Taganrog, the Ukrainian military general staff reported. The site lies about 55km (35 miles) east of Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine in south-western Russia. According to the military, the strike started a fire at the factory, which designs and produces strike and reconnaissance drones, as well as components for more powerful UAVs that can carry guided bombs weighing up to 250kg.

Ukraine’s navy said it carried out the Atlant Aero attack using domestically manufactured Neptune cruise missiles. Russian officials in Taganrog confirmed an attack on “commercial enterprises” as well as a vocational school and multiple cars.

Russia launched 236 drones into Ukrainian territory overnight into Sunday, Ukraine’s air force reported. Of those, 203 drones were shot down while 32 hit targets in 18 separate locations, it said. Russia’s defence ministry said its forces shot down 274 Ukrainian drones during the night, as well as guided aerial bombs and a Neptune cruise missile. The ministry did not say how many struck targets.

The centre-left coalition of Rumen Radev is expected to win Bulgaria’s parliamentary election, though without an outright majority, after polls closed on Sunday. Radev is seen by critics as pro-Russian and Eurosceptic. If he is able to form a government, this could pose another headache for the European Union in its support of Ukraine’s defence.

Though Radev has denounced the Russian invasion, he has opposed military aid to Ukraine and has favoured reopening talks with Russia as a way out of the conflict. It comes after Hungarian voters ousted Viktor Orbán, who cultivated close ties with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and obstructed European help for Ukraine.

Ukraine’s interior minister said on Sunday that two police officers had been suspended after a video circulated online showed them fleeing the scene of the shooting in Kyiv in which six people were killed. “Shameful, unworthy behaviour. This is a disgrace for the entire system. They have been suspended, and an investigation into this is underway,” said Igor Klymenko, the government minister. Zelenskyy, added that “there will be a full review of the patrol officers’ actions”.

Ukraine’s police chief, Ivan Vygivsky, told reporters that the suspect had served in the Ukrainian armed forces before retiring in 2005 and then lived in Russia until 2017. “We checked his social media pages … His views there are negative. You can’t say he had a pro-Ukrainian stance, it was, let’s say, somewhat in the other direction,” Vygivsky said.

‘We’re Catholic first’: Sunday mass attendees weigh in on Trump’s feud with Pope Leo

Catholics around Atlanta share mixed feelings on faith and politics as Trump engages in rhetorical war with pope

Alex Sullivan tended to his five children on the lawn after a traditional Latin mass at the Catholic Church of Saint Monica in Duluth, Georgia, and contemplated his faith in the light of God and the shadow of Donald Trump.

Sullivan, a self-described conservative who once staffed a libertarian state representative at the Georgia capitol, described his faith as almost medieval.

Bulgaria’s former president claims ‘victory’ after projections show him winning parliamentary elections

Rumen Radev – an EU critic who has called for renewing ties with Russia - looked set to top the polls in the country’s eighth election in five years

Bulgarian ex-president Rumen Radev – an EU critic who has called for renewing ties with Russia – on Sunday hailed a “victory of hope” after his formation topped the eighth parliamentary elections in five years.

Projections from polling agencies put his Progressive Bulgaria (PB) grouping at 44%, which would give him an absolute majority of at least 129 seats in the 240-seat parliament.

Mass shooting rampage in Louisiana leaves eight children dead and others wounded

Shreveport police say suspect Shamar Elkins, who was fatally shot, killed seven of his children and injured their mother in a ‘domestic violence incident’

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At least eight children were killed, and two adults were wounded in a mass shooting in the Louisiana city of Shreveport, in what police called a “domestic violence incident”.

Chris Bordelon, the Shreveport police department spokesperson, said on Sunday evening that the suspect, Shamar Elkins, killed seven of his own children and wounded their mother, as well as killing another child.

Fitzpatrick hits ‘out of this world’ shot to defeat Scheffler in RBC Heritage playoff

• English player wins at first playoff hole with birdie

• Fitzpatrick claims second PGA Tour victory of year

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick beat the world No 1, Scottie Scheffler, in a playoff to win the RBC Heritage for the second time.

Fitzpatrick took a three-shot into the final round at Hilton Head and still held that advantage standing on the 15th tee. But playing partner Scheffler produced birdies at 15 and 16 and Fitzpatrick’s duffed chip on 18 cost him a bogey, sending him into a playoff that he looked second favourite to win.

‘Drinks and a burger’ fuel Mark Allen’s Crucible comeback win over Zhang

• Allen rallies from 5-3 down to win 10-6 in first round

• Hawkins, Williams and Xiao Guodong also advance

Mark Allen revealed how “bad food” and a few drinks fuelled his surge into the second round of the World Snooker Championship after he swallowed up a two-frame overnight deficit to crush Zhang Anda 10-6 at the Crucible.

The 40-year-old was so disillusioned with his display on Saturday, when he failed to rustle up a break over 50, that he set about drowning his sorrows in Sheffield. Allen then returned on Sunday to rifle three centuries in a six-frame streak and advance to the second round.

Communities launch cleanup after severe weather and tornadoes churn across Midwest

At least 66 tornado reports were submitted across multiple states on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Iranian American woman arrested in Los Angeles for alleged arms trafficking

Federal prosecutor says woman is suspected of dealing weapons to Africa on behalf of Iranian government

A California woman was arrested at Los Angeles international airport after allegedly trafficking weapons on behalf of the Iranian government to contacts in Africa, including Sudan.

Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills was detained on Saturday night by federal agents, according to the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.

‘This feeling sucks’: $381m Mets, with second-highest payroll in MLB, lose 11th game in a row

• New York had 1-0 lead in ninth before losing 2-1

• Mets swept for a third series in a row

The New York Mets are finding that money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. The second-most expensive team in MLB – with a payroll of $381m – lost their 11th game in a row on Sunday as they were swept for a third straight series, this time by the Chicago Cubs.

“Eleven losses, that’s a lot, whether it’s in April or at any point in the season,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to find a way.”

European football: Bayern Munich win 35th league title by surging past Stuttgart

• Bayern bounce back from early concession to win 4-2

• PSG’s title hopes hit after 2-1 home defeat by Lyon

Bayern Munich secured their 35th German league title by beating Stuttgart 4-2 to open up an unassailable lead with four games to play. Sunday’s result sent Bayern 15 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

The Bavarian side, who face Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup semi-final next week before taking on Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on 28 April, were a goal down before scoring four times to quickly turn the game around.

AI startup Cursor in talks to raise $2 billion funding round at valuation of over $50 billion

Artificial intelligence startup Cursor in talks to raise a $2 billion fundraising round at an over $50 billion valuation, which does not include the investment.

Will the DHS shutdown affect security for the World Cup?

The FIFA World Cup is a little over 50 days away. NPR's Rob Schmitz talks to former Department of Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem about the security concerns people have about hosting the tournament in America in this moment.

Tehran has ‘no plans to participate’ in new talks, state media reports, as it accuses US of violating ceasefire

Reported response comes hours after Trump announced delegation to Islamabad, having earlier threatened to raze Iran’s infrastructure

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Tehran is not currently planning to take part in new talks with the US, Iran state media reported on Sunday evening, as its military accused America of violating a fragile ceasefire between the two countries, hours after Donald Trump said he was dispatching negotiators to Islamabad.

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that an Iranian cargo ship that tried to get past the US-enforced blockade near the strait of Hormuz had been seized. “We have full custody of their ship, and are seeing what’s on board!” Trump wrote on social media.

Canada's leader describes ties to U.S. as "weaknesses that we must correct"

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney​ said in a video address​ released Sunday that Canada's strong economic ties to the United States were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected.

Nico O’Reilly’s fearless quality exposes collapsing Arsenal’s title credentials | Barney Ronay

Deep lying creator is an excellent Manchester City story and confirmed why he is England’s best left-back

It’s not over, not over, not over yet. Although, let’s be honest, it kind of is over. Isn’t it, don’t you think, at the end of a day when Manchester City and Arsenal dished up the one thing nobody was expecting at the Etihad Stadium, a thrillingly open game of attacking football?

There were three images at the final whistle that seemed to capture the essence of City’s 2-1 win here, and not just in terms of the game, but the balance of energy, feeling, vibes.

FBI Director Kash Patel vows to sue The Atlantic over alcohol abuse claims

Kash Patel recently made headlines for chugging a beer after Team USA won the gold medal in ice hockey in the 2026 Olympic Games.

Judgment day as Starmer faces Commons showdown over Mandelson scandal

Prime minister to deliver high-stakes statement to MPs over vetting controversy that has put his position in peril

Keir Starmer will deliver a high-stakes statement to MPs on Monday as he struggles to overcome fears inside his government that the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal could yet cost him his leadership.

In what is set to be a dramatic showdown, the prime minister will set out how Mandelson was able to take up his role as UK ambassador without the Foreign Office revealing it had overruled the decision to fail his vetting.

Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," April 19, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz and former Attorney General Eric Holder join Margaret Brennan.

4/19: Sunday Morning

Hosted by Jane Pauley. Featured: The purge of immigration judges; seeking accountability in trucking accidents; Don Cheadle and Ayo Edebiri on Broadway; portraitist Michael Shane Neal; the legacy of woodworker George Nakashima; an operatic car salesman; and Earth Day stories of advances in sustainability.

Republican senator criticizes Trump’s ‘holy war’ with Pope Leo

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump, says president’s feud with the pope is a ‘distraction’

A Republican lawmaker has condemned what he refers to as Donald Trump’s “holy war” against Pope Leo XIV.

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump and the ultraconservative Maga movement, condemned the president’s attacks on the pope during a Fox News interview on Saturday.

Mike Waltz says U.S. is "never going to take an approach of trust" with Iran

U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz said Sunday that the U.S. is "never going to take an approach of trust" with Iran as U.S. officials are set to head to Islamabad for a second round of talks this week.

Intemperate Trump brings chaos and confusion to Iran talks

US president’s unreliable style sows diplomatic confusion but leaves Tehran clear on strategic value of strait of Hormuz

Donald Trump’s decision to send US officials to Islamabad for further talks on Monday with Iran just 24 hours after Iran once again closed the strait of Hormuz will signal to Tehran that the strategic waterway remains a bargaining asset beyond parallel.

It will also confirm in Iran’s eyes that the US president’s chaotic approach to diplomacy doubles the need for Tehran to act calmly and strategically – two competencies it believes he totally lacks.

‘Big, big compliment’: Arne Slot hails Liverpool’s mentality in win at Everton

• Liverpool win derby in 100th minute after difficult run

• ‘Five games in 15 days with mainly the same players’

Arne Slot claimed Liverpool provided the perfect answer to questions over their mentality and character as Virgil van Dijk’s 100th-minute header clinched victory in the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Liverpool opened up a seven-point gap to sixth-placed Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification with their captain’s dramatic intervention against Everton, who were left to rue another late blow by their local rivals. David Moyes described the outcome as “cruel” and claimed Everton should have had a penalty for a push by Curtis Jones on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

8 children killed in a shooting in Louisiana, police say

The suspect was the father of seven of the children killed, police said. The victims ranged in age from 1 to about 14 years old, according to police in Shreveport, La. A total of 10 people were shot.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (April 19)

A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.

Ella Baron on Keir Starmer and the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal – cartoon

Continue reading...

The Guardian view on Japan’s cherry blossom: when spring slips out of time | Editorial

A 1,200-year dataset shows the ‘peak bloom’ is arriving earlier. Global heating is unsettling nature’s rhythms – and their cultural meaning

A picture posted on social media last April by Prof Yasuyuki Aono of a spreadsheet, with its blank row for 2026, carries a quiet poignancy. Prof Aono died before he got to fill in this year’s entry for when the cherry blossom fully bloomed in Kyoto. The academic had spent decades reconstructing dates of flowering that go back to the ninth century. His work illuminated how a botanical event long associated with the Japanese idea of mono no aware – a sadness at the passing of things – is shifting because of the climate crisis.

The “peak bloom” now occurs around two weeks earlier than in previous centuries. In the 1820s full bloom arrived in mid-April. In 2023 the full-flowering date was 25 March. An earlier blooming indicates warmer springs – and Prof Aono’s data provides a warning signal that Japan’s “sakura front” comes sooner each year.

1 dead after small plane crashes into Florida yard

One person was killed after a Cessna plane crashed into the yard of a home near Tampa, Florida, on Sunday morning.

4/19: Face The Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz joins as President Trump says negotiators are headed to Pakistan for a peace deal with Iran. Plus. Former White House adviser on energy security Amos Hochstein and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder join.

Aston Villa’s Tammy Abraham grabs dramatic victory after Sunderland rally

The finish was chaotic, brilliant, exhausting but, when the dust settles, this perhaps was the afternoon when Aston Villa made a decisive spurt for the finish line to claim Champions League qualification. As Tammy Abraham touched in the winner three minutes into injury-time, Unai Emery ran on to the pitch in celebration. Yet just a minute earlier Habib Diarra had been set clean through with a chance of his own to win it. Emi Martínez, though, stretched up to save his dink, and the road was cleared for the Villa winner.

“We need strikers and goalkeepers,” said Emery. “It was the match – three points for them and no three points for us.”

Tom Gauld on the librarians who take children – cartoon

What if your life turned out to be ‘ordinary’? Slow down and relish this – it might even be enchanting | Nadine Levy

Being unremarkable is often seen as a sign of moral failure – yet finding joy in the everyday can lead to a mindful, luminous experience

• Making sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday life

Lately I’ve been playing with a thought experiment: what if I was told the rest of my life would be completely ordinary? Not bad, just unremarkable.

My immediate response is, “well, ordinary is better than awful” (forever the optimist), and then almost immediately (and embarrassingly), “this is not how life is meant to play out! I want something more!”

When ‘the birdman’ of St James tunnel died, Sydney commuters streamed past his body for days

Exclusive: The strange and lonely death of Bikram Lama exposes a glaring gap in homelessness services. What hopes and dreams brought him to Australia, and what went wrong?

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Bikram Lama had a morning ritual.

The rough sleepers of Hyde Park remember it well.

Cleanup underway in Midwest after tornadoes leave path of damage, destruction

Communities across the Midwest were starting the cleanup process Saturday after multiple tornadoes touched down and severe weather struck areas from the Great Lakes to Texas.

Raducanu withdraws from Madrid Open as illness absence nears two months

• British player has been out of action since early March

• Rybakina wins her second Porsche at Stuttgart Open

Emma Raducanu will extend her absence from the WTA Tour because of a viral illness to two months after she withdrew from the coming week’s Madrid Open.

Raducanu has not competed since a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Amanda Anisimova in the second round of the Indian Wells Open on 8 March. She briefly trained on-site at the Miami Open just over a week later before citing lingering symptoms from an earlier viral illness as the reason for her withdrawal. Raducanu had been affected by a viral illness during the Middle East swing in February, which she said had contributed to her poor performances on the court.

Nature: Prairie chickens in South Dakota

We leave you this Sunday morning with prairie chickens and sharp tail grouse near Ft. Pierre, South Dakota. Videographer: Kevin Kjergaard.

Using the ocean to power data centers

The renewable energy company Panthalassa says it has a solution to the proliferation of AI data centers, which consume massive amounts of energy and are the cause of increased carbon pollution: sea-based data centers, powered by wave energy.

Breeding a better bread

Over the past century, the cultivation and processing of wheat has led to strains of grain that are less nutritious, less flavorful, and more vulnerable to climate change. The researchers at Breadlab, at Washington State University, are trying to breed varieties of whole grains that are better for farmers, consumers – and taste buds. David Pogue reports.

‘It’s sacred to us’: register of Bounty mutineer’s descendants returns to South Pacific

Pitcairn Register details lives of ‘extraordinarily resilient’ Tahitian women enslaved during notorious mutiny

It is a book that records the 19th-century descendants of some of the most notorious troublemakers in naval history: the sailors responsible for the mutiny on the Bounty.

Now, the Pitcairn Register – a handwritten volume that registered the births, marriages and deaths of the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the mutineers and the Tahitian women they enslaved – is finally returning home to the South Pacific.

Gas prices may not drop below $3 a gallon until next year: Energy Secretary Wright

Gas prices are more than $4 per gallon on average in the U.S. right now, a massive spike from just months ago.

How dangerous trucking companies escape their past and get back on the road

As truck traffic increases, government and industry haven't been able to stop thousands of so-called "chameleon carriers," with deadly consequences.

Former judges speak out on Trump admin's immigration court purges

Following President Trump's promise of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, more than 200 immigration judges have been fired, forced out or retired, and are being replaced by what are advertised as "deportation judges."

1,000 animal-rights activists try to storm Wisconsin beagle breeding facility

The Dane County Sheriff's office said a "significant" number of people were arrested at the Ridglan Farms facility, which has accused of constant abuse, specifically towards beagles. The facility denies the accusations.

Are you a woman who makes life easier for everyone else? Beware – you could endanger your health | Emma Beddington

A new claim is doing the rounds online: that women who are too nice risk getting an autoimmune disease. And while aspects of this message are clearly dubious, there’s a reason it is resonating

Women, a warning from Instagram: “You really need to be a bitch or you’re going to develop an autoimmune disease. It’s that simple.” Versions of this scientifically dubious statement have caught the imagination of a corner of the internet, getting algorithmically nudged my way multiple times (a TikTok to this effect has 40,000 likes; a Threads post 26,000). Sometimes, it’s set to music; sometimes, it’s the basis for earnest discussion of cortisol and inflammation. Sometimes, it’s evangelical. One woman claims that, “Being a bitch healed my autoimmune disease,” adding: “Being the ‘love and light’ spiritual girlie is probably the reason why you feel depressed and you have IBS.” A Substack evokes the need to break the “good girl contract”, talking about those for whom “setting boundaries, getting ferocious about protecting their own bodies, minds, souls … sometimes allowed the nervous system to settle enough that the body’s natural self-healing mechanisms could kick in and heal”.

As a woman with an autoimmune condition (alopecia), this resonates on a woo-woo level: my hair fell out when I was trying and failing to reconcile incompatible demands; to make everyone happy. It’s also, I recognise, deeply silly. For a start, “women” – yes, all of us – needing to do something, or be a certain way, is a wild generalisation. It’s also definitively not “that simple”, and I would hate to upset a whole community of intellectually rigorous immunologists. I imagine them rhythmically banging their heads against their keyboards, muttering about there being no peer-reviewed cohort studies interrogating the relationship between “being the love and light spiritual girlie”, or putting too many exclamation markers and conciliatory qualifiers in emails, and autoimmune disease.

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.

‘How much have we missed?’: book tunes in to overlooked world of female birdsong

Authors set out to correct under-representation of female sounds – and found some surprising revelations

When we hear the beautiful call of a bird from a high bough, we’re told it’s likely to be a male – singing for territory, or belting out tunes to woo a female. But as the annual dawn chorus reaches a crescendo this spring, a new guidebook is urging us to think again – and turn our ears to the hidden world of female birdsong.

The songs, sounds and sights of female birds have historically been overlooked in field guides and sound archives. In 2016, just 0.01% of the bird sounds in the global Xeno-Canto sound library were labelled female. Another sound archive was just 0.03% female, according to a 2018 study.

Sunrise in the strait of Hormuz and the pope in Africa: photos of the weekend

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

Hamnet-era mourning jewel from celebrated painting rediscovered after 400 years

Exclusive: pendant appears in 1635 painting Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of His Wife that hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery

A Hamnet-era mourning jewel has been rediscovered four centuries after it was immortalised in one of Britain’s most enigmatic and celebrated 17th‑century family portraits.

The heart‑shaped pendant was depicted in Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of His Wife, the 1635 life‑size, mourning masterpiece that was painted predominantly in black and white by the Cheshire artist John Souch. It hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery.

SiIicon Valley's AI agent hiccups: Wasted tokens and 'chaotic' systems

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC's Jim Cramer in March that AI agents are "definitely the next ChatGPT."

Bittersweet emotions as Lebanese return south to scenes of destruction

Determined to see their homes, displaced residents use shaky ceasefire to journey to their villages – but the mood turns sombre when they arrive

Mohammed Ashour was on the road at 5am, speeding towards his hometown of Shaqra. The Lebanese army, the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah had all told residents of south Lebanon not to return, that it was still dangerous despite a ceasefire. But the 60-year-old had been displaced for 44 days – he had counted each day – and he would not wait another hour before seeing his home.

At 3pm, Ashour was still on the road. The normally two-hour drive turned into 10, as the line of cars returning south stretched for miles down the Lebanese coastal highway. The Lebanese army had worked through the night to repair the Qasmiyeh Bridge into Tyre, bombed by Israel hours before the ceasefire, and cars were inching over the ad-hoc crossing one by one.

“They told me my house was destroyed. But I wanted to come and see it for myself,” said Ashour, still in his car. He had left his family in Beirut, wanting to shield them from the destruction that awaited them in their village.

Israel had a bad week in Europe. Does it herald a wider shift in EU relations?

With Orbán gone and Meloni distancing herself, EU sanctions on trade and settlers are looking more likely

It was a bad week for Israel in Europe: the country lost its staunchest regional ally when Viktor Orbán was toppled from power in Hungary, and Italy suspended a key defence pact.

The shifts are likely to pave the way for long-delayed sanctions against violent settlers in the occupied West Bank, and add to broader pressure for the EU to reconsider its relationship with Israel over its wars in Gaza and the wider region.

Why nearly every farmer who grows these chile peppers is a woman

Chile peppers are a traditional part of Indian cuisine — and a key crop for women farmers. They say it's too demanding for men. "In spite of the challenges," says one, "we've found freedom."

U.S. seizes Iranian cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. has taken custody of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz after firing on its engine room, President Trump said in a post on social media.

Lesbians are reclaiming Madonna as we await her new album, Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II | Tiff Bakker

The singer is not only a hero for gay men. For a young lesbian like me in the 1990s, she was an object of desire and an inspiration

Recently, when Madonna deleted every post from her Instagram profile, it was as if a gay flare had been fired around the world.

Cue a flurry of texts from gay male friends, with one declaring that this “purging of the Sistine Chapel” meant the release of Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II was imminent, 20 years after her original disco masterpiece, because Madonna had pulled the same stunt on Instagram in 2023 before announcing our gay Christmas: the Celebration tour.

Tiff Bakker is a New York-based writer who specialises in arts and culture

‘After all the horrible things we’ve been through,’ he said to me, ‘if I die of cancer, it will make a bad story’: Siri Hustvedt on losing Paul Auster

First there was the double tragedy that tore the family apart – then came a deadly diagnosis. The writer reflects on life after the death of her novelist husband

I am alive. My husband, Paul Auster, is dead. He died on 30 April 2024, at 6.58pm here in the Brooklyn house where I am now writing these words. He was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in January 2023. But before that, in early November 2022, Paul had a CT scan in the emergency room at Mount Sinai West hospital. The radiologist spotted a mass in his right lung and noted it might be cancer.

We all die, but only some of us know our lives could end soon. Although I had often thought about what it would mean to live without Paul, I began to imagine it more often. I imagined walking around the house alone. I imagined grieving. If your father dies, I said to our daughter, Sophie, I will lose my every day.

Canadian astronaut’s bon mots help heal wounds from French language row

Jeremy Hansen praised for speaking French in space after Air Canada chief’s linguistic snub exposed tensions and drew rebuke from PM

Few people foresaw humanity’s quest for the moon as accurately as the 19th-century French author Jules Verne, whose two works –From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon – anticipated many of the features of modern lunar exploration.

But Verne’s language had never been spoken in deep space until the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen uttered four words during Nasa’s recent Artemis II mission.

Real estate investors are buying up long-term care facilities. Residents can suffer

Real estate investment trusts are landlords for thousands of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. Some select the managers and keep close watch but deny blame for bad care.

Labour’s ‘crabwise’ approach to closer EU ties must address damage of Brexit | Heather Stewart

The damage to the economy dwarfs the upsides from the various non-EU trade deals the UK has struck since 2016

Rachel Reeves joined EU finance ministers for dinner in Washington last week, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund spring meetings – the first time a chancellor had done so since Brexit.

It was the latest symbolic step in Labour’s marked shift towards prioritising closer EU relations.

This tariff-refund portal is about to be America's hottest website

Exactly two months after the Supreme Court struck down most of President Trump's tariffs, the U.S. government has set Monday as the day when some companies can begin requesting refunds.

Rat poison found in baby food jar in Austria after product recall

Police say poison detected in jar of HiPP carrots and potatoes as maker says items may have been tampered with

Rat poison has been found in a jar of HiPP baby food, police in Austria have said, after a recall of the product from more than 1,000 Spar supermarkets in the country over safety fears.

Police in Burgenland said in a statement that a sample from one of the 190g (7oz) jars of carrots and potatoes baby food reported by a customer had tested positive for rat poison.

She no longer remembers it's her birthday. He got her a present anyway

A special day can be tinged with sorrow when your partner has dementia. But then he found the perfect gift.

‘Women want to experience pleasure’: how the female gaze caught the attention of film, TV and fiction

From passionate romantasy novels to premium television dramas, culture is bringing the agency, desires and interior lives of women to the fore. It’s proving good for business, but is this a permanent revolution?

Do you voraciously read the pages of steamy romantasy bestsellers by Sarah J Maas or Rebecca Yarros? Or flood your group chat with breathless recaps of the latest goings-on in TV series such as Heated Rivalry or Bridgerton? Or even immerse yourself in the divisive and challenging cinematic worlds of Emerald Fennell? If so, you surely can’t have failed to notice that in pop culture, the female gaze – storytelling that highlights the meandering, textured, sublimely messy inner worlds and wants of women – is enjoying an explosion.

On TV, you can see it everywhere, in the interior lives and desires taken up by Big Little Lies, Sirens or Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington’s Little Fires Everywhere. Romantasy harbours it in the shape of powerful maidens and sex in fae (fairy) realms, while Fennell’s Wuthering Heights and Promising Young Woman are marketed with the promise of converting women’s experiences into dark beauty on the big screen.

JD Vance could yet save his political skin. But it will mean turning on Trump – and soon | Simon Tisdall

The vice-president has endured his most humiliating – and damaging – week as his boss’s fall guy. How much more can Maga’s great hope take?

For a would-be president, JD Vance has an unfortunate habit of getting into fights he cannot win. Three losing battles in the past week – with Iranian negotiators, Hungarian voters and Pope Leo – brought censure, humiliation and mockery raining down on his head. None were of Vance’s choosing. All were fought vicariously on Donald Trump’s behalf.

The vice-president is paying a high price for sycophantic loyalty to his boss. His poll ratings are plunging. His Maga succession hopes falter. He suffers by association – although his own inflammatory statements and misjudgments often make matters worse. Yet amid growing doubts about Trump’s mental health and fitness to govern, Vance remains the White House’s next-in-line.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

‘They said: You’re out of your mind’: Luca Guadagnino on directing controversial opera The Death of Klinghoffer

The opera – about the hijacking of a cruise by the PLF who murder a Jewish American wheelchair user – has been subject to protests and accused of romanticising terrorism. Why was the film-maker so desperate to stage it?

In a rehearsal room perched above the labyrinthine backstage of Florence’s starkly contemporary Maggio Musicale Fiorentino theatre, Luca Guadagnino is showing the women of the chorus how to make a second-act entrance. Dressed in a slouchy cardigan and slacks, the Italian director runs forward and stops short at a line of tape indicating the rim of the stage. A little out of breath, he turns past stretching dancers to conductor Lawrence Renes and asks if he minds the sound of stamping feet. “I never mind when we hear them talk, walk, breathe,” Renes says. “It’s live theatre.”

Better known for films like After the Hunt, Challengers and Call Me By Your Name, Guadagnino still sometimes punctuates stage rehearsals with instinctive cries of “Cut!” and “Action!”. But today he is directing an opera. It’s his second ever and his first in more than 15 years – and a highly controversial one to boot. The Death of Klinghoffer, a 1991 opera with music by John Adams and libretto by Alice Goodman, has sparked accusations of antisemitism whenever and wherever it has been performed. It depicts the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro by the Palestinian Liberation Front, their murder of disabled Jewish American tourist Leon Klinghoffer, and the grief and rage of his wife, Marilyn. The story is placed in a historical, even mythic, context.

‘I will never give up’: Ben Roberts-Smith denies war crime allegations in first public statement since his arrest

The Victoria Cross recipient faces five charges of war crime murder over allegations he killed unarmed civilians during his service with the Australian SAS in Afghanistan

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Alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith says he has “never run from a fight in my life” as he denied war crime murder charges relating to the shooting deaths of five unarmed civilians.

In his first public comments since being arrested on 7 April, Roberts-Smith spoke to the media from the Gold Coast, where he has been bailed ahead of a possible trial.

‘I was fighting two wars’: Ukraine’s soldiers confront their addiction struggles

Troops frequently use substances to help cope with untreated PTSD and anxiety, producing a negative spiral

Seven years clean, Oleksandr believed he had left addiction behind. Then, a year into fighting Russia, the Ukrainian soldier was prescribed painkillers for a shoulder injury. Under the strain of war, he relapsed and quickly began using stronger illicit opioids.

“From that moment, I was fighting two wars – one inside myself and one with Russia,” he said, speaking at a rehabilitation facility in Kyiv.

Oleksandr relapsed into addiction after treatment for a shoulder injury sustained during fighting.

The moment I knew: Our knees touched and we froze – it was cinematic

Tomas Telegramma had a platonic chemistry with his colleague Steph Vigilante. But one night as the heaven’s opened, so did his emotional floodgates

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

In 2019, I started a job as a junior editor for an online city guide in Melbourne. I was struck by the social media coordinator, Steph, who worked quietly and diligently in a corner of the office, but had a surname that was at odds with her vibe. She was Vigilante by name, but not by nature.

Our shared Italian heritage was an instant bonding agent. We had chemistry, sure, but it was purely platonic. Even when lockdown put a pin in all things in real life, work’s instant messaging app helped our friendship survive working from home. I’d write stories about the city; Steph would cleverly bring them to life on social media. The synergy was real.

2 soldiers attacked by bear during training at Army base in Alaska

Two soldiers from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, were injured in a brown bear attack on Friday during a training session.

Three things to know about FISA Section 702: Congress passes short-term extension of controversial surveillance program

The law allows the U.S. government to surveil people outside the U.S., including when they're communicating with American citizens.

Trump signs short-term extension of surveillance law passed by Congress

President Trump's signing comes after Congress passed a 10-day extension for the controversial warrantless surveillance law.

Madonna: I Feel So Free review – album teaser offers hypnotic glimpse of a return to her club scene roots

(Warner Records)
The ‘Queen of Pop’ conjures the heady vibes of a small hours dancefloor with this exceptionally crafted single

Recent years have not been particularly kind to Madonna. Her tours have been dogged by controversy of a very different type to the scandal she once happily courted: in 2024 some disgruntled fans attempted to sue her for turning up on stage two hours later than scheduled.

Her albums have garnered a noticeably mixed reception and sold in increasingly diminishing quantities, each one shifting half what its predecessor did: she dismissed 2012’s MDNA and 2015’s Rebel Heart as albums she made “reluctantly”, but there were fewer takers still for 2019’s Madame X, an authentically bizarre patchwork of trap, reggaeton, Portuguese fado and politically inclined lyrics.

‘Labels protect us’: Olivia Nervo wants reproductive coercion to be a standalone offence – she is not alone

Grammy-winning songwriter says she was deceived into pregnancy, and that cases like hers fall between the cracks

When the Grammy award winning songwriter, Olivia Nervo, agreed to start a family with her partner she believed she was in “a monogamous, committed relationship leading to a future”, and had never heard of reproductive coercion.

Her world came crashing down when she was six months pregnant and she found out that her partner was in a relationship with another woman who was also pregnant, and with whom he already had a child.