Is Ollie Robinson the chaos English cricket needs in a team stuffed with Nice Young Lads? | Jonathan Liew

With the Test team under pressure and desperately craving engagement, a returning firebrand could salvage the summer

The winged elephant swoops down Deansgate towards the ship canal, its wings glowing neon orange, a feral roar rising and falling unevenly in volume. A black taxi drives the wrong way down a rain-moistened street. A menacing urchin child with a dozen fingers stands in front of a disused steampunk factory, holding an outsized Victoriana bat.

Now there’s a bowler, who’s actually a wicketkeeper, who may actually be Jos Buttler in batting gloves. There are three batters at the crease, one of them in white and the other two in red. Aiden Markram runs up and bowls sideways. There is no ball in his hand. “Red in the dark, blue in the sea,” a haunting voiceover sings. The sun is out. The floodlights are on.

Europe unveils tech sovereignty package amid growing concerns over reliance on U.S. tech: 'We want to be sure nobody has a kill switch'

The proposals include new acts to bolster advanced chip manufacturing and homegrown cloud computing.

‘Happiness is not just about GDP’: ambitious plan or utopia?

Some will question its credibility. But the alternative future to the one imagined in the World Justice Report is far more bleak

• ‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival

In our increasingly dystopian world, who wouldn’t want to at least be open to a utopian antidote? The World Justice Report, published on Thursday, outlines how to build a prosperous, equitable world within safe planetary boundaries. It’s a push from the modern eco-socialist left in a global battle for ideas that will shape the future.

Based on past social achievements and future energy transformation, it indicates that the overwhelming majority of people on the planet could, by the end of the century, work less and earn more while keeping temperatures down and avoiding much of the current destruction of nature. It is an ambitious, comprehensive and upbeat plan, and a stronger argument around which to build a political campaign than abstract goals of “net zero” or “decarbonisation”.

Finland's president says EU should expand to 40 states — including Canada

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the European Union needs to expand to project power on the global stage.

‘It’ll never be like that again’: Sonny Rollins and Steve Schapiro on jazz’s golden age – in pictures

Schapiro’s stunning images of jazz greats in New York – from Dizzy Gillespie to Elvin Jones – make up a new book featuring a foreword by late saxophone icon Rollins

A good life for the 99% isn’t a pipe dream: it can be done. Here’s how

Our plan is radical – but by transforming how we live on a finite planet, nearly everyone gains

Imagine a future in which everyone enjoys high levels of wellbeing; where 90% of the world’s population doubles their income but works half the hours we work today. A world in which the bottom half of humanity sees its share of global wealth rise from just 2% today to 30%; a world where we consume enough, but nobody over-consumes. And imagine achieving this on a planet that can comfortably sustain human life without its climate breaking down.

Against the bleak techno-authoritarian futures now being sold to us, a radical new vision for global progress in the 21st century feels urgently needed. The most credible vision is one in which the habitability of the planet is a precondition for human development and equality.

The Traveller – an 18th century explorer far ahead of his time

A revelatory account of the life of George Forster, whose rejection of racial hierarchies stood out amongst his peers

George Forster was 10 when he left his home in present-day Poland and travelled to Russia with his naturalist father. During the expedition, which began in 1765, Forster collected plant specimens and helped with botanical research. Wide-eyed, he journeyed along the Volga river, encountering Muslim Tartar traders and Cossack warriors. There were also the emaciated figures of German settlers, who lived in poverty under the territory’s despotic governor, their campsites little more than holes burrowed into the riverbanks. The experience of cultures so distinct from his own stirred a lifelong enthusiasm for travel and exploration in Forster. It also awakened his compassion for others – irrespective of culture and, especially, race.

At a time when racism pervaded public opinion as well as the philosophical texts of luminaries such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant, Forster moved brazenly to critique and correct them. How he was able to transcend the conventional beliefs of his day is the central question of Andrea Wulf’s new book – and the answer is in its title.

Plans for a Trump family-linked resort spark protests in Albania

A coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner is facing resistance in Albania. The government says the project will transform the nation, but environmental campaigners and critics oppose it.

Israel and Lebanon agree to renew ceasefire as Trump seeks to overcome barriers to Iran deal

The US said the ceasefire was contingent on a complete cessation of fire from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire to end hostilities, the Trump administration has announced, as the US looks to overcome one of the largest barriers to reaching a broader deal to end the war with Iran.

The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of fire from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah armed group and the evacuation of all its fighters from the area south of the Litani river in south Lebanon , a joint statement released by the US state department said after negotiations in Washington.

President Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general

Trump said at a dinner at the White House that he plans to nominate Blanche formally, according to a video of the event posted on social media by a White House aide.

‘Buying stuff like it’s going out of fashion’: Biotech M&A on track for best year since pre-Covid

Driven by looming patent cliffs, newly buoyant public markets, and Big Pharma's race to beef up their pipelines, dealmaking in 2026 is off to a strong start.

Thursday news quiz: Liz Truss’s reign, origin apples and a bunch of boars

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?

Pop the champagne, fire the glitter cannons, let off some sky lanterns and then get castigated for the fire hazard and risk to wildlife they cause. Lo and behold it is the 250th Guardian Thursday news quiz, and a special bumper edition at that. Twenty-two questions await you on topical news, general knowledge, pop culture, and the re-appearance of every regular round we’ve previously had, and could remember, and which didn’t cause us legal problems. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 250

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for baked fish and potatoes with oregano and lemon mayonnaise | A kitchen in Rome

Layers of oregano bring a pungent earthiness to this simple supper of baked white fish and spuds

In her enthusiasm, my dog pulled me over in front of a group of teenagers the other day, so I have been using an antiseptic called Citrosil on my elbow, hip and ear. So much so that clothes I wear often, tea towels that have been hung on my shoulder and my bag all seem to have Citrosil hanging about them, like the teenagers around the bench (two of whom came to my aid). I put this down to the smell having got into my sinuses, or personal paranoia, until a woman in the supermarket commented, also saying how reassuring she found it. Separately, I keep having thoughts about chips fried in olive oil with oregano sprinkled on top, which I put down to a comment by a friend a few weeks ago, until I realised that thoughts of chips were also due to the Citrosil on my elbow and in my sinuses, because it doesn’t smell only like hospital corridors, my grandma, lemon and turpentine, but also oregano.

Looking at the ingredients on the Citrosil bottle, the herbal element is actually thyme essence, although thyme and oregano are in the same family and both contain molecular compounds called thymol and cymene, whose decisive component smells – medicinal, tarry, woody, floral – are combined so intoxicatingly in thyme, oregano and marjoram. Smells that bring to mind chips, braised vegetables, köfte and flatbreads.

New Zealand whale freed from fishing net in ‘particularly dangerous’ multi-day operation

The nine-metre southern right whale, or tohorā in Māori, is the first of the species to have been recorded entangled in New Zealand waters

A whale that became entangled in a large fishing net and was dragging four buoys and 100 metres of rope behind its tail has been cut free after a complex multi-day rescue operation off the southern coast of New Zealand.

The nine-metre-long southern right whale, or tohorā in Māori, was first spotted by fishers on Saturday morning near the country’s southern island, Rakiura.

Heatstroke, sports washing and VAR psychology: the science of the World Cup – podcast

It’s just a week until the first whistle of the 2026 World Cup. To mark the occasion, Madeleine Finlay talks to Ian Sample about the science behind the tournament. It’s likely to be one of the hottest ever World Cups, and scientists have written to Fifa asking it to reconsider its heat mitigations for players and referees. Dr Oliver Gibson of Brunel University outlines their concerns. Also on the agenda is the huge fossil-fuel impact of the tournament, and the effect of VAR on the psychology of referees and fans

Subscribe to Football Weekly for coverage of all the World Cup games

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

My year with the robots: how Joanna Stern let AI into her home, work – and heart

In 2025, the tech journalist invited artificial intelligence to do nearly everything for her, including editing the book she was writing about the experiment. Some of it was useful, some not – but it was her time with a chatbot companion that really shook her

For a year, Joanna Stern decided to turn herself into a “lab rat” – the object of her own experiment. Throughout 2025, she invited artificial intelligence into “every corner” of her life. She let AI answer her texts, decide what she ate and cooked, mow her lawn, fold her washing, drive her places, parse her mammograms and even, in the darkness of a burner phone, be her lover. The resulting book, I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything, asks all the big questions, including: what happens when AI can do everything humans can do? And what comes after that?

If anyone can produce answers, surely it’s Stern. Last February, she ended a 12-year stint as a personal technology columnist at the Wall Street Journal. During her tenure, she won an Emmy for her short documentary E-Ternal: A Tech Quest to “Live” Forever, which explored digital legacies, and built a reputation for product reviews that were outlandishly creative and fiendishly stringent. She once took an Apple watch jetskiing on the Hudson river to evaluate its connectivity.

Rebel attacks in eastern DRC kill 30 people and hamper Ebola response

Islamic State-linked militia blamed for raids in North Kivu as governor says three patients with disease fled clinics

Rebel attacks around a town that is one of the centres of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have left more than 30 people dead over the past few days, complicating the response to the disease.

At least 10 people were massacred in raids on three villages around the city of Beni, in North Kivu, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

‘Waste colonialism’: Fiji says no to Australian billionaire’s incineration plan

Government rejects offshore rubbish being shipped to Fiji and burned after opposition from traditional landowners and tourism operators

The Fijian government has rejected a plan by an Australian billionaire to burn rubbish for energy in Fiji after backlash from traditional landowners and tourism operators.

The plan to ship non-recyclable rubbish from across the region to Fiji, popular with tourists for its pristine beaches, and build an incinerator to consume 900,000 tonnes of waste a year had been labelled “waste colonialism” by villagers.

NBA finals: brilliant Brunson leads surging Knicks to victory over Spurs in Game 1

• New York Knicks 105–95 San Antonio Spurs

• Knicks guard leads the way with 30 points

The New York Knicks entered Game 1 of this year’s NBA finals on one of the hottest streaks in playoff history: 11 games won in a row with opponents humiliated, humbled and crushed along the way. On Wednesday night in San Antonio many believed that streak would end as they faced the Spurs, who had knocked out the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the previous round, and are led by the most exciting player in the world, Victor Wembanyama.

The Knicks won anyway, keeping Wembanyama quiet for long stretches in a 105-95 victory on the Spurs’ home court. They are now just three wins from their first title since 1973.

Ohio State reaches $100 million settlement over school doctor accused of sex abuse

The school has fought lawsuits in federal court since 2018 brought by former student athletes against the university over its failure to stop abuse by Dr. Richard Strauss.

‘A Pavarotti rebirth’: the Samoan tenor taking over the world’s most gilded opera stages

Born on a tiny, impoverished South Pacific island, Pene Pati remembers going to school without food. Now he is performing in operas at La Scala and the Met

Along roads of scarlet hibiscus and exuberant tropical foliage are the white churches of Samoa. On Sundays the choir, singing in pure harmony, rises up to the cathedral ceilings in one soaring voice of divinity.

Pene Pati, once a child in those churches, is now a commanding, magnetic presence on the world’s greatest gilded stages – a universe away from the tiny, impoverished South Pacific island of Upolu, where he was born. A tenor specialising in the lyrical repertoire and bel canto, he is booked out until 2029, from the Metropolitan Opera to La Scala to Royal Albert Hall. Last month he received the pinnacle of arts awards in France, the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres – a medal, he joked in a subsequent interview, that he’d been wearing around the house, much to his wife’s disdain.

Possible flesh-eating screwworm case in Texas, USDA says

A possible case of the flesh-eating New World screwworm is being investigated in Texas, the USDA reported Wednesday.

Flesh-eating New World screwworm found in Texas calf, USDA says

The USDA said the only animal affected was a 3-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, after larvae were identified in its umbilical area.

Amazon engineers in Seattle slam employer for building AI data centers while laying off 30,000 staffers

Amazon engineers called out their employer for conducting mass layoffs while it commits to spending $200 billion this year on AI infrastructure.

US strike on alleged drug boat kills two people in eastern Pacific Ocean

Attack brings death toll to at least 207 since administration began targeting people it calls ‘narcoterrorists’

The US military attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, killing two men, as the Trump administration wages a months-long campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America.

The latest attack brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the US military to at least 207 since the administration began targeting people it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

Ukraine war briefing: Russia losing on the ground so pivots to air war, say analysts

Minimal gains on battlefield as Kyiv largely halts Moscow’s spring-summer offensive; Ukraine missile maker tests homegrown Patriot alternative. What we know on day 1,562

Russia’s failure to advance on the battlefield is why it is escalating its air raids on major Ukrainian cities, analysts say. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) thinktank said the strikes were also aimed at distracting from the impact of Ukrainian long-range attacks into Russia. The Finnish Black Bird Group’s latest data shows, according to Reuters, that Russian monthly territorial gains have fallen sharply compared with the same period last year. Ukrainian open-source group DeepState this week said Russian troops in May saw their smallest monthly gains since October 2023 – 14 sq km – despite a 37.5% spike in assaults by Russian forces.

“Ukrainian forces have largely halted the Russian spring-summer 2026 offensive so far, and Russian forces in May 2026 have gained a presence in only a fraction of the territory they did in May 2025,” said an ISW assessment. This year, Ukrainian forces have also recaptured territory. John Helin, Black Bird Group analyst, said: “If the Russians can’t find ways to pick up momentum significantly, the goal of capturing Donbas this year is slipping out of their reach fast.”

Mathieu Boulègue of the US-based Center for European Policy Analysis said Moscow’s war machine was also grappling with shrinking industrial capacity due to western sanctions, as well as dwindling stocks of nearly all weaponry. “They are really slowly, I think, changing the cost-benefit calculus of the Kremlin,” he said of Russia’s appetite for continuing the war.

Ukraine’s Fire Point, a missile and drone maker, said it had test-flown a ballistic missile meant for air defence as Kyiv wrangles with a dearth of ammunition for foreign-supplied missile shield systems such as Patriot. The Fire Point CEO, Iryna Terekh, said “a fully controlled manoeuvring flight of the FP-7.X missile” took place and it would form the basis of the future Freyja anti-ballistic interceptor.

A Ukrainian attack on “non-residential buildings in Simferopol” in occupied Crimea killed at least three people and wounded seven others, the region’s head Russian official, Sergey Aksyonov, said early on Thursday. Separately, Moscow-installed authorities in the Donetsk region said a drone strike hit a bus, killing seven people and wounding 11. Officials said the bus was hit at Yenakiyevo as it travelled from Moscow to Simferopol in Crimea.

Russian shelling killed at least three civilians in Ukraine’s frontline city of Kramatorsk in the east and Moscow’s forces attacked areas near the south-eastern city of Dnipro with drones and missiles, officials said on Wednesday. Vadym Filashkin, governor of the Donetsk region, said 11 people were injured in the daytime Russian attack on residential buildings in Kramatorsk.

In the southern city of Kherson, one person was killed in a drone attack that destroyed 36 apartments in a residential building, said Oleksandr Prokudin, the regional governor. The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Oleksandr Hanzha, said there had been three Russian strikes near the region’s largest city, Dnipro, injuring eight people and triggering a large fire. Three people were in hospital in serious condition. Ukraine’s president. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in his nightly video address that Russian forces struck food storage areas and a postal depot with drones and missiles.

Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites in St Petersburg early on Wednesday, hours before international guests gathered for an economic forum, in a deep embarrassment for Vladimir Putin, Luke Harding and Pjotr Sauer write. Guests arrived for Wednesday’s opening ceremony under a pall of thick smoke. Ukraine also struck the nearby Kronstadt naval base and shipyard in Leningrad oblast, home to Russia’s Baltic fleet, setting fire to the Russian guided-missile corvette Boikiy.

6/3: The Takeout with Major Garrett

House passes measure that would rein in Trump on Iran; Trump says Iran talks are ongoing despite recent attack.

Japan sees shortage of plastic bags, trays and gloves, as Iran war-induced naphtha shortage worsens

The Middle East is Japan’s main source of crude oil, from which naphtha is extracted and used to make items including printing ink and plastics

Takeaways, supermarkets, and bakeries in Japan are running out of plastic bags, trays and food service gloves amid widening shortages of the key plastic ingredient, naphtha, due to the Middle East crisis.

The food sector accounts for nearly one-third of Japan’s annual plastic use of more than 8m tonnes, and price rises and shortages are hitting hard across the industry and beyond. Some outlets have begun offering perks to customers who bring their own bags, plates or containers.

Companies that sold gender-reveal fireworks which ignited California wildfire agree to $4m settlement

El Dorado blaze that burned 22,744 acres and claimed the life of a firefighter was ignited by an illegal device

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Nearly six years after a couple’s gender-reveal stunt sparked a deadly wildfire in southern California, the companies that sold the pyrotechnic device have agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement.

The Hubbard, Ohio-based Wholesale Fireworks Corp and its subsidiary American Fireworks Wholesale LLC have agreed to pay more than $4m, the US attorney’s office in the central district of California announced on Tuesday. A third company, the Miami-based Pink or Blue Gender Team Inc, agreed to pay $50,000.

Hostage situation at bank building in California ends after suspect shot dead

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene early Wednesday morning, the Bakersfield Police Department said.

CBS News fires longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley

CBS News has fired longtime 60 Minutes correspondent and former "CBS Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley one day after he had a tense and confrontational exchange with new 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton.

Middle school gym teacher breaks basketball records, awing his students

The NBA Finals tip off on Wednesday, and viewers can expect lots of scoring. But in Maine, a middle school teacher was able to set the Guinness World Record for most three-pointers, most free throws and most half-court shots in an hour. On Monday, he worked to break another record. Tony Dokoupil has the story of "Dr. Buckets."

Special Coast Guard team searching waters for Lynette Hooker case evidence

A team of specialized Coast Guard divers and investigators have been searching the Sea of Abaco in the Bahamas for missing Michigan mother Lynette Hooker. Cristian Benavides reports.

CBS News editor-in-chief addresses Scott Pelley's firing

Scott Pelley, a 60 Minutes correspondent and former anchor of the "CBS Evening News," was fired on Tuesday. Jim Axelrod and Tony Dokoupil have more.

Republican-led House passes war powers vote

For the first time since the war with Iran started, the Republican-led House passed legislation that would force President Trump to stop all military action against Iran. However, it still has to go to the Senate. Charlie D'Agata reports.

California awaits official primary results

As the votes are still coming in for California's primaries, it seems voters will likely send two Republican political newcomers to the November elections. Meanwhile, CBS News projects current Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will advance to a runoff this fall. Matt Gutman has more details.

Trump declines to say whether he's dropped "anti-weaponization" fund plans

President Trump called the idea of establishing what the White House calls an "anti-weaponization" fund, "the greatest thing," on Wednesday, and wouldn't say whether he's agreed to drop plans for it. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had told lawmakers this week that the fund would be dropped after a federal judge temporarily blocked its establishment. Ed O'Keefe has more.

FBI kills hostage-taker in California after 15-hour standoff

A 15-hour standoff at a bank building in Bakersfield, California, ended Wednesday after all hostages were freed and the suspect was killed by the FBI. Jonathan Vigliotti reports.

‘Every year I get new pictures’: the fight to preserve the memory of Tiananmen

Amid growing censorship at home under the rule of Xi Jinping, efforts to document the massacre of 4 June, 1989, are intensifying abroad

Discussions about the bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters that took place around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on 4 June, 1989 – and in cities across China – often dwell on the risk of forgetting the massacre.

The passage of time, with the world’s eyes soon drawn elsewhere, and suppression by authorities at home mean that the pivotal moment in Chinese history is at risk of fading into grey.

Belgium World Cup 2026 team guide

Not much of the fabled golden generation remains, but the Red Devils have a winnable group and possess genuine quality in De Bruyne and Doku

This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June.

Savage House review – Claire Foy and Richard E Grant sell it hard in bewigged 18th-century caper

The leads are the most watchable thing in this raucous period yarn about a grimy pair of status-obsessed nobles

Black-belt performances from Claire Foy and Richard E Grant put some vim and vigour into this haranguingly one-note and unidirectional period romp of the raucously bewigged and be-poxed 18th century. It’s written and directed by American film-maker Peter Glanz, who gives us candlelit interiors like a knockoff Barry Lyndon, and periodic deafening orchestral stabs with a touch of Amadeus as furious people in costume storm down corridors. But Grant and Foy are always there, selling it hard and there are one or two nice lines.

They play Sir Chauncey and Lady Savage, who are living in a vast crumbling country estate: he’s a parvenu, an adventurer, a lover of the new Hanover dispensation who loathes Jacobites, but fundamentally a social alpinist who married for money and took his wife’s noble name. She was entranced by his roguish ways and she forgave him everything but is, however, having an affair with the footman, Halifax (Jack Farthing), while he is carrying on with the maid, Dorothy (Bel Powley). Richard McCabe and Vicki Pepperdine play two ghastly neighbours with dodgy teeth: the only people who will associate with them.

Broadcom stock plunges on weak software sales, unchanged AI chip forecast for the year

Broadcom reported fiscal second-quarter results on Wednesday and missed estimates for revenue.

Elon Musk's net worth poised to sail past $1 trillion in SpaceX IPO

Based on SpaceX's updated IPO prospectus, Elon Musk owns shares in the company worth over $866 billion.

SpaceX targets biggest ever stock market debut, putting Musk on course to be trillionaire

IPO could raise up to $75bn, giving SpaceX market value of $1.75tn as it sets up Musk for extraordinary wealth

Space X is seeking to raise about $75bn through its imminent initial public offering, a company filing on Wednesday revealed, which would make it the largest IPO ever.

If the stock market launch – primed for next week – goes accordingly, founder Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, could be poised to make history as the first trillionaire.

6/3: CBS Evening News

FBI kills hostage-taker in California after 15-hour standoff; President Trump declines to say whether he's dropped "anti-weaponization" fund plans.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman meets with lawmakers, Trump officials in DC

President Donald Trump signed an executive order about AI this week, which Altman voiced support for.

Pérez confirms Mourinho will return to Real Madrid if he is re-elected president

• Rival Enrique Riquelme promises Rodri and Haaland

• Madrid without major silverware in last two seasons

José Mourinho will return to manage Real Madrid if Florentino Pérez wins the club’s presidential election on Sunday, the sitting president confirmed on Wednesday as he campaigns for another term at the helm.

Pérez, facing the renewable energy entrepreneur Enrique Riquelme in the club’s first contested election for 20 years, delivered the campaign announcement through his social media channels with a short video featuring Mourinho saying simply: “Yes!”

House passes war powers resolution directing Trump to end hostilities with Iran

The vote marked a rare bipartisan rebuke of the war, but is mostly symbolic. Democrats have been unable to pass a war powers resolution in the Senate, and even if they could it would likely be vetoed.

Senate Republicans start debate on ICE funding package

The Senate voted along party lines to start debate on a Republican bill to fund immigration enforcement through the end of President Trump's term.

Victim of "horrifying" Chelsea murder identified after 26 years

"Chelsea Jane Doe" has been identified as Tiffany Bradley of Pennsylvania.

‘Maybe we’ll never ever take it down’: Trump says UFC arena at White House could stay permanently

• President likens South Lawn setup to Eiffel Tower

• Area will stage Freedom 250 fight card on 14 June

Donald Trump has floated the idea of permanently keeping the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) arena that is being constructed on the White House South Lawn for a series of fights later this month.

In a video posted on his official TikTok account on Tuesday, the president likened the structure to the Eiffel Tower.

NASA reluctantly gives up on lost orbiter: "Best Mars mission ever"

NASA officials said the $582 million MAVEN orbiter could not be recovered after a problem on the far side of Mars late last year, and that its extraordinarily successful mission was at an end.

Chinese spies use LinkedIn to target UK officials and military staff

Advertisements for non-existent jobs aim to draw in people with access to classified or sensitive information

Chinese spies are targeting UK government and military staff on job websites including LinkedIn to try to get access to classified or sensitive information, MI5 has warned.

A bulletin has been released by the Five Eyes powers – the UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand – highlighting an “aggressive” online recruitment strategy where spies for Beijing military intelligence pose as workers acting on behalf of private businesses or thinktanks.

Security clearance holders, especially those who specialise in defence, foreign affairs and security and intelligence.

Military personnel, including those stationed in the Indo-Pacific region, who have knowledge of regional capabilities and general activities.

People with either indirect or peripheral access to government information, including academics, journalists, freelance writers, thinktank employees or anyone with links to the defence, security, policy and economic sectors.

Police chief warns anti-white bias claims could drive UK policing ‘back to 60s’

Senior police figures are pushing back against politicians they accuse of stoking tensions over Henry Nowak’s murder

Policing could be driven back to the 1960s by false claims officers are biased against white people, the leader of Britain’s black officers has said.

Ch Insp Andy George, president of the National Black Police Association, spoke out amid growing concerns that politicians such as Nigel Farage were stoking tensions around the murder of teenager Henry Nowak by making baseless and provocative claims.

Senate advances reconciliation bill, dropping ballroom funds

Senate Republicans moved forward with a package to fund the Department of Homeland Security's immigration agencies Wednesday.

American Airlines suspends 6 routes because of high jet fuel costs

American Airlines said it is temporarily cutting six routes amid rising jet fuel costs, including several flights to Los Angeles.

Bessent testifies he told Pulte he was "going to kick his a**," not punch him

Bill Pulte, President Trump's pick for acting director of national intelligence, is being met with some skepticism on Capitol Hill.

Senate GOP strips up to $1B for Trump ballroom security from immigration enforcement bill

GOP leaders reportedly privately concluded that the funding proposal risked derailing the broader immigration bill, both politically and procedurally.

Supreme Court's Alabama redistricting decision could encourage more chaos, experts warn

The court's repudiation of a lower court decision was only the latest case in which it has played a role in changing the congressional maps for Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, and California.

Wim Wenders withdraws 1975 film featuring 13-year-old Nastassja Kinski topless

German director says he recognises actor should have been better protected during filming of Wrong Move

German director Wim Wenders has withdrawn from circulation his 1975 film Wrong Move, because of a scene featuring a child actor topless who was 13 at the time of filming.

The director said in a statement released on Wednesday: “Streaming, TV and distribution partners have been instructed to no longer make the film publicly accessible.”

Trump strips job protections from 8,000 federal workers

President Trump signed an executive order that puts some 8,000 high-ranking civil servants into a new category of employees who can be fired for any reason.

In first, California city overwhelmingly votes to permanently ban datacenters

While many US city councils have passed moratoriums, Monterey Park is first where residents have voted on a ban

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Residents in Monterey Park, California, became the first in the US to vote on a permanent ban on datacenters on Tuesday, and early results indicate a resounding victory for the prohibition.

While many cities and counties have already passed temporary or indefinite moratoriums via their local governments, Monterey Park would be the first to do so through a ballot initiative.

Ford recalls nearly 420,000 vehicles over faulty seat belts

Safety watchdog said seat belts in certain Ford Expedition and Lincoln vehicles may inadvertently lock, preventing them from functioning properly.

Grenell says he was "rattled" by sentencing of man convicted of threatening him

Ric Grenell, the former president of the Kennedy Center, gave a victim impact statement in court about the threats.

What travelers should know about Europe's new Entry/Exit System

Travel experts say to be prepared for potential disruptions as countries implement the new Entry/Exit System now in place across the EU and other countries.

California governor’s race deadlocked with nearly 60% of the votes counted

Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra lead the field with slow process of vote counting still underway

• The Democrats to watch after Tuesday’s primaries: from army doctor to Paralympian

The highly watched race for California governor was deadlocked Wednesday as the state continued to slowly count votes – a process that could take days or even weeks.

With nearly 60% of the votes counted, Steve Hilton, a Republican, former UK political operative and Fox News host, was narrowly ahead. Xavier Becerra, a Democrat and the former health secretary who led the field after a tumultuous campaign, was in second place while Tom Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist running as a progressive, trailed in third.

Pete Hegseth removes all women and some Black service members from navy promotion list

Defense secretary’s latest interposition resulted in all-male, overwhelmingly white picks for promotion to admiralty

• US politics live – latest updates

The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, stripped nine navy officers including women and Black service members from a promotion list last month, according to a person familiar with the matter, resulting in an all-male, overwhelmingly white slate of 22 advancing as nominees to become one-star admirals.

Hegseth’s unusual intervention violated promotion rules designed to be merit-based and apolitical, the New York Times said on Tuesday, and extended the Trump administration’s push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the military.

Trump confirms calling Netanyahu 'crazy,' says they still get along

The president also acknowledged that he cursed at the Israeli leader in a heated phone call in which he told Benjamin Netanyahu not to bomb the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Bessent says he is performing IRS commissioner duties amid Trump tax settlement scrutiny

Democrats pressed the Treasury chief over whether other taxpayers affected by the leak that included Trump's tax returns would receive similar treatment.

People with cancer or HIV could lose Medicaid under new work rules, advocates say

Adults on Medicaid will be required to work 80 hours per month. The Trump administration says people who are sick will have to prove they are too sick to work to be exempt from the new work rules.

Trump appointee leading $205bn US agency had personal ties to Epstein, emails show

Ben Black’s lawyers deny relationship with disgraced financier, but DoJ records reveal years of interactions

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Ben Black, the head of a little-known government investment agency funded by billions of dollars from US taxpayers, had personal and business ties to Jeffrey Epstein, according to emails and business filings released by the Department of Justice.

His father, Leon Black, had once been the disgraced financier’s highest-paying client – calling on the convicted sex offender for tax advice and to orchestrate payments to women, according to the New York Times and Bloomberg.

Khanna and China committee press Blanche for report on Chinese manufacturing in U.S.

The Justice Department report on illegal Chinese labor in the U.S. auto industry was due in May.

Michael Jackson's shadow of doubt

A sanded-down biopic about the King of pop and propaganda has resurfaced his music on the charts — along with questions about how his enduring magic became make-believe

Firings at CBS' '60 Minutes' reflect the fight for media control in the age of Trump

The show's new leader says he fired star Scott Pelley for insubordination. Pelley says he was defending the integrity of the show's journalism after three top executives and two reporters were fired.

Air traffic controller calls pilot "insane" after close call at Florida airport

Air traffic control also referred to the pilot of a small plane as "Mad Max."

DRC Ebola outbreak could have begun as early as January, WHO chief says

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the virus ‘had a big head start’ but that the response was catching up

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could have begun as early as January, the head of the World Health Organization said, giving the virus “a big head start”.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said the response was being hindered by blanket travel restrictions and highlighted high levels of community mistrust and low levels of contact tracing as key concerns.

Outback Steakhouse sued for $1.5M over alleged mashed potato slip-and-fall

A Virginia woman alleges she suffered serious injuries after slipping on what appeared to be mashed potatoes at an Outback Steakhouse.

EU aims to ensure foreign governments or firms cannot disrupt tech services with ‘kill switch’

European Commission proposals aim to reduce ‘risky dependencies’ on foreign suppliers in cloud computing, AI and semiconductors

The EU executive wants to ensure no foreign government or company has access to a “kill switch” to turn off or disrupt vital tech services across the continent, as part of an effort to cut dependencies on the US and China.

Publishing “technological sovereignty” proposals that risk further tensions with Donald Trump, the European Commission said on Wednesday the bloc needed to reduce dependency on foreign suppliers in cloud computing, artificial intelligence and semiconductor production.

Sellers are pulling homes off the market at the fastest pace since 2020

Frustrated sellers are pulling their homes off the market at an increasingly high pace, as demand weakens and bidding wars wane.

It’s not just Rosamund Pike who struggles with badly behaved theatre-goers. I was nearly beaten up by a hen party | Polly Hudson

They text, they chat, they throw popcorn: some people would rather do anything than just sit and watch a show. And my friend and I have the mental scars to prove it

Rosamund Pike probably lost a fan last weekend, while simultaneously gaining many more. The secret texter she called out without identifying presumably wasn’t too thrilled to be unnamed but shamed at the end of Pike’s play Inter Alia, but for everybody who has ever had a bad trip to the theatre, it was a good point, well-made and about time, too.

After the final curtain, Pike returned to the stage to explain: “I am trying to tell you a story, and I’m feeling you, and I hope you’re feeling me too ... Maybe it was very important, and maybe you’re a doctor, and you’re saving someone’s life, and I hope you are, but we do see these, we do feel them.”

Men are worried about their fertility. Enter the regrettably named trend of spermmaxxing

Sperm counts have fallen sharply in recent decades, fueling anxiety, misinformation and a flood of fertility advice

I’m sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this, but according to reports, men are engaging in a practice known as “spermmaxxing”.

Spermmaxxing, according to the many articles on the subject, is a way of increasing the quality and quantity of one’s sperm. The approaches range from the sensible (get more sleep, eat nutritious foods) to the more dubious (eat raw garlic, dip your testicles in ice water).

Social Security checks could be cut by $500 a month in 2032, report finds

Beneficiaries would continue receiving payments if Social Security's trust fund is depleted, but checks could shrink by about 24%, according to a new report.

Mina the Hollower review – squeaky fresh fun full of vintage magic

PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox; Yacht Club Games
This brilliant adventure creates a whole world from one character with a unique ability

You could mistake Mina the Hollower for something found on the liquid-crystal display of a Game Boy Color around the turn of the millennium. Like the pocketable Zelda and Pokémon games of the time, it presents a kind of snow-globe reality that you peer into from above, relying on imagination to decipher each two-colour clump of pixels into a tree, or a skeleton, or a cloaked mouse wielding a hammer twice her size.

This is Mina, our hero: she jumps, she moves at a clip, and she can delve downward into the soil or floorboards, tunnelling underfoot for a moment or two before popping back up, like an inflatable forcibly submerged in a swimming pool. This is her signature move, perfectly elastic in sensation – the way the released button springs back against your thumb! – and in application. The burrow-jump is an excavation tool, unearthing any treasure you happen to dig through, and a navigational one, used to hop over gaps, reach high-up spots and nose into tiny hidden spaces, where more treasure almost invariably awaits.

Campaign to deliver ‘biggest complaint Fifa has ever received’ launches before World Cup

• ‘Reboot Fifa’ calls for investigation into Infantino

• Complaint to be sent to ethics committee after World Cup

A quest to deliver the “biggest complaint Fifa has ever received” is being launched by campaigners a week before the World Cup.

With fans concerned over safety and the cost of tickets at the tournament, and complaints ongoing against Fifa from human rights organisations and football competitions, a class action-style complaint is calling for an investigation into the president, Gianni Infantino.

Tunisia World Cup 2026 team guide

Having stormed through African qualifying without conceding a goal, can Sabri Lamouchi lead the Eagles of Carthage out of the group stage for the first time?

This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June.

Private payrolls grew by 122,000 in May, stronger than expected, ADP reports

Unlike prior months, where job growth was concentrated in healthcare and a few other sectors, gains were more broad-based.

​Why is Europe still not ready for extreme heat?

​The first heatwaves of the season reveal how ​ill-prepared governments across the continent are to protect people from increasingly dangerous temperatures

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Meteorological summer has begun, ushered in with scorching heat that struck before spring was up. Although western Europe is now mostly free from last week’s heat dome – which shattered temperature records for May in the UK and Ireland – it is already bracing for yet another sweltering summer. Oppressive days, restless nights and furious fires are brewing. On Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organisation warned us all to prepare for the imminent return of the warming weather pattern El Niño.

Scientists have not worked out how many people died during this latest bout of hot weather, but one environmental epidemiologist’s early modelling pegged it at 250 extra deaths in the UK alone on the weekend before temperatures peaked. The full death toll is likely to be particularly high because the heat struck before people had properly adjusted their behaviour to stay safe in the heat.

Trump says Iran agreed to not have nuclear weapons, but 'they can change their mind'

The president was speaking to the New York Post's "Pod Force One" podcast in a wide-ranging interview.

Sabalenka says she wants ‘to quit tennis’ after shock French Open defeat by Shnaider

• No 1 seed loses 6-3, 5-7, 0-6 in quarter-final meltdown

• Player says roof should be closed in windy conditions

Aryna Sabalenka said she wanted “to quit tennis” in an immediate outburst after one of the worst meltdowns in her career, losing 10 consecutive games en route to a shocking 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 defeat to the 25th seed Diana Shnaider in the quarter-finals of the French Open.

Asked by the moderator to explain her thoughts and emotions at the beginning of her post-match press conference, Sabalenka responded: “No thoughts, no emotions. Just want to quit tennis right now,” she said, shrugging. “But we’ll see. We’ll see in a few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.”

Is there a pianist in the house? How audience members – and fellow musicians – have saved the show

A Sydney screening of La La Land with live orchestra was rescued by a brave (and skilled) amateur pianist. What happens when classical performers, or their instruments, suddenly collapse? Plus, Tavener’s mystic pantomime finally gets to the stage

Music’s equivalent of catching a home run at a baseball game happened on Saturday in Sydney, when a 21-year-old university student jumped in to save a performance of the movie La La Land with live orchestra. The band’s keyboardist had fallen ill and couldn’t perform in the second half. Unable to find a replacement at such short notice, the conductor Justin Hurwitz (winner of two Oscars for the film’s music) asked the audience if there was a pianist in the house. Sterling Nasa answered the call, and performed in the second half, improvising a solo, and not getting a tempo change or key signature wrong.

It’s a great story – and incredible that an audience member had the requisite sight-reading and technical skills to carry it off. Could it happen in a classical concert? There have certainly been moments here too when an audience member has saved the day. The best of those stories comes from the summer of 1974, when the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus brought Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana to the Proms, conducted by André Previn, with the baritone Thomas Allen among the soloists. You can actually hear the shocking moment from the live radio broadcast when Allen collapses into the cello section in an episode of the BBC World Service’s Witness History. He had fainted and was carried off the stage. After a brief pause, Previn chose to keep going rather than stop the performance.

UK government to pay £1.3bn to help fund Universal Studios theme park in Bedfordshire

Chancellor hails deal saying it will create tens of thousands of jobs in the construction, hospitality, creative and technology sectors

British taxpayers will provide £1.3bn in funding to help the Hollywood studio giant Universal build its first theme park in Europe.

Comcast, the US media company that owns NBC Universal and Sky, had been considering a number of countries in which to build its first European theme park.

‘It’s a relief … I’m irrelevant!’: Rufus Norris on life after the National Theatre

He stood down as boss of the NT – and threw himself into kayaking, writing and DIY. The veteran director talks about his new start aged 60, mourning his mother – and directing Death of a Salesman in Turkish

There were several big endings for Rufus Norris in 2025, all crammed into the same few seismic months. Firstly, the close of his tenure as director of the National Theatre after a decade at the helm. That planned ending collided with the loss of his mother, who died three weeks before he left the NT. On top of that, a significant birthday concluding his 50s.

So what did Norris do after turning 60, on the other side of the Big Job, alongside the grief of losing a parent? DIY, plenty of kayaking and a house move, it turns out: “It felt important to have a complete break,” he says. “I’m a bit of a workaholic, but I’m also a bird of simple brain so I can as easily lose myself in how to build a shed or do up a place.”

White House Correspondents' Dinner rescheduled for July 24

Prosecutors have accused Cole Allen of attempting to assassinate the president when he allegedly attacked the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 25.

Martin Scorsese accused of ‘throwing artists under bus’ with AI storyboards

The director defends investment in and use of AI-generated storyboards, saying the immediacy of communicating his vision to cast and crew is ‘creatively freeing’

Martin Scorsese’s announcement that he has invested in an AI company and uses the technology to create storyboards has triggered a backlash from fellow members of the film industry.

The New York Times reported that Scorsese had been appointed in 2025 as a partner and adviser to Black Forest Labs, a German-based venture that specialises in text-to-image generative AI.

Meta is trying to sell AI agents to businesses in latest effort to diversify away from ads

The Meta Business Agent will be included in the company's Meta One paid subscription offerings.

U.S. Coast Guard investigators in Bahamas to search for evidence in missing American case

U.S. Coast Guard investigators are in the Bahamas to start a new search for evidence of missing American Lynette Hooker. One official says the probe now includes the possibility that Hooker was murdered. Cristian Benavides reports.

Twins in a spin at the great British seaside: Sophie Green’s best photograph

‘In a really simple way, this photo captures that intense colour and joy of being at the seaside with your loved ones’

Our British seaside has such a distinctive look: the bingo halls, the buckets and spades and pinwheels, and all the amazing colours of the funfairs. I find them the most amazing environments. I love that visually super-charged, maximalist style.

The seaside is nostalgic to all of us. My grandpa lived in Pembrokeshire and we’d go and see him when I was little. The beach provokes this childlike sense of wonderment. It is a space that anyone can be a part of, friends and family, whatever age, whatever background. It unlocks the connection to nature, which inspires freedom and fun. There are not really any rules, and it’s playful – the funfairs, the arcades, splashing in the water. We don’t have many outlets for play, especially as adults.

Stormy weather and a footballer protest: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

Cape Fear review – Amy Adams and Javier Bardem’s immaculate update is a wild, wild ride

Bardem has the absolute time of his life terrifying everyone in this remake of the classic thriller. It’s a masterclass in tension, sublime directing – and never forgets the power of a jump scare

“Ever look around and wonder if we deserve all this?” a woman asks, standing by their sprawling mansion’s swimming pool with her handsome, ripped, fellow lawyer husband.

“No,” he replies.

Cape Fear is on Apple TV on 5 June

Pilot of fighter jet downed over Iran previously shot down in Kuwaiti incident

About a month after ejecting during the friendly-fire incident, the pilot was on a mission over Iran when his jet was hit by a surface-to-air missile, prompting a daring rescue operation.