Starmer faces harsh criticism from his own MPs as members debate referring him to privileges committee – UK politics live

Badenoch accuses Labour MPs who obey the whip of ‘acting like sheep’ ahead of crunch Mandelson vetting row vote in Commons

Q: Was there pressure on you to approve Mandelson’s vetting?

This is a reference to the claim that Keir Starmer misled MPs last week when he talked about no pressure being placed on the Foreign Office.

One is during my tenure. I was not aware of any pressure on the substance of the Mandelson DV case.

Question two was there pressure? Absolutely. And I’ve described it. And I also have seen what the Foreign Office said to you last night. [See 8.50am.]

I didn’t receive any direct calls from the chief of staff during my time as permanent undersecretary. So there was no call at all. My interactions were always when others were present in a general meeting, there weren’t very many of those either …

I’ve really racked my brains and I cannot recall Morgan McSweeney swearing in a meeting at me, or indeed just in general. So I don’t see any substance in that part of it and I think it’s important I say that this morning, given how many people have come to think that might be true.

Stranded whale Timmy swims on to barge in German rescue attempt

Rescuers hope to move young male from Baltic to North Sea after being stranded for a month near Lübeck

Rescuers trying to save a stranded humpback whale off Germany’s Baltic coast have coaxed the mammal on to a barge in the hope the vessel can take it to safety in deeper waters.

Amid intense media attention, the high-stakes rescue mission, funded by two multi-millionaires, is being watched by hundreds of onlookers, many of whom are camped nearby to monitor the spectacle.

Russia claims its Africa Corps group prevented coup in Mali after rebels seize towns

Kremlin-controlled paramilitaries also alleged it inflicted ‘irreplaceable losses’ on insurgents avoiding civilian casualties

Russia’s defence ministry has claimed its Africa Corps – the successor to the former Wagner mercenary group – had prevented a coup in Mali over the weekend, avoiding mass civilian casualties and inflicting “irreplaceable losses” on rebel insurgents.

It said in a statement that its troops in the desert town of Kidal near the Algerian border had fought for more than 24 hours while completely surrounded and vastly outnumbered. It also alleged without providing evidence, that the militants had been trained by European mercenary instructors including Ukrainians. The casualty toll was not specified.

Gas prices jump to their highest level since start of Iran war

The average cost for a gallon of gasoline hit $4.18​ a gallon on Tuesday, up $1.20 since the conflict in the Middle East started on Feb. 28.

Google reportedly signs classified AI deal with US Pentagon

Tech company is latest Silicon Valley firm to sign agreement with US military despite widespread employee opposition

Google has reportedly signed a deal with the US Pentagon to use its artificial intelligence models for classified work. The tech company joins a growing list of Silicon Valley firms inking agreements with the US military.

The agreement allows the Pentagon to use Google’s AI for “any lawful government purpose”, the report from the Information added, putting it alongside OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, which also have deals to supply AI models for classified use. Similar agreements, both at Google and other AI firms, have sparked significant disagreements with the Pentagon and major employee pushback.

‘Americans have had no closer friends than the British,’ says Donald Trump at UK royal visit – US politics live

President praises relationship between two nations as he welcomes UK royals on second day of their state visit ahead of king’s speech to Congress

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email

Donald Trump has reportedly signaled to his top advisers that he is dissatisfied with and unlikely to accept Iran’s latest proposal to end the war, which would reopen the strait of Hormuz and leave discussion of Iran’s nuclear program for a later date.

Two people familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump conveyed his views during yesterday’s meeting with top national security aides where the Iranian proposal was discussed. One of the people said Trump was not likely to accept the plan, which was sent to the US in the last few days.

What I will reiterate is that the president’s red lines with respect to Iran have been made very, very clear, not just to the American public, but also to them as well.

I wouldn’t say they’re considering it. I would just say that there was a discussion this morning that I don’t want to get ahead of, and you’ll hear directly from the president, I’m sure, on this topic.

Witness says D.C. shooting suspect "fell right at my feet"

A witness says the doors to the ballroom where the White House Correspondents' Dinner was held were "wide open" when a gunman rushed toward the event.

‘Stole a charity’: Elon Musk accuses Sam Altman of betrayal in courtroom showdown

Trial is culmination of a years-long feud between Musk and Altman that has become increasingly vicious

The trial pitting Elon Musk against Sam Altman and OpenAI began in earnest on Tuesday with opening arguments, as lawyers for the two tech moguls seek to convince a California jury of their client’s version of the AI company’s history. The trial is set to feature testimony from both billionaires, as well as some of the most powerful executives in the tech industry.

Musk argues that Altman, OpenAI and its president, Greg Brockman, broke a foundational agreement to better humanity when the non-profit pivoted towards a for-profit structure. Musk, who left OpenAI in 2018 after co-founding it with Altman and Brockman three years earlier, also alleges that his co-founders unjustly enriched themselves as the company raised billions of dollars and grew into the AI behemoth it is today.

Meth worth $8.1 million found in shipment disguised as tiles

Customs and Border Protection officers seized $8.1 million worth of methamphetamine from a tractor trailer that entered the U.S. from Mexico last week.

Middle East crisis live: Trump claims Iran wants US to open strait of Hormuz as soon as possible

US president makes unverified claims in Truth Social post, saying Tehran had told Washington it was ‘in a state of collapse’

US is being ‘humiliated’ by Iran’s leadership, says Friedrich Merz

Saudi Arabia is to host a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah later today, in what will be first in-person meeting of Gulf leaders since their states became dragged into the war.

A Gulf official told the Reuters news agency that the meeting aimed to craft a response to the thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks Gulf states have faced since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on 28 February.

Starmer staves off mutiny over Mandelson mess… but for how long? - The Latest

Keir Starmer has faced another bruising day as the saga surrounding Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador continues. The prime minister faced harsh criticism from his own MPs over efforts to stave off a standards investigation, while his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney admitted pressuring the foreign office to expedite Mandelson’s posting in highly anticipated evidence to a parliamentary committee. Lucy Hough speaks to policy editor and host of Politics Weekly, Kiran Stacey

‘Relentless’ focus on literacy undermines reading for pleasure, says report

New HarperCollins study finds that daily reading for pleasure among five- to 17-year-olds fell from 39% in 2012 to 25% in 2025

The “relentless” focus on measuring literacy progress in schools has “pushed reading for pleasure to the margins”, according to a new report.

“Parents and schools both recognise that reading for pleasure matters, but their understandable focus on literacy skills is actively undermining it,” found the study, which analysed survey data on reading trends among UK children, drawing on data from HarperCollins, NielsenIQ and The Reading Agency.

JetBlue is full-steam ahead on Fort Lauderdale, regardless of Spirit's fate

JetBlue, United, Frontier and others added service to airports Spirit services after the carrier filed for bankruptcy for the second time in less than a year.

Arsenal gear up for Atlético in search of swagger that fuelled early-season peak

Mikel Arteta’s side were at their best when they routed Atlético in October and though that confidence has been replaced by nerves the final is in reach

It was the night when Arsenal made their first big statement of the season in the Champions League, when they advertised their desire to go all the way in Europe’s most glamorous competition; to create club history. They had welcomed Atlético Madrid in the third round of league phase matches and it turned into a showcase for all of the best bits about Mikel Arteta’s team.

The bolted-door defence. The furious counterpress. The physicality. The speed and ruthlessness. The set-piece productivity. And, linked to everything but trumping the lot, the total self-belief. Arsenal were unable to find a way through in the first half or the early part of the second – it was tight – but they did not panic because they knew the goal would come. It was inevitable. They were inevitable.

Fears of resurgence in Somali piracy after three vessels hijacked in past week

Pirates appear to be taking advantage of international naval strength being diverted elsewhere in region

Three vessels have been hijacked off the coast of Somalia in the past week, raising fears of a resurgence in piracy around the Horn of Africa, and adding to the woes of the global shipping industry.

The merchant vessel Sward was taken over on 26 April, a day after a dhow was seized. These followed the 21 April hijacking of Honour 25, a motor tanker carrying 18,000 barrels of oil, according to the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean (MSCIO), the tracking service of the EU’s naval force.

UAE quits Opec in win for Trump as oil cartel weakened

US president has accused organisation of ‘ripping off the rest of the world’ by inflating oil prices

The United Arab Emirates has quit the Opec oil cartel after 60 years of membership, in a heavy blow to the group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, as global energy markets contend with the biggest supply crisis in history.

The shock loss of the UAE, Opec’s third-largest oil producer, is expected to weaken the group, which for decades has worked together to use its collective oil production to influence global oil market prices.

Taylor Swift files to trademark her voice and likeness in the age of AI

Swift has filed for three trademark applications, including one covering her voice speaking the phrase, "Hey, it's Taylor."

How do I respond to my friends when they criticize their own weight and looks?

These negative comments about bodies and faces permeate society and could lead to some tough talks with friends

Hi Ugly,

How do I respond to my friends when they criticize their bodies, faces, skin?

Why is this column called ‘Ask Ugly’?

How should I be styling my pubic hair?

How do I deal with imperfection?

My father had plastic surgery. Now he wants me and my mother to get work done

GM raises 2026 guidance amid $500 million tariff refund, topping Wall Street's earnings expectations

Aside from earnings and any change to GM's 2026 guidance, investors are monitoring impact from the Iran war, tariffs and EV write-downs.

Federal agents return to Minneapolis to target daycares for suspected fraud

About 20 sites in the Minneapolis area were were targeted as prosecutors refocus attention on a billion-dollar social services scandal.

DOJ's handling of Epstein files to get congressional watchdog scrutiny

The Government Accountability Office, at the best of Congress, will investigate the Department of Justice's handling of the Epstein files.

Manchester City frustrated by fixture crunch of three key games in seven days

• City face crucial games on 13 May, 16 May and 19 May

• Alternative date for Palace game has been chief problem

Manchester City are understood to be frustrated after being left facing three decisive fixtures in the space of seven days next month.

City’s match against Crystal Palace, which was postponed from 21 March owing to their participation in the Carabao Cup final, has been scheduled for Wednesday 13 May. The trip to Bournemouth, originally scheduled for 17 May, had to be moved after City progressed to the FA Cup final to face Chelsea on 16 May, and has been slated for 19 May.

Dinner shooting again puts Washington Hilton at center of presidential history

When shots rang out at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, there were echoes of the hotel's storied presidential history.

US tells embassies to deny visas to applicants who say they fear return to home country

Directive claims that new process is due to ‘the high number of aliens claiming asylum’ in the US

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

Applicants seeking a temporary visa to the United States must now tell a consular officer that they have not experienced harm and do not fear returning to their home country, according to new guidance issued from the state department. If they answer yes or decline to respond to either question, the chance they will be denied will skyrocket.

The Guardian obtained a state department cable which instructs officers at every US embassy and consulate globally to amend their process and ask applicants to affirm they do not fear mistreatment if they return home as a prerequisite for the interview to continue.

Ryanair’s O’Leary warns European airlines could fail if jet fuel price doesn't fall

Ryanair's boss warned that European airlines could see "real failures" if jet fuel prices remain high, having "mushroomed" since the Iran war began.

South Korean court extends prison sentence for wife of ousted president

In January, Kim Keon Hee was sentenced to 20 months for accepting gifts from the Unification Church, which sought political favors.

CBS News poll, analysis on CA voters' views of state's policies ahead of debate

A closer look at voters' views on issues in the primary for the California governor's race going into Tuesday's debate.

ABC faces renewed Trump backlash as Kimmel says comments 'not, by any stretch' call for violence

While it's not the first time Kimmel has faced backlash over a show monologue, the renewed challenges now fall under freshly installed Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro.

Coca-Cola tops estimates, raises earnings outlook as global beverage demand rises

Shares of Coke have risen just 6% over the last year, hurt by concerns about the broader economy.

Judge allows Maurene Comey's lawsuit challenging her firing to proceed

Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, was fired from her job as a top prosecutor in New York last year.

Hey-nonny-bo! The woman reclaiming maypole dancing with dancehall and drum’n’bass

UK artist Linett Kamala was astonished to see a maypole in a Jamaican hamlet – a colonial relic, but one bringing joy. So she reinvented the tradition by ditching English folk tunes and adding bass bins, LED lights and pounding beats

In a community centre in London, a ping pong table, a treadmill and a row of computers hug the edges of the room. It all feels familiar, apart from the towering green structure with dangling multicoloured ribbons: a maypole, and we’re here to dance around it. Our group of six circle it and get ready, but instead of traditional English folk music (“And on that tree there was a limb, And on that limb there was a branch …”), it’s dancehall, cranked up loud.

This is a session courtesy of British-Jamaican DJ, artist and educator, Linett Kamala. She made her name as one of the first female DJs at Notting Hill carnival in 1985 at just 15 years old, and is now on the event’s board; as Lin Kam Art, Kamala has dedicated much of her life to music, education, community work and art.

The Tin Can phone: is this the simple secret to a screen-free childhood?

Created by three dads from Seattle, the resolutely un-mobile handset doesn’t have internet access, apps or even a screen. No wonder anxious parents are snapping it up

Name: Tin Can.

Age: Launched last April.

Football Daily | Manchester United and the Carrick conundrum

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

Having “given it Carrick ‘til the end of the season” and with the conclusion of the campaign heaving into view, the Manchester United hierarchy will soon be forced to make a Big Decision. Whether it has involved laying off staff, spending the thick end of £40m hiring and firing head coaches and suits in the middle of an economy drive or airing his opinions on immigrants, many of the decisions Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made have been bad. There’s no guarantee he’ll pick the right head coach to lead the club into next season. On the face of it, Michael Carrick has done a decent job. helping mastermind victory in nine of his 13 matches in charge, while his narrowed eyes, bestubbled jaw and the upturned collar of his black wool-blend overcoat lend him the air of an unflappable Berlin-based intelligence officer in a gritty cold war spy thriller. Softly spoken, liked by United fans and players, he seems the easy (possibly even obvious) option now Bigger Cup football has been all but secured for next season.

It’s Bigger Cup semi-final time. Bayern Munich, PSG, Atlético and Arsenal all going at it to prove who’s the best in Europe. There’s really only one thing missing: the booming tones of Rio Ferdinand and his otherworldly non-sequiturs. Who can forget him shouting ‘Ballon d’Or’ repeatedly or even ‘This is a win for football’ echoing around Europe? My own personal favourite? ‘Space kills!’ Rio Ferdinand, part-pundit, part-philosopher. We miss you” – Myles Flynn.

Always love when you make a wry Wire reference (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition). In response to your Jimmy McNulty comment, perhaps the street corner whisperings of ‘Rochdale coming’ will put a bit of fear into rivals’ hearts” – Mike Wilner.

Mention of Halley’s Comet (yesterday’s Football Daily) reminded me of how old I am, having seen it last time. Back in those days of course clubs never used their financial clout to gain an advantage. Apart from Liverpool (which worked) and Manchester United (which, erm, didn’t – see Mike Phelan, Neil Webb and Danny Wallace)” – Andy Taylor.

As a fan of the Football Daily’s last line, not only do I understand yesterday’s text, but I have an answer to ‘DID THEY RUN 27.2 MILES?’ Yes, they bloody well did. I ran it back in 1992 and I still wake up screaming some nights in memory. Fun runners, my @rse!” – Shaun Clark.

Now that you’ve awarded a (well merited) prize again, no doubt you will be inundated by letters from all the Old Faithfuls around these parts, clawing at any trivial issue to compete for a similar award. Step up Messrs Oh, Francis et al. What’s that? My trivial issue? Oh, let’s see, how about your use of ‘best legal team’ when it should have been ‘better legal team’, considering you explicitly stated ‘two footballing behemoths’? Will that do? No, thought as much” – Ken Muir (and no other Old Faithfuls).

A dead person’s fat pumped into your body? Why the ‘zombie filler’ trend has some experts spooked | Antiviral

While not approved in Australia, the procedure is on the rise in the US. But there are questions of safety – and the ethics of using donated tissue to plump up the living

• Read more in the Antiviral series

With people getting everything from salmon sperm to plasma injected into their faces in the name of beauty, it is difficult to be surprised when new, even seemingly extreme methods to achieve youthfulness are promoted.

But Dr David Sparks, a specialist plastic surgeon based in Queensland, was alarmed when he heard patients were asking about cadaver fillers, a trend being promoted on social media as “zombie filler”.

Melissa Davey is Guardian Australia’s medical editor

Antiviral is a fortnightly column that interrogates the evidence behind the health headlines and factchecks popular wellness claims

Boom! A melodrama fit for Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s doomed love affair

A dying glamour puss falls for her parasitic houseguest in Joseph Losey’s 1968 fever dream that earns its exclamation mark

• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

“My very first memory is of pain.” More than a touch dramatic, the words could easily be lifted from the script of Boom! Instead, they are a real-life confession by its leading lady, Elizabeth Taylor.

When it comes to pain, Taylor is the poster child-star. In her long life, the actor underwent more than 30 surgeries and was supposedly hospitalised on more than 100 occasions. After a bout of pneumonia almost took her out in 1961, it was the pain of nearly losing her that led to her best actress sympathy win at the Oscars. And she would win again in 1967 – this time on her own merits, as the banshee wife in the vociferous Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

‘A husband expects a yes’: how wife schools are shaping submissive Christian women

A cottage industry of women are selling courses aligned with a conservative movement that claims feminism is the source of women’s discontent

A thirtysomething woman with the easy smile of your favorite neighbor sits in her earth-tone living room, natural light washing over a gray couch so long it could easily fit four children. The woman speaks of a friend, a married mother, who was frustrated that she had to constantly remind her germophile husband to wash his hands. Hearing this, the woman cautioned her friend: “I think it would be better for your entire family to get the black plague and die … than for you to continue treating your husband like a toddler by reminding him to wash his hands.”

Welcome to Wife School, a video masterclass led by Tilly Dillehay, a 38-year-old Baptist writer, podcaster and pastor’s wife who teaches women how to “become the kind of woman who inspires a godly leader”. That means molding them into the wives she says that husbands want: smiling, attentive and submissive, women who know not to nag – even if it means risking the bubonic plague.

United Arab Emirates says it will permanently leave OPEC on May 1

UAE officials said the decision to depart the OPEC oil cartel comes after an "extensive review" of the country's oil production policy.

Natural disasters can cause another crisis for those recovering from opioid addiction

People recovering from opioid addiction risk relapse when they can't get their medications after natural disasters. A group of doctors is calling for lawmakers to ease access to the meds.

SPLC seeks disclosure of grand jury transcripts in criminal case

The Southern Poverty Law Center accused senior Justice Department officials of making "misleading" statements after indictment.

Trump discussed Iran's Hormuz Strait proposal with top aides, White House says

The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted that the central goal of the conflict is keeping Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Jon Stewart on White House correspondents’ dinner: ‘We can’t even pull off a dinner that shouldn’t have existed in the first place’

Late-night hosts react to White House press dinner shooting as Trump and Melania call for Kimmel to be fired

Late-night hosts responded to the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting and Donald and Melania Trump’s attempts to blame political violence on Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes.

The United Arab Emirates is quitting OPEC oil cartel after nearly 60 years

The Arab oil producer has long expressed frustration with the quotas it has to follow as part of OPEC, the cartel of major state-owned oil producers.

Journalist Andrzej Poczobut freed from prison in Belarus in US-brokered swap deal

Sakharov prize winner was given eight-year sentence after process widely condemned as politically motivated

The Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, the 2025 Sakharov prize winner, has been freed after five years in a Belarusian penal colony as part of a US-brokered multi-country swap deal.

His release has been confirmed by Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, who posted a picture of him on social media, saying: “Andrzej Poczobut is free! Welcome to your Polish home, my friend.”

I couldn’t stop impulse buying – but these ‘buy less’ tricks helped me save hundreds

I spent a month testing anti-consumption strategies, from cash stuffing to ditching Amazon Prime, to find the ones that genuinely cut my spending

• Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

I’m pretty careful with money, I say as I trip over piles of Amazon Prime boxes. I’ve never really been the shopping type, I insist as I stare at drawers groaning with unworn Asos clothes. Look how much I care about the environment, I tell myself as I click “buy now” on yet another battery charger I bought to replace the one, two or five I’ve lost around the house somewhere.

You don’t have to be a shopaholic to be drowning in stuff. All it takes is an averagely mindless approach to impulse buying, until one day your home is heaving with a personal landfill of tat.

Turn on, tune in, cash out … The US right used to fear psychedelics. Now it wants to sell them | Kojo Koram

Hallucinogens have come a long way from the 60s counterculture to Trump’s White House – propelled by veterans’ lobbying and Silicon Valley capital

• Kojo Koram’s new book, The Next Fix: Winners and Losers in the Future of Drugs, is out on 4 June

On 13 May 1966, a US Senate subcommittee questioned a former Harvard clinical psychologist, considered by many to be “the most dangerous man in America”, on the risks of psychedelics. Leading the inquisition of Dr Timothy Leary was Senator Ted Kennedy, of America’s unofficial first family. Amid a series of questions that reflected the moral panic about psychedelics then gripping the US establishment, Kennedy asked: “This is a dangerous drug – is that right?” To which Leary replied: “No, sir. LSD is not a dangerous drug.” Kennedy remained unconvinced. To the committee of politicians listening to Leary, psychedelics were behind the hippy movement, anti-war protests and the general breakdown of society.

Earlier this month, almost exactly 60 years after this tense inquiry, Ted Kennedy’s nephew Robert F Kennedy Jr stood behind Donald Trump as he signed a new presidential executive order to accelerate mainstream access to medical treatment based on psychedelic drugs. A particular focus is ibogaine, a psychoactive compound derived from a West African shrub, which scientists suggest can be effective for treating chronic mental-health problems. Kennedy Jr has been the champion of psychedelics within the Maga coalition, alongside figures such as the podcaster Joe Rogan, who stood beside him in the Oval Office on 18 April. Rogan described to the press how he had encouraged the president to sign the executive order over text message.

Kojo Koram is a professor of law and political economy at Loughborough University. His new book, The Next Fix: Winners and Losers in the Future of Drugs, is out on 4 June

Inflation could get in the way of Warsh's desire to cut interest rates, CNBC survey finds

Respondents on average are not fully pricing a single rate cut this year.

One year after Spain’s blackout, its shift to renewables and grid evolution power on

Though solar was initially incorrectly blamed for crisis, renewables have helped insulate Spain from gas price rises caused by war in Middle East

One year ago today, all of Spain, and much of Portugal, suffered through a blackout of unprecedented scale and duration. In mere seconds, a cascading sequence of events burst through the grid and created Europe’s first “system black” event in recent memory.

Traffic signals failed, mobile networks stopped working entirely, petrol stations could not pump fuel and supermarkets could not process payments. Madrid’s metro came to a halt and people had to be pulled out of carriages. “People were stunned because this had never happened in Spain,” Carlos Condori, a 19-year-old construction sector worker, told AFP at the time. “There’s no [phone] coverage, I can’t call my family, my parents, nothing: I can’t even go to work.”

Matthieu Blazy’s fifth Chanel show hits Biarritz beachfront

Show features pink denim and suit printed with headlines from Gabrielle Chanel’s time in resort town

Chanel’s honeymoon period with the new designer Matthieu Blazy is showing no signs of cooling. Blazy’s fifth catwalk show – on the Biarritz beachfront where the young milliner Gabrielle Chanel opened a couture house in 1915 – was an irresistibly seductive love letter to the enduring allure of the double-C logo.

The day before the show, sales assistants at the Biarritz boutique were holding up Chanel beach towels on the shop floor to create extra changing room space for shoppers impatient to buy jeans at €3,100 (£2,690) a pair. Blazy’s jeans are becoming a totem of the new Chanel, which, in aesthetic, although certainly not in price, marries high taste with an inclusive, democratic point of view.

Why are more colleges at risk of closing and how could it impact students?

College enrollment has been declining over the past decade and many institutions are struggling financially. At least 16 colleges and campuses announced their closures in 2025. CBS News contributor Roland Fryer explains what it means for students.

‘Geordie optimism is this rigorous spirit of hard graft’: Newcastle jazz band Knats break out of the north-south divide

While their London peers thrived, Knats faced dwindling funding. But after a Proms appearance and as they release a new album produced by Black Midi’s Geordie Greep, their confidence is high

“It’s kind of a silly story,” says King David-Ike Elechi, grinning as he explains the origins of his jazz band Knats. At school, in year seven, he became friends with classmate Stan Woodward after a silent game of passing a giant pink novelty rubber back and forth to one another. Elechi suggested that Woodward should join a local School of Rock-style music club with him. “Then we had a Whiplash moment, where the teacher is really mean,” says a now 22-year-old Elechi, huddled in a booth in the cafe of Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle.

The breaking point was being told they weren’t good enough to cover Arctic Monkeys’ R U Mine? Woodward, also 22, is stuck on a train during our interview, but later confirms the story over a video call. “We were like: fuck this guy, let’s leave this club and do it ourselves.”

Supreme Court to weigh Trump's bid to end deportation shield for Haitians, Syrians

The Supreme Court is set to consider Wednesday the Department of Homeland Security's effort to terminate TPS both for Syria and Haiti.

Austrian man pleads guilty to plotting attack on Taylor Swift concert in Vienna

Defendant, 21, in court with second man over alleged scheme to kill music fans outside Vienna stadium

A 21-year-old man has pleaded guilty in an Austrian court over a jihadist plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago, which led to shows by the US megastar in the country being scrapped.

The plan to kill onlookers massing outside the venue was thwarted at the 11th hour but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three scheduled performances in August 2024.

Antiquities dealer who exposed thefts at British Museum dies aged 61

Ittai Gradel died of renal cancer days after museum awarded him medal for ‘very significant contribution’

The academic turned antiquities dealer who exposed the theft of hundreds of artefacts from the British Museum has died aged 61.

Dr Ittai Gradel, from Denmark, alerted the British Museum and the police after he was able to buy dozens of museum artefacts on eBay over the course of several years.

She was attacked by a shark at 15. Here's how this teen is helping to prevent future attacks.

When she was 15 years old, Lulu Gribbin lost her right leg and left hand in a shark attack. Now, at 17, the teenager is helping to prevent the next attack by fighting to mandate emergency alerts after an unprovoked shark attack. Nicole Valdes reports.

Southwest CEO addresses rising fuel costs amid war with Iran and its impact on travelers

On average, domestic airfare is up about 18% compared to last year. A key factor is the surging fuel costs for airlines amid the war with Iran. Now, several low-cost carriers have asked the government for help as they grapple with the high cost of fuel. Kris Van Cleave spoke with Southwest's CEO about the impact of fuel costs.

Man who heckled Shabana Mahmood dismisses ‘laughable’ white liberal claim

Protester says he migrated from Malaysia as a child and describes home secretary’s immigration policies as cruel

• UK politics live – latest updates

A protester who heckled Shabana Mahmood said he came to the UK as a child from Malaysia, describing the home secretary’s claim that he was a “white liberal” as “laughable”.

Joe, 32, who did not wish to give his last name, migrated from Malaysia at the age of four with his family. He said the home secretary’s proposed immigration rule changes would have left him, and thousands of children like him, in limbo.

Novartis CEO warns reality of Trump's drug pricing policy will set in over 'the next 18 months'

Novartis' CEO warned Tuesday that U.S. drug pricing policy under President Donald Trump poses a "very difficult situation."

Jannik Sinner sweeps past Norrie at Madrid Open but calls for change in schedule

• World No 1’s winning streak up to 20 after 6-2, 7-5 win

• Rafael Jodar’s latest win finished at 1am on Monday

Jannik Sinner suggested the Madrid Open organisers should reconsider their tournament scheduling to avoid late-night finishes like the one Rafael Jodar experienced in the third round on Sunday.

In a rare 11am local start on Tuesday, Sinner moved past British 19th seed Cameron Norrie 6-2, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals. He explained he was put on first on Manolo Santana Stadium so that Jodar, his potential next opponent, would be scheduled in the afternoon to give the Spaniard time to recover from his three-set win over João Fonseca that ended at 1am on Monday morning.

Correspondents' dinner witness recounts hearing gunfire, says suspect "fell right at my feet"

A witness at the White House Correspondents' Dinner describes hearing gunfire before looking and seeing the alleged gunman had fallen to the ground before security surrounded him. The witness, Air Force veteran Erin Thielman, then sprang into action.

Is Tucker Carlson eyeing a 2028 presidential run? | Arwa Mahdawi

He has said he is ‘tormented’ by his previous support for Donald Trump – and some suggest the former Fox News host is positioning himself for the GOP nomination

A few years ago, Tucker Carlson was sleeping peacefully alongside his wife and four dogs when, all of a sudden, he was “physically mauled” by a demon. This supernatural attack left bloody claw marks on his side, the former Fox News star claimed in a documentary about spirituality. Shaken by this unusual ordeal, Carlson called an evangelical friend who told him: “Yeah, that happens – people are attacked in their bed by demons.” The whole thing, he said, was a “transformative experience”.

Fast forward to the present day and poor old Carlson seems to be plagued by demons again, although this time they’re more metaphorical than metaphysical. The far-right personality, who started his own media company after parting ways with Fox in 2023, has said that he is “tormented” by his previous support for Donald Trump. In a recent episode of his podcast, Carlson spoke to his brother, Buckley, a former Trump speechwriter, about their shared disappointment with the president and said he was “sorry for misleading people”. This was a moment, Carlson said, “to wrestle with our own consciences”.

Trump’s attempt to crush clean energy progress not going to plan, experts say

US generated more power from renewables like solar and wind than gas last month in a first

Donald Trump has wielded the full might of his administration to crush the progress of clean energy, which he has called a “scam” and “stupid”. But there are signs this assault is not going to plan.

In March, the US generated more of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind than it did via gas, the first time clean energy has surpassed the planet-heating fossil fuel for a full month nationally, according to data from the Ember thinktank.

Office demand rebounds to highest level since Covid pandemic began

In the first quarter of this year, new in-person and virtual office tours reached their highest level since the pandemic began, per the VTS Office Demand Index.

Meta's new AI model shows early promise, but investors want to see Zuckerberg's strategy

Meta introduced its new AI model at the beginning of the second quarter, so Mark Zuckerberg's commentary about the future will be key during earnings.

82nd Airborne soldiers train on drone-countering maneuvers used in Ukraine

Soldiers are training for drone-on-drone combat using Bumblebee drones, which have been used in Ukraine and are being sent to U.S. training centers in the Middle East.

Sri Lanka police arrest 22 Buddhist monks after 110kg of cannabis found in luggage

Customs officials say group allegedly hid 5kg of ‘kush’ in false walls of bags on return from Bangkok holiday

Twenty-two Buddhist monks are in Sri Lankan police custody after customs officials found 110kg of high-grade cannabis concealed in their luggage, the largest ever drug bust at Colombo’s main international airport.

The group, mostly junior monks in training from temples across Sri Lanka, were alleged to have “carried about five kilos of the narcotic concealed within false walls in their luggage”, according to a Sri Lanka customs spokesperson.

A crumpled train and artwork In Bed: photos of the day – Tuesday

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

Press dinner shooting conspiracy theories spread in era of fractured politics

Neither political party is immune to conspiracy theories in a time of intense distrust in government and media, experts say

After an armed man attempted to breach the ballroom where Donald Trump was set to speak to White House journalists on Saturday, conspiracy theories immediately spread about whether the event was staged.

The rhetoric has become a common refrain from both sides of the aisle in an era of deeply fractured politics and intense distrust in political institutions and media, and in the president himself.

It’s not a helicopter: can this electric aircraft transform New York air travel?

Joby Aviation says its ‘quiet’ aircraft travels to Manhattan from JFK in 10 minutes at a ‘premium car service’ price

It’s neither a bird nor a plane, and it is vehemently not a helicopter, but instead this week some New Yorkers witnessed an “electric vertical takeoff and landing” aircraft buzzing around the city, which developers say could revolutionize travel in New York.

Joby Aviation’s fully electric aircraft conducted multiple flights from JFK airport in Queens to Manhattan in recent days, which would have turned heads to anyone looking up. It’s a futuristic looking design, somewhere between helicopter and drone, and is capable of speeds up to 200mph.

Touch Me review – tentacle sex abounds in psychosexual horror that’s like live-action hentai

Addison Heimann’s stylised alien horror is as zippily amusing as it is sensual, with more than a bit of Rocky Horror in the mix

Addison Heimann’s second feature wears its heart – and other appendages – on its sleeve; it is the queer, disaffected millennial live-action hentai psychosexual horror-drama-comedy that a fairly specific slice of the viewing public has been waiting for. It’s mostly about the friendship between Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) and Craig (Jordan Gavaris), which from the start is clearly affectionate and a little bit problematic. He pays the rent, she doesn’t; meaning he gets away with shenanigans like asking Joey to stay in her room with the lights out when his Grindr date comes over, because he’s told the guy he lives alone.

Into this dynamic struts Joey’s former lover, Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci), who is more than a little bit problematic himself. He has plenty of charm, choreographed dance routines for days, and is an (almost literal) demon in the sack. In fact, he’s a sometimes-tentacled alien – and he’s also a narcissist. As a character, Brian feels a little modelled on Frank-N-Furter from Rocky Horror, with a hedonistic outlook, pansexual orientation and ear for a toe-tapping tune – though his aesthetic is less fishnets, more Jesus in a hip-hop tracksuit.

The perfect birthday cake: tips for the best blow-out

What makes the best birthday cake? Well, it all depends on the recipient

What’s the best birthday cake?
Katie, by email
“My mum once made a cake with mini rolls made to look like cats with googly eyes and strawberry lace tails,” says Nicola Lamb, author of Sift and the Kitchen Projects newsletter. And that’s the whole point of a birthday cake, right? It should align with the recipient’s favourite thing: “That could even be a lasagne,” Lamb says. “I’m not at all prescriptive about what you stick a candle into.”

Of course, some cakes are a safer choice than others. Take the Victoria sponge: “I don’t think anyone is going to have a problem with a plush vanilla sponge, jam and cream job,” Lamb says. “If you want to lower the effort and feed a lot of people, bake the sponge in a brownie tray for a single-layer, low and wide cake, spread whipped cream stabilised with mascarpone over the top, dollop on some jam and you’re good to go.” That said, you could go for a vanilla or chocolate buttercream instead, which, Lamb adds, comes with the bonus of welcoming sprinkles.

Got a culinary dilemma? Email [email protected]

Tech's hyperscalers face Wall Street for first time since U.S. Iran war sent oil prices soaring

Wall Street is optimistic about big tech companies and their data center construction plans, despite a memory shortage and the Iran war.

‘She’s opening the bees!’ US beekeeper jailed for trying to save friend from eviction

Massachusetts woman set swarms of insects on sheriff’s deputies attempting to evict elderly man with cancer

A beekeeper has been jailed for six months after she set swarms of her insects on sheriff’s deputies attempting to carry out an eviction at a friend’s house.

Rebecca Woods insisted she only released her truckload of hives to allow the bees to enjoy the “lovely, flowering landscape” near the home of an elderly friend and cancer patient.

WHCA dinner shooter charged. And, Charles III to address Congress

Cole Allen, the man who tried to storm the White House Correspondents' Dinner, is being charged with trying to assassinate President Trump. And, King Charles III is set to address Congress today.

‘It’s a gamechanger’: Lewis Hamilton’s groundbreaking Mission 44 recruits working in F1

Foundation set up by F1 great is beginning to address the lack of representation of black people and those from disadvantaged backgrounds in motorsport

Sports people can be more than the sum of their athletic achievements. Lewis Hamilton stands unquestionably as one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula One having delivered records and outstanding performances that will be hard to surpass. Yet it is indicative of his character that the seven-time world champion rates them all as sitting only alongside what might ultimately be his most significant and long-lasting legacy. His Mission 44 foundation is making an indelible impact on the makeup of motorsport.

“Talent is everywhere, opportunity isn’t and that’s what we’re here to change. Setting up Mission 44 is one of the things I’m most proud of,” Hamilton says, reflecting on the foundation he created five years ago. “I’ve been working in F1 for 20 years and I know first-hand how important it is to have representation in our sport, and how difficult it is for young people to get an opportunity.”

Shakhtar Donetsk’s European odyssey heads to Palace after marathon campaign

Conference League semi-finals pit Ukrainian side against Premier League opposition, with the club still reeling from the affects of war

Serhii Palkin wasn’t sure whether Arda Turan, having played for Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, would be up for taking over as manager of Shakhtar Donetsk last May. The former Turkey forward had just left his first managerial post after two years at Eyüpspor in his homeland. But could he be tempted to join a club that last played at the Donbas Arena in 2014 owing to the war with Russia and has hosted its European matches in seven cities since being exiled?

“Arda is a special guy,” says Palkin, Shakhtar’s chief executive since 2004. “For him to be a coach in Turkey is being in his comfort zone. He doesn’t want to be there. When I called him, he said: ‘I want to come, I want to come. I want to sign immediately.’ He doesn’t care about the war, he’s not afraid, nothing. And he’s always using a lot of energy. You will see on Thursday evening. He’s running on the line, I think three to four kilometres every game.”

Doubts persist about whether Fed chair nominee Warsh will be independent, CNBC survey finds

Just 50% of respondents believe Warsh will conduct monetary policy mostly or very independently.

Mexican special forces arrest top commander of cartel and his alleged money launderer

Arrests of Audias Flores and César Alejandro ‘N’ lead to gunmen blocking roads, as US embassy warns employees to avoid Reynosa after earlier arrest

The Mexican authorities have arrested two top criminals, one of them a close ally of the slain founder of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), prompting gunmen to block roads in the western state of Nayarit.

Audias Flores, known as “El Jardinero”, is a regional commander in control of swathes of CJNG territory along Mexico’s Pacific coast. He was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho”, who ran the cartel and was killed in a security operation in February.

‘It’s not a story that’s over’: inside the battle against hatred in America

In The Secret War Against Hate, Pulitzer-prize finalist Steven J Ross looks back at those who infiltrated and prevented hate groups in the US

Steven J Ross’s new book, The Secret War Against Hate, is a sequel of sorts to Hitler in Los Angeles, his bestselling Pulitzer-prize finalist from 2018. That book told the story of Leon Lewis, a Jewish attorney, and others in the 1930s who foiled Nazi attempts to cause havoc in the City of Dreams. Now Ross looks south and east, to Atlanta and New York after the second world war, where activists and agents worked to infiltrate and defeat new Nazi groups.

The distinguished professor of history at the University of Southern California said: “With Hitler in LA, Leon Lewis hid the spy codes but once I figured it out, I realized, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got a historian’s dream here,’ which is an unknown story that’s really important. All I had to do was not get in the way, not be overly author-ly, just be the guide taking you through the story. I knew the beats. I knew how spy stuff and detective stuff goes. I changed my writing style.”

‘Like cutting the head off a hydra’: how Mary Cain exposed Nike’s disgraced coaching team

The track prodigy made it to world championships at 17 and joined Nike’s Oregon Project. At 29, Cain is detailing the hellish years under coach Alberto Salazar in her new memoir

“As someone who has lost touch with reality, I like to hold a firm grasp on it now,” Mary Cain says while we walk through a palm-tree spotted campus in California.

She’s telling me why she insisted she write her own memoir, This is Not About Running, without ceding the narrative to a ghostwriter, as happens with many athletes. “My story is so complicated … there are so many bad actors that I think it forces the reader to embrace nuance, and I don’t think you see that very often.”

Deadlock over Iran's nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz cripples peace efforts

Two months after the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran started the war, peace talks are on hold, with control of the Strait of Hormuz and the future of Iran's nuclear program as the two main points of contention.

David Squires on … Chelsea’s Wembley trip amid more managerial chaos

Our cartoonist on BlueCo’s ‘self-reflection’ as another normal week ended with a place in the FA Cup final

• Buy this cartoon here | His favourites from 2025

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

Will the Fed cut rates? Here's what to expect at Wednesday's meeting.

The Federal Reserve is contending with rising inflation amid the war and a lackluster job market, along with the departure of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Wild Foxes review – animal-obsessed fighter at elite sports academy wonders if more to life than boxing

Valéry Carnoy’s striking film brims with unsynchronised ideas and images, but the physicality and performances of the young cast are undeniable

Valéry Carnoy’s fiercely acted but dramatically unfocused film is about a sudden, mysterious crisis of confidence that undermines everything a young man thinks he knows about himself. It’s a brick dislodged from a wall that brings everything crashing down.

The setting is a sports boarding school in France; evidently INSEP, the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance, in the Bois de Vincennes just outside Paris. Camille (Samuel Kirchner) is a tough, troubled kid from a broken home – and a brilliant boxer on the verge of national greatness. His best mate is fellow boxer Matteo (Fayçal Anaflous), who has broken the rules so often he is on the verge of being kicked out.

Gen Z think old age begins at 53 – so I have only three months to go | Zoe Williams

Each generation has a different view on when old age gets under way, but if my kids’ generation is correct, time is about to catch up with me ...

For boomers, old age begins at 75, according to a new survey, while gen X considers the start date of decrepitude to be 70, and millennials are a little stricter, at 63. These are all reasonable positions, and then you get to gen Z, who know nothing about anything: they say it’s 53.

By coincidence, I’d been thinking about this anyway at the weekend, after dancing so exuberantly I ripped my own clothes. I didn’t think that was ideal: it did raise concerns about what I must have looked like in the moment. But I figured as long as I stopped doing it before I got old, it was probably fine – and thought (being gen X) that gave me about 17 years. It turns out that as far as the youngsters are concerned, I have just over three months.

The MAHA movement is mad about the weedkiller glyphosate and Trump's EPA

The coalition focused on making Americans healthier is frustrated with the Trump administration's stance on environmental toxins and most recently, its support of the company that makes the pesticide.

'We don't know what will happen to us': U.S. deportees in limbo in DRC

15 South American migrants and asylum seekers deported from the U.S. to the DRC are now living in uncertainty in a country an with ongoing armed conflict, where they have no ties.

‘We are not happy’: Chiamaka Nnadozie on Wafcon debacle, boomboxes and Brighton

The Brighton and Nigeria goalkeeper is highly critical of the decision to push back Wafcon, but still has hope for the future of the women’s game in Africa

Chiamaka Nnadozie has, at the age of 25, earned her place in the pantheon of African goalkeepers alongside legends such as Cameroon’s Thomas N’Kono and Morocco’s Zaki Badou.

Nnadozie featured at her first World Cup finals for Nigeria at 18, then played at the 2023 tournament and is the only goalkeeper to have won the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf’s) Golden Gloves award three times on the trot: in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Nnadozie, a reigning Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) champion, is delighted and amazed that she has come so far, so quickly.

‘The folk scene is very middle class. The divide is huge’: Jim Ghedi, the Sheffield singer bringing his doomy music to the movies

Plucked from relative obscurity to score Hugh Jackman film The Death of Robin Hood, the skilled singer-songwriter explains how he conquered his impostor syndrome

Last year, Jim Ghedi was having a chicken dinner at his mother’s house in Sheffield when he checked his phone. “This director started following me on Instagram,” he recalls. “And there’s pictures of him with Nicolas Cage. As a joke, I said to my mam: ‘I might message him and say, let me do your next film score.’ As I said it, he messaged me, saying: ‘I want you to do my next film score.’”

The director was Michael Sarnoski and the film is the forthcoming A24 production The Death of Robin Hood, starring Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer. Sarnoski had heard Ghedi’s excellent 2025 album, Wasteland, a stirring and brooding album of apocalyptic folk that was a reflection of societal rot and collapse in England. Released on the small Calder Valley label Basin Rock, the album was critically acclaimed – and his most successful and ambitious to date – but it had not turned Ghedi into a household name. He thought that the film opportunity “would all blow away and they’d find out who I am”, he says. “Some top producer would put up the red flag.”

‘Street culture is about revolution’: Brazilian ‘hip-hop’ painter Paulo Nimer Pjota

The artist started with graffiti at 13 in São Paulo. Now, he samples motifs from mythology and his vast, fantastical paintings have taken over the walls of the South London Gallery

Paulo Nimer Pjota was 15 when he sold his first painting and already a three-year veteran. “I don’t really know what life is like without painting,” the 37-year-old Brazilian artist tells me. “It is in everything I do, the movies that I watch, the books that I read. They might not have anything to do with art, but I can find something in them that I might be able to use.”

Pjota’s studio, which once served as his bedsit before he got married and had a son, is in a quiet neighbourhood of São Paulo: there are shelves lined with gourds, skulls, postcards and other trinkets, a pair of skateboards hang on the wall and a desk overflows with tubes of paint. A pile of sketches he made when he was a teenager, discovered at his parents’ house, sit among this productive clutter.

Millions of homes in the U.S. are uninsured. NPR wants to hear your story

Millions of homes in the U.S. are uninsured, partly because insurance costs have soared in recent years. NPR wants to hear about the coverage decisions you're making as premiums rise.

Lawsuits accuse State Farm of secretly working to cut insurance payouts

Lawsuits allege that State Farm tries to avoid paying what it owes for hail damage. The litigation is happening as homeowners face soaring insurance costs, partly due to threats from climate change.

‘They’re supposed to be handmade’: zine creators fight to resist AI influence

Artists and writers argue scrappy nature of self-published booklets is incompatible with artificial intelligence

The self-published zine has long been central to cultural revolutions, from queer activism to Black feminism and the riot grrrl punk movement, producing titles such as Sniffin’ Glue and Sweet-Thang along the way. But now the traditionally analogue art form faces a new shift: artificial intelligence.

AI may seem incompatible with the these cult DIY booklets, but some creatives, designers and artists have begun to experiment with the technology, causing alarm in parts of the underground publishing world. It has been their Dylan-goes-electric moment.

Houseplant hacks: is activated charcoal good for pot plants?

It promises to filter toxins, absorb odours, prevent mould and keep roots healthy, but does it deliver?

The problem
Once you have graduated from novice plant parent, how can you take your level of care to the next level, helping your houseplant not only survive but thrive? Is activated charcoal the answer? You will find it listed in terrarium recipes and soil amendments. It promises to filter toxins, absorb odours, prevent mould and keep roots healthy. The bag looks purposeful, and the price suggests it is doing something important. The question is whether any of that holds up in an ordinary pot on an ordinary windowsill.

The hack
Activated charcoal works by adsorption, trapping impurities on its porous surface. In a closed terrarium or bottle garden, where water recycles and there is no drainage, a charcoal layer can slow the buildup of gases and bacteria. But does that translate to standard houseplant pots?

Shrugging at calamity: America is reacting in strange ways to our chaotic times | Francine Prose

The reaction to the Washington DC shooting shows that Americans are swinging between outrage, exhaustion and numbness

In the early hours of Sunday, I awoke to check the time on my phone and learned that there had been a shooting – apparently, an assassination attempt – at this year’s White House correspondents’ dinner, an event held annually to honor the journalists who cover presidential politics.

I stayed awake just long enough to read that the attack had been thwarted and that no one had been killed, and then I went back to sleep.

Francine Prose is a former president of PEN American Center and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Beyond crisis lines: How broader suicide prevention helps people in need

A new approach to suicide prevention shifts the focus from stopping harm in moments of crisis to upstream policies that give people reasons to live.

Should schools get rid of homework? Some educators are saying yes

Some experts worry that less homework could be a problem for math achievement, at a time when test scores nationwide are already at a dismal low.

BP profits more than double, beating expectations as Iran war boosts oil prices

The results come shortly after BP's board suffered a shareholder revolt at its annual general meeting.

I’ve Seen All I Need to See review – murky indie thriller follows woman home after her sister is murdered

An actor returns after the death of a family member, but there’s not much more of depth in this noirish tale with a painfully pretentious voiceover

Peel back the layers and sadly there is nothing much going on inside this American indie drama from director Zeshaan Younus; it’s a movie that’s aiming for noir, but ends up more of a shade of drab grey. It’s contrived and frustrating, with a painfully pretentious voiceover by its lead character Parker (Renee Gagner). She’s an actor in Los Angeles who returns to her home town after her sister Indiana (Rosie McDonald) is killed. “Sister, you were right.” muses Parker. “I am never fully anything or anyone. Instead, I am practically everyone and everything.”

It’s film in which actors shot in closeup deliver lines looking pensive, with an air of meaning and depth, while not actually saying anything meaningful. Before her death, we watch Indiana brokering some kind of dodgy deal with a biker. She leaves a voicemail for Parker: “I’m in pretty deep out here … If anything happens to me don’t come looking.” Which is advice promptly ignored by her sister after Indiana is killed. Instead, Parker searches for answers, although this is a film with loftier intentions than solving a murder.

‘If your wife asks you to change diapers, change your wife’: the Arabic hit show that parodies the patriarchy

The female-created YouTube sketch series Smatouha Minni – You Heard It From Me – uses satire to confront misogynistic attitudes

In Beirut’s Gemmayzeh neighbourhood a rented flat has been transformed into a film set: bright studio lights in a cosy living room. At its centre is Maria Elayan – though she is barely recognisable. Filming for the third season of Smatouha Minni (You Heard It From Me), a feminist series in Arabic, the actor is in a padded muscle suit, wearing a slicked-back black wig and beard.

“If your wife asks you to change the diapers, you should change her,” the Palestinian-Jordanian barks, mimicking an aggrieved self-help podcaster. An hour later, she is slouched in a hoodie, shisha pipe in one hand and a gaming console in the other, shouting: “Mama, I’m hungry. Can you make me a sandwich?”

Meta, Google, OpenAI among Big Tech firms seeing top staff leaving to launch AI startups

Former employees at AI giants are raising hundreds of millions of dollars from investors months on from launching.