Many Nato countries not spending enough to support Ukraine, says Rutte – Europe live

Nato chief delivers speech in Sweden as he hints at further changes to US military commitments to Europe

Just as Pavel was speaking in Prague, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was pursuing escalation of the conflict between the two countries.

It’s quite a claim given (checks notes) Russia’s continued and relentless invasion of Ukraine for years.

“Ukraine has demonstrated not only determination and heroism, but also unbelievable capacity to adjust, to innovate, to change.

It is something that we in Europe have lost through many regulatory measures that are necessary in peacetime, but of course in conflict you have to be … flexible and achieve the results in shortest possible time. …

Daycare owner charged with fraud tried to flee U.S. after closing center, prosecutors say

New fraud charges were unsealed Wednesday against a Minnesota daycare owner who federal prosecutors allege tried to flee the country just two days after shutting the center down.

NOAA's 2026 Atlantic hurricane season outlook announced

The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season is quickly approaching, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is releasing its forecast for what to expect.

Feeding Our Future fraud ringleader Aimee Bock sentenced to 41+ years

Aimee Bock, the convicted ringleader of the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme in Minnesota, was sentenced to more than 40 years in prison on Thursday.

Nervy time for Havana neighbours of top officials as fears of US attack grow

Cubans express outrage at US charges against Raúl Castro but view military strikes as serious possibility

A new question in being asked in Havana as people digest the news that the US has brought criminal charges against Cuba’s 94-year-old former president, Raúl Castro: who’s your neighbour?

If you happen to live near a senior figure in Cuba’s government or armed forces, others suck their teeth in an expression of concerned sympathy. For the first time, US military strikes on the island are being considered a serious possibility.

After the sirens: Lebanon's first responders swing between duty and grief

Nearly 3,000 people have been killed and nearly 1 million have been displaced the war in southern Lebanon began in March. Nearly 400 have been killed since a ceasefire began in April.

Oil markets nearing ‘red zone’ as summer travel season nears, warns IEA chief

Surging demand, low reserves and reduced Middle East exports predicted to cause global crunch by August

Oil markets will enter the “red zone” by July and August as stocks dwindle before the summer travel season amid a shortage of fresh oil exports from the Middle East, the executive director of the International Energy Authority warned on Thursday.

Fatih Birol added that the most important solution to the Iran war energy shock was a full and unconditional reopening of the strait of Hormuz.

Passenger review – generic jumpscare horror offers bumpy journey to nowhere

A demonic entity attaches itself to travellers on the road in this competently directed but hopelessly indistinctive scare-free misfire

As Obsession, a micro-budget horror made by a YouTuber, continues to overperform with critics and audiences, and as another twentysomething content creator prepares to break a potential record with the release of Backrooms, here comes a stodgy by-the-book Paramount horror that feels like someone’s embarrassing dad just gatecrashed a college party. While others might be trying to innovate, those involved with Paramount’s generic schedule-filler Passenger are perfectly content to keep things lazily trucking along as they always have. Even if it wasn’t stuck in an unfortunate gen Z genre sandwich, it’d still be a struggle to see why anyone would want to hitch a ride with this one.

Like February’s cursed misfire Psycho Killer, another junky on-the-road studio horror, Passenger plays like something that would have gone straight to unrated DVD back in the 2000s. It’s marginally better but similarly baffling that with all of the unproduced horror scripts stacking up on desks in Hollywood, this would not only make it to production but be warranted a wide release on a prime May weekend. I kept waiting to understand what might have nudged this one to the top of the pile, but left without clarity.

Congress has strongest path to stop Trump DOJ’s $1.8 billion compensation fund, attorneys say

The Department of Justice has set up a $1.8 billion fund that will purportedly compensate victims of prosecutorial overreach under the Biden administration.

Summer air travel could be rough. Here's how travelers can prepare.

A new report finds that on-time flight arrivals are at their worst level since 2014, with fuel costs and weather adding to summer travel risks.

AG Blanche meets with GOP senators on Trump's DOJ fund; Tillis calls it 'stupid'

Critics of the "Anti-Weaponization Fund" fear it will give money to Trump supporters who attacked police defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

‘Per my last email’: how email incivility can affect us at work

Although it might seem like a minor irritant, the consequences of email incivility can be far-reaching

Received a rude email at work? You’re not alone.

When I was weighing a move from full-time to freelance work, a terse email from a colleague – demanding I redo a task from scratch over a technicality – settled the matter instantly. I quit on the spot. Around the same time, thousands of US government workers received an email requiring them to justify their employment “with approx 5 bullets of what you accomplished this week” – or resign.

Clarissa Brincat is a freelance health and science journalist

Trump ballroom, 'slush fund' are flashpoints as Senate takes up DHS funding bill

Democrats seek to score political points as internal GOP tensions simmer over President Donald Trump's ballroom and ''weaponization fund'

Israel deports foreign Gaza-bound flotilla activists after global outcry

Move comes amid condemnation of Itamar Ben-Gvir after video posted showing detained protesters being taunted

Israel has said it has deported all the foreign activists it seized from a Gaza-bound flotilla, after a global outcry over their treatment in custody that led the UK to join other countries in summoning Israeli diplomats for a formal dressing down.

More than 430 activists from countries around the world had been placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea on Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of the Palestinian territory.

Mikel Arteta was ‘in the garden building a fire’ when Arsenal won Premier League title

• Manager could not bear to watch City’s draw at Bournemouth

• Arteta cites pre-season meeting around tree as a turning point

Mikel Arteta has said he could not bear to watch Manchester City’s draw at Bournemouth and was building a fire in his garden when Arsenal’s first title in 22 years was confirmed. The manager also admitted his relief at being crowned champions after three successive runners-up finishes and revealed he had questioned whether he was good enough to help his team make the final step.

Arteta had headed to the training ground to watch the City match with the squad on Tuesday, having previously said he planned to stay at home. But 20 minutes before kick-off he decided he could not bear the tension and went back to be with his family.

French Open draw: Djokovic avoids Sinner half but Raducanu faces early Sierra test

• Carlos Alcaraz absence makes Italian heavy men’s favourite

• Emma Raducanu will face talented Solana Sierra

Novak Djokovic has avoided Jannik Sinner’s half of the French Open draw but faces a challenging path as he tries to hit form and launch a deep run after a torrid, injury-ravaged period before the second grand slam event of the year.

Djokovic, a three-times champion at Roland Garros, returns to Paris aiming for a record 25th grand slam singles title. He will begin against the big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard.

Senate Republicans expected to ditch $1bn funding plan for Trump’s ballroom

Top Republicans fear diverting taxpayer dollars toward the White House ballroom will alienate voters before midterms

Senate Republican leaders are expected to ditch a $1bn proposal for security measures tied to Donald Trump’s White House ballroom following a backlash from members of their own party.

Under pressure from Trump, top Republican lawmakers tried to latch the proposal on to a roughly $70bn bill to restore funding to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the border patrol.

Zohran Mamdani announces $50 World Cup ticket lottery for New York City residents

• NYC mayor has taken aim at Fifa over ticket prices

• 1,000 tickets on offer for $50 each, including transport

• Tickets available for every NY/NJ game excluding final

New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, on Thursday announced that a new tranche of 2026 World Cup tickets will be made available to residents of the five boroughs at $50 per ticket. The tickets, which will be distributed via random draw, will be for every game at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium other than the final. They will also include bus transportation to and from the event.

A total of 1,000 tickets will be available as part of the program, with a block of about 150 tickets for each of the seven games. The tickets will be located in the upper bowl of the 82,000-capacity MetLife Stadium.

A trillion dollar question: Will SpaceX's Starship launch go well?

Ahead of a much anticipated IPO, SpaceX is carrying out a critical test of its giant, stainless steel rocket. Investors will be watching closely.

Bloom Energy rises 12% after partnering with European AI infrastructure upstart in $2.6 billion deal

Nebius said Wednesday that it would deploy Bloom's fuel-cell technology to generate electricity faster and more quickly at its data centers.

Stellantis unveils $70 billion turnaround plan, targets positive cash flow by 2028

Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa unveiled a new five-year strategic plan Thursday worth 60 billion euros ($69.7 billion).

Smokers in China are being chided by anti-smoking women

Many many many men smoke in China. A small but outspoken group of women are becoming anti-smoking advocates, confronting those who light up in public.

DNC releases 2024 election autopsy, party chair slams it

A disclaimer sits at the top of each page saying: "This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC."

No evidence of formal security vetting when Andrew became UK trade envoy, minister says

Documents released by government also show late queen was ‘very keen’ for her son to have prominent role

• UK politics live – latest updates

Formal security vetting and due diligence appear not to have been carried out before the appointment of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a trade envoy, the government has said, as it emerged that the late queen was “very keen” for her son to take a prominent role in promoting Britain’s interests.

The first batch of documents relating to the appointment of the then prince as trade envoy by Tony Blair in 2001 includes a memo dated 25 February 2000 and addressed to Robin Cook, the then foreign secretary, in which the then chief executive of British Trade International (BTI), David Wright, said Queen Elizabeth II’s “wish” had been for Mountbatten-Windsor to take on the role.

Stellantis targets 35% North American sales increase, led by Ram Trucks and Chrysler revival

Stellantis said at an investor day Thursday that it plans to increase its North American sales by 35% by 2030.

Big science and uncanny prescience: Laurie Anderson’s greatest songs – ranked!

Forty years since her pioneering concert film Home of the Brave, and ahead of a European tour, we count down the best of a surprisingly poppy avant garde catalogue

From a compilation released by William Burroughs associate John Giorno – fellow contributors included Patti Smith, Philip Glass and the Fugs – comes the fledgling sound of Laurie Anderson’s breakthrough Big Science: spoken word, electronically manipulated voices, violin. It doesn’t quite work, but it’s worth hearing, not least for the distinctly country-ish slant to her violin playing.

New Orleans prosecutors file formal battery charges against Shia LaBeouf

Prosecutors opt not to pursue hate-crime charges over February incident despite anti-gay slurs captured on video

New Orleans state prosecutors on Thursday filed formal misdemeanor battery charges against Shia LaBeouf, four months after police officers there arrested him on allegations that he struck three men at a bar.

That move from the office of local district attorney Jason Williams means prosecutors opted to not pursue hate-crime charges against LaBeouf, the star of the Transformers film franchise, despite claims evidently supported by video that LaBeouf aimed anti-gay slurs at the alleged victims.

Walmart plans price cuts using tariff refunds as shoppers get skittish

Now that the U.S. government must refund most tariffs, Walmart says it might put its refund money toward lowering store prices. Executives say the cost of gas has shoppers increasingly under stress.

I’m 21 and anxious about the future. How do I take care of myself without living in a bubble? | Leading questions

Retreating from reality is a brittle way to feel better, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Find people who feel as you do and then face these problems together

• Read more Leading questions

I’m 21, and all my life I’ve been anxious about the future. It’s not getting better. There are a lot of things that worry me – no job prospects even with a degree under my belt; I won’t be able to find a partner who will respect me; I’ll never own a house. And outside these, of course, I’m worried about climate change and global politics.

The advice I have been offered is to “not think about it” or “focus on what I personally can control”. But I have dreams and aspirations; I want to be a writer and an artist and I am working harder than ever to make those things happen, even if AI might make those fields even more competitive. So my question is: How do I balance my dreams and aspirations practically, and take care of myself, without living in a bubble?

Feeling the dance of age, I join a pottery class. It isn’t until I let go of expectations that I truly begin to learn how to create | Nova Weetman

It has become less about the finished product and more about the process itself

Years ago, my son and I took a pottery class one Saturday afternoon. I agreed to take him – he wanted to try the wheel but was too young to go alone. I had no real expectations of the class, but as soon as I gripped the lump of clay and tried to centre it on to the plate, I was hooked. There was something primal about having my hands and clothes covered in smears of white. It brought me back to making mud pies as a child.

My son seemed to understand the properties of working with clay in a way that I didn’t but I still managed to cobble together some small pieces and left them to be fired, my name carved in the bottom. When I collected the glazed pieces , I laughed with the studio technician at how neat my son’s bowls were compared with my wonky ones. She suggested enrolling in a longer course but regular classes weren’t possible at that point in my life, so I shoved my indelicate pots to the back of my cupboard and forgot about pottery for a while.

Jimmy Kimmel on CBS after the end of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show: ‘Don’t ever watch it again’

Late-night hosts spoke about the end of the iconic long-running show and Trump’s latest grift

Late-night hosts discussed the end of The Late Show and Stephen Colbert’s tenure as well as the latest product from Donald Trump.

Hungary to limit prime ministers to maximum eight-year terms

Péter Magyar’s draft amendment would prevent Viktor Orbán from returning to the role

• Europe live – latest updates

Hungary’s new government, led by Péter Magyar, has put forward a constitutional amendment that would limit prime ministers to a maximum of eight years in office, in effect barring Viktor Orbán from returning to the role.

The draft amendment was submitted on Wednesday, just over a week after the new government took office. It marked Magyar and his Tisza party’s first step in dismantling a constitution that was unilaterally rewritten and amended more than a dozen times as Orbán and his Fidesz party worked to turn Hungary into what they called a “petri dish for illiberalism”.

‘Really entertaining in a horrible way’: the indestructible appeal of Tosca

With its screams, sex, bells and bloodshed Puccini’s opera was initially derided as a noisy disaster. Ahead of Glyndebourne’s first ever production, we look the ‘shabby little shocker’ that’s become one of opera’s most bankable masterpieces

Gustav Mahler hated it. Its publisher was convinced it would be a commercial disaster. Critics complained it was mostly just “noise” and predicted that it would quickly be forgotten. But more than 125 years since Tosca’s premiere in January 1900, Giacomo Puccini’s fifth opera remains one of the most bankable in the business.

We love a hard-won success story in classical music. Think of the tales of woe that still swirl around Beethoven’s life and works, with their implied happy ending in our own Beethoven centrism. Or there’s Wagner’s Tannhäuser being booed off the stage in 1861, before finding its way into the operatic pantheon. Or the riot supposedly provoked by Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at its 1913 premiere, before everyone calmed down and the score was acclaimed a masterpiece.

Arrest made in Connecticut 40 years after woman's murder in Virginia

The body of 22-year-old Roberta Walls was found in a field in Virginia Beach on the morning of May 15, 1986.

Exclusive discounts from CBS Mornings Deals

On this edition of CBS Mornings Deals, we show you items that might just become essentials in your everyday life. Visit cbsdeals.com to take advantage of these exclusive deals today. CBS earns commissions on purchases made through cbsdeals.com.

Parody Cockroach Janta political party’s rise reflects youth anger in India

Satirical project is viral sensation and outlet for protest on social media as it taps into young people’s frustration

It began as a satirical online project after a high court judge compared unemployed young people to cockroaches. Now millions of young Indians are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration.

A parody political party with the insect as its symbol has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humour into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach – an insect known for its ability to survive harsh conditions – as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance.

TikTok star, her dad accused of plot to murder boy band singer, pay killer with bitcoin

A TikTok star and her father were charged for allegedly plotting to kill the father of her daughter, boy band singer Jack Avery, by paying in bitcoin and using the dark web and coded messages. Jonathan Vigliotti has the details.

SpaceX to explore "the true nature of the universe" as it plans IPO

Elon Musk's SpaceX is moving ahead with plans to go public in what some expect will be the biggest IPO ever.

SpaceX is heavily reliant on Starlink for growth and profit as it marches toward Nasdaq listing

SpaceX's IPO prospectus underscores the importance of Starlink to the company's operations.

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen album review – Luisi has a keen sense of the operatic architecture

Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Luisi/Lindstrom/Delavan /Johansson
(Delos)
Captured live in concert performances, Fabio Luisi’s clear-sighted command and strong orchestral playing make this Wagner set frequently impressive, with Mark Delavan an authorative Wotan

Concert performances of opera can provide ideal conditions for live recordings. This ambitious release of Wagner’s Ring Cycle on 13 CDs, captured in 2024 with the Dallas Symphony under music director Fabio Luisi, is a fine example.

The Italian maestro has a strong record, having stepped in at the Metropolitan Opera in 2011 when James Levine had to withdraw from Siegfried due to illness. With his clearheaded approach, a keen sense of Wagner’s operatic architecture, and a supple way with phrasing, he is perhaps the most compelling reason for acquiring this frequently impressive set.

San Diego shooting shows disturbing trend of shooters copying acts of violence

Experts say hate-motivated extremists being radicalized online and adopting ideologies of shooters before them

The killing of three men at a San Diego mosque on Monday is the latest example of a disturbing trend in recent decades: hate-motivated shooters learning from – and copying – each other in acts of violence meant to push the nation toward a race war and, ultimately, societal collapse.

The two San Diego shooters, who were 17 and 18, killed 51-year-old Amin Abdullah, a security guard at the Islamic Center of San Diego, 78-year-old Mansour Kaziha, a mosque elder and founding member of the center, and Nadir Awad, 57, who lived across the street and whose wife worked as a teacher at the center’s school.

U.S.-bound flight diverted over passenger from Congo amid Ebola restrictions

An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit was forced to divert to Montreal due to U.S. flight restrictions linked to the Ebola outbreak.

Officers attacked during Jan. 6 blast DOJ's "anti-weaponization" fund

Two officers present during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots are suing to block the "anti-weaponization" fund established by the Justice Department following a settlement with President Trump. Ed O'Keefe reports.

Torrential rain and floods kill at least 25 people in southern and central China – video report

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes, with heavy rain expected to continue across southern and central parts of the country – including Jiangxi, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan provinces – with a high risk of further landslides and flash floods

Passenger from Congo boards flight ‘in error’, prompting diversion to Canada amid Ebola outbreak

Air France flight en route to Detroit, Michigan, landed in Montreal after virus-related travel restrictions

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An Air France flight headed to Detroit, Michigan, was redirected to Canada on Wednesday after it was determined that a passenger from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had boarded “in error” amid new Ebola-related travel restrictions, officials with the US Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) said.

“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” a CBP spokesperson said in a statement.

Memorial Day weekend travel begins as tens of millions expected to fly and drive

Millions of Americans are beginning their travel ahead of Memorial Day weekend, marking the unofficial start of the summer travel season. A record-breaking 45 million people are expected to travel between Thursday and Monday, according to AAA. Kris Van Cleave has more.

The main takeaways from Elon Musk’s plans for $1.75tn SpaceX flotation

Prospectus for tycoon’s sprawling empire reveals his plan to keep control – and ambition to colonise Mars

• SpaceX reveals plan for $1.75tn stock market debut

• Business live – latest updates

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has revealed plans for a highly anticipated $1.75tn (£1.3tn) flotation next month as he seeks investor backing for his quest to make life “multiplanetary”.

SpaceX is a sprawling business, encompassing the eponymous rocket launch company, the Starlink satellite broadband service, Musk’s xAI artificial intelligence startup and the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Eli Lilly says next-generation weight loss drug clears crucial obesity trial

The results bring Lilly one step closer to filing for approval of the injection, retatrutide, which works differently from existing injections and pills.

Detroit-bound plane diverted to Canada over Ebola concerns

An Air France plane headed to Detroit from Paris was diverted to Montreal after it was determined a passenger on board was from the Democratic Republic of Congo, federal officials and the airline said. It's not clear if the passenger was exhibiting Ebola virus symptoms. Ash-har Quraishi and Dr. Celine Gounder report.

Inflatable bridge and a hot couple: photos of the day – Thursday

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

‘I have a lot of rage inside me’: Bob Odenkirk on Saul, satire and his heart attack

He made his name as a conman, but now Bob Odenkirk is on the right side of the law in Normal. He answers your questions about Henry Winkler, Bruce Dern and Shakespeare

You recently agreed in an interview that “life is a meaningless farce”. How come? benpendrey
Oh, I don’t know. You need to talk to God about that. I don’t know why he made it so ridiculous, but it is. I’m not done asking questions and trying to figure things out, but I do think we’re going to end up where Douglas Adams did.

Is biting satire more powerful than political hogwash? Twist27
I sure wish it was, but no. I do think political satire is helpful, but it is not as important as we all wished it was. I’m afraid political satire pales in comparison to political hogwash, as we’re witnessing in my country.

More than 100 young care leavers in England died in past year, data shows

Labour has launched an urgent review into the deaths, which one expert describes as ‘unspeakably tragic’

More than 100 young people have died after leaving the care of social services in England in the past year, according to data released by the government.

In the year to April 2026 there were 106 reported deaths of care leavers, with 91 deaths reported in the 12 months before. Most of those who died were aged 16 to 21.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

‘LA is not film friendly’: how Hollywood’s woes became a political cudgel in mayoral race

Troubled Baywatch reboot production echoes film-making woes in a city best known for its movie and TV industry

The fight for the future of Los Angeles, America’s second-largest city, usually plays out in the grand art deco offices and committee rooms of city hall. But in an election year full of surprises, the most consequential battle may in fact have begun on a beach.

And not just any beach: we’re talking about the fantasy sandbox inhabited by buff gym rats and sun-kissed bikini babes on Baywatch and its multiple spin-offs. In February, Los Angeles welcomed the latest incarnation of the hit TV show back to southern California after a long hiatus, including detours to Hawaii and Georgia. City officials heralded its return as a sign of better times for local film and television production following years of decline and tens of thousands of job losses in the heart of Hollywood.

Susan Collins brings federal dollars to Maine. She's hoping that's worth it to voters

As Maine's Senate matchup is all but set, incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins urges voters to pick her over Democrat Graham Platner because she can fund state priorities due to her seniority.

NBA playoffs: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounces back as Thunder even series with Spurs

• San Antonio Spurs 113-122 Oklahoma City Thunder

• League MVP scores 30 after quiet start to West finals

• Already down Fox, San Antonio lose Harper to injury

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bounced back from a subpar series opener to score 30 points, Alex Caruso added 17 off the bench and the host Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 122-113 on Wednesday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

Chet Holmgren scored 13 points and reserves Jared McCain and Cason Wallace each had 12 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder finished with a 57-25 edge in bench scoring, plus a 27-10 advantage in points off turnovers.

Air France and Airbus guilty of corporate manslaughter for 2009 plane crash

Firms given maximum fine of €225,000 each and are expected to appeal after lower court had cleared them

A Paris appeals court has found Airbus and Air France guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 Rio-Paris plane crash that killed 228 passengers and crew.

The verdict is the latest milestone in a legal marathon involving two of France’s most emblematic companies and families of the mainly French, Brazilian and German victims of France’s worst air disaster.

‘It’s broken English’: MP’s attempt to speak Jamaican in parliament sparks language row

Parliamentary rule that only English is allowed has reignited debate about language, legitimacy and postcolonial identity

When the Jamaican MP Nekeisha Burchell stood up to give her maiden speech, she was keenly aware of how much her country’s parliament mirrored the Westminster version thousands of miles away in London.

As in the UK, the session on 12 May had started with the arrival of the ceremonial mace – a 1.7-metre ornamented silver staff representing the British monarch’s authority over parliament – which now rested on a table between the government and the opposition. Despite the heat outside, debate was presided over by the speaker dressed in a ceremonial robe.

Oil market could enter ‘red zone’ by July as stocks dwindle ahead of summer travel season, IEA chief says

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the single most important solution to the Iran war energy shock is the unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Manuel Neuer declared as Germany’s No 1 at World Cup after retirement U-turn

• Julian Nagelsmann includes 40-year-old in 26-man squad

• ‘We want to become world champions,’ says head coach

Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer has come out of international retirement after being named on Thursday as the starting goalkeeper in Germany’s World Cup squad by head coach Julian Nagelsmann. Nagelsmann made the decision after having long labelled Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann as his first-choice keeper.

“Yes I plan with [Neuer as No 1],” Nagelsmann said. “The main task was to nominate the best three keepers. So we decided that these three are part of that. We contacted Manuel and asked him if he wanted to play for the national team again.”

Iran reviews U.S. peace proposal as Trump says he’s willing to wait 'a few days'

It comes after President Donald Trump said he was prepared to wait a few more days to "get the right answers" from Tehran.

‘Big moment’: London to host lucrative leg of Athlos’ all-female athletics meet

• Founder Alexis Ohanian is Serena Williams’ husband

• Meeting is on 18 September at StoneX Stadium

London is to host a star-studded all-female Athlos athletics meeting on 18 September as the founder, Alexis Ohanian, builds towards his dream of it becoming “F1 for track and field”.

Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams, has added a London date prior to the meeting in New York, which is in its third year and takes place a fortnight later.

Record number of dams dismantled in Europe in effort to help wildlife thrive

Weirs, culverts and sluices among 602 barriers demolished in year in attempt to restore 15,500 miles of rivers by 2030

A few miles downstream from a lava field in western Iceland, the gargle of free-flowing water is unbroken for the first time in decades after hydraulic peckers chipped away at a dilapidated dam that once powered a farm. The structure on the River Melsá had continued to block fish migration long after falling into disrepair.

“It wasn’t providing any electricity; the old power house had sheep living in it,” said Hamish Moir, a river engineer from CBEC, a Scottish firm that provided technical support for the demolition in December. To see the river restored to its natural state was “really rewarding”, he said.

JPMorgan banker countersues accuser, says sexual assault 'lies' ruined her life

Investment banker Lorna Hajdini says ex-colleague Chirayu Rana’s ‘malicious’ allegations ‘wreaked havoc’

The JPMorgan Chase investment banker accused of sexual assault in an explosive lawsuit that went viral countersued her accuser, saying his malicious lies destroyed her reputation and “wreaked havoc” on her life.

In papers filed on Tuesday night in a New York state court in Manhattan, Lorna Hajdini said her former colleague Chirayu Rana fabricated allegations that she raped and drugged him, in order to attract maximum press coverage, cause her pain and extract millions of dollars from her and JPMorgan.

GOP races to fund immigration enforcement. And, U.S. indicts former Cuban president

Republicans are racing to pass a $72 billion immigration enforcement package. And, the U.S. has indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro for his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two planes.

Trump has created a slush fund of taxpayer money to give to his friends | Moira Donegan

The ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ is an extraordinary example of bald self-dealing

Donald Trump is stealing almost $2bn in taxpayer money and handing it out to his friends. That’s the upshot of the president’s recent agreement following a $10bn lawsuit he brought in his personal capacity against the IRS, an agency that he oversees. Trump brought the suit over leaks of some documents from his tax returns to the press. To resolve the suit, the justice department will create a fund of nearly $1.8bn – a wildly outsized figure compared with Trump’s somewhat flimsily alleged injuries – that can be doled out to Trump allies. The Guardian describes the fund as “loosely controlled and secretive”, but members of the Trump administration have not ruled out January 6 insurrectionists as possible awardees.

The so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will be administered by four commissioners appointed by Trump’s attorney general and one appointed “in consultation” with congressional leadership – Trump, who can fire the commissioners, will have ultimate control. It will have the authority to issue formal apologies for alleged mistreatment of conservative political actors by previous administrations – ie, those few who were prosecuted or sued during the Biden era. When Trump leaves office, any remaining money will not be available for his successor to use similarly, but will instead be distributed back to the federal government. But I doubt that there will be any remaining money. We may never know either way: there is no requirement that the fund’s work be made public, and required reports to the attorney general on its conduct are to be confidential. In addition to the creation of this massive slush fund, the agreement also requires that the IRS drop all audits of Trump and his family.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

From momos to punchy chai, these festival favourites are great at home

You don’t have to buy a ticket to enjoy decent festival food – here are a few ideas for bringing the party home

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This weekend, my social media was flooded with swoon-worthy shots from the Ballymaloe Festival of Food in Ireland, one of my favourite events in the food world’s social calendar. It really is exceptional, because of its range of stalls, personalities and demos, and because you also get a glimpse into the world of the ever-inspiring Allen family (I desperately want an outbuilding purely for fermenting and making sourdough, à la Darina).

Weekends such as this are becoming more and more popular, and they’re undoubtedly a fun and great way to try a range of cuisines, but you don’t have to go to a food festival to enjoy decent festival food. Almost all festivals have great culinary offerings now – I’ve had some highly memorable meals at the likes of Glastonbury, End of the Road and Latitude. Forget living off kebabs and chips after a day dancing in a field; some of my highlights have been meals such as Tibetan momos, vegan thali with sweet chai and Goan fish curry. While there is no Glasto this year, there are plenty of other places to get your fix – you could even bring the party home.

Kurt Vile: Philadelphia’s Been Good to Me review – indie-rock’s most easygoing dude gets existential

(Verve)
Sounding characteristically virtuosic but unbothered, Vile is more forward-thinking than ever on a record that surveys the bliss and bumps of life in his mid-40s

These days, Kurt Vile songs begin in the middle of the story. In the third decade of his career, the journeyman musician seems even more content than ever to ride his own wave, to let his laid-back koans sit in the air without explanation or context, waiting for a listener to find the right frequency to understand or absorb them in their own time. The Philadelphia guitarist and songwriter opens his 10th record – an auspicious number for any musician – in the least auspicious, most Vile of ways, mumbling his way through the moment: “Smoke on my lip / I wrote a song / Some people said / I was doin’ it wrong,” he sings, his plainspoken warble as familiar, at this point, as the taste of Coca-Cola, or the smell of a summer thunderstorm.

Philadelphia’s Been Good to Me relies on the fact that Vile, 46, is an elder statesman of indie rock at this point, and that it would be downright strange for him to put on any airs, or even for him to sound as if he was performing for any kind of audience. The album never labours its points or trades in anything so tacky as radical departures in sound or style. It is, emphatically, a Kurt Vile record – loose, lush, ambling, aimless, and totally, deeply poetic, bruh.

The Canadian musician supersizing Dumbarton FC Women: ‘The players are a megaphone for the team’

Mario Lapointe became the Scottish club’s unlikely owner last year and his radical plans are taking shape at the Rock

“A lot of people ask me the same thing,” says a laughing Mario Lapointe, on how a Canadian songwriter and entrepreneur became owner of the Scottish lower league club Dumbarton 12 months ago. “When I was looking for a football club, this club kept calling me back – not literally.

“For example, I wrote a song in 1992 which had a lyric about sitting on the rock, and Dumbarton’s stadium is called the Rock. It’s also on the river and I wrote a lot of lyrics about rivers and ships, so it felt meant to be.”

‘Take a deep breath and pick up the phone’: a former union organizer on how to negotiate your debts down

Carrie Joy Grimes’ new book The Joy of Money offers tip and tools for middle-class Americans seeking out stability and security

Carrie Joy Grimes wants you to know you’re not going to get rich – or even out of debt – just by practicing “latte celibacy”. She decries the online “shame gurus” who promote the financial equivalent of crash diets, and believes “the economy’s just become harder and harder for everyone to navigate.”

Still, she argues, there are tools and tricks that can help many people save money and secure a slice of the American dream. But you have to know where to find them – and that’s where she comes in.

Record 274 climbers summit Everest from Nepalese side in single day

Climbers take advantage of clear weather after threat of ice fall on normal route delayed start of spring season

A record 274 climbers have reached the summit of Mount Everest from the Nepalese side in a single day after a spring season that started late because of the threat of ice fall on the normal tourist route.

The climbers took advantage of the clear weather on Wednesday, said Rishi Ram Bhandari, of the Expedition Operators Association Nepal.

Victorious Villa party hard in Istanbul after ending 30-year trophy wait

Europa League glory kicked off scenes of royal ribbing, ski goggles on the team bus and knee slides with nephews

It was 1.43am in Istanbul when Aston Villa’s players began to make tracks for their hotel, over the road from the rubber ring-like Besiktas Park. Matty Cash walked into a windowless basement at the stadium, bottle of Efes in hand, and toasted a Europa League victory that will be etched in history, the club’s first trophy in three decades. “The king set the gameplan out for us,” he said of Unai Emery, who, if he was not there already, now has a god-like status among the fans.

Moments earlier, John McGinn joked that Prince William, who joined the players for beers amid the dressing-room celebrations, might “get his credit card out” and stump up for a free bar. Villa’s billionaire co-owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, were also in attendance, the former delighted that Emery had delivered on his promise to put another piece of silverware in a trophy cabinet that had been gathering dust. “It means a lot,” Sawiris said, wearing a Villa scarf. “I can’t express myself with words. Amazing. Very special. An eight-year ride and we saw today what hard work can do with Unai’s effort and the whole team.” Asked what’s next, there came a reminder of Villa’s ambition. “The sky’s the limit,” he replied.

Video shows ICE violently arresting Oregon farm workers and using facial recognition

Exclusive: Body-cam footage shared with the Guardian shows agents forced workers out of a van in what a judge has called ‘unlawful’ arrest

Newly released body-camera footage shows US immigration officers stopping a van of farm workers in Oregon, smashing their windows and using facial recognition software to try to identify one of them.

Videos from a 30 October 2025 operation were disclosed in court as part of an ongoing class-action lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) arrest tactics and racial profiling by agents. Lawyers for one of the detained farm workers shared the footage with the Guardian.

EasyJet summer holiday bookings down on last year amid Iran war uncertainty

Airline, which took £25m hit on jet fuel in March, says passengers are waiting later to book trips

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The airline easyJet has said its summer holiday bookings are lagging behind last year’s, as the Middle East conflict weighs on consumer confidence and passengers appear to be waiting later to book trips.

The budget carrier said it had to spend an unexpected extra £25m on jet fuel in March after the start of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Louis Vuitton revives Keith Haring collaboration at lavish New York show

Nicolas Ghesquière’s latest collection pairs uptown elegance with downtown pop culture and street style

The allure of travelling in style helped make Louis Vuitton the biggest luxury house in the world, and no expense was spared for a trip to New York to showcase Nicolas Ghesquière’s latest collection.

The first model stepped on to the catwalk carrying a 100-year-old Louis Vuitton suitcase on which the artist Keith Haring had doodled several of his signature grooving stick figures in 1984. Prised from the Vuitton archives, the case heralded a collaboration with Haring’s estate that will include the classic LV Speedy handbag reissued with the artist’s dancing babies and barking dogs.

The Boroughs review – this witty, star-packed monster show could have been made by Spielberg

A retirement village Scooby gang of heroes take on a horrific creature in a series that is funny, tender, wise – and executive produced by the Duffer Brothers

I’m sure this isn’t the intended takeaway from The Boroughs, a supernatural murder-mystery set in a New Mexico retirement community, but I am transfixed by what is on offer to the ageing demographic across the pond. It’s like watching an episode of The White Lotus and vowing in your next life to come back as an affluent white American, but more realistic. God willing, we’ll all get old – and with a bit of careful planning, maybe we could stretch to a berth in one of the villages that a country with the space to house them provides for a reasonable sum?

Protagonist Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina) doesn’t know how lucky he is, any viewer native to these cramped isles might think, as his daughter and son-in-law drop him off at his new home in The Boroughs. There he will find like-aged neighbours, multiple shops, sports and exercise classes, a community centre and numerous other facilities, including a lavishly appointed care home (The Manor) for if and when the time comes. A skittering monster extracting a modicum of body fluids from you every now and again seems a small price to pay. But we’ll get to that.

Colombia’s climate crossroads: Trumpism casts shadow over presidential battle

Colombia is a global leader in climate activism. Could US influence drag country to a future of mining and fracking?

Several hours after dark in a quiet Caribbean neighbourhood, a cluster of environmental activists gather on plastic chairs between a mango tree and a courtyard wall emblazoned with the words “Colombia, respira!” (Breathe, Colombia).

So many people have turned up that some have to stand. That is because tonight’s speaker is Susana Muhamad, one of the most admired socio-environmental campaigners in the world, and this is a moment of profound historical significance.

Girl, two, dies after being left in car as extreme heat sweeps Spain

Authorities in Galicia declare two days of mourning after toddler dies during exceptionally high May temperatures

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A two-year-old girl has died of heatstroke in north-west Spain after being accidentally left in her father’s car during an unseasonably hot spell that could push temperatures in some areas to 38C (100F).

The child, who has not been named, went into cardiac arrest on Wednesday afternoon after spending several hours inside the vehicle in the Galician town of Brión after her father forgot to take her to nursery.

"Peanuts" music owner sues U.S. government over use of iconic songs

Lee Mendelson Film Productions alleges the U.S. Department of the Interior illegally used the jazzy tunes in social media posts and a video game.

Colbert hosts "The Late Show" one last time tonight as franchise ends

"The Late Show" host Stephen Colbert is marking the end of an iconic late-night franchise on CBS.

Is Trump's $1.7+ billion "anti-weaponization fund" legal? Experts weigh in.

The new fund to provide payouts to those who say the legal system was "weaponized" against them raised immediate questions about its legality, implementation and enforcement.

US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts, experts say

Hundreds of cases reported in the DRC after USAID has been dismantled and key scientific research canceled

A previously undetected outbreak of Ebola is coursing through parts of central Africa, and the US appears to be doing little to help stop it, after massive cuts to global and domestic public health efforts.

There is no cure and no vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo variant of Ebola, which has caused two outbreaks in recent decades. Health leaders and scientists are now racing to understand where the virus is spreading and attempting to stop it – but the US is notably absent in these efforts.

Struggling with the nine times table? I have a failsafe method | Adrian Chiles

Apparently, nines are the hardest to grasp for primary school children. If only they’d learned how to cheat like me

Maths was never my thing. I quite enjoyed it at O-level, to the extent that I chose to do it at A-level. As early as the first week of the A-level course, however, it became abundantly clear that the subject was quite beyond me. I simply couldn’t make head or tail of what the teacher was on about.

Looking around at the rest of the class quietly getting on with it, I remember wondering if there had been some primer course over the summer that everyone but me had attended. I just didn’t get it. There didn’t seem to be any certainties any more, rarely anything so straightforward as a right or wrong answer. There were enough grey areas in my other subjects – English and history. From my maths I wanted certainty, objective truth, which as far as I could see wasn’t part of it any more.

Canadian prime minster Mark Carney is not the climate guy you thought | Seth Klein

While Canada may be clinging to fossil fuels, much of the world is moving on

Casual international observers would be forgiven for assuming Canada is in the comforting hands of a climate champ. After all, while climate policy rollbacks reign supreme in Donald Trump’s America, Canada is now led by a man who, while serving as governor of the Bank of England, delivered a celebrated 2015 speech, “Breaking the tragedy of the horizon”, warning the global investment community of the financial risks of climate change; who went on to serve as UN special envoy for climate action and finance; and whose 2022 book Value(s) had much to say about the “existential threat” of climate change. A man who recently dazzled the world with his Davos speech on how middle powers can stand up to global bullies.

Look, we get it. Next to the US president, Carney seems so debonair, thoughtful and calm – a lifeline of stability in a volatile new world.

Seth Klein is a Canadian climate writer and activist, author of the book A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency, and former team lead of the Climate Emergency Unit. His newsletter can be found here.

Researchers say the Trump administration is finding new ways to punish science

Even with federal grants largely restored, scientists say the Trump administration is still preventing those funds from reaching them. The consequences, they say, are already becoming clear.

World Cup expected to generate more in sports bets than the Super Bowl

Americans are expected to wager more than $3 billion amid the expansion of legalized sports betting in the U.S.

Buddhist hall housing 'eternal flame' in Japan destroyed by fire – video

A Buddhist building on Miyajima island in Japan has been destroyed by fire. Reikado Hall, part of Daishō-in temple complex, was home to an 'eternal flame' said to have been lit by the monk Kukai more than 1,200 years ago. Fire officials said the blaze was extinguished on Thursday by about 30 firefighters

Hard hats, AI and a fake pandemic: the group of former world leaders practising to save the world

A group set up by Nelson Mandela known as the Elders met in Kenya to model a health emergency – and found much still needs to be done, as the subsequent Ebola outbreak has shown

About a dozen people sat around a boardroom table at the emergency hub of the World Health Organization (WHO) just outside Nairobi last Thursday, their eyes glued to an animated presentation on a screen.

Health workers in eastern Chad have reported several deaths among patients with respiratory failure, they are told. Initial samples suggest a novel variant of bird flu, but confirmation requires sending samples to a foreign laboratory. International health regulations require notification within 24 hours of assessment, but Chad’s government is hesitant to notify the WHO, fearing economic repercussions and stigma.

‘I knew everyone here’: the tower block with 164 boarded-up homes – and a few residents who just won’t leave

Lund Point in east London was once ‘a beautiful community’, according to Tee Fabikun, who has lived there since 1997. Now just four flats are occupied. Why are Fabikun and her friends hanging on? And what happened to the long-promised redevelopment?

Tee Fabikun is sitting in an armchair in her cosy, homely flat, surrounded by her things – papers and letters, family photos, a few Nigerian handicrafts, a forest of houseplants by the window. She is telling me about her neighbours here on the fifth floor of Lund Point, a tower block on the Carpenters estate in Stratford, east London. Next door there’s “a grumpy old man”; well, she thought he was a grumpy old man, but then she saw him in the lift with his granddaughter and he was sweet with her, so maybe he’s not so bad. “There’s always two sides.”

In the next flat along is a young couple who met in the building, maybe in that lift. She was living on a higher floor, but moved down and in with him when they got married, and rented out her place. Then there’s a Bangladeshi family who only speak a little English. Fabikun’s first contact with them was when their daughter knocked on the door holding out an exercise book and just said “homework”; after that Fabikun would often help with her studies. And so on. And it’s not just her immediate neighbours on the fifth floor that Tee knows; she knows pretty much everyone in the 21-storey block.

From Lord of the Rings to Dua Lipa: Stephen Colbert’s 10 greatest Late Show moments

As the much-loved Late Show host says his final goodnight, a look back at his finest and funniest moments

‘He had a unique ability to be human’: late-night TV says goodbye to Stephen Colbert

This week marks the end of two distinctive eras of network television, as CBS’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will air its final episode. The show was created in 1993 by David Letterman after his controversial exit from NBC, and he held the reins for 22 years before retiring and turning the show over to Colbert, who had risen to prominence on Comedy Central as a member of The Daily Show, and then later host of his own political talkshow, The Colbert Report.

Colbert’s run on the Late Show would last 11 years. Last July, CBS shocked everyone by announcing the show’s cancellation, with the final episode to air on 21 May. Although executives claimed the decision was purely financial – even with Late Show holding the best ratings for any late-night talkshow for nine years running – many saw it as a political gesture towards Donald Trump ahead of an $8bn merger between CBS’s parent company, Paramount, and Skydance.

The Education Department is hiring — while it's being dismantled

The Federal Student Aid office lost half its staff last year as part of Trump administration downsizing. Now, it's hiring hundreds of new workers.

These are retirees' 5 biggest financial fears

Retirees say inflation, health care costs and market volatility are threatening their financial security.

Rachel Reeves tells foul-mouthed Reform UK heckler good manners matter

Chancellor wins support from Conservative Mel Stride, while Nigel Farage says he would ‘like to buy man a pint’

• UK politics live – latest updates

Rachel Reeves surprised onlookers when she gave a stern rebuke to a foul-mouthed heckler who shouted at her from his van as she conducted a broadcast interview.

However, the chancellor has won support from unlikely sources, with Conservative politicians backing her response.

‘It was much grittier than the US scene’: UK skateboarding in the 80s and 90s – in pictures

Flying from rooftops or grinding on car spoilers, the skaters at the spectacular birth of a UK subculture are captured in Neil Macdonald’s book Elsewhere

Hen review – plucky chicken beats the odds in weirdly uplifting survival story

In a feat of cinematic mystery and skill György Pálfi coaxes a tour de force from his poultry cast in this parable of animal and human interrelations

Hungarian film director György Pálfi has long been a one-off talent: a surrealist-formalist of sorts who is equally comfortable making a romantic film comprised of hundreds of clips from other movies (Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen), a sick-puppy black comedy about a taxidermist who adores cats (Taxidermia), and a near-silent, portrait of sinister village life in which one character has permanent hiccups (Hukkle). By comparison, his latest, Hen is practically mainstream. That is really saying something given it’s a film whose main character is a black-brown hen (played by about eight poultry thespians and not CGI) who quizzically observes a world where humans treat each other like, well, animals. Comparisons have inevitably been made to a couple of recent features with animal protagonists, such as Andrea Arnold’s Cow and Jerzy Skolimowski’s donkey-centric EO, but Hen is lighter and more amusing, if one can say that of a film that features an extended subplot about human trafficking with deadly consequences.

How Pálfi manages to pull this off is a cinematic mystery, but it probably has to do with his light tonal touch and his ability to truly empathise with his avian heroine without resorting to anthropomorphic sentimentalism. This hen acts much like a real chicken in that she combines shrewd survival instincts and utter gormlessness to a winning degree. For example, after surviving the Greek battery farm where she hatches (a wee black speck in a sea of yellow chicks), she manages to escape the clutches of a trucker who plans to make dinner out of her. Just when you think she has found safety, a fox (amazingly well trained, and also not CGI as far as I can tell) starts stalking her, chasing her into a busy road where the chicken literally crosses the road with the blithe idiocy that makes chickens so adorable. The fox isn’t so lucky. Incidentally, the film does have a disclaimer at the end averring that no animals were harmed during the making of the movie, which is a relief.

Enhanced Games explained: sport’s most controversial event unpacked

Why are the Enhanced Games, taking place in Las Vegas this weekend, so contentious, and how have governing bodies have responded to the event?

The 10 numbers that sum up how Arsenal won the Premier League

Arsenal won the title thanks to defensive excellence, relentless consistency and exploiting fine margins

By Opta Analyst

Arsenal have done it. Finally. After 22 years, they are champions of England once again. Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday night means Arsenal hold an unassailable lead at the top of the Premier League with one game remaining. It’s their 14th top-flight crown overall, their fourth Premier League title, and their first since the Invincibles campaign of 2003-04.

The defining number for that team was zero. Zero defeats across an entire league season. But what numbers best define this Arsenal side? Here are 10 that tell the story of their title-winning campaign.

You be the judge: should my husband stop telling me how to mop the floor?

Martin is happy to vacuum and cook but says Deidre’s mopping technique just spreads germs. You decide whose argument doesn’t scrub up

• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

What gets to me is that whenever I get the mop out, instead of helping, Martin criticises me

Stephen Sondheim by Daniel Okrent review – a superb biography of the musical master

Packed with gossip and incident, this book is also a fascinating study in the gestation of genius

Among the many great pleasures of Daniel Okrent’s new biography of Stephen Sondheim – a book perfectly weighted between the gossipy and erudite – is its rendering of the milieu beyond its immediate subject. You come for the biography and stay for the world of mid-20th-century New York, in which Leonard Bernstein says terrible things about Sweeney Todd (“disgusting”), Sondheim says terrible things about Barbra Streisand (“doesn’t have one sincere moment left inside her”), and Arthur Laurents says terrible things about everyone. In the early 2000s, during a particularly poisonous exchange of letters between Laurents and Sondheim, the latter told his old collaborator, “you’re just good enough to know you’re mediocre”.

The entire book is sheer delight and Okrent, formerly an editor at the New York Times and a baseball fanatic who effectively invented the modern fantasy baseball league, does a terrific job of telling Sondheim’s life story alongside shrewd analysis of his body of work. We meet Sondheim’s mother, known as Foxy, whom the writer and composer made an elaborate play of hating his entire life and who Okrent brings to life in order to get behind that particular performance.

Weird Britain: 10 glorious oddities to visit and marvel at

Eccentric public art, strange ruins, eerie landscapes, follies … Britain has a rich store of curiosities. An enthusiast selects 10 of the quirkiest finds from his new book

One thing unites the British more than anything else. It stands there in plain sight but is rarely spoken about. We may try to hide it; we may not admit it to ourselves; but under the surface, deep down, in the nicest possible way, we are all a little odd. Not in a sinister way, just eccentric, weird, unpredictable and downright wonderful. As a nation we have an artistic and creative zest and boffin-like inventiveness. In fields of innovation, we led the tech world with some of our brave and crazy inventions. Even our landscapes are damn weird, with some of the oldest, most mysterious and diverse geological oddities in Europe, and plentiful legends too. I spent years exploring the enchanting strangeness of Britain, discovering follies, eccentric public art, strange buildings, mysterious ruins and eerie landscapes for my Weird Guide, which features about 300 of these curiosities. Here are some of my favourites.

Dublin gangland figure brings extremist views to Irish mainstream on campaign trail

Gerry ‘the monk’ Hutch has won fans in north Dublin byelection campaign with anti-immigrant rhetoric

Elaine Roe, 61, a cafe worker, has no doubt what is the most important issue in this week’s byelection for Dublin’s north inner city. “The government is wrecking our country, they’re bringing in rapists and murderers and kidnappers. It’s a shame. I might vote Hutch, he seems a normal person.”

That would be Gerry “the monk” Hutch, a prominent gangland figure who is running as an independent in an election that is far from normal. The 63-year-old – who was jailed for robbery convictions in his youth – is a celebrity candidate in a contest for a parliamentary seat that has been dominated by xenophobia and immigration.