Ukraine war briefing: Mixed reaction to Putin proposal of Schröder as peace mediator

Critics question former German chancellor’s suitability, while others think Europe should seize every chance for peace. What we know on day 1,538

German officials have reacted cautiously to Vladimir Putin’s surprise suggestion that former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder could act as a mediator in Ukraine war peace talks, saying they had “taken note” of Putin’s comments but viewed them as part of “a series of bogus offers” from Russia, government sources told Agency-France Presse. One source said a real test of Moscow’s intentions would be to extend the current three-day truce.

Schröder, 82, has remained close to Putin long after leaving office, standing apart from most western leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. He previously held key roles in Russian energy projects, including work on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and a seat on the board of Russian oil firm Rosneft, which he gave up in 2022. Putin on Saturday said he thinks the Ukraine war is winding down and he nominated Schröder as a potential key negotiator to help end the conflict.

Michael Roth, a former lawmaker from Germany’s Social Democratic party (SPD) and chair of the foreign affairs committee, said a mediator “cannot be Putin’s buddy”, in an interview with Tagesspiegel. He stressed that any mediator must above all be accepted by Ukraine. “Neither Moscow nor we can decide that on Kyiv’s behalf.” Others within the party, however, have been more open to Putin’s suggestion.

Quoted by Der Spiegel, the SPD’s foreign affairs spokesperson in parliament, Adis Ahmetovic, said the proposal needs to be “carefully considered” with European partners. SPD lawmaker Ralf Stegner argued, in the same magazine, that “if we don’t want Putin and (US President Donald) Trump to decide Ukraine’s future” alone, Europe should seize every possible chance – however small.

Meanwhile, the US-mediated ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine appeared under serious strain on its second day on Sunday, writes Angelique Chrisafis and Pjotr Sauer. Both sides have accused the other of violating the deal through weekend attacks. Three people were killed in Russian drone strikes on areas near the frontline, and more than 200 battlefield clashes had taken place since early Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. Russia’s defence ministry said it had downed 57 Ukrainian drones over the past day and “responded in kind” on the battlefield.

The US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Moscow “soon enough” to continue talks with Russia, news agency Interfax reported Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov as saying on Sunday.

Russia has accused Armenia of providing Volodymyr Zelenskyy with “a platform for anti-Russian remarks”, in a further sign of a chill in relations between traditional allies Moscow and Yerevan. On a visit to Yerevan last week, Zelenskyy said Russia feared “drones may buzz over Red Square” in Moscow during the annual parade on 9 May. “The main thing for us is that Armenia does not adopt an anti-Russian stance,” the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Russia was awaiting an explanation from Yerevan on the matter.

Latvia’s defence minister resigned on Sunday, after the recent incursion of two Ukrainian drones into its territory, hitting oil storage facilities. Minister Adris Spruds’s decision followed a call for his resignation from Latvia’s prime minister, Evika Silina, who stated he had “lost (her) trust and that of the public”. Silina said anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough to counter the Thursday’s incursion.

On Thursday, two drones crossed over the Russian border into Latvia. A fire broke out, but was quickly brought under control. The Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said that the drones had flown into Latvia as a result of “Russian electronic warfare”.

Oil climbs as Netanyahu warns Iran conflict is ‘not over,’ Trump rejects Tehran's proposal to end war

Oil prices jumped on Monday after Israel warned that the conflict with Iran was still ongoing.

Israeli settlers force Palestinian family to exhume and rebury their father

The relatives of Hussein Asasa described to NPR how they were forced to exhume and rebury their father when Israeli settlers interfered with his grave.

Rivals season two review – if I could give this exquisite bonkbuster 10,000 stars, I would

The gloriously knowing adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel gets a tremendous second season. Its fabulous escapism is beyond earthly praise

Rupert Campbell-Black is a bounder, a braggart, a scoundrel who won’t play by the rules, by Jove. “The man is a loose cannon,” hisses show-jumping coach Malise Gordon (Rupert Everett), as Rupert (Alex Hassell) directs his own cannon at the latest in a seemingly endless conga-line of pantingly grateful locals. By “his own cannon” I mean, of course, his penis. Or rather his “willy”, for there is no aspect of the anatomy – or, indeed, life – that Rivals will not reduce to a cartoon while pointing and sniggering like a schoolgirl. And quite right, too. Who wants boring old reality when you could be engaging in an explosive bout of nude tennis with the MP for Chalford and Bisley (“Tit fault!”)? Anyway, back to Rupert, who, as the aforementioned minister for sport and “most handsome man in England”, is the throbbing nub of this unapologetically preposterous adaptation of the late Jilly Cooper’s 80s bonkbuster.

Rupert has a head for business and a body for wearing jodhpurs while shouting “ARE YOU READY FOR ME TO COME DOWN YOUR CHIMNEY?” during sex. Men admire his ruthlessness; horses are magnetised by his reckless approach to leisurewear.

NBA playoffs: Record-breaking Knicks sweep 76ers as New York fans take over Philadelphia

• Knicks return to East finals after 4-0 series win

• Team hit record 11 three-pointers in first quarter

• Knicks fans dominate in 76ers’ home arena

The New York Knicks are back in the Eastern Conference finals, setting an NBA postseason record with 11 three-pointers in the first quarter in front of a raucous crowd mostly rooting for the road team in Philadelphia.

The Knicks’ 144-114 win on Sunday completed their series sweep of the 76ers. Deuce McBride hit seven of New York’s NBA postseason record-tying 25 three-pointers and scored 25 points. Jalen Brunson had 22 points and Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 17 in the Knicks’ latest lopsided playoff victory.

Trump rejects Iran's latest response to U.S. ceasefire proposal

Iran delivered its response to Pakistani mediators on Sunday, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

Trump calls Iran’s response to peace plan ‘totally unacceptable’ as ceasefire frays

US president expresses ire at Tehran’s reported demands, as drones strike Gulf nations and Israel warns war ‘not over’

Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian response to a US peace proposal as “totally unacceptable”, on a day the month-old ceasefire showed signs of fraying as drone strikes were reported around the region and Benjamin Netanyahu warned the war was “not over”.

The Iranian counter-proposal was passed to Washington through Pakistani mediators.

Experts call for UK four-day week as study links long work hours to obesity

Countries such as US and Mexico that have longer hours also have higher obesity rates, research finds

Those who work longer hours are more likely to be obese and cutting how much time you spend working could help you keep the weight off, research suggests.

International research presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul compared working patterns and obesity prevalence for 33 OECD countries from 1990 to 2022. The study found that countries such as the US, Mexico and Colombia, which have longer annual working hours, also had higher obesity rates, even though northern European countries consume more energy and fat on average than those in Latin America.

Coast Guard seizes sailboat in Lynette Hooker's disappearance probe, sources say

The sailboat used by Brian and Lynette Hooker​ in their travels around the Bahamas — named "Soulmate" — has been seized by U.S. Coast Guard investigators.

Starmer faces fight to survive as Streeting and Rayner eye leadership bids

Chances of Starmer remaining in No 10 appear to be diminishing as about 40 Labour MPs call on him to quit

Keir Starmer faces a fight for his political life in the next 24 hours as potential Labour leadership rivals from Wes Streeting to Angela Rayner began to position themselves for a contest.

Starmer is hoping to save his job on Monday with a speech promising to “face up to the big challenges” for the country on growth, energy, defence and Europe.

Rashford seals title for Barcelona and completes week to forget for Real Madrid

This time it was Marcus Rashford who delivered the knockout blow. Three days after the fight between Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni that ended with Real Madrid’s vice-captain taken to hospital and the crisis at the club laid bare for all to see, they went to the Camp Nou and finally, definitively relinquished a league they had lost long ago. For the first time in 94 years a clásico decided the title, 62,000 fans starting the party as goals from the Englishman and Ferran Torres took Hansi Flick’s team over the line with three games to spare.

If, that is, decided is the word. For Madrid, at least it is over now. They had avoided it ending last week by beating Espanyol, just across the city limits, sparing themselves from having to give their rivals a guard of honour before this game but they knew they could not avoid it for ever: their aspiration was limited to stopping Barcelona celebrating in their presence. But, like so much else this campaign, that was beyond them, and so a second successive season closes without a trophy, and on the worst possible stage.

Nobel laureate’s smuggled memoir details beatings and neglect in Iranian prisons

Writing by Narges Mohammadi, arrested 14 times for activism, offers a disturbing insight into treatment

In an exclusive extract of writing smuggled from prison in Iran, the Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has described the “torture” of solitary confinement, and her systematic medical neglect by the prison system.

The writing from the past decade will be part of a soon to be published memoir that gives a rare and alarming insight into the treatment of Mohammadi, who is in critical condition. It details beatings, constant interrogations, deprivation of medical care and long stretches in solitary confinement during her numerous imprisonments.

VAR offers up Arsenal’s title-deciding moment for digital mess generation | Barney Ronay

Multibillion stage of title-relegation stagger boils down to a referee in front of a screen decoding a raised forearm

There’s a great moment towards the end of the otherwise non-great Rocky III, when Clubber Lang is asked by a straw-hatted, bowtie-twirling US sports reporter for a prediction before his imminent title fight. There’s a pause as Clubber looks down, lets the mask of showmanship drop, and just says the word “pain”.

You can say that again. Let’s face it, this was always going to hurt, whichever way the latest note in the conjoined title‑relegation stagger fell. Just as it was always likely the destination of the Premier League title would come down to staring at a referee staring at a screen to decide the minutiae of an arm wrestle at a corner.

Dozens of people from cruise ship struck by hantavirus leave Tenerife

Britons among passengers and crew taken off vessel and put on flights to 10 countries as part of two-day operation

Dozens of passengers and crew from countries around the world have been evacuated from a cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak.

British people were among those taken off the ship as part of a two-day operation that began on Sunday in Tenerife. They were put on chartered flights back to the UK, where they will enter hospital quarantine in Merseyside. At about 9pm on Sunday, a plane carrying 22 UK citizens landed in Manchester, it was reported.

Netanyahu says Iran war is 'not over' as Trump rejects latest Iranian offer

The Iran war, dragging into its second month, has spiked oil and gas prices in the U.S. and around the world.

Adolescence scoops four prizes in dominant night at Bafta TV awards

Netflix show wins best limited drama while Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper and Christine Tremarco take acting prizes

• Bafta TV awards 2026: the full list of winners

• Bafta TV awards 2026: on the red carpet – in pictures

The Netflix drama Adolescence, which won universal acclaim for its chilling portrayal of violence by disaffected teenage boys, has dominated the Bafta TV awards.

The four-part series where each episode was filmed in a single take won the award for best limited drama, while Stephen Graham, who co-created the show, took the best leading actor prize.

Foal review – British Asian’s search for belonging ripples between tenderness and rage

Finborough theatre, London
Titas Halder’s raw solo play relays one young man’s feverish struggle in the face of racism, deftly played by Amar Chadha-Patel in his stage debut

Titas Halder’s striking new one-man play is about a young British Asian man, A.K., growing up in Britain and experiencing increasingly brutal incidents of racism: bullying in the playground; casual jibes at work; parents who no longer feel safe in their family home. And at the centre of it all: a funny and sensitive man, struggling to find himself and fracturing in two.

This is a strangely arresting production but there are some issues too. It feels like there’s a fairly specific play hiding in here but we’re only given scraps of details. A.K. spends his youth growing up on unnamed “Island” and later moves to the city, where he lives in a dingy flat on Seven Sisters Road. There are fleeting references to Walkmans in his childhood and, later, an allusion to the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes but the writing wavers between a feverish nightmare and something much more grounded and political.

5/10: Sunday Morning

Hosted by Jane Pauley. Featured: The Supreme Court ushers in a new era of gerrymandering; the legacy of CBS News Radio; motherless daughters; comedian Martin Short; rebuilding L.A.; remembering Ted Turner; and Martha Stewart prepares a Mother's Day breakfast.

Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 10, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Sen. Mark Kelly join Margaret Brennan.

Pedestrian fatally struck by Frontier plane departing Denver for LA

A pedestrian was hit by a Frontier airplane departing Denver for LA late Friday night, the airport and airline confirmed.

England squeeze past New Zealand in first ODI thanks to Charlie Dean

• 1st ODI: England, 211-9, bt New Zealand, 210, by 1 wkt

• Captain guides long tail to low target

England’s biggest summer got off to an underwhelming start at Chester-le-Street, as they limped to a one-wicket win in the first one-day international against New Zealand.

Only a calm rearguard effort from the stand-in captain, Charlie Dean, who finished unbeaten on 31 and valiantly marshalled England’s long tail, enabled them to crawl across the line.

Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw sinks Chelsea in dramatic FA Cup semi-final

Khadija Shaw showed Manchester City what they are giving up and Chelsea what they are potentially getting in emphatic style at Stamford Bridge, scoring an injury-time equaliser and then an extra time winner as City came from two goals behind to earn a place in the FA Cup final against Brighton.

Shaw has dominated headlines this week: the Women’s Super League top scorer is set to leave City and Chelsea are leading the chase. Her 91st-minute goal forced extra time before a thumping header in the 103rd minute ensured City’s double ambitions remain alive after the most fraught of encounters.

Sen. Mark Kelly says Pentagon's $1.5 trillion budget request is "outrageous"

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona said the Trump administration's $1.5 trillion budget request for defense spending is "outrageous."

Ruud says Sinner is ‘beatable’ as world No 1 seeks record run at Italian Open

• Italian could win record sixth straight Masters 1000 title

• Naomi Osaka beats Diana Shnaider to reach fourth round

Casper Ruud believes Jannik Sinner is not unbeatable but the rest of the field will have to catch the world No 1 on a favourable day as they try to stop him winning a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title on home soil at the Italian Open.

“His results this year kind of speak for themselves,” said Ruud. “Four Masters 1000s in a row to begin the year. Four of four. He’s already made history, he can make more history. But he also showed in the beginning of the year, he’s beatable. Novak [Djokovic] beat him. [Jakub] Mensik beat him.

Rhythm nation: politician’s viral dance moves mark new, optimistic era for Hungary

Zsolt Hegedűs’s celebrations since the election of Péter Magyar have sparked joy across the country

As Hungary’s Péter Magyar took office, ousting Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power, the daylong event on Saturday was laced with symbolism, from the return of the EU flag to parliament to the ringing out of the European anthem, Ode to Joy.

But it was the 56-year-old tipped to be the new health minister – and more specifically, his dance moves – that may have become the most potent symbol of Hungary’s new political era.

The Guardian view on the Welsh and Scottish elections: Plaid’s triumph heralds a new era in devolved politics | Editorial

Progressive nationalist parties now hold power in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. That will be a challenge for the United Kingdom’s overcentralised state

When the Scottish and Welsh parliaments were created on the eve of the millennium, the then Labour government in Westminster believed that it had engineered a win-win situation. Devolution, it was hoped, would see off any nationalist threat in Scotland and Wales. Meanwhile, the Labour party’s longstanding political dominance in both nations would see it take comfortable control of the two new parliaments.

That was then. Last week’s devolved elections left Scottish and Welsh Labour battered, bruised and humiliated. Plaid Cymru’s historic victory in Wales, and a fifth successive triumph for the Scottish National party (SNP), mean that pro-independence governments are now set for the first time to rule in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast (where Sinn Féin won in 2022). The starting gun has been fired on a new and constitutionally contested era in the politics of the UK.

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

The Guardian view on the WHO pandemic treaty: the west’s fantasy negotiations have put the world at risk | Editorial

After five years of deliberation the global south has forced the question that defined the Covid crisis: who will get the vaccines?

The Covid-19 pandemic did deep and lasting damage to the international political system. Countries in the global south are keenly aware that the established order let them down. They received vaccines later, in smaller numbers and often at a higher price than rich countries, resulting in avoidable death and suffering, and extended economic malaise. Last week, a coalition of those countries made their displeasure known by continuing to stonewall negotiations on the vaunted pandemic preparedness treaty of the World Health Organization (WHO), sending a clear message that when the next crisis arrives, they will not accept the same status quo.

An international treaty is sorely needed. But five years into negotiations, it is clear that the western backers of this plan, especially in Europe, have consistently presented it as a fait accompli, while avoiding the most basic and obvious political impasse before them.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (May 10)

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

Nicola Jennings on Keir Starmer’s reaction to the election results – cartoon

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5/10: Face The Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," amid the fragile ceasefire with Iran, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly join. Plus Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu discusses whether his party can take control of the House in November and former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has the latest on the hantavirus outbreak.

Anderson stuns former club Newcastle with late equaliser as Forest seal safety

Where did Elliot Anderson find the strength to score the goal that ­ultimately enabled Nottingham Forest to retain their Premier League status? Not only did he show incredible endeavour to start and finish the decisive move, propelling into the six-yard box with a couple of minutes of time to run, but the England midfielder, an ever-present for Forest and now a fixture for his country, was playing 48 hours after the funeral of his mother, Helen. “There have been a few things going on recently so it felt really nice,” Anderson said by way of understatement afterwards.

After a give-and-go with James McAtee and burning past Bruno Guimarães, the Newcastle captain, rather than admiring his initial pass, Anderson flashed a shot past Nick Pope from a tight angle. As his teammates celebrated, Anderson lay on the floor with cramp. Anderson has been Forest’s best player this season by some distance, even accounting for Morgan Gibbs-White’s incredible form this calendar year and Neco Williams’s consistent displays from full-back.

Thousands attend rally against antisemitism outside Downing Street

Conservative and Reform leaders cheered as they address crowd, while Labour’s Pat McFadden met with boos and shouts of ‘where is Starmer?’

Thousands of people gathered outside Downing Street on Sunday to protest an increase in antisemitic hate crimes and violence, as senior politicians and interfaith leaders called for unity.

The Standing Strong: Extinguish Antisemitism rally, backed by more than 30 Jewish groups, drew thousands of people to Whitehall, as Conservative and Liberal Democrat party leaders, alongside Labour and Reform representatives, addressed a crowd studded with Israeli and union jack flags and ‘Where is Keir?’ placards.

Aston Villa frustrated by Zian Flemming strike as Burnley rally for rare point

It was always going to be difficult to follow up the high of booking a Europa League final place for Aston Villa but a tired draw at Burnley fell below expectations. This was supposed to be the day Villa all-but-secured Champions League football by beating an already-relegated team but instead were held on an entertaining afternoon at Turf Moor .

Villa are four points clear of sixth-placed Bournemouth with Liverpool and Manchester City to come, making this a missed opportunity, even if they do have the backup of facing Freiburg for a place at Europe’s top table. Jaidon Anthony and Zian Flemming sandwiched goals from Ross Barkley and Ollie Watkins, ensuring Villa cannot afford to completely rest for the remainder of the domestic season.

Tom Gauld on Chaucer’s first unboxing video – cartoon

Pirouetting and gaping: mysterious whale behaviour documented as humpback migration begins

With the help of citizen scientists, researchers studying rare humpback ‘jaw-gaping’ believe the move could be a social display

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

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Off the coast of Western Australia, a humpback whale is “pirouetting”, sweeping its pectoral fins through the water, its massive jaw hanging wide open. Surrounded by companions, the animal isn’t lunging for a meal: rather, it is putting on a mysterious behavioural display.

This underwater ballet, captured on camera by an onlooker and shared online, is one of the clearest examples of a rarely documented phenomenon known as “gaping”.

Mental illness is pregnancy’s No 1 complication. It’s time to support those who suffer from it | Edna Lekgabe

Integrated mental healthcare for maternity services, more perinatal psychiatrists and public awareness of the problem could deliver meaningful change

• The modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their work

When Mia* was referred to me, she was 32 weeks pregnant and had not slept properly in two months. Her GP had told her it was “just pregnancy insomnia”. Her obstetrician said it was normal and suggested she try going to bed earlier with a pregnancy pillow. By the time she sat in my consulting room, hands clenched around a damp tissue, she had been quietly planning how her partner and baby would be better off without her.

Mia is not a real person. She is a composite – an amalgam of the hundreds of women I see each year in my perinatal psychiatry practice. But her story is so common it could be a template. A woman develops psychological symptoms during pregnancy or the postpartum period. She mentions them, tentatively, at an antenatal appointment. She is reassured that what she feels is normal. Weeks or months pass. By the time she reaches specialist care, she is freefalling into a crisis.

Britain’s visceral dislike of Keir Starmer illuminates a problem for his successor | Samuel Earle

There are many good reasons to not like the prime minister. But ours is an age in which hatred is a remarkably popular currency – leaders need a strategy for countering it

It might be that Keir Starmer, not known for his rhetorical skills, expresses himself most clearly through his furrowed brow. It has a way of telling the public that none of this is easy and that difficult decisions must be made. It says that although Starmer wishes it were otherwise, things will get worse before they get better, if they do indeed get better; that there are no good options, only difficult decisions. The local and regional elections on Friday meted out another round of pain for Starmer, and his furrowed brow was once again doing a lot of the talking. “The results are tough, they are very tough,” he said. “That hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.”

Starmer’s furrowed brow courts pity and patience – but voters are in no mood to feel sorry for their prime minister. Instead, if the public’s feelings towards Starmer could be reduced to a single emotion, it would probably be hatred, resentment or scorn. Even those who don’t like Starmer can be surprised at the sheer intensity and spread of the animosity towards him. “[It] is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced,” John McDonnell said on LBC recently. On Newsnight on Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey said that “visceral dislike” of Starmer was the local elections’ defining theme – and the Labour peer Thangam Debbonaire conceded that “I’ve certainly picked that up on the doorstep, yes.”

Samuel Earle is the author of Tory Nation: The Dark Legacy of the World’s Most Successful Political Party

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

Nature: Mares and foals

We leave you this Mother's Day Sunday with mares caring for their foals in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Videographer: Kevin Kjergaard.

Pat Seftel on Mother's Day

Filmmaker Josh Seftel talks with his mother, Pat, about a day devoted to moms.

A mother's (and daughter's) love

Growing up, Ana Duarte and her mother, Anette, went through rough times and were frequently homeless, which Ana blamed on her mom. Their relationship was tested when a bitter Ana left to build her own life. Once Ana finally got her own apartment, she gave her mother a call. Steve Hartman reports.

Rockets, remembrance and religious parades: the weekend in pictures

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

A deadly bacterium is creeping up the US east coast. How worried should we be?

Warming ocean waters are priming beaches and raw shellfish for Vibrio even as scientists are trying to stay one step ahead

Bailey Magers and Sunil Kumar cut strange figures on Pensacola Beach. Bags of disinfectant solution surrounded them on the white sand; their gloved hands juggled test tubes while layers of rubber and plastic shielded their skin from the elements. As the two organized their seawater samples on the popular Florida shoreline last August, an older woman wearing a swimsuit walked over to ask what they were doing.

“We’re just actively monitoring water quality,” they told her, but she pressed on.

A chocolate laboratory in Italy will be good for chocolate eaters — and farmers

The chocolate biz is raising the bar with a lab to assess cacao beans from around the world. (Talk about a sweet gig!) Consumers and farmers stand to benefit from the "Standard of Excellence" program.

A city rises again from the ashes – but will it be strong enough?

In Los Angeles, rebuilding after last year's devastating wildfires has been a race to the status quo, with speed winning out over safety and strength.

How will L.A. rise from the ashes?

In Los Angeles, rebuilding after last year's devastating wildfires has been a race to the status quo, with speed winning out over safety and strength. Correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti, who had written about L.A.'s reconstruction efforts in his book "Torched," talks about how rebuilding after a disaster should take steps to prevent future catastrophes.

‘Degree of complacency’: are supply chains prepared for impact of ongoing Iran war?

The economic warnings are bleak, but full extent of shortages are still not felt for many European countries

The biggest energy shock in modern history, jet fuel shortages “within weeks”, a global recession – since Iran throttled shipping flows through the strait of Hormuz at the end of February the economic warnings have become increasingly dire.

Yet 10 weeks on from the first US-Israeli attacks, share indices, companies and governments have been surprisingly sanguine. Every day the divergence grows between the eerie quiet on markets and alarming warnings of an imminent supply chain crunch.

Motherless daughters: Coming together

Twenty years ago, Hope Edelman, author of the bestseller "Motherless Daughters," founded a global support network for women who, like her, were young when their mothers died – to share tears, sisterhood and affirmation.

Motherless daughters: Coming together

Twenty years ago, Hope Edelman, author of the bestseller "Motherless Daughters," founded a global support network for women who, like her, were young when their mothers died. While those who attend Motherless Daughter retreats experience a fair share of tears, they also experience laughter, sisterhood and affirmation. Faith Salie talks with participants who carry their mothers' memories with them, some of whom are entering the uncharted territory of becoming mothers themselves.

Two arrested over arson attack at former synagogue in east London

Man, 45, and 52-year-old woman held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson after blaze in Whitechapel

Two people have been arrested by counter-terrorism officers investigating an arson attack at a former synagogue in east London.

A 45-year-old man and a woman, 52, were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson and have been taken into police custody.

Passage: In memoriam

"Sunday Morning" remembers some of the notable figures who left us this week, including veteran New York Yankees sportscaster John Sterling.

Saturday Night Live: Matt Damon is a stellar host of another standout episode

The three-time host showcases his comedic skill in a great offbeat episode which sees him play Brett Kavanaugh once again

The penultimate episode of Saturday Night Live’s 51st season opens in a quiet bar in Washington DC. Secretary of war Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) bursts in for his usual, a shot of beer dropped in a pint of whiskey (“a reverse Irish car bomb”). He’s happy to be some place he won’t run into anyone from work since, “none of Trump’s people like drinking as much as I do.”

Right on cue, he runs into Trump-appointed supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh (Matt Damon), who orders his usual: three Buds and six Jamesons (“a six-three decision”). The two celebrate their mutual accomplishments – starting a war and ending abortion, respectively – before opening up about their fears.

Extended interview: Dan Rather on CBS News Radio

In this web exclusive, CBS News veteran Dan Rather talks with Mo Rocca about the impact that the heralded CBS Radio News had on him – as a child growing up in Texas, and as a young journalist learning by the example of "Murrow's Boys." He also discusses CBS Radio News' role in the evolution of broadcast journalism.

CBS News Radio, a beacon of broadcast journalism, signs off

Founded nearly a century ago, CBS Radio set the standard for radio news coverage, featuring legends such as Edward R. Murrow, Robert Trout and Charles Osgood, and created the template for broadcast journalists. But on May 22, CBS will end its heralded radio service. Mo Rocca celebrates the long history of CBS News Radio, and talks with current and former staffers, including "Sunday Morning" correspondent Martha Teichner (who reported on radio for decades), and Dan Rather, a veteran radio correspondent and former anchor of the "CBS Evening News."

Remembering Ted Turner, an American original

Ted Turner, the brash, visionary entrepreneur who founded CNN, transformed cable television, raced yachts in the America's Cup, and became one of America's leading conservationists, died May 6 at 87. "Sunday Morning" correspondent Lee Cowan looks back at the outsized life and restless ambition of a true American original – a man who reshaped the media landscape, helped restore the American bison, and poured his fortune into conservation, philanthropy, and global causes.

A Mother's Day breakfast with Martha Stewart

Just in time for Mother's Day, Martha Stewart, whose latest book is "The Martha Way," offers "Sunday Morning" viewers tips on preparing a special breakfast for that special mom.

Supreme Court ruling ushers in a new era of gerrymandering

The Supreme Court has ruled that, under the Voting Rights Act, Congressional districts can no longer be drawn along racial lines, but can be shaped by partisan aims. The result: A dash to re-draw voting districts in several states. What does this portend for democracy?

Almanac: May 10

"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.

SCOTUS ruling ushers in a new era of gerrymandering

In 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, a momentous piece of civil rights legislation that broke down barriers facing Black voters. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that voting districts can no longer be drawn along racial lines, but could be shaped by partisan aims. The result: a dash to re-draw voting districts in several states. "Sunday Morning" national correspondent Robert Costa talks with key voices about what the Court's ruling portends for democracy.

Daizen Maeda’s brilliance takes Celtic past Rangers and puts Hearts on spot

If the scale of celebration that met the conclusion to this derby is anything to go by, Celtic believe retention of the Scottish title is within touching distance. This felt a hugely significant afternoon, not only in respect of palpable optimism in Glasgow’s East End but for discussion around the Rangers manager, Danny Röhl. His side’s latest capitulation will raise further questions over whether Röhl is in the right movie.

Celtic have cut Hearts’ lead at the summit to a single point and three goals. The next chapter in this most thrilling of races is on Wednesday evening. Celtic travel to Motherwell as Hearts host Falkirk. The possibility of a final-day shootout – Hearts visit Celtic Park on Saturday – is rising. In Celtic, Hearts have direct opponents who have found their groove at precisely the right time. Falling short at this point, when seeking to become the first non-Old Firm title winner since 1985, would hurt Hearts badly.

Health advocates warn government’s claims of baby formula safety contradict data

Independent scientists who reviewed the results said most samples were contaminated with Pfas or phthalates

The Trump administration announced earlier this month that hundreds of baby formula samples it tested for toxic chemicals “meet a high safety standard”, but public health advocates warn this claim contradicts data showing a majority were contaminated with dangerous substances, such as Pfas or phthalates.

Independent scientists who reviewed the results say the data gaps and the contamination raise concerns, though they added the testing shows some bright spots, and praised the US Food and Drug Administration for expanding the testing program, then making the results public.

‘It’s a reset moment’: why are so many people celebrating half-birthdays?

In some places, a half-birthday allows you to learn to drive or join the army. But for others, it’s a way to embrace the midpoint of each year of life

Six months after Lorraine C Ladish turned 59, she began to get emails – from fashion stores, the supermarket, the opticians – offering her a discount. Her half-birthday was coming up, the emails said. She used one of the offers to buy a magenta leather jacket and posted her celebration on TikTok. Ladish is a digital content creator who says she makes “a living out of sharing my age online”. But what really appealed to her about marking the midpoint between birthdays was the chance to “squeeze every second, every month, out of my late 50s”.

Ladish is not alone. Half-birthdays are having a moment. Or, at least, a fraction of a moment. On TikTok there are half-cake designs, half-birthday banners, half-birthday cards – sometimes, they are whole ones brutally sheared – and half-candles. One French brand even released a comma candle for cake decorators wishing to celebrate a half-birthday decimally.

Research sheds light on GI’s murder of seven-year-old girl in Northern Ireland in 1944

William Harrison, a US soldier stationed in the region, was convicted and hanged for the murder of Patsy Wylie

On the afternoon of 25 September 1944, William Harrison, a US soldier stationed in Northern Ireland, visited the cottage of the Wylie family in Killycolpy, County Tyrone, and offered to buy treats for the children.

He had visited before and was, if not a friend, at least known to the family. Mary Wylie let him take her seven-year-old daughter, Patricia, better known as Patsy, across the fields to the shops.

Meet the YouTube whisperers, a booming class of advisors behind MrBeast and other million-dollar channels

A burgeoning group of YouTube strategists are charging big money to YouTubers who want to expand their popularity.

Keir Starmer's party lost big in U.K. local elections. Here's what comes next

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour party suffered major losses in local elections held across Britain last week. So far, Starmer has rejected calls for his resignation.

Temple Israel rebuilds after terror attack

Two months ago, a gunman drove through the preschool at Temple Israel, the largest synagogue in Michigan. Every child and teacher survived, but the community is still displaced and navigating the trauma of the attack. 

Farage trying to avoid scrutiny over £5m gift from crypto billionaire, Labour says

Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, seeks to present issue as irrelevant in interview with Laura Kuenssberg

Labour has accused Nigel Farage of attempting to dodge scrutiny as the Reform leader continued to face questions over the £5m gift he received from a crypto billionaire shortly before the last general election.

Asked about the gift from Christopher Harborne on Sunday, the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, sought to present it as an irrelevance to voters and said it had complied with all the rules.

‘Amazon of America’: film paints vision of a post-coup Brazil giving up rainforest

Vitória Régia imagines rightwing Bolsonaro plot succeeded with US help – and highlights threats facing Indigenous peoples

The year is 2025 and far-right coup plotters have annihilated Brazil’s democracy, assassinating the president, closing the national congress and surrendering the Amazon rainforest and its untold riches to the United States.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Amazon of America,” a thick-accented North American soldier tells a group of journalists being taken on a propaganda tour of an oil refinery in the newly annexed jungle realm. Nearby, a replica of the Statue of Liberty has been carved out of the wilderness to celebrate Washington’s tutelage over more than half of Brazil.

How to make arancini – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

These fried rice balls are the Sicilian equivalent of a sandwich lunch, and can be batch-made in advance. Here is your step-by-step guide …

Before I wrote this recipe, it hadn’t occurred to me that the word “arancini” means “little oranges”, and, plump, round and golden as they are, it makes sense, too. Indeed, these robust rice balls, which are said to have come to Sicily with Arab invaders in the 10th century, are now, according to the late Antonio Carluccio, the local equivalent of a sandwich lunch.

Prep 25 min
Cook 45 min
Makes 8 large balls

Happy Mother's Day to the kindest mom. P.S. Your kindness annoyed me when I was a kid

She and her siblings had to make tea for and share food with every visitor. That did not make her happy. Today she has a different perspective. So she finally asked her mom: What made you so kind?

‘I was in a terrible state’: actor David Morrissey tells how social anxiety led him to alcoholism

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Liverpool-born actor says depression and anxiety followed death of his father when he was 15

The actor David Morrissey has spoken of how “terrible” social anxiety contributed to him becoming an alcoholic.

“I am a recovering alcoholic,” Morrissey, who has been sober for 21 years, told Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. “Drinking first was about anxiety. I’ve had this terrible social anxiety and that helped me get through it.”

‘I don’t know what could top that’: debut author Jem Calder on being discovered by Sally Rooney

His first story collection, Reward System, was a cult hit. Now comes a novel that’s a bleakly funny appraisal of millennial relationships, technology and ennui. He talks about love, precarity and being called the ‘voice of a generation’

Jem Calder’s writing career had a fairytale start. Sally Rooney emailed him, impressed with a short story he’d submitted to the literary magazine she was editing soon after Conversations with Friends came out. It was the first story he’d ever completed. Calder was already “a huge fan” of Rooney’s, so the whole thing was surreal, he tells me. “I can’t really imagine what could top that, to be honest.”

That story ultimately ended up in Reward System, Calder’s 2022 collection of six interconnected tales following a cast of sad young things living in an unnamed city. It was hailed as a book of the year; a review in this paper placed Calder among “the most talented young writers of fiction at work today”. Now, his debut novel, I Want You to Be Happy, picks up some of the themes of the first book: the trials of modern love, millennial ennui, consumer culture, technology, political and ecological doom. And it’s already got some famous fans: David Szalay has sung its praises, while Andrew O’Hagan says Calder is his “new favourite writer”.

Dining across the divide: ‘I don’t see why anybody would feel uncomfortable with national flags’

They have opposite views on the flying of the union jack, but could they agree on the need for safe and legal asylum routes into the UK?

Maxine, 62, Barnsley

Occupation Retail sales assistant

How TMZ is finding its footing on the political scene, even after some misfires

The salacious gossip website is hounding politicians and tracking vacationing members of Congress

TMZ has only been in Washington DC for a matter of weeks, but the salacious gossip website is already having an impact: hounding politicians, tracking vacationing members of Congress and reporting on a senator taking a trip to Disney World.

It’s been quite the start as the website and TV channel attempts to break into the political scene, with its first focus on members of Congress taking a two-week recess – typically meaning the politicians return to their home districts and states to meet constituents – during a record partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

How do we get more men to join the anti-Trump resistance? | Saul Austerlitz

My activist group is about 80% women. Where did all the men go – and how can we get them back?

In Donald Trump’s first term, my Brooklyn-based activist group had the peculiar dynamic of being started by two men while being composed of about 65% women. Since November 2024, our group has doubled in size, and the gender imbalance has tipped even further: we are now about 80% women.

Almost 18 months into Trump’s second term, it is abundantly clear that the appetite for anti-Trump, pro-democracy activism has not dimmed at all. And yet, there is a substantial portion of the populace that, in my experience as an activist, seems to have lost its fervor for the fight.

Of course we look for ourselves in art — but if we stop there, we're missing out

As I watched the new series, I only cared about Piggy — the thoughtful, smart kid stranded on an island with other boys. That made me think about what we look for in art.

How a pill approved 25 years ago transformed cancer treatment

When the Food and Drug Administration approved Gleevec to treat a form of leukemia in 2001, it ushered in a new era in cancer care.

Pardoned January 6 rioter sentenced to seven years for Virginia burglary

Zachary Alam spent four years in jail for his role in the Capitol attack before Trump pardoned him in 2025

A convicted participant in the 6 January 2021 US Capitol attack who was pardoned at the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency has been ordered to serve seven years in prison after a jury found him guilty of committing a burglary in Virginia in May 2025.

Zachary Alam, 34, had previously drawn one of the stiffest prison sentences – eight years – for his hand in the violence carried out at the US Capitol in Washington DC by supporters of Trump after his first presidency ended in defeat to Joe Biden after the 2020 White House election.

‘I will keep defending immigrants’: new bishop, who was smuggled into the US as a teen, joins pope’s resistance to Trump

The Right Rev Evelio Menjivar-Ayala vows to ‘keep talking’ as West Virginia bishop, amid tension between Trump and the Vatican

The new bishop appointed to lead West Virginia Catholics has pledged to continue speaking up for immigrants in the mould of Pope Leo, who appointed him last week amid ongoing tension between Donald Trump and the Vatican.

The Right Rev Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, 55, is not planning to hide his views after being elevated from assistant bishop in Washington DC to lead the diocese that covers West Virginia – the first Latino American bishop from El Salvador, who left Central America as a teenager and arrived in the US smuggled in the trunk of a car.

‘Blindfolded, I sat down slowly. Then the interrogation began’: Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi on the torture of solitary confinement

Sentenced to 44 years in prison for her political activism, she is now critically ill and her family warn she may soon die in custody. In this exclusive excerpt from her writings, smuggled out of prison at immense risk, Mohammadi describes the horror of her incarceration

The cell had no ventilation. At the top of the door, at the highest point, there was a window set close to the ceiling, covered with a perforated metal sheet. The tiny holes in the sheet would allow the thinnest strands of sunlight to promise morning, and as the sun’s golden rays disappeared, they would signal the coming of night.

The most delusional element of solitary confinement is time itself. The hands of the clock are gone; day and night pass without measure. Time becomes nothing but a narrow beam of light slipping through the small holes in a metal sheet. I didn’t dare take an afternoon nap, because I would lose my grip on time entirely. In the outside world, such a nap might last only minutes – but inside the cell, within the confines of my shackled mind, it felt as though years had passed. When I woke up, I didn’t know if it was still today, if I had slipped back into yesterday, or if I had already arrived at tomorrow.

Book excerpt: "Torched" by Jonathan Vigliotti

In his new book, the CBS News correspondent writes of the warning posed by the inadequate response to last year's catastrophic wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in Southern California – as well as to the daunting task of rebuilding.

Cape Verde: Tiny nation, massive World Cup dream

In Cape Verde, a small island nation off West Africa, World Cup qualification is transforming dreams on and off the pitch.

Iran ceasefire tested as cargo ship catches fire after being hit off Qatar's coast

A cargo ship caught fire Sunday after being hit by an unknown projectile off Qatar's coast, the British military said.

‘10 minutes of nirvana’: 52 writers on the best sandwich of their life

Are you feeling hungry? If not, you will be after reading about the world’s most mouth-watering, life-changing sandwiches of all time ...

A crab stick and taramasalata baguette
I was young and carefree, living in Barons Court, west London, in the mid-90s. Chains weren’t a thing, and delis all had sandwich fillings laid out in silver dishes of a uniform, surgical shape, inviting adventure. Russian salad and ham? Sure, why not. The price structure was weird: sometimes everything was the same, and other times you’d accidentally hit a premium ingredient and your sandwich would be £3.50. That’s how I hit on the crab stick and taramasalata baguette, after a financial catastrophe involving actual crab. Crab sticks taste nothing like crab. They are, in fact, more delicious. So much better. And everything so pink. My life was like a fairytale. Zoe Williams

A vegetarian Christmas focaccia
Christmas sandwiches can be wildly underwhelming for veggies – but I’m still craving Glasgow cafe Boca’s offering: salty focaccia, stuffed to the brim with mushroom and chestnut roast, apricot glazed carrots and parsnips, cranberry and walnut agrodolce, sprout slaw and the option to add hefty slices of brie – which, of course, I did. Indulgent, Christmassy, and not a “festive falafel” in sight. Leah Harper

‘My dad cannot see me on stage doing this’: will the stigma around boys who dance ever shift?

As the pioneering BalletBoyz company celebrates its 25th anniversary and Billy Elliott returns to the stage, the male dance landscape appears transformed from where it was at the turn of the century. But a certain macho dismissiveness remains …

“We always thought BalletBoyz was a really stupid name. We wanted not to be BalletBoyz.” says William Trevitt, founder of the company called, guess what, BalletBoyz. It was the BBC that landed them with that tag, when then-Royal Ballet dancers Trevitt and Michael Nunn made a cheeky and revealing backstage documentary at London’s Royal Opera House. Their knockabout, laddish charm won them fans, and when they went on to found their own company, first the two of them, later expanded to 10 men, the name stuck. It does carry a slight hint of the Chippendales about it. “We had a theatre manager coming and saying: ‘Could you ask the dancers to take their shirts off in the second act?’” remembers Trevitt. Which may say something about the expectations of a group of men dancing.

BalletBoyz is heading out on tour this month to celebrate its 25th anniversary. In those two-and-a-half decades, Nunn and Trevitt have done a lot for the image of men dancing (they have had women in their shows over the years, too, it must be said). It was never their intention to make a statement, it was always just about great dance, but still, here were two straight men who danced together – and later a whole company of young men – and commissioned a new repertoire that wasn’t about romantic partnering, but “two matching energies and exploring the balance between them”, as Trevitt puts it.

Around the same time Nunn and Trevitt were making their video diaries, another iconic male dancer spun into view. The film Billy Elliot came out in 2000, the story of the miner’s son who wanted to dance, and by the moving final scene was leaping into choreographer Matthew Bourne’s pioneering Swan Lake with its cast of all-male swans. The film was turned into a multi-award-winning musical that’s still going strong, with a new national tour opening this autumn.

It seemed like a moment where the image and profile of male dancers was changing – the so-called “Billy Elliot effect” – with rumours that one year more boys than girls auditioned for the Royal Ballet School. It feels as though in 2026 we’re living in a culturally different time to the turn of the millennium, especially when it comes to expectations of gender, so have attitudes to boys and men dancing completely changed?

“It’s cool to dance now, isn’t it,” says Layton Williams, who was the ninth Billy Elliot on stage, and more recently a runner-up on Strictly with pro partner Nikita Kuzmin. “My nephew is dancing on TikTok with his mates, and he’s a proper lad.”

‘I will sing at the drop of a hat’: Jeff Goldblum’s honest playlist

The actor and pianist swapped playing Beethoven for Deep Purple and knows what to put on at a party, but which of his movie themes has he put words to?

The first song I learned to play
When I was eight, my piano teacher Tommy Emil would come over to our house in Pittsburgh, and would suffer because I hadn’t practised Beethoven’s Für Elise. Instead, it thrilled me to practise jazz arrangements of Alley Cat, Stairway to the Stars and Deep Purple.

The first song I fell in love with
My dad brought home Misty by Errol Garner, also from Pittsburgh and his favourite piano player. With his block chords and particular rhythm, he makes the piano sound like a whole orchestra, so I fell in love with it, too.

How did a wealthy widow wind up dead below a staircase in her mansion?

Beverly Hills detectives responding to the death of 67-year-old Violet Yacobi — who was found on the marble floor below a staircase in her mansion — suspected foul play and her dentist son, and wondered if the family fortune was a motive for murder.

Cape Verde bets on tech to reverse postcolonial brain drain

African archipelago hopes startups, digital infrastructure and diaspora investment can transform its economy

For much of its history since its discovery by the Portuguese in the mid-15th century, the Cape Verde archipelago off the coast of west Africa served as a hub of the international slave trade, with Africans forcibly transported to marketplaces before being distributed across the Americas and Europe.

Now, almost 150 years since slavery was abolished in Cape Verde, and just over 50 years since independence from Portugal, Pedro Fernandes Lopes wants the country to become a beacon for the free movement of human and financial capital across the African diaspora.

Away from the red carpet, the ‘flashy, jazzy and tacky’ descend on Cannes – photo essay

Photographer Sonia Reveyaz explains the lure of the hustle, bustle, glitz and glamour on the sidelines of the Cannes film festival

It’s flashy, jazzy, tacky, it’s jet set, totally. From dawn to dusk on the Croisette, the boulevard stretching along the Mediterranean Sea in Cannes, everyone is dressed to the nines. For 10 days, it’s all about getting an invitation to join the Cannes film festival’s exclusive club. But not everyone stops to watch a movie.

In this image-driven economy, luxury is embodied right down to the skin. The media plays a central role in creating desire. Magazine publishers and social media platforms collaborate with brands to promote their new products and showcase the celebrities who wear them. Now, a new type of celebrity – one with an unconventional career path and who starts from nothing – is invited to the Croisette: influencers.

‘A long road ahead’: could community car-sharing help UK hit climate targets?

East Midlands electric car club helps residents and cuts emissions – but the need for a volunteer-led scheme reflects a much wider problem

In the aftermath of the Covid pandemic Miriam Stoate, a regenerative farmer from rural Leicestershire, noticed that too many people in her small village in England’s East Midlands were struggling to get around.

Although there were plenty of cars parked in Tilton, too often she found some of the village’s residents did not have access to one when they really needed it.

‘They’ve invented a spurious pseudo-disease’: why are so many men being told they have low testosterone?

Social media influencers and booming men’s health companies are pushing the hormone as an answer to all ills. But is ‘low T’ really problematic – or something created to sell men a cure to a problem they don’t have?

A s a young man, Nick Dooley never thought about his hormones. He always considered himself “quite an outgoing, confident, chatty person”. Around the time he turned 30, however, Dooley began putting on weight and struggling with anxiety, “just slowly becoming a shell of my former self”, he says. By 38, he weighed 22st (140kg) and had a range of health issues. “I spent most of my life sat in front of a TV, doing nothing, with zero motivation, and from how I was in my 20s, that wasn’t me. I knew something wasn’t right.”

In 2024, Dooley had a private medical exam, which flagged he had fatty liver disease and was producing low levels of testosterone. “It wasn’t something I’d ever really heard of,” he says. “So I started down a Reddit rabbit hole.” An NHS doctor told him his blood testosterone levels, at 11.2 nmol a litre, were “within range” (although guidance differs between trusts, NHS England generally considers between 8 and 30 nmol/L normal) and offered him antidepressants. “I knew that wasn’t going to fix me,” he says. Instead, Dooley signed up with Manual, an online men’s health company. After two quick blood tests and a virtual consultation, Manual, which has since rebranded as Voy, started him on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).

Donald Trump will arrive in Beijing this week knowing that Xi holds all the cards | Simon Tisdall

The US president will be counting on China to influence Iran and help him out of his latest mess. But the price may be high – including for Taiwan

Like an out-of-control wrecking ball, swinging wildly back and forth, Donald Trump smashes up the international order without much thought for the consequences. Lacking coherent strategies, workable plans or consistent aims, he power-trips erratically from one fragile region, tense warzone and complex geopolitical situation to another, leaving misery, confusion and rubble in his wake. Typically, he claims a bogus victory, demands that others repair the damage and pick up the tab, then looks around for something new to break.

The president will bulldoze into another international minefield this week – the fraught standoff between China and Taiwan – when he travels to Beijing for a two-day summit with President Xi Jinping. After a string of humiliating policy implosions over Ukraine, Gaza, Nato, Greenland, and now Iran and Lebanon, needy Trump craves a diplomatic success to flaunt at home. But his hopes of vote-winning trade pacts are overshadowed by his latest war of choice. He needs Xi’s promise not to arm Iran if all-out fighting resumes – and Xi’s help keeping the strait of Hormuz open as part of a mooted framework peace deal.

Mitsu, London EC2: ‘Determinedly fun and delicious’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

It won’t win any plaudits from Japanese purists, but there’s still much to admire here

No spoilers, but I knew even before I’d reached for my chopsticks that Mitsu would be a vast improvement on its predecessor, because it has taken the place of Nobu Shoreditch in the under-gusset of the Aethos hotel, a Swiss-owned “lifestyle hospitality brand”, in east London. Nobu was gargantuan, moodily lit (that is, pitch black), woundingly expensive and terrifically hard to book, despite having something like 797 seats; it was also one of the most soulless London restaurants of the past 25 years. Nobu Shoreditch felt symbolic: it was where all the raffish hope of the 1990s YBA crowd and the early noughties electroclash heads went to die.

But that was then, and now, in 2026, the Aethos crew has deftly brightened and lightened the mood of the room, making it actually cosy and adding a twinkly central bar; there’s an open robata kitchen and roomy booths, as well as a pretty Japanese garden. Mitsu calls itself an izakaya, which is what European restaurateurs always say when they mean the Japanese-influenced food isn’t too po-faced and you can get really tipsy on sake.

Defence sovereignty: Europe races to build the low-cost weapons of future

With Trump wavering on Nato and war in Ukraine, Europe is scrambling to spend billions on weapons such as drones

In a small workshop in England’s East Midlands, engineers at the British startup Skycutter are designing weapons for Ukraine. A row of 3D printers make the fuselage for interceptor drones, while parts such as motors and navigation chips are slotted together by hand. The same process happens hundreds of thousands of times a month in partner Ukrainian factories.

The swarms of cheap, deadly and often autonomous drones deployed in that war have already changed combat completely. Troops far behind the frontline must move constantly to avoid attack from the air, travelling along netted tunnels and landscapes crisscrossed by fibre optic cables used to steer drones past radio jamming. Cities are terrorised by guided missiles that are cheaper and therefore more widely used than those that came before.

Tehran, Taiwan, trade … what are the hazards facing Trump on Xi summit tightrope?

US leader enters talks with superpower rival from vulnerable position, but will be hoping for economic wins amid turbulent backdrop

If all goes to plan over the next few days – and that is a big if – Donald Trump will arrive in Beijing on Wednesday for a highly anticipated summit with Xi Jinping, China’s leader.

The trip will mark the first time a US president has visited China in nearly a decade. The last visit was also made by Trump, during his first term, in 2017.

Watch our full interview with Spencer Pratt

Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt​ opened up about his run for mayor of Los Angeles in an exclusive interview with CBS News.

Do look up: stargazing in New Zealand’s first dark sky community

It took 10 years for Naseby to achieve its DarkSky International certification. Now, a night out in the tiny Otago town is like ‘a tour through the history of the universe’

As the last strip of pink on the horizon fades to indigo on the Maniototo Plain in Otago, every word I speak arrives in a puff of condensation. Six hundred metres above sea level, in winter the temperature here can drop to -15C. Spring isn’t much warmer. But the chill is worth it. Standing in the dark in what feels like the middle of nowhere, I’ve come to a paddock not far from the historic mining town of Naseby to stargaze.

Even in a country where there’s about 20km of space per person, the Maniototo Plain is sparsely populated. During the 1860s gold rush about 20,000 fortune seekers descended on Otago, but when they eventually moved on, towns like Naseby were left to a sleepy future. Now home to just 140 people, it’s not even a place you drive through. “We’re not on the way to anywhere,” says local Jill Wolff. “You’ve got to choose to go to Naseby.”

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Oil-based products are everywhere, from fertiliser to fashion. What are the alternatives?

Substituting the petrochemicals that underpin everyday life is challenging, but there are ways to produce what we need without fossil fuels

• I tried to live for 24 hours without using oil-based products. It was ridiculously impossible

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The standoff in the strait of Hormuz has shown just how dependent the world’s economy is on fossil fuels. From petrochemicals to plastics and fertiliser, they all begin life as oil or gas – but are there alternatives? Can we loosen the grip that fossil fuels have on our lives?

While solutions to wean the transport system off imported oil are well understood – albeit not fully implemented – substituting the plethora of petrochemicals that underpin everyday life is a much more challenging task.

The emerging cancer treatment that’s exciting scientists: ‘We’ve just scratched the surface on what’s possible’

After embarking on a trial of CAR T-cell therapy, actor Sam Neill announced he is cancer-free. Researchers are enthusiastic the therapies could be a major weapon in the battle against cancer

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“Game-changer.” That’s how Prof Misty Jenkins, an immunologist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, describes CAR T-cell therapy, an emerging but still costly cancer treatment that supercharges the body’s immune system to fight disease.

Late last month, Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill put the treatment in the spotlight, revealing his stage three cancer was in remission after undergoing CAR T-cell therapy as part of a clinical trial in Sydney. He stopped short of describing his remission as a miracle – the success, he said, was “science at its best”.

The moment I knew: I gave her one of my paintings, she gave me an empty chip packet

When Mitch Cairns met Agatha Gothe-Snape, he was instantly charmed. Then an absurd exchange shifted their relationship into something more than friendship

The first time I saw Agatha, she was saturated, standing in a knee-high bucket wearing a knitted woollen jumper that said Ho Ho Ho on it. Whatever I’d expected to see at the Christmas group show at MOP Projects – an artist-run gallery in Redfern, Sydney – this vision transcended it. As I walked into the hall-like space, it was devoid of any artwork aside from this absolutely beautiful woman standing there with water dripping on to her head.

It was 2007, and I was a graduate of the National Art School. People weren’t making this type of work there, so it’s no exaggeration to say the whole image was completely new and arresting for me. She was silent and stationary but so alive.

Danish rightwing leader asked to form government after Frederiksen fails to form coalition

Denmark’s king asks Troels Lund Poulsen to form government after PM struggles to gather support

The king of Denmark has asked a centre-right politician to try to form a new government after the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has failed to put together a ruling coalition.

The announcement on Friday night shook the political establishment as Frederiksen has been a staple of Danish politics for decades. Her left-leaning party, the Social Democrats, won the plurality of votes in parliamentary elections in March.