French Open 2026: Sinner labouring in heat, Osaka downs Vekic, and more on day five – live

Updates from the fifth day’s play at Roland Garros
Mensik: playing in Paris heat ‘insane’ | Mail Daniel

Back with Kouame, he’s up advantage, takes control of the next rally, and a deep backhand incites Vallejo to net on the forehand! The 17-year-old takes the first set 6-3, with two breaks, and Lenglen is jumping!

Kouame holds for 5-3, then makes 30-40 and set point; Vallejo saves it well, serving out wide then putting away a shoulder-high volley. But he’s soon down advantage, Kouame missing his backhand down the line to restore deuce, but Vallejo shanks his forehand so back round we go. Meantime, Jovic outlasts Navarro in a protracted game on 14, taking her sixth break point to leads 6-0 2-0. She’s taking an experienced top-10 talent to the absolute cleaners.

Inside the luxury hotel at the center of Trump’s deportation deal with Equatorial Guinea

Migrants sent from the US say they are being held at the family-owned Bamy hotel and pressured to leave

At first glance, the hotel looks like any other on this tropical island off the Central African coast, with its palm tree-lined driveway, marble-floored foyer and portrait of the oil-rich country’s president hanging behind a mahogany reception desk.

Yet the eerily empty Bamy hotel is not a refuge for adventure-seeking tourists or international business travelers these days. Since late last year, only a small number of people have been staying there, and they aren’t on vacation. They are being held against their will.

Russia on the back foot with dynamics of war shifting in Ukraine’s favour, EU says – Europe live

EU chief diplomat says: ‘Russia is on the back foot, militarily, economically, but also diplomatically’

Meanwhile, Hungary’s Magyar hits a bit more upbeat tone in his latest post on Facebook, saying that while there are still some issues that need to be resolved, the two sides managed to agree a deal on “many important questions.”

In a Facebook video, he takes viewers into a meeting room in Brussels from which he is working on ironing out the final details.

“I will obviously not anticipate or prejudge what will be the outcome of that meeting, but a series of meetings has been taking place, as you know, between the teams on both sides to make as much progress as possible. …

Let’s see what comes out of it. It’s not much more time to wait. We give it another day, and we should know more in terms of how far have we managed to get on both sides.”

‘True patriot’: White House pays bizarre tribute to Harambe 10 years after gorilla’s death

White House made lengthy post about gorilla shot dead at Cincinnati zoo after a toddler entered his enclosure in 2016

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The White House has posted on social media a tribute to mark Thursday’s 10th anniversary of the death of a figure it called “a true patriot”.

The hero was not a human, however; it concerned the infamous case of the 400lb western lowland gorilla that had been named Harambe, which was shot dead at the Cincinnati zoo after a toddler entered his enclosure and interacted with the animal.

Middle East crisis live: Iran says Trump’s threats to ‘blow up’ Oman ‘dangerous and bullying’

US president said ally would be at risk if it did not ‘behave just like everybody else’

Hezbollah has claimed dozens of drone and rocket attacks that it said targeted Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

The group said it launched several attacks on Israeli soldiers and tanks that crossed the Litani river into the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah near Nabatieh, as close-range fighting continues.

Basílica sunset and Eid al-Adha prayers: photos of the day – Thursday

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

Irish datacentres have increased household bills by hundreds of euros, report finds

Growing fleet of datacentres last year used 22% of the country’s electricity

Energy demand by datacentres in Ireland has added hundreds of euros to household electricity bills in a pattern that could be replicated across Europe, according to a report.

The centres have “drained” €715m (£620m) from the Irish economy and increased household bills by a cumulative average of €360 between 2015 and 2023, said the report commissioned by Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels.

Austrian man who admitted plotting attack at Taylor Swift Vienna concert says he is sorry

Beran A, 21, apologises as court adjourns to consider verdict after alleged plan to attack fans outside stadium in 2024

A man who admitted to plotting to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago told an Austrian court that he was sorry before the verdict in his trial.

The plot was thwarted but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three performances in August 2024.

Core inflation hit an annual rate of 3.3% in April, as expected, Fed’s preferred gauge shows

The PCE price index for April was expected to show an annual inflation rate of 3.8% for all items and 3.3% for core.

The first inflation report under new Fed chief Warsh isn't good

The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation, jumped due to higher energy costs.

Married at First Sight UK had ‘unhealthy’ focus on sex, say show’s insiders

Staff members claim hit Channel 4 show’s culture was ‘toxic from the top down’ amid allegations of rape by female cast members

Married at First Sight UK had an “unhealthy” focus on whether cast members were having sex, former and current workers on the show have said.

One former crew member said the culture on the hit Channel 4 show was “toxic from the top down”. The claims from crew members were reported by the BBC, which previously broadcast allegations from two female cast members that they were raped by their on-screen partners.

EU fines Temu for failing to stop sale of illegal and dangerous products

European Commission finds shoppers on Chinese website very likely to find unsafe items and imposes €200m penalty

EU regulators have fined the Chinese shopping website Temu €200m (£173m) for failing to stop the sale of illegal and dangerous products.

The European Commission imposed the penalty after a 19-month investigation that found consumers were very likely to encounter illegal or unsafe products including baby toys and electronics on the firm’s website.

Family accuse FCDO of lack of support over death of UK man in Grenada

Pathologist found Andrew Frederick’s death was a homicide but UK authorities refused specialist help

The grieving family of a British man found dead in his home on the Caribbean island of Grenada have accused UK authorities of failing to support their fight for justice.

The family of Andrew Frederick, 47, whose body was discovered on 4 January, are calling for an urgent review of the policies governing UK assistance to the loved ones of Britons killed abroad.

British Museum postpones Jewish culture month lecture over protest fears

Decision drew criticism from some commentators and free speech advocates as well as Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch

The British Museum has postponed a lecture for Jewish culture month over concerns that the event would be disrupted by protesters.

The museum announced that the talk on ancient Israel and Judah, which was scheduled to take place on Thursday, would be held at a later date yet to be decided.

Argentina’s ‘European’ self-image under renewed scrutiny after racist incidents in Brazil

Case involving seven-year-old boy is latest flashpoint in debate over race relations in Latin America

‘Argentina needs to end its fantasy of being a European country’: Lucrecia Martel on the story of a killing

A woman celebrating her 32nd birthday on a train journey in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais was horrified when a fellow passenger alerted her that an unknown man had been secretly filming her seven-year-old son.

When confronted, the man – an Argentinian tourist – initially refused to show his phone. But after being pressed by other travellers, the man admitted he had sent the images to a WhatsApp contact.

US abortion restrictions are hindering access to miscarriage care, study finds

States with abortion bans are turning away from medications to a wait-and-see approach, with care falling below standards

Abortion restrictions in the US have made it more difficult to access care for miscarriages, a new study stays.

The new research found that since the June 2022 Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning Roe v Wade, pregnancy care has fractured along state lines; it’s getting increasingly harder to access healthcare for miscarriages in US states with abortion restrictions.

The US has deported thousands to third countries. This must stop | James A Goldston and Natasha Arnpriester

Monitors estimate 17,500 people have been sent to countries they may never have visited – and where they could face further danger

José Yugar-Cruz spent 17 months in a county jail in Muscatine, Iowa, despite never having committed a crime.

Originally from Bolivia, he entered the United States legally at the Arizona border in July 2024, affirmatively approached authorities, and requested asylum. Six months later, a US immigration judge found he had been tortured in Bolivia, would probably face torture again if returned, and barred his removal to his home country. The government did not appeal. Yugar-Cruz was not released for almost a year. Instead, ICE spent months searching unsuccessfully for somewhere else to send him. He finally won his release in December 2025.

The race for oil: will Jamaica be the next country to drill and what does that mean for its green pledges?

With early tests suggesting the presence of crude oil, the Caribbean island has begun to debate whether it could justify becoming a producer

Jamaica is closer than ever to drilling for oil. Tests on samples from the seabed off the Caribbean island’s south coast earlier this year identified hydrocarbons, which suggest the presence of crude oil below ground.

Jamaica imports all its fuel, which costs about $1.5-2bn (£1.1bn-1.5bn) annually, depending on global oil prices. It is a persistent drag on an economy that generated $4.3bn from tourism, its biggest earner, in 2024.

A new report shows how close American households are to the financial edge

In 2024, nearly half of U.S. households did not earn enough to cover their necessities.

CVS to restore coverage of Zepbound, add Eli Lilly's obesity pill to drug plans

CVS will add Zepbound coverage on Oct. 1, and start covering Lilly's newly approved Foundayo pill on June 1.

Bat dog faces suspension after top Dodgers prospect suffers freak knee injury

• Kendall George injured after avoiding dog on field

• Canines are often used to fetch discarded bats

Baseball can be a risky game. Batters are forced to duck 100 mph fastballs, pitchers regularly blow out their elbows and outfielders crash into each other while sprinting to catch flyballs. Now they can add dogs to the list of dangers.

On Wednesday, the California Post reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor-league affiliate in Tulsa, the Drillers, are suspending their bat dog program after one of the team’s top prospects was injured.

The 20 best corridors in film – ranked!

Ahead of the release of Backrooms, we invite you to lose yourself in our list of the most terrifying – and most inviting – hallway scenes in cinema

John Cusack plays a hitman attending his high school reunion, where a kickboxing assassin attacks him in the corridor. The film is dark comedy, but the fight is deadly serious. Fun fact: Cusack’s trainer/opponent is the legendary Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, who memorably took on Jackie Chan at the climax of Wheels on Meals (1984).

Dormitory fire at Kenyan girls’ school kills at least 16 students

Parents face anxious wait for updates after blaze tears through Utumishi girls academy in Gilgil, Nakuru county

A fire has ripped through a dormitory at a girls’ school in Kenya’s Rift valley, killing at least 16 students.

The fire broke out just after midnight at Utumishi girls academy in Gilgil, Nakuru county, about 76 miles north-west of Nairobi, according to police.

American climber breaks Everest speed record, his team says

Tyler Andrews, 36, climbed the 29,032-foot peak in just 9 hours and 55 minutes, smashing the record of 10 hours and 56 minutes, his team said.

NSW make history with first clean sweep of Women’s State of Origin in game three

• Blues defeat Maroons 12-4 to complete 3-0 whitewash

• Yasmin Meakes named player of the series

New South Wales have secured the first whitewash in Women’s State of Origin since the series shifted to three matches in 2024, after grinding out a 12-4 victory over Queensland on the Gold Coast in game three.

The scoreline flattered the home side, who were clearly second best against the shield holders, and have now lost back-to-back series. But they hung with the Blues until Jayme Fressard’s try with 17 minutes to go which proved to be the match-winner.

In praise of polpette, Italy’s infinitely adaptable little balls

From bread and ricotta to vegetables and fish, there’s no single recipe for these beloved ‘meatballs’ – just your own way of making them

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While the Italian word polpette is generally translated as “meatballs”, it actually has a much broader definition than that. In fact, the literal translation is “little balls of polpa”, or pulp. And, yes, the word polpa is strongly associated with minced meat, so, for many people, the word polpette conjures up round or torpedo-shaped morsels of minced and seasoned meat fried or simmered in sauce. But polpa can also refer to an infinite range of pulps and mixtures of pulps made from vegetables, pulses, fruit, bread, cheese or fish, all of which can be shaped into balls, wonderful balls.

Whatever the pulp base, one thing is generally agreed on: once formed, let those balls rest for at least 30 minutes (and up to a few hours), so they firm up and are therefore easier to poach, simmer, fry, air-fry and so on. Beyond resting, however, freedom reigns: the type of pulp, the inclusion of bread, or eggs, or herbs, or seasonings …

Blond Bangladeshi buffalo nicknamed ‘Donald Trump’ saved from Eid sacrifice

Rare albino buffalo spared due to security concerns over unusual level of public interest in 700kg animal

A rare albino buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its distinctive blond tuft has been spared from Eid al-Adha sacrifice after a last-minute government intervention, according to a home ministry official.

The nearly 700kg (1,543lb) animal had already been sold for ritual slaughter when authorities stepped in, citing security concerns after a surge of public interest before Thursday’s festival.

‘I felt my humanity was bastardised’: Cynthia Erivo says reaction to Ariana Grande red carpet incident rooted in racism

Wicked co-star said reactions to the incident, which included suggestions she was Grande’s ‘bodyguard’, reflect an insidious view of Black women

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has said that reactions to the incident at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good, in which she stepped in to fend off a red-carpet invader who grabbed co-star Ariana Grande, revealed “the insidious nature of how we view Black women” and put her off campaigning for Oscars.

In an interview with Variety, Erivo said that she and Grande were “terrified” when Johnson Wen jumped a barrier at Universal Studios Singapore and rushed towards them. “Nobody moved. Nobody moved. So I moved because my brain went, ‘Get him away! Get him out of here!’ … And what people couldn’t see is that he wouldn’t let go [of Grande]. He wouldn’t let go. So I just kept pushing at him to get him off.”

Stocks are rallying despite the Iran war and stubborn inflation. Here's why.

The S&P 500 hit a new record on Wednesday, even as soaring gas prices fuel inflation and consumer confidence sinks.

Ferrari CEO defends $640,000 price tag for its first fully electric car

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna on Thursday said the cost of the manufacturer's new Luce model was a fair price to pay for innovation.

U.S. strikes Iran again. And, DOJ charges Google staffer over Polymarket trades

The U.S. says it has struck Iran again as peace talks continue to end the conflict. And, the federal government has charged a Google staffer for allegedly using insider information in Polymarket trades.

A federal judge in D.C. declines to block Trump's executive order on voting by mail

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has declined to temporarily block President Trump's executive order that calls for restricting mail-in voting. Another judge may rule on the order soon.

US neo-Nazi plotted to kill journalist who reported on him, testimony reveals

Aiden Daniel Cuevas allegedly told undercover officer reporter ‘needed to be taken off the board’

An Alabama neo-Nazi accused of trying to start a paramilitary unit to take out “high value targets” aimed to kill a journalist who once reported on him, according to law enforcement testimony obtained by the Guardian.

Aiden Daniel Cuevas allegedly used “coded talk” to tell an undercover officer in November 2024 that the journalist was a “pawn” that “needed to be taken off the board”.

Iceage: For Love of Grace & the Hereafter review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week

(Mexican Summer)
The quintet add shoegaze, country and 50s rock’n’roll to their core indie-punk sound, resulting in songs that offset lyrical bleakness with gleeful, uplifting music

Iceage have always seemed like a band in a state of constant development. You might say that’s understandable, given the Danish musicians were in their teens when their debut album New Brigade was released in 2011: if you don’t change between the age of 18 and your early 30s, you’re probably in trouble. But rock music isn’t real life, and a less adventurous band might have been minded to stick with a good thing, given the reception New Brigade was afforded. Twenty-four minutes of hardcore blended with noisy Birthday Party-esque post-punk and a sizeable pinch of gothic gloom, it was praised so vociferously that the praise itself provoked heated debate, as claims any one band are the “saviours” of an entire genre are wont to do, particularly when said genre is punk.

Iceage seemed entirely unbothered about any ensuing weight of expectation. If they didn’t exactly sound like a completely different band on 2014’s Plowing Into the Field of Love, they were still doing things you would never have imagined the authors of New Brigade doing: piano ballads, country-rock and, on Abundant Living, attempting to join the dots between Howlin’ Wolf’s Smokestack Lightning and the ramshackle sound of frontman Elias Rønnenfelt’s favourites the Pogues. In 2018, Beyondless offered Dexys-style horns, New Orleans jazz and a track that sounded like mid-80s U2 equipped with a string section. By 2021’s Seek Shelter, they had a gospel choir on board and mixed anthemic songs – imagine Oasis mired in angst, gloom and distortion – with tracks that interpolated the Carter Family’s Can the Circle Be Unbroken? or bore the influence of French chanson.

U.S. street drug deaths keep dropping, but some Western states see deadly overdose surge

Researchers say some structural changes in treating addiction are helping, including wider access to overdose reversing medication.

Serie A 2025-26 awards: our goals, team and culinary scandal of the season | Nicky Bandini

Inter bounced back under Cristian Chivu, Como made a splash, and Scott McTominay kept Napoli ticking

This has not been a happy year for Italian football. The men’s national team failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, while Serie A clubs endured one humiliation after another in Uefa competition.

Inter went from Champions League finalists to elimination in the playoff round by Bodø/Glimt, while Juventus conceded seven goals to Galatasaray. They both did better than last year’s Scudetto winners, Napoli, who failed to even get through the group stage. At least Atalanta rescued Italy from having no representatives in the last 16 for the first time in almost 40 years when they overturned a two-goal deficit against Borussia Dortmund. And then they got walloped 10-2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich.

‘Our unity defined our team’: how tiny Torreense made the Women’s Champions League

Portuguese club come from a city of 19,000 people and their stadium holds 2,400 – next season they’ll be up against the best in Europe, and they can’t wait

For the first time ever, the blue-and-garnet colours of SCU Torreense will be worn in a continental tournament. Based in the city of Torres Vedras, about 30 miles north of Lisbon, they qualified for the Women’s Champions League after finishing third in Portugal’s BPI League. Qualification is just the latest success for the club, which had already won the Taça da Liga and Supertaça this season, after their Taça de Portugal title last year. Over the past few seasons, Torreense have fought to establish themselves as a force in Portuguese women’s football alongside traditional powerhouses Benfica, Sporting and Braga, all of whom have featured in the WCL in recent seasons.

“These have been incredible times, we made history with Torreense,” team captain Carolina Correia tells us. The 24-year-old Portuguese international defender started 15 of 18 league games in a season where the team began inconsistently, but grew stronger and secured important results in the final stretch, including a 2-0 win over Sporting in March. “Looking back to my first days at the club,” Correia continues, “I would never have believed I’d have three trophies and a spot in the Champions League. I’m filled with pride … we are a very ambitious team, and as time goes by, we consolidate our style and achieve our goals. These achievements will for ever be in our memories and, of course, in our history.”

Ro Khanna is taking his economic message on the road. Will it lead to the White House?

Rep. Ro Khanna wasn't in the Rust Belt to campaign. But he could be soon.

UK risks £125bn hit a year from youth unemployment, landmark report says

Alan Milburn warns of ‘lost generation’ after number of young people not in work or education rises to more than 1m

• ‘A record of failure’: what’s in first part of Milburn report?

• Tell us: we would like to hear from young people in the UK about their job hunting experience

Britain risks a financial hit worth £125bn a year from a worsening crisis in youth worklessness after a rise in the number of young people not in employment or education to more than 1 million.

In a landmark government-backed report, Alan Milburn warned that Britain’s economy and the public finances were losing billions of pounds a year amid the growing risk of a “lost generation” of young people.

Trump refiles $10bn lawsuit against WSJ over report on alleged Epstein ties

Legal action claims newspaper tarnished reputation by describing card to Jeffrey Epstein as bearing his signature

Donald Trump has refiled a defamation lawsuit seeking at least $10bn in damages against the Wall Street Journal over its reporting on his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein, after a judge threw out an earlier version over legal deficiencies.

The lawsuit is one of several the US president has brought in his personal capacity against news organisations and is part of what critics say is a wider pressure campaign against the media.

The US keeps finding ways to justify state violence against Cuba | Daniel Mendiola

For centuries, the US has engaged in imperialist intervention in Latin America. The Castro indictment looks like its latest move

On 20 May, a federal court in the state of Florida indicted the former Cuban president Raúl Castro over his alleged involvement in downing two civilian planes piloted by US nationals in 1996. Castro was the defense minister of Cuba at the time, and aircraft with the Cuban armed forces carried out the attacks. The charges include one count of conspiracy to kill US nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder.

On the one hand, the indictment was not a surprise. Immediately after the Trump administration’s bombing of Caracas and extraction of the sitting Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, in January – actions bolstered by a similar indictment against Maduro emanating from a federal district court in New York – numerous indicators suggested that Cuba was next on the list. The Castro indictment seemingly confirms these suspicions, though questions remain about what comes next: will US forces carry out a similar bombing and extraction operation in Cuba? Will there be a full-scale invasion of the island? Or will the threat of these actions be enough to force concessions that might, at least in the short term, satisfy Trump officials?

‘Instagram truly is the new LinkedIn’: why gen Z is using social media to get hired

In this competitive market, gen Z has started to turn to untraditional ways to land a job – including dating apps

Sibusisiwe Khupe, 26, entered the job market once again in September after a wave of unexpected layoffs at London marketing agency Wieden+Kennedy.

She knew landing her next full-time role was not going to be easy. Young workers have been hit hard by the weakening UK job market as vacancies fall and unemployment climbs to a five-year high.

Warren: State Department didn't seek TRANSCOM aid in evacuating Americans from Middle East

Democrats have been critical of the Trump administration's handling of Americans stuck in the region after the start of the Iran war.

An Ohio pastor-turned-lawmaker backs a Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act for schools

The bill says it would permit the teaching of the positive impact of Judeo-Christian values in U.S. history. Opponents say it offers a skewed view of history.

LG Energy Solution's shares surge as much as 16% after landing major U.S. battery storage deal

The deal comes as the South Korean battery company expands its energy storage systems business in the U.S.

Coke can hair rollers and Puerto Rican pride: the street photography of Janette Beckman – in pictures

Four decades of Janette Beckman’s images will be on view until 18 April 2027 at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP). The exhibit Rebels + Icons: The Photography of Janette Beckman will feature 700-plus archival and newly taken images. Among many iconic photographs, Beckman is known for photographing musical legends like Salt-N-Pepa and Run-DMC, and her striking approach to street photography

Whisper it: becoming a mum can make you a more productive writer | Tania Roettger

Before having a child, I had endless days to think about writing. Now, half an hour can suddenly become a window of creativity

Becoming a parent is hard. Eight to 12 hours a day are spent breastfeeding or preparing formula milk and washing bottles. In addition, there is carrying, singing, soothing, putting to sleep, trying to sleep yourself and waking up to repeat this several times a night. So many new activities that before were unknown, filling up every day.

This is time that was once completely at your own discretion, and the new constriction is a shock.

Tania Roettger is a journalist based in Berlin

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.

These swing voters are adding high gas prices into their political calculations

As part of NPR's Swing Shift project checking in with swing voters, these Americans are split on who is to blame for high gas prices but they all agree it has an impact on their personal finances.

‘Among the things he feared most was death’: the doctors and nurses dying on the Ebola frontline

Medics battling the incurable disease in Democratic Republic of the Congo working in ‘agonising’ conditions

When Dr Vladimir Maduali died of Ebola in the early hours of Sunday morning, he was the fourth member of staff at his hospital to be killed by the disease in as many days. Two days later, his colleague Dr Tibenderana Katho Blaise also died of the disease at the Bunia Evangelical medical centre, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Maduali graduated from the University of Bunia just three years ago and had been working in the Rwampara region, one of the areas of eastern DRC’s Ituri province worst hit by Ebola. The 30-year-old died at Rwampara’s isolation centre, where he had spent two days on oxygen therapy, according to his family.

Mistral to explore designing own chips, CEO says, as it ramps up infrastructure build

Mistral's semiconductor ambitions underscore the French startup's bid to control more of its infrastructure as it competes with OpenAI and Anthropic.

Morning news brief

U.S. conducts another strike against Iran, Democrats are hopeful about their chances to retake GOP-held Senate seats, a town in eastern DRC is emerging as the epicenter of the latest Ebola outbreak.

Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly review – lust at first sight

Shortlisted for the Women’s prize, this story of a writer’s infatuation with an older woman begins with bracing verve

Rozie Kelly’s frank and feisty debut novel, which has been shortlisted for this year’s Women’s prize for fiction, begins with a case of lust at first sight. Our unnamed narrator is a “beautiful” 35-year-old writer in a complicated but loving relationship with the equally beautiful but somewhat boring Michael. The object of his attentions is a famous poet, 17 years his senior, running a popular course at the same university that he, in a minor way, is also attached to. He hardly knows her, but he knows that he wants “to be inside her”. It’s all a bit of a shock. “A woman! What was the world coming to?”

So what’s so special about this one? Well, she’s smart, good-looking, well-dressed, not to mention rich and famous. It is this last fact that seems to exert, at least to begin with, the greatest hold over the infatuated narrator. “I wanted to be her, to be like her, to have her success and to know the people she knew.” But also, as he admits to himself as they sit quietly on a park bench watching the ducks, he would like to subjugate her, “to push her down, to render her imperious intelligence stupid with the weight of my body, with my younger, harder form”.

The Four Seasons season two review – Tina Fey’s brilliant follow-up is up there with 30 Rock

Poignant, hilarious, loaded with a super-sharp script … the second outing for this midlife comedy is even more fantastic than the first

Middle age is a brutal time of life. As those of us mired in it know, it’s perfectly suited to being mined for laughs (the unhinged type of laughs that are bound up with tears, crisis, and, inevitably, death.) But still too few comedy series take this pressured segment of time and squeeze it for all its acidic worth. Enter middle-aged joke machine Tina Fey, who with The Four Seasons – her zippy 2020s update of the 1980s film of the same name, co-created and written with Tracey Wigfield and Lang Fisher – has triumphed once again. The second season of her midlife comedy drama is even more perspicacious, poignant and hilarious than the first.

Again there are four fancy holidays split across the seasons, each one given two gag-packed episodes – a rigid but neat structural device that allows the big moments to happen off-screen. Meanwhile we get the aftermath soundtracked by an avalanche of Vivaldi and bracing jokes about sad lonely donkeys, secret vapes mistaken for thumb drives, and the tragicomedy of being an angry, unravelling fiftysomething man in a T-shirt printed with “Keep Calm and Fuhgeddaboutit”.

You be the judge: should my girlfriend stop trying to make our lives plastic-free?

Amy is worried about microplastics. Melanie says she can’t bin everything. Whose argument is toxic? You decide
• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

I want to live a healthier life too, but removing all plastics is unrealistic and unaffordable

Mitigating Mandelson risks would have been impossible, says former MI6 chief

Vetting of former UK ambassador to Washington warned of ties to senior figures in China, Russia and Israel

A former head of MI6 has said it would have been “totally impossible” for the Foreign Office to put in place mitigations to manage Peter Mandelson’s associations with senior figures in China, Russia and Israel when he was the UK’s ambassador to the US.

On Wednesday, the Guardian revealed some of the concerns that contributed to security officials recommending that Mandelson be denied developed vetting clearance in early 2025.

Humiliated by Iran, the US wants an easy scalp: keep your eyes on Cuba | Owen Jones

The decision to charge Raúl Castro is grimly reminiscent of the run-up to Trump’s military operation in Venezuela. Meanwhile, the Cuban people are suffering needlessly

The US war machine has turned its sights on Cuba. Marco Rubio, the Cuban-American secretary of state who has long craved the fall of the island’s communist government, made that clear again last week. While professing a preference for a “negotiated settlement”, he said the chances of a deal were “not high”. A couple of months ago, I saw up close the economic devastation already inflicted by decades of US siege – and, since January, by a crippling oil blockade introduced by Donald Trump.

The US has now charged the country’s former president Raúl Castro with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft over the downing of two planes in 1996. The evidence points increasingly in one direction: it is all grimly reminiscent of the indictment of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, used to justify his kidnapping by US forces.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist

Why Ferrari’s rocky EV launch may not be the disaster investors fear

Ferrari has endured a firestorm of criticism following the launch of its first fully electric vehicle.

We’re going on a Bosnian bear hunt … in Europe’s oldest forest

A guided walk in the primeval wildwood of Perućica, where wolves, chamois and the elusive brown bear roam

‘I know this bear. He knows me. We’ve met several times.” Our guide for the day points to a damaged sign in Sutjeska national park, at the beginning of the trail that descends to the forest of Perućica in south-east Bosnia. The wooden post is covered in scratches from large claws. “Bears are the sharks of the land, because they have the keenest sense of smell on the mountain. They are highly intelligent. I’m deeply persuaded that they know who is a friend and who is a foe. I come often to the forest, so this guy knows my smell. But there was one incident, a hunter who came here to kill, and a bear peeled off his face like an orange.”

With that image, Dejan Elez commands our full attention. A Bosnian Serb law graduate turned ranger and now mountain guide, he is a born storyteller and raconteur. My travel companion, Chris, and I are rapt as he describes the famous battle that was fought near here, when Yugoslav partisans broke through a German encirclement in 1943, taking the Wehrmacht by surprise under cover of a violent storm – “the wind was rising and the lightning was like a strobe” – but after that, Dejan’s narrative leads much further back in time, into the depths of one of Europe’s most ancient forests.

Studio Display XDR review: Apple’s pro display shines very brightly

Crisp 27in 5K Mac monitor is packed with features and some of the best HDR performance you can get for work or play

Apple’s new 27in Studio Display XDR is its best monitor yet, with an exceptionally bright and gorgeous 5K screen that wants to be the pro display for Mac-wielding content creators everywhere, with a price tag to match.

Built to be paired with the latest or high-end Macs, the Studio Display XDR costs from £2,599 (€3,099/$2,899/A$4,799), although it is a cool £3,000 if you want it with a stand. It sits above the standard £1,499 Studio Display and is £2,000 cheaper than the 2019 Apple Pro Display XDR it replaces.

Five people have been found trapped in a flooded cave in Laos. How will divers get them out?

Rescuers say extraction efforts complicated by low oxygen supplies, dark and narrow spaces, plus more rain

After five of seven people trapped in a flooded cave in Laos were found, footage showed one of the men putting his head in his hands in gratitude at his rescuer’s appearance after a week of uncertainty in the dark chamber.

The mission to find them was itself fraught, but so too will be the extraction.

Weatherwatch: Chinese farmers hope for rain at time of ‘small fullness’

In May, farmers in China look for heavy downpours to fill the rice paddies so that they stay wet throughout summer

The Chinese solar term xiaoman, alternatively translated as “small fullness” or “grain buds”, corresponds with the last two weeks of May. In northern China, the name traditionally refers to growing wheat grains; in southern China, to the fullness of rivers with rainwater.

Xiaoman weather is generally warm and sultry, and traditional menus feature bitter herbs and cucumber, thought to counteract the heat.

What is killing Sumatra’s elephants? The battle to save one of our rarest animals

Investigators are still searching for what caused the recent deaths of a mother and her calf, but conservationists say the animal’s shrinking habitat may be the first place to look

The two elephants were found dead in the Indonesian province of Bengkulu, in an area of “production forest” in southern Sumatra. The mother and her calf were lying side by side with their tusks still intact.

Unlikely to be poachers, the cause of their deaths – and that of a tiger nearby – at the end of April is still being investigated but conservationists say this is not an isolated case. It is estimated that seven wild elephants have died in Bengkulu since 2018.

If you’re still on Elon Musk’s X, ask yourself this: why? | Jonathan Liew

Some argue that quitting the platform formerly known as Twitter cedes the space to malign actors. But it’s an open sewer, beyond redemption

You can read the Tottenham striker Richarlison launching a defiant broadside at the newly crowned champions. “Next season, we will compete for the title,” he says. “Arsenal won’t be winning it again for the next 22 years.” You can read the outgoing Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, throwing shade at his Arsenal counterpart, Mikel Arteta. You can see the Liverpool full-back Andy Robertson warning his coach, Arne Slot, that “things have got to change if he wants to stay”. You can see the television pundit and former Manchester United player Gary Neville deriding the club’s playmaker Bruno Fernandes as a “stat-padding talisman” who pales in comparison with the City legend Kevin De Bruyne.

Incendiary stuff, and huge if true. Also, as it turns out, huge if not true. On a regular Monday morning on the world’s 15th-most-popular social media platform, these were just a few of the football-related tweets doing big numbers, getting shared and discussed and punted up the X algorithm to be discussed even more. That none of them were actually real quotes was the most minor of inconveniences. After all, when the whole point of the site is simply to argue over things, to relitigate existing beefs and reinforce existing prejudices, does it even matter if they were real or not?

Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist

Country diary: Mayday, mayday … the heatwave is killing the swallow chicks | Kate Blincoe

Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: Adult swallows travel across the world to breed in Britain’s supposedly temperate climate. Instead, this week’s temperatures have been deadly

Mouth gaping, the swallow chick leans perilously over the edge of the nest cup. It is young, just a scrap of body, and at least a week away from being ready to fledge. But under the tin roof the heat is rising, becoming unbearable.

The chick perches on the edge of the nest, opening and closing its mouth, trying to stay cool in the absence of sweat glands. Then, it’s hard to tell if it overbalances, seeking cooler air, or makes a decision. Either way, it plunges down, dropping with no hope of flight. Somehow it misses the hard breezeblock ledge, and fortunately lands on the horse bedding.

DOJ investigating whether Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll committed perjury

The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into whether author E. Jean Carroll committed perjury in connection with her civil lawsuits against President Trump, sources familiar with the matter said.

To reverse the ‘greenlash’, Europe’s Green parties should embrace Polanski’s boldness | Tarik Abou-Chadi

Be more strident and ambitious, take on economic inequality, and progressive voters will reward you as they have the UK’s Greens

• Tarik Abou-Chadi is a professor of European politics at the University of Oxford

European Green parties have been through a phase of stagnation and crisis in recent years. Long gone seem the days of the “green wave” across Europe. Back in 2019, Green parties secured their best-ever result in the European parliament elections, with 74 seats. In the same year, Green parties also scored record results in Switzerland, Belgium and Austria. Shortly after, they were part of governing coalitions in Finland, Germany, Ireland and Austria.

But more recently, there has been much discussion of a “greenlash”: a backlash against climate policies and other green projects throughout Europe. Across the continent, Green parties dropped out of nearly all government coalitions, and these parties’ recent election results have often failed to meet expectations. With apparently declining enthusiasm for the climate movement, and the decreasing salience of climate breakdown at the ballot box, Green parties are debating how to turn their fortunes around.

Tarik Abou-Chadi is a professor of European politics at the University of Oxford

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.

‘Not many kids had gay dads who died of Aids’: Andrew Durham and Sofia Coppola on movie memoir Fairyland

Fairyland is a bittersweet film about a girl brought up by her gay father in a blizzard of glitter and feather boas in 1970s San Francisco. Its makers discuss its resonance, its tragedies – and their own boho childhoods

When Sofia Coppola logs on to our video call, her friend and fellow film-maker Andrew Durham – whose directorial debut, Fairyland, she has produced – is telling me about being nine or 10 years old, and accidentally outing his father as gay.

“Have you heard this story, Sofia?” he asks breezily from Los Angeles. “About Pietro? The Italian guy that my dad was maybe having an affair with when we lived in England?” At home in New York, Coppola furrows her brow. “Uh, yeah. A long time ago, I think. I forgot …”

Spanish PM’s family affair: the corruption cases involving Pedro Sánchez’s brother, wife and predecessor

Socialist leader insists no wrongdoing by family and backs former prime minister, but has much to contend with

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is facing a long and difficult summer as corruption cases involving his brother, his wife and his predecessor José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero come before judges over the coming days and weeks.

The socialist leader – who took power eight years ago after using a vote of no confidence to topple the corruption-mired government of the conservative People’s party (PP) – has insisted there has been no wrongdoing by his family. He has also defended Zapatero and his right to the presumption of innocence.

‘Seriously the best boss ever’: inside the world of Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant

No one’s name appears in the Epstein files more than that of Lesley Groff, his assistant. Reading through the thousands of emails, a troubling question arises: what did she know?

Jonathan Whitcomb, attorney for Lesley Groff, 5 June 2020

“She did not know.”

FBI interview with Lesley Groff, 24 September 2021

Groff met with a headhunter, and he told her that “there was a job to organize one man’s life. This man was EPSTEIN, a Manhattan socialite. GROFF had never heard of EPSTEIN before this.”

Interview with Lesley Groff in the New York Times, 5 February 2005

“It comes down to the bond. I know what he is thinking and I know when I need to be fast. It’s a nice roll we are on.”

‘We’re waiting for the plan to find us’: Mouse on Mars on working with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and 30 years of oblique adventures in sound

The German duo are returning with the results of their whirlwind session with the late dub legend, best heard in a ‘spatial audio’ installation. They explain why such an unexpected move is par for their artistic course

Interviewing Mouse on Mars is no easy feat. Not because the duo are hard to find, even though their current studio is hidden in a courtyard deep in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. Nor because they continue to be notoriously busy, particularly since one half of the band, Jan St Werner (born Jan Stephan Werner), is now a professor in pop music, at the Folkwang University of the Arts in the western German city of Essen. No, a conversation with Mouse on Mars is an exercise in perseverance and endurance.

Which does not mean it is unpleasurable to chat with Andi Toma and St Werner, as well as their unofficial member and longtime collaborator, the percussionist Dodo NKishi. But any answer to a question may end up somewhere entirely different than originally intended, spanning from the quality of the fruit juice NKishi brought to the studio, to esoteric, tech-optimist digressions on the possibility of forensic resynthesising of the past through archival audio.

5/27: CBS Evening News

Latest details on Washington state chemical tank rupture; Trump's optimism on an Iran peace deal seems to waver.

Patagonia sues drag queen Pattie Gonia for trademark infringement

Outdoor clothing company is suing US environmentalist drag performer for $1 plus legal fees, claiming ‘we wish we didn’t have to do this’

Patagonia has launched a trademark lawsuit against an environmentalist drag queen named Pattie Gonia, who has accused the outdoor clothing company of “trying to erase an activist”.

Wyn Wiley, who performs as Pattie Gonia, has accumulated millions of followers online for their environmental activism, raising almost $4m for non-profits so far. Last year they raised $1m while hiking 100 miles in full drag from Point Reyes national seashore to San Francisco.

5/27: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Takeaways from Texas primary runoffs; Trump paints murky picture of Iran peace talks.

2 dead, 9 workers "unrecovered" after Washington chemical tank implosion

The damaged tank at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. held approximately 900,000 gallons of white liquor, a chemical used in paper processing, authorities said.

Marco Rubio says no more Ebola patients will be allowed into U.S.

The Trump administration announced plans to set up an Ebola quarantine and treatment center in Kenya for Americans exposed to the deadly virus overseas. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now saying no Ebola patients will be allowed into the U.S. Mark Strassmann reports.

Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business 'definitely on the table'

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company could enter the cloud computing market if it overspends on data centers and has excess capacity.

Analysis: What Stephen Miller gets wrong about debt, deficits and immigration

The White House immigration hawk and deputy chief of staff is pointing the finger in the wrong direction when assigning blame for the federal budget deficit.

Ex-judges push to look into "anti-weaponization fund" deal

A group of 35 former federal judges asked a court to reopen a legal dispute between President Trump and the government, calling the deal to create a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization fund" potentially fraudulent.

GPS data appears to contradict Brian Hooker's account of wife's disappearance

After forensic evidence appeared to contradict Brian Hooker's account of where Lynette Hooker was​ the night she disappeared, U.S. investigators are renewing their search in the Bahamas.

Spelling bee coach says, "everyone has this potential"

The 98th Scripps National Spelling Bee finals are on Thursday night. Tony Dokoupil has the story about one spelling bee coach's mission to "make every speller the best speller they can be."

New questions about Brian Hooker's account of wife's Bahamas disappearance

New forensic evidence appears to contradict Brian Hooker's account of where he says he was the night his wife Lynette went missing in the Bahamas. Cristian Benavides has the details.

Americans on health insurance: "I pay a lot of money for and it covers very little"

In the 1800s, Hartford, Connecticut, picked up the nickname, "The Insurance Capital of the World." Tony Dokoupil visits the city to ask people about rising insurance and healthcare costs.

Ken Paxton to face James Talarico in Texas Senate race

In Texas, the state's Attorney General Ken Paxton ousted four-term Senator John Cornyn, making him the third Republican incumbent to lose this month after failing to earn President Trump's endorsement. Ed O'Keefe spoke with Paxton's Democratic opponent, James Talarico.

New York City man sentenced to 10 years in plot to kill Iranian American writer

A federal judge has given a onetime truck and bus driver charged in an assassination plot against an Iranian American writer a 10-year prison sentence.

Matthew Perry's assistant sentenced over ketamine injection

"Friends" star Matthew Perry drowned in his hot tub in 2023 under the effects of ketamine. The 54-year-old's longtime personal assistant, who gave him the fatal injection, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to over three years in prison.

Trump's optimism on an Iran peace deal seems to waver

President Trump warned on Wednesday that even with control of Congress on the line in November, he'll wait out Tehran on a peace deal. As he put it, "I don't care about the midterms." Nancy Cordes has more.

Latest details on Washington state chemical tank rupture

Officials in Washington state are still working to recover nine bodies after a massive chemical tank at a paper mill ruptured on Tuesday. Jonathan Vigliotti reports on the latest details.

Trump's IRS case should be reopened so court can probe possible 'fraud,' ex-judges argue

Reopening the Trump-IRS case "will allow the Court to commence an inquiry into whether the Court was deceived," the ex-judges wrote.

Leonora Carrington work painted during psychiatric confinement to go on show for first time

Exclusive: Villa Pilar, painted in 1940 during the surrealist artist’s stay in a Spanish sanatorium, will be displayed at London’s Freud museum

A recently discovered painting by the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, made during her confinement in a Spanish psychiatric hospital during the second world war, will go on public display for the first time in London this summer.

Known as Villa Pilar, the work was painted in 1940 while Carrington was a patient at sanatorium Morales in Santander, after fleeing Nazi-occupied France after the arrest of her partner, the German artist Max Ernst.

Top FEMA official Bob Fenton says "we're ready for hurricane season"

FEMA says it's ready for hurricane season, though it's still racing to recover from months of shutdown disruptions, delayed grants and a depleted Disaster Relief Fund.

Salesforce beats on earnings and revenue but full-year guidance comes in light

Salesforce has been hammered by investors on concern that artificial intelligence models and services will disrupt some traditional software products.

Prediction markets regulation proposal by CFTC eyed by White House

The CFTC has argued it has exclusive authority to regulate the growing prediction market sector rather than state-by-state regulation.

Snowflake rockets 36% on earnings beat and plan to spend $6 billion on Amazon cloud

Snowflake is going deeper with Amazon's Web Services, and plans to use its Arm-based Graviton chips.

Trump visited soldiers at Walter Reed — but not the 14 injured in the Iran war

More than a dozen soldiers injured in Operation Epic Fury are still recovering at the military hospital.

YouTube taking steps to make clear when realistic videos are made by AI

YouTube said it will automatically label photorealistic content created by AI, the video platform said.

Dell wins a $9.7 billion Pentagon software deal after cozying up to Trump

The purchase comes after Dell spent considerable time courting the White House and after President Trump urged purchases of the company's computers.

Meta to start testing AI subscription services, with cheapest plan at $7.99 a month

Meta confirmed Wednesday that it will begin testing two subscription plans for its AI offerings.

Biden sues Justice Department to block release of files from biographer interviews

Former President Joe Biden has sued the Justice Department seeking to block the release of files related to interviews he conducted with a biographer that later became a central part of a special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents.

Influential US skateboarder Marc Johnson dies aged 49: ‘Everything he did was art’

• Tributes pour in from across skateboarding world

• Johnson was Thrasher’s 2007 skater of the year

Marc Johnson, the influential professional skateboarder whose inventive street style and Bay Area roots helped define modern street skating, has died at the age of 49.

Johnson’s death was announced in a statement attributed to longtime friend and fellow professional skateboarder Louie Barletta and shared by Thrasher Magazine. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

How much money you need to earn to afford a home in 49 U.S. cities

A household earning the average income would need to spend 40% of its income to afford the typical U.S. home, according to Redfin.