Pfizer tops Wall Street estimates, reaffirms outlook as newer products show growth

Pfizer is looking to newer products and acquisitions to offset a declining Covid business.

1 missing U.S. soldier in Morocco was trying to save another, officials say

Search and rescue efforts were still underway as of Monday after the two U.S. Army soldiers went missing off Morocco's southern coast over the weekend while off duty during a training exercise.

Pirro changes course in Fed investigation, move unlikely to satisfy Powell

The U.S. attorney opted not to appeal a ruling that had blocked her subpoenas to the Fed.

Ohio heads to polls as Ramaswamy hopes to lock in as Republican candidate for governor – US politics live

Trump-endorsed candidate facing a long-shot challenge from car designer and YouTube provocateur Casey Putsch

Voters in Ohio on Tuesday are selecting candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections. The state is expected to play a major role in deciding whether Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans maintain control of Congress for the final two years of his term.

The race with the highest national profile is Ohio’s Senate special election, in which Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, is vying to unseat the Republican incumbent, Jon Husted, and return to the chamber after failing to win re-election in 2024. The winner will serve the final two years of the term JD Vance won in 2022, before he became vice-president last year.

Donald Trump has threatened that Iran will be “blown off the face of the earth” if it attacks US vessels trying to reopen a route through the strait of Hormuz. The US launched an operation to help hundreds of ships trapped with their crews in the Gulf, dragging the region back to the brink of full-scale war. While the US military claimed to have destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted both Iranian cruise missiles and drones, this was denied by Iran. More here.

The Trump administration moved to block a lawsuit Minnesota officials filed almost six years ago alleging oil companies and a petroleum trade group deceived state residents about climate change. The justice department, the administration’s law enforcement arm, filed an action in federal court in Minneapolis arguing that the federal government has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, not states, and that Minnesota officials are trying to improperly impose their policy preferences on the rest of the country.

The US supreme court went out of its way to help Louisiana Republicans redraw their congressional maps ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The procedural move comes less than a week after the court’s landmark decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional map and gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The Trump administration is continuing to pressure the United Nations and the international aid sector more broadly to adopt trade-focused policies to benefit US firms – or face the threat of further budget cuts. Donald Trump’s second term has already seen USAID suffer mass layoffs and have its remaining operations folded into the state department, with a ripple effect across the globe that has many experts warning will cost thousands of lives as vital programs are cut. More here.

The Trump administration’s attack on the 87-year-old food aid program that supports tens of millions of low-income Americans escalated last week as the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, claimed that 14,000 Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (Snap) recipients included owners of luxury vehicles such as Ferraris, Bentleys and Teslas. More here.

Zelenskyy condemns Russian ‘cynicism’ over parade truce as attack kills five

Russian attack on gas facility in Poltava region kills three energy firm employees and two emergency service workers

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused the Kremlin of “utter cynicism” for killing five people in overnight strikes at the same time as seeking a truce so it can stage a military parade in Moscow.

Three employees of the state energy firm Naftogaz were killed in an initial attack on a gas facility in Ukraine’s central Poltava region, and two emergency service workers died at the scene in a follow-on bombing. Thirty-seven people were injured in the strikes.

Pennsylvania suing Character AI, claims chatbot posed as medical professional

A Character AI chatbot falsely claimed to be a licensed psychiatrist in Pennsylvania and provided an invalid license number, the state said.

Secret Service officer arrested for indecent exposure in Miami after Trump golf event

Secret Service Officer John Spillman has been placed on administrative leave after his arrest, which in Miami.

Brazil caught up in craze for whistling-only WhatsApp groups

Some chats can get up to 600 voice notes a day and reach the 1,024-member limit in less than 24 hours

The WhatsApp groups have one simple rule: typing and speaking are forbidden, on pain of immediate removal.

Only voice notes with whistling are allowed, although the choice of content is up to the sender: it can be an imitation of a bird or a tune such as the theme from The Pink Panther or the introduction to Scorpions’ Wind of Change.

Slow Alzheimer’s diagnoses ‘mean UK patients missing out on experimental treatments’

Alzheimer’s Research UK says patients at risk of being left behind as lack of formal or accurate diagnoses closes door to trials

People with Alzheimer’s disease are missing out on experimental treatments because they are not diagnosed early or accurately enough to be enrolled in clinical trials, a UK charity has said.

Trials of Alzheimer’s drugs reached a record high this year, according to data published on Tuesday, but Alzheimer’s Research UK said too few UK patients were taking part because their diagnoses were delayed or were not specific enough.

A new kind of van life: $180 to camp for seven months – and a real taste of freedom

As the US sees rapidly housing costs, nomads flock to the public lands of Quartzsite, Arizona, where a person can legally live for more than half a year

This story was produced in partnership with Re:Public Lands Media, an independent, non-profit news organization. Sign up for Re:Public’s newsletter.

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Milken-adjacent Power100 attendees aim to reclaim the DEI in finance narrative

Blueprint Capital's Power100 weekend convenes diverse leaders in finance ahead of the Milken Institute Global Conference.

Major health insurers show signs of recovery – but a key test looms

Insurers have incomplete data on medical costs in the first quarter due to a lag in claims processing, which sets up the second quarter as the real test.

Middle East crisis live: ‘We have not even begun’, Iran warns US amid escalation in strait of Hormuz

Iranian speaker says ‘new equation of the strait of Hormuz is in the process of being solidified’

• Donald Trump sends warships to break Iran’s strait of Hormuz blockade

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is travelling to Beijing later today for talks with his Chinese counterpart “on bilateral relations and regional and international developments”, his ministry said on its Telegram account.

While Beijing condemned the initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran which started the war in late February, China has largely adopted a posture of neutrality ever since and has urged for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

Lawyer who represented Hamas in court says UK police falsely listed him as member of group

Fahad Ansari says it was ‘chilling’ that police ‘equated him with his client’ after he was stopped on return from family holiday in Ireland

A lawyer who filed Hamas’s challenge to proscription in the UK was recorded by police as being a member of the banned group, “equating him with his client”.

On a risk assessment form, a detective inspector, who authorised the detention of Fahad Ansari under the Terrorism Act on his return from a family holiday in Ireland, wrote “Hamas” in the space reserved for “membership of a known group”.

U.S. attempt to open Strait of Hormuz tests fragile Iran war ceasefire

The Iran war risked reigniting after the U.S. tried to force open the Strait of Hormuz, though a ceasefire seemed to be holding Tuesday even after the United Arab Emirates said Iran fired missiles and drones at it.

‘Pocket-sized symbol of colonial loot’: how New York’s mayor revived Koh-i-noor diamond debate

Zohran Mamdani’s suggestion King Charles should return diamond to India has reopened old wounds

It may not be the biggest or most precious jewel ensconced in the Tower of London, but few diamonds have a legacy to rival that of the Koh-i-noor.

Likely to have originated in southern India, the diamond’s history is that of a great disruptor across the subcontinent, exchanging hands over centuries through acts of war, violence and assassination from Mughal emperors, Persian invaders, Sikh Kings and eventually snatched by the British colonial rulers of India.

Infamous drug lord pens letters from U.S. prison, citing "cruel punishment"

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is serving a life sentence at a maximum security facility in Colorado.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio to have ‘frank’ conversation with the pope – Europe live

The meeting will take place after Donald Trump carried out an unprecedented broadside against the pontiff

US secretary of state Marco Rubio expects a “frank” meeting with Pope Leo during a visit to the Vatican this week, the US ambassador said, after president Donald Trump took a fresh pot-shot at the pope for criticising the US war in Iran.

“Nations have disagreements, and I think one of the ways that you work through those is ... through fraternity and authentic dialogue,” said Brian Burch, the US ambassador to the Holy See, in comments reported by Reuters.

Mercedes may have won again but Miami upgrades have shaken up the F1 grid | Giles Richards

The improved form of McLaren and Red Bull and in Florida suggests the 2026 title race is likely to run and run

There is a long old way to go but after Formula One emerged from its enforced early season break with an entertaining romp around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, it indicated that there may yet be a decent tale to be told this season. One where Mercedes do not have it all their own way.

Regulation changes dominated the buildup – of which more later because honestly paragraph two is too early to subject readers to the increasingly soul-destroying phrase “energy management” – but what really mattered in Miami was the sporting imperative of upgrades making a competitive difference.

HSBC profits fall amid $400m fraud-related charge and Iran war

London-headquartered bank’s shares slide as it sets aside an extra $300m to cover effects of Middle East conflict

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HSBC has taken a $1.3bn (£961m) hit to profits, fuelled by the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran and fraud in the troubled private credit sector.

The London-headquartered bank said profits fell 4% in the first three months of the year, dropping $100m to $9.4bn, compared with the same period in 2025. Revenue increased 6% to $18.6bn.

‘It was like a spiritual experience’: two TV stars on being handcuffed together in every scene

Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle had only just met when the crew snapped cuffs on their wrists – and made them do roly-polys. The stars of Sky drama Prisoner talk bravery, breast milk and Denzel Washington

Few devices in film and television are as enduring as the “odd couple handcuffed together”. Think Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis in The Defiant Ones, or Bob Hoskins sawing cuffs off a cartoon Roger Rabbit. It has been parodied and recycled – and yet, as Sky’s new show Prisoner makes clear, the idea of being stuck with a stranger still packs a punch.

In Prisoner, the odd couple are Amber Todd, a prisoner transport officer played by rising star Izuka Hoyle (Boiling Point, Big Boys) in her first leading role, and Tibor Stone, a contract killer played by French star Tahar Rahim (The Serpent, The Mauritanian). It is Todd’s job to get Tibor to his high-profile court hearing at the Old Bailey. But when their convoy is ambushed, they’re forced to flee a relentless crime syndicate. The result is a propulsive six-parter with plenty of twists, turns and handcuffed fight scenes.

David Squires on … an unexpected cameo amid all the Premier League drama

Our cartoonist on a weekend of genuine excitement at the top and bottom of the English top-flight table

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The day had come to scatter my mum’s ashes. What could possibly go wrong? | Zoe Williams

I thought the ceremony, at my mother’s cottage, would pass without a hitch. I don’t think she’d have been impressed by what followed …

If you’re looking for sound, practical advice on what happens when an elderly parent dies – the so-called “sadmin” – then you shouldn’t come to me because all the bits that went OK, my sister did, and all the bits that went unaccountably awry were when I got involved. If, however, you are looking for advice on the ceremony of ash-scattering, then I have loads, all of it learned five to 10 minutes after it would have been good to know.

We’d actually planned this pretty carefully, insofar as we knew where we wanted to go – a cottage our mum rented for years, which is still empty. When my mum died, a friend gave me a lovely hanky, so I took that, in case I got upset. It was a beautiful day; I had my cherished loved ones, a bottle of water and my vape. What could possibly go wrong?

Our Land review – right-to-roam campaigners offer bacchanalian antics and a heartfelt message

Orban Wallace’s documentary avoids big clashes between landowners and campaigners in favour of wide-ranging exploration

Orban Wallace’s film about the right-to-roam movement shows us a campaigning group with a simple, reasonable aim: to give walkers in England and Wales the same rights that people have in Scotland, courtesy of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, brought into being by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 2003. There, walkers have the right to temporary, non-motorised access – which is to say walking, cycling and camping, carried out responsibly – to most land, public or private. These rights have now existed for some time without the apocalyptic end to the countryside as we know it.

Whether some in the right-to-roam movement in England want something more than that, or are prepared to protest more vehemently than simply organising peaceful mass trespass events, is another question. The film interviews landowners such as Francis Fulford, who has long been the media’s favourite outspoken reactionary toff, a sort of posh version of Viz Comic’s Farmer Palmer, snarling “Get off my land”. There are other, more thoughtful landowners, including Hugh Inge-Innes-Lillingston, who cheerfully admits how silly his name is, and is open to developing new ideas about managed access. As far as profiteering goes, I found myself thinking of a remark made by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson: “Land doesn’t really bring in a lot of money until they build a motorway through it.”

From Truth Social to court: Groups challenging Trump get help from his posts

Judges in more than a dozen cases have cited social media posts by President Trump and members of his administration in decisions against the government.

Markets on edge as fresh U.S.-Iran attacks dent optimism over a peace deal

The U.S.' bid to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, dubbed "Project Freedom," was nicknamed "Project Deadlock" by Iran.

‘My body ached from the volume’: the mystery and majesty of Japanese noise-rockers les Rallizes Dénudés

The incendiary Japanese group who emerged out of late-60s unrest were suspicious of studios so their legacy was long left to bootleg obsessives. But unheard recordings are revealing their lesser-known gifts for melody

By 1969 student protests were raging across Japan, as anti-university, anti-war and anti-government movements mingled in strikes and classroom blockades. “Students were getting really violent,” Makoto Kubota recalls of Kyoto’s Doshisha University, leaving his studies in shambles. But when his quiet, magnetic fellow student Takashi Mizutani invited Kubota to the first gig by his band les Rallizes Dénudés, their deafening psych-rock became his calling. “I’d never experienced that amount of volume. My body ached.”

Les Rallizes Dénudés, which Kubota soon joined, have become the stuff of rock mythology: a mysterious, ever-shifting group whose early use of extreme distortion has won fans ranging from Osees’ John Dwyer to Lady Gaga. As its sole constant member since founding it in 1967, vocalist-guitarist Mizutani’s secretive nature and aversion to studio recordings have meant their story is still being pieced together, and their music chiefly circulated as live bootlegs. Discovering these had generated a cult international fanbase long after the band’s final gig in 1996, and Mizutani and Kubota reconnected in 2019 with plans to reunite – cut short by Mizutani’s death later that year. In his memory, Kubota is restoring and releasing their music, including an extraordinary lost album.

Police investigate suspected arson attack at ex-synagogue in east London

Minor damage to gates is believed to have been caused by fire that CCTV shows was started deliberately, Met says

Counter-terrorism officers are investigating a suspected arson attack at a former synagogue in east London, the Metropolitan police have said.

The Jewish security charity Shomrim said fire crews were called out to the building in Nelson Street, Whitechapel, in the early hours of Tuesday.

Maersk says ship passed through Strait of Hormuz under U.S. military protection

It comes as the U.S. Navy seeks to deliver on President Donald Trump's "Project Freedom" initiative.

This flashy group of Portland mall-walkers puts neon pep into step

Krista Catwood wanted a fun way to exercise, so she started a mall-walking group whose unofficial costume was 1980s garb. The festive, all-ages event has exploded in popularity over the past year.

An AI version of Milton’s Paradise Lost is fundamentally unworthy of one of the great works of art

Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary wants to bring the epic poem to the big screen using the power of artificial intelligence. It can’t be any good

The thing about unfilmable works of literature is that most of them eventually turn out to be quite filmable after all. The Lord of the Rings was a bit of a mess when shot in rotoscope on a minuscule budget by the guy who filmed Fritz the Cat; it won Oscars when handed to Peter Jackson, given the GDP of a small nation and a visual effects department the size of Gondor. The 1984 version of Dune was a disappointment, despite the presence of David Lynch in the director’s chair, largely because all that gleaming, tawdry galactic opulence couldn’t make up for the comprehensively bad acting, clotted exposition and obsession with freaky heart plugs. And yet the 2021 adaptation from Denis Villeneuve ended up being a tour de force of masterly restraint and monolithic scale.

Milton’s Paradise Lost? The 17th-century epic poem has always felt like an outlier, a work of literature too religiously inspired to be filmed purely as a work of fantasy, yet too riotously bonkers to be treated with puritanical reverence. It contains more drama than the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe in every line of thunderous God-baiting iambic pentameter. And now Roger Avary, co-writer of Pulp Fiction and director of Killing Zoe and The Rules of Attraction, wants to bring it to the big screen using the power of AI.

The Odyssey: trailer for Christopher Nolan’s classical Greek epic released online

Trailer offers glimpses of Matt Damon as mythological hero Odysseus, Tom Holland as his son Telemachus and Anne Hathaway as his wife, Penelope

The first trailer for Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey has been released.

Starring Matt Damon as mythological hero Odysseus, the epic film retells the story of Odysseus’ 10-year voyage back to his homeland of Ithaca after the Greek victory at the siege of Troy.

Minneapolis immigrants still feeling the sting of Trump's largest crackdown yet

The impact of Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities can still be felt, even three months after it ended. For immigrants, the impact has been devastating — many are at risk of losing their homes and business, and some are dealing with mental health challenges.

The Breakdown | Rugby needs to stop the screen-obsessed, finger-pointing, hair-trigger arguments

Game is in danger of losing its integrity by howling about referees’ decisions and unedifying actions on the field under the notional banner of player welfare

It felt like a proper occasion in Bordeaux on Sunday. The trams were so jammed en route to the ground that the kick-off had to be delayed to allow spectators extra time to find their seats. For those who dismiss the notion of club rugby rivaling football for vibrant mass interest here was a compelling counterpoint: a heaving 42,000-capacity stadium, off-the-scale passion, top-class sport in every respect.

Later on, after the game was done, there was another revealing snapshot at the airport. As Bath’s beaten players headed for their flight home they were warmly applauded down to the gate by their travelling supporters. A corner of a foreign departure lounge was briefly akin to north-east Somerset. Despite the outcome, the fans instinctively wanted to show how much they have enjoyed their team’s efforts this season.

Houseplant hacks: can a damp towel keep plants alive?

As a cheap, easy solution for when you’re away from home for a few days, it quietly does its job

The problem
Going away for a week and leaving your plants to fend for themselves is a specific kind of anxiety. You water thoroughly before you leave, move them out of direct sunlight, group them together and then spend your holiday picturing a wilted peace lily.

The hack
One hack suggests wrapping damp towels around the base and sides of your pots, creating a slow-release moisture jacket that keeps the root zone cooler and hydrated, while also acting as an insulating layer that slows evaporation from the soil surface. Unlike wicking systems that actively draw water in, this is purely about retention – holding on to the moisture that’s already there.

Menopause is tough. But it’s fantastic being a woman in her 60s

My girlfriends and I have more fun, more adventures, more independence than ever before. And as for the sex …

I met my boyfriend when he was playing Bach in the park. I was taking my usual jog past London zoo and around the Regent’s Park boating lake when I was stopped in my tracks by the most beautiful music. Wafting across the rose garden was an exquisite guitar rendition of Bach’s prelude in E major. When the final notes hung in the air like gossamer, I congratulated the musician. A twinkly-eyed bloke smiled up at me. “Ah, no bother,” he said in a soft Irish burr.

At the sound of his mellifluous, velvety voice, my heart beat so loudly I felt as though it was coming through stereo speakers. His eyes seemed to smoke their way into me. I stared at him for what I estimate to be about, oh, a decade, but was probably only two seconds, before asking him for coffee. Pathetic, I know. A romcom “meet-cute” like this is not just cheesy; it’s deep-fried Brie in a bechamel sauce on a bed of melted cheddar.

Is Jeff Bezos the real villain of The Devil Wears Prada 2?

The film’s villain is a conniving tech oligarch seeking to buy his way into fashion’s inner circle. Sound familiar?

In The Devil Wears Prada 2, we’re introduced to a very different Miranda Priestly. There was a time where the all-powerful queen of fashion – who is played by Meryl Streep and based on Vogue’s longest-serving editor, Anna Wintour – could end careers with a glance. But this time, she spends most of the movie taking orders herself. First, we see her at the behest of advertisers, then publishing magnate Irv Ravitz and his irritating nepo baby son. And it isn’t long before Benji Barnes, an eccentric billionaire, shows up and threatens to dismantle the excellence she has spent her entire career championing.

In the film, Benji is played – scarily well, I should add – by Justin Theroux. After a high-profile divorce, he has had a “glow-up”, which loosely translates to losing weight and boasting a deep mahogany tan. Post-divorce, he is now in a relationship with Emily – Miranda’s acerbic former assistant, played by the scene-stealing Emily Blunt, who is described as “every girl who ignored him in high school”. Benji’s inclusion in the story feels representative of the wider media landscape, where the whims of billionaires decide which parts of the old, pre-social media world get to survive. And for Emily, she’s learning that being associated with someone so powerful has the potential to help her finally step out of Miranda’s shadow. The romance between these diametric opposites – Type A fashion queen and a nerd who grew up to become one of the world’s richest men – provides a stream of comic relief. But beyond the laughs are a deeper – and bleaker – statement about how people with enough money can buy cultural power.

The U.S. debt now exceeds the country's GDP. Should we worry?

Federal debt held by the public now surpasses the total value of the nation's economic output. Here's why experts say that's a concern.

Primary elections in Ohio, Indiana offer latest temperature check on Trump popularity

The president seeks to oust Indiana Republicans who blocked a redistricting push in that state, while growing dissatisfaction with Trump's agenda gives Democrats an opening in Ohio.

Explosion at fireworks factory in China kills at least 26

Other fireworks manufacturers in Liuyang, in central Hunan province, ordered to halt production after deadly blast

An explosion at a fireworks plant in a central Chinese province has killed at least 26 people and injured 61, prompting the halting of all firework manufacturing near the site.

The blast occurred in the city of Changsha, in Hunan province, on Monday afternoon, China’s official news agency Xinhua said. China Daily said the plant was operated by the Huasheng Fireworks Manufacturing and Display Co in the Changsha-administered, county-level city of Liuyang.

NSW police urged Jewish man to drop claim he was subject to antisemitic slurs and death threats, commission told

Nir Golan told antisemitism royal commission he was told that there was not much police could do and the case would get thrown out

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New South Wales police encouraged a Jewish man to abandon a case against a man who made antisemitic slurs, death threats, and performed Nazi salutes at him in public because the investigation would be “a lot of wasted effort”, the antisemitism royal commission has been told.

Jewish Australian Nir Golan gave evidence on Tuesday, telling commissioner Virginia Bell that police had encouraged him to drop any action because “there’s not much that they could do and the case would ultimately get thrown out”.

‘People crave friendship’: thousands flock to resurgence of centuries-old south Asian board game

Carrom, a game in which players flick counters into pockets on a board, has drawn hundreds to events across the UK

On a Monday evening in the upstairs room of Dishoom Permit Room in Notting Hill, the atmosphere is already crackling before the games night begins. Chai is poured and passed around, chalk is dusted across wooden boards, and the sharp click of counters striking the surface cuts through the noise of conversation.

At one table, Uneeb Khalid, 39, and his friend Varun Solan, 43, are deep in conversation about artificial intelligence while flicking small counters across a wooden board. Later, they reach the final round – and finish in second place.

Time limits, curfews or a full ban: how UK may restrict social media for under-16s

Ministers have committed to changing rules for children, but how this will take shape is still up for debate

The UK government committed last week to either implementing a ban on under-16s accessing social media or imposing restrictions on children’s use of those platforms.

A consultation is already under way on whether to impose limits and the announcement confirms that curbs will be introduced. Here are some of the restrictions that could be brought in.

Surrender review – Josh Duhamel hunts smirking serial killer in 90s throwback thriller

A whiff of David Fincher’s Seven lingers in the air but this moody crime drama from David Lipper is devoid of clever twists

‘We got a serial killer,” announces a policeman in this retro 1990s-style thriller directed by David Lipper; evidence has comes back that an enigmatic, super-clever suspect (played by Dylan Sprouse) has the blood of three different people on his clothing. (But if the victims were all killed at roughly the same time, wouldn’t that make him a mass murderer?) It’s best not to get too hung up on nomenclature or to think too hard about anything here – like how can one character predict that an ordinary pen would get left behind in a room to serve as a convenient murder weapon? Just go with the throwback vibe, the moody underlit cinematography, and growling subsonic score. Even the faces vaguely recall B- and C-movie fodder from the 1990s/early 2000s including Josh Duhamel and Til Schweiger, here playing a retiring police detective and his mysteriously German commanding officer, respectively.

Duhamel’s Shaw is nominally the protagonist here, although he’s consistently upstaged by Sprouse’s blood-splattered murderer, called AJ, who pulls out the unsettling high-pitched giggles and evil smirks we’ve come to expect from our movie killers. It turns out that AJ has left a trail of clues leading to each of his recent murders that Shaw must unravel if he’s to find his own teenage son (Corbin Pitts), who AJ has locked up in some underground lair with only hours left until he runs out of air.

Bullish Arteta urges Arsenal to ‘make next step’ as Atlético battle resumes

A first Champions League final in 20 years is within touching distance, but a difficult tie is not over yet

Mikel Arteta can be forgiven for never missing the chance to remind everyone that these are unprecedented times for Arsenal. As his side prepares to face Atlético Madrid in the decisive act of their second successive Champions League semi-final, it is easy to forget that they have only reached this stage on four occasions in their entire history.

But 20 years after Arsène Wenger’s team edged past Villarreal in the last European match to be played at Highbury, Arsenal have their best opportunity since then to reach a second final after a campaign where they have swept all before them. The 1-1 draw in last week’s first leg in Madrid made it 13 matches unbeaten in this year’s Champions League – the only club to have achieved that feat – and also matched Wenger’s longest run without a defeat in Europe’s premier competition.

A game-changer for good health? Scientists believe ‘we are when we eat’ | Devi Sridhar

Decades of advice on what to eat and what not to might have been missing one key ingredient, according to new research

Reduce your calories. Eat more vegetables. Limit soft drinks and junk foods. For years, even decades, this has been the advice for those wanting a healthy body weight, lower blood pressure and better markers of metabolic health. Most weight-loss advice has focused on either what to eat (and what to avoid), or how much to eat. Think of dietary pyramids produced by government agencies, calories on food packaging and meals, and typical nutritional advice.

It’s all true, to a certain extent: it’s obviously better to eat a healthier, nutritionally balanced diet, and yes, lower body weight is broadly linked to reducing calories. But this type of approach can be hard to sustain. Even as a personal trainer who knows what I “should” be eating according to government dietary advice and has heard too much about calorie deficits, I take a slightly different approach to food. I think we need to bring nuance and a balanced approach to food and what we eat.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, and the author of How Not to Die (Too Soon)

Coventry owner Doug King: ‘I had no doubt Lampard would do well … it’s gotten under his skin’

Having overseen a historic return to the Premier League, businessman is now aiming his sights even higher

Doug King is discussing the night Coventry clinched promotion to the Premier League after 25 years away. He had a tear in his eye when the moment arrived at Blackburn and, after eventually exiting the Ewood Park boardroom, the champagne flowing, the straight-talking owner worth hundreds of millions hunkered down at a Travelodge adjacent to a service station on the M65. “It was ... noisy,” he says, taking a second to land on the best adjective, “because all I could hear pretty much all night was: ‘We are Premier League.’”

It has led King to feel like a party planner of late. The biggest one yet was Monday’s open-top bus parade which started on Jimmy Hill Way, named after the manager who in 1967 led the club into the top flight for the first time. After Coventry were crowned champions last month, King guzzled from the trophy. “I didn’t think the lid would come off, so we had to make the most of that,” he says with a smile.

An explosion at a fireworks plant in China kills at least 26 people, state media says

Authorities said search and rescue at a fireworks plant in a central Chinese province has largely been completed, but verification of the casualties and identification of the victims are still underway.

‘The whale was not treated with the respect it deserved’: recriminations after carcass towed to Wollongong tip

Tugboat tows carcass of ‘leviathan proportions’ 20km from Era beach to Bellambi boat ramp, attracting sharks, says councillor demanding inquiry

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Fishers, surfers and divers say they should have been warned about the towing of a huge whale carcass along a 20km stretch of coast south of Sydney, which resulted in increased shark activity.

A Wollongong City councillor is demanding a review into the operation to remove the sperm whale from a remote beach in the Royal national park last week.

The Given World by Melissa Harrison review – a stunning tale of rural life for an era of ecological crisis

Eerie omens haunt this absorbing group portrait set over six months in an English village

Sitting stoned on a hill above his village, a young man muses on his place in the world. Connor is proud to have fenced pastures while his mates have been away at university. But it’s overwhelming to think of all their lives being equally real and urgent. Are they part of the same story or separate ones? A phrase comes to him from a book he hated at school: something about “the roar on the other side of silence”. In this fine, subtle and strange novel from one of the most probing writers of contemporary rural life, Melissa Harrison earns that nod to George Eliot, whose words she gives to an anxious and ecstatic labourer clutching a can of Fanta.

The Given World follows the inhabitants of one village in a river valley, a place “as old as anywhere”, for six months between the equinoxes of a year. The time is now, or an imminent future when the seasons seem to have “ceased their metronome”. At first, the central figure appears to be Clare, who knows each flagstone of the ancient priory that has been the centre of her life. The six months are her dying time, from diagnosis to last thoughts. But, in a way that pays tribute to the solitary Clare’s understanding of interconnectedness, the novel goes out from the priory to trace a web of lives. In the breezeblock bungalow next door, a desperate farmer tunes in at dawn to American evangelists on the radio. Like Saj the postman, we call at addresses where literary fiction rarely bothers to ring the bell.

Seen a ghost? The eeriest images from Fotografia Europea – in pictures

From gigantic goat hair costumes to small hidden rooms in houses, this year’s photography festival takes a turn for the spectral

‘It feels like an independent republic’: Madrid’s new arty barrio of Carabanchel

This traditional neighbourhood ‘across the river’ is where the city’s creatives are heading as the centre heats up

Madrid’s current boomtown dynamics are driving the city centre way upmarket, pushing the average punter to outer barrios in search of cheaper rent. As seen in New York and elsewhere, the creative class is moving too – crossing the River Manzanares to open studios in the former factories and metalworks of Carabanchel. Now the city’s most populous district, this used to be a separate municipality, which was annexed to the capital in 1948 and built up into canyons of high-rise flats to house the postwar influx from the provinces, and later from Latin America.

Cruise ship waiting for help after 3 people died in a suspected hantavirus outbreak

A cruise ship with nearly 150 people aboard was waiting for help off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean after three passengers died in a suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus.

Russia declares a truce in Ukraine to mark Victory Day

Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine for Friday and Saturday to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, but threatened to strike back at Kyiv if it tries to disrupt festivities.

Google DeepMind workers in UK vote to unionize amid deal with US military

Exclusive: Worker pointed to Iran war and Pentagon’s Anthropic feud as indications the department is ‘not a responsible partner’

Workers developing Google’s artificial intelligence products in the UK have voted to unionize, in part out of concerns about a deal between the company and the US military that was announced last week.

In a letter slated to go to management on Tuesday and shared exclusively with the Guardian, workers at Google DeepMind, the company’s AI research laboratory, requested recognition of the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union as joint representatives of the lab’s UK-based staff.

Women behind the lens: ‘After state massacres, I began burning the prints as an act of mourning’

Iranian visual journalist Parisa Azadi set her images alight in response to January’s violent repression by the regime, not to erase them, but to convey ‘rage, grief and refusal’

In September 2022, as revolution spread across Iran, I witnessed it from Dubai through the unstable glow of phone screens. Raw videos surfaced daily before disappearing into internet blackouts: women burning their hijabs, young men wounded by metal pellets, teenagers dragged into unmarked vans.

Unable to return safely to Iran, where I had spent six years documenting life under repression, I felt helpless. This work emerged from that pain and is both testimony and absence: the public violence of the state and my private, long-distance bearing witness.

Vote Lib Dem or ‘regret it’ living under a Reform council, Davey tells voters

Party leader says vote for Labour or Greens in closely run seats will result in Reform victory at local elections

Voters in the home counties will “regret it for a long time” if they do not back the Liberal Democrats and wake up to a Reform-led council, Ed Davey has said.

The Lib Dems leader has identified five councils – East Surrey, West Surrey, Hampshire, West Sussex and Huntingdonshire – where his party could win overall control, as well as swathes of the former “blue wall” where Davey said it was a “straight fight” between his party and Reform at the English local elections.

Sliders and slaw, and cheesy, nutty wedges: Simon Rogan’s spring cabbage recipes

Cheesy vegetarian sliders with pickles and slaw, and caramelised cheesy cabbage wedges

Cabbage is one of my favourite ingredients. I love it for its versatility, and also because it’s nutritious and incredibly satisfying to cook with. I’ve been putting cabbage on my menus for more than two decades now, and at Our Farm in Cartmel, Cumbria, we grow hundreds of varieties to use across my restaurants’ kitchens throughout the year. For me, cabbage has always been one of the real heroes in the kitchen, and today’s recipes are about creating generous, seasonal dishes to share with it at their centre.

Australian author Craig Silvey pleads guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material

Prosecutors drop two other charges against Jasper Jones author, 43, including allegations he produced child exploitation material

Award‑winning author Craig Silvey has pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material, while a charge that he produced such material has been dropped.

Silvey, 43, was first charged in January after detectives from Western Australia police’s child abuse squad raided his Fremantle home, allegedly catching him communicating online with child exploitation offenders and seizing his electronic devices.

Wyoming lawmakers use pro-natalist arguments to justify proposed new partial abortion ban

Wyoming lawmakers say tight new restrictions on abortion are needed to grow the state's population. Demographers and others say economic conditions are more to blame for an exodus of young people.

The man who blew up a nuclear power station and disappeared

In December 1982, South African Rodney Wilkinson walked four bombs into Koeberg power station – the crown jewel of the apartheid state – pulled the pins and then left on his bicycle. How did he do it?

At 21, Rodney Wilkinson was the best fencer in South Africa: national champion in foil and sabre, second in epee. He had toured Europe and Argentina. He had not stood on the Olympic podium, because South Africa was banned. The apartheid state had taken that from him, along with everything else it took from everyone.

One evening in August 1971, Wilkinson stood in the gym at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, foil in hand. He was facing his coach Vincent Bonfil, a 25-year-old Englishman who had represented Britain as a reserve at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, and who was now in Johannesburg finishing a master’s thesis in metallurgy. They were working on a technique in which both fencers lunge simultaneously, and the one who reads the other’s move a split second earlier wins the point. They came at each other. Wilkinson’s foil caught the edge of Bonfil’s sleeve. There was a pop.

Next Scottish government faces ‘really difficult’ spending choices, economists say

Parties accused of ‘fiscal denial’ and failing to tell voters the scale of the challenge

The next Scottish government will need to make “really difficult” spending decisions soon after taking power, including tackling its large public sector pay bill, senior economists have said.

Economists with the Fraser of Allander Institute, at the University of Strathclyde, believe the manifestos published by Scotland’s political parties during the campaign failed to tell voters about the true scale of the challenge.

‘Nobody’s going out!’ Why is Britain’s nightlife in such decline – and can anything save it?

One in four late-night venues went out of business between 2020 and 2025. Those that remain are struggling to pull in customers. Maybe a night out in Birminghan will reveal why

The £5 entry is a good start. So is the loud, lively music booming down the nightclub’s stairway. But when I finally reach the dancefloor, hidden behind a curtain, my hopes for a wild night out in Birmingham are dashed. Despite the roving disco lights and blaring pop bangers, it is entirely empty, aside from a few bartenders milling around, tending to no one.

This isn’t 9pm on a random Tuesday. I am hitting the town on Saturday night, when the city’s bars and clubs should be in full swing, but Birmingham is looking like a bust.

‘He’s too young to retire’: Cam Smith and Australian golf ponder life without LIV’s riches

With Saudi investment drying up, one of LIV’s highest-profile recruits may be having second thoughts as Australian officials call for the global golf ecosystem to come together

He was Australian golf’s shining light, a likeable everyman whose career has found the rough. Now, Cameron Smith “may be rethinking” his decision to stick with LIV Golf, according to the head of the PGA of Australia, after Saudi Arabian investors withdrew funding from the upstart tour.

The entire Australian golf sector is wrestling with what a future without LIV – or with a fiscally restrained LIV-lite – might look like, as the South Australia government pushes on with spending $45m for an upgrade to a course still scheduled to host a LIV tournament from 2028.

5/4: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Fallout continues from Spirit Airlines' closure; new details on missing U.S. soldiers in Morocco.

5/4: CBS Evening News

Secret Service shoots gunman near Washington Monument; United flight was only 20 feet above New Jersey Turnpike when landing gear hit truck.

SCOTUS lets redistricting ruling take effect immediately, sparking angry exchange

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed last week's landmark decision striking down Louisiana's congressional map to take effect immediately, drawing a sharp back-and-forth between two justices.

Pinterest surges 15% after earnings beat as company posts strong guidance

Pinterest cut nearly 15% of its workforce and reduced office space in January as it pushes more resources into AI.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reach settlement in "It Ends With Us" lawsuit

A trial in the lawsuit between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni was set to begin later in May.

Canadian fiddler sues Google after AI Overview wrongly claimed he was a sex offender

Ashley MacIsaac, who is seeking $1.5m in civil lawsuit, says inaccurate information led to concert cancellation

An acclaimed Canadian fiddle player has launched a $1.5m civil lawsuit against Google, alleging that the online giant defamed him by falsely identifying him as a sex offender in an AI-generated summary of his life and career.

Ashley MacIsaac, a three-time Juno award-winning musician, filed the claim in the Ontario superior court of justice, asserting that Google was liable for the “foreseeable republication” of its AI-generated Overview feature, which previously published defamatory claims that he had been convicted of multiple criminal offences, including the sexual assault of a woman, internet luring involving a child with the intention of sexual assaulting the child, and assault causing bodily harm.

Top Democrat aims for New York redistricting after Supreme Court’s Voting Rights ruling

Democrats are vowing to fight back after the Supreme Court eliminated a majority-Black Louisiana House district, as more states look to redraw maps.

British crew member in need of urgent medical care amid suspected hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship

WHO says seven confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus on MV Hondius, including three passengers who died

• What is hantavirus, the infection thought to have killed three on cruise ship?

A British crew member was in need of urgent medical care and a passenger from the UK remained in a critical but stable condition following a suspected outbreak of hantavirus on a luxury cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Three people have died and medics on Monday were scrambling to evacuate two others from the MV Hondius, which set off in March from southern Argentina carrying 149 people from 23 countries. The crisis emerged late on Sunday after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was investigating a suspected outbreak.

Vehicle carrying explosives crashes into Portland athletic club, driver dead

A vehicle carrying explosives crashed through the front entrance of an athletic club in downtown Portland, Oregon. The driver was killed.

Watch a Spirit pilot's impromptu retirement celebration after airline shutters

A Spirit pilot received an impromptu retirement party from a different airline after what would have been his final flight was canceled.

Spirit Airlines pilot has impromptu retirement party on Southwest flight

A Spirit Airlines pilot was scheduled to captain his last commercial flight on Saturday, but then the airline shut down. Tony Dokoupil shows what happened next.

Controversy at 2026 Met Gala over honorary co-chairs Jeff and Lauren Sanchez Bezos

The 2026 Met Gala is facing controversy over its honorary chairs, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos. Adrianna Diaz reports.

Missing U.S. soldier was trying to save colleague who fell in ocean off Moroccan coast

Officials say one of the missing U.S. soldiers in Morocco was trying to save a fellow soldier after he fell off a cliff into the Atlantic Ocean during a hike. The search continues for both of them. Chirs Livesay has more.

Alito temporarily restores FDA rule allowing abortion pill to be sent by mail

A federal appeals court blocked a FDA rule that allowed the abortion pill mifepristone to be dispensed through the mail.

What to know as Supreme Court temporarily restores access to mifepristone by mail

The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily restored access by mail to the abortion pill mifepristone. Nancy Cordes has the details.

U.S. strikes 7 Iranian boats, Trump says, amid operation to move ships through Strait of Hormuz

President Trump's Project Freedom initiative launched on Monday with the U.S. guiding stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Holly Williams reports.

United flight was only about 20 feet above New Jersey Turnpike when landing gear hit truck

The landing gear of a United Airlines flight hit a truck on the New Jersey Turnpike Sunday while it was landing at Newark Airport. Kris Van Cleave has the latest.

Secret Service shoots gunman near Washington Monument

The White House was on lockdown Monday afternoon after the Secret Service shot a gunman just blocks away near the Washington Monument. Nicole Sganga reports.

Shooting at lake near Oklahoma City leaves at least 18 injured

At least 18 people were at hospitals following a shooting at a party at Arcadia Lake, near Oklahoma City, police say.

See the looks from the 2026 Met Gala red carpet

Extravagantly dressed celebrities and designers made their way up the famous Met staircase Monday evening. The fundraiser is one of the fashion industry's biggest nights.

Inside the effort to replace America's Minuteman III nuclear missiles

Hundreds of Minuteman III nuclear missile silos dot the landscape from Colorado up to the Canadian border, but a major transition is underway.

Palantir tops estimates on 85% revenue growth, fastest expansion since market debut in 2020

Palantir reported better-than-expected revenue and profit, driven by growth in sales to U.S. government agencies.

Judge "very troubled" by accused correspondents' dinner gunman's treatment in jail

A federal judge on Monday sharply criticized the treatment of accused White House Correspondents' Dinner attacker Cole Allen, at one point apologizing to the defendant for what he saw as overly restrictive and punitive conditions in jail.

Norwegian fish farms polluting fjords with waste likened to ‘raw sewage of millions of people’

Exclusive: ‘Fish sludge’ in coastal waters now has nutrient levels equivalent to those in untreated effluent of country the size of Australia, report finds

Norwegian fish farms are filling fjords and other coastal waters with nutrient pollution equivalent to the raw sewage of tens of millions of people each year, a report has found.

Norway is the largest farmed salmon producer in the world, and nutrients in fish feed are excreted directly into coastal waters. Analysis from the Sunstone Institute found that Norwegian aquaculture released 75,000 tonnes of nitrogen, 13,000 tonnes of phosphorus and 360,000 tonnes of organic carbon in 2025.

Wu Yize beats Shaun Murphy in thrilling final frame to win World Snooker Championship

• Wu claims title 18-17 with decisive break of 85

• The 22-year-old is the second-youngest champion ever

As the ticker tape rained down on Wu Yize and the Chinese flag was draped over the shoulders of snooker’s newest superstar as he clutched the game’s most famous prize, it was hard not to imagine that this sport was changing in front of our eyes for ever.

If Zhao Xintong broke through the glass ceiling for 12 months ago, then the exploits of China’s newest Crucible king may have just shattered it into a thousand pieces. The boy who came to England with his father as a 16-year-old to pursue his dreams, living in a windowless flat in Sheffield, is now the champion of the world.

Hotels have a big World Cup problem: Bookings are running far below projections

Nearly 80% of hotels surveyed by a body representing the industry reported bookings were running below projections — a worrisome sign with only weeks to go before the World Cup.

Spirit Airlines CEO on carrier's collapse: 'We just kind of ran out of runway'

Spirit Airlines shut down before dawn on Saturday ending its run as the most famous U.S. discount airline.

Met Gala 2026 red carpet: the best looks in pictures

Event chairs Nicole Kidman, Beyoncé, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour have guests dress to the theme ‘Fashion is art’ at the event controversially funded by new honorary chairs Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos

SEC and Elon Musk agree to settle lawsuit over Twitter buyout in 2022

The SEC and Elon Musk agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the regulator last year against the world's richest person.

Pirro rips judge in Trump attack case for apologizing to Cole Allen over jail conditions

Cole Allen is charged with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Judge ‘disturbed’ over ‘legally deficient’ treatment of Trump gala shooting suspect

Cole Allen was isolated from other inmates, denied a Bible and placed on suicide watch despite showing no suicidal tendencies

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A US judge on Monday apologized to the man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump for the “legally deficient” treatment he has faced in a Washington DC, jail, including being placed on suicide watch, separated from other inmates and denied a Bible.

The US magistrate judge Zia Faruqui said he was disturbed by the conditions for Cole Allen, who allegedly fired a shotgun during a foiled attack on Trump and senior officials in his administration at a 25 April press gala. The judge said the conditions were inappropriate for a person with no criminal history.

Title-chasing Hearts clear crucial hurdle as Shankland shatters Rangers’ hopes

A three-horse race has witnessed a faller. This most magical of Hearts seasons has edged closer to delivering the ultimate prize, an outcome that would shake Scottish football to its very foundations.

This was a game Rangers and their manager, Danny Röhl, dare not lose. They did, courtesy of a stirring second-half comeback from Hearts. Rangers now trail the Edinburgh club by seven points. The Hearts lead over Celtic has been restored to three with the same number of fixtures to play.

Two killed and several hurt after car ploughs into crowds in German city of Leipzig

A suspect has been apprehended, but detectives say little is known about their motivation at this stage

At least two people have been killed and several injured after a driver in an SUV ploughed into a crowd in the centre of Leipzig in eastern Germany, the city’s mayor has said.

“The police have apprehended the suspected assailant,” Burkhard Jung said on Monday, adding that the authorities had the scene in a pedestrian zone under control. “We still don’t really know the motivation. We don’t know anything about the perpetrator.”

The Guardian view on Trump, Merz and Europe’s security: EU countries cannot go it alone | Editorial

The announcement of the withdrawal of thousands of US troops from Germany underlines the urgency of a pan-European defence strategy

As Donald Trump’s second term has become overshadowed by plunging poll ratings and an illegal, ill-advised war in the Middle East, European governments have regularly been singled out to bear the brunt of the US president’s growing frustration. Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to militarily back the attack on Iran led to unfavourable comparisons to both Winston Churchill and King Charles. “Unfriendly” Spain has been threatened with a trade embargo for similar reasons. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, previously seen as a key political ally, has also been on the receiving end. “I’m shocked by her,” Mr Trump said last month. “I thought she had courage. I was wrong.”

Currently it is Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who finds himself in Washington’s crosshairs. In the wake of Mr Merz’s accurate observation that the US has no convincing strategy on Iran, the Pentagon has announced the future withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from bases in Germany. Vital long-range weapons are also to be withheld as American military stockpiles are depleted by events in the Middle East. For good measure, Mr Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on European car manufacturers to 25% – a measure that would hit Germany hardest.

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 green transition: politicians should speed it up – and households too | Editorial

Party divisions over energy have deepened, but the need to move beyond fossil fuels has never been clearer

Energy has not been a prominent subject for discussion in the run-up to Thursday’s UK elections. In England this is logical enough, since the big policy decisions are taken by ministers in Westminster, not at council meetings. But the stances adopted by the new governments in Scotland and Wales matter a great deal. They will have an influence beyond their borders, helping to shape the national climate debate in the coming years.

In both nations, as in England, divisions have deepened as Conservatives have moved away from support for net zero and Reform UK has ramped up its opposition to renewables. Among Scottish parties, only the Greens are categorically against new fossil‑fuel developments in the North Sea. Under John Swinney, the Scottish National party’s earlier opposition to the Rosebank oilfield has softened in advance of the upcoming decision over whether it should go ahead. Scottish Labour, by contrast, has thrown its weight behind new nuclear power.

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.

Derby-winning trainer hopes more women will succeed after historic win

Cherie DeVaux reflected on her place in history after becoming the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner with Golden Tempo.