Trump says U.S. military strike killed leader of Tren de Aragua gang

President Trump said Friday that a U.S. strike has killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, whom he called "the infamous leader" of the Tren de Aragua gang in Venezuela.

Trump says U.S. killed Tren de Aragua leader in airstrike in Venezuela

The U.S. military has killed Niño Guerrero, the alleged leader of Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua, President Trump announced Friday.

U.S. cruises past Paraguay 4-1 in World Cup opener

The U.S. men's national soccer team made easy work of Paraguay in its World Cup opener Friday, defeating the South American side 4-1 at SoFi Stadium.

USA 4-1 Paraguay: World Cup 2026 – live

⚽️ Match report: Americans bulldoze past Paraguay
⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Beau

Chris Richards is IN

A 100% record on our projected lineup, with Chris Richards getting his wish and cracking the opening lineup. So, a nominal lopsided 3-4-2-1 that plays as a 3-2-5 in attack and a 4-4-2 in defense.

The US fared better against Germany after Malik Tillman dropped deeper into midfield and Weston McKennie played more advanced. I would expect similar today, though I wouldn’t discount the potential for something closer to a 4-1-4-1 with Robinson and Freeman operating like full-backs, Tyler Adams behind an attacking line (left to right) of Pulisic-Tillman-McKennie-Dest, and Folarin Balogun taking whatever service he can get.

U.S. men's soccer team plays first 2026 World Cup match

The U.S. men's national soccer team kicked off its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium on Friday.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup schedule and how to watch

With 104 World Cup games being played in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, it's like "a Super Bowl every single day for five weeks," U.S. team captain Tim Ream told CBS News.

Judge continues to block DOJ's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund

A federal judge continued to block the Justice Department's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, expressing skepticism with the administration's claims that the program is not moving forward.

1 killed, 22 injured in Virginia church tent collapse

The incident occurred Friday night during an outdoor service at East Lake Community Church in Moneta, Virginia.

Woman in critical condition after shark attack at Coogee beach

A woman in her 30s has been transported to hospital with arm and leg injuries and beaches in Sydney’s east have been closed after the attack

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A woman in her 30s is in a critical condition after being bitten by a shark at Coogee beach on Saturday.

A spokesperson for NSW Ambulance said the woman suffered arm and leg injuries and had been taken by road to St Vincent’s hospital.

England’s World Cup boots stolen before first training session in Kansas City

• Equipment stolen during transportation from Florida

• ‘Two subjects of interest were taken into custody’

England have been the victims of a security breakdown after the team’s match boots were stolen before their first World Cup training session in Kansas City.

The theft is understood to have taken place while equipment was being transported from the squad’s pre-tournament base in Florida to their training camp at Swope Soccer Village in Missouri. Boots belonging to England’s star players were understood to be among the stolen items, along with official tournament balls and training equipment.

Trump says leader of Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang killed in US strike

President says Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores killed in ‘swift and lethal’ military strike with help from Venezuela

The US military has killed a leader in the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, with the help of Venezuela, Donald Trump announced on Friday.

“At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy boosts army wages and seeks foreign recruits to counter manpower shortage

Frontline soldiers to get better salaries and revised fixed-term contracts; Putin reacts to Ukraine’s increasing drone strikes. What we know on day 1,571

Ukraine will hike military wages and seek to recruit more fighters abroad, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed, as the army faces a manpower shortage after four years of war with Russia. Zelenskyy’s government said in May it would study possible measures to boost military personnel numbers after talks on how to end the war with Russia stalled. “We agreed on how to increase the financial resilience of our defence and further transformation of the Ukrainian army,” Ukraine’s president said on Friday after meeting key cabinet ministers. “The cabinet of ministers will approve a specific mechanism, and the government should start the first new payments as early as June,” he added.

Ukraine has secured a €90bn ($104bn) loan from the EU allowing the government to increase defence spending to a record 4.4tn hryvnias ($97bn) this year. The funds are due to start flowing this month. Zelenskyy said his government would raise the basic military wage by one-third to 30,000 hryvnias ($700). The step was aimed at matching the country’s average monthly salary, which has steadily risen during the war due to staff shortages, military analysts and economists said. Infantry soldiers fighting on the frontline will receive an average monthly salary of 300,000 hryvnias (about $7,000), up from about 100,000 to 150,000 hryvnias at present. They will also be offered a new type of fixed-term contract for 10, 14 or 24 months for combat duties.

Kyiv also wants to recruit more foreign fighters. “I have instructed to create significantly more opportunities to recruit foreign volunteers into the Ukrainian army, and there will be more recruitment channels in this regard,” Zelenskyy said. About 10,000 foreign volunteers have joined the Ukrainian army from more than 70 countries since the war began, according to estimates by Ukrainian military publications.

Ambassadors from the EU’s 27 countries agreed on Friday to advance membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova, with the first phase of negotiations to begin on Monday. Zelenskyy has made EU membership a key strategic goal. Writing on Telegram, he thanked the EU and its leaders “for this strong step for Europe”. He added: “Ukraine is carrying out what is necessary and it is important that the EU is also keeping its word.”

Vladimir Putin said Ukraine’s increasing drone strikes on Russia aimed to “sow confusion” and damage the country’s economy. Ukraine has hit ever deeper into Russia in recent months, regularly striking oil refineries and export hubs. “Their goal is to create a split in Russian society, sow confusion and inflict economic damage,” the Russian president told soldiers in a meeting at the Kremlin on Friday. “But they will not succeed.” The comments came hours after Kyiv said it hit a major oil refinery more than 1,000km (about 620 miles) from the frontline. Putin admitted that Ukrainian strikes had caused “economic damage” but claimed that “everything is quickly restored”.

The governor of Russia’s border Bryansk region said one person was killed and another injured in a drone strike on Friday, while the defence ministry said Russian air defence units had downed 185 Ukrainian drones over a 12-hour period. The region’s general headquarters, quoted by Russian news agencies, said air defence units had destroyed 62 drones, but gave no time frame for the action. Russia’s defence ministry reported 185 drones intercepted between 8am and 8pm (0500-1700 GMT) over about a dozen regions, most in central Russia.

Britain on Friday said a full ban on diesel and jet fuel made in Russia would happen by 2027 as it set out its timeline to end a temporary licence for Russian oil products. Britain last month said it would continue to allow imports of diesel and jet fuel refined from Russian crude in third countries, deferring a previously announced ban, citing supply issues caused by the Iran war. The government said existing sanctions were not being lifted but new sanctions were being phased in. On Friday the business and trade ministry said the temporary licence for phasing in the ban would expire by 1 January.

Manchester United lead chase for West Ham’s £80m-rated Mateus Fernandes

• Real Madrid also among midfielder’s potential suitors

• Castellanos an option for Everton amid likely exits

Manchester United are leading the race to sign Mateus Fernandes from West Ham. The midfielder also has interest from Arsenal, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, but the strongest early moves have come from United as they look to boost Michael Carrick’s squad.

West Ham hope to receive £80m for Fernandes, although they may face financial pressure to drop their asking price after their relegation from the Premier League. The club lost £104.2m last year and need to raise more than £100m in transfer sales this summer.

Gene Shalit, longtime 'Today' show movie critic, dies at 100

Known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and a love for puns, Gene Shalit joined Today in 1970 and became arts editor in 1973. He was a middle-of-the-road critic, known for his wit and intelligence.

Trump's name is poised to be removed from the Kennedy Center

A judge rejected a request to pause a court-ordered deadline of Friday to remove references to President Trump from the building. The institution appealed, an effort that was also rebuffed Friday evening.

Gene Shalit, longtime Today show movie critic, dies at 100

Beloved movie critic and arts reporter was known for bushy hair and mustache and affection for groan-inducing puns

Gene Shalit, a movie critic and arts reporter for the Today show over four decades who was known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and affection for groan-inducing puns, has died. He was 100.

Shalit’s family announced the death Friday to NBC News, saying in a statement that he “passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life”.

Court denies emergency appeal to retain Trump’s name on Kennedy Center

Justice department lawyers had appealed to stay a judge’s order to remove Trump’s name from facade

An appeals court in Washington DC rejected an emergency appeal seeking to pause the removal of Donald Trump’s name from the facade of the Kennedy Center on Friday.

Justice department lawyers for Donald Trump and his hand-picked Kennedy Center board filed the emergency appeal earlier on Friday, asking the court to stay a judge’s order that his name be removed from the facade of Washington’s leading performing arts venue.

Alabama seeks lethal injection execution after court rejects nitrogen gas method

Alabama is seeking to execute a man with lethal injection hours after his nitrogen execution was prevented from going forward.

Girls who call themselves twins say, "We have a bond that we think no one else can break"

Steve Hartman goes "On the Road" again with a pair of twins, who aren't really twins. Just don't try to tell them that.

Trump name must be removed from Kennedy Center by Friday night as appeals court rejects delay

President Donald Trump had asked a federal appeals court to suspend a lower-court order that his name before removed from the performing arts center.

Severe storms, tornadoes slam Midwest, killing at least 1

Severe storms that swept through the Midwest late Thursday knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers, damaged buildings and canceled flights.

At least 1 killed, 9 hospitalized in Texas mass shooting; suspect dead

The suspect, Victor Mata Villarreal, was wanted for attempted murder of a police officer after shooting at law enforcement during a vehicle chase earlier this week, officials said.

SpaceX's public offering creates new millionaires: "I don't have the words, honestly"

SpaceX's market debut made Elon Musk a trillionaire on Friday. The company has also minted thousands of new millionaires. Jo Ling Kent reports.

U.S., Iran say they are closing in on an agreement

Both the U.S. and Iran said they are closing in on a final agreement that could be signed as soon as Sunday or Monday. It could launch further talks to wind down Iran's nuclear ambitions, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end months of military hostilities. Ed O'Keefe has more.

DOJ paves way for Paramount Skydance to buy Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount Skydance's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery would not harm U.S. consumers or weaken competition, DOJ antitrust enforcers said.

Appeals court rejects request to keep Trump's name on Kennedy Center

A federal appellate court denied a last-minute attempt by the Trump administration to stop the removal of President Trump's name from the Kennedy Center on Friday.

Tornadoes, thunderstorms and sweltering heat hit American communities

Nearly 80 million people in the U.S. are still facing the threat of powerful storms, and about the same number are sweltering in brutal heat. Lana Zak reports from the hard-hit town of Streator in central Illinois, and Eric Fisher has the forecast.

Texas shooting kills at least 1, injures 10

On Wednesday, a 45-year-old gunman opened fire on police in Midland, Texas, allegedly refusing to surrender to police. He fled, finally barricading himself in an abandoned veterinary building and shooting wildly. All of those shot were civilians. The gunman was found dead on Friday, with the FBI and state agencies investigating. Jason Allen has more.

U.S. to take on Paraguay as World Cup returns to American shores

The U.S. calls it soccer, much of the world calls it football, but everybody calls it the World Cup. It's bigger than ever, and on Friday night, the competition returns to American shores as the U.S. takes on Paraguay. Nicole Valdes has more from Inglewood, California.

Paramount-Warner Brothers merger gets Justice Department approval

The Justice Department closed its investigation into the proposed $110 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery, saying it found no threat to competition or consumers.

Palantir loses legal challenge to force Swiss magazine to publish responses

Data analytics company loses on 22 out of 23 counts in lawsuit disputing how Swiss government rejected firm’s services

The US technology company Palantir has lost a legal challenge to force a Swiss independent magazine to publish its responses to articles about how the Swiss government rejected its services.

The data analytics company lost on 22 out of 23 counts of the suit. In a ruling on Friday, Zurich’s commercial court dismissed the majority of counterstatement requests filed by the company and its Swiss subsidiary finding that only a single passage in one article warranted a published response from the company.

New Yorker confronts unruly Knicks fans: "This is our city"

When violence erupted near a New York Knicks watch party on Monday, one New Yorker stood up to the unruly crowd.

Philippines picks up the pieces after strongest earthquake in decades

7.8-magnitude quake hit the southern island of Mindanao killing at least 55 people and leaving a trail of destruction

It was just before midnight when the rescue team pulled the body from the rubble of a grocery store destroyed by the most powerful quake to hit the Philippines in half a century. The family wailed at the sight.

“While tragic, it offered the family a painful consolation,” said Rene Baliong, the head of the search and rescue team. “They have a body to bury.”

6/12: CBS Evening News

A shooting in Texas kills at least one and injures 10; tornadoes tear through the Midwest, leaving widespread damage.

Justice Dept. approves Paramount's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery

The decision paves the way for a proposed $111 billion merger uniting two rival studio giants — Paramount, owner of CBS, and the much larger Warner, which includes HBO and CNN.

David Hockney: the artist whose work was a feast of visual pleasures – video obituary

David Hockney, whose paintings of pools shimmering in the Los Angeles sunshine became icons of 20th-century art, has died at the age of 88. Hockney was born in the north of England but lived much of his life in southern California, making its sun-drenched suburban views a major motif. Later in life he returned to Europe, finding renewed inspiration in the wooded hills of his native county of Yorkshire and the fields and trees of France’s Normandy region. He became one of the UK’s most treasured artists, his works selling for record prices at auction.

• David Hockney obituary

• David Hockney, pioneering British artist famed for his pools and portraits, dies aged 88

• ‘David Hockney changed the world just by looking at it’: a tribute to the artist whose work was a feast of visual pleasures

• Peroxide mop, statement specs, tweed suits and quirky Crocs: David Hockney’s genius for fashion

A Trump push to cut 'statistical noise' could mean less data from the Census Bureau

New public data for redistricting and other uses may be reduced as Trump officials limit the ways the Census Bureau can protect people's privacy when it releases statistics.

Blood test can find thousands of genetic conditions in pregnancy, say scientists

Technique that examines fragments of foetal DNA in mother’s bloodstream could limit need for invasive screening, according to researchers

A new maternal blood test that can detect thousands of serious genetic conditions in the developing foetus could limit the need for invasive screening during pregnancy, according to scientists.

The test, to be described at the European Society for Human Genetics conference in Gothenburg on Saturday, relies on detecting tiny fragments of a foetus’s DNA that circulate in the mother’s bloodstream during pregnancy. Using advanced sequencing techniques, scientists were able to identify a very high proportion of genetic conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, that are currently only reliably diagnosed using amniocentesis or other invasive tests.

Wyatt-Hodge fires England to Women’s T20 World Cup record score to sink Sri Lanka

• Group 2: England, 219-1, beat Sri Lanka, 132, by 87 runs

• Wyatt-Hodge unbeaten on 105 for hosts in opener

England got their World Cup campaign off to a flyer with an 87-run win against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on Friday evening, thanks to a thundering century from Danni Wyatt-Hodge.

This was a statement win by England, whose batting firepower has recently been questioned but who powered their way to 219 – the highest total by any team in the history of the tournament – for the loss of just one wicket. Sri Lanka then sunk to 132 all out, with Freya Kemp taking a career-best four for 22.

Katie Boulter stuns Rybakina for biggest win after Raducanu starts Queen’s party

• British No 3 produces her greatest performance

• Emma Raducanu finds her best tennis to defeat Cirstea

Katie Boulter battled hard with Elena Rybakina and she emerged from the longest day of her career with her greatest victory, a special performance from the British No 3 yielding a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 win over the world No 2 and Australian Open champion.

Emma Raducanu was also a winner on Friday, defeating Sorana Cirstea, the seventh seed and one of the most in-form players in the world this year 6-4, 6-2 to return to the quarter-finals on the grass courts of the Queen’s Club. However, the winner of her quarter-final match against Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova will be forced to play two matches on Saturday after the congested, rain-delayed schedule ran out of time on Friday afternoon and their match was postponed at the end of the day.

Supersub Cyle Larin rescues point for Canada against Bosnia and Herzegovina

“History is about to be made,” the understandably giddy stadium announcer said in the seconds before kick-off and while this was not the perfect start, Canada will not forget Cyle Larin’s equaliser against Bosnia and Herzegovina in a hurry.

Trailing to Jovo Lukic’s first international goal, Larin stepped off the bench and pulled the co-hosts level with his first touch, lashing in 121 seconds after his entrance. It felt like a shot that carried pent-up frustration at being left out of the starting lineup, and maybe at losing his chance to play in the Premier League next season after Southampton’s expulsion from the playoffs.

SpaceX stock soars on first day of trading following record-breaking IPO

SpaceX's stock closed the day at $160.95 after making its debut on the Nasdaq exchange.

South Koreans revel in ‘World Cup brunch’ as time difference sees beers swapped for breakfast

Crowds gather around big screen in Seoul with commuters and schoolchildren alike ditching their daily routine to back the Red Devils

By 9am on Friday, the morning commute in central Seoul looked different. The usual tide of suits and briefcases was broken by a sea of red shirts and red scarves, worn by thousands who had come out to cheer on the national team.

Scattered around, people clutched coffees, bottled teas, and pastries. Families had mats spread for a picnic. Nobody looked as if they were thinking about work.

6/12: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Iran's top diplomat says deal "has never been closer"; FISA surveillance set to expire despite new intelligence chief pick.

Wembanyama brushes off historic collapse and eyes NBA finals comeback: ‘We’re over it. It’s the playoffs’

• San Antonio Spurs trail 3-1 in best-of-seven series

• Team blew 29-point lead to lose Game 4

Victor Wembanyama says the San Antonio Spurs have shaken off the biggest single-game collapse in NBA finals history and are ready to face the New York Knicks on Saturday.

The Knicks overcame a 29-point deficit to hand the Spurs a crushing 107-106 victory in Game 4 of the series and can win their first title since 1973 with victory in San Antonio.

SpaceX to list on US stock market at historic $1.77tn valuation

Initial public offering for aerospace and AI company made Musk the world’s first trillionaire as share prices jumped

• Share your views on SpaceX’s stock market debut

SpaceX made the biggest stock market debut in history on Friday after nearly two and a half decades as a private company. Public trading began around midday with a starting share price of $150, which quickly jumped by a double digit percentage and sent the company’s valuation above $2tn, where it remained through market close. The company’s initial public offering made the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, the world’s first trillionaire.

“It is certainly hard to believe that a little company that started in a warehouse in El Segundo is now going public with the largest IPO ever,” Musk said in an address at SpaceX’s headquarters Friday morning. He reiterated the company’s mission to “make humanity multiplanetary” and “take the fiction out of science fiction”.

Former SpaceX welder becomes a millionaire after historic IPO

Juan Hernandez, a former SpaceX employee, owns 6,500 company shares. On the first day of public trading, his wealth ballooned by $1,046,175.

Elon Musk becomes the world's first trillionaire with SpaceX's IPO

The SpaceX CEO's fortune on paper now rivals the annual economic output of many countries, according to World Bank data.

A judge clears the way for Trump's name to be removed from the Kennedy Center

On Friday, a federal judge denied an appeal by the Kennedy Center's board of trustees for a stay on the removal of President Trump's name from the building. Then the Trump administration filed for an emergency stay, and that too was denied.

Trump says he has canceled planned strikes on Iran and peace deal is near — again

President Trump has canceled planned strikes in Iran, claiming, once again, that a peace deal is near. This is just the latest salvo in a series of whiplash proclamations when it comes to the U.S.-Israel-led war in Iran.

Blake Lively awarded legal fees but no damages in Justin Baldoni dispute

The Gossip Girl star can recover legal fees and costs arising from It Ends With Us co-actor’s countersuit

Blake Lively can recover some legal costs from fellow actor and director Justin Baldoni but not punitive damages and other relief she sought after settling her legal claims over their 2024 film It Ends With Us, a judge ruled on Friday.

Judge Lewis J Liman said in a written ruling that Lively can recover legal fees and costs related to her defense against a countersuit Baldoni brought against her after she sued him in December 2024.

‘Failure was my thing’: Women’s prize winner Virginia Evans on her long journey to success

The American author received ‘thousands of rejections’ over two decades before finally hitting gold with her first published novel

Just as I am about to interview this year’s Women’s prize winner, debut American novelist Virginia Evans, at the party on a drizzly evening in a leafy London square, we are interrupted because someone wants to congratulate her. The fan is Richard Curtis.

A warm-hearted weepy with a sprinkling of gentle humour, Evans’s prize-winning novel The Correspondent is prime Curtis material. In fact, he is too late. “I think he just wants to be my friend,” Evans jokes modestly – Notting Hill is her favourite movie of all time. A film of The Correspondent is already in the pipeline with Jane Fonda playing 73-year-old Sybil Van Antwerp, the crotchety correspondent of the title. Evans will be one of the producers and will have a cameo appearance, “walking a dog or something”.

What would it take to stop women from bleeding to death after childbirth?

A newly published series of reports calls attention to a dire situation facing millions of women after childbirth — and the solutions that can prevent death from postpartum hemorrhage.

Ohio voting rights group facing criminal fraud investigation, sources say

The FBI executed a search warrant at the office of an Ohio-based group known for its voter registration work as part of an ongoing fraud-related investigation, sources told CBS News.

To read more this summer, stop waiting for the perfect moment

So you want to ignite a reading habit this summer. How do you get back into the groove? We talk to reading enthusiasts for their best tricks — like allowing yourself to read wherever, whenever.

Belfast riots trigger renewed scrutiny over loyalist paramilitary influence

The violent disturbances occurred in a nationalist area yet played out against a backdrop of union jacks

As the racially motivated violence unfolded in Northern Ireland this week, a striking dissonanace could be seenbehind the mobs and flames and smoke.

The knife attack that triggered the disturbances occurred in a nationalist area yet the mayhem played out against a backdrop of union jacks and loyalist murals.

Trump denies Iran's account of deal terms, decries new drone attack: 'Dishonorable people'

"They better get their act together, and FAST!" President Donald Trump said of Iran one day after announcing that a deal would be finalized within days.

As SpaceX IPO launches, Texans near its Starbase HQ are mixed on the company

SpaceX's arrival in the region has been good for business, some Brownsville, Texas, residents say, while others rue its impact on the local community.

US-Iran peace deal remains elusive as Trump and Tehran trade conflicting claims

US president dismisses Iranian media reports agreement is close, despite earlier suggesting a deal could be signed this weekend

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Prospects for an immediate end to the war between Iran and the US remained uncertain on Friday amid a chaotic series of conflicting claims and counter-claims by US and Iranian officials about ongoing negotiations.

Donald Trump seemed to distance himself from his earlier comments that suggested a preliminary agreement could be signed as soon as this weekend, with a series of angry social media posts describing the Iranians as “very dishonorable people to deal with”.

Pentagon releases 3rd batch of UFO files: "Are you seeing this?"

The Pentagon on Friday released a new group of documents and videos related to UFOs, or UAPs, with 72 more documents, images and recordings.

Canada police investigate whether Toronto police death linked to global terror attacks

Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was killed while executing search warrants related to a shooting at US consulate

Authorities in Canada are investigating whether the killing of a Toronto police officer while he was executing search warrants related to a shooting at the city’s US consulate is linked a broader series of global terror attacks.

Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, a member of the emergency taskforce, was killed on Thursday during a dawn search of an apartment building in the west of the city.

Chaotic talks on a US-Iran deal continue on the Trump rollercoaster

Amid rhetoric, market uncertainty and tit-for-tat exchanges, the two sides are still trying to find a way out of the impasse

Great news! Donald Trump has said the US and Iran are on the verge of a peace agreement. Oil prices are down, and the stock market is up. This comes only hours after Trump warned Iran was about to be struck “VERY HARD”, a threat that had sent oil prices up and stocks down.

It has been another ride on the Trump rollercoaster, keeping traders on edge, most of the world poorer, and people of the Middle East constantly whiplashing between fear and hope. But whether the ride veers up or down, the management always makes money.

Asylum seekers removed from Essex hotel targeted by far right as Home Office ends contract

Bell hotel in Epping was scene of violent protests after asylum seeker living there sexually assaulted girl and woman

Asylum seekers have been removed from the Epping hotel that became a flashpoint for anti-immigration protests across England last summer as the Home Office terminates its contract with the establishment.

The hotel on the outskirts of the Essex town was the scene of increasingly large protests after an asylum seeker who was living there sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman.

Number of arrests after riots in Northern Ireland rises to 19

Police call for calm before anti-racist protests in Belfast and Glasgow as MPs warn of failure over online misinformation

Police said 19 people, including a 16-year-old boy, had now been arrested after two nights of rioting in Northern Ireland following a knife attack earlier in the week.

The violence broke out after far-right activists called for demonstrations in response to the attack, which was captured in a graphic video.

Judge rejects bid to block UFC event at the White House

A federal judge on Friday rejected a long-shot effort to block the Ultimate Fighting Championship event set to take place at the White House this weekend.

British man jailed for goading American to kill himself on video call

Dylan Phelan, 21, of Leeds, sentenced to more than six years for encouraging the suicide of 21-year-old Travis Dyer

A Yorkshire man has been sentenced to more than six years in jail after admitting encouraging a US citizen to kill themselves while on a video call.

Dylan Phelan, 21, was sentenced on Friday at Leeds crown court after previously pleading guilty to intentionally doing an act that was capable of encouraging the suicide of another person.

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

A key spy tool is expiring due to inaction in Congress. Here's what that means.

Lawmakers have long sounded the alarm about the risks of letting Section 702 expire. But there's debate over what a lapse in the law actually means.

The SpaceX IPO made Musk a trillionaire. The old rules of capitalism no longer apply | Robert Reich

The economic principles taught in school aren’t as relevant as hype, connections and total, arbitrary control

• Share your views on SpaceX’s stock market debut

Elon Musk is now the world’s first trillionaire, after his SpaceX exploration and satellite company went public on the Nasdaq on Friday.

With shares priced at $135 each, Musk’s aerospace and satellite maker soared to an overall market valuation of approximately $1.77tn – which raised Musk’s net worth (which had already hovered at the astronomical $813bn) into the $1tn stratosphere.

Starmer admits he must ‘turn things around’ as US adds to pressure over defence spending

Prime minister promises to fight any leadership challenge as he faces escalating row over military spending

Keir Starmer has admitted that he has to “turn things around” after the resignation of the defence secretary, John Healey, in an escalating row over military spending that has prompted recriminations across Whitehall and concern from the US.

Downing Street and the Treasury traded blows with allies of Healey on Friday. No 10 expressed dismay that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had wanted £18bn to plug funding gaps in major projects, while those close to the former defence secretary accused Starmer of failing to acknowledge the deterioration in global security.

Thomas Partey out of Ghana’s World Cup opener after visa application to Canada refused

• Player had been due to face Panama in Toronto

• Fifa says decision made by Canadian government

Thomas Partey has been denied entry to Canada and will not be available for Ghana’s first World Cup game in Toronto on Wednesday.

The former Arsenal midfielder was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in July 2025 by the Metropolitan police and pleaded not guilty. Partey, who now plays for the Spanish club Villarreal, was subsequently charged with two new counts of rape in February and also pleaded not guilty.

UK to ban under-16s from ‘high risk’ social media apps

Measures to include restrictions on ‘safe’ social media apps, with some fearing banning some platforms and not others will lead to legal challenges

Teenagers under the age of 16 are to be banned from accessing “high-risk” social media apps while safer platforms will be subjected to restrictions, under a sweeping government crackdown.

Under-18s will also be banned from using romantic or sexual AI chatbots after a consultation on keeping children safe online.

‘I think about him every time I go swimming’: David Hockney remembered by Rachel Whiteread, Jeremy Deller and more

Artists and cultural figures celebrate the great Yorkshire painter who could ‘make teabags and toothpaste glamorous’ – with a poem from a fellow Yorkshireman

• ‘David Hockney caught the look of the modern world’

• David Hockney, revolutionary British artist, dies aged 88

My earliest memories of modern artists were of David Hockney, Andy Warhol and Bridget Riley. I remember seeing a TV programme about David in the 1970s as a young kid and thinking “wow, is that what being an artist is like?” Because my mum was an artist but she wasn’t anything like that!

SpaceX’s Gwynne Shotwell had IPO doubts for years, now she has a message for investors

Gwynne Shotwell, long Elon Musk's second-in-command at SpaceX, spoke exclusively with CNBC ahead of her company's highly anticipated IPO.

David Hockney, pioneering British artist famed for his pools and portraits, dies aged 88

The peroxide blond painter from Yorkshire made his name with sunkissed visions of California and never stopped breaking barriers, going on to become one of contemporary art’s most important figures
• ‘David Hockney caught the look of the modern world’
• David Hockney’s life in pictures

David Hockney, the iconic British painter who cast a revolutionary gaze across 20th-century art, has died aged 88.

He made his name as a pop artist during the swinging 60s and was perhaps best known for his paintings of swimming pools that helped define the Los Angeles aesthetic. Works such as A Bigger Splash and Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures) depicted hedonistic scenes of love, lust and loss taking place below the city’s sun-soaked skies.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Disorder in Belfast, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, the Ebola outbreak, and the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

The Guardian view on literature in wartime: words do not stop when the bombing begins | Editorial

Writers do not only document the horror of conflict; they speak to a future that must exist beyond it

Last week, thousands of readers gathered for a literary festival in Kyiv, risking air raids to hear from writers. Four brutal years of war have not destroyed the appetite for writing, but fuelled it. Russia’s extensive and systematic attempts to destroy Ukrainian culture, and therefore identity, have rightly received widespread attention. Over 700 libraries were damaged or destroyed outright within the first three years of the full-scale invasion.

But that campaign has also spurred efforts to move away from Russian literature and the Russian-language titles that previously dominated the market. Ukrainian literature and publishing has flourished far beyond the powerful documentary accounts of war often awarded attention outside the country, with growing room for experimentation. Newer writing also attempts to bridge the gap between those on the frontline and those more safely at home.

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Judge blocks DOJ 'anti-weaponization' fund for longer, wants guarantee it’s dead

A judge gave Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent a week to submit a sworn declaration the DOJ fund was not going forward.

World Cup football and T20 cricket galore, plus F1 in Barcelona – follow with us

Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports

‘The absence becomes the point’: the steady march of barely there shoes

Dear Frances offers the latest take on ballet flats, offering ‘a glove-like fit wearability’ – which is fine if you have nice feet

When is a shoe not a shoe? On sale this month is a pair that seems to pose the question – the no shoe-shoe is the work of the cult brand Dear Frances and the latest in a steady march of shoes that are barely there; a take on naked dressing but for the foot.

The Balla shoe, which the brand calls a “sock shoe”, covers almost the entire foot, but also leaves it – encased but on display – in a kind of flimsy foot-cage. According to Jane Frances, the creative director and founder of the brand, it “offers a unique, glove-like fit wearability” and “takes inspiration from the delicate strength of a woman”.

‘More pressure than the president’: Ancelotti sets out to end Brazil’s World Cup drought

Last triumph was in 2002 but Italian head coach, without Neymar against Morocco, brings ‘joy and enthusiasm’

It is Marcio Santos who best sums up the predicament Brazil’s players found themselves in before the 1994 World Cup. “We hadn’t won in 24 years. That’s way too long for the Brazilian people,” says the former defender in the new Netflix documentary USA 94: Brazil’s Return to Glory.

Having suffered the ignominy of a first defeat in qualifying that prompted the manager, Carlos Alberto Parreira, to offer to step down, the fabled Romário and Bebeto strike partnership inspired the Seleção to win a fourth World Cup the last time the tournament was held on American soil.

‘We can’t give up on Afghans’: Lyse Doucet on the remarkable ‘people’s history’ that won her the Women’s prize

The BBC’s chief international correspondent was awarded the prestigious nonfiction prize for The Finest Hotel in Kabul – which she hopes will bring more attention to the Taliban’s draconian treatment of women

• Women’s prize: Virginia Evans wins for fiction and Lyse Doucet takes award for nonfiction

Lyse Doucet first checked into Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel on Christmas Day 1988, as Soviet troops were withdrawing from Afghanistan at the end of a decade-long occupation. She expected to stay briefly. Instead, she remained for almost a year, and the hotel became her first Afghan home.

More than three decades later, it became the subject of her first book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul, which has now won the Women’s prize for nonfiction. But while the prize recognises a remarkable work of reportage and history, the BBC’s chief international correspondent is more interested in what it might do for the country that inspired it.

Olivia Rodrigo: You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love review – who’s she singing about? Who cares when the songs are this good

(Geffen)
Gossips have rushed to the lyrics for details about her personal life, but the rest of us can just get on with luxuriating in Rodrigo’s funny, Cure-infused craft

With a certain crushing inevitability, the arrival of Olivia Rodrigo’s third album has been accompanied by a lot of frenzied decoding of its lyrics for references to Louis Partridge, the British actor whose relationship with the singer ended late last year. One magazine ran a 1,200 word essay, complete with annotations, panning its songs for nuggets of gossip: the fourth piece they’ve published on the subject in recent months. A British broadsheet plumped for a news story about the fact that Rodrigo had apparently changed the lyrics of a track called Purple, formerly a “very sweet and saccharine” love song, to reflect the end of their relationship. Over in New Delhi, The Hindustan Times was pondering rumours that the couple had actually got back together: “Interest in Partridge has grown after Rodrigo released her new album since fans believe the track Stupid Song has references to the singer’s relationship with him.”

Well, of course it has: for better or for worse, that kind of speculation seems to have become a major part of modern pop, and Oliva Rodrigo in particular has long been a beneficiary of the clickbait publicity it brings. Her breakthrough single Drivers Licence gained traction thanks to the rumour that its lyrics were about her former boyfriend Joshua Bassett’s dalliance with Sabrina Carpenter; Vampire, the lead single from 2023’s Guts invited yet more speculation about whether its subject was another ex or Taylor Swift. Indeed, she actively seems to encourage it: “I never talk about my personal life in interviews or in any public forum, so I guess the music is where people go to deduce things,” she recently told an interviewer, a line that seems to have a distinct hint of “go ahead, fill your boots” about it.

‘Go Knicks!’: from Wu-Tang to Trump, New York is gripped by basketball fever

City has become caught up in the drama as team stands on brink of a first NBA championship in 53 years

After the New York Knicks’ furious comeback over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, the last place anyone in the city wanted to be was at home. Taylor Swift and Larry David were among the celebrities who lingered at Madison Square Garden after the final buzzer sounded on the 107-106 victory as Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York washed over the arena.

The former Knick Iman Shumpert, sporting his old No 21 jersey, made a beeline from the arena to Times Square to join the stunned celebration. All over the city, car horns blared, raucous watch parties spilled on to the streets and perfect strangers greeted one another by barking “Go Knicks!”. As they might put it on Broadway: it was just one of those nights.

Rachel Nicholson obituary

My friend Rachel Nicholson, who has died aged 91, is known as an artist whose paintings possess rich colour, extraordinary focus and stillness, yet she began making them only in her 40s.

Rachel was born in London, one of triplets born to the artists Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson. She, her sister Sarah and her brother Simon spent a childhood shaped by her parents’ need to maintain their own careers. At first they were cared for at a training school for nursery nurses. When the family moved to Cornwall in 1939, first to Carbis Bay and later to nearby St Ives, the children had a nurse, attended a small private school and then, aged 10, became boarders at Dartington school in Devon.

All of us are migrants, says pope as he rounds off tour of Spain in Tenerife

Pontiff urges leaders to do more to welcome refugees and tells people smugglers to expect ‘divine justice’

Pope Leo has used the final day of his week-long tour of Spain to stress that “all of us are migrants” as he praised the power of integration, adding: “Yesterday’s foreigner may be today’s brother and neighbour.”

The pontiff arrived on Friday in Tenerife, the largest and most populous of the Canary Islands. Soon after, he made his way to a reception centre housed in a former military barracks, which has accommodated as many as 4,000 people, to address the hundreds of migrants gathered there.

Antarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average

Exclusive A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing’

Antarctica’s west coast is missing an area of winter sea ice the size of France, sparking concerns for threatened penguins other marine life and global sea levels.

One expert said the loss of ice in the Bellingshausen Sea was “depressing” and the failure of ice to form could have intensified a heatwave over the continent’s peninsula last week that saw daytime temperatures peak at 15.4C which is more than 20C above average.

SpaceX is way ahead of competitors with Starlink, but growth is harder heading into IPO

Heading into its IPO, SpaceX's only profitable business is Starlink. But there are red flags for investors.

Former Tesla board member says SpaceX needs to achieve 2 of its 3 moonshots to keep its valuation

SpaceX has achieved its goal of becoming the largest IPO on record.

Oracle shares tumble 11% on increased capital raise, cash concerns

Oracle beat on earnings and revenue, but negative free cash flow and the company's plan to raise more capital is weighing on the stock.

FDA authorizes emergency use of drug to fight screwworms in pets

Nitenpyram is the first generic animal drug authorized to treat screwworms in dogs and cats, according to federal regulators.

Spain’s former PM faces tax fraud inquiry as police find €1.3m of jewellery

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, already under investigation for alleged influence-peddling, facing questions over items found in office safe

The former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is being investigated for possible tax fraud and smuggling after police discovered jewellery valued at more than €1.3m (£1.1m) while searching his office safe as part of a separate inquiry.

Zapatero, who led two socialist governments between 2004 and 2011, is already under investigation for alleged influence-peddling and other offences relating to the state bailout of the Spanish Plus Ultra airline during the Covid pandemic. He is alleged to have overseen “a hierarchical structure of influence-peddling”, whose purpose was “to obtain economic benefits through intermediation and the exercise of influence before public bodies in favour of third parties, mainly Plus Ultra”.

From man boobs to baldness: everything you wanted to know about midlife wellness … but were too male to ask

Is my metabolism slowing with age? What’s the secret to good skin? And is there anything I can do about my crows feet? Medical, health and diet experts offer a midlife MOT

According to the dietician Rick Miller: “By the time a man hits his mid-40s, several physiological changes are already under way. Testosterone drops at around 1-2% annually from the mid-30s, insulin sensitivity decreases and the liver’s capacity to process certain nutrients changes. The diet that kept a man lean and energetic in his 30s simply stops working.”

‘It’s massive destruction’: outcry in Texas over waivers to allow border wall in Big Bend national park

Despite plunging border crossings, the Trump administration is circumventing laws to expedite building in a vast, pristine wilderness

The Trump administration has waived a slew of environmental and historical preservation laws that would allow it to build a towering border wall that cuts through Big Bend national park, a vast protected wilderness in south Texas.

Congress poured a whopping $46.5bn for border wall construction into the “Big, Beautiful” bill last year, supercharging Donald Trump’s ambition to wall off the southern border with Mexico. The longest unwalled stretches lie along a roughly 500-mile (800km) section of west Texas that Customs and Border Protection calls the “Big Bend sector”.

Obsessed with Obsession: how a low-budget horror changed the game in Hollywood

The $750,000 relationship horror about a cursed wish is set to outgross a new Star Wars movie, energizing Gen Z audiences and creating a rare cultural conversation

This week, the independently produced horror movie Obsession, which cost either $750,000 or $15m depending on whether you count its actual budget or acquisition cost for its studio, officially passed the latest Star Wars movie at the box office (the film has so far made over $165m in the US alone).

It’s not a coincidence that this happened on a weekday. Obsession’s box office power lies not just in its astonishing weekend-to-weekend strength (including the virtually unheard-of trajectory of increasing grosses on its second and third weekends) but in its powerhouse weekday grosses. This past week, as it approached the one-month mark in theaters, it was averaging over $4m on its weekdays. At the same point in the run of Avengers: Endgame, that movie – the biggest summer blockbuster of modern times – was pulling in half as much.

Brad Pitt in the frame as older men embrace ‘hot professor’ glasses

‘Late life’ male celebrities are turning the need for spectacles into a style statement as they refuse to disappear into fashion invisibility

A heart-throb for more than 40 years, Brad Pitt is no doubt used to people looking at him. But this week, that gaze was distracted by an addition to his face – aviator-style glasses.

Worn to watch the tennis at Roland Garros and with a pink trenchcoat when out for dinner in Paris, these retro glassesare more typically worn by younger men. That’s changed recently – they’re now becoming central to a makeover for men entering their “late life” era, but who aren’t willing to submit to the fashion invisibility associated with ageing.

‘Anger burns off every bit of it’: the furious guerrilla-art response to the Epstein files

This collection of ‘art meets theatre meets activism’ by more than 80 writers can feel overwhelming, writes our critic, but it devastatingly conveys the cumulative horror and anger of abuse against women

Can social media bring on the revolution? Maybe not, but it was vital for the collective action behind this theatrical event, conceived on a WhatsApp group for playwrights shortly after the release of the Epstein files. Members of the group were angry that the world was not talking nearly enough about the impact of Jeffrey Epstein’s actions on the girls and women he abused. They were also concerned that America’s war with Iran was serving as a distraction from the violence that lay festering in these files on the paedophile-financier. So when British playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz sent out a prompt, scores of writers responded.

That was four months ago. This week, more than 80 of those writers have mobilised a creative response under the lead direction of Lucy Morrison along with Hannah Hauer-King, Madeleine Kludje and Tessa Walker. It takes place across 15 spaces, cupboards as well as open plan areas, on the upper storey of an office in London, currently occupied by Theatre Deli, a company that takes over empty locations.

‘A long lunch is what we’re good at’: London bistro above a pub wins UK restaurant of the year

Bouchon Racine is old school, for lovers of traditional French cooking and boozy afternoons – it even aims to stop taking bookings online

If you are someone who consults social media to find the best spots for a weeknight dinner reservation, you’d be forgiven for thinking that having a viral social media account or influencer chef at the stove is the only way to run a successful restaurant these days.

However, the operators of the newly crowned top UK restaurant are not just unbothered about competing in the algorithm olympics, they’re actively seeking out ways to be more analogue – even considering only take bookings by phone.

Masters of the Universe is a box office flop. Can they really be serious about a sequel?

WARNING: Minor spoiler ahead!
By the power of Grayskull, Amazon MGM has the power to revive a franchise that hasn’t been big since Choppers were the coolest bikes in town

Reports suggest Travis Knight’s Masters of the Universe made just $54m (£40m) globally on debut at the weekend, a figure that, while not exactly fatal, would usually be considered a disappointment for a mainstream movie with a budget of more than $200m. Worse still, this heavily caffeinated, meta take on the 1980s TV show arrived carrying the weight of a major studio relaunch and decades of pent-up nostalgia. On paper at least, its bow looks less like the birth of a cinematic universe than the sort of expensive stumble from which some franchises never recover.

So why then does everyone involved in this thing seem so cheerful? “Travis Knight and the entire cast and film-making team have delivered something truly special,” Amazon MGM’s Kevin Wilson gushed to Variety. “This opening is exactly the kind of critical first moment that validates our holistic distribution strategy – building awareness and engagement that will carry well beyond the theatrical window.”

SpaceX IPO won’t ‘break’ the bull market. But investors are worried about what comes next

As far as Wall Street is concerned, the stock market has what it takes to absorb the new supply.

The UN has shamed Israel over sexual violence in conflict. Now there must be accountability | Janine di Giovanni

Russia is also included on the UN’s blacklist – and it faces enormous pressure from sanctions. The same consequences must apply to Israel

• Janine di Giovanni is executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes reporting unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine

Yousef, a Palestinian journalist, and I stood on a beach in Gaza during the first intifada – the uprising that began in 1987, defined by popular resistance and young men throwing stones. He was in his early 20s at the time, but he had already spent time in Ansar III, the dreaded Israeli prison in the Negev desert. He had recently been released.

This was before post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was widely understood, but I knew my friend was deeply traumatised. Staring at the sea, his hands shook as we spoke. Even though he was free, he doubted he would ever feel safe again. Prison had meant beatings, torture, sleep deprivation. “The soldiers kept asking me if I wanted to be a woman,” he said. “That is the worst thing – to threaten to destroy your manhood.”

Janine di Giovanni is a war correspondent and the executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine. She is the author of The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria

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.