Trump says Russia and Ukraine have agreed to his request for a 3-day ceasefire

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Yuri Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs adviser, both confirmed the agreement for a three-day ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners.

US military strike on vessel in eastern Pacific kills two people, leaving one survivor

More than 190 people have been killed in such strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific

The US military on Friday said it struck a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two people and leaving one survivor in the latest attack on boats suspected of transporting narcotics. This brings the death toll from strikes on such vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific to more than 190 people since September.

A video posted by the US Southern Command shows the vessel traveling through the water being hit by what appears to be a missile. The screen momentarily goes black and then shows the boat engulfed in flames.

Man who survived hantavirus 24 years ago, but lost mom and sister, recounts experience

In 2002, Zermeño found out he contracted hantavirus after cleaning the family house following the death of his mother and sister. He had been exposed to rodent droppings and became infected.

Alabama lawmakers pass plan for new House primary as state pushes to redistrict

Alabama lawmakers have approved a plan for new House primaries if courts allow the state to use different congressional districts in this year's elections.

Russia and Ukraine confirm three-day ceasefire from 9 May

Both sides also confirm prisoner swap which Donald Trump announced along with suspension of all ‘kinetic activity’ between the warring states

Donald Trump has announced a three-day ceasefire in the war between Russia and Ukraine from 9 to 11 May.

The US president said on social media the ceasefire would include a suspension of all “kinetic activity” and a swap of 1,000 prisoners from each country. It was confirmed by both sides.

After struggling for years to make ends meet, a daughter opened her home to her mother

Boca Raton is one of the wealthiest cities in Florida, but even along its golden sands, people still get stuck in fiscal undertows.

U.S. plans evacuation for Americans on cruise ship in hantavirus outbreak

The MV Hondius is currently traveling to the Canary Islands, where the 147 people on board will be methodically off-boarded and flown home.

Virginia Supreme Court tosses out congressional map that favored Democrats

The congressional redistricting referendum was passed by Virginia voters last month and would have given Democrats a more favorable map.

Split Enz tease new album ahead of first tour in 17 years: ‘We’d make a really good record now’

Always one step ahead, the new wave innovators are not done yet – and their hair is bigger than ever

Many things can kill you in the music business. For Split Enz, New Zealand’s first internationally successful rock group, the most lethal poison was hairspray – or it should have been. “How did I not die?” marvels bandleader Tim Finn, whose head – at its vertiginous peak – resembled an upturned paintbrush.

Sitting next to him, percussionist Noel Crombie grins as Finn continues the story. “Noel would lacquer merciless amounts of this toxic spray … the makeup would start to run but the hair would just somehow … sit there.”

Punching the light: Sydney’s 90s raves – in pictures

At the age of 17, Simon Burstall documented the burgeoning underground rave scene of 1990s Sydney. Armed with borrowed school cameras and stealing away from home in the early hours of the morning in the family car, Simon found community and a career that would change him forever.

‘93: Punching the Light was published by Damiani in 2019.

Pentagon begins releasing UFO files: "It's time the American people see"

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement that the documents "have long fueled justified speculation — and it's time the American people see it for themselves."

After growing up homeless, woman shares new apartment with her mom

Twenty-six-year-old Ana Duarte said that as a child, she and her mother were homeless in Florida. Now, she has found an apartment for her and her mom. Steve Hartman has the story.

General Motors to pay $12.75m settlement for selling drivers’ location and data

Automaker had given ‘numerous statements reassuring drivers that it would not do so’, says California attorney general

General Motors (GM) agreed to pay $12.75m to resolve claims that it illegally sold hundreds of thousands of Californians’ location and driving data to two data brokers, said the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, on Friday. He said this came after the Detroit-based automaker had given “numerous statements reassuring drivers that it would not do so”.

“General Motors sold the data of California drivers without their knowledge or consent,” Bonta said in a statement. “This trove of information included precise and personal location data that could identify the everyday habits and movements of Californians.”

Oklahoma principal who tackled gunman recalls moment he was shot in the leg

The Oklahoma high school principal who tackled an armed former student and prevented a mass shooting was honored for his bravery at Thursday night's Oklahoma City Thunder playoff game. He sat down with Matt Gutman about the moment.

Why police were called on a "senior assassin" player holding a water gun

Police across the U.S. are warning about a game called "senior assassin," a bit like tag with water guns, that popular among graduating seniors. But in Massachusetts, someone called 911, thinking a water gun was real. Tom Hanson reports.

Virginia Supreme Court hands Republicans an edge ahead of midterms

Virginia voters recently approved a new congressional map designed to help give Democrats as many as four additional seats in Congress. But on Friday, the state's Supreme Court narrowly struck down those maps. Ed O'Keefe has details.

As fragile Iran ceasefire holds, U.S. fires on Iranian oil tankers

A ceasefire with Iran is still officially in place, but U.S. forces hit and disabled two Iranian oil tankers on Friday, accusing them of attempting to violate the U.S. blockade. Weijia Jiang has more.

Trump tells public to "have fun" with UFO document release

The Pentagon released UFO documents on Friday, with President Trump telling the public to "have fun" deciding for itself what is going on. Carter Evans reports.

As hantavirus outbreak ship heads toward Canary Islands, locals protest

U.S. citizens potentially exposed to hantavirus amid the deadly outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship could be on their way back to the U.S. as soon as next week. Under newly-released plans, a special biocontainment unit in Nebraska is preparing to host at least 17 people for mandatory isolation.

Cameras to be allowed in courtroom in Charlie Kirk killing case, judge rules

Lawyers for Tyler James Robinson, 23, fail to persuade judge that media coverage could compromise right to fair jury

A Utah judge has ruled that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom as the murder case progresses against Tyler James Robinson, the 23-year-old man charged with assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk last year.

Robinson’s attorneys had sought to block still photographers, TV cameras and microphones from accessing portions of an evidentiary hearing. They raised concern about “prejudicial and misleading media coverage” that could compromise Robinson’s constitutional right to a “fair and impartial jury”, in a court filing.

Trump administration relaxing hunting restrictions in US parks and refuges

After January order from US department of the interior, managers across 55 sites have lifted prohibitions

Donald Trump’s administration is quietly pushing national park, refuge and wilderness area managers to dramatically scale back hunting restrictions, raising questions about visitor safety and the impact on wildlife.

Doug Burgum, the US Department of the Interior secretary, issued an order in January directing multiple agencies to remove what he termed “unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers” to hunting and fishing, to and justify regulations they want to keep in place.

5/8: CBS Evening News

Canary Island residents are concerned about the cruise ship with the hantavirus outbreak; The Pentagon releases UFO files.

Southampton charged with misconduct by EFL in Middlesbrough ‘spying’ row

• League to convene disciplinary panel at ‘earliest opportunity’

• Furious Boro want playoff opponents to be punished severely

Southampton have been charged with misconduct by the English Football League and will face an independent disciplinary commission set to be convened “at the earliest opportunity”.

Middlesbrough remain furious after catching a man they maintain belongs to Tonda Eckert’s backroom staff allegedly spying on a vital training session before Saturday’s Championship playoff semi-final first leg against Southampton at the Riverside Stadium.

In a hushed room, personal testimonies reveal Australia’s troubling rise in antisemitism

This week, Jewish Australians have spoken about how displays of hostility, discrimination and the Bondi terror attack have changed their lives and their feelings about their place in the community

The narrow benches of the public gallery are filled. They have come from all over to offer their testimony, to support friends, to give and receive comfort. They come too, to listen.

This, in this small, quiet room, is Australia’s attempt to reckon with the violent modern manifestation of an ancient bigotry.

Fed unlikely to cut interest rates until 2027, Bank of America says

A "hawkish" turn at the Fed and stubbornly high inflation could delay interest rate cuts, according to Bank of America economists.

The Federal Reserve is quickly running out of reasons to cut interest rates

Friday's jobs report provided evidence that the central bank's larger concern is a cost of living that is getting increasingly hard to bear.

Keir Starmer under pressure to agree exit plan after election mauling

Senior Labour MPs urge prime minister to step down within year as party loses control of 25 English councils and humbled in Wales

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

• Mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directions

Keir Starmer is under pressure to set out a timeline for his departure after a crushing defeat in elections across Britain prompted senior Labour MPs to call for him to step down within a year.

In a disastrous set of results, Labour had lost control of more than 25 councils and more than 1,000 council seats in England by Friday night, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made large gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the south.

Farage said a “truly historic shift in British politics” had occurred after Reform UK won hundreds of seats and control of more councils in England. The gains included Essex where the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, has her constituency and which the Conservatives held for 25 years.

Plaid Cymru became the largest party in Wales, beating Reform into second place, after Labour admitted it was on course to lose control of the Senedd for the first time since devolution. Morgan, the first woman to lead the Welsh government, became the highest-profile casualty and called on Labour to “go back to being the party of the working class”.

The SNP leader, John Swinney, declared victory in the Holyrood elections – though was expected to fall short of an outright majority. The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, conceded defeat saying his party had failed to counter “national dissatisfaction” with Starmer.

The Greens gained their first two directly elected mayors – in Hackney and Lewisham – although they missed out on some more ambitious targets in London, as their leader, Zack Polanski, declared Britain’s two-party politics “dead and buried”. They also won three councils: Norwich, Hastings and Waltham Forest.

The Tories were on course to lose hundreds of seats – both to Reform and the Liberal Democrats – across the south of England. However, they won back the flagship Westminster council in central London, with Badenoch announcing it meant the party was “coming back”.

Labour appeared to be struggling in its London stronghold, despite early indications that its vote was holding up, unexpectedly losing control of Brent. Party insiders were closely watching councils including Lambeth, Lewisham and Haringey.

But Labour’s vote has held up in Wes Streeting’s Redbridge, which allies said put paid to the idea that he was set to lose his Ilford North seat.

Four south Florida men convicted in Haitian president’s assassination

Men were convicted in Miami federal court for plotting to kill Jovenel Moïse at his Port-au-Prince home in 2021

Four south Florida men were convicted on Friday of plotting to kill the Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, in 2021 by hiring mercenaries to assassinate him at his Port-au-Prince home, court records show.

Prosecutors argued during the nine-week trial in a Miami federal court that the men assembled two dozen former Colombian soldiers and supplied them with money, guns, ammunition and tactical vests in a conspiracy to kill Moïse. The 53-year-old president was shot dead in July 2021 at his private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince, a killing that left a gaping political vacuum in the Caribbean nation and emboldened powerful gangs.

These election results don’t mean tacking left or right, but delivering for the whole country | Keir Starmer

In the coming days I will be setting out our path to break with the status quo once and for all by building a stronger and fairer UK

These were very tough election results. It hurts to lose brilliant local candidates and leaders – friends and colleagues who represent the best of the Labour party. I take responsibility for that and feel it very deeply. It is right we reflect and learn the right lessons.

While the results will understandably lead to much debate about what’s changed in British politics, that should not overshadow the fact that for years voters have been deeply frustrated with the status quo – constantly hoping that things will get better and that politics will deliver real change in their lives.

Keir Starmer is the UK prime minister

5/8: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Ship with hantavirus outbreak arriving in Spain on Sunday; Virginia Supreme Court rejects new congressional map.

Dunkin' owner Inspire Brands confidentially files for IPO

The restaurant company owns Dunkin', Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Baskin Robbins, Sonic Drive-In and Jimmy John's.

ABC accuses the FCC of violating free speech rights over "The View"

ABC filed a petition with the FCC claiming that the agency's scrutiny of "The View" threatens to "chill critical protected speech."

Here's how AI can help with retirement planning, and where it struggles

As more people turn to chatbots for financial advice, experts say AI offers both pros and cons for retirement planning. Here's what to know.

Madrid’s shambolic fight club braced for Barcelona to land knockout blow

Head coach Álvaro Arbeloa is facing the bitterest of ends as faint hopes are set to be extinguished by fiercest rivals

The vice-captain was taken to hospital for stitches having been laid out by his midfield partner. Another midfielder said he wouldn’t play any more; as if he was going to play anyway. The manager wasn’t asking for much, just that they didn’t swan out there as if wearing tuxedos, and that’s still asking too much. The centre-back hit the left-back. The winger fell out with the last coach. The captain fell out with this coach. And the superstar, already accused of not caring, swanning off to Sardinia, drives out of the training ground, past the cameras and away from the whole sorry mess, laughing his head off. Now here’s Barcelona.

You think things can’t get any worse but things can always get worse. The most painful week anyone could remember, maybe the biggest, most public crisis they have ever had, concludes with Real Madrid travelling to the Camp Nou on Sunday for the clásico. If they don’t win, and few believe they can given the football they play and the faultlines that run through their dressing room, they will watch Barcelona become champions with three games left, going down as the flames go higher and history is made. It would be the first time in 94 years a meeting of sport’s great rivals decides the title – only this title has long been decided, both cause and consequence of the turmoil Madrid are in.

Novak Djokovic accepts ‘new reality’ after returning with defeat at Italian Open

• Djokovic loses in three sets to Dino Prizmic in Rome

• ‘Not ideal preparation’ for French Open later this month

Novak Djokovic believes he must accept the “new reality” of his continuous physical struggles in the latter part of his career as his return to competition after an injury-ravaged clay-court season ended in a second-round Italian Open loss to the young Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic, who recovered courageously from a set down to topple his idol 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Djokovic has not competed since the Indian Wells Masters event two months ago, his only other tournament since his spectacular run to the Australian Open final. As the fourth seed in Rome, he received a first-round bye. Despite starting the match positively, the 38-year-old was outplayed by his 20-year-old opponent, who wore the Serb down physically and played bold tennis to escape with the greatest victory of his career.

Small Georgia town rehires local police after mayor fired entire department

The Cohutta town council holds emergency meeting, with mayor voluntarily leaving and vice-mayor assuming role

The town council in a small mountain community in the US state of Georgia held an emergency meeting on Friday evening to vote to reinstate the police department after the mayor fired the chief and all the officers.

The notice for the meeting, posted outside the Cohutta town hall, had said the council would also consider a request for the mayor’s “immediate resignation”. However, the rest of the meeting agenda, including any action against the mayor, was tabled, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. A second emergency ordinance approved by the town council prohibits the mayor from disbanding the police department for the next 30 days.

UFO files spanning decades are released by Defense Department

Cold War reports of mysterious rotating saucers; recent sightings of metallic elliptical objects floating in mid-air. Those and other reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena or UAPs — the military's term for UFOs — are described in documents released Friday.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (May 10)

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

What the Trump administration's latest tariff blow means for businesses

A trade court's ruling this week against a 10% U.S. tariff is narrow in scope, offering limited relief to importers. Here's what to know.

Pentagon releases first batch of previously secret files documenting reports of UFOs

Among the releases is a 1969 debrief of Buzz Aldrin stating he saw a ‘sizeable’ object close to the lunar surface

The Pentagon on Friday released an initial group of previously secret files documenting reports of UFOs – a move sought for decades by some.

“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation – and it’s time the American people see it for themselves,” Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, said in a statement posted on X.

5 states monitoring passengers who departed ship stricken by hantavirus

American passengers who left the MV Hondius cruise ship in April are being monitored for hantavirus in at least five states, health officials said.

Local officials aim to oust Arizona sheriff leading Nancy Guthrie investigation

Local officials in Arizona are pushing to remove Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who is leading the Nancy Guthrie probe, alleging Nanos lied under oath during a deposition for an unrelated lawsuit.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Femen and Pussy Riot protest in Venice, Israeli strikes in Gaza, the hantavirus outbreak and Emma Chamberlain at the Met Gala – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

U.S. payrolls jump more than expected, but the report had several red flags for the economy

Nonfarm payrolls were expected to increase by 55,000 in April, according to the Dow Jones consensus.

Canvas is back online, but questions — and final exam disruptions — linger

Some schools are warning users not to log back into Canvas yet, after a ransomware group claimed credit for a data breach. Half of North America's higher education institutions use the platform.

Slimline Stokes makes impression with pair of wickets on red-ball return

England captain took new ball along with two victims in 14 overs in Championship comeback for Durham against Worcestershire

To little fanfare, Ben Stokes has slipped out of the shorter formats. His last one-day international was at the 2023 World Cup, his last Twenty20 international helped England win its equivalent a year earlier. His most recent white-ball match of any description came during the Hundred in 2024, a tournament he has since shouldered arms to.

Red-ball cricket is the thing that gets the England captain’s juices flowing these days and had he not fractured his cheekbone in the nets back in February, the plan was to be available for Durham from the start of the season. Fair play, given the additional money he could earn by diversifying in his final years.

Brighton’s Fran Kirby: ‘Instead of running around like a headless chicken, I stand and assess’

Former Chelsea forward is thriving on the south coast and targeting victory over Liverpool in the Women’s FA Cup

Fran Kirby knows what she brings. She always has. The Brighton forward is not young for a footballer but, at 32, she’s not old either and, injury free, is reminding people she still has it. “I know I am not the same player that I was when I was 25, I’m not naive,” she says. “That’s not who I am anymore, but I know what I can bring and that is creativity, the passes that other people won’t try. I’ve always said it: I will always try a pass, even if it doesn’t come off. That’s how I play. I play with risk. Sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it does.”

That eye for a pass is frequently on display. A recent standout was Kirby’s assist for Kiko Seike in Brighton’s thrilling 3-2 win over Manchester City. The obvious move was to play a pass into Seike’s feet; instead Kirby squeezed the ball between two defenders, taking them out of the action, and into space for her Japanese teammate to collect and fire in. It was vintage Kirby and, after her Chelsea career was blighted by injuries and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart lining), it is wonderful to see a woman who earned 77 caps for England playing at such a level.

How did league champions Liverpool and Club World Cup winners Chelsea fall so far?

Our correspondents look at how the clubs – who meet on Saturday – got where they are and what must happen next

Liverpool: Not at all. Hindsight offers a few portents, such as the extent of last summer’s upheaval and Arne Slot’s insistence that it was a necessary response to Liverpool’s form towards the end of last season. It was strange to hear a title-winning coach in effect play down his team’s achievement. There was also the tragic death of Diogo Jota to deal with. Only Jota’s teammates and colleagues know the toll that has taken on them individually. But when the transfer window closed on 1 September with the £125m signing of Alexander Isak, taking the summer spend to almost £450m and expectations through the roof, the question asked was whether Liverpool would clean up given the resources at Slot’s disposal.

West Ham on brink a decade after David Sullivan announced his ‘big club’ feelings

The club chair said the move to the London Stadium showed they were not a ‘tinpot club’ but now relegation threat looms

When David Sullivan was pressed on why West Ham bothered to move to the London Stadium, the lack of substance to his argument offered a window into the club’s dysfunction. “I just think we feel like a big club,” Sullivan said in an interview with the Guardian in December 2017. “Not a tinpot club. When players come to look at West Ham, they look at where you play.”

Look deeper, though. Analysing the club chair’s answer nine years on, the conclusion is that this is an owner whose desire to win is cancelled out by his listlessness. Feeling like a big club, after all, is not the same as being a big club. It is a decade since West Ham departed from Upton Park, their tinpot home, and told their fans that doing so would take them to the next level. “A world-class stadium with a world-class team,” was the infamous sell from Karren Brady, the recently departed vice-chair, to which the best retort may be that line in the club’s recent accounts “forecasting a liquidity shortfall in summer 2026”, as well as the “severe but plausible scenario” of relegation causing an even bigger financial crisis three years after victory in the Conference League was followed by the £105m sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal.

U.S. launches major expansion of denaturalization campaign

The Trump administration announced a major expansion of its denaturalization campaign targeting foreign-born American citizens accused of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship.

IREN inks AI infrastructure deal with Nvidia

Data center operator IREN announced a partnership with semiconductor giant Nvidia.

Fifa triples price of top World Cup final ticket to $32,970 as US politicians voice concerns

• Previous high for Category 1 had been $10,990

• Resale tickets for final listed from $8,000 to $11.5m

• New Jersey reps pen letter to Infantino about ticketing

Fifa tripled the price of its best available tickets to the World Cup final, making $32,970 seats available on Thursday for the 19 July match at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The governing body listed those seats as Front Category 1 on its sales site.

What next for Labour as Reform wins big in elections? - The Latest

Keir Starmer has vowed to fight on after Labour suffered substantial losses in local elections, while Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Green party saw major gains. So is the era of two-party politics dead? And can the Prime Minister cling on? Lucy Hough speaks to political correspondent Alexandra Topping.

UFO files reveal astronauts saw mysterious objects and lights in 1972

NASA's Apollo 17 crew reported seeing three mysterious dots and sparks that resembled fireworks, according to new files released by the Pentagon.

The Guardian view on Britain’s fractured politics: a revolt against the status quo | Editorial

Sir Keir Starmer faces a deepening crisis of authority as election losses suggest disappointment with Labour has already curdled into cynicism

If you are Sir Keir Starmer, the results of the local and devolved elections make for grim reading. Thursday’s ballot gave almost two-thirds of Britain’s electorate the chance to vote. Fragmentation is no longer the future of British politics. In many places it is its present. After a quarter-century in which Labour and the Conservatives dominated electoral life, both parties suffered heavy losses in their traditional strongholds. Politics since the turn of the century has been upended: Reform UK seized the Tory bastion of Essex, home territory for Kemi Badenoch; the Greens wrested mayoral power in London’s Hackney and Lewisham from Labour; and Plaid Cymru routed Labour in Wales’ Senedd. This looked like more than the familiar midterm backlash, whatever the party in power. Clearly Sir Keir was on the ballot paper – and was roundly rejected by the voters.

The question is whether the prime minister is listening to the electorate – or hearing what suits him. Many voters appear unconvinced that the government represents a meaningful break from the Conservatives. The prime minister said that people had “sent a message that the change that we promised isn’t being delivered in a way they can feel”. Change exists, says Sir Keir, but people don’t perceive it. This message risks patronising voters – or at worst gaslighting them. These elections suggest that disappointment with Sir Keir has already curdled into cynicism.

The Guardian view on writers’ retirements: the sense of an ending | Editorial

Michael Frayn and Julian Barnes have announced that they won’t be writing any more books. It is a hard habit to kick

“Retirement is the ugliest word in the language,” Ernest Hemingway said. Writers, like artists in general, aren’t the retiring sort. And what does it actually mean? As the playwright, novelist and former Guardian journalist Michael Frayn quipped 20 years ago, “Nobody comes in and gives you a clock.”

Frayn was 72 at the time. Since then, he has added a further novel (Skios), a play (Afterlife) and two memoirs to a backlist that includes the hugely successful plays Noises Off and Copenhagen (a revival of which has just finished at the Hampstead theatre in London). Now, at 92, that clock has caught up with him. “Sadly it’s over,” he told Radio 4 this week. “Writing has been my life.”

Man pleads not guilty to threatening Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Alex Jenkinson, 39, from Suffolk is expected to stand trial in July, with the former duke of York to give evidence

A man has denied threatening Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after reports the former prince was accosted near his Sandringham home earlier this week.

Alex Jenkinson, 39, pleaded not guilty at Westminster magistrates court on Friday to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence against the former duke of York.

Trump threatens EU with ‘much higher’ tariffs if no trade deal signed by new deadline

President Donald Trump said he will give the European Union until July 4 to ratify its trade agreement with the U.S.

Virginia Supreme Court strikes down redistricting push in blow to Democrats

In the ongoing redistricting wars, Virginia was seen as an opportunity for Democrats to pick up as many as four U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.

Soft armour, pert nipples: how London design team made Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala breastplate

Duo Whitaker Malem worked with pop art sculptor Allen Jones and a car bodyshop in Kent to create gala’s biggest jolt

At Monday’s Met Gala, it inevitably fell to Kim Kardashian to deliver the evening’s biggest jolt. One of the few celebrities to straightforwardly interpret the “fashion is art” dress code – which focused on how the dressed and undressed human body is the through-line in most works of art – she decided to forgo her usual role as a walking billboard for a major fashion house and instead arrived in an orange fibreglass breastplate created by a small east London art duo and a car bodyshop in Kent.

“Good art should start conversation, and Kim did exactly that,” says 61-year-old Patrick Whitaker, half of the design practice Whitaker Malem, who made the breastplate just weeks before the gala. “She was very clear on wanting a breastplate, very clear on the car body finish. And I think she was nervous really. She understands the competition.”

Evacuation of hantavirus-stricken cruise ship could face delays due to bad weather

‘Unprecedented operation’ under way to receive MV Hondius off Tenerife to assess and repatriate those onboard

• What is hantavirus?
• Where did the cruise ship hantavirus come from and what happens next?

The evacuation of the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship must be completed within 24 hours of the vessel reaching Tenerife on Sunday or face days or even weeks of delay because of bad weather, authorities in the Canary Islands warned on Friday.

The Dutch-flagged vessel, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, is due to arrive in the Spanish archipelago this weekend, triggering what Spain’s health minister has termed an “unprecedented operation” to receive, assess and repatriate the 149 passengers and crew members onboard.

US awaiting response from Iran over proposals for ceasefire deal, says Rubio

Diplomatic efforts continuing despite fighting in and around contested strait of Hormuz in recent days

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said that Washington is expecting a response from Iran on Friday to its proposals for an interim deal to end the conflict in the Middle East, as Iran accused the US of breaching the increasingly fragile ceasefire announced last month.

In recent days there have been the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the contested strait of Hormuz since the informal truce began. The rise in violence followed Donald Trump’s announcement – then rapid pause – of a new naval mission aimed at opening the strategic waterway.

A Piece Of Heaven returns Chester to even keel after ground chaos

Chester Cup provided fine finale after festival was saved by repairs after horses slipped in Thursday’s opener

A Piece Of Heaven’s 7-1 success in the Chester Cup, the most popular and historic race of the year at the world’s oldest racecourse, was a fine way to round off the track’s May festival meeting on Friday, not least after a day when, for around an hour or so in early afternoon, the event had teetered on the edge of an expensive, embarrassing disaster.

The odds that the middle day of Chester’s showpiece event would be abandoned, with around 15,000 spectators at the track for Ladies’ Day, seemed to be shortening at 2.30pm on Thursday, as a delegation of jockeys and trainers inspected the turf on the home turn.

Formula One agrees to engine changes from next season after widespread criticism

• Fast-tracked redesign will reduce electrical energy use

• Max Verstappen has been a vocal critic of new engines

Formula One has agreed to make engine design changes for the 2027 season in response to the unhappiness of many leading drivers at the way this year’s new-generation engines have affected how they race.

At a meeting on Friday, the FIA, F1, teams and engine manufacturers reached an agreement, subject to formal approval, to fast-track changes to the regulations to allow fresh engines to be used next season.

Marco Rubio says U.S. expects Iran response on peace deal 'today'

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the U.S. is expecting a response from Iran on Washington's proposal to end the war.

Colombia's rogue hippos could find refuge in India

In Colombia, a plan to cull Pablo Escobar's invasive hippos is challenged by an Indian billionaire's offer to relocate dozens of the animals to India's wildlife reserve instead.

Canvas back online after cyberattack hit learning platform for U.S. schools

A system that thousands of schools and universities use was offline due to a cyberattack.

I didn’t think I could get addicted to weed. I was wrong – and I’m not alone

There are misconceptions about the addictiveness of cannabis and many users are struggling with dependency

Amy knew it wasn’t great. But there she was, at the bottom of a dumpster, desperately searching for the THC vape cartridge she’d thrown away just hours earlier.

Amy, 18, had previously tossed that same cartridge, known colloquially as a cart, into a public trash can. Passersby stared as she later rooted around to recover it. So she lifted the entire garbage bag and brought it back to her apartment, where she dug through a bunch of sloppy, stinking detritus before finding it and taking a grateful toke. Later that same week, she threw it into the dumpster – surely that would prevent her from going back. But she did.

Contact tracing could be key in halting the spread of hantavirus. Here's how it works

More than two dozen passengers left the cruise ship before the outbreak was identified. The race is on to connect with them to monitor their health — and the health of those they've interacted with.

Employers added 115,000 jobs in April, blowing past forecasts

Hiring once again exceeded forecasts, with employers adding far more than the projected gains of 65,000.

Canadian high school where deadly mass shooting occurred to be torn down

Tumbler Ridge secondary school was site of February mass shooting in which nine were killed and dozens injured

The school that was the site of one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings will be torn down, officials have announced.

The decision to demolish the Tumbler Ridge secondary school came after meetings between the school board and survivors, family and community members, said the British Columbia premier, David Eby.

What do the unfolding local election results mean? Our panel responds

Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski have reason to celebrate – but what next for Labour and the Tories now that the two-party system has been demolished?

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‘I should have kicked him even harder. He deserved it’: Eric Cantona comes out fighting

A new documentary at Cannes film festival looks at the French footballer’s five turbulent and triumphant seasons in Manchester – and the love story between him and manager Alex Ferguson

It was 30 years ago this weekend that Eric Cantona struck an audacious volley from the edge of the penalty area to win the 1996 FA Cup final. For his team, Manchester United, it meant triumph over their fiercest rivals Liverpool and an unprecedented second league and cup double. But for Cantona himself, it capped one of the most remarkable comeback stories in the history of the Premier League – one that has now been turned into a feature film set to take Cannes by storm.

Cantona is directed by duo David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas, the only British directors to be part of the prestigious film festival’s official selection this year. With cinematic flair, it paints a portrait of one of football’s most singular personalities through the lens of his five turbulent and triumphant seasons in Manchester. We are treated to his sublime goals and trademark philosophical quotes, as well as flashbacks to his tempestuous early career in France, in which he berated the national team manager as “incompetent”, faced suspension from his club Marseille and even quit the sport altogether for a time.

As federal government pulls back, Colorado charts independent course with vaccines

As state leaders change laws to make vaccines more accessible, a coalition of doctors, public health advocates and everyday Coloradans is trying to start a public conversation about their importance.

Akamai stock soars 20% on earnings, $1.8 billion AI infrastructure deal

Cybersecurity and cloud computing firm Akamai reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday and saw its cloud infrastructure business grow 40% year-on-year.

Are Katseye transforming K-pop or making ‘skibidi toilet music’? Either way, fans will tearfully wait hours for a glimpse

Katseye blends US sensibilities with the hard-hitting choreography, branding and relentless perfectionism of Korean pop music – and ‘Eyekons’ can’t get enough

Ten-year-old Luna and 12-year-old Asha were among the first Eyekons – the noun for Katseye fans, à la Swifties and Beliebers – to arrive at Sydney’s Luna Park on Wednesday after their parents drove two hours from Wollongong.

While they hadn’t won tickets to the girl group’s first Australian appearance – a Q&A for fans at the park’s Big Top on Wednesday night – they came anyway, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite artists.

Is ‘tax the rich’ really hate speech? Won’t someone think of the billionaires? | Fiona Katauskas

The top 1% have it hard, too

• See more of Fiona Katauskas’s cartoons here

AI-powered surveillance company Palantir created a chore coat. Great, now I have no choice but to burn mine | Van Badham

The gentle French garment is now as cursed as the infamous megacorp, which has accumulated $80m in government contracts in Australia alone

It’s taken me years to find a chore coat with a cut that flatters my big tits but, now that I finally own one, I want to incinerate it.

Such is the power of brand contamination; infamous data surveillance megacorp Palantir, has decided to bang a logo on a chore coat to sell as corporate merch.

What does a woman swimming in urine tell us about the state of the world? Lots! – Venice Biennale review

The theme of earth’s biggest art extravaganza – spiritual rest – felt wildly wrong for our crisis-hit planet. Thank goodness for the pavilions, from fake babies to hi-tech sperm banks to a chocolate Russell Crowe

It was almost over before it even started. This year’s Venice Biennale has been tearing itself apart for months: countries not showing up, artists getting fired, exhibitions being cancelled, funding getting pulled. There were petitions and protests months before a painting was on a wall. The jury quit in the days leading up to the opening, then Iran quit, then the European Commission quit. There were protests against Israel and Russia during the preview, artists went on strike and artworks were replaced with installations of Palestinian flags.

The whole thing was a massive mess of conflicting politics, personal tragedy and unresolvable ideological differences from the very beginning. And all this without even mentioning that the curator, Koyo Kouoh, died last year and wasn’t able to see her artistic vision through to completion. In a sense, the 2026 Venice Biennale never stood a chance.

Greenlandic woman wins case against Danish authorities who removed her two-hour-old child

Keira Alexandra Kronvold’s daughter was taken from her after she was subjected to parental competence psychometric tests

A Greenlandic woman whose newborn baby was forcibly removed by Danish authorities as a result of controversial parenting competency tests has won a landmark case in the high court ruling that their actions were illegal.

Keira Alexandra Kronvold’s daughter Zammi was taken away from her when she was two hours old and placed in foster care in November 2024 after Kronvold was subjected to so-called FKU (parental competence) psychometric tests. At the time she was told that the test was to see if she was “civilised enough”.

Sexual harassment more than twice as prevalent at England’s top universities, analysis finds

Harassment reported by 35% of students at ‘high tariff’ institutions compared with 17% at those with lowest entry grades

Students at England’s leading universities were more than twice as likely to experience sexual harassment than those at “lower tariff” institutions, according to analysis.

Data from a national survey of undergraduates shows that 35% of students at “high tariff” universities – those requiring the highest A-level grades for entry – reported experiencing sexual harassment, compared with just over 17% of those at universities requiring the lowest grades for entry and 26% of those at “medium tariff” institutions.

Court rejects Virginia redistricting in a blow to Democrats' counter to Trump, GOP

Virginia voters approved redistricting that could help Democrats pick up four House seats. Democrats said it was to counter the gains that Trump and the GOP have picked up in Republican-led states.

Rooted in nature, 'Silent Friend' will change the way you see the trees

A new art-house drama tells three stories that span the century — and connect to one tree. Silent Friend will open your eyes to the beauty of the natural world.

Colbert on McDonald’s supply chain concerns: ‘Perhaps this will finally show Trump the true cost of war’

Late-night hosts discussed Marco Rubio’s meeting with the pope, Trump bragging about his mental acuity and the ongoing ‘skirmish’ in Iran

Late-night hosts covered the ongoing war in Iran and how the Trump administration is refusing to focus on rising gas prices back in the US.

White House calls Mark Hamill ‘sick’ for posting AI image of Trump in a grave

Star Wars actor later deleted post and apologized, saying president should live ‘long enough to be held accountable’

• US politics live – latest updates

The White House has branded Star Wars actor Mark Hamill “a sick individual” after an AI-generated image showing Donald Trump in a shallow grave, with the words “If Only” as an overlay was posted to one of star’s social media accounts.

Hamill, who played the lead character of Luke Skywalker in six movies of the iconic science fiction franchise and is a longtime critic of the US president, apologized and removed the post from his Bluesky account on Thursday.

The fight against AI data centers isn’t just about tech – it’s about democracy | Astra Taylor and Saul Levin

Claims of nimbyism are a misunderstanding: the movement is about whether regular people have a say in fundamental decisions

Since the surreal scene at the 2024 presidential inauguration, when a row of big tech titans took their VIP seats and signaled their new alliance with Maga, the Trump administration has rolled out the red carpet for Silicon Valley’s AI ambitions and shareholder priorities.

Washington has doled out billions in lucrative federal subsidies and contracts to the cash-rich sector, bloating an AI bubble that experts warn may imperil the entire economy while prohibiting any guardrails on the fast-moving technology.

Product overload! Has your skincare routine gone too far?

Beauty products have never been more advanced. But as people layer them up, experts have seen a rise in perioral dermatitis. What is the too-much-skincare rash, and what can you do about it?

It often starts innocuously: a small cluster of spots around the mouth, easily dismissed as a hormonal breakout or a reaction to something you have eaten. But this is how perioral dermatitis shows up – quietly, persistently and seemingly more frequently.

“It’s quickly become one of the most common inflammatory conditions I treat,” says Dr Anjali Mahto, a consultant dermatologist and founder of the Self London clinic. Reddit threads on the subject run to thousands of posts, TikTok is awash with people documenting flare-ups, and actor Amanda Seyfried has spoken publicly about dealing with it. A recent report in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology confirmed the condition is on the rise. Meanwhile, the global market for perioral dermatitis treatments is growing.

Turning the page on Orbán’s rule: Magyar to be sworn in as Hungary PM

New leader urges Hungarians to help him end illiberalism as he faces calls to investigate years of corruption

Inside Hungary’s dazzling neo-Gothic parliament, the scenes will be solemn on Saturday as the new leader, Péter Magyar, is sworn in. Outside is where the party is expected to unfold, as people pour in from across the country to mark a pivotal moment: the formal end of Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.

It comes weeks after Magyar and his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in a result that rattled the global far right, reset Hungary’s long-strained relationship with the EU and set off all-night celebrations along the banks of the Danube River.

Charli xcx: Rock Music review – is she really pivoting from pop? Don’t be so sure …

(Atlantic)
The lyrics may argue the dancefloor is dead, but this funny, wilfully plasticky new single isn’t the total about-turn from Brat that fans expected

Last month, Charli xcx began the media campaign for her seventh studio album by giving an interview to Vogue magazine. The ensuing feature caused an impressive degree of online consternation, not because the 33-year-old star had said anything particularly controversial, but because she had suggested that the follow-up to 2024’s Brat would sound markedly different to its predecessor. “If I’d made another album that felt more dance-leaning, it would have felt really hard, really sad,” she said, not unreasonably declining to chase Brat’s vast success by attempting to replicate it. (Although, in fairness, you could have probably worked that out from House, the noisy, experimental collaboration with John Cale she released at the end of last year as the first single from her soundtrack to Wuthering Heights.)

She also played the interviewer a track that contained both “heavily processed guitars” and the lyrics “I think the dancefloor is dead, so now we’re making rock music”: Vogue duly ran with the idea, trumpeting Charli xcx’s “rock reinvention” in both the headline and on its cover and other news outlets picked up on the story – “CHARLI XCX CONFIRMS ROCK ALBUM”. What one journalist tactfully called “heated discourse online from some fans and artists within the music industry” followed, eventually prompting the singer to respond, posting “a video of me making a song called Rock Music that is not actually rock music which is funny because I never said I was making a rock album”.

‘She made Mondays something to look forward to’: readers pay tribute to Carol Rumens, Guardian’s Poem of the week columnist

Rumens, whose column ran for nearly 20 years and developed a loyal readership, died this week aged 81

Carol was an excellent commentator on poetry, shrewd and deep-thinking but able to express her thoughts in plain English rather than academic jargon. Her taste in poems was eclectic and very original; one didn’t always share it, but it was never predictable or dull. Sheenagh Pugh, Shetland

Telling the truth about Iran is more dangerous than ever

After months of protest, crackdown and war, on-the-ground reporting is more impossible than it has ever been. These challenges shape every aspect of how we report on what is happening in the country

• Support independent journalism today

Iran is among the world’s most repressive countries for press freedom. But in recent months, I have seen first-hand how the work of telling the truth has grown more fragile, more improvised, and more dangerous than ever.

We have been cut off from our sources. After the authorities imposed a nationwide communications blackout, the already fragile infrastructure of reporting has all but collapsed. Even when we can make contact, we are careful; a phone search at a checkpoint could put them in danger. We cannot cross-check events through local coverage or rely on familiar verification channels. Instead, we wait for the rare, precious moments when a reliable contact inside Iran manages to get online, navigating VPNs or risking Starlink, which the authorities have criminalised.

The Guardian is committed to helping journalists inside repressive regimes across the world to share their stories. As part of our annual support campaign promoting the defence of the free press please consider backing our work today – or consider backing another independent outlet whose work you value. We’re hoping to get 60,000 new supporters, or acts of support by 21 May.

Star Wars has to deliver a proper movie with The Mandalorian and Grogu – otherwise the franchise is dead

The long-suffering saga has been kept alive this decade by TV alone – but even that will perish if the new movie fails to extend its universe

Star Wars has always been big on prophecy. Yoda peers into the future like Nostradamus with messed-up syntax, the Emperor cackles that everything is proceeding exactly as he has foreseen, Darth Vader breathes doom through the front grille of his shiny death helmet. And yet not even the most omniscient of Jedi could have predicted that the franchise responsible for practically inventing the modern Hollywood blockbuster would end up as a TV-centric operation with only occasional forays on to the big screen. Which is why it comes as a genuine shock to realise that, ahead of the release of new movie The Mandalorian and Grogu later this month, it has been more than six years since Star Wars last hit the multiplex.

Then again, perhaps the real humdinger is that it hasn’t been longer. The most recent Disney Star Wars film, JJ Abrams’ The Rise of Skywalker, did not so much conclude the long-running space saga as destroy several decades of perfectly serviceable mythology and ruin all sense of congruence with previous films. It was frantic, weirdly apologetic (about previous instalment The Last Jedi) and overstuffed with dodgy fan service. It was essentially a $590m act of narrative panic.

Revealed: The Trump administration arrested the parents of at least 27,000 kids in seven months, ICE records show

The Guardian analyzed government data from January-August 2025, as advocates say the family-separation crisis will lead to generational trauma

• We sued the Trump administration for these immigration records

After three months in immigration detention, 1,500 miles (2,400km) away from her 13-month-old daughter, LT was running out of options.

Her baby, who was allergic to formula and had other food sensitivities, had been vomiting constantly and needed breastmilk. But the government refused to release LT – an asylum seeker from Haiti – on bond. So, the family’s pediatrician petitioned the government to allow her to pump and mail her breastmilk from the Dilley detention center in Texas to her baby in Florida. That request was denied.

During the first seven months of 2025, the administration arrested 18,400 parents – including 15,000 fathers and 3,000 mothers. They are the parents of 27,000 to 32,000 children.

The administration arrested the parents of at least 12,000 US citizen children.

Nearly 7,500 fathers and 1,000 mothers who were arrested had a different nationality than at least one of their children. In about half of these families, siblings had different citizenships from each other.

On average, the Trump administration has been arresting about 2,300 parents each month and deporting 1,400 parents every month. The Biden administration, in comparison, deported about 700 per month in 2024.

‘This priest was so fit’: Keeley Hawes and Paapa Essiedu on nuns, hot clerics and their tale of forbidden passion

Adolescence writer Jack Thorne’s romantic new drama Falling is quite the gear shift. Its stars open up about what it’s like to research a love so controversial that the church couldn’t allow it

The scene is the convent garden of a closed order of nuns, the place is somewhere in the UK with a maelstrom of social problems – which, let’s be real, could be any of it. Keeley Hawes’s Anna, a nun, isn’t self-righteously cloistered; she makes regular forays into the real world to do good works at food banks. But she’s not of this world. She moves with such unobtrusive poise it takes a beat to work out what it reminds you of: obedience. Bride of Christ, remember? She wears her faith lightly: when she’s in the walled garden, it’s to grow cabbages not praise God’s creation, but she still radiates peace, and her vegetable patch radiates it right back at her.

In the 90s, Hawes slayed one period drama after another: Wives and Daughters, Our Mutual Friend. For Falling – the surprising project from writer-creator Jack Thorne, who made such a strong statement about the modern condition and its harsh edges with Adolescence that MPs were debating it in parliament – she channels something I haven’t seen since those days. Her range of gorgeous guileless expressions.

Americans hail Pope Leo XIV as ‘breath of fresh air’ one year in, as Trump clashes linger

One year on the job, the first US pope wins support for his progressive views and his defiance of Donald Trump

As Pope Leo XIV concludes his first year as the first American pope on Friday, Americans shared with the Guardian how they feel about the 70-year-old pontiff who has increasingly found himself at odds with Donald Trump.

Several described his papacy as a “breath of fresh air” compared with earlier, more conservative eras of church leadership.

It’s not just Big Oil. Wind giants welcome profit beats as Iran war spurs energy pivot

Norway's Equinor told CNBC that the company expects the Iran war to deliver a boost to its transition industries.

Tell us: has your flight been cancelled?

How has this affected you? Have you been able to make alternative plans?

People could see their travel plans upended as airlines cancel or consolidate flights to conserve jet fuel as the war in the Middle East disrupts supplies.

Airlines are reviewing their timetables to see which flights can be cancelled in advance and cause the least delays.

Paul Simon review – at 84, back on stage after hearing loss, his resolute artistry is inspiring

M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
What Simon has lost in vocal power he has added in intimacy and authority – and this hushed performance makes for an arena concert like no other

In 2018, Paul Simon’s triumphant Homeward Bound: The Farewell Tour was intended as his goodbye to decades of full-scale touring. However, even chronic hearing loss hasn’t dimmed his desire to perform again. Here, assisted by partial recovery, specialised sound monitoring and sheer power of will, A Quiet Celebration is different from anything he – or perhaps anybody – has done before, certainly in arenas. Requiring silence and understanding, it’s a hushed and introspective reinvention rather than a euphoric victory lap. Drums are mostly stroked with brushes. The 84-year-old singer-songwriting legend’s voice has lost power and range, but frailty and vulnerability have brought intimacy and authority. Smiling as he addresses a cheering Merseyside audience for likely the last time, he calls it a “humbling experience”.

The evening begins with a complete performance of Seven Psalms, the 2023 song cycle which came to him in dreams. It’s a series of quietly haunting musings on life, love, God and death, laden with calm insights and occasional truth bombs, such as Trail of Volcanoes’ comment on the refugee crisis: “It seems to me we’re all walking down the same road, to wherever it ends.”

U.S. intercepts Iranian attacks on 3 ships. And, what to know about hantavirus

The U.S. says it intercepted Iranian attacks yesterday targeting three Navy ships. And, what to know about the hantavirus outbreak that started on a cruise ship.

The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed; The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro; No Ghosts by Max Lury; Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler; Moon Over Brendle by Jeff Noon

The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed (Gollancz, £22)
On a gigantic spaceship halfway through its 400-year voyage to a new world, hundreds of Earth colonists are kept in frozen stasis by the ever-increasing maintenance crew. Not all the crew are happy with the way their lives are harshly controlled by the Administration, and peaceful protests have inspired whispers of revolution. The multicultural city-ship has two official languages: Inglez and Arabek. Iskander Ezz is a translator between Crew and Administration, aware that “when you speak a different language, you become another person”. Damietta, his younger cousin, finds the unofficial Nupol better for communicating with her fellow protesters. Nupol, an argot made up of many “dead Earth” languages, is used throughout the book by several viewpoint characters, adding a distinctive flavour to a speculative fiction its author calls Arabfuturism. Partly inspired by the historic Arab spring, this is a thoughtful, exciting space opera.

The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro (Solstice, £20)
The first volume of a trilogy inspired by Japanese pop culture is set in bustling, crowded Rainshadow City, where hi-tech wealth and a corrupt emperor exist alongside magic, poverty and criminality. Toshiko, Jun and Mei are the Kawakamis, haphazardly seeking revenge on the Lucky Crow gang for the murder of their adoptive Aunt. When Toshiko almost accidentally steals a precious dragon pearl from a powerful gangster, they’re plunged into a fast-moving adventure involving a conspiracy to deport all the city’s illegal immigrants to certain death, and replace low-paid workers with attractive female robots. Various plot strands see characters discovering magical powers, a mother dragon desperate to save her baby’s life, and a strangely helpful cat. Trope-heavy, entertaining fun, with a cartoonish vibe.