Inflation rose 3.8% in April, highest level since 2023
U.S. consumer prices rose in April, fueled by a spike in energy prices caused by the Iran war.
12th May 2026 12:39EBay rejects GameStop's $56 billion takeover bid, calling it 'neither credible nor attractive'
Many analysts questioned the deal, citing questions about how GameStop would finance the transaction and the strategic rationale.
12th May 2026 12:38Consumer prices rose 3.8% annually in April, the highest since May 2023
The consumer price index was expected to increase by 3.7% annually in April, according to the Dow Jones consensus.
12th May 2026 12:34EBay rejects GameStop's $55.5 billion takeover bid
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen had argued that his company's retail locations would help eBay build a "national network."
12th May 2026 12:33
The Guardian
Middle East crisis live: Iran could enrich uranium to weapons grade if attacked, senior lawmaker warns
Ebrahim Rezaei says in social media post that the country could enrich its stocks of uranium to 90% and will review such a move in parliament
Iran has expanded its definition of the strait of Hormuz into a “vast operational area” far wider than before the war, according to a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy in comments likely to anger the US.
The strait is no longer viewed as a narrow stretch around a handful of islands but instead has been greatly enlarged in scope and military significance, according to Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy political director of the IRGC Navy, the state-affiliated Fars news agency reported this morning.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 12:28Amazon accelerates delivery race with 30-minute drop-offs in dozens of U.S. cities
Amazon has been gradually speeding up its delivery windows, after getting customers hooked on two-day and next-day shipping.
12th May 2026 12:28
The Guardian
Jess Phillips resigns as minister after Keir Starmer tells cabinet he is not stepping down – UK politics live
She becomes the second junior minister to step down, and told Starmer that ‘deeds, not words, are what matter’ after cabinet ministers rallied around the PM earlier on Tuesday
Here are some pictures from No 10 this morning.
Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the PM, is now being interviewed on the Today programme. Nick Robinson, the presenter, is asking him if he knows whether Keir Starmer has decided how to respond to the pressure on him to resign. Jones is avoiding the question, as he did on Sky News earlier. (See 7.43am.)
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 12:24
The Guardian
Trump to head to China for high-stakes talks with Xi – US politics live
Meeting comes amid tentative trade truce but Iran, Taiwan and tensions over global supply chains will be complicating factors
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth is on Capitol Hill today, answering questions from lawmakers on the House appropriations subcommittee for defense. He’ll face a grilling from members on the White House budget request for the Pentagon, which includes an increase of more than $400bn for the fiscal year 2027 – bringing the total amount to $1.5tn.
Alongside Hegseth is Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, who is leading the military operation in Iran.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 12:20
The Guardian
‘We must keep her name alive’: Cesária Évora, the captivating Cape Verdean who went from restaurant singer to global star
After a lifetime of poverty, Évora found huge success aged 51 with 1992 album Miss Perfumado. As Cape Verdean singers celebrate her morna ballads on stage, those who knew her recall her power, pride and constant smoking
Cape Verde, an archipelago nearly 400 miles off the coast of Senegal, is home to around 800,000 people: about the same population as Leicester, and for decades the country’s music was very little known beyond its borders. Then, in 1992, Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora released her album Miss Perfumado.
The album became a crossover hit across Europe, selling 500,000 copies in France alone, while in the US, Évora became the biggest selling African artist of the 20th century. Miss Perfumado showcased Évora’s sublime voice – smoky, weary, bruised yet seductive – singing Cape Verdean mornas: mournful ballads sung in the Kriolu language which blends old Portuguese with west African languages, with backings that have the same cross-cultural mix. A concert at London’s Barbican next month will celebrate Évora’s legacy with morna performed by rising Cape Verdean singers (Ceuzany, Elida Almeida, Lucibela, Teófilo Chantre) and Mayra Andrade, a celebrated vocalist who was mentored by her. “These concerts honouring her are important,” Andrade says. “She put Cape Verde on the map and we Cape Verdeans are determined to keep her name and music alive.”
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 12:15
The Guardian
Rugby sevens star Kevin Wekesa: ‘I am not blaming Europeans but I must highlight climate injustices’
The Kenyan player has been recognised for his advocacy and grassroots work to tackle sport’s carbon footprint
“Most well-known people who talk about climate change are in North America and Europe,” says Kenyan rugby sevens star Kevin Wekesa, “but for us this is a very relevant conversation. It is not only about future tournaments or big international pledges. In Kenya, we see the effects in rising heat, cracked pitches and changing weather in communities where young athletes are growing up.”
A year before competing in his first Olympic Games at Paris 2024, Wekesa responded to Kenya’s relegation from the top tier of international sevens by offering free rugby coaching in schools across Kenya. After travelling to a school in Kirinyaga on the slopes of Mount Kenya, a wet and verdant region, Wekesa found an unplayable dry field and was forced to cancel the session. One of the students told Wekesa that conditions had been similar for two months, while another suggested the unfamiliar weather was because of climate change.
This is an extract from our newsletter, The Hotspot. To subscribe just visit this page and follow the instructions.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 12:11What's at stake for trade, Taiwan and Iran in Trump's high-risk summit with China's Xi
China experts anticipate Trump and Xi may announce trade deals or other agreements, such as a Chinese purchase of U.S. agricultural products or Boeing aircraft.
12th May 2026 12:07Hims & Hers plummets 15% after first-quarter loss, weak earnings guidance
Hims & Hers reached a deal with Novo Nordisk in March to sell its GLP-1 weight loss drug Wegovy on its platform.
12th May 2026 12:05
The Guardian
Three-day ceasefire ends with fresh wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine – Europe live
At least one person killed as Moscow launches drone strikes on energy facilities and apartments
Home affairs editor
European ministers will this week discuss plans to send thousands of rejected asylum seekers to third-country hubs, the head of the continent’s human rights body has told the Guardian.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 12:01
The Guardian
Chasing Utopia review – renegade Google exec Mo Gawdat searches for ethical AI in alarming insider warning
Delivering much information about the scale of what’s coming, documentary also follows Gawdat’s campaign to get the programs with empathy
Another day, another warning about AI; vis-a-vis the reality we all know, this has roughly the same reassuring effect as a plane fuselage ripping off mid-flight. Starting off with familiar criticisms, such as putting the world out of work and handing over power to tech barons, Alex Holmes and Lina Zilinskaite’s film blasts an concentrated stream of AI concerns in its 83-minute runtime. By the time it is talking about current efforts to create computers out of human brain cells, potentially integrable into our own craniums, and implying this might be a good thing, it is (ironically) hard to know how to process all of this.
The Cassandra at the film’s centre is Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer at Google X, now a touring cautionary voice trying to get the world to listen about the perils of AI. Once overseeing advanced projects for the tech giants, his biggest moonshot lies ahead: to introduce a moral dimension into a tech race that looks increasingly like the frenzied season finale of late capitalism. He talks about feeling parental pride in watching Google’s AI-driven robotic arms learn to grasp objects, as children do. And he feels that humanity’s capacity for benevolence is exactly the training resource needed by neural networks in order to prevent the technology ushering in catastrophe.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 12:00
The Guardian
The supreme court’s takedown of American democracy is complete | Austin Sarat
Since the Citizens United decision of 2010, the justices have dismantled Americans’ voices. The only solution is at the ballot box
Writing in 1943, the historian Henry Steele Commager delivered both a stern history lesson and a warning about the United States supreme court. The court, he said, had never been a friend to US democracy, and it never would be. For anyone committed to the advancement of majority rule, he added, judicial review “is wrong in theory and dangerous in practice”.
The danger that Commager noted was on full display on 29 April 2026, when the supreme court eviscerated section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. As the Department of Justice explains, section 2 “prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the language minority groups … or procedure that results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group”.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 12:00
The Guardian
LeBron James unsure on what’s next after Lakers swept in playoffs: ‘My future? I don’t know’
Thunder beat Lakers 4-0 in Western Conference semis
41-year-old just finished his 23rd NBA season
Cavaliers even series with Pistons at 2-2
LeBron James isn’t ready to make a decision about his NBA future in the wake of the Los Angeles Lakers’ season-ending loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
The visiting Thunder prevailed 115-110 to sweep the teams’ Western Conference semi-final series despite James registering 24 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 11:40Why hantavirus is not like COVID, according to infectious disease experts
Infectious disease experts have sought to reassure people that the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak poses very low risks to the wider public.
12th May 2026 11:39
The Guardian
Andy Burnham can save Labour and defeat Reform. He should be the next prime minister | Neal Lawson
Put plainly, the Greater Manchester mayor is electoral gold dust. The Labour party machine must not stand in his way to becoming an MP
Burnham allies warn against quick ‘coronation’ of Streeting if Starmer quits
Neal Lawson is director of the cross-party campaign organisation Compass
The madness has to end. The progressive side of politics in the UK faces two crises. The first is the possible decimation of the Labour party after the next election. The second is a prospective Reform-led government – and a Trumpian future for the country.
The best-placed figure in Britain to lead Labour away from these twin disasters is the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham. The Labour party must now do what it takes to ensure that Burnham is available to be the next leader of the party and the country. This must start with an urgent statement from its ruling national executive committee (NEC) saying that if Burnham wanted to fight any direct vacancy then he would be allowed through for local members to decide whether they wanted him as their candidate, alongside a timetable that allows him to enter the contest.
Neal Lawson is director of the cross-party campaign organisation Compass
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 11:31
NPR Topics: News
Trump heads to China for state visit. And, how the war in Iran has affected inflation
Trump leaves for Beijing today for a state visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. And, a new inflation report is expected to show the war in Iran's impact on the U.S.
12th May 2026 11:27
The Guardian
Palestine Action trial lawyer wins appeal against contempt of court charge
Rajiv Menon KC was accused of breaching judge’s directions with his closing speech at trial of six activists
A leading human rights barrister has won an appeal against his referral for contempt of court over his closing speech during a trial of Palestine Action activists.
Rajiv Menon KC was accused of breaching the judge’s directions in the trial of six people for a 2024 direct action protest at an arms factory of the Israeli subsidiary Elbit Systems UK in Filton, near Bristol.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 11:24
The Guardian
Israeli MPs back special tribunal with death penalty powers for alleged 7 October attackers
Knesset approves plan for livestreamed trials in military court, drawing comparisons to 1962 Adolf Eichmann trial
Israeli lawmakers have approved setting up a livestreamed special tribunal with the power to sentence to death Palestinians convicted of taking part in the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 that triggered the war in Gaza.
The measure was passed by 93 votes to none in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament, reflecting widespread support among Israel’s Jewish majority for punishing those found responsible for the deadliest single attack in Israel’s history. The remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained from voting.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 11:23
The Guardian
In the 1979 hostage crisis, why did Iran free 10 Black Americans before the others?
Sgt James Hughes was one of the hostages released early. With US-Iran relations once again in the spotlight, he talks about being ‘handcuffed, under armed guard’
Since the United States launched a joint military campaign with Israel on Iran in February, many commentators and historians have revisted a chapter of modern history: the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
On 4 November, a student demonstration outside the US embassy in Tehran erupted into an all-out assault on the compound, and 66 Americans were taken hostage. It was the culmination of decades of tension, beginning with the US and Britain’s role in installing the Shah of Iran to safeguard energy interests, and ending with a popular uprising that toppled his oppressive regime and drove him into exile.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 11:00
The Guardian
‘It’s a love letter’: exhibition pays tribute to Frank Gehry’s lesser-known works
The late designer was best known for his distinctive buildings, but the first show since his death last year focuses on his non-architectural pieces
Although Frank Gehry is best known as a world famous architect with iconic creations such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, he also made art pieces. Springing out of his fascination with the fluidity of animal forms and creative properties inherent to various substances, Gehry created works including fish, bears, crocodiles, and snakes.
As a celebration of Gehry, who died in 2025 at age 96, Gagosian now offers a suite of his non-architectural work, built mainly around the artist’s graceful play with the forms of fish. Simply titled Frank Gehry, it offers moments of beauty and whimsy in the gallery’s Beverly Hills space.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 11:00
The Guardian
Upload government papers to go online? That’s our terrifying future | Aliya Bhatia
Demands to upload documents for the purpose of ‘age verification’ is coming to platforms near you
Want to Google your symptoms, join an ICE watch group on Facebook or scroll Reddit? You might need to show ID. Age verification is coming to platforms near you. Worse, it’ll come at the expense of your rights.
More than 25 states, and multiple countries, have enacted laws requiring mixed-audience websites to verify users’ ages to prevent access by children. Some of these laws target adult content providers explicitly while others apply these requirements to a wide array of websites, from Google search to Coursera to the New York Times.
Aliya Bhatia is a senior policy analyst at the Center for Democracy & Technology’s Free Expression Project. She conducts research and policy advocacy on issues related to online protection of minors and multilingual AI
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 11:00
The Guardian
Farage faces questions over failure to declare use of donor’s helicopter
Reform UK leader has used the helicopter to attend rallies across the country, most recently on Friday
Nigel Farage is facing questions about why he did not declare his use of a donor’s helicopter to travel around Britain for rallies.
The helicopter, which was used by Farage as recently as Friday after local elections across Britain, is the property of a company owned by Lorenzo Zaccheo, a businessman who gave Reform £25,000 last year.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 11:00
The Guardian
WHO head tells countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praises Spain’s ‘compassion and solidarity’ in evacuating virus-hit cruise ship
The head of the World Health Organization has told countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases after the outbreak onboard the MV Hondius, and thanked Spain for the “compassion and solidarity” it had shown by taking in the stricken cruise ship and evacuating its passengers and crew.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged authorities to follow the WHO’s advice and recommendations, which include a 42-day quarantine and constant monitoring of high-risk contacts.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 10:56What we know about hantavirus cases tied to deadly cruise ship outbreak
Health officials have identified at least 11 confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus tied to an outbreak on the M/V Hondius cruise ship.
12th May 2026 10:38
The Guardian
More than 110 Nobel laureates call on Iran to release gravely ill activist Narges Mohammadi
As human rights advocate is treated in Tehran hospital after transfer from Zanjan prison, prize winners demand her freedom
More than 110 Nobel laureates have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist and Nobel peace prize laureate, after she was transferred to hospital amid concerns over her rapidly deteriorating health.
In a statement released on Tuesday, 112 Nobel laureates urged the Iranian authorities and the international community to act “without delay” to secure Mohammadi’s release and ensure her continued access to medical treatment.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 10:37
The Guardian
Sicily police investigate illegal race with horse-drawn carts and Kalashnikovs
Horses seized and several people questioned after animal rights activist shares video of race along country roads
A video showing an illegal horse race in Sicily, with spectators firing pistols into the air and brandishing Kalashnikov rifles, has prompted a police investigation that has led to the seizure of the animals.
The clip, reportedly filmed last Friday, shows two jockeys driving horse-drawn carts at breakneck speed along country roads in the town of Palagonia, near Catania, in eastern Sicily. Behind them, dozens of people follow on scooters, firing shots into the air. The footage was posted on social media by an animal rights activist named Enrico Rizzi.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 10:34
NPR Topics: News
The economic chilling effect of Trump's immigration crackdown
New research finds that ICE raids and deportation fears disrupted local economies, reduced work among undocumented immigrants, and may have hurt some U.S.-born workers too.
12th May 2026 10:30
The Guardian
Youth mobility scheme disagreement hampering reset of UK-EU relations
Deal was expected by end of month but talks hit buffers over cap on number of people entering UK and tuition fees
Significant gaps remain in negotiations on the reset in relations between the UK and the EU despite Keir Starmer’s latest pledge to put Britain “at the heart of Europe” after last week’s election drubbing.
The UK wants to limit the number of young people from the EU who come into the country as part of a post-Brexit youth mobility scheme to below 50,000, it has emerged.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 10:28
The Guardian
History makers Brighton are shaking up old order and not hiding ambition
Seagulls are in their first Women’s FA Cup final but their coach, Dario Vidosic, is determined to keep aiming higher
As Brighton’s old song goes, “Hark to the merry bugles”, because there is something in the air in Sussex by the sea. A purpose-built women’s team stadium is in the offing, a second consecutive top-half Women’s Super League finish is on the cards and the women’s side are heading to Wembley for the first time. The fans have never had it this good.
It took something special for Brighton to overturn a two-goal deficit in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final victory at Liverpool and they left it late – very late – as Nadine Noordam settled a classic, five-goal thriller with her 95th-minute winner, but reaching this final is something the club have been building towards. In 2022, Brighton set out a bold vision to become a “top-four WSL club” and last summer the head coach, Dario Vidosic, was unafraid to discuss even higher targets, speaking in a determined, bullish and unwaveringly ambitious tone during an interview with the Guardian.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 10:20Gunman opens fire on Memorial Drive in Cambridge; 2 in critical condition
A gunman who opened fire at cars on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Monday afternoon was shot by a responding State Police trooper and a civilian.
12th May 2026 10:11EU to crack down on TikTok, Instagram's ‘addictive design’ targeting kids on social media
"We are investigating platforms that allow children to go down "rabbit holes" of harmful content," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.
12th May 2026 10:05
The Guardian
David Squires on … Arsenal, West Ham and a Royal Rumble for the ages
Our cartoonist on the Premier League title potentially being decided by a lengthy VAR check after grappling
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 10:02
The Guardian
Bryson DeChambeau could give up golf for YouTube in his athletic prime. Is he right?
The two-time major champion has mused about life as a full-time streamer. But sport should be more than just a platform to grow an athlete’s brand
Golf: a feeder sport for aspiring YouTubers? When Bryson DeChambeau, faced with the expiry of his LIV Golf contract at the end of this year and the implosion, possibly even sooner, of the now Saudi-less LIV Golf, mused last week that he might give up life on tour to focus on his YouTube channel, most professional golf watchers scoffed. This was just a bluff, a move to gain leverage as DeChambeau, like every other LIV player, contemplates an uncertain future and negotiates the fraught path back to the PGA Tour.
“I think, from my perspective, I’d love to grow my YouTube channel three times, maybe even more,” DeChambeau said. “I’d love to do a bunch of dubbing in different languages, giving the world more reason to watch YouTube. And then I’d love to play tournaments that want me.”
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 10:00
The Guardian
The global sand crisis: it’s being used up faster than it can be replaced
It is the most extracted solid material on Earth – but this extraction can threaten ecosystems and livelihoods
Malé is one of the world’s most overcrowded cities, but it faces double pressure. As well as a growing population, the capital of the Maldives is also threatened by rising sea levels. Owing to climate breakdown, its living space is shrinking.
So the justification for a land reclamation project seemed clear. Take sand from elsewhere in the archipelago and use it to build up the land available for Malé’s people. What could go wrong? After all, it’s only sand, right?
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 10:00
The Guardian
I gave up coffee and acquired a Pro Plus habit – now I have the energy of a 15-year-old | Zoe Williams
With my usual espressos off the menu, I was looking at a future of sluggishness and headaches. Then I embraced an alternative caffeine delivery system
For reasons purely related to vanity, I’ve had to give up coffee. It’s not for ever, unless it takes me for ever to get my teeth whitened, so I’m not minded to wean myself off caffeine entirely. But it’s not for a short enough time that I can simply stop whining and weather the low-level headache, the mental sluggishness and the frankly unbearable taste of water.
No problem, I thought: I will survive on energy drinks. What’s embarrassing about that? What could possibly be shameful about going into a Tesco, picking up a black and neon green can of Monster Energy, its name in a satanic font, at 8.05am? What could conceivably make anyone give me the fish eye, that I’m setting off the age-verification flashing light, and a dude is having to come over and attest that I am indeed over 16? All of that social opprobrium was before I’d even opened an energy drink and had to taste it.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 10:00The Nancy Guthrie investigation could hang on a strand of DNA
A strand of DNA. An eerie doorbell video. The investigation into Nancy Guthrie's disappearance reaches 100th day with no sign of a breakthrough.
12th May 2026 10:00
The Guardian
Southampton launch internal review into Middlesbrough spying allegations
Saints ‘request time to complete process thoroughly’
Playoff semi-final second leg at St Mary’s on Tuesday
Southampton have confirmed they have launched an internal review into allegations that one of their analysts spied on a Middlesbrough training session. Southampton, who host Boro in their playoff semi-final second leg on Tuesday, have asked for “the full context to be established before conclusions are drawn” after the English Football League charged the club with misconduct on the eve of their first-leg draw.
An independent disciplinary commission will determine any punishment, with potential sanctions ranging from a fine to expulsion from the playoffs. Boro, who believe they caught a member of Southampton’s backroom staff on their premises last Thursday, 48 hours before the first leg that finished 0-0, are adamant Saints should not receive a financial penalty in the event they are found guilty.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 09:45
The Guardian
World Cup 2026: is it possible to walk to MetLife Stadium from New York City? – video
Now that the usually $13 train ticket has been hiked up to $105 for the World Cup, a lot of fans have been wondering whether it's possible to walk to MetLife Stadium from New York City.
To find out, we sent the intrepid Mark McPartland on a scenic hike to New Jersey to see if America’s pedestrian infrastructure is up to the task.
What he found was a challenging but occasionally scenic 4.5 hour walk that ended with blocked off pedestrian routes that would stop even the most adventurous European hiker from getting to the stadium during the World Cup
• Fifa World Cup matches face heightened terror risk in US amid Iran conflict
• The $13bn World Cup: how the numbers stack up on Fifa’s 2026 balance sheet
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 09:38
NPR Topics: News
U.S. ambassador to Israel says Israel sent Iron Dome batteries, personnel to UAE
Israel sent Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and personnel to operate them to the United Arab Emirates to defend the country during the Iran war, the U.S. ambassador to the country said Tuesday.
12th May 2026 09:15
The Guardian
What is PCOS, what are the symptoms and treatment, and why is it being renamed PMOS?
Polycystic ovary syndrome is being relabelled polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome to correct the misconception that it is solely a gynaecological disease that creates ovarian cysts. Here’s what you need to know about the condition
• ‘Unprecedented’ global effort gives new name to polycystic ovary syndrome – and new hope to millions of women
• ‘I still want to scream’: the loneliness and confusion of living with PMOS
With polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) now being rebadged as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), we take a look at the condition and explore why experts have decided it is time for a new name.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 09:00
The Guardian
The Bahamas goes to polls in three-way battle with immigration a key issue
Rising cost of living such as high gas prices also a concern in election that will have record number of voters
Voters in the Bahamas head to the polls on Tuesday in a hotly contested general election featuring high-profile candidates such as the former basketball champion Rick Fox.
Voters in the Caribbean archipelago are divided over concerns about immigration, especially from neighbouring Haiti, and the rising cost of living, with significant spikes in gas prices caused by war in the Middle East.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 09:00
The Guardian
Paying in sweat! How Debbie Allen went from stardom in Fame to conquer Hollywood
She played the world’s coolest dance teacher and has had big success as an actor, director and choreographer, winning a Golden Globe, Emmys and an Olivier. Now, she is back on Broadway. She discusses Trump, the Kennedy Center and where the US goes next
Debbie Allen once found herself judging the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City alongside a charismatic property developer named Donald Trump. He had just bought an 86-metre superyacht named Nabila and rebranded it the Trump Princess. Eager to flaunt his prize, he invited Allen, a dancer, choreographer, actor and director, and her sister, the actor Phylicia Rashad, aboard for a private tour.
The opulence of the vessel was astonishing, Allen recalls: there was a bathroom carved from lapis lazuli, a fully equipped nightclub and fine paintings hanging on the walls. “It was incredible. I remember him telling me: ‘Debbie, you can have a party on this.’ I said: ‘If I do it, honey, it’s going to be all Black people.’”
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 09:00
NPR Topics: News
24 hours with 3 teenage birders: Welcome to the World Series of Birding
The three high-school birders, dubbed The Pete Dunnelins, have one day to count as many bird species across the state of New Jersey as physically possible. Here's what it takes.
12th May 2026 09:00
NPR Topics: News
Trump goes to China as Iran war smolders
President Trump says he has a great relationship with President Xi. His trip to China will provide a temperature check.
12th May 2026 09:00
NPR Topics: News
Morning news brief
Trump's relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping will be tested in upcoming visit, Labor Department releases latest cost-of-living report, experts say hantavirus isn't a risk to public at large.
12th May 2026 08:44
The Guardian
Chaos in Philippines as Duterte ally wanted by ICC takes refuge in senate to avoid arrest
Former police chief Ronald dela Rosa spends night at senate office after another Duterte ally offers protective custody
The unusual pursuit was captured on CCTV cameras inside the Philippine senate. Ronald dela Rosa, a longtime ally of the former president Rodrigo Duterte, raced along the hallways of the upper house complex, stumbling on the staircase, as he fled government agents.
“They want to forcibly bring me to The Hague, to surrender me there,” Dela Rosa said later on a Facebook livestream, pleading for public support.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 08:20
The Guardian
Starmer’s on the brink and who knows what will happen next: hope for the best, Britain, and prep for the worst | Frances Ryan
As senior cabinet ministers move against the PM, his words of defiance seem moot. I’m planning ahead – which is more than he has ever done
A news report last week described how growing instability means millions of Britons are building up a stash of cash, tinned food and torches at home. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought there is no better litmus test of how things are going for a country than whether the populace is stockpiling emergency rations.
Watching Keir Starmer stubbornly cling on to his leadership as members of his cabinet and MPs move against him, it seems only a matter of time before the PM himself is prepping. With the end moving closer, you half expect Starmer to barricade himself in Downing Street with a jumbo pack of baked beans and a carton of cigarettes.
Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 08:11
The Guardian
Internal displacements caused by violence or conflict at record high in 2025
The 32.3m surpasses those caused by disasters for the first time, as 82.2m people displaced in total around world
The number of internal displacements triggered by conflict or violence around the world reached a record high in 2025, surpassing the number of disaster-driven internal displacements for the first time.
A report published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) shows that by the end of 2025 there were 32.3m conflict-driven internal displacements. That is 60% higher than those recorded the previous year, and – for the first time since data collection began in 2008 – above displacements driven by natural disasters, which reached 29.9m in 2025.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 08:01
The Guardian
Ciao UFO review – Hong Kong tear-jerker is less ET than time-hopping chronicle of housing estate kids
In 1985, four working-class characters are bonded for ever by a strange sighting in this sentimental saga that tracks their lives into adulthood
Directed by Patrick Leung, this affecting saga from Hong Kong is a bit tricksy to get to grips with because it keeps hopping back and forth between an assortment of time frames. It tracks a set of characters as children in the mid-1980s, played by one group of young actors, and then later in the 1990s and early 00s when an adult cast takes over. But as it spirals in towards its surprising and dramatic conclusion, everything falls into place and the last 10 minutes is properly tear-jerking – even if it’s unabashedly sentimental, like a classic melodrama.
The key incident foretold in the title happens around halfway through, although it’s no spoiler to know it’s coming. In 1985, a quartet of kids growing up on a working-class Hong Kong housing estate – boys Kin (Matthew Wong Cheuk-yin) and Heem (Chui Ka-him), and girl Hoyi (Lam Seung-yu) and her kid brother (Shawn Heung Sung-yu), for ever called Little Brother – see a UFO in the sky one night. The experience bonds them for ever, even if each kid grows up to pursue goals one wouldn’t expect based on what they’re like as tots. Sailor’s son Kin (played by Chui Tien-you as an adult) pursues wealth in the stock market as it booms in the aftermath of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, itself an understandably big deal in the story. Heem (a very engaging Wong You-nam) had leukaemia as a child, and lives constantly in the short term under the shadow of illness. Hoyi, who everyone describes as a pudgy little girl, grows up to be a slim-hipped beauty (Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin) – this is considered a great achievement along with becoming an accountant and planning to marry a dullard named Austin (Joey Cho Yiu Leung) who has his life all planned out.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 08:00
The Guardian
High and Low by Amanda Craig review – will Britain boil over?
A north London cafe is under siege in a state-of-the-nation satire that brings together the haves and have-nots
Britain, muses trainee barrister Xan, was getting “hotter, crueller and angrier”. Amanda Craig’s 10th novel watches as it boils over. Her setting is Prospect Park, a fictional north London suburb caught between gentrification and decline, on the 12th day of Christmas. Outside a hotel housing asylum seekers, protesters and counter-protesters have gathered. In a flat nearby, a man has been stabbed, and thugs go from shop to shop, searching for the teenage boy they think did it.
Locals look on anxiously. Jade from the beauty parlour and Daisy from the health food shop brave the central street to warn others of trouble. In the kebab shop, Mehmet locks up his doner meat and sharpens his knives. Places with shutters close them.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 08:00
The Guardian
Gaborone gold rush: how Botswana rose to the top of men’s sprinting
Country with a population of just 2.5m credits investment in young athletes for its rise but this progress is under threat
It was a fairytale ending to the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone. In the final strait, Collen Kebinatshipi surged past South Africa’s Zakithi Nene to win the men’s 4x400m relay for Botswana. The home crowd, a sea of light blue, went wild.
“It means so many things to us,” Letsile Tebogo, 22, the reigning 200m Olympic champion, who ran the second leg, told reporters afterwards. “Not just the team … but for the people that always cheer for us behind the TV. Now they had that experience to see first-hand how much effort, how much pressure, how much we give for them.”
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 07:17
The Guardian
Multiple Olympic and world champion cyclist Katie Archibald retires to become nurse
Endurance specialist won Olympic gold in Rio and Tokyo
‘I don’t know where I’ll get these feelings again’
Katie Archibald, the Scottish track cyclist who won gold medals at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, has announced her retirement with immediate effect.
The decision means the 32-year-old, who also won multiple world, European and Commonwealth titles, will not compete in the summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 07:10
The Guardian
Buyers of Liza Minnelli memoir claim it was not signed by hand
Premium editions of Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! cost up to $250 but some say signatures are unnaturally identical
Liza Minnelli fans who bought signed copies of her memoir are seeking refunds because they believe her signature is fake.
Copies of Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! by the American 80-year-old singer were marketed around the world as “hand-signed collectibles”, with premium editions costing up to $250 (£185).
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 07:00
The Guardian
The connoisseur of the crumhorn, the showman of the shawm: the brilliance of early music pioneer David Munrow
Six decades ago, Munrow’s passionate and persuasive advocacy for early music opened audience’s eyes and ears – and took the rackett on to primetime TV. Fifty years after his early death, we look back at an inspirational and influential musician
In March 1968, a 25-year-old musician strode on to the stage of London’s Wigmore Hall with a collection of unusual instruments. He proceeded to entertain the audience with tongue-in-cheek descriptions of a shawm, a crumhorn and a rackett – the first time they’d ever been seen, let alone heard, on the Wigmore stage – and he played them with breathtaking virtuosity. That concert, the London debut of the Early Music Consort, was greeted with delight, which set the pattern of things to come. With all the bravura of the 1960s, David Munrow erupted into the world of early music and transformed what had been a minority interest into popular listening.
His flame burned brightly, but briefly: in May 1976 he took his own life at the age of 33. But his impact lives on in the music he rediscovered and popularised, and the innovative ways in which he presented and performed it. The Dufay Collective’s William Lyons has said that his own “programming ethos was very much influenced by that of Munrow: variety and information”. Recently, Skip Sempé, the director of Capriccio Stravagante, wrote that “Munrow … inspired all those who, however unconsciously, followed him with great professional and commercial success. To this day, I feel that every early musician in the UK owes their career to him.”
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 06:30
The Guardian
The Savage Landscape by Cal Flyn review – a carnival of a book
An extraordinary exploration of wilderness and its meaning that takes us from the ocean floor to volcanic peaks
Off the coast of California, two miles down, there exist geothermal nurseries: gatherings of tens of thousands of small violet octopuses, each the size of a grapefruit. Known as pearl octopuses (Muusoctopus robustus), they congregate around hydrothermal springs which warm their eggs, allowing them to hatch in less than two years (in cold water it can take 10 years). When I want to calm my mind, I think of these gatherings, this factory of octopuses powered by the Earth’s energy that exists quietly away from our gaze, and might easily never have been discovered. How many more such worlds exist?
The seafloor is just one setting in Cal Flyn’s carnival of a book, The Savage Landscape, a wondrous personal journey to locate and understand wilderness. It’s a work of extraordinary physical and narrative movement that takes us from the depths of the ocean to volcanoes and icebergs, but is also a journey into our own psyches, and the stories we tell ourselves about “wild” landscapes. Above all, it is a reminder that the places we might conceive of as empty or barren are no such thing; that within wildernesses there is abundant life, both human and nonhuman.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 06:00
The Guardian
Royal Caribbean ‘unfairly’ charged me over booking for disabled son
We had booked a cruise for him and his carers, but we had a string of problems when we tried to change names
In November 2024, I booked a cruise for my wife, myself and our severely disabled son for this July. I’d booked well in advance to ensure an accessible cabin for my son. At home, he needs round-the-clock care from a rota of eight carers, so we made extra bookings for three to accompany him.
Because the care team has other commitments, I couldn’t confirm their names at the time of booking and was told to do so by this April, when the balance had to be paid.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 06:00
The Guardian
Seven-day weeks and ‘debt bondage’: China’s first electric car plant in Europe mired in allegations of worker abuse
The BYD factory being built in Szeged, Hungary, is facing scrutiny after reports of EU labour laws being violated among the Chinese migrant workforce
Multilingual signs in most airports in the EU opt for English, but in Hungary, there is also Chinese, making it easy for migrant workers flying in to staff China’s first electric car plant in Europe – due to open in 2027.
The third language was introduced in 2019 as the recently ousted leader Viktor Orbán embarked on a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with China, positioning himself as its most reliable friend in Europe.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 05:00
The Guardian
Lamb with peas and broad beans, caponata and vignarola: Conor Gadd’s recipes for Italian-style spring vegetables
Buttermilk-marinated lamb with fresh peas and broad beans, a classic Sicilian aubergine dish, and a vegetable-stuffed Roman spring stew
Spring is arguably the most exciting time for a chef, or cook. The long – really long – winter has come to an end and, as the shadows shorten, the list of ingredients lengthens: peas, broad beans, wild garlic, spring lamb … It is where nature comes into her own, because, as if by design, all of its bounty goes together in the most wonderful, natural and understated way.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 05:00Behind Big Oil’s first-quarter beat: The quiet rise of trading desks
Europe's oil supermajors highlighted trading contributions as they reported stronger-than-expected profits through the first three months of the year.
12th May 2026 05:00
The Guardian
Country diary: No Mow May is back on track – and the results are wonderful | Jennifer Jones
Hunt’s Cross, Liverpool: A survey of the roadside verge turns up 21 species including cuckoo flower and yarrow. But not everyone likes it
The impact was visceral. For days last spring I watched an army of confederates, with their uniforms of fiery gold bands and anthracite hoops, advancing up the road. They were cinnabar moth caterpillars, gathered on their host plant, common ragwort. And thanks to Liverpool city council’s observance of No Mow May, there were plenty of both in the roadside verge near my home.
But days before the month ended, the mowing team arrived, like pilgrims breaking their Lenten fast early. The ragworts and their parties of travellers were churned up and spat out. I was desolate.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 04:31
The Guardian
Yes, Europe’s leaders are finally standing up to Trump. Here’s why | Mujtaba Rahman
Friedrich Merz’s criticism of the US president was not a solo run. It was born of the realisation that US leverage has slipped
Friedrich Merz’s criticism of Donald Trump last month reflected more than a moment of personal candour or a split between Berlin and the White House. It pointed to a broader shift under way among European leaders. Increasingly they are willing to publicly confront the Trump administration on issues ranging from Iran to Ukraine and European sovereignty.
The Trump administration’s ever-more erratic policies and the belief that they necessitate a more forceful response partly explains this shift.
Mujtaba Rahman is the managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 04:00
The Guardian
‘It’s like a trans-Barbie world!’: the Indian festival where transgender women can celebrate without fear
The annual gathering at Koovagam is rooted in an ancient poem. Five trans attendees talk about what the event means to them in light of a controversial change to the country’s gender recognition law
The summer air is thick with dust, sweat and the scent of jasmine. In Koovagam, in southern Tamil Nadu, more than 100,000 people have gathered for one of India’s most distinctive festivals. Transgender women from across India, arrive in bright silk saris and gold temple jewellery, their hair oiled and braided with flowers.
For nearly 18 days, the little town swells into a city of devotion, culminating in rituals that blur the boundaries between myth and reality.
The Koovagam festival pageant winner displays her rings
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 04:00
The Guardian
More than 6,000 children treated at obesity clinics in England, figures show
Hundreds of four-year-olds among ‘extremely overweight’ patients at 39 specialist centres since 2021
More than 6,000 children living with obesity, including hundreds as young as four, have required treatment at specialist NHS weight-loss clinics, new figures reveal.
NHS England data, published for the first time, underlines the scale of the growing childhood obesity crisis.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 04:00Dua Lipa alleges Samsung uses copyrighted image of her to sell TVs
Pop singer accuses electronics manufacturer Samsung of using a copyrighted image of her face to sell TVs.
12th May 2026 02:35
The Guardian
Macron seeks allies and a foreign policy less tied to France’s colonial past at Africa summit
French president reaches out to new allies after setbacks in relations with his country’s former colonies in west Africa
A French-African summit held every few years since 1973 is taking place in a non-francophone country for the first time on Tuesday as Emmanuel Macron tries to rebuild France’s role on the continent after setbacks in its former colonies.
More than 30 heads of state and government are meeting in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, for this year’s iteration of the summit. Named Africa Forward, it is being seen by analysts as an attempt by France to court new allies.
Continue reading... 12th May 2026 02:00Supreme Court clears path for Alabama to redraw congressional map
The Supreme Court set aside lower court decisions that had blocked the state from using a congressional map drawn by Republicans in 2023 that contained one majority-Black district.
12th May 2026 00:53Americans from hantavirus-hit ship arrive in U.S., including 1 who tested positive
An American on the repatriation flight began showing symptoms of hantavirus and another "tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus," the Department of Health and Human Services says.
12th May 2026 00:44Why Americans from the hantavirus-stricken ship were taken to Omaha
Most of the Americans who were on a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak were taken to specialized facilities at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
12th May 2026 00:42Americans enter quarantine after returning from hantavirus cruise ship
The 18 Americans who were aboard a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship have returned to the U.S. and are now in quarantine. One remains in the biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center after testing positive. Ian Lee has more.
12th May 2026 00:38Trump says he aims to suspend gas tax "for a period of time"
President Trump made the comments in a phone interview with CBS News chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes.
11th May 2026 23:37Trump proposes gas tax holiday, but savings may be limited
Suspending the federal gas tax would have a modest impact on fuel prices, while also requiring congressional approval.
11th May 2026 23:37School principal who was shot tackling gunman: "It was just instinct"
Kirk Moore, an Oklahoma high school principal, took a bullet tackling a gunman in his school's lobby. He told CBS News what he did was "just instinct" and said he didn't even realize he'd been shot at first. Matt Gutman has more.
11th May 2026 23:37GM cutting hundreds of salaried IT workers as it trims costs, evaluates needs
General Motors is laying off hundreds of salaried employees in its information technology operations.
11th May 2026 23:32Netanyahu discusses China's support for Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett about the situation in Iran. Ahead of President Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Netanyahu said he "didn't like" that China supported Iran's war efforts.
11th May 2026 23:32Trump wants to suspend gas tax amid high prices due to war with Iran
President Trump told CBS News' Nancy Cordes that he wants to temporarily lift the federal gas tax as prices continue to rise amid the ongoing war with Iran. Mr. Trump also said the latest response from Iran to end the war was "a bad proposal ... done by people that have no clue as to the danger they're in."
11th May 2026 23:28NIH director on hantavirus risk
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke with "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil about what risks hantavirus poses to the U.S. public.
11th May 2026 23:176 found dead in shipping container at rail yard near Texas border
Police confirmed that there were six people dead, five men and one woman.
11th May 2026 23:14Texas sheriff says 7th body could be tied to shipping container deaths
The body of a seventh person was located Monday nearly 150 miles north of a Union Pacific rail yard in Laredo, where six bodies were discovered on Sunday afternoon.
11th May 2026 23:135/11: CBS Evening News
Americans enter quarantine after returning from hantavirus cruise ship; President Trump aims to suspend gas tax amid high prices due to war with Iran.
11th May 2026 22:30
The Guardian
De Zerbi’s impact at Spurs is undeniable but team’s fragile self-destruction remains | Jonathan Wilson
Mathys Tel’s stupid penalty concession underlines being Spursy is just who Spurs are to leave them still within sight of West Ham
You’re 1-0 up with 20 minutes to go. You’re about to win your first home league game in 156 days. You’re well on top and playing your best football in 18 months. If you can just see it through you’ll be four points clear of the relegation zone with two games to go, crisis all but averted. And then your left-winger attempts an overhead in the corner of your own box and kicks an opponent in the head nearly eight feet off the ground. It may have been the highest altitude penalty awarded in the Premier League this season; it was certainly the stupidest. Never underestimate the Spursiness of this Spurs.
The gap to West Ham is two points. Spurs must go to Chelsea three days after the FA Cup final then face Everton at home. West Ham have Newcastle away and Leeds at home. But perhaps the most important aspect is the sense that the momentum has shifted. The pendulum that had seemingly been swinging decisively towards Tottenham has slowed; it could easily swing back again.
Continue reading... 11th May 2026 22:21
The Guardian
‘A consistent pattern of lying’: Musk v OpenAI trial exposes what insiders think of Sam Altman
The trial has exposed even more details about OpenAI’s fractious corporate past than previously documented
OpenAI, despite its name, is usually extremely secretive about its operations. It promotes a carefully crafted image to the world. Over the course of Elon Musk’s case against the startup and its CEO Sam Altman, however, the artificial intelligence firm has been forced to publicly contend with some of the messiest parts of its rise to power in public.
The Musk v OpenAI trial, which on Monday entered its third week, has featured a who’s who of Silicon Valley testifying about OpenAI’s past and its CEO’s contentious leadership. Musk’s attorneys have used former executives, private text messages, diary entries and internal email exchanges to portray Altman as untrustworthy. Altman, who denies Musk’s allegations, will take the stand in the coming days. OpenAI has likewise issued denials.
Continue reading... 11th May 2026 22:015/11: The Takeout with Major Garrett
President Trump says ceasefire with Iran "on life support"; Americans exposed to hantavirus return to quarantine in the U.S.
11th May 2026 21:00Redistricting war isn't over, Democrats say as Jeffries calls a meeting this week
Democrats are vowing to fight on after being dealt a series of blows in the partisan fight to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms.
11th May 2026 20:34April home sales disappoint as higher mortgage rates weigh on buyers
Home sales barely moved in April, as mortgage rates shot higher the month before and uncertainty over the war with Iran weighed on consumers.
11th May 2026 20:04Supreme Court continues to temporarily maintain mail access to abortion pill
Justice Samuel Alito extended an administrative stay that maintained access to mifepristone through the mail.
11th May 2026 19:54Former Tesla CFO Deepak Ahuja joins EV battery recycler Redwood Materials
Before joining Redwood Materials, Ahuja served as chief financial and business officer at the drone delivery startup Zipline for about three years.
11th May 2026 19:42White House ballroom funds hang over GOP push to fund ICE
The Senate is returning to Washington to resume work on funding immigration agencies with a package that includes $1 billion for the renovation of the White House East Wing.
11th May 2026 19:35
The Guardian
I've tested all AeroPress coffee makers – here’s the good, bad and ugly
The AeroPress lineup has big hits and wild misses. I reviewed all of them: the Original, Clear, Go, Go Plus, Premium, XLs and brand-new Steel
The best instant coffees: we tested 24 US varieties from powders to pastes
Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things
In 2005, Alan Alder had already made a name for himself as the inventor of the Aerobie, an aerodynamically improved flying ring. For his next project, the engineer ended up creating a similarly ingenious coffee maker: the AeroPress, which looks like a big needle-less syringe that pushes a cup of brewed coffee down through a filter and directly into a mug.
More than 20 years later, the AeroPress remains a cult classic because it is so easy to use, so easy to clean and the coffee it makes is the perfect middle ground between drip’s reliability and French press’s richness. You can also enjoy something stiffer and vaguely espresso-like, or even brew iced coffee.
Most budget-friendly:
The Original
Brent oil tops $104 after Trump says ceasefire with Iran is on 'life support'
Oil prices jumped on Monday after Israel warned that the conflict with Iran was still ongoing.
11th May 2026 19:06Trump, congressional Republicans float suspending federal gas tax amid Iran war
Voters are souring on Trump's economy ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, and high gas prices are only adding to consumer discontent.
11th May 2026 18:45
The Guardian
The Guardian view on Labour’s rebellion: Starmer faces a crisis of legitimacy | Editorial
After disastrous elections, Labour MPs voice public doubts over whether the prime minister can politically survive at all
The clock is ticking on Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour party. He had begun Monday morning with a speech designed to save his premiership after it was routed in local and devolved elections last week. In it he attempted a political synthesis by occupying Reform’s terrain of national pride without the xenophobia, adopting the left’s language of industrial revival without class antagonism and repositioning Labour as culturally pro-European without reopening the Brexit settlement. It did not succeed. By the afternoon, scores of MPs from across the party had publicly demanded that the prime minister leave office in an “orderly transition”. As the hours passed, the rhetoric crossed an important threshold: from criticism of strategy to questioning Sir Keir’s legitimacy as leader.
Labour MPs increasingly say that voters do not trust, or believe, Sir Keir. Nor do they see the change the Labour government promised to deliver. Backbenchers are clearly saying the prime minister’s leadership is the issue. The instinctively loyal MP Catherine McKinnell put it in stark terms. The message from voters, she said, was clear: “The Labour government has to change, or we will change the Labour government.”
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.
Continue reading... 11th May 2026 17:52
The Guardian
The Guardian view on World Cup ticket prices: $33,000? You’re having a laugh … | Editorial
Fifa’s embrace of dynamic pricing and resale markets has led to sky-high costs and a speculative free-for-all, betraying the spirit of the beautiful game
In What Money Can’t Buy, his 2012 critique of a world where everything is for sale, Michael Sandel laments what he calls “the skyboxification of American life”. Price gouging and profiteering, Mr Sandel notes, can exclude millions from communal experiences that should unite people, rather than divide them according to the size of their wallets. That is “not good for democracy, nor is it a satisfying way to live”.
Ahead of the men’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico next month, millions of football fans would readily agree with the Harvard philosopher. Gianni Infantino, the president of the sport’s global governing body, Fifa, has predicted that this summer’s tournament will be the “greatest and most inclusive … ever”. But the lead-up has been overshadowed by a ticketing strategy that is almost surreally indifferent to the battered traditions of “the people’s game”.
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.
Continue reading... 11th May 2026 17:50Years after sex abuse scandal, a young gymnast says "it happened again"
Sean Gardner, a gymnastics coach who trained elite young girls, will be in federal court in Mississippi on Monday facing 12 felony counts of sexual exploitation of children.
11th May 2026 17:48
The Guardian
Why is Putin now talking about the war in Ukraine ‘coming to an end’?
Drone strikes, mounting casualties and a distracted US president means a slow-motion victory is in doubt
Vladimir Putin suggested that the war in Ukraine may be “coming to an end” on Saturday – comments that raise the question of why the Russian president might want a possible end to the war now, given how the fighting is evolving.
Continue reading... 11th May 2026 17:32
The Guardian
Flight of the Conchords’ US reunion brings needed joy: ‘Grateful you accepted people from outside your country’
The New Zealand duo’s first performances in eight years showcase their signature wit and understated charm
When Robots, Flight of the Conchords’ song about an android uprising told from the robots’ perspective, came out in 2008, it seemed like pure comedy. Now the story feels all too real, and the lyrics have been updated accordingly.
“Humans invented artificial intelligence, and then they had us doing really stupid shit with it,” Jemaine Clement, in the role of a frustrated robot, explained over a beat at Los Angeles’s Greek Theater on Saturday night. “They gave us all the knowledge, deep learning, gave us the power to solve complex, scientific mathematical equations,” his bandmate Brett McKenzie added. “Then just asked us questions like, ‘How do you cook an egg?’”
Continue reading... 11th May 2026 17:24Trump approves plan to fire FDA Commissioner Marty Makary
Marty Makary has served as Food and Drug Administration commissioner since March 2025.
11th May 2026 17:20Number of police officers killed in line of duty decreased in 2025 compared to 2024
Though the number of police officers killed in the line of duty has dropped, non-fatal assaults against them have been rising since 2021, according to new data released Monday by the FBI.
11th May 2026 17:13