Trump says Iran deal reopening Strait of Hormuz 'largely negotiated' and will be announced soon

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8, punctuated by skirmishes as the U.S. and Iran jockey over the Strait of Hormuz.

What to know about California chemical tank set to explode or leak

The tank at GKN Aerospace is estimated to contain 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate, a volatile chemical used to produce plastics.

Trump says U.S. is "getting a lot closer" to agreement with Iran

U.S. officials and negotiators were discussing a process to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, sources briefed on the conversations said.

F1 Canadian Grand Prix: qualifying – live

• Follow latest updates from Montreal (Q1 at 9pm BST)

• Russell wins sprint race with Antonelli third | Email Philip

Ouch. Lance Stroll’s car is in pieces. Suspension problem, Collins diagnoses.

Lewis Hamilton zooms by on a scooter, setting a good example to any watching kids by wearing a helmet.

European football: Harry Kane hits hat-trick as Bayern Munich complete double

• Stuttgart beaten 3-0 in DFB-Pokal Cup final

• Inter fight back to draw thriller in Bologna

Harry Kane cut through the smoke of the DFB-Pokal cup final with a hat-trick for Bayern Munich to beat defending champion Stuttgart 3-0 and complete another domestic double on Saturday.

Kane’s goals in the second half set off fireworks among the Bayern fans who had joined their Stuttgart rivals in protesting against the German soccer federation (DFB) for a planned increase in security measures.

My body is fat, not wrong: how body neutrality – not positivity – helped me shed a lifetime of shame | Jasper Peach

If I’d been taught this way of thinking as a child, I can’t begin to imagine how much easier things could have been

In 1981 the CD was born and so was I. Both arrivals were surprising and have drifted in and out of fashion ever since. As a baby, my majestic “chonk lord” status was cause for celebration and an indication of prosperity. But from a young age I noticed that my presence seemed to offend other people. When I was seven, I remember asking to have a go at skipping, after having turned the rope for everyone else. One child enlightened me on why I couldn’t: I was too fat to skip.

Children learn hierarchy from adults and then their peers. Who belongs, who doesn’t and why. My classmates learned from adults to see me as something to mock and despise. Even my own well-meaning father once sat me down and told me that nobody would love, trust or employ me due to my body shape. This didn’t shock me; I’d already picked up what everyone was putting down.

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The moment I knew: I’d quit my job and was newly single – then he smiled and I felt like I was home

When Monika Ruggerino broke a restaurant lamp – a favourite item of the charismatic chef Antonio – she had no idea it would change the course of her life

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

Early in 2015 I was helping my friend organise her 30th birthday. She’d decided on the function space above a favourite little restaurant, Verde in Darlinghurst, Sydney.

A few weeks ahead of the celebration we went in for a tasting. It was the first time I’d seen the head chef and owner, Antonio. He was older than us and so handsome that once he’d sat us down and gone off to get something, my friend and I realised we were both blushing. His Calabrian charisma was undeniable and his smile took my breath away.

UK records hottest day of year as forecasters warn of more extreme heat

Temperature reaches 30.5C in Kent as amber health alerts issued before bank holiday temperatures rise

The UK has recorded its hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 30.5C in Kent as forecasters warned more extreme heat could follow over the bank holiday weekend.

The temperature in Frittenden also marked the first time since 2012 the UK has reached 30C in May, according to the Met Office.

Ancelotti’s World Cup gamble on Neymar shows Brazil still desperate for own Messi | Jonathan Wilson

Selecting a creaking talent underlines the political demands even the most successful coach in Champions League history cannot escape

When Neymar was 18, he made his debut for Brazil as part of the rejuvenation of the national squad after the disappointment of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. At the time, Lionel Messi was 23, obviously a star, and Brazil had to have their equivalent. Neymar has been trying to escape the Argentinian’s shadow ever since.

Even the news that Carlo Ancelotti has included Neymar in his squad for the forthcoming World Cup feels like a desperate attempt to create the sort of narrative Messi enjoyed at the last finals: a last dance long after the body had begun to fade. Messi then was 35; Neymar now is 34. But there are not many other similarities between the cases.

Gisèle Pelicot tells Hay festival she has found love and trust again after rape ordeal

French campaigner was drugged by her ex-husband and sexually abused by dozens of men over almost a decade

Gisèle Pelicot has described the moment she fell in love and was able to trust again after her rape ordeal orchestrated by her former husband in France.

Pelicot, 73, waived her right to anonymity during the trial of Dominique Pelicot, who was jailed for 20 years in 2024 for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to sexually assault her while she was unconscious, over almost a decade.

Speaking at the Hay festival in Wales on Saturday, she said she never thought she could trust a man again before meeting her partner, Jean-Loup Agopian.

The campaigner said: “It’s something that I didn’t think could happen, especially at my age, first of all, I didn’t really want to fall in love, but life decided otherwise.

“We met, our trajectories crossed at one moment and I met this young man of 73… You see, you can fall in love at any age, it happened to me, it can happen to you, I’m convinced of it.

“I didn’t think that I’d be able to trust a man, but it’s what happened to me, so you see that everything can be allowed in life, you must never despair.”

Pelicot appeared at the festival to discuss her memoir A Hymn to Life and was interviewed on stage by Lady Kennedy.

She said that “society has got to wake up” on the issue of violence against women, and that it’s an “appalling evil that touches all borders”.

‘What we doing man’: Abdul Carter calls out Giants teammate Jaxson Dart for appearing with Trump

• Dart introduced president at New York campaign rally

• ‘Thought that sh!t was AI,’ Carter says in X post

The day after New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart took the stage at a rally with Donald Trump to introduce the president, linebacker Abdul Carter questioned his teammate’s actions on social media.

“Thought this sh!t was AI, what we doing man,” Carter wrote in an X post on Saturday morning.

Pajor’s brilliance delivers Women’s Champions League victory for Barcelona against Lyonnes

Five times the bridesmaid, finally the bride, the Barcelona forward Ewa Pajor shrugged off the pain of all her Champions League final losses, scoring twice, as they punished a profligate Lyonnes to earn a fourth European title.

Pajor stole the show, before Salma Paralluelo’s sublime double at the death doubled their tally. The Polish forward moved two goals clear of Alessia Russo’s nine to secure this season’s golden boot, but it was the trophy with sweeping ribbon-like handles that was all Pajor coveted.

Trump administration to require most green card applicants to leave U.S. first

The Trump administration on Friday announced a sweeping policy designed to make it harder for immigrants already in the U.S. to get permanent residency.

US temporarily bans green-card holders from entering country from African nations

Order aimed at preventing spread of Ebola to US affects travelers who have visited three countries in last 21 days

US authorities have temporarily banned green-card holders from entering the country if they have traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days.

The order issued on Friday is part of an expanding attempt to prevent Ebola from entering US borders. A previously announced travel restriction blocked only people without US passports who had visited those countries from entering but exempted US citizens and lawful permanent residents.

King of Bordeaux Lucu injects soul into triumph of a French club on the rise | Michael Aylwin

Leinster could not contain a team backed by tens of thousands of French supporters chanting with exuberance

They are in danger of running away with rugby, these French. The Springboks may have something to say about that, but South Africa do not have the Top 14. And they definitely do not have Union Bordeaux-Bègles.

Leinster tried to contain them. Leinster, packed with experienced internationals, dripping with silverware, were desperate to avoid yet another agonising defeat in this final. Leinster were rudely introduced to the concept of absolutely crushing defeat. They were destroyed, made to look one-paced by a team of exuberant artistes who play rugby as if they simply love it, as if playing brilliant rugby were the most obvious and natural course of action. Like breathing.

What will Trump do next with Iran?

Three months since the start of its conflict with Iran, the Trump administration is oscillating between strike threats and diplomatic overtures. Neither path has yielded a clear resolution.

Stephen Colbert returns to TV in appearance on local Michigan station

A day after his last episode of “The Late Show” on CBS, Colbert found his way back to a television hosting gig for one night.

Kyle Busch died after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, his family says

The two-time NASCAR champion died on Thursday, a day after passing out in a Chevrolet simulator.

Trump to meet with US negotiators to decide on Iran’s ceasefire proposal

US president says it’s a ‘solid 50/50’ on either making a ‘good’ deal with Iran or striking the country anew

Donald Trump said he would meet today with American negotiators to review Iran’s latest proposal and decide by Sunday whether he will strike Iran “to kingdom come”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, also told reporters in India on Saturday that “there may be news later today” about Iran. He did not specify what that news would be.

Sophie Devine sparks New Zealand’s recovery to foil nervy England

• 2nd T20i: NZ, 170-5, bt England, 156-6, by 14 runs

• White Ferns recover from 11 for four to level series

New Zealand staged a miraculous comeback to win the second T20 at Canterbury after collapsing to 11 for four. Their recovery came by virtue of a 159-run partnership from 98 balls between Sophie Devine and Maddy Green – a record against England in T20 internationals.

The partnership rollicked along so quickly that the team of Kent scorebox operators struggled to keep up, with the numbers in the manual scoreboard repeatedly getting stuck due to the 28C heat.

Kyle Busch's cause of death revealed by family

Kyle Busch, who won more races in NASCAR's top three series than anyone in history, died suddenly on Thursday.

NASCAR star Kyle Busch dies at 41 after a severe illness, his family says

Kyle Busch's family earlier Thursday announced he had been hospitalized with a "severe illness."

NASCAR star Kyle Busch hospitalized with severe illness, family says

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has been hospitalized with a severe illness and won't compete at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend, his family said.

The office lunch was once a luxury. Now it’s just a pain | Dave Schilling

A Mad Men-style steakhouse break would be welcome. But I’ve had it with the Lunch Industrial Complex

It’s 12.30pm as I write this. My mind is preoccupied with moving my fingers from key to key on my ageing laptop, a task I paused briefly to remove a hair from the screen. Then, I scratched my leg again, which kicked up another hair. I should get back to work, but I can’t concentrate. Why? Because I’m incredibly hungry. It is, after all, lunchtime – the most worthless part of any work day.

It is not that there’s shame in lunch. It’s just that we’re not programmed to eat at a certain time. We’re all different and the whole concept of the office lunch is obsolete nonsense in 2026. Let it go.

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

New breed of political prisoner arises in Britain as anti-protest sentences rise

More people are being jailed in England and Wales as a result of acting to prevent climate breakdown and the war in Gaza, research reveals

Britain has created a new breed of political prisoners through the systematic incarceration of people acting to prevent climate breakdown and the annihilation of Gaza, a report claims.

The research by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the protest group Defend Our Juries says that custodial sentences for acts of direct action or civil disobedience were once rare but are now being imposed with increasing length and frequency.

China mine death toll at least 82 after gas blast

Xi Jinping urges authorities to ‘spare no effort’ in rescue operation after explosion in northern Shanxi province

At least 82 people have been killed in a gas explosion at a coalmine in northern China’s Shanxi province, in the country’s worst mining disaster in 17 years.

The explosion happened on Friday at 7.29pm (12.29 BST) while 247 workers were underground at the Liushenyu coalmine in Qinyuan county, the state media agency Xinhua reported.

Giro d’Italia: Jonas Vingegaard grabs pink jersey with solo summit stage win

• Dane earns third stage win of this year’s race in Alps

• Visma-Lease a Bike rider set to win Giro at first attempt

Jonas Vingegaard took the Giro d’Italia leader’s pink jersey for the first time after completing a hat-trick of stage wins, the race favourite soloed to the summit to take stage 14, proving too strong for his rivals in the Alps.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider, already successful on the summit finishes on stages seven and nine and, aiming to become the eighth rider to win all three Grand Tours, attacked with less than 5km left of the gruelling 133km ride from Aosta to Pila. The Dane looks set to win the Giro at his first attempt.

GLA considering investigation into Zack Polanski over houseboat council tax

Official assessing formal complaint into Green party leader’s potential ‘breach of conduct’ as assembly member

London assembly officials are weighing up whether to launch an investigation into Zack Polanski after he admitted he may have failed to pay the correct council tax while living on a houseboat in the capital.

The Green party leader has faced questions over whether the houseboat, moored in east London, was his primary residence. A spokesperson for his party had described the situation as an “unintentional mistake” and said Polanski had “immediately taken steps” to pay any tax owed.

Stephen Colbert hosts Michigan public access show day after last appearance on Late Show

Guests on Only in Monroe included Jack White and Jeff Daniels, with appearances by Steve Buscemi and Eminem

After his last appearance on CBS as host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert continued his television hosting duties – on a public access show in Michigan.

Colbert on Friday night hosted Only in Monroe in Monroe, Michigan, just one day after signing off from The Late Show. Colbert had been the host of The Late Show since 2015 and his tenure came to an end this week after CBS canceled the 33-year-old network staple, due to a “financial decision” by CBS’s parent company, Paramount.

White House pauses removal of detainees to the DRC as Ebola outbreak widens

But Trump administration will not return detainees deported to third countries in disease-struck region

The Trump administration will temporarily pause the removal of refugees to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during a spiraling Ebola outbreak, according to reporting by Politico, but experts say the move won’t help prevent the spread of the disease.

At least one woman is now in limbo after officials moved her to Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, and now say they won’t bring her back because of the Ebola travel ban – despite a judge’s order for her return.

Judge dismisses lawsuit brought by author Michael Wolff against Melania Trump

Wolff’s suit aimed to head off billion-dollar legal action brought by first lady over statements linking her to Epstein

Melania Trump has won the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by author Michael Wolff designed to head off a billion-dollar defamation action brought by the first lady over statements he made in the media.

The US district judge Mary Kay Vyskocil said that Wolff’s claim against Trump under anti-Slapp statutes, which are designed to allow defendants to quickly dismiss meritless, intimidating lawsuits, was “preemptive” and presented in a “somewhat contorted posture”.

Trump's justice department scrubs its website of news releases about January 6 defendants

Department of Justice acknowledges removal of information about criminal cases related to 2021 US Capitol rioters

The Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the 6 January 2021 Capitol attack, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda”.

The purge of news releases documenting criminal charges, convictions and sentencings is the latest step by the Trump administration to dramatically rewrite the history of the assault on the US Capitol, when hundreds of supporters of Donald Trump stormed the building in an effort to halt the congressional certification of his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Woman allegedly opens fire outside Raleigh courthouse, hospitalizes 2 lawyers

A woman is accused of opening fire outside a courthouse in Raleigh, North Carolina, and shooting two lawyers, police said.

From high BMI to the ‘GLP-1 look’: how weight-loss jabs are changing the face of beauty

Experts say exponential growth in the use of drugs such as Wegovy is shifting our perception of what is attractive

Mona Lisa is the most famous portrait ever painted and millions of people flock to the Louvre to admire her enigmatic smile every year.

As well as being beautiful, Mona Lisa was, according to some experts, also seriously overweight. Now they are asking how that leaves our notions of artistic beauty in an era of weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, arguing that in future, “GLP-1 face” could become the subject of modern depictions of artistic beauty.

Details emerge on sudden illness that led to Kyle Busch's shocking death

More details are emerging about the sudden illness that led to NASCAR legend Kyle Busch's shocking death at 41.

A little bit country, a little bit Desi: A Pakistani-American's hybrid music

On May 31, Mo Sabri makes a landmark appearance with the Nashville Symphony for an orchestral rendition of his new album, "Tennessee Desi," which blends Appalachian styles with Muslim devotional music.

Tulsi Gabbard resigns as director of national intelligence as Trump considers new strikes on Iran

Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation as director of national intelligence on Friday as the U.S. prepares for a fresh round of military strikes on Iran despite the current ceasefire.

Spirit's collapse, high fuel prices test limits of summer vacation spending

The unofficial start of the summer travel season on Memorial Day weekend will show just how much travelers want to fly and how much they're willing to pay.

Move over matcha lattes: horchata is cold, creamy and coming to a menu near you

The sweet drink is a staple in Spain and Mexico, and it’s being served around the UK as an iced beverage and even in desserts. Here’s how to drink it

Having lived through the “matcha revolution”, I’ve become used to giving unfamiliar drinks a go. From bubble tea to pumpkin-spiced lattes, coffee tonic to ube frappes, I’ll try anything twice and – compared to those beverages – horchata feels like a more palatable prospect. The refreshing yet creamy cold drink from Spain and Mexico is often compared to cereal milk, which has also gained popularity as a flavour in its own right and is increasingly cropping up on menus elsewhere.

Last month, Starbucks announced that, in the US, an iced horchata shaken espresso would be returning to its summer menu (this year joined by a new horchata frappuccino), having outperformed all previous seasonal iced shaken espresso beverages by an impressive 44%. In the UK, where horchata is less commonplace, I started spotting “dirty” versions, with added espresso, on coffee shop menus, alongside “dirty chai”.

French Open agrees to talks with players in row over grand slam prize money

• FFT pledge to make concrete proposals in next month

• Breakthrough follows media boycott at Roland Garros

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has promised to make concrete proposals about increased prize money, player welfare and representation within the next month in talks with leading agents at the French Open.

The discussions took place on Friday, the same day many players, including the world No 1s, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, collectively decided to limit their pre-tournament media briefings to 15 minutes in protest at what they regard as insufficient prize money paid by the four grand slams.

U.S. expects record-setting travel despite high gas prices

Nearly 40 million Americans are expected on the roads for Memorial Day weekend, AAA estimates, despite the highest gas prices in four years.

Côte d’Ivoire wary of jihadist threat in north 10 years on from major attack

Threat of jihadism continues to lurk along borders with Mali and Burkina Faso

These days, when she is not organising the annual International Day of Reggae celebrations in Côte d’Ivoire, Rose Ebirim picks up litter scattered on the beach in the historic port town of Grand Bassam, 25 miles east of Abidjan. Both activities have become a form of therapy since the time she saw someone die.

“13 March 2016 was a Black Sunday for me,” she said.

This US island is home to flora found nowhere else. Now, a wildfire threatens extinction: ‘watching with trepidation’

Firefighters are racing to douse flames on Santa Rosa Island as experts express concern for survival of its unique habitat

On the south-eastern corner of Santa Rosa Island lies a grove of a few thousand Torrey pine trees, some of them more than 250 years old. The only other place on earth where these gnarled pines exist is in San Diego county, but biologists classify the two groves as different subspecies. So when a rare wildfire broke out on Santa Rosa Island late last week, firefighters raced to keep it from spreading into the grove, where it threatened to consign the island’s Torrey pines to extinction.

So far, they appear to be succeeding – even as the 18,000-acre fire has torched nearly one-third of the island’s surface. But biologists who have studied Santa Rosa Island’s unique ecology are watching anxiously as the fire continues to burn a part of the island that is home to six plants found nowhere else on the planet.

5/23: Saturday Morning

Record-setting travel is expected in the U.S. over Memorial Day weekend despite high gas prices.

India’s government orders handover of exclusive Delhi Gymkhana Club

Move comes against backdrop of challenge by prime minister, Narendra Modi, to country’s traditional elites

The Indian government has ordered one of the country’s most exclusive private clubs to vacate its premises in two weeks, underscoring the long-running push of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, against entrenched elite institutions.

The ministry of housing and urban affairs directed the Delhi Gymkhana Club to hand over its sprawling site in the heart of New Delhi by 5 June, citing urgent public interest requirements, including defence and security infrastructure.

Former F1 world champion Alain Prost reportedly injured in robbery at Swiss home

• Police investigating an alleged home invasion

• 71-year-old sustained a head injury, says reports

Swiss police are investigating an alleged robbery with reports that the four-times Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost was injured during a home invasion. The Swiss tabloid Blick reported late on Friday that the 71-year-old Frenchman sustained a head injury from intruders who forced his son to open a safe during the incident on Tuesday morning.

“The perpetrators entered the residence while the occupants were present, threatened them, and forced one family member to open a safe before fleeing with the stolen goods,” the public prosecutor’s office said. “Despite the extensive search operation launched, the perpetrators have not yet been apprehended.”

U.S. passengers flying from Ebola-affected countries rerouted

The U.S. government is responding to the Ebola outbreak in with travel restrictions. American citizens and permanent residents departing affected countries must fly into one of three U.S. airports.

‘It’s just not safe. It’s not OK’: can Married at First Sight ever be risk-free?

Many contestants have a positive experience on the reality show, but others say the format is unsafe

It was about 1am. After a day of relentless filming in which he had met and “married” a stranger, the Married at First Sight UK cameras stopped rolling and Adrian Sanderson was left alone with his new TV partner.

“Honestly, I’ll never ever forget that feeling – it was so difficult,” he says. “When those producers leave you and you’re, like: ‘I’m alone – I don’t get this. How is this about to happen?’ It would be daunting for anyone. You’re exhausted by this time.

Stephen Miller delivers for Trump: 145,000 US kids separated from their parents

A thinktank investigation shows how immigration detention has torn apart families, and experts point to trauma

Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s immigration czar and the architect of some of the government’s cruelest policies, doesn’t care what you think about him. He doesn’t care if you call him “Pee-wee German” or “Weird Stephen” or “Voldemort”, or any of the other nicknames he has inspired; his self-esteem is excellent.

“I have a very, very secure, intact ego,” Miller told Fox News’s Jesse Watters this week after being asked how he felt about his wife, Katie Miller, potentially landing a big distribution deal with Paramount for her terrible Maga podcast. “I’ve never had a larger fan following,” Miller continued. “[A]ny man who works for President Trump is a man that is very, very strong and self-assured in his role.”

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Opinion: Remembering Barney Frank, trailblazing public servant

Mass. congressman Barney Frank was the first House member to come out as gay and was instrumental in Wall Street reforms after the Great Recession. He died this week at the age of 86.

‘You can’t control everything’: the rise in plastic surgeons asked to create ‘AI face’

Growing numbers of people are seeking improbable cosmetic surgery based on chatbots’ recommendations

Plastic surgeons are increasingly concerned about the rise of “AI face”, as more and more clients arrive in their offices with unrealistic AI-generated visions of what they want to look like.

Dr Nora Nugent, a cosmetic surgeon from Tunbridge Wells, has seen this first hand. Clients have started coming to her office with photos of themselves beautified by AI and a false expectation that those results are achievable with surgery. She is also the president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, and says many colleagues are having similar experiences.

‘Canada is handing people over to ICE’: refugees rejected at border face US detention

As Canada tightens asylum rules, refugees reuniting with family say they were turned over to ICE and jailed for months after failed border claims

As each day in US detention passes, Markens Appolon can feel the life he had dreamed of slipping away.

The 25-year-old fled Haiti to escape the rampant gang violence that upended his university studies in economics, and planned to join family in Montreal.

UK needs ‘national consensus’ over rejoining EU, David Miliband says

Ex-foreign secretary urges reset at ‘higher dosage’ after officials revealed to have pitched single market for goods

Britain needs a “national consensus” about rejoining the European Union, David Miliband has said, in response to revelations that the UK government pitched the creation of a single market for goods with the EU to the bloc.

The former foreign secretary, who is now president of the International Rescue Committee, said he thought the UK needed a reset of its relations with the EU at “a much higher dosage” than the government was planning.

SpaceX rocket bursts into flames during Indian Ocean landing – video

SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight on Friday. It was an upgraded version of the spacecraft Nasa is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites that were released midway through the hour-long flight that stretched halfway around the world. Despite some engine trouble, the spacecraft reached its final destination in the Indian Ocean where it erupted into flames on impact. The fire was not unexpected, according to SpaceX

• SpaceX launches its biggest rocket yet in test flight from Texas

Pope decries ‘unscrupulous’ polluters at deadly, mafia-linked dumping ground

Pontiff visits ‘Land of Fires’ where dumping, burial and burning of waste has caused rise in cancer and other illnesses

Pope Leo has met Italian families whose loved ones have died or have cancer as a result of illegal toxic dumping linked to a multi-billion-euro criminal racket run by the mafia.

Leo’s visit to the Terra dei Fuochi, or Land of Fires, near Naples, came on the eve of the 11th anniversary of Pope Francis’ big ecological encyclical, Laudato Si (Praised Be), and indicates Leo’s commitment to carry on his predecessor’s environmental agenda.

‘Turn off the juice of the rulers!’ Who are the Volcano Group, mystery saboteurs behind a five-day Berlin blackout?

Earlier this year, the city was hit by its longest power cut since the second world war. But were those responsible eco-terrorists, agents of the far-right, or even Russian proxies?

Sebastian Brandt, chief technician of the Immanuel hospital in the leafy, affluent Wannsee district of Berlin, guessed something was wrong as soon as he opened the window of his home and smelled diesel. It was 3 January, a freezing Saturday morning, and luckily the hospital opposite had relatively few patients on this post-holiday weekend. As he looked out, the diesel fumes told him that the emergency generator – a huge, deafening, decades-old machine in the basement – had kicked in. That meant the hospital was no longer getting power from the grid. And that meant Brandt was not going to have a quiet weekend.

Although an emergency generator keeps a hospital running, it has its limitations. Surgical procedures have to be cancelled, and though generators are tested regularly, no one can be certain what will happen when they are kept running for days on end. The generator tank in the Immanuel hospital contained about 3,000 litres of diesel, and Brandt had calculated it would burn about 550 litres a day; when the grid operator informed the hospital that the outage might last until the end of the following week, Brandt was quickly dispatched to fetch more diesel from the nearest petrol station that was still on the grid. Meanwhile, he’d heard that a neighbouring hospice was going to move its patients to the hospital, too.

‘It’s as if Arya, my great dane, is contemplating time and memory’: Johan Van Aarde’s best phone picture

The South African photographer says this image of his ‘soulmate’ evokes feelings of sadness and longing in him

Arya the great dane was two years old when this image was taken. She was at home in Pretoria, South Africa, with Johan Van Aarde and three other dogs. “It was May 2021, which is our winter season,” van Aarde says. “The courtyard doors that lead to our pool would usually be open, but as the sun and the moon exchanged places and we started getting cosy inside, I closed them.”

That evening, as he prepared dinner, Van Aarde noticed Arya sitting on the sofa, gazing into the distance. “It was as if she was contemplating time and memory, admiring the reflection of the moon on the pool,” he says. “Great danes are majestic creatures with gentle souls who communicate their thoughts with their facial expressions – and, oh boy, do they tell a story.”

Donald Trump’s revenge tour against Republican dissenters is in full swing. Will it backfire?

With razor-thin majorities in Congress, the US president needs the votes of the very people whose careers he has destroyed

As Abba’s Dancing Queen played, Donald Trump walked across a lawn featuring cornhole, oversized Connect Four, a ferris wheel and a food tent offering short ribs, mac and cheese and apple pie. Members of Congress and their families had come for the annual White House picnic. But not every member of Congress.

Missing the fun was Thomas Massie, a longtime thorn in the US president’s side. Massie was at home in Kentucky, suffering a primary election defeat that made him the latest victim of Trump’s revenge tour. “We won the Massie thing,” the president told guests at the picnic on Tuesday evening. “He was a bad guy. He deserves to lose.”

Summer electric bills sizzle as the cost of cooling climbs

The temperature is climbing, and so are people's utility bills. Rising electricity prices and hotter-than-usual weather could make it especially costly to stay cool this summer.

Chile's MAGA-inspired border control

Chile digs desert trenches along its northern border as President José Antonio Kast pushes a hardline migration crackdown critics say may have little effect.

The best books to read in May: new paperbacks from Ocean Vuong, RF Kuang and Nick Clegg

Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some must-read paperbacks, from a campus novel to a history of language

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Final frontier for meds? UK startup sends drug-making into space

BioOrbit hopes drug-crystallisation technology will lead to self-injected cancer treatment that could save millions

Onboard a SpaceX flight last week was a remarkable piece of cargo – a hi-tech box destined for the International Space Station to grow ultra-pure protein crystals, with the aim of producing self-injected cancer drugs.

A British startup, BioOrbit, has developed the drug-crystallisation technology at its labs in London and launched Box-E, a compact unit the size of a microwave, on the 15 May rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

An ever-expanding catastrophe over Iran is not inevitable. Trump can and must be stopped | Simon Tisdall

Millions are being dragged into starvation, while people everywhere pay a Trump war tax. But there are plenty of powers who could bring him to heel

With the deadlocked war in Iran about to enter its fourth month, loose comparisons with previous US quagmires in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam are bandied about. When the conflict began, warnings of another “forever war” seemed exaggerated. No longer. As matters stand, the negative international humanitarian, economic and geopolitical fallout from this fiasco looks set to prove more permanently globally damaging than any of those past US-made disasters.

That being the case, an urgent question arises, not least today as reports suggest the US president and his secretary of war are planning to rain more bombs on Iran: who will stop Donald Trump?

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

The show might go on: what happens to late-night TV without Stephen Colbert?

The end of The Late Show, an American institution since 1993, leaves those still surviving within the format wondering what the future looks like

• Share your favorite memories from The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

In a way, it’s a shock every time the biggest talkshow hosts assemble into their “Strike Force Five”, the podcast-born group consisting of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver. No, the shock isn’t the lack of Greg Gutfeld, the highly viewed Fox News talkshow host who has nonetheless only ever been funny as a punchline unto himself, and was playfully name-checked on the final episode of Colbert’s The Late Show, after the deposed king of late-night was informed the highest-rated host was getting the boot. (“They’re canceling Gutfeld?!” he cried in fake panic.) The real repeated surprise is the realization that there are (or were) five major late-night hosts still standing.

OK, even before Colbert got the axe, it was actually four: Oliver hails from a weekly perch on HBO, which, given similar jobs held by Dennis Miller for nine years and Bill Maher for 24, seems likely to last for at least 200 seasons. But still: four big-name network talkshows? In this economy?! Strike that down to three, now that Colbert’s tenure is officially over, and his David Letterman-founded late-night franchise with it. Though Colbert is the exact wrong one to cull – the group’s best interviewer, strongest comedy bona fides, and highest-rated show to boot! – it’s hard to argue that network TV is in need of the late-night chatshows that used to be such a major status symbol and, presumably, cash cow. Though the shows are notoriously expensive (such that CBS was able to claim that their king of late-night also lost money), they must have once generated substantial revenue, given the amount of jockeying the 11pm-and-beyond slot inspired throughout the 1980s and especially 90s.

'I'd wait forever, but 334 days is crazy.' USS Ford finally comes home

The USS Ford came home to a hero's welcome. Sailors had been away from home for nearly a year, through two conflicts, a fire and problems with the sewage system.

One solution for Maine's struggling fishing industry? Give fillets away for free

Surging food costs and fuel prices are pummeling Maine's struggling groundfishing industry. But a pandemic-era program is helping to keep it afloat as inflation worsens.

‘I laughed out loud dozens of times’: authors choose books to make you fall back in love with reading

From a darkly comic new novel to a gripping 1950s memoir – Katherine Rundell, Malala Yousafzai, Matt Haig and others appearing at Hay festival pick titles to tempt you

Malala Yousafzai
Activist
I have loved going to the theatre ever since I saw my first musical (Matilda in London, when I was 15 years old) – and I love reading about it, too. In Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad, a British-Palestinian actor travels to the West Bank to see family and finds herself pulled into a local production of Hamlet. I was moved by the rehearsal scenes: arguments over translations, personal relationships, the question of whether a performance is even possible under Israeli occupation. To me, Hammad proved that theatre is capable of carrying weight that other art forms cannot hold.

Dear England: James Graham’s rousing, joyful football drama will make you cry and shout at the TV

This stellar adaptation of James Graham’s award-winning play is a stirring take on national identity – even if not all the actors look like the real footballers. Put it this way, Wayne Rooney will be very pleased indeed

To watch Dear England (Sunday, 9pm, BBC One) – the BBC’s stellar adaptation of James Graham’s Olivier award-winning play – you must first understand the incomparable damage to the national psyche that arose from Gareth Southgate missing a penalty in the Euro 96 semi-final. For those born outside England or too young to remember, imagine the apocalypse mixed with the death of your childhood pet and you’re just about halfway there. I was 11 at the time and almost three decades later still remember going to bed crying as my dad explained over my tear-strewn pillow: “This is what it is to be an England fan.”

You’d better get your therapist on speed dial: the four-part fictionalised account of Southgate’s revolutionary reign as England manager begins with a real-life clip of his penalty miss. Fast forward to 2016 and England is in crisis, with the men’s squad crashing out of the Euros to Iceland while Brexit looms large. Meanwhile, Southgate (Joseph Fiennes, reprising his critically acclaimed West End role) – now middle-aged and managing the under-21 men’s team – is watching football on the TV and looking pensive.

A Kristen Stewart heist movie gave me a thirst for adventure - I found it as an engineer on a remote oil rig

The 2004 film Catch That Kid gave me my love of cars. But when my Formula One career stalled, I took on a dangerous job in the middle of the Indian Ocean

Throughout my early teen years, my family followed a regular Friday routine that, today, feels distinctly ancient. Every week after dinner, my mother, brother and I would dawdle for 20 minutes down quiet suburban streets to the entertainment haven that was thevideo rental store. If we had been well behaved, the ultimate treat: free rein to rent a film of our choice.

My mum rarely vetoed our selection, so we watched a wild range; but it was an unassuming family comedy starring child actors Kristen Stewart and High School Musical’s Corbin Bleu that would change my life for ever.

‘There is no great master plan’: anxiety as UK homes, roads and railways sink into the sea

Increasing coastal erosion has hit communities’ livelihoods and put lifestyles under threat

The remains of the road linking two towns in south Devon lie crumbled on the foreshore in a mess of tarmac, steel and concrete.

The dramatic coastal road, known as the Slapton Line, has an environmentally protected freshwater lake on one side and the sea on the other, and links the towns of Kingsbridge and Dartmouth. But this year, winter storms demolished a section of the A road between Torcross and Slapton, which is at the frontline of rising sea levels and coastal erosion, fulfilling a destiny that was predicted more than 30 years ago, but that has not been prepared for.

‘I thought I was the saviour of the planet’: how Game of Thrones’ Hannah Murray found a wellness cult – and lost her mind

She landed a role in hit TV show Skins at 17 and went on to star in the fantasy epic. Then she was drawn towards a mysterious spiritual community. How did she end up being sectioned?

• ‘This is a test. A horrible test’: read an extract from Hannah Murray’s memoir

At least once a week, Hannah Murray has this one overpowering thought: “Thank God I don’t act any more.” She might be climbing her stairs, mug in hand, or at her desk opening her computer, she might be taking a casserole from the oven, or browsing the high street in the East Anglian town where she now lives. The thought will arrive along with what she describes as a sort of total bodily relief. She tries to hold on to this “I’m not an actor any more” feeling because it’s accompanied, she says, by “a real surge of joy”.

It’s not just because she doesn’t have to strip for the camera any more, although there was plenty of that, starting with Cassie, whom she played aged 17 in the E4 hit show Skins, mostly in underwear. And it’s not because she doesn’t have to cope with the relentless focus on her weight, though there was plenty of that too, accompanied by questions from journalists: was she anorexic in real life? Were her parents worried about her weight? It’s not because she’s not recognised everywhere, as she was after playing Gilly in Game of  Thrones, with grown men having tantrums if she didn’t autograph their whatever or pose for a selfie. Nor is it having to negotiate which body parts she will contractually agree to show. Or contending with the highs of landing a great part followed by the lows of wrapping the shoot only to  be thrown back on to the audition carousel and told: “Please go in looking nice. They need to believe Benedict Cumberbatch could actually be attracted to you.”

Tim Dowling: the band shuns my new jokes. But telling the old ones proves even riskier

When my cat jokes are met with near silence, there’s only one thing for it …

I remember the first time it happened, in the band’s earliest days. We were playing a small festival in Yorkshire, before a seated audience in an arts centre. At the end of the first song there was an unfamiliar sound, like bacon sizzling, but amplified. It took me a moment to realise it was applause.

Up until that point we had mostly played in pubs, where everything we did was met with the same level of high-spirited indifference – the persistent, lively hum of people determined not to let a bit of music spoil their night out. Applause was new.

Sort your life out in four increasingly complicated steps: The Becky Barnicoat cartoon

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The pothole puzzle: the bumpy ride to fixing Britain’s broken roads

Councils fix a pothole every 17 seconds – but getting on top of the repair backlog would cost £18.6bn. Why is it so hard to solve a problem that drives the nation crazy?

Marsh Street in the historic centre of Bristol is a modest little stretch of road with an office block at one end, a Thai restaurant at the other, and an almighty mess in between.

Along its length of 200 metres or so, the tarmac surface of the road is pockmarked with many dozens of cracks, patches, divots and holes. In some spots where the surface has worn away, three or more layers of road structure are exposed beneath. What is a bouncy enough ride in a bus or car is even more of an assault course for cyclists, a number of whom weave carefully down its length as they cut through the city centre.

Boards of Canada: Inferno review – after 13 years away, their prodigal return is a big disappointment

(Warp)
The Scottish electronic duo remain hugely influential – but their new album’s interrogation of religion is dubious, and the drum programming is worse still

This is the first album in 13 years from Boards of Canada, and from the opening notes – an analogue synth rising and falling like a sound effect in a forgotten 1960s radio play – you’re thrust back into one of the most instantly recognisable worlds in electronic music.

From 1995 debut EP Twoism onward, across four LPs and four more EPs, the Scottish duo – brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin – used the heavy gait of classic hip-hop beats to trudge through spectral ambient vistas, like spacemen sent through a time portal while still being tethered to the present. By grabbing samples from old public television and other vintage sources, they looked back at the utopian promise of the mid-20th century, while teasing out the latent kitsch and creepiness of these sounds.

Can hybrid village stores answer rural Germany’s ‘cry for help’ and fend off far right?

Retail innovation, where people can shop alone after staff have gone, is helping vital community hubs survive

Once upon a time, every German village had its own Tante Emma laden (Aunt Emma shop), a family-run hub of community life where local people bought their groceries at affordable prices and shot the breeze with their neighbours.

But in recent years the loose network of small businesses throughout Europe’s biggest economy has come under huge pressure from staffing shortages, competition from supermarket chains and rising inflation, which the Iran war has again sent surging.

French stars are rightly worried by billionaire Vincent Bolloré. Here’s how to rein him in

The conservative tycoon’s grip on media and cinema is unhealthy. An EU fund could protect democracy in perpetuity

The shadow of Joseph McCarthy’s “red scare” loomed over the storied steps of this year’s Cannes film festival. Echoing the mid-20th-century blacklist, which shut out about 300 suspected communists from Hollywood, the French media group Canal+ announced an effective ban on twice that many French cinema professionals, including actors such as Juliette Binoche and film directors such as Jean-Pascal Zadi and Arthur Harari. Their crime? An open letter denouncing the growing influence on French media and cinema of conservative tycoon Vincent Bolloré, Canal+’s main shareholder.

The Canal+ chief executive, Maxime Saada, justified punishing the signatories on the basis that their claim was an “injustice” against the staff of Canal+ – who were, he said, committed to the organisation’s independence.

‘Are they your real teeth?’ How TV’s best – and most gloriously blunt – chatshow ripped up the rulebook

As Rylan Clark takes the final hot seat on The Assembly, the makers tell all about this revolutionary show. Where else would a politician be driven to tears? Or Stephen Fry be asked about his sexual proclivities?

As TV presenter Rylan Clark trepidatiously arrives for his appearance on The Assembly, he’s heard wondering aloud: “Shit, what are they gonna ask me?” We soon find out. The opening questions fired at him by these unique interviewers are “Are they your real teeth?” and “Did you ever consider having a real suntan?” So much for small talk.

The ensuing half-hour takes in probing inquiries about his infidelity, divorce and resulting breakdown. The 28-strong neurodivergent panel ask Rylan whether he loved his absent father, when he came out as gay and how he copes when one of his famous friends gets cancelled (his tearful reply appears to allude to Radio 2 colleague Scott Mills). “You bastards,” Rylan sniffs. “You made me cry.”

CBS News Radio signs off after nearly 100 years: "An American institution"

After nearly a century on the air, CBS News Radio signed off, with the final reports airing on Friday, May 22.

AI is driving more job cuts and weighing on hiring, economists say

Economists say AI is reshaping the U.S. labor market by suppressing hiring even as overall job losses remain limited.

The forecast heading into Memorial Day weekend

CBS News meteorologist Rob Marciano has the weather forecast as the U.S. heads into Memorial Day weekend.

SpaceX launches Starship test flight on second try

SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket on Friday, a day after the company scrubbed plans before takeoff.

SpaceX launches more powerful Super Heavy-Starship rocket

Perfecting SpaceX's mammoth rocket will be critical to NASA's plans for returning astronauts to the surface of the moon.

How some U.S. schools are teaching kindness classes

Kindness 101 is a program that uses the stories CBS News finds in our "On the Road" series to teach kindness and character. The stories are paired with lesson plans created by a nonprofit at Iowa's Drake University called "Character Counts!"

Hospitality wars: who is recruiting children to firebomb Melbourne bars, nightclubs and restaurants?

More than 50 people have been arrested over alleged attacks on venues since April, but police still don’t know what’s behind the crime wave

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The white Mercedes E300 sedan is stolen, the number plates cloned. Inside are allegedly three teenagers from suburbs in Melbourne’s outer west, and a jerry can.

Police claim they have been recruited by someone they’ve never met to set alight hospitality businesses for no particular reason.

Tulsi Gabbard resigning as intel chief, citing husband's cancer diagnosis

Tulsi Gabbard is resigning as the director of national intelligence after her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.

Pentagon releases more UFO files: "Speechless after these observations"

The Pentagon on Friday released a new batch of 64 files related to UFOs, unveiling a second tranche of records under an executive order by President Trump.

Some schools are teaching kindness classes: "Makes me want to be a better person"

Schools teach kids how to read, write and do math. But what about a class on how to be kind? In some places, it is. Steve Hartman goes "On the Road" with the story.

Kyle Busch was coughing up blood a day before his death, 911 call reveals

Kyle Busch's cause of death has not been given, though his family said earlier the NASCAR icon had been hospitalized with a "severe illness."

Total cost for a classic barbecue increases by nearly 10%, new report finds ahead of summer

Millions are planning get-togethers with family and friends this weekend, despite high prices. In this week's "Affordability in America," Jo Ling Kent has more.

What's inside the latest UFO file release by the Pentagon?

The Pentagon released a new batch of UFO files on Friday, including more than 50 previously classified videos and documents related to findings dating from the 1940s to about six months ago.

5/22: CBS Evening News

45 million Americans expected to travel for Memorial Day weekend; new details on the death of NASCAR champion Kyle Busch.

Judge tosses federal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia

A federal district judge granted Kilmar Abrego Garcia's motion to dismiss two criminal charges on the grounds his prosecution was vindictive and selective.

US green card applicants will now have to return to home countries to apply, DHS says

Change criticized by advocates marks the latest significant move by the Trump administration on immigration policy

Foreigners seeking to adjust their immigration status in the United States to secure green cards will have to do so from outside the country via the state department, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Friday, in a move criticized by aid groups, policy analysts and immigration attorneys.

USCIS announced the move in a policy memo, which directed officers to consider relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether extraordinary relief is warranted.

Kevin Warsh sworn in as new Fed chair, replacing Powell

Kevin Warsh has vowed to preserve the Fed's independence over monetary policy, telling lawmakers he will never "predetermine" interest rates at the president's request.

Wuthering Heights director regrets not showing Margot Robbie’s ‘extremely hairy armpits’

Emerald Fennell says period-realistic scene emphasising Cathy’s lack of razors was shot but did not make final cut

The Wuthering Heights director Emerald Fennell said it was “unfortunate” that a scene showing Margot Robbie’s hairy armpits did not make the final cut, because women in period adaptations are often shown with clean-shaven underarms.

Robbie’s character, Cathy, had “extremely hairy armpits” in the 2026 adaptation of the novel, but “unfortunately the scene that we see them didn’t make it in there”, said the director.

Trump skipping wedding of son Donald Jr. to Bettina Anderson

Donald Trump Jr. was previously married to Vanessa Trump, with whom he has five children. She disclosed this week that she has breast cancer.

New lawsuits against Trump's DOJ 'lawfare' fund

President Trump droppped his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for the DOJ creating a $1.8 billion fund to compensate alleged "lawfare" victims.

5/22: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Tulsi Gabbard resigns as national intelligence director; President Trump defends "anti-weaponization" fund despite GOP backlash.

Kevin Warsh sworn in as Fed chair as Trump seeks interest rate cuts

Despite President Donald Trump's demands for lower interest rates, markets are betting the Fed will stay on hold through most, if not all, of 2026.