Planned Trump arch would dwarf Lincoln Memorial, new plans show

Plans submitted by the Interior Department show the triumphal arch would be 250 feet tall, compared to the 99-foot-high Lincoln Memorial across the Potomac River.

The Masters day two: McIlroy under way as Rose and Hatton climb leaderboard – live

️ Latest news from the second round at Augusta National
️ Official leaderboard | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail David

Wyndham Clark’s birdie putt at 6 looks good. A straight roll. But it drifts a little to the right just before reaching the cup, enough to kink out. That really did look like it was going in. So he remains at -3 for both his round and the Tournament overall. He’s no longer the only player out there in red for his round today: Im Sungjae, who finished second on debut in the November Masters of 2020, birdies 7 and 8 to move into credit today – he’s +3 overall – while the old trooper Freddie Couples birdies 2 to get back to +5. Such a shame about that hideous run at 15, 16 and 17 yesterday - quadruple bogey, double bogey, double bogey – but you can forgive a 66-year-old for running out of gas under the heat of the late-afternoon sun.

The Par 3 Contest winner Aaron Rai starts his second round calmly and confidently. Tea Olive found in regulation, and a long birdie putt that shaves the hole. He remains at -1 after yesterday’s 71, a round that promised more after going out in 33. Meanwhile Wyndham Clark’s run of consecutive birdies comes to an end at 5. Just a par, though he’s now landed his tee shot at 6 into the heart of the green, using the slope to bring his ball towards the flag tucked away front left. He’ll have a good look at birdie from 18 feet, a putt not exactly flat and straight, but as flat and straight as they come around here.

West Ham v Wolves: Premier League – live

⚽️ Premier League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off
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West Ham, after this game, have Crystal Palace away, Everton at home, Brentford away, Arsenal at home, Newcastle away and, this looks a six-pointer, Leeds at home. So yes, this is massive.

Wolves have circled the drain all season, and have just 17 points. Relegation is all but certain, it’s just a question of warding off the inevitable. They are 11 points from safety with seven games left. Opta data suggests Wolves have a 99.93% chance of going down, as close to certainty as is possible. They can get a maximum of 36 points when Tottenham, in 17th, have 30. West Ham have 29; their need is far greater, their hopes far more realistic.

Artemis II returning to Earth for splashdown to end historic moon mission

NASA's Artemis II astronauts are set to return to Earth with a splashdown landing in the Pacific Ocean after making a high-speed reentry through the atmosphere.

Bessent, Fed's Powell met with bank CEOs over potent new Anthropic AI

Financial industry leaders met to discuss potential cyber risks posed by Anthropic's latest AI model, which has found weaknesses in every major computer operating system.

Iran's speaker says negotiations with U.S. can't start without Lebanon ceasefire, asset release

President Trump is frustrated by Iran continuing to throttle most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil route.

One dead and 27 injured after bus with British passengers crashes in Canary Islands

Vehicle veered into a ravine on island of La Gomera while transporting a tour group for a boat excursion

A man has died and 27 people are in hospital after a bus carrying British passengers crashed in the Canary Islands, local officials have said.

The incident happened at 1.15pm local time on Friday when the vehicle veered into a ravine on the GM-2 highway near the town of San Sebastián de La Gomera.

Prince Harry sued for defamation by charity he co-founded

Legal action follows fallout with Sentebale chair after Duke of Sussex’s resignation as patron

The Duke of Sussex is being sued by Sentebale in the latest twist in the bitter fallout over the African charity he co-founded.

Papers have been lodged in London’s high court by the charity over defamation claims naming Prince Harry and former Sentebale trustee Mark Dyer as defendants.

Meta must face Massachusetts lawsuit over youth social media addiction, court rules

Ruling by state’s top court comes as 34 other states are pursuing similar cases against Meta in federal court

Meta Platforms must face a lawsuit by the Massachusetts attorney general alleging that as the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, it deliberately designed social media features to addict young users, the state’s top court ruled on Friday.

The ruling by the Massachusetts supreme judicial court marked the first time a state high court has considered whether a federal law that generally shields internet companies from lawsuits over content posted by their users would also bar claims that companies like Meta knowingly addicted young users.

Anthropic’s new AI tool has implications for us all – whether we can use it or not | Shakeel Hashim

Claude Mythos’s apparent superhuman hacking abilities are alarming experts as the Trump administration remains blinded by hostility

In June 2024, a cyber-attack on a pathology services company caused chaos across London’s hospitals. More than 10,000 appointments were cancelled. Blood shortages followed and delays to blood tests led to a patient’s death.

Lethal cyber-attacks like this are thankfully rare. But a new AI release could change that – plunging us into a terrifying new world of chaos and disruption to the digital systems that we rely on.

Shakeel Hashim is the editor of Transformer, a publication about the power and politics of transformative AI

Trump calls Artemis II astronauts "modern-day pioneers" in live conversation

President Trump praised the crew of NASA's Artemis II mission in a brief chat late Monday, saying they had "inspired the entire world" after they looped around the moon in a record-breaking voyage.

Man arrested after four die trying to cross Channel in small boat

Two men and two women were swept away by currents while attempting to board dinghy off French coast

A man has been arrested on suspicion of endangering life after four people died in a small boat Channel crossing on Thursday.

The man, described by prosecutors as a 27-year-old Sudanese national, was arrested by National Crime Agency investigators on Friday.

NASA drops Artemis II moon mission playlist with astronauts' wake-up songs

The moon music tradition started more than 50 years ago, NASA said as it shared the Artemis II crew's playlist this week.

Shortlisted for an Oscar, 'Homebound' is a daring movie about two dear friends

The movie, now streaming on Netflix, defied current trends in Indian cinema to tell the true story of a friendship between a Muslim and a Hindu Dalit. Martin Scorsese was secretly involved.

Kamala Harris says she’s ‘thinking about’ running for president again in 2028

Former vice-president spoke before a crowd at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network gathering in New York

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Kamala Harris said she is “thinking about” running in the 2028 presidential election.

“I might, I might. I’m thinking about it,” the former vice-president and 2024 candidate told the crowd at a gathering of the National Action Network (NAN), a civil rights organization founded by Al Sharpton, on Friday in New York City.

Concerns raised about motorbike tourist trail after death of British teenager in Vietnam

Local people say road conditions are rugged and weather unpredictable, while some say it has become too congested

The recent death of a British gap-year student on the Ha Giang loop, a popular motorcycle tour through the mountains in north Vietnam, has heightened concerns about a trail reputed to be one of the most dangerous in the country.

Orla Wates, 19, from Surrey, was riding as a pillion passenger when she fell off and was hit by an oncoming truck, according to local media. She was taken to hospital in Hanoi, where she died from her injuries last week.

JD Vance warns Iran against trying to ‘play’ the US in peace talks

US vice-president flies to Islamabad for negotiations as Iranians insists Israel end its offensive in Lebanon

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JD Vance has warned Iran not to “try and play” the US at talks planned for Saturday in Islamabad, while Tehran said it would not take part until Israel stopped bombing of Lebanon.

The US vice-president made the comments as he boarded a plane to Pakistan for negotiations that could determine whether a ceasefire holds or the war on Iran resumes with grave implications for the global economy.

The Guardian view on Trump’s civilisational threats: the words that fuel war must be condemned | Editorial

Military euphemisms can be deadly. Yet the brutal rhetoric of the US and Israel is proving still more lethal

“Metaphors can kill,” the linguist George Lakoff wrote in an influential essay on the Gulf war. “The use of a metaphor with a set of definitions becomes pernicious when it hides realities in a harmful way.” He described the effects of the US employment of business cost-and-benefit analogies, sporting comparisons and the fairytale of the just war with heroes and villains.

All veiled the reality of conflict. Euphemism was long the preferred choice for the US military. Spokespeople discussed “collateral damage” rather than civilian deaths and “surgical strikes”, framing destruction as both precise and part of a necessary and ultimately healing process. Donald Trump chooses naked menace instead. This week he issued a genocidal threat against Iran, having previously threatened to bomb it “back to the stone age” and destroy bridges and power plants – schools and medical facilities having already been pulverised. He said that he was “not at all” concerned about potential war crimes.

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.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home targeted with molotov cocktail

Suspect arrested but not identified and has allegedly made similar threats to OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters

A 20-year-old man allegedly tossed a molotov cocktail at the home of Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, before the sun rose on Friday, according to statements from San Francisco police.

The suspect, who allegedly threw the explosive at the North Beach residence around 4.12am, has been arrested but not identified. The same person allegedly threatened to torch OpenAI’s headquarters in the city.

White House warned staff against Iran war bets on prediction markets

The warning came after a flurry of unusual activity on oil and stock futures markets shortly before President Trump said he would pause attacks on Iran.

The Guardian view on dystopias for our times: the American nightmare | Editorial

Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments and the Oscar-winning film One Battle After Another are grim parables of today. But they are not without hope

As Margaret Atwood has said, all dystopian fiction is “really about now”. No wonder the genre is flourishing. This week Atwood’s bleak vision of a future America as a patriarchal theocracy returned to TV screens with the adaptation of her prize-winning 2019 novel The Testaments, the long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, set in a chillingly recognisable militarised America, swept the Oscars last month.

Back in 1984 when Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale, she feared that its central premise – that the US could be transformed from a liberal democracy into Gilead, a theocratic dictatorship after a coup – was too outrageous to convince readers. She need not have worried. By the time the novel was made into the award-winning TV series in 2017, it was all too believable. Arriving just after Donald Trump’s election in 2016 and the rollback of women’s rights, the show felt made for the moment. Atwood was hailed as a prophet. The red-and-white handmaid robes became a symbol of female defiance across the globe. “For a long time we were going away from Gilead and then we turned around and started going back,” Atwood said of her decision to write a follow-up more than 30 years later.

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.

Doctors’ leader claims new reduced pay offer killed chances of ending strikes in England

Exclusive: Deal for resident doctors was in sight when sudden change by ministers forced latest action, says Jack Fletcher

Ministers killed the chance to end strikes by resident doctors when they suddenly reduced the amount of money they were offering to secure the peace deal, the doctors’ leader claims.

Dr Jack Fletcher accused the government of “playing games” and forcing resident doctors to embark on their 15th strike over pay and jobs, which is disrupting the NHS this week.

Netanyahu-ism has achieved nothing for Israelis – and come at a monstrously high price | Jonathan Freedland

It is the voting public in Israel that will settle their PM’s fate later this year. But all they have heard are promises of ‘total victory’ that prove to be hollow

It is a record of abject failure. I am not speaking of Donald Trump, though I could be. Instead, I am talking about his partner in this terrible war.

Naturally, Trump has been the star of the show. He has been the face of the 40-day war on Iran, whether dialling up the threats against the country in foul, bloodthirsty language – “a whole civilisation will die tonight” – or announcing on his own social media platform a two-week ceasefire and the talks that are supposed to begin this weekend in Islamabad. But Trump has had an ally at his side, who only now is entering the spotlight. That ally is Benjamin Netanyahu.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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.

How I Shop with Michelle Ogundehin: ‘We grownups have enough stuff already’

Always wondered what everyday stuff celebrities buy, where they shop for food, and the basic they scrimp on? The interiors guru talks museum shops, sake and loft insulation with the Filter

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Michelle Ogundehin, former editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration magazine, is the head judge on the BBC’s Interior Design Masters and co-host of Grand Designs: House of the Year. She trained as an architect and also works as a commentator and consultant, as well as being a trustee of the Design Museum.

Her bestselling first book, Happy Inside, explores how home shapes health and happiness; her forthcoming book (spring 2027), Your Powerful Home: 4 Steps to a Home that Heals, looks at your home as a partner in your wellbeing, an ethos she shares through her Happy Insiders Club, which offers guided monthly coaching.

‘Butter Birkin’: popcorn plastic It bag in demand by Devil Wears Prada fans

Coveted £20 accessory to be marketed as part of sequel’s ticket deal – and is already being touted for resale from £130

In a recent trailer for the highly anticipated The Devil Wears Prada sequel, the cast are seen parading through the streets of New York City carrying an array of designer handbags, including clutches and satchels from Chanel and Valentino.

But among fans of the film there is a very different type of It bag in demand: a popcorn bucket shaped to resemble a structured tote bag is quickly becoming a coveted accessory.

Trump’s war and Melania’s Epstein statement, with US editor Betsy Reed – The Latest

Melania Trump made a surprise appearance at the White House on Thursday to announce that she ‘never had a relationship’ with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Her address has seemingly put Epstein back on the political agenda when focus had been firmly on the US and Israel’s war in Iran. The intervention came at a difficult time for her husband, Donald Trump, as the fragile ceasefire agreed between the US and Iran seemed to be at risk of falling apart, and as US lawmakers are raising the alarm over the president’s mental stability. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian US editor, Betsy Reed

U.S. faces an air traffic controller shortage. It's turning to gamers for help.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pointed out that gamers "have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller."

James Gadson obituary

Drummer who brought an irresistible melting pot of styles to hits by Marvin Gaye, Gloria Gaynor and the Jackson 5

In R&B, soul, funk, disco and other forms of African-American popular music, no performer is more valuable than the drummer who can find “the pocket”: the name given by musicians to that elusive place where the rhythm propelling a song is both profound and irresistible. James Gadson, who has died aged 86, seemed to live his entire working life deep in that pocket, giving momentum to such 1970s hits as Bill Withers’ Lean on Me, Marvin Gaye’s I Want You, Diana Ross’s Love Hangover, the Jackson 5’s Dancing Machine, Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive, Smokey Robinson’s Cruisin’, Peaches & Herb’s Reunited and many more in future decades during his career in the recording studios of Los Angeles.

Other artists in related fields also made grateful use of his gifts. He played on Boz Scaggs’ Slow Dancer (1974) and Elkie Brooks’s Live and Learn (1979), Leonard Cohen’s The Future (1992) and, in this century, Rickie Lee Jones’s The Evening of My Best Day, Paul McCartney’s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Lana Del Rey’s Paradise, and several albums by Beck, among others.

Orbán and Magyar trade accusations in last days of Hungary election campaign

Polls suggest lead for opposition candidate before vote on Sunday as both allege enlistment of foreign interference

• Europe live – latest updates

• Hungary elections: what is at stake and who is likely to win?

Viktor Orbán and his centre-right rival, Péter Magyar, have traded accusations of enlisting foreign interference in a high-stakes election that polls suggest could mark the end of the nationalist Hungarian prime minister’s 16 years in power.

As the two leaders’ campaigns entered their final stages before this weekend’s vote, which is being watched as keenly in Brussels, Moscow and Washington as in Budapest, Orbán said on social media on Friday that his opponent would “stop at nothing to seize power”.

Four men deported by US to Eswatini have right to see lawyer, court rules

The men, sent to the southern African country in July, have been denied in-person counsel for nine months

Four men deported by the US to Eswatini and denied in-person legal counsel for nine months while detained in a maximum security prison have the right to see a local lawyer, Eswatini’s supreme court ruled.

The men, from Cambodia, Cuba, Vietnam and Yemen, were sent to the small southern African country, formerly known as Swaziland, in July despite having no connection to the country, as part of Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to ramp up deportations.

Martin Rowson on Middle East peace talks – cartoon

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Kamala Harris says she might run for president in 2028: "I'm thinking about it"

Former Vice President Kamala Harris said that she might run for president in 2028, telling a gathering in New York that she is considering mounting a third bid for the White House.

Premier League news: Fernández’s Chelsea future in further doubt; Arteta praises Eze

Guardiola says City must win every game, Howe ‘aligned’ with chief executive and Pereira wants fixture help

Survivors of Epstein’s abuse accuse Melania Trump of ‘shifting burden’ on to victims

Outrage from survivors follows first lady’s statement calling on Congress to hold public hearings with victims of Epstein’s abuse

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More than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have accused Melania Trump of “shifting the burden” on to them after she called on Congress to hold public hearings with victims of Epstein’s abuse.

“Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have already shown extraordinary courage by coming forward, filing reports, and giving testimony,” said a group of 13 people and the brother and sister of the late Virginia Giuffre, who was one of the most vocal Epstein accusers, in a statement. “Asking more of them now is a deflection of responsibility not justice.”

Why a Strait of Hormuz "toll" would pose economic and geopolitical risks

Energy industry experts warn that allowing Iran to charge ships to ensure safe passage through the strait would raise energy costs.

DOJ argues D.C. pipe bomb defendant not covered by Trump's Jan. 6 pardons

The DOJ said in a court filing that the D.C. pipe bomb defendant's case should not be dismissed and that his actions were not covered by Trump's sweeping pardons of the Jan. 6 rioters.

MoneyWatch price tracker shows how much food, utility, housing costs are rising

These charts track prices consumers pay for groceries and other goods now compared to five years ago.

Brandon Holtz, the amateur world No 3,262, swaps real estate for Masters

It would be odds-on that the 39-year-old is the lowest-ranked player ever to qualify for the Masters at Augusta

There are two Masters taking place this year, the one you’re watching, and the one you’re playing in. Well. Maybe not you, exactly, unless you can count your handicap on two fingers, but the best player you know, that guy on the school run who used to play off scratch, that cousin who won the sports scholarship, or the uncle who everyone says could have made it back in the day. His name is Brandon Holtz and, if you haven’t spotted him yet, he is, he says himself, “the old fat guy” who has been playing with the two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson this week.

Holtz is 39 and works full time as a real estate broker in Bloomington, Illinois. He plays as much golf as he can but, given that he has two kids, a five-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter, it isn’t nearly as much as he’d like. He is currently 3,262 in the world amateur golf rankings. Which of course means he is a hell of a good golfer. And also that he is ranked a full 3,160 places below his nearest competitor among the six amateurs in the field here. And that’s before you even get to the other 10,000 or so professionals in the Official Golf World Rankings, where he is currently unlisted.

Consumer sentiment hits record low, inflation fears rise amid Iran war

The university's headline index of consumer sentiment tumbled to 47.6, down 10.7% from March to its lowest on record.

Reform’s temper tantrum about slavery reparations shows it doesn’t understand Britain’s place in the modern world | Kojo Koram

The party’s talk of visa bans for countries seeking reparative justice is not just undemocratic – it displays staggering ignorance about geopolitics

On 29 November 1781, Capt Luke Collingwood faced a decision. He was in command of a ship called the Zong, which departed Accra with 442 Africans to be sold into slavery. However, the crew of the Zong kept getting lost on the way to Jamaica. Now their overcrowded “cargo” was ridden with disease and dehydration. Closing in on their destination, they realised that if these Africans died onshore, this would be a loss for the shipowners. But if they were “lost at sea”, the insurers would cover the cost. Soon, more than 130 people were thrown overboard, starting with the less commercially valuable women and children. At the resulting court case two years later, the main area of dispute was whether this action invalidated the financial payout. None of the city of London’s legal and financial institutions involved considered whether the mass drowning constituted a crime.

This episode from Britain’s inhumane and inglorious history of slavery came to mind this week when I read that in response to a recent, well-supported UN resolution recognising the historic crime of slavery, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK said it would deny all UK visas to people from countries seeking slavery reparations from Britain. Countries such as Nigeria, Jamaica and Ghana, from where Zong set sail all those years ago.

Dr Kojo Koram is professor of law and political economy at Loughborough University. His latest book, The Next Fix, is out on 4 June

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.

Peers vote to ban pornography depicting sex acts between stepfamily members

Amendment calling for step-incest to be included in ban on harmful content passes by just one vote

The government has agreed to ban the production of pornography depicting sex acts between stepfamily members following a vote in the House of Lords.

The government tabled an amendment calling for step-incest to be included in a ban on harmful content, with the support of the Conservative peer Gabby Bertin, who led a review into pornography regulation that was published last year.

How an 8-year-old designed a zero-gravity indicator for Artemis II

The development of the mission mascot and viral sensation Rise began over a year before Artemis II blasted off.

Inflation surged in March as Iran war drove up energy costs

Inflation rose at an annual rate of 3.3% in March, driven by the sharpest monthly increase in gas prices since 1967.

This week on "Sunday Morning": The Money Issue (April 12)

This week Jane Pauley hosts "The Money Issue," our annual special broadcast dedicated to the many ways in which money underscores the way we live.

Preview of UFC 327

UFC reporter and host Megan Olivi breaks down what to know about UFC 327 on Saturday. The title fight features former champion Jiří Procházka, who is taking on fast-rising star Carlos Ulberg.

Airports could face a jet fuel crunch within 3 weeks as airlines weigh flight cancellations

Europe's Airport Industry said if the Strait of Hormuz doesn't reopen "systemic jet fuel shortage is set to become a reality for the EU."

Arrest of national war hero Ben Roberts-Smith cuts deeply to core of Australian psyche

Criminal charges against the Victoria Cross recipient now on remand has deeply divided a nation whose identity is often entwined with the exploits of young men on foreign fields

The former Australian prime minister, John Howard, this week described Victoria Cross recipient and accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith as the “modern personification of the Anzac tradition”.

The broad-shouldered, blue-eyed Roberts-Smith was the hero of the battle of Tizak in Afghanistan, for which his actions earned Australia’s highest military honour.

The sheila is returning to Australian culture, riding on a new wave of ‘bogan feminism’ | Maria Lewis

Amy Taylor, Margot Robbie and Barkaa are among the Australian pop cultural figures helping to reclaim the sheila archetype

“Security, will you let me in your pub?” pleads Amy Taylor in the opening lines of the song Security. “I’m not looking for trouble, I’m looking for love.” The request is made in her signature Aussie drawl, something that musicians attempting to break into the international market would attempt to disguise in decades previous. Yet for the Amyl and the Sniffers frontwoman, everything from her peroxide mullet to proudly “bogan” background has become an important hallmark.

And she’s not the only one. Although Taylor is singular in her tendency to chuck a squat in promotional art or declare that “the dole’s going up and every pub gets a million dollars” in Aria acceptance speeches, she’s just one of a wave of Australian pop cultural figures helping to reclaim the sheila archetype. Think world champion surfer Molly Picklum, the queen of stoke, who drops f-bombs as frequently as she drops into the gnarliest waves on the planet. Or groundbreaking Indigenous rapper Barkaa, whose line “I ain’t cryin’ over budoo unless that budoo makes me money” from King Brown is now shouted like a battle cry at her sold-out shows.

Parents are saying this name to help stop their toddler's meltdowns

Videos circulating on social media showing parents saying the name "Jessica" to calm their toddler are going viral. Developmental psychologist Aliza Pressman breaks down the trend and what parents need to know before trying it.

See messages Brian Hooker sent his friend after wife's disappearance

Brian Hooker exchanged Facebook messages with a friend, which CBS News exclusively reviewed, after his wife vanished in the Bahamas over the weekend.

Afrika Bambaataa, hip-hop pioneer, dies at 68

Afrika Bambaataa, a rapper and producer, was best known for breakthrough tracks like 1982's "Planet Rock" and for founding the Universal Zulu Nation art collective.

Fuel-price protests cause chaos in Ireland and spread to Norway

Hauliers and farmers block motorways and bring parts of Dublin to a standstill in fourth day of action

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Protests over fuel prices have caused chaos in Ireland and spread to Norway in a knock-on effect from the conflict in the Middle East.

Hauliers, farmers and other groups blocked motorways and brought parts of Dublin to a standstill on Friday in a fourth consecutive day of action.

Goodbye and thanks to Aaron Ramsey, a shoo-in for all-time Wales XI | Elis James

The retired midfielder’s absence for the semi-final of Euro 2016 was the great ‘what-if’ of Welsh football, but even so his brilliant career managed to transform a footballing public for ever

If some footballers take time to reach their potential, others seem to be the finished article before they’re able to drive. A teenage Aaron Ramsey was firmly in the latter camp. After only 11 league starts for Cardiff he had made his international debut for Wales against Denmark, turned down Manchester United in favour of Arsenal, and given Cardiff fans one of the great what-ifs of their club’s modern age after Dave Jones chose not to start him in the 2008 FA Cup final against Portsmouth, with Ramsey being the tender age of 17.

Success-starved supporters who should know better will pin their hopes on to the narrowest of young shoulders and yet it all seemed so easy for the teenager from Caerphilly who was captain of his country by the age of 20, would go on to play in a World Cup and two European Championships, and this week retired as an icon of the Welsh game.

‘There’s no shortage of terrifying technology’: how AI became TV drama’s new go-to villain

Will artificial intelligence save us or destroy us? According to a growing band of thriller scriptwriters, we should be very afraid indeed

Maybe the “H” in Line Of Duty will turn out to stand for “hard drive”? After all, AI has become TV’s go-to villain, as proven once again in last week’s penultimate episode of BBC stablemate The Capture. Sinister puppet-master Simon was unmasked at long last and – spoiler – he wasn’t a person.

“Wait, Simon’s a computer?” asked a baffled agent. “He’s a bit more than that,” replied a smug army bigwig. “We’re using AI to support, map, execute and command ops. Simon factors in more risks and variables than you lot on the ground are capable of knowing. Tell him your objective and he’ll calculate your mission and recalibrate it for you in real time. The stats don’t lie. Simon saves lives.”

Texas court overturns sentence for man on death row for nearly 50 years

Clarence Curtis Jordan was convicted in 1978 but hadn’t had a lawyer for over 30 years

The Texas court of criminal appeals has overturned the death sentence of Clarence Curtis Jordan, a 70-year-old man with intellectual disabilities, who spent nearly 50 years on death row – much of that time without a lawyer.

Jordan was convicted in 1978 for the murder of Joe L Williams, a 40-year-old grocer in Houston, and was sentenced to death. In the years that followed, courts determined that Jordan, who has intellectual disabilities, was “incompetent”, making him ineligible for execution under constitutional standards.

Five things to know about Hungary's election

Hungary votes Sunday in a pivotal test of Viktor Orbán's "illiberal democracy," as challenger Péter Magyar taps voter frustration, with stakes for Europe, NATO and the U.S.

Crackdown targets alleged hospice fraud in California tied to $267 million in charges

CBS News has been investigating allegations of sweeping hospice fraud in California. Prosecutors say bogus payments cost the state's Medicaid program $267 million. Adam Yamaguchi reports.

See the texts a man sent his friend after his wife's disappearance in the Bahamas

Brian Hooker, who was arrested by Bahamian officials in connection to his wife's disappearance, sent texts to his friend after he alleged his wife fell off their boat. Hooker's account to his friend differs some from the statement he gave police. Cristian Benavides reports.

Human rights groups decry US plan for Guantánamo camp for Cuban migrants

Exclusive: Dozens of organizations write to Congress after general announced plan to ‘deal with’ those fleeing any humanitarian crisis on the island

Dozens of US and international human rights organizations are decrying the Trump administration’s plans to establish a migrant “camp” for fleeing Cubans at the Guantánamo Bay military base if the island nation’s crisis worsens under pressure from the US, according to a letter to members of Congress on Friday.

The 85 groups plan to submit the joint letter, exclusively shared with the Guardian, to US senators and House representatives, expressing their “profound concern” with comments made last month by a top Department of Defense commander, and describing any prospect of further migrant detention at the base as “deeply troubling and unacceptable”.

Power up! Could force be the secret to supercharging your fitness?

Mobility, cardio and strength are important, but power – generating force quickly – is the workout element that will help you stay active for longer, say health and fitness experts

Chasing after your dog, catching yourself before you fall, jumping over a big puddle. These activities all have something in common, and it’s not just that they’re the makings of a very bad day. They rely on power: the ability to generate force quickly. It’s an often overlooked part of the fitness menu that experts think deserves more attention.

Mobility, cardio and strength all help us stay active and healthy as we get older. Strength training in particular has boomed in recent years, as the importance of building muscle mass to keep us strong, protect our bones and help us stay mobile as we age becomes more widely recognised. But when it comes to activities such as pushing yourself up from a chair or moving your arms quickly to break a fall, the size of your muscles will only get you so far. You also need power.

Kimmel on Trump: ‘He talks about war like he’s bragging about women with Billy Bush’

Late-night host covered Trump’s latest social media posts on Iran and Melania’s surprise statement on Jeffrey Epstein

Jimmy Kimmel expressed frustration over Donald Trump’s confusing statements on Iran while also expressing shock over Melania Trump’s surprise statement.

The ABC host spoke about the ongoing war in Iran that is happening “for reasons known only to Donald Trump” and how we remain unsure over the strait of Hormuz and whether it is or isn’t open.

DOJ investigating NFL over games on paid platforms

The Justice Department launched an investigation into the NFL over games on paid platforms, alleging the league could be driving costs too high. Jo Ling Kent reports.

Defense's Silicon Valley pivot: Ukraine, Iran wars challenge the legacy playbook

Companies are betting on a new type of warfare, based on shorter lead times that allow for rapid deployments and more cost-effective solutions.

Potential US host cities for 2031 Women’s World Cup games mull withdrawal over Fifa concerns

• Chicago and Pittsburgh decline to enter running

• Some cities opt to focus on men’s Rugby World Cup

• Bid approval delayed by reported government holdups

A number of American cities named in the running to host games at the 2031 Women’s World Cup are considering withdrawing over concerns related to Fifa’s handling of this summer’s World Cup.

The Guardian has learned that several cities are exploring whether to focus solely on winning the right to host matches at the men’s 2031 Rugby World Cup. The US will also stage the women’s rugby tournament two years later.

Consumer prices rose 3.3% in March, as energy prices spiked due to Iran conflict

The consumer price index was expected to show a 3.3% year-over-year gain in March, according to the Dow Jones consensus.

'How are you using AI?' Your therapist should ask you that question, experts argue

A paper in JAMA Psychiatry says mental health providers should ask if patients are using artificial intelligence chatbots, just as they would ask patients about sleep habits and substance use.

Lachlan Kennedy breaks 10-second barrier for 100m but Jess Hull crashes out of 1500m final

• Queenslander clocked 9.96sec in nationals in Sydney

• Jess Hull’s dramatic fall in 1500m final triggers protests

In a historic and dramatic evening of athletics at the national championships at Sydney Olympic Park, Lachie Kennedy became the first Australian 100m sprinter to break the 10-second barrier on home soil.

The celebratory mood flipped in an instant, however, after Jess Hull’s fall in the final straight of the 1500m. The incident triggered two protests and prompted her father and coach Simon to shout angrily within earshot of the press that his daughter was “robbed”, and the result remains in limbo ahead of an appeal to be heard on Saturday.

A look at the risks as Artemis II crew prepares to splash down in the Pacific

The Artemis II crew is set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday after their history-making journey around the far side of the moon. Mark Strassmann explains the risks as the four astronauts reenter Earth's atmosphere.

Inflation surges to highest level in nearly 2 years as energy costs spike

Consumer prices in March were up 3.3% from a year ago, the biggest annual increase in nearly two years. Higher gasoline prices tied to the war with Iran accounted for much of the surge.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyers appeal his conviction and sentence

Lawyers for Sean "Diddy" Combs appealed his case on Thursday, arguing the media mogul's sentence was too harsh and that a judge sentenced their client by considering the more serious charges he was not convicted of. Last summer, Combs was cleared of sex trafficking and racketeering charges, but convicted of lesser prostitution-related offenses. He had pleaded not guilty.

Melania Trump denies ties to Jeffrey Epstein and urges Congress to have hearing for survivors

First lady Melania Trump pushed back on what she called "fake images and statements" appearing to connect her to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The first lady also said survivors should have the opportunity to testify and tell their stories before Congress.

FAA investigating close call between plane and two trucks at LAX

At Los Angeles International Airport, a Frontier plane full of passengers nearly collided with two trucks, according to the pilots, who said they had to slam on the brakes. Tom Hanson explains how the incident unfolded.

Who was Hilma? Af Klint exhibition to highlight exclusion of women from abstract art

Swedish artist, now regarded as predecessor to Kandinsky and Mondrian, died thinking world was not ready for her work

The Swedish artist Hilma af Klint died believing the world was not ready for the mystical paintings that would shock the art world half a century later.

The painter, now credited with pioneering the abstract art movement, did not seek recognition after peers rejected her avant garde works. Instead, she ordered that they be hidden for 20 years after her death and never sold.

Critics assemble! Here’s my list of the greatest superhero movies of all time

Creating a definitive Top 10 list never fails to spark endless debate – but who doesn’t want to give it a shot? Don your capes and shields, and let the arguments begin …

Putting together a Top 10 list of the best superhero movies of all time may just be the critical equivalent of trying to herd thunder through a spreadsheet. Are we rating the best-made movie, the most influential or the most emotionally ruinous? The genre has exploded over the past 20 years to the point where it long ago swallowed cinema whole: we have crime sagas (most Batman flicks), family comedies (The Incredibles, Guardians of the Galaxy), cultural and political allegories (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men, Black Panther), pop-art fever dreams (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and even tales of Wagnerian apocalypse (Watchmen, Avengers: Infinity War).

The sense is that these movies are too varied, the emotional criteria too slippery, the personal attachments some of us have to them too embarrassingly primal, to be placed in a clear hierarchy. Is the No 1 comic book movie of all time the film that made fangirls and boys whimper into their crumpled copies of Amazing Fantasy #15? In which case we might be looking at Spider-Man: No Way Home. Or is it the picture that’s so good it appeals to filmgoers who don’t actually like superhero flicks? That would be The Dark Knight. Is Matt Reeves’ gloriously offbeat, Fincher-esque The Batman too weird and languid to make the list? And does Patty Jenkins’ breezily old-fashioned Wonder Woman get downgraded because it was part of a superhero universe that ultimately tanked?

Amazon to finally launch Leo satellite internet in ‘mid-2026’, says CEO

Andy Jassy tells shareholders that long-awaited rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink is ‘on the verge’ of going live

• Business live – latest updates

Amazon has said its long-awaited satellite internet rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink will finally go live in “mid-2026”.

The chief executive, Andy Jassy, said in a letter to shareholders that the technology company was “on the verge of launching Amazon Leo” and had secured “revenue commitments from enterprises and governments” for the scheme.

Bafta apologises for events surrounding John Davidson’s Tourette’s outburst

An independent review found ‘weaknesses’ in the organisation’s planning and crisis procedures

Bafta has apologised “unreservedly” for the events surrounding John Davidson’s Tourette’s outburst at this year’s ceremony, after an independent review found “weaknesses” in the organisation’s planning and crisis procedures.

Davidson, an executive producer on the Bafta-winning film I Swear, dominated headlines for weeks after involuntarily shouting the N-word as Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage.

VP Vance to lead U.S. team in Iran peace talks. And, Artemis II to return to Earth

Vice President Vance is heading to Pakistan to lead a U.S. team in talks aimed at ending the war in Iran. And, Artemis II is set to return to Earth today.

Cocktail of the week: Bar Shrimp’s la rosita – recipe

An upmarket, smoky ‘tegroni’ that is simplicity itself to make

All you need to make this is a glass and a spoon. We’ve switched out the tequila from the original noughties twist on the negroni and instead brought forward our favourite spirit, mezcal, to bring a lightly smoky profile to proceedings. The perfect pairing for this drink is a campfire, so it’s an especially good one to premix in a flask and chuck in your backpack for a spring camping trip.

Daniel Craig Martin, co-founder, Bar Shrimp, Manchester

Pete Hegseth’s holy war: the militant Christian theology animating the US attack on Iran

The Bible-thumping US defense secretary is overseeing another strategic disaster in the Middle East. Is this a war or a crusade?

Nine months and six days before a Tomahawk missile tore through the gaily decorated classrooms of the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, Iran, ripping apart the bodies of schoolchildren, teachers and parents, the personal pastor of the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, delivered a sermon at the Pentagon.

“There’s a temptation to think that you’re actually in control and responsible for final outcomes, especially for those who issue the commands and do the aiming and the shooting,” preached Brooks Potteiger, Hegseth’s closest spiritual adviser, at the first of what have become monthly Christian worship services at the Department of Defense. “But you are not ultimately in charge of the world.”

Kevin Warsh Fed chair confirmation plan hits snag as nomination hearing is delayed

President Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair already faced a hurdle by Sen. Thom Tillis over a probe of current Chair Jerome Powell.

China's Xi meets Taiwan opposition leader ahead of key summit with Trump

Xi Jinping and the KMT's Cheng Li-wun agreed to pursue peace, but Taiwan's ruling party worries it will enable Beijing to undermine its democracy.

Trump says Iran 'doing a very poor job' in reopening the Strait of Hormuz

The fragile ceasefire agreement was tested again on Friday after Iran refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes in Lebanon, and Kuwait was attacked with drones.

‘A story that needs to be told’: the Manacillos festival of Colombia – photo essay

Ever Andrés Mercado won a World Press Photo award for his work on the Manacillos festival, which takes place among the Afro-descendant community of Yurumanguí. Here he talks about the ancestral ritual and why it’s so important

Every year, hundreds of Afro-Colombians climb into wooden boats and set sail down the Yurumanguí River. They navigate dense rainforest, scramble through mangroves, and battle charging river currents, to disembark about 12 hours later in the remote village of Juntas.

It is here that they reunite and gather for an ancestral ritual: the Manacillos festival.

People living in the Juntas village of Yurumanguí use the festival as a way to unite and attract more people who, for years, had to flee the territory.

Add to playlist: the beautifully dazed, countrified indie-rock of Tracey Nelson and the week’s best new tracks

Pushing his winsome songwriting into rootsier territory with a little help from co-producer MJ Lenderman, the New Yorker’s debut album is primed to soundtrack your summer

From New York City, New York
Recommended if you like The Clean, This is Lorelei, The Feelies
Up next Debut album Hercules out 10 July

Tracey Nelson’s self-titled 2025 debut EP was one of the year’s best lesser-heard gems: Five tracks of sparkling, winsome indie-rock that recalled classic antipodean jangle bands the Clean, Twerps and Dick Diver. Tracks such as New Years Flowers and Just Shoot Me Now suggested that Austin Noll – the NYC-based singer-songwriter behind the project – was a classicist with a keen sense for bright melodies and self-deprecating one-liners.

Alarm as acting CDC director delays report showing Covid vaccine benefits

Study that reportedly found reduction in ER visits and hospitalizations being reviewed by Jay Bhattacharya

A Trump administration appointee has delayed publication of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that shows benefits related to the Covid vaccine, leading to concerns that the administration is engaging in behind-the-scenes tactics to undermine vaccines.

Research by CDC scientists found that the Covid vaccine cut the likelihood of emergency room visits and hospitalizations for healthy adults last winter by about half, according to reporting from the Washington Post. The acting CDC director, Jay Bhattacharya, reportedly delayed the report’s publication due to concerns surrounding the research’s methodology.

As Artemis II heads back to Earth, crew is staking their lives on the heat shield

Despite problems during the unpiloted Artemis I reentry, the Artemis II crew is confident their heat shield will protect them during a fiery descent to Earth on Friday.

Vance heads to Pakistan for talks to end the war between Iran, the US and Israel

Vice President JD Vance enters his highest-profile moment Friday as lead U.S. negotiator in face-to-face talks with Iran.

How Pakistan emerged as a mediator in the Iran conflict – video explainer

Mediating a deal at the 11th hour between Iran and the US, Pakistan has emerged as an unexpected negotiator between the two countries and is now preparing to host their delegations for peace talks. Even as the US-Iran ceasefire looked increasingly precarious amid Israel’s continued bombardment of Lebanon, Pakistani officials insisted the make-or-break peace negotiations would be going ahead over the weekend as planned. The Guardian's South Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, explains how Pakistan secured what has been called its 'biggest diplomatic win' in years

• How Pakistan secured ‘biggest diplomatic win in years’ with Iran ceasefire

• Islamabad prepares to host historic negotiations between Iran and the US

War has given Iran new leverage for nuclear programme, say US former envoys

Negotiators of 2015 deal say Tehran has seen how cutting off Hormuz strait can help it counter asymmetry of power

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Former US envoys who dealt with Iran have said that the US-Israeli attack on Iran and Tehran’s subsequent closure of the strait of Hormuz have given Iran new tools and resolve to resist pressure to shutter its nuclear programme.

Two senior negotiators for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Obama-era agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief, said the Trump administration’s war had handed Iran a coveted weapon by demonstrating its ability to cut off the strait of Hormuz, an economic chokehold that one negotiator said would help Iran “balance the asymmetry of power” with the US.

‘I’m worried there’s too much of me,’ says a birch: inside the interspecies council giving nature a voice

In a village in Norway, humans representing flora and fauna of all kinds meet to reimagine ‘nature-centric governance’

“My ask of humans is quite large,” says the northern bat to a room of reindeer, wolf lichen, bog, and other beings. “It’s a shift of consciousness, and an understanding that … we are a relation.”

The scene could come from a sci-fi novel imagining a more-than-human uprising. In fact, it’s from a recent “interspecies council” in Oppdal, Norway, in which non-humans – spoken for by humans – convened to discuss the region’s future.

Argentina just ripped up its pioneering glacier law. What does this mean for millions of people’s drinking water?

Javier Milei’s reforms to the law will open up high-altitude areas to mining and risk water reserves already strained by the climate crisis, say activists

Saul Zeballos was born and raised in Jáchal, a community tucked into the foothills of the Andes in Argentina, drinking water from the river that bears the town’s name. That changed in 2005, when the Veladero gold and silver mine started operating in San Juan province.

A decade later, a major cyanide spill from the mine polluted the rivers in the San Juan region, raising fears it could affect waterways downstream in the Jáchal basin, although further studies have shown that cyanide levels remained at safe levels. Two further spills were reported in 2016 and 2017 and are still under investigation.

‘Illegal’ forest service overhaul risks causing ‘chaos’ across US public lands, union claims

The restructuring will close all regional offices, which manages 193m acres of land, roughly the size of Texas

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US public lands will “pay the price” of a drive by Donald Trump’s officials to restructure the agency that oversees them, union leaders have warned, accusing the administration of forcing workers to decide whether to relocate or resign.

All regional offices of the US Forest Service, which manages 78m hectares (193m acres) of land – roughly the size of Texas – are set to close as part of an overhaul launched by the Trump administration. The service has already shed hundreds of staff members since Trump returned to power last year.

Dolce & Gabbana says co-founder Stefano Gabbana has quit as chair

Designer who left fashion house in January said to be considering options for his 40% stake ahead of talks with lenders

Stefano Gabbana left his post as the chair of Dolce & Gabbana at the start of this year, the fashion house he co-founded with his then partner, Domenico Dolce, has said.

The Italian luxury brand said Gabbana had tendered his resignation, effective as of 1 January, “as part of a natural evolution of its organisational structure and governance”.

Why is anyone surprised by the US and Israel’s latest war? It’s only what the world allowed them to do in Gaza | Owen Jones

The price of silence from western politicians and media outlets over Israel’s actions in Palestine is now being paid by Iranian and Lebanese civilians

The president of the United States threatened this week to commit genocide against Iran. As Israel engages in continued bombing in Lebanon, killing more than 200 people in a single day, that fact must never be scrubbed away, not least because there is no guarantee the threat will not be revived. But as we descend towards the abyss, we need to understand where our fall began.

“A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Donald Trump wrote on Tuesday. Just over a year ago, he announced: “A civilisation has been wiped out in Gaza.” The connection is not hard to trace. Trump knew Gaza had been razed by Israel, insisting it was “not a place for people to be living”. When he joined forces with the perpetrator of that genocide in an illegal war on Iran, the apocalyptic rubble of Gaza became a template.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist

Communities are waiting on billions in disaster funding from the Trump administration

States say disaster funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency has slowed to a trickle under the Trump administration. That's delaying projects to protect communities from wildfires and hurricanes.

Weather tracker: Cyclone Maila batters Solomon Islands with 115mph winds

Powerful storm brings destruction, while temperatures soar in Vietnam and torrential rain lashes South Korea

Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila, currently in the Solomon Sea, is expected to continue moving south-westwards over the coming days. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Maila had peak sustained winds of 115mph (185km/h), with gusts up to 160mph on Thursday, making it the strongest cyclone recorded this far north in the Solomon Sea.

The storm has caused widespread damage across the Solomon Islands, particularly in Western, Choiseul and Isabel provinces, where schools, clinics and homes have been damaged. The government is prioritising humanitarian assistance after about 120 people were displaced and almost 73,000 people affected overall.

Deborah Levy: ‘CS Lewis’s White Witch terrified me – but I wanted to meet her’

The South African author on discovering Colette, being inspired by JG Ballard, and the subversive joys of Asako Yuzuki

My earliest reading memory
The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss, particularly the little red fan the cat holds in the tip of its tail. At the age of five, I was reading The Famous Five, getting to grips with Enid Blyton’s most complex characters, Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin. I was born in apartheid South Africa. The children in the Famous Five series had no human rights problems and it is set in Dorset, a landscape that was totally unknown to me. My bedroom window in Johannesburg looked out on a garden of bone-white grass and a peach tree.

My favourite book growing up
I was delighted to move on to the imaginative sophistication of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. CS Lewis’s lucky strike was to come up with the idea that a wardrobe was the portal to another world. Although she terrified me, I wanted to meet the White Witch, who rode on a sleigh pulled by white reindeer.

Stephen Colbert and Marjorie Taylor Greene are OUT. Who is IN? The quiz knows

If you keep up with secret identities, you'll get at least one question right this week!

A lower-round AJ Brown to a 306lb missile: the 2026 NFL draft’s under-the-radar prospects

Fernando Mendoza will almost certainly go No 1 overall. But who are the players that teams may take a swing on after the big names have gone?

You have to go back to 2000 to find a year in which fewer than four quarterbacks were selected in the top 100 picks. But in this year’s mediocre quarterback class, the fourth quarterback may not go off the board until day three. After Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Alabama’s Ty Simpson, it’s unclear who will even be the third taken. There is a chasm from the top two down to LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State’s Drew Allar and Miami’s Carson Beck. All three are flawed. The most tantalizing mid-round quarterback is Payton, a one-year, lefty starter out of North Dakota State.

Super Mario what?! The seven best obscure Mario games

As The Super Mario Galaxy Movie storms the box office, we look back at the best forgotten games inspired by Tetris, Lemmings and … vitamins?

It should be no surprise that the latest Super Mario movie is smashing box office records – despite the, let’s say mixed, reviews. Nintendo’s iconic plumber has been a pop culture staple for 45 years, starring in some of the bestselling video games ever made, from the original Donkey Kong through to the joyous Super Mario Bros Wonder and the chaotic Mario Kart World.

But as with any storied showbiz career, there have been some lesser works. Who can forget – or actually remember – Hotel Mario, a door-shutting puzzle game for the doomed Philips CD-i console? Or what about Mario Teaches Typing, a 1992 educational game for the PC in which players navigate the Mushroom Kingdom by … correctly inputting words. Yet there have also been genuine treasures lost along the way. Here, then, are seven of our favourite much-overlooked Mario odysseys.