Middle East crisis live: ‘We have not even begun’, Iran warns US amid escalation in strait of Hormuz

Iranian speaker says ‘new equation of the strait of Hormuz is in the process of being solidified’

• Donald Trump sends warships to break Iran’s strait of Hormuz blockade

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is travelling to Beijing later today for talks with his Chinese counterpart “on bilateral relations and regional and international developments”, his ministry said on its Telegram account.

While Beijing condemned the initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran which started the war in late February, China has largely adopted a posture of neutrality ever since and has urged for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

David Squires on … an unexpected cameo amid all the Premier League drama

Our cartoonist on a weekend of genuine excitement at the top and bottom of the English top-flight table

• Buy a cartoon here | His favourites from 2025

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

Our Land review – right-to-roam campaigners offer bacchanalian antics and a heartfelt message

Orban Wallace’s documentary avoids big clashes between landowners and campaigners in favour of wide-ranging exploration

Orban Wallace’s film about the right-to-roam movement shows us a campaigning group with a simple, reasonable aim: to give walkers in England and Wales the same rights that people have in Scotland, courtesy of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, brought into being by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 2003. There, walkers have the right to temporary, non-motorised access – which is to say walking, cycling and camping, carried out responsibly – to most land, public or private. These rights have now existed for some time without the apocalyptic end to the countryside as we know it.

Whether some in the right-to-roam movement in England want something more than that, or are prepared to protest more vehemently than simply organising peaceful mass trespass events, is another question. The film interviews landowners such as Francis Fulford, who has long been the media’s favourite outspoken reactionary toff, a sort of posh version of Viz Comic’s Farmer Palmer, snarling “Get off my land”. There are other, more thoughtful landowners, including Hugh Inge-Innes-Lillingston, who cheerfully admits how silly his name is, and is open to developing new ideas about managed access. As far as profiteering goes, I found myself thinking of a remark made by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson: “Land doesn’t really bring in a lot of money until they build a motorway through it.”

The day had come to scatter my mum’s ashes. What could possibly go wrong? | Zoe Williams

I thought the ceremony, at my mother’s cottage, would pass without a hitch. I don’t think she’d have been impressed by what followed …

If you’re looking for sound, practical advice on what happens when an elderly parent dies – the so-called “sadmin” – then you shouldn’t come to me because all the bits that went OK, my sister did, and all the bits that went unaccountably awry were when I got involved. If, however, you are looking for advice on the ceremony of ash-scattering, then I have loads, all of it learned five to 10 minutes after it would have been good to know.

We’d actually planned this pretty carefully, insofar as we knew where we wanted to go – a cottage our mum rented for years, which is still empty. When my mum died, a friend gave me a lovely hanky, so I took that, in case I got upset. It was a beautiful day; I had my cherished loved ones, a bottle of water and my vape. What could possibly go wrong?

From Truth Social to court: Groups challenging Trump get help from his posts

Judges in more than a dozen cases have cited social media posts by President Trump and members of his administration in decisions against the government.

Markets on edge as fresh U.S.-Iran attacks dent optimism over a peace deal

The U.S.' bid to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, dubbed "Project Freedom," was nicknamed "Project Deadlock" by Iran.

‘My body ached from the volume’: the mystery and majesty of Japanese noise-rockers les Rallizes Dénudés

The incendiary Japanese group who emerged out of late-60s unrest were suspicious of studios so their legacy was long left to bootleg obsessives. But unheard recordings are revealing their lesser-known gifts for melody

By 1969 student protests were raging across Japan, as anti-university, anti-war and anti-government movements mingled in strikes and classroom blockades. “Students were getting really violent,” Makoto Kubota recalls of Kyoto’s Doshisha University, leaving his studies in shambles. But when his quiet, magnetic fellow student Takashi Mizutani invited Kubota to the first gig by his band les Rallizes Dénudés, their deafening psych-rock became his calling. “I’d never experienced that amount of volume. My body ached.”

Les Rallizes Dénudés, which Kubota soon joined, have become the stuff of rock mythology: a mysterious, ever-shifting group whose early use of extreme distortion has won fans ranging from Osees’ John Dwyer to Lady Gaga. As its sole constant member since founding it in 1967, vocalist-guitarist Mizutani’s secretive nature and aversion to studio recordings have meant their story is still being pieced together, and their music chiefly circulated as live bootlegs. Discovering these had generated a cult international fanbase long after the band’s final gig in 1996, and Mizutani and Kubota reconnected in 2019 with plans to reunite – cut short by Mizutani’s death later that year. In his memory, Kubota is restoring and releasing their music, including an extraordinary lost album.

Russia launches attacks on Ukraine energy infrastructure amid truce talks – Europe live

‘Russia could cease fire at any moment, and this would stop the war,’ Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in sharp criticism of Putin

Meanwhile, over in Russia, mobile internet services have been cut off to many customers in Moscow as part of the preparations for 9 May Victory Parade given concerns about a potential attack from Ukraine.

The Kremlin said the limits had been introduced to ensure security amid a heightened risk of Ukrainian drone attacks, but for many Russians they have complicated payments, navigation and communication, Reuters reported.

Police investigate suspected arson attack at ex-synagogue in east London

Minor damage to gates is believed to have been caused by fire that CCTV shows was started deliberately, Met says

Counter-terrorism officers are investigating a suspected arson attack at a former synagogue in east London, the Metropolitan police have said.

The Jewish security charity Shomrim said fire crews were called out to the building in Nelson Street, Whitechapel, in the early hours of Tuesday.

Maersk says ship passed through Strait of Hormuz under U.S. military protection

It comes as the U.S. Navy seeks to deliver on President Donald Trump's "Project Freedom" initiative.

This flashy group of Portland mall-walkers puts neon pep into step

Krista Catwood wanted a fun way to exercise, so she started a mall-walking group whose unofficial costume was 1980s garb. The festive, all-ages event has exploded in popularity over the past year.

An AI version of Milton’s Paradise Lost is fundamentally unworthy of one of the great works of art

Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary wants to bring the epic poem to the big screen using the power of artificial intelligence. It can’t be any good

The thing about unfilmable works of literature is that most of them eventually turn out to be quite filmable after all. The Lord of the Rings was a bit of a mess when shot in rotoscope on a minuscule budget by the guy who filmed Fritz the Cat; it won Oscars when handed to Peter Jackson, given the GDP of a small nation and a visual effects department the size of Gondor. The 1984 version of Dune was a disappointment, despite the presence of David Lynch in the director’s chair, largely because all that gleaming, tawdry galactic opulence couldn’t make up for the comprehensively bad acting, clotted exposition and obsession with freaky heart plugs. And yet the 2021 adaptation from Denis Villeneuve ended up being a tour de force of masterly restraint and monolithic scale.

Milton’s Paradise Lost? The 17th-century epic poem has always felt like an outlier, a work of literature too religiously inspired to be filmed purely as a work of fantasy, yet too riotously bonkers to be treated with puritanical reverence. It contains more drama than the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe in every line of thunderous God-baiting iambic pentameter. And now Roger Avary, co-writer of Pulp Fiction and director of Killing Zoe and The Rules of Attraction, wants to bring it to the big screen using the power of AI.

The Odyssey: trailer for Christopher Nolan’s classical Greek epic released online

Trailer offers glimpses of Matt Damon as mythological hero Odysseus, Tom Holland as his son Telemachus and Anne Hathaway as his wife, Penelope

The first trailer for Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey has been released.

Starring Matt Damon as mythological hero Odysseus, the epic film retells the story of Odysseus’ 10-year voyage back to his homeland of Ithaca after the Greek victory at the siege of Troy.

Minneapolis immigrants still feeling the sting of Trump's largest crackdown yet

The impact of Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities can still be felt, even three months after it ended. For immigrants, the impact has been devastating — many are at risk of losing their homes and business, and some are dealing with mental health challenges.

The Breakdown | Rugby needs to stop the screen-obsessed, finger-pointing, hair-trigger arguments

Game is in danger of losing its integrity by howling about referees’ decisions and unedifying actions on the field under the notional banner of player welfare

It felt like a proper occasion in Bordeaux on Sunday. The trams were so jammed en route to the ground that the kick-off had to be delayed to allow spectators extra time to find their seats. For those who dismiss the notion of club rugby rivaling football for vibrant mass interest here was a compelling counterpoint: a heaving 42,000-capacity stadium, off-the-scale passion, top-class sport in every respect.

Later on, after the game was done, there was another revealing snapshot at the airport. As Bath’s beaten players headed for their flight home they were warmly applauded down to the gate by their travelling supporters. A corner of a foreign departure lounge was briefly akin to north-east Somerset. Despite the outcome, the fans instinctively wanted to show how much they have enjoyed their team’s efforts this season.

Houseplant hacks: can a damp towel keep plants alive?

As a cheap, easy solution for when you’re away from home for a few days, it quietly does its job

The problem
Going away for a week and leaving your plants to fend for themselves is a specific kind of anxiety. You water thoroughly before you leave, move them out of direct sunlight, group them together and then spend your holiday picturing a wilted peace lily.

The hack
One hack suggests wrapping damp towels around the base and sides of your pots, creating a slow-release moisture jacket that keeps the root zone cooler and hydrated, while also acting as an insulating layer that slows evaporation from the soil surface. Unlike wicking systems that actively draw water in, this is purely about retention – holding on to the moisture that’s already there.

‘I paint the kind of people I’m attracted to’: Hernan Bas on hiding from the world in Venice

The Cuban-American artist likes to paint pretty young white men – inspired by his fascination with Holden Caulfield. So why do his portraits have a sinister edge?

Hernan Bas has been living in Venice this year, painting tourists. He’s aware of the ironies. (He is the kind of tourist, he tells me, who started looking at Venetian property prices, oh, about a week into his stay.) The Cuban-American artist is from Miami, and he knows about mass tourism all too intimately: he lives in an neighbourhood that has now been so thoroughly colonised by Airbnbs that when he comes home from the airport, taxi drivers ask him where he’s visiting from, and he has to explain that no, this is his own house.

Here – his studio looking out over the lulling lap of the lagoon – he can be the tourist as innocent, as amnesiac, drinking in the beauties of the city and forgetting about the violence and catastrophe unfurling beyond. “I can pretend nothing’s happening in the world. And I’ve done a very, very good job of that for the last seven weeks,” he tells me when we meet in the spring. For a moment his mind drifts back despairingly to his home town and the fraught politics of his country. “It was so mind boggling how much the Latin community went for Trump, and now everyone is eating dirt because they’re hiding from ICE,” he says. “Those same people who were gung ho for Trump are now getting deported.”

Menopause is tough. But it’s fantastic being a woman in her 60s

My girlfriends and I have more fun, more adventures, more independence than ever before. And as for the sex …

I met my boyfriend when he was playing Bach in the park. I was taking my usual jog past London zoo and around the Regent’s Park boating lake when I was stopped in my tracks by the most beautiful music. Wafting across the rose garden was an exquisite guitar rendition of Bach’s prelude in E major. When the final notes hung in the air like gossamer, I congratulated the musician. A twinkly-eyed bloke smiled up at me. “Ah, no bother,” he said in a soft Irish burr.

At the sound of his mellifluous, velvety voice, my heart beat so loudly I felt as though it was coming through stereo speakers. His eyes seemed to smoke their way into me. I stared at him for what I estimate to be about, oh, a decade, but was probably only two seconds, before asking him for coffee. Pathetic, I know. A romcom “meet-cute” like this is not just cheesy; it’s deep-fried Brie in a bechamel sauce on a bed of melted cheddar.

The U.S. debt now exceeds the country's GDP. Should we worry?

Federal debt held by the public now surpasses the total value of the nation's economic output. Here's why experts say that's a concern.

Primary elections in Ohio, Indiana offer latest temperature check on Trump popularity

The president seeks to oust Indiana Republicans who blocked a redistricting push in that state, while growing dissatisfaction with Trump's agenda gives Democrats an opening in Ohio.

Explosion at fireworks factory in China kills at least 26

Other fireworks manufacturers in Liuyang, in central Hunan province, ordered to halt production after deadly blast

An explosion at a fireworks plant in a central Chinese province has killed at least 26 people and injured 61, prompting the halting of all firework manufacturing near the site.

The blast occurred in the city of Changsha, in Hunan province, on Monday afternoon, China’s official news agency Xinhua said. China Daily said the plant was operated by the Huasheng Fireworks Manufacturing and Display Co in the Changsha-administered, county-level city of Liuyang.

NSW police urged Jewish man to drop claim he was subject to antisemitic slurs and death threats, commission told

Nir Golan told antisemitism royal commission he was told that there was not much police could do and the case would get thrown out

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

New South Wales police encouraged a Jewish man to abandon a case against a man who made antisemitic slurs, death threats, and performed Nazi salutes at him in public because the investigation would be “a lot of wasted effort”, the antisemitism royal commission has been told.

Jewish Australian Nir Golan gave evidence on Tuesday, telling commissioner Virginia Bell that police had encouraged him to drop any action because “there’s not much that they could do and the case would ultimately get thrown out”.

HSBC profits fall amid $400m fraud-related charge and Iran war

London-headquartered bank’s shares slide as it sets aside an extra $300m to cover effects of Middle East conflict

• Business live – latest updates

HSBC has taken a $1.3bn (£961m) hit to profits, fuelled by the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran and fraud in the troubled private credit sector.

The London-headquartered bank said profits fell 4% in the first three months of the year, dropping $100m to $9.4bn, compared with the same period in 2025. Revenue increased 6% to $18.6bn.

‘People crave friendship’: thousands flock to resurgence of centuries-old south Asian board game

Carrom, a game in which players flick counters into pockets on a board, has drawn hundreds to events across the UK

On a Monday evening in the upstairs room of Dishoom Permit Room in Notting Hill, the atmosphere is already crackling before the games night begins. Chai is poured and passed around, chalk is dusted across wooden boards, and the sharp click of counters striking the surface cuts through the noise of conversation.

At one table, Uneeb Khalid, 39, and his friend Varun Solan, 43, are deep in conversation about artificial intelligence while flicking small counters across a wooden board. Later, they reach the final round – and finish in second place.

Surrender review – Josh Duhamel hunts smirking serial killer in 90s throwback thriller

A whiff of David Fincher’s Seven lingers in the air but this moody crime drama from David Lipper is devoid of clever twists

‘We got a serial killer,” announces a policeman in this retro 1990s-style thriller directed by David Lipper; evidence has comes back that an enigmatic, super-clever suspect (played by Dylan Sprouse) has the blood of three different people on his clothing. (But if the victims were all killed at roughly the same time, wouldn’t that make him a mass murderer?) It’s best not to get too hung up on nomenclature or to think too hard about anything here – like how can one character predict that an ordinary pen would get left behind in a room to serve as a convenient murder weapon? Just go with the throwback vibe, the moody underlit cinematography, and growling subsonic score. Even the faces vaguely recall B- and C-movie fodder from the 1990s/early 2000s including Josh Duhamel and Til Schweiger, here playing a retiring police detective and his mysteriously German commanding officer, respectively.

Duhamel’s Shaw is nominally the protagonist here, although he’s consistently upstaged by Sprouse’s blood-splattered murderer, called AJ, who pulls out the unsettling high-pitched giggles and evil smirks we’ve come to expect from our movie killers. It turns out that AJ has left a trail of clues leading to each of his recent murders that Shaw must unravel if he’s to find his own teenage son (Corbin Pitts), who AJ has locked up in some underground lair with only hours left until he runs out of air.

Time limits, curfews or a full ban: how UK may restrict social media for under-16s

Ministers have committed to changing rules for children, but how this will take shape is still up for debate

The UK government committed last week to either implementing a ban on under-16s accessing social media or imposing restrictions on children’s use of those platforms.

A consultation is already under way on whether to impose limits and the announcement confirms that curbs will be introduced. Here are some of the restrictions that could be brought in.

A game-changer for good health? Scientists believe ‘we are when we eat’ | Devi Sridhar

Decades of advice on what to eat and what not to might have been missing one key ingredient, according to new research

Reduce your calories. Eat more vegetables. Limit soft drinks and junk foods. For years, even decades, this has been the advice for those wanting a healthy body weight, lower blood pressure and better markers of metabolic health. Most weight-loss advice has focused on either what to eat (and what to avoid), or how much to eat. Think of dietary pyramids produced by government agencies, calories on food packaging and meals, and typical nutritional advice.

It’s all true, to a certain extent: it’s obviously better to eat a healthier, nutritionally balanced diet, and yes, lower body weight is broadly linked to reducing calories. But this type of approach can be hard to sustain. Even as a personal trainer who knows what I “should” be eating according to government dietary advice and has heard too much about calorie deficits, I take a slightly different approach to food. I think we need to bring nuance and a balanced approach to food and what we eat.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, and the author of How Not to Die (Too Soon)

Bullish Arteta urges Arsenal to ‘make next step’ as Atlético battle resumes

A first Champions League final in 20 years is within touching distance, but a difficult tie is not over yet

Mikel Arteta can be forgiven for never missing the chance to remind everyone that these are unprecedented times for Arsenal. As his side prepares to face Atlético Madrid in the decisive act of their second successive Champions League semi-final, it is easy to forget that they have only reached this stage on four occasions in their entire history.

But 20 years after Arsène Wenger’s team edged past Villarreal in the last European match to be played at Highbury, Arsenal have their best opportunity since then to reach a second final after a campaign where they have swept all before them. The 1-1 draw in last week’s first leg in Madrid made it 13 matches unbeaten in this year’s Champions League – the only club to have achieved that feat – and also matched Wenger’s longest run without a defeat in Europe’s premier competition.

Coventry owner Doug King: ‘I had no doubt Lampard would do well … it’s gotten under his skin’

Having overseen a historic return to the Premier League, businessman is now aiming his sights even higher

Doug King is discussing the night Coventry clinched promotion to the Premier League after 25 years away. He had a tear in his eye when the moment arrived at Blackburn and, after eventually exiting the Ewood Park boardroom, the champagne flowing, the straight-talking owner worth hundreds of millions hunkered down at a Travelodge adjacent to a service station on the M65. “It was ... noisy,” he says, taking a second to land on the best adjective, “because all I could hear pretty much all night was: ‘We are Premier League.’”

It has led King to feel like a party planner of late. The biggest one yet was Monday’s open-top bus parade which started on Jimmy Hill Way, named after the manager who in 1967 led the club into the top flight for the first time. After Coventry were crowned champions last month, King guzzled from the trophy. “I didn’t think the lid would come off, so we had to make the most of that,” he says with a smile.

An explosion at a fireworks plant in China kills at least 26 people, state media says

Authorities said search and rescue at a fireworks plant in a central Chinese province has largely been completed, but verification of the casualties and identification of the victims are still underway.

‘The whale was not treated with the respect it deserved’: recriminations after carcass towed to Wollongong tip

Tugboat tows carcass of ‘leviathan proportions’ 20km from Era beach to Bellambi boat ramp, attracting sharks, says councillor demanding inquiry

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Fishers, surfers and divers say they should have been warned about the towing of a huge whale carcass along a 20km stretch of coast south of Sydney, which resulted in increased shark activity.

A Wollongong City councillor is demanding a review into the operation to remove the sperm whale from a remote beach in the Royal national park last week.

The Given World by Melissa Harrison review – a stunning tale of rural life for an era of ecological crisis

Eerie omens haunt this absorbing group portrait set over six months in an English village

Sitting stoned on a hill above his village, a young man muses on his place in the world. Connor is proud to have fenced pastures while his mates have been away at university. But it’s overwhelming to think of all their lives being equally real and urgent. Are they part of the same story or separate ones? A phrase comes to him from a book he hated at school: something about “the roar on the other side of silence”. In this fine, subtle and strange novel from one of the most probing writers of contemporary rural life, Melissa Harrison earns that nod to George Eliot, whose words she gives to an anxious and ecstatic labourer clutching a can of Fanta.

The Given World follows the inhabitants of one village in a river valley, a place “as old as anywhere”, for six months between the equinoxes of a year. The time is now, or an imminent future when the seasons seem to have “ceased their metronome”. At first, the central figure appears to be Clare, who knows each flagstone of the ancient priory that has been the centre of her life. The six months are her dying time, from diagnosis to last thoughts. But, in a way that pays tribute to the solitary Clare’s understanding of interconnectedness, the novel goes out from the priory to trace a web of lives. In the breezeblock bungalow next door, a desperate farmer tunes in at dawn to American evangelists on the radio. Like Saj the postman, we call at addresses where literary fiction rarely bothers to ring the bell.

Seen a ghost? The eeriest images from Fotografia Europea – in pictures

From gigantic goat hair costumes to small hidden rooms in houses, this year’s photography festival takes a turn for the spectral

Preemptive Listening review – artist’s film about sirens is buzzing with sonic ideas

With its striking images and experimental soundtrack, artist Aura Satz’s film is an endurance test that might work better in a gallery

This film from the London-based artist Aura Satz is an exploration of sirens – as in the warning devices, not the mythical creatures that lure unsuspecting men to their doom. Really it’s an art film, and might have been more at home in a gallery where audiences would be able to engage with its striking images and experimental soundtrack for as long as the mood takes them. As a feature-film experience it becomes an endurance test, a battle to pay attention and concentrate for the whole thing.

It opens with a drone shot of a huge siren in the middle of what looks like a residential neighbourhood, ready to alert residents to heaven knows what threat. Over the top, a shrill, insinuating track from composer Laurie Spiegel buzzes with the nagging whine of an electronic mosquito. There are some interesting ideas here. British-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla muses on the role of sirens in the 2011 Arab spring protests, and we learn that in Palestine loudspeakers in mosque minarets sound a siren every year on Nakba day – one second for every year that has passed since Palestinians were displaced from their homeland after the creation of the state of Israel.

Cruise ship waiting for help after 3 people died in a suspected hantavirus outbreak

A cruise ship with nearly 150 people aboard was waiting for help off the coast of Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean after three passengers died in a suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus.

Russia declares a truce in Ukraine to mark Victory Day

Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine for Friday and Saturday to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, but threatened to strike back at Kyiv if it tries to disrupt festivities.

Australia eyes security pact with Fiji as pushback from Beijing undermines agreement with Vanuatu

Foreign minister Penny Wong visits Fiji this week to progress the security and economic agreement

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Australia looks close to signing a landmark security and economic agreement with Fiji as part of the Albanese government’s efforts to contain China’s growing influence across the Pacific.

But pushback from Beijing has undermined a separate pact with Vanuatu’s government, resulting in a scaling back of a deal aimed at locking in Australia as the country’s primary security partner.

Google DeepMind workers in UK vote to unionize amid deal with US military

Exclusive: Worker pointed to Iran war and Pentagon’s Anthropic feud as indications the department is ‘not a responsible partner’

Workers developing Google’s artificial intelligence products in the UK have voted to unionize, in part out of concerns about a deal between the company and the US military that was announced last week.

In a letter slated to go to management on Tuesday and shared exclusively with the Guardian, workers at Google DeepMind, the company’s AI research laboratory, requested recognition of the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union as joint representatives of the lab’s UK-based staff.

US military strike kills two pushing death toll in alleged ‘narco boat’ campaign to at least 188

Despite the Iran war, US military strikes in the eastern Pacific have ramped up in recent weeks

The US military said it bombed another boat allegedly ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing two people, on Monday.

The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and killed at least 188 people. Other strikes have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Concierge firm co-founded by queen’s nephew went on ‘ill-timed’ hiring spree before Iran war

Quintessentially almost quadrupled staff in Middle East and Asia less than year before wealthy began to flee Gulf

The embattled luxury concierge service co-founded by Queen Camilla’s nephew Ben Elliot embarked on what appeared to be an inopportune hiring spree in the Middle East and Asia before wealthy individuals began fleeing the region because of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Quintessentially almost quadrupled staff in the regions from 22 to 84 during its financial year to 30 April 2025, according to newly released annual accounts, which again reported multimillion-pound losses and warned of “material uncertainty” about its future.

‘Time the rest of us stepped up’: terror survivors’ group writes letter in support of UK Jews

Letter coordinated by Survivors Against Terror, which includes bereaved relatives, after spate of attacks on Jewish community

Dozens of survivors and bereaved relatives of 19 separate terror attacks have written an open letter of solidarity to the Jewish community, saying: “Standing together in the face of hatred is not just the right thing to do – it’s the most effective way of defeating terrorism.”

The letter was coordinated by the group Survivors Against Terror (SAT), after terror attacks on two Jewish men in north London earlier this week, in what was the latest in a series of attacks on the community in the UK.

Sliders and slaw, and cheesy, nutty wedges: Simon Rogan’s spring cabbage recipes

Cheesy vegetarian sliders with pickles and slaw, and caramelised cheesy cabbage wedges

Cabbage is one of my favourite ingredients. I love it for its versatility, and also because it’s nutritious and incredibly satisfying to cook with. I’ve been putting cabbage on my menus for more than two decades now, and at Our Farm in Cartmel, Cumbria, we grow hundreds of varieties to use across my restaurants’ kitchens throughout the year. For me, cabbage has always been one of the real heroes in the kitchen, and today’s recipes are about creating generous, seasonal dishes to share with it at their centre.

Jaguar Land Rover could have shifted production from UK without £380m battery subsidy, officials warned

Government officials said in December that Britain’s largest automotive employer could lead exodus from UK

Jaguar Land Rover would have considered moving car production out of the UK and slashing jobs if not for a £380m subsidy for its sister battery company, government officials claimed privately.

Officials at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) warned in December that Britain’s largest automotive employer may have triggered an exodus from the UK car industry, according to state aid documents prepared by the competition regulator.

Australian author Craig Silvey pleads guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material

Prosecutors drop two other charges against Jasper Jones author, 43, including allegations he produced child exploitation material

Award‑winning author Craig Silvey has pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material, while a charge that he produced such material has been dropped.

Silvey, 43, was first charged in January after detectives from Western Australia police’s child abuse squad raided his Fremantle home, allegedly catching him communicating online with child exploitation offenders and seizing his electronic devices.

Wyoming lawmakers use pro-natalist arguments to justify proposed new partial abortion ban

Wyoming lawmakers say tight new restrictions on abortion are needed to grow the state's population. Demographers and others say economic conditions are more to blame for an exodus of young people.

Michael Spicer: ‘Monty Python taught me that authority figures must earn our respect’

The Room Next Door star on overnight success, ‘sneaky follows’ from politicians and how internet commenting has dragged society down

How did you get into comedy?
I was submitting sketches to Spitting Image when I was 17 and making my own sketches pre-internet. But I guess in terms of my actual break, that didn’t happen until [online political sketch series] The Room Next Door.

Was that an overnight success?
I was watching a particularly bad interview with Boris Johnson and jotted down the concept of an adviser next door who was pulling his hair out over what was being said. I then filmed it after dinner, posted it before I went to bed and the next morning it was in the millions. So that is literally an overnight success, isn’t it?

The man who blew up a nuclear power station and disappeared

In December 1982, South African Rodney Wilkinson walked four bombs into Koeberg power station – the crown jewel of the apartheid state – pulled the pins and then left on his bicycle. How did he do it?

At 21, Rodney Wilkinson was the best fencer in South Africa: national champion in foil and sabre, second in epee. He had toured Europe and Argentina. He had not stood on the Olympic podium, because South Africa was banned. The apartheid state had taken that from him, along with everything else it took from everyone.

One evening in August 1971, Wilkinson stood in the gym at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, foil in hand. He was facing his coach Vincent Bonfil, a 25-year-old Englishman who had represented Britain as a reserve at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, and who was now in Johannesburg finishing a master’s thesis in metallurgy. They were working on a technique in which both fencers lunge simultaneously, and the one who reads the other’s move a split second earlier wins the point. They came at each other. Wilkinson’s foil caught the edge of Bonfil’s sleeve. There was a pop.

‘Nobody’s going out!’ Why is Britain’s nightlife in such decline – and can anything save it?

One in four late-night venues went out of business between 2020 and 2025. Those that remain are struggling to pull in customers. Maybe a night out in Birminghan will reveal why

The £5 entry is a good start. So is the loud, lively music booming down the nightclub’s stairway. But when I finally reach the dancefloor, hidden behind a curtain, my hopes for a wild night out in Birmingham are dashed. Despite the roving disco lights and blaring pop bangers, it is entirely empty, aside from a few bartenders milling around, tending to no one.

This isn’t 9pm on a random Tuesday. I am hitting the town on Saturday night, when the city’s bars and clubs should be in full swing, but Birmingham is looking like a bust.

Secret Service officer arrested for indecent exposure in Miami after Trump golf event

Secret Service Officer John Spillman has been placed on administrative leave after his arrest, which in Miami.

‘He’s too young to retire’: Cam Smith and Australian golf ponder life without LIV’s riches

With Saudi investment drying up, one of LIV’s highest-profile recruits may be having second thoughts as Australian officials call for the global golf ecosystem to come together

He was Australian golf’s shining light, a likeable everyman whose career has found the rough. Now, Cameron Smith “may be rethinking” his decision to stick with LIV Golf, according to the head of the PGA of Australia, after Saudi Arabian investors withdrew funding from the upstart tour.

The entire Australian golf sector is wrestling with what a future without LIV – or with a fiscally restrained LIV-lite – might look like, as the South Australia government pushes on with spending $45m for an upgrade to a course still scheduled to host a LIV tournament from 2028.

5/4: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Fallout continues from Spirit Airlines' closure; new details on missing U.S. soldiers in Morocco.

5/4: CBS Evening News

Secret Service shoots gunman near Washington Monument; United flight was only 20 feet above New Jersey Turnpike when landing gear hit truck.

SCOTUS lets redistricting ruling take effect immediately, sparking angry exchange

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed last week's landmark decision striking down Louisiana's congressional map to take effect immediately, drawing a sharp back-and-forth between two justices.

Pinterest surges 15% after earnings beat as company posts strong guidance

Pinterest cut nearly 15% of its workforce and reduced office space in January as it pushes more resources into AI.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reach settlement in "It Ends With Us" lawsuit

A trial in the lawsuit between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni was set to begin later in May.

Canadian fiddler sues Google after AI Overview wrongly claimed he was a sex offender

Ashley MacIsaac, who is seeking $1.5m in civil lawsuit, says inaccurate information led to concert cancellation

An acclaimed Canadian fiddle player has launched a $1.5m civil lawsuit against Google, alleging that the online giant defamed him by falsely identifying him as a sex offender in an AI-generated summary of his life and career.

Ashley MacIsaac, a three-time Juno award-winning musician, filed the claim in the Ontario superior court of justice, asserting that Google was liable for the “foreseeable republication” of its AI-generated Overview feature, which previously published defamatory claims that he had been convicted of multiple criminal offences, including the sexual assault of a woman, internet luring involving a child with the intention of sexual assaulting the child, and assault causing bodily harm.

Top Democrat aims for New York redistricting after Supreme Court’s Voting Rights ruling

Democrats are vowing to fight back after the Supreme Court eliminated a majority-Black Louisiana House district, as more states look to redraw maps.

Fake fans, fake buzz? How your favourite band got big – podcast

Shaad D’Souza explains how bands such as Geese have faced a backlash since a marketing company revealed its tricks for pushing them into the limelight, and Eamonn Forde discusses what it takes to succeed in the music industry today.

Discovering new music you love can feel like unearthing treasure. So when fans flocked to Geese in the last year and made their frontman, Cameron Winter, the most talked-about indie star of the moment, it felt like a genuine rush of emotion and connection. They ruled the end-of-year lists. Their tours sold out. A big deal for a group whose members were barely born the last time New York bands were cool.

But when fans heard a podcast interview with two marketing executives talking about how they created a buzz around the bands they worked with, a backlash ensued. The culture journalist Shaad D’Souza explains why music lovers felt so angry, and the music business and technology reporter Eamonn Forde tells Nosheen Iqbal why bands’ publicity machines feel they need to take such extreme tactics to break through.

British crew member in need of urgent medical care amid suspected hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship

WHO says seven confirmed or suspected cases of hantavirus on MV Hondius, including three passengers who died

• What is hantavirus, the infection thought to have killed three on cruise ship?

A British crew member was in need of urgent medical care and a passenger from the UK remained in a critical but stable condition following a suspected outbreak of hantavirus on a luxury cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Three people have died and medics on Monday were scrambling to evacuate two others from the MV Hondius, which set off in March from southern Argentina carrying 149 people from 23 countries. The crisis emerged late on Sunday after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was investigating a suspected outbreak.

1 missing U.S. soldier in Morocco was trying to save another, officials say

Search and rescue efforts were still underway as of Monday after the two U.S. Army soldiers went missing off Morocco's southern coast over the weekend while off duty during a training exercise.

Vehicle carrying explosives crashes into Portland athletic club, driver dead

A vehicle carrying explosives crashed through the front entrance of an athletic club in downtown Portland, Oregon. The driver was killed.

Ukraine war briefing: Duelling ceasefires as Zelenskyy floats open-ended truce

Vladimir Putin wants empty skies on Friday and Saturday to celebrate Victory Day; Ukrainian president says guns can fall silent by Wednesday if Russia reciprocates. What we know on day 1,532

Watch a Spirit pilot's impromptu retirement celebration after airline shutters

A Spirit pilot received an impromptu retirement party from a different airline after what would have been his final flight was canceled.

Spirit Airlines pilot has impromptu retirement party on Southwest flight

A Spirit Airlines pilot was scheduled to captain his last commercial flight on Saturday, but then the airline shut down. Tony Dokoupil shows what happened next.

Controversy at 2026 Met Gala over honorary co-chairs Jeff and Lauren Sanchez Bezos

The 2026 Met Gala is facing controversy over its honorary chairs, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos. Adrianna Diaz reports.

Missing U.S. soldier was trying to save colleague who fell in ocean off Moroccan coast

Officials say one of the missing U.S. soldiers in Morocco was trying to save a fellow soldier after he fell off a cliff into the Atlantic Ocean during a hike. The search continues for both of them. Chirs Livesay has more.

Alito temporarily restores FDA rule allowing abortion pill to be sent by mail

A federal appeals court blocked a FDA rule that allowed the abortion pill mifepristone to be dispensed through the mail.

What to know as Supreme Court temporarily restores access to mifepristone by mail

The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily restored access by mail to the abortion pill mifepristone. Nancy Cordes has the details.

U.S. strikes 7 Iranian boats, Trump says, amid operation to move ships through Strait of Hormuz

President Trump's Project Freedom initiative launched on Monday with the U.S. guiding stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Holly Williams reports.

United flight was only about 20 feet above New Jersey Turnpike when landing gear hit truck

The landing gear of a United Airlines flight hit a truck on the New Jersey Turnpike Sunday while it was landing at Newark Airport. Kris Van Cleave has the latest.

Secret Service shoots gunman near Washington Monument

The White House was on lockdown Monday afternoon after the Secret Service shot a gunman just blocks away near the Washington Monument. Nicole Sganga reports.

Shooting at lake near Oklahoma City leaves at least 18 injured

At least 18 people were at hospitals following a shooting at a party at Arcadia Lake, near Oklahoma City, police say.

See the looks from the 2026 Met Gala red carpet

Extravagantly dressed celebrities and designers made their way up the famous Met staircase Monday evening. The fundraiser is one of the fashion industry's biggest nights.

Inside the effort to replace America's Minuteman III nuclear missiles

Hundreds of Minuteman III nuclear missile silos dot the landscape from Colorado up to the Canadian border, but a major transition is underway.

Palantir tops estimates on 85% revenue growth, fastest expansion since market debut in 2020

Palantir reported better-than-expected revenue and profit, driven by growth in sales to U.S. government agencies.

Judge "very troubled" by accused correspondents' dinner gunman's treatment in jail

A federal judge on Monday sharply criticized the treatment of accused White House Correspondents' Dinner attacker Cole Allen, at one point apologizing to the defendant for what he saw as overly restrictive and punitive conditions in jail.

Norwegian fish farms polluting fjords with waste likened to ‘raw sewage of millions of people’

Exclusive: ‘Fish sludge’ in coastal waters now has nutrient levels equivalent to those in untreated effluent of country the size of Australia, report finds

Norwegian fish farms are filling fjords and other coastal waters with nutrient pollution equivalent to the raw sewage of tens of millions of people each year, a report has found.

Norway is the largest farmed salmon producer in the world, and nutrients in fish feed are excreted directly into coastal waters. Analysis from the Sunstone Institute found that Norwegian aquaculture released 75,000 tonnes of nitrogen, 13,000 tonnes of phosphorus and 360,000 tonnes of organic carbon in 2025.

Wu Yize beats Shaun Murphy in thrilling final frame to win World Snooker Championship

• Wu claims title 18-17 with decisive break of 85

• The 22-year-old is the second-youngest champion ever

As the ticker tape rained down on Wu Yize and the Chinese flag was draped over the shoulders of snooker’s newest superstar as he clutched the game’s most famous prize, it was hard not to imagine that this sport was changing in front of our eyes for ever.

If Zhao Xintong broke through the glass ceiling for 12 months ago, then the exploits of China’s newest Crucible king may have just shattered it into a thousand pieces. The boy who came to England with his father as a 16-year-old to pursue his dreams, living in a windowless flat in Sheffield, is now the champion of the world.

Hotels have a big World Cup problem: Bookings are running far below projections

Nearly 80% of hotels surveyed by a body representing the industry reported bookings were running below projections — a worrisome sign with only weeks to go before the World Cup.

Pirro changes course in Fed investigation, move unlikely to satisfy Powell

The U.S. attorney opted not to appeal a ruling that had blocked her subpoenas to the Fed.

Spirit Airlines CEO on carrier's collapse: 'We just kind of ran out of runway'

Spirit Airlines shut down before dawn on Saturday ending its run as the most famous U.S. discount airline.

Met Gala 2026 red carpet: the best looks in pictures

Event chairs Nicole Kidman, Beyoncé, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour have guests dress to the theme ‘Fashion is art’ at the event controversially funded by new honorary chairs Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos

SEC and Elon Musk agree to settle lawsuit over Twitter buyout in 2022

The SEC and Elon Musk agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the regulator last year against the world's richest person.

Pirro rips judge in Trump attack case for apologizing to Cole Allen over jail conditions

Cole Allen is charged with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Judge ‘disturbed’ over ‘legally deficient’ treatment of Trump gala shooting suspect

Cole Allen was isolated from other inmates, denied a Bible and placed on suicide watch despite showing no suicidal tendencies

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

A US judge on Monday apologized to the man accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump for the “legally deficient” treatment he has faced in a Washington DC, jail, including being placed on suicide watch, separated from other inmates and denied a Bible.

The US magistrate judge Zia Faruqui said he was disturbed by the conditions for Cole Allen, who allegedly fired a shotgun during a foiled attack on Trump and senior officials in his administration at a 25 April press gala. The judge said the conditions were inappropriate for a person with no criminal history.

Feminism play Liberation and first world war novel Angel Down among Pulitzer winners

This year’s winners also include Jill Lepore’s book on the constitution and Brian Goldstone’s on housing insecurity

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

Pulitzer prize officials awarded the fiction award to an author with a long history in fantasy, horror and young adult novels: Daniel Kraus, cited for Angel Down, a first world war narrative that unfolds in one long sentence. Liberation, Bess Wohl’s look back at the feminist consciousness-raising groups of the 1970s, received the drama prize.

Winners announced on Monday included two books rooted in the founding of the US. Jill Lepore’s We the People: A History of the US Constitution won for history, and Amanda Vaill’s Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution was the winner for biography.

Modi's party takes control of India's West Bengal in key state election

The outcome is expected to strengthen Modi's political position midway through his third term.

Title-chasing Hearts clear crucial hurdle as Shankland shatters Rangers’ hopes

A three-horse race has witnessed a faller. This most magical of Hearts seasons has edged closer to delivering the ultimate prize, an outcome that would shake Scottish football to its very foundations.

This was a game Rangers and their manager, Danny Röhl, dare not lose. They did, courtesy of a stirring second-half comeback from Hearts. Rangers now trail the Edinburgh club by seven points. The Hearts lead over Celtic has been restored to three with the same number of fixtures to play.

Two killed and several hurt after car ploughs into crowds in German city of Leipzig

A suspect has been apprehended, but detectives say little is known about their motivation at this stage

At least two people have been killed and several injured after a driver in an SUV ploughed into a crowd in the centre of Leipzig in eastern Germany, the city’s mayor has said.

“The police have apprehended the suspected assailant,” Burkhard Jung said on Monday, adding that the authorities had the scene in a pedestrian zone under control. “We still don’t really know the motivation. We don’t know anything about the perpetrator.”

The Guardian view on Trump, Merz and Europe’s security: EU countries cannot go it alone | Editorial

The announcement of the withdrawal of thousands of US troops from Germany underlines the urgency of a pan-European defence strategy

As Donald Trump’s second term has become overshadowed by plunging poll ratings and an illegal, ill-advised war in the Middle East, European governments have regularly been singled out to bear the brunt of the US president’s growing frustration. Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to militarily back the attack on Iran led to unfavourable comparisons to both Winston Churchill and King Charles. “Unfriendly” Spain has been threatened with a trade embargo for similar reasons. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, previously seen as a key political ally, has also been on the receiving end. “I’m shocked by her,” Mr Trump said last month. “I thought she had courage. I was wrong.”

Currently it is Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who finds himself in Washington’s crosshairs. In the wake of Mr Merz’s accurate observation that the US has no convincing strategy on Iran, the Pentagon has announced the future withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from bases in Germany. Vital long-range weapons are also to be withheld as American military stockpiles are depleted by events in the Middle East. For good measure, Mr Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on European car manufacturers to 25% – a measure that would hit Germany hardest.

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.

The Guardian view on the green transition: politicians should speed it up – and households too | Editorial

Party divisions over energy have deepened, but the need to move beyond fossil fuels has never been clearer

Energy has not been a prominent subject for discussion in the run-up to Thursday’s UK elections. In England this is logical enough, since the big policy decisions are taken by ministers in Westminster, not at council meetings. But the stances adopted by the new governments in Scotland and Wales matter a great deal. They will have an influence beyond their borders, helping to shape the national climate debate in the coming years.

In both nations, as in England, divisions have deepened as Conservatives have moved away from support for net zero and Reform UK has ramped up its opposition to renewables. Among Scottish parties, only the Greens are categorically against new fossil‑fuel developments in the North Sea. Under John Swinney, the Scottish National party’s earlier opposition to the Rosebank oilfield has softened in advance of the upcoming decision over whether it should go ahead. Scottish Labour, by contrast, has thrown its weight behind new nuclear power.

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.

Derby-winning trainer hopes more women will succeed after historic win

Cherie DeVaux reflected on her place in history after becoming the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner with Golden Tempo.

How Spirit Airlines' demise will benefit rivals — and raise airfares even more

Spirit Airlines' collapse will give some carriers more pricing power as they race to capture Spirit's customers.

Marcelino returns Villarreal to the Champions League … then walks away | Sid Lowe

It took six years and a lot of soul-searching for the coach nicknamed Salvador Milagros to return in 2023. After more miracles, he is off again

In the final minutes before Villarreal met Copenhagen in December, they came down the tunnel, marched on to the pitch, lined up before the ballboys holding out that starry tarpaulin like firemen waiting for a leap from a burning building, and listened to the Champions League anthem blasting out. Only there was no die besten that night, no grosse sportliche veranstaltung and no grandes équipes either. No lyrics at all, in fact. Someone somewhere had put on the Europa League tune by mistake, so they shifted their feet and looked awkward instead. Then they went out and got beaten again. But that was then and this was now and this time the DJ played the right record and everyone danced, singing along to the chorus, life good again.

That was December, before week six in the Champions League, and Villarreal were soon gone. Without a win, having picked up a single point in eight games, they were the second-worst team there and eliminated early: the continent’s premier competition, it seemed, was not their place, some kind of musical metaphor in that mix-up. But this was May, five months on, and they had just beaten Levante 5-1, securing the opportunity to go back and try again. They had done that early too. So at the full-time whistle on Saturday afternoon, week 34 in La Liga, the right anthem did go round the Cerámica, and so did the players, setting off on a lap of honour. Above them, a message appeared on the scoreboard. “We are a Champions League team (again),” it said.

Uncontained wildfire burns hundreds of hectares across rural Arizona – video

Firefighters continued to battle the Hazen fire burning near Buckeye, Arizona, on Monday. The fire began on Saturday afternoon and, as of Sunday evening, was estimated to have covered about 400 hectares (1,000 acres) and was '0% contained'. Local media reported that no evacuations had taken place and there were no reports of damage to homes

Rudy Giuliani in critical condition with pneumonia

President Donald Trump called Rudy Giuliani a "True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR," in a Truth Social post.

Nigerian refinery accused of sacking union members is key to UK plan to tackle jet fuel shortage

Heidi Alexander says part of answer to strait of Hormuz crisis is importing more fuel from US and west Africa

A refinery in Nigeria accused of dismissing workers for joining a union has emerged as key to the UK government’s hopes of saving the summer holiday amid a jet fuel shortage.

Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, said at the weekend that part of the answer to the strait of Hormuz crisis was to import more fuel from the US and west Africa.

Supreme Court temporarily lifts mail ban on abortion pill mifepristone

Two drugmakers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, over the weekend asked the Supreme Court to restore the ability to order Mifepristone through the mail.

Weather tracker: Cold spells in Greece and Turkey, and storms in Bangladesh

High winds have hit the South Aegean and heavy rain has fallen in Turkey, but Central Europe has felt summer heat

Greece and Turkey have found themselves in the grip of a late-season cold spell this weekend. Conditions will persist over the next few days as an area of low pressure situated over Turkey is pulling in colder, moisture-laden air from the north-east via the Black Sea; this meteorological set up has suppressed temperatures well below where they should be for the time of year. Away from the Mediterranean coast, much of Turkey struggled to reach double figures, which is around 10C below the average, while Greece saw a similar chill. In Athens, temperatures only crept into the low teens Celsius, a far cry from the mid-20s typically expected in early May.

But they haven’t just faced colder temperatures. Greece had gale force winds whipping through the islands in the South Aegean – gusting at around 60mph on Sunday evening and the unsettled weather has brought a surge of heavy rain to Turkey. The Central Anatolia region of Turkey would normally see about 50mm of rainfall across the entire month of May, but on Sunday had already seen many areas pick up half that total in just 24 hours. With colder air in place, higher elevations have even seen a return to winter, with up to 30cm of fresh snow forecast across the Anti-Taurus Mountains on Monday and Tuesday. In Ankara, temperatures on Monday were expected to peak at just 7C – nearly 14C below average – before slowly edging back towards normal by the weekend.

‘Get rid of the battery’: F1 under increasing pressure to make more changes to engine rules

• Norris and Piastri call for long-term changes to sport

• Mercedes’ Wolff suggests battery needs to remain

Formula One is under increasing pressure to consider immediate changes and the long-term future of its new engines, with the world champion, Lando Norris, reiterating after the Miami Grand Prix that the only answer to address the sport-wide dissatisfaction was to “get rid of the battery”.

At the race in Florida, which was won by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, with Norris second, F1 and the FIA had brought in fresh regulations to address unhappiness and safety concerns prompted by the pivotal role energy management plays under the new 2026 formula.