Middle East crisis live: Iran accuses US of ceasefire breach and vows to retaliate over seizure of ship

Trump says US navy ship fired on vessel that tried to get past blockade; Iran has pledged to keep strait of Hormuz closed until blockade is lifted

• Full report: Iran closes strait of Hormuz again ‘until US lifts blockade’

UN secretary-general António Guterres has strongly condemned the killing of a French peacekeeper and the wounding of three others in an attack in southern Lebanon, spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement to the Associated Press.

The UN peacekeeping force came under attack with small-arms fire on Saturday morning, with two of the injured hurt seriously, France’s president and the force known as UNIFIL said.

Mass shooting rampage in Louisiana leaves eight children dead and others wounded

Shreveport police say suspect Shamar Elkins, who was fatally shot, killed seven of his children and injured their mother in a ‘domestic violence incident’

• Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox

At least eight children were killed, and two adults were wounded in a mass shooting in the Louisiana city of Shreveport, in what police called a “domestic violence incident”.

Chris Bordelon, the Shreveport police department spokesperson, said on Sunday evening that the suspect, Shamar Elkins, killed seven of his own children and wounded their mother, as well as killing another child.

Fitzpatrick hits ‘out of this world’ shot to defeat Scheffler in RBC Heritage playoff

• English player wins at first playoff hole with birdie

• Fitzpatrick claims second PGA Tour victory of year

England’s Matt Fitzpatrick beat the world No 1, Scottie Scheffler, in a playoff to win the RBC Heritage for the second time.

Fitzpatrick took a three-shot into the final round at Hilton Head and still held that advantage standing on the 15th tee. But playing partner Scheffler produced birdies at 15 and 16 and Fitzpatrick’s duffed chip on 18 cost him a bogey, sending him into a playoff that he looked second favourite to win.

8 children killed in mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, police say

Eight children and teens were killed early Sunday in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana. The suspected shooter is also dead.

‘Drinks and a burger’ fuel Mark Allen’s Crucible comeback win over Zhang

• Allen rallies from 5-3 down to win 10-6 in first round

• Hawkins, Williams and Xiao Guodong also advance

Mark Allen revealed how “bad food” and a few drinks fuelled his surge into the second round of the World Snooker Championship after he swallowed up a two-frame overnight deficit to crush Zhang Anda 10-6 at the Crucible.

The 40-year-old was so disillusioned with his display on Saturday, when he failed to rustle up a break over 50, that he set about drowning his sorrows in Sheffield. Allen then returned on Sunday to rifle three centuries in a six-frame streak and advance to the second round.

Communities launch cleanup after severe weather and tornadoes churn across Midwest

At least 66 tornado reports were submitted across multiple states on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Iranian American woman arrested in Los Angeles for alleged arms trafficking

Federal prosecutor says woman is suspected of dealing weapons to Africa on behalf of Iranian government

A California woman was arrested at Los Angeles international airport after allegedly trafficking weapons on behalf of the Iranian government to contacts in Africa, including Sudan.

Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills was detained on Saturday night by federal agents, according to the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.

‘This feeling sucks’: $381m Mets, with second-highest payroll in MLB, lose 11th game in a row

• New York had 1-0 lead in ninth before losing 2-1

• Mets swept for a third series in a row

The New York Mets are finding that money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. The second-most expensive team in MLB – with a payroll of $381m – lost their 11th game in a row on Sunday as they were swept for a third straight series, this time by the Chicago Cubs.

“Eleven losses, that’s a lot, whether it’s in April or at any point in the season,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to find a way.”

European football: Bayern Munich win 35th league title by surging past Stuttgart

• Bayern bounce back from early concession to win 4-2

• PSG’s title hopes hit after 2-1 home defeat by Lyon

Bayern Munich secured their 35th German league title by beating Stuttgart 4-2 to open up an unassailable lead with four games to play. Sunday’s result sent Bayern 15 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

The Bavarian side, who face Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup semi-final next week before taking on Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on 28 April, were a goal down before scoring four times to quickly turn the game around.

AI startup Cursor in talks to raise $2 billion funding round at valuation of over $50 billion

Artificial intelligence startup Cursor in talks to raise a $2 billion fundraising round at an over $50 billion valuation, which does not include the investment.

Will the DHS shutdown affect security for the World Cup?

The FIFA World Cup is a little over 50 days away. NPR's Rob Schmitz talks to former Department of Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem about the security concerns people have about hosting the tournament in America in this moment.

Party of Bulgaria’s pro-Russian former president ahead in exit polls

Rumen Radev’s centre-left Progressive Bulgaria group ran on anti-corruption platform in country’s eighth election in five years

The party of Bulgaria’s pro-Russia former president Rumen Radev has come first in the country’s eighth parliamentary elections in five years, according to exit polls, but without securing a majority.

Radev, who resigned as president in January, ran on a pledge to fight corruption after an anti-graft movement triggered a long political crisis.

Canada's leader describes ties to U.S. as "weaknesses that we must correct"

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney​ said in a video address​ released Sunday that Canada's strong economic ties to the United States were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected.

Nico O’Reilly’s fearless quality exposes collapsing Arsenal’s title credentials | Barney Ronay

Deep lying creator is an excellent Manchester City story and confirmed why he is England’s best left-back

It’s not over, not over, not over yet. Although, let’s be honest, it kind of is over. Isn’t it, don’t you think, at the end of a day when Manchester City and Arsenal dished up the one thing nobody was expecting at the Etihad Stadium, a thrillingly open game of attacking football?

There were three images at the final whistle that seemed to capture the essence of City’s 2-1 win here, and not just in terms of the game, but the balance of energy, feeling, vibes.

FBI Director Kash Patel vows to sue The Atlantic over alcohol abuse claims

Kash Patel recently made headlines for chugging a beer after Team USA won the gold medal in ice hockey in the 2026 Olympic Games.

Judgment day as Starmer faces Commons showdown over Mandelson scandal

Prime minister to deliver high-stakes statement to MPs over vetting controversy that has put his position in peril

Keir Starmer will deliver a high-stakes statement to MPs on Monday as he struggles to overcome fears inside his government that the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal could yet cost him his leadership.

In what is set to be a dramatic showdown, the prime minister will set out how Mandelson was able to take up his role as UK ambassador without the Foreign Office revealing it had overruled the decision to fail his vetting.

Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," April 19, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz and former Attorney General Eric Holder join Margaret Brennan.

4/19: Sunday Morning

Hosted by Jane Pauley. Featured: The purge of immigration judges; seeking accountability in trucking accidents; Don Cheadle and Ayo Edebiri on Broadway; portraitist Michael Shane Neal; the legacy of woodworker George Nakashima; an operatic car salesman; and Earth Day stories of advances in sustainability.

Republican senator criticizes Trump’s ‘holy war’ with Pope Leo

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump, says president’s feud with the pope is a ‘distraction’

A Republican lawmaker has condemned what he refers to as Donald Trump’s “holy war” against Pope Leo XIV.

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a long supporter of Trump and the ultraconservative Maga movement, condemned the president’s attacks on the pope during a Fox News interview on Saturday.

Mike Waltz says U.S. is "never going to take an approach of trust" with Iran

U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz said Sunday that the U.S. is "never going to take an approach of trust" with Iran as U.S. officials are set to head to Islamabad for a second round of talks this week.

5 wounded in shooting near University of Iowa, including 3 students

Officers from the Iowa City Police Department heard gunfire while responding to a report of a large fight, the department said.

‘Big, big compliment’: Arne Slot hails Liverpool’s mentality in win at Everton

• Liverpool win derby in 100th minute after difficult run

• ‘Five games in 15 days with mainly the same players’

Arne Slot claimed Liverpool provided the perfect answer to questions over their mentality and character as Virgil van Dijk’s 100th-minute header clinched victory in the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Liverpool opened up a seven-point gap to sixth-placed Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification with their captain’s dramatic intervention against Everton, who were left to rue another late blow by their local rivals. David Moyes described the outcome as “cruel” and claimed Everton should have had a penalty for a push by Curtis Jones on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

8 children killed in a shooting in Louisiana, police say

The victims ranged in age from 1 to about 14 years old, said Shreveport, La., police spokesperson Chris Bordelon. A total of 10 people were shot.

Ministers urged to share Mandelson vetting files with intelligence committee

Whitehall officials are weighing up ‘unprecedented’ disclosure of documents in security clearance scandal

• Starmer did not gamble with national security over Mandelson, says minister

Ministers are under growing pressure to share the documents from Peter Mandelson’s vetting process with the parliamentary committee tasked with deciding if they should be made public.

In February, MPs passed a binding parliamentary motion, known as a humble address, requiring the government to publish “all papers” relating to Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (April 19)

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

Ella Baron on Keir Starmer and the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal – cartoon

Continue reading...

The Guardian view on Japan’s cherry blossom: when spring slips out of time | Editorial

A 1,200-year dataset shows the ‘peak bloom’ is arriving earlier. Global heating is unsettling nature’s rhythms – and their cultural meaning

A picture posted on social media last April by Prof Yasuyuki Aono of a spreadsheet, with its blank row for 2026, carries a quiet poignancy. Prof Aono died before he got to fill in this year’s entry for when the cherry blossom fully bloomed in Kyoto. The academic had spent decades reconstructing dates of flowering that go back to the ninth century. His work illuminated how a botanical event long associated with the Japanese idea of mono no aware – a sadness at the passing of things – is shifting because of the climate crisis.

The “peak bloom” now occurs around two weeks earlier than in previous centuries. In the 1820s full bloom arrived in mid-April. In 2023 the full-flowering date was 25 March. An earlier blooming indicates warmer springs – and Prof Aono’s data provides a warning signal that Japan’s “sakura front” comes sooner each year.

1 dead after small plane crashes into Florida yard

One person was killed after a Cessna plane crashed into the yard of a home near Tampa, Florida, on Sunday morning.

Obama and Mamdani read and sing with New York preschoolers in first meeting

Former US president and New York mayor read to a group of children and led a sing-along at a Bronx childcare center

Barack Obama met with Zohran Mamdani for the first time on Saturday at a childcare center where the former Democratic US president and mayor of New York City read to preschoolers and led a sing-along.

The meeting comes as Mamdani, a democratic socialist who marked his 100th day in office just over a week earlier, is also trying to build a working relationship with Donald Trump – Obama’s Republican presidential successor.

Trump energy secretary says gas prices might not drop back under $3 a gallon until 2027

Chris Wright says ‘I don’t know’ when asked about lower cost of gas as average price soars to $4 a gallon in US

Chris Wright, the Trump administration’s energy secretary, acknowledged Sunday that it might not be until 2027 before US gas prices come back under $3 a gallon.

Asked by Jake Tapper, the CNN State of the Union host, when he thought “it’s realistic for Americans to expect the gas will go back to under $3 a gallon”, Wright replied: “I don’t know. That could happen later this year. That might not happen until next year.”

4/19: Face The Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz joins as President Trump says negotiators are headed to Pakistan for a peace deal with Iran. Plus. Former White House adviser on energy security Amos Hochstein and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder join.

Aston Villa’s Tammy Abraham grabs dramatic victory after Sunderland rally

The finish was chaotic, brilliant, exhausting but, when the dust settles, this perhaps was the afternoon when Aston Villa made a decisive spurt for the finish line to claim Champions League qualification. As Tammy Abraham touched in the winner three minutes into injury-time, Unai Emery ran on to the pitch in celebration. Yet just a minute earlier Habib Diarra had been set clean through with a chance of his own to win it. Emi Martínez, though, stretched up to save his dink, and the road was cleared for the Villa winner.

“We need strikers and goalkeepers,” said Emery. “It was the match – three points for them and no three points for us.”

How was Elijah Hollands allowed to keep playing during a ‘mental health episode’? | Jonathan Horn

Leadership, on and off the field, was lacking at the MCG and any investigation must ascertain whether Carlton fulfilled its duty of care

The weekend of football threw up great dollops of drama and pathos. One of the tallest and most talented players in the sport buckled like a stricken baby giraffe. Arguably the best footballer in Australia was blanketed by an Irishman. The heart and soul of his club copped a knee to the head that may spell the end of his career. In Adelaide, 46,000 people stood to acknowledge a family that had lost a brother and a son.

We see variations of that every weekend. We see knee injuries and head knocks. We see teams squander winning leads. We see coaches fighting for their jobs. We see the brilliance of players like Nick Daicos, Nick Watson and Jeremy Cameron. It’s all neatly packaged, all easily explained, and all what keeps drawing us back. What we almost never see, and what’s harder to manage, to diagnose and to articulate, is what took place at the MCG on Thursday night. It didn’t come through the filtered lens of the host broadcasters or the curated feeds of the club itself, but through grainy footage from high in the stands.

When ‘the birdman’ of St James tunnel died, Sydney commuters streamed past his body for days

Exclusive: The strange and lonely death of Bikram Lama exposes a glaring gap in homelessness services. What hopes and dreams brought him to Australia, and what went wrong?

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

Bikram Lama had a morning ritual.

The rough sleepers of Hyde Park remember it well.

What if your life turned out to be ‘ordinary’? Slow down and relish this – it might even be enchanting | Nadine Levy

Being unremarkable is often seen as a sign of moral failure – yet finding joy in the everyday can lead to a mindful, luminous experience

• Making sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday life

Lately I’ve been playing with a thought experiment: what if I was told the rest of my life would be completely ordinary? Not bad, just unremarkable.

My immediate response is, “well, ordinary is better than awful” (forever the optimist), and then almost immediately (and embarrassingly), “this is not how life is meant to play out! I want something more!”

The kindness of strangers: My car was stuck in the middle of a highway. I felt hopeless – until some burly truckies lent a hand

I was only in my teens when, late at night, my Datsun ended up dangling off a median strip. Bracing to be harassed, I walked into a truck stop to ask for help …

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

My first car was a Datsun, in a delightful shade of baby-poo brown. I’d only been on my Ps a week when I almost drove it to total disaster.

It was 11pm one night in south-west Sydney when I approached the huge intersection that links the Hume Highway with Henry Lawson Drive. I was trying to turn right on to the highway and was the first car at the lights. With the baseless confidence of a 17-year-old, I turned … into the wrong lane.

Cleanup underway in Midwest after tornadoes leave path of damage, destruction

Communities across the Midwest were starting the cleanup process Saturday after multiple tornadoes touched down and severe weather struck areas from the Great Lakes to Texas.

Raducanu withdraws from Madrid Open as illness absence nears two months

• British player has been out of action since early March

• Rybakina wins her second Porsche at Stuttgart Open

Emma Raducanu will extend her absence from the WTA Tour because of a viral illness to two months after she withdrew from the coming week’s Madrid Open.

Raducanu has not competed since a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Amanda Anisimova in the second round of the Indian Wells Open on 8 March. She briefly trained on-site at the Miami Open just over a week later before citing lingering symptoms from an earlier viral illness as the reason for her withdrawal. Raducanu had been affected by a viral illness during the Middle East swing in February, which she said had contributed to her poor performances on the court.

Nature: Prairie chickens in South Dakota

We leave you this Sunday morning with prairie chickens and sharp tail grouse near Ft. Pierre, South Dakota. Videographer: Kevin Kjergaard.

Using the ocean to power data centers

The renewable energy company Panthalassa says it has a solution to the proliferation of AI data centers, which consume massive amounts of energy and are the cause of increased carbon pollution: sea-based data centers, powered by wave energy.

Chief rabbi decries ‘sustained campaign of violence’ after attempted arson at London synagogue

Met police looking into whether series of arson attacks against Jewish sites were carried out by Iranian proxies

The chief rabbi has said Jews in the UK are facing a “sustained campaign of violence and intimidation” after another attempted arson attack on a synagogue in London.

The incident at Kenton united synagogue in Harrow, north-west London, on Saturday night caused minor smoke damage to an internal room but no injuries or significant structural damage, according to the Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism and provides protection for Jewish communities in the UK.

Breeding a better bread

Over the past century, the cultivation and processing of wheat has led to strains of grain that are less nutritious, less flavorful, and more vulnerable to climate change. The researchers at Breadlab, at Washington State University, are trying to breed varieties of whole grains that are better for farmers, consumers – and taste buds. David Pogue reports.

‘It’s sacred to us’: register of Bounty mutineer’s descendants returns to South Pacific

Pitcairn Register details lives of ‘extraordinarily resilient’ Tahitian women enslaved during notorious mutiny

It is a book that records the 19th-century descendants of some of the most notorious troublemakers in naval history: the sailors responsible for the mutiny on the Bounty.

Now, the Pitcairn Register – a handwritten volume that registered the births, marriages and deaths of the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the mutineers and the Tahitian women they enslaved – is finally returning home to the South Pacific.

Gas prices may not drop below $3 a gallon until next year: Energy Secretary Wright

Gas prices are more than $4 per gallon on average in the U.S. right now, a massive spike from just months ago.

How dangerous trucking companies escape their past and get back on the road

As truck traffic increases, government and industry haven't been able to stop thousands of so-called "chameleon carriers," with deadly consequences.

Seeking accountability in trucking accidents

In 2024, approximately 5,000 people died in accidents involving trucks, up more than 50% from 15 years ago. And while a new proposed law would strengthen enforcement against truck drivers, safety advocates say it will do nothing against freight brokers – middleman companies that often hire firms with poor safety records. Correspondent Jim Axelrod reports on the tragic stories of victims of trucking accidents, and efforts to hold brokers accountable.

Using the ocean to power data centers

The renewable energy company Panthalassa says it has a solution to the proliferation of AI data centers, which consume massive amounts of energy and are the cause of increased carbon pollution: sea-based data centers, powered by wave energy. Correspondent David Pogue examines what Panthalassa's alternative to land-based data centers may mean.

Crafting a legacy out of wood

George Nakashima (1905-1990), considered a giant of 20th century furniture design, was a leader of the American craft movement. His legacy continues through his daughter, Mira, who took the reins of the company he founded, Nakashima Woodworkers.

Crafting a legacy out of wood

Woodworker George Nakashima (1905-1990), considered a giant of 20th century furniture design, was a leader of the American craft movement. His legacy is continuing through his daughter, Mira, who took the reins of the company he founded, Nakashima Woodworkers. Mo Rocca talks with Mira about producing not only her father's iconic designs, but also her own pieces.

Italian lawyers could win ‘wild west-style bounties’ if immigration clients go home

Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to ask MPs to back controversial voluntary repatriation scheme

Italian lawyers will be paid bonuses if they successfully convince their immigrant clients to return home under a government plan that has been compared to a “wild west-style bounty”.

The incentive is in the latest security bill from Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government and goes to the lower house of parliament for final approval this week. It was passed by the upper house after fiery debate.

Former judges speak out on Trump admin's immigration court purges

Following President Trump's promise of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, more than 200 immigration judges have been fired, forced out or retired, and are being replaced by what are advertised as "deportation judges."

Web exclusive: Daniel Caudillo on immigration judges and due process

Professor Daniel Caudillo, director of the Jim and Leah Finley Immigration Law Clinic at Texas Tech University School of Law, also served as an immigration judge in Laredo, Texas. In this web exclusive, he talks with "Sunday Morning" senior contributor Ted Koppel about impacts on immigration judges today; and the importance of protecting due process.

Former judges speak out on Trump admin's immigration court purges

Tens of thousands of people, including U.S. citizens, are currently detained by ICE following President Trump's promise of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Meanwhile, more than 200 immigration judges, who adjudicate asylum and immigration cases, have been fired, forced out or retired, and are being replaced by what are advertised as "deportation judges." "Sunday Morning" senior contributor Ted Koppel talks with former immigration judges about the administration's current practices, which they say deny defendants their day in court, running counter to the law.

Humanoid robots show rapid advances as they race past humans in Beijing half marathon

• Winning robot runs faster time than Jacob Kiplimo’s world record

• More than 100 robots run in parallel tracks to avoid collisions with humans

They can already carry the shopping, cook and clean. Now they can run and win half marathons.

In perhaps the most unusual spectacle ever seen at the end of the 13.1-mile (21.1km) race, robots flew over the finish line ahead of the humans for the first time in Beijing on Sunday. And there wasn’t a bead of sweat in sight.

1,000 animal-rights activists try to storm Wisconsin beagle breeding facility

The Dane County Sheriff's office said a "significant" number of people were arrested at the Ridglan Farms facility, which has accused of constant abuse, specifically towards beagles. The facility denies the accusations.

Almanac: April 19

"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.

UK seeks EU deals on steel and EVs in push for closer economic ties

Agreements would aim to shield British industry from new steel tariffs and stricter rules on electric vehicles due in 2027

Downing Street hopes to secure deals on steel and electric cars with the EU as it seeks to upgrade the post-Brexit economic relationship.

Amid economic uncertainty caused by the conflict in the Middle East and strains in relations with the US, Keir Starmer is seeking closer economic ties with the EU.

Are you a woman who makes life easier for everyone else? Beware – you could endanger your health | Emma Beddington

A new claim is doing the rounds online: that women who are too nice risk getting an autoimmune disease. And while aspects of this message are clearly dubious, there’s a reason it is resonating

Women, a warning from Instagram: “You really need to be a bitch or you’re going to develop an autoimmune disease. It’s that simple.” Versions of this scientifically dubious statement have caught the imagination of a corner of the internet, getting algorithmically nudged my way multiple times (a TikTok to this effect has 40,000 likes; a Threads post 26,000). Sometimes, it’s set to music; sometimes, it’s the basis for earnest discussion of cortisol and inflammation. Sometimes, it’s evangelical. One woman claims that, “Being a bitch healed my autoimmune disease,” adding: “Being the ‘love and light’ spiritual girlie is probably the reason why you feel depressed and you have IBS.” A Substack evokes the need to break the “good girl contract”, talking about those for whom “setting boundaries, getting ferocious about protecting their own bodies, minds, souls … sometimes allowed the nervous system to settle enough that the body’s natural self-healing mechanisms could kick in and heal”.

As a woman with an autoimmune condition (alopecia), this resonates on a woo-woo level: my hair fell out when I was trying and failing to reconcile incompatible demands; to make everyone happy. It’s also, I recognise, deeply silly. For a start, “women” – yes, all of us – needing to do something, or be a certain way, is a wild generalisation. It’s also definitively not “that simple”, and I would hate to upset a whole community of intellectually rigorous immunologists. I imagine them rhythmically banging their heads against their keyboards, muttering about there being no peer-reviewed cohort studies interrogating the relationship between “being the love and light spiritual girlie”, or putting too many exclamation markers and conciliatory qualifiers in emails, and autoimmune disease.

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 much have we missed?’: book tunes in to overlooked world of female birdsong

Authors set out to correct under-representation of female sounds – and found some surprising revelations

When we hear the beautiful call of a bird from a high bough, we’re told it’s likely to be a male – singing for territory, or belting out tunes to woo a female. But as the annual dawn chorus reaches a crescendo this spring, a new guidebook is urging us to think again – and turn our ears to the hidden world of female birdsong.

The songs, sounds and sights of female birds have historically been overlooked in field guides and sound archives. In 2016, just 0.01% of the bird sounds in the global Xeno-Canto sound library were labelled female. Another sound archive was just 0.03% female, according to a 2018 study.

Sunrise in the strait of Hormuz and the pope in Africa: photos of the weekend

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Trump tests his luck with the religious right amid feud with pope and AI Jesus posts

Trump appears to have crossed a line with his Christian supporters. Will it come back to bite him in the midterms?

Donald Trump’s depiction of himself as Jesus Christ and recent spat with Pope Leo XIV could come back to bite him and the Republican party in the midterm elections, according to experts, with some newly aggrieved Christian groups set to play an outsized role in key races across the US.

The president’s Trump-as-the-Messiah Truth Social post sparked immediate criticism among some Christians, including some on the right. Trump, 79, said he thought the AI image of him administering an ethereal light to a stricken man’s head as translucent figures descended from the heavens represented him as a doctor.

Hamnet-era mourning jewel from celebrated painting rediscovered after 400 years

Exclusive: pendant appears in 1635 painting Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of His Wife that hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery

A Hamnet-era mourning jewel has been rediscovered four centuries after it was immortalised in one of Britain’s most enigmatic and celebrated 17th‑century family portraits.

The heart‑shaped pendant was depicted in Sir Thomas Aston at the Deathbed of His Wife, the 1635 life‑size, mourning masterpiece that was painted predominantly in black and white by the Cheshire artist John Souch. It hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery.

How to make creme caramel – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

The slightly retro French dessert of gently set baked custard in a caramel sauce, and all in a few simple steps

I don’t know why this classic French dessert isn’t more popular online, given how pleasant it is to watch a softly set custard jiggling seductively on screen, or to admire the way the light bounces off its glossy, caramel top. Worse still, it’s also increasingly hard to find on menus, too. Well, you know what they say: if you want something done well, do it yourself.

Prep 15 min
Cook 50 min
Cool 4 hr+
Makes 6

SiIicon Valley's AI agent hiccups: Wasted tokens and 'chaotic' systems

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC's Jim Cramer in March that AI agents are "definitely the next ChatGPT."

Bittersweet emotions as Lebanese return south to scenes of destruction

Determined to see their homes, displaced residents use shaky ceasefire to journey to their villages – but the mood turns sombre when they arrive

Mohammed Ashour was on the road at 5am, speeding towards his hometown of Shaqra. The Lebanese army, the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah had all told residents of south Lebanon not to return, that it was still dangerous despite a ceasefire. But the 60-year-old had been displaced for 44 days – he had counted each day – and he would not wait another hour before seeing his home.

At 3pm, Ashour was still on the road. The normally two-hour drive turned into 10, as the line of cars returning south stretched for miles down the Lebanese coastal highway. The Lebanese army had worked through the night to repair the Qasmiyeh Bridge into Tyre, bombed by Israel hours before the ceasefire, and cars were inching over the ad-hoc crossing one by one.

“They told me my house was destroyed. But I wanted to come and see it for myself,” said Ashour, still in his car. He had left his family in Beirut, wanting to shield them from the destruction that awaited them in their village.

Israel had a bad week in Europe. Does it herald a wider shift in EU relations?

With Orbán gone and Meloni distancing herself, EU sanctions on trade and settlers are looking more likely

It was a bad week for Israel in Europe: the country lost its staunchest regional ally when Viktor Orbán was toppled from power in Hungary, and Italy suspended a key defence pact.

The shifts are likely to pave the way for long-delayed sanctions against violent settlers in the occupied West Bank, and add to broader pressure for the EU to reconsider its relationship with Israel over its wars in Gaza and the wider region.

Why nearly every farmer who grows these chile peppers is a woman

Chile peppers are a traditional part of Indian cuisine — and a key crop for women farmers. They say it's too demanding for men. "In spite of the challenges," says one, "we've found freedom."

How the dispute between Trump and Pope Leo escalated

President Trump has lobbed insults at Pope Leo XIV in response to his criticisms of the war in Iran, marking an unusually pronounced rupture between the leaders of the world's most powerful country and the world's largest Christian denomination.

U.S. seizes Iranian cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. has taken custody of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz after firing on its engine room, President Trump said in a post on social media.

Nathalie Baye, prolific star of French and Hollywood cinema, dies aged 77

Actor who worked with the great French auteurs in the 1970s and 80s and starred in Spielberg’s Catch Me if You Can died of Lewy body dementia, says family

The French film star Nathalie Baye, who starred in a string of highly regarded French films as well as Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, has died at the age of 77, her family said on Saturday.

Baye, a stalwart of France’s domestic cinema, starred in about 80 films and took home the best actress César, France’s equivalent of the Oscars, four times, including three years running from 1981 to 1983. She died on Friday evening at her home in Paris from Lewy body dementia, her family told AFP.

Lesbians are reclaiming Madonna as we await her new album, Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II | Tiff Bakker

The singer is not only a hero for gay men. For a young lesbian like me in the 1990s, she was an object of desire and an inspiration

Recently, when Madonna deleted every post from her Instagram profile, it was as if a gay flare had been fired around the world.

Cue a flurry of texts from gay male friends, with one declaring that this “purging of the Sistine Chapel” meant the release of Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II was imminent, 20 years after her original disco masterpiece, because Madonna had pulled the same stunt on Instagram in 2023 before announcing our gay Christmas: the Celebration tour.

Tiff Bakker is a New York-based writer who specialises in arts and culture

‘After all the horrible things we’ve been through,’ he said to me, ‘if I die of cancer, it will make a bad story’: Siri Hustvedt on losing Paul Auster

First there was the double tragedy that tore the family apart – then came a deadly diagnosis. The writer reflects on life after the death of her novelist husband

I am alive. My husband, Paul Auster, is dead. He died on 30 April 2024, at 6.58pm here in the Brooklyn house where I am now writing these words. He was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in January 2023. But before that, in early November 2022, Paul had a CT scan in the emergency room at Mount Sinai West hospital. The radiologist spotted a mass in his right lung and noted it might be cancer.

We all die, but only some of us know our lives could end soon. Although I had often thought about what it would mean to live without Paul, I began to imagine it more often. I imagined walking around the house alone. I imagined grieving. If your father dies, I said to our daughter, Sophie, I will lose my every day.

Canadian astronaut’s bon mots help heal wounds from French language row

Jeremy Hansen praised for speaking French in space after Air Canada chief’s linguistic snub exposed tensions and drew rebuke from PM

Few people foresaw humanity’s quest for the moon as accurately as the 19th-century French author Jules Verne, whose two works –From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon – anticipated many of the features of modern lunar exploration.

But Verne’s language had never been spoken in deep space until the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen uttered four words during Nasa’s recent Artemis II mission.

Real estate investors are buying up long-term care facilities. Residents can suffer

Real estate investment trusts are landlords for thousands of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. Some select the managers and keep close watch but deny blame for bad care.

Labour’s ‘crabwise’ approach to closer EU ties must address damage of Brexit | Heather Stewart

The damage to the economy dwarfs the upsides from the various non-EU trade deals the UK has struck since 2016

Rachel Reeves joined EU finance ministers for dinner in Washington last week, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund spring meetings – the first time a chancellor had done so since Brexit.

It was the latest symbolic step in Labour’s marked shift towards prioritising closer EU relations.

This tariff-refund portal is about to be America's hottest website

Exactly two months after the Supreme Court struck down most of President Trump's tariffs, the U.S. government has set Monday as the day when some companies can begin requesting refunds.

Rat poison found in baby food jar in Austria after product recall

Police say poison detected in jar of HiPP carrots and potatoes as maker says items may have been tampered with

Rat poison has been found in a jar of HiPP baby food, police in Austria have said, after a recall of the product from more than 1,000 Spar supermarkets in the country over safety fears.

Police in Burgenland said in a statement that a sample from one of the 190g (7oz) jars of carrots and potatoes baby food reported by a customer had tested positive for rat poison.

This is how we do it: ‘I’ve been pregnant for almost our entire relationship’

Sol and João had a whirlwind romance and now have a baby on the way – which has changed their sexual connection for better and worse …
• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

João has been turned on by the changes pregnancy has brought so far

Sol’s pregnancy has changed the way we have sex, but I’m also attracted to the changes

Making a splash: demand for raw and ‘brewed’ milk growing in UK

Farmers and delivery firms launch new options for those seeking alternative to traditionally pasteurised product

Raw milk has long been popular, as well as controversial, in the US. While health authorities warn it can carry harmful bacteria, supporters argue it is more natural, and it has also become tied to anti-government and “natural living” movements.

In the UK, it is now gaining popularity, particularly among younger consumers, farmers say, as a less processed option, with new products launching to meet demand.

She no longer remembers it's her birthday. He got her a present anyway

A special day can be tinged with sorrow when your partner has dementia. But then he found the perfect gift.

‘Women want to experience pleasure’: how the female gaze caught the attention of film, TV and fiction

From passionate romantasy novels to premium television dramas, culture is bringing the agency, desires and interior lives of women to the fore. It’s proving good for business, but is this a permanent revolution?

Do you voraciously read the pages of steamy romantasy bestsellers by Sarah J Maas or Rebecca Yarros? Or flood your group chat with breathless recaps of the latest goings-on in TV series such as Heated Rivalry or Bridgerton? Or even immerse yourself in the divisive and challenging cinematic worlds of Emerald Fennell? If so, you surely can’t have failed to notice that in pop culture, the female gaze – storytelling that highlights the meandering, textured, sublimely messy inner worlds and wants of women – is enjoying an explosion.

On TV, you can see it everywhere, in the interior lives and desires taken up by Big Little Lies, Sirens or Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington’s Little Fires Everywhere. Romantasy harbours it in the shape of powerful maidens and sex in fae (fairy) realms, while Fennell’s Wuthering Heights and Promising Young Woman are marketed with the promise of converting women’s experiences into dark beauty on the big screen.

Iowa went all-in on school choice. It's hurting this city's public schools

With school choice programs ascendant not just in Iowa but across the U.S., Cedar Rapids offers a preview of who wins and who loses when education meets the free market.

‘I became a New Order groupie’: Tim Burgess’s honest playlist

The Charlatans frontman plays Kate Bush deep cuts in his car and loves a bit of Abba, but which scary industrial noiseniks soundtrack his sexy time?

The first single I bought
I remember seeking out Long Haired Lover from Liverpool by Little Jimmy Osmond when I was six. I bought it from Rumbelows on Northwich High Street – it sold washing machines, TVs, blenders and the Top 40 7-inch singles at the back.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
I’ve long been obsessed by Steve Ignorant from Crass. I’ve had various stalls at record markets over the years, and at one, this guy came up and said: “Do you really know the lyrics to all Crass songs?” He tried to catch me out by singing Do They Owe Us a Living?, but I knew them from start to finish.

JD Vance could yet save his political skin. But it will mean turning on Trump – and soon | Simon Tisdall

The vice-president has endured his most humiliating – and damaging – week as his boss’s fall guy. How much more can Maga’s great hope take?

For a would-be president, JD Vance has an unfortunate habit of getting into fights he cannot win. Three losing battles in the past week – with Iranian negotiators, Hungarian voters and Pope Leo – brought censure, humiliation and mockery raining down on his head. None were of Vance’s choosing. All were fought vicariously on Donald Trump’s behalf.

The vice-president is paying a high price for sycophantic loyalty to his boss. His poll ratings are plunging. His Maga succession hopes falter. He suffers by association – although his own inflammatory statements and misjudgments often make matters worse. Yet amid growing doubts about Trump’s mental health and fitness to govern, Vance remains the White House’s next-in-line.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

‘They said: You’re out of your mind’: Luca Guadagnino on directing controversial opera The Death of Klinghoffer

The opera – about the hijacking of a cruise by the PLF who murder a Jewish American wheelchair user – has been subject to protests and accused of romanticising terrorism. Why was the film-maker so desperate to stage it?

In a rehearsal room perched above the labyrinthine backstage of Florence’s starkly contemporary Maggio Musicale Fiorentino theatre, Luca Guadagnino is showing the women of the chorus how to make a second-act entrance. Dressed in a slouchy cardigan and slacks, the Italian director runs forward and stops short at a line of tape indicating the rim of the stage. A little out of breath, he turns past stretching dancers to conductor Lawrence Renes and asks if he minds the sound of stamping feet. “I never mind when we hear them talk, walk, breathe,” Renes says. “It’s live theatre.”

Better known for films like After the Hunt, Challengers and Call Me By Your Name, Guadagnino still sometimes punctuates stage rehearsals with instinctive cries of “Cut!” and “Action!”. But today he is directing an opera. It’s his second ever and his first in more than 15 years – and a highly controversial one to boot. The Death of Klinghoffer, a 1991 opera with music by John Adams and libretto by Alice Goodman, has sparked accusations of antisemitism whenever and wherever it has been performed. It depicts the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro by the Palestinian Liberation Front, their murder of disabled Jewish American tourist Leon Klinghoffer, and the grief and rage of his wife, Marilyn. The story is placed in a historical, even mythic, context.

Investigators team up to solve mystery of missing Iowa teen

After Jade Colvin, a missing Iowa teenager, is tracked to a remote farm, photos discovered on an old cellphone reveal important clues.

‘Oscar of science’ awarded to team behind gene therapy that restores lost vision

Married couple Jean Bennett and Albert Maguire developed Luxturna, which helped a patient see their child’s face for the first time

A married couple who met over a dissected brain and went on to create the first approved gene therapy for blindness have been awarded one of the most lucrative prizes in science.

Molecular biologist Jean Bennett and ophthalmologist Albert Maguire share the $3m (£2.2m) Breakthrough prize for life sciences with physician Katherine High for the 25-year-long project, during which the couple adopted a pair of dogs they had treated for blindness.

10 of the best scenic stays in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland

From a beachside bothy to a Highland bunkhouse and lochside inn, here are some of Scotland’s bonniest boltholes

With its cheery, cherry-red tin roof, you can’t miss the sturdy stone bothy on the Ben Damph estate. The family-owned 5,868-hectare (14,500-acre) estate nudges up to Loch Torridon, and the bothy, constructed from the ruins of an old black house (a traditional thatched home), has views over the loch to the mountains beyond. Restored by a team of stonemasons, it has two rooms (each sleeping two) warmed by log burners. The furniture has been made from the estate’s timber by a local cabinet maker. Between the two rooms is a “sitooterie” with picture windows framing views over to Ben Alligin. There’s no electricity, but there is running water and a gas-powered hot shower next to the bothy; a compost loo is in the garden.
Sleeps 4, from £342.50 for two nights, bendamph.com

The Little Probe That Could: Why Voyager 1 Matters, and Why NASA Just Switched Part of It Off

This week, NASA announced it had shut down one of that spacecraft's remaining science instruments — not because the mission has failed, but to keep it alive a little longer.

‘I will never give up’: Ben Roberts-Smith denies war crime allegations in first public statement since his arrest

The Victoria Cross recipient faces five charges of war crime murder over allegations he killed unarmed civilians during his service with the Australian SAS in Afghanistan

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

Alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith says he has “never run from a fight in my life” as he denied war crime murder charges relating to the shooting deaths of five unarmed civilians.

In his first public comments since being arrested on 7 April, Roberts-Smith spoke to the media from the Gold Coast, where he has been bailed ahead of a possible trial.

I was bullied when I was young and now find it very hard to make friends | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

Your history of being picked on at school has a lot do with your feelings of being ‘faulty’. Getting involved in a group of mixed ages would help avoid memories of childhood

I’m in my late 30s and have a beautiful two-year-old boy and a supportive husband. But when I take my son out I feel like a rejected teenager again, surrounded by groups taking their kids out together.

I had friends when I was younger, but moved schools as a teenager and was badly bullied. It affected my confidence to the point I was painfully shy through most of university. I thought I was ugly, stupid, unlikable and found it hard to make friends. Then I moved to London, where it was also hard to make friends.

From sleeping lions to spitting snakes: a year in the life of London zoo vets

As the zoo celebrates its 200th birthday, photographer David Levene captures the people keeping their (sometimes very dangerous) patients healthy and happy. Introduction: Patrick Barkham

• Some images may be upsetting to young audiences

How do you shift a sedated rhino? Can a dormouse be drugged? What happens to a lion with an unusually small ear canal? How does the world’s longest venomous snake respond to treatment?

‘I was fighting two wars’: Ukraine’s soldiers confront their addiction struggles

Troops frequently use substances to help cope with untreated PTSD and anxiety, producing a negative spiral

Seven years clean, Oleksandr believed he had left addiction behind. Then, a year into fighting Russia, the Ukrainian soldier was prescribed painkillers for a shoulder injury. Under the strain of war, he relapsed and quickly began using stronger illicit opioids.

“From that moment, I was fighting two wars – one inside myself and one with Russia,” he said, speaking at a rehabilitation facility in Kyiv.

Oleksandr relapsed into addiction after treatment for a shoulder injury sustained during fighting.

Are you a ‘gentle partner’ or a ‘Fafo partner’? I know which team I’m on | Polly Hudson

Yes, we should all cut our loved ones some slack. But asking me to listen attentively to my husband’s football chat – and mirror it back to him – is definitely a step too far

How do you tell the difference between a sign from the universe and a coincidence? It’s been a challenging couple of weeks in my house, because my husband has been Going Through Something. In other words, Arsenal FC have been up to their old tricks. He’s their most ardent fan, a cheap seats season ticket holder (he can only see half the pitch). I stay out of it, mainly, viewing it as a vaguely amusing masochistic hobby, which probably bodes well for me in a general sense since he remains devoted even though they almost always disappoint, if not devastate him.

Recently, he has been particularly despondent. Yet again, Arsenal were on the brink of triumph, and then started playing as if they were an out of shape pub five-a-side team mistakenly welcomed on to the pitch, like that man who was waiting in the BBC reception for a job interview and ended up live on air. The Guardian’s latest match report compares this season to “watching somebody have their toenails very slowly peeled off with a set of pruning secateurs”.

French director of Nazi collaborator film rejects ‘historical gaslighting’ claims

Xavier Giannoli says criticism that Les Rayons et les Ombres invites sympathy for characters is ‘profoundly dishonest’

The director of a box office hit film about Nazi collaboration and its Oscar-winning star have described criticisms they have whitewashed wartime atrocities as dishonest and “a scandal”.

Xavier Giannoli and the actor Jean Dujardin were responding to a bitter row that has divided French historians over the film Les Rayons et les Ombres (Rays and Shadows), which recounts the story of the wartime press baron Jean Luchaire.

Obama meets Mamdani in New York City ahead of a preschool reading event

Former President Barack Obama met privately with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani before joining together to read to preschoolers at a child care center in the Bronx.

Sincere dialogue needed to ease Cuba’s ‘grave humanitarian crisis’, say Mexico, Spain and Brazil

In joint statement, the three countries call for lasting solution to crisis, without explicitly mentioning the US and its oil blockade

Mexico, Spain and Brazil have voiced concern about the “dramatic situation” in Cuba, which has faced months of pressure from US president Donald Trump, with the trio urging “sincere and respectful dialogue”.

Without explicitly mentioning the US, the three leftist-led countries expressed on Saturday “deep concern regarding the grave humanitarian crisis that the people of Cuba are enduring, and call for the adoption of necessary measures to alleviate this situation”.

Skydiver rescued after crashing into scoreboard during Virginia Tech game

A skydiver crashed into the scoreboard before Virginia Tech's spring football game.

The moment I knew: Our knees touched and we froze – it was cinematic

Tomas Telegramma had a platonic chemistry with his colleague Steph Vigilante. But one night as the heaven’s opened, so did his emotional floodgates

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

In 2019, I started a job as a junior editor for an online city guide in Melbourne. I was struck by the social media coordinator, Steph, who worked quietly and diligently in a corner of the office, but had a surname that was at odds with her vibe. She was Vigilante by name, but not by nature.

Our shared Italian heritage was an instant bonding agent. We had chemistry, sure, but it was purely platonic. Even when lockdown put a pin in all things in real life, work’s instant messaging app helped our friendship survive working from home. I’d write stories about the city; Steph would cleverly bring them to life on social media. The synergy was real.

2 soldiers attacked by bear during training at Army base in Alaska

Two soldiers from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, were injured in a brown bear attack on Friday during a training session.