Sophie Corcoran challenging 10,000 Interns Foundation, which works with people from under-represented groups An influencer is taking a charity that organises internships for black and minority ethnic people to court because they do not organise schemes for white people. Sophie Corcoran, a GB News commentator, applied to a programme the 10,000 Interns Foundation was running with the Bar Council. She said she was “shocked to discover that the scheme is restricted to applicants of a particular racial background”. Continue reading...

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon A 1950s Port of Spain setting simmers with political change and family tension in Martina Laird’s debut play The air hangs heavy in Alma, a drinking club in 1950s Port of Spain, Trinidad. Heat and rum bring their own kind of languor – but in Martina Laird’s play, change is coming, both within a fractured family and in the wider world. Alma is managed by a mother and daughter. Ellen Thomas gives the indomitable Pearl a basilisk glare but not maternal instincts (“the only thing I done wrong is to make children dat not worth nothing”). Ruby (an exuberant, citrussy Cat White) runs a honeypot scam on tourists, but doesn’t intend to “stay here in downtown hell”. Continue reading...

Housing secretary and housing minister latest to criticise idea, which has also been ruled out by No 10 Senior ministers have poured scorn on the idea of freezing private sector rents for a year, less than 48 hours after the Guardian revealed Rachel Reeves was considering it. Steve Reed, the housing secretary, and Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, became the latest government figures to criticise the idea, which has since been ruled out by No 10. Continue reading...

Blockade threat in vital strait and Trump’s stance lift crude, pushing pump prices to highest level since 2022 Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Average US gas prices have hit a new high at $4.23 per gallon, their highest since 2022 and a record since the start of the war with Iran, according to the motor club AAA. The price of Brent crude, the benchmark that influences the price of gasoline in the US, now stands at $114.60 a barrel, up nearly 25% from the recent low since mid-April. US gas prices a year ago averaged $3.16. Continue reading...

Former world No 4’s knee problem follows arm injury Draper says it is ‘gutting’ to miss Roland Garros Britain’s Jack Draper has been ruled out of the French Open with a knee injury. It is another blow in the former world No 4’s attempts to re-establish himself following the long-term arm injury that ruled him out for the best part of eight months. Draper has managed just nine matches across five events since returning in February and retired during his first-round clash with Tomás Martín Etcheverry at the Barcelona Open earlier this month. Continue reading...

Case dismissed after court rules the charges were ‘invalid’ 37-year-old had been accused of illegally accessing emails Rui Pinto, the hacker behind the Football Leaks revelations that exposed dodgy dealings in world football, was acquitted on Wednesday of all charges in a second Portuguese trial, despite having previously been convicted for similar offences. The 37-year-old had been on trial since January 2025 over 241 alleged counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to several Portuguese sports bodies, including football club Benfica, law firms, magistrates and the tax authority. Continue reading...

Ukrainian has not played since November 2024 Cas confirms appeal by Mudryk against the FA The Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk has appealed to the court of arbitration for sport after he received a reported four-year playing ban from the Football Association for the use of banned substances. Mudryk has not played a competitive match for the Blues since November 2024 after he failed a drugs test while on international duty with Ukraine and began a provisional suspension. Under the terms of any four-year ban he would not be eligible for selection again until December 2028, but if an appeal to Cas were successful then the 25-year-old could possibly return next year. Continue reading...

England’s higher education regulator must rebuild trust with troubled sector after series of blunders under previous leadership In its brief and unhappy life, England’s Office for Students has been offered a series of challenges it has largely failed to meet. This week the latest and most embarrassing of those was unveiled, when the high court decisively rejected the higher education watchdog’s attempts to fine the University of Sussex more than £500,000 for regulatory failings relating to Kathleen Stock’s time as an academic at Sussex. Stock quit Sussex in 2021, saying she felt ostracised and targeted for her views on gender identity and transgender rights. Here was the highest profile test case that the OfS had seen: a subject of enormous controversy and sensitivity, involving key issues of academic freedom and freedom of speech. But as we now know from Mrs Justice Lieven’s ruling, in its rush to intervene the OfS managed to tie together its own shoelaces. Continue reading...

The world must accelerate the shift to renewables, regardless of the economic effects of Abu Dhabi’s decision Opec appears to be the latest casualty of the Iran war. On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates announced that it was leaving the oil cartel after 60 years. The loss of a critical member is a blow to the group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, in the midst of the biggest supply crisis in history. This is a geopolitical decision, not merely an economic one. The UAE has built itself into an increasingly interventionist and unilaterally minded power, not only challenging Riyadh’s dominance but undermining its more cautious approach to regional affairs. The rift has become increasingly public and bitter – with Saudi Arabia bombing what it called a UAE-linked arms shipment in Yemen in December. Abu Dhabi, as the main target of Iranian strikes among the Gulf countries, is also enraged by what it sees as a feeble regional response to the current conflict, and has been privately pushing for counterattacks. Continue reading...

Parliament’s failure to change the law on a difficult issue should be the spur to democratic innovation The prorogation of parliament on Wednesday signals the end of the road for the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill. The proposal to allow some patients in England and Wales, under very specific circumstances, to have medical assistance in ending their own lives was still at committee stage in the Lords when the house rose. Since it was introduced as a private member’s bill, it cannot be carried over into the next session. Campaigners for assisted dying are furious at what they see as procedural obstruction by unelected peers, bogging the bill down with heaps of amendments and running down the clock, thwarting the will of the elected Commons. Critics of the bill counter that the normal legislative process was followed and that the volume of amendments was a function of poor drafting, leaving practical and ethical problems that had to be addressed in the Lords. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

You can understand the motivation – more UK investment by UK funds means faster UK growth – but fiduciary duty trumps all A simple principle lies at the heart of pension investment: the pension manager must invest in the best interest of the client. UK ministers have often wished UK funds would show more home bias by channeling more pensioners’ cash towards domestic assets in the interests of economic growth, but the fundamental rule of the game has always been understood. You don’t mess with the fiduciary duty. Thus, when Rachel Reeves a year ago unveiled her Mansion House accord – a pledge by 17 of the biggest providers to earmark a slice of workplace pensions for UK private assets – it was made clear the arrangement was voluntary. What’s more, as the signatories emphasised, the commitment was “subject to fiduciary duty and the consumer duty” and “dependent on implementation by the government and regulators of critical enablers”. Continue reading...

Accusation vessel contains grain looted from Russian-occupied territories triggers diplomatic spat between both nations Ukraine has asked Israel to seize a vessel it claims is carrying grain looted from Russian-occupied territories, triggering a rare diplomatic spat between the two countries. The dispute spilt into public view this week when president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that “another vessel” carrying grain “stolen by Russia” had arrived at a port in Israel and was preparing to unload. Continue reading...

French driver struck animal while driving at 230 mph Peta says 40-year-old failed to show compassion for death French racing driver Romain Grosjean has angered animal rights group Peta for “flippant” comments after hitting a bird while testing for next month’s Indianapolis 500. The driver, who survived a fireball crash during the 2020 Formula One Bahrain GP, described the bird strike at around 230 mph in graphic terms this week. Continue reading...

⚽️ Champions League updates from 8pm BST kick-off ⚽️ Football Daily | The Knowledge | Follow us on Bluesky This is the fourth meeting between Atletico and Arsenal. The first two came in the Europa League semi-final of 2017-18, when goals from Antoine Griezmann and Diego Costa put Atleti through 2-1 on aggregate. The other was in the league phase of this season’s competition, when Arsenal ran riot in the second half. History is made! Or rather, it will be at 8pm BST tonight, when Mikel Arteta’s oft-maligned Arsenal play back-to-back Champions League semi-finals for the first time in the club’s history. It’ll count for little if they don’t win either the Premier League or Champions League this season, but it’s an undeniable marker of their progression from the 15th-best team in England to one Europe’s finest. Continue reading...

Fears that Salah had played last game for Reds have eased Injury sustained against Palace found to be minor Mohamed Salah is expected to play again for Liverpool before the end of his farewell season after being diagnosed with a minor muscle injury. Salah was substituted in the 59th minute of Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday with a hamstring problem. The 33-year-old’s reaction at the time – applauding all four sides of Anfield before heading straight down the tunnel – raised concerns that he was facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines and might have played his final game for the club. Continue reading...

Altman faces off against Musk, his OpenAI co-founder, in second day of high-stakes lawsuit After a dramatic first day of opening statements and testimony from Elon Musk in his case against Sam Altman and OpenAI, the trial continues on Wednesday with a cross examination of the Tesla CEO. OpenAI’s defense attorneys will get a chance to press the world’s richest man on his allegations, which yesterday included suggesting Altman “stole a charity” and would endanger humanity with AI. Musk is accusing his OpenAI co-founders Altman and Greg Brockman of breaking the founding agreement of the company to build AI to benefit humanity, instead shifting the non-profit to a for-profit structure and unjustly enriching themselves along the way. He is seeking the removal of Altman and Brockman, the undoing of the for-profit structure and $134bn in damages, which he wants redistributed to OpenAI’s non-profit arm. Continue reading...

Matthew Pennycook says ending system must be done slowly to avoid hitting housing supply and legal pitfalls A ban on new leasehold properties in England and Wales is unlikely to come into force until after the next election, the housing minister has said, as he defended the government’s piecemeal attempts to dismantle the system. The long-promised end will take years to “switch on”, Matthew Pennycook said, even though the ban on new houses was passed in 2024 and the government intends to pass one on new flats soon. Continue reading...

Suit is part of effort to hold suspect and any still unknown perpetrators accountable, says rapper’s stepbrother The stepbrother of Tupac Shakur has filed a lawsuit against the man set to go on trial for the rapper’s 1996 killing. The suit is part of an effort to hold the alleged killer and any still unknown perpetrators accountable, Maurice Shakur says. “Many individuals who were involved have long since passed away, while others have been hard to identify,” the suit states. “Yet, one thing is certain: there remain individuals who were involved in Tupac’s murder who, for 30 years, have not been held accountable for their crimes.” Continue reading...

From Peep Show to Half Man, some of the best television can be the hardest to watch. Get ready to look through your fingers at these supremely squirm-inducing scenes It’s not exactly how anyone imagines their first time. Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer follow-up, bruising BBC drama Half Man, is full of disturbing scenes but none more so than in the opening episode, when teen delinquent Ruben orchestrates his younger step-sibling Niall losing his virginity. It makes for one of those TV moments where it’s physically impossible to sit comfortably on your sofa. But what are the all-time most unsettling? From bad rapping to DIY dentistry, here’s our selection of 15 scenes that made us wince, squirm and watch through our fingers … Continue reading...

Readers respond to the British Medical Association’s warning that the increasing use of ‘non-doctors’ in medical roles is unsafe I am an advanced clinical practitioner in acute respiratory medicine, and the British Medical Association’s (BMA) characterisation of practitioners like me as unsafe “substitute doctors” demands a response (Safety fears as UK hospitals use nurses to cover for doctors due to shortage of medics, 25 April). Every shift, I assess and manage patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations, pulmonary embolisms, pneumonia and acute respiratory failure, taking clinical responsibility in a consultant-led multidisciplinary team, underpinned by a master’s-level qualification and over a decade of specialist experience. This is not doctor substitution. This is advanced practice: a distinct, evidence-based clinical role that enhances patient care rather than compromising it. Continue reading...

It isn’t a story of villains and victims, but a housing system under strain, writes Nick Vernoum. Plus a letter from John Farquhar Your article on landlords (I thought landlords were unchallengeable – until I met one of mine at a party, 22 April) paints them as shadowy figures wielding quiet power, but the reality is often more ordinary – and more complicated. I’m an “accidental landlord”. In my 40s, after working long hours to buy a modest home, I became seriously ill with chronic fatigue and had to move back in with my parents. Letting my house wasn’t about exploitation; it was about survival – covering a mortgage I could no longer sustain through work. Over time, I reinvested carefully, and I now own a small number of properties. The income isn’t lavish; it has supported my parents and given me a chance to rebuild my life. I know my tenants well. They can contact me any time, and I sort problems quickly. Continue reading...

Peter Foreshaw Brookes says economic conditions and smartphone usage (and its effects on coupling) are more likely causes The global drop in fertility has a number of causes, but rising biological infertility (infecundity) is not one (Toxins plus climate harms likely cause of reduced fertility, study finds, 26 April). Recent reports of a paper by Shanna Swan, the writer of Spermageddon, and others have claimed the paper shows that exposure to pollutants has been driving down biological fertility and may be contributing to the downturn of fertility rates in recent years. This is unlikely. A meta-analysis published last year, which controlled for regional variation, found that sperm counts increased in the US in recent years. Although there are other mechanisms by which biological fertility could be affected, time to pregnancy (TTP) directly tracks how quickly couples conceive. TTP increased in Britain in the late 20th century, and has been stable between 2002 and 2017 in the US for women under 30, only increasing by about 4% for women who already had a child. Meanwhile, infertility has been staying around the same or decreasing in developed countries in recent years. Continue reading...

Westminster drinking culture | Cocking things up | Fragile over-60s? | Victory over Trump | Jobs for Neets | Heavy lifting The Labour MP Alex Sobel says he has never “actually seen anyone smell of booze” (Hannah Spencer riles fellow MPs with attack on parliament’s drinking culture, 27 April). That’s a relief, otherwise I would have wondered whether we were all living in a strip cartoon in The Dandy or Beano. Pete Lavender Woodthorpe, Nottinghamshire • Now we know why they make such a cock-up of everything. Michael Fuller Ampthill, Bedfordshire Continue reading...

It was a historic day for King Charles, the first British monarch to address a joint session of Congress in 35 years, before enjoying a lavish dinner at the White House. There were jokes, subtle digs and the supposedly apolitical monarch even appealed to Donald Trump on Nato and Ukraine – but how did the US president react? Helen Pidd speaks to the Guardian columnist and host of Politics Weekly America, Jonathan Freedland Continue reading...

As his defense secretary testified before House committee, Trump posted AI-generated image of himself with a weapon and a caption saying ‘NO MORE MR. NICE GUY’ Pete Hegseth has denied that the US-Israel war on Iran is “a quagmire” and claimed critics of the operation posed a greater threat to the US than Iran itself, as he came under pressure to set out Washington’s strategy for the conflict. Appearing before the House armed services committee alongside Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, the US defense secretary asked lawmakers to approve a $1.5tn budget in military spending – and then described some of them as “the biggest challenge” to the war effort. Continue reading...