President’s remarks about Taiwan arms deals being a ‘negotiating chip’ with Beijing have been seized on by Chinese state media It has been an unsettling few days for Taiwan’s government. When Donald Trump met Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, many feared the unpredictable US leader could upend Washington’s longstanding support for Taipei. But beyond a starkly worded statement from Xi stressing China’s claims over Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory despite never having ruled it, initial signs appeared good for Taipei. Continue reading...

Few had heard of the crude oil-derived chemical until recently, but shortages caused by the blockade of the strait of Hormuz have led to a spike in concern Japan’s government is fighting to cushion the economic impact of the Middle East war, as the shortage of oil sends inflation rising, with the crisis threatening to undermine prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s wide poll lead. Amidst it all, new polling shows that Japan has seen a surge in concern over shortages of naphtha, a crude oil product that is used to make a wide variety of products. Continue reading...

Menier Chocolate Factory, London Lindsay Posner’s precise revival flies highest in its most intense moments of beastliness as a psychiatrist sets about ridding a teenage boy of his demons Desperation seeps out of Peter Shaffer’s 1973 tale of sex, gods and horses. Lindsay Posner revives Equus with precision, as absolute power shifts, homoerotic desire grows and the muscular allure of a stallion becomes irresistible. Noah Valentine is taut and stringy as Alan Strang, the disturbed 17-year-old who, while working weekends at a stable, blinds six horses. Having refused to explain in court why he did it, Alan winds up in therapy with Toby Stephens’ rumpled psychiatrist Martin Dysart. Alan gets hooked on the attention as their sessions progress, savouring the rush of retelling his story, while Martin begins to lose his power over the boy and his own sense of self. Continue reading...

Figures disclosed by nursing union show big rise on reported incidents which may only be ‘tip of the iceberg’ Racist abuse of NHS nurses has jumped by 86% in the last few years, which their union’s boss has blamed on the normalisation of extreme views in politics and the media. One nurse was called a monkey by a colleague, a patient threw a hot drink at a nurse and followed up with racial abuse, and in several cases others were called the N-word, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) disclosed. Continue reading...

Tracker of attitudes towards artificial intelligence also finds almost half of the public would prefer to avoid it One in three university students think AI will wipe out jobs so rapidly it will trigger civil unrest, according to a survey by King’s College London (KCL). Students are among the heaviest users of AI, the poll found, with 77% using it at least a few times a month – compared with 46% of workers – and 27% using it daily or almost daily. Continue reading...

UK foreign secretary says urgent pressure needed to get strait of Hormuz reopened and fertiliser and fuel moving Global fertiliser supplies must be freed up within weeks to avoid disaster, with harvests suffering and food prices rising, the UK’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said. The war in Iran has frozen shipments of fertiliser through the strait of Hormuz, creating a supply crunch that has already damaged farming in the UK, Europe and the US and is having its worst impacts in the developing world, where farmers cannot afford the higher prices now being charged. Continue reading...

Estimates suggest £1bn a year is laundered through high street businesses, with some connected to tax evasion, drugs and counterfeit goods “Dodgy” retail outlets such as vape stores, barbers, mini-marts and sweet shops suspected of being used to launder £1bn of criminal money will be targeted by a new specialist unit, the government has said. A £20m National Crime Agency cell will run and coordinate investigations and raids into businesses suspected of acting as fronts for gangsters, the Home Office said. The NCA and police forces in Greater Manchester, the West ­Midlands, Kent and Essex will recruit 75 officers to boost the effort. Continue reading...

Spurs need a draw at Chelsea to effectively secure safety ‘It’s good to imagine celebrating the win in their stadium’ Roberto De Zerbi says the idea that “everyone wants Tottenham relegated” ought to motivate his players as they look to set aside the club’s dismal record against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to get the result they need to stay up. Spurs have won once at Stamford Bridge since 1990 but they need only a draw on Tuesday night to all but ensure they survive in the Premier League and West Ham go down. Continue reading...

Guardiola has been manager of club for 10 years He is set to go with one year left on his contract Pep Guardiola is expected to leave Manchester City after 10 trophy-filled years as manager. The club did not confirm reports on Monday night that Guardiola’s last game as City manager will be at home to Aston Villa on Sunday, the final day of the Premier League season. But increasingly figures around the club expect an announcement before the end of the season. Guardiola’s camp has been approached for comment. Continue reading...

It was a night when fervour and hope ran into yet more Arsenal anxiety. This was supposed to be straightforward, wasn’t it? Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on 22 April. They sacked their manager, Scott Parker, shortly afterwards and came here under the caretaker, Michael Jackson. They had avoided defeat only three times in their previous ten league matches, drawing all three. It was not straightforward. Arsenal laboured under the spectre of the mother and father of all calamities. It nagged away during a traumatic second-half. Everybody knew that with the margins so tight it might take only one flash from Burnley; a bolt from the sky blue. If Arsenal do stagger over the line and win their first title since 2004, they will have done it in nerve-shredding fashion. Continue reading...

The charming historian looks at how the UK-US ‘special relationship’ led to divorce – via Franklin’s naked ‘air baths’ and his wild portrait of George III that gave every visitor an electric shock Whether history presenters should ever resort to gimmickry to keep viewers interested is a point for debate, but Lucy Worsley has a reputation for bringing the past to life without dumbing it down. Her trademark when she was making her name on BBC Four was delivering cogent facts while jovially wearing period costumes, to make sure history wasn’t homework. There isn’t much of that hoopla in Lucy Worsley Investigates: The American Revolution. Worsley remains in her own wardrobe, leaving the donning of 18th-century robes and long, dusty wigs to the actors playing Benjamin Franklin and George III in the show’s brief, mercifully dialogue-free dramatic reconstructions. This two-parter isn’t an investigation, either – or at least it is only in the way any history documentary is, as Worsley goes through the normal light-factual procedures by visiting relevant locations in the UK and the US, finding in each an expert with a point to make and an artefact to illustrate it. Continue reading...

Fire reported in Simi Valley, north-west of Los Angeles, on Monday as footage shows at least one home burning A fast-growing brush fire ignited on Monday morning in southern California, prompting evacuation orders and damaging at least one home. The fire was reported just after 10am in Simi Valley, a city in Ventura county about 30 miles north-west of Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Trump administration unveiled sweeping restrictions on press access at the Department of Defense last September Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The New York Times has filed a second lawsuit against the Pentagon, arguing that its recent policy requiring journalists to have official escorts when on Pentagon grounds is unconstitutional. The Trump administration unveiled sweeping restrictions on press access at the US Department of Defense, which it calls the Department of War, last September. Continue reading...

Victim in his 20s was beaten up in north London street having stepped outside to use his phone A Jewish man is being treated in hospital for injuries to his face and body after being attacked by a number of men in north London. Police were called in the early hours of Monday morning following reports that a Jewish man had been assaulted by a number of men outside a property on the Grove in Golders Green. Continue reading...

People are believed to have been shot, said an officer, and Todd Gloria, the mayor, urged people to avoid the area San Diego police are responding to a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, authorities said. Anthony Carrasco, an officer, said they believe people have been shot. Aerial television footage shows a heavy police presence outside the mosque. Continue reading...

The pope’s encyclical will address ‘the protection of the human person in the age of AI’, the Vatican says In the first major text of his papacy, Pope Leo will address the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. The Chicago-born pontiff will present the document, known as an encyclical, at the Vatican next week during an event attended by Christopher Olah, the co-founder of Anthropic – a US-based AI firm that has clashed with Donald Trump’s administration. Continue reading...

Former contestants claim there was not enough protection for cast during making of Channel 4 show Two women have alleged they were raped during the filming of Married at First Sight UK, one of Channel 4’s biggest shows, and a third alleged she was subjected to a non-consensual sex act. The show did not do enough to protect them, the women told an edition of the BBC’s Panorama outlining their allegations. Continue reading...

Matheus Cunha scored after teammate had handled Refereeing chief admits goal should not have stood Howard Webb, the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) chief refereeing officer, has admitted to Nottingham Forest that Michael Salisbury was wrong not to disallow Matheus Cunha’s goal owing to Bryan Mbuemo’s handball in Manchester United’s 3-2 win on Sunday at Old Trafford. Salisbury’s decision was judged by Webb as being too lenient with regard to the Premier League’s approach to the handball laws. The competition does allow leeway in terms of players’ natural movements. But in Mbeumo’s case Webb felt Salisbury misjudged the incident as an unintentional handball so when Matt Donohue, the video assistant referee, asked Salisbury to review the 55th-minute incident on the pitchside monitor the decision should have been overturned. Continue reading...

Britain likely to face ‘warm, welcoming stance’ if it seeks re-entry but also a ‘hard-headed one’ – with no special deals Britain would not be able to rejoin the EU on the special terms it enjoyed in the past, veterans of the Brexit negotiations have said. According to former officials from around Europe, the UK should not expect to achieve as beneficial a deal as it once had if it decided to begin negotiations on re-entry. Continue reading...

Expected candidate in Makerfield byelection says party ‘needs to change if we are to regain people’s trust’ Andy Burnham drew the battle lines for the future of the Labour party on Monday as the Greater Manchester mayor promised he would “change Labour” and win back the voters the party had lost. Burnham, who is expected to be Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield byelection, claimed it would be no ordinary campaign and said he would make it about national issues where Labour was failing, in a direct challenge to the prime minister. Continue reading...

Health officials to take ‘proactive measures’ in response to the ongoing Ebola virus epidemic in the DRC and Uganda Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email US health authorities confirmed on Monday that an American has developed Ebola after being exposed during their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); officials also said that they are taking “proactive measures” to protect US citizens in response to the ongoing Ebola virus epidemic in the DRC and Uganda. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the case on Monday and said the individual was being evacuated to Germany. They developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday, said Satish K Pillai, an incident manager for the CDC’s Ebola response in a press conference. Continue reading...

Narendra Modi’s austerity appeals reveal how war, energy insecurity and dollar pressures expose the fragility of globalisation The Indian prime minister’s call for sacrifice last week marks a fundamental shift. He urged the country’s 1.4 billion people to consume less fuel and fertiliser, buy less gold and curb foreign travel as global energy prices surge because of the war in Iran. The message, redolent of the Covid-era restrictions, suggests something larger: a retreat from neoliberal globalisation in Asia and the return of strategic economic management. The Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi waited for key regional elections to finish before pressing for the austerity measures. He was following other Asian states such as the Philippines, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which have made similar requests and even demands of their citizens since March. Mr Modi made an explicit economic argument: reduce energy imports because India must conserve its foreign exchange. About 90% of India’s oil and gas needs come from abroad. When prices spike, the country faces a higher import bill in dollars, inflation and pressure for higher subsidies. Despite India’s recent economic success, it has not built sufficient productive, export or homegrown green-power capacity to reduce its vulnerability. To prevent the rupee crashing in value, India’s central bank reportedly burned through more than $40bn in reserves. Continue reading...

Asking people how they feel about the places where they live is worthwhile. But will it change anything? Established in the aftermath of the 2024 riots triggered by the Southport murders, the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion set itself the task of bridging divides. Set up on a cross‑party basis with Labour and Tory co-chairs (Jon Cruddas and Sir Sajid Javid), the project leans on a “more in common” philosophy of looking for what connects people, particularly in the places where they live. While it takes on board a range of activities and attitudes, the overarching theme is that heightened conflict and reduced contact between social groups are problems that are not taken seriously enough. A new online survey billed as the National Conversation, which launched this week, is an attempt to build up a picture of how people across the UK feel about these issues. It will harvest information about, for example, whether respondents feel a greater sense of belonging to their local area or to the UK, and whether they are friendly with neighbours. Continue reading...

Club reported £104.2m loss in last set of accounts Bowen, Fernandes and Summerville would have suitors West Ham will be under pressure to raise more than £100m through player sales if they are relegated. The club reported a loss of £104.2m in their last set of accounts and their financial problems will deepen if they are no longer in the Premier League. Nuno Espírito Santo’s are on the brink of going down after losing 3-1 at Newcastle on Sunday. Their fate will in effect be confirmed if Tottenham draw at Chelsea on Tuesday night and sealed if Spurs win. West Ham are realistic enough to know they will probably be in the Championship next season. Continue reading...

⚽ Updates from the 8pm BST KO at the Emirates Stadium ⚽ Table | Top scorers | Football Daily | Email Taha Preview reading to get stuck into: First against 19th, the visitors already down. This should be straightforward but it just isn’t, is it? Arsenal are two victories away from their first league title in 22 years, maybe even just one if Manchester City fail to beat Bournemouth tomorrow night. Every Arsenal fan I speak to is terrified, the heart constantly throbbing, no calm to be found until it is finally over. Three second-place finishes on the bounce will do that to you. The suffering continues at 8pm BST. Continue reading...