The US sanctions target people operating in broad sections of Cuban economy, including energy, defence and mining Cuba’s government has said new sanctions imposed on the island by Donald Trump amounted to “collective punishment”, as an enormous 1 May procession outside the American embassy in Havana vowed to “defend the homeland”. In an executive order on Friday, the US president said he would impose sanctions on people involved in broad sections of the Cuban economy, as he seeks to put more pressure on Havana after ousting Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this year. Continue reading...

Abortion rights supporters say ruling most sweeping threat to access since supreme court overturned Roe in 2022 Access to mifepristone, the FDA-approved medication used to end pregnancy, could become severely limited following a ruling from US appeals court on Friday, which temporarily blocked the drug from being dispensed through the mail. The decision is for now the most sweeping threat to abortion access since the supreme court rolled back abortion rights in 2022, said Kelly Baden, vice-president at the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights advocacy group. Continue reading...

Marvel praises Conway’s ‘undeniable and indelible impact’ of celebrated comic book writer who also worked for DC Gerry Conway, a renowned comic book writer who helped create characters and stories for Marvel and DC, including the Punisher character in the Spider-Man comics, has died. He was 73. In a Monday statement announcing his death, Marvel described Conway as a legendary comic book writer with a prolific career. He died of pancreatic cancer on Sunday in Thousand Oaks, California, his wife, Laura Conway, told the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Comedian pulled from stage in Birmingham about 45 minutes into performance and audience told to leave A live show by comedian Peter Kay in Birmingham has been stopped after a “potential suspicious bag” was found around the venue. The Utilita Arena Birmingham was evacuated and a 19-year-old man was taken into custody, West Midlands police said on Friday evening. Continue reading...

Arteta: ‘The difference in the leagues is night and day’ Ødegaard likely to miss Fulham game with knee problem Mikel Arteta has dismissed suggestions that Premier League sides are incapable of matching the levels hit by their European rivals, saying that freshness was key to Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain producing arguably the game of the season in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. With the Arsenal manager stressing player availability will make the difference during a defining moment in the club’s history, he argued that English football’s competitiveness cannot be ignored when it comes to accusations that the quality of football has dropped. Continue reading...

Leeds 40-22 Wakefield Rhino half-back Jake Connor masterminds bruising win Leeds Rhinos solidified their position at the Super League summit, with Jake Connor underlining his credentials as England’s starting half-back for this autumn’s World Cup as Brad Arthur’s side proved too strong for Wakefield Trinity. Despite spending almost half an hour with 12 men thanks to three separate sin-binnings, the Rhinos were the superior outfit against a Wakefield side who would have gone joint-top with victory. But in the end, it was Leeds who remain clear in first place after another fine showing in front of a bumper Headingley crowd. Continue reading...

It was the night all the nerves vanished into the ether, replaced by every track on the Leeds United soundtrack as Premier League survival was all but confirmed. It was all too easy to defeat rudderless and relegated Burnley, to put Leeds nine points clear of the relegation zone, with their rivals having four games remaining. Anton Stach’s smart shot started the festivities before Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin provided the headline act to move Leeds above Newcastle into 14th and extend the gap to 18th-placed Tottenham. The final half an hour at Elland Road was boisterous as the supporters celebrated a crucial victory in what will be a hard-fought journey to safety. Continue reading...

Season resumes in Florida after five-week break Ferrari and McLaren aim to close gap on Mercedes With Formula One returning after its early season enforced break, the Miami Grand Prix is proving an ­enticing prospect given most of the teams used the time to work ­furiously on upgrades to their cars. Many of which are being deployed here. Intriguing enough were it not also for the updated regulations being given their debut outing and the threat of ­lightning storms on Sunday­ ­potentially causing a schedule change. Five weeks have passed since the last round in Japan on 29 March after the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain GPs were cancelled because of the war in the Middle East, a break welcomed by many as an unexpected opportunity to assess their cars, which are still very much a work in progress after the rule changes this season. Continue reading...

Nearly 2,000-year-old artifact handed over by FBI matches piece missing from museum near Rome for decades A nearly 2,000-year-old Roman grave marker discovered in a New Orleans backyard has now been returned to Italy. The marble epitaph – dating back roughly 1,900 years – was officially handed over to Italian officials in Rome on Wednesday during a ceremony led by the FBI. The event also marked the repatriation of another antiquity recovered in the US, the agency said. Continue reading...

Semi-final poised at 7-7 after attritional 14th frame Shaun Murphy and John Higgins deadlocked at 8-8 Wu Yize and Mark Allen’s semi-final is poised at seven frames all after their afternoon session ended with the longest frame in World Snooker Championship history, clocking in at just over 100 minutes. Allen began the afternoon trailing 6-2 overnight to an opponent high on confidence and belief, but fought back in style, winning five frames in a row to edge 7-6 ahead. Continue reading...

Leo, who has criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policy, selected Evelio Menjivar-Ayala as state’s new bishop Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Pope Leo XIV has appointed a man who had once entered the United States as an undocumented immigrant, hidden in the trunk of a car, as the new bishop of West Virginia. The pope approved the resignation of Bishop Mark E Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, and selected Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, 55, of Washington to take his place, reported OSV News. Continue reading...

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has also rewritten rules on international film eligibility The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a number of major changes for the Oscars on Friday, including a new policy allowing multiple nominations for a single actor in one category, as well as barring acting and writing awards for work done by AI. According to new statutes decreed by the group’s board of governors, only performances “demonstrably performed” by humans with their consent will be eligible for acting Oscars, while only human-authored screenplays can be up for any writing awards. Continue reading...

European nations wanted more merit-based prize money High costs of travel and hotels will exceed Fifa payouts A number of leading European countries still expect to lose money at the World Cup despite Fifa increasing the prize and participation fund by $112m (£82m) this week. The main host federation, US Soccer, is also understood to be forecasting an operational loss on the tournament, although that will be more than offset by a projected $100m windfall from a revenue-sharing agreement from ticket sales with Fifa that will also benefit the two other co-hosts, Canada and Mexico. Continue reading...

Police say New IRA may have been behind attack on Dunmurry station as suspect due in court A 66-year-old man has been charged with several offences, including attempted murder, after a car bombing that targeted a Northern Irish police station. The attack took place on the night of 25 April outside Dunmurry police station, located to the south-west of Belfast. Police have said they believe the New IRA may have been responsible. Continue reading...

State’s governor has ordered congressional primary halted until state can redraw districts and dilute Black vote The American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit on behalf of Louisiana voting rights groups on Friday, asking a state court to block the state’s governor, Jeff Landry, and secretary of state, Nancy Landry, from suspending congressional elections. Landry suspended the state’s congressional primary election on Thursday – even after early voting had begun – to enact new districts for the 2026 election. The move came after the supreme court’s 6-3 decision in the Louisiana v Callais case on Wednesday, which invalidated swaths of the Voting Rights Act and declared that a Louisiana congressional district with a majority-nonwhite voting population violated equal protection provisions of the US constitution. Continue reading...

Green leader apologises for sharing post that said officers were ‘repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head’ and says he had did so ‘in haste’ Keir Starmer has condemned Zack Polanski as “disgraceful” and unfit to head a political party after the Greens’ leader shared a social media post critical of the way police tackled the suspect in the Golders Green stabbings. The prime minister said any criticism of the police involved in the arrest was unfair on officers having to make split-second decisions in a moment of potentially grave danger. Continue reading...

With their last title a decade ago, young players moving on and coach churn, Middlesex are no longer even the most famous team that call Lord’s home Middlesex is unlike every other English county in at least one very important way. It doesn’t actually exist. It was abolished by the London Government Act of 1963, persisted, in dotage, as a postal subdivision, until Royal Mail put it to sleep in 1996. Today, you’ll find it on the tiles of Swiss Cottage Tube station – which are embossed with its badge of three seaxes – the pediment of the Sessions House in Clerkenwell, the mailing addresses of people who just won’t let go, the minutes of Spelthorne council, the titles of three hospitals, a university, assorted sports teams and tournaments, and the cricket club. Those who don’t know any better will tell you English cricket is a country pursuit. It’s not. Sport England’s latest data showed 250,000 Londoners played at least once last year. That’s around 20% of the adult playing population in England and Wales. Walk from Lord’s into the playing fields in Regent’s Park and you will find five, six, seven games going on all at once on the public pitches. Over the road at Fab’s Food & Wine they always have the Indian Premier League on in the afternoons, streaming on a mobile phone. The guy who runs it tells me he is a Royal Challengers Bengaluru fan; I ask if he knows which county plays at the ground around the corner. “No idea.” Continue reading...

The Washington Hilton shooting, the crisis in the Middle East, a funeral in Kyiv and the London Marathon – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists Continue reading...

⚽ Premier League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off ⚽ Latest table | Top scorers | Follow us over on Bluesky Evening. Last season, Leeds and Burnley were separated only by goal difference. They both picked up exactly 100 points in the Championship, with automatic promotion to the Premier League their reward. This season – as is so often the case with promoted clubs, and please don’t ask me why – their paths have diverged. Leeds have 40 points, twice as many as relegated Burnley, and are almost safe. It’s 23 years since a team was relegated from the Premier League after reaching 40 points – but that may happen this year, so Leeds still have a bit of work to do, especially as two of their last three games are away to Spurs and West Ham. Continue reading...

Company accepts it failed to prevent bribery in public sector contracts in Algeria and Oman, sought through use of agents The British defence company Ultra Electronics has accepted responsibility for failure to prevent bribery and agreed to pay £15m after an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. The penalties are part of a deferred prosecution approved by the high court on Friday, after an investigation opened in 2018, when the company referred itself to the UK law enforcement agency a month after corruption allegations were published by Algerian media. Continue reading...

US president says tariff on cars and lorries will rise to 25% and accuses European Union of non-compliance Donald Trump has said he is tearing up part of the tariff deal he struck with EU leaders at his golf course in Scotland last summer, criticising Brussels for taking so long to ratify the deal. Blindsiding Brussels late on May Day bank holiday on Friday, he announced that he would be increasing tariffs on cars and lorries imported into the US from the EU from 15% to 25% from next week. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester mayor’s team have been quietly preparing a manifesto and identifying seats where MPs could step aside to allow a Westminster run Andy Burnham has plan to return to Westminster ‘within weeks’, allies say When the eyes of Westminster were on the committee rooms and voting lobbies of parliament this week, Keir Starmer’s political future was being decided elsewhere. Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner were buttering up Labour MPs in the Strangers’ Bar in parliament as colleagues spoke of their “existential” fear about the crucial elections next week. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Greater Manchester mayor said to have identified seats where MPs would step aside to allow leadership bid Andy Burnham has a credible plan to return to Westminster “within weeks”, his allies have said, with the Greater Manchester mayor expected to use a byelection fight to set out a new agenda for government. Burnham, who was blocked by Labour’s ruling body from running in February’s Gorton and Denton byelection, has identified several seats where MPs are prepared to step aside for his leadership bid. Continue reading...

As Jews face the deadly menace of antisemitism, they should not be alone. It’s time for their fellow Britons to step up For me, it’s mostly sadness. Among others, the overriding emotion is fear. For some, it’s anger. It was certainly anger that was most vividly on display in Golders Green after the stabbing on Wednesday of two men, both Jews, in the broad daylight of a spring day – much of that fury directed at the government. When the prime minister came to visit, they shouted: “Keir Starmer, Jew harmer.” I understand that fury, even if I think it’s aimed at the wrong address. British Jews are angry because this was just the latest in a spate of attacks that has included, among other incidents, the torching of ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity and the attempt to burn down not one but two synagogues, all in the course of a few weeks. Jews want those in charge, the government, to make it stop. Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Energy disruption abroad drives prices at home, showing how few safeguards are built in – which is why a call for resilience must be heeded When the Bank of England warned this week that food inflation could reach 7% by the end of the year, it revealed how little stands between a geopolitical jolt and a domestic crisis in Britain. A shock wave in the Gulf feeds through energy, fertiliser and supermarket prices into falling incomes, weak growth and job losses. What it exposes is not just inflation but a system unable to absorb disruption. The Bank is right that interest rates cannot move global energy prices. Raising them will not fix the shock. Instead, rate hikes redistribute the impact by compressing wages and deterring investment to stop higher costs becoming embedded. What appears as inflation is, in reality, the price of dependence on the strait of Hormuz. Clearly, the UK’s stability rests on security that the country that has yet to build into its infrastructure. 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...