Bodies of Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walter, 32, and Rebecca Walter, 31, from London, were recovered from sea last Wednesday Three women whose bodies were recovered from the sea off Brighton beach last week have been identified as sisters from London. Emergency services were called after concerns were raised for a person’s welfare at about 5.45am on 13 May, before three bodies were pulled from the water near Madeira Drive. Continue reading...

Deal is the biggest acquisition for Murdoch since family resolved dispute over future control of media holdings James Murdoch, second son of publishing giant Rupert Murdoch, has agreed to acquire some of Vox Media’s assets, including New York magazine, in a deal believed to be worth around $300m. The 53-year-old publishing scion is acquiring the assets through his company, Lupa Systems, which has built up holdings in Art Basel, the traveling art fair business, and Tribeca Enterprises, the media and entertainment company co-founded by Robert De Niro, and the Indian streaming service Bodhi Tree Systems. Continue reading...

UK scientists find tocilizumab, used for rheumatoid arthritis, may help antidepressant-resistant patients Immunotherapy could be used to treat depression among patients who have not responded to conventional antidepressants, according to the results of an early clinical trial. Researchers at the University of Bristol investigated whether tocilizumab, an anti-inflammatory drug commonly used for immune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, could improve symptoms of difficult-to-treat depression. Continue reading...

Plants whose beauty is flawed carry a message in Children’s Society garden, a gold medal winner at Chelsea flower show Gardens do not have to be perfect to be beautiful – and neither do teenagers. That is the central message behind the Children’s Society garden, which has won a gold medal at this year’s RHS Chelsea flower show. And prickly poppies, a bird’s nest fern planted in a drain and verbascum arcturus, a delicate-looking yellow flower with hairy stems, are among the plants chosen to convey it – plants whose beauty is flawed. “The overlaying narrative of the garden is ‘beauty in imperfection’,” said the designer, Patrick Clarke. “Perfection is the most debilitating thing for young people because it’s something that is unattainable, and when they’re bombarded with images of perfection on social media … that is very, I think, threatening to people’s mental health.” Continue reading...

From furniture with ‘skinny legs’ to making sure spaces work for multiple purposes, three experts who live in tiny homes share their best lessons In 2010 Colin Chee picked up the keys to his 37 square metre off-the-plan apartment in Melbourne’s city centre. “It was only then that I realised how shit it was.” With no design experience and a limited budget, his quest to find inspiration eventually led to the birth of Never Too Small, a YouTube channel showcasing clever designs for small spaces from around the world. Launched in 2017, it now has more than 3 million subscribers. Continue reading...

Global study finds wrappers, bottles and lids on shorelines of 93% of countries analysed as UN talks to tackle issue stall Plastic food wrappers, bottles, lids and caps are by far the most common items of litter found on the world’s shorelines, a study has found. Researchers looked at data from more than 5,300 surveys of coastal litter to produce the first global analysis of its kind. They found the data in 355 existing studies on the subject. Continue reading...

As the UK approaches the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum, we’d like to hear how people feel about the decision now and whether your views have changed over the past decade It’s been nearly ten years since the fateful Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016 when the UK voted to leave the EU. We’d like to hear from people across the UK about how they voted at the time, how they feel about Brexit now and whether their views have changed over the past decade. Do you still feel the same way you did in 2016? Have your experiences since then changed your perspective in any way? Continue reading...

The Mount Without, Bristol Fame’s Antonia Franceschi delivers a double portrait of Krasner, with music by Claire van Kampen, plus there’s a superb solo from Edward Watson Two notable women are the cornerstones of this evening of dance. First is its choreographer, Antonia Franceschi, still recognisable as the ballet dancer from the film Fame back when she was 19. Franceschi danced with George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet – this evening’s short opener, Excerpts from Kinderszenen, is a snapshot of neo-Balanchine – and has since choreographed in the UK and US (she’s artistic director at New York Theatre Ballet). The second is the subject of the night’s meatiest, most intriguing work, Lee Krasner, the artist whose reputation is sometimes overshadowed by her also being the wife of Jackson Pollock. The piece Prophecy (still a work in progress) is a dance-theatre sketch of her life and her relationship with Pollock, made with writer and director Sara Joyce, with Krasner and Pollock’s words read in voiceover. At the Mount Without, Bristol, until 22 May Continue reading...

Exclusive: Electoral Commission calls for new controls, as Demos finds tools made up fake scandals, invented candidates or gave wrong date UK politics live – latest updates The Electoral Commission has called for new legal controls over misinformation from AI chatbots, after a thinktank found they had made serious mistakes during the recent Scottish election. The thinktank Demos said its investigation had found that AI services gave voters misinformation to 34% of the questions it posed, which it said raised worrying questions about the lack of regulation of AI platforms in the UK. Continue reading...

Are you or you partner a secret spender? Take part in our experiment We’re looking for couples, who don’t often open up about their finances with each other, to take part in an experiment for the Saturday magazine. Maybe you have a ridiculous Pret habit you don’t mention to your boyfriend or you’re hooked on online shopping and have never revealed the extent of your spending to your wife. Or maybe the two of you have simply never sat down and discussed what you scrimp on and where you splash out. If this sounds like you – and you’d be willing to record and share money diaries with each other in the presence of a Guardian journalist – get in touch and we can share more information. We would run these interviews anonymously. Continue reading...

Retired Capitol police officer and DC officer allege Trump’s $1.8bn fund unlawfully rewards January 6 rioters and allies US politics live – latest updates Two police officers who clashed with rioters at the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection in 2021 have sued Donald Trump over plans to create a $1.776bn “anti-weaponization” fund. The fund, which critics have argued is essentially a slush fund, is set to compensate allies of the US president who he claims were victims of prosecutorial overreach. Continue reading...

Philadelphia, Kansas City and Atlanta are among the cities showing that price-gouging at the 2026 World Cup is, ultimately, a choice Sign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletter Philadelphia has spotted an opportunity. A chance to burnish a budding reputation as one of the East Coast’s most pleasant and interesting big cities – in the view of this columnist, at least – and one of its most affordable, too. The ample offering of public transportation to the six 2026 World Cup matches slated for Lincoln Financial Field (dubbed Philadelphia Stadium for the tournament, as per Fifa’s sponsor rules) will set fans back a mere $2.90. Tickets to see those matches are somehow getting cheaper on the secondary market – down about 16% from last month. Hotels are still reasonably priced. And fan fests will remain free for every day of the tournament. There will be no getting charged three times as much for shade, either, as you will in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

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

Airstrike at the start of the war was aimed at freeing populist ex-president from house arrest, US newspaper claims Middle East crisis – live updates Fresh questions have been raised over the US and Israeli effort to depose the Iranian regime after it was claimed that Israel wanted to put the populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power. Ahmadinejad’s turbulent presidency, from 2005 to 2013, was marked by incendiary attacks on Israel but he recast himself as a critic of the regime and champion of the poor after falling out with the supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Continue reading...

‘Europe must never be subjected to Trump’ says Spanish film-maker at a Cannes press conference for his new film, Bitter Christmas Pedro Almodóvar has argued that film-makers have a “moral duty” to speak up about politics or they will enable the kind of stifling of free speech taking place in the US, warning that “Europe must never be subjected to Trump”. Speaking at the Cannes premiere of his new film Bitter Christmas, the veteran Spanish director was responding to questions about previous comments in which he had remarked on a lack of protests at the Oscars earlier this year. Continue reading...

Club need permission for proposed stadium upgrades Draw with Manchester City sealed first ever European qualification Bournemouth are facing a race to complete upgrades to the Vitality Stadium to enable it to stage European football next season. Uefa has granted Bournemouth a provisional stadium licence after meeting club officials in April to review their redevelopment project, but improvements are required owing to the limited size of the hospitality areas and broadcasting facilities. A visit from Uefa’s stadium inspection and commercial operations team will take place next month after Bournemouth secured European qualification for the first time courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Manchester City on Tuesday. Continue reading...

In state department cable, Jerusalem embassy told to issue protest to Palestinian Authority leaders, warning ‘consequences will follow’ if they failed to comply The US has ordered its Jerusalem embassy to pressure the Palestinian leadership into dropping a bid for a UN general assembly vice-presidency, anxious that the role could allow Palestinians to chair high-profile debates on the Middle East. A 19 May state department cable seen by the Guardian instructed the US embassy in Jerusalem to issue a démarche (a formal protest) to the leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) pressuring them to withdraw the bid by 22 May, warning that “consequences will follow” if they failed to comply. Continue reading...

In first speech since quitting cabinet, Streeting says party must deliver change or it will hand keys of No 10 to Reform UK politics live – latest updates Labour must be bolder and deliver real change, Wes Streeting has said in his first Commons speech since resigning as health secretary, saying that he quit the government because it was “currently losing” the fight against populist nationalism. Streeting reiterated his view that leaving the EU had been a damaging mistake for the UK, and argued that young people had been let down by a system stacked against them. Continue reading...

A decade after the referendum, EU leaders would welcome closer ties – once the UK has understood the ‘European deal’ • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Brexit’s back. Well, sort of. If it ever really went away. At any rate, an awful lot of ink has been spilled – in Britain, at least – over last weekend’s remarks by a would-be PM that Brexit was “a catastrophic mistake” and the UK’s future lay “back in the EU”. That reflects, first, just how deep the wounds of Brexit still run. A decade after the referendum unleashed an identity politics so powerful it still dominates UK debate, Britain’s voters remain divided into the two warring tribes of remain versus leave. Continue reading...

Amin Abdullah, 51, was one of the three victims of deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday A security guard who was killed during the shooting at a San Diego mosque on Monday is being hailed as a hero after police said that his actions “undoubtedly” saved lives. On Monday, two teenagers opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, shooting and killing three men. The two attackers, aged 17 and 18, were found dead several blocks away, from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, officials said. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Workers sign petitions over applications of AI by governments for defence and intelligence, and vote to unionise Google DeepMind has agreed to enter formal talks with UK tech workers that could lead to trade union representation, in a groundbreaking move that comes amid growing staff concerns about the use of its AI by the US and Israeli governments’ defence and intelligence. The artificial intelligence arm of the multi-trillion dollar Google empire, led by the Nobel prize winner Demis Hassabis, has agreed to meet the Communications Workers Union and Unite at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) after several hundred workers based at its London headquarters earlier this month voted to unionise. Continue reading...

Proper Ladies is being compared to Derry Girls for its portrayal of a wild but relatable girl gang. Its creator opens up about trying to reshape the way Black and Muslim characters are used in TV It’s not every comedy that dares to feature a character trying to strangle herself with her own hijab. Yet the BBC’s Proper Ladies has caused a storm on social media thanks to its chaotic energy and sharply observed teenage dynamics, drawing comparisons to shows such as Derry Girls and Some Girls. “We saw our first fan edit and it had 100,000 likes,” says writer Sabrina Ali. “It feels like we made it.” Set in a faith school, Proper Ladies is a 10-minute short that follows four schoolgirls in detention, where friendships, rivalries and acts of rebellion unfold. Absurd, quick-witted and fast, it leans into the heightened logic of teenage life – where the smallest things escalate quickly and everything feels urgent. In one scene, a student delivers a dramatic monologue about setting off the fire alarm to conceal the fact that she used the staff toilets to defecate. Continue reading...

Driving sims were overtaken by open world fantasy adventures, but new upgrades show how much joy there is in the genre I have spent the last week careening around Japan in a Porsche 911, seeing the sights, racing other cars and occasionally veering off the road to plummet through an ancient bamboo forest. You all know what’s coming next … this wasn’t in real life, folks – it was in Forza Horizon 6, the latest instalment in Microsoft’s series of open world driving games set in authentic-looking, real-world locations. Reviewing this game (which is out now on Xbox and PC, and coming to PS5 later in the year) has reminded me of the sheer fun and exhilaration that driving games can provide. It’s easy to forget, but this was the biggest genre in town from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Consoles were sold on how good their racing games were: the original PlayStation had Ridge Racer, the Sega Saturn had Daytona USA. Later came the dirt-track thrills of Colin McRae Rally, the chaotic destruction of Burnout, the sophisticated realism of Gran Turismo. They were the bestsellers of the era, showcasing the future of real-time 3D visuals. Continue reading...

Whether it’s jigsaws, mud kitchens or electronic pets, four is a fun age to buy for. Here are 22 road-tested favourites • The best toys and gifts for three-year-olds Four is a magical age. Children are on their way out of the “threenager” stage, growing in confidence and independence but still needing help and support from parents and friends. Four was the age at which many seasoned parents told me that “things get a little easier”, and I’ve found this is slightly true now that my daughters are almost four and seven. Continue reading...

Club say expulsion from playoffs is ‘disproportionate’ Chief executive apologies to fans for doing ‘wrong’ Southampton have described the decision to expel them from the Championship playoffs over the ‘Spygate’ scandal as “manifestly disproportionate” to any other sanction handed down in the history of the English game. An independent commission imposed the penalty – which includes the docking of four points for next season – after the club admitted three spying charges, including one related to observing a training session of playoff semi-final opponents Middlesbrough earlier this month. The commission also reinstated Boro for Saturday’s final, denying Southampton the chance of a shot at promotion to the Premier League worth an estimated £200m. Continue reading...