Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy lead on four under Rory McIlroy makes progress after poor opening day “Golf should be a pleasure,” wrote Donald Ross, the man who designed Aronimink, “not a penance”. And a fine sentiment it is, too, even if it wasn’t immediately clear that any of the many men competing here for the PGA Championship was having very much fun doing it. Shane Lowry didn’t seem to be when he shanked the ball into the water at 17, nor did Scottie Scheffler when he threatened to slam down his wedge after hitting one thick on the 6th, and Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley didn’t look too enthused when they were busy ranting at the rules officials who put them on the clock for slow play. The pleasure, such as it was, seemed to be mostly in purists’ appreciation of the high standard of lag putting on show, and everyone else’s schadenfreude at watching the world’s best golfers endure the same sort of frustrations amateur hackers suffer every weekend. Continue reading...

Change reflects both transformation of US in Trump era and China’s increasing confidence on world stage Asked before he departed for Beijing if he would raise with the Chinese president the case of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy activist jailed in Hong Kong, Donald Trump said: “I’ll bring him up.” But, the US president added: “It’s like saying to me, ‘If Comey ever went to jail, would you let him out?’ It might be a hard one for me.” Trump was referring to James B Comey, a former FBI director and a frequent target of Trump’s ire. Continue reading...

Chaotic week in which enforcer of ‘war on drugs’ flees senate building leaves government looking ‘incompetent’ The wanted man outran security agents, rallied protesters and even serenaded the media with a military hymn. Then, after a sudden exchange of gunfire, the Philippines’ most controversial lawmaker slipped out of the heavily guarded senate building in the middle of the night. Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who is wanted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity, is now nowhere to be seen. Continue reading...

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi appeared in US federal court to face six terrorism-related charges The US justice department has arrested and charged an Iraqi national accused of involvement in nearly 20 alleged terror attacks and attempted attacks across the US and Europe. The wave of violence attributed to Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi has caused huge concern in many European countries but especially the UK, where Jewish community centres, charities, synagogues and other sites have been targeted in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Alina Burns, 19, who had said she wanted to ‘kill all Jews and Muslims’, attacked barber outside his shop A neo-Nazi obsessed teenager who tried to behead a Kurdish barber with an axe because they wanted to “kill all Jews and Muslims” has been jailed for more than 15 years. Alina Burns, 19, attacked Mohammed Mahmoodi, 27, with the weapon as he stood outside his shop in Bedminster, Bristol, in August last year. Bristol Crown court heard she had been motivated by neo-Nazi extremism and had been in contact with far-right groups. Burns had told a man on a dating app to “kill all Jews and Muslims” and had searched for information online about jihad, the 2024 Southport stabbings, Jewish supremacy and Nazi Germany. Serena Gates KC, prosecuting, told the court: “The prosecution case is that the defendant had an extreme right-wing mindset and wanted Jews and Muslims to be killed and non-whites to flee or be expelled from the UK. “The day before the attack the defendant was watching videos of SS marches and sent an email called ‘The dawn of civil war’.” At a previous hearing, Burns, of Lynton Road, Bristol, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and three charges of having an article with a blade or point – specifically an axe, a scalpel and two darts. She had denied a charge of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, contrary to the Terrorism Act. The Crown argued that despite accepting the pleas, there remained a terrorist motivation to the attack, which was accepted by the judge, Mrs Justice Lambert. Passing sentence, the judge said: “I have no doubt that you are a dangerous offender and you remain deeply entrenched in your abnormal belief system. “You communicated with a man on an online dating app which at one stage you expressed the desire to kill all the Jews and Muslims in Britain, and also carry out a plan where you wished to take all the glory for carrying this out. “There were Telegram chats with the Patriotic Alternative, a far-right group.” The judge imposed a custodial sentence of 15-and-a-half years and an additional four-year period on licence. Andrew Langdon KC, defending, said Burns had experienced a difficult childhood due to her family being made homeless and living in a series of temporary accommodation. Langdon said that despite both of Burns’s parents being teachers, the teenager had stopped attending full-time education at 14. Continue reading...

FA Cup final will be 24th trip to stadium as City manager Spaniard aiming to win 17th major honour in decade Pep Guardiola has described his ­decade managing Manchester City as “fucking fun”, and suggested Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea might not be the last time he leads the team out at Wembley. While Guardiola’s contract expires in summer 2027, there is increasing expectation that he will depart the club in the close season. Saturday’s final will be City’s 24th cup appearance at the national stadium under the Spaniard, with Guardiola aiming to claim the 17th major trophy of his 10 years in charge. Continue reading...

Cannes film festival: Léa Seydoux is a wife and mother whose life unravels when police arrive to quiz her husband; Jella Haase is a detective dealing with her ailing father’s misdeeds Marie Kreutzer is the Austrian director who created impressive and stylish pictures such as the psychological thriller The Ground Beneath My Feet and the Habsburg biopic Corsage. Now she brings us this coldly eloquent and disquieting Franco-German drama about two women who find themselves imprisoned by a duty of care and loyalty to the men in their lives. One discovers something terrible about her husband and immediately goes into a state of negotiated denial, the other loves her demanding job as a police officer, and is all the more dependent on the live-in cleaner/care worker who looks after her difficult elderly father. Léa Seydoux plays the first, Lucy Weiss, a French musician who has built up an enthusiastic, though niche following for her experimental pop-classical hybrid performances. Her mother, played in cameo by Catherine Deneuve, was a more conventionally successful concert pianist. Lucy has a comfortable home in Munich with her German TV director husband, Philip (Laurence Rupp), and their lively nine-year-old son, Johnny (Malo Blanchet). But Philip has had a breakdown, collapsing sobbing in Lucy’s arms, apparently due to overwork and drug problems. She agrees to move to the countryside to soothe his emotional pain, and for a while things look better. Philip is evidently devoted to Johnny, playfully filming him and Lucy for some little personal project, and manfully building his son a trampoline in the garden. Continue reading...

Suit claims Veterans Affairs violates law by restricting abortion services for veterans and their dependents Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email An advocacy organization representing US veterans has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the reinstatement of a ban on abortion services and counseling for veterans and their dependents facing certain pregnancy-related dangers and circumstances. The non-profit group Minority Veterans of America is bringing the legal challenge on behalf of members affected by the policy. The lawsuit includes one member who is pregnant and describes her being unable to access various services. Continue reading...

Trump administration accused of cutting military’s civilian harm program in light of US strike on girls school in Iran The Pentagon has quietly dismantled a program it is legally required to operate to prevent and respond to civilian deaths in US military operations, according to its internal watchdog. A report released by the department’s inspector general concluded the US military no longer has the people, tools or infrastructure needed to comply with two federal statutes requiring it to maintain a functioning civilian casualty policy, and operate a Civilian Protection Center of Excellence (CP CoE). Continue reading...

Phil Dunning’s proudly weird and queer sitcom is ridiculous in the best way. Some will find it completely baffling, but fans will class these antics as comedy gold There are niche TV comedies, and then there’s Smoggie Queens. The Middlesbrough-set, drag queen-adjacent comedy is based on creator and star Phil Dunning’s life, and its first series was a singular mix of Teesside banter and allusions to UK hun culture. It was proudly weird and queer – a little Diane Morgan, a little Lily Savage – with camp cameos to boot. Steph McGovern (as herself) was the nemesis of Dunning’s prickly protagonist Dickie (their feud was established while working together on the deli counter at Morrisons), while Drag Race’s Michelle Visage played against type as a pernickety office manager named Elaine. When it wasn’t totally silly, it was also rather touching; among Dickie’s rag-tag crew of mates was “baby gay” Stewart (Elijah Young), who was struggling to come out to his family, and Mam (Mark Benton), the bewigged mother figure of the group who, we learned, was estranged from her teenage son. This second six-episode run is an even more boutique proposition than the first – frequently funny but also frequently bizarre. Episode one is a case in point: Dickie and friends lose a white rabbit in a carpet warehouse – cue some Alice in Wonderland visuals and Stewart hallucinating that Dickie is a bunny, too. The rabbit is called Andrea, leading to such ridiculous lines as “Howay Andrea, ya silly knobhead!!!”, yelled by Mam. The high street retailer Dunelm is used as a punchline, and one character wonders whether the rabbit might be gay, too. Continue reading...

Wigan 24-4 Leeds Rhinos punished for sluggish start This was not so much a crucial Super League victory as it was a statement to the rest of the competition. Six days on from their dismantling of their great rivals St Helens in the ­Challenge Cup semi-finals, Matt Peet’s side have now humiliated the side that were top of the table heading into this weekend. If you did not know the first ­trophy of the season was on the verge of being handed out, you do now. With their date with Hull KR only a fortnight away at Wembley, Matt Peet’s side have clicked into gear at precisely the right time – just as they have done so many times over the past four or five seasons. Continue reading...

Aston Villa qualified for the Champions League in style after leapfrogging Liverpool with a stirring victory that exposed the blind spots that have undermined Arne Slot’s meek title defence. Ollie Watkins scored twice after Virgil van Dijk had cancelled out Morgan Rogers’ brilliant, curling opener before Villa’s captain, John McGinn, completed the rout from the edge of the box. Liverpool have now conceded a league-high 20 goals from set pieces this season, Rogers benefiting from a well-worked corner routine in the first half and Watkins in the second. For Villa, whose league form had been indifferent since the turn of the year, a confidence-inducing victory before Wednesday’s Europa League final. On a sun-kissed evening at Villa Park, until Rogers’ beautiful strike approaching the interval it was impossible not to detect the end-of-season feel flowing through the veins of these sides during a flat and uninspiring first half. Unai Emery presumably expected more given he named a full-strength XI despite the prospect of Villa winning their first major European final in 44 years just a matter of days away. Liverpool welcomed Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz back to their squad but Alexander Isak, the former only capable of playing “only a few minutes”, and Jeremie Frimpong dropped out with minor issues, meaning Slot was without nine first-team players, a quartet of youngsters named on the bench. Continue reading...

Northampton 94-33 Bristol George Hendy scores four tries in blowout All kinds of scoring records were spectacularly broken by a rampant Northampton on a lovely clear night in the East Midlands. Never before have the Saints scored more points in a Premiership fixture and never have Bristol endured such a grisly 80 minutes. To say the Bears finished a horribly distant second is to put it politely. By the time the carnage finally concluded the home side had scored 14 tries with George Hendy bagging four of them and Archie McParland and Rory Hutchinson collecting two apiece. Saints scored no fewer than 61 points in the first half alone, assisted by a visiting defence who were ­chasing green, black and gold shadows from a very early stage. Continue reading...

Lewis Waters, who attended Henley college in Oxfordshire, was one of three cases reported in Berkshire outbreak The father of a college student who died after contracting meningitis has paid tribute to his “funny, sociable, kind-hearted” son. Lewis Waters, who attended Henley college in Oxfordshire, was one of three cases reported in the outbreak in Berkshire, which also includes two school pupils in Reading. Continue reading...

The idea that one day Mourinho might return to the Bernabéu had hung in the air, if not really as a serious possibility. Now the impossible is probable The last time José Mourinho was at the Santiago Bernabéu, he parked up in the bus. That night in late February the Benfica manager was suspended, a red card from the first leg of the Champions League playoff meaning he wasn’t allowed on the touchline he had prowled 13 years and a lifetime ago, so Real Madrid prepared a media booth for him to watch from. Situated on the eighth floor, Spanish radio to the left of him, Portuguese to the right, Cabin No 6 had been supplied with nuts, fruit, salad and jamón sandwiches. As kick-off approached, a crowd gathered by the door. But if the camera phones were out, he wasn’t. Mourinho never showed. Instead, he stayed in the basement 10 floors below, watching from an iPad on board the bus and leaving the post-match press conference to his assistant, João Tralhão. The next time he comes, which could be as soon as this season ends, it is likely to be different, poised to be welcomed back as a saviour and their manager now, not hidden away. For a while his has been the only candidate’s name that has remained constant and never dismissed from within, seeming more real with every day. Continue reading...

A defiant performance against Manchester City could deliver silverware in a year in which the club has already sacked two head coaches Chelsea fared well as underdogs in their most recent outing in a final. They surprised Paris Saint-Germain in last summer’s Club World Cup, racing into an unassailable 3-0 lead by half-time and disrupting the European champions thanks to a clever tactical approach from Enzo Maresca. Perhaps there will be more of the same at Wembley. Chelsea have form when it comes to upsetting the odds in a big game, although the one problem with bringing up the PSG win before Saturday afternoon’s FA Cup final against Manchester City is that the challenge of coming up with a plan smart enough to beat Pep Guardiola is no longer Maresca’s responsibility. Continue reading...

Minerva theatre, Chichester John Morton’s debut as a playwright is a finely crafted family drama with shades of Alan Ayckbourn As a TV writer-director, John Morton specialises in the sort of English talk that either means nothing at all or something completely different from what was said. In the sitcoms Twenty Twelve, W1A and currently Twenty Twenty Six, the hesitations, repetitions and desperate metaphors – in conversations that sound improvised but are precisely written – reveal corporate conceit and deceit. But the stilted and stalled speech in Morton’s playwriting debut, Eclipse, represents unsaid and unsayable things among the gathered family of Edward, a late-stage cancer patient who has asked to die under “home hospice” care at an old rectory in Devon. Edward, confined behind a door in the corner of the convincingly lived-in kitchen that dominates Simon Higlett’s set, is never seen or heard but feels completely real. That theatrical illusion recalls theatre’s genius of offstage characters, Alan Ayckbourn, as do many of those we see: bickering siblings Jonathan (Rupert Penry-Jones) and Sarah (Sarah Parish), diffident and assertive respectively, and the latter’s hapless, tactless husband, Graham (Paul Thornley). The pair of end-care nurses – gently attentive Karen (Selina Cadell) and self-consciously jolly Linda (Lizzie Hopley) – are also familiar English comedy types. Continue reading...

At one stage the northern mayor looked to be locked out of parliament, again, but he is still only one step along the road to his No 10 ambitions For weeks, Andy Burnham’s supporters had told MPs to “hold the line”, that he had a seat in parliament in his sights and that he would be a contender in any leadership contest. That was never the full truth. His path to No 10 – if he makes it – is littered with more failed attempts than almost any other politician. Two leadership contests, a block on a return in Gorton and Denton, and quite a few aggrieved MPs in the north west who have had to spend weeks batting off suggestions they will give their seats up for him. Continue reading...

Police investigate incident on Thursday evening after witness claims seeing Raise the Colours logo on side of vehicle Police are investigating an incident where a man was run over by a van after a group of people were taking down union flags put up by Raise the Colours in Birmingham. A man, in his 30s, suffered a broken leg that required surgery. He remains in hospital after the incident on Thursday evening in Stirchley, police said. Continue reading...

Animal wedged upside down nicknamed ‘lucky’ Lucy after being freed with only superficial cut on foot “There’s a deer trapped in an escalator” was not a phrase anyone at Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk was expecting to hear when staff at a Marks & Spencer department store in central Norwich called last Tuesday. “In Norfolk, deers often get themselves in trouble,” said the sanctuary’s founder, Wendy Valentine. “They get stuck between walls and sheds, and in gates. It’s quite common for deer to get trapped … But ‘trapped in an escalator’ was a first.” Continue reading...

UK capital is perceived as employment hub – but as youth unemployment soars, many feel exiled from job market Westfield White City is the biggest shopping mall in the UK and it is no stranger to crowds of young people parading through its halls. But instead of swarming the retail shops for the latest exclusive fashion drop, the hundreds of people in attendance this weekend are in search for something even more sought after and rarefied: a job. The London job show is the capital’s biggest career event. It is held every year and hosts a range of employers from the Metropolitan police to car valet services. This year, the event is particularly relevant as unemployment levels have soared, with young people bearing the brunt of the crisis. Continue reading...

Autumn conference in Liverpool targeted for victorious homecoming but Reform UK to fight hard in byelection Andy Burnham will push to become prime minister in time to address Labour’s autumn party conference in Liverpool, his supporters have said. The Greater Manchester mayor cleared his first hurdle to becoming the candidate in the Makerfield byelection on Friday as Labour’s ruling body gave him permission to stand for the seat. Continue reading...

Weinstein has been convicted of other crimes in the US and is already behind bars but move leaves rape charge in limbo Harvey Weinstein’s retrial in New York on a rape charge ended in a mistrial on Friday after the jury deadlocked in the closely watched criminal case that another jury had already failed to decide last year. The disgraced former Hollywood mogul has been convicted of other sex crimes on the US east and west coasts and is already in jail. But Friday’s declaration of another mistrial leaves the New York rape charge in limbo after three trials. Continue reading...

Prosecutors have described fatal shooting outside of DC’s Capital Jewish Museum last year as calculated and planned The US justice department will seek the death penalty for the man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum, prosecutors said in a court filing on Friday. Elias Rodriguez faces federal hate crime and murder charges in the killings of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim as they left an event at the museum last May. Rodriguez shouted “free Palestine” during the shooting and later told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to his indictment. Continue reading...

Trump administration move echoes indictment of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro as fuel crisis racks Cuba Tensions between Cuba and US seem set to rise further amid reports that Raúl Castro, the country’s 94-year-old former president, may soon face the type of indictment that led to the US abduction of the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January. Although Raúl is officially retired, he remains the most potent figure in Cuban politics following the death of his brother Fidel in 2016, and by targeting him Washington appears to be heaping pressure on Cuba’s communist leadership at the end of an already extraordinarily intense week. Continue reading...