Ex-health secretary, who is expected to launch leadership bid soon, condemns ‘heavy-handed’ approach Wes Streeting has launched a scathing attack on what he described as Keir Starmer’s “heavy-handed” leadership culture, which he claimed had stifled creative policy thinking in government. Streeting criticised the effectiveness of Labour’s first two years in power – all of which he has spent in cabinet – saying Labour “arrived in government underprepared in too many areas and lacking clarity of vision and direction”. Continue reading...

Thai authorities say 32 others injured near Makkasan station after freight train strikes bus and fire breaks out At least eight people were killed and 32 others were injured in Thailand after a freight train struck a bus at a rail crossing in Bangkok, rescue officials and a deputy transport minister said. Firefighters and rescue crews were dispatched as flames engulfed the bus and nearby vehicles close to the airport rail link’s Makkasan station, officials said, adding that the collision also involved cars and motorcycles. Continue reading...

Khadija Shaw set the agenda again, scoring her 20th and 21st goals in 22 WSL games in what could be her penultimate game in sky blue as City secured a comfortable win over West Ham before they hoisted the WSL trophy aloft for the first time in 10 years. What will Manchester City look like without the Jamaican forward? City fans will be hoping they don’t have to find out, but with bigger offers in from other clubs the striker is leaving unless the club do a sharpest and most grovelling of u-turns. Continue reading...

Hearts arrived in Glasgow needing a point to create history. With four minutes of regulation time remaining, Derek McInnes and his players were doing precisely that. Enter Daizen Maeda, whose goal was ensuring Hearts did not end a title wait stretching 66 years before Callum Osmand added gloss. Celtic are champions again, now for a fifth season in a row. It was the scenes that followed Osmand’s goal, though, that should have repercussions. Celtic fans flooded on to the pitch, including to goad despondent Hearts players. There was still added time to play but the referee ended proceedings. It was a shameful way for such an extraordinary season to conclude. Continue reading...

Member of King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery received medical treatment but died at scene after sustaining serious injuries A service person has died after falling from their horse after a display at the Royal Windsor Horse show, police said. The soldier, part of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, fell at about 7pm on Friday after exiting the arena. Continue reading...

Third straight season-ending blowout for Minnesota San Antonio to face Oklahoma City in conference finals Pistons hold off Cavaliers to force Game 7 The San Antonio Spurs were well on their way to the Western Conference finals in the fourth quarter when Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards went down to their bench to briefly offer his congratulations. The young Spurs left no doubt they’re already a serious NBA title contender. Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs romped past the Timberwolves 139-109 on Friday night in Minneapolis to finish in the second-round series in six games and reach the conference finals for the first time since 2017. Stephon Castle had 32 points and 11 rebounds in another dominant performance from the backcourt. Continue reading...

It has long been suspected the Revolutionary Guards – specifically its Quds Force – was responsible for recent terror attacks in London, Canada and across Europe The arrest by US authorities of an alleged Iraqi commander of an Iranian-backed militia group now accused of responsibility for 18 terrorist attacks in the UK, Europe and Canada since the beginning of the Iran war is an astonishing development – yet not the least bit surprising. According to a complaint unsealed on Friday in a federal court in Manhattan, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi is allegedly responsible for organising – among other operations – a string of recent firebombings of banks and other targets in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, an arson attack against a synagogue and a shooting at the US consulate in Toronto in March, as well as – most recently – a wave of attacks on mainly Jewish targets in the UK including places of worship and charities. Continue reading...

⚽ FA Cup final news from the 3pm BST kick-off at Wembley ⚽ Chaotic Chelsea’s shot at glory | Guardiola: ‘I’ve been fun’ And now for something completely different: an FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City. These two great clubs have met in a Champions League final, a League Cup final and a classic Full Members Cup final, but never, until today, on the FA Cup’s big day. It’s a surprising stat given the size of the two clubs and their recent FA Cup record. Since the turn of the century – what did happen to that Millennium Bug – Chelsea and City have been involved in 17 of the 26 FA Cup finals. Continue reading...

Dunk, nibble or wolf them down: this classic biscuit is at its best when it’s just sugar, butter and flour, so be wary of those that stray from the rules • The best extra-chocolatey biscuits At its best and simplest, shortbread is made using a classic 1:2:3 ratio – one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour, by weight. Perhaps unsurprisingly, few supermarket shortbreads stick to that golden rule and include other ingredients such as cornflour and raising agents; they’re nothing to worry about – but some cut the butter (and costs) by using rapeseed oil, margarine or worse. Unlike most manufactured products, however, the price of shortbread doesn’t always reflect the level of processing, and some of the cheapest are also the least processed. Look out for “all-butter” on the label, to make sure the shortbread doesn’t include oil and has that classic, buttery taste. And don’t be fooled by fancy packaging. Continue reading...

The centers are diverting much-needed resources from regular people. Local resistance has the industry playing defense Back in 2016, Marco Gutiérrez, the Mexican-born founder of Latinos for Trump, issued an ominous warning to the US. “My culture is a very dominant culture,” he said on MSNBC. “It is imposing and it’s causing problems. If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner.” A decade later, I regret to inform you there is not a taco truck on every corner. But I am here to issue my own ominous warning about the takeover of America: not by immigrant culture but by AI culture. To echo Gutiérrez: it is imposing and it’s causing problems. And if we don’t do something about it, we’re going to have datacenters on every corner. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Once Upon a Time in Harlem, completed by relatives of William Greaves after his death, showcased at Cannes In 1969, the pioneering documentarian William Greaves wrote of his fury over the racially degrading stereotypes that white film producers threw up on American screens. “It became clear to me that unless we black people began to produce information for screen and television there would always be a distortion of the ‘black image,’” he said. Three years later, Greaves began work on what he considered the most important footage he ever shot: a feature documentary gathering surviving figures of the Harlem Renaissance to reflect on the movement they had built half a century earlier. Continue reading...

What does defending press freedom mean in practice? We asked people across the Guardian to tell us something they have done to protect it this past year. The range of responses will likely surprise you Support independent journalism today It sounds like a fundamental principle. A tenet. But, in reality, press freedom is more of a practical and relentless daily struggle. I’ve been asking colleagues from across the Guardian to tell me about one of the things they have done to protect press freedom this past year – from our international correspondents and investigative reporters to our visual journalists and commercial and technology departments. Continue reading...

With Punta Marina residents loving or loathing the incomers, ‘peacock rangers’ have been appointed to defuse tensions Federico Bruni was sitting on a bench, eating a piadina romagnola (flatbread sandwich) and minding his own business, when a peacock strutted up in the hope of a few crumbs. High-pitched squeals emanated from the direction of a disused military barracks across the road. “That would be the call to love,” Bruni said. “The male peacocks are courting the female ones – we’re in peak mating season.” As another couple of peacocks wandered by, their iridescent trains sweeping the pavement behind them, this could be mistaken for a wildlife park. But the scene is Punta Marina, a seaside town on the Adriatic coast of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region that has been colonised by the birds, to the delight – or despair – of its approximately 1,000 residents. Continue reading...

No swift end to the Iran war, uncertainty over Taiwan and only vague outlines of commercial deals … but the US president did get to bask in the company of Xi Jinping It was historic, to be sure, but not as anyone had predicted. First there was Donald Trump, a self-declared teetotaler, apparently drinking champagne after Xi Jinping assured him that China’s “great rejuvenation” could go hand in hand with “Make America great again”. Then there was a Chinese military band playing a rendition of the US president’s signature campaign song, YMCA. Beneath giant chandeliers, blue and gold balconies and a big orange backdrop with pagoda-style roofs, Thursday’s state banquet in Beijing featured characters whose presence would have been unthinkable here a decade ago: Elon Musk, the eccentric tech billionaire, Pete Hegseth, the Fox News host turned “secretary of war”, and of course Trump himself, a former reality TV star now leading the world’s biggest superpower. Continue reading...

The 37-year-old scored 119 goals in spell with Catalans Pole won three league titles, including this season Robert Lewandowski has confirmed he is leaving Barcelona this summer at the end of his contract. The 37-year-old striker scored 119 goals for the Spanish club in 191 games across all competitions since joining from Bayern Munich in 2022. Lewandowski helped Barça to three La Liga titles, including this season’s trophy, and the Copa del Rey in 2025. “After four years full of challenges and hard work, it’s time to move on,” said Lewandowski in a post on Instagram. “I leave with the feeling that the mission is complete. Four seasons, three championships.” Continue reading...

Authorities previously suspended recovery operation for bodies of four divers believed to have died while exploring Vaavu Atoll cave Divers in the Maldives have resumed their search for the bodies of four Italian scuba divers who drowned while exploring a deep underwater cave. Due to rough weather on Friday, Maldivian authorities had temporarily suspended the high-risk operation to recover the bodies of the divers who, according to Italy’s foreign ministry, had “apparently died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres (164ft)”. Continue reading...

Cannes film festival: Commanding performances and a great musical score underpin this seductive drama about regret, memory and young love Virginia Woolf seems to be having a moment in the movies. Soon, we will see Tina Gharavi’s new version of Woolf’s comic novel Night and Day; and now, Nigerian film-making brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri have brought to Cannes their interpretation of Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, a seductively mysterious, languorous, melancholy drama with commanding performances and a great musical score. It is set partly in modern-day Lagos, whose ambient streetscapes are conjured up with style, and partly in the more bucolic Abraka in southern Nigeria, 30 years in the past. It is essentially a film about life-choices, about the terrible inevitability of marrying the wrong person and yearning to make sense of the past without regret. The film moves with an easier and more unselfconscious swing than, say, Stephen Daldry’s Dalloway-themed movie The Hours from 2002. There is a smooth switch between before and after, sometimes using the time-honoured technique of a photograph taken in the past that is rediscovered much later by some of its now-older subjects. Continue reading...

Planning inspector backs council’s rejection of development which was ‘not exemplary, extraordinary, remarkable or distinctive, just tall’ Celebrities including Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger have defeated plans to build a 29-storey tower on the banks of the River Thames. Jagger, along with fellow rockstar Eric Clapton, actor Felicity Kendal and comic Harry Hill, fought the developer Rockwell Property for two years over its plan to erect a 100-metre tower next to Battersea Bridge. If the tower had been built on the south bank of the Thames in south-west London, it would have rivalled the heights of the famous chimneys on Battersea power station. Continue reading...

Conservatives expected to keep majority as socialists face drubbing and ballot tests trajectory of far-right Vox party Voters in the southern Spanish region of Andalucía will cast their ballots in an election this weekend that is likely to deliver an absolute majority to the conservative People’s party (PP) and inflict another debilitating defeat on Pedro Sánchez’s embattled socialists in what was previously one of their proudest strongholds. Sunday’s election in Spain’s most populous region – the last big poll before next year’s general election – will serve as a barometer of wider electoral opinion and could also reveal whether the popularity of the far-right Vox party is beginning to peak. Continue reading...

I cannot think of one thing that a cruise offers that isn’t available in the safe bosom of dry land I don’t swim. This is a fairly crucial element of my backstory, something that defines me even if I don’t want it to and have begged people to stop asking me about it. Water and I simply have nothing in common. I’m a 41-year-old writer, and water is, well … wet. My son swims like a fish, and as soon as I dunk my head under the surface, I start wondering what it would be like to suffocate, how soon I can come back up, and what I’m even doing down there in the first place. As bad as a pool is, the ocean is even worse. It’s not just water. It’s water with living creatures in it. What’s down there? I don’t care to find out. Things are bad enough up here. My general lack of interest in swimming, perhaps better described as a horrible fear, is one of the reasons I’ve never been on a cruise. God forbid I have to escape because of some kind of Steven Seagal/Under Siege situation. I’d jump on the edge of the boat, desperately attempt to doggy-paddle and end up at the bottom of the Mariana trench. Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

Some activists believe protesting against ICE is ineffective, instead appealing to agents’ morality through both guilt and compassion. But are ICE agents capable of remorse? In November 2025, a TV ad began running in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Palm Beach, Florida. In it, a little girl with blond hair in a ponytail lies on her belly, working on a coloring book. A nearby TV blares with images of immigrants being brutalized by ICE agents. The front door opens and the girl bounces up, rushing over to hug her father and asks: “Daddy, how was your day?” while the camera reveals ICE insignia on his shirtsleeve. The voiceover begins: “A mask can’t hide you from your neighbors, your children and God. You can walk away, before the shame follows you home.” Continue reading...

After death of his father, Reed Jobs is keen for his $1bn venture capital fund Yosemite to make a difference “I saw my dad have cancer when I was a kid, and unfortunately that happens far too often. And that really motivated me to try to transform outcomes for other people out there.” Reed Jobs is talking about the death of his father, the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, to a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2011 at the age of 56, the experience that underlines his mission to make cancer a non-lethal, treatable disease. Continue reading...

A foreign face is often thought to add prestige to a product or business – what’s behind this unregulated economy? Piers had been in China for all of two days in 2009 when he was used as a “white monkey” for the first time. He had travelled to a village in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, to attend a friend’s wedding and had stopped in the village to try a special crab dish at a small restaurant. Weeks later, a Chinese guest who had been at the wedding told him the restaurant had had an uptick in business because the locals had heard that a laowai, a foreigner, had been seen dining there, so people had assumed this restaurant must be good. Piers realised the boss had deliberately seated him in a way to attract attention: “I knew we were sitting outside in a premium spot, but I didn’t pick up on what was going on.” When foreigners in China are used this way, they are called a baihouzi, a white monkey. They’re hired to help Chinese businesses appear more desirable, the foreigner association conveying prestige and a sense that your product is universally regarded. The industry is unregulated in China, operating in a legal grey area. White monkey positions are advertised on job boards and can fall into different categories, from acting and modelling for Chinese films and products to pretending to be the foreign CEO of a Chinese company to lend it credibility. They might be seat warmers or go-go dancers in Chinese nightclubs to draw in customers, or English teachers in language centres to make Chinese parents feel their children are being taught by legitimate native English speakers (even if a Chinese person is actually a better qualified teacher). These businesses believe that having the “foreign look” will give them an edge over other Chinese companies offering the same service. The phenomenon of recruiting foreigners for this performative purpose can be traced to the concept of mianzi, having “face” in Chinese society, which denotes bestowing and receiving respect for each other. Continue reading...

With layoffs widely expected and editorial tensions deepening, correspondents await a post-season shakeup At a time when viewers are fleeing traditional television shows, the CBS Sunday newsmagazine 60 Minutes remains in a class of its own. The 12 April episode, which featured Pope Leo and a story on great white sharks, drew an astounding 10.1 million total viewers. The show is trending as the most-watched news program for the current broadcast season. So, as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? That’s what some CBS News employees and veterans are wondering, amid persistent rumors that the show’s 59th season will look very different than the 58th, which ends on 17 May. Continue reading...

The Photo London 2026 Student Award has been given to Akanksya Dahal of Ravensbourne University London from a shortlist of four artists nominated by tutors at UK universities. The three other nominees were Anna Bradshaw of Birmingham City University, Bo Fan of London College of Communication, and Madison Hafner of Falmouth University. The judging panel was Fiona Shields, the head of photography at the Guardian; Lisa Springer, the curator of photography at the V&A; the photographer Mimi Mollica; and Kimberly Hoang, the picture editor at the British Red Cross Photo London takes place at Olympia until 17 May Continue reading...