Attorneys for Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born US green card holder, say he was targeted for criticizing Israel Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque was detained by federal immigration agents, drawing accusations from local officials and religious leaders that the arrest was motivated by his statements against Israel. Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by nearly a dozen US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Monday in Milwaukee after he left his home, according to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. Continue reading...

Judge Lewis Liman dismissed 10 of Lively’s 13 claims against Baldoni, including claim of sexual harassment Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox A federal judge has thrown out the majority of Blake Lively’s claims against Justin Baldoni. In a court ruling on Thursday, Judge Lewis Liman dismissed 10 of the 13 claims in Lively’s lawsuit against her co-star and director of the domestic violence film It Ends With Us. Continue reading...

Rodney Ward returned debris instead of pets’ ashes and stored animals’ bodies in hearse or threw them out on road Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox A Baltimore county man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of defrauding pet owners through his fake crematorium business, returning rocks and sand to grieving victims instead of ashes. On Tuesday, 56-year-old Rodney Ward was also ordered to pay $12,510 in restitution to victims. He had pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft and five counts of malicious destruction of property over $1,000, according to the Baltimore county state’s attorney’s office. Continue reading...

OpenAI’s chief of strategy says acquisition of show will help company engage with public about AI as it evolves OpenAI is wading into the media business by acquiring TBPN, a technology-focused talkshow closely watched by Silicon Valley insiders, its hosts said on Wednesday. Co-hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays broadcast TBPN live for three hours every weekday from Los Angeles, lining up guests that include founders, venture capitalists and major figures in the technology world. Continue reading...

Three-time champion ‘out for extended period’ ‘It is the most special week. I will be watching’ Phil Mickelson has announced he will not compete at next week’s Masters due to an ongoing “family health matter”. Six-time major winner Mickelson, who won the Masters in 2004, 2006 and 2010, missed the first four LIV Golf events of the year and said he will remain “out for an extended period of time”. Continue reading...

Latest data shows 209 cases recorded as assisted dying referred to CPS by police between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 31 this year Thirteen cases of suspected assisted dying are being considered by prosecutors in England and Wales, according to the latest data. Encouraging or assisting the suicide or attempted suicide of another person is against the law in England and Wales, under the Suicide Act 1961. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

From a chalk-and-cheese duo obsessed with custard creams to in-laws who didn’t get on until a family death – brace yourself for another journey of big feelings There is ice. A bear lopes across a vast white tundra, weaving footprints in the snow. Closeup of a snow leopard. Crisp crunch of boots in thick snow. Heavy breathing … Running … Screaming … Is it the latest Paul Greengrass thriller? No. The words “51 Days Earlier” appear. Volare starts playing. And now we’re in sunny Palermo, Sicily: the southern Italian city conquered more than any other in Europe. Where else could we be but at the starting line of Race Across the World? You know when a BBC series has gone stratospheric because the opening gets suitably hysterical and starts to think it’s a Bourne spin-off. And so it comes to pass with the sixth series of the BBC flagship show, now such a powerful harbinger of spring on these small isles that it has replaced daffodils. The premise, for the stubborn percent who haven’t succumbed, is simple and brilliant; a formula that, like the cometh of spring, will never get old. Continue reading...

Headlining set for Netflix Is a Joke festival marks first outing with major streamer since misconduct allegations in 2017 Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Netflix is welcoming Louis CK back into its fold. The comedian, long subject to questions regarding rehabilitation and so-called “cancel culture”, will headline a show at the Hollywood Bowl next month as part of the streamer’s Netflix Is a Joke festival – his first major outing with a streamer since allegations of sexual misconduct at the height of the #MeToo movement. Later this summer, Netflix will also premiere CK’s new special, Ridiculous, which he directed and executive-produced. Continue reading...

‘Partnership’ on drug pricing also gives patients in Britain greater access to potentially life-extending treatments British drug exports to the United States will escape tariffs imposed by Donald Trump as part of a controversial UK-US medicines deal that critics fear will mean less money for the NHS. The deal will also give patients in Britain greater access to potentially life-extending drugs because the rules have been relaxed to allow the NHS to pay more for particular treatments. Continue reading...

Two people reported killed in attack on newly completed suspension bridge after strike splits structure in half Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump claimed responsibility for destroying Iran’s largest bridge, a day after he threatened to bomb the country “back to the stone ages” if a deal to end the five-week-long war he started was not reached. The US president shared footage of part of the newly built 136 metre-high $400m B1 suspension bridge between Tehran and Karaj collapsing dramatically on to the causeway below amid a rising plume of black smoke. Continue reading...

Barcelona 6-0 Real Madrid (agg 12-2) Graham Hansen brace in front of capacity crowd A sold-out Camp Nou was treated to a memorable performance from Barcelona as they hit six past their humiliated rivals Real Madrid and reached the Women’s Champions League semi-finals. The runners-up last season, Barcelona were already 6-2 up from the first leg after a ruthless victory in the Spanish capital and they coasted through to the last four in style on Thursday with an emphatic 12-2 aggregate victory, setting up a semi-final showdown with the Bundesliga leaders, Bayern Munich. The German side eliminated Manchester United on Wednesday. Continue reading...

A Radio-Canada reporter noticed his maple syrup tasted odd; testing revealed it was adulterated with cane sugar An investigation by Canada’s national broadcaster has found that a major Quebec producer has been diluting its maple syrup with cane sugar and selling the fraudulent product to grocery chains. In a sting operation that involved false identities and covert recordings, journalists from Radio-Canada’s Enquête programme found that a low-cost syrup sold in major grocery store chains was heavily diluted. Continue reading...

Texas power plant would emit 4.5m tons of carbon dioxide per year, more than that of the entire city of San Francisco Google has struck a partnership for a natural gas power plant that could provide energy for one of its datacenters in Texas, unearthed by new research and confirmed by the company. The move is part of an ongoing about-face for the tech giant, which once pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has long been seen as a pioneer in clean energy. The gas power plant is slated to be built in Armstrong county, a sparsely populated area in the Texas panhandle. According to a report by the research organization Cleanview, the project is being led by Crusoe Energy, which partnered with Google to develop the datacenter campus known as “Goodnight”, named after a nearby town. Continue reading...

Government must ‘come down very hard’ on online trade in knives and weapons, says policing and crime minister Sarah Jones Children are setting up online businesses selling knives in the same way they trade clothes, the policing and crime minister Sarah Jones has said. Jones heard how children as young as 12 were buying and selling the weapons on the internet and social media at the opening of the new National Knife Crime Centre in Bloomsbury, central London, on Thursday. Continue reading...

The US president couldn’t give a single coherent reason for why this aggressive war of choice must still be prosecuted Donald Trump’s self-congratulatory speech on Iran on Wednesday night was as puzzling as it was divorced from reality. I had hoped he would declare victory and end the war. Some feared he might provide cover for a ground invasion. Instead, he told us in essence to be patient, that he is almost done, but he was utterly unclear about what more there is to accomplish. If there was ever a purpose to the war, it was to curtail Iran’s capacity to develop a nuclear weapon. Trump harped on that goal repeatedly in his speech, noting that he had long vowed that he “would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon”. But he didn’t mention that Iran has long agreed to eschew a nuclear weapon. If that is the only goal, this entire war has been pointless. Continue reading...

Sensory organ in male cephalopod, known as hectocotylus, able to detect female hormone progesterone, even if male cannot see partner Sex might seem an intimate act, but scientists have shed fresh light on how octopuses manage it at arm’s length. Male octopuses use a specialised arm called the hectocotylus to place a package of sperm inside the female’s reproductive system. Continue reading...

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Six teenage girls have been arrested after shops were stormed by young people earlier this week as part of social media trend Sadiq Khan has warned against any repeat of “utterly unacceptable” scenes of disorder in Clapham earlier this week, saying culprits who assault and intimidate shop workers will face the full force of the law. The mayor of London said more arrests will be made in the coming days, and urged anyone considering more violence over the Easter weekend to think again. Continue reading...

Difficult spell for Liam Rosenior’s side has not been helped by interventions from two of their senior players Trust the process. Ignore the haters. Promise that the trophies will come. Stay on brand. Disappear on international duty and issue a brazen come-and-get-me plea to Real Madrid. Suggest a move to Barcelona would be difficult to reject. Don’t silence the noise. Increase the noise. Question the club’s transfer policy. Say you miss the previous manager. Say Madrid is your favourite European city. Say it more than once. Hang on. Have we gone off-message here? These have been a turbulent few weeks for Chelsea. Humbled in Europe by Paris Saint-Germain, and in danger of allowing their Premier League campaign to spiral out of control, they could have done without two of their biggest players creating a PR storm during the international break. Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernández did not get the memo, though. Fernández is clearly after a summer move – “I really like Madrid, it’s similar to Buenos Aires,” the Argentina midfielder said this week. Meanwhile Cucurella did not hold back during a recent interview with the Athletic, saying Chelsea have “paid the price” for their inexperience, questioning Enzo Maresca’s mid-season departure and saying the heavy defeat by PSG in the last 16 of the Champions League has left players “discouraged”. Continue reading...

A great effort will be needed to undo the damage once the US president has gone. But with the constitution unable to bring him to order now, that is what we must do The US is extraordinary. One day it goes to the far side of the moon and revives the space age. On the same day, its president is looking to the far side of the Earth and says he will take Iran “back to the stone ages”. It may be a giant leap for mankind, but in what direction? There can be no point other than prestige in sending humans to the moon, which is why more than 50 years have passed since they last went there. Robots can perform all we need in space. Returning the Iranians to the stone age is a different matter. The last time the US made the same boast was against Vietnam in a typical threat (much misquoted) by Gen Curtis LeMay. Vietnam crushed the US in the ensuing war. Simon Jenkins 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...

Speaking in South Korea, the French president defended the transatlantic alliance and called for return to peace Middle East crisis – live updates Emmanuel Macron has sharply criticised Donald Trump’s inconsistent and often contradictory pronouncements on the Iran war and Nato, saying if “you want to be serious” it was better not to come out with a something different every day. “There is too much talk … and it’s all over the place,” the French president said on Thursday during a state visit to South Korea. “We all need stability, calm, a return to peace – this isn’t a show!” Continue reading...

Former government adviser Polly Billington urges bigger steps to shield people in UK from effects of Iran war Middle East crisis – live updates Keir Starmer should convene a global energy summit of the same order as Gordon Brown’s response to the 2008 financial crisis and put Britain on a “war footing” to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels, a Labour MP and former government adviser has said. Polly Billington, who was an aide in Brown’s government, warned that economic pain was “hurtling down the tracks” and a bigger response was needed to protect the British people from the consequences of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Continue reading...

Anne Longfield has a vast, fraught task ahead of her. Victims must know from the outset what they can expect Terms of reference for the independent inquiry into grooming gangs in England and Wales have been agreed. The formal process starts in less than two weeks. For victims and survivors, this is a huge moment. Many have battled for years for a statutory inquiry of this sort. In response to their feedback, the timeframe now stretches back to 1996. Examining crimes, and the response to them, in many locations over such a long period is a daunting task. But by commissioning this inquiry, after initially rejecting the idea, the government has accepted that a nationwide overview of the phenomenon of group-based child sexual exploitation is needed. Continue reading...

Sacking of Simon Dudley is latest distraction at a time when party is keen to show it is serious contender for government It was a week that started with a candid admission from Nigel Farage when asked if his party’s vetting process was now finally up to scratch. “I accept that at the last general election, basically there was no vetting really,” the Reform UK leader said after the latest of what a senior colleague had described as a “series of abhorrent incidents”. The latest had involved a Welsh Senedd candidate, Corey Edwards, who was forced to step down after a picture of him appearing to do a Nazi salute surfaced online. Continue reading...

Keeping the world championship in the UK is good news for a city and region which have punched under their weight Sheffield was still an industrial powerhouse when George Orwell suggested that it “could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World” – adding that “its inhabitants, who want it to be pre-eminent in everything, very likely do make that claim for it”. The steel mills and smog that he loathed disappeared, but much of the city’s confidence dissipated with its heavy industry. Though one of the country’s largest cities, it has punched below its economic and cultural weight. Manchester remains the northern colossus; Leeds proclaims itself the unofficial capital of Yorkshire. Last week’s announcement that the world snooker championships would remain at Sheffield’s Crucible theatre until 2045 was not just a surprise after heavy hints that it could move to Saudi Arabia or China: it was a major relief for a neglected northern giant. Continue reading...