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...

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...

The 75th anniversary of this landmark event is a timely reminder of how art can bring people together Launched by King George VI on 3 May 1951, the Festival of Britain was conceived as a “tonic” for a nation battered by war, debt and rationing. At a time of ongoing global conflicts and austerity, there are parallels with today. Its impact in 1951 is hard to overstate. What buildings remained were smoke-blackened; the air was full of smog. Into this dreary landscape, the festival was an explosion of colour and creativity, offering a dazzling vision of the future. 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...

Sinner is youngest man to reach all nine Masters finals Raducanu reunites with coach who helped her win slam Jannik Sinner has become the youngest man to reach the final of all nine Masters 1000 tournaments after swatting aside Arthur Fils at the Madrid Open. The world No 1 follows Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in completing the set and, at 24, has done so at a younger age than his illustrious predecessors – taking a year off Djokovic’s record. Continue reading...

Record-breaker says London Marathon win was ‘a victory for all of us’ as he is greeted by family and friends in Eldoret Hugged, cheered and adorned with garlands, the first man to run an official marathon in under two hours has returned as a hero to his home village in Kenya. Sabastian Sawe, who stunned the world when he clocked 1h 59m 30s in the London Marathon last weekend, flew in a Kenyan military plane normally reserved for special operations on Thursday to his home region of western Kenya. Continue reading...

Former One Direction member cancelled US shows after recent hospitalization for an unspecified illness Zayn Malik, the musician formerly in One Direction, has cancelled all US dates for his upcoming tour following hospitalization for an unspecified illness. Malik wrote in an Instagram story: “To my fans: Thank you so much for all the support and love you’ve shown me on the album release and more importantly your love, prayers, and well wishes for my health. I’ve felt it, and it’s meant the world. I’ve been at home recovering and I’m doing well and will be better and stronger than before.” Continue reading...

In the six months since a ceasefire was announced in Gaza, more than 800 civilians have been killed and living conditions have remained dire. Meanwhile, Palestinians in the West Bank face a surge in violence from Israeli settlers and soldiers. While the world’s attention has turned to the war in Iran, is there any end to the suffering in sight? Annie Kelly speaks to the Guardian’s chief Middle East correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison Continue reading...

Israeli foreign ministry denounce ‘shameful act’ after footage shows man pushing woman to the ground and kicking her A video of an attack on a French Catholic nun and archeological researcher in Jerusalem has caused widespread revulsion and has been denounced as a “shameful act” by Israel’s foreign ministry. In the video, a man runs up behind the nun as she walks down a street and pushes her over with force, so that the victim comes close to hitting her head on a block of stone. After walking away a few paces, the attacker, who appears to be Jewish, returns to kick the nun as she lay on the ground and only stops when a passerby intervenes. Continue reading...

NAHT leader says schools watchdog for England does not raise standards, amid opposition to ‘Nando’s-style’ scoring School leaders are being pressurised “to the point of destruction”, the head of a teaching union has said, as he put the education establishment “on notice”. During a speech to the union’s annual conference in Belfast, Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), outlined his criticisms of Ofsted, the schools watchdog for England. . Continue reading...

Readers respond to Zoe Williams’ article about the rise of US nationals renouncing their citizenship to distance themselves from Donald Trump’s America I read Zoe Williams’ piece on Americans renouncing their citizenship with particular and personal interest (‘I don’t want to be part of a dictatorship’: the Americans queueing up to renounce their citizenship, 28 April). The rot started well before Donald Trump was elected in 2016, though he and his hostile team and policies have exacerbated that. Look back to George W Bush’s fight against terrorism following 9/11, one aspect of which involved tracking down terrorism funding by setting onerous reporting regulations on US citizens abroad, and on international financial institutions in which US citizens had an interest. Eventually some of those financial institutions outside the US decided they simply would not permit US citizens to invest in, bank with, or take out their products. Continue reading...

Francis Bown responds to Jonathan Freedland’s comparison of Pope Leo and Donald Trump Jonathan Freedland is right: in a contest between a former property developer turned politician and the Vicar of Christ, there is only ever going to be one winner (It’s no surprise Trump has met his match in Pope Leo – the US president represents the polar opposite of Christianity, 24 April). The present pope is an intelligent and sophisticated Augustinian, well versed in dealing with subtle and complex disputes within the Catholic church. Crude attacks from Donald Trump and JD Vance hold no terrors. The president’s greetings-card picture of himself as a Christ-like healer was childish and self-defeating, while the vice-president’s pointed gift of volumes of Saint Augustine’s writings, as if the pontiff were unfamiliar with their contents, was simply crass. Nevertheless, not all papal pronouncements are infallible. Pope Leo did open himself to legitimate criticism when he declared in his Palm Sunday address: “He [Jesus] does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” In the context of the Iran conflict, we know what he meant, but the bald statement invites misunderstanding. It appears at odds with the concept of a just war – the conditions for which are laid out in the catechism of the Catholic church (paragraph 2309). The pope’s remark would hardly apply to the petitions of those who waged war against the Nazis and who liberated the death camps. Francis Bown London Continue reading...

Phil Coughlin recalls the Irish border than ran through a village pub in Spike Milligan’s novel Puckoon, while Ken Rutter reflects on the ethics of building tougher borders In his article (Do stronger borders ever work?, 26 April) Richard Collett refers to the Irish border cleaving communities and even farmhouses in two. Spike Milligan picked up on this in Puckoon, where the border went through the public house of the eponymous village, such that two feet of the bar was in Northern Ireland and the remainder was in the Irish Free State. The locals quickly realised that beer would be cheaper in the Northern Ireland portion, due to more lenient taxation, with the result that they all attempted to crowd into the two feet of bar “in the North”, much to the disgust of the publican. A rare instance of a border bringing people closer together. Phil Coughlin Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear Continue reading...