Police say attack in Dunmurry in which no one was hurt shows ‘murderous intent still exists’ in paramilitaries “Murderous intent and capability” still exists within paramilitaries in Northern Ireland, officers have said after a car exploded outside a police station on the outskirts of Belfast. Detectives said they believed the New IRA was involved and are treating it as attempted murder. Continue reading...

Some employers are reluctant to cut workers’ hours but pay them the same – but it just might be the future of work We keep hearing that the four-day workweek is the future. So why are so few businesses actually adopting it? Belgium, Iceland and Lithuania have passed legislation requiring the practice, and other countries in Europe are piloting the idea. Hundreds of companies in the UK have signed up for to give this a try. Microsoft tested the concept in Japan. Non-profits such as the 4 Day Week Foundation and WorkFour are dedicated to expanding the concept. Continue reading...

Riverside Studios, London Jeffrey Longford is pedantic, superior and gripes at everything from hospital data systems to gender-neutral loos Heartsinks, in doctors’ private and profane lingo, are difficult patients who conjure dismay in the hearts of the medical professionals they come to see. So Dr Jeffrey Longford (Aden Gillett) reminds his friend and fellow GP after dealing with a “fit as a flea” hypochondriac who returns, week after week, albeit always with a slice of cake. Jeffrey becomes something of a heartsink himself when he turns from doctor to patient after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. The real-life cases of Paul Kalanithi (in When Breath Becomes Air) and Henry Marsh (in And Finally) show how difficult it is for doctors to adjust to the patient role. In the case of Jeffrey, it is simply annoying: he insists the oncology receptionist use his “doctor” moniker rather than her pet endearments of “lovey” and “poppet”; he is pedantic, superior and generally full of complaint in the waiting room, griping about the electronic medical data system, the hospital’s layout and its gender-neutral loos. Continue reading...

Coventry celebrated their Championship title with a 3-1 victory that leaves Wrexham’s playoff ambitions in the balance. The Sky Blues were in party mood after Frank Lampard’s side had wrapped up the title on Tuesday and before the trophy presentation after the final whistle. Brandon Thomas-Asante volleyed the hosts ahead after 19 minutes at the CBS Arena, but Ollie Rathbone replied quickly for sixth-placed Wrexham. Continue reading...

Trade union criticises airline’s plan to halve passenger numbers to the city as ‘purely profit-oriented’ Ryanair is to shut its Berlin operating base and cut its winter schedule to the German capital in half, blaming its decision on soaring aviation taxes in the country. The Irish budget carrier said its relocation of seven aircraft to other centres would reduce its Berlin passenger numbers from 4.5 million to 2.2 million a year, with flights in and out of the city served from October by planes based at other airports. Continue reading...

⚽ Updates from 3.30pm BST kick-off at Emirates Stadium ⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Bluesky | Get in touch with Will The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for? Pre-match reading. Continue reading...

Defending champion faces Shaun Murphy after 13-9 win Mark Selby and Yu Wize level at 4-4 after first session Zhao Xintong moved closer to cracking the so-called “Crucible Curse” as he booked his quarter-final place at the World Snooker Championship, wrapping up a hard-fought 13-9 win over compatriot Ding Junhui. The defending champion shrugged off some evident nerves to build on a 9-7 overnight advantage despite losing an error-strewn, 46-minute opener that saw Ding temporarily reduce the arrears to a single frame. Continue reading...

Literally a mix of white (blanc) and red (rouge) grapes, the light, fresh tipple is popping up in bars around the world. Move over rosé and orange wine ... Twenty years ago, a winery could do well selling one white and two reds, says Konrad Pixner, a northern Italian winemaker who set up his vineyard, Domaine de L’Accent, in Languedoc, France, in 2019. But today, importers and bars always ask: “Do you have something new?” So up in the hills, surrounded by deep gorges and limestone plateaus, Pixner is constantly experimenting. After a good harvest in 2023, Pixner walked into the shed he shares with other winemakers at 4am to find that his biggest vat of white wine, pressed from carignan blanc grapes, had overflowed during fermentation. He had run out of space, so he quickly “pumped the white juice into the tank where whole bunches of carignan noir were,” he says, and left them to ferment for 10 days together. In contrast to rosé, made from red grapes left for a short time with their skins on before being pressed, he created “blouge” – a light, fresh wine blended from white and red grapes that’s best served chilled. It has now caught on among creative vintners around the world. Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts This week’s question: The Missouri tofu spill was ‘unforgettable’ – but what are history’s greatest bad smells? The furious reaction to Donald Trump’s posting of an AI-generated image of himself as a Christ-like healer resulted in a rare walkback from the US president, who deleted it from his social media account and insisted it was “supposed to be me as a doctor”. But if you were in fact the saviour of humanity, how would you go about convincing people of this? Even Jesus Christ himself struggled (although, admittedly, that was part of the plan). Bob Kenny, Dublin Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Continue reading...

With his stand against Trump, the pope has shown the far right doesn’t have a monopoly on Christianity. If people of good faith push hard, the future could be redefined In the same way that America’s shambolic war on Iran has turned Donald Trump into the most effective EV salesman the world has ever seen, so his attempts to defend said war have produced another unlikely outcome: the rise of a genuine and global theological debate. Led by Pope Leo but extending across Christian denominations, it’s producing the sudden recognition that a kind of progressive Christianity long given over for dead seems to be stirring. Christ is risen, as it were – and if people of good faith push hard, the future could be redefined in powerful ways. This story has developed so rapidly, with so many steps, that it’s hard to remember them all. When America launched its cruel attack, there was widespread reporting that some officers were exhorting to treat it as a prelude to the second coming. That provoked no pushback from the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, a representative of a tattooed Christianity (not that it matters, but have these people not read Leviticus?); indeed, with each press conference Hegseth edged closer to a revival meeting, invoking God’s blessing on his bombing and pillaging. “We are hitting them while they’re down, which is the way it should be,” he said. Continue reading...

Researchers find ‘alarming’ effect on fertility across global species from simultaneous exposures Simultaneous exposure to toxic chemicals and climate change’s impacts likely generates an additive or synergistic effect that increases reproductive harm, and may contribute to the broad global drop in fertility, new peer-reviewed research finds. The review of scientific literature considers how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, often found in plastic, coupled with climate change’s effects, such as heat stress, are each linked to reductions in fertility and fecundity across global species – including in humans, wildlife and invertebrates. Continue reading...

The cosmetic procedure raises concern about the tissue donation process – and our own anxieties about our appearance There’s a buzzy new diva in the world of cosmetic injectables and she’s quick, easy to recover from … and came from a dead body. Indeed, people are injecting themselves with fat from corpses in order to pump up their physiques, and it’s catching on more than you would think. “It’s a gamechanger,” Dr Douglas Steinbrech, surgeon at Alpha Male, a Manhattan plastic surgery clinic that’s become popular for this procedure, told the Guardian. “[Recipients] don’t need surgery. They don’t need general anesthesia. They don’t have recovery, and the pain from all that.” Continue reading...

The actor and producer on being a teenage model, making My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and the secret to long-lasting love Born in Hollywood in 1956, Rita Wilson’s first role was in The Brady Bunch at the age of 15. She went on to appear in Frasier and The Good Wife, as well as romcom classics such as Sleepless in Seattle and Runaway Bride. She produced the highest‑grossing romcom of all time, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, as well as Mamma Mia! and A Man Called Otto, which starred her husband, Tom Hanks, and son Truman. Alongside her career on screen, she has released music since 2012. Her sixth studio album, Sound of a Woman, is out on 1 May. My mum took this photo of me in Hollywood. I’d just started high school and was joyful, open and optimistic. Continue reading...

Our lives are mediated through social media, which gives us twitchy main-character energy. No wonder we’re not enjoying it In my teens, I wanted to be famous. I did absolutely nothing to further this goal, but I spent ages daydreaming about being profiled in Vogue, showcasing my great beauty and coolness, and choosing eight obscure indie tracks for Desert Island Discs (I listened to Radio 4 a lot; further proof of my coolness). Then I grew up and fame became horrible. Fame was probably always horrible – think of all those golden age starlets used, abused and spat out by the studio system – but it’s extra horrible now. Lena Dunham’s new memoir, Famesick, catalogues with candour the distorting effect of internet-age global celebrity: the way it warps relationships, self-image, every interaction. Dunham describes the infinite torrent of online hate and ferocious disgust (she compulsively tallied how many times she was described as “fat” or “ugly” on Twitter); the way friends, acquaintances and strangers treated her as a “bottomless resource”; the toxic impact of fame on her mental health. Continue reading...

⚽ Updates from the 3pm BST kick-off at Wembley ⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Bluesky It’s hard to believe this is Leeds’ first FA Cup semi-final since 1987, when they lost a thriller against Coventry. The last time they reached the final, Don Revie was manager. The beauty – the point – of most football matches is that we don’t know who’s going to win. In today’s FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Leeds, it’s not even clear who are the favourites to win. Continue reading...

Sadler’s Wells East, London At 67, the mercurial Lecavalier is in the I’ll-do-whatever-I-want phase of her career, choreographing solos that are worlds away from cosy retirement Louise Lecavalier is known for dancing with David Bowie (on his Sound + Vision tour and Fame 90 video) and for being the face of Canadian dance company La La La Human Steps in the 1980s and 90s. She’s also known for being contemporary dance’s most athletic, acrobatic performer, hurtling through the air like a flying bullet, launching into barrel jumps, corkscrewing on a horizontal axis. She’s always been an exceptional dancing body, and that still holds true at the age of 67, where Lecavalier seems to have entered the uncompromising, I’ll-do-whatever-I-want phase of her career, choreographing her own solos that are worlds away from any idea of cosy retirement. Lecavalier comes scampering backwards on stage, dressed in long coat and hood (druid vibes). Skittish as she bounces on the balls of her feet, her body quivers and quirks with a febrile quality, playing out compulsive repetitions to the restless bpm of a techno soundtrack. Lecavalier’s movement hints at echoes of dances past – wisps of a balletic port de bras, or some entrechat jumps; a burst of hip-hop footwork – but all through a blurred filter. She’s a distinctive, mercurial presence: somewhere between witchy raver, manic pixie dream grandmother and earnest artist of the avant garde. Danses Vagabondes is inspired by Carlo Rovelli’s book Écrits Vagabonds, a collection of essays wandering through disparate topics, the thoughts of a roaming mind. Lecavalier, too, is in constant motion, scrolling through all these impulses with a tight, nervous energy that’s strangely engaging. Although when the tempo slows the wandering goes a little off course. It’s hard not to marvel at the way Lecavalier’s body is still very much at her command – she can still kick her leg to her shoulder, but that’s by the by. It’s harder still not to marvel at this dancer’s unquenchable maverick spirit. • At Sadler’s Wells East, London, until 27 April Continue reading...

US president says venue was ‘not a particularly secure building’ as man is held after shots fired at annual press dinner The acting US attorney general, Todd Blanche, has said that law enforcement believes that the alleged White House correspondents’ dinner shooter was targeting Trump administration officials. “It does appear that he, he did, in fact, have set out to target folks that work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC News’ Meet the Press, adding that the suspect likely traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington DC. Continue reading...

Prime minister says his job is not at risk over Mandelson vetting as allies back him against claims of wrongdoing Keir Starmer has said he will lead Labour into the next general election as his Downing Street allies denied claims of any wrongdoing over the appointment and vetting of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday show that “no wrongdoing by the prime minister has been proven in relation to Lord Mandelson’s appointment”, adding “the whole situation is regrettable”. Continue reading...

Extra funding to be approved by Fifa Council this week National FAs feared losing money at this summer’s finals Fifa has agreed in principle to increase World Cup 2026 prize money and participation fees, with details of the enhanced funding to be approved at a meeting of the Fifa Council in Vancouver this week. World football’s governing body has responded to concerns raised by several national associations – first reported by The Guardian in February the high costs of travel, operations and tax in the United States in particular this summer will result in them losing money, even if their side has a successful tournament and reaches the latter stages. Continue reading...

Experts fear losing ground to virus even as the end of the HIV epidemic is in sight, and say decline in infant testing is ‘particularly concerning’ The US government released likely the last report from Pepfar (President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief) earlier this month and the chief science officer announced his resignation days later as the US moves to a patchwork of individual partnerships with each country, potentially driven by resource extraction. While more leadership with other countries has long been the goal with global HIV efforts, experts fear the US is moving too quickly without being able to monitor its efforts as well as it has done with Pepfar for more than two decades. They fear losing ground to the virus even as the end of the HIV epidemic is in sight. Continue reading...

They may be pennies a packet, but the ubiquitous custard cream can be a revelation if you make them at home. But who has come up with the ideal bake? Prue Leith reckons the custard cream is “arguably Britain’s most iconic biscuit” – and, certainly, we’ve been dunking this fern-patterned treat in our tea for well over a century, with early advertisements for this “delicious biscuit” placing it, perhaps aspirationally, in the “fancy” category. By 1920, Bermondsey baking behemoth Peek Frean could confidently declare the custard cream “far and away the most popular of all the cream sandwich biscuits”, a status only slightly dented by the time I was at school about seven decades later, when it sat just below its contemporary, the chocolate bourbon, in the playtime snack ratings. Despite my love of both custard and cookies, however, I’ve always found this particular custard-flavoured product a bit sugary and dull. As historian Lizzie Collingham explains in her magisterial book, The Biscuit: The History of a Very British Indulgence, it combines two early industrial foodstuffs, namely custard powder and machine-made biscuits, and though they may have been created in a factory, I think they’re much better made at home. Continue reading...

US defense secretary’s openly Christian nationalist church continues to have growing influence in the White House On 17 April, at a briefing on the Iran war, secretary of defense Pete Hegseth told reporters he had been “sitting in church with my family” the previous Sunday while the minister preached from Mark 3. Hegseth then recast a passage about the Pharisees watching Jesus “so that they might accuse him” as a description of the US press corps, which has long been a target of his ire. “Our press is just like these Pharisees,” Hegseth said. He accused “the legacy Trump-hating press” of a “politically motivated animus” that blinded it to “the brilliance of our American warriors”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Investigation into campaigning materials for local polls in May challenges tactical voting claims Election leaflets are providing “grotesque” information about how to vote tactically in the May elections, using national polling data, “dodgy” bar charts and doorstep surveys to support claims about parties’ chances of winning. Leaflets distributed by local politicians across England are claiming that either only their party can win, or another party “can’t win here” when “there is no good evidence to show that’s true”, a Full Fact investigation for the Guardian has revealed. Continue reading...

Kenyan wins men’s race in 1hr 59mins 30secs Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa defends her women’s title They call Sabastian Sawe the silent assassin. But it was impossible to ignore the beautiful destruction on the streets of London as the 30-year-old Kenyan became the first athlete to shatter the two-hour barrier in an official race. As Sawe crossed the line on the Mall, the clock showed that he had run 26.2 miles in a staggering 1 hour, 59mins and 30 seconds – 65 seconds faster than the previous best set by Kelvin Kiptum in 2023. Continue reading...

UK cabinet minister says there are extensive discussions over security after gunman attempted to storm dinner attended by Trump US politics live – latest updates King Charles’s security is being reviewed before his state visit to the US this week after a gunman attempted to storm a dinner with Donald Trump in Washington DC, a UK cabinet minister has said. Guests at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night hid under tables when gunshots were heard as the president and other members of his administration were evacuated by the Secret Service. Continue reading...