World news | The Guardian

Florida is the latest state to have redrawn districts in effort to boost Republican seats from 20 to 24

US president's comment echoes threat that whole civilisation will die' as tension over strait of Hormuz ramps up again

US operation announced as Project Freedom' dramatically raises stakes in conflict

Costume Art pairs couture pieces with items from its collection in exploration of many kinds of human bodiesSpeaking at the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute spring exhibition in New York, Anna Wintour described the first Monday in May as her favourite day of the year, and also my most terrifying one".This particular Monday may be more high-stakes than previous years, with Monday night's Met Gala for the exhibition's launch mired in controversy, owing to Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos's sponsorship of the event. It is also the inaugural exhibition for the Costume Institute's new home: a 12,000 sq ft space, named the Conde M Nast Galleries, that puts the museum's fashion exhibitions in a considerably more high-profile spot, right off its Great Hall. Continue reading...

The 80-year-old singer will not be performing rescheduled dates in September but assured fans she is receiving treatment and improving every day'Dolly Parton has canceled her Las Vegas residency over ongoing health issues.The 80-year-old singer had originally been scheduled to perform six shows at Caesar's Palace last December but moved the dates to September 2026. She has now announced on social media that she won't be able to perform as planned. Continue reading...

Labor's 2026-27 budget shows state has recorded $700m surplus this financial year, first of its kind since before the Covid-19 pandemic

Labour leadership challenge in wake of disastrous local poll results could unleash chaos in party, MPs toldCabinet ministers have told mutinous Labour MPs that any attempt to oust Keir Starmer after a potentially disastrous set of election results this week would unleash chaos for the party that would not be easily overcome.Several, however, told the Guardian that even with the prime minister's determination to stay in Downing Street after Thursday's vote, the mood on the backbenches was febrile and events could yet spiral out of control. Continue reading...

Ron DeSantis approves maps that give Republicans an advantage in four more races in November's midterms

The British artist was booed after identifying as a Republican voter while on stage in DallasRapper Kid Cudi has fired MIA from his tour after the British artist went on a rant that went viral while on stage in Dallas.While opening up for the hip hop artist on 2 May, MIA was booed after saying: I've been canceled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter," as reported by Variety. Continue reading...

Delivery truck driver emerged with minor injuries after underside of jet hit tractor trailer in New Jersey on SundayThe driver of a delivery truck emerged with only minor injuries after his tractor trailer was struck by a passenger jet landing in New Jersey's busy Newark airport on Sunday afternoon, officials said.New Jersey state police said a landing tire and the underside of a United Airlines plane arriving from Venice, Italy, hit the truck in question. The Boeing 767 aircraft also clipped a light pole, which in turn struck a Jeep. Continue reading...

Police are searching for at least four individuals responsible for terrifying signals of hatred and threats of violence'

Future of Calvin Duncan's position as the clerk of New Orleans' criminal district courthouse remains unclearLouisiana Republicans eliminated an elected position days before a Democratic exoneree who overwhelmingly won the New Orleans-based post was set to take office on Monday.A temporary restraining order did allow the exoneree, Calvin Duncan, to take office as scheduled on Monday morning as the clerk of New Orleans' criminal district courthouse. But things soon turned administratively messy for Duncan when that order was frozen by the US fifth circuit court of appeals. Continue reading...

A suspect has been apprehended, but detectives say little is known about their motivation at this stageAt least two people have been killed and several injured after a driver in an SUV ploughed into a crowd in the centre of Leipzig in eastern Germany, the city's mayor has said.The police have apprehended the suspected assailant," Burkhard Jung said on Monday, adding that the authorities had the scene in a pedestrian zone under control. We still don't really know the motivation. We don't know anything about the perpetrator." Continue reading...

Nigel Farage's party proposed to place detention centres in places that vote for Green council leaders or MPsKeir Starmer has said that Europe has to face up to the fact that its alliance with the US is under strain.He made the remark in public comments during the plenary session at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan in Armenia.And both of those are impacting all of us in a very material way.In the United Kingdom, if you look at the economic forecast now and compare it to the economic forecast just three or four months ago, they are in materially different places, and this is going to play out with our electorates in all of our countries.Reform are now openly threatening voters and not only that they're threatening them with a power they don't actually have. This is absolutely pathetic. People across Scotland are proud of the fact that this is a welcoming country that shows solidarity to people who need it.Reform are essentially saying If you don't vote the way we want you to, we will punish you'. I think the people of Scotland and voters across the UK are not going to take kindly to that kind of Donald Trumpesque threat.Reform know that absolutely bombed last week. The only thing they've got to move on to are open threats, not against the Greens but against voters across the country. It's really quite sinister. This is exactly the kind of politics you see in Donald Trump's America. People across Scotland are going to reject that on Thursday. Continue reading...

President says US navy will guide' stranded ships out of waterway but report says warship was hit by Iran

Reform UK is doing something right when it comes to visibility' on multiple AI systems, say researchersAI platforms are more likely to reference Nigel Farage than any other UK leader when prompted about British politics, according to an AI search analytics firm.We are confident in saying that Reform are showing up significantly more than you would expect," said Malte Landwehr, an expert at Peec AI, the firm that did the research. So they're doing something right when it comes to LLM [large language model] visibility." Continue reading...

Alice Chapman and Zak Khan say they were beaten, kicked and spat on after detention near Crete last weekTwo British activists have said they were admitted to hospital after being beaten by Israeli forces who intercepted their Gaza aid flotilla last week.Alice Chapman and Zak Khan were among 180 members of the Global Sumud flotilla detained by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in international waters near Crete late on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Austrian foreign minister says forest of antennae' at mission in Vienna being used for illicit collection of dataAustria has expelled three Russian embassy staff on suspicion of spying after determining that a forest of antennae" on the diplomatic mission in Vienna, Europe's espionage capital since the cold war, was being be used for illicit data collection.It is unacceptable that diplomatic immunity be used to commit espionage," Austria's foreign minister, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, said on Monday. She added that the three embassy staff - whose expulsions bring the number of Russian diplomats sent home by Vienna to 14 since 2020 - had already left the country. Continue reading...

Comments at European Political Community summit come as Britain seeks to join EU's loan scheme for Ukraine

US secretary of state's two-day visit reportedly intended to thaw Washington's frosty relations with Vatican and ItalyThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will meet Pope Leo on Thursday, weeks after Donald Trump's unprecedented broadside against the pontiff.Rubio will meet the first US-born pope privately in the Vatican's apostolic palace at 11.30am (10.30 GMT), the Holy See's press office confirmed on Monday after media reports on Sunday. Continue reading...

Kent schoolgirl tracks down 10,000 namesakes as part of campaign - but non-Kirstys are welcome to donate tooCalling all Kirstys! A schoolgirl from Tunbridge Wells in Kent is seeking people who share her name to help raise money for research into paediatric brain tumours like the one for which she is being treated.Kirsty Waugh, who turns 12 on Monday, has already persuaded more than 10,000 Kirstys, Kirsties, Kersties and assorted other variants to plot their locations on a map that shows Kirstys can be found everywhere from Colombia to Malaysia, and even at the Rothera research station in Antarctica. Continue reading...

Lobbyist Tara Singh says stripping projects of subsidy contracts would undermine investor confidence in UKBritain could be beset by levels of economic chaos last seen under Liz Truss if a Reform UK government were to fulfil its promise to strip renewable energy projects of subsidy contracts, according to the industry's chief lobbyist.The anti-renewables policy put forward by Nigel Farage's populist party would severely undermine investor confidence in the energy industry and across the wider UK economy, the new chief executive of RenewableUK said. Continue reading...

US president's post follows flurry of mixed signals including concern Tehran had not paid big enough price'. Plus, could Santa Marta climate talks mark ground zero in push to ditch fossil fuels?Good morning.Donald Trump has announced this morning that the US will guide" ships trapped in the Gulf by the Iran war through the strait of Hormuz, and claimed his representatives were having very positive" discussions with Iran.What has Iran said? The head of the Iranian military's unified command has said US and foreign armed forces will be attacked if they enter the strait. It told US forces to stay out of the area and said its forces would respond harshly to any threat. It also told commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement in the absence of coordination with Iran's military.What did Comey say about the post? Comey deleted the postand apologized. He said the hadn't known what the expression meant and condemned violence. He has said he is innocent and denies any wrongdoing. Continue reading...

No arrests made, police say, and site of shooting - a heavily wooded area - is slowing search for evidence and suspectAt least 13 people were hurt in a mass shooting during a party at a campground in Oklahoma on Sunday night, authorities said.The shooting took place at Spring Creek Park on Arcadia Lake about 15 miles north-east of downtown Oklahoma City, when gunfire erupted during a gathering of young people at about 9pm. Continue reading...

Hangings are latest wave of near-daily killings as authorities seek to instil fear in Iranian society

Exclusive: Minister says proposals show government's ambition, as it faces unprecedented pressure from GreensTree nurseries could be built at prisons and military ranges could be turned into heathland or peat bogs as part of an ambitious plan to make government land more nature-friendly, the environment secretary has said.Speaking ahead of elections this week in which Labour is under pressure from the Green party, Emma Reynolds said such projects showed the government's intent in restoring natural habitats. Continue reading...

Agriculture secretary claims without evidence Snap recipients included owners of luxury carsThe Trump administration's attack on the 87-year-old food aid program that supports tens of millions of low-income Americans escalated last week as the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, claimed that 14,000 Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (Snap) recipients included owners of luxury vehicles such as Ferraris, Bentleys and Teslas.Critics charge that the broadside is part of a disinformation campaign aimed at undermining a benefit relied on by some of the most vulnerable people in the US. Continue reading...

Beef and olive oil costs increase the most as climate and energy shocks drive inflation, research suggestsFood prices are on track to be 50% higher in November than at the start of the cost of living crisis in 2021, research suggests.Climate and energy shocks have driven an almost quadrupling of the pace of food price growth, according to research from the thinktank Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), with costs rising in five years at about the same rate as they had over the previous two decades. Continue reading...

Louisiana's cultural hotspot could be surrounded by Gulf of Mexico before end of this century, authors sayThe process of relocating people from New Orleans should start immediately as the city has reached a point of no return" that will see it surrounded by the ocean within decades due to the climate crisis, a stark new study has concluded.Ongoing sea level rise and the rampant erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana will swallow up the New Orleans area within a few generations, with the new paper estimating the city may well be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century". Continue reading...

Exclusive: A Senate committee considering the illegal tobacco trade in Australia hears closed-session evidence from cigarette manufacturers

Phase Space pilot programme with NHS mental health trust used to calm anxiety around exams, ADHD and home troublesSchools have begun deploying virtual reality to help pupils cope with stress caused by impending exams, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or difficult home lives.All 15 secondary schools in the London borough of Sutton are using VR headsets made by tech firm Phase Space in a pilot in conjunction with the local NHS mental health trust. Continue reading...

The Olympic Games minister, Tim Mander, and the child safety minister, Amanda Camm say they were not in a relationship when they were sworn in

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Jimmy Wales remembers a toxic internet even before social media and says AI is not a disaster' for the free - and freely edited - online encyclopaedia

Exclusive: amid unrest, President William Ruto promised to give all Kenyans access to healthcare. But the algorithm favours the rich, an investigation has found

International Energy Agency findings show government must commit to rapid cuts in emissions of greenhouse gas, climate experts say

Police say no suspicious circumstances' while local councillor argues tragedy' shows housing crisis has gotten out of hand in regional Australia

Japanese leader Sanae Takaichi has called for discussions to revise the constitution, saying it should reflect the demands of the times'Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has called for advanced discussions" on revising the pacifist constitution, as large demonstrations were held nationwide to oppose any changes to the country's supreme law.Speaking during an official visit to Vietnam, Takaichi said the constitution, which was written by US occupation forces after the second world war, should periodically be updated to reflect the demands of the times". Continue reading...

War has combined with battered economy to leave Tehran wondering how hardline it can afford to beIran may not be choking like a stuffed pig as Donald Trump predicted, but its economy is in serious difficulty as a combination of a massive war-damages bill, inflation, currency devaluation, unemployment and a contraction in oil revenues combine to leave the political elite worrying how hardline they can afford to be with their US negotiators. One estimate circulating in Iran's media suggests the damage to the economy from the US-Israeli attacks is nine times the value of the Iranian budget last year.The UN Development Programme has estimated that 4.1 million more Iranians could fall into poverty. Continue reading...

The treasurer also says May federal budget will play helpful, not harmful, role in fight against inflation'

New government accused of performative justice' and making deals with suspects in 2013 Tadamon massacresAhmad al-Homsi is a deep sleeper, but when he was woken last month and told that Amjad Youssef, a Syrian intelligence officer who killed civilians in the 2013 Tadamon massacres, had been arrested, he bolted out of bed. He ran into the street to find other people already celebrating the news.We stayed out for almost three or four days celebrating. People from neighbouring areas sent camels, sheep, livestock for us to slaughter and distribute them to people. The tears of joy didn't stop," said al-Homsi, a 33-year-old activist with the Tadamon Coordination Committee, which documented the atrocities in the Damascus neighbourhood. Continue reading...

Downing Street begins fightback against predictions of imminent challenge to Keir StarmerLabour MPs are calling for a close to the endless drama" of leadership speculation, as Downing Street begins a fightback against predictions of an imminent challenge to Keir Starmer.Some backbenchers warned that repeated briefings about how and when the prime minister could be toppled were putting off voters, who similarly had disliked the Conservatives' repeated shuffling of leaders when in power. Continue reading...

Injectable pembrolizumab can treat several types of cancer and can be administered in under two minutesThousands of patients across England each year will benefit from a new immunotherapy treatment that can be used for several types of cancer, the NHS has announced.The injectable form of pembrolizumab, which can be administered in under two minutes, kills cancer cells by blocking a protein called PD-1, which acts as a brake on immune responses, allowing the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells. Continue reading...

Bloc's leaders to hold first summit with Armenia on Tuesday at it ramps up efforts to combat Kremlin's influenceThe EU is sending a team of experts specialised in combating Russian propaganda and interference to Armenia, as it increases its support to the former Soviet republic in a tense political period.In a highly symbolic sequence of events, EU leaders will hold their first summit with Armenia on Tuesday, after a pan-European gathering of about 45 leaders at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan. Continue reading...

Ana Viladomiu has been a privileged' resident of the once derided, now revered Barcelona apartment building for almost 40 yearsImagine that you live in an enormous, beautiful apartment designed by one of the world's most admired architects in the most expensive street in Spain and for which you pay a derisory rent, with the right to live there until you die.Meet the writer Ana Viladomiu, 70, the last tenant of Antoni Gaudi's Casa Mila on the elegant Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona. Viladomiu is in fact the last tenant in any of Gaudi's buildings, unless you include the peregrine falcons that nest in the Sagrada Familia. Continue reading...

Sheina Gutnick, daughter of Reuven Morrison who was killed fighting alleged Bondi beach terrorists, is first witness at royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion

Sequel a rare example of female-skewing movie leading the North American summer offerings - and highest opening weekend yet for a Meryl Streep filmGird your loins: The Devil Wears Prada 2 has had a huge opening weekend at the box office, making $233m (171m, A$323m) worldwide from an overwhelmingly female audience.The Devil Wears Prada 2 earned $77m at the North American box office, and $156.6m internationally. In the US and Canada, the sequel bumped Michael to second place, though the musical biopic held on in its second weekend to earn $54m, falling only 44%. Continue reading...

The little-known publicly funded scheme is used by about 800 families with children who cannot access mainstream care

Budget airline left thousands stranded on Saturday after ceasing operations amid financial troubles

Spokesperson calls former New York City mayor a fighter' but does not say cause of his hospitalizationRudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, has been hospitalised and is in a critical but stable condition", his spokesperson said on Sunday evening.Ted Goodman, the spokesperson, posted on social media: Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he's fighting with that same level of strength as we speak. We do ask that you join us in prayer for America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani." Continue reading...