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For years Netanyahu has divided and disrupted his opponents. But new leaders are beginning to organise Aluf Benn is the editor-in-chief of HaaretzIn his successful quest to become Israel's longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has leveraged his most valuable asset: the country's ineffective opposition. He has been playing his opponents off against each other, staying afloat while they are left powerless and irrelevant.Netanyahu has survived multiple corruption cases, an ongoing criminal trial and recurring elections. Even after Hamas invaded Israel by surprise, on 7 October, 2023, leading to the longest, deadliest and most ruinous war in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the opposition failed to pose a political threat to Netanyahu. This week, Israel continues its expanded offensive across Gaza alongside a deadly bombing campaign. Rather than bearing the responsibility for the unparalleled tragedy and being kicked out of office in disgrace, the prime minister has only grown more powerful, expanding his governing coalition, shrugging off any responsibility for the disaster and firing the military and intelligence leaders. Continue reading...

No one is above the law - politicians or otherwise,' interim US attorney Alina Habba said.US representative LaMonica McIver, a Democrat, was charged with assaulting federal agents after a clash outside an immigration detention center in New Jersey, the state's federal prosecutor announced on Monday.Alina Habba, interim US attorney, said in a post on social media that McIver was facing charges for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement" when she visited the detention center along with two other Democratic members of the New Jersey congressional delegation on 9 May. Continue reading...

From locals priced out of homes to visitors shopping at global chains, all of us are cheated in a city hollowed out by tourismProtesters in Barcelona used water pistols to take aim at tourists visiting the Sagrada Familia last month. Residents' associations in Mallorca posted an open letter appealing to tourists to stay away from the island. More such actions are expected in the Canary Islands, Malaga and elsewhere as Spain braces for another massive season of overtourism.Last year, there were close to 100 million visitors to Spain, twice the population. No wonder the industry is licking its lips and rubbing its hands at the prospect of even more this year. But those of us with no stake in the hospitality trade brace ourselves for the invasion with a mixture of dread and resentment. For those on the receiving end, mass tourism feels more and more extractive to the point that it is a form of corporate colonialism.Stephen Burgen is a freelance writer who reports on Spain for the Guardian Continue reading...

Report comes as supreme court allows US president to revoke protected status for Venezuelans. Key US politics stories from 19 May 2025At least 50 Venezuelan men sent by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador had entered the US legally, according to a review by the Cato Institute.Published by the libertarian thinktank on Monday, the report analyzed the available immigration data for only a portion of the men who were deported to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), and focuses on the cases where records could be found. Continue reading...

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President signs bill with first lady Melania Trump to criminalize sharing intimate images without consentPresident Donald Trump on Monday signed into law the Take It Down Act, a measure that imposes penalties for online sexual exploitation that first lady Melania Trump helped usher through Congress, and he had her sign it, too, despite what sounded like a mild objection on her part.C'mon, sign it anyway," the president told his wife. She deserves to sign it." Continue reading...

Palestinian activist, freed just over two weeks ago from federal detention, crosses graduation stage to cheersColumbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, released just over two weeks ago from federal detention, crossed the graduation stage on Monday to cheers from his fellow graduates.The Palestinian activist was arrested by immigration authorities in Colchester, Vermont, while attending a naturalization interview. He was detained and ordered to be deported by the Trump administration on 14 April despite not being charged with a crime. Continue reading...

Felony charges dismissed but John Sanzone banned from serving as peace officer in state after covering up theftA former sheriff's deputy who stole $3,500 from a homeless man he arrested in California has been permanently banned from serving as a peace officer in the state, while felony theft charges against him were dropped, authorities said.John Sanzone, a former deputy with the Glenn county sheriff's office, arrested a homeless man who had been carrying $3,500 - money the man had been saving for urgent dental work. Continue reading...

Former FBI director describes as crazy' claim that seashell photo on Instagram signified assassination callJames Comey was taking a walk on the beach with his wife when they happened upon a message in the sand: 8647.According to the former FBI director, his wife initially asked if the cryptic seashell formation was an address. They puzzled over the shells, trying to decipher meaning. His wife, according to Comey's account, remembered her days as a server in a restaurant, when 86 was the term staff used to remove an item from the menu. Comey mused that when he was younger, kids would say 86 to mean to ditch a place". Continue reading...

Cato analysis goes against Trump administration's claim that only undocumented people were deported to CecotAt least 50 Venezuelan men sent by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador had entered the United States legally, according to a review by the Cato Institute.The report, published by the libertarian thinktank on Monday, analyzed the available immigration data for only a portion of the men who were deported to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), and focuses on the cases where records could be found. Continue reading...

Jamie Dimon says possibility of stagflation far higher than investors realize as markets shake off Moody's triple-A cutJP Morgan's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, warned on Monday that investors were being too complacent as markets shook off news that the US has lost its last triple-A credit rating amid fresh concern over the federal government's burgeoning debt pile.Credit ratings agency Moody's dealt a blow to Washington on Friday when it stripped the US of its top-notch rating, downgrading the world's largest economy by one notch to AA1 and become becoming the last of the big three agencies to drop its triple-A rating for the US. Continue reading...

Patient, 41-year-old man, was able to to go off dialysis with technique that two doctors worked for years to developSurgeons in California have performed the first ever successful bladder transplant, aiding a patient who previously had his bladder and both kidneys removed as a result of cancer treatment and end-stage kidney disease.The treatment allowed the patient, 41-year-old father of four Oscar Larrainzar, to go off dialysis - although the surgery comes with considerable short- and long-term risks and unknowns. Continue reading...

Justices grant homeland security request to end temporary protected status while appeal proceeds in lower courtDonald Trump's administration can end legal protections that have shielded about 350,000 Venezuelans from potential deportation, the supreme court ruled on Monday.America's highest court granted a request by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, to revoke temporary protected status (TPS) for the Venezuelans while an appeal proceeds in a lower court. Continue reading...

Family sought $30m in damages after Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot by police during 2021 US Capitol breachThe Trump administration has reportedly reached an agreement to pay nearly $5m to the family of the woman who was fatally shot by police while participating in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol carried out by the president's supporters.Citing multiple sources, the Washington Post reported on Monday that the Trump administration had agreed to pay the family of Ashli Babbitt to settle the wrongful death lawsuit they filed after the attack. Continue reading...

Doge illegally took over the congressionally created and funded thinktank through blunt force', rules federal judgeA federal judge on Monday blocked efforts by the Trump administration and its so-called department of government efficiency" (Doge) to dismantle the US Institute of Peace, at least temporarily.Doge, initially overseen by billionaire Donald Trump supporter Elon Musk, took over the congressionally created and funded thinktank in March and had fired most employees by a late-night email after the US president targeted the institute and three other agencies with an executive order. Continue reading...

Sidewinder Ranch, a 40-acre property built over natural rock formations, comes with desert views and a bulldozerWant to commune with nature? Bring the outside in? Ditch your white-noise machine for a babbling brook going through your living room?A home that went on the market last month in Arizona offers all this and more. Sidewinder Ranch is a 40-acre hillside property built over natural rock formations. Every room is of geological interest, with a TV shelf perched on rock and boulders creeping to the foot of the bed. A fountain built inside has the feel of a mountain stream, and the property has stunning desert views. Buy 40 acres but it might as well be 400," read the listing. Continue reading...

President urges major investigation' of Beyonce, Oprah, Bruce Springsteen and others in late-night social media rantDonald Trump laced into a few celebrities who endorsed Kamala Harris in late night and early morning screeds on Monday, saying he would investigate them to see if they were paid for the endorsements - repeating a common refrain on the right about the star-studded list of Harris supporters.How much did Kamala Harris pay Bruce Springsteen for his poor performance during her campaign for president?" Trump posted in all caps on Truth Social at 1.34am Monday. Why did he accept that money if he is such a fan of hers? Isn't that a major and illegal campaign contribution? ...And how much went to Oprah, and Bono???" Continue reading...

Closure reflects Trump's downgrading of US-Palestinian relations, which started with closure of Jerusalem consulateThe United States has officially closed its Office of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem, according to an internal state department memo seen by the Guardian, in effect eliminating the Palestinians' dedicated diplomatic channel to Washington.The closure, which took effect on Friday, follows through on the secretary of state Marco Rubio's announcement earlier this month that the office would be merged into the US embassy in Jerusalem. Continue reading...

US vice-president delivers letter from Donald and Melania Trump during talks with pontiff at the VaticanDonald Trump has issued a White House invitation to Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-born pontiff who as Cardinal Robert Prevost previously criticised Trump's administration.The invitation came via a letter from the US president and the first lady, Melania Trump, that was delivered to the pope by the US vice-president, JD Vance, during a meeting at the Vatican on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Former president says: Cancer touches us all ... Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places'

Republicans passed tax cut and border security package out of key House committee in Sunday vote

America Sanchez and Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos died in the wreck that injured 22 other crew membersMexico is grieving two cadets in the country's navy that were killed on Saturday when the tall training ship Cuauhtemoc crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge.America Sanchez, 20, and Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, 23, died in the wreck that injured 22 other crew members, including three critically. Continue reading...

Exotic, who is serving 21 years for murder-for-hire plot, urges president: Just let me go to Mexico'Joe Exotic - star of the 2020 Netflix true crime documentary Tiger King - is publicly pleading for Donald Trump to pardon him from federal prison after his husband was deported to Mexico.It's really past time to have one of your people watch Tiger King Season 2, where they all admitted to perjury and a plot to kill me on world television and let me out," Exotic, whose name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, wrote late on Sunday on social media to the president whom he has politically supported. I know that you are not fond of my lifestyle, but I supported you just allow me go to Mexico with my husband." Continue reading...

The country's charm offensive and global mediator role - as well as a $400m plane - reveal a complicated relationshipOn his tour of the Middle East last week, Donald Trump was treated like royalty by the leaders of the wealthiest countries in the Arab world. The US president was feted in gilded ballrooms, his motorcade was flanked by dozens of men riding white Arabian horses and he was awarded an elaborate gold medal necklace. The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates went out of their way to show Trump that they respect him more than his predecessor, Joe Biden.While Trump frequently praised Saudi and UAE leaders during his first term, he was highly critical of Qatar, a small emirate that is rich in natural gas but usually overshadowed by its two larger and more powerful neighbors. In June 2017, Trump said Qatar has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level" and he supported a blockade against the country, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Qatar's neighbors accused it of financing terrorism by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, and being too cozy with Iran. The blockade, which disrupted the lives of thousands of people across the Persian Gulf, stretched until early 2021. Continue reading...

The guard is the type of player around which you can build a highlights reel, but not a championship. Maybe that's enough when the highlights were so goodIs it really the end this time? For Russell Westbook, Sunday's Game 7 decider between the Thunder and the Nuggets was a homecoming in more senses than one: not only was he returning to the city to which he'd given his best years, a court on which he'd embodied more than any other player in the franchise's brief history the thunder of Oklahoma City's name, he was also a man in search of a place to call his own - a role, an identity - after years of peripatetic wandering across the NBA in which teams have often seemed unsure how best to exploit the 2017 MVP's prodigious, if fading, gifts.After near-misses with Oklahoma City in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 playoffs, the litany of injuries that followed, and the long search for a basketball home in the years since - which have seen him play both an ill-fitting support position in the LeBron James-Anthony Davis Los Angeles Lakers and a starring hand for the cross-town Clippers that did little to hide metastasizing deficiencies in his game - the move to Denver last summer seemed to offer hope for a reset: occupying a clear sixth man role, Westbrook was brought in to supply experience and energy off the bench for those crucial minutes when Nikola Joki and Jamal Murray needed a rest. Continue reading...

Cuts worth $880bn could leave 13 million Americans without insurance in proposal that has divided RepublicansUS advocacy groups are waging an intensive campaign to protect Medicaid and Obamacare from Donald Trump's big, beautiful bill", after House Republicans proposed an $880bn cut that could leave an estimated 13 million Americans without health insurance.The House bill left Republicans' most controversial proposals on the table, but has divided Senate Republicans: one called the effort to yank away healthcare morally wrong and politically suicidal". Others have described the cuts as insufficient and anemic". Continue reading...

Veteran activist reflects on Malcolm's legacy and decades of progress now rolled back by Trump and white supremacy on steroids'When African Americans protested police brutality in New York, they were portrayed as rioters, Malcolm X told an audience at the London School of Economics. When shop windows were smashed in the Black community, he said, the press gave the impression that hoodlums, vagrants, criminals" wanted to break in and steal merchandise.But this is wrong," Malcolm contended. In America the Black community in which we live is not owned by us. The landlord is white. The merchant is white. In fact, the entire economy of the Black community in the states is controlled by someone who doesn't even live there ... And these are the people who suck the economic blood of our community." Continue reading...

The right wants American women to bear more children and withdraw from full participation in societyLast month, the White House issued a proposed budget to Congress that completely eliminated funding for Head Start, the six-decade-old early childhood education program for low-income families that serves as a source of childcare for large swaths of the American working class.The funding was restored in the proposed budget after an outcry, but large numbers of employees who oversee the program at the office of Head Start were laid off in a budget-slashing measure under Robert F Kennedy Jr, the head of the Department of Health and Human Services. On Thursday, Kennedy said funding for the program would not be axed, but more cuts to childcare funding are likely coming: some Republicans have pushed to repeal a five-decade-old tax credit for daycare. The White House is entertaining proposals on how to incentivize and structurally coerce American women into bearing more children, but it seems to be determined to make doing so as costly to those women's careers as possible. Continue reading...

The former president's family is reviewing treatment options. Plus, record number of attacks on healthcare workers in 2024

The WNBA stars are helping drive record-setting interest in the league. But the conversation distracts from other players, and brings in unwelcome uglinessAt first, it seemed that the Indiana Fever's home win over Chicago Sky on Saturday would be just another spicy chapter in the rivalry between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. Both players were typically excellent: Clark spurred the Fever to victory with a triple-double, while Reese grabbed 17 rebounds to go with her 12 points.But it was a moment in the third quarter that WNBA fans will be talking about for weeks to come. Some of them may even do so without resorting to cheap bigotry. With 4:38 remaining, Clark reached for the ball over Reese's head, made what appeared to be deliberate contact with her arm, and sent her opponent spiraling to the floor. There was a brief confrontation, Clark was hit with a flagrant foul and Reese received a technical. After the game, Clark said she didn't have cynical intent leading up to the foul, and Reese agreed calling it a basketball play." Continue reading...

FTSE 100 group, which also owns Tanqueray and Smirnoff, is to cut costs - which could lead to job losses

Sportspeople's reluctance to open up is understandable given the unforgiving environment but doing so could helpYou see it all the time these days. Players with their hands over their mouths at the end of matches, masking even the most banal of pleasantries from prying eyes. Not wanting to say anything that could be reported. Not wanting to let anyone in.A generation or two ago, writers such as Gay Talese would hang out with global stars such as Floyd Patterson and hear the former heavyweight champion call himself a coward, describe how it felt to be knocked out, and even accompany him to his daughter's school to see him confront the bullies who kept lifting up her skirt. And that all happened on the same day. Continue reading...

The US president's deference to his Middle Eastern allies is hollow if they cannot affect what happens in their own back yardDonald Trump's visit to the Middle East last week was an exercise in disorientation. Both in terms of rebalancing the relationship between the US and the region, and in scrambling perceptions. In Riyadh, he told the Saudi royals there would be no more lectures on how to live". He lifted sanctions on Syria so that the country may have a fresh start", and he fawned over the camels and lavish architecture (as a construction guy," he said at one Qatari palace, this is perfect marble"). Never has Trump appeared more in his element, surrounded by the wealth of sovereigns, the marshalling power of absolute monarchies, and their calculated self-orientalisation and over-the-top flattery.The same man who enacted the Muslim ban in his first term was strolling around mosques and shrugging off the radical path to power of the Syrian president: Handsome guy ... Tough past, but are you gonna put a choir boy in that position?" His call for recognising the new role of Gulf states both as political and economic powerhouses, and matter-of-factly taking their lead on what Syria needs right now, whatever the history, is excruciating. Because it reveals how painfully sclerotic and inconsistent previous administrations were. Joe Biden promised to take a hard line with the Saudi government for its role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and in the Yemen war, and then seemed to forget about it, or realised he couldn't follow through. From Trump, there is no such mixed signalling: you are rich, we need you. You do you.Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnistDo 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...

In the post-Soviet states, statues can be removed and street names changed. But achieving sovereignty of memory is far harderWe often hear that it is Russia's inability or unwillingness to deal with the crimes of its past that has led to the restoration of tyranny and the military aggression that we see now. Such a narrative usually focuses only on internal Soviet deeds: forced collectivisation, the Great Terror of the 1930s, the Gulag system and so on. Some of these things were nominally recognised as crimes, but no attempt was made to hold the perpetrators to account. Russia's perestroika democrats were generally opposed to transitional justice.However, the most politically sensitive Soviet crime is nearly always left out of the discussion. And Russia's failure to address this particular crime is far more dangerous and affects the fate of many nations. Continue reading...

Top Democrat condemns flying grift' as senior Republicans join chorus of disapproval - key US politics stories from Sunday 18 May at a glanceDonald Trump is coming under increasing pressure for accepting a $400m luxury plane from Qatar as several senior Republicans join the chorus of criticism.Leading Democratic Chris Murphy on Sunday called it the definition of corruption", while even some of Trump's close allies have been enraged, with some saying it was the opposite of Trump's promise to drain the swamp and was a stain on the administration". Continue reading...

Scottie Scheffler dug deep to pull away from a chasing pack, led by Jon Rahm, that briefly hauled him inThe leader Scottie Scheffler tees it up. If he's feeling nerves, they're not betraying him on his face. A huge roar from the gallery for the big man from Texas. He gracefully larrups a gentle fade around the trees down the right and he's in position A on the fairway. He's going round with Alex Noren today. No nerves evident from the Swedish veteran, either, as he splits the fairway. A quiet start meanwhile for Bryson DeChambeau: par-par-par. The high-point so far a whip over a huge tree to get himself back into position on 3. He remains at -5.Matt Fitzpatrick might have rendered himself realistically done and dusted. But that's not going to stop him battling for every shot and a high finish. He's responded to that bogey-bogey start by raking in long birdie putts on the next two holes to return to his starting point. Meanwhile Jon Rahm's quest to play well" begins with par; his playing partner Kim Si-woo drops a stroke, though. So this is where we are now, with the last match preparing to tee off. Continue reading...

Following the former president's diagnosis, this is what aggressive' means, and symptoms and treatments to knowJoe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, the former president's office announced on Sunday. Here's an explainer about the disease: Continue reading...

Former US president is reviewing treatment options with family as cancer has spread to the boneJoe Biden, the former US president, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form" of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, his personal office announced on Sunday.The 82-year-old was seen last week by doctors after urinary symptoms and a prostate nodule were found. Biden and his family are considering options for treatment. Continue reading...

At least 19 deaths were in Kentucky, seven in Missouri and two in Virginia after storms spawned two dozen tornadoesStorm systems sweeping across the midwest to the south left at least 28 dead in Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia.Kentucky's governor, Andy Beshear, confirmed in a social media post that deaths in Kentucky had risen to 19 after the addition of a woman from Russell county. Please join Britainy and me in praying for the families who are hurting right now," the post read. Continue reading...

Twenty-two crew members injured, 11 of them critically, with nine in stable condition, Mexican government saysTwo sailors from the Mexican navy were killed and another 11 critically hurt when a sailing ship taking part in a promotional tour in New York City collided with the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said.The crash happened on Saturday night when the Cuauhtemoc - an academy training vessel with 277 people on board who shares a name with the last Aztec ruler - lost power and struck the bridge. Eyewitness videos showed dozens of sailors in ceremonial uniforms spread across yardarms shortly before the collision, which snapped the Cuauhtemoc's three masts. Continue reading...

Police and firefighters responded to an explosion at a reproductive facility in Palm Springs, California, on Saturday morning. The person suspected of detonating a car bomb has been identified by local media reports as 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus

Chris Murphy says Trump strategically visited Gulf states willing to pay him off' as backlash rises against luxury offerDonald Trump's acceptance of a $400m Boeing jet from Qatar is the definition of corruption", a leading Democrat said on Sunday, as several senior Republicans joined in a bipartisan fusillade of criticism and concern over the luxury gift.Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator for Connecticut, condemned the flying grift" on NBC's Meet the Press as he assailed the president's trip to several Gulf states this week that included a stop in Qatar. Continue reading...

Scott Bessent claims he received assurance in a personal call with company's chief executiveThe US retail giant Walmart will eat some of the tariffs" in line with Donald Trump's demands, the president's treasury secretary Scott Bessent insisted on Sunday, claiming he received the assurance in a personal phone call with the company's chief executive, Doug McMillon.A spokesperson for Walmart said the company would not comment on conversations between its executives and administration officials. However, a source familiar with the conversation said the phone call between Bessent and McMillon was arranged many days prior to Trump's post - and that the company's position had not changed. Continue reading...