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Vibe Check, a free and anonymous alternative to AI, talks teens through consent, boundaries and apologiesVal Odiembo volunteers at her former high school a few times a month, teaching teens about consent and healthy relationships. Now a sophomore at Rhode Island College, 19-year-old Odiembo isn't much older than the students she's teaching - which she thinks makes it easier for the high schoolers to come to her with their questions. But she knows she isn't the only source they're consulting.A lot of them confide in AI," she said. A recent UK study found that one in 10 young adults has consulted AI for sexual health information, and a 2025 Pew Research Center report showed that one in five teens have had a romantic relationship with a chatbot. Continue reading...

The league's new CBA has made some players millionaires. After years of instability, they're now able to take control of their futureThe WNBA is entering its 30th season, a milestone worthy of as big of a celebration as its players could muster - and this year, they mustered up a lot. The Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) negotiated a landmark collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the league that, among other things, introduces a revenue sharing system and an estimated average salary of $583,000.This season, all players will make the minimum of $270,000, up from $66,000; others may make as much as $1.4m. It's money that Alysha Clark, a veteran forward for the Dallas Wings and vice-president of the WNBPA, describes to the Guardian as amazing". One of the most incredible aspects of the new deal, she says, is having the ability to pave the way for future generations of WNBA players. Continue reading...

The Cal State Northridge player has attracted millions of views for his hair flicks and dismissive waves. He says navigating the fallout has been a career of its ownI think people are really enamored with me because you don't often see someone like me - animated, flamboyant - but still able to back it up on the volleyball court," says Jordan Lucas, the outside hitter for Cal State Northridge's men's team.Although college volleyball has a devoted following and can attract big crowds - 92,000 fans went to see Nebraska take on Omaha in 2023 - it doesn't usually attract the same attention as basketball or football. That changed last month though when clips of Lucas's flamboyant" play - he's fond of celebrating with a flick of his hair or a dismissive wave at his opponents - went viral, amassing millions of views on social media. College athletes enjoying social media fame is hardly new: stars such as Paige Bueckers, Harper Murray, Olivia Dunne and Shedeur Sanders all had their viral moments. But Lucas's case is different. It isn't just about the highlights, it's about the conversation surrounding them. Lucas is gay, and that fact has become inseparable from how audiences engage with his game. Continue reading...

Cassian Joubert was partially delivered at 25 weeks for procedure and placed back in mother's womb before birthA Florida infant is said to have been born twice after undergoing what was an innovative, likely life-saving surgery that involved a partial delivery weeks before his mother then gave birth to him.Cassian Joubert's remarkable story was recently first told publicly by his mother and father - Keishera and Greg Joubert - in a 1 May video published on social media by the Orlando Health Women's Institute, which employs the surgeon that led the baby boy's prenatal operation. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: The brief US effort to steer trapped vessels through the waterway put the fragile ceasefire under strainGood morning. Uncertainty once again reigns in the Middle East. The uneasy ceasefire between the US and Iran threatened to disintegrate after Donald Trump launched an initiative - dubbed Project Freedom" - to help thousands of sailors stranded in the Gulf by the war to pass through the strait of Hormuz.To Iran, the announcement was a cynical provocation. Flurries of fighting restarted as Iran sought to maintain its grip on the critical passageway out of the region.UK politics | Zack Polanski falsely claimed to be a spokesperson for the British Red Cross while campaigning for the Green party leadership, the charity has said.Fuel shortages| Two million airline seats have been cut from this month's schedules as airlines redraw their operations because of soaring jet fuel prices amid the Middle East conflict.UK news| A British crew member who became ill after a suspected outbreak of hantavirus on luxury cruise ship the MV Hondius is to be medically evacuated, officials have said.Tax | An increased windfall tax should be imposed on the UK's largest banks, say trade union leaders, after the big four lenders reported almost 14bn in first-quarter profits, partly fuelled by market turbulence amid the Iran war.Society | People from black backgrounds in England are twice as likely to experience strokes as their white counterparts, while also being less likely to receive timely care, according to the largest study of its kind. Continue reading...

Republican and Democratic candidates met again in race shaped by Eric Swalwell's exit and Xavier Becerra's riseSeven of the leading contenders in California's unexpectedly dramatic race for governor faced off on Tuesday night, in a feisty, high-stakes showdown that arrived as voters begin casting ballots in the state's nonpartisan primary.The heightened tenor of the two-hour scrap matchup reflected how important the candidates viewed the debate, which aired on CNN to a national audience. Continue reading...

US launched operation Monday to help hundreds of ships trapped with their crews in Gulf - key US politics stories from Monday 4 May at a glanceDonald Trump has threatened that Iran will be blown off the face of the earth" if it attacks US vessels trying to reopen a route through the strait of Hormuz.The US launched an operation on Monday to help hundreds of ships trapped with their crews in the Gulf, dragging the region back to the brink of full-scale war. Continue reading...

Police forcibly broke up protest outside hospital where federal immigration agents took detainee for evaluation

Cole Allen was isolated from other inmates, denied a Bible and placed on suicide watch despite showing no suicidal tendencies

The Callais decision is predicated on the idea that American leaders will act justly on their own. That premise has already been proven hollowSix supreme court justices handed down a ruling built, ostensibly, on the belief that the US has changed so much as to render the protections of the Voting Rights Act unnecessary. No one should be that gullible.In 1901, the same year my great-grandfather was born, George H White rose to address the 56th United States Congress for the last time. He was a Republican congressman from North Carolina - the only Black member of the entire body. He was leaving because the state he represented had passed legislation making his re-election impossible. Reconstruction had already been undone. The powers that be had narrowed, then deferred, then erased the promise of multiracial democracy, written in the blood of Union soldiers and freed people alike. Continue reading...

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

A host of stars have gone down with injuries this postseason. For as long as the league resists change, its players will pay the priceShould we just cancel the rest of the NBA playoffs and declare injuries the winner? They've already dominated this postseason far more than a team possibly could. The Oklahoma City Thunder are playing without their second-best player, Jalen Williams, after what feels like his 10th hamstring injury. In the series against the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves' Donte DiVincenzo tore his achilles, and Anthony Edwards gruesomely hyperextended his knee. Wolves' backup Ayo Dosunmu put up a heroic 43 points in Game 4, then returned to the bench two games later to nurse an injured calf. The Nuggets lost Aaron Gordon to a calf strain midway through the series and played entirely without Peyton Watson, who was sidelined by a hamstring strain.Jayson Tatum's record-quick comeback from an achilles tear was the feelgood story of the season, at least until he hurt his leg, which ruled him out of a vital Game 7 that his Boston Celtics lost to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Los Angeles Lakers' starting rotation lacks Luka Doni until further notice and played four of six games against the Houston Rockets without another of their stars, Austin Reaves. The Rockets' Kevin Durant played 78 of 82 regular season games, then missed every game of the Lakers series but one thanks to a bad knee and a bone bruise in his ankle. We of course had to save the most ridiculous injury for last: Victor Wembanyama was knocked out by the court itself after tripping on a drive and whacking his jaw on the hardwood. (He missed all of one game and wishes he could have missed zero.) Perhaps it was an omen. Continue reading...

In Ohio, where Haitians have helped revive the economy, vulnerable Republicans are reluctant to toe the Trump lineFor months Carl Ruby, a pastor at a church in Springfield, Ohio, and a prominent supporter of the city's estimated 10,000 Haitian immigrants, had been trying to contact his local congressman, Republican Mike Turner.Ruby had long hoped for an opportunity to explain in person the difficulties facing Haitians in Springfield and how that community had helped revive the struggling town. Continue reading...

Also: Cavan Sullivan had some choice words after his substitution and there's trouble in San DiegoAnother Inter Miami match, another hat-trick by an Argentinian No 10. Just not the one you expected.Martin Ojeda put on a masterclass on Sunday and led Orlando City to a shocking 4-3 defeat of Miami that saw the Lions become just the third team in MLS's 30-year history to win after trailing 3-0. As Ojeda raised his arms in triumph at the final whistle, Lionel Messi - who scored a wonder goal of his own and added two assists - headed straight for the locker room. Continue reading...

Trump's third pick for role is a radiologist and Fox News medical contributor who experts say is almost a lock'The new nominee for US surgeon general is an effective communicator" who appears to be mainstream enough" to pass confirmation before the US Senate, experts say.But she has questioned routine childhood vaccines and other public health measures, and she is a progenitor of the Make America healthy again" movement. Continue reading...

Trump is most vulnerable on cost of living and other economic issues; US to guide' trapped ships from Gulf, president says - key US politics stories from Sunday 3 MayDonald Trump's approval rating has hit its worst level during his two terms in office, with more than six in 10 Americans disapproving of the president's job performance.Trump's rating is at its worst on the cost of living and other economic issues since launching his deeply unpopular war against Iran in February, which has plunged the global economy into an oil crisis and sent gas prices rocketing to a four-year high. Continue reading...

Proposal includes cutbacks for three years as negotiations over future of shrinking reservoirs have been unsuccessfulThe states of California, Arizona and Nevada have proposed voluntary water-saving measures for the next three years aimed at buying time while negotiations remain deadlocked over the future of shrinking reservoirs filled by the Colorado River.The Colorado River provides water to some 40 million people in the American west. But the two massive reservoirs filled by the river, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, both stand at historically low levels, after consistent overdrawing coupled with reduced snowpack and warming from climate change. Continue reading...

Disapproval rose to 62%, the worst of his two terms in office, amid economic issues since launching his war against IranSix months out from November's midterm US elections, Donald Trump's disapproval rating has reached 62% - the worst of his two terms in office - according to a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.The US president received his worst ratings on the cost of living and other economic issues since launching his deeply unpopular war against Iran in February, which has plunged the global economy into an oil crisis and sent gas prices rocketing to a four-year high. Continue reading...

Xi Jinping hopes that the president may water down US support for a vibrant democracy. Defending the status quo would be better for America tooChina senses opportunity when Donald Trump visits later this month. A nakedly transactional US president in need of a trade deal, and hoping that Beijing could lean on Iran, might shift on Taiwan in return. China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, linked the issue explicitly to broader bilateral cooperation in his call with Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, on Thursday. Beijing would be delighted to see Mr Trump soften the US position, and perhaps pull back on arms sales after a mammoth $11bn package was announced late last year.Taiwan has been self-governed since the end of China's civil war in 1949, so never ruled by China's Communist party. Xi Jinping has made unification central to his legacy. Three years ago, US intelligence assessed that he had told the People's Liberation Army to be ready for an invasion by 2027. But Beijing would surely prefer to achieve its goal without force. Continue reading...

US attorney says we can establish' pellet from defendant's gunshot was intertwined with fiber of vest' of federal agentThe US government has evidence that a federal agent was shot by the suspect during an alleged recent attempt to assassinate Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, the US attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on Sunday.We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant's Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer," Pirro said on CNN. Continue reading...

Portland is the latest US city to codify polyamorous rights in housing, jobs and public spaces, and more could followAmy Nash-Kille knows that not everyone would choose a polyamorous family like hers. But she called it the greatest blessing" of her life.Nash-Kille said she has spent the last 17 years in a committed relationship with two gentle, loving men", sharing the costs and responsibilities of raising four kids. Continue reading...

Former FBI director indicted in connection with seashell photo as some Trump allies skeptical of news chargesThe acting US attorney general, Todd Blanche, on Sunday defended new criminal charges filed against former FBI head James Comey, insisting that the case was based on more than just an Instagram post from last year.The Department of Justice announced a two-count felony indictment against Comey on Tuesday, charging him in connection with a picture he posted on Instagram last May. Continue reading...

Insiders portray defense secretary as increasingly isolated after officers with impeccable reputations forced outSince Donald Trump's first term, they have been viewed comfortingly as the adults in the room," a last line of defense against the impulsive whims of a president with access to the nuclear codes.Now - after an unprecedented wave of firings that has been compared by some to Stalin's purges - the Pentagon top brass no longer seem like such a reliable bulwark. Continue reading...

Health officials in Trump administration were accused of fueling crisis of public trust' over autism and vaccinesMisinformation from top health officials in the Trump administration has created a crisis of public trust" - and Congress should conduct oversight hearings and possibly impeach officials such as Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a recently released report.Experts say that officials in the past year have focused intently on both vaccines and autism, including efforts to connect autism to the use of acetaminophen (frequently sold as Tylenol) during pregnancy, despite growing evidence of no link, and replacing all members of the federal autism committee with advisers who have anti-vaccine and pseudoscientific histories. Continue reading...

US secretary of state will be in Italian capital on Thursday and Friday, the one-year anniversary of Pope Leo's papacyThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is to travel to Rome this week for a visit reportedly aimed at thawing frosty relations with the Italian government and the Vatican.Rubio is scheduled to be in the Italian capital on Thursday and Friday, which will also mark the one-year anniversary of the papacy of Pope Leo, the first US-born pontiff. Continue reading...

Charles III's subtle, much needed history lesson delivered the US some tough love. But will Trump get the message?Of the many jokes cracked by King Charles during his visit to Washington, the one recalling the definitive 18th-century Anglo-French contest for dominion over the New World was the most pointed. Speaking at a state banquet in the White House, Charles turned to Donald Trump and said: You recently commented, Mr President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German. Dare I say that, if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French!"Did Trump get it? Who knows? Broadly speaking, history, even their own, is not most Americans' favourite subject. A forward-looking people, they do not dwell on the past, nor hanker after the illusory felicities of former glories. While generations of Britons still wallow in nostalgia for Spitfires, Churchill and Vera Lynn (and beating the French), Americans typically seek new metaphorical mountains to climb. Theirs is a positive outlook, on the whole. Except, under Trump, it has twisted into a revived, ugly version of US manifest destiny" imperialism.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

Pentagon says withdrawal is expected to be completed over the next six to 12 months - key US politics stories from Friday, 1 May at a glanceIt appears Donald Trump is following through on his threats to reduce US military presence in Europe.The Pentagon announced on Friday that 5,000 troops will be withdrawn from Germany over the next six to 12 months. Continue reading...

Emergency order allows extension of temporary protected status that has been repeatedly grantedA federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from forcing about 3,000 Yemeni refugees to leave the US, ruling that temporary protected status repeatedly granted to them and due to expire Monday should be extended again.Judge Dale E Ho in Manhattan extended the status temporarily while a lawsuit seeking to preserve the protections plays out. In an emergency order, he wrote that people granted the status are ordinary, law-abiding people whom the US government had determined could face threats to their safety if they were returned to a country facing an ongoing armed conflict. Continue reading...

Trump is withdrawing 5,000 of the 36,400 US personnel based in Germany. But why are they there in the first place?

Investigation found Botstein - who had claimed he wasn't friends with Epstein - made 25 visits to his townhouseLeon Botstein has announced he is stepping down from the helm of Bard College, after an independent review of his contacts with Jeffrey Epstein found the college president's frequent interactions with the convicted sex offender could have alerted" him to the possibility that he and Bard would be facilitating Epstein's abuse of women.An investigation by the WilmerHale law firm, which had been commissioned by Bard's board of trustees earlier this year to review Botstein's interactions with Epstein, found the Bard president - who had previously claimed he was not friends with Epstein - made about 25 visits to Epstein's townhouse, a two-day visit to Epstein's Little St James Island, and that there were two visits by Epstein to Bard. These visits, WilmerHale reported, included multiple women" who have since been identified as victims of Epstein. Continue reading...

Thousands of people take to the streets to protest the Trump administration, the Iran war, immigration and social injustice

Walkouts, marches and other gatherings held for May Day Strong' demonstrations across the country

Leo, who has criticized Trump's hardline immigration policy, selected Evelio Menjivar-Ayala as state's new bishop

Amid Trump's unrelenting assault on the rule of law, it is drearily unsurprising to see the ex-FBI director targetedConsider the following screed: If any other President had the ability, foresight, or talents necessary, to build this ballroom, which will be one of the greatest, safest, and most secure structures of its kind anywhere in the World, there would never have been a lawsuit. But, because it is DONALD J. TRUMP, a highly successful real estate developer, who has abilities that others don't ... this frivolous and meritless lawsuit was filed. Again, it's called TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME."The rant, with its tantrum of capitalization, has all the trademarks of a typical post from the president's Truth Social account. But that is not its source. Rather, the tirade appeared in an official legal document filed by the Department of Justice on 27 April seeking a court order that would lift legal barriers to the construction of Trump's controversial East Wing ballroom. Continue reading...

Coventry-supporting Japanese has used his rebel streak and risk-taking instincts to spur on Oliver Bearman this seasonThere is no one quite like Ayao Komatsu in Formula One. Haas's Japanese team principal, a rugby-playing Coventry City fan who left his home country to escape the constraints of conformity, is F1's rebel without a pause.As Haas enter their first home race of the season in Miami this weekend, they are on no little roll. Fourth place in the championship is the highest position held by a US team after three races in the sport's history and Komatsu has engineered it in a sport he once viewed as his great escape. Continue reading...

The Artemis missions are paving the way to civilizational decisions. It's time to ask not just what we can do - but whether we should do itThis month's splashdown of Artemis II was rightly celebrated as a technical achievement. Four astronauts traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history and returned safely. It is an extraordinary thing to send people into deep space and bring them home again. Nobody should deny that.But the real significance of Artemis II lies elsewhere. Continue reading...

The King charmed Americans - including the president - while artfully asserting his views on climate and executive powerIn the end, it was a royal triumph, as King Charles and Queen Camilla managed to avoid all the mines in their path (the strait of Hormuz is not the only place where they exist), and deftly repair the special relationship". For another few weeks, anyway.There were plenty of reasons to be anxious, on both sides of the Atlantic, before the king's visit to Washington and New York. It is no secret that Donald Trump's war of choice against Iran has alienated Great Britain, and all of the Nato allies, who were not consulted in advance of the decision and have since been browbeaten for what Trump perceives as insufficient fealty.Ted Widmer is a former presidential speechwriter, and the author of a forthcoming book in June, The Living Declaration: A Biography of America's Founding Text (Library of America) Continue reading...

US president faced a 60-day deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending itA US-Iran ceasefire that began in early April has terminated" hostilities between the two sides for the purposes of an approaching congressional war powers deadline, a senior official of the Trump administration said on Thursday.Donald Trump faced a deadline on Friday to end the Iran war or make the case to Congress for extending it, but the date was most likely to pass without altering the course of the war. Continue reading...

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Religious group reviewing all available remedies' after clips of young people rushing its buildings in raids' go viralOn any given day, Los Angeles's Hollywood Boulevard teems with tourists and street performers clustered near the area's many landmarks. But in recent months, the strip has been set abuzz for a new reason.Throngs of mostly adolescent boys and young men have been rushing the Church of Scientology's international headquarters on the famed street. Continue reading...

Trump also said he may consider pulling US troops from bases in Italy and Spain, after being prompted by rightwing reporter - key US politics stories from Thursday 30 AprilDonald Trump has again lashed out at Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying he should focus on fixing his broken country" and trying to end the Russia-Ukraine war - and spend less time interfering" in Iran.Trump's latest outburst came a day after he suggested the US military presence in Germany was being reviewed, with a possible reduction" of troops under consideration. Then on Thursday, the president was baited into saying he may consider withdrawing troops from other US bases in Europe. Continue reading...

Workers wrote Katrina declaration', warning that funding cuts made US dangerously unprepared for natural disastersFourteen employees with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency returned to work this week, after spending eight months on administrative leave for signing a public letter criticising the Trump administration.The so-called Katrina declaration", sent last August to members of Congress and a federal council formed to help determine Fema's future, was written as a rebuke from the workers about the dangerous erosion in US capacity to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. Continue reading...

Foil boarders were pursued by shark - likely a great white - off Santa Barbara before it lost interest and swam away

Lawmakers agree 45-day extension but Republican and Democratic critics urge reform of surveillance programThe US Congress has passed a 45-day extension of a law that grants US intelligence agencies warrantless spying powers.Bitter infighting over section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the Republican wing of Congress has repeatedly tanked conservative leaders' plans to renew the controversial surveillance law for multiple years. The deadlock continued on Thursday, as the Republican House speaker Mike Johnson refused to include key reforms pushed by hardliners in his party and progressive Democrats. Continue reading...