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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...

Steve Hilton, once an adviser to David Cameron, sees signs of Democrats' grip on the state slackening - but the Trump factor could prove trickyCalifornia is usually regarded as a political graveyard for ambitious Republicans, but Steve Hilton, the smiling, bald-headed former British political consultant turned Fox News personality, has a few theories of how to turn that around.Theory number one is that the Democrats, who have not lost a statewide election in almost 20 years and enjoy a supermajority in the California legislature, make the argument for change more or less by themselves, because the state has become too expensive for many of its residents and is mired in a steep budgetary crisis. Continue reading...

FBI statement describes attack as intentional act of terrorism', adding that clinic was deliberately targetedAt least one person is dead after a car exploded near a reproductive facility in Palm Springs, California, on Saturday morning, according to local authorities.An FBI statement described the attack as an intentional act of terrorism", adding that the clinic was deliberately targeted. But it declined to elaborate on how authorities had reached a conclusion on a motive. Continue reading...

The document is a reminder we've been fighting autocracy for centuries - and we can't give up nowSometimes, miraculous financial windfalls happen when you need them most. A college student finding $20 in a jacket pocket on a Friday night. A relative who you didn't really even like dropping dead and leaving you with a hefty inheritance. Or an institution of higher learning discovering they have an original copy of the Magna Carta. I'm sure you can relate.Harvard University recently found the antiquities equivalent of a $20 bill in its archives. What was once thought to be an unofficial copy of King Edward I's declaration of principles is now confirmed to be one of seven remaining legitimate documents left in the world. Harvard purchased this item in 1946 for a whopping $27.50, or $452.40 in today's money. Now that the piece's provenance is confirmed, it's fair to say it's actually priceless.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

But older children, who had no access to the shots, had higher rates this winter compared with lastNew vaccines and treatments are linked to a dramatic decline in RSV hospitalizations for babies, according to a new study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).This past winter was the first RSV season with widespread availability of a vaccine given during pregnancy and a monoclonal antibody treatment given in the first eight months of life to prevent RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). Continue reading...

Ex-Texas representative, who lost gubernatorial election to Greg Abbott, joins Democrats lambasting former presidentJoe Biden failed this country in the most important job that he had" by deciding to run for another term as US president before dropping out of the election that returned Donald Trump to the White House, where he has unflinchingly assaulted democratic norms, the former representative Beto O'Rourke said recently.We might very well lose the greatest country that this world has ever known," the Texan who has unsuccessfully run for the presidency and his state's governorship said on Pod Save America. And it might be in part because of the decision that Biden and those around him made to run for re-election." Continue reading...

Trump's animosity towards China isn't going to disappear, and his past actions do not bode well for a quick resolutionDonald Trump's massive Chinese tariffs are on pause. The media debated. Wall Street rejoiced. Many of my clients breathed a sigh of relief. Big retailers jumped for joy. But for how long?For starters, the tariffs that weren't paused - a 10% levy on all Chinese goods, plus a bonus 20% tax that somehow relates to fentanyl, are still in place. When you take into consideration existing tariffs on steel from previous Trump and Biden administrations, the effective tariff rate on Chinese goods is actually closer to 40%, according to an analysis done by the Wall Street Journal. Continue reading...

History shows that if western governments mount a defense, the human rights movement will survive this rough patchAs Donald Trump abandons any pretense of promoting human rights abroad, he has sparked concern about the future of the human rights movement. The US government has never been a consistent promoter of human rights, but when it applied itself, it was certainly the most powerful. Yet this is not the first time that the human rights movement has faced a hostile administration in Washington. A collective defense by other governments has been the key to survival in the past. That remains true today.Trump no doubt poses a serious threat. He is enamored of autocrats who rule without the checks and balances on executive power that he would shirk. He has stopped participating in the UN human rights council and censored the US state department's annual human rights report. He has summarily sent immigrants to El Salvador's nightmarish mega-prison, proposed the mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza and threatened to abandon Ukraine's democracy to Vladimir Putin's invading forces.Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch (1993-2022), is a visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. His book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments, was published by Knopf and Allen Lane in February Continue reading...

Tapping a TV host to lead one of the key US prosecutor's offices? For image-obsessed Trump it's a well-worn pathWhen Donald Trump launched a series of scathing attacks on Fox News after the network in effect called the general election for Joe Biden in 2020, it seemed that one of the most enduring relationships in politics could be over.Now, in 2025, it's clear that the relationship between rightwing news channel and the mercurial president is firmer than ever. Trump's hired nearly two dozen Fox News hosts - most recently Jeanine Pirro - to create an administration stocked with television personalities able to spout his message and acquiesce to his every demand. Continue reading...

Two people were killed and 19 injured after the sailing ship's masts snapped and partly collapsed when they hit the bridge during a promotional tour in New York City

The US, UK and others routinely flout international law. That's why there's scant hope for a new tribunal on crimes against UkraineIt's tempting to hope the establishment last week of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, to give its full name, will lead to the speedy trial and indefinite incarceration of Vladimir Putin and senior Russian leaders. After all, the new court is backed by about 40 countries, including the UK, plus the EU and Council of Europe. And only fools like Donald Trump are confused about who the aggressor is in this conflict.Sadly, this appealing notion has scant basis in reality. Ducking peace talks and dodging responsibility for the war he started, a smirking Putin manspreads smugly in the safety of the Kremlin. He also hides behind the outdated convention that serving heads of state enjoy legal immunity. The bottom line is unchanging: Russia will ignore the new tribunal, just as it ignores arrest warrants for Putin over alleged war crimes brought by the international criminal court (ICC).Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentatorDo 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...

Experts warn the message being sent by the White House is that American foreign policy is for sale. Key US politics stories from Saturday 17 May at a glanceWith Donald Trump's headline-making tour of the Gulf region now over, focus has now fallen on the deals made during the trip - for US companies, and for the president himself.Former White House lawyers, diplomatic protocol officers and foreign affairs experts have told the Guardian Donald Trump's receipt of overseas gifts and targeted investments are unprecedented" as the White House remakes US foreign policy under a pay-for-access code that eclipses past administrations. Continue reading...

Meditate instead of scrolling. Ha, just kidding. Doomscroll on news sites and gnash your teeth at the state of the worldStep one: Write a post to inform everyone that you're taking a break from social media. Phrase it so they know you're doing something extremely worthy. Also say something scathing about Meta, so they feel guilty on multiple levels for remaining.Step two: Stay on social media a little longer to respond to the people who respond to your post about quitting social media. Continue reading...

State superintendent Ryan Walters tapped chief of Heritage Foundation, key player behind Project 2025, for curriculumAs part of the latest Republican push in red states to promote ideologies sympathetic to Donald Trump, Oklahoma's new social studies curriculum will ask high school students to identify discrepancies" in the 2020 election results.The previous standard for studying the 2020 election merely said: Examine issues related to the election of 2020 and its outcome." The new version is more expansive: Identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of bellwether county' trends." Continue reading...

In social media posts, president also slams Walmart for price increases and spreads anti-Clinton conspiracy theoriesDonald Trump said that he will speak to both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an effort to stop what he called the bloodbath" war in Ukraine amid a barrage of new social media posts that included baseless conspiracy theories and a demand that Walmart not raise prices for customers because of tariffs he has imposed.Trump, posting on his Truth Social account on Saturday, wrote that he will speak to Putin on Monday morning. THE SUBJECTS OF THE CALL WILL BE, STOPPING THE BLOODBATH' THAT IS KILLING, ON AVERAGE, MORE THAN 5000 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS A WEEK, AND TRADE," Trump wrote, in his customary all-capitalized prose. The president has repeatedly cited a death toll for the conflict that is much higher than any official figures, or estimates based on an open-source investigation, without explaining why. Continue reading...

The actor urged artists to keep expressing themselves after the US president called singer Bruce Springsteen a 'pushy, obnoxious JERK' on his social media platform Truth Social. Pascal was in Cannes on Saturday promoting his new film Eddington, directed by Ari Aster, a conspiracy theory satire set during the Covid-19 pandemic

Total of 10 men escaped from hole behind toilet in cell; authorities are investigating whether they had inside helpSeven men - including one convicted in four killings and others charged with murder - remained on the run after a breakout at New Orleans' jail that officials fear may have been enabled by help from within their own ranks.A total of 10 men participated in the brazen overnight escape by fleeing through a hole behind a toilet and scaling a wall while the lone staffer assigned to their cell pod was away getting food. Continue reading...

Interview by special counsel shows then president having problems remembering key dates and life eventsA newly released recording appears to confirm that Joe Biden suffered some memory lapses while US president, struggling to recall the year his son died or when Donald Trump was first elected.While being interviewed by a special counsel over his handling of classified records, the audio shows Biden's responses are marked by long pauses, a faint whispered voice and confusion over key dates, such as when his son Beau died (2015) or when Trump won his first presidency (2016). Continue reading...

Comments at Cannes come after US president's social media posts against Bruce Springsteen and Taylor SwiftPedro Pascal has sharply criticised Donald Trump's attacks against artists, as the director of a conspiracy theory satire starring the actor said he feared the political messages of films could be weaponised by US border guards.Fuck the people that try to make you scared," the Game of Thrones and The Last of Us actor said at a press conference at the Cannes film festival, promoting Ari Aster's new film Eddington. And fight back. And don't let them win." Continue reading...

Verbal attacks by Trump and allies are creating a hostile climate that endangers judges' safety, experts sayUS judges who have increasingly rebuked the Trump administration's harsh deportation agenda and other Maga policies are facing intense verbal assaults from the president and his allies, which seem to be spurring other dangerous threats against judges, say legal experts and former judges.The Trump administration's escalating fight with the courts has come as more than 200 lawsuits have challenged executive orders and policies on multiple issues including immigrant deportations, penalizing law firms with links to political foes, agency spending and workforce cuts, and other matters. Continue reading...

Much remains uncertain about Valeria Marquez's death. But it shines a light on a universal issueValeria Marquez was killed in one of the most horrifically public ways possible. On Tuesday evening, the 23-year-old Mexican social media influencer, who had built up a large following with videos about beauty and makeup, was recording a TikTok livestream in the beauty salon where she worked in Jalisco, a state in west-central Mexico. A man entered the establishment and, with her video still running, shot her dead.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The New York Mets slugger was booed lustily on his return to Yankee Stadium after departing in free agency, showing just how deep the Subway Series rivalry now runsDuring the last game of the 2024 baseball season - as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series to clinch a championship in front of a sold-out crowd of disappointed New Yorkers - there were still Yankees fans buying No 22 Juan Soto jerseys at the ballpark. This was noteworthy because as soon as the game ended, Soto was a free agent.He had been traded to New York from the San Diego Padres - where he landed after a bombshell trade from the Washington National team that drafted him and with whom he won a World Series in 2019 - just ahead of his walk year. But Soto had endeared himself to the fervent fanbase quickly. In 2024, he was 80% better than average at the plate according to wRC+ and, with the towering Aaron Judge hitting behind him, led the American League in runs scored. And it seemed his swagger fit with the famous franchise that brought him back to the Fall Classic for the first time since he was 20 years old. Continue reading...

The deals stand to enrich tech CEOs substantially by opening up new audiences for their productsOn his tour of the Middle East this week, Donald Trump announced a slew of multibillion-dollar tech deals with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. With the sale of the US's most advanced technology, he also sold the American model of the industry that made it: enormous amounts of power concentrated in the hands of a few men.The announcements poured in last week: the US and the United Arab Emirates agreed on Abu Dhabi as the site of the largest artificial intelligence campus outside the US. The deal reportedly allows the UAE to import half a million Nvidia semiconductor chips, considered the most advanced in the world for the creation of artificial intelligence products. Saudi Arabia struck a similar deal for semiconductors, obtaining the promise of the sale of hundreds of thousands of Nvidia Blackwell chips to Humain, an AI startup owned by its sovereign wealth fund. Cisco said it had signed a deal with a UAE AI firm to develop the country's AI sector. The agreements also directed some investment by Saudi firms into US technology and manufacturing. Amazon Web Services and Qualcomm likewise announced deals on cloud computing and cybersecurity. Continue reading...

A new book has fueled controversy over press handling of the ex-president's decline. But that distracts from a bigger problemWith a new book out about Joe Biden's failed re-election campaign, a media reckoning is in full swing.It goes something like this: mainstream journalism failed the voters. Reporters were complicit; they didn't tell us how much the elderly president had declined. They didn't dig beneath the surface of what Biden aides were doing as they covered up the physical and cognitive decline of the leader of the free world.Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

Legislation would establish fees to seek asylum, care for a minor in US custody or apply for humanitarian paroleCongressional Republicans are proposing an array of new fees on immigrants seeking to remain in the United States in a move that advocates warn will create insurmountable financial barriers.Legislation moving through the GOP-controlled House of Representatives could require immigrants to pay potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars to seek asylum, care for a minor in the government's custody, or apply for humanitarian parole. Continue reading...

The administration seems to be getting clobbered in court, but it's still unsettled whether the government can detain and deport noncitizens over political speechThe Trump administration suffered yet another blow this past week to its efforts to deport international students over their pro-Palestinian speech, when a third federal judge threw a wrench into a government campaign widely criticized as a political witch hunt with little historical precedent.On Wednesday, a federal judge in Virginia ordered immigration authorities to release Georgetown University postdoctoral fellow Badar Khan Suri from custody. The Indian scholar's release followed that of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University student from Turkey, and Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian permanent resident and Columbia University student. The administration is seeking to deport all of them on the grounds that their presence in the US is harmful to the country's foreign policy, part of a crackdown on political dissent that has sent shockwaves through US campuses. Continue reading...

White House remakes foreign policy under pay-for-access code that critics say could violate US constitutionFormer White House lawyers, diplomatic protocol officers and foreign affairs experts have told the Guardian that Donald Trump's receipt of overseas gifts and targeted investments are unprecedented", as the White House remakes US foreign policy under a pay-for-access code that eclipses past administrations with characteristic Trumpian excess.The openness to foreign largesse was on full display this week as the US president was feted in the Gulf states during his first major diplomatic trip abroad this term, inking deals he claimed were worth trillions of dollars and pumping local leaders for investments as he says he remakes US foreign policy to prioritise America first" - putting aside concerns of human rights or international law for the bottom line of American businesses and taxpayers. Continue reading...