Defence secretary reportedly sent the group flight schedules for strikes on Houthis; draft order calls for drastic restructure of state department – key US politics stories from 20 April
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth is in the spotlight for a communications blunder in which he reportedly created his own Signal group chat that included his wife and brother, in which he shared confidential details of a US strike on Yemen this March.
The chat on Signal, a commercially available app not authorized as a means to communicate sensitive or classified national defense information, allegedly included more than a dozen people.
A nine-year-old boy has died after becoming trapped between rocks at a popular holiday spot on the New South Wales mid-north coast, amid a spate of drowning deaths over Easter.
Police and other emergency services tried to free the boy from the site at South West Rocks on Sunday afternoon but he died at the scene.
Visit by vice-president and family could be overshadowed by tariff and US immigration tensions, and farmer protests
The US vice-president, JD Vance, is heading to India for talks with the prime minister, Narendra Modi, on a bilateral trade deal as the US tariff war with China escalates and the US global economic alliances fray.
Vance, joined by the second lady, Usha Vance, and their three children, Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel, will land in Delhi on Monday for a four-day visit that blends high-level negotiations with a family sightseeing tour.
Russia violated Vladimir Putin’s self-declared truce thousands of times, says Ukrainian president, as air raids resume on Easter Monday. What we know on day 1,153
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Russia to genuinely halt drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure for at least 30 days. The Ukrainian president accused his Russian counterpart of a “PR” exercise as Vladimir Putin unilaterally called an Easter ceasefire starting on Saturday evening only for it to be violated by Russia’s military thousands of times. Though the ceasefire was declared only by Russia, the Kremlin also accused Ukraine of violations.
Citing a report from Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Zelenskyy said Russia was still using heavy weapons and since 10am on Sunday an increase in Russian shelling had been observed. “However, there were no air raid alerts today [Sunday],” Zelenskyy added, going on to propose a halt to “any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days … If Russia does not agree to such a step, it will be proof that it intends to continue doing only those things which destroy human lives and prolong the war.”
Ukrainian soldiers told the Agence France-Presse news agency that they had noticed a lull. A drone unit commander said Russia’s activity had “significantly decreased both in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions … Several assaults were recorded, but those were solitary incidents involving small groups. Fewer guys [soldiers] will die today.” Another soldier, Sergiy, told AFP in a message that “[Russian] artillery is not working. It is quiet compared to a regular day”. AFP journalists monitoring in eastern Ukraine heard fewer explosions than usual and saw no smoke on the horizon.
Other Ukrainian troops told the Guardian’s Kyiv-based Luke Harding of continued Russian attacks well after they were supposed to have been suspended. “For us, it’s just another day of war – with shelling from various types of weapons and even one attempt to assault our positions,” Denys Bobkov, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s 37th separate marine brigade, said in a message from the front. Zelenskyy posted: “In practice, either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favourable PR coverage.”
As the clock ticked past midnight into Monday, and Putin’s claimed Easter truce expired, Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian air force had just issued alerts for Russian missile and drone strikes on east and south-east regions of Ukraine. Kyiv’s forces were instructed to mirror Russian army actions, Zelenskyy said. “We will respond to silence with silence, our strikes will be to protect against Russian strikes,” Zelenskyy posted.
Donald Trump, the US president, used the situation to claim that a breakthrough was within a few days’ reach. “Hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week,” he posted on Sunday. “Both will then start to do big business with the United States of America, which is thriving, and make a fortune.” The White House did not immediately give any further details on the president’s announcement. On Friday, Trump said he would end US peace efforts unless the two sides showed movement.
China’s leaders see artificial intelligence as key to upgrading military strength, solving problems created by a shrinking workforce, and a source of national pride
On a misty Saturday afternoon in Shenzhen’s Central Park, a gaggle of teenage girls are sheltering from the drizzle under a concrete canopy. With their bags of crisps piled high in front of them, they crowd around a couple of smartphones to sing along to Mandopop ballads. The sound of their laughter rings out across the surrounding lawn – until it is pierced by a mechanical buzzing sound. Someone has ordered dinner.
A few metres away from the impromptu karaoke session is an “airdrop cabinet”, one of more than 40 in Shenzhen that is operated by Meituan, China’s biggest food delivery platform. Hungry park-goers can order anything from rice noodles to Subway sandwiches to bubble tea.
Defence secretary says lessons from Ukraine highlight need for homegrown supply chain
Britain is set to significantly increase its weapons production in order to no longer rely on importing from the US and France.
This comes as British and European defence companies move away from buying US-made weaponry and equipment due to concerns over president Donald Trump making the country an unreliable military partner.
US defense secretary texted strike information to his family in group chat he created, sources tell the New York Times
Before the US launched military strikes on Yemen in March, Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, sent detailed information about the planned attacks to a private Signal group chat that he created himself, which included his wife, his brother and about a dozen other people, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
The Guardian has independently confirmed the existence of Hegseth’s own private group chat.
‘I was a bit surprised but I just have to accept it’
Midfielder unsure if he will be part of Club World Cup
Kevin De Bruyne has admitted to being “a little bit” shocked at not being offered a new contract at Manchester City, with the 33‑year‑old saying the club took the decision unilaterally. De Bruyne is also unsure if he will be part of City’s Club World Cup campaign that begins in June in the US.
The Belgian is City’s most decorated footballer with 19 honours and is considered one of the club’s greatest players. Yet De Bruyne, who joined in August 2015 from Wolfsburg, will be forced to depart in the close season after the club did not make a fresh offer.
Bologna shock leaders with stunning ultra-late winner
Real Madrid score stoppage time winner against Bilbao
A stunning last-gasp goal by the striker Riccardo Orsolini gave Bologna a 1-0 home win against Inter in Serie A on Sunday in a blow to the visitors’ hopes of retaining their title.
Treble-chasing Inter stayed top of the standings with 71 points after 33 games but second-placed Napoli are now level on points with the leaders after securing a late 1-0 win at relegation-threatened Monza on Saturday.
Official claimed Jose Hermosillo, who was visiting Arizona, was ‘without the proper immigration documents’
Immigration officials detained a US citizen for nearly 10 days in Arizona, according to court records and press reports.
As the NPR affiliate Arizona Public Media, first reported, 19-year-old Jose Hermosillo, a New Mexico resident visiting Arizona, was detained by border patrol agents in Nogales, a city along the Mexico border about an hour south of Tucson.
Patients in England aged 65 or over made up almost 70% of long ‘trolley waits’, with some left for up to 10 days, data reveals
About 49,000 A&E visits last year resulted in patients waiting 24 hours or more for a hospital bed, with people aged 65 or over making up almost 70% of cases.
According to a freedom of information request by the Liberal Democrats, some patients went 10 days before getting a space on a ward.
Senator warns of US getting ‘closer to a constitutional crisis’ as Samuel Alito’s dissent signals deference to Trump
Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar warned on Sunday that the US is “getting closer and closer to a constitutional crisis”, but the courts, growing Republican disquiet at Trump administration policies, and public protest were holding it off.
“I believe as long as these courts hold, and the constituents hold, and the congress starts standing up, our democracy will hold,” Klobuchar told CNN’s State of the Union, adding “but Donald Trump is trying to pull us down into the sewer of a crisis.”
An overtime goal from Tessa Janecke earned the United States a 4-3 win over reigning champions Canada to win gold at the women’s ice hockey world championships on Sunday as the latest chapter in their historic rivalry was decided in dramatic fashion.
“Shock and awe,” USA goalie Gwyneth Philips said after the game. “I’m ecstatic.”
Leaders three points from clinching Premier League title
Full-back’s winner was first goal for club with his left foot
Arne Slot said it is “ridiculous” to dispute Trent Alexander-Arnold’s commitment to Liverpool after he scored the only goal at Leicester to push his club closer to a 20th league title. The 26-year-old, who is expected to join Real Madrid on a free this summer, fired in his first left-foot goal for his boyhood club on his return from an ankle injury to secure victory and condemn Leicester to relegation.
Alexander-Arnold, who scored within five minutes of replacing Conor Bradley, is poised to join Real on a long-term contract when his Liverpool contract expires. He celebrated at Leicester by removing his shirt and Kostas Tsimikas placed it on the corner flag nearest to the away fans. Following the match the full-back soaked up their adulation after Virgil van Dijk ushered him towards them. Alexander-Arnold, who joined Liverpool aged six, has won every domestic trophy with the club, plus the Champions League.
After decades as a safe haven, Donald Trump’s economic upheaval has some traders looking to put their money elsewhere – and countries looking to decouple their economies
At the same time as Australians are cutting back on plans to visit the US under Donald Trump, a new type of investment strategy designed to avoid America is fast gaining popularity.
The “sell America trade”, an expression that barely existed before Trump spooked markets by unveiling his new tariff regime late on 2 April, is now a common expression among traders and appears regularly in investment notes to explain the day’s price movements.
McLaren man’s win catapults him 10pts clear in title race
Max Verstappen pays price for first-lap penalty
Maintaining a focus and equilibrium under pressure has always been one of the hallmarks of Formula One’s greatest proponents and Oscar Piastri is demonstrating it with striking assurance for one so young.
His victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, beating the world champion Max Verstappen, was an object lesson in the 24-year-old’s calm and confidence and his potential to take the title in only his third season.
Sonia Bompastor accepted that her Chelsea team had been simply “not good enough” after they were taught a lesson by a technically superior Barcelona side who now hold a commanding position in their Women’s Champions League semi-final.
Chelsea were beaten for only the second time in all competitions since Bompastor took over last summer but in sunny Catalonia they were outclassed by the strongest team they have faced in her tenure so far.
A few minutes after Liverpool took potentially their penultimate if not final step towards the title, Virgil van Dijk gave the match-winner a gentle nudge, a little lumbar support.
For a moment Van Dijk’s duty as captain extended to ushering Trent Alexander-Arnold towards the fans who are resigned to him departing for Real Madrid this summer, but only after the club winning a 20th league title. Alexander-Arnold applauded and then clenched both fists overhead, a nod to the incoming crown.
Chris Wakelin beats former champ Neil Robertson 10-8
Mark Williams was forced to dredge up every inch of his Crucible experience to sink rising Chinese star Wu Yize 10-8 and book his place in the last 16 of the World Snooker Championship for the 22nd time in his career.
Williams, who turned 50 last month, delivered two near-faultless final frames to hold off his opponent, who had missed a golden chance to seize a 9-7 advantage when he missed a frame-ball red with the rest.
Tessa Janecke scored the winning goal in overtime as the United States beat Canada to win gold
Canada 0-0 USA, 14:25 left, 1st period: It’s all Canada at the moment. They’ve taken the shots lead 6-3. So far, nothing has troubled Frankel too much, but “let them shoot a lot” is never a good game plan.
Social media alert: USA Hockey and Hockey Canada are both on BlueSky, but neither organization has posted. That’s no fun.
They’re off on the formation lap, through the twists and turns of this narrow street circuit. Lando Norris is starting on hard compound tyres; everyone ahead of him is on mediums.
And here’s pole-sitter and defending champ, Max Verstappen: “It’s going to be a battle with McLaren whatever the tyres or temperature … I hope our pace is a bit better today, a bit more consistency.”
The first leg of the second semi-final was contested between Arsenal and Lyon yesterday with Melchie Dumornay scoring an 82nd-minute goal to give the visitors a 2-1 advantage at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal are hoping to reach their first Champions League final since they won the competition in 2007 and will have their work cut out for them in France against the eight-time champions.
Bompastor was also just asked about James in her pre-match interview, who misses out due to injury:
A really important player, you know that. She is really talented. One of those players who can make a big difference when she is on the pitch but we need to adapt. She is not with us and I have a lot of quality in the squad so hopefully it will be enough for us to win.
Maura Healey says president targeting universities hurts US ‘competitiveness’ and affects research and hospitals
Massachusetts governor Maura Healey said on Sunday that Donald Trump’s attacks on Harvard University and other schools are having detrimental ripple effects, with the shutdown of research labs and cuts to hospitals linked to colleges.
During an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, the Democratic governor said that the effects on Harvard are damaging “American competitiveness”, since a number of researchers are leaving the US for opportunities in other countries. After decades of investment in science and innovation, she said: “intellectual assets are being given away.”
The EU is expected to push for special youth visas at next month’s summit. Sir Keir Starmer should say yes
Strong hints that a rebranded “youth opportunity scheme” will top the EU’s wishlist at next month’s EU-UK summit are good news for anyone who regrets the diminished travel opportunities that were one result of Brexit. Rising expectations of new European train routes – possibly including direct trains from London to Italy – can only add to the appeal of a potential rule change.
There were more consequential impacts of Brexit than restrictions on travel. The disruption of trade, which is predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility to cause a 4% reduction in long-run productivity, is far more significant economically. Drug shortages continue to create risks to people’s health, and cause problems for doctors and pharmacists. Cancer research and trials have also been badly affected, according to a new report, because of the increased difficulty of attracting scientists and funding.
Chris Van Hollen says ‘if we deny constitutional rights of this one man, it threatens constitutional rights of everyone’
Senator Chris Van Hollen, who travelled to El Salvador last week to meet Kilmar Ábrego García, the man at the center of a wrongful deportation dispute, said on Sunday that his trip was to support Ábrego García’s right to due process because if that was denied then everyone’s constitutional rights were threatened in the US.
The White House has claimed Ábrego García was a member of the MS-13 gang though he has not been charged with any gang related crimes and the supreme court has ordered his return to the US be facilitated.
British cancer patients are being denied life-saving drugs and trials of revolutionary treatments are being derailed by the red tape and extra costs brought on by Brexit, a leaked report warns.
Soaring numbers are being diagnosed with the disease amid a growing and ageing population, improved diagnosis initiatives and wider public awareness – making global collaborations to find new medicines essential.
The strange stories of the agents who lived apparently normal lives in the west as part of Soviet espionage programmes make compelling reading
One muggy afternoon in June 2010, Don Heathfield and his wife, Ann, were relaxing over a bottle of champagne with their two sons, Tim and Alex, when they heard a loud knocking at the door. The family was celebrating Tim’s 20th birthday at their comfortable home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after lunch in a restaurant. Tim’s mother went to answer the door, calling out as she did so that some of his friends must have arrived to wish him a happy birthday. Instead she found a group of men dressed in black waiting on the doorstep. Bellowing “FBI”, they barged their way into the house and handcuffed Ann and her husband, before marching them outside and driving them away.
Alex assumed that there had been a terrible mistake; his parents were much too boring to warrant such a dramatic arrest. But there was no mistake. His parents were not Don Heathfield and Ann Foley, prosperous Canadians living in the US, but Andrei Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova, Russian spies who had assumed false identities before Alex and his brother were born. Together with their parents, the two boys were stripped of their Canadian citizenship and flown to Moscow. Alex was handed a Russian passport, identifying him with a name he could not even pronounce properly. “Typical high school identity crisis, right?” he remarks, with a wry smile but an undertone of understandable bitterness, while being interviewed by the author of this book, Shaun Walker, an international correspondent for the Guardian who was based in Moscow for more than 10 years.
IDF says it is dismissing deputy commander for giving ‘inaccurate report’ on shooting that caused global outcry
Israel’s military has admitted to several “professional failures” and a breach of orders in the killing of 15 rescue workers in Gaza last month, and said that it was dismissing a deputy commander responsible.
The deadly shooting of eight Red Crescent paramedics, six civil defence workers and a UN staffer by Israeli troops, as they carried out a rescue mission in southern Gaza at dawn on 23 March, had prompted international outcry and calls for a war crimes investigation.
The fine tidings for Manchester United are that they are safe from relegation, the grim ones are that this came despite a 15th defeat of a dismal Premier League campaign.
Wolves’ winner was simple: on 77 minutes Pablo Sarabia, on as a substitute only 120 seconds before, placed a 20-yard free-kick sweetly to André Onana’s left, Christian Eriksen having been culpable for the foul.
Mikel Arteta will have spent more arduous Easter Sundays hunting hidden chocolate eggs.
Aside from brief concern for Bukayo Saka’s raked achilles – an incident for which Leif Davis received his very early marching orders – this was as undemanding an afternoon as the Arsenal manager could have envisaged on the path to the more important matter of a Champions League semi‑final with Paris Saint‑Germain.
These are the moments that turn seasons. Credit goes to Enzo Maresca, whose substitutions altered the flow of this west London derby and provided Chelsea with the foundations to break Fulham’s hearts with a stunning turnaround at Craven Cottage.
Fulham were clinging on to their 1-0 lead when Maresca took off his only striker, Nicolas Jackson, and replaced him with Tyrique George with 12 minutes left. The 19-year-old winger soon conjured a fine equaliser and there was time for Chelsea, who had not won on the road since December, to revive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League when Pedro Neto lashed in a firecracker of a shot in added time.
She lost the first trial in 2022, but she gets ‘second bite of the apple’ due to a judge’s procedural errors
When Sarah Palin arrived at a federal court on Monday, her appearance promised little in the way of legal fireworks.
Palin was in downtown Manhattan for a retrial in her defamation lawsuit against the New York Times. She lost her first trial against the newspaper in 2022 and the legal basis of Palin’s civil claim – that an incorrect editorial unlawfully smeared her – remains the same.
Australia’s biggest industrial climate polluter – Chevron’s Gorgon gas export plant in Western Australia – received the equivalent of millions of dollars in carbon credits from the federal government last year, despite increasing its emissions.
The revelation in government data last week has sparked calls for changes to the safeguard mechanism, the government policy applied to the country’s 219 largest industrial climate polluting facilities.
Twenty years ago, John Hancock had dinner with his mother, Gina Rinehart. He says it’s the last positive interaction he had with her. In an in-depth interview, he explains how his relationship with his mother fell apart and discussesa high-stakes legal case that could threaten the foundations of her empire
I was temporarily living in my home town of Wangaratta while caring for my grandmother, who had dementia. I got weekends off and on one of those occasions I met a girl called Marie. During that lovely early period of a new relationship where you’re still getting to know each other, I took her camping at Mount Buffalo in Victoria.
On the way home we stopped in Myrtleford, a small town at the foot of the mountain, to get petrol. I fuelled up and Marie stayed in the car while I went inside to pay.
US vice-president spends few minutes with pontiff whom he has publicly disagreed with over migration
Pope Francis and JD Vance, who have disagreed very publicly over the Trump administration’s attitude to immigration and its migrant deportation plans, met briefly in Rome on Sunday to exchange Easter greetings.
The meeting came a day after the US vice-president, who converted to Roman Catholicism in 2019, sat down with senior Vatican officials and had “an exchange of opinions” over international conflicts and immigration.
Ian Copestake emails: “All this talk of one-sidedness makes it feel like Liverpool are playing Wimbledon again in a certain fina of yore.. It also shows that people follow narratives rather than watch games as playing bottom feeders is exactly the sort of opponent Liverpool struggle against. You’ve been warned.”
If enacted changes would be one of the biggest reorganizations of department since its founding in 1789
A draft Trump administration executive order reported to be circulating among US diplomats proposes a radical restructuring of the US state department, including drastic reductions to sub-Saharan operations, envoys and bureaus relating to climate, refugees, human rights, democracy and gender equality.
The changes, if enacted, would be one of the biggest reorganizations of the department since its founding in 1789, according to Bloomberg, which had seen a copy of the 16-page draft. The New York Times first reported on the draft.
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