Group of gunmen open fire on holidaymakers in Indian-controlled region in midst of US vice-president’s visit to country
At least 28 tourists have been killed after suspected militants opened fire at a popular local tourist destination in Indian-administered Kashmir in the midst of a visit to the country by US vice-president JD Vance.
The attack occurred in the Baisaran Valley, a picturesque meadow in Pahalgam, a well-known tourist town located 90 kilometres south of Srinagar, the region’s main city, in what officials are describing as the deadliest attack on civilians in the region in recent years.
The funeral of Pope Francis will be held on Saturday at St Peter’s Square, the Vatican said on Tuesday, as a host of world leaders and royals including Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump and the Prince of Wales confirmed their attendance.
The pope, the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, died at his home in the Vatican on Monday aged 88 after a stroke. He had been recovering from double pneumonia for which he was hospitalised for five weeks.
Gold has climbed above $3,500 an ounce for the first time while stocks on Wall Street and the dollar rose following Monday’s sell-off that was prompted by Donald Trump’s blistering attack on the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, caused alarm among investors.
Spot gold reached the record price of $3,500.01 on Tuesday, extending a rally that has pushed bullion up from $2,623 an ounce at the start of this year. Analysts now predict the metal could even reach $4,000 only a matter of weeks after the price moved through $3,000 for the first time.
After two actors died in Owerri, Imo State, AGN head Emeka Rollas drew comparisons to events last year, when popular Nollywood actor Junior Pope drowned
The president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria has called for mass prayers and increased unionisation after the death of two actors in Owerri, the capital city of Imo State.
Posting on Instagram, Emeka Rollas advocated spiritual intervention and better workplace regulation to try to prevent future tragedies after the two men, who have not yet been named, died on Friday.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is collecting the private medical records of many Americans from several different federal and commercial databases to give to researchers for US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s new autism study.
With this information being included in the database, the NIH is also reportedly crafting a new registry to track those with autism, per CBS News.
Jerome Powell is a soft target for the president amid economic instability. But getting rid of him would only invite more chaos
US stock markets, Treasury bonds and the dollar itself are sliding amid the tariff turmoil and Donald Trump needs a soft target. It was probably only a matter of time before he intensified his attacks on Jerome Powell, chair of the US Federal Reserve. It is an easy narrative to blame the dull central banker with orthodox worries about anchoring inflation expectations. Nor is Powell able to engage in tit-for-tat soundbites. Unlike Trump, he must measure the impact on markets of his every word.
The open question is how far Trump intends to push things. Monday’s reaction in financial markets was strong because it seemed for the first time that the president could be serious about removal. “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” declared Trump, which was several notches beyond his usual whine about urging the Fed to hurry up with cuts in interest rates.
GSU will establish the Gullah Geechee Sacred Land Project to research and protect the community and its culture
A new $500,000 Mellon grant will allow Georgia State University to develop archival, historical and cultural research to protect Gullah Geechee heritage and communities in Georgia and South Carolina.
Using the grant, GSU will establish the Gullah Geechee Sacred Land Project (GGSLP), which will be “dedicated to maintaining African American burial grounds by recovering communities’ spiritual, genealogical and spatial lineages and safeguarding the places where those communities interred their ancestors”, according to a statement by the college.
Billionaires, starring Steve Carell and Ramy Youssef, meet amid an international crisis in HBO’s of-the-moment satire
A summit of influential male billionaires is under way in the first teaser trailer for Mountainhead.
HBO unveiled the extended look at the first feature from the Succession creator Jesse Armstrong on Tuesday, which stars Steve Carell, Cory Michael Smith, Ramy Youssef and Jason Schwartzman as a group of billionaire friends who meet at an alpine retreat during an international crisis.
With his outspokenness about Israel’s outrages, the late pope showed up the hypocrisy of the media and politicians
The deaths of major public figures can provoke the most grotesque outpourings of hypocrisy. So it goes for Pope Francis, now lauded by leaders and media outlets that were complicit in the very evils he condemned. “Pope Francis was a pope for the poor, the downtrodden and the forgotten,” said Keir Starmer, a prime minister who stripped the winter fuel payment from many vulnerable pensioners before launching an assault on disability benefits predicted to drive up to 400,000 Britons into poverty. “He promoted … an end to … suffering across the globe,” wrote Joe Biden, enabler of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.
Indeed, the fate of Gaza seemed to preoccupy the pope’s final years. In his last Easter address, he condemned the “death and destruction” and resulting “dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation” – a powerful sermon that hardly any western media outlets covered. Indeed, you will struggle to find much prominent coverage of any of his courageous statements on Gaza, such as: “This is not war. This is terrorism.” In his final published piece, the pope reiterated his support for a Palestinian state, declaring: “Peace-making requires courage, much more so than warfare.”
Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
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Donald Trump’s tariffs have unleashed a “major negative shock” into the world economy, the International Monetary Fund has said, as it cut its forecasts for US, UK and global growth.
In a stark assessment of the impact of the US president’s policies, as global finance ministers prepare to meet in Washington, the IMF said: “We expect that the sharp increase on 2 April in both tariffs and uncertainty will lead to a significant slowdown in global growth in the near term.”
The Championship’s best team will need to be smart in the transfer market to give themselves a chance next season
When Leeds United sold £140m of playing talent last summer, Daniel Farke deviated from accepted managerial convention and declined to throw his toys out of the pram. Farke is a little too unconventional, a little too resistant to groupthink, to always do the expected and his club’s owner, the San Francisco‑based 49er Enterprises, is poised to reap the benefits.
The German’s unusual amalgam of high emotional intelligence and advanced numeracy have helped to provide the framework for the freshly secured promotion to the Premier League that Leeds so narrowly missed out on last May.
The R&A would like to see Donald Trump’s Turnberry course in Scotland return as host of the Open but will first need to assess the feasibility of the venue, the governing body’s chief executive, Mark Darbon, said.
Turnberry, a seaside course in South Ayrshire, has staged the Open four times – most recently in 2009 when American Stewart Cink edged past his compatriot Tom Watson to claim the title in a thrilling victory. Trump bought the property in 2014 and has spent £200m upgrading the resort’s courses.
European Commission ‘has not set preconditions’ before summit where partnership for €150bn defence procurement is expected to be forged
The European Commission and UK government are moving closer to a defence deal that will open the door to British arms firms being able to reap bigger potential rewards from a €150bn (£129bn) EU fund, but both sides insisted it was not tied to fishing rights.
An EU-UK defence pact is likely to be the highlight of the first post-Brexit summit in May, but has been dogged by questions over how far member states will insist on linking security to a separate agreement on fisheries.
Anything is possible with Trump ripping up all the rules – and I’m going to take full advantage
My haters are going to rejoice when I say this, but I think it’s high time I changed careers. Being a half Palestinian, wholly homosexual freelance writer based in the US isn’t currently looking like the most stable situation. Either my livelihood is going to get obliterated by AI, or I’m getting shipped to a detention centre for thoughtcrimes and gender treachery. It’s anyone’s guess which comes first.
Having mulled over the various directions my future could take (dog-cloning saleswoman, astronaut, head of sanitation for the city of Philadelphia), I have finally decided what I want to be when I grow up. And I’m going to exclusively reveal the result in this column. I’m … going into politics!
Young Australian voters “do actually care” about politics and current affairs, Konrad Benjamin tells Guardian Australia. “Aussie punters are not disengaged,” he says. “Most of the corporate media and politicians just refuse to talk about the big, systemic things that are broken, and how we can fix them.”
The creator behind Punters Politics, with 400,000 followers on Instagram, is a popular source of information in the lead up to the federal election, according to responses to the Guardian Australia young voter callout. He is one of a lineup of independent commentators and journalists creating content on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch that people told us they are turning to for political information.
Researchers surprised at impact that even small differences in sleep make to adolescents’ cognitive abilities
Teenagers who go to bed earlier and sleep for longer than their peers tend to have sharper mental skills and score better on cognitive tests, researchers have said.
A study of more than 3,000 adolescents showed that those who turned in earliest, slept the longest, and had the lowest sleeping heart rates outperformed others on reading, vocabulary, problem solving and other mental tests.
Ryan Coogler’s ambitious box office hit combines genres to come up with something wholly original and fascinatingly complex
This article contains spoilers for Sinners
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners just notched the biggest opening weekend for an original movie since the start of the pandemic, which means the Michael B Jordan-starring, period-set vampire movie will be seen and talked about for weeks (and more) to come. Here are some absolutely spoiler-packed discussion points (seriously, multiple endings are spoiled!) for the film’s variety of layers, genres and readings.
The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has proposed a sweeping reorganisation of the US state department as part of what he called an effort to reform it amid criticism from the Trump White House over the execution of US diplomacy.
If approved, the reorganisation would cut more than 700 positions and eliminate 132 of 734 offices, according to state department officials. But those officials also stressed that the plan, which was suddenly announced on Tuesday, remained a proposal and would not lead to immediate layoffs or cuts.
The first time he spoke to Pope Francis during the pontiff’s nightly calls to the Holy Family Catholic church in Gaza City, the congregant George Antone, 44, found himself at a loss for words.
It was October 2023, a few weeks after Hamas ignited a devastating war in the Gaza Strip by attacking Israel. The Palestinian territory’s tiny Christian community had taken shelter in the strip’s three churches, but that didn’t mean they were safe. An Israeli airstrike had just hit the Greek Orthodox church, killing 18 people; soon, snipers and bombs would also kill civilians at the Holy Family.
Faye Carruthers is joined by Sophie Downey, Tom Garry and Emma Sanders to discuss the Champions League semi-finals, the Women’s Championship and the latest WSL action
On this week’s Guardian Women’s Football Weekly, Faye Carruthers is joined by Sophie Downey, Tom Garry and Emma Sanders to review disappointing first-leg semi-final results for Arsenal and Chelsea in the Champions League. They are trailing in their ties with Lyon and Barcelona respectively. But can they turn it around? The panel preview this weekend’s must-win second legs.
And after teasing you for weeks, the panel take a deep dive into the Women’s Championship as we approach the final two games of what’s been a thrilling season. They also round up the very latest from the WSL.
Trump’s anti-media diatribes are part of the authoritarian playbook. Congress must reject his planned cuts
It was entirely predictable that Donald Trump would go after public media in America. Harming the reality-based press – in every form, whether public or private – is a central part of his playbook for controlling the political narrative as he moves the country toward an authoritarian model of government.
For Trump, the message is all, and anything that gets in the way should be portrayed as an evil to society and stamped out.
Al Gore said there were “important lessons” to be learned from similarities between the early rise of Nazi Germany and the recent actions of the the Trump administration, in scathing comments made Monday during remarks about climate change.
During a speech at an event to mark the beginning of San Francisco’s Climate Week, the former vice-president and established climate advocate, said that the Trump administration was “trying to create their own preferred version of reality”, akin to the Nazi party during the 1930s in Germany, Politico reported.
Spanish PM says ‘industrial and technological plan’ will ensure country commits to spending 2% of GDP on defence
Spain has announced a €10.5bn investment plan to ensure it will reach its long-delayed Nato commitment of spending 2% of its GDP on defence this year, saying it has become obvious “only Europe will know how to protect Europe” from now on.
The country – which lags well behind other western nations by dedicating about 1.3% of its GDP to defence spending – is one of the Nato members that has been pressured by the Trump administration to increase its spending, and had previously committed to hitting the 2% threshold by 2029.
British No 1 says friend is ‘a really genuine, nice person’
Italian will return to action in May after three-month ban
Jack Draper believes it has been important to stand up for his friend Jannik Sinner and that the Italian is undeserving of any hate as he prepares to return next month from his three‑month doping ban.
“When people ask about him, or anyone, I’ll tell the truth,” Draper said, in a joint interview with the Guardian and the BBC. “I think Jannik is a really, really genuine, nice person. And on top of that, he’s obviously an unbelievable player. In this situation, I’m sure that he would have absolutely zero idea of anything. That’s just the way life goes – sometimes there’s mistakes.
Google suffered another defeat last week in its clash with the justice department, while Meta hasn’t been able to wriggle its way out of antitrust cases either
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. This week, Google and Meta take legal beatings while Microsoft faces a “tipping point” over Gaza.
Our panel of early risers have some sprightly suggestions for a springtime breakfast
Breakfast normally means porridge, but what are the alternatives in spring? It’s a truth universally acknowledged that most breakfast binds can be solved with oats. But when porridge doesn’t float your boat, it’s got to be bircher muesli or overnight oats. “I have always been a bit rude about overnight oats,” says Will Bowlby, co-founder of Kricket, whose Shoreditch arm recently launched a breakfast menu. “But when the weather is warm, soaking oats in coconut water, mixing them with jaggery, then throwing in things like fresh coconut, rhubarb or raspberries is a really nice alternative to porridge.”
And it’s those extras that will set your oats apart, says Nia Burr of Esters in north London. “Flavour a big batch of yoghurt at the beginning of the week with honey and some kind of citrus, such as lime or blood orange, and make a rhubarb compote,” she says. “We then top it all off with a polenta-based crumb mixed with pumpkin seeds [though any nuts or seeds would be delicious.” Keep all the different elements separate, “so it doesn’t become stodgy”, then simply build your bowl in the morning. Alternatively, Bowlby would strain Greek yoghurt overnight (“it makes it really luscious”) and mixes with condensed milk and fresh vanilla. “Serve it with poached fruit and granola – we roast oats, almonds, cashews, barberries, coconut, orange juice and jaggery.”
Hubris cost Lyon last week and it almost cost PSG too. “We thought we were too good,” admitted Ousmane Dembélé after PSGconceded three goals at Villa Park and were nearly knocked out of the Champions League. “We eased off a bit. We thought it was over but big matches are like that,” said Malick Fofana after Lyon’s spectacular three-goal collapse against Manchester United did cost them a place in the Europa League semi-finals. “It is a match I won’t forget,” added Fofana, who knows that Lyon – like PSG – will have to re-engage if their season is to end well.
With a derby at Saint-Étienne on Sunday, Lyon had no time for a postmortem. But for Paulo Fonseca, one thing was clear. “We led 4-2 with one less player on the pitch but we celebrated the 4-2 too much when the match was not finished,” said the Lyon manager after his team’s 5-4 defeat at Old Trafford. “We should have thought about continuing to manage the match. We lacked experience at this moment,” he added.
The Kremlin says it is open to direct talks with Ukraine but has declined to back Kyiv’s proposal to extend the Easter ceasefire.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday that there were no concrete plans for negotiations on halting strikes against civilian targets, but that the Russian president was willing to discuss this directly with Ukraine if Kyiv removed “certain obstacles”.
Speaking in India, JD Vance has warned that the 21st century could be “a very dark time for all of humanity” depending on the decisions made over global trade and global partnerships at this juncture.
The US vice-president said “We are now officially one quarter into the 21st century, 25 years in, 75 years to go. And I really believe that the future of the 21st century is going to be determined by the strength of the US-India partnership.
As temperatures rise and countries back off their decarbonization efforts, we must confront a reality central banks can’t correct
Inflation is, at base, a tax on consumption – and it hits the poor the hardest, since they consume more of their incomes and the rich consume less.
That’s one reason for concern over Donald Trump’s tariffs, which will disproportionately affect the poor. When the 90-day pause on the tariffs expires, it is reasonable to expect prices to rise, and by a lot.
Mark Blyth is a political economist and professor at Brown University. Nicolò Fraccaroli is a visiting scholar at Brown University. The views expressed here are the writers’ own and not their institutions’
In 2002, the Boston Globe published a series of articles exposing the scale of child sexual abuse in the local Catholic church. It shone a spotlight – the title of a later movie based on the investigation – on the church’s dark shameful secrets.
Eleven years later, Francis became pope. Wave after wave of abuse revelations continued to crash at the Vatican’s doors amid mounting anger and revulsion among the faithful and beyond. The issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominate his trips abroad. He was slow to grasp the scale and systemic nature of the issue and apparently reluctant to take firm action to deal with abusers and those who covered up abuse.
The announcement that members must watch all films nominated in a category in order to vote for the winner, is met with disbelief that it wasn’t already the case
A new rule introduced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to ensure voters have seen all the films in a category before they cast their ballots has provoked disquiet online, with many expressing surprise it wasn’t already a requirement.
A raft of measures were announced by the Oscars governing body on Monday, including the stipulation that “Academy members must now watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round for the Oscars”.
As the IMF recommends that fit and sharp older workers delay retirement to offset ageing population trends, we’d like to hear what people make of such proposals
People from the baby boomer generation are being encouraged to stay in the workforce for longer and delay retirement as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said governments needed to make more use of fit, older workers to balance public finances amid fiscal pressures caused by an ageing global population.
The financial agency declared that “the 70s are the new 50s”, and released data findings suggesting that a person aged 70 in 2022 had the same cognitive function as the average 53-year-old in 2000. Physical health had also significantly improved, the IMF found, as 70-year-olds displayed the same fitness as 56-year-olds did 25 years ago based on grip strength and lung functionality tests.
Digital media minister Clara Chappaz says TikTok videos promoting extreme thinness ‘revolting and unacceptable’
The French government is seeking to take action against a TikTok group promoting extreme thinness among young women and girls.
France’s minister for digital media, Clara Chappaz, has reported #SkinnyTok to the country’s audiovisual and digital watchdog and the EU over concerns that the trend is body-shaming victims into anorexia and that algorithms are targeting the most vulnerable.
Canaries missed out on playoff spot in Championship
A 3-1 defeat at Millwall marks Thorup’s final match
Jack Wilshere will take charge of Norwich’s final two games of the season after the Canaries parted company with head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup.
Norwich have slipped to 14th in the Championship after winning only twice in 14 matches, with their 3-1 Easter Monday defeat at Millwall being their fourth loss in five games. Danish coach Thorup was appointed on a three-year deal last May and leaves alongside his assistant Glen Riddersholm.
One day, life as a finance consultant stopped making sense for Peter Hahn, so he took to organic winegrowing in the Loire instead
One Friday night 24 years ago, Peter Hahn was sitting in the back of a cab to Heathrow, sleepless after yet another 48-hour work bender.
“My computer’s on my lap,” the American-born organic winegrower from France recalls, the spring sun lighting up the deep pink walls of his study in his ancient manor house in the Loire Valley, his beloved vines outside, “and I’m doing a spreadsheet.
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, George Elek and Sanny Rudravajhala as Leeds and Burnley confirm their return to the Premier League over a busy Easter weekend in the EFL
On the podcast today; the panel briefly summarise Nottingham Forest’s huge win over Spurs that propelled them back into the Champions League qualification spots before moving on to the Championship and Leeds and Burnley being promoted back into the Premier League.
Sale of Rashford would allow United to finance deal
Manchester United are pushing to sign Matheus Cunha from Wolves but may have to raise the money to trigger his £62.5m release clause by selling Marcus Rashford or other players.
Ruben Amorim has identified the 25-year-old Brazilian as his prime target for the No 10 berth, one of the head coach’s two priority positions, along with a centre-forward.
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