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Satellite images reveal damage to North Korea warship after ‘criminal’ launch accident

Blue tarpaulins cover the partly ‘crushed’ 5,000-ton destroyer as it lies on its side at the northeastern shipyard of Chongjin

Satellite images have revealed the extent of a navy shipyard accident in North Korea that resulted in serious damage to a warship and infuriated the country’s leader Kim Jong-un.

On Wednesday, Kim watched as the 5,000-ton destroyer was partly “crushed” during its launch at the north-eastern shipyard of Chongjin. Kim called the incident a “criminal act” that could not be tolerated, according to state media.

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© Photograph: Airbus DS/AP

© Photograph: Airbus DS/AP

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Trump’s evidence of South Africa ‘white genocide’ contains images from Democratic Republic of Congo

Other images displayed by Trump during meeting with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa were false or misleading

The evidence of supposed mass killings of white South Africans presented by Donald Trump in a tense White House meeting on Wednesday were in some cases images from the Democratic Republic of Congo, while footage shown during the meeting was falsely portrayed as depicting “burial sites”.

“These are all white farmers that are being buried,” said Trump, holding up a print-out of an article accompanied by a picture during the contentious Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

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© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/UPI/Shutterstock

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‘When power can define madness’: China accused of using mental health law to lock up critics

More than a decade after China passed a groundbreaking mental health law, victims and activists say that involuntary hospitalisation remains common

Zhang Po was barely one year out of school when an out of control mine-cart barrelled into him deep in a pit in Anhui province, causing injuries that ended his brief career as a coalminer. Since the accident in 1999, he has been living off disability allowances provided by his former employer in Huainan, Anhui’s coal city. But in 2024 Zhang was sent to hospital once again – this time to a psychiatric ward.

Zhang was sectioned for 22 days in June after he protested outside the office of his former employer, demanding an increase in his disability allowance. “I endured more than 20 days of humiliation in there. There was no phone, and my belt and shoelaces were taken away,” Zhang said in a recent interview with Chinese media. Zhang said that he was forced to take medicines and tied to his bed for several hours a day. After the three weeks in hospital, he was sentenced to eight days of administrative detention for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.

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© Photograph: Supplied by Zhang Youmiao

© Photograph: Supplied by Zhang Youmiao

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Myth or mystery: are moose roaming the isolated wilds of New Zealand?

Claims of a recent sighting of the animal in the vast Fiordland wilderness reignites public fascination in a story that has endured for decades

Over 100 years ago, a ship dropped anchor in the frigid fjords of New Zealand’s South Island and released 10 nervous moose on to the shore. The crew watched as the animals – the last survivors of a weeks-long voyage from Saskatchewan, Canada – skittered out of their crates and up into the dense, lonely, rainforest.

The moose had arrived on a flight of fancy, as part of the then premier’s grand vision to turn Fiordland national park into a hunters’ paradise. It was the second attempt to release moose into the region – in a country whose only native land-based mammals are bats – after nearly all of an earlier herd died crossing the seas. Red deer and wapiti, or elk, were also released around the same time for game-hunting.

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© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

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Kneecap say terror charge is part of ‘witch-hunt’ to prevent Glastonbury gig

Northern Irish group say charge is ‘political policing’ to stop them speaking out about ‘genocide in Gaza’

The Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap have claimed a campaign is being mounted to prevent their performance at Glastonbury this summer, at a surprise gig staged a day after one of its members was charged with a terror offence.

The group told the crowd at the 100 Club in central London on Thursday night that they were being used as a “scapegoat” because they “spoke about the genocide [in Gaza]” at Coachella in April.

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© Photograph: PR

© Photograph: PR

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Premier League: 10 things to look out for on the final day of the season

Chelsea braced for City Ground cauldron, Rodri back on the scene and party vibes all round at Anfield

Golden Boot: how the leading scorers stand

Bournemouth’s hopes of European football were vanquished after defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday but the Cherries, 11th on 53 points, could still achieve ninth spot and match their best finish in the Premier League (under Eddie Howe in 2016-17, although that was achieved with only 46 points). A home game against relegated Leicester looks to offer the perfect opportunity but the closing stretch has been tough for Andoni Iraola’s side, with the past 12 league games producing only two victories. Remarkably, a three-game league form table puts Leicester in fourth after home wins over Southampton and Ipswich either side of a 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest. Perhaps this won’t be the walkover most are expecting, and there could be a wistful feeling in the air at the Vitality on Sunday afternoon. No one can deny it has been a strong season but what a party it might have been. With Dean Huijsen off to Real Madrid and Milos Kerkez linked heavily with the champions, Liverpool, how many of the goodbyes on the traditional end-of-season lap of honour will be permanent? David Tindall

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© Composite: Getty Images

© Composite: Getty Images

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Resurrection review – fascinating phantasmagoria is wild riddle about new China and an old universe

In Bi Gan’s ambitious alternate reality, where humans can live indefinitely, a reincarnating dissident dreamer travels through history in different guises

Bi Gan’s new movie in Cannes is bold and ambitious, visually amazing, trippy and woozy in its embrace of hallucination and the heightened meaning of the unreal and the dreamlike. His last film Long Day’s Journey Into Night from 2018 was an extraordinary and almost extraterrestrial experience in the cinema which challenged the audience to examine what they thought about time and memory; this doesn’t have quite that power, being effectively a portmanteau movie, some of whose sections are better than others – though it climaxes with some gasp-inducing images and tracking shots and all the constituent parts contribute to the film’s aggregate effect.

Resurrection is, perhaps, a long night’s journey to the enlightenment of daybreak; it finishes at a club called the Sunrise. It is also an episodic journey through Chinese history, finishing at that historic moment which continues to fascinate Chinese film-makers whose movies are a way of collectively processing their feelings about it: New Year’s Eve 1999, the new century in which China was to bullishly embrace the new capitalism while cleaving to the political conformism of the old ways.

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© Photograph: RICENZ_Liu

© Photograph: RICENZ_Liu

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Van Gerwen crashes out of Premier League after loss to Aspinall as Littler sets record

  • Dutch dartist fails to make playoffs after 6-2 defeat

  • Luke Littler sets points record by seeing off Humphries

Michael van Gerwen was knocked out of the Premier League after failing in his win-or-bust mission in Sheffield as a record-breaking Luke Littler won a sixth night. The seven-times Premier League champion has had a miserable campaign and came into the final weekly night having to win to stay in contention for the playoffs.

But Van Gerwen fell at the first hurdle, losing 6-2 to Nathan Aspinall, whose victory guaranteed him a top-four spot and completed the lineup for next week’s playoffs at the O2 in London.

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© Photograph: Nigel French/PA

© Photograph: Nigel French/PA

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Sezer stars as Hull get back to form with emphatic Super League win at Leigh

  • Leigh 12-26 Hull FC

  • Hull score 26 unanswered points in the first half

John Cartwright has already enjoyed some wonderful moments as Hull FC coach and transformed the club’s fortunes in just three months in charge, but this win at Leigh could well turn out to be his finest victory yet.

There is no escaping the fact that after a wonderful start to 2025, Hull have endured a difficult few weeks. Injuries and a loss of form have resulted in them exiting the Challenge Cup at the hands of their biggest rivals and tumbling outside the playoff places as the midway point of the season approaches.

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© Photograph: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com

© Photograph: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com

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There is no excuse for the killing of two Israeli embassy workers | Kenneth Roth

Critics of Israel’s atrocious conduct in Gaza should be clear that their focus is the authors of that violence – not Israeli civilians

Israel’s campaign of bombing and starving Palestinian civilians in Gaza is inexcusable. It reflects a massive war crime, as the international criminal court has already charged, and arguably genocide. But it in no sense justifies the murder of two young Israeli embassy workers in Washington by a man who then chanted: “Free, free Palestine”. Nothing justifies violence against civilians.

The killing of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim occurred on Wednesday evening outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where the American Jewish Committee was hosting a reception for young diplomats. The suspect, identified as Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, was detained shortly after the shooting. His social media accounts indicated that he had been involved in pro-Palestinian activism.

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.

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© Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

© Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

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Zimbabwe come in from cold but left crying for help at early signs of mismatch | Andy Bull

Tourists are in England for the first time in 22 years and faced dual threats of hostile batting and cold weather

Of course the first morning of the summer was the worst morning of the summer. Test cricket, like a bank holiday picnic, is a reliable way to send the English sun running, and Zimbabwe’s first day of Test cricket in this country in 22 years started under thick ripples of ominous grey cloud, and in a freezing breeze. In the shop at the bottom of the Radcliffe Road Stand staff were sent running to the stock room to fetch up fresh boxes of beanie hats and hooded tops, as the crowd, caught short by the sudden dip in temperature after weeks of good weather, made an unexpected run on their supplies of winter clothing.

Zimbabwe won the toss, which was the last thing that went their way all day. “We’ll have a bowl,” said their captain, Craig Ervine, and it must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Ben Stokes admitted he would have done the same thing himself given the conditions overhead.

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© Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

© Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

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Experts ‘would refuse to take part’ in mandatory castration for sex offenders

Leading figures say compulsory program is ‘ethically unsound’ and would be challenged in courts

Leading experts on the use of chemical castration for managing sexual offenders have said they would refuse to be part of any programme in the UK that makes the intervention compulsory.

Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, confirmed in the Commons on Thursday that she was examining whether she could force offenders, including paedophiles, to take pills or injections to suppress “problematic sexual arousal”.

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© Photograph: Simon Price/Alamy

© Photograph: Simon Price/Alamy

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Trump to host dinner for top holders of his crypto token – although many lost money with it

Meme coin buyers may have gotten dinner with president, but they lost millions, Guardian analysis reveals

Donald Trump will host the top holders of his cryptocurrency at a gala tonight at his private golf club near Washington DC. Though the president has called the $Trump token “The Greatest of them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”, nearly half the gala’s guests suffered losses from purchasing it, according to a Guardian analysis of their public cryptocurrency wallets.

The attendees are winners of the US president’s meme coin competition. Last month, Trump announced that the 220 crypto wallets with the largest holdings of $Trump between 23 April and 12 May would win a ticket to a private dinner at the Trump National golf club. The top 25 holders would also be invited to a “Private VIP Reception” with the president beforehand. The news caused the coin to spike more than 50%.

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© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

© Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

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World’s seven wealthiest countries agree to counter China’s trade practices

G7 finance ministers and central bank governors pledge to address ‘economic imbalances’, without naming China

Top finance officials from the world’s seven wealthiest democracies set aside stark differences on US tariffs and agreed to counter global “economic imbalances”, a swipe at China’s trade practices.

In a communique issued on Thursday, the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors, meeting in the Canadian Rockies, left out their traditional defense of free trade and toned down their references to Russia’s war in Ukraine compared with last year. But they did agree that further sanctions on Russia could be imposed if the two countries do not reach a ceasefire.

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

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‘I’m the right man’: Zak Crawley ignores pressure with century against Zimbabwe

  • ‘I’ve been made a better player by people around me’

  • Crawley’s place thought to be under threat from Bethell

If Zak Crawley showed little sign of the pressure he was under as he became one of three English centurions on the opening day against Zimbabwe, it is possibly because he did not know he was under any.

The opener’s place in the team was presumed to be at risk after a poor run of form was followed by heavy hints that Jacob Bethell would be parachuted straight into the team on his return from the IPL, but after scoring 124 – England’s third-highest innings of the day after Ben Duckett’s 140 and Ollie Pope’s unbeaten 169 – the 27-year-old insisted he had heard no such rumours and had felt nothing from his coaches and colleagues except support.

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© Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters

© Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters

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Ice arrests at immigration courts across the US stirring panic: ‘It’s terrifying’

Advocates say families with children among those detained in LA, Phoenix, New York, Seattle, Chicago and Texas

Federal authorities have arrested people at US immigration courts from New York to Arizona to Washington state in what appears to be a coordinated operation, as the Trump administration ramps up the president’s mass deportation campaign.

On Tuesday, agents who identified themselves only as federal officers arrested multiple people at an immigration court in Phoenix, taking people into custody outside the facility, according to immigrant advocates.

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© Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP

© Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP

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Trump administration halts Harvard’s ability to enroll international students

Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem posts copy of department’s letter to university on X

The Trump administration has said it is halting Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students and has ordered existing international students at the university to transfer or lose their legal status.

On Thursday, the New York Times reported that the Trump administration notified Harvard about its decision following ongoing correspondence regarding the “legality of a sprawling records request”, according to three people familiar with the matter.

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© Composite: AP, Reuters

© Composite: AP, Reuters

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Manchester United face urgent dilemma: ditch Amorim or revamp the squad | Jonathan Wilson

Not many at Old Trafford are suited to the manager’s trusty 3-4-2-1 but replacing them will cost hundreds of millions

Everything always seems clearer in the morning, and in the cold grey light of Thursday, the prognosis for Manchester United is bleak. While Tottenham face an awkward calculation – weighing up whether the delirium of a first European trophy in 41 years offsets their worst league season in terms of proportion of games lost – for Manchester United the equation is far starker.

Ruben Amorim will only play in one way. He is committed absolutely, uncompromisingly, irrevocably to the 3-4-2-1. Liverpool considered him, looked at their squad, realised the two things did not go together, appointed Arne Slot and won the league. Manchester United looked at their squad, flinched at the horror, and seem to have reasoned it was such a mess that it was impossible to find a manager whose philosophy would fit. There was a dissenting voice, Dan Ashworth, but at the court of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, reasoned doubts are as unwelcome as a free lunch.

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© Photograph: Phil Duncan/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Phil Duncan/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

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Violent Israeli settlers under UK sanctions join illegal West Bank outpost

Exclusive: Neria Ben Pazi and Zohar Sabah witnessed visiting base set up to drive Palestinians from homes

Two violent Israeli settlers on whom sanctions were imposed by the UK government this week have joined a campaign to drive Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank village of Mughayyir al-Deir.

Neria Ben Pazi’s organisation, Neria’s Farm, had sanctions imposed by London on Tuesday, as the UK suspended negotiations on a new free-trade deal with Israel over its refusal to allow aid into Gaza and cabinet ministers’ calls to “purify Gaza” by expelling Palestinians.

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© Photograph: B'tselem

© Photograph: B'tselem

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Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ spending bill, from tax cuts to mass deportations

All the key points laid out in the US president’s House-approved sweeping bill as it awaits Senate consideration

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday passed the One Big Beautiful Bill act, which would enact Donald Trump’s taxation and spending priorities. The legislation will now be considered in the Senate, where the Republican majority will probably make its own changes.

Here is what the version of the bill passed by the House would do:

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

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Brazil activists decry green rollbacks as senate passes ‘devastation bill’

Legislation would dismantle regulations in farming, mining and energy, increasing risk of widespread destruction

Environmental activists in Brazil have decried a dramatic rollback of environmental safeguards after the senate approved a bill that would dismantle licensing processes and increase the risk of widespread destruction.

The upper house passed the so-called “devastation bill” with 54 votes to 13 late on Wednesday, paving the way for projects ranging from mining and infrastructure to energy and farming to receive regulatory approval with little to no environmental oversight.

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© Photograph: Pulsar Imagens/Alamy

© Photograph: Pulsar Imagens/Alamy

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Harvard says Trump administration’s block on international student enrollment ‘unlawful’ – US politics live

In a major escalation between Trump and Harvard, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem says move to halt enrollment should ‘serve as a warning’

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, has accused unnamed European officials of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington took place, Reuters reports.

Israel has faced a blizzard of criticism from Europe of late as it has intensified its military campaign in Gaza, where humanitarian groups have warned that an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid supplies has left the Palestinian territory on the brink of famine.

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© Photograph: Charles Krupa/AP

© Photograph: Charles Krupa/AP

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RFK’s health report omits key facts in painting dark vision for US children

Maha report ignores leading causes of death for children, firearms and crashes, and focuses on lifestyle and vaccines

A new report led by the health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, lays out a dark vision of American children’s health and calls for agencies to examine vaccines, ultra-processed foods, environmental chemicals, lack of exercise and “overmedicalization”.

Kennedy has made combatting the chronic disease “epidemic” a cornerstone of his vision for the US, even as he has ignored common causes of chronic conditions, such as smoking and alcohol use.

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© Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP/Getty Images

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WNBA’s New York Liberty reportedly sell stake at record $450m valuation

  • Liberty stake sold at record $450m team valuation

  • New funds will help build Liberty’s Brooklyn facility

  • Latest sign of surging value in women’s pro sports

New York Liberty owners sold shares in the WNBA team at what would be a record valuation of $450m for a women’s pro sports franchise, the Athletic reported Thursday.

The capital raised from the sale, which represent a percentage share in the “mid-teens”, is believed to be earmarked toward construction of a practice facility in Brooklyn, per the report.

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© Photograph: Elsa/Getty Images

© Photograph: Elsa/Getty Images

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With big names absent, USMNT hope big personalities will fill the gap

Mauricio Pochettino faces an uphill battle to change the USMNT’s culture without their most important players.

If the 2022 World Cup was the debutante ball for a shiny new generation of United States men’s national team players, the 2025 Gold Cup was supposed to be a general rehearsal for the big dance: next summer’s World Cup.

Instead, still-somewhat-newish US manager Mauricio Pochettino will go into this summer tournament for the continental title shorn of a great many of his leading players. As such, his first and only chance to work with his team for an extended period of time before the start of the 2026 World Cup will present all kinds of challenges.

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© Photograph: Shaun Clark/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF

© Photograph: Shaun Clark/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF

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iPhone design guru and OpenAI chief promise an AI device revolution

Sam Altman and Jony Ive say mystery product created by their partnership will be the coolest thing ever

Everything over the last 30 years, according to Sir Jony Ive, has led to this moment: a partnership between the iPhone designer and the developer of ChatGPT.

Ive has sold his hardware startup, io, to OpenAI and will take on creative and design leadership across the merged businesses. “I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this place, to this moment,” he says in a video announcing the $6.4bn (£4.8bn) deal.

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© Photograph: Suppplied

© Photograph: Suppplied

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Ollie Pope smashes 169 off Zimbabwe to show England selectors his class

There were shades of The Thick of It after Ben Stokes gave his press conference a day out from this one-off Test against Zimbabwe. When the minister – or in this instance the England captain – said Jacob Bethell would be straight back in for the series against India, this apparently referred to the squad and not necessarily the XI.

That Stokes sought to make this clarification through the back channels perhaps said more about the task at hand than England’s true thoughts on the subject. No captain would ever wish to send a player out believing whatever they achieved would be irrelevant, not least a vice-captain and team-first character such as Ollie Pope.

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© Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters

© Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters

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Sunderland face playoffs with teenage stars, left-field Le Bris but investment issues

The club is expertly run but if Black Cats defeat Sheffield United, commercial concerns could be a headache

It is May 2024 and Illan Meslier, the Leeds goalkeeper, is singing the praises of a former Lorient youth coach whose astute mentoring shaped his career. But who is this left-field thinker who dispatched his young goalkeepers to undergo professional boxing training, spend hours performing acrobatics on trampolines and talk intensely to sports psychologists? Régis Le Bris eventually became Lorient’s first-team manager in 2022 but, after a promising opening season, the Breton team were relegated from Ligue 1 last spring. No matter; a month on from that chat with Meslier in North Yorkshire, Sunderland named Le Bris as their head coach and, now, the 49-year-old is preparing to lead the club out at Wembley on Saturday.

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© Photograph: Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC/Getty Images

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The Guardian view on Starmer’s U-turn: change direction – or keep losing support | Editorial

Labour’s pivot to welfare cuts and targeting of rightwing voters has backfired. If the party leadership won’t adapt, the public will move on

Sir Keir Starmer’s U-turn on winter fuel payments did not just represent a policy reversal. It was the moment when the prime minister, elected on promises of national renewal, was forced to confront the political reality that his strategy had refused to acknowledge. It may also prove to be the moment he lost control.

The original policy, hatched in the Treasury and defended for months, had cut winter fuel payments, worth up to £300 annually, to millions of pensioners. It was unpopular, and unnecessary. Local election losses and a looming backbench revolt over disability benefit cuts made it politically toxic. The result? On Wednesday, Sir Keir reversed course at the dispatch box – with his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, notably absent. Too little, too late: voters saw delay; activists cried betrayal.

Do 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.

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© Photograph: Chris Jackson/PA

© Photograph: Chris Jackson/PA

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The Guardian view on the US and South Africa: Trump looks to his base and partners look elsewhere | Editorial

The president’s cynical ambush of Cyril Ramaphosa was not about American interests but racial grievances

The most telling moment of Donald Trump’s meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa was not the cynical screening of footage promoting false claims of “white genocide” in South Africa. It was when a reporter asked the US president what he wanted his counterpart to do about it. Mr Trump replied: “I don’t know.”

Leaders enter the Oval Office uneasily, especially since the kicking administered to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The South African president came armed with gratitude, two golf stars, a billionaire and compliments on the decor – and kept a cool head and a straight face as he was ambushed. Mr Ramaphosa later described it as “robust engagement”. But, in truth, it was a clash of two worlds rather than an interaction.

Do 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.

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© Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

© Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

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Iran would view US as ‘participant’ in any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites

Warning issued after US intelligence reportedly understood Israel might attack if Iran-US talks broke down

Iran has said it will hold the US responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites in remarks that set a fraught backdrop for the fifth and probably most important round of talks between Iran and the US on the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, issued the warning on Thursday after reports appeared in the American media claiming US intelligence understood Israel was planning an attack on Iranian nuclear sites – with or without American support – if the talks broke down.

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© Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

© Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

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US supreme court blocks religious charter school in split ruling

Justices’ 4-4 ruling leaves intact lower court’s decision that blocked establishment of Oklahoma school

The US supreme court on Thursday blocked an attempt led by two Catholic dioceses to establish in Oklahoma the nation’s first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in a major case involving religious rights in American education that challenged the constitutional separation of church and state.

The 4-4 ruling left intact a lower court’s decision that blocked the establishment of St Isidore of Seville Catholic virtual school. The lower court found that the proposed school would violate the US constitution’s first amendment limits on government involvement in religion.

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© Photograph: Kevin Mohatt/Reuters

© Photograph: Kevin Mohatt/Reuters

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Suspect charged with murder in shooting of Israeli embassy staffers

US attorney general says Chicago-based suspect believed to have acted alone in killing of couple at Jewish museum

The US justice department on Thursday charged the lone suspect in a brazen attack that killed two young Israeli embassy staff members outside the Jewish museum in downtown Washington DC with murder of foreign officials and other crimes.

Court documents released on Thursday charged Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, with the Wednesday night killings that left the US capital in shock and were condemned by world leaders as “horrible” and “antisemitic”. According to the filing, the suspect told police after his arrest: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”

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© Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP

© Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP

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US scientists predict up to five major hurricanes in above-average season

National Weather Service says warm seas to contribute to season with three to five major hurricanes predicted

US government scientists said on Thursday they expect an above-normal hurricane season in 2025, producing three to five major hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 111mph (179km/h).

The Atlantic hurricane season, which begins on 1 June, is forecast to produce 13 to 19 named tropical storms with winds of at least 39mph, according to the US National Weather Service. Of those storms, six to 10 are forecast to become hurricanes with winds of 74mph or higher.

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© Photograph: NOAA/Reuters

© Photograph: NOAA/Reuters

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Lewis Hamilton ‘to make three new films’ but Verstappen snubs F1 screening

  • Briton’s production company working on ‘three concepts’

  • Verstappen misses Monaco screening of F1: The Movie

Lewis Hamilton has revealed his film production company is working with screenwriters to produce three films in the future. The seven-time world champion was speaking after a private screening of the forthcoming film F1: The Movie, held on Wednesday night in Monte Carlo, on which he was a producer and an adviser.

At the beginning you see all the different logos for the different production houses and my one comes out, which I worked on for so long, which is Dawn Apollo and it was just amazing to see that,” he said. “This has gone in very high. Couldn’t go any higher for my first movie but we will be producing more movies in the coming years. I’ve got three concepts that I’m writing. But I’m going to write with a writer.

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© Photograph: Bryn Lennon/Formula 1/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bryn Lennon/Formula 1/Getty Images

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Music agency employees among several people dead in San Diego plane crash

Sound Talent Group says three employees killed as officials investigate what caused Cessna 550 plane to crash

Several people have died, including the co-founder of a music agency, after a small aircraft crashed in a neighborhood in San Diego early on Thursday morning, clipping one home and damaging several vehicles.

Sound Talent Group, which has represented artists such as Sum 41 and Vanessa Carlton, confirmed on Thursday that three of its employees died on the private plane. Among those who died was the agency’s co-founder Dave Shapiro, who was listed as the owner of the plane and has a pilot’s license, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

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© Photograph: Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images

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AI could account for nearly half of datacentre power usage ‘by end of year’

Analysis comes as energy agency predicts systems will need as much energy by end of decade as Japan uses today

Artificial intelligence systems could account for nearly half of datacentre power consumption by the end of this year, analysis has revealed.

The estimates by Alex de Vries-Gao, the founder of the Digiconomist tech sustainability website, came as the International Energy Agency forecast that AI would require almost as much energy by the end of this decade as Japan uses today.

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© Photograph: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty Images

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Nightingale by Laura Elvery review – Florence Nightingale inspires a luminous historical novel

Elvery’s prose is both sensual and brutal in this richly imagined account of war, memory and the life of history’s most famous nurse

The year is 1850, the eve of the Crimean war, and Florence Nightingale is watching a group of boys at play. From a distance, she composes the scene, preparing to describe it in a letter to her aunt. “How did she want this part to sound?” she wonders – less concerned with what is happening than how it might be narrated. When she realises the boys are not kicking a ball but tormenting a baby owl, she doesn’t recoil. The horror of the image lands alongside another realisation: the story “might be better” now, though she is left considering how best to reframe the violence for her aunt: “Knowing she would narrate it later back in the house … Florence would have to tell the story a different way”. That instinct – to reshape the unbearable into something legible – sits at the core of Nightingale, Laura Elvery’s rich and exacting novel about violence, care and memory.

In 1910, a young English soldier, Silas Bradley, appears on Florence’s doorstep, claiming they met during the Crimean war half a century before. He’s confused, searching for answers about lives that looped briefly and painfully around his own; his appearance also forces Florence to confront ghosts in her own past.

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© Composite: Joe Ruckli/UQP

© Composite: Joe Ruckli/UQP

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