Mikal Mahdi, South Carolina inmate convicted in two separate 2004 murders, executed by firing squad
From the pope in a puffer to the Princess of Wales and family, baby Hitler to Mussolini on horseback, people have always manipulated photographs, whether for political power, image control – or just for fun …
“Pictures or it didn’t happen.” So runs the immediate social media retort to any claim deemed too extraordinary to be true. Carried within it is an assumption shared across the globe which has held firm almost since the invention of the camera: that the ultimate form of proof is the photograph. The idea is so strongly fixed in the human mind, it has acquired the status of a law of nature, one obvious even to a child: the camera never lies.
Except it does, as the images collected here vividly attest. We may think of AI deepfakes, and their Photoshop predecessors, as thoroughly modern menaces, corrupting a previously innocent, reliable medium, but we would be wrong. It turns out people have been doctoring photos, manipulating and meddling, from the start. “Honest” Abe Lincoln was not only the first sitting president to be photographed, but the first to be the subject of a photo fake.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Reddit
© Photograph: Reddit
Nothing is certain under this president – as seen in the inconsistent implementation of tariffs. And it has a longer-term economic cost
Minutes after Donald Trump unveiled a climbdown on tariffs, softening an extraordinary US attack on trade from much of the world, his press secretary scolded reporters at the White House.
“Many of you in the media clearly missed The Art of the Deal,” said Karoline Leavitt, referring to the 1987 bestseller which laid the foundations of the president’s reputation as a consummate dealmaker.
Continue reading...© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images
© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images
Exclusive: Police set up taskforce to tackle online violence as young men seek victims on eating disorder forums
Young men and boys fuelled by “strongly misogynistic” online material are hunting for vulnerable women and girls to exploit on websites such as eating disorder and suicide forums, senior officers have said.
The threat from young males wanting to carry out serious harm is so serious that counter-terrorism officers are joining the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the hunt for them, fearing they could go on to attack or kill.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
With wild beaches, gorgeous countryside and delicious seafood, Tavira and its surrounding villages have plenty to offer, even outside summer
Dusk in Tavira is a masterclass in seduction. On my first evening in the Algarve’s most easterly city – just 18 miles from the border with Spain – tangerine skies smudged by pillowy clouds unfurl above the old town, with its jumble of church towers and terracotta roofs.
For such a romantic spectacle, the best vantage point proves to be the seven-arch Roman bridge spanning the meandering Gilão river, where I join an appreciative crowd of locals and off-season travellers. Small talk ripples through the group, and a young Portuguese couple choose this moment to surreptitiously bolt a padlock bearing their initials to the metal lattice. Even the living statue gets off his box to soak it all in.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Hemis/Alamy
© Photograph: Hemis/Alamy
This talent-packed Birmingham-set series follows three children with a missing mother and their attempts to stay out of care. It's amazing how much silliness they wring out of such a chilling premise
It’s just the usual teenage girl japes: smoking, drinking, teaming up with your best friend to steal a chicken from an irate local farmer. But the motive behind 17-year-old Tiana’s decision to pinch some poultry is about as far from ordinary as you can possibly get. I’m not sure what a normal reason for stealing a chicken might be, but trust me: this is most definitely not it.
We get slightly more clarity on the situation once Tiana brings the chicken home: it’s for her younger brother Tionne, who is prone on the sofa with a duvet over his head. The pair’s nine-year-old sister Tanika wants him to get up and “act normal”, otherwise he’ll end up in a home and she will get adopted, because she’s “young and pretty”. The trio’s mum is missing and Tionne needs the chicken for an experiment he wants to conduct. Soon, we learn that these two things are related in an unimaginably awful way.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Ben Gregory-Ring/BBC/The Forge
© Photograph: Ben Gregory-Ring/BBC/The Forge
Stedsans seemed to embody Scandinavia’s love of nature – until its owners moved to Guatemala, apparently leaving behind 158 barrels of human waste
For me, visiting the now infamous Stedsans eco-retreat in Halland, southern Sweden was the apotheosis of the Scandinavian dream: apple-cheeked children running barefoot on the forest floor, a lake for swimming, a sauna to warm up in, simple cabins for sleeping and dinner served in the evening on a long table surrounded by trees. When I booked to stay back in 2022 to celebrate my wedding anniversary, it felt like I was going to be walking straight into my Instagram feed, flower-strewn dishes and all.
Only now, it seems like that was as fantastical as it first appeared. This week, a joint investigation by the daily newspapers Dagens Nyheter in Sweden and Politiken in Denmark found the owners of the eco-conscious retreat, chef Flemming Hansen and food writer Mette Helbæk, were now living in Guatemala after apparently going on the run from tax authorities, leaving behind multiple animals and 158 barrels of human waste. The investigation also claimed that waste water was left to run into the forest, with local authorities describing their purported actions as “environmental crime”.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Cool Stays
© Photograph: Cool Stays
Latest adaptation of Jane Austen classic will include Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden as Elizabeth and Mr Darcy
She has played spies, detectives and two queens of England. Now Olivia Colman is to take the part of Mrs Bennet, the scheming mother of five daughters, in a Netflix adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
The six-part series will also star Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet, and Jack Lowden as Mr Darcy. The adaptation will be written by the author and Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Samir Hussein/WireImage
© Photograph: Samir Hussein/WireImage
From button, Grecian and hawk to Yellowknife and Whitehorse, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz
1 Emilio Palma was, in 1978, the first person to be born where?
2 Which series of tasks were imposed by King Eurystheus?
3 What gen Z retort to the old was popularised by journalist Taylor Lorenz?
4 “For Gallantry” and “We Also Serve” are written on which medal?
5 Which province of Pakistan has a population of about 130 million?
6 The world’s largest comic convention is held in which city?
7 Who got married in Gibraltar on 20 March 1969?
8 What was the writing system of ancient Mesopotamia?
What links:
9 Dryden; Shadwell; Tate; Rowe; Eusden?
10 Iqaluit; Yellowknife; Whitehorse?
11 Button; Grecian; hawk; Nubian; Roman; snub?
12 Bin (TV baking); blood (rugby); pizza (football); water (politics)?
13 12 (20); 3 (6); 6 (3); 9 (11)?
14 Bulbophyllum orchids; Rafflesia; Stapelia; titan arum?
15 Wilhelmina; Juliana; Beatrix?
© Photograph: Jerod Harris/Getty Images
© Photograph: Jerod Harris/Getty Images
Flights cancelled, train services suspended and tourist attractions closed as weather service says wind speeds could surpass records set in 1951
Strong winds caused havoc in Beijing and parts of northern China on Saturday, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled, attractions to close and rail lines to be suspended, state media said.
The powerful winds stemmed mainly from a cold vortex system formed over Mongolia that was moving east and south, sweeping across northern China from Friday and through the weekend, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images
Golani troops were under command of reservist Armoured 14th Brigade, part of division led by Brig Gen Yehuda Vach
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit involved in the killings of 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers in the Gaza Strip last month was under the command of a brigade led by a notorious Israeli general previously accused by some of his own troops of having “contempt for human life”.
The IDF has confirmed that troops from Golani, one of the army’s five infantry brigades, opened fire on two convoys of ambulances in Rafah on 23 March and dug a mass grave to cover the bodies of those killed until the corpses could be retrieved by a UN team six days later. It has disputed allegations from two witnesses who exhumed the bodies and newly released postmortem results that found several of those killed had close-range gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were discovered with their hands or legs tied.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
We have seen the conflict and tragedy that can follow when an old era collapses. Countries that believe in multilateralism must come together now
After a week that started with the worst financial volatility in recent history and ended with the most serious escalation so far of the China-US conflict, it is time to distinguish the tectonic shifts from the tremors. If nothing changes, the 2020s risks being remembered as this century’s devil’s decade – the term historians once used for the 1930s. It will be defined not just by seven million people who have died of Covid-19 and rising global poverty and inequality – but also by a dismembered Ukraine, a burnt-out Gaza and little-reported atrocities in Africa and Asia, each testimony to the violent displacement of a rules-based global order by a power-based one.
Indeed, before our eyes, every single pillar of the old order is under assault – not just free trade but the rule of law and the primacy we have long attached to human rights and democracy, the self-determination of peoples, and multilateral cooperation between nations, including the humanitarian and environmental responsibilities we once accepted as citizens of the world.
Gordon Brown was UK prime minister from 2007 to 2010
Continue reading...© Composite: Guardian Design / Getty Images
© Composite: Guardian Design / Getty Images
© Illustration: Edith Pritchett/The Guardian
© Illustration: Edith Pritchett/The Guardian
Bridget, 52, a yoga teacher, meets Sacha, 59, a psychotherapist
What were you hoping for?
A man with teeth, good posture, social skills and character.
© Photograph: David Creedon & Linda Nylind/The Guardian
© Photograph: David Creedon & Linda Nylind/The Guardian
Broccoli florets and stalks combine to delicious effect in this simple and thrifty bowl of pasta
Today’s very simple and speedy Italian classic uses the whole broccoli – even the woody stalk. Inspired by Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo, the approach creates a delicious sauce that coats the pasta beautifully. Trim just a few millimetres off the discoloured end of the broccoli stalk, then, to ensure it cooks down and becomes tender, slice the rest of the stalk into 1cm-long pieces.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Tom Hunt/The Guardian
© Photograph: Tom Hunt/The Guardian
There was a horse in the living room and I thought: this will make such a good column. But then I woke up
I wake up suddenly and early, the dog lying so heavy across my legs that my feet have gone numb. I extract myself and hobble across the bedroom until circulation is restored. Then I throw open the curtains to introduce my wife to the new day.
“Ugh,” she says.
Continue reading...© Illustration: Selman Hosgor/The Guardian
© Illustration: Selman Hosgor/The Guardian
Thorburn was jailed for life after admitting to killing the 12-year-old foster child after his son Trent confessed to sexually assaulting her
Rick Thorburn, the Queensland man who was serving life in jail for the murder of 12-year-old foster child Tiahleigh Palmer, has been found dead in his cell.
Queensland Corrective Services confirmed he had died in his Woodford Correctional Centre cell on Saturday.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP
© Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP
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President insists policy ‘doing really well’ despite China hiking tariffs on American goods to 125 per cent
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So many people take it upon themselves to lay down the law with other people’s kids. Enough is enough, says Charlotte Cripps. We need to be able to hold it back for emergencies where genuine harm is going to come to someone
© Getty Images/iStockphoto
The garlanded trio are taking on marital and sexual politics in a radical modern update of Ibsen’s ‘The Master Builder’. They take on the hot potato of star power, annoying theatregoers and ‘why people call us luvvies’ with Annabel Nugent
© Getty
His adorably beta everyman demeanour has allowed him to duck and dive through styles and genres as culture trends have dictated, argues Mark Beaumont. The success of ‘Azizam’ is merely the latest evidence of a working musician who is too big to fail
© PA
Sean O’Grady goes back to the future in the spanking new version of the fastback coupe – and finds things have moved on nicely since the days of fluffy dice
© Sean O’Grady
The American production company and distributor has become shorthand for bold, stylistic and narrative gambles, from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ to ‘The Lighthouse’. As the studio releases the polarising action film ‘Warfare’, Louis Chilton and Adam White rank their best movies so far
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© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Democratic Party founding member says Chinese authorities told him party needed to disband
© AP2011
© AP
Passenger tells of 25-hour ordeal returning to U.S. from Mexico vacation
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