Tourist authority backtracks on use of influencers after one tiny cove is swamped by 4,000 visitors a day
The authorities in Spain’s Balearic Islands have said they will stop using social media influencers to promote popular destinations, saying “selfie tourism” is damaging some of its most beautiful locations.
In an attempt to quell the effects of overtourism, the Balearics had hoped that influencers, many of whom have hundreds of thousands of followers, might relieve the strain on some better-known sites by directing visitors elsewhere.
At about 2am on Sunday, Basel al-Barawi was dozing fitfully in his home in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza. For hours, he had listened fearfully to the sound of explosions and shooting.
Then there was a massive blast. Barawi ran out to the street and saw that his cousin’s house had been bombed, with 10 people inside. The strikes on Beit Lahiya came days after Israel launched a major new offensive, named Operation Gideon’s Chariots.
US vice-president delivers letter from Donald and Melania Trump during talks with pontiff at the Vatican
Donald Trump has issued a White House invitation to Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-born pontiff who as Cardinal Robert Prevost previously criticised Trump’s administration.
The invitation came via a letter from the US president and the first lady, Melania Trump, that was delivered to the new pope by the US vice-president, JD Vance, during a meeting at the Vatican on Monday morning.
Rehashing 20-year-old Blairite ideas that were stale then will inspire nobody. Britain is crying out for bold, transformative policy-making
Just why has Keir Starmer’s government proved such a catastrophe? This is a question that must be posed to his cheerleaders, or at least those who were at one time cheerleaders: the road from the last general election is lined with silently discarded pompoms. The idea here is not to rub their faces in a political project that is now both electorally toxic and morally bankrupt, but to determine what happens next.
First off, the failure should be considered absolute. It is projected that a Labour government will drive more than a million Britons into – or more deeply into – poverty through an assault on disability benefits. The same government imposed hardship on many pensioners by stripping away the winter fuel payment, and it refuses to reverse the Tories’ two-child benefit cap, the UK’s biggest single generator of child poverty. Not content with waging war on the poor only at home, the government opened a new front abroad by slashing the international aid budget. It alsocan’t bring itself to condemn Israel for a single crime – including deliberate starvation – and continues to supply crucial components for F-35 jet fighters to rain more death on Gaza’s traumatised survivors. The government not only demonises immigration and promotes punitive crackdowns, but it also echoes the rhetoric of Enoch Powell. It does all of this while its polling collapses to the low 20s, with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party boasting a 10-point lead over it in one poll.
Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
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Bond yields rose and the dollar weakened as Trump administration tries to play down significance of setback
News that the US has lost its last triple-A credit rating and fresh concern over the US federal government’s burgeoning debt pile unnerved markets on Monday, with long-term borrowing costs rising and stocks struggling.
Credit ratings agency Moody’s dealt a blow to Washington on Friday when it stripped the US of its top-notch rating, downgrading the world’s largest economy by one notch to AA1 and become becoming the last of the big three agencies to drop its triple-A rating for the US.
One thing is certain: motion sickness, which happens to one in three people, is not a sign of weak character
The other day, I tried to read an email on my phone while in the backseat of a moving car. Almost immediately, I was overwhelmed with nausea. Next to me, my boyfriend was happily scrolling through news articles. He tried to show me a headline, but I was too busy staring out the window, breathing deeply and trying not to vomit.
This happens basically any time I am in a moving vehicle that I am not personally piloting. It’s a little embarrassing. But I’m in good company: approximately one in three people are considered “highly susceptible to motion sickness”.
The Yellow Submarinewon at Barcelona to seal fifth place and vindication for a manager they sacked nine years ago
Villarreal had given everything all season when with one game left the roof fell in on them, but not like that. It had been 10 long, hard months of “solidarity and commitment … methodology, work, honesty and dedication”, their manager said, yet this was no late lament, all that for nothing; instead, this was reward and release, “time to enjoy it”, to let go, so they did. Outside at Montjuïc, Barcelona had begun their party, even 2025’s first league defeat and killjoy keeper Wojciech Szczesny saving an outrageous overhead kick from his own son not spoiling the fun; inside the dressing room, the club from the small town 200 miles south had begun theirs too, and nothing could ruin this either. Someone put La Morocha on and the players were bouncing about, drumming the rhythm on the ceiling when, in another triumph for cheap construction, the first beam came down. Captain Juan Foyth, looking like a kid who’d put a football through the neighbour’s window, raised his arm to protect his teammates, quietly laid it to one side, and they carried on.
The track was changed, Handel now, and they lined up. Some tipped their heads back, gazing at the ceiling they had broken. Others put hands on hearts. Most laughed. All of them scatted and sang, at least the word they knew: maybe not die meister, maybe not die besten or les grandes équipes, and definitely not eine grosse sportliche veranstaltung, but certainly the champions. The flag they carried read “the village wants the Champions League” and now they had it. Villarreal, the team from the place whose population could fit into Montjuïc, had come to Catalonia, handed the newly crowned champions a guard of honour and then beaten them 3-2, helped by their hangovers, to secure fifth and a return to Europe’s biggest competition with a week to spare. The season, Santi Comesaña said, had been “almost perfect”.
Romania’s new president, a modest but driven maths prodigy who made a name for himself fighting corrupt property developers in Bucharest before becoming the capital’s crusading mayor, is expected to keep his country firmly on its pro-European track.
Club won fourth consecutive league title last week
The French champions Olympique Lyonnais Féminin have been renamed OL Lyonnes, as part of a series of announcements made by their owner, Michele Kang.
The American businesswoman has also revealed the team will make the Groupama Stadium – home of the Lyon men’s team – their regular home stadium. Kang said other mid-sized stadium alternatives, including a local rugby stadium, were explored before they reached the conclusion that the stadium that hosted the 2019 Women’s World Cup final is the best venue for them.
Met police say 34-year-old arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life
A third man has been arrested over suspected arson attacks on two properties and a car linked to Keir Starmer.
The 34-year-old man was arrested on Monday morning in Chelsea, west London, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life, the Metropolitan police said.
What was striking on Saturday, after Crystal Palace had beaten Manchester City to win the FA Cup, was how many people were in tears. The camera roamed the stands, capturing the images of Palace fans in disbelief after winning their first ever major trophy. Some were hugging those next to them, some waved their arms incoherently and others just stared, overcome. But a significant proportion were sobbing. Soccer can often seem an angry game, with crowds fuelled by rage; this was something very different, very hard to explain.
Palace’s pre-match tifo had shown an image of a father hugging his two sons in the stand at Old Trafford after Darren Ambrose had scored a 35-yard drive there for Palace in a League Cup quarter-final in 2011-12. It turned out the two lads were among the Palace fans at Wembley and that their father had passed away in the intervening 13 years. They were, needless to say, also in tears.
Study author warns of implications for elections and says ‘malicious actors’ are probably using LLM tools already
Artificial intelligence can do just as well as humans, if not better, when it comes to persuading others in a debate, and not just because it cannot shout, a study has found.
Experts say the results are concerning, not least as it has potential implications for election integrity.
Visitors have endured political chaos and miserable results over 22 years but cricket is finally a national game
Twenty-two years is a long time, even in a sport that measures its games in days and its history in centuries. The last time England played a Test match against Zimbabwe, in 2003, Rob Key was in the middle order instead of the managing director’s job, Jimmy Anderson was a 20-year-old tearaway playing in his very first series, and the England and Wales Cricket Board was just about to launch the world’s very first professional Twenty20 tournament. Zimbabwean cricket has changed, too. Back then the team was in the earliest stages of a transformation that was meant to turn cricket from a minority game, played by the small white population, into a sport that better represented the whole country.
They have been hard years, riven by player strikes, political interference, maladministration and a miserable drop-off in results. The team temporarily withdrew from Test cricket, suspended their domestic competition and were repeatedly censured by the International Cricket Council. They lost so many players through emigration to England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, that even now you could build a hell of a good Zimbabwean squad out of people who are making a living overseas. And yet, at the end of it all, the process was, by one important measure, a success. The squad that came on tour in 2003 was majority white, the team that has come this year is majority black.
While acknowledging he is ‘not an expert in that area of economics’, the director criticised Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on films ‘from foreign lands’
American director Wes Anderson has mocked Donald Trump’s plan to impose severe tariffs on foreign-made films, suggesting it would mostly financially hit film-makers like him and be unworkable in practice.
“Can you hold up the movie in customs?” the world’s chief auteur of cinematic whimsy asked at a press conference at the Cannes film festival. “I feel it doesn’t ship that way. I’m not sure I want to know the details so I’ll hold off on my official answer.”
Masquerading as health and fitness publications, these journals contained photographs of finely muscled, nearly naked men that were beautifully lit and classically posed. Now a gorgeous new book is celebrating these ‘museum-worthy’ images
In the late 1950s, when photography critic Vince Aletti was in his mid-teens, he stumbled upon a clutch of magazines at a local newsstand that seemed to speak directly to him. From their covers to the pages inside, the pocket-sized magazines were packed with strikingly composed images of nearly naked, finely muscled men, many of whom appeared to have a secret rapport with each other. “I remember getting really turned on by that,” Aletti recalls, sitting in his apartment in New York’s East Village. “I also remember being really worried that my mother might find those magazines in my room.”
Physique magazines, as such publications were generically known, operated on a coded system, designed to function as smoke signals for gay men during an era of heightened repression and censorship that lasted from the 1930s until the early 70s. The magazines, which were pumped out in cities across the US, made sure to pass as health and fitness publications, but the style and content of their photos were clearly created for the tastes and desires of gay men. In the decades since, physique images have often been written off as campy relics of a sad past, but Aletti wants audiences to consider them anew.
Joe Biden made his first public remarks on Monday morning about his cancer diagnosis, an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
“Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support,” Biden wrote on social media, his first statement since his office reported the diagnosis on Sunday.
Drugmaker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ capture of genetic testing firm in bankruptcy auction raises privacy concerns
The drugmaker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy the genetic testing firm 23andMe Holding for $256m through a bankruptcy auction, the companies announced on Monday.
Regeneron said it will comply with 23andMe’s privacy policies and applicable laws with respect to the use of customer data and that it is ready to detail its intended use of the data to a court-appointed overseer. The companies expect to close the deal in the third quarter.
Deal would allow US to carry out military activities in and from Denmark, giving them powers over Danish civilians
When Copenhagen signed a new defence agreement giving the US “unhindered access” to Danish airbases in December 2023, the idea of granting sweeping powers to US forces on Danish soil was quite a different proposition to what it is today.
The US, then under the Biden administration, was an unwavering Nato ally that Denmark had followed into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Nordic neighbours Sweden, Finland and Norway had similar agreements with the US.
Aubrey Williams produced huge, colourful abstract paintings and was influenced by music and climate issues
An artist whose work was part of the first wave of abstract art to hit the UK and presaged the climate breakdown protests as well as debates over the legacies of British colonialism is undergoing an “overdue” reappraisal, according to experts and critics.
Aubrey Williams, a Guyanese artist who moved to Britain in the 1950s, was a respected figure in his lifetime and the subject of several exhibitions in the UK. But after his death from cancer in 1990, the artist’s influence and the legacy of his abstract painting slowly faded from view in Britain.
As South Western becomes the latest operator to be renationalised, there are questions about whether the changes will lead to lower fares
At the rarely experienced hour of 6.14am on Sunday, the first train to carry the Great British Railways branding will make its way out of London Waterloo to Shepperton: traversing the Surrey commuter belt emblazoned with a red, white and blue GBR logo, and proudly renationalised to boot.
The next train with the planned state body’s branding may be some years behind it. But the Labour government hopes to grab the moment to demonstrate to an increasingly impatient electorate that the wheels of change – in rail at least – are finally turning.
‘I think we’re going to qualify … that is the main target’
Pep Guardiola has offered no guarantee that Kevin De Bruyne will start his final home game for Manchester City. De Bruyne, who is leaving when his contract expires this summer, is set to play at the Etihad Stadium for one last time in a City shirt against Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Yet with City still to secure Champions League qualification, Guardiola will not be guided by sentiment in his selection. The manager said: “What Kevin wants is that we win the game to qualify for the Champions League next season. That is what Kevin wants. It cannot be otherwise. I’m going to decide the best so that we can have the best chance to win the game against Bournemouth.”
This foodie tour is a love fest between everyone he meets – and everything he eats. It would be perfect television … if only the script weren’t so laughably repetitious
In my next life I am definitely coming back as Stanley Tucci. Or Francesco da Mosto (that Venetian count with the exuberant hair who was all over the schedules a few years ago, do you remember?), or Steve Coogan or Rob Brydon or any celebrity, really, who is sent off to foreign parts on jollies disguised as work.
I am never going to be a world traveller. But if I were, I would, like most of the above, stop at Italy. Why, honestly, would you go further? Why would you not stay in the place that breaks your heart with its beauty everywhere you look? That is suffused with the confidence and style that screams “We owned the Renaissance! We proved ourselves once and for all. No need to sweat the small stuff now! Sit down, chill, and eat penne al’arrabiata until it’s time to prostrate yourself in awe before some ancient frescoes. And btw, the spirit of Michelangelo wants you to eat your body weight in gelato before bed. That’s why he released David from his marble. So you know you can never compete.”
‘Machines were revolutionising recording. We were told to lay down a 20-second backing track, a guide vocal – then go and play table tennis’
Lol Creme and I left 10cc at the height of the success because we felt things were starting to become repetitive. We came from an art school background and we were thinking visually. Even at that stage, there were two film-makers waiting to come out.
América Sánchez and Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos died in the wreck that injured 22 other crew members
Mexico is grieving two cadets in the country’s navy that were killed on Saturday when the tall training ship Cuauhtémoc crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge.
América Sánchez, 20, and Adal Jair Maldonado Marcos, 23, died in the wreck that injured 22 other crew members, including three critically.
Dinosaurs are roaring back to life! With the help of palaeontologists around the globe … and a huge pile of pizza boxes. We dig deep into the return of the prehistoric epic
I’ve been under work pressure many times before, but nothing has prepared me for this. In Alberta, Canada on a palaeontology dig being filmed for the return of the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs, I have been allowed to unearth a dinosaur bone.
It has not seen the light of day for about 73m years, and now, armed with just a hammer, awl and brush, I am chipping away at the rock around it to bring it to human eyes for the first time. One tap too hard in the wrong place and the fossilised bone could break.
French media report that award-winning artist suffered heart attack and died in hospital early on Saturday morning
Werenoi, one of the most successful rappers in France, has died aged 31.
His record label Believe confirmed the news, writing on Instagram: “It is with immense sadness that we learned of Werenoi’s passing … may he rest in peace.”
The country’s charm offensive and global mediator role – as well as a $400m plane – reveal a complicated relationship
On his tour of the Middle East last week, Donald Trump was treated like royalty by the leaders of the wealthiest countries in the Arab world. The US president was feted in gilded ballrooms, his motorcade was flanked by dozens of men riding white Arabian horses and he was awarded an elaborate gold medal necklace. The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates went out of their way to show Trump that they respect him more than his predecessor, Joe Biden.
While Trump frequently praised Saudi and UAE leaders during his first term, he was highly critical of Qatar, a small emirate that is rich in natural gas but usually overshadowed by its two larger and more powerful neighbors. In June 2017, Trump said Qatar “has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level” and he supported a blockade against the country, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Qatar’s neighbors accused it of financing terrorism by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, and being too cozy with Iran. The blockade, which disrupted the lives of thousands of people across the Persian Gulf, stretched until early 2021.
These summery snacks are based on the popular pintxo, only with the chilli blended into an artichoke tapenade that’s spread on toast and topped with the olive and anchovy
Gildas are such a lovely pre-dinner snack: really good olives and anchovies on a stick, with any number of variations, such as artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, bits of cheese … The one I had most recently, at Brett in Glasgow, was beyond wonderful, and featured chicken fat-topped croutons and homemade green chilli sauce with plump Perelló olives and anchovies. Inspired by this, I made a lemon-spiked green chilli and artichoke tapenade for hot focaccia, topped with the same excellent olives and the best anchovies.
Cinema’s sprightliest senior citizen is not one to give in to obstacles easily and looks set to outpace time’s wingèd chariot for a good while yet
Much of the discourse around Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning revolves around that penultimate word. This, we’re told, is it. This is the last time that Tom Cruise will leap out of various modes of high-speed transport in pursuit of some nebulously defined MacGuffin. The last time he’ll grit his teeth and run across a major global landmark. The last time he’ll give Simon Pegg work. This is it.
Except, not to spoil anything, but it probably isn’t. After years of avoiding the press and letting his work do the talking, Tom Cruise is actively promoting Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. He’s doing junkets. He’s giving red-carpet interviews. He’s giving talks at the BFI. For those of us who enjoy Tom Cruise, this is a rare gift. But over the course of these appearances, a message has started to form. That message is: Tom Cruise is never, ever going to stop.
Prime minister issues warning after closer than anticipated first round forces presidential runoff vote on 1 June
The next two weeks will “decide the future of Poland”, its prime minister, Donald Tusk, has warned, as the country prepares for a presidential runoff vote on 1 June after a nail-bitingly close first round.
Official results released on Monday showed the pro-European centrist Rafał Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw and candidate from Tusk’s Civic Coalition, received 31.36% of the votes. Narrowly trailing him was Karol Nawrocki, backed by the populist rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS), with 29.54% of the vote.
Mohamed and Marie-Anne Bakhaty say they could not use their swimming pool and had to cancel garden party
Many a child has experienced the anxiety of knocking on a frustrated neighbour’s door to ask for their ball back.
But one couple in Hampshire have become so exasperated by the seemingly endless stream of footballs landing in the garden of their £2m home from a nearby school they have successfully sued the county council.
Christian Horner: ‘At all times, Max had the pace’
McLaren admit surprise at speed of Red Bull car
Christian Horner believes Max Verstappen’s victory at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix demonstrated Red Bull might have reached a turning point in their attempt to catch McLaren in the Formula One world championship, potentially igniting the season.
Verstappen won in Imola having pulled off a striking pass to overtake the pole-sitter and title leader Oscar Piastri for the lead through the Tamburello chicane on the opening lap. After which the world champion went on to control Sunday’s race from the front with pace that was more than a match for the McLarens who had previously dominated the season. It marked the first time this year that Red Bull had definitively held the upper hand in race pace , having not overworked their tyres in doing so and Horner felt it indicated they were in the title fight.
Ahead of the author’s much anticipated memoir, we count down the best of her books – from climate dystopias to her world-conquering handmaids
After more than 30 years, Atwood caved to pleas to write a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. Not since Harry Potter had a publication caused such a sensation: computers were hacked in search of the manuscript and advance copies were kept under lock and key. With classic Atwood timing, the novel coincided with the phenomenal success of the TV adaptation of the original – not to mention the arrival of Trump at the White House. The Testaments won Atwood her second Booker prize, shared (controversially) with Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other.
Winter Olympics shifts France v Ireland to Thursday
Only one fallow week set to raise player welfare concerns
Next year’s Six Nations will kick off on a Thursday night for the first time in the competition’s history, with the defending champions, France, hosting Ireland, and will take place across just six weeks after organisers removed one of fallow weeks for the championship.
It is understood the unprecedented move to begin the championship on Thursday 5 February next year has been made after input from broadcasters, with the 2026 Winter Olympics ceremony taking place in Milan the following day. It has also been made with the agreement of all six unions.
An enterprising little starter in a tin bursting with familiar pizza flavours, plus two summery fishy tarts
Crab, wonderful crab, an ingredient that has always been found on my restaurant menus and at home in my kitchen. This simple, rather rustic tart is delicious and sings of warmer days. Tarragon is underrated, but this soft herb is a staple in my garden and eats especially well with crab. Then, all the love for these little sardine tins of happiness, taking the classic flavours of a margherita pizza, tucking them up with the fish and using the tin to the max.
Frederick Doe, 36, convicted of conspiring to transfer criminal property after 18-carat toilet was stolen in 2019
A “foolish” middle-man involved in the theft of a £4.8m gold toilet stolen from an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace has been handed a suspended sentence at Oxford crown court.
Frederick Doe, 37, also known as Frederick Sines, from Windsor, was convicted by a jury of conspiring to transfer criminal property. He was accused of offering to find a buyer for the gold.
Ryanair has said air fares will head back up this summer after a year of lower fares saw the budget airline’s profits fall 16%.
Europe’s biggest airline carried just over 200 million passengers in 2024-25 with ticket prices down 7% to fill its planes, after a dispute halted bookings from some online agents, reducing full-year profits to €1.6bn (£1.4bn).
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