A masked brute who went on the lam after hurling a huge cinderblock at ICE cruisers during a riot in Los Angeles faces up to 20 years in prison. Elpidio Reyna, 41, was caught on video slinging rocks at the vehicles as they raced past him during the attack near Home Depot in Paramount on...
An investigation shows that illegal luxury mansions have been built in a Sierra Leone national park that serves as an environmental buffer for its capital
Donald Trump says deals ‘end our foolish dependence on foreign sources’, while Japanese PM hails enhanced economic security
Japan has drawn up plans for investments in US oil, gas and critical mineral projects worth about $36bn under the first wave of a deal with Donald Trump.
The US president and Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s prime minister, announced a trio of projects including a power plant in Portsmouth, Ohio, billed by the Trump administration as the largest natural gas-fired generating facility in US history.
Cycads are ancient palm-like plants that appeared 275m years ago, long before flowering plants evolved
Cycads are ancient palm-like plants that appeared 275m years ago, long before flowering plants evolved. They are also the oldest known seed plants pollinated by insects, but despite their ancient roots they have an ingenious knack of advertising themselves to beetles – they heat up for sex, quite possibly the oldest signal in plants to attract pollinating insects.
Cycads have separate male and female plants, with their sex organs held on cones. When the reproductive organs are ready for sex, they can warm up by more than 10C above their surroundings by cranking up their metabolism using a dense array of energy-producing mitochondria.
Citrus brings vibrancy and zing to savoury and sweet dishes alike
Citrus season brings an entirely new dimension of seasoning – a way to add vibrancy, nuance and brightness far beyond the standard squeeze of lemon. For me, citrus isn’t just acidity: it’s a complex alternative to sugar and vinegar, with varieties that offer bitterness, floral tones, sweetness and sharpness in equal measure. With more than a hundred types of lemons, clementines and limes now available, I find it easiest to think of them in two groups: sour citrus and sweet citrus. Once you know which you’re working with, you can explore each variety’s complexity and decide how best to use it.
Labour promised ‘ambitious reforms’, but it was fixing things that were not broken. And the moral: focus on what matters and stop making stupid mistakes
What were they thinking? Labour inherited the worst of everything, including prisons beyond breaking point, court backlogs as bad as NHS waiting lists, children cast into exceptional destitution, the National Grid unable to cope with demand, reservoirs unbuilt while sewage poured into rivers, high debt, no money and deep public distrust in politics. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves were honest about what they found.
So what on earth can have seized them, within months of taking over, to decide this was a good time for a gigantic English council re-disorganisation? Angela Rayner, who was in charge of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government at the time, kicked it off in December 2024. But why, when councils are near-bankrupt and crippled by the ballooning costs of social care and provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities?
Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist
Guardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink?
On Monday 30 April, ahead of the May elections, join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much threat Labour faces from both the Green party and Reform, and whether Keir Starmer can survive as party leader
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Trying to stick to your resolution of reading more in 2026? From picking tomes to match your mood to planning your to-read list, Katie Rosseinsky has some advice on how to boost your book power
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