When Sandy Jeffs was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1976, “it was an absolute death sentence because schizophrenia and recovery weren’t spoken of in the same sentence back in those days”.
“To have your future taken away from you like that, at 23 years of age, was just awful,” she says, “and I bought into the pessimism of my diagnosis because that’s what I was told by all those clinicians.”
Rafał Trzaskowski, from the governing pro-EU coalition, faces Eurosceptic populist rightwing historian Karol Nawrocki ahead of run-off
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge.
During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, the centrist Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, from prime minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the populist rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS).
In New Zealand only a handful of farms produce pearls from abalone, known as pāua, but the molluscs need delicate conditions to survive
Roger Beattie was diving off the Chatham Islands, about 800km east of New Zealand, when he saw his first pāua pearl. Beattie was familiar with pāua, the Māori word for abalone, and their iridescent shells of shimmering purples and greens. But the pearl that had formed inside was unlike anything he had ever seen, gleaming with layers of the pāua’s natural colours.
“I just thought ‘heck, that would make amazing jewellery,’” Beattie says.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed up to Xi Jinping’s vision of a multi-polar world, as Beijing expands its influence in Latin America
Few world leaders can say they’ve been hugged by Xi Jinping, China’s typically reserved president. Last year, an embrace between Xi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, seemed to sum up the cosy – if at times slightly awkward – relationship between China and Russia.
Now Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, can count himself among the hallowed few to have broken the handshake barrier with Chinese leader. Stepping off the stage after giving a speech in Beijing earlier this month, Lula shook Xi’s hand, but the moment swiftly melted into something more affectionate.
President’s order sought to suspend lawyers’ security clearances after accusing firm of ‘undermining justice’
A US judge on Friday overturned Donald Trump’s executive order targeting Jenner & Block, a big law firm that employed a lawyer who investigated him.
Trump’s executive order, called Addressing Risks from Jenner & Block, suspended security clearances for the firm’s lawyers and restricted their access to government buildings, officials and federal contracting work.
Captain’s swashbuckling 55 not out clinches victory
Forget Bondi to Coogee – England are queens of a different seaside town. On Friday night at Hove they sealed their T20 series against West Indies with a nine-wicket win, thanks to a three-wicket haul by new-kid-on-the-block Em Arlott and a captain’s innings of 55 not out from their new skipper, Nat Sciver-Brunt.
The 27-year-old Warwickshire seamer Arlott, having been handed her England cap just 48 hours previously, apparently impressed Charlotte Edwards, the new coach, so much on debut that she was promoted to open the bowling from the Sea End. She subsequently sent down a consecutive four-over spell of such accuracy that it yielded just 14 runs, despite three of the overs being inside the powerplay.
Exclusive: Critics and defendant’s legal team accuse US president of trying to do favor for Salvadorian leader
Donald Trump’s administration is attempting to dismiss criminal charges against a top MS-13 leader in order to deport him to El Salvador, according to newly unsealed court records – igniting accusations from critics and the defendant’s legal team that the US president is trying to do a favor for his Salvadorian counterpart, who struck a deal with the gang in 2019.
According to justice department records, the MS-13 figure in question, Vladimir Antonio Arevalo-Chavez, has intimate knowledge of that secretive pact, which – before eventually falling apart – involved Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele’s government ceding money and territory to the gang, who in return promised to reduce violence from its side and provide Bukele’s party with electoral support.
Napoli win league by point from Inter, who beat Como
McTominay also named Serie A player of the season
A spectacular scissor kick from Scott McTominay set Napoli on their way to a 2-0 win over Cagliari that sealed the Serie A title for Antonio Conte’s side in their final league game of the season.
Napoli went into the match leading the Italian table by just one point from Inter, who kicked off at the same time on Friday night away to Como. When Stefan de Vrij put Inter ahead via a corner after 20 minutes, they leapfrogged Napoli in the live standings, but the goal from the former Manchester United midfielder McTominay in the 42nd minute, acrobatically converting Matteo Politano’s cross, eased nerves in Naples.
Case of man carrying rare genetic variant fuels calls for limit on number of children that can be fathered by one donor
The sperm of a man carrying a rare cancer-causing mutation was used to conceive at least 67 children, 10 of whom have since been diagnosed with cancer, in a case that has highlighted concerns about the lack of internationally agreed limits on the use of donor sperm.
Experts have previously warned of the social and psychological risks of sperm from single donors being used to create large numbers children across multiple countries. The latest case, involving dozens of children born between 2008 and 2015, raises fresh concerns about the complexity of tracing so many families when a serious medical issue is identified.
Two-month-old black bear, who was starving in a California forest, is youngest cub the San Diego center has cared for
Human bears, some would say, are taking care of a two-month-old cub that spent days without his mother, starving in a California forest.
The small black bear cub was rescued by campers in Los Padres national forest after being found alone and starving. The infant bear is now recovering at San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center, and is believed to be the youngest cub the organization has ever cared for.
The death of the esteemed black-and-white photographer leaves behind a rich library of over 500,000 images showing Earth in all its beauty and darkness
It’s a testament to the epic career of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, who died this week at age 81, that this year has already seen exhibitions of hundreds of his photos in Mexico City, France and southern California. Salgado, who in his lifetime produced more than 500,000 images while meticulously documenting every continent on Earth and many of the major geopolitical events since the second world war, will be remembered as one of the world’s most prodigious and relentlessly empathetic chroniclers of the human condition.
An economist by training, Salgado only began photographing at age 29 after picking up the camera of his wife, Lélia. He began working as a photojournalist in the 1970s, quickly building an impressive reputation that led him to the prestigious Magnum Photos in 1979. He spent three decades photographing people in modern societies all over the world before stepping back in 2004 to initiate the seven-year Genesis project – there, he dedicated himself to untouched landscapes and pre-modern human communities, a project that would guide the remainder of his career. His late project Amazônia saw him spend nine years preparing a profound look into the terrain and people of the Amazon rainforest.
Students at the oldest US university are feeling shocked and frightened by an attempt to ban foreign scholars
Harvard’s foreign students described an atmosphere of “fear on campus” following an attempt by the Trump administration to ban international scholars at the oldest university in the US.
On lush, grassy quads filled with tents and chairs ready for end of year graduation celebrations, international students said there was “mass panic” after Thursday’s shock announcement by the Department of Homeland Security.
According to Love, Freddie, Queen frontman had close relationship with child conceived accidentally in 1976
Freddie Mercury had a secret daughter with whom he had a close relationship until his death in 1991, according to a new biography of the Queen frontman.
The book, Love, Freddie, claims the child was conceived accidentally during an affair with the wife of a close friend in 1976.
Nat Sciver-Brunt and Em Arlott starred as England hammered West Indies with more than 10 overs to spare at Hove
Em Arlott has two wickets in the over and Sophia Dunkley has taken a blinder! James scuffed Arlott towards midwicket, where Dunkley threw up her left hand to take a brilliant reaction catch. There has been lots of focus on England’s fielding after the Ashes defeat; catches like that will change the narrative very quickly.
A huge wicket for Em Arlott! Hayley Matthews wafts all around an excellent delivery that nips back to hit leg stump. Matthews had driven the previous ball majestically over extra-cover for four but Arlott kept pitching it up and got her reward.
Airplane giant will pay and invest $1.1bn after misleading US regulators, including $445m for crash victims’ families
The justice department has reached a deal with Boeing that will allow the airplane giant to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading US regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to court papers filed on Friday.
Under the “agreement in principle” that still needs to be finalized, Boeing would pay and invest more than $1.1bn, including an additional $445m for the crash victims’ families, the justice department said. In return, the department would dismiss the fraud charge in the criminal case against the aircraft manufacturer.
The Argentinian choreographer, known for working out her traumas and neuroses on stage, is bringing her provocative new work, Kill Me, to Australia
Long ago, Marina Otero decided she would film her life until she dies, as part of an attempt to understand her pain and her preoccupation with death. “I was sure that salvation lay in art,” she says. So when she suffered a mental breakdown in 2022, the Argentinian choreographer decided to keep recording.
“It seemed interesting to me, recording the darkest parts of a person,” Otero tells Guardian over Zoom from Madrid, where she is based.
Several people held in connection with jailbreak as manhunt enters second week and criticisms mount over jail management
Several people have been arrested on accusations of helping some of the 10 men who broke out of New Orleans’ jail on 16 May – and half of the escapers remained on the run as a manhunt for them entered its second week, according to authorities.
Police said on Friday that they had booked Casey Smith, 30, a day earlier on allegations that she provided transportation to at least two of the escapers in the hours after the jailbreak. She had allegedly admitted to doing that alongside another woman whom police took into custody on Wednesday, identified as 32-year-old Cortnie Harris, Smith’s cousin and the girlfriend of one of the escaped men, Leo Tate, 31.
Three pensioners and a man in his 30s jailed as four others convicted of related charges
Four men have been found guilty of breaking into a luxury residence in Paris and stealing jewellery worth millions of euros from the American reality TV star Kim Kardashian when she attended fashion week in 2016.
Three pensioners and one man in his 30s were convicted of carrying out the armed heist, which was thought to be the biggest robbery of an individual in France in 20 years. Four other people were found guilty of assisting in the plot or related charges. Two people were acquitted of accusations they handed out information about Kardashian’s whereabouts.
Weapons-grade zingers come thick and fast in this chamber piece about four plutocrats on a weekend in a lodge that goes awry when the planet descends into chaos
Jesse Armstrong has returned with what feels like a horribly addictive feature-length spin-off episode from the extended Succession Cinematic Universe – though without Succession cast members. It is set in a luxurious Utah megalodge which winds up resembling the Dr Strangelove war room, mixed with the apartment from Hitchcock’s Rope. Mountainhead is a super-satirical chamber piece about the deranged, cynical and facetious mindset of the uber-wealthy, the kind of people who think about ancient Rome every day, though not about Nero and his violin. It may not have the dramatic richness of Armstrong’s TV meisterwerk while the pure testosterone of this all-male main cast (minus any Shiv figure) is oppressive – though that is kind of the point. The pure density of weapons-grade zingers in the script is a marvel.
Our heroes are four unspeakable American tech plutocrats, a billionaire boys club with one mere centi-millionaire who isn’t up to “bill” status; this beta-male cuck of their peer group is nicknamed “Soup Kitchen” because of his poverty, and he is their eager host. They are exactly the kind of people with whom legacy media aristocrat Logan Roy (played in Succession by Brian Cox) would once grit his teeth and take meetings, vainly hoping for investment. These masters of the universe are getting together for an alpha bros’ hang-slash-poker-weekend, razzing and bantering with each other with deadly seriousness about their respective wealth levels, at this mega-lodge that is called Mountainhead. As one guest asks: “Is that like The Fountainhead? Your interior designer is Ayn Bland …?”
England and Lions fly-half on run to Champions Cup final, controlling his inner demons and playing junior tennis alongside Jack Draper
“I was always angry,” Fin Smith remembers as he explains his transition from a volatile young tennis player into the decisively calm fly-half for Northampton, England and the Lions who is as serene as he is interesting. Smith has had a remarkable year so far but there is an understated lightness about him as he recalls playing in tennis tournaments alongside Jack Draper, the current world No 5.
“As an 11-year-old tennis player I was very angry,” he says at Franklin’s Gardens, having just completed Northampton Saints’ final training session before they face Bordeaux on Saturday in the Champions Cup final. “I used to blow up and smash rackets a lot. But getting that out of my system at a young age, while facing set points and match points, can only benefit me when I’m playing rugby under pressure and really taking on an internal battle.”
The Arsenal defender knows she must manage her emotions in the Champions League final – 18 years after she was a mascot for the equivalent fixture
There is no bigger test of how Arsenal’s Leah Williamson balances the emotion of the occasion as a fan with her life as a player than a first Champions League final after years of working on her feelings when she is wearing red and white. “Do your job, Leah, and then the fan in you gets to enjoy it afterwards,” her internal monologue will run as she prepares to step on to the pitch when the Gunners take on Barcelona in Lisbon.
“It’s funny, Less [Alessia Russo] was asking me about this today,” the 28-year-old says, sitting in the sunshine by the small lake at Arsenal’s London Colney training centre. “Maybe it’s age, maybe it’s having the experience of doing it in other moments. The Euros final was fairly level to this in terms of testing my ability to manage the emotions of the day and occasion. I’m just going to enjoy it.
Cannes film festival Reichardt’s quietist, observational style is unexpectedly successful at creating a super-naturalistic depiction of an art gallery robbery
It needs hardly be said that the title is ironic. The abject non-hero of Kelly Reichardt’s engrossingly downbeat heist movie, set in 1970s Massachusetts, is weak, vain and utterly clueless. By the end, he’s a weirdly Updikean figure, though without the self-awareness: going on the run with no money and without a change of clothes, to escape from the grotesque mess he has made for himself and his family.
This is James, played with hangdog near-charm by Josh O’Connor; he is an art school dropout and would-be architectural designer with two young sons, married to Terri (a minor complaint is that the excellent Alana Haim is not given enough to do). James depends on the social standing of his father Bill, a judge, formidably played by Bill Camp, and is borrowing large sums of money from his patrician mother Sarah (Hope Davis), ostensibly to finance a new project.
A US federal judge on Friday blocked the government from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students just hours after the elite college sued the Trump administration over its abrupt ban the day before on enrolling foreign students.
US district judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued the temporary restraining order late on Friday morning, freezing the policy that had been abruptly imposed on the university, based in nearby Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday.
Stokes shines as England toil before enforcing follow-on
There were a few sideways glances during the first day of Zimbabwe’s first Test match in England for 22 years, followed by calls for cricket’s longest format to adopt a two-division structure. After a flogging like the one their players had just suffered across three sessions, perhaps this was to be expected.
But on day two, cheered on by some wonderful pockets of support, the tourists mustered a pushback. First came an improved showing with the ball, England losing three for 67 to declare on 565 for six, followed by something of a fairytale century from the opener Brian Bennett. Though bowled out for 265, and closing on 30 for two following on, Zimbabwe had given their hosts a far stiffer outing.
Four victims critically wounded in attack by 39-year-old alleged assailant in Germany’s second-largest city
German police have arrested a woman after 17 people were injured in a knife attack at Hamburg’s main railway station.
The attack happened at about 6.30pm local time (5.30pm BST), with Hamburg police saying on social media that they were carrying out a major operation in Germany’s second-largest city.
Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on iPhones if they are not made in the United States, as he stepped up the pressure on Apple to build its signature product in the country.
The president wiped approximately $70bn (£52bn) off the company’s shares with a post on the Truth Social platform that said iPhones sold inside the US must be made within the country’s borders.
Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku scored the goals against Cagliari that claimed a second title in three years
Caledonia’s Simon McMahon gets in touch: “Gilmour and McTominay starting for Napoli and on the verge of winning Serie A is just insane, John. Really hope they do it, got the pizza and beers in, COME ON NAPOLI!!!”
Naples is getting game ready, too. Mathías Olivera is being given a penant for his 100th game. The sound of Live Is Life can be heard at the Diego Armando Maradona.
In Kosovo, Nato intervened in 1999 after mass killings and the threat of further ethnic cleansing. Why aren’t Gazans being protected in the same way?
On 20 May, the secretary-general for humanitarian affairs at the United Nations stated that 14,000 babies would be dead unless the blockade was lifted immediately. The day before, the former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin said: “Every child in Gaza is the enemy.” And now, world leaders in the UK and France threaten vague “concrete actions” if Israel “does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid”. But undefined “concrete actions” are woefully insufficient. To those leaders I say: Gaza’s children cannot eat statements.
Bezalel Smotrich,the Israeli finance minister, declared last week: “We are destroying everything in Gaza, the world isn’t stopping us.” So let’s say what must be said, without apology: military intervention to defend Gaza is not only justified – it is required. It is humanitarian. It is overdue. Israel must be stopped.
New chapter in Arsenal’s storied history awaits as they aim to end continental drought in a sold-out Lisbon final
After 18 years, Arsenal are back in the biggest game in women’s European football with a dream to end their long wait for continental glory. They face the holders, the favourites and the much-revered Barcelona, who are aiming to win the Champions League for a third consecutive season on a picture-perfect weekend in Lisbon.
Strolling along tree-lined paths through the Portuguese capital’s sun-kissed Parque Eduardo VII, as a group of Barcelona fans cross paths with two Arsenal supporters wearing full red-and-white kit and exchange a few friendly quips about Saturday’s final, it is hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for the 3,467 attendees who saw Arsenal lift the Uefa Women’s Cup – as it was known in 2007 – in the somewhat less glamorous surroundings of Boreham Wood FC’s Meadow Park. In those days, the competition concluded with a two-legged home-and-away final. Arsenal followed up their 1-0 away win against the Swedish club Umeå – thanks to an Alex Scott scorcher – with a goalless draw to deliver what remains the greatest moment in the club’s history.
As well as cutting UK energy costs (see earlier), Donald Trump can also take credit for growing the German economy!
New GDP data this morning shows that Germany’s GDP rose by 0.4% in January-March, twice as fast as the first estimate of 0.2% growth in the quarter.
“The reason for the slightly higher growth compared to the initial estimate was the surprisingly positive economic development in March.”
“In particular, production in the manufacturing sector and exports performed better than initially expected.
The German economy had its best quarterly performance since the third quarter of 2022, and the reason for it seems to be Donald Trump. As a result of the announced tariffs and in anticipation of ‘Liberation Day,’ German industrial production and exports surged in March.
Net exports and private consumption drove economic activity in the first quarter, while government consumption and inventories dragged on growth.
Spurs’ Europa League triumph marks the high point of Australian football success and keeps the door open for the next wave of coaches
Open-top buses are a favourite of visitors to London, including many of the half million Australians who travel there each year. Ange Postecoglou became the latest to hop aboard as part of a parade celebrating Tottenham’s Europa League triumph.
There is no Buckingham Palace, no Tower of London, no Piccadilly Circus on Friday’s route – or Saturday morning for those watching from Australia. Rather, this was an unusual journey around not central but north London. On an ordinary day, Tottenham and Edmonton are areas deemed too common for most to be worth seeing. But this promised a rare spectacle, a sight to behold, in an area starved of football success.
Without bold reform which makes the rich pull their weight, rising inequality risks eroding public trust and fracturing social stability
Britain for the last decade has experienced a bleak paradox: rising child poverty alongside a dramatic increase in billionaire wealth. This inequality has been tolerated partly because greed has been rehabilitated as virtue. The Billionaire Britain report, published this week by the Equality Trust, reveals what many instinctively feel but few in parliament will admit: the UK economy has become a machine for the upward redistribution of wealth.
Using Sunday Times Rich List data, the report found that the 50 wealthiest UK families now own more than the poorest half of the population combined. Their opulence is no accident. It’s largely built on the labour and consumption of those 34 million other Britons. The gains of society are being hoarded by those least in need. There’s a lexicon that sells it all as “entrepreneurial spirit” and business dynamism. But the very markets that reward the wealthiest so handsomely are constructed and policed by the state. Governments entrench intellectual property rights, strengthen legal monopolies and write policies that benefit banks and asset markets.
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Britain would benefit from pledging more sustained and committed support in this age of disinformation and global turmoil
Two years ago, BBC Arabic radio left the airwaves after decades. Soon afterwards, Russia’s Sputnik service began broadcasting on the frequency left vacant in Lebanon. That detail illuminates a larger picture. China, Russia and others see global-facing media as central to their global ambitions and are investing accordingly – pumping out propaganda to muddle or drown out objective, independently minded journalism. These outlets are state-controlled as well as state-owned.
Meanwhile, conspiracy theories and disinformation proliferate online, attacks on press freedom intensify and the Trump administration is dismantling media organisations including Voice of America and Radio Free Asia (RFA), which have been essential sources of information for audiences under repressive regimes. Official Chinese media were gleeful at what RFA’s president, Bay Fang, called “a reward to dictators and despots”.
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Bertrice Pompe and Bernadette Dugasse won a brief victory in bid to stop transfer of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
Two women who brought an 11th-hour legal challenge to try to stop the UK transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius have accused the government of betrayal.
British Chagossians Bertrice Pompe, 54, and Bernadette Dugasse, 68, who were both born on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, vowed to keep fighting to try to realise their dream of returning to their place of birth.
Israel starving Palestinians, two killings at a Jewish museum: both are atrocities. But vanishingly few can see it
I sat this week with Hussein Agha, a man who has given his working life to seeking peace between Israelis and Palestinians, negotiating from the Palestinian side of the table. He was gloomier than I have ever seen him, adamant that peace between the two sides can never, ever come. Because, Agha explained, this conflict was not about mere lines on a map or forms of words, the goods in which diplomats trade. This was about emotions, and specifically hatreds. Hatreds that, he feared, are becoming too murderous to contain. “It’s biblical,” he said.
What he had in mind was the fury that drove Hamas to slaughter around 1,200 Israelis on a sleepy Saturday morning nearly 20 months ago and the fury that has driven the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to bombard Gaza ever since, killing more than 50,000, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry, and, over the last 80 days, denying food to those who remain. He fears that the hatreds that fuelled these events, and that are fuelled by them, will grow larger and more venomous until nothing and no one is left. The whole land shall be laid waste and made desolate.
The 76-year-old singer has canceled all concerts owing to condition, which can affect hearing, vision and balance
Billy Joel has canceled all upcoming concerts after he was diagnosed with the brain disorder normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), the singer announced on Friday.
The condition “has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance”, according to a statement posted to the 76-year-old singer’s official Instagram. “Under his doctor’s instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period. Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritizing his health.”
They used to tease the future. Now, the movie-maker’s post-credits sequences are mostly cryptic cameos and empty gestures. Perhaps we just shouldn’t bother
Let’s face it, hanging around to watch post- or mid-credits sequences is a pretty weird thing. The movie is over, we’ve all had our fill – of CGI skybeams, multiversal migraines and superheroes punching each other in the feelings – and it’s time to head out into the night to debate whether the film was brilliant, baffling or just a $250m trailer for the next one. But leave we cannot, because something monumental might just happen after the credits roll. Or during them. Or, increasingly, not at all. Still we stay, we hope, we watch.
Remember the end of 2012’s The Avengers when Thanos turned and smirked, sparking a good six years of movies in which the Mad Titan was definitely going to do something totally crazy very soon – and then, to everyone’s surprise, actually did? Or that glorious moment after Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) when Marisa Tomei’s aunt May walked in on Peter Parker mid suit change? Back then, Marvel credit scenes usually felt earned, and vital. They were windows into the future of the saga, at a time when Kevin Feige and his team seemed to be able to do no wrong. What made those early years so intoxicating was the sheer audacity of it all. Marvel wasn’t just making superhero movies. They were building a connected universe on screen, one meticulously cross-pollinated character cameo at a time, like a giant, exploding beehive of superhero synergy.
Connexion
