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Trump says ‘we just want to be friends’ as Canada’s PM shoots down becoming 51st state

Mark Carney said country was ‘not for sale’ in much anticipated summit between leaders at White House

Donald Trump has said he “just want[s] to be friends with Canada” after his first post-election meeting with the country’s prime minister, Mark Carney – who used the gathering to shoot down any prospect of his country becoming the 51st state.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump praised Carney – whose Liberal party won the federal election last week – for one of the “greatest political comebacks of all time,” and described the prime minister’s visit as “an honour” for the White House.

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© Photograph: Adrian Wyld/AP

© Photograph: Adrian Wyld/AP

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BBC admits lapse in standards around coverage of Prince Harry interview

Radio 4’s Today programme did not include responses from Home Office and Buckingham Palace to ‘stitch-up’ claims

The BBC has admitted to “a lapse in our usual high editorial standards” over its coverage on Radio 4’s Today programme of the broadcaster’s recent interview with the Duke of Sussex.

The admission came after it failed to include responses from the Home Office and Buckingham Palace to allegations made by the duke.

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© Photograph: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

© Photograph: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

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Papal in-tray: new pontiff will have to hit ground running on many urgent issues

From conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, to migration, the climate crisis and schisms in the church, the honeymoon period will be short

In the coming days, the Roman Catholic church will have a new leader, cheered by the faithful in St Peter’s Square. Once the prayers are over and the crowds have dispersed, what issues must the new pope grapple with?

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© Photograph: Murad Sezer/Reuters

© Photograph: Murad Sezer/Reuters

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US talks are an opportunity for Rwanda to expand its geopolitical influence

African country looks to position itself as a useful option for countries’ anti-migration policies

Talks between Rwanda and the US to host deported migrants is the latest move by the African country to position itself as a useful option for the anti-migration policies of allied governments.

Previous high-profile attempts, however, including with the UK, Israel and Denmark, failed after becoming beset by controversy.

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© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

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‘I’ve been burnt a few times’: Emma Raducanu on betrayal and A-levels

While navigating scrutiny on the court the Briton No 2 is trusting herself and seeking balance through academia

“I am very independent and I think now I’m actually just listening to myself and my intuition more,” said Emma Raducanu, smiling, from one of the few quiet corners of the vast, handsome Foro Italico complex in Rome. “For so long, I’ve had other opinions, I’ve tried to justify my gut feeling because my brain is very logical [and] I didn’t feel like I could just trust what I felt.”

Raducanu was speaking before her first-round appearance at the Italian Open, where she is still trying to figure out how to adapt her game to clay. Looking at the bigger picture of the 22-year-old’s career and life, she has reached an interesting inflection point.

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© Photograph: Robert Prange/Getty Images

© Photograph: Robert Prange/Getty Images

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Denmark’s museum objects at risk from ‘extreme’ new mould, say conservators

The ‘epidemic for Golden Age paintings’ may already be a global problem, with the fungi a possible health hazard

A new type of “extreme” mould is sweeping through Denmark’s museums, threatening some of the nation’s most important paintings and cultural objects, conservators have warned.

Described as an “epidemic for Golden Age paintings”, the highly resistant mould covers objects in a white coating and has been detected in 12 of the country’s museums, including the National Museum of Denmark and Skagens Museum.

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© Photograph: Jacob Jul Nørup

© Photograph: Jacob Jul Nørup

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Sharp Corner review – Ben Foster unravels in smart, darkly compelling thriller

Actor plays a father desperate to prove his worth in an entertainingly nasty look at dangers of entitled mediocrity

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: happy family moves into dream home but discovers it’s actually a nightmare.

It’s a set-up so numbingly common that it’s started to border on parody. From smug moving day pizza on the box-strewn floor to hearing louder and louder bumps in the night to arguing over when and how to leave, it’s a descent that’s propped up far too many genre films. At the start of Sharp Corner, which quietly premiered at last year’s Toronto film festival, you’d be forgiven for expecting yet more of the same. But here, the threat is far more unusual and the nature of the unravelling far less predictable, the plot direction mirroring the title before it even comes into view.

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© Photograph: Corey J Isenor

© Photograph: Corey J Isenor

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Seize Gaza, or make it uninhabitable. That’s Netanyahu’s plan – and either way he wins | Yair Wallach

The talk of a major new offensive may be strategic bluster, but either way it serves a purpose. It shows extremist policy is now mainstream

After two months of daily bombings, raids and a total blockade preventing the entry of food and medication to Gaza, Israel approved a military plan on Monday it claims will bring about the final destruction of Hamas. The intensified offensive by the Israel Defense Forces will aim to occupy large parts of the strip and maintain a permanent Israeli presence there. It has been dubbed Operation Gideon’s Chariots – but it might be more accurate to call it the Roadmap to Hell. More of the population would be forced into an ever-shrinking “humanitarian zone”, while Israel explores options for their permanent displacement from the strip altogether.

While Israeli officials explain that the renewed onslaught would help to release hostages, it is abundantly clear that intensifying military operations would only put them at greater risk. Hostages’ families have reacted to the cabinet’s announcement with deep concern. There are still 59 Israelis held in Gaza – and it is assumed that 24 of them are alive. While Israel is willing to agree to a truce in return for hostage release, it refuses categorically to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.

Yair Wallach is a reader in Israeli studies and head of the Centre for Jewish Studies at Soas University of London

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

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Pentagon stopped Ukraine military aid shipments in February without Trump’s approval

Order to cancel 11 military aid flights – which were quickly reinstated – originated in defense head Pete Hegseth’s office

Roughly a week after Donald Trump started his second term as president, the US military issued an order to three freight airlines operating out of Dover air force base in Delaware and a US base in Qatar: stop 11 flights loaded with artillery shells and other weaponry that were bound for Ukraine.

In a matter of hours, frantic questions reached Washington from Ukrainians in Kyiv and from officials in Poland, where the shipments were coordinated. Who had ordered the US Transportation Command, known as TransCom, to halt the flights? Was it a permanent pause on all aid? Or just some?

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© Photograph: Roman Pilipey/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Roman Pilipey/AFP/Getty Images

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‘Blood timber’: western firms fuel conflict and ‘slavery’ in Colombia

Trade in uncertified hardwood illegally logged in Chocó rainforest and imported by US and Europe is financing paramilitaries, says Environmental Investigation Agency

The Atrato River winds through the dense rainforest of Colombia’s Chocó region for nearly 400 miles (600km) before spilling into the Caribbean Sea. Some of these tropical forests are among the wettest on Earth. Their flooded lowlands and swollen rivers are so impenetrable they have acted as an evolutionary barrier, making Chocó a haven for rare and remarkable species found nowhere else on the planet.

“We have so many animals that you won’t even know the names of many of them,” says María Mosquera, a community leader in the region, whose name has been changed to protect her identity.

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© Photograph: Jan Sochor/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jan Sochor/Getty Images

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‘People think I’ve gone crazy’: indie sensation Cameron Winter on leaving crowds in tears with his wild lyrics and supernatural voice

He is just 22 yet he is already being compared to Dylan, Cohen and Waits. The Geese frontman talks about the joys of going solo, employing a five-year-old bassist – and why God deserves a shout out

The sign in the church reads simply: “God is real.” Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they, being a church. But it’s not a determined vicar who has put the poster up in a bid to convince his congregation. Rather it’s 22-year-old Cameron Winter, frontman of New York rock band Geese and now solo artist behind one of the year’s most beguiling albums.

Winter is in church – St Matthias in north London – for his first ever UK solo show. And while it may or may not convince you of God’s existence, it certainly feels like an encounter with the divine. Hunched over a piano, his hands run up and down the keys freely as he pours out his stream-of-consciousness lyrics in a voice that has to be heard to be believed – fragile and prone to cracking yet also powerful, soulful, almost supernatural. Who is this creature, you wonder.

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© Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian

© Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian

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French hunter, 81, avoids jail after killing endangered female bear in Pyrenees

Incident in 2021, during which the defendant said he was attacked by a brown bear, sparked fierce criticism

An 81-year-old French hunter has avoided jail after killing an endangered female bear that attacked him in the Pyrenees in 2021, in an incident that sparked fierce criticism from environmental associations.

The defendant, who said he had no choice but to open fire when a brown bear attacked him while he was boar-hunting in the mountain range separating France and Spain, was given a four-month suspended jail sentence.

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© Photograph: Hemis/Alamy

© Photograph: Hemis/Alamy

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German parliament elects Merz as chancellor in second round of voting

New leader secures 325 votes after humiliating loss in first round inflicted by 18 unnamed coalition rebels

The German parliament has formally elected Friedrich Merz as the country’s 10th chancellor since the second world war, after a humiliating loss in the first round of voting that raised troubling doubts about the stability of the next coalition government.

Merz secured 325 votes in the second round, just above the necessary 316. Earlier in the day 18 unnamed rebels from the newly formed alliance between his conservatives and the Social Democrats had voted to deprive him of the required majority in the secret ballot.

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© Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/EPA

© Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/EPA

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Rihanna and A$AP Rocky reveal they are expecting third child at Met Gala

Barbadian singer-actor appeared at fashion event visibly pregnant, with Rocky saying: ‘It feels amazing, you know’

At a historic edition of the Met Gala with tons of news-making moments, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky once again stole the show.

The power couple is expecting their third child, the rapper A$AP Rocky revealed.

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© Photograph: Andrea Renault/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Andrea Renault/AFP/Getty Images

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US treasury secretary says trade deals could come this week as Trump to host Canada’s Carney – US politics live

Scott Bessent tells House committee deals could be agreed ‘as early as this week’ as president meets Canadian PM amid tariff tensions

A group of US senators wants Congress’ watchdog agency to investigate whether controls on humanitarian aid deliveries by Israel and other foreign governments violate US law, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

The six senators – Chris Van Hollen, Dick Durbin, Jeff Merkley, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Peter Welch – wrote to Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general, asking him to launch an investigation by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office into the US government’s implementation of laws regarding the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

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© Photograph: Saul Loebpatrick Doyle/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Saul Loebpatrick Doyle/AFP/Getty Images

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Officials say black bear likely killed man and his dog in Florida

Investigation under way in what is believed to be the first fatal mauling of a human by a bear in the state

Wildlife officials in Florida are investigating what is believed to be the first fatal mauling of a human by a bear in the state.

The body of the black bear suspected in the death of 89-year-old Robert Markel was removed from woodland near the unincorporated community of Jerome, close to Florida’s Big Cypress wildlife management area, on Monday night, according to the Naples Daily News.

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© Photograph: Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via Getty Images

© Photograph: Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via Getty Images

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Columbia University to cut 180 jobs due to federal grant revocations

White House axed grants even as college agreed to demands including ceding control of Middle East studies department

New York’s Columbia University is slated to cut 180 staffers whose work was supported by federal grants that have now been revoked by the Trump administration, the college’s acting president, Claire Shipman, announced on Tuesday.

“We have had to make difficult choices and unfortunately, today, nearly 180 of our colleagues who have been working, in whole or in part, on impacted federal grants, will receive notices of non-renewal or termination,” Shipman said in a lengthy notice posted on Columbia’s website.

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© Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

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Renault and Citroën owner warn of ‘painful decisions’ if EU does not change rules for small cars

Carmakers say there needs to be more focus on smaller, affordable vehicles in Europe as SUVs gain popularity

Citroën owner Stellantis and Renault have warned they may be forced into “painful decisions” over the future of their factories in Europe, as they urged the EU to adopt more favourable rules for small cars.

The chief executives of the carmakers said there needed to be more focus on smaller, affordable cars in Europe as SUVs continue to gain popularity.

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© Photograph: Ryhor Bruyeu/Alamy

© Photograph: Ryhor Bruyeu/Alamy

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My patient’s cancer was curable but for years she endured painful sex as a result. This story is all too familiar | Ranjana Srivastava

Many cancer patients suffer sexual health problems but this important quality of life indicator is woefully ignored

It is not often that a cancer patient promises to regale her oncologist with “wild stories about my sexual adventures”, but this might just be my favourite promise of late, both for the exuberant proclamation and the prolonged heartache that preceded it.

The first part of the story is all too familiar.

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© Photograph: Boy_Anupong/Getty Images

© Photograph: Boy_Anupong/Getty Images

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No Way Out: the 1987 thriller that prophesied a deeply corrupt US government

Starring Kevin Costner as a young naval officer caught in a web of intrigue, this political potboiler hits almost too close to the bone today

In 1987 – right before he became the biggest movie star in the world with a five-year hot streak that included Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves and The Bodyguard – Kevin Costner headlined two films that offered very different visions of America. The Untouchables assembles a group of plucky misfits to dole out frontier justice against those who would seek to extort the American dream – it’s brash, gung ho and morally transparent. A guaranteed classic.

Far more interesting, though, is No Way Out, Roger Donaldson’s 1987 political potboiler that’s equal parts pulpy spectacle and damning critique of the US project. Functioning as a bridge between the conspiracy flicks of the 70s and the erotic thrillers of the 90s, the film starts with a sex scene in the back of a limo (complete with a perfectly timed cutaway to the Washington Monument) and ends with an unforgettable flourish.

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© Photograph: Cinetext/Columbia/Allstar

© Photograph: Cinetext/Columbia/Allstar

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‘A very real possibility of being detained’: LGBTQ+ Australians cancel travel to US for World Pride

Mik Bartels is among those fearful of Trump’s America, partly because their research includes 20 words on US government’s list of banned terms

Queer Australians are axing travel plans to Washington DC’s World Pride festival, as Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting LGBTQ+ rights leads to fears of discrimination at the US border and potential attacks.

People skipping the international event join other Australians and travellers from around the world who are avoiding the US after Trump’s inauguration and a string of controversial policies enacted in the early months of his second term as president.

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© Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh Photography/The Guardian

© Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh Photography/The Guardian

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‘Will you marry me and also help me choose an engagement ring?’ The rise and rise of the ‘quiet proposal’

When it comes to popping the question, gen Z is turning its back on the grand romantic gesture

Name: Quiet proposals.

Age: This is about gen Z, so we’re talking people aged between 13 and 28, though hopefully no 13-year-olds are involved.

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© Photograph: Posed by models; JenAphotographer/Getty Images

© Photograph: Posed by models; JenAphotographer/Getty Images

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‘I don’t have the power’: JK Rowling won’t sack Paapa Essiedu from Harry Potter TV show over trans rights views

Author claims she neither wishes to, nor is capable of preventing the actor from playing Severus Snape in the upcoming HBO adaptation, following his signing of an open letter

JK Rowling has said she will not fire actor Paapa Essiedu from the forthcoming Harry Potter TV series over his support for transgender rights.

Essiedu has been cast as key character Severus Snape in the HBO drama, which is designed to run for more than a decade and will be one of the most expensively produced television shows of all time.

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© Composite: Getty

© Composite: Getty

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Iran calls for US to withdraw support for Israeli strikes on Yemen

Iran claims attacks in Yemen are attempt to disrupt negotiations with US over Tehran’s nuclear programme

Iran has urged the US to end its support for Israel’s continuing strikes on Yemen, claiming Israel is trying to use its conflict with the Houthi-led government to drive a wedge between Iran and the US in the negotiations over the future of Tehran’s civil nuclear programme.

The strikes have been criticised by the UN-recognised Yemen government based in Aden , which said it had not been consulted and airstrikes alone were not an integrated plan to remove the Houthis from power. Yemen has been divided between the Houthis and the official government since the Houthis captured the capital, Sana’a, in 2015.

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© Photograph: Osamah Abdulrahman/AP

© Photograph: Osamah Abdulrahman/AP

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Mark Zuckerberg tried to convince us he was human. Sorry, ZuckBot: you’ve failed | Arwa Mahdawi

No matter how many system updates the Meta boss runs, there will always be something about him that screams ‘creepy automaton’. And the $270m apocalypse shelter doesn’t help

Over the past few years Mark Zuckerberg has been conducting a very expensive experiment. If he grows his hair and revamps his wardrobe, will it make him seem more relatable? If he takes up mixed martial arts, goes wild boar hunting, and tells manosphere-adjacent podcasters such as Joe Rogan that companies need more “masculine energy”, will red-blooded American males respect him? With the help of a small army of stylists, personal trainers and PR gurus, could Zuck transform himself from an unlikable dork into an alpha bro?

For a brief moment, the answer to all that seemed to be a tentative “yes”. Zuck’s shock of shaggy new hair made the billionaire seem less like three Lego figures in a trenchcoat and more like an adult human male. His gold chains and jazzy new outfits sparked excited chatter of a “Zucknaissance”. The Meta billionaire also had a lucky break, PR-wise, in 2023 when Elon Musk, the world’s least self-aware man, challenged him to a cage brawl. Cue a flurry of articles about how Zuck was actually a skilled athlete who would annihilate Musk in a fight, leaving approximately 950 children without their father.

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© Photograph: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

© Photograph: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

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Six WSL titles in a row for Chelsea and London City go up – Women’s Football Weekly

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Emily Keogh and Jamie Spangher to reflect on Chelsea’s WSL triumph, a dramatic final day in the Championship

On this week’s Guardian Women’s Football Weekly: Chelsea are crowned WSL champions for a record sixth season in a row. With games to spare, can Sonia Bompastor’s side complete an unbeaten domestic campaign?

Elsewhere, Arsenal’s back-to-back defeats against Aston Villa and Brighton raise questions about their defensive frailties, while Manchester United and Manchester City play out a dramatic derby with European football on the line. Meanwhile, Everton shine in the Merseyside derby, and Crystal Palace leave it late to deny Leicester.

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© Photograph: Nigel French/PA

© Photograph: Nigel French/PA

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How Jon Voight went from Oscar-winning A-lister to Trump acolyte

The actor was once one of the most commanding men in Hollywood – yet he has now teamed up with the president to help ruin the industry

It’s a plain-sight not-quite-twist that was sitting in front of us this whole time. Following Donald Trump’s selection of the hilariously cursed trio of Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight for a made-up ambassadorship to Hollywood back in January, it was revealed that the position may not be ceremonial after all; it was actually Voight himself who helped goad Trump into making that bizarre statement about placing a 100% tariff on foreign-made films.

The president has since clarified that he was “exploring all options” for revitalizing the US film industry; hopefully that includes some sample plans from Gibson and Stallone, too. (We can assume Stallone’s involves a 44-page treatment for a movie where Rocky Balboa returns to the ring and becomes the main character in Creed IV.) For his part, Voight said he that he and his partner submitted a “comprehensive plan” including federal incentives for film productions, production “treaties” with other countries, and “limited” tariffs. Naturally, Trump glommed on to any proposal with even a glancing mention of tariffs, with the added bonus of being authored by an 86-year-old man.

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© Photograph: Tom Brenner/Reuters

© Photograph: Tom Brenner/Reuters

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Drug runs for the Stones, a love triangle with Joni Mitchell: has Chris O’Dell had the music industry’s wildest career?

She managed tours for Queen and Led Zeppelin and was at George Harrison’s house when the Beatles split – but O’Dell is most proud of her legacy as a woman in a macho industry

‘When you start with the Beatles, your résumé looks pretty good,” Chris O’Dell says. A new documentary charts the extent of that CV, as a music manager with bands including Fleetwood Mac, Genesis and Santana, but it all began with a chance encounter in Los Angeles in 1968.

Derek Taylor was heading publicity at the Beatles’ company, Apple Corps, and O’Dell was a low-level assistant in radio promotion. When Taylor suggested she come work at the Apple office in London, she dropped everything and moved halfway across the world. “Paul [McCartney] was there every day organising everything,” she says, on the phone from her home in Arizona. “One day he came into my office and said, ‘Chris, should we use paper towels or cloth towels in the bathroom?’ That’s how detailed he was.”

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© Photograph: Liverpool West Productions

© Photograph: Liverpool West Productions

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How Ohio became a hotbed of white supremacism, spreading its tentacles globally | Stephen Starr

The rise of a resurgent American white supremacism is reaching around the globe, often with deadly consequences

By many accounts, Hilliard, a leafy suburb west of downtown Columbus, is a midwestern success story: its progressive school district gives a vacation day for all students to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr – the first in Ohio to do so – and its homes are highly sought-after by a growing number of diverse families where locals enjoy shopping at the oldest Asian grocery in the state.

But it is also where Christopher Brenner Cook, a convicted terrorist, grew up. In April 2023, Cook and two others were sentenced for conspiring to attack America’s electrical grid, and he was given a 92-month prison term.

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© Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

© Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

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‘The universities are the enemy’: why the right detests the American campus | Lauren Lassabe Shepherd

For centuries, the academy was exclusive to the Christian elite. When that began to change, an onslaught began

In 2021, JD Vance, then a candidate for Ohio senate, gave a provocative keynote address at the National Conservatism Conference. Vance’s lecture was an indictment of American higher education: a “hostile institution” that “gives credibility to some of the most ridiculous ideas that exist in this country”. The aspiring politician did not mince words before his receptive rightwing audience: “If any of us wants to do the things we want to do … We have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities.” The title of Vance’s keynote was inspired by a quote from Richard Nixon: “The universities are the enemy.”

The Maga movement, of which Vance, the vice-president, is now at the forefront, has been unabashedly on the attack against campuses, professors and students. Donald Trump characterizes colleges as “dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics”, and student protesters as “radicals”, “savages” and “jihadists” who have been indoctrinated by faculty “communists and terrorists”. He has already delivered swift vengeance against campus protesters and non-protesters alike with visa terminations and deportations. This administration has gleefully withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to force colleges to crack down on student dissent.

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© Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images

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Australian cyclist Caleb Ewan stuns sport by announcing retirement

  • Sprinter won five Tour de France stages in top career
  • Messy exit from JaycoAlUla team took ‘significant toll’

Caleb Ewan, at his peak one of Australian cycling’s greatest talents, has stunned the sport by announcing his immediate retirement.

Ewan delivered his bombshell decision on social media, saying events of the last two years – especially around his messy exit from top Australian team Jayco AlUla – have “taken a significant toll on my relationship with the sport”.

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© Photograph: Christophe Petit-Tesson/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Christophe Petit-Tesson/AFP/Getty Images

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UK and India agree ‘landmark’ trade deal after three years of negotiations

Deal could help UK industries hit by Trump tariffs, as ministers say it will add £4.8bn a year to economy by 2040

Britain and India have agreed a long-desired trade deal that ministers said would add £4.8bn a year to the UK economy by 2040.

The agreement, which was finalised on Tuesday after more than three years of negotiations under successive governments, has long been touted as one of the biggest prizes of Brexit.

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© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

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Don’t you get it, Harry? You’re not a victim. You’re a rich man who can pay for his own sodding security | Marina Hyde

One of the prince’s well-heeled friends should give our foremost podcaster a lesson on when to keep schtum

Prince Harry wanted a completely new life and he has got one. He is no longer a working royal, but a rich person. His Rich Highness. This involves a change of mindset in a mind that is somewhat hard to describe as quick on the uptake.

Being rich is all well and good, of course, and the duke certainly moaned enough about money when he was still within the confines of royal duty, to hear insiders tell it. But the reason you don’t see Beyoncé out there on the talkshow circuit whining about how much money she has to spend on security – easily eight figures a year – is that she, a very rich person, seems to understand that regrettably it goes with the territory, and that you have to pay for it out of your riches.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

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How sure was I that I wanted a baby? About 55% certain

I thought the two sides of me – the one who wants children and the one who doesn’t – would duke it out till death

The light in the bookstore bathroom was dim. Even so, I could see the blood on the toilet paper. I wiped some more to make sure I wasn’t just seeing things, and then I stood up, grabbing on to the porcelain sink so I wouldn’t fall.

Suddenly, I understood. I didn’t want to lose my baby. I wanted to be this baby’s mother more than anything I’d ever wanted in the world. I would do anything in my power to keep it alive. The trouble: there wasn’t much I could do.

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© Illustration: Rita Liu/The Guardian

© Illustration: Rita Liu/The Guardian

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Snooker targets Brisbane 2032 Olympics to capitalise on Zhao world championship win

  • WPBSA chair: ‘Someone has to say this is snooker’s time’
  • Zhao Xintong’s world title win could aid prospects

The head of snooker’s governing body believes Zhao Xintong’s coronation as world champion could prove to be one of the most significant moments in the sport’s history as the game now targets entry into the Olympic Games in 2032.

Zhao became the first Chinese winner of the World Snooker Championship on Monday, defeating Mark Williams to cap a remarkable comeback, nine months after returning to the sport from a 20-month suspension for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal.

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© Photograph: George Wood/Getty Images

© Photograph: George Wood/Getty Images

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Welsh Labour first minister says she is ‘losing patience’ with Starmer’s policies

Eluned Morgan says her government will move ‘to the left’ and urges UK Labour to reconsider budget cuts

The Welsh first minister and leader of the Welsh Labour party has said she is “losing patience” with UK Labour and made it clear she was “tacking to the left” as she tries to counter a growing threat from Reform UK and Plaid Cymru.

Eluned Morgan told the Guardian she wanted Keir Starmer to rethink policy changes on welfare and the winter fuel allowance, and described the Labour party as a “messy family”.

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© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

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Glamour trumps politics as ‘black style’ honoured at Met Gala

Kamala Harris snuck in back door leaving fashion icons at forefront as New York’s party of the year ran with the theme ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’

The party of the year had the potential to be a political firecracker. New York’s ultimate see-and-be-seen event, the Met Gala, was also the launch of Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, a fashion exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum honouring the subversive power of black style and the role of dandyism in expanding ideals of masculinity. In other words, the A-list were showing up to raise a toast to diversity under the watchful eye of an administration bent on reversing it.

On the night, the resistance came to party, not to protest. Glamour was the guest of honour, with politics very much the plus-one. The tempered tone of the night was typified by Kamala Harris, the most high-profile political guest, slipping in a side entrance to avoid the photographers. The night was a joyful and thoughtful celebration of black heritage and creativity, but it was not a forthright statement about politics in 2025.

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© Photograph: John Shearer/WireImage

© Photograph: John Shearer/WireImage

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