The Guardian

President’s popularity top of mind at another weird and wild cabinet meeting – riff on merits of Sharpies included They have become so notorious for displays of flattery and obsequiousness that critics have drawn comparisons with North Korea. Thursday’s cabinet meeting at the White House was no different. Doug Burgum , the US interior secretary, outflanked his fellow praise singers by saying he b…

Vote came after Trump said he would sign an order directing agency’s new secretary to pay TSA agents Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The Senate again failed to advance a bill to fund part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has now been shut down for almost six weeks. The latest vote came just hours after Donald Trump said he would sig…

With two unprecedented trial defeats, big tech firms face crisis akin to that faced by cigarette makers in the 1990s In the span of just two days, the most powerful social media company in the world faced a more severe public reckoning than it has in years. Jurors in California and New Mexico gave back-to-back verdicts this week that for the first time ever found Meta liable for products that inf…

Ministers urged to work with survivor groups on formal apology as many victims are nearing end of their lives The UK government must urgently issue a formal apology for the state’s role in forced adoption as many victims are nearing the end of their lives, a cross-party group of MPs has said. A report from the education select committee said ministers should provide an initial commitment to an ap…

The decision follows activist pressure as Palantir faces growing scrutiny over NHS and UK government deals Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox New York City ’s public hospital system announced that it would not be renewing its contract with Palantir as controversy mounts in the UK over the data analytics and AI firm’s government contract. The president of…

East coast slammed on Thursday night with wind and rain, with more warnings in place for Friday Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Thousands of Australians woke without power on Friday after a series of wild autumn storms soaked communities in multiple states – and the high country recorded its first big snowfall of …

Keir Starmer promises help for parents in limiting children’s online activity as government issues guidance to families Parents will be told to limit screen time for children under five to no more than an hour a day under new government advice, as the prime minister promises parents will not be left to battle screens alone. Screen time for children under two should be avoided other than for share…

Face-off is over company’s refusal to let defense department use its Claude AI model in autonomous weapons systems A federal judge in California sided with Anthropic in its case against the Department of Defense on Thursday, ordering a temporary pause on the government’s punitive measures against the artificial intelligence firm. Judge Rita Lin granted Anthropic’s request for a temporary injuncti…

Regular events at the Tasmanian festival, including the Winter Solstice Nude Swim and the Night Mass party, joined by Australian and international musicians and artists in a program dominated by Latin American art Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email A hallucinatory experimental film starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Rampling that can only be watched by one person at a time is heading to…

Other winners include Raye for video of the year, Central Cee for best hip-hop act and Ezra Collective in jazz category British golden girl Olivia Dean was the biggest winner at the 2026 Mobo awards, scooping best female act, album of the year and song of the year for the No 1 hit Man I Need. Other big winners at the ceremony honouring the best of black music included Raye, whose song Where Is My…

Donald Trump says he was ‘a little surprised’ at Australia’s lack of support, echoing comments from a week before Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Donald Trump has taken another swipe at Australia, alongside Nato, the UK and most of the rest of the world, for not getting more involved in the US-Israel war against I…

Petition seeks accountability from Salvadorian authorities over human rights violations at notorious Cecot facility A group of 18 Venezuelan men whom the US expelled a notorious Salvadorian mega-prison are demanding that Salvadorian authorities be held internationally accountable for violation of human rights – detailing new allegations of torture, sexual assault and medical neglect. A new petiti…

Conservative former cabinet minister says nurse convicted of murdering seven babies has suffered a miscarriage of justice The police force that conducted the investigation into the nurse Lucy Letby made “egregious” failures and did not follow official guidance or best professional practice, David Davis has said in parliament. Speaking in the final parliamentary debate before the Easter recess, th…

Cyclone has re-intensified to category-four storm off the coast near Exmouth. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast In today’s press conference at the White House, the US president has taken another swipe at Nato, the UK and Australia for not being more involved in his war against Iran. We have covered the Nato comments here: [Starmer] did something…

Tehran denies it is ‘begging to make a deal’ and continues strikes across swathe of Middle East Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump has urged Iranian leaders to negotiate an end to the near-month-long war or face further assassinations of senior officials amid intensified military action by the US and Israel. The latest threat on Thursday came as Israel said it had had “blown up and el…