New US exhibition explores power of monuments – with help from Rocky

• The White House is ramping up pressure on Cuba for political change following Operation Absolute Resolve, which successfully extracted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. • US military presence is expanding across Latin America and the Caribbean, with a focus on combating drug-trafficking by transnational criminal organizations like Mexican Cartels, MS-13, Tren de Aragua, and Haitian gangs, topping the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment. • Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa seeks stronger US military ties after a failed 2025 referendum on foreign bases, while Paraguay ratified a State of Forces Agreement allowing temporary US troop deployments for training.

Tom Kean, who has not voted since 5 March and whose seat is top Democratic target, due back ‘very soon’, speaker saysA vulnerable Republican congressman who has not voted in weeks “is attending to a personal health matter,” the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, said on Friday as he struggles to maintain his historically small majority in Congress’s lower chamber.Tom Kean Jr’s New Jersey district is a top pickup target for Democrats in the November midterms, but the congressman has not cast a vote in the House since 5 March. Continue reading...

Mark Young battled dehydration and killed a rattlesnake while his children and others looked for him for daysA Vietnam war veteran says he is a living “miracle” after getting lost in Arizona’s wilderness for four days with precious few supplies – and ultimately being rescued by his own son.“I’ve never felt so loved,” Mark Young said in an interview aired on Phoenix’s KNXV news station about the moment he realized it was his son who had delivered him from his plight. “My gratitude is inexpressible.” Continue reading...

US judge orders release of a woman and her five children who were family of the 2025 Colorado fire attack suspectA woman and her five children, whose immigration detention of more than 10 months marked the longest family detention under Donald Trump’s second administration, were released on Thursday hours after a judge’s order, their lawyer said.US district judge Fred Biery of the western district of Texas ordered the family’s release. Continue reading...

Claudia–Liza Vanderpuije has fully withdrawn allegations relating to her former co-host, her lawyers sayThe TV presenter Claudia–Liza Vanderpuije has withdrawn claims against her former Channel 5 News co-host Dan Walker after reaching a “mutual agreement” with the broadcaster and ITN.Vanderpuije, who co-hosted a show with Walker for a year between 2022 and 2023, had filed claims of unfair dismissal, discrimination and harassment on grounds of race and sex, and breach of contract. Continue reading...

Ernie Dosio, a 75-year-old vineyard owner, was hunting an antelope species in Africa when the incident occuredSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxAn American millionaire big-game hunter has died after being crushed by a group of elephants during a hunting expedition in Gabon.Ernie Dosio, a 75-year-old vineyard owner, was hunting yellow-backed duiker, an antelope species, in the central African country of Gabon when the incident occurred last Friday. While in the Lope-Okanda rainforest, he and his guide unexpectedly came across five female elephants accompanied by a calf. Continue reading...

The Oscar winner is set to produce, and possibly star in, a film adaptation of the war game series with Christopher McQuarrie at the helmMichael B Jordan is following up his Oscar win with the announcement of another new project: a big-screen adaptation of the hit video game series Battlefield.According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Sinners star will produce, and possibly star in, a film based on the long-running war series which is being hyped as the year’s most in-demand project to date in Hollywood Continue reading...

Police investigating allegations Mandelson and former prince Andrew passed sensitive info to Epstein will struggle to make charges stick without filesBritish police investigating the former prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson are preparing to start interviewing witnesses in Royal and government circles.It comes as police fear that prosecutors will be “reluctant” to bring charges unless the Trump administration agrees to hand over the original documents from the Epstein files. Continue reading...

Green party leader accuses Keir Starmer of ‘silly games’ in accusing his party of playing down hate crimesZack Polanski has called on politicians to treat antisemitism with “consideration, care and nuance” as he accused Keir Starmer of trying to play political games with the issue.The Green leader’s comments come after the prime minister accused him of playing down recent antisemitic incidents. Polanski’s party is facing increasing scrutiny for recent comments by some candidates and members. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Samaritans calls for mandatory training for firefighters amid rise in incidentsSuicide-related callouts to fire and rescue services in England have tripled in the last decade, with Samaritans now calling for mandatory training for firefighters, who they say are struggling to deal with the increase in traumatic incidents.New figures show that fire services in England attended 3,250 suicide callouts in the year ending September 2025, the equivalent to 62 callouts a week. This was up from 997 callouts in 2009-10 when records begin.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected]. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Lack of a sustained plan to end the war has convinced US allies that the White House is running out of ideasNearly eight weeks after Donald Trump launched his assault on Iran, the White House has shifted from a strategy of shock-and-awe bombardments and leadership decapitation to a plan of sustained economic pressure as it tests the wills of a regime practiced over decades at wars of attrition.Since the negotiations stalled, the White House has begun to shift its messaging to say it is willing to wait to strike a more durable deal with Iran – despite the growing economic toll inflicted on the world economy by the closure of the strait of Hormuz. The reason, senior officials have said, is because of the joint US-Israeli strikes were so successful that they have fractured Iran’s leadership and prevented a new consolidation of power. Continue reading...