The cinema lab: brain activity tracked to find secret to creating immersive films

• US military missile inventories, including Tomahawks, Patriots, and THAAD interceptors, are depleting faster than production rates amid the Iran war launched February 28, 2026. • President Trump extended the Iran truce, prompting questions on whether it's a diplomatic move or a pause to resupply amid sustainability concerns. • The conflict, triggered by US-Israeli airstrikes killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has led to Iranian retaliation and Strait of Hormuz closure, disrupting global oil supplies.

HMRC owed more than £640,00 by company that advised clients such as TikTok, GSK and PalantirPeter Mandelson’s former consultancy business, Global Counsel, went bust owing £4.6m – including more than £600,000 to the taxman – a report by the group’s administrators reveals.The company, which provided advice to high-profile clients including Chinese-owned TikTok, US tech business Palantir and UK pharmaceutical firm GSK, collapsed into administration in February, after it lost a series of accounts over the peer’s relationship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...

Fires that spread during drought in Georgia and Florida have blanketed cities hundreds of miles away in smokeSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxWildfires tearing through the south have forced hundreds of Georgia residents to flee in minutes, leaving them distraught about the homes and animals they left behind.The fires that spread this week during an extreme drought in Georgia and Florida have blanketed cities hundreds of miles away in smoke, leading to more air quality warnings Thursday across the southeast. Continue reading...

Renowned artist, who won 12 Grammys, died at home after being diagnosed with an aggressive type of brain cancerSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxMichael Tilson Thomas, a leading American conductor for a half-century who headed orchestras in Buffalo, Miami, London and San Francisco while also composing, died on Wednesday. He was 81.Tilson Thomas had surgery for a brain tumor in 2021 and resumed his career, then said in February 2025 that the tumor had returned. He conducted his final concert with the San Francisco Symphony in April 2025 and died at his home in San Francisco, spokesperson Connie Shuman said. Continue reading...

Inquiry began in March after report on security arrangements involving FBI director’s girlfriend, NYT saysSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe FBI began investigating a New York Times reporter after the newspaper published a story raising concerns about the security arrangements surrounding the girlfriend of Kash Patel, the FBI director, the Times has reported.According to reporting from the Times on Wednesday, the inquiry into Elizabeth Williamson, the reporter, began in March following an article she reported alleging that Patel used FBI resources to provide protection and transportation for his girlfriend, country singer, Alexis Wilkins. Continue reading...

Man from North Carolina arrested at Florida hotel with a handgun and about 200 rounds of ammo, authorities saySign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxAuthorities say a man suspected of planning a mass shooting at a large New Orleans festival was arrested at a Florida hotel with a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.The event was not named, but the New Orleans jazz and heritage festival, commonly known as JazzFest, runs from Thursday through 3 May. The gathering celebrates Louisiana’s music, food and culture, and attracted about 460,000 people last year, organizers said. Continue reading...

Consumer confidence hit its lowest level since October 2023 this month, with surveys showing the cost pressures companies are facingConfidence in the UK economy has fallen sharply amid the mounting economic fallout from the Iran war, surveys show, as businesses prepare to raise their prices and consumers brace for a fresh cost of living shock.Highlighting the knock-on impact of the Middle East crisis in Britain, several closely-watched surveys of business activity and consumer confidence blamed the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran for a marked deterioration in the outlook in April. Continue reading...

After Keir Starmer’s statement to the Commons and gripping evidence from the sacked top civil servant Olly Robbins, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey talk about how the story of Peter Mandelson’s vetting for his job as UK ambassador to the US, which was first broken by the Guardian last Thursday, has unfolded this week Continue reading...

Bill clears 50–48 vote to boost ICE and CBP funding as Democrats oppose and shutdown continuesUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailSenate Republicans on Thursday approved a plan to fund Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants for the remainder of his term and pave the way for an end to the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).The budget resolution adopted along a near party line vote in the early morning hours sets the stage for Congress to craft legislation allocating as much as $140b to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), two agencies at the forefront of Trump’s mass deportation agenda that have been without funding since mid-February, when the DHS shutdown began. Continue reading...

HMRC is contacting 21-year-olds as part of a new awareness drive around lost child trust funds, with an average balance of £2,200Rather than demanding money, HMRC is giving it away for once with a new campaign to reunite thousands of young Britons with forgotten savings accounts typically containing £2,200.HM Revenue and Customs is contacting 21-year-olds as part of a new awareness drive around lost child trust funds (CTF) – the tax-free savings accounts set up for children born between September 2002 and January 2011. Continue reading...

Leaders will discuss how to respond to surging energy prices amid the war in the Middle EastEurope live – latest updatesEU leaders have welcomed the end of diplomatic deadlock over a long-awaited €90bn (£78bn) loan for Ukraine, after the bloc finalised the agreement along with a 20th package of sanctions against Russia.After weeks of delay, the EU signed off on the loan on Thursday, in time for summit talks in Cyprus that are scheduled to begin in the evening and will include talks over a dinner with the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Continue reading...

Adam Hall, of Tyne and Wear, will serve at least 23 years in prison, with victims describing lasting traumaA “callous, calculating sexual predator” who raped and deliberately infected young, vulnerable men with HIV has been jailed for life and told he must serve at least 23 years.Adam Hall, 43, of Washington, Tyne and Wear, is the second man in the UK ever to be found guilty of intentionally setting out to spread the virus. Continue reading...