Trump health officials issue advisory on children and teens’ excessive screen time

When pupils could no longer play outside, St John’s school in Barnet decided to act, enlisting Trees for Cities to help rethink its outside spaceThe play area at St John’s Church of England primary in Barnet, north London, used to flood so severely it was often unusable. “It would get so bad that the children couldn’t be dismissed from the playground,” says Maccie Dobbie, the school’s head teacher. “We had to dismiss them from different parts of the school or, literally, parents were stepping into puddles to lift their children out of the classroom.”Because the school sits in a basin with clay foundations, rain would pool on the grey tarmac and just sit there, often denying the children a proper break for play outside. Continue reading...

Experts say hate-motivated extremists being radicalized online and adopting ideologies of shooters before themThe killing of three men at a San Diego mosque on Monday is the latest example of a disturbing trend in recent decades: hate-motivated shooters learning from – and copying – each other in acts of violence meant to push the nation toward a race war and, ultimately, societal collapse.The two San Diego shooters, who were 17 and 18, killed 51-year-old Amin Abdullah, a security guard at the Islamic Center of San Diego, 78-year-old Mansour Kaziha, a mosque elder and founding member of the center, and Nadir Awad, 57, who lived across the street and whose wife worked as a teacher at the center’s school. Continue reading...

Air France flight en route to Detroit, Michigan, landed in Montreal after virus-related travel restrictionsSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailAn Air France flight headed to Detroit, Michigan, was redirected to Canada on Wednesday after it was determined that a passenger from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had boarded “in error” amid new Ebola-related travel restrictions, officials with the US Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) said.“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” a CBP spokesperson said in a statement. Continue reading...

Parliamentary rule that only English is allowed has reignited debate about language, legitimacy and postcolonial identityWhen the Jamaican MP Nekeisha Burchell stood up to give her maiden speech, she was keenly aware of how much her country’s parliament mirrored the Westminster version thousands of miles away in London.As in the UK, the session on 12 May had started with the arrival of the ceremonial mace – a 1.7-metre ornamented silver staff representing the British monarch’s authority over parliament – which now rested on a table between the government and the opposition. Despite the heat outside, debate was presided over by the speaker dressed in a ceremonial robe. Continue reading...

Strict restrictions on Americans with exposure to Ebola and hantavirus highlight officials’ previous rhetoric on public health measuresThe US is imposing strict restrictions on American travelers who have been exposed in dual Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks in ways that experts say could run counter to their legal rights and affect who will volunteer in future public health crises globally.The latest restrictions highlight officials’ previous rhetoric on public health measures and their attempts to contain outbreaks now, including reported opposition from the White House to Americans returning home. Continue reading...

Labour has launched an urgent review into the deaths, which one expert described as ‘unspeakably tragic’More than 100 young people have died after leaving the care of social services in England in the past year, according to data released by the government.In the year to April 2026 there were 106 reported deaths of care leavers, with 91 deaths reported in the 12 months before. The majority of those who died were aged 16 to 21.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. 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...

Disability rights campaigner Robin Millar reveals he is taking owners of music business he founded to a tribunalThe head of one of the UK’s biggest disability charities is planning a legal challenge against the owners of the music business he founded in a dispute over its alleged failure to provide him with proper workplace support after a major illness.The pop producer Robin Millar, who is blind, said he had been denied a request for a support worker to assist him in his work after he faced mobility challenges following cancer surgery. Continue reading...

Charges filed against Raúl Castro for allegedly shooting down planes in 1996. Plus, US employers spend more than $1.5bn a year to fight labor unionsGood morning.On Wednesday, the US issued a federal criminal indictment against Raúl Castro, Cuba’s former president, and five others, in a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to oust the country’s communist regime.What are the details? Castro, 94, was charged with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft related to an incident in 1996 – in which four men were killed by the Cuban military, when two small planes were shot down during a humanitarian mission in the Florida Straits.How has Cuba reacted? Miguel Díaz-Canel, the Cuban president, condemned the indictment as a political stunt that sought only to “justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba”.What does the video show? Images of dozens of men and women kneeling in rows, with their foreheads to the ground and their hands zip-tied behind their back. Ben-Gvir posted it on his social media account. He appears waving an Israeli flag, mocking and taunting the detainees.What are global leaders saying? The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, one of the country’s staunchest allies, described Ben-Gvir’s behaviour as “despicable” and said the minister had “betrayed the dignity of his nation”. Others criticizing the video were Italy, Spain, the European Council, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and others. The Spanish foreign minister called the treatment “monstrous, disgraceful and inhumane”. Continue reading...

Verdict is latest legal milestone over France’s worst ever air disasterA Paris appeals court has found Airbus and Air France guilty of corporate manslaughter over the 2009 Rio-Paris plane crash that killed 228 passengers and crew in France’s worst air disaster.The verdict is the latest milestone in a legal marathon involving two of France’s most emblematic companies and families of the mainly French, Brazilian and German victims. Continue reading...

Chancellor says she will raise tax on global oil giants to help meet costs of plans and confirms freeze on fuel duty increasesBusiness live – latest updatesRachel Reeves will cut VAT to 5% on summer attractions such as theme parks and softplay centres during the school holidays, as she aims to ease the impact of the war in Iran on cash-strapped households.The chancellor told MPs on Thursday she would also raise more tax from global oil firms operating in the UK, to help meet the costs of her plans. Continue reading...

Israel widely criticised after security minister’s video shows humiliating treatment of people on flotilla headed for Gaza The UK has summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires as international outrage escalates over a video posted by the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, in which he is seen taunting activists detained after a Gaza-bound flotilla was intercepted.The global outcry continued as Israel began releasing hundreds of the activists who attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and are in the process of deporting them, according to a legal organisation working with the flotilla. Continue reading...