Why $1bn in Balkans energy contracts are going to an obscure company connected to Donald Trump

More competition and loss-making sites are among the challenges for the new turnaround chief executiveWith its comfy sofas and a menu of gourmet treats including Béarnaise smash burgers and trendy Whispering Angel rosé wine at £47 a bottle, Everyman has thrived as the go-to chain for a luxury cinema trip.Yet a quarter of a century after reinventing the movie-going experience, growing from a single venue in Hampstead in London to a national player with 49 sites, the arthouse chain finds itself struggling as rivals ape its successful formula. Continue reading...

Former safeguarding minister calls for sentencing guidelines review and fears crime now seen as ‘content for an eyeball economy’The former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has said victims of sexual offences committed by children are being asked to “suck it up” for the sake of their attackers’ rehabilitation and called for a review into sentencing guidelines.In the past month, cases of teenage boys given lenient sentences after being convicted of rape and sexual assault have provoked public outrage. Continue reading...

Experts say AI firm’s engagement with Vatican risks creating ‘feelgood’ discourse that lacks critical examinationWhy did Anthropic’s founder sit beside the pope during a warning about AI?In the first major written teaching of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV took artificial intelligence to task. The pontiff delineated the technology’s most concerning threats to humanity: replacing workers, accelerating war and exploiting the environment. At a ceremony honoring the holy teaching the day of its release at the Vatican, the pope was flanked by an unusual guest speaker: Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah, one of the people behind the AI boom so worrying Leo. Continue reading...

Endangered snow leopard had leg amputated and capybara died at Mario Tabraue’s controversial roadside facilityAn endangered clouded leopard had a leg amputated and a capybara died following botched breeding attempts at a controversial Miami roadside zoo owned by a convicted drug trafficker featured in the Netflix documentary Tiger King.Federal wildlife inspectors found multiple other violations during a March inspection at Zoological Wildlife Foundation (ZWF), including dilapidated, insecure or unsafe housing conditions for wild animals, filthy cages, and water and food contaminated with algae and dead insects. Continue reading...

Emails appearing to show Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential information were handed to Buckingham Palace in 2020, says BBCEmails handed to Buckingham Palace six years ago appear to show that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential information while he was a government trade envoy, it has been reported.The BBC said on Saturday that an archive of more than 30,000 emails was handed to the lord chamberlain, the most senior officer in the royal household, in 2020. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ana María was happy working in the US with an open asylum case. But after ICE detained her for months, she said she requested to go back to her native countryAna María had been happy living in the US. She had an asylum case going through the US immigration system and was working, becoming part of the community, living with her boyfriend and was grateful for safe harbor.But after she was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), she had such a horrendous experience that, in desperation, she agreed to be deported back to her native country in South America, back to danger and thousands of miles away from the life she had been building. Continue reading...

Results presented at oncology conference in Chicago show Galleri test failed to reduce late-stage cancer diagnosesA blood test for more than 50 types of cancer that was billed as the holy grail of oncology has failed to achieve its main objective in a major clinical trial, according to data presented at the world’s largest cancer conference.The goal of the study involving 142,000 NHS patients in the UK was to assess whether adding the multi-cancer early detection test Galleri to standard screening could shift diagnoses to earlier, more treatable stages. Continue reading...

The virtually indestructible Pfas waste puts largely low-income neighborhoods at risk, public health advocates sayThe nation’s garbage incinerators are largely failing to eliminate Pfas “forever chemicals” air pollution, and are putting people in largely low-income neighborhoods at risk, public health advocates and independent experts warn.The powerful waste management industry is increasingly pushing incinerators as a solution to virtually indestructible Pfas waste, and a new industry trade group report alleges Minnesota’s incinerators are reducing their forever chemical emissions by 99.6%. Other incinerator operators have made similar reduction claims. Continue reading...

Two still missing as divers make their way deeper into cave through muddy water and sharp rocks to find themFour more miners who were trapped in a flooded cave in Laos for 10 days have been freed by divers, but two people are still missing as rescuers continue to crawl through narrow, deluged tunnels and sharp rocks to find them.The first of the party of seven men was rescued on Friday in a perilous rescue mission which has required teams to drain water from the cave and navigate collapse hazards. Continue reading...

At least six new pubs and taphouses have opened in recent months, including the Pig & Swill in Cardiff On a hot Thursday evening in Canton, a buzzy Cardiff neighbourhood, a steady stream of people in sunglasses, shorts and dresses went back and forth between bar and garden at the city’s newest pub, the Pig & Swill.Next door, in Victoria Park, the splash pad was still heaving with families making the most of the tail-end of the May heatwave. Many parents and carers stopped by for takeaway pints and small plates. Continue reading...

Stew Peas focuses on obeah, an enduring African magic practice in Jamaica banned by colonisers in the 1700sA new movie from award-winning Jamaican film-maker Sosiessia Nixon shines a spotlight on Jamaica’s enduring west African-based magic and spiritual healing tradition known as obeah.Nixon’s tense, feature-length suspense, Stew Peas, tells of the story of Jamaican detective Tessa, who is obsessed with an old murder case. Continue reading...