Alex

• Alexander Zverev won the 2026 French Open, securing his first career Grand Slam title after defeating Flavio Cobolli in a five-set final. • Zverev benefited from a favorable draw where several top seeds exited early, making Cobolli the first opponent ranked inside the top 25 that he faced during the tournament. • The victory is a career milestone for Zverev, proving his ability to handle the intense pressure of a major final despite the path to the championship.

Keir Starmer says Younger led an ‘exemplary life’, while foreign secretary says country owes him ‘an enormous debt of gratitude’Alex Younger, the former head of MI6, has died at the age of 62 after being treated for cancer.Younger led the Secret Intelligence Service, the agency also known as MI6, between 2014 and 2020. Continue reading...

• Filipino tennis star Alexandra “Alex” Eala has been named to the 2026 Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 list for entertainment and sports. • Eala joins a diverse group of regional talent, including singer-songwriter Zack Tabudlo, Japanese baseball player Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Olympic gold medalist Hamish Kerr. • The list recognizes the most influential young leaders and athletes across Asia, highlighting Eala's rising prominence in the global sports arena.

Transport secretary to give budget details of troubled high-speed line, which backers hope will stay well below £100bnThe latest estimate of the cost of HS2 and a timetable to complete construction of the high-speed railway will be set out by the government on Tuesday, including plans to run trains slower to trim costs.The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, is expected to give the first official reckoning of the troubled project’s budget in 2026 prices, which HS2’s backers hope will remain substantially below £100bn. Continue reading...

With third-highest number of books banned, state removes renowned work about slave trade from library shelvesA Tennessee school district has banned Roots, the author Alex Haley’s groundbreaking novel and one of the most renowned and influential works about the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.Knox county schools (KCS) took that step under a state law that has disappeared hundreds of titles from school libraries and alarmed advocates of free expression. Continue reading...

Justices said decision was due to ‘improper external influences on the jury’ by a court clerk during the trialSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailThe South Carolina supreme court on Wednesday overturned the murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina attorney, due to “shocking jury interference” and ordered a new trial in the 2021 killing of his wife and son.In a unanimous opinion, the justices said that “although we are aware of the time, money, and effort expended for this lengthy trial, we have no choice but to reverse the denial of Murdaugh’s motion for a new trial” because of what they described as “improper external influences on the jury” by a court clerk during the trial, according to CNN. Continue reading...

• A Boston Red Sox rookie delivered a strong outing in the team's first game without manager Alex Cora, calling the day a 'whirlwind.' • The rookie reacted positively to the sudden change, helping stabilize the team amid the transition. • Cora's exit creates uncertainty for the Red Sox, testing the young roster's resilience early in the season.

• Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani reached a significant milestone by tying Alex Rodriguez's record of a 53-consecutive game on-base streak. • The achievement highlights Ohtani's consistent offensive performance and places him among baseball's elite hitters in terms of sustained production. • Ohtani's streak demonstrates his status as one of the premier players in Major League Baseball this season.

• INDYCAR series leader Alex Palou maintains his position atop the standings as competitors intensify their pursuit and grapple with mounting pressure. • Other drivers face critical decisions regarding their approach to closing the gap with Palou in the championship race. • The competitive environment reflects the high stakes of the INDYCAR season as it progresses into its middle stages.

The satirical website’s parent company will have to pay $81,000 a month to the misinformation platformSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxSatirical website the Onion plans to turn rightwing commentator Alex Jones’s misinformation site Infowars into a parody of itself under a leasing agreement provisionally approved by a Texas court.Under a proposed deal with court administrators, Infowars would be leased by Global Tetrahedron, a Chicago-based company that owns the Onion, for $81,000 a month for six months, with an option to renew for another six months. Continue reading...

Book from Josh Owens tells of punishing work for far-right conspiracy theorist who, far from silenced, broadcasts onDonald Trump gave rightwing media provocateurs Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones a shoutout this week, calling them “Low IQs”, “stupid people”, and “LOSERS”.Jones hit back, saying Trump was “committing political suicide on purpose” and had made a deal to sabotage the midterms. America, Jones said, “is now under the control of a foreign government” and encouraged followers “to fly their flags upside down, because our nation is in distress!” Continue reading...

• Amazon is expanding its Alexa+ AI assistant to web platforms, moving beyond device-only deployment and positioning itself to compete directly with ChatGPT and Google Gemini. • The expansion reflects Amazon's strategic shift toward agentic AI workflows, enabling Alexa+ to perform complex tasks across web and mobile interfaces. • The move signals intensifying competition among major tech companies to build comprehensive AI assistants that operate across all user touchpoints and verticals.

Former Infowars video editor and field producer spoke on his experience working on the show in an NPR interviewSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA former video editor and field producer for Alex Jones’s Infowars has said his work for the notorious conspiracy theorist was “nonsense” and “lies”, but he kept at it for four years in his 20s because the far-right media company’s founder was a magnetic presence and it earned him good money.Josh Owens made those revealing remarks in an NPR interview published on Tuesday promoting his new memoir about once having been an employee of Jones and Infowars – a conversation that also detailed the hand he said he had in fabricating a video of an operative of the Islamic State (IS) terror group sneaking into the US from Mexico immediately after a beheading. Continue reading...

Democratic Senate hopeful says experience of being key witness in Trump’s first impeachment makes him right choice for FloridaAlex Vindman is not a man to hold a grudge. Ask him about the bullying, intimidation and retribution meted out by Donald Trump and Maga acolytes following his appearance as a key witness in the first of the president’s two first-term impeachments, and he almost shrugs it off.“For people that know anything about me, I basically smile all the time,” he says. Continue reading...

Long-awaited Alexa+ aims to get Britons re-engaging with their devices – but it may have its work cut out“Commiserations, mate, Chelsea lost 3-0 in the Champions League last night against Paris Saint-Germain,” says Alexa as it attempts to break the news gently to an awaiting Blues fan. Such is the injection of personality and understanding that Amazon hopes will lead to Britons re-engaging with their millions of Alexa devices, restoring it to the cutting edge of voice assistants rather than resigned to being a glorified egg timer.After its early access launch last year in the US, the long-awaited generative AI upgrade Alexa+ is finally making its debut in the UK, supporting eight years of existing devices strewn through more than half of UK households. With the UK being Amazon’s most engaged market and more than 40 accents to contend with across the UK and Ireland, the “next-generation ambient AI assistant” has its work cut out for it. Continue reading...