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• Meta has initiated a new round of layoff notifications, with employees based in Singapore among the first to be informed early in the morning. • The company is reducing its workforce across various international sectors, though the total number of affected employees has not yet been specified. • These cuts reflect a broader trend of tech industry restructuring and cost-cutting measures aimed at improving operational efficiency.

• Author Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translator Lin King have become the first Taiwanese and Taiwanese-American winners of the International Booker Prize. • The winning novel, *Taiwan Travelogue*, marks a historic milestone as the first work translated from Mandarin Chinese to receive this prestigious award. • The victory coincides with the 10th anniversary of the International Booker Prize, highlighting the growing global influence of Mandarin literature.

Aimee Bock ran Feeding Our Future, which claimed it helped provide millions of meals to children during the pandemicSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailA judge on Thursday handed down an extraordinary prison sentence – nearly 42 years – to the former leader of a Minnesota nonprofit who was convicted in a staggering $250m fraud case that helped ignite an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.Aimee Bock ran Feeding Our Future, which had claimed it helped provide millions of meals to children in need during the pandemic. Continue reading...

Keisha Lance Bottoms wins Democratic primary outright, while Republicans Burt Jones and Rick Jackson will face offThe Republican primary campaign for Georgia governor will go to a June runoff, with the lieutenant governor Burt Jones facing off against healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson – and locking out Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state and longtime political enemy of Donald Trump who was on track to finish a distant third.The Republican race to challenge the US senator Jon Ossoff remains similarly unresolved, while former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic primary for governor outright. Continue reading...

New information surfaced at hearing into the UPS freight plane crash, which happened in November 2025The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed on Tuesday that it is reviewing reports of cracks in a wing mount before the left engine sheared off from a UPS freight airplane on takeoff from Louisville, Kentucky, in November, resulting in a crash that killed 15 people.That information surfaced at the beginning of a two-day hearing into the crash of the delivery service’s MD-11, which left all three crew members and 12 people on the ground dead. An additional 23 people on the ground were injured as an auto parts recycling ignited after the freighter crashed into it.Reuters and the Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...

Eight-year contract between union and hospitality industry group will boost pay of hotel housekeepers to over $100,000A deal between a New York hotel union and an hospitality industry group is set to boost the earnings of hotel housekeepers to more than $100,000, as part of a pact to avoid threatened strike action during the Fifa World Cup beginning in June.The eight-year contract agreement between the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council – representing 27,000 hotel workers – and the Hotel Association of New York City, which represents 250 hotels, establishes 50% wage raises along with free family healthcare, increased pension contributions, new benefit funds and expanded rights at work, union officials said. Continue reading...

Contest seen as latest test of president’s grip on GOP as he urges voters to reject one of the few senior Republicans who has defied himSign up for the Breaking News US email Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Voters will head to the polls in primaries across six states today, with the contest in Kentucky seen as a test of Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican party.Police are investigating a deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego as a hate crime, after three people were killed and two dead suspects were identified near the scene. Democratic leaders from across the country issued statements in the wake of the shooting calling out Islamophobia and advocating for stricter gun laws.At a healthcare affordability event, Donald Trump announced that his website TrumpRx.gov will now include a catalog of generic drugs. Trump touted the move as “increasing the number of drugs available on TrumpRx by nearly seven times, adding over 600 affordable generics to the website”.Trump moved to dismiss a $10bn lawsuit against the Interal Revenue Service and his administration created a $1.776bn “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate his allies for supposed persecution by the government. Democrats harshly criticized the settlement, saying it amounts to the creation of a “slush fund” for the president’s allies.An effort to reshape South Carolina’s congressional districts got its first full airing Monday in the state House. Lawmakers launched a lengthy discussion over the consequences of acceding to Trump’s calls for a US House map that could yield a clean sweep for Republicans.Trump also said he is requesting the attorney general and Justice Department investigate mail-in voting in Maryland. In a post on Truth Social, Trump alleged that Maryland had “sent out 500,000 Illegal Mail In Ballots” and blamed “the Corrupt Governor of the State, Wes Moore”, a Democrat, who “allowed this to happen in order to make sure that Democrats win”.Nancy Pelosi has endorsed San Francisco supervisor Connie Chan in the race to fill the seat Pelosi will vacate at the end of her term.The Trump administration has proposed allowing up to 17,500 white South Africans to enter the United States as refugees, beginning in the new fiscal year, CNN reports, citing an emergency determination letter sent to Congress that it obtained. Continue reading...

At least 130 people thought to have been killed, says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus before emergency meeting‘It’s heartbreaking’: panic in eastern DRC over return of EbolaThe director general of the World Health Organization has said he is deeply concerned about the scale and the speed of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been at least 500 suspected cases of Ebola and 130 suspected deaths in DRC since the new outbreak began. Thirty cases had been confirmed in DRC’s north-eastern province of Ituri, and one death and one case had been confirmed in Kampala, Uganda, he added. In addition, he said, there was “one US citizen confirmed positive and transferred to Germany, as reported by the US”. Continue reading...

• Dow Jones’ business-news feed surfaced multiple fresh U.S.-relevant market stories within the past hour, including a piece on “The Most Brutal Car Market Is Spreading to the Rest of the World” and a report that Elon Musk lost his case against OpenAI after jury deliberation. • Other prominently listed items include coverage of home prices and rates, with Kathie Lee Gifford seeking $100 million for her Connecticut waterfront home and Home Depot earnings due as mortgage rates hit a year-plus high. • The feed also flagged a bond-market warning for the Federal Reserve to act on inflation and potential rate hikes, underscoring how investors are still focused on policy direction and borrowing costs.

Follow the day’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSome federal politics for you coming up: we’re expecting to hear federal treasurer Jim Chalmers speaking on ABC’s Insiders shortly – we’ll bring you that when it happens.The prime minister Anthony Albanese is in Melbourne today and doing a press conference at about the same time as his treasurer is speaking on the telly. We’ll let you know what comes out of that presser, too.I do think we’re going to fall agonisingly short, guys. I think we’re going to fall agonisingly short, but boy, oh boy, what an incredible campaign from an incredible, incredible candidate.Labor is likely to retain Stafford. There has been a 4.1 per cent swing against Labor with additional postal votes still to be counted. But for the LNP to win from here, those postal votes would need to break very strongly in its favour. That is very unlikely to happen.I am so thrilled to tell you that Luke Richmond is the new member for Stafford. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer accuses Robinson of ‘peddling hatred and division’ and archbishop of Canterbury urges people to ‘choose hope’ Eleven foreign far-right activists have been blocked from the UK ahead of a rally by Tommy Robinson supporters as Keir Starmer accused him of “peddling hatred and division”.The archbishop of Canterbury urged people to “choose hope”, and faith leaders spoke out before the rally on Saturday, the second of its kind after more than 100,000 attended one last year. Continue reading...

UK government borrowing costs jump amid political uncertainty and oil price rise that fuelled inflation worriesBusiness live – latest updatesThe pound was heading for its worst week in 18 months on Friday as City traders anticipated that the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, could face a challenge from the Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, later this year.After days of uncertainty over Starmer’s future, sterling dropped by almost three cents, or 2%, during the week to $1.336 on Friday, a five-week low. That would be the largest weekly drop against the US dollar since Donald Trump’s election win in early November 2024. Continue reading...

• Citigroup announced plans to expand its Asia-Pacific prime brokerage division by approximately 10% this year to attract more hedge fund clients amid growing regional activity. • The hiring push targets capturing increased hedge fund business in APAC, a key growth area for the U.S. bank's securities services. • This move aligns with broader bullish sentiment in Asian financial markets, particularly in tech and AI sectors driving stock gains.

Medicines watchdog approves two treatments for patients with spinal muscular atrophyHundreds of children with a rare muscle-wasting disease will be able to receive two drugs that can improve their survival in a move parents hailed as a “lifeline”.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has published final draft guidance recommending that any patient who would benefit can have either drug. Continue reading...

Lineup to include pastor who called Democratic platform ‘demonic’, Christian author who said he would die in fight to overturn 2020 election and rabbi who has defended tortureThe defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, will this weekend headline a faith rally on the National Mall in Washington DC hosted by a private foundation operating in partnership with the White House, which includes some speakers that experts have characterized as Christian nationalist or extremist.Rededicate 250, billed as the faith-based component of America’s semiquincentennial, features speakers including a Detroit pastor who has called the Democratic platform “demonic” and launched his own memecoin after praying at Trump’s second inauguration; a rabbi who has defended the use of torture and authored an essay titled “The Virtue of Hate”; and a Christian author and radio host who said in 2020 he would die in the fight to keep Joe Biden out of the White House and was later named in a defamation suit over 2020 election fraud claims. Continue reading...

Opposition leader to unveil plan to dramatically cut number of migrants in budget reply speech on ThursdayExplore all of our 2026 Australia federal budget coverageGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Coalition will directly link Australia’s temporary immigration intake to the number of new homes built around the country, using housing completion figures as a hard ceiling for overseas arrivals.The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, will outline the plan to dramatically cut the number of migrants arriving into the country in his budget reply speech on Thursday night, while also promising a new $5bn housing infrastructure fund and a weakening of the national construction code to speed up building and reduce cost. Continue reading...

Candidates jostle to represent the second congressional district, and a Republican’s Senate seat looks ripe to flipUS politics live – latest updatesNebraska Democrats are bullish about Republican losses in the right-leaning Plains state – but their prospects depend on today’s Democratic primaries, which include accusations of planted candidates and inadvertently depriving Democrats of power.A crowded Democratic primary in the state’s second congressional district, referred to as its “blue dot”, has focused around concerns that if a state senator wins, the Republican governor will replace him with a Republican who would help overturn Nebraska’s divided electoral college vote system. Continue reading...

The inquiry came after a Guardian investigation revealed Israel used company technology to support mass surveillance of Palestinian phone callsThe head of Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary will step down in the wake of an inquiry that has scrutinised its business dealings with the Israeli military.Microsoft ordered the inquiry last year in response to a Guardian investigation revealing the military had used the company’s technology to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected Palestinian civilian phone calls on a mass scale. Continue reading...

Deborah Turness, who resigned last year, says traditional news in danger of being replaced by personality-led contentBroadcasters must urgently adapt to an existential threat from “creator journalism” that is causing audiences to shun traditional television news, the former boss of BBC News has said.Deborah Turness, who resigned from the BBC alongside the then director general, Tim Davie, last year, said consumption was “collapsing” for traditional television news, which was facing “a profound moment of disruption”. Continue reading...

• The first Nobel award ceremony since President Trump overhauled the board of trustees earlier this year is set to proceed with new appointees influencing selections. • Changes aim to align prizes with American priorities, sparking international debate on politicization. • Shift matters for U.S. soft power and could alter future laureate choices in peace and economics.

Meeting comes amid tentative trade truce but Iran, Taiwan and tensions over global supply chains will be complicating factorsSign up for the Breaking News US emailHello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.Donald Trump is heading to Beijing for high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as they seek to maintain a tentative trade truce while navigating Iran, Taiwan and dominance over global supply chains. Continue reading...

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praises Spain’s ‘compassion and solidarity’ in evacuating virus-hit cruise shipThe head of the World Health Organization has warned countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases after the outbreak onboard the MV Hondius, and thanked Spain for the “compassion and solidarity” it had shown by taking in the stricken cruise ship and evacuating its passengers and crew.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to follow the WHO’s advice and recommendations, which include a 42-day quarantine and constant monitoring of high-risk contacts. Continue reading...

Tim Cook and Elon Musk, among other tech CEOS, will accompany the US president on a trip to ChinaDonald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official. Continue reading...

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees are reluctant to return to work following a deadly shooting at the agency's Atlanta headquarters on Friday. • The shooting incident has created a climate of fear and uncertainty among CDC staff about workplace safety and security protocols. • CDC leadership is facing pressure to address employee concerns and implement enhanced security measures to restore confidence in the workplace.

It will be the first time a US president has visited China in nearly a decade, with the last visit being Trump in 2017Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to China this week to meet with Xi Jinping, China’s leader. It will be the first time a US president has visited China in nearly a decade, with the last visit being Trump in 2017. But given all that has happened so far in Trump’s second term – a trade war and then an actual war with Iran that has led to oil and gas prices skyrocketing worldwide – the mood of this visit is likely to be quite different. Continue reading...

• Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has led the right-wing Likud party to dominate politics, shaping the landscape for Arab citizens. • Palestinians in Israel face heightened marginalization under Netanyahu's leadership as Knesset elections approach. • The dominance of Likud raises concerns over policy impacts on minority representation and rights.

• Taiwanese officials worry that even subtle rhetorical changes from President Trump regarding Taiwan policy could destabilize the decades-long cross-strait status quo, as Trump prepares for a May 14-15 summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. • A White House official reaffirmed that U.S. policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged, based on the Taiwan Relations Act, three U.S.-PRC Joint Communiques, and Six Assurances to Taiwan, with no alterations announced. • Chinese scholars suggest Beijing will pressure Trump to shift declaratory policy—pushing for explicit opposition to Taiwan independence rather than current "not supporting" language—and seek U.S. pre-negotiation on arms sales, both major departures from established policy.

• JPMorgan analysis shows markets repricing oil-driven inflation risks, with global equities adjusting to potential rate hike scenarios amid recent oil price surges. • Central banks are providing clearer signals on monetary policy, suggesting rate hikes may not materialize as aggressively as feared despite elevated energy costs. • The divergence highlights inflation fears running ahead of underlying economic reality, potentially creating buying opportunities if data moderates.