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Company reported $111.2bn in revenue in first earnings report after announcement of Cook’s pending departureApple blew past Wall Street expectations in its first earnings report since it announced CEO Tim Cook would be stepping down.Cook reported Apple’s “best March quarter ever” and “double-digit growth across every geographic segment”. He also noted “extraordinary demand for the iPhone17 lineup”. Continue reading...

Actor and presenter broke his hip, right leg, pelvis and ribs when he gave a talk at CogX festival at O2 Arena in 2023Stephen Fry is suing two companies that organised a tech conference where he was injured in 2023 after falling off the stage, high court documents show.The actor and presenter broke his hip and had multiple breaks in his right leg, pelvis and ribs when he attended the CogX festival at the O2 Arena, where he delivered a talk on artificial intelligence on 14 September 2023. Continue reading...

• Maurice 'Mopreme' Shakur, Tupac's stepbrother, filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Duane 'Keffe D' Davis and unnamed defendants involved in the 1996 murder. • The suit claims 'for the first time in nearly 30 years, threads are starting to come together' amid new developments as Davis's first-degree murder trial approaches. • Tupac was fatally shot four times on September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas when a white Cadillac pulled alongside his BMW near MGM Grand and Caesars Palace.

John Edwards, the data privacy watchdog, says he is fully cooperating with ICO’s independent report into ‘HR matters’The UK’s information commissioner has stepped back from his job after the data protection regulator launched an independent workplace investigation into unspecified “HR matters”.John Edwards, the national watchdog for information rights, data privacy and transparency among public bodies, said he was cooperating with the investigation in a post on his LinkedIn account. Continue reading...

Millionaire funded operation called ‘pure animal cruelty’ after environment minister sent threats on social mediaFinal preparations are reportedly under way for a millionaire fundedplan to tow a sickly humpback whale into the North Sea.The 12-tonne whale, nicknamed Timmy, has been stranded on the Baltic Sea coastline for almost a month. A barge resembling a giant steel aquarium will attempt to transport Timmy 400km (248 miles) towards the North Sea, and then hopefully back to the Atlantic Ocean from where it is believed to have arrived. Continue reading...

Extra social media checks brought in amid growing threat to politicians from extremistsThe security company that provides bodyguards for MPs has tightened its vetting processes after it sent a bodyguard with far-right links to protect a politician who was under threat from extremists.Mitie, which has a £31m contract for the work, is updating its CPO (Close Protection Operative) vetting processes to include regular social media checks. There will also be random checks on the social media activity of those already taken on. Continue reading...

Former US ambassador and Labour peer joins a long line of people who have gone out to meet awaiting paparazzi head-onFor a man at the centre of a storm that has rocked the political establishment, Peter Mandelson has spent the week looking remarkably relaxed. Day after day, as MPs have grilled civil servants over who knew what when about the former US ambassador’s security vetting, and police continue to investigate serious allegations over his own conduct, Mandelson has stepped out of his Regent’s Park mansion and pottered across the road to take his dog for a walk.Smart-casually dressed in jeans and a jumper and holding in front of him a plastic ball-thrower, he has set off for the park like a weekending solicitor on his way to an egg and spoon race. There have been occasional small smiles for the photographers at his gate, but no comment. The message appears to be: I am insouciant, normal. Not in prison. Continue reading...

Move creates conflict between state and administration as Trump seeks federal framework over states handling issueSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe US justice department said on Friday it had intervened in a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s xAI challenging a Colorado law aimed at regulating artificial intelligence systems.In its intervention, the justice department said the law violates the 14th amendment’s equal protection guarantee by requiring companies to guard against unintended discriminatory effects while allowing some discrimination aimed at promoting diversity. Continue reading...

Judge’s repeal of Trump ban on gender-affirming care for children ‘a meaningful win for patients’, experts sayA federal judge overturned the Trump administration’s ban on gender-affirming care for children on Saturday, decrying Robert F Kennedy Jr’s “wanton disregard” for the law that “causes very real harm to very real people”.It’s another loss for Kennedy’s agenda as secretary for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the second Trump administration – an agenda that has focused on restricting healthcare, including vaccines, abortion and gender-affirming care. Continue reading...

Cook, who will assume the role of executive chair, will be succeeded by John Ternus as CEO on 1 SeptemberApple announced on Monday that it had named a replacement for Tim Cook as CEO, with head of hardware engineering John Ternus to succeed him. Cook will stay at the company in the role of executive chair.“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company. I love Apple with all of my being,” Cook said in a press release. Continue reading...

Trump administration to launch online portal on Monday after supreme court struck down tariff policy earlier this yearDonald Trump said US negotiators will be in Pakistan on Monday, and he again threatened to destroy its power plants and bridges if no deal is reached.Trump did not say who would lead the delegation, but a White House official said it was vice-president JD Vance. Continue reading...

Ahead of a showdown with MPs, prime minister looks like a man who is not really in controlKeir Starmer has spent much of the last 24 hours working on a plan for what senior government figures are already describing as his “judgment day”: his showdown with MPs on Monday over the latest Peter Mandelson revelations.That the prime minister was apparently not told of Mandelson’s vetting failure has provoked incredulity across Westminster and accusations he sacked a senior civil servant to save his premiership. Continue reading...

Purple state which recently elected a Democratic governor will now choose whether to replace existing voting maps with ones that favor DemocratsNearly three months to the day after his term as Virginia’s governor ended, Republican Glenn Youngkin stood in an unshaded corner of an office parking lot to warn dozens of conservative activists that they were in the midst of “the most important election” in the commonwealth’s 237-year history.The question before the voters casting ballots at an early voting precinct a few yards away in the city of Leesburg ahead of Tuesday’s special election was whether to temporarily set aside Virginia’s congressional maps intended to advantage neither party and replace them with a new version that could allow Democrats to win all but one seat in the 11-member delegation in the November midterm elections. Continue reading...

Lyons, who led agency since March 2025, to resign after turbulent year carrying out Trump’s immigration agendaTodd Lyons, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is stepping down after a turbulent year carrying out Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.Lyons, who has been leading the agency since March 2025, will resign at the end of May and move to the private sector, Markwayne ​Mullin, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, said in a statement on Thursday. Continue reading...

Chair’s decision to not seek re-election in June ‘not as a result of any disagreement’, company says in SEC filingNetflix chair Reed Hastings is leaving the streaming service he co-founded 29 years ago as the company regains its footing after it lost its $72bn deal for Warner Bros Discovery.In a letter to investors released on Thursday, Netflix said Hastings will not stand for re-election at its annual meeting in June and plans to focus on philanthropy and other pursuits. Continue reading...

UK chancellor tells US audience she is ‘not convinced that this conflict has made the world a safer place’Middle East crisis – live updatesBusiness live – latest updatesRachel Reeves has stepped up her criticism of Donald Trump’s war on Iran, describing it as a “mistake” that has destabilised the global economy and damaged living standards around the world.In a marked fraying of the transatlantic relationship, the UK chancellor said Trump breaking off from diplomatic talks with Iran and launching airstrikes had not made the world a safer place. Continue reading...

Push for states to assign presidential electors to winner of popular vote gains momentum in bid to reach 270 thresholdA national majority vote for president is one step closer to reality after Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger signed the National Popular Vote bill into law, joining an interstate compact with 17 other states and the District of Columbia.Under the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, states would assign their presidential electors to the winner of the popular vote, regardless of the results within the state. The compact takes effect when states representing a majority of electoral votes – 270 of 538 – pass the legislation and thus would determine the winner of the presidential contest. With Virginia, the compact now has 222 electors. Continue reading...

Kepner’s body was found concealed under bed in a room she shared with two teens, including 16-year-old stepbrotherSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailA 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida in the 6 November death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival cruise ship, the US justice department said Monday.Timothy Hudson was initially charged in February and subsequently indicted on 10 March. But the breadth of the case was not known until a seal was lifted Friday, weeks after US district judge Beth Bloom in Miami said he would be prosecuted as an adult at the request of the government.Guardian staff contributed Continue reading...

Gonzales, who admitted affair with aide who later died by suicide, says he will file retirement from office on TuesdayRepresentative Tony Gonzales, a Republican from Texas, announced on Monday he was stepping down from Congress after acknowledging an extramarital affair with a staffer.Gonzales, who was facing a growing threat of expulsion by his colleagues, admitted last month that he had an affair with an aide who later died by suicide. Continue reading...

Amendment calling for step-incest to be included in ban on harmful content tabled by Conservative peer Gabby BertinThe government has agreed to ban the production of porngraphy depicting sex acts between stepfamily members following a vote in the House of Lords.An amendment calling for step-incest to be included in a ban on harmful content was tabled by Conservative peer Lady Gabby Bertin, who led a review into pornography regulation that was published last year. Continue reading...

Call comes on same day former prime minister Tony Abbott said Australia should send troops to fight alongside US forces in the Middle EastFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Greens want the federal government to put direct pressure on Israel to stop its deadly strikes on Lebanon, including cancelling weapons contracts to protest against the “disastrous, illegal, immoral war”.Prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, have insisted southern Lebanon should be included in the fledgling ceasefire agreement negotiated between the US and Iran in recent days. Continue reading...

Astronauts prepare for re-entry several miles off coast of southern California after 10-day lunar fly-by missionThe crew of Artemis II is set to return to earth on Friday following its historic 10-day lunar flyby mission, and Nasa leaders have described the precise logistics needed to get them home.The return will see the Orion capsule traveling at nearly 24,000mph before making a final splashdown several miles off the coast of San Diego. The operation requires multiple teams and careful coordination to safely extract the crew from the spacecraft. Continue reading...

Announcement of deal met with relief, and calls for strait of Hormuz to be reopened and permanent end to hostilities US and Iran agree to provisional ceasefireMiddle East crisis – live updatesEuropean leaders have welcomed the US-Iran ceasefire deal, while calling for the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and a permanent end to hostilities, including in Lebanon.The US and Iran agreed a two-week conditional ceasefire on Tuesday, including a temporary reopening of the strait of Hormuz, after last-minute diplomacy from Pakistan. The Israeli military said on Wednesday, however, that it was continuing “fighting and ground operations” in its war against the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, despite a statement from mediator Pakistan that Lebanon was included in the ceasefire. Continue reading...

• Following the closure of a rural Texas hospital, a local health center has expanded services to prevent care deserts for patients now traveling miles across county lines. • The initiative addresses immediate gaps in primary and emergency care in underserved areas, maintaining access for vulnerable populations. • Rural hospital closures exacerbate public health challenges, with this response demonstrating community health centers' role in continuity.

Plan for three nuns who escaped from care home last year to go to Rome thought to be positive sign of Vatican’s decisionThree nuns who escaped from a care home to return to their convent in a castle close to Salzburg where they had spent most of their lives are a step closer to being able to stay there, sources close to them say.Sisters Bernadette, Regina and Rita, who are in their early to late eighties, broke into their convent home in Elsbethen last September with the help of former pupils of the Catholic school at which they had taught and other supporters. Their case became a cause célèbre, attracting attention from around the world. Continue reading...

Pentagon announces Randy George retiring from role as US army chief of staff, ‘effective immediately’Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxRandy George, the US army’s top officer, is stepping down from his role after defense secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly requested that he retire immediately. The Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that George, who had been serving as the army’s 41st chief of staff, is retiring.“General Randy A. George will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately. The Department of War is grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement,” Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement shared on social media. Continue reading...

Joani Reid MP reportedly swapped flirtatious messages with senior officer in charge of nuclear-armed submarineA Royal Navy captain in charge of one of Britain’s nuclear-armed submarines stepped back from his duties over his relationship with the MP Joani Reid, whose husband faces allegations of spying for China.The married senior officer was investigated by the navy last year over his contact with Reid after the messages, described as inappropriate, prompted an assessment of a potential blackmail risk, the Financial Times first reported. Continue reading...

Company chaired by Trump ally Larry Ellison seeks to reassure investors that bet on AI infrastructure will pay offOracle is cutting thousands of jobs as the US technology company seeks to reassure investors that its bet on AI infrastructure will pay off.The $420bn firm, headquartered in Austin, Texas, started letting employees go on Tuesday, with thousands of Oracle’s 160,000-strong workforce expected to leave. Continue reading...

Lewis was the father of Avi Lewis, who was elected leader of the progressive New Democratic party one day before his father diedStephen Lewis, the Canadian diplomat, politician and human rights advocate, who spent decades tirelessly working to focus global attention on the HIV/Aids epidemic, has died of cancer.Lewis, who served as the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, as well as the head of Ontario’s New Democratic party (NDP), was 88. Continue reading...