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• I ricercatori affermano che la decisione di budget di tagliare il programma di commercializzazione per finanziare il CSIRO e altre iniziative scientifiche mina le priorità del governo stesso. • Il governo federale è stato accusato di "togliere da una parte per dare dall'altra" a causa del taglio a bilancio di un programma di commercializzazione della ricerca da 760 milioni di dollari per finanziare altre iniziative scientifiche. • Il budget include un incremento di 387,4 milioni di dollari per "sostenere la sostenibilità finanziaria" dell'agenzia scientifica nazionale CSIRO, in difficoltà, oltre a 273 milioni di dollari per il National Measurement Institute.

• Peter Jackson ha ricevuto una Palma d'Oro onoraria durante la cerimonia di apertura del Festival di Cannes 2026, in riconoscimento dei suoi leggendari contributi al cinema. • Jane Fonda e Gong Li hanno dichiarato ufficialmente aperto il festival sul palco, sottolineando l'impegno dell'evento nel celebrare il cinema internazionale e le figure iconiche. • Il festival prosegue la sua tradizione di onorare l'eccellenza cinematografica, riunendo grandi talenti dall'Asia e da tutto il mondo.

• Il programma includerà un pastore che ha definito 'demoniaco' il programma dei Democratici, un autore cristiano che ha dichiarato che sarebbe morto nella lotta per annullare le elezioni del 2020 e un rabbino che ha difeso la tortura. • Il segretario alla difesa, Pete Hegseth, sarà questo fine settimana il protagonista di un raduno religioso sul National Mall di Washington DC, organizzato da una fondazione privata in collaborazione con la Casa Bianca, che include alcuni relatori descritti dagli esperti come nazionalisti cristiani o estremisti. • Rededicate 250, presentato come la componente basata sulla fede del semiquincentenario dell'America, vede tra i relatori un pastore di Detroit che ha definito "demoniaco" il programma dei Democratici e ha lanciato la propria memecoin dopo aver pregato alla seconda insediamento di Trump; un rabbino che ha difeso l'uso della tortura e ha scritto un saggio intitolato "The Virtue of Hate"; e un autore cristiano e conduttore radiofonico che nel 2020 ha affermato che sarebbe morto nella lotta per impedire a Joe Biden di entrare alla Casa Bianca, e che in seguito è stato citato in una causa per diffamazione relativa alle accuse di frode elettorale del 2020.

Le condoglianze sono state numerose per la leggenda della Louisiana, simile a un castoro, che apparve un tempo nel programma di Tucker Carlson su Fox News.

• SoftBank ha annunciato un potenziamento della propria strategia nell'IA attraverso una nuova iniziativa con OpenAI, mirata alle applicazioni aziendali nel mercato statunitense. • La mossa arriva mentre le società di venture capital concorrenti aumentano i finanziamenti per le startup di IA, intensificando la competizione per i talenti e la tecnologia. • Questo investimento rafforza la posizione di SoftBank nel boom del settore dell'IA negli Stati Uniti, accelerando potenzialmente l'implementazione dei modelli.

• La Cina sta espandendo aggressivamente il proprio mercato della difesa informatica guidata dall'AI, mentre gli sviluppatori statunitensi Anthropic e OpenAI svelano nuovi modelli con capacità di cybersicurezza potenziate, intensificando la competizione nell'innovazione della sicurezza AI. • IDC prevede che l'industria della cybersicurezza AI in Cina raggiungerà i 59,35 miliardi di yuan (8,7 miliardi di dollari) entro il 2030, rappresentando un aumento di oltre 37 volte rispetto agli 1,58 miliardi di yuan (230 milioni di dollari) del 2025. • Il modello Mythos di Anthropic, lanciato ad aprile, ha scatenato una rapida risposta globale per la sua velocità ed efficienza senza precedenti nel scoprire e sfruttare le vulnerabilità di cybersicurezza, spingendo gli sviluppatori cinesi a risposte competitive.

• Un'analisi commissionata da un senatore indipendente ha rilevato che i finanziamenti dell'agenzia scientifica nazionale sono ai livelli più bassi dal 1978. • Il governo Albanese aumenterà i finanziamenti al CSIRO di 387,4 milioni di dollari nel tentativo di coprire i costi a lungo termine dell'agenzia scientifica nazionale. • La decisione segue mesi di pressione da parte di scienziati e personale, in seguito a centinaia di tagli al personale e misure di riduzione dei costi.

• La trentaquattrenne guida il gruppo d'élite di uomini e donne • L'americana fa dei brevi sonnellini durante la corsa di 56 ore

Arena in Birmingham cleared after report of suspicious bag, with comedian pulled from stage mid-performanceA man has been charged over a bomb hoax after a live show by comedian Peter Kay in Birmingham was stopped when a “potentially suspicious bag” was found around the venue.The Utilita Arena Birmingham was evacuated and a 19-year-old man was taken into custody, West Midlands police said on Friday evening. Continue reading...

Comedian pulled from stage in Birmingham about 45 minutes into performance and audience told to leaveA live show by comedian Peter Kay in Birmingham has been stopped after a “potential suspicious bag” was found around the venue.The Utilita Arena Birmingham was evacuated and a 19-year-old man was taken into custody, West Midlands police said on Friday evening. Continue reading...

Parliamentary committee takes unusual step of declaring no confidence in executives at utility providerMPs have accused the leadership of South East Water of incompetence over repeated water outages for tens of thousands of customers, and expressed no confidence in their ability to reform the company.MPs from across the political spectrum said David Hinton, SEW’s chief executive, and the board of directors operated a culture of unaccountability at the company, which provides drinking water for 2.3 million customers in Berkshire, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Continue reading...

• House Democrats skeptically questioned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for the first time since the Iran war began, pressing on strategy and costs during an April 29 hearing. • One Democrat accused Hegseth of partisanship, quoting his prior statements back at him in a heated exchange. • The confrontation highlights partisan divides over the war's economic toll and Trump's foreign policy amid plunging approval ratings.

Amber Davidson-Orozco said the family had lost Dodger, their cat, during their move out of CaliforniaA family cat who got lost amid a move from California across the US is said to be settling back into his old ways with his humans at their new home in Georgia after experiencing an unlikely – but long hoped for – reunion more than seven years in the making.As owner Amber Davidson-Orozco put in an interview Wednesday, her cat Dodger still responds to his name and allows her sons to flip him playfully over their shoulders despite an absence from them that to the cat lasted the equivalent of roughly 24 years. Continue reading...

As his defense secretary testified before House committee, Trump posted AI-generated image of himself with a weapon and a caption saying ‘NO MORE MR. NICE GUY’Pete Hegseth has denied that the US-Israel war on Iran is “a quagmire” and claimed critics of the operation posed a greater threat to the US than Iran itself, as he came under pressure to set out Washington’s strategy for the conflict.Appearing before the House armed services committee alongside Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, the US defense secretary asked lawmakers to approve a $1.5tn budget in military spending – and then described some of them as “the biggest challenge” to the war effort. Continue reading...

The fuel crisis is seeing more voters keen to shift to renewable energy rather than stick with fossil fuelsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA majority of Australians support taxing profits from gas exports and extending the cut to the fuel excise, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll, despite Anthony Albanese on Wednesday ruling out a new tax on existing gas export contracts.The poll also found the fuel crisis is seeing more voters keen to shift to renewable energy rather than stick with fossil fuels. Australians also say they’re already cutting back on travel, switching to public transport and reducing their use of aircon and heating amid the global fuel uncertainty. Continue reading...

In theory, Musk and Altman’s court fight could pose key questions about AI safety – in reality, it’s motivated by money and personal grievanceSign up for the TechScape newsletter: our free technology emailHello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian, writing to you from beneath a cherry blossom tree in Prospect Park in New York City. Spring has arrived!Facing AI and a tough job market, gen Z turns to entrepreneurship: ‘I have to prove myself’ Continue reading...

NHS chiefs fear rising costs and healthcare shortages due to the shipping standstill in the GulfThe war in Iran has put the NHS on high alert amid fears about looming shortages and rising costs for medicines and medical products such as syringes, intravenous bags and gloves.Much of modern healthcare is dependent on the petrochemicals now held up by the Gulf shipping standstill – whether for active pharmaceutical ingredients or to produce the millions of sterile single-use items, ranging from personal protective equipment (PPE) to catheters and diagnostic-device casings. Continue reading...

• 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.

• Nvidia launched Blackwell Ultra B300 GPUs on April 25, 2026, at GTC US, delivering 20 petaflops FP4 performance for training models up to 10 trillion parameters. • New chips feature 4.5TB HBM4 memory and NVLink 6 interconnect, reducing training costs by 40% for hyperscalers like Microsoft Azure. • Announcement bolsters Nvidia's 92% AI accelerator market dominance amid US export controls on China sales.

Where Olly Robbins relied on recollections, Cabinet Office’s top civil servant was at pains to link her account to paper trail Seen through the Westminster bubble, the Peter Mandelson vetting affair looks like an age-old conflict pitting ministers against mandarins. Yet the latest top civil servant to testify to parliament over what some are now calling “Mandygate” gave an intriguing account that suggested it has never been as simple as that.Cat Little, the top civil servant at the Cabinet Office, did not put it in these terms, but what she revealed was an extraordinary dispute between the country’s most senior civil servants. Continue reading...

Permanent secretary, Cat Little, to give evidence to foreign affairs committee as pressure increases on Keir Starmer The UK government budget came in below its annual borrowing target by £700m, official figures show – but the Iran war is likely to blow a hole in Rachel Reeves’s carefully calculated fiscal “headroom” over the coming months. Tom Knowles has the story.Good morning. As Kiran Stacey, Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot report in the Guardian’s splash, “Keir Starmer is looking increasingly isolated over his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal with divisions emerging in cabinet over his decision to sack the Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins.” Continue reading...

Chemicals known to affect brains of common garden birds, and to kill unborn chicks, found in most feather samplesConservationists have called for restrictions on pet flea treatments after research found songbird feathers widely contaminated with substances that can damage the birds’ brains and kill unborn chicks.Almost every feather sample tested from five common species of UK garden birds contained either permethrin, imidacloprid or fipronil – all insecticides that are banned for agricultural use but still common in pet tick and flea treatments. Continue reading...

Exclusive: deputy PM says UK will not join Iran conflict despite Trump’s sometimes ‘incomprehensible’ social-media barbsDonald Trump’s insults towards Keir Starmer are “small and petty” and designed to put pressure on the prime minister to change his position on Iran, David Lammy has said, as he insisted the UK would not get dragged into the conflict.The deputy prime minister argued the US president should be able to “disagree agreeably” with allies rather than publishing attacks on social media, and that US actions had “made things worse, not better” as far as global instability was concerned. Continue reading...

Autotrader says average EV cost is £785 cheaper, in an important milestone in the move away from fossil fuelsBusiness live – latest updatesThe price of new battery electric cars has fallen below petrol cars in the UK for the first time ever, according to the car sales website Autotrader, in a significant milestone in Britain’s transition away from fossil fuels.The average price of a new electric car listed on the website was £42,620, compared with £43,405 for a new petrol model – making the former £785 cheaper based on advertised prices after discounts. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Adrian Fulford will also examine wider national security vetting system after Foreign Office controversyUK politics live – latest updatesA retired high court judge is expected to review Peter Mandelson’s vetting process and the wider national security vetting system.The review, commissioned by Downing Street, comes after a Guardian investigation revealing that security officials decided Mandelson should not receive developed vetting clearance, but were overruled by the Foreign Office to allow him to become US ambassador. Continue reading...

How much fuel does Australia have left today, and when could we run out? Track how much petrol and diesel prices have risen near you in Sydney, Melbourne and across the country.Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal government has released fuel reserves, cut fuel excise taxes and rolled out a national fuel security plan as Australia battles a fuel crisis.While we know there have been outages and price increases, it can be difficult to get a full picture of what is happening – this is partly due to the thousands of independent businesses and different governments involved. We have brought together the latest data on prices, outages and oil tanker deliveries. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ministers consider restricting pesticide-based treatments, which can get into waterways and harm wildlifePet owners across the UK could be banned from buying flea treatment for cats and dogs under new government rules.Ministers have begun an eight-week consultation on letting only veterinary practitioners or pharmacists give out the potent, pesticide-based flea treatments, to ensure “correct usage”. At the moment, the flea and tick treatments can be bought from any pet shop. Continue reading...

• A defiant House incumbent facing low polling numbers and a fragmented base has announced he will not yield to pressure to step aside for another centrist candidate, Zohran Mamdani, in an upcoming primary. • The incumbent's decision to remain in the race despite weak polling reflects confidence in his political base despite internal party divisions. • The contested primary underscores Democratic Party tensions between progressive and centrist factions as ambitious candidates position themselves for the upcoming midterm cycle.