Trip

China roept op tot een staakt-het-vuren en het openen van de zeeroute, terwijl Donald Trump zegt dat Xi ‘zeer gelijkaardig’ denkt over het beëindigen van de oorlog in Iran Trump in China – laatste updates Donald Trump heeft beweerd dat de VS en China “zeer gelijkaardig denken” over het beëindigen van de oorlog in Iran, maar gaf geen details over een mogelijke doorbraak. De Amerikaanse president sprak samen met Xi Jinping van China in de Zhongnanhai-tuinen in Peking op de tweede en laatste dag van de top tussen de leiders. Lees verder...

Celeste Calocane legt voor het eerst getuigenis af tijdens het onderzoek naar de aanslagen van Valdo Calocane in 2023

De geheime ontmoeting met de president van de VAE is de nieuwste mijlpaal in een snel ontwikkelende alliantie in het Midden-Oosten. Benjamin Netanyahu heeft onthuld dat hij een geheime reis naar de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten heeft gemaakt op het hoogtepunt van de oorlog met Iran om president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan te ontmoeten. “Dit bezoek heeft geleid tot een historische doorbraak in de betrekkingen tussen Israël en de VAE,” aldus het kantoor van de Israëlische premier in een verklaring op woensdagnacht. Lees verder...

• De uitnodiging om deel uit te maken van een groep inclusief Elon Musk en Tim Cook benadrukt de Amerikaanse AI- en tech-ambities • De miljardair en topman van chipfabrikant Nvidia, Jensen Huang, heeft zich na een vermeende last-minute uitnodiging aangesloten bij de delegatie van Donald Trump naar China, wat de AI- en tech-ambities van de VS onderstreept. • Huang zal zich voegen bij een lijst van Amerikaanse topbestuurders, waaronder Tesla-topman en X-eigenaar Elon Musk, Apple-topman Tim Cook en David Solomon van Goldman Sachs, tijdens Trump's 36-urige ontmoeting met de Chinese president Xi Jinping.

• De filmmaker, die in Hollywood lange tijd aan de kant stond vanwege #MeToo-beschuldigingen, zal locaties scouten voor Rush Hour 4, aldus een woordvoerder. • Brett Ratner, de regisseur achter de Rush Hour-films en een documentaire over Melania Trump, begeleidt Donald Trump naar China voor zijn topoverleg met Xi Jinping. • Trump zal donderdag en vrijdag gesprekken voeren met de Chinese leider over dringende economische en geopolitieke kwesties, waaronder Iran en Taiwan.

De vermoedelijke drievoudige moordenaar Julian Ingram wordt beschuldigd van het doden van Sophie Quinn, haar nieuwe vriend en haar tante in Lake Cargelligo, ongeveer 450 km ten westen van Sydney.

• President Trump vertrekt maandag uit Washington voor een belangrijke reis naar Azië, waarbij hij Japan en Zuid-Korea bezoekt voorafgaand aan een top van twee dagen met de Chinese president Xi Jinping. • De reisplanning richt zich op diplomatieke betrokkenheid te midden van verhoogde spanningen tussen de VS en China en regionale veiligheidszorgen. • Naar verwachting zullen gesprekken over handel, veiligheidsallianties en bilaterale betrekkingen centraal staan tijdens deze risicovolle bezoeken.

Guess the Party daagt spelers uit om de politieke voorkeur van kandidaten aan hun uiterlijk te koppelen, waarbij de slagingspercentages enorm variëren.

In een exclusief interview vanuit de gevangenis vertelt Sadia Moalim Ali, een 27-jarige rickshawchauffeur, over haar behandeling nadat ze was gearresteerd voor het demonstreren tegen de overheid. Een vrouw die in Somalië wordt vastgehouden vanwege haar deelname aan vreedzame protesten, heeft beschreven hoe ze door haar bewakers is gemarteld. Sadia Moalim Ali, 27, vertelde aan The Guardian dat ze in een ruimte onder CCTV-bewaking naakt was uitgetrokken door twee mannelijke bewakers, was getrapt, met een knuppel was geslagen en twee dagen lang in een kleine cel zonder voedsel was achtergelaten. Lees verder...

State pension was ‘built for a different era’, says former PM’s organisation amid pressure on government financesLabour has been urged by Tony Blair’s thinktank to scrap the pensions triple lock amid mounting pressure on government finances.With the Iran war threatening to derail public spending plans, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) said the “unaffordable” manifesto pledge to maintain the triple lock should be torn up as part of a wider overhaul of the state pension. Continue reading...

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were to travel to Islamabad to attempt to revive ceasefire negotiationsDonald Trump said he has told US envoys not to go to Pakistan for more talks with Iran, shortly after Tehran’s top diplomat left Islamabad late on Saturday.Trump added to Fox News: “They can call us anytime they want.” The White House on Friday said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Pakistan’s capital to attempt to revive ceasefire negotiations. Continue reading...

• The Israeli Defense Forces conducted sustained airstrikes across Gaza Friday night, striking targets in Khan Younis and Rafah; Palestinian health authorities reported 34 deaths and 89 injured, though casualty figures remain disputed. • The UN Security Council's humanitarian affairs office announced plans for an emergency session Monday to address escalating civilian casualties and requested immediate access for international inspection teams to assess damage. • Aid organizations warned that the latest military operations have severed critical supply routes, leaving approximately 1.2 million Palestinians facing acute food shortages and limited access to medical facilities.

Exclusive: Samaritans calls for mandatory training for firefighters amid rise in incidentsSuicide-related callouts to fire and rescue services in England have tripled in the last decade, with Samaritans now calling for mandatory training for firefighters, who they say are struggling to deal with the increase in traumatic incidents.New figures show that fire services in England attended 3,250 suicide callouts in the year ending September 2025, the equivalent to 62 callouts a week. This was up from 997 callouts in 2009-10 when records begin.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected]. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

More than 50% of voters at first AGM under new leadership oppose plans to scrap climate reportingBP’s board has suffered a triple climate rebellion in its first shareholder meeting since appointing new leadership to steer the embattled oil company.More than 50% of shareholders voting at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) came out against its plans to scrap its existing climate reporting, and its resolution to replace in-person annual shareholder meetings – a lightning rod for climate protest in recent years – with online-only events. Continue reading...

Experts say Muslims and other minorities have been disproportionately deleted from the electoral roll ahead of the West Bengal elections this weekMillions of people in the Indian state of West Bengal have been stripped of their vote ahead of a critical state election this week, after a controversial electoral revision described by critics as a “bloodless political genocide” and mass disenfranchisement of minorities.In West Bengal, a total of 9.1 million names have been deleted from the register, more than 10% of the electorate. While many were dead or duplicates, about 2.7 million people have challenged their expulsions, but still been removed. Continue reading...

Demographic also overrepresented when police officers use force such as handcuffs, firearms or Tasers, says children’s commissionerBlack children across England and Wales are almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched by police than their white counterparts, a report has disclosed.Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said Black children are also overrepresented when officers use force and were more likely to have their “size, gender or build” cited as justification. Continue reading...

Lai Ching-te abandons visit after Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar revoke overflight permission Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, has cancelled his trip to Eswatini, the democratic island’s only diplomatic ally in Africa, after his government said several countries had revoked overflight permits because of “intense pressure” from China.Lai was to leave on Wednesday for the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession. Continue reading...

PM says in Commons statement he has ordered inquiry into any security concerns relating to Mandelson’s tenure in USUK politics live – latest updatesThe Foreign Office has been stripped of its powers to overrule vetting decisions after the Peter Mandelson scandal, Keir Starmer has told MPs, as he sought to set out his side of events in a politically crucial statement in parliament.Saying to jeers that he accepted it appeared “incredible” he and other ministers were not told Mandelson was initially refused security vetting, Starmer also said he had ordered an investigation into any security concerns related to Mandelson’s tenure as ambassador to Washington. Continue reading...

• Stripe completed the acquisition of Wise Exchange, a fintech startup specializing in cross-border payment optimization, for $1.2 billion in stock on April 18, expanding its international payment capabilities. • The acquisition adds Wise Exchange's proprietary currency conversion algorithms and partnerships with 40+ financial institutions across Europe, Asia, and Americas to Stripe's existing platform. • Industry analysts view this acquisition as Stripe's strategic response to intensifying competition from Block, PayPal, and traditional payment networks in the global payments sector.

Legal charity argues ‘job lot’ prosecution approach is unjust and primarily targets young black menJoint enterprise cases in England and Wales have soared over the past four decades, according to a report calling for a change in the law so that individuals are held accountable only for their own actions.The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) also found sentences have become harsher under the legal doctrine, which allows for individuals to be convicted of crimes they did not physically carry out if they were present at the scene or held an association with the principal culprit. Continue reading...

Lynette and Brian Hooker, from Michigan, were years into a sailing adventure when Brian said his wife fell overboardLynette Hooker bounced around the deck of the docked Soul Mate, smiled into the camera and proclaimed, “We’re finally leaving Kemah,” referring to a Texas port town.“It’s only been four months,” she said as her husband, Brian, tugged on some rigging as they got ready to set sail. Continue reading...

Struggling pubs reel from rising business rates, wages and energy bills, with customers at limit of what they will payNick Evans is staring in vain at columns of numbers, trying to make them add up to a profit. He is a co-owner of the Old Crown Coaching Inn in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, a pub and hotel whose rich history is etched into its crooked wooden beams and cosy snugs.Oliver Cromwell stayed here in 1645. A room believed to have been used by the notoriously severe “hanging judge” Lord Jeffreys to condemn rebels now stages happier encounters: it is the honeymoon suite. Continue reading...

Petrol prices have stopped falling, despite the federal government’s cut to the fuel excise last weekTrack Australia’s fuel prices, service station outages and shipments in chartsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese will fly to Singapore this week – Australia’s biggest source of petrol – as the government mounts an international bid to keep fuel prices from rising.Diesel is getting more expensive again and petrol prices have stopped falling, despite the federal government’s cut to fuel excise last week. Continue reading...

With some misgivings, families and aviation enthusiasts bring stepladders and picnics to the perimeter fenceIt was a 4.40am start for the Wilkinson family. They packed their car with gear you might take on a trip to the seaside – folding chairs, blankets, a picnic. But instead of heading to the coast, they drove 80 miles from their home in Hampshire to Gloucestershire and set up camp close to the perimeter fence of RAF Fairford to watch American warplanes take off and land.“It’s definitely cheaper than a trip to a theme park,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, who was there with wife, Katie, and three sons, aged seven to 12. “The sights and sounds are impressive. But it’s a bittersweet thing. These planes are only here because of war. We have to keep that in mind.” Continue reading...

BFI and National Portrait Gallery to mark centenary of the film star’s birth with ‘the summer of Marilyn’Though often reduced to a sex symbol frozen in time, or a tragic figure at the centre of several scandals, Marilyn Monroe was something far more subversive, according to two exhibitions that will herald what has been nicknamed “the summer of Marilyn”.To mark the centenary of her birth, Monroe is being celebrated by leading British cultural institutions as a performer of sharp comic intelligence, a canny architect of her own image, and a woman who reshaped the possibilities for female stardom on screen. Continue reading...

Anna Turley questions Reform UK leader’s revised £25,000 figure for failed attempt to reach Chagos Islands on plane linked to billionaire donorLabour has queried Nigel Farage’s claim that a return trip to the Maldives on a private jet linked to a billionaire donor cost as little as £25,000 as the Reform leader attempted to reach the Chagos Islands.Farage initially recorded his two-day trip to the Maldives as costing £12,500 funded by Thailand-based Reform megadonor Christopher Harborne, before upgrading this to £25,000 in the latest register of interests. Continue reading...

• Kosovo approved a plan to send soldiers to the Gaza Strip as part of a US-backed international security force, joining Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, and Albania in making similar commitments. • The deployment represents an expansion of the international coalition participating in the Middle East security operation. • Kosovo's participation demonstrates growing international involvement in establishing security frameworks in the Gaza region.

• Waymo's autonomous vehicle service is experiencing explosive growth, with weekly paid robotaxi trips increasing tenfold in under two years. • The surge signals a significant shift toward autonomous vehicles dominating the transportation industry, though regulatory hurdles and safety concerns remain pressing challenges. • The growth demonstrates market viability of driverless technology while raising questions about infrastructure readiness and public acceptance.

US president says he will host Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit later this yearDonald Trump will meet Xi Jinping in May during the US president’s first visit to China in eight years, a closely watched trip that had been postponed due to the Iran war.Trump was initially slated to travel next week, but will now visit Beijing on 14 and 15 May, he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. Trump said he would host the Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit in Washington later this year. Continue reading...