The Guardian

The art of dealing with Donald Trump? Don’t fight him alone | Jonathan Freedland

This week’s trade deal is a boost for Keir Starmer. But a lasting win will only come by joining forces with other nations to resist the US president’s entire destructive agenda

Donald Trump wanted Thursday, like every day, to be all about him. He thought the news cycle would be dominated by his sealing of the first US trade deal since he blew a hole in the world economy with the dynamite of tariffs. He gathered his vice-president and several cabinet members in the Oval Office to announce the new agreement – with the UK, as it happens – only for the gaze of the world to be diverted. All eyes were on Rome, where Trump was upstaged by one of the few global players who can outdo him when it comes to putting on a show.

Part of Soviet-era spacecraft to crash to Earth this weekend

Lander probe of Kosmos 482, launched in 1972, is expected to re-enter the atmosphere some time between 9 and 10 May

Part of a Soviet spacecraft is expected to crash back down to Earth this weekend, with experts still unsure of where it will land.

Kosmos 482 was launched in March 1972 on a Soyuz rocket a few days after the Venera 8 atmospheric probe, and was thought to have a similar purpose. Intended to reach Venus, it failed to escape low Earth orbit and instead broke into four pieces.

The Guardian view on Pope Leo XIV: a different kind of American leader | Editorial

The first pontiff from the United States can be a powerful countervailing voice in the Trump era, and help protect Francis’s legacy

Twelve years ago, in the words of the late Pope Francis, the Catholic church went “to the ends of the Earth” in its search for a new pontiff. On Thursday, after surprisingly brisk discussions, the most geographically diverse conclave in history went to the heart of a superpower to find his successor.

The Guardian view on the impact of Trump’s film tariffs: a disaster movie waiting to happen | Editorial

The US president’s proposed levies will badly hit the UK industry just as it is recovering from a series of blows

Barbieland, the Emerald City and a galaxy far, far away were all built – at least in part – at film studios just outside London. Now the UK film industry has come crashing down to earth with Donald Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on all movies “produced in foreign lands”. “Hollywood is being destroyed,” Mr Trump announced, like an action hero on a mission. “Other nations have stolen our movie industry.” In the UK the news was met with warnings that the British film sector would be “wiped out” by such a “knock-out blow”. Brian Cox, the Succession star, called the proposed tariffs “an absolute disaster”. Roll the opening credits.

UNC says Bill Belichick’s girlfriend still welcome at school despite reports

  • School says Jordon Hudson still welcome at facilities
  • Pablo Torre stands by reporting she was banned
  • Hudson’s role with Belichick remains under scrutiny

The University of North Carolina on Friday denied reports that Jordon Hudson, the girlfriend of head football coach Bill Belichick, has been banned from its football facilities.

“While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities,” an athletic department spokesperson said in a statement. “Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”

Chinese troops march with Russian forces as Xi joins Putin for Victory Day parade

Moscow stages largest Victory Day parade since start of Ukraine war with Putin using celebrations to justify invasion

Russian troops fighting in Ukraine have marched with Chinese forces on Moscow’s Red Square to mark the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in a Victory Day celebration marked by greater spectacle than in recent years.

After several scaled-back Victory Days – with reduced military displays and few foreign guests – Vladimir Putin on Friday addressed the largest parade since his 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Career change: Scarlett Johansson, Kristen Stewart and Harris Dickinson to premiere directorial debuts at Cannes

Eleanor the Great, The Chronology of Water and Urchin are all in the festival’s prestigious Un Certain Regard sidebar. A first step to being the next Clint Eastwood?

First-time directors with films premiering at Cannes next week would be forgiven for feeling nervous. But three of the directors who are unveiling their debut features in France are less likely than their peers to be quaking as they approach the red carpet.

The IPL is a good barometer in India: its suspension shows us how serious this is

The IPL is so closely intertwined with India’s politics that even cricket’s richest tournament could not continue at a time of crisis

It’s not often that two sets of people find themselves in the same situation on either side of one of the world’s most fractious borders.

When Friday dawned, amid swirling rumours of missiles wrecking neighbourhoods and falsehoods about pilots being captured, cricketers in India and Pakistan sensed that something was about to give.

Final phase of jury selection in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s sex-trafficking trial postponed

Judge accepted request from Combs’s attorneys due to concerns that jurors might drop out over the weekend

The final phase of jury selection for the racketeering and sex-trafficking trial of the hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been postponed to Monday.

In a ruling on Friday morning, Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over the case in New York, decided that jury selection will now wrap up on Monday morning due to concerns that jurors might drop out over the weekend if the panel was finalized on Friday as originally planned.

Does video game monetisation harm children – and what is Australia doing about it?

Games like Roblox are played by millions of children globally – but some researchers warn dark design patterns embedded in them are difficult to avoid

Over the last decade, Dean has amassed a healthy collection of video games, from smash hits to cult classics. His digital library is like a modern day Blockbuster, all readily accessible with just a click or two. But his son, Sam, has eyes for only one video game: Roblox, the behemoth virtual universe-slash-video game that’s among the most popular on the planet.