84 m. ago Emery engineering has Rashford and Aston Villa on the rise for FA Cup

Manager’s changeable lineups have pushed striker to usurp Ollie Watkins and likely lead the attack at WembleyUnai Emery keeps his Aston Villa players on their toes. Sometimes he tells his squad the lineup the day before a game, on other occasions half an hour before they depart the team hotel for the stadium on a match day. Training tends to offer some clues but of late there have been surprises. Emery, a hugely emotional character, has been known to make impulsive, snap calls. Morgan Rogers, a rare mainstay and one of Villa’s trio of undroppables, recently described how his manager’s decision‑making can feel like flip‑of-the-coin stuff.When the teamsheets are released an hour before kick-off at Wembley on Saturday, the eyeballs will jump towards the most intriguing selection dilemma: will Emery favour Marcus Rashford or Ollie Watkins? Continue reading...

Science

2 h. ago The Guardian view on Trump v universities: essential institutions must defend themselves | Editorial

Harvard is leading the pushback because it can afford to fight. Others are realising that they can’t afford not toEnfeebling universities or seizing control is an early chapter in the authoritarian playbook, studied eagerly by the likes of Viktor Orbán in Hungary. “Would-be authoritarians and one-party states centrally target universities with the aim of restricting dissent,” Jason Stanley, a scholar of fascism at Yale, wrote in the Guardian in September. Last month, he announced that he was leaving the US for Canada because of the political climate and particularly the battle over higher education.It is not merely that universities are often bastions of liberal attitudes and hotbeds for protest. They also constitute one of the critical institutions of civil society; they are a bulwark of democracy. The Trump administration is taking on judges, lawyers, NGOs and the media: it would be astonishing if universities were not on the list. They embody the importance of knowledge, rational...

Politics

2 h. ago The Guardian view on posthumously publishing Joan Didion: goodbye to all that | Editorial

Would the legendary American writer have welcomed the publication of her therapy notes? It seems unlikelyJoan Didion entered the fray on the publication of Ernest Hemingway’s unfinished final manuscript in an essay titled Last Words in 1998: “You think something is in shape to be published or you don’t, and Hemingway didn’t,” she wrote. You believe a writer’s unpublished work is fair game after their death or you don’t, and Didion – it would seem – didn’t.Debate about the ethics of posthumous publication has been ignited once more, this time with Didion at its centre. After the writer’s death in 2021, about 150 pages were found in a file next to her desk. These were meticulous accounts of sessions with her psychiatrist, from 1999 to 2003, focused mainly on her adopted daughter Quintana, who was spiralling into alcoholism. Addressed to her husband, screenwriter John Gregory Dunne, this journal has been published under the title Notes to John. “No restrictions were put on access,...

Politics

3 h. ago Homeowners ditch popular garden item after realising it attracts rat

Homeowners are starting to realise there's one popular garden item which could be attracting rats - without them even realising - and it's quite eye-opening

Politics

3 h. ago FBI arrests Wisconsin judge and accuses her of obstructing immigration officials

Hannah Dugan apprehended in courthouse where she works after agency says she helped man evade authoritiesUS politics live – latest updatesThe FBI on Friday arrested a judge whom the agency accused of obstruction after it said she helped a man evade US immigration authorities as they were seeking to arrest him at her courthouse.The county circuit judge, Hannah Dugan, was apprehended in the courthouse where she works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at 8.30am local time on Friday on charges of obstruction, a spokesperson for the US Marshals Service confirmed to the Guardian. Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago Ukraine has exposed Trump’s true identity: as a vandal, an autocrat, a gangster and a fool | Jonathan Freedland

This presidency places authoritarian ambition above all – and now the people of Ukraine are paying the priceTo see the true face of Donald Trump, look no further than Ukraine. Laid bare in his handling of that issue are not only his myriad weaknesses, but also the danger he poses to his own country and the wider world – to say nothing of the battered people of Ukraine itself.Don’t be fooled by the mild, vaguely theatrical rebuke Trump issued to Vladimir Putin on Thursday after Moscow unleashed a deadly wave of drone strikes on Kyiv, killing 12 and injuring dozens: “Vladimir, STOP!” Pay attention instead to the fact that, in the nearly 100 days since Trump took office, the US has essentially switched sides in the battle between Putin’s Russia and democratic Ukraine, backing the invaders against the invaded.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and the host of the Politics Weekly America podcast100 days of Trump’s presidency, with Jonathan Freedland and guests. On 30 April, join ...

Politics

4 h. ago Your Guardian Sport weekend: Liverpool on verge, FA Cup semis, Women’s Six Nations finale and London Marathon

Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports Continue reading...

Sport

4 h. ago Buying your first home in 2025? Here’s everything you need to know

You should be aware of extra costs beyond the deposit - and of what’s happening with interest rates

Politics

5 h. ago 'Worrying' surge in Victorian disease resistant to antibiotics is 'ticking time bomb', expert warns

Cases of a Victorian-era lung disease continue to rise in England and experts warn its growing resistance to antibiotics is a "huge concern"

Events

5 h. ago 'Excessive' Battersea riverside tower block plans rejected by councillors

Councillors voted unanimously to refuse planning permission for the development at a Wandsworth council planning meeting held on Thursday

Science

5 h. ago Here are 16 artists who rose to fame on TikTok, including Scotland's own Nathan Evans & Katie Gregson

From Nathan Evans and Katie Gregson-MacLeod to Olivia Rodrigo and Doja Cat, here are 16 famous musicians whose rise to fame was helped by TikTok.

Politics

5 h. ago Outrageous Homes is returning to Channel 4 and they're looking for Welsh people

The popular property show is back - and they want to see the weird and the wonderful homes of Wales in all their glory, and the people who live in them

Politics

7 h. ago Putin and Witkoff meet in Kremlin after car bomb kills Russian general near Moscow – Europe live

US envoy and Russian leader hold planned meeting following the death of Lt Gen Yaroslav Moskalik in BalashikhaPjotr Sauer is a Russian affairs reporter for the GuardianA senior Russian military official was killed in a car explosion near Moscow on Friday, just hours before a Kremlin meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. Continue reading...

Events

7 h. ago Black grouse courtship and first pick of the NFL draft: photos of the day – Friday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Events

7 h. ago 'We are not the story': Former Newsnight presenter Kirsty Walk blasts opinionated BBC presenters

Kirsty Wark has spoken out against the rise of opinionated presenters at the BBC, insisting it is not the role of broadcasters to share personal views.

Politics

8 h. ago 'Bone collector' caterpillar wears the bodies of its prey like a serial killer

The newly-discovered species has yet to be given a scientific name but, due to its trophy gathering behaviour, has been given the chilling 'bone collector' moniker

Events

8 h. ago ‘I like the weird and the offbeat’: the rise of the UK property guardians

Older people from more diverse backgrounds are now taking advantage of reduced rents in often unusual spacesA top-floor, open plan property in a trendy east London neighbourhood would be expected to set you back thousands of pounds a month, but Luke Williams is paying just a fraction of that.The 45-year-old programme manager is one of a growing number of professionals turning to property guardianship – a housing arrangement where people can live in vacant buildings in exchange for reduced rent. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Do this garden job in the morning or risk a slug invasion, say experts

There are ways to keep slugs away from your garden and one is a simple job which has to be done at a certain time of day

Events

8 h. ago Microsoft says everyone will be a boss in the future – of AI employees

Tech company predicts rise of ‘frontier firms’ – where a human worker directs AI agents to carry out tasksMicrosoft has good news for anyone with corner office ambitions. In the future we’re all going to be bosses – of AI employees.The tech company is predicting the rise of a new kind of business, called a “frontier firm”, where ultimately a human worker directs autonomous artificial intelligence agents to carry out tasks. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Liver King unmasked: Netflix’s explosive documentary reveals truth behind raw meat influencer’s £75m empire

Whether you’re fascinated, horrified, or just curious, this doc about the rise and fall of the star who ate raw liver daily and fooled millions is a must-watch

Economics