77 m. ago Trump thinks he is shaping the Middle East. Instead, it’s Gulf states that will dictate US foreign policy | Simon Tisdall

The US president travels to meet the region’s leaders facing an uncomfortable reality: he may need them more than they need him Donald Trump is accustomed to getting his own way. That could change next week when he’s confronted by the mess he’s making in the Middle East. As he begins a three-day trip to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, the US president is promising great things. As ever, he’s delusional. The reality is that reckless, incoherent and neglectful US regional policies are failing across the board. A fundamental course correction is urgently required.Gulf leaders have the leverage to set Trump straight, if they decide to use it. He relies on them to an unprecedented degree – far more than on Europe – as diplomatic interlocutors, security partners and financial backers. His approach to Palestine, which is on the brink of a second Nakba (catastrophe), is a mix of prejudice, cruelty and sheer ignorance. Without Arab help, the US and Israel may remain trapped indefinitely in ...

Politics

2 h. ago To my newborn son: I am absent not out of apathy, but conviction | Mahmoud Khalil

Deen, the grief I feel being apart from you is one drop in a sea of sorrow Palestinian families have drowned in for generationsYaba Deen,* it has been two weeks since you were born, and these are my first words to you.In the early hours of 21 April, I waited on the other end of a phone as your mother labored to bring you into this world. I listened to her pained breaths and tried to speak comforting words into her ear over the crackling line. During your first moments, I buried my face in my arms and kept my voice low so that the 70 other men sleeping in this concrete room would not see my cloudy eyes or hear my voice catch. I feel suffocated by my rage and the cruelty of a system that deprived your mother and me of sharing this experience. Why do faceless politicians have the power to strip human beings of their divine moments? Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago There is suffering everywhere you look, says mother of emaciated baby girl trapped in Gaza

Babies such as Siwar Ashour are suffering from malnutrition as crucial supplies run out amid Israel’s total blockade on aidSiwar Ashour was born into war and hunger and has known nothing else. She is now in real danger of dying without ever having known a moment of peace or contentment.The six-month-old Palestinian girl, whose painfully emaciated body symbolised the deliberate starvation of Gaza when she appeared on the BBC this week, was only 2.5kg when she was born on 20 November last year. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Rümeysa Öztürk, Tufts student held by Ice, vows to continue legal action after jail release

PhD student says she is excited to get back to her studies during what has been a ‘very difficult’ timeA Tufts University student from Turkey has returned to Boston, one day after being released from a Louisiana immigration detention center where she was held for more than six weeks after being arrested for her political speech. Rümeysa Öztürk told reporters at Logan Airport on Saturday that she was excited to get back to her studies during what has been a “very difficult” period. “In the last 45 days, I lost both my freedom and also my education during a crucial time for my doctoral studies,” she said. “But I am so grateful for all the support, kindness and care.” A federal judge ordered Öztürk’s release Friday pending a final decision on her claim that she was illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing her university’s response to Israel and the war in Gaza.She filed a lawsuit challenging her detention now assigned to US district judge William Session...

Events

3 h. ago An Alaska Mother's Day tradition: Mingling with ice age survivors on a farm

It is one of Alaska’s favorite Mother’s Day traditions, getting up close and personal with animals that have survived the ice age

Events

4 h. ago Vancouer Island is Canada's coolest and easier to visit than you might think

Victoria's secret - with a heady mix of old and new, Dale Spridgeon gets a quick fix of Vancouver Island and British Columbia's delightful capital that is full of surprises

Politics

5 h. ago Huge £1bn EU airport where chaos forced its closure after just 4 years

Despite a massive investment of over £1bn, an unfortunate mix of permit and planning hiccups saw this Spanish airport close less than four years after opening

Economics

5 h. ago Jennifer Aniston 'furious' with police for revealing address of LA home as Friends' star fears she may be forced to sell $21 million property after her front gate was rammed by 'stalker'

A source said: 'Jen is furious with the LAPD for releasing where she lives. They gave her exact block address. Since the incident she has had fans coming to her gate, hoping to get a glimpse of her'

Society

5 h. ago Furious builder fears he will never see £273k owed to him by celebrity 'jean queen' fashion designer after she failed to pay for restoration of Grade II

EXCLUSIVE: a court ordered Ms Thornton's company to pay Keith Elliott £273,000 over his construction firm's unpaid invoices for its work to help create a boutique hotel and living space.

Economics

6 h. ago Wendy Williams posts cryptic Mother's Day message about 'horrific situation' amid guardianship drama

The TV star has been residing at an assisted living facility in the state of New York after being placed under the guardianship of Sabrina Morrissey in 2022.

Politics

7 h. ago Jennifer Aniston 'furious' with police for revealing address of LA home as Friends' star fears she may be forced to sell £16 million property after her front gate was rammed by 'stalker'

A source said: 'Jen is furious with the LAPD for releasing where she lives. They gave her exact block address. Since the incident she has had fans coming to her gate, hoping to get a glimpse of her'

Economics

7 h. ago Mum wasn’t thrilled with my tattoos, then I suggested she get one too | Mike Hohnen

To my surprise, Mum agreed without any hesitation. She chose a symbol dedicated to her late friend – and, in the process, we discovered more about each otherMum was always a rebel. She spent her youth sneaking into discos and living with rock bands, so it was awfully tough to shock her with anything we did growing up. However, in 2001, when my older brother, Mathew, phoned home to say he got a tattoo in a back alley in Thailand, well, that just about did it. Mum was never religious, but that night, so concerned Mathew would catch some horrible disease or infection, she prayed.Then, right after my 18th birthday in 2008, my own tattoo journey began. My mother’s fears around the risk of diseases from tattoos, such as hepatitis, had faded, but other stigmas still lingered. When I told Mum I had made an appointment to get my first tattoo at a professional studio in Sydney, it was my prospects, not my health, that worried her – how it would affect my ability to find work, or whether I wou...

Politics

7 h. ago Danny Dyer launches into furious tirade against EastEnders as he brands scripts 's**t', calls co

The actor, 47, starred as Mick Carter on the BBC show for nine years, earning a whopping quarter of a million pounds a year at the height of hit stint, before his explosive exit in 2023.

Economics

7 h. ago Furious builder who helped restore Australian fashion designer Donna Ida Thornton's rural Devonshire mansion claims the 'jean queen' turned lady of the manor still owes his construction firm £273,000

Ms Thornton's designs are a favourite of the Princess of Wales as well as celebrities such as Amanda Holden , and she has told how her denim empire enabled her to become lady of the manor.

Economics

8 h. ago How Pope Leo's childhood home became drug den following the death of his parents

The first American Pope in history lived in the house for two decades with his father Louis, a teacher, and librarian mother Mildred and two brothers.

Society

10 h. ago Miley Cyrus breaks silence on family feud rumours with emotional statement

Miley Cyrus has broken her silence on rumours of a family feud with dad Billy Ray Cyrus and mum Tish Cyrus after her mother unfollowed the actress and singer on social media

Politics

13 h. ago Nepo baby whose mother is an iconic soap legend nabs huge modelling gig

The novice model looked nothing like her actress mother as the EastEnders legend shared a snap of her daughter to celebrate her new glamourous gig.

Politics

13 h. ago Dead man's fans again! Hundreds of Motörhead fans arrive in Stoke as statue of front man Lemmy famous for their hit Ace Of Spades is unveiled in his home town

The two-metre-tall tribute to the renowned musician, born Ian Fraser Kilmister, has been erected on Market Place in his hometown of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, nearly a decade on from his death.

Events

13 h. ago Are GTA 6 and Red Dead Redemption in the same universe? All we know after Trailer 2 hint

As fans dig deeper into the latest Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer, they've found what appears to be confirmation that the game will take place in the same universe as Red Dead Redemption

Events

13 h. ago Man, in his 70s, dead after two house fires in Bilston as police investigate

West Midlands Fire Service was called to the two fires on neighbouring roads near Wolverhampton in the early hours of Saturday morning

Events