Sarah Eberle wins top prize at Chelsea Flower Show 19. May 2026 (16:30) Garden featuring giant woman carved out of tree makes designer one of few female artists to winFeaturing a giant, sleeping woman carved out of a fallen tree, Sarah Eberle’s hauntingly beautiful garden has won the top prize at the Chelsea flower show.Eberle, now the Royal Horticultural Society’s most decorated gardener, is a rarity; she is one of only three women to have won best in show at Chelsea as solo designers in its 100-year history. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Children’s reading should prioritise pleasure over learning, says laureate 19. May 2026 (16:23) Frank Cottrell-Boyce tells MPs to focus on early-years reading, with more support for parents and nursery workersThe children’s laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce has urged the government to prioritise pleasure over learning in children’s reading.Giving evidence to MPs on the education committee, which is investigating the crisis in reading for pleasure among children, the screenwriter and novelist said conversations about children’s reading too often revert to attainment in school. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Clint Eastwood cannon from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly traced to Spanish museum 19. May 2026 (16:15) Enthusiasts track down weapon used to fell fleeing Eli Wallach amid preparations for 60th anniversary of film’s releaseSix decades after Clint Eastwood nonchalantly used a cigar to light its fuse and fell a fleeing Eli Wallach, the Manchester-made cannon that appeared in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly has been rediscovered in a museum in south-east Spain.The artillery piece was tracked down by the Sad Hill Cultural Association, a group of volunteers dedicated to restoring the graveyard near Burgos, northern Spain, built for the climax of Sergio Leone’s seminal spaghetti western. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Boy, 9, recounts deadly shooting at San Diego mosque: ‘We saw a bunch of bad stuff’ 19. May 2026 (16:14) Odai Shanah details being among the children forced to huddle in a classroom during attack at the Islamic CenterA nine-year-old boy has described witnessing Monday’s deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, saying that he “saw bad stuff” and huddled in closet during the attack.Odai Shanah, whose mother emigrated from war-torn Gaza and settled in southern California two decades ago, told Reuters that he heard a barrage of gunshots coming from outside the walls of the mosque complex, which also houses an Islamic day school. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Jackson Pollock painting sells for record $181m at Christie’s in New York 19. May 2026 (16:08) Abstract expressionist’s Number 7A, 1948, becomes the fourth most expensive work ever sold at auctionA Jackson Pollock painting has sold for a record $181.2m (£135.3m) at Christie’s in New York.The sale on Monday made Number 7A, 1948 the fourth most expensive work ever sold at auction, according to ARTnews. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich says ICC is seeking his arrest 19. May 2026 (16:02) Smotrich vows to retaliate by waging ‘war’ on Palestinian Authority and orders evacuation of a West Bank villageMiddle East crisis – live updatesIsrael’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has said the international criminal court (ICC) prosecutor has sought a confidential arrest warrant against him, and promised to retaliate by waging a “war” on the Palestinian Authority.He said he had ordered the evacuation of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as part of measures against the authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank under agreements with Israel. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Why the lessons of the DRC’s last Ebola outbreak are being tested again 19. May 2026 (14:51) The emergency caused by the Bundibugyo variant has revived fears shaped by conflict, mistrust and delayed detection, even as the WHO moves quicklyTo be around the centre of an Ebola outbreak is to become used to the smell of chlorine. At hospitals and government buildings, surfaces are sprayed with it and hands washed in a 0.05% solution that can kill the virus in 60 seconds.Infrared handheld thermometers take temperatures at airports and border crossings. Any indication of a fever prevents passage. Contact-tracing teams crisscross the countryside. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Minister defends Mandelson file redactions and says documents to be released in June – UK politics live 19. May 2026 (14:47) Darren Jones says release will be ‘one of the largest government publications ever laid in this house’On Friday parliament’s intelligence and security committee issued a damning statement about the government’s response to the humble address requiring the release of documents relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US. It said the government was not fully complying with what is in effect an instruction from the Commons. For good measure, the committee also accuses the government of not keeping proper record of its decisions and of doing far too much business by WhatsApp. Here is our story, by Henry Dyer and Paul Lewis.At 12.30pm Jeremy Wright, deputy chair of the committee and a former Tory attorney general, will ask a Commons urgent question about this. He is asking Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the PM, to reply. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
New York federal judge bans ICE arrests at Manhattan immigration courts 19. May 2026 (14:47) Ruling blocks detentions at three federal courthouses except in rare cases amid protests over tacticsA federal judge in New York has banned US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting immigrants in or around three federal courthouses in lower Manhattan, where vigorous confrontations have played out since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency.Under an order issued on Monday by P Kevin Castel, a US district judge, federal agents are no longer allowed to make arrests of immigrants except under exceptional circumstances at the sites where hearings are held before immigration judges. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Married at First Sight rape allegations are concerning, says ex-Channel 4 boss 19. May 2026 (14:39) Alex Mahon backs investigations into MAFS UK as Channel 4 removes all seasons of show from streaming platformRape allegations made by women who appeared on Married at First Sight (MAFS) UK are “very serious and concerning”, a former Channel 4 chief executive has said.Alex Mahon said launching an investigation was “the right thing” to do and the seriousness of the allegations meant current protocols around ensuring reality TV programmes met their duty of care to participants would need to be reviewed to ensure “enough is being done”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
