Georgia’s Republican races for governor and US Senate head to June runoffs 20. May 2026 (06:14) Keisha Lance Bottoms wins Democratic primary outright, while Republicans Burt Jones and Rick Jackson will face offThe Republican primary campaign for Georgia governor will go to a June runoff, with the lieutenant governor Burt Jones facing off against healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson – and locking out Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state and longtime political enemy of Donald Trump who was on track to finish a distant third.The Republican race to challenge the US senator Jon Ossoff remains similarly unresolved, while former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic primary for governor outright. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘How are we going to survive this?’ Wellington faces six-month wait to halt sewage spill 20. May 2026 (05:44) Millions of litres of sewage have been spilling into the capital city’s waters since February after the catastrophic failure of a Moa Point wastewater plantA fix to stop millions of litres of sewage continuing to pour into the waters off the coast of New Zealand’s capital, Wellington will be in place by November, officials have said, with full repairs at the cost of NZ$53.5m by late next year.More than 100 days since the catastrophic failure of the city’s wastewater treatment plant on 4 February, a mix of raw and partially screened human effluent is still being flushed directly into the Pacific Ocean. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
British diplomat James Roscoe leaves posting at Washington embassy 20. May 2026 (04:30) Abrupt exit for charge d’affaires who stood in after Peter Mandelson’s removal as US ambassadorA diplomat in Washington who stood in as interim ambassador after the sacking of Peter Mandelson has abruptly left his post.In a brief statement, a Foreign Office spokesman said: “James Roscoe has left his post.” No further explanation was officially given on Tuesday night for the departure of Roscoe, who had served as deputy head of mission at the British embassy since 2022. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Did Trump really rescue Venezuela? – podcast 20. May 2026 (04:00) Tom Phillips on life in the country four months after the US abduction of the former president Nicolás Maduro“The last time I flew out of Venezuela was right at the start of August 2024, just after the disputed presidential election,” the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, tells Annie Kelly.“It was a moment of real turmoil. There was a huge wave of repression that was unfolding as Nicolás Maduro tried to silence any kind of dissent to his bogus claim to have won that election. Thousands were thrown in prison, many were going underground, and journalists were racing to get out of the country.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Thailand tightens visa rules for tourists, citing crime by foreigners 20. May 2026 (02:58) Move brings an end to a 60 day visa-free stay that was agreed with 93 countries, including the UK, US and much of EuropeThailand is drastically cutting the length of visa-free stays for tourists from more than 90 countries in an effort to curb crime involving foreign nationals, officials said on Tuesday.Tourism is vital to the south-east Asian nation’s economy, but foreign arrivals are yet to return to their pre-Covid levels. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump critic Thomas Massie defeated in Kentucky Republican House primary 20. May 2026 (02:32) Massie says opponents ‘decided to buy the seat’ as victory for Ed Gallrein shows strength of president’s grip on partyMidterm primaries – live updatesDonald Trump displayed his supremacy over the Republican party on Tuesday when voters in northern Kentucky rejected the maverick congressman Thomas Massie in favour of the US president’s hand-picked challenger.Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy Seal and farmer who was recruited into the race by Trump, defeated the seven-term incumbent in a primary election in Kentucky’s fourth congressional district in what the president’s allies framed as a test of whether dissent could still exist inside today’s Republican party. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Google announces glasses are back and search is getting an AI makeover 20. May 2026 (02:03) At annual I/O conference, company debuts a product for everyday consumers to create autonomous AI agentsGoogle announced Tuesday that it would expand its search bar, the centerpiece of the most-visited website in the world, with a heavy dose of artificial intelligence. The tech giant is also trying its hand at hi-tech glasses again, more than a decade after wearers of its first eyewear were dubbed “glassholes” and laughed out of San Francisco.Google executives announced at the company’s annual conference for software developers, Google I/O, that its search box would accommodate longer and more specific queries than before – questions more like those people would ask one another than Search’s idiosyncratic syntax. The changes will direct users to engage directly with Google’s chatbot. The change to search is underpinned by the company’s new artificial intelligence model, Gemini 3.5, announced the same day. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Israeli strikes on Lebanon kill at least 19 as clashes with Hezbollah continue despite ceasefire 20. May 2026 (01:13) Single strike on the village of Deir Qanoun al Nahr in the coastal Tyre province killed 10, including three children and three women, health ministry saysIsraeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed at least 19 people, including four women and three children, Lebanon’s health ministry said, the latest in near-daily attacks from both sides that have not stopped despite a fragile, US-brokered ceasefire.Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the casualties or specific incidents, but said that between Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon, it had targeted more than 25 sites of Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Firm finds LA county officials did not discriminate in response to Eaton fire 20. May 2026 (01:11) Altadena group pans report as ‘pages of deflection’ and cites reliance on ‘department insiders’ rather than residentsLos Angeles county fire officials did not discriminate on the basis of race or socioeconomic status and did not delay in their evacuation orders during last year’s deadly Eaton fire in Altadena, a consulting firm found on Monday.At the behest of the county and its fire department, the California-based firm Citygate Associates conducted an investigation into how evacuation alerts were deployed last January, after emergency response officials came under fierce scrutiny for reported delays. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK supermarkets urged to consider voluntary price caps on essential foods 20. May 2026 (01:03) Retail sources rebuff government proposal as ‘unjustified’ and likely to push costs up across boardUK supermarkets have been asked by the government to consider freezing the prices of some essential foodstuffs to protect the public from inflation fuelled by the Middle East conflict.Retailers rejected the plan, criticising its potential cost amid rising taxes, fuel and energy costs and arguing it could push up prices for shoppers overall. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
