BBC staff strike as new director general warns of ‘tough choices’ on his first day 18. May 2026 (14:08) Matt Brittin begins task of finding budget cuts as World Service and Radio 4 journalists protest against plan to increase workloadsMatt Brittin, the BBC’s new director general, has warned staff that “tough choices are unavoidable” under his tenure, as his first day coincided with a strike by a group of the corporation’s journalists.Brittin, formerly Google’s most senior executive in Europe, arrived at the corporation’s New Broadcasting House while a group of journalists from the World Service’s Newshour and Radio 4’s The World Tonight were picketing in response to a plan to increase their workloads. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump cuts to weather data could make forecasts less reliable, warn experts 18. May 2026 (14:00) Use of AI is a valuable tool for weather prediction but only when it’s trained with ample data, experts sayAs the US prepares for hurricane season and a summer of record-breaking heat, experts fear the Trump administration’s cuts to climate and weather data programming could make the federal government’s weather forecasts less reliable when they are needed most.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) late last year launched a suite of artificial intelligence-powered global weather forecast models which it said would improve “speed, efficiency, and accuracy”. In March, an agency official said those models are being trained with centuries of weather data. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Shakira in line for €55m payout as Spanish court rules tax fines were wrong 18. May 2026 (13:01) Singer says she has faced ‘years of public shaming’, as court rules tax agency made mistake over her 2011 statusA court in Madrid has ordered Spain’s tax authority to pay Shakira back more than €55m (£48m) after ruling that it had wrongly imposed huge fines on the Colombian singer and philanthropist because it had made mistakes over her tax status.In a statement released on Monday, the Audiencia Nacional said it had accepted an appeal from Shakira against the fine she was handed five years ago after the Agencia Tributaria claimed she had not paid the necessary tax in Spain in 2011. At that time, the singer was in a relationship with the FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Magic mushrooms could be effective treatment for cocaine addiction, study shows 18. May 2026 (13:00) Participants who got single dose of psilocybin were more likely to abstain from cocaine than those who got placeboResults from a new clinical trial show that a single dose of psilocybin could be an effective treatment for cocaine addiction.The study, published in Jama Network Open this month, showed that 19 participants who received a single dose of psilocybin were more likely to abstain from cocaine than 17 participants who received a placebo of diphenhydramine, a common antihistamine. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Dr Hook co-frontman Dennis Locorriere dies aged 76 18. May 2026 (12:23) Singer took lead vocal on UK No 1 When You’re in Love With a Beautiful Woman, and had numerous other transatlantic hitsDennis Locorriere, the guitarist and singer with the chart-topping soft rock band Dr Hook, has died aged 76.A statement from his management company said he died on Saturday “after a long and courageous battle with kidney disease … Dennis faced his illness with remarkable strength, dignity, and resilience throughout, and remained deeply cherished by all who knew him”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Weather tracker: Europe braces for swing from Arctic chill to extreme heat 18. May 2026 (11:38) Temperatures in France and England could rise by 15C, while hot air could to give way to snow in parts of USAfter a prolonged spell of cool conditions across much of Europe, a dramatic swing in temperatures is expected in the coming days as warmer air surges north into western and central parts of the continent.A large blocking high over the North Atlantic and slow-moving low pressure across southern Scandinavia dragged Arctic air southwards last week, sending temperatures 10-15C below the seasonal average for more than a week. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Middle East crisis live: Trump warns ‘clock is ticking’ for Iran to reach peace deal 18. May 2026 (11:38) US president says there ‘won’t be anything left’ of country if it doesn’t come to an agreementUAE blames Iran or its proxies for drone strike fire near nuclear plantIsraeli forces were intercepting a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on Monday after it set sail from Turkey last week.“Military vessels are currently intercepting our fleet and IDF forces are currently boarding the first of our boats in broad daylight,” the Global Sumud Flotilla posted on X. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Europe should pick negotiator for possible Russian talks, says Zelenskyy – Europe live 18. May 2026 (11:32) Ukrainian president says Europe must ‘have a strong voice and presence’ amid search for candidate who could lead any talks with PutinWe are also getting some lines from the Kremlin, via Reuters, saying that they consider the peace process with Ukraine to be “on pause,” although they expect it to be resumed soon.The Russian authorities also dismissed Zelenskyy’s warnings from last week that Russia could be preparing to fuel the conflict further by opening another front against Ukraine or attacking a Nato country, saying “this is an attempt to escalate the situation” and not worthy of a response. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘A book that should be read by all Australians’: Clare Wright wins book of the year at the NSW Literary awards 18. May 2026 (11:30) The historian won $50,000 for her nonfiction book Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions, which judges praised as deeply researched, ‘highly original’ and ‘vividly alive’A “highly original” nonfiction by Melbourne historian Clare Wright, charting the creation of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions – a seminal moment in Australia’s history of land rights – has won book of the year at the NSW literary awards.The Petitions were landmark documents presented by Yolŋu elders to the Australian parliament in 1963 on painted bark frames, which sought government intervention after a portion of Arnhem Land Reserve was licensed to a French mining company. Though it didn’t halt mining on the land, the petitions led to the first land rights legislation in Australia, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Drones reshape war in Colombia as deaths and injuries mount 18. May 2026 (11:00) Civilians left increasingly exposed as a dangerous new front opens up in the country’s decades-old conflictAs night fell over southern Colombia, and a group of children began their weekly Tuesday football match, a drone appeared overhead.The children looked up, and the drone dropped a grenade, its blast killing a 10-year-old boy and injuring 12 more civilians. The child’s death, in southern Cauca in 2024, marked the first known time a person in the country had been killed in a weaponised drone attack. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
