Top World News

May 19, 2026 - World

Contest seen as latest test of president’s grip on GOP as he tells reporters at White House that he will be endorsing candidate for senate race in TexasSign up for the Breaking News US emailTrump told reporters he is giving Iran until the weekend or early next week, to make a deal to end the war.He said he was within an hour of deciding to resume bombing the Middle Eastern country but that his negotiators had reported progress in talks.I never tell anybody when. But they knew that we were very close. I would say we were. I was an hour away from making the decision to go today, and we would probably not be talking about a beautiful ballroom today. We’d be talking about that.I had made the decision, so they called up. They had heard I made the decision. They said, sir, could you give us a couple of more days because we think they’re being reasonable.Well, I mean, I’m saying 2 or 3 days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday something. Maybe early next week, a limited period of time, because we can’t let them have a new nuclear weapon. Continue reading...

May 19, 2026 - World

A long and bitter legal battle between tech billionaires Elon Musk and Sam Altman has culminated in victory for the OpenAI boss. Musk has vowed to appeal the verdict. But what did the trial reveal about big tech and the global AI race?Lucy Hough speaks to Guardian US tech and power reporter Nick Robins-Early Continue reading...

May 19, 2026 - World

London’s biggest productions could be hit if industrial action over pay and conditions goes ahead, says unionSome of the biggest West End shows could be forced to temporarily close during a “summer of turbulence” in London after union members voted to move towards strike action over a dispute about pay and conditions.An indicative ballot held by the performing arts union, Equity, was overwhelmingly backed by its membership: 98% voted yes to potential strikes. The result means the union now has the right to have a statutory ballot on taking industrial action. Continue reading...

May 19, 2026 - World

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...

May 19, 2026 - World

Chief commander Alexus Grynkewich also confirms the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Europe in line with Trump’s plansThe latest drone alerts come as Ukraine and Latvia were this morning forced by Russia to repeatedly refute Moscow’s claims that Kyiv was preparing attacks against Russia from Latvia.Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed that Ukraine does not use the territory of Latvia for its operations against Russia and refuted Moscow’s claims.“Russia is lying about Latvia allowing any country to use Latvian airspace and territory to launch attacks against Russia or any other country.” Continue reading...