‘Watching us is like watching a cousin’: the online creators reshaping Africa’s news ecosphere 09. May 2026 (15:00) Africa is leading a change in news consumption habits – and transforming the lives of current affairs enthusiastsLast year Amahle-Imvelo Jaxa posted a TikTok video about South African peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She explained an argument that had erupted between the South African and Rwandan presidents, then listed roles different South African groups would play in a war with Rwanda: the Sotho strategists, the Xhosa negotiators, the Afrikaner muscle. The video went viral and she racked up 100,000 followers in three days.This breakout video enabled Jaxa to pivot from being a marketing and restaurant entrepreneur to a “professional yapper and current affairs enthusiast”, part of a group of content creators explaining the news to young South Africans who, like many of their global peers, are eschewing traditional news in favour of social media. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump airport branding deal opens new route to profit for family 09. May 2026 (15:00) Florida agreement grants US president control of licensing and merchandising at renamed airport, analysts sayIt was a week in which one prominent name in aviation, Spirit Airlines, disappeared, killed in the company’s own admission by high fuel prices resulting from Donald Trump’s war in Iran.Within days, however, another moniker was already flying high in industry circles: the president’s own. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
British leader Keir Starmer under pressure after heavy election losses 09. May 2026 (14:54) Labour party loses more than 1,400 English council seats and crashes out in Welsh and Scottish parliament votes• UK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer, the British prime minister, is facing increasing pressure to set a date for his departure after elections across much of the country resulted in massive losses for his ruling Labour party.With the bulk of results now counted after voting on Thursday, Labour had lost more than 1,400 representatives from English councils, the local government structures that deliver many neighbourhood services. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Soil testing at California house turns up evidence of human remains in Kirstin Smart case 09. May 2026 (14:49) Home reportedly occupied by mother of Paul Flores, who was convicted of killing college student who went missing in 1996Soil testing at a property linked to the man convicted in the murder of California college student Kristin Smart, who disappeared in 1996, turned up evidence of human remains, a state sheriff announced on Friday.“We can’t call it Kristin, but there’s evidence to support human remains – there at one time,” the San Luis Obispo county sheriff, Ian Parkinson, said at a news conference. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Two men charged over alleged filming of antisemitic TikTok videos in London 09. May 2026 (14:48) Adam Bedoui, 20, and Abdelkader Amir Bousloub, 21, charged with religiously aggravated harassmentTwo men have been charged with religiously aggravated harassment over allegations they travelled to north London to film antisemitic TikTok videos.Officers were called to reports of a hate crime involving a group of men allegedly harassing members of the Jewish community on Clapton Common at about 9pm on Thursday, the Metropolitan police said. Officers arrested five men in Hackney after the incident, it added. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Indonesian rescuers retrieve body from Mount Dukono as search continues 09. May 2026 (14:43) Woman recovered after volcanic eruption on remote island, while operation to find two missing Singaporeans goes onRescuers on Saturday recovered the body of an Indonesian woman who was caught in a volcanic eruption on Mount Dukono on Indonesia’s remote island of Halmahera, as search operations continued for the bodies of two Singaporeans, officials said.The dead hikers were among 20 who set out to scale the 1,355m (4,445ft) volcano in defiance of safety restrictions and became stranded when Dukono erupted early on Friday, spewing a thick ash column about 6 miles (10km) into the air. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Péter Magyar sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister to end 16-year Orbán era 09. May 2026 (14:42) Jubilation in Budapest as Péter Magyar becomes leader and invites people to ‘step through gate of regime change’• Europe live – latest updatesThe pro-European centre-right leader Péter Magyar has been sworn in as prime minister of Hungary, marking the official end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.Saturday’s ceremony – during which Magyar had invited people to join him to “write Hungarian history” together and “step through the gate of regime change” – comes a month after his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Guardian reporter and colleagues detained and beaten by Somali police 09. May 2026 (14:27) Mohamed Bulbul arrested in Mogadishu after covering case of woman allegedly being tortured in prisonA journalist who covered the case of a woman who said she was being tortured in prison was detained and beaten with pistols by Somali authorities, along with two others, for his reporting for the Guardian.Mohamed Bulbul was arrested with the journalists Abdihafid Nor Barre and Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud on Friday evening while in a restaurant in the centre of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. They said they were assaulted by members of Somalia’s US-trained counter-terrorism police unit and taken to be questioned by police. All three were released in the early hours of Saturday morning. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Officer who cracked serial rapist Worboys case says justice system ‘close to exploding’ 09. May 2026 (14:00) Exclusive: Tim Grattan-Kane says similar crimes still happening with rise of drink spiking in overstretched system as ITV releases drama on caseThe police officer in charge of solving the case of the “black-cab rapist” John Worboys says similar crimes could still be happening today as the criminal justice system is “close to exploding”.Tim Grattan-Kane was the senior investigating officer of the team who arrested Worboys in 2008 after they pieced together the accounts of numerous women who had reported being given drugged champagne by a London taxi driver, who then assaulted them. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Power blazer? Victoria Starmer marks key political moment in cream 09. May 2026 (13:00) PM’s wife, accompanying him to the polls, follows a long line of women to mobilise the jacket when stakes are high Not a white flag but a cream blazer was what Victoria Starmer chose to wear to accompany her husband, the prime minister, to vote on Thursday morning. She follows in a long line of women who have mobilised the power blazer at high-stakes moments.Starmer’s, which looks much like a £1,690 ivory Alexander McQueen crepe design, comes hot on the lapels of another. In episode one of the new series of Amandaland, Amanda wears a beige double-breasted iteration in a high-stakes fictional moment: to give a toe-curling talk about her (not shallow) lifestyle brand Senuous as part of careers week at her kid’s school. Earlier in the week, the Princess of Wales launched the Foundations for Life report wearing a creamy beige high-waisted Roland Mouret suit. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
