A 15-year-old girl, Chiedza Nyanjowa of Cheshire, died in hospital after getting into difficulty while swimming off Formby beach on Bank Holiday Monday (May 25). Emergency services were called to Albert Road at about 15:30 BST and she was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where Merseyside Police said she died on Saturday, May 30. Members of the public had tried to help and her family paid tribute, describing her as “bubbly” and saying she wanted to be a nurse. A post-mortem report has been passed to the Sefton coroner. Her death is being treated as the 13th water-related fatality linked to an unprecedented late-May heatwave that has driven many people to swim in rivers, lakes and coastal waters across the UK. Rescue and search teams have been active in multiple counties, with ongoing searches reported in Norfolk. The Royal Life Saving Society warned that cold water shock and low water temperatures heighten drowning risk despite soaring air temperatures and urged people to call 999 and use flotation aids rather than entering the water alone.

The Indian government has exempted raw cotton imports from customs duty and the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) for five months, effective June 1 through October 31, 2026. The finance ministry notification covers cotton under tariff heading 5201 and removes an effective duty of about 10.5% (5% basic customs duty, 5% AIDC and a 0.5% surcharge). The temporary relief aims to ease tight domestic supplies, lower input costs for textile and apparel manufacturers—particularly MSMEs—and boost export competitiveness amid global headwinds and higher domestic cotton prices. Industry bodies including the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) and FISME welcomed the move. Critics from the cotton trade and some farmer interests warn of potential price pressure on growers, foreign exchange outflows and losses for state purchases such as the Cotton Corporation of India if inventories are liquidated at lower prices. The waiver follows a similar measure that ran to December 31, 2025. India’s raw cotton imports jumped about 54.6% in FY26 to $1.86 billion while textile and apparel exports fell modestly, underscoring sector stress driving the policy.

Cricket great Sachin Tendulkar on May 31, 2026 urged the Indian Premier League to change playing conditions to rebalance bat and ball. Speaking at the ESPNcricinfo Awards in Ahmedabad ahead of the IPL 2026 final, he recommended scrapping the Impact Player rule (introduced in 2023), which allows mid-match substitutions that he says favour batting depth. Tendulkar also proposed altering the six-over powerplay by keeping the first four overs as a batting powerplay and allowing the fielding captain to take the remaining two overs at any point, with one additional fielder allowed outside the ring. Finally, he suggested increasing a bowler's quota from four overs to five so leading bowlers can influence more of an innings. His comments echo growing concern about high-scoring T20 games, batting-friendly surfaces and the diminishing role of bowlers and all-rounders. The proposals have already prompted debate among players, commentators and franchise stakeholders and could prompt formal consideration by IPL organisers and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Kenneth Law, 60, pleaded guilty on May 29, 2026 in Newmarket, Ontario to 14 counts of counselling or aiding suicide, admitting his online businesses sold sodium nitrite and asphyxiation equipment that were used in dozens of deaths. In an agreed statement of facts read to the Ontario Superior Court, Law acknowledged shipments linked to 14 Ontario victims aged 16 to 36 and to 79 deaths in Britain. Prosecutors said Law operated four companies and sent about 1,209 packages to addresses in 41 countries between January 2021 and April 2023, including 431 to the United States, 330 to Britain and 157 within Canada. Financial records show roughly C$296,000 in deposits from sales. Crown prosecutors said they will seek withdrawal of 14 first‑degree murder charges after sentencing because an Ontario Court of Appeal causation standard makes murder prosecutions unlikely. Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service and National Crime Agency will not seek extradition, saying Law should be sentenced in Canada; his sentencing is scheduled for September 2026. Bereaved families and campaigners have called for public inquiries into how online sales were allowed to continue.

A multi-storey commercial building collapsed on the evening of May 30 in Saidulajab (near Saket Metro station) in south Delhi, flattening into a heap of rubble and trapping occupants. The Delhi Fire Service received a distress call at about 7:44–7:45pm and multi-agency teams including the NDRF, police, municipal authorities, civil defence and local volunteers mounted a night-long rescue operation. Authorities and media reports say at least five people were later declared dead and eight injured; emergency teams and locals pulled roughly nine to ten people alive from the debris and rushed the injured to AIIMS Trauma Centre and other hospitals. The building housed coaching centres, offices, a student mess and paying-guest accommodation, and construction work was reportedly underway on upper floors. Eyewitnesses and locals cited poor-quality construction; officials said an investigation into ownership, permissions and possible lapses will follow as rescue operations wound down and recovery moved to clearing and forensic examination.

Victoria Police mounted an urgent manhunt on May 31, 2026, after a man allegedly stabbed two people at separate homes in Melbourne’s north and southeast and deliberately rammed a car into a Dandenong North house. Police say the first incident occurred about 7:30am at a Bradman Terrace address in Epping, where a man in his 40s known to the suspect sustained upper-body injuries and was taken to hospital in a stable condition. About 10:15am a silver Honda CR-V was driven into an Exner Street property in Dandenong North; the driver then allegedly attacked a woman in her 30s who was also known to him. Victoria Police described the woman as being taken to hospital in serious but stable condition. Officers described the suspect as of African appearance wearing a brown shirt and black pants. Authorities have warned the man may be armed, urged the public not to approach him, and asked anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage to contact Crime Stoppers or call Triple Zero. Investigators say the incidents appear targeted and are treating them as linked.

Seven of India’s 10 most valued companies saw a combined erosion of Rs 1.54 lakh crore in market valuation in the holiday-shortened week ended May 31, 2026, as investor sentiment turned risk-off and broader equity markets fell. The BSE Sensex slid 639.61 points (0.84%) and the NSE Nifty dropped 171.55 points (0.72%). Reliance Industries bore the largest hit, with market capitalisation falling by Rs 46,078.3 crore to Rs 17,87,039.40 crore. HDFC Bank lost Rs 33,333.06 crore to Rs 11,46,641.84 crore. Other decliners included Bharti Airtel (down Rs 25,408.96 crore), TCS (down Rs 22,920.58 crore), Hindustan Unilever (down Rs 13,169.46 crore), Bajaj Finance (down Rs 7,253.24 crore) and ICICI Bank (down Rs 6,311.41 crore). Offsetting gains came from Larsen & Toubro (up Rs 20,608.43 crore to Rs 5,60,836.64 crore), State Bank of India (up Rs 13,753.62 crore to Rs 8,89,831.54 crore) and LIC (up Rs 6,040.37 crore to Rs 5,20,484.06 crore). Despite the weekly falls, Reliance remained India’s most valued company.

Heated Rivalry dominated Saturday night’s scripted television gala at the Canadian Screen Awards, taking home 13 trophies including best direction and best writing for creator Jacob Tierney. The Crave drama’s haul also included acting and music honours — Sophie Nélisse won best supporting performer and Quebec artist Peter Peter picked up awards for original music and best song. CBC/Netflix comedy North of North, filmed in Nunavut, earned seven awards including best ensemble performance; Anna Lambe, Maika Harper and guest artist Tanya Tagaq were among its winners and creators Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril won best writing for a comedy. Other Saturday winners included Lifetime’s Dying in Plain Sight (best TV movie, best direction, lead performer Raffa Virago) and Netflix’s Wayward which took newly introduced Spotlight categories for Canadian work on international series, with Amanda Brugel winning a performance prize. The scripted gala was one of several ceremonies this week; marquee awards for lead acting and best series will be announced at Sunday’s televised ceremony hosted by Andrew Phung.

South Africa’s national football team missed a planned charter departure on May 31, 2026, en route to their World Cup training base in Pachuca, Mexico, after some players and officials had not received visas. The South African Football Association (SAFA) said it was working “around the clock” to resolve the paperwork and that the squad would continue training in Johannesburg until travel could be arranged. Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie publicly condemned the “SAFA travel and visa debacle,” demanding a report and action against those responsible. An emergency SAFA meeting was scheduled. The delay comes 11 days before South Africa open the tournament against co-hosts Mexico in Mexico City on June 11. Bafana Bafana also face the Czech Republic in Atlanta on June 18 and South Korea in Monterrey on June 24. The embarrassment follows an earlier administrative error in qualifying when a 2-0 win over Lesotho was overturned after an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, was fielded. SAFA provided few details on which officials or players were affected or on the expected timeframe for travel.

A wave of AI-driven demand is forcing major shifts across cloud and datacenter markets, exposing constraints in power, planning and capital. Analysts warn developers face grid and community pushback in the United States even as firms race to add capacity; UK planning reform proposals could insulate datacenter builds from judicial review. Large commercial bets are underway: Snowflake is reported to be committing about $6 billion to AWS Graviton CPUs and AI accelerators, while vendors and providers point to cheaper bare-metal cloud and evolving offerings as alternatives to on-prem hardware. National labs and research centres are also repurposing excess supercomputing capacity to offer private AI inference services, and engineers have open-sourced tools aimed at slashing AI operating costs. At the same time, cloud platforms continue to fold new models into their stacks — reports say AWS may integrate Elon Musk’s Grok into Bedrock — underscoring provider-led consolidation. The combined trends — soaring compute demand, energy and siting bottlenecks, heavy platform investments and cost-reduction efforts — are reshaping where and how AI workloads will be hosted.

Former world champion boxer Amir Khan and his wife Faryal Makhdoom are embroiled in High Court litigation after suing solicitor Faaryal (Faaryal) Hussain for libel over allegations she made on a 2023 podcast. The Khans seek up to £100,000 in damages and say the claims — including that Khan secretly recorded a sexual encounter, sent unsolicited explicit images, and pressured or blackmailed women — are false, malicious and unproven. Hussain filed a 21-page defence in May asserting the truth of the allegations and saying she acted in the public interest; her lawyers say two women became depressed after alleged interactions with Khan and that Makhdoom allegedly harassed some complainants. The defence also claims the couple’s reputation and TV work were hit, citing the BBC cancelling a fourth series of Meet The Khans and other programme impacts. No trial date has been set; the papers indicate both Khans could be required to give evidence if the case proceeds. The pair deny all allegations and have instructed lawyers to respond to Hussain’s defence.

Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell, 61, married his long-term partner Louise Gibbons in an intimate civil ceremony at Sale Registry Office in Trafford, Greater Manchester on May 30, 2026. The actor, who has played Kevin Webster on the long-running ITV soap since 1983, and Gibbons, 50, who became engaged in 2017 after dating since 2014, were surrounded by a small group of family and Coronation Street colleagues. Attending guests included Sally Dynevor, Alan Halsall, Joe Duttine, Sally Carman, Sue Devaney and others; reports say fewer than 30 people were present. Photographs and social posts from the day showed the couple leaving the registry office, greeting well-wishers and later celebrating at a nearby reception. Media accounts noted Le Vell sang for guests during the reception. The couple do not have children together; Le Vell has two children from a previous marriage to actress Janette Beverley. Coverage also recalled Le Vell’s well-documented personal struggles in the 2010s, including rehabilitation and legal costs, and his long tenure on the programme.

Multiple reports this week say the Kremlin is funneling tens of billions of dollars into state-directed anti‑ageing research that critics say could be aimed at extending Vladimir Putin’s hold on power. Tabloid and online outlets cite figures ranging from $26bn to $30bn (several point to a $28bn estimate reported by the Wall Street Journal) financed through a national “health preservation” initiative. Projects fast‑tracked include 3D bioprinting of tissues, xenotransplantation using genetically engineered pigs and a proposed gene‑therapy drug said to target the RAGE receptor to slow cellular ageing. The programme is said to be overseen by Putin’s daughter Maria Vorontsova and Kurchatov Institute chief Mikhail Kovalchuk; sources say the burden averages roughly $800 per family of four. Putin has been quoted discussing ambitions to live to 150 and allegedly told Chinese leader Xi organs could be continuously transplanted. Reporting mixes confirmed budget items with unverified claims; the disclosures come as Russia continues its war in Ukraine, which Western intelligence places at near half‑a‑million casualties.

British officials are assessing plans to reverse the £2.4 million renovation that transformed Frogmore Cottage — the Windsor property once occupied by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — back into multiple dwellings, several outlets reported on May 30-31, 2026. The Grade II-listed cottage, gifted to the couple by the late Queen in 2018, was converted from separate staff units into a single family home before the Sussexes moved to the United States. It has stood largely vacant since they handed back the keys in 2023 at the request of King Charles. Sources say options under consideration include subdividing the property to increase its utility for estate housing or other royal uses; no work has begun and Buckingham Palace declined to comment. Heritage restrictions mean any reversal would require careful planning and could be costly. Debate has focused on optics — whether the move is pragmatic estate management by the Crown Estate and Sovereign Grant stewards or a symbolic erasure of the Sussexes — and on potential public scrutiny over further spending on an already-renovated property. Reports say the Sussexes repaid the original refurbishment costs when they left.

British officials have expressed concern that Ireland may be serving as a gateway for Russian intelligence operatives after Dublin issued roughly 14,000 visas to Russian nationals since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews has raised the issue publicly and written to Ireland's Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan, urging more rigorous vetting, including social media checks and interviews. Reporting cites approval rates for Russian applicants of around 90% (one outlet quoted as high as 97%). Critics note Ireland sits outside the Schengen area and remains in the Common Travel Area with the UK, potentially enabling onward travel to Britain. Andrews warned that Ireland's upcoming EU Council presidency (July–December 2026) makes the state a more attractive target and pointed to past expulsions of Russian diplomats and alleged covert activity. He and others have urged the government to review visa procedures and consider measures used by other EU states, including bans on those who fought in Ukraine. Dublin's relative intelligence and surveillance capacity compared with the UK has been flagged as a vulnerability by commentators and security sources.

Princess Eugenie shared a set of previously unseen photographs of her son Ernest to mark his third birthday, posting the images on social media at the end of May 2026. The pictures show Ernie in his signature blue cap playing with balloons, kicking a small Chelsea-branded football, walking hand-in-hand with his older brother August, and a tender autumnal shot of Eugenie kissing her son. In her caption she paid tribute to “my tiger-loving, hat-wearing, constantly hugging, fearless golden boy Ernie.” The posts come after a Buckingham Palace statement on May 4 confirming Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank are expecting a third child this summer. The new baby will be 15th in line to the throne but will not carry an HRH title, moving the Duke of Edinburgh to 16th. Eugenie and Brooksbank married in 2018; their sons August and Ernest were born in 2021 and 2023 respectively. The images provide a rare glimpse into the private life of a junior royal.

Five Metropolitan Police officers assigned to the Royalty and Specialist Protection (RaSP) unit have been barred from working at royal residences after a Kensington Palace staff member filed a complaint alleging a series of inappropriate, misogynistic remarks. The staffer said comments were made between August 2023 and September 2024, and an official complaint was lodged in October 2024. The Met’s internal probe concluded the behaviour did not meet the threshold for formal misconduct; officers were given reflective practice sessions instead and were cleared to return to general duties. Separately, senior Royal Household officials removed the officers’ palace access passes, preventing them from being deployed at any royal sites in future. The officers are understood to have been redeployed to other armed duties within the force. Reports include an allegation that one officer described Kensington Palace as “full of little Hitlers” when asked to move kit. The Met said the reported behaviour fell below the standards expected of frontline protective officers and stressed ongoing commitment to professionalism and public confidence.

President Donald Trump has privately questioned whether Vice-President J.D. Vance is capable of winning the 2028 Republican nomination and ultimately the presidency, according to reporting on May 30-31, 2026. In conversations with aides and allies, Trump has compared Vance’s record to his own, noted that Vance has never won a tough race without Trump’s backing (citing his 2022 Ohio Senate win), and raised concerns about Vance’s optics and stamina. Specific criticisms include the number of vacations Vance has taken as vice-president, an on-stage fumble of Ohio State’s championship trophy on the White House lawn, and early opposition to the administration’s war with Iran — including a failed Pakistan negotiation led by Vance. Trump has privately polled confidants on whether they prefer Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a potential successor. Despite the barbs, administration officials say Vance remains trusted and empowered by Trump and retains strong support among MAGA voters. Accounts are based on interviews with people close to Trump and statements from the White House dismissing anonymous media narratives.

The PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, will award more than the customary winner’s cheque this week. The tournament carries a $9.9 million purse with the champion set to receive $1,782,000, the Leonard Trophy and the event’s traditional tartan plaid jacket. In keeping with a recent tradition of gifting a bespoke vehicle, this year’s Champion’s Prize is a fully restored 1982 Charles Schwab Jeep Scrambler with custom tartan interior — a 458-horsepower four‑litre HEMI, automatic transmission, upgraded brakes and leather trim, according to the sponsor. Charles Schwab says the prize commemorates its introduction of 24/7 order-entry and quote services. Past Colonial winners include Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Jordan Spieth; last year’s champion, Ben Griffin, received a Schwab-custom Land Rover. The field this week is missing some notable names who have skipped the event, but top players remain in contention for the prize package and the large first-place payout.

Actor Naga Chaitanya secured interim protection from the Delhi High Court on May 30, 2026, after filing a personality-rights suit alleging unauthorised use of his name, image and likeness across digital platforms. His petition, heard by Justice Jyoti Singh, says multiple websites have attached his name to explicit search terms, listed unauthorised merchandise bearing his likeness, and circulated AI-generated and manipulated videos that falsely depict him in compromising situations. Senior Advocate Vaibhav Gaggar told the court some posts also revive allegations about Chaitanya’s past marriage to Samantha Ruth Prabhu, which the petition says amount to defamatory trolling. The court issued summons to the defendants and indicated interim relief while responses are awaited; the plaintiff has asked for a dynamic injunction to block recurring infringing URLs and future uploads. Justice Singh observed that public figures are more vulnerable but still have limits to protection. The next listed hearing date in filings is September 30, 2026.