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World number one Scottie Scheffler outlasts a final round challenge from Jon Rahm to record a five-stroke victory in golf’s second major of the year.

Scottie Scheffler held off a spirited effort by Spain’s Jon Rahm to secure a five-shot PGA Championship victory at Quail Hollow Club for his third career major title.

The top-ranked Scheffler, who was three shots clear of Swede Alex Noren at the start of the day, struggled off the tee early on Sunday but righted the ship in time for the back nine to card an even-par 71 that left him at 11 under for the week.

“I knew it was going to be a challenging day, finishing off a major championship is always challenging,” Scheffler said on the 18th green after being presented with the Wanamaker Trophy.

“I didn’t have my best stuff … but stepped it up on the back nine.”

Ryder Cup hopeful Harris English, who began his day 11 shots adrift, shot a 65 that was the low round of the day and finished in a distant share of second place alongside fellow Americans Bryson DeChambeau (70) and Davis Riley (72).

Twice major champion Rahm (73) gave Scheffler a scare early on the back nine but came apart in stunning fashion with five dropped shots over his final three holes to slide back into a share of eighth place.

Rahm, who began the day five shots back of the lead and playing two groups ahead of Scheffler, took a while to get going in the final round but found his groove right in time to set up some back-nine drama at Quail Hollow Club.

The Spaniard joined Scheffler atop the leaderboard when, at the par-four 11th, he made his third birdie over a four-hole stretch, but Scheffler reclaimed the outright lead with a 9-foot birdie at the 10th moments later.

Rahm nearly answered right back, but his perfectly paced 19-foot birdie attempt at the par-three 13th curled around and out of the cup before going on to misread birdie putts at the next two holes, followed by his brutal closing stretch.

Scheffler added birdies at 14 and 15 and then saw his lead suddenly grow to five over JT Poston after Rahm made double-bogey at the par-three 17th, where he blasted his tee shot into the water.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” said Rahm.

“Pretty fresh wound right now. But there’s been a lot of good happening this week and a lot of positive feelings to take for the rest of the year.”

US Open champion DeChambeau, who finished runner-up at last year’s PGA Championship, was driving the ball and giving himself chances, but struggled on the greens.

“I felt like I had the game to win this week, and the golf course suited me pretty well, missed a few putts coming down the stretch and got a little unlucky in this great game of golf,” said DeChambeau.

“It was a good fight, good battle, take a lot from it. It’s just burning a bigger fire in my belly.”

Noren, playing alongside Scheffler and alone in second place to start the day, stayed in the mix until his round unravelled with a trio of bogeys early on the back nine.

Scheffler took home a $3.42m top prize from a record $19m purse.

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami had one of their worst performances of the season, losing at home to their Florida rivals.

Lionel Messi’s frustration grew as Inter Miami’s miserable run continued with a 3-0 loss at home to Orlando City in Major League Soccer (MLS).

The Florida derby defeat on Sunday leaves Miami with one win from their last seven games in all competitions. They have slipped to sixth in the Eastern Conference, with Orlando leapfrogging them.

Messi had just two shots on target and scuffed a free-kick as his form slumped with that of his team.

“Now, we’ll truly see if we’re a team in difficult times, because when everything’s going well, it’s very easy,” Messi told Apple TV.

“When difficult times come, that’s when we have to be more united than ever, be a true team, and pull ourselves together,” he added.

Messi questioned the refereeing, but in truth, the loss had little to do with officiating and much to do with shambolic defending, a disjointed midfield and a punchless attack led by the rapidly fading Luis Suarez.

Orlando grabbed the lead in the 43rd minute with a goal of absurd simplicity. Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese launched the ball downfield, and Luis Muriel ran clear and slotted past Oscar Ustari.

The visitors were getting plenty of joy from going direct against a Miami backline, which was all at sea. Argentinian Martin Ojeda should have done better when he found himself clear on goal, but blasted over.

Miami’s veteran keeper Ustari made a fine double save, but then the 38-year-old found himself to blame for Orlando’s second goal.

The ball fell to Marco Pasalic on the edge of the box, and his low shot went through the hands and legs of Ustari to double the Orlando lead.

Miami coach Javier Mascherano threw on attacking players in a bid to retrieve something from the game, but it was in vain.

In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Duncan McGuire broke down the left, and his low cross was slotted home by Icelandic forward Dagur Thorhallsson to wrap up an impressive performance from the visitors.

Miami have conceded 20 goals in their last seven games, with their only victory coming against the New York Red Bulls on May 3.

Mascherano said the first goal changed the game.

“I’d say for 25 or 30 minutes, we had it completely under control playing in the opponent’s half, but this is how it is, clearly. I’m not going to deny what the result is,” he said.

Miami’s MLS campaign was going well until their exit in the Concacaf Champions Cup at the hands of the Vancouver Whitecaps. Mascherano admitted the team’s morale had been hit.

“Clearly, something has happened where the team has lost a lot of confidence. We have had a drop in level, individually and collectively, and it’s clear one way or another – we have tried with different schemes, different names, and still today, we are hurting. We will keep trying to find a way.”

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Crossings this year

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa will begin a state visit to the United States on Monday in what his government describes as an attempt to “reset” the relationship between the two countries, which many experts say has become the frostiest in decades.

The visit comes just days after the US welcomed a group of 59 white South African “refugees” who President Donald Trump claims are being persecuted in South Africa because of their race, and are facing a “genocide”. They flew to the US on a special relocation plan and will be allowed to settle there.

Ramaphosa’s government denies those allegations and says whites, who own more than 70 percent of the land despite making up just 7 percent of the population, are not discriminated against.

In a statement, Ramaphosa’s office said the two leaders would discuss “bilateral” and “global issues of interest”. The White House has not yet made a statement regarding the meeting.

This is the first time Trump will host an African leader at the White House since he took office in January. South Africa, which currently presides over the G20, will hand over leadership to the US in November.

Here’s the timeline of the anticipated meeting, as well as a breakdown of the main issues which have caused tension and are most likely to be tabled:

When is the meeting?

Ramaphosa will travel on Monday, May 19, and will meet with Trump at the White House on Wednesday, May 21.

His office did not share an agenda for the talks, but said that “the president’s visit to the US provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries”.

The agenda is expected to include the treatment of white South Africans, aid cuts and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

What will Trump and Ramaphosa discuss?

The agenda is expected to include the following subjects:

Treatment of white South Africans

The issue of relations between South Africa’s historically advantaged white minority population and Ramaphosa’s Black-led government has been the most touchy one between the two governments.

White Afrikaners are descendants of mainly Dutch colonisers who, until 1990, controlled the country under an apartheid system that segregated and excluded the Black majority. Many of the most successful business leaders and farm owners in the country are still white. More than half of the Black population is categorised as poor.

Trump and his billionaire ally, South African-born Elon Musk, have severely criticised the Ramaphosa administration’s alleged poor treatment of these white people in the country, following Ramaphosa’s signing into law of an Expropriation Bill which allows the government to confiscate land, in some instances, without compensation. The law, signed in January, allows expropriation from any land owner for redistribution to marginalised groups such as women and people with disabilities.

Some Afrikaner groups say the law could allow their land to be redistributed to some of the country’s Black majority.

Trump has highlighted allegations by a group of white South Africans who fear that their land will be seized. This group also says white farmers face a disproportionate number of violent assaults, which have led to several deaths and amount to a “genocide”.

The South African government has denied that there is a genocide and says the attacks are part of a wider crime problem. Speaking at the Africa CEO forum in Abidjan in Ivory Coast on May 13, Ramaphosa said the US government “has got the wrong end of the stick”, as South Africa suffers overall from high rates of violent crime, regardless of the race of victims. Both white and Black farmers have been targeted in farm attacks, in which armed criminals have assaulted, robbed and sometimes murdered farm workers in usually remote locations.

Meanwhile, Musk, who is the founder of internet company Starlink, also blames the government for the company’s failure to launch in South Africa because of its Black empowerment laws which require that large corporations and businesses seeking government contracts be owned in part by marginalised groups such as Black people.

In a March post on his X social media platform, Musk said Starlink was not allowed to launch “because I am not black”. Officials have denied these allegations and say the country’s business laws are meant to right historical wrongs.

Tariffs and aid cuts to South Africa

Since re-entering the White House in January, Trump has implemented a triple whammy of economic policies that have hit South Africa hard.

First were the sweeping aid cuts the US announced after Trump signed an executive order pausing foreign aid to all countries for at least 90 days.

That disrupted funding for treatment and research in South Africa for deadly communicable diseases like HIV. South Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV in the world, and until then, the US provided about 18 percent of the government’s HIV budget. In 2023, the US provided $462m in HIV aid. Since January, some HIV treatment programmes have remained cut, while others have had their funding reinstated, although it’s unclear how many.

In February, Trump ordered that additional financial aid be cut specifically to South Africa over what he said was “unjust racial discrimination”, citing the alleged confiscation of white-owned land. He also cited South Africa’s filing of its genocide case against Israel over its war on Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023. Details of the further aid cuts were not made public.

Finally, South Africa has also been hit by Trump’s tariff war. The country was slapped with a 30 percent tariff on all goods in April. An additional 25 percent tariff was placed on South African-made vehicles entering the US, putting vehicle surcharges at 55 percent.

Ramaphosa described Trump’s actions as “punitive” and said the tariffs would “serve as a barrier to trade and shared prosperity”.

Although Trump paused reciprocal tariffs for most countries (including South Africa) for 90 days on April 9, South Africa’s government wants tariffs to be permanently dropped. South Africa also still faces the baseline 10 percent tariff on goods that Trump has imposed on all countries.

The US is South Africa’s second-largest bilateral trading partner after China. Under the duty-free Africa Growth Opportunity Act introduced in 2000, South Africa sells precious stones, steel products and cars to the US, and buys crude oil, electrical goods and aircraft in return.

The AGOA framework, which includes 32 African countries, is up for renewal this year, but it’s unclear if Trump’s White House will follow through with it.

Israel-Gaza ICJ case and Gaza War

The South African government filed its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on December 29, 2023, accusing it of “genocidal acts” during its assaults on Gaza, to the anger of Israel’s ally and major weapons supplier, the US.

The landmark case highlighted the African country’s vocal and visible support for the Palestinian cause and was the first court case against Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza. Hearings began in January 2024. In March 2024, the ICJ issued an emergency order that Israel ensure food aid deliveries into Gaza and cease its offensive in Rafah.

Both Joe Biden’s and Trump’s administrations in the US have opposed South Africa’s move, with Trump denouncing Pretoria’s “aggressiveness”. On February 7, Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing aid to the country. The order cited the ICJ case, the Afrikaner issue and South Africa’s alleged collaboration with Iran to develop nuclear weapons.

South Africa, meanwhile, has promised not to withdraw its case despite this backlash. Foreign minister Ronald Lamola told The Financial Times in February that there was “no chance” the country would back down.

“Standing by our principles sometimes has consequences, but we remain firm that this is important for the world and the rule of law,” he said.

Ukraine-Russia War

Trump and Ramaphosa are also expected to discuss peace and mediation efforts in the Ukraine-Russia war as representatives of the two countries hold talks for the first time since the war began in February 2022.

The Trump administration has taken a lead role in mediating between Russia and Ukraine. During his election campaign, Trump promised to negotiate an end to the war “within 24 hours” if elected. Much of that effort, seen by some as aggressive, has fallen flat, however. A state visit to the US by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended with Trump and his deputy, JD Vance, shouting at their guest in February this year.

South Africa, meanwhile, has opted to stay neutral in the conflict and has called for dialogue between the sides. The country is a historical ally of Russia because of the former Soviet Union’s support during apartheid. Both are also founding members of the growing BRICS alliance of economies, alongside India, Brazil and China, which some see as a rival to the G5 group of richest countries.

South Africa has not condemned Russia or Putin for the invasion of Ukraine, and has abstained from a United Nations resolution that did so.

At the same time, Pretoria has remained friendly with Ukraine. In April, Ramaphosa hosted Zelenskyy during a state visit during which they discussed increasing trade and the ongoing war, with the Ukrainian leader calling for more pressure on Moscow.

Hours before Zelenskyy met with Ramaphosa, the South African leader said he spoke over the phone with Trump, and they both agreed that the war needed to stop.

Cook’s most recent winter was the final step on the road to international cricket. Given he has been overlooked for so long, few would have blamed him had he given up and chased the dollars in short-form leagues.

Instead, he turned down “a few bits of franchise stuff” to play for England Lions in Australia, and was one of the standout performers in an otherwise disappointing tour. While the Lions failed to win any of their three matches, Cook claimed 13 wickets, a handy demonstration of his ability with the Kookaburra ball in an Ashes year.

“I made the right decision to go with the Lions and show what I could do in Australia,” he says. “It’s strengthened my cause for international cricket.”

At a time when England have altered their selection methods, Cook’s inclusion shows county performances can still provide a path to the Test team.

He perhaps should have been most aggrieved last summer, when the exceptionally green Josh Hull was given an opportunity after Mark Wood got injured. At the time, England director of cricket Rob Key explained the decision was down to styles of bowling, and Cook would have been in the frame had a replacement for Woakes been needed. Cook, therefore, had to wait a little longer.

“I just wanted to know what they wanted to see me doing,” says Cook. “It wasn’t a case of kicking up a fuss or moaning, I was just desperate to know how I could improve.

“It was never a case of ‘we don’t think you’re fast enough’. It was just trying to push the echelons of my pace as high as I could, honing skills, and a lot of it was just that the guys in front were better, which is true for bowlers like Jimmy and Broady.”

So Cook arrives in Test cricket battle-hardened, comfortable with his game and, in his opinion, “in a better place than if I was picked a year or two ago”.

At his best, he will provide England with control and accuracy. Holding length is one of his key skills. In the past five years, more than 77% of his deliveries in the Championship have been on a good length, comfortably the highest percentage of the top 10 seamers.

“It is not what the ball does but where it does it from that counts,” says Lewis, the former Australia seamer now on Yorkshire’s coaching staff. “He puts the ball in the right areas and asks questions enough times of batsmen.

“Batsmen get out in two ways: poor decision-making or bad shot selection. He puts enough balls in the areas to get one of those two options. He shifts the ball both ways but his ability to hold his length is pretty special.”

The last time Zimbabwe played a Test in England, 22 years ago, the series was famous for the debut of Anderson, the patron saint of English-style seamers like Cook.

Anderson marked his bow at Lord’s with a five-wicket haul. A choice was put to Cook – to claim a debut five-for of his own, or see Manchester United win the Europa League?

“It’s a no-brainer,” he says. “I’ll take the five-for. If we lose, I’ll be telling everyone the Europa League is an irrelevant trophy. Hopefully I can be greedy and can get both.”

These are the key events on day 1,180 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Monday, May 19:

Fighting

• Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war, destroying homes and killing at least one woman, a day before United States President Donald Trump is due to discuss a proposed ceasefire with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 273 drones at Ukrainian cities, more than the previous record Moscow had set in February, on the war’s third anniversary.

• Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said Russia planned to conduct a “training and combat” launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile to intimidate Ukraine and the West, as ceasefire talks continue.

• Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Bahatyr in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said. It also said that Russian forces had downed 75 Ukrainian drones on Sunday, according to Russia’s state TASS news agency.

Ceasefire talks

• The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom again pressed the need for sanctions against Russia in a call with Trump before his telephone summit with Putin on Monday, the office of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
• Putin told Russian state television that he wanted to “eliminate the causes that triggered” its war on Ukraine, “create the conditions for a lasting peace and guarantee Russia’s security”, two days after the first direct talks with Kyiv since 2022 failed to produce a ceasefire deal.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Rome, on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration, to discuss the latest developments on ceasefire talks with Russia. It was their first meeting since their heated White House encounter in February.
• The pope held his first private audience as Catholic leader with Zelenskyy, after highlighting hopes for peace for a “martyred Ukraine”.

Joe Biden’s half-century in politics has been an exercise in overcoming adversity.

From the death of his wife and young daughter in a car accident in 1972, to two early and unsuccessful presidential bids, to the death of his eldest son at just 46, his decades in Washington have been defined by tragedy but often followed by triumph.

Now, just four months after leaving office as a one-term president, and as intense scrutiny is placed on his mental and physical decline during those four years, the 82-year-old has been diagnosed with aggressive and advanced prostate cancer.

It is a disease that has never been far from his mind in the 10 years since his oldest son, Beau, died of brain cancer – leaving a deep emotional scar on the father that lingers to this day.

After that tragedy, finding a cure for cancer became a cause for the elder Biden.

In 2016, then-President Barack Obama tasked him with leading a “moonshot” government-wide research effort to that end – an effort that Biden continued during his own presidency.

Now it is cancer that presents possibly the greatest threat to the Biden’s health since he nearly died of a brain aneurism shortly after he abandoned his first presidential bid in 1988.

The news of the diagnosis lands as Democrats continue to grapple with the consequences of Biden’s fateful decision to seek a second presidential term in the 2024 election – an attempt to extend the record he had already set for the oldest occupant of the Oval Office.

Biden ultimately dropped out of the race after intense pressure from Democrats following his halting, at times incomprehensible, performance in a general election debate with Donald Trump last June. But until that point, he had insisted that he was fit to continue in the White House for another four years.

This cancer diagnosis will underscore that the concerns about his age and the potential for health issues expressed by a majority of American voters in national polling were valid.

It coincides with the publication of several books detailing the efforts by those close to the president in the White House to accommodate, and conceal from the public, the toll the years were taking on his body and mind while he continued to serve as commander-in-chief. While there is no reason to believe that Biden’s prostate issues were at all apparent while he was in the White House, the fact that such an aggressive form of cancer could avoid detection until it had already spread, despite the wealth of medical support and evaluation available to Biden, will raise new questions and concerns.

It sets up a troubling hypothetical of how Biden’s cancer might have been treated if he had successfully won a second term.

Hypotheticals notwithstanding, Biden’s diagnosis may temper some of the sharper criticisms the book revelations would have otherwise prompted.

President Donald Trump, who had spent much of his recent trip to the Middle East disparaging his predecessor, released a statement extending his “warmest and best wishes” to the Biden family. That my be representative of the tenor of the public dialogue around Biden in the coming days.

Until several recent media interviews, including one with the BBC in which he defended his decision to stay in the 2024 race until a late stage, Biden had largely receded from public view since leaving power in January.

If the former president has the energy and endurance to do so, this latest medical revelation might give him a new platform, and a newly sympathetic public, to attempt to defend and burnish his presidential legacy.

Over the course of his public life, Joe Biden has defined himself by his persistence and endurance, only reaching the pinnacle of American power late in life.

His illness is another formidable challenge. But it presents one more opportunity for Biden to define himself – as a politician and as a man – by how he handles it.

Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, a statement from his office said on Sunday.

Biden, who left office in January, was diagnosed on Friday after he saw a doctor last week for urinary symptoms.

The cancer is a more aggressive form of the disease, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 out of 10. This means his illness is classified as “high-grade” and the cancer cells could spread quickly, according to Cancer Research UK.

Biden and his family are said to be reviewing treatment options. His office added that the cancer was hormone-sensitive, meaning it could likely be managed.

In Sunday’s statement, Biden’s office said: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.

“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.”

After news broke of his diagnosis, the former president received support from both sides of the aisle.

President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he and First Lady Melania Trump “are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis.”

“We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family,” he said, referring to former First Lady Jill Biden. “We wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”

Former Vice-President Kamala Harris, who served under Biden, wrote on X that she and her husband Doug Emhoff are keeping the Biden family in their prayers.

“Joe is a fighter – and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership,” Harris said.

In a post on X, Barack Obama – who served as president from 2009 to 2017 with Joe Biden as his deputy – said that he and his wife Michelle were “thinking of the entire Biden family”.

“Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace. We pray for a fast and full recovery,” Obama said. In 2016, the former president launched a “Cancer Moonshot” programme and announced that Biden would lead it.

The news comes nearly a year after the former president was forced to drop out of the 2024 US presidential election over concerns about his health and age. He is the oldest person to have held the office in US history.

Biden, then the Democratic nominee vying for re-election, faced mounting criticism of his poor performance in a June televised debate against Republican nominee and current president Donald Trump. He was replaced as the Democratic candidate by his vice-president, Kamala Harris.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer affecting men, behind skin cancer, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 13 out of every 100 men will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives.

Age is the most common risk factor, the CDC says.

Dr William Dahut, the Chief Scientific Officer at the American Cancer Society and a trained prostate cancer physician, told the BBC that the cancer is more aggressive in nature, based on the publicly-available information on Biden’s diagnosis.

“In general, if cancer has spread to the bones, we don’t think it is considered a curable cancer,” Dr Dahut said.

He noted, however, that most patients tend to respond well to initial treatment, “and people can live many years with the diagnosis”.

Dr Dahut said that someone with the former president’s diagnosis will likely be offered hormonal therapies to mitigate symptoms and to slow the growth of cancerous cells.

Biden had largely retreated from the public eye since leaving the White House and he has made few public appearances.

The former president delivered a keynote speech in April at a Chicago conference held by the Advocates, Counselors, and Representatives for the Disabled, a US-based advocacy group for people with disabilities.

In May, he sat down for an interview with the BBC – his first since leaving the White House – where he admitted that the decision to step down from the 2024 race was “difficult”.

Biden has faced questions about the status of his health in recent months.

In an appearance on The View programme that also took place in May, Biden denied claims that he had been experiencing cognitive decline in his final year at the White House. “There is nothing to sustain that,” he said.

For many years, the president had advocated for cancer research.

In 2022, he and Mrs Biden relaunched the Cancer Moonshot initiative with the goal of mobilising research efforts to prevent more than four million cancer deaths by the year 2047.

Biden himself lost his eldest son, Beau, to brain cancer in 2015.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has discussed the war in Ukraine with leaders of the United States, Italy, France and Germany, a 10 Downing Street spokesperson has said, in advance of US President Donald Trump’s planned call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Monday.

The flurry of diplomacy comes shortly after inconclusive direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, Turkiye on Friday.

The leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for Putin to take peace talks seriously, the spokesperson said late on Sunday, adding that they also raised the use of sanctions if Russia failed to engage seriously in a ceasefire and concerted peace talks.

In remarks to reporters earlier on Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he discussed the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio while the two men were attending the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. Merz said he also spoke at length at the Vatican with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I spoke with Marco Rubio, including about the call tomorrow. We agreed that we will speak again with the four state leaders and the US president in preparation of this conversation [with Putin],” Merz said.

Trump said he planned to speak to Putin and Zelenskyy to discuss ways to stop the war’s “bloodbath”.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to Russian news agencies that preparations were under way for a conversation between Putin and Trump.

The talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Friday were the first time the sides had held face-to-face talks since March 2022, weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

The brief talks yielded only an agreement to swap 1,000 prisoners of war, according to the heads of both delegations, in what would be their biggest such exchange since the war began.

A senior Ukrainian official familiar with the talks said Russian negotiators demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before they would agree to a ceasefire. That is a red line for Ukraine, and as it stands, Russia does not have full control in those regions.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy met US Vice President JD Vance and Rubio on the sidelines of the papal inauguration, according to a source in the Ukrainian delegation. It was the first meeting between Zelenskyy and Vance since they publicly clashed during talks at the White House in February over the future of the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine fears ballistic missile attack

In the meantime, Ukraine has claimed Russia is planning to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile late on Sunday to intimidate it and its Western allies.

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, GUR, said Russia was planning to conduct a “training and combat” launch of the missile.

GUR said in a statement on the Telegram app that the launch was ordered to be implemented from Russia’s Sverdlovsk region, adding that the flight range for the missile was more than 10,000km (6,200 miles).

Ukraine on Sunday also said Russia had launched a record number of drones overnight, targeting various regions, including that of the capital, where a woman was killed.

Its air force said Russia launched “273 Shahed attack drones and various types of imitator drones”, of which 88 were destroyed and 128 went astray, “without negative consequences”.

Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said it was a “record” number of drones. “Russia has a clear goal – to continue killing civilians,” she said.

Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from Kyiv, said overnight, “air raid sirens began, and they went on for nearly nine hours”.

“We see these massive drone strikes and we see crowds of people seeking shelter, seeking safety, in those deep underground subway stations in the capital and in other areas of the country, once again,” Basravi said.

‘Deliberate killing of civilians’

The Russian military said it intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones overnight and on Sunday morning. It also claimed it had captured Bahatyr, another village in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, as it intensifies the war effort despite the talks.

Russia’s overnight drone attacks were roundly condemned by Ukrainian officials.

Zelenskyy reiterated his call for stronger sanctions on Moscow after a Russian drone killed nine bus passengers in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine on Saturday. “This was a deliberate killing of civilians,” he said.

“Pressure must be exerted on Russia to stop the killings. Without tougher sanctions, without stronger pressure, Russia will not seek real diplomacy.”

Russia, which denies targeting civilians, said it struck a military target in Sumy. Its Ministry of Defence claimed another settlement was captured in eastern Ukraine.

Zelenskyy’s top aide, Andriy Yermak, also decried the attacks.

“For Russia, the negotiations in Istanbul are just a pretence. Putin wants war,” Yermak said.

Russia aims to ‘create conditions for lasting peace’

In an interview with Russian state TV, Putin said Moscow’s aim was to “eliminate the causes that triggered this crisis, create the conditions for a lasting peace and guarantee Russia’s security”, without elaborating further.

Russia’s references to the “root causes” of the conflict typically refer to alleged grievances with Kyiv and the West that Moscow has put forward as justification for launching the invasion in February 2022.

They include pledges to “de-Nazify” and demilitarise Ukraine, protect Russian speakers in the country’s east, push back against NATO expansion and stop Ukraine’s westward geopolitical drift.

Ukraine and the West have rejected all of these reasons, saying Russia’s offensive is nothing more than an imperial-style land grab.

Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia started the war, with millions forced to flee their homes.

Putin said the Russian army, which occupies about 20 percent of Ukraine, had the “troops and means required” to achieve its goals.

The US Department of State said in a statement that Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, spoke with each other on Saturday. During the call, Rubio welcomed the prisoner exchange agreement reached in Istanbul, the department’s spokesperson said.

Ukraine’s top negotiator, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, said the “next step” would be a meeting between the two warring presidents.

Russia said it had taken note of the request, but added that the swap of prisoners of war had to be completed first, and both sides then needed to present their visions for a ceasefire before the next round of negotiations could be arranged.

Rahm said afterwards that his late demise was a “tough pill to swallow” but the fact he got himself in the mix on the final day will do a lot to dispel the discussion about a drop-off in his results at majors since his switch to LIV at the end of 2023.

His best finish in 2024 was a tie for seventh at The Open but, until this week, he had not been a realistic contender in any of the five majors since leaving the PGA Tour.

On Saturday, he insisted there was no correlation between his major form and LIV move, and at Quail Hollow he demonstrated why he should never be discounted as a challenger for golf’s biggest prizes.

Aiming to become the first Spaniard to win the US PGA Championship in its 107th edition, he started with seven solid pars, before exploding into life with birdies on the eighth, 10th and 11th to tie the lead.

After Scheffler pulled clear again, he narrowly missed chances to re-ascend the top of the leaderboard down the back nine, before his title bid slipped away in dramatic fashion.

“There’s been a lot of good happening this week and a lot of positive feelings to take for the rest of the year,” the 2023 Masters and 2021 US Open winner Rahm added.

“I think it’s the first time I’ve been in position to win a major that close and haven’t done it. The only times I think I’ve been in the lead in a major on a Sunday, I’ve been able to close it out.”

At the start of play, a host of players hoped to shoot low to pressurise the world number one, but their challenges never materialised.

Nowhere more so was that exemplified than on the par-four first. Of the final eight players to head out, Rahm made par but the other seven, including Scheffler, all carded a five.

Perennial major contender DeChambeau played well once again but was unable to build sustained momentum during his one-under 70.

“It’s another top five and I’m always proud to top five in a major,” DeChambeau said.

“I feel like I’m playing good when I’m doing that but it’s disappointing not to get the job done because that’s what I came here to do.”

Starting almost four hours before the final group, English had almost finished his round by the time the leaders set off and his 65 – the lowest round on Sunday – secured his best finish at a major.

In its latest assault on Gaza’s decimated healthcare system, Israel has once again targeted the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, this time with drones, as its forces are also carrying out a ground offensive in the north and south of the bombarded territory.

Health officials said late on Sunday that fighting around the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza and an Israeli military “siege” forced it to shut down.

It was the main medical facility in the north after Israeli air strikes last year also forced the Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoon hospitals to stop providing health services.

“There is direct targeting on the hospital including the intensive care unit,” Indonesian Hospital director Dr Marwan al-Sultan said in a statement, adding that no one could reach the facility, which had about 30 patients and 15 medical staff inside.

Israel has repeatedly targeted hospitals during its 19-month war on Gaza. Human rights groups and United Nations-backed experts have accused Israel of systematically destroying Gaza’s healthcare system.

Earlier, Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in the besieged enclave’s north, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the latest strikes – which have been ongoing since Saturday – indicate that Israeli attacks on Gaza’s hospitals are intensifying.

“The medical teams are really suffering, and we have a few numbers of medical teams and staff … and a lot of people are in need [of] more medical care,” Abu Salmiya said by phone from the hospital on Sunday.

Thousands of sick and wounded people could die, he warned. Blood donations are urgently needed.

This has been underscored by Gaza’s Health Ministry, which confirmed that Israeli forces besieged the facility in Beit Lahiya, adding that “a state of panic and confusion is prevailing”.

The ministry later said that Israel had cut off the arrival of patients and staff, “effectively forcing the hospital out of service”.

With “the shutdown of the Indonesian Hospital, all public hospitals in the North Gaza Governorate are now out of service”, it said.

Gaza’s healthcare facilities have been targeted repeatedly throughout Israel’s deadly assault that began 18 months ago.

Other facilities in the north that have been bombed, burned, and besieged by the Israeli military since the start of the war include Kamal Adwan Hospital, al-Shifa Hospital, al-Ahli Hospital, and al-Awda Hospital. Dozens of other medical clinics, stations, and vehicles have also come under attack.

The targeting of health facilities, medical personnel and patients is considered a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Convention.

Israel has also battered several hospitals in Gaza’s central and southern areas, including Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

Earlier this week, Israel struck two hospitals in Khan Younis. Nine missiles slammed into and around the courtyard of the European Gaza Hospital, killing at least 16 people, while an attack on the Nasser Medical Complex killed two people, including a wounded journalist.

Incessant attacks on Gaza’s healthcare sector have left it reeling, devastating its ability to function, while doctors say they are out of medicine to treat routine conditions.

Hospitals have also been on the verge of total collapse amid a brutal and ongoing blockade, where Israel continues to bar the entry of much-needed medical supplies, fuel, and other humanitarian aid including food and clean water.

The crisis in Gaza has reached one of its darkest periods, humanitarian officials warn, as famine also looms.

Israeli air strikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the last 72 hours.

Strikes over the weekend have also put the European Hospital, the only remaining facility providing cancer treatments in Gaza, out of service.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said dozens of Palestinians have been wounded, and doctors say “they’re facing numerous challenges in treating injuries because of a lack of medical supplies”.

“Israeli air strikes in Gaza are still escalating as drones and fighter jets hover in the sky,” Khoudary said.

The death toll has reached the same level of intensity as the earliest days of the war, said Emily Tripp, executive director of Airwars, an independent group in London that tracks recent conflicts.

She says preliminary data indicate the number of incidents where at least one person was killed or injured by Israeli fire hovered around 700 in April. It’s a figure comparable only to October or December 2023 – one of the heaviest periods of bombardment.

In the last 10 days of March, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates, an average of 100 children were killed or maimed by Israeli air strikes every day.

Almost 3,000 of the estimated 53,000 killed by Israel since October 7, 2023, have lost their lives since Israel broke a fragile ceasefire on March 18, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Among those killed in recent days include a volunteer pharmacist with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, who was killed with her family in a strike on Gaza City on May 4.

A midwife from Al Awda Health and Community Association was also killed with her family in another strike on May 7.

A journalist working for Qatar-based television network Al Araby TV, along with 11 members of his family, was also killed.

Doctors discovered the cancer in Joe Biden last week after urinary symptoms and the detection of a prostate nodule.

Former United States President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with “aggressive” prostate cancer, his office has said in a statement.

Biden was seen last week by doctors after urinary symptoms developed and a prostate nodule was found. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone, the statement released on Sunday said.

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” his office said.

“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians”, it added.

The health of the 82-year-old Biden was a key concern among US voters during his time as president and became more so during the 2024 campaign.

After a calamitous debate performance in June 2024, Biden abandoned his bid for a second term. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee and lost to Donald Trump, who returned to the White House after a four-year hiatus.

Trump, a longtime political opponent, who has lambasted Biden and continues to blame him for wars and economic ills, posted on social media that he was saddened by the news and “we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery”.

Pete Buttigieg, who was Biden’s transportation secretary, called the former president “a man of deep faith and extraordinary resilience”.

Biden, a self-proclaimed Zionist, was heavily criticised in some quarters at home and overseas for his unconditional support for Israel in its punishing Gaza war after the Hamas-led October 7 attack, and for not using Washington’s leverage to rein in US ally Israel, as death and devastation wracked Palestinians in Gaza.

In recent days, Biden rejected concerns about his age despite reporting in the new book Original Sin that aides had shielded the public from the extent of his cognitive decline while he served as president.

Some prominent Democratic politicians have recently acknowledged that it was a mistake to advance Biden as the nominee, one that likely cost them the White House, given the growing concerns among voters about his age, even though Trump was in his late 70s.

A Reuters/Ipsos polls, some time before the debate, showed a majority of Americans, including most Democrats, believed Biden was too old to serve a second term.

“It was a mistake for Democrats to not listen to the voters earlier,” Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Murphy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning, before Biden’s diagnosis was announced.

Prostate cancers are given a ranking called a Gleason score that measures, on a scale of 1 to 10, how the cancerous cells look compared with normal cells. Biden’s score of 9 suggests his cancer is among the most aggressive.

When prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it often spreads to the bones. Metastasised cancer is much harder to treat than localised cancer because it can be hard for drugs to reach all the tumours and completely root out the disease.

Biden lost a son, Beau Biden, in 2015, to brain cancer.

No forgiving a Brexit betrayal

WILL today go down in history as the day Sir Keir Starmer betrayed Brexit and the British people?

From the moment he entered No10, or Remainiac Prime Minister — who spent years in Opposition trying to reverse the historic 2016 vote — has been hellbent on securing a so-called “reset” with the EU.

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His approach to the negotiations with Brussels has been naive at best, and craven at worst.

Indeed, the message his public desperation sent to the hard-nosed Eurocrats was “I want a deal at any price, so shaft me”.

The vengeful EU — which will never get over Brexit, and cannot stand the idea of us being a sovereign nation again — duly obliged.

Its list of demands, in return for a defence partnership, a sop on passport queues and the simple lifting of some spiteful checks on British food exports, would put a mafia extortionist to shame.

Through a series of snide anonymous briefings (the EU’s tactic of choice for decades), we know it expects to agree the following at today’s Lancaster House talks:

Britain to slavishly adhere to every pettifogging Brussels edict on standards, a straitjacket known as “dynamic alignment” which would make trade deals with the rest of world far harder.

Subservience to the over-mighty, expansionist European Court of Justice.

Generous access to our fishing waters for mostly French vessels for ever more, undermining a core reason why millions voted Leave.

Bundles of cash to once again be paid into the EU’s coffers for participation in its various programmes and schemes.

Most unbelievably, a “youth mobility scheme” for anyone under 35 – yes, 35! – which would restore free movement by the back door, and give 80 MILLION EU citizens the chance to live and work here.

So much for getting a grip on runaway immigration.

And what has Sir Keir’s response been to all of this?

He and his Chancellor have effectively said bring it on, and that this is just the start of a much deeper future partnership with the EU.

We remind them both of two things, before they sit down to formally ink this seemingly wretched surrender deal.

First, the best economic days of the EU are long behind it — look at the state of the German and French economies.

Britain should be looking to do ambitious trade deals beyond Europe — indeed the new partnership with India, and the recent easing of US tariffs were only possible because of Brexit.

Not tying our hands and alienating allies like Donald Trump.

And, second, the British people voted nine years ago to take back control of our money, borders and laws.

If the PM hands all of this back over to Brussels today, he will not be forgiven.

Explosion reported in Al-Mayadeen, in the Deir az Zor countryside, also wounds several people.

At least three people have been killed in a blast targeting a police station in the eastern Syrian town of Al-Mayadeen, the SANA state news agency has reported, citing a security source.

The explosion in the Deir az Zor countryside on Sunday also injured several people, the report said, without providing further details.

A video verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit Sanad shows the aftermath of the explosion.

The incident took place a day after Syrian authorities said security forces killed three ISIL (ISIS) fighters and arrested four others in Aleppo. It was the first time the interim government announced such an operation against the armed group.

The raids, launched by the General Security Department in coordination with the General Intelligence Directorate, targeted multiple ISIL sleeper cells operating across Aleppo, Syria’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Saturday. One security officer was killed in the operation, it said.

Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who assumed power in Damascus in December, has long opposed ISIL. His forces battled the group’s self-declared caliphate during the Syrian war.

Al-Sharaa seized power after his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham armed group led a lightning opposition offensive that toppled Syria’s longtime President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Sharaa cut ties with al-Qaeda in 2016.

The recent operation comes just months after Syrian authorities said they had foiled an ISIL bombing plot near the Sayeda Zeinab shrine, a key pilgrimage site for Shia Muslims south of Damascus.

This also comes after US President Donald Trump stunned the world by announcing on Tuesday that the United States was going to lift sanctions on the country – a move that Syrians hope will help their nation reintegrate into the global economy, and bring much-needed investment.

Mikel Arteta says he is “unsatisfied and upset” that Arsenal are finishing another season without a major trophy.

The Gunners manager delivered a powerful and emotional speech as he addressed fans at Emirates Stadium after Sunday’s 1-0 win over Newcastle – Arsenal’s final home match of the season.

The result guarantees Arsenal a place in next season’s Champions League but it is now five years since the Gunners last won a major trophy – the FA Cup in 2020.

They were comfortably beaten to the Premier League title by Liverpool, were knocked out of the Champions League and Carabao Cup in the semi-finals, and went out of the FA Cup in the third round.

Arteta said he is ready to “give his life” to deliver a trophy for Arsenal.

“Liverpool have a trophy – we don’t have a trophy,” Arteta, who has delivered one FA Cup since he was appointed head coach in December 2019, said in his media conference.

“We are unsatisfied and upset. But I think we are on the right trajectory.

“What I can promise is that I will do my very best [to win a trophy] and I will give my life, and get every drop of everybody here to squeeze it and get the best out of them.”

Asked whether he thought fans still backed him, Arteta added: “That’s what I feel but they want more, they have expectations. We need to believe we are going to do it together.”

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

George Simion rejected the exit poll soon after it was released, claiming he was ahead in the vote.

Centrist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, who has pledged to clamp down on corruption and is staunchly pro-EU and NATO, is on course to win presidential elections in Romania.

Exit polls showed Dan ahead with 54.9 percent. His rival, hard-right nationalist George Simion, was on 45.1 percent.

Simion rejected the exit poll soon after it was released, claiming on Sunday his count estimates have him at 400,000 votes more than Dan.

Dan had campaigned on a pledge to fight rampant corruption and to keep Romania firmly within the European mainstream.

The rerun was held months after the cancellation of the previous election plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.

Turnout was significantly higher in Sunday’s runoff and is expected to play a decisive role in the outcome.

Official results are expected to come in later on Sunday.

Simion appeared alongside Georgescu at a Bucharest polling station on Sunday and told reporters that he voted against the “humiliations to which our sisters and brothers have been subjected”.

“We voted against abuses and against poverty,” he said. “I voted for our future to be decided only by Romanians, for Romanians and Romania. So help us God!”

More to come…

Estonia redirects maritime traffic to prevent future incidents after Russia’s detention of the Green Admire oil tanker.

Russia has detained a Greek oil tanker sailing under the Liberian flag as it left the Estonian port of Sillamae on a previously agreed route through Russian waters, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.

In a statement published on Sunday, the ministry added that the vessel, the Green Admire, was undertaking a navigational route established in a deal between Russia, Estonia and Finland.

The Baltic nation will redirect traffic to and from Sillamea exclusively through Estonian waters to prevent similar incidents in the future, it added.

“Today’s incident shows that Russia continues to behave unpredictably,” Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. “I have also informed our allies of the event,” he said, referring to other NATO members.

Estonian Public Broadcasting (EPB), citing the Transport Administration, reported that the Greek tanker was carrying a cargo of shale oil destined for Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It added that such incidents had never occurred before.

Vessels leaving Sillamae usually move through Russian waters to avoid Estonia’s shallows, which can be dangerous for larger tankers, the EPB said.

The incident took place after the Estonian navy on Thursday tried to stop an unflagged tanker that was said to be part of a Russian “shadow fleet” of vessels sailing through Estonian waters. Russia responded by sending a fighter jet to escort the tanker, violating Estonia’s airspace.

The “shadow fleet” is meant to help Moscow maintain its crude oil exports to avoid Western sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen wins for the fourth straight time at Imola, defeating McLaren’s Lando Norris and F1 drivers’ standings leader Oscar Piastri.

Max Verstappen has given his Formula 1 title defence a big boost with victory at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix after a daring overtake on standings leader Oscar Piastri at the start.

The Dutch driver built a commanding lead on Sunday that was wiped out when the safety car bundled the field back up. He still held on to win ahead of Lando Norris, who overtook his McLaren teammate Piastri for second with five laps remaining.

Verstappen took his second win of the season and first since last month’s Japanese Grand Prix and denied Piastri – who finished third – what would have been his fourth victory in a row.

Verstappen praised his Red Bull team’s “fantastic execution all round” as the team marked its 400th F1 race with a win.

“The start itself wasn’t particularly great, but I was still on the outside line, or basically the normal [racing] line, and I was like, ‘Well, I’m just going to try and send it round the outside,’ and it worked really well,” Verstappen said of his crucial overtake. “That, of course, unleashed our pace because once we were in the lead, the car was good.”

Norris’s late-race move on Piastri was almost a copy of Verstappen’s although Norris had the advantage of being on fresher tyres than his teammate.

“We had a good little battle at the end between Oscar and myself, which is always tense but always good fun,” Norris said, admitting that Verstappen and Red Bull were “too good for us today”.

Piastri’s lead over Norris in the standings was cut to 13 points. Verstappen rounds out the top three at nine points behind Norris.

Hamilton bounces back

Lewis Hamilton recovered from 12th on the grid to finish fourth in his first race for Ferrari in Italy.

Hamilton profited from a late-race fight between his teammate Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon of Williams.

Albon complained Leclerc had pushed him off the track as they battled for fourth, and Hamilton passed both drivers before Ferrari eventually asked Leclerc to yield fifth to Albon.

George Russell was seventh for Mercedes, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr in the second Williams.

Isack Hadjar was ninth for Racing Bulls, and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda was 10th after starting last following a crash in qualifying.

An action-packed ‘farewell’ to Imola

Overtaking was expected to be rare in what could be F1’s last race for the foreseeable future at Imola. Instead, the Italian fans were treated to Verstappen’s spectacular move at the start and plenty of other overtakes.

The narrow, bumpy Imola track has been a favourite among drivers, who have relished its old-school challenge since it returned to the F1 schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, its status as Italy’s second race – only the United States also hosts more than one – makes its position vulnerable.

“If we don’t come back here, it is going to be a shame,” Piastri said on Saturday.

Sunday’s race was the last under Imola’s current contract, and while it isn’t officially goodbye yet, there has been no word about next year.

Barry Ferguson says he has “loved this experience” after it was confirmed that Saturday’s draw with Hibernian was his last match as interim manager of Rangers.

Ferguson, who took charge when Philippe Clement was sacked in February, had spoken about his desire to continue in the role, but those hopes have been dashed.

The 47-year-old leaves along with coaches Neil McCann, Billy Dodds and Allan McGregor.

“I’ve already lived the dream as a player and as captain of Rangers, and to do so as head coach in these last three months has been an enormous honour,” Ferguson said.

“There have been some ups and downs, but I have loved this experience and given it my all throughout. The backing I have received has been phenomenal.

“I said, no matter how this period panned out, I would always remain a committed supporter of the club, and I look forward to remaining a Rangers ambassador.

“I wish whomever becomes the new manager every success in the job.”