She has suddenly become one of the world’s most successful comedians, with a hit Netflix special, an Emmy-nominated role in Hacks and another opposite Steve Carell. But many of her jokes raise hackles. Is she a genius – or an edgelord?

‘Once in a while, you get to see a legend at the absolute top of their game,” booms a voice at the beginning of Robby Hoffman’s Netflix special, Wake Up, welcoming her to the stage. High praise indeed – especially since the voice is that of the leading US comedian John Mulaney, who directed the special, and who clearly thinks this 36-year-old New Yorker is one of the hottest talents around.

He’s not the only one. Over the last year, Hoffman’s star has risen at a stunning pace. She is currently on TV in Rooster, a college campus comedy starring Steve Carell, as well as the fifth season of the critically acclaimed sitcom Hacks. This is only her second season as talent agency assistant Randi, but last year the role earned her an Emmy nomination.

If Starmer’s Labour refuses to concede more powers to Plaid Cymru, the triumphant independence party, it will only accelerate its own decline

On Saturday, I stood on the steps outside the Senedd, listening to the leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth, take questions from the media. It was one of those rare moments of almost feeling history being made. As one of the other journalists said to me: “I have never seen a political event like this in Wales.”

A crowd of Plaid supporters had gathered to welcome their 43 new MSs. People were giddy with excitement: for the first time since the party was founded just over 100 years ago, it was about to form the next Welsh government. And for the first time in Wales’s history, the country’s highest-ranking political representative would be from a party committed to securing independence – to breaking away from the United Kingdom. Some of the Senedd members were crying. The crowd starting singing the Welsh national anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, and were joined by the assembled politicians.

Will Hayward is a Guardian columnist. He publishes a regular newsletter on Welsh politics

Up to 150 passengers and crew from hantavirus-hit MV Hondius start flying home aboard military and government planes from Spain’s Canary Islands

The complex operation to repatriate passengers and crew of the hantavirus-hit cruise ship, the MV Hondius, is almost complete.

Up to 150 people have started flying home aboard military and government planes from Spain’s Canary Islands, and the World Health Organization has recommended, but not mandated, a 42-day quarantine once they have landed.

It’s the biggest night in British television! Join Aimee Lou Wood, Alan Carr, Owen Cooper and stars of the year’s best shows on the red carpet

• Adolescence dominates Bafta TV awards

• Bafta TV awards 2026: the full list of winners
  

Banknotes are now so tattered that even buses refuse to accept them, as a dollarised economy and mobile phone payments push up the cost of essentials

As US troops withdrew from Somalia in the spring of 1994, a teenaged Muse Omar Jama began working as an exchange trader in Mogadishu’s Bakara market. More than three decades later, he still does the same job, but wonders for how much longer.

Jama, 49, sits in a plastic chair in the one-room office he shares with other traders. The auto-rickshaws speed by outside, but inside is quiet; the noise of bargaining has faded and the traders exchange few words between themselves.

Shock and fears for future, including homelessness, after landlords rushed to issue section 21 notices before 1 May

It was 2pm on 30 April when Carl Kansinde Middleton received a “no fault” eviction from his landlord in Brighton – just 10 hours before section 21 notices were officially banned under the Renters’ Right Act.

“As we were getting closer, I really thought I was safe,” he said. “It just never occurred to me that it would just come right on the last day – I truly felt blindsided.

Chances of Starmer remaining in No 10 appear to be diminishing as about 40 Labour MPs call on him to quit

• Who are the main threats to Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership?

Keir Starmer faces a fight for his political life in the next 24 hours as potential Labour leadership rivals, from Wes Streeting to Angela Rayner, begin positioning themselves for a contest.

Starmer is hoping to save his job on Monday with a speech promising to “face up to the big challenges” for the country on growth, energy, defence and Europe.

US president expresses ire at Tehran’s reported demands, as drones strike Gulf nations and Israel warns war ‘not over’

Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian response to a US peace proposal as “totally unacceptable”, on a day the month-old ceasefire showed signs of fraying as drone strikes were reported around the region and Benjamin Netanyahu warned the war was “not over”.

The Iranian counter-proposal was passed to Washington through Pakistani mediators.

FoI responses collected by insurer show brigades tackled 1,760 battery-linked fires in 2025, up 147% in three years

Fire brigades across the UK are tackling lithium-ion battery fires at a rate of one every five hours, figures show, as fire chiefs warn that public awareness and government regulation have not kept pace with the ubiquity of this new hazard.

Lithium-ion batteries power most rechargeable devices including mobile phones, electric toothbrushes, toys and vapes, as well as ebikes, e-scooters and electric vehicles.

Britons among passengers and crew taken off vessel and put on flights to 10 countries, while France and US later say two people showing symptoms

• Explainer: what happens to cruise ship passengers now and will they quarantine?

Dozens of passengers and crew from countries around the world have been evacuated from a cruise ship at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak.

British people were among those taken off the ship as part of a two-day operation that began on Sunday in Tenerife. They were put on chartered flights back to the UK, where they will enter hospital quarantine in Merseyside. At about 9pm on Sunday, a plane carrying 22 UK citizens landed in Manchester, it was reported.