Nvidia, SpaceX, Microsoft launch AI safety initiative as OpenAI cyber attack fallout continues

Microsoft, SpaceX, Palantir, alongside dozens of other tech companies from the U.S. and Europe, have joined the Open Secure AI Alliance.

Video appears to show person kicking sea lion: "Disgusting act"

The video appears to show a person throwing kicks at the sea lion at La Jolla Cove as at least one other person can be heard laughing in the background.

France continues to fight devastating wildfires, while progress is made in Spain

In southern France a wildfire in the region of Gironde is still active, while two major fires in central Spain are finally coming under control, ahead of the fourth heat wave of the summer.

Why Trump's new tariff blitz is very different this time around

President Trump on Friday launched a fresh round of tariffs targeting 60 trading partners, including the European Union, China, and the U.K.

Europe live: French firefighters warn it could take ‘weeks or months’ to extinguish wildfires

Firefighters in France and Spain face another day battling wildfires that have seen hundreds of thousands of people evacuated

• Pedro Sánchez says Spain is suffering effects of climate crisis as firefighters battle wildfires in France

Provisional data on wildfires in Spain shows that more than 170,000 hectares of forest land have been affected since the beginning of the year – a nearly sixfold increase on the almost 29,000 recorded in the same period in 2025.

35 major fires have been recorded so far, up from just 11 last year.

3 killed, 4 wounded in shooting near Seattle's Space Needle, authorities say

Three people were killed and four others wounded in a shooting during a food festival at the Seattle Center near the Space Needle, police said. A suspect was in custody and another was being sought, they said.

Baby missing after mother and toddler found dead off coast of South Australia

Emergency services pulled the bodies from the ocean at Port Macdonnell amid ‘grave concerns’ for second child

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A baby is missing off the coast of South Australia after the bodies of a mother and her toddler were pulled from the ocean.

Emergency services were called to the state’s southernmost coastal town, Port Macdonnell, at about 11.15am on Monday after a car was found with its engine running.

Bill Oddie, naturalist and broadcaster, dies aged 85

Coming to fame in The Goodies, Oddie was later known for his wildlife expertise and presented BBC Springwatch

The writer, comedian and conservationist Bill Oddie has died aged 85. Having come to prominence with the comedy group The Goodies, Oddie later established himself as an authority on wildlife, presenting television series including the BBC’s Springwatch and Autumnwatch.

Oddie’s agent paid tribute to his “intelligence and wit”. In a statement, David Foster said: “It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of Bill Oddie, the country’s best-loved birder. Bill was a multitalented celebrity – wildlife presenter, broadcaster, comedian, writer, songwriter, musician and conservationist. Yet it was never fame that he valued.

Commonwealth Games 2026: athletics begins, plus swimming and gymnastics on day four – live

• Live updates from Monday’s action around Glasgow

• Latest medal table | Follow us on TikTok | Mail Taha

Swimming: The men’s 100m freestyle heats are in full flow, with the 16 fastest swimmers progressing to the semi-finals. Australia’s Kyle Chalmers took gold in this event four years ago and he’s up in the last heat, against Scotland’s Jensen Norris and Stefan Krawiec. Chalmers is fourth at the halfway mark … but is victorious with 49.06.

Nigeria’s Edidiong Umoafia claims the first gold medal of the day, finishing with a score of 319 after lifting 147kg in the snatch and 172kg in the clean and jerk. England’s Jonathan Chin has to settle for fourth.

Burnham says there are ‘big decisions’ ahead on making council tax fairer – UK politics live

Labour’s 2024 manifesto did not include any specific commitments on council tax but two models are being floated

Keir Starmer resisting calls to stand down was “selfish and stubborn”, according to the current sole Scottish Labour leadership contender, Monica Lennon.

As the Press Association reports, the earliest high profile call for Starmer to quit came from former Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who broke cover in February. Sarwar is now leaving Holyrood having been given a seat in the Lords and a job as a business minister by Andy Burnham.

Clearly, the focus is the May election and what’s happened in Scotland.

The party has had its worst election result ever in the history of the Scottish parliament – in fact we’ve been losing seats and votes since 1999, so there’s a downward trend that cannot be ignored.

I think, on reflection, Keir Starmer should have read the room, I think he was selfish and stubborn and I think that’s been a big part of our problem.

That has contaminated people’s view of Scottish Labour.

Scottish Labour’s got some serious decisions to make, and it’s really important that our members have their say, that they’re heard.

I hope that other colleagues do come forward because I would welcome a debate, a discussion and a contest, because I think we really need to have that.

It is right to recognise that the NHS and social care are deeply interconnected but the case for fixing social care extends far beyond protecting the NHS. There is a moral imperative to ensure older and disabled people can live independently with dignity and a compelling economic case too.

Millions of people have unmet care needs, while unpaid carers and disabled adults are too often prevented from working, participating in their communities and planning for their futures because the support they need simply isn’t there.

Better social care would undoubtedly help some patients leave hospital more quickly but we should avoid suggesting that fixing social care alone will fix the NHS.

Debates about social care are too often haunted by ‘death tax’ rhetoric and the costs of improving the system rather than focussed on the tangible benefits reform could bring for people and families.

If the prime minister wants to succeed where previous governments have failed, he must make a positive case for reform and build a shared understanding of why change matters.

The Phantom Pain of Rojava review – Kurdish veterans of the war against IS tell story of courage and survival

Maryam Ebrahimi’s documentary about a home for survivors of the war in northern Syria is tender, gentle and incredibly moving

Speaking over footage filmed at the funeral of a female army commander, documentary-maker Maryam Ebrahimi notes that it’s the first time she has seen women carrying a coffin in the Middle East. As they move through crowd of mourners, she adds: “Their sisterhood amazes me.” Ebrahimi is talking about the women of Rojava, the Kurdish-led autonomous socialist region in northern Syria. At the cemetery, the women dig the soil with their bare hands; it is a tradition in Rojava, a final act of solidarity with their fallen sister.

Ebrahimi’s tender, gentle film is about a home for injured army veterans in Rojava; most are survivors of the war against Islamic State (IS). The house is mixed genders; one of the men living there is Fadakhar, who has had both his legs amputated and is haunted at night by phantom itches and pains. Mostly, though, Ebrahimi’s gaze is drawn to the female veterans, who made headlines a decade ago for their courage on the battlefield. We learn that women started leaving their villages to fight IS in 2011 – though in truth a little more background about the history of Kurdish all-female battalions might have been helpful.

‘The greatest album never made’: the untold story of George Michael’s secret, star-packed duets project

Suing his record label and sick of being a sex symbol, the singer spent 1992 working on the Trojan Souls for stars including Aretha Franklin and Bryan Ferry. Now, newly released studio footage shows him in his creative prime

• Wham! special: read Andrew Ridgeley on their bizarre 1985 trip to China

The George Michael album that never was began in defiance and ended in grief. It was 1992. Mired in a toxic dispute with Sony Records, Michael chose to keep busy and declare his independence by making an album of songs to be sung by several of his musical heroes, including Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson and Sade Adu, under the alias the Trojan Souls. Michael worked on the album for months until his Brazilian boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa died of Aids in March 1993 and he lost interest in music. It was never revived.

Tracks from the sessions have since leaked, along with some of the fly-on-the-wall footage filmed by Michael’s close friend and informal adviser Andros Georgiou, who has spent years trying to get unauthorised clips removed from YouTube and TikTok. Now, months before the 10th anniversary of Michael’s death, he is releasing 90 minutes of unedited video as Trojan Souls – not exactly a film but an unfiltered view of Michael in his creative prime. “I thought these fans were making money from my rights so I decided to stop fighting and get it out there,” Georgiou says. He hopes it will open a door on what he calls, with characteristic hyperbole, “the greatest album never made”.

From Ukraine and Sudan to Gaza: why have hospitals become a target of war?

International law states only military sites can be targeted during conflicts, but this is routinely being ignored

Twice every day, Liubov Martynenko leaves the underground maternity ward where she works in Kherson and travels by ambulance to collect meals from another hospital in the Ukrainian city’s “red zone”, close to the Dnipro River and the Russian forces on the other side.

On 4 June , just before midday, the vehicle entered the grounds of Luchansky city clinical hospital as usual, but Martynenko, who also works as a midwife, heard a strange sound in the air. “It’s flying!” the driver screamed, as she realised there was a drone nearby.

There was one thing I swore I’d never do on WhatsApp. And now I’ve gone and done it | Polly Hudson

Leaving your blue ticks on used to be a sign that you were trustworthy. These days it conveys a certain ‘pick me’ energy

Genuine question: am I the last person in the world who still has my blue ticks on? In the early days of WhatsApp, if someone had gone into their privacy settings and turned them off, so you could never be sure when or even if this person had read your message, that told you all you needed to know. No blue ticks = red flag. Here was a slippery, sneaky individual, not to be trusted under any circumstances. As opposed to those of us who left them on – honest, noble, open books with nothing to hide. No blue ticks was an indicator that you were probably messaging a serial killer.

But recently the tide has turned. Now everyone seems to have gone all mysterious and switched them off, to leave you guessing. I’m starting to feel like a desperate blue-tick loser, over-keen and needy, falling over myself to volunteer the unnecessary information that I’ve read your message, when you are far too cool to care. Blue ticks on has real “pick me” energy. It’s attention-seeking, the coloured symbol equivalent of sending a selfie of you reading the message in question, while grinning and doing a thumbs up.

GOP spent years targeting progressive dark money. That could boomerang on Trump.

The Trump-linked group Freedom 250 staged America's birthday with tens of millions that it is not required to disclose.

Ford wants more customers to customize vehicles to boost profits as it eyes 'Nike shoe drop' moments

Ford is expanding its accessory and parts business in an effort to boost profits and better tap into the $53 billion U.S. automotive aftermarket industry.

Andrea Pirlo out of running for Italy job but defends deal with Russian betting firm

• Italian politicians had raised concern over appointment

• Former player says he has never expressed views on war

Andrea Pirlo has confirmed he is no longer in line to coach Italy, with his sponsorship deal with a Russian betting firm believed to behind the development.

Several Italian politicians have raised concerns about Pirlo’s role as an ambassador for Fonbet, saying the national team coach should not have conflicting views on Italy’s support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.

U.S. and Iran pause fighting to give peace talks 'space.' Here's where negotiations stand

A temporary pause to the U.S.-Iran conflict appeared to hold on Monday, after negotiations over a lasting peace faced fresh hurdles over the weekend.

Cocoa prices are easing. So why is chocolate still so expensive?

Chocolate firms look to win shoppers back with premium products and social media trends after poor weather conditions, tariffs, and the Iran war hit sales.

Unauthorised version of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey shared on X

A high-quality pirated version of the summer’s hit movie was leaked on Elon Musk’s X platform and viewed more than 3m times before being removed

A leaked copy of The Odyssey has been taken down from Elon Musk’s X platform but only after a post flagging it gained millions of views.

A high-quality pirated version of the film went viral at the weekend after an account linked to it saying “Someone uploaded ‘The Odyssey’ full movie on X. Can you believe it?”. The post flagging the film was viewed more than 3m times before the account hosting the apparently leaked film was suspended by X.

Here’s why India’s cockroach protests were such a success – and why the Mamdani effect means more to come | Mukul Kesavan

The young leaders are eloquent and organised – and now they know what victory looks like. That could be a huge headache for Narendra Modi

The rebellion in India of the young, led by the Cockroach Janta party (CJP), unfolded against a backdrop of large, abstract, geometrical structures – arcs, planes, hemispheres – that together make up an observatory called Jantar Mantar, built in the early 18th century to refine almanacs and tell time. Jantar Mantar has been a byword for political protest for decades: it marks the space that the Delhi police assigns to the politically disgruntled so they can vent in a contained way. But it had never before hosted a political insurgency that started from scratch and forced the Indian state to back down in less than eight weeks.

When its founder, Abhijeet Dipke, brought the CJP to Jantar Mantar, it was a social media hashtag with 20 million followers. While he was studying in Boston, Dipke took the remarks of chief justice Surya Kant, who is accused of referring to the swathes of unemployed young people and activists as “parasites” and “cockroaches”, and turned them into a here-we-come meme. When he brought the CJP home to Delhi on 6 June to make it real, people were intrigued. Given the mostly dismal fate of civil society movements during prime minister Narendra Modi’s time in office, no one anticipated the David and Goliath contest that came to a head last Saturday.

US track and field nationals: Olympic stars and hopefuls deliver at LA 2028 ‘dress rehearsal’

The meet had lower stakes with no Olympics or worlds this year, but Nikki Hiltz, Sha’Carri Richardson and Cooper Lutkenhaus all took advantage of the moment

In two years’ time, tens of thousands of fans will pack into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – with tens of millions watching around the world – as the world’s fastest and strongest athletes compete at the 2028 Olympics.

But this vast audience ebbs and flows in the long years between Olympics. On the other side of the country, around 5,000 fans filed into New York’s Icahn Stadium this weekend for the USA Track & Field national outdoor championships.

Trump’s deportation crackdown accelerated by potent court tool

Mass hearings, removal orders ‘in absentia’ – judges are wrapping up immigration cases in unprecedented numbers

The second Trump administration recorded its highest number of immigration arrests so far last month. One significant and alarming reason that is far less noticeable than armored, masked agents swaggering in the streets with weapons may be a sudden change in America’s immigration courts.

Here, in recent months, accelerated mass hearings are giving people facing existential questions about their future little time to prepare for their cases, and judges are often ordering vulnerable immigrants deported without them even being in the courtroom.

Glitched into empty space: why video games are obsessed with the Backrooms

The horror movie sensation of 2026 has its roots in gaming’s discovery of ‘noclip’ – and the hidden virtual realms that could be opened up inside games. Developers explain how everyone got lost in these liminal spaces

It starts on 4chan, in a May 2019 thread entitled “unsettling images”. The first post was a photo showing an empty room with the now iconic yellow wallpaper, no natural lighting and a kind of inexplicable jutting half-wall. Shortly afterwards, another user (there are no usernames on 4chan, just identifying numbers) responded with 78 words of text that would essentially lay out the blueprint for a future $262m A24 movie sensation.

“If you’re not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you’ll end up in the Backrooms,” the post begins. For the uninitiated, “noclip” refers to a game mode in which collision with solid objects is disabled, allowing players to move freely through walls and floors. Think of Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character in the film, finding a permeable wall in the basement of his furniture store and passing through to the world on the other side.

Cyclospora boosts fears that deadlier foodborne outbreaks are ahead

Food safety experts say cuts to the public health system hobbled the response — and that the next outbreak could be much worse.

In Memphis, an 'anti-crime' task force quietly turned into an ICE crackdown

The influx of federal agents into the city last fall led to widespread immigration arrests – a majority without criminal convictions. President Trump has said he wants to replicate it elsewhere.

Kalshi attacks a Wisconsin law banning election bets as 'voter suppression'

The spat between the leading prediction market company and a key battleground state could be a glimpse into the next major fight between states and the fast-growing industry.

British YouTuber Yung Filly describes night he met fan in Australian nightclub before allegedly raping her

Performer on trial on six charges of sexually penetrating a 20-year-old woman without consent

A British YouTuber and musician accused of violently raping a fan after a gig never asked his alleged victim if she wanted sex, a court has been told.

Rapper Yung Filly, whose real name is Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos, is fighting six charges of sexually penetrating a 20-year-old woman without consent in a Perth hotel room in September 2024.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino accuses critics of spreading hate at World Cup

• Infantino claims critics of World Cup ‘missed it all’

• He again defends Balogun affair and treatment of Iran

The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has hit back at critics of the World Cup, accusing them of spreading hate and false narratives while defending the tournament ⁠as a success that celebrated ⁠unity, safety and inclusion.

In ​an open letter published on Monday, Infantino said detractors had overlooked the joy and togetherness experienced by millions of fans around the world who witnessed the tournament, ⁠won by Spain and staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico. “You were so consumed by hate and criticism that you missed it all,” said the 56-year-old. “To those behind their pens and papers, behind ⁠their screens spreading hate and false rumours, I want to say that while you are sitting behind, we at Fifa are ​on the front lines organising, working hard, and delivering ‌the best show in the ‌world. We experienced no violence, no incidents, 100% safety and security, only joy and happiness.”

Finland’s radical answer to renewable energy’s biggest headache: The world’s largest sand battery

A small Finnish town has turned to the world's largest commercial sand battery to tackle a major hurdle in the energy transition: intermittency.

Morning news brief

Three people were killed in a shooting at a Seattle food festival Sunday, U.S and Iran pause airstrikes, with less than 100 days left until Election Day, a look at how the midterms are shaping up.

Football transfer rumours: Arsenal and Liverpool battle it out for Bradley Barcola?

Today’s rumours are back with a vengeance

Like baggy trousers, small sunglasses and leopard print, transfer rumours are back in a big way. And there can be no doubting the transfer ambition of Premier League champions Arsenal, who are eyeing up either Vinícius Júnior or Bradley Barcola as a deluxe Leandro Trossard replacement.

One sticking point for the Gunners is the former’s apparent desire to stay put at Real Madrid, while Liverpool appear to be favourites for Barcola if they can muster up the £145m Paris Saint-Germain are demanding for their fourth-best forward. The path may become clear for Vinícius to leave the Bernabéu, however, with the club closing in on a deal for Ivorian World Cup sensation Yan Diomande. Perennial prospect Endrick has also been touted for a move away from Madrid this summer.

Amid the social and political panic about falling birthrates, why not ask new mothers what they think? | Lucy Jones

New research reveals deep anxieties. Medals and cash bonuses have been mooted as incentives, but the real need is for women to have their feelings valued

It seems as though every week brings another news story on declining global birthrates. A number of political leaders have been panicking for a while, of course, instructing citizens to reproduce in tones so beguiling, who could possibly resist? JD Vance: “I want more babies”; Jacob Rees-Mogg: “We need more babies”. While in France this year, a government direct-mailing campaign urged 29-year-olds to have a baby before it’s too late.

People are busily scratching their heads and trying to work out why this is happening. The trend is described as a catastrophe for civilisation, with leaders drumming up incentives and policies in response, from medals (Russia) and a €1,000 birth bonus (Italy) to expanding access to IVF (the US, with Donald Trump crowing – and if you’re eating you may want to skip the rest of this sentence – he’ll be known as the “fertilisation president”).

Lucy Jones is a journalist and the author of Losing Eden and The Nature Seed

What If We Got AI Right? by Eleanor Drage review – avoiding apocalypse

The academic’s ambitious guide to the ethics of tech falls short of its promise to provide meaningful answers

The AI ethicist Eleanor Drage believes that to thrive alongside artificial intelligence, humans need to recognise AI’s “humanity”. She means that while we often speak of AI as though it were some mystical, formless thing, it is the product of hours of human labour, in silicon and quartz mines, microchip factories and data labelling centres. If citizens want to wrest power from the tech companies that are building AI, it helps to understand clearly what they are selling us. This also means seeing through the marketing and hype: “the cloud”, that nebulous, distant place where your photos are stored, is just someone else’s computer; an AI “hallucination” is a system error or data labelling mistake; intelligence is a very broad – and potentially misleading – term.

The story in Silicon Valley is that AI will either save us, ushering in a new era of prosperity and human longevity, or it will wipe us all out. Drage argues, convincingly, that big tech cannot possibly deliver on its utopian promises while it continues to chase profit and power above all else, and while it serves the interests of a narrow few. Meanwhile, the cultural obsession with the AI-induced apocalypse conveniently redirects attention from the practical conversations we could be having about how to make AI safer – by ensuring citizens have more power over how their information is used, and how AI models are trained and regulated, for example. Tech titans’ apocalyptic visions also create the false impression that AI safety is more important than climate change, geopolitical tensions and inequality, three problems that are already causing a huge amount of suffering and that, if addressed, would reduce many AI-linked risks too.

Burnham is master of his message for now. But he should know this: media foes will offer no respite | Tom Baldwin

While the new PM’s slick social media operation can help him bypass the hostile press that devoured Starmer, he will still need friends in the fourth estate

Andy Burnham has been in politics long enough to know that the largely friendly media coverage he’s received so far would turn hostile once he was inside Downing Street. And, within hours of becoming prime minister, some familiar predators were circling as they tried to decide whether to attack him for being too leftwing, too insubstantial or simply offering more of the same.

The Mail accused him of embarking on an unfunded “spending spree”, the Sun highlighted a series of “embarrassing” and “humiliating” moments that marred his first days in office, while the Telegraph declared he stood for nothing except “gimmicks” and “rehashing failed ideas”. Much of this, of course, goes with the territory of being a Labour leader.

Tadej Pogacar’s ability to win unopposed stands champion out among Tour legends | William Fotheringham

Slovene is youngest of riders to win five Tours de France and few would bet against him claiming sixth victory next year

The 2026 Tour de France served up an epic battle that lasted for day after day between two protagonists of the highest calibre with different skillsets, a tale of epic breakaways, intriguing team tactics and reversals of fortune, building to a spectacular climax on the race’s toughest stage. The contest for the green jersey of points winner between Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen was a classic.

Those hoping for something similar in the race for the yellow jersey of overall winner were disappointed, and rapidly. Any suspense was eliminated with 42km of stage six remaining, high above the ski village of La Mongie, when Tadej Pogacar dislodged Jonas Vingegaard and the other putative race favourites on the Col du Tourmalet. It was a familiar stinging attack, and a familiar outcome, with the Slovene opening a lead that looked insurmountable, as indeed it was.

Is it true that … sit-ups are the best exercise for abs?

The classic gym routine doesn’t isolate your stomach muscles as much as you might think, but here are five that will

If someone in a film or TV show wants a six-pack, chances are they’ll drop to the floor and start doing sit-ups. According to Dr Lee Brown, senior lecturer in strength and conditioning at the University of East London, that’s more Hollywood than science.

“It’s embedded in the archaic practices of boxing coaches and therefore everyone seems to follow it,” he says. “But they’re far from the best exercise for training your core.”

Andy Burnham vows to use his ‘political capital’ to fix social care system

PM says that without rapid action the NHS could effectively collapse, in first full interview since entering No 10

Andy Burnham has promised to use “whatever political capital I have” to finally fix the crumbling social care system in England, saying that without rapid action the NHS could effectively collapse.

In his first full interview since becoming prime minister last week, Burnham said he could not put a timetable on the arrival of a new system for social care but that its creation would take time.

US pauses Iran attacks after Trump advised to halt bombing

Top military officials say campaign has reached its limit of effectiveness and warn of dwindling stocks of munitions

The US has paused strikes on Iran for a third night as top military officials advised Donald Trump to halt his bombing campaign, and diplomatic negotiations have continued to avoid a return to all-out war.

Oil prices fell on Monday as markets responded to the pause in combat.

The Ukrainian startup taking the missile fight deep into Russia

Fire Point makes 100 long-range missiles and thousands of drones a month and is vital to Kyiv’s deep-strike capability, says CEO Iryna Terekh

Ukraine’s leading arms company is manufacturing about 100 long-range Flamingo cruise missiles a month, a rate able to support an enduring campaign of deep strike against targets hundreds of miles inside Russia.

Fire Point is also making FP-1 and FP-2 fixed-wing drones at a rate of “hundreds per day”, according to chief executive Iryna Terekh. Manufacturing at scale is restarting after a pause caused by the delay in signing off €90bn of EU lending to Ukraine.

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency creator makes the world happier: best podcasts of the week

Author Alexander McCall Smith’s new series is an attempt to use short fiction to make listeners feel better about the world. Plus, what happened when two London gangsters decided to make a film?

While he is best known for his No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels, Alexander McCall Smith has something of a soft spot for short stories, which can “cover a whole sweep of history in a couple of paragraphs”. His new series features a selection of short original works that he hopes will make listeners feel better about the state of the world, beginning with a pleasingly twee tale inspired by a friend’s miniature helicopter landing pad. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly

In search of Valencia’s ‘white gold’: my hunt for the perfect horchatería

Horchata, the revered creamy drink made from tiger nuts, is still served in grand Valencian parlours – always accompanied by sugar-glazed pastries

It was a glimpse of an old couple sharing a tender moment in the bustling horchatería that drew me into one of Valencia’s most storied culinary traditions. As he sipped his milky horchata de chufa and a white crescent moon appeared on his coiffed moustache, they shared a soft laugh and she dabbed it away from his upper lip.

“There’s no fixed time to drink horchata,” the lady said. “As long we have at least one every day.”

Gaining Ground by Joan Barfoot review – Anne Enright celebrates a landmark feminist novel

Half a century on, this tale of a woman who abandons her children in search of her self remains thrillingly original

There is a growing literature of maternal flight: novels about women who leave not just their husbands but also the children they have made. In the real world, men are the more frequent deserters; the connection of the father to family life is seen as contingent, while motherhood is revered as an intrinsic state. This means that women who “un-mother” themselves are doing something impossible: the connection between a woman and her child is not just emotional, but also creational. Joan Barfoot understands the inside-out nature of the logic involved in maternal obligation: “she created these other people and their need for her,” says Abra, the abandoning mother of Gaining Ground, “and now she must fulfil them.”

Abra neglects to fulfil her children or their needs. The novel is rigorously and meditatively about the business of separation, which is also the business of becoming a single and undivided self.

Honor Magic V6 review: sleek foldable phone lacking a bit of polish

Super-premium Android has top performance, long battery life and good cameras, but is let down by software

Honor’s svelte Android phone-tablet has been given a glow-up for its sixth version, offering a great alternative to Samsung for a fancy foldable with a red suede-like back framed in gold.

The Magic V6 continues the Chinese challenger brand’s strategy of taking a razor-thin device and slapping a giant circular lump on the back to fit in top-class cameras, something others often forgo. It costs a not inconsiderable £1,500 (€1,700/A$2,999) but only until August when the price jumps to a cool £2,000 (€2,300) – a solid £300 more than last year’s model as the cost of RAMageddon continues to bite, even at the very top end of the market.

Main screen: 7.95in (403ppi) 120Hz OLED flexible display

Cover screen: 6.52in (406ppi) 120Hz OLED

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

RAM: 16GB

Storage: 512GB

Operating system: MagicOS 10 (Android 16)

Camera: 50MP + 50MP ultrawide + 64MP 3x tele; 2x 20MP selfie

Connectivity: 5G, dual sim + esim, USB-C, wifi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 6, GNSS

Water resistance: IP68/69 (1.5 metres for 30 minutes)

Dimensions folded: 156.7 x 74.5 x 8.75-9mm

Dimensions unfolded: 156.7 x 145.6 x 4.0-4.1mm

Weight: 219-224g

Can the U.S. and Iran take the off-ramp?

The U.S. military has paused its airstrikes on Iran after nearly two weeks of intensifying bombing, while diplomatic efforts have pushed forward to try to avert a return to all-out war.

A new start after 60: stuck in a hospital bed, I decided to retire. Now I’m a tap dancer

Stephen Walsh was such a workaholic that none of his colleagues would believe he’d ever leave. But then he learned to dance and he’s now part of a dazzling tap troupe

When he was 57, Stephen Walsh found himself in hospital with a stomach bleed from an ulcer. As he lay in bed recovering, he thought about his future. “‘You always had this vague idea that you’d retire early,’” he told himself at the time. “‘Well, I’m going to do it.’”

Discharged from hospital, he gave his business partners three years’ notice. They had worked together at the General Electric Company, and after it was broken up in 1999, they launched their own training and consultancy business specialising in how to improve companies’ efficiency and outcomes.

Seven suspected new bird flu cases are ‘evidence of spread’ into Australian wildlife, experts warn

BirdLife Australia says discoveries of sick and dead local seabirds in South Australia show outbreak is ‘taking hold’

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South Australia has reported seven new suspected cases of deadly H5 bird flu, with experts warning it could be a sign the disease has begun spreading through local bird populations.

All seven birds are greater crested terns – a common local seabird – and were found on the Limestone Coast in south-eastern SA, with one found at Cape Jaffa, five around Southend Jetty near Beachport and one at Port MacDonald, just over 20km from the Victorian border.

With just a few primary elections to go, the competitive Senate map keeps shifting

For Democrats to take control of the U.S. Senate, they have to flip four seats currently held by Republicans. Republicans, meanwhile, are playing defense and pickup opportunities are harder to find.

Vegan pho and Thai fishless cakes: Richard Makin’s southeast Asian-style tofu recipes

Fragrant, punchy vegan dishes that can be kept in the kept in the fridge or freezer for an easy midweek dinner

Whether you love it or loathe it, tofu is one of the most versatile ingredients in any kitchen. For me, it’s the saviour of stressful dinner times, because it cooks in minutes, absorbs flavour like no other and packs a real nutritional punch. Here, it plays two very different roles: crisped until golden in a fragrant, spice-infused Vietnamese-style pho, and mashed to give body and bite to bold, punchy Thai-ish fishless cakes.

Reform UK levy on employing overseas staff ‘would harm NHS and social care’

Exclusive: Experts say policy could also cause shortages of school teachers and drive some universities to bankruptcy

Reform UK’s plan to make employers pay an annual levy for overseas staff would harm the NHS and social care, cause a shortage of schoolteachers, and could push some universities into bankruptcy, experts have warned.

Nigel Farage’s party has pledged a “migrant worker surcharge”, which would involve a higher rate of employer national insurance as well as a separate annual charge. It would apply to any employees without a UK passport, including EU nationals with settled status, with the exception of Irish passport holders.

What is a ‘fire cloud’, and how have they worsened wildfires in Europe?

Severe wildfires can generate their own unique weather systems. One of the most striking examples of this are dangerous pyrocumulonimbus, or pyroCB, clouds

• Pedro Sánchez says Spain is suffering effects of climate crisis as firefighters battle wildfires in France

As France and Spain battle some of the worst wildfires in recent history, experts have warned of an unprecedented phenomenon that could exacerbate the effects of the blazes: pyrocumulonimbus, or “fire clouds”.

Wildfires often spread when hot, windy and dry conditions coalesce but severe wildfires can generate their own unique weather systems. One of the most striking examples of this are pyrocumulonimbus clouds, or fire-generated thunderstorms, which are the most severe form of fire clouds.

Furious review – a proper grownup thriller that’s powered by sheer female rage

This crime drama about a female serial killer is enormously entertaining TV that demands you pay attention

Furious is well named. It is powered throughout its eight-episode run by an unfaltering current of female rage. It is the creation of Elizabeth Meriwether, who gave us last year’s astonishing Dying for Sex (starring Michelle Williams as a woman with terminal cancer discovering the range and depth of her sexuality for the first time) and 2022’s brisk, brilliant The Dropout (the tale of Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of blood-testing company, Theranos). They were both based on true stories. Furious was apparently inspired by the 1987 film Black Widow, starring Theresa Russell and Debra Winger, but it has jettisoned the marry-and-murder-for-money plot and contemporised the rest so thoroughly that the result hardly seems to merit the dutiful hat-tip the publicity has given it.

Meriwether is the writer of the first three episodes, the rest are divided among four women and one man. The drama itself is dominated by three complicated and fascinating female characters, played by Emmy Rossum, Lola Petticrew (who gave an extraordinary performance in 2024’s Say Nothing) and Quincy Tyler Bernstine. A fantastic supporting cast and a dense, lean, evocative script make this television for grownups, television to pay attention to and to entertain you enormously.

Furious is on Disney+

‘Her screams echo in my ears’: the trauma of so-called ‘honour killings’ in Pakistan

There were 470 women killed in such circumstances across the country last year, with rights groups saying the true toll will be even higher, reflecting a system that still protects the accused

Mohammad Ramzan was on the night shift at the cement factory outside Karachi when he answered a phone call from home. His 20-year-old daughter, Khalida Chandio, had been shot dead in their village in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province.

Now back home, with Khalida’s mother, Nabul, at his side, the devastated couple are trying to comprehend what happened. Nabul struggles to hold back tears. She says her daughter had been taken out from their home under the cover of darkness and killed just a few hundred metres away.

‘My mother was 4ft 11in and scared the hell out of people’ – Sean Astin on child stardom, The Lord of the Rings and surviving 45 years in Hollywood

His mother was an Oscar-winning actor who had been exploited from a young age; Astin appeared in The Goonies at just 13. Now, he has followed in his mother’s footsteps again as a union leader. He talks Stranger Things, AI and why playing Samwise Gamgee cost him his house

Sean Astin is showing me around his new office. There’s framed movie prints on the walls, piles of paperwork and a stack of boxes of Stranger Things Funko Pops. “If you were here, you could look out this window and see a 10-storey building with our iconic Sag-Aftra logo on it,” he says proudly on video call, gesturing out of the window to the Los Angeles skyline. “But you just have to trust me that it’s there.” He shows me a framed photo of his mother, Patty Duke, aged 16, with the best supporting actress Oscar she won in 1963 (for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker), and even more proudly, a framed copy of Duke’s business card from when she was president of the Screen Actors Guild in the mid-80s – the role he now occupies (Sag merged with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in 2012). The 10 months of his presidency “has been a whirlwind”, he says.

It’s still slightly jarring to see Astin in a suit and tie, lanyard around his neck. We’re more accustomed to seeing him in the handwoven cloak and hairy feet of Samwise Gamgee, loyally accompanying mister Frodo into Mordor in The Lord of the Rings. Or as Winona Ryder’s short-lived partner in Stranger Things (before a Demodog got to him). Or as never-say-die college football underdog “Rudy” Ruettiger in the 1993 biopic. Or, for viewers of his own vintage, as plucky leader Mikey in The Goonies. Astin has been a member of the union he now represents for 45 of his 55 years, but he seems to have survived the perils of child stardom and a Hollywood upbringing remarkably unscathed. In fact, you could see it all as preparation for the role.

Bodies of five climbers found on Russia’s highest mountain

Two others on Mount Elbrus survive after group of foreign climbers ‘strayed from route’ amid deteriorating weather, say authorities

Russia says it has found the bodies of five foreign climbers – believed to be Bosnian – on Mount Elbrus, authorities and state media say.

Authorities said earlier that out of a group of seven climbing Russia’s highest mountain, they had recovered two bodies and were searching for three more.

Pentagon lists 4 killed in Iran war under "Overseas Operations Casualties"

Four U.S. service members who were listed in a Pentagon casualties database as having died during the Iran war are now listed as "Overseas Operations Casualties."

Colorado River reservoirs hit record lows as government threatens major cuts

It's a moment of reckoning in the drought-stricken West as seven states can't agree on how to share the rapidly shrinking water supply.

New aerial video of deadly subway surfing trend released by NYPD

This weekend, New York City police released new video of a deadly trend known as subway surfing. Shanelle Kaul reports.

States relying on Colorado River water face major cuts as reservoir levels fall to all-time lows

The Colorado River, a lifeline for the American West, is now a line in the sand dividing seven states that can't agree how to share the shrinking water supply. After years of failed talks, the federal government is now poised to impose sweeping cuts. Jonathan Vigliotti reports.

Bad numbers for Trump on economy, Iran, in latest CBS News poll

A new CBS News poll found that 65% of Americans disapprove of how President Trump is handling the economy, 71% disapprove of his handling of inflation and 63% think the war in Iran is going badly for the United States. Olivia Gazis reports.

2-day pause in Iran strikes linked to progress in diplomatic talks, sources say

The current two-day pause in fighting between the U.S. and Iran comes after nearly two straight weeks of intense fighting and is directly linked to progress in diplomatic efforts, sources confirm to CBS News. At the same time, there are growing concerns that the U.S. is running low on crucial munitions. Charlie D'Agata reports.

Ukraine war briefing: Air ceasefire talk ahead of Trump-Zelenskyy meeting

Romania summons Russian ambassador after shooting down three drones; Zelenskyy to meet Andy Burnham in UK. What we know on day 1,615

Ukrainian and US officials have discussed a proposal to offer Russia an air ceasefire, the Reuters news agency has reported, citing a Ukrainian source. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to meet Donald Trump, the US president, in Washington on Tuesday. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on ⁠Sunday that Russia considered it premature to comment on any such ceasefire proposal. “We do not know how credible these reports are or where they come from. These are newspaper reports and nothing more. Therefore, it is premature to comment on them at this stage,” the Interfax news agency quoted Peskov as saying. “We have heard statements that some new formulas may be possible. We still need to learn ​more about them … What happens next will depend on how closely they correspond to our interests.”

Romania said it was summoning Russia’s ambassador after the Nato member’s military shot down a third drone in as many days. A Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down the drone over the Black Sea, five minutes after it entered the country’s airspace, said Romania’s defence minister, Radu Miruță. The foreign minister, Oana Țoiu, condemned “repeated violations”. The Romanian president, Nicușor Dan, said that according to an investigation, a drone shot down on Friday was a “Shahed model used by the Russian Federation in its war of aggression against Ukraine”. Investigations into drones shot down on Saturday and Sunday continued, he said.

The Golden Leo, an international cargo vessel, sank off the coast of ⁠Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa on Sunday, a week after Ukrainian ⁠officials said ⁠it ​had been struck by Russian forces. Nine ⁠crew members were killed in the ​attack while eight ‌were evacuated to safety. The ‌ship had left the ‌port of Chornomorsk with a cargo of corn when it was shelled by Russian forces on 19 July. Russia’s defence ministry ⁠said on Sunday that its forces had ⁠struck Ukrainian ⁠ports ​and shipping. Russia claimed the container terminal ‌at Chornomorsk, near ‌Odesa, handled “military cargoes”.

Russia launched seven ballistic missiles and 136 drones at Ukraine overnight into Sunday, the Ukrainian air force said. In the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, a Russian drone hit ⁠a supermarket, killing two people – including a nine-year-old child – and wounding 25, emergency services said. In the eastern city of Kharkiv, one person was killed and 16 others required medical attention ‌after a daytime drone attack, said the mayor, Ihor Terekhov. A glide bomb attack killed one person and wounded six in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, said the regional governor, Ivan Fedorov.

In Kyiv, a fire broke out on the seventh and eighth floors of a multi-storey apartment block in a central district after ‌a missile attack, said the mayor, Vitali Klitschko. Three people were wounded. In Sloviansk, Donetsk region, the national oil and gas company Naftogaz said two of its employees died in a Russian attack while trying to help residents affected by an earlier strike.

Russia said ⁠areas of Ukraine ​under Moscow’s control had also come under attack, with four people killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Horlivka. Twelve ⁠people, including two children, were ⁠injured ⁠in drone ​attack on ⁠the Russian city of Belgorod, close ⁠to ​Ukraine’s ‌border, regional authorities ‌said early on Monday. Ukraine denies targeting civilians.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will become Andy Burnham’s first overseas visitor as prime minister, in a visit that Burnham said underlined Britain’s “unwavering” backing for Ukraine, Peter Walker writes. Less than two weeks after Keir Starmer travelled to Kyiv for the final foreign visit of his prime ministership, Zelenskyy will on Monday join Burnham at a naval base where Ukrainian forces have been receiving training. According to statistics released by No 10, since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, total UK support for the country has totalled £25bn, including £16bn in military assistance.

Burnham and Zelenskyy are due to discuss joint projects including Stone Cloak, an electronic jammer for which the UK has shared the intellectual property, allowing Ukraine to use the system immediately to prevent Russia shooting down Ukrainian drones. Since being proven on the Ukrainian frontline, the jammers are due to be fitted to new UK weaponry, including cruise missiles.

Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

Center fielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones and second baseman Jeff Kent were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

RAF Chinook crash victims’ families ask Andy Burnham for review of disaster

PM urged to end ‘cover-up culture’ and order independent review taking in evidence that has emerged on 1994 crash

The families of those killed in an RAF Chinook crash in 1994 have urged Andy Burnham to end Britain’s “cover-up culture” and order an independent review into the disaster.

Twenty-nine serving military personnel died when the Chinook HC2 helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in south-west Scotland during a flight from Northern Ireland.

7/26/2026: Vaccine Court; Chess Boxing; Amy Sherald

First, inside the U.S. vaccine court. Then, a look at chess boxing: a sport where brain meets brawn. And, Amy Sherald: The 60 Minutes Interview.

7/26: CBS Weekend News

What to know about the Berlin Pride attack and the suspect killed by police; Bad numbers for Trump on economy, Iran, in latest CBS News poll.

The Rapture review – this apocalyptic drama couldn’t be here at a better time

It’s set in a UK racked by an unbearable heatwave and the rise of extremism – this adaptation of the 2010 novel feels horrifyingly apt

When The Rapture by Liz Jensen was first published, in 2010, it was set in a near-future when temperatures in the UK are rising to unbearable heights, culty-Christian groups with apocalyptic bents are springing up all over the place and there is a growing sense that the world is going mad. Swap out “culty-Christian” for “political extremists bent on embracing the apocalypse rather than trying to save us from it” and it would be a deluded soul indeed who wouldn’t place it among fiction’s more prescient offerings.

The adaptation that has arrived on our screens 16 years later – a study in physical and mental discomfort – is the perfect accompaniment to our current record-breaking, fear-inducing heatwave, and gains a lot of power from our growing collective awareness that the future is finally here.

North Carolina woman missing in Grenada as husband heads to join search

Elizabeth "Liz" Waddell was last seen at Grand Anse Beach on Wednesday, July 22, the Royal Grenada Police Force said on social media.

‘Pretty bad’: Lewis Hamilton hits out at Ferrari after dropping points in F1 title race

• Hamilton questions strategy after finishing fifth

• Briton lost place after penalty for speeding in pit lane

Lewis Hamilton expressed frustration with his Ferrari team after he dropped points in the title battle against Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli at the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Lando Norris returned to form with the defending world champion claiming his first race victory of the season.

Hamilton finished in fourth place on the track at the Hungaroring but, with a five-second penalty imposed for speeding in the pit lane, he was classified as fifth in the race won by McLaren’s Norris, with Max Verstappen second for Red Bull and Antonelli third.

Force of Nature review – this nature show turns the climate crisis into a pompom-shaking spectacle

Cheetahs forced to cross roiling rivers, owls battered by storms … the tone of this look at how extreme weather affects animals is all a bit disaster movie. Subtle, it is not

You have a thick neck and poorly defined calf muscles and you live in South Dakota with your feckless partner and your five expressionless children. You are an owl. Your days consist of lengthy stretches of nothing, punctuated by sudden bursts of unimaginable terror. Coyotes, badgers and snakes are all bent on reducing your beak to marmalade.

But it’s the weather that poses the biggest threat. Specifically, shouts Force of Nature, it’s the “MONSTER STORMS” that rumble ominously across the prairies, each of which forces you and your family to scurry into your burrow, whereupon you will stand with your trembling backs to the wall, legs wide apart and fluffy britches a-flap, like anxious viscounts in the court of Charles II. Will you survive? Or will you be eviscerated by the “cluster bombs of tornadoes” that churn with increasing frequency through the midwest?

Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia wins the 2026 Tour de France, his fifth victory in the race

The route for the iconic cycling race's final stage was shortened because security and police were reassigned to assist with wildfires in southwest France.

Trump ‘border czar’ says ICE officer in Maine killing should not have cleared vetting

Tom Homan comments on officer’s eligibility to serve after reports that agent’s two ex-wives had accused him of abuse

Tom Homan, the Trump administration “border czar”, on Sunday said he did not believe the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer at the center of a recent fatal shooting in Maine “should have ever cleared vetting”.

Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union, Homan was asked by host Dana Bash about the officer’s eligibility to serve following reports that two of his ex-wives had accused him of abuse.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

Police shoot dead Berlin Pride van and knife rampage suspect, officials say

Abdul Ballout, 21, reportedly shot in operation at allotment in Spandau district after fatal attack in Tiergarten park

A man suspected of driving a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival then going on a knife rampage in an Islamist terror attack has been shot dead by police, German officials have said.

Police confirmed on Sunday evening that the chief suspect had been shot dead, reportedly during an operation at an allotment garden complex ⁠in the capital’s Spandau district.

Ella Baron on the wildfires in France and Spain – cartoon

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Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," July 26, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.N. ambassador Mike Waltz join Margaret Brennan.

Sanders says polls show voters want change in midterm elections

Senator Bernie Sanders said the major obstacle progressive candidates are facing in the midterm elections is massive spending in key races by the "billionaire class."

Every new UK home should have air conditioning, say Liberal Democrats

Exclusive: Party says housing stock ‘woefully unprepared’ for extreme heat and new rules for builders must be set

All new UK homes should be built with air conditioning to cope with the effects of the climate crisis, according to the Liberal Democrats.

The party says British homes are dangerously unsuited to rising temperatures, meaning passive cooling measures such as planting more trees in residential areas are necessary.

U.S. appeals court upholds ruling blocking Trump's order on mail-in voting

A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's ruling that halted President Trump's efforts to create a federal voter list and limit who can receive a mail ballot.

U.S. pauses attacks on Iran for a second straight day and Tehran does too

The United States paused attacks on Iran for a second straight day Sunday and Tehran said it had done so too, as efforts continued to bring the countries back to negotiations on an interim ceasefire.

England’s north-south life expectancy gap grows despite record longevity

King’s Fund report finds men and women live, on average, for 80 years and nearly 84 years, but gains are in south

The north-south divide in life expectancy in England has grown over the past decade, with people in northern regions facing more illnesses such as heart disease and cancer, but also suicides and deaths related to alcohol and drug misuse.

Provisional figures show life expectancy reached an all-time high in 2025, with men and women in England living, on average, for 80 years and nearly 84 years respectively, but the gains were overwhelmingly in the south, the King’s Fund said.

The Guardian view on a US-Saudi nuclear agreement: an offer that further erodes international safeguards | Editorial

Even if no reactors are built, Donald Trump’s announcement of a double-standards deal with Riyadh has wrought further damage in a new era of proliferation

Even as he threatened to escalate an unlawful war sold in part as preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, Donald Trump opened the door to proliferation in the region on Wednesday. The US announced that it had signed a deal with Saudi Arabia which would potentially allow the kingdom to enrich uranium in future and to avoid the fullest inspection rights for the international watchdog.

Experts have long warned that a civilian nuclear programme could create a path towards a nuclear-armed Riyadh. Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince and de facto leader, has said that if Tehran gets a nuclear weapon, “we will have to get one”. Concerns are magnified by the agreement’s terms. Washington previously argued that the “gold standard” was the United Arab Emirates’ agreement to permanently forgo enrichment and accept full monitoring by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency. Weakening it sets a precedent that Russia or China could also cite in nuclear deals in future.

The Guardian view on a new director at Tate: an old institution must tackle fresh issues | Editorial

A decline in visitor numbers, staff strikes and budget cuts – Jessica Morgan faces many challenges as she takes on the biggest role in the British arts scene

A lack of clear vision, low morale, dwindling popularity and financial shortfalls – this may sound like a description of the previous Labour government, but these are also criticisms levelled at the UK’s most powerful arts institution, Tate. Maria Balshaw’s tenure as the first female director of Tate – comprising Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives – lasted nine years and saw as many culture secretaries. One of Sir Keir Starmer’s last acts as prime minister was to approve the appointment of her successor, Jessica Morgan, a former curator at Tate and head of the Dia Art Foundation in New York.

With record-breaking Frida Kahlo and Tracey Emin shows currently at Tate Modern, suggestions that Ms Morgan is inheriting an institution in a state of “existential crisis” seem exaggerated. Tate Britain, often overshadowed by its more fashionable younger sister, pulled in crowds for its Turner & Constable and Lee Miller exhibitions. These blockbusters in the past year also rebut accusations that Ms Balshaw focused on little-known artists instead of bankable stars. Her commitment to diversifying the collection will surely be taken up by Ms Morgan, who also has a strong track record in promoting marginalised artists. Ms Balshaw is leaving on a high.

Ed Miliband indicates development and climate will be at heart of UK foreign policy

Exclusive: Foreign secretary to take up World Bank seat and play active role in shaping changes to global lender

Britain’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, is to indicate he will put the climate crisis and overseas development at the heart of UK international relations by taking up the country’s seat on the board at the World Bank.

The position, which is usually delegated to a junior minister, means Miliband will play an active role in shaping the changes to the World Bank that developing countries have called for, and ensuring the climate remains a core focus for overseas aid.

Joy in Greece as Mount Olympus joins Unesco list of world heritage sites

Mythical home of the ancient Greek gods designated alongside the D-day landing beaches in Normandy

After a 12-year wait, Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the ancient Greek gods, has been inducted into a hall of more modern fame as Unesco announced it would be added to its world heritage list.

Greece’s highest mountain made the list alongside the second world war D-day landing beaches in northern France and the ancient Japanese capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara. South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo landscape, host to one of the world’s largest land mammal migrations, also won a designation – a first for the east African country.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (July 26)

A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.

Home, not alone: Helping aging seniors in rural America

Health risks associated with loneliness and social isolation are more common among the aging population of rural America. In North Dakota, the program Aging in Community aims to build connections among neighbors to help isolated rural seniors.

The kindness of strangers: When Mum was hospitalised on a family holiday, our hotel’s owners were heaven-sent

I was just 10 at the time but my siblings and I will never forget the sense of safety, comfort and warmth they offered

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

We were doing the groceries when a blood vessel burst in my mother’s brain. I was 10 years old and on a family holiday to France that very suddenly changed its tenor. In the following weeks Mum went through brain surgery, suffered a stroke and was placed in intensive care.

We had been staying in a gîte but moved to a small hotel closer to the hospital. It was a terrifying and stressful time, even as a young kid who knew things were serious – but didn’t understand quite how serious.

Exfoliate, use ice and conceal eyebags wisely – makeup artists on how to look fabulous, at every age

Are you stuck in a makeup rut? Or maybe just beginning to wear cosmetics? Here, experts reveal how to to find the right products for you

Makeup trends change over time – and so does our skin. How can you enhance what you have and refresh your look? Here, makeup artists share the fundamentals of applying cosmetics, at every age.

Tom Gauld on the punctutation factory – cartoon

7/26: Face The Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Sens. Bernie Sanders and John Kennedy join, along with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Plus, CBS News' Anthony Salvanto has the latest poll results.

Inside the S&P 500 AI boom, industrials are getting as rich as tech stocks

The industrials sector of the stock market is benefitting from the AI infrastructure boom with its P/E ratio up close to tech levels and investor flows strong.

The "magic" of worm grunting

If you are looking for live fishing bait, you could dig up some worms – or, you could use a bizarre trick involving vibrations to conjure earthworms out of the soil. Correspondent Conor Knighton looks into a little-understood process known as "worm grunting." He also visits Sopchoppy, Florida, the self-described "Worm Capital of the World," to attend the Worm Gruntin' Festival – a big party celebrating the town's favorite invertebrate. (Originally aired June 15, 2025.)

These United States: Revolutionary War hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko

Polish-born Thaddeus Kosciuszko (1746-1817) was a military engineer who became key to Gen. George Washington's success against the British. Mo Rocca looks at the immigrant hero whose contributions to the Revolutionary War helped secure independence for America.

How Trump admin cuts have compromised food safety

Since May, more than 11,000 cases of illness caused by the parasite cyclospora have been reported in 41 states. This comes after the Trump administration drastically cut FDA and CDC staff, prompting one expert to call this summer's outbreaks "a national wake-up call."

ICE to target Haitians as Temporary Protected Status is set to end, sources say

The plans include arresting migrants in Ohio and quickly putting them on deportation flights to crisis-stricken Haiti, the internal documents indicate.

Why does everything feel so joyless? Welcome to the age of decadence without pleasure | Michèle Mendelssohn and Charlie Tyson

Decadence in our era comes in technologically mediated forms, emptied of desire and obsessed with self-optimisation

Do you want to have a good time? You know, really enjoy yourself? Click here, and tell us your desires. Maybe it’s a new outfit, or some exotic cuisine delivered anonymously and steaming hot to your door. Maybe it’s porn or gambling. Perhaps you prefer the infinite scroll, the endlessly unfurling ribbon of glossy images and videos starring people you’ll never meet doing things you’ll never do. Or maybe you favor talking to a chatbot who will assure you that you are the most special of all its users.

For anyone with an Internet connection and a little discretionary income, the contemporary moment offers a superabundance of seductive distractions. Why then the pervasive mood of emptiness? Why are so many at once overstimulated and bored?

‘It was like something was crawling over me’ – the worrying rise of shingles among millennial women

Stress, the cost of living, long working hours and even excessive exercise have all been touted as reasons the illness is rising among women in their 30s and 40s. What can be done to help them?

The “lightning strike” pain was like nothing Francine Jones had experienced before. “That is the only way I can describe it,” she says, of the stabbing in her torso that would occur every 10 minutes or so. “It was a really sharp, intense pain, as if someone was giving me an electric shock … it took my breath away.”

It had started in May with a strange pricking sensation under her bra. Then 10 large blisters, plus a host of smaller ones, formed in a band from her stomach to her back. They burned, “like someone was putting an iron on me. I don’t think I wore underwear for five or six weeks.” Showering, or even a cold flannel, would make her skin burn. Then came “the itch”, which lasted for five weeks and was so intense that she was lucky if she slept for four hours a night. “It was like something was crawling all over me all the time.” I can hear her wincing.

Readers reply: Some people want to break up the EU. Why not break up the US?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions looks at secessionary movements on both sides of the pond

• Answer the latest question: What is the true Breakfast of Champions?

If it’s wrong, as some would say, for European countries to come together as a fully federal European Union, rather than individual states, why is it right for the US to be a federation rather than separate states? It always strikes me that the EU gets unfairly criticised for a system that was established over the Atlantic many years back. The US hasn’t looked back, but has become powerful as a result of being an umbrella for smaller entities. Just imagine if each state needed its own army, air force and currency, with its own customs and border controls not to mention trade tariffs! There’d be no White House and no Congress. Why is it so wrong for European countries to want similar strength, coming together as a union? Howard Phillips, Lisbon

Send new questions to [email protected].

Pussycat Dolls singer Ashley Roberts looks back: ‘It was my dream come true, but we were all burned out’

Roberts on refusing to take no from her dance teacher, moving to the US aged 18, and reuniting with Kimberly Wyatt and Nicole Scherzinger

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1981, Ashley Roberts joined the Pussycat Dolls in 2002. Their debut single, Don’t Cha, spent three weeks at No 1 in the UK in 2005. The sextet sold more than 55m records worldwide before splitting in 2010. Roberts has since appeared on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! and Strictly Come Dancing, and was a judge on Dancing on Ice. She hosts a show on Heart 00s every Saturday. The Pussycat Dolls – now a trio of Nicole Scherzinger, Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt – are currently on a 21-date tour.

This tutu picture was taken at my first ever dance recital, and I’m happy as can be. It was the 80s, so everything’s pink and fluffy, and I have big hair and a serious fringe. I love the way my feet and hands are angled a little bit abnormally. I thought I was posing for the gods.

7/26: Sunday Morning

Hosted by Mo Rocca. Featured: Aging in rural America; compromises to food safety; supermodel and actress Lauren Hutton; singer Corinne Bailey Rae; artist Derrick Adams; worm grunting; and how plants are affected by touch.