U.S.-Iran war widens further after drone strikes on Egyptian port

U.S. Central Command released new video it said to show fighter jets launching what it described as a "heavy wave" of strikes against Iran. It was the first resumption of strikes in several days. The U.S. said it was in direct retaliation for the recent missile attack on U.S. forces in Jordan. Charlie D'Agata reports.

Trump says he may pull Blanche's nomination until 2 Senate critics leave office

President Trump said Todd Blanche will remain acting attorney general as a holdup on his nomination continues.

ICE agents increasingly arresting immigrants at U.S. airports

ICE agents have ramped up arrests at some U.S. airports, working with the TSA to crack down on travelers at check-in counters and even at the departure gates. Camilo Montoya-Galvez has the story.

Trump suggests he may pause Blanche's confirmation amid GOP pushback

Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche's confirmation is on hold after some Republican senators refused to vote for him. President Trump suggested that he may press pause on the nomination. Nikole Killion has more details.

Police fatally shoot suspect in deadly California kidnapping

On Wednesday night in Chino Hills, about 30 miles south of Los Angeles, deputies fatally shot a suspect after a deadly kidnapping. Carter Evans reports as authorities piece together exactly what happened.

Massive explosion rocks quiet Ohio neighborhood

A massive explosion rocked a quiet Ohio neighborhood on Thursday. The blast was caught on video. Tom Hanson has the details.

Stolen Civil War-era cannonballs found in suitcase at Alabama airport

Law enforcement officials say a set of stolen Civil War-era cannonballs was discovered in a passenger's suitcase during a routine security screening at Alabama's Gulf Shores International Airport.

Hair sample found at Nancy Guthrie's home inconclusive as search hits 6-month mark

A hair sample found at the home of Nancy Guthrie came back inconclusive after undergoing testing, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos revealed Thursday.

Diane Abbott and Joani Reid readmitted as Labour MPs

Both MPs have had the parliamentary whip restored following separate independent disciplinary processes

MPs Diane Abbott and Joani Reid have been readmitted into Labour and had the parliamentary whip restored, just under two weeks into Andy Burnham’s premiership.

The party confirmed that this followed separate independent disciplinary processes, although Labour said the leadership played no role in either decision.

Reddit CEO says Google's AI Overviews can't replace '10 blue links' for referral traffic

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said his company has to find ways to work around changes at Google, which is delivering less traffic than in the past.

Microsoft's Xbox chief lays out plan to pass rivals on margin by 2030 in memo to employees

Microsoft's gaming unit wants to invest in its Minecraft franchise and expand through partnerships, including in China.

US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference

State department ‘takes full responsibility’ for erroneous, widely shared chart displayed at Aids conference in Brazil

A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation at a ⁠global conference in Brazil ⁠this week, ​causing a stir among attenders who took screenshots and posted them online.

Reuters viewed a video of the presentation given at the Aids 2026 conference in ⁠Rio de Janeiro, which shows the errant map displayed halfway during a presentation about the state department’s new health agreements.

Record low water levels across Europe reveal mammoth skeletons and forgotten shipwrecks – video

Water levels across several of Europe’s major waterways have dropped to exceptionally low levels, setting new records in some areas.

Extreme heat exacerbated by the climate crisis is intensifying the drought hitting the continent as record-breaking heatwaves means the hot atmosphere is evaporating water from rivers, lakes, soils and plants quickly.

The Danube has hit the lowest level of water in 30 years in several countries including Hungary, Serbia and Romania, and the Rhine has dropped to its lowest recorded level in some sections and is expected to drop further due to drought

• Climate crisis-driven heat ‘sucking soils dry’ as extreme drought hits Europe

Amazon got $600 million in Trump tariff refunds and will pass return along to some customers

The company previously hadn't disclosed whether it would recoup tariff costs after the Supreme Court ruled many of President Donald Trump's levies were illegal.

Reddit shares sink 11% on 'choppy' search referrals even as results blow past estimates

Reddit reported second-quarter earnings that beat on the top and the bottom, and gave a revenue forecast that topped estimates.

This week on "Sunday Morning": The Money Issue (Aug. 2)

This week Jane Pauley hosts "The Money Issue," our annual special broadcast dedicated to the many ways in which money underscores the way we live.

American Airlines makes its flight refund policy more restrictive

American Airlines is tightening its flight refund and cancellation policy. Here's what to know.

Don’t Date Brandon review – this lazy true-crime show doesn’t start to do justice to these women’s horrors

The tale of the women who came together to unpick the destructive swathe that one man cut through his local dating pool is woefully lacking in the detail you need to understand their plight. It feels voyeuristic and misguided

I’m beginning to suspect that the feminist movement is operating a covert psyops wing. I like to think that this is the motive force behind the slew of true-crime documentaries that show us, time and again, what bad men do and how they go about it. Perhaps the repeated stories of women – often unhappy with parts of their lives, or otherwise emotionally vulnerable – being love-bombed by apparent male saviours then finding themselves isolated, controlled, coerced, destabilised and battered into submission and sometimes killed that form the predominant subject of this popular modern genre are a way of teaching the young (especially) what is out there. Maybe it’s a way to help them spot the earliest signs of a predator’s approach and arm the innocent against them.

Otherwise, you know, it’s just voyeuristic filler for the ever-gaping schedule maw.

Peptide vendor sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison: "An incredible trail of harm"

A federal judge sentenced the owner of a peptide company to nearly six years in prison after finding the business deceived customers and sold products that were adulterated with steroids.

Apple and Amazon report rising revenues as investors turn on some tech stocks

Both tech companies beat Wall Street predictions on revenue in their second quarters

Apple and Amazon both released their second quarter earnings on Thursday, a test of investor confidence in major tech companies amid growing concerns over exorbitant AI spending.

Apple revealed quarterly revenue of $109.4bn, beating Wall Street expectations of $108.65bn in revenue. It also reported $2.02 earnings per share, driven by sales of its marquee products such as iPhones and laptops.

Netflix sued for allegedly losing unreleased Nicolas Cage movie

Lawsuit alleges that a drive storing $45 million spy film starring Nicolas Cage was "stolen right off a Netflix desk."

CONCACAF rejects Infantino's World Cup investment plan after UEFA's boycott threat

North America's soccer body on Thursday rejected FIFA president Gianni Infantino's plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors, joining European nations in opposition.

Amazon hikes 2026 capex to $220 billion due to higher memory costs

AWS sales expanded 37% year over year, which trounced analysts' expectations for 31% growth.

Ex-White House counsel says Epstein accuser’s testimony ‘lacked inherent credibility’

Kathryn Ruemmler was blasted by family of late Virginia Giuffre after House committee transcripts were released

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A former White House counsel and former general counsel of Goldman Sachs, who has faced scrutiny over her past ties to Jeffrey Epstein, told a House committee this month that some of the allegations made by one of his most prominent accusers “lacked inherent credibility”, according to newly released transcripts.

Kathryn Ruemmler’s name appeared thousands of times in records related to Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, that were released earlier this year by the US Department of Justice under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Rivian reduces 2026 spending plans, narrows earnings guidance

Rivian reduced its 2026 spending plans and slightly narrowed its previously forecast losses this year as the company reported second-quarter results.

Trump says sanctions bill should include tariffs on Iran, despite 'trivial' trade with U.S.

Trump said he'd "like to see tariffs on Iran" added to a bill that would impose economic sanctions on Russia and those supporting its war against Ukraine.

Mortgage rates hit their highest level in a year, driven by war and inflation concerns

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached 6.66% on average Thursday.

After Fauci Senate hearing, experts worry about 'chilling effect' on public health

The accusations against Dr. Anthony Fauci, once the nation's leading infectious disease expert, have some experts worrying that these events may further erode public health staffing in the U.S.

Chipotle stock jumps as chain hikes same-store sales forecast, says cyclospora fears hit sales in late July

Chipotle Mexican Grill stock has fallen more than 7% this year, dragging its market value down to roughly $44 billion.

Cyclospora outbreak has hurt Taco Bell but sales are already improving, Yum Brands CEO says

The restaurant company provided no update on the cyclospora outbreak tied to Taco Bell restaurants is affecting its business.

Amazon's AWS posts fastest growth since 2021, citing AI and chip demand

Amazon Web Services announced new business with Meta and OpenAI in the quarter.

Jersey Mike's stock falls 6% in public market debut after pricing shares at $23

Jersey Mike's priced its initial public offering at $23 per share.

Should I leave my polyamorous relationship if I want to start a family? | Leading questions

Polyamory is supposed to be about abundance, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. But your partner’s behaviour risks making it a zero-sum arrangement

• Read more Leading questions

I have been in a wonderful relationship for six years. We are polyamorous and recently we have been thinking about marrying and starting a family. I think this shift should include stricter boundaries and safeguards, as carrying a child will be disproportionately taxing for me and I expect I won’t want to feel vulnerable or jealous. I also think children necessarily bring about changes in lifestyle, and I would be happy to put the promiscuity on pause. At the very least, I’d like him to steer clear of romantic connections; I’m much more open about him simply having sexual liaisons or flirting.

He will not commit to this, on philosophical grounds. He says I am his soulmate, but also that there can be many soulmates and that “nobody can promise anything for ever”. When I suggest this means we should not be primary partners so that I may pursue those milestones with someone who can give me the reassurances I need, he disagrees very strongly and asks me not to decide on the fate of our relationship without him.

Netflix sued for $105m over stolen Nicolas Cage war thriller

Makers of unreleased $45m film Fortitude sue after hard drive stolen from streamer’s Los Angeles office

Netflix is being sued for $105m over the theft of a hard drive including an unreleased Nicolas Cage war movie.

The streamer’s Los Angeles office was the target of a theft involving a number of hard drives, one of which contained a copy of second world war spy thriller Fortitude.

Charley Hull refuses to apologise after £100,000 scratchcard prank on caddie

• Hull: ‘I think people need to lighten up’

• Thitikul leads on -7; double major winner Ryu on -5

Charley Hull has delivered an emphatic, unapologetic response towards those who criticised a prank on the eve of the Women’s Open.

Hull used pre-tournament media duties to reveal she bought fake scratchcards in a Blackpool joke shop, before using one to trick her caddie, Adam Woodward, into believing he had won £100,000. Hull filmed Woodward’s initially euphoric and subsequently despondent reaction to the incident.

Mortgage rates hit highest level in a year amid inflation fears

Mortgage rates are drifting higher as the Fed's interest rate decision and war in the Middle East fuel inflation concerns.

Afghan woman to fight U.S. efforts to deport her over "alien terrorist" claim

Nazira Haji Zada's lawyer argued that the Justice Dept. is violating her due process rights.

Senate committee advances Dr. Erica Schwartz to be Trump's CDC director

If confirmed by the full Senate, Dr. Erica Schwartz would become the 22nd director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Not so black and white: how Eddie Howe lost control at Newcastle in one summer | Louise Taylor

Everything was looking rosy for Howe at St James’ Park until Alexander Isak’s departure led to rushed signings and a messy season

Last September, David Hopkinson, just installed as Newcastle’s chief executive, perched on a stool at a downstairs corner table in Shearer’s Bar at St James’ Park and between sips of zero alcohol lager, likened Eddie Howe to Bruce Springsteen. According to Hopkinson, Newcastle’s manager was “the Boss” and “the talent”. He conjured up an imaginary scene involving Springsteen asking for M&M’s before a concert and being duly supplied with a dressing room overflowing with the brightly coloured confectionery. The same principle, he said, would apply to “Eddie”, who would e furnished with “whatever he wants”.

Six months later, things had changed. In late March, Hopkinson sat around a heavy wooden table in a St James’ Park boardroom and, between sips of coffee, said he did not “have a stance on the manager’s future”. What he could tell assembled reporters was that a recent home defeat by Sunderland “hurt”. It “resonated” and was being taken “seriously”. Given that Newcastle had just lost a Champions League tie 8-3 to Barcelona on aggregate and were en route to finishing 12th in the Premier League, Howe admitted to “sleepless nights” before a summit with the club’s majority Saudi Arabian ownership at Matfen Hall hotel in Northumberland the following month.

Spain sends extra troops and police to Ceuta after thousands of migrants arrive

Unknown number of people have swum and waded into Spanish enclave that neighbours Morocco

The Spanish government is deploying extra troops and police officers to its north African enclave of Ceuta after thousands of people swam and waded into the tiny territory from neighbouring Morocco in a matter of hours.

Videos shot at Tarajal beach on Thursday showed crowds of people walking around the breakwaters and running on the beach and roads.

China’s open-weight model lead exposes America’s AI blind spot

The future of AI may be dictated not by who builds the smartest model, but who builds the models everyone runs on. Right now, that's China.

Millions of kids have caffeine in their diet. It's not all coming from soda.

On any given day, kids consume an average of 19.4 milligrams of caffeine, which is about two-thirds of what's in a can of Coke, according to a new report.

Race to extinguish blazes across Europe as fire weather breaks records

Figures show hot, dry, windy conditions in EU are 43% more severe than the average over last 20 years

Fire weather in the EU has broken records for severity for this time of year, data shows, as firefighters race to extinguish blazes across the Mediterranean.

Inflamed by carbon pollution, the hot, dry and windy weather across the EU from the start of the year until the end of July has been 43% more severe than the average for the same period over the last two decades, data from the European Forest Fire Information Service (Effis) shows.

DOJ asking secretive court to remove Afghan woman allegedly tied to terror plot

The DOJ is seeking to deport an Afghan woman who prosecutors allege is an "alien terrorist," in the first-ever test case before a secretive court that has never convened since it was created three decades ago.

Want to save on student loan payments? Here's how to get a discount.

Federal student loan borrowers can qualify for a 1% discount on monthly interest charges if they enroll by the deadline. Here's what to know.

Saudi Arabia prepares sea and possible land offensive against Houthis

Yemeni sources say Saudis concentrating forces for what could be attack in central Yemen

Saudi Arabia is preparing for a major military offensive against the Houthis by sea and possibly by land in central Yemen, Yemeni sources believe, in a move to break the chokehold on its oil exports through the southern Red Sea.

Saudi forces have been seen withdrawing from the east of Yemen in what could be preparation for a land offensive. At the same time, Riyadh is trying to organise a naval coalition to protect shipping from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait.

The Trump administration wants $10 million more to cover its July Fourth celebrations

Congress allocated $150 million for 250th birthday events. The Trump-backed group that planned the state fair and July 4th fireworks is asking for an additional $10 million in reimbursements.

Are you choosing to stay single? We want to hear from you

Solo living, solo travel, and solo dining are all being embraced as more adults are choosing to remain single. Many Americans aren't interested in dating, and being single is a symbol of autonomy.

McHenry Co. coroner working to ID partial remains pulled from Fox River

Authorities have not yet identified partial human remains found in the Fox River, and it is not yet known whether they are connected to a boat crash or another incident.

Russian missile destroys US firm’s Kyiv drone factory

Strike on Terminal Autonomy plant appears to be first time in the war that Moscow has targeted a US company

A drone factory in Kyiv destroyed by a Russian ballistic missile on Friday was owned by a US corporation registered in Delaware, in what appears to be the first time Moscow has targeted a US company in the conflict.

Terminal Autonomy makes precision “deep-strike” drones with guidance systems that are resistant to Russian jamming signals, according to a person familiar with the company.

European soccer leaders to boycott the World Cup in an unprecedented step

In an unprecedented step, European soccer associations said they would boycott the World Cup unless FIFA reverses a controversial deal to sell minority stakes to the marquee soccer tournament.

Burnham promises ‘pragmatic’ approach to North Sea oil and gas

PM tells reporters the government cannot ignore the energy resource ‘when people are struggling’

Andy Burnham has said he will take a “pragmatic” approach to oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, saying the government could not ignore the potential energy resources it holds.

The prime minister’s comments came in response to a question about his conversation with Donald Trump on his first day in No 10. Trump had said Burnham told him he would “open up” North Sea oil, something the UK summary of the call made no mention of.

How NBCUniversal's deal with YouTube could jump-start the next chapter of the streaming wars

The next iteration of the streaming wars is likely to be about aggregating content on the biggest existing platforms.

Labour says Reform ‘up to its neck in sleaze’ and demands investigation into donations

Exclusive: Electoral Commission urged to look into donations made by mother of convicted fraudster

• Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK

Labour has accused Reform UK of being “up to its neck in sleaze” as it called on the Electoral Commission to urgently investigate substantial donations made to the party by the mother of a convicted fraudster.

Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s new chair, called on the commission to examine whether any rules had been broken, after revelations in the Guardian that George Cottrell transferred more than $2m to his mother in the days before her donations to the party in 2024.

Trump says he may ‘temporarily’ drop bid to make Blanche US attorney general

President says he has no objection to pulling his former lawyer’s name until dissenting Republicans are out of office

• US politics live – latest updates

Donald Trump said on Thursday he may “temporarily” pull the nomination of Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general, but would keep him in the role in an acting capacity until two Republican senators objecting to his confirmation leave office next year – an extraordinary escalation of an intra-party fight over an agreement to create a $1.8bn slush fund and give the president tax immunity.

Two Republican senators – John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina – have refused to back Blanche’s nomination until they receive written confirmation from the justice department that it is not moving forward with a widely criticized agreement creating a $1.8bn fund to compensate people claiming they were targets of political weaponization and granting the president, his family and business entities broad immunity from past tax investigations.

‘I was hyperventilating and sobbing’: Tomi Adeyemi says Children of Blood and Bone film ‘the worst thing I’ve ever lived through’

Author of books behind forthcoming film starring Viola Davis and Idris Elba appears to have had disagreement with cast member Amandla Stenberg

Tomi Adeyemi, the author of Children of Blood and Bone, has spoken further on the difficult process behind adapting her novel for this big screen, calling it “the worst thing I have ever had to live through”.

In a five-minute video on TikTok, the author said she left the set of the Paramount production “hyperventilating and sobbing”, adding: “I never want to hear about this project again”.

More prisoners in England and Wales are recalled than released for first time

Returns for breaches of licence conditions rose 31% in the first quarter of 2026, adding to pressure on prison places

More people were recalled to prison than were released during the first three months of 2026, the first time on record the “recall rate” has surpassed 100% in England and Wales.

Between January and March 2026, 12,977 people were released from prison while 13,193 people were returned to prison for breaching their licence conditions, up 31% from last year, new Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data showed.

Trump says he 'may' pull Blanche AG nomination temporarily

The news comes as two key Republicans are withholding their support over concerns about the Justice Department's deal with President Trump.

Gunther von Hagens obituary

German anatomist who devised a system of ‘plastination’ to preserve cadavers that were exhibited all over the world

The German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who has died aged 81 of a cerebral haemorrhage, following nearly two decades of living with Parkinson’s disease, was the creator of the international exhibition Body Worlds, which generated plaudits and revulsion in equal measure whenever and wherever it toured. Frequently accused of showmanship and self-aggrandisement, the theatrical Von Hagens, always seen wearing a black fedora, was known by some sections of the media as “Doctor Death” thanks to his use of a technique called “plastination”, which he had invented to preserve human corpses. Bodily fluids, fats and organs that usually decay after death were replaced with plastics, so tissues remained intact. The corpses could then be put on display, usually with the skin peeled away to reveal skeletons, organs and muscles.

Plastinated corpses remain flexible, meaning they can be manipulated into lifelike poses – a basketball player or a trapeze artist – or sliced into cross sections. But Von Hagens often trod a fine line between scientific exposition and the macabre. Other exhibits included a dead expectant woman with her foetus still in her uterus and a man who had deliberately killed himself by driving into a tree at the place his wife had died previously. Both had donated their bodies for plastination and were exhibited along with the objects that caused their deaths.

Ferrari CEO says he 'would not change anything' about polarizing Luce EV debut

Ferrari is pleased with the launch of the Luce all-electric vehicle despite significant criticism upon the car's spring debut, according to CEO Benedetto Vigna.

Amazon's Zoox to begin charging for rides in Las Vegas after clearing NHTSA hurdle

The exemption allows Zoox to operate up to 2,500 vehicles annually for two years, subject to "enhanced, adaptable" oversight conditions.

US-Iran strikes risk regional war in Middle East - The Latest

The US military has carried out a wave of airstrikes against Iran in response to Tehran targeting American bases in Jordan. The strikes were launched after Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran ‘very hard’ following a days-long pause in fighting. Iran has expanded its military strikes in the region, raising fears of an all-out war. Lucy Hough speaks to Guardian senior international correspondent Peter Beaumount

Uefa agrees to boycott Fifa competitions if World Cup sell-off plans proceed

• Uefa agrees stance at emergency meeting on Thursday

• Boycott would begin with Under-20 Women’s World Cup

European countries have agreed to boycott all Fifa competitions if Gianni Infantino pushes forward with his proposals to sell chunks of the World Cup to US-based private investment.

In an extraordinary development all 55 Uefa members resolved not to participate in future World Cups or other Fifa-run events, saying in a statement that they “unanimously and unequivocally reject” the proposals. An emergency meeting that lasted just short of two hours ended with a united front despite earlier fears that smaller countries, attracted by the money on offer through Infantino’s scheme, would be swayed in favour.

Ferrari raises 2026 guidance after Q2 earnings beat

Ferrari is bumping up its 2026 guidance after beating Wall Street's second quarter expectations amid "healthy" demand for its products.

U.S. economy slowed to 1.5% growth rate in Q2; June core inflation at 3.3%

While the GDP number was below expectations, the miss appeared to come from a decline in federal government spending and inventories.

Jeep maker Stellantis swings to profit on rising demand in North America

Auto giant Stellantis on Thursday swung to profit in the second quarter, boosted by rising demand in North America.

Why would I waste my precious holiday time going to a zoo in another country? | James Colley

I can hear the howls of disagreement now but we’ve got zoos – complete with giraffes and elephants – at home. Seen one, you’ve seen them all

When I first took my toddler to the zoo, I realised that here were her celebrities. To see a giraffe in real life is the three-year-old’s equivalent of seeing Tom Hanks strolling through your local shopping centre. After all, every night we lie in bed and read stories about the exploits of shy turtles or bossy rhinos or the occasional lion who didn’t want to go to bed. Then, one day, these heroes are right in front of you, ambling about in a pen, being gawked at by the paparazzi.

All of a sudden, I felt my own childlike excitement reinvigorated, getting to surprise her with the next animal and the next animal. A visit to your local zoo is truly one of the greatest experiences you can have as a parent.

James Colley is a comedy writer from Sydney. His debut novel, The Next Big Thing, is out now

Pope Leo calls himself pontiff who ‘happens to be American’

First US pope says mission is to be pastor of a universal church but expresses ‘great love’ for his home country and its core principles

Pope Leo, the first US pontiff, has expressed “great love” for his home country and its core principles of freedom, opportunity and welcoming immigrants, but qualified that he just “happens to be American”.

In an interview with the US broadcaster NBC on the sidelines of a prayer event in Castel Gandolfo, the papal retreat near Rome, Leo, who has condemned the immigration policies of Donald Trump’s administration, spoke about his own family history in describing his relationship with the US.

The economy slowed a bit -- but Americans continued to spend

The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.5% in the spring, according to the Commerce Department. That's a modest slowdown from the previous quarter — but consumer spending picked up steam.

Sign up for This is India: our free weekly newsletter on life in the subcontinent

Niha Masih takes you through the most interesting news, politics and culture in India

Four crashes and a disqualification: chaotic Commonwealth Games race to be replayed

• Scotland’s Melanie Woods was originally awarded gold

• Women’s T54 1500m final will now be restaged on Friday

It turned into Glasgow’s version of Wacky Races. After four crashes, three overturned wheelchairs, three appeals and a disqualification, the women’s T54 1500m final is to be rerun 39 hours after it first took place.

The controversial decision was taken on Thursday after the extraordinary scenes at the Scotstoun track on Wednesday – and despite the medallists doing a lap of honour, posing for photographs together and going to bed thinking they were part of Commonwealth history.

Analysis: Fed Chairman Warsh's credibility in question after leaving interest rates unchanged

The Fed held interest rates steady, but long-term Treasury yields jumped. Investors are questioning whether he will act forcefully enough on inflation.

‘It’s a peptide wild west’: how RFK Jr is clearing way for a market of untested drugs

A century ago, compounding pharmacies helped people get bespoke drugs. Now these less-regulated businesses are fueling the peptide boom

Robert F Kennedy Jr is sitting stiffly in Joe Rogan’s podcast studio, inside the influencer’s enormous Texas mansion. Atypically for Rogan’s guests, Kennedy still cloaks himself in the trappings of authority; in a blue suit and pink novelty tie featuring kayakers paddling upstream, he is a stark contrast from Rogan, who sports a biceps-hugging T-shirt depicting a cowboy and an outline of Texas, from the “regenerative wellness” brand Ways2Well.

This was in February, when Kennedy, amid his nationwide Take Back Your Health tour, was pushing his new red-meat-heavy food pyramid on to Americans. For an hour and a half, the two chatted casually about everything from soda pop to medical scams that supposedly fund Boko Haram.

Fifa’s sales pitch revealed: more tournaments, more debt … but no mention of women’s game

• Fifa’s 25-page sales deck produced by JP Morgan

• Reference made to doubling global tournaments

Fifa’s sales pitch to persuade members to approve the sale of the World Cup’s commercial rights clearly states that its plans for financial growth will be achieved by staging more tournaments, having higher ticket prices and debt financing.

A 25-page sales deck titled “Fifa Forward Enterprise Member Materials”, that has been seen by the Guardian, makes the case for the creation of a new company to run Fifa’s commercial operations, 20% of which would be sold to Joshua Kushner, a US investor who is the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

U.S. economy slowed in second quarter as Iran war weighs on growth

Economic activity weakened between April and June as energy costs surged, new government data shows.

The future of AI hinges on openness and cooperation. China and Britain can gain much by working together | Zheng Zeguang

There is no point competing in isolation. There are so many benefits to be had, in manufacturing, healthcare, research and governance

• Zheng Zeguang is the Chinese ambassador to the UK

Artificial intelligence is widely regarded as one of the defining technologies of our time. Like the steam engine, the harnessing of electricity and the internet before it, it has the potential to transform how we work, live and interact.

But every technological revolution brings challenges as well as opportunities. As AI systems become more capable, people are asking legitimate questions. How can AI remain safe, accountable and under human control? How should its development be governed? How can its benefits be shared more widely?

‘It’s the Meryl Streep of the orchestra’: why cinema loves the cello

From Audrey Hepburn to Pedro Pascal, cellists have become a movie shorthand for sensitivity, intensity and emotional depth. But why has Hollywood turned one orchestral instrument into a character in its own right?

There’s a throwaway line in 2012’s The Avengers, after a character’s death, when his partner is alluded to. “There was a cellist, I think,” muses Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark. It’s a spot of pathos amid the punch-ups – but also rather telling. Because when even a superhero blockbuster reaches for the cello, you know the instrument is carrying more than just a melody.

Earlier this month, a trailer dropped for the upcoming Pedro Pascal drama Behemoth!, in which he plays a celebrated cellist returning to Hollywood to score films. Real-life cellist and film composer Hildur Guðnadóttir says the instrument “is definitely having a moment right now. But it’s always been present.”

No TV experience? At CBS News, that’s no problem | Margaret Sullivan

The conservative columnist Ross Douthat is the network’s latest perplexing hire – but the move is in line with the new leadership

In media circles, this week’s hire of a prominent New York Times columnist as a correspondent for CBS’s 60 Minutes was greeted with disbelief.

The collective response went something like this: “What?!”

Canelo Álvarez says there's "not much left" for him to do in boxing

Professional boxer Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez spoke to "CBS Mornings" co-host Nate Burleson about when he'll know to walk away from the sport.

Billy Ray Smith Jr, ex-San Diego Chargers star, dies at 64 as family cites CTE

• Family says Smith faced ‘dementia caused by CTE’

• College Football Hall of Famer played 10 NFL seasons

Former San Diego Chargers linebacker and College Football Hall of Famer Billy Ray Smith Jr has died. He was 64.

Smith’s family said in a statement Wednesday that Smith died following a bout with CTE-caused dementia.

Alien Terrorist Removal Court holds its first-ever hearing after 30 years

Congress created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court in 1996 to make it easier for the Justice Department to use classified evidence to deport people from U.S. soil.

The profit motive has strangled sports. Now Fifa is putting soccer up for sale | Dave Schilling

Gianni Infantino’s plan for a Fifa subsidiary is odious – but it’s hard to feel surprised

Just when you thought global soccer couldn’t get more odiously capitalistic, Gianni Infantino said: “Hold my beer” (as long as that beer you’re holding is a Michelob Ultra, one of the official sponsors of the 2026 World Cup).

The World Cup, one of the largest and most prestigious sporting competitions on the planet, is for sale. Infantino, the president of the soccer governing body Fifa, is the architect of a plan to sell up to 20% of a new subsidiary that would administer tournaments such as the World Cup and Club World Cup. The subsidiary, which would oversee Fifa’s commercial activities, would be called “Fifa Forward Enterprises”. If I see the word “forward” in a corporate initiative, I assume it’s either a diversity program that’ll get dropped after a couple years, a training video on how to exit a building during an emergency evacuation, or a blatant cash grab. Take a guess which one I think this is.

The US public is fed up with RFK Jr. To really ‘make America healthy again’, it should look to Europe | Devi Sridhar

Americans are dying younger than Europeans, despite being the wealthiest people on the planet. Wellness fads won’t change that

I’m just back from my home country, the United States. I always enjoy visiting, but every time I go between the US and my adopted home of Europe, I’m keenly aware of disparity in health: Americans live much shorter lives and spend more of their lifetime in poor health. This is despite Americans earning some of the highest salaries per capita in the world and spending twice as much as comparable countries on healthcare.

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine of 74,000 adults found that even the wealthiest Americans had higher mortality rates than the wealthiest Europeans – and that the richest Americans had mortality rates comparable to the poorest residents of northern and western Europe. Across every wealth category, Americans were more likely to die younger than Europeans, suggesting that even wealth doesn’t insulate from larger factors that impact life expectancy.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

Dedicated followers of passion: the Kinks’ 40 greatest songs – ranked!

To coincide with a new exhibition in London about the Davies brothers, we rate the best of a band who brought a sociologist’s eye to hard rock, gentle pastoralia and so much in between

The quality of Kinks albums declined precipitously from the late 80s: you sensed their hearts weren’t really in it. Even so, Ray Davies couldn’t stop himself writing the occasional gem: from their final studio album Phobia, Scattered is a sweet, sad reflection on the Davies family’s complexities, powered by jangling guitars.

Fifteen elephant deaths at Kenya park may be due to cyanide poisoning

Analysis of samples collected from carcasses found traces of toxic chemical compound, says Kenya Wildlife Service

The recent deaths of 15 elephants near a park in southern Kenya in the past month were likely caused by the animals ingesting pesticides used on nearby tomato farms, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has said.

Erustus Kanga, the agency’s director general, told Citizen TV that analysis of samples collected from the carcasses had found traces of cyanide, a chemical compound used in farming as a predator control poison and a pest fumigant, which has also been used by poachers.

Fifty-three days and counting: 93-year-old leader’s record absence fuels health speculation

Cameroon’s Paul Biya has not made a statement or been seen since leaving for ‘brief private stay’ at Swiss hotel on 7 June

A record 53-day absence by the world’s oldest head of state has renewed speculation in his native Cameroon about whether he is dead or alive, even though discussing his health is illegal in the country.

On 7 June, 93-year-old Paul Biya left for Switzerland for what officials described as a “brief private stay” alongside his wife, Chantal. Almost two months later, neither the president nor the first lady have addressed the country or been seen publicly.

Charli xcx and a giant Burnham land portrait: photos of the day – Thursday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

German chancellor chooses pope’s AI encyclical over pacy potboiler as holiday read

With his popularity at a record low, Friedrich Merz packs the papal guide Magifica humanitas

• Europe live – latest updates

Summer is normally thought of as the time for pacy potboilers and brain-soothing page-turners – airport reads that wind up sandy and sunscreen-stained. Not so for Friedrich Merz’s holiday reading list.

Germany’s embattled chancellor, who has faced one rough patch after another since taking office 14 months ago, seems to be seeking spiritual guidance this year while putting his feet up.

Don’t call them ICE detention centers. Call them camps | John Washington

I’ve spent a decade reporting on immigration enforcement. The word ‘camp’ best captures the political function of these facilities

We don’t have concentration camps today in the United States, but we have something close. More than 65,000 people are currently confined in demeaning, often dangerous, sometimes torturous and increasingly deadly conditions not because they have committed a crime, but because they have committed the civil infraction of being on the wrong side of a border. They are ripped from their homes, their families, their jobs and are shipped hundreds of miles away where they languish in squalid, freezing cold and punishing conditions with limited and sometimes no access to lawyers, loved ones, nutritious food, sunlight or medical care. At least 52 people have died in ICE custody since the second Trump administration came into office. Tens of thousands have been held in solitary confinement.

Oversight mechanisms of these facilities have been gutted, members of Congress have been turned away, and ICE has stopped reporting basic and legally mandated data about who is inside and what happens to them. The rapid expansion of the detention system, the inherent inhumanity of policing human mobility, and lack of oversight is partly why a woman in Arizona, who has been detained for 16 months without proper medical care to treat her leukemia, has reportedly lost more than 70lb and is regularly vomiting blood. It’s why people in a now shuttered camp in Florida were allegedly subjected to a two-by-two-foot outdoor punishment cage. The stories that leak out of these camps should terrify not only the migrants directly targeted, but should alarm the conscience of us all.

Why catarratto is the Quincy Jones of white wine grapes

It is often the key secret ingredient in a lot of white wines, but the unsung hero of Sicily’s vineyards is taking its place in the sun

Depending on where you buy and drink wine, catarratto will be very familiar or very obscure. There was a time in the 2010s when I’d have put good money on it being the house white in half of Hackney’s restaurants, and if you’ve ever picked up a sub-£15 natural white wine at an independent bottle shop, catarratto will probably have featured. If, however, you buy wine from bigger retailers and have a taste for fruity, sun-soaked whites, chances are you’ve been drinking catarratto without even knowing it.

This is bonkers, given its prevalence. Catarratto is Sicily’s most widely planted white grape, accounting for roughly a third of the island’s vineyards; and, after sangiovese, it’s the second most planted grape in all of Italy. For decades, though, it was either destined for bulk wine, disappearing into tanks of anonymous, juicy table wines, or for use as a component of better-known Sicilian denominations such as fortified marsala or Etna bianco, where it plays a supporting role to other indigenous Sicilian grapes, such as grillo or carricante, respectively. It has about it a bit of a Quincy Jones quality: integral to the success of others before being recognised in its own right. Which it now really is, as modern producers make more complex catarrattos that really express their terroirs, be that volcanic, maritime or the rolling hills around Alcamo in the Sicilian north-west.

Sen. Paul threatens to hold Fauci in contempt. And, a new rule undercuts U.S. asylum

Sen. Rand Paul is moving to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. And, the Trump administration has announced a new rule for the asylum process.

Cooking on holiday – without taking half your kitchen with you

Making a meal anywhere but home can feel unnerving, but all you need is some forward planning and an essentials list

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Greetings from my parents’ kitchen in north Norfolk where, despite its familiarity, cooking takes on a less predictable dimension. By some measures their kitchen is well equipped – three toast racks, countless skewers, a three-egg poaching pan, many beer tankards, and a very noisy battery-operated pepper mill – but I’ll admit to missing my knives, my lemon juicer, and my salad spinner (my mother insists that one of the latter will never “clutter up” her cupboards, to which my riposte is, “An egg poaching pan?”). And that’s before all the ingredients that don’t make it into the hurried pre-holiday essentials shop, the indispensability of which only dawns on me in their absence – the rice wine vinegar, the maple syrup, the capers, the tahini.

All this is to say that cooking anywhere but your own kitchen can feel like a paradigm shift and demands a different approach. This could mean intricate planning or, in my case, it invariably sends me running to my archive of tried-and-tested recipes, will work regardless of what shops are nearby or what equipment is in the kitchen. These have seen me through summers in various kitchens that are not my own, from this very one in Norfolk to a scattering of Airbnbs in Europe. They require little more than a knife, a couple of pans, a wooden spoon and a heat source. A box grater and a whisk are handy, too. And, as your drinks columnist, it would be disingenuous to pretend that a decent corkscrew isn’t utterly vital. (For a sound list of real kitchen essentials, which don’t include three toast racks and a battery-operated pepper mill, I have always loved referring back to Laurie Colwin’s Low-Tech Person’s Batterie de Cuisine in her book of essays, Home Cooking.)

‘The crude language of Maga folks’: Joyce Carol Oates criticises Emily Wilson for criticising Nolan’s Odyssey

The novelist suggested Wilson should have been ‘a wee bit more thoughtful and respectful’ towards a film-maker who may have helped boost her book sales

• Mary Beard on The Odyssey and how empires fall – Stateside with Kai and Carter

The off-screen drama surrounding Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster version of the Odyssey stepped up a gear overnight, as the novelist Joyce Carol Oates sought to defend the film-maker from an attack by classicist Emily Wilson.

Writing on X, Oates took issue with the style as well as the rhetoric of Wilson’s essay published earlier this week in the London Review of Books, in which the academic, who published a landmark translation of Homer’s epic poem in 2017, wrote that Nolan’s film lacked “psychological, emotional, political and ethical depth” and had “nothing convincing to say”.

‘The number of remains is difficult to determine’: civil war death site dug up for landfill in El Salvador

Diggers are working at what campaigners call a place where ‘human life, biodiversity and the environment will be sacrificed’

On the morning of 16 February, dozens of police officers arrived at San Francisco Ángulo, a small rural community an hour south of El Salvador’s capital. They had come, residents were told, to escort heavy machinery belonging to Cyeemsal, a Mexican-owned company hired to begin construction of a landfill on a site the community considers sacred.

Félix Laínez, 58, president of the San Francisco Ángulo community association, had been warned that this would happen. The community has lost a series of legal appeals against the court rulings authorising the work, and construction is continuing. “It is clear that we will find no support in any state institution,” says Laínez, who has little hope of success in their final constitutional appeal, which is now before the supreme court.

Giordano: Marina album review – a fascinating resurrection of an unsung early opera

Buratto/De Tommaso/Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali/Milletarì
(Decca)
The long-lost score, finally premiered 138 years after it was written, brims with melodic promise despite its dramatic shortcomings

It was a bold move by the 21-year-old Umberto Giordano to enter the 1888 one-act opera competition won by Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Marina, set in Montenegro during an unspecified conflict with Serbia, came sixth, the score languishing until 2026, when it received its belated premiere at Milan’s Teatro dal Verme. This recording reveals a composer with a keen ear for musical colour even if the opera is no masterpiece.

When Marina, a Montenegrin, takes in Giorgio, a wounded Serb, the inevitable conflict with her brother and her bullish suitor precipitates a typical verismo catastrophe. After a militaristic opening, Marina takes centre stage with an aching ballad of lost opportunity. Her scene with the injured Giorgio follows abruptly, redeemed by Giordano’s knack for trotting out appealing melodies. It’s not the most sophisticated writing but it comes straight from the heart.

A Line Held Tight – miners, mechs and mismanagement on a distant planet

Deep underground the player joins a colony of ruthlessly exploited pit workers who could be taking on the bosses. How things play out will depend on you

It is rare for video games to feature industrial action as a key theme, but it does happen. There’s the shady Dockworker’s Union in Disco Elysium and the Orbital Workers Union in space adventure Tacoma; then there is Lynx, the evil union-bashing corp in Hardspace: Shipbreaker. Soon we can add A Line Held Tight, a visual novel that puts workers’ rights – and workers’ lives – at the very centre of the narrative.

In the distant future, a colony of miners digs far beneath the surface of an isolated planet, searching for veins of some exotic ore, protected from the poisonous atmosphere within giant mech suits. But the working conditions are woeful and as a strike looms, an unpopular employee named the Canary must decide whether or not to stand with colleagues and fight against suppression. The player, of course, takes on the role of the Canary, navigating personal as well as political struggles in a world rendered in stark monochrome.

Flavour fusion in London's buzziest bakeries – video

Restaurant critic and award-winning author Jimi Famurewa visits the best London bakeries where family food traditions  meet contemporary British baking. First stop: Panadera in Soho, for a Filipino-inspired leche flan Danish. Then it’s south-east London and Bunhead, where the owner folds together the flavours of her Palestinian and British heritage into a chocolate, date and smoked salt bun. Finally, Farha in east London, a Middle Eastern-inspired cafe selling out of its banana brûlée.

Episode 1 of Feed with Jimi Famurewa — sampling the UK’s tastiest food trends

Trump promised a 'golden age' for agriculture. Farmers in Iowa say they're still waiting

President Donald Trump has promised a "golden age" for agriculture, but farmers in Iowa and elsewhere are struggling with tariffs and the Iran war.

‘We have to become warriors’: the fight to save the world’s only women’s sculpture park

With most monuments in London made by men, Claire Mander envisaged the Artist’s Garden as a way to redress the balance. Now, she says, it could be turned into a generic space for VIP events and cocktails

Ten years ago, when Claire Mander was studying for an art history MA at the Courtauld Institute in London, she stumbled upon the neglected roof terrace of nearby Temple underground station. She found herself strangely drawn to the overgrown expanse with its stunning views of the Thames and the London Eye.

“It was dirty, abandoned and a magnet for antisocial behaviour,” recalls Mander, now director and curator of theColab, an arts charity and incubator specialising in large-scale outdoor sculptures. She researched the history of the abandoned space, which was built as part of the Victoria Embankment in 1870. Before that, the ground beneath the site housed a 17th-century sculpture garden created by the Countess of Arundel.

White House levels new allegation that China swept up voter data

The Trump administration on Thursday reiterated its view that China's alleged efforts to collect millions of American voter registration files constituted election interference.