Coast Guard, FBI boarded Texas-bound oil tanker to investigate cyberattack

The U.S. has so far not attributed the potential breach to a specific actor, but Iranian state media amplified the story in the weeks following the attack.

Two teenage boys charged with murder after alleged mistaken identity shooting death of Sydney student

Boys aged 14 and 16 charged after Marco Tapia, 23, was killed inside his family’s home in Glen Alpine

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Two teenage boys have been charged with murder after the shooting death of a university student in Sydney this month, which police say was a case of mistaken identity.

Marco Tapia, 23, was shot inside his family’s home in Glen Alpine early on 1 September.

Salesforce issues revenue target of over $63 billion for fiscal 2030, beating estimates

Salesforce issued some updated longer-term financials at its annual Dreamforce conference.

Ross Fire 100% contained after more than 3 weeks

The wildfire, which has torn through Palo Pinto and Jack counties, forced evacuations, closed roads and disrupted schools.

US government paid federal employees $9.5bn not to work amid Doge cuts – report

GAO report shows how use paid administrative leave rose by 435% from 2023 to 2025 and incurred a sixfold cost

The US government paid federal workers $9.5bn not to work in 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s attempts to shrink the federal workforce.

As part of efforts by the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), spearheaded by Elon Musk, federal agencies’ use of paid administrative leave rose 435% from 2023 to 2025 – costing six times what the government spent in 2023 – according to a new report released on Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent watchdog.

Raphinha cashes in against Santander with hat-trick as Barça hit seven

• Cancelo, Jesus and Lamine Yamal also score in rout

• Atlético Madrid thrash Osasuna 4-0 to move into third

Raphinha scored a hat-trick as Barcelona ripped Racing Santander to shreds in a spectacular 7-2 triumph in La Liga on Wednesday. The win makes Hansi Flick the club’s first manager to win ⁠the opening seven competitive matches of a season.

João Cancelo, Gabriel Jesus and Lamine Yamal also scored for the unstoppable Catalan giants, who have netted 33 goals in those seven games across all competitions, and who moved three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

England ’Til I Die review – a chilling portrait of a town turning on its neighbours

Film-maker Jamie Roberts follows a Sussex man’s journey into the far right. If it wasn’t so horrific, parts could feel like they’d been written by Chris Morris

Standing in the street shouting virulent slogans or chanting loaded refrains about Islam was the mainstay of British far-right groups such as the EDL in the early 2010s. Now, that behaviour feels almost quaint. Recent weeks have seen major anti-immigration blockades in Dover led by balaclava-wearing men, and direct action against asylum seekers arriving on a small boat in Portsmouth.

Clearly, in 2026, the blame for much of the societal rot that has set in has been placed frequently at the feet of migrants, and vigilante tactics are on the rise. Channel 4’s one-off documentary arrives with depressing timeliness, then, telling a story that serves as a synecdoche for events playing out across the UK, at large. It is, says its maker, “the story of a community on the frontline of Britain’s broken asylum system, and one man’s journey into the heart of the far-right movement”.

Exiled Nicaraguan journalist Luis Galeano detained by ICE in Florida

Galeano, who has had asylum application pending for about seven years, was pulled over by agents while driving for Lyft

Veteran journalist Luis Galeano, one of at least 94 Nicaraguans whom the Ortega Murillo regime has stripped of citizenship in recent years for opposing the government, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Galeano, who has continued critically reporting on the Sandinista government online through his platform, Café con voz, since shortly after arriving in the US in 2018, has had an asylum application pending for about seven years, according to his wife, Daykel Santamaría. He also has a work permit and a social security number, she said.

Analysis: How Trump could reignite the Fed independence fight after Warsh's rate hike

The Federal Reserve unanimously raised interest rates by a quarter point despite repeated calls from President Donald Trump for lower rates.

NASA spacecraft discovers moon crater bigger than Roman Colosseum

Scientists have discovered a crater on the moon that's bigger than the Roman Colosseum, the result of a powerful impact two years ago.

Amazon obtains right to buy stock in Generac, boosting power company's share price by over 40%

Amazon was granted warrants to buy up to $340 million worth of Generac stock as part of a deal to supply backup power generators for its data centers.

Macklemore pledges his $1m Ed Sheeran tour salary to Palestine

Rapper, who was dropped from tour after his speech in support of Palestine, challenges Robert Kraft to do the same

Macklemore has announced he will donate the $1m salary he was paid as an opening act for Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour to organizations working with Palestinian people and relief in Gaza, after being dropped from the tour following backlash to his onstage comments in support of Palestine.

The rapper also challenged Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and prominent Israel donor who refused to let Macklemore play at his Gillette Stadium outside Boston, to match his donation.

Here are five key takeaways from Wednesday's Fed rate hike

The Fed on Wednesday delivered a much-expected interest rate hike.

You'd expect homeowners to save their stuff. Federal policy pays them to leave it

NPR dug into the upside-down world of FEMA flood insurance in coastal areas, and found many homeowners have no financial choice but to let their homes collapse.

De Cuyper and Brighton pile on pain for Manchester United with comeback

Across four days Manchester United have lost the 199th derby against Manchester City, were told by JJ Gabriel that he wants to leave, and now they have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brighton.

Capitulating after being 2-0 up may be the pick of these dizzying blows, as the prolonged boos at the final whistle suggested, and doing so ends a proud 50-year record: the last time the same lead at Old Trafford ended in defeat was Tottenham’s 3-2 win in September 1976.

Saudi Pro League club Al-Taawoun handed stadium ban over Diogo Jota chants

• Fans heard shouting chants of ‘Jota’ against Al-Hilal

• Ronaldo had called for lifetime bans for those supporters

The Saudi Pro League club Al-Taawoun have been fined nearly £20,000 and given a two-game stadium ban after fans chanted about the late Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota.

The Al-Hilal midfielder Rúben Neves, who played with Jota for Wolves and Portugal, was shown gesturing to the sky after audible chants of “Jota” from Al-Taawoun fans could be heard during Saturday’s league game.

House holds billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress

Billionaire investor Leon Black refused to appear before the committee investigating convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for a deposition. Now it's up to the Department of Justice whether to pursue criminal charges.

Fed approves interest rate hike, signals one more to come this year

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved its first interest rate hike since 2023 and indicated another to come.

Enzo Le Fée makes amends from the spot as Sunderland overcome AZ

Granit Xhaka, Sunderland’s captain, believes it is not unrealistic to dream about Régis Le Bris’s side travelling all the way to the Europa League final next spring.

It is rarely a good idea to dismiss Xhaka but reaching that showpiece in Frankfurt will necessitate considerably more efficient finishing on his team’s part than proved evident on a highly evocative night on Wearside.

‘My scar, not your scar’: Tuchel stands by England semi-final subs but admits wrong timing

• Coach says Argentina’s gung-ho approach forced hand

• ‘No one is more hurt than me, no one wanted it more’

Thomas Tuchel stands by his heavily criticised defensive substitutions in the World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina this summer, but the England head coach accepts he made them too early.

Tuchel said England were “waiting for death”, unable to cope with the attacking tactics adopted by Argentina in Atlanta as they chased the game after Anthony Gordon’s opener on the hour. He said fatigue and the success of defending with a back five in knockout games against Mexico and Norway also influenced his decisions to sit on the lead.

US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for the first time since 2023

Trump urges lower rates after central bank agrees increase by quarter-percentage point to range of 3.75% to 4%

• Federal Reserve raises interest rates – live

The US Federal Reserve voted to raise interest rates on Wednesday for the first time since 2023 as the central bank continues to fight to tamp down inflation.

The Fed’s open market committee voted unanimously to raise its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-percentage point to a range of 3.75% to 4%. This is the first time the Fed has raised rates since July 2023 and potentially sets Kevin Warsh, the current Fed chair, on a collision course with Donald Trump.

Trump administration plans ideological warning signs for Smithsonian

The Interior Secretary says the move is necessary to combat what he calls ideological bias.

Federal Reserve raises interest rates for the first time since 2023

The Fed increased its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points to battle resurgent inflation driven by soaring energy prices.

House votes to hold Leon Black in contempt of Congress over Epstein subpoenas defiance

Billionaire Leon Black is suing the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform seeking to block subpoenas it issued him in its probe of Jeffrey Epstein.

House votes to hold Leon Black in contempt over Epstein subpoenas refusal

Billionaire has refused to comply with subpoenas from House oversight committee as part of Epstein inquiry

• US politics live – latest updates

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to hold billionaire investor Leon Black in contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with subpoenas issued to him by the House oversight committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

The action came a day after the committee voted unanimously to recommend that the House hold Black in contempt. Wednesday’s House vote passed under unanimous consent, meaning there was not a formal roll call, but no member objected to the contempt resolution.

The 'burnerverse' exploiting young women in college

Wired reporter EJ Dickson speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about an online community that targets and harasses young women with their own nonconsensual, sexually explicit images.

‘Why can’t it be 100 times more popular?’: Ohanian aims high with women’s Athlos meeting | Sean Ingle

Keely Hodgkinson and Gaby Thomas among the stars at London event whose promoter, Alexis Ohanian, has big plans and hopes for women’s sport

The timing could hardly be better. After a week when the discourse around women’s sport has been dominated by the actor Sydney Sweeney posing naked – and the intense backlash and counter-backlash – London will stage a major all-female track‑and‑field event on Friday.

A sell-out crowd at the Athlos meeting at the StoneX Stadium in Hendon will feature Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, along with the American stars Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woodhall, competing for a prize fund of $1m (£750,000). There will be a red-carpet parade, celebrities galore and a celebration of the best of female sport.

Virginia fines a Microsoft data center for emissions violations

As part of the settlement with Microsoft, the tech giant has agreed to invest $2.4 million toward an environmental project underway in Loudoun County.

Trump's Kennedy Center closure is 'unlawful,' Rep. Beatty tells judge in emergency hearing request

President Donald Trump says renovations at the Kennedy Center will not occur until the courts allow his name to be restored on the performing arts center.

Earl Spencer’s memoir claims Prince Charles said of Diana: ‘We’ll forget her soon enough’

Charles Spencer’s book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister alleges comments were made during argument over Princess of Wales’ funeral arrangements

Prince Charles told Earl Spencer days after the death of his sister Diana, Princess of Wales, that “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough”, it is alleged in a memoir to be published this month.

Charles Spencer’s book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, contains the claim that the comments were made by the now king during a heated argument over funeral arrangements.

How much time does AI save at work? New Census Bureau data breaks it down.

New Census data shows how much faster workers can complete tasks when they enlist artificial intelligence for help.

AI "agents" can do your shopping. Should you let them?

Big retailers are embracing agentic commerce as a new way to shop. But you should think twice before handing over your credit card, tech experts say.

AI could make people dull, one scientist fears. Here's why.

AI tends to "play it safe within a user's preferences," nudging people toward more conventional choices, according to computational social scientist Sandra Matz.

AI companies must ensure their tech is safe, says top Trump adviser on AI

In an interview with CBS News, Sacks suggested that fears AI could harm people are overblown. "I think this is becoming a panic," he said.

The AI bubble is leaking air, some economists say. Should investors worry?

AI has fueled a stock boom in recent years. Now, some Wall Street analysts think that epic run is coming to an end.

AI doesn't have rights or feelings, Microsoft's AI chief says

Microsoft's Mustafa Suleyman said in an essay that trying to develop AI consciousness would be "catastrophic" for humanity.

EU rolls out red carpet to Canada to become its first 'associate member'

The European Union's top official backs the Canadian prime minister's push for his country to become the bloc's first "associate member," as Brussels seeks to deepen ties amid pressure from the U.S.

‘Made in Europe’ law threatens UK plans for reset with EU

Government sources say legislation aimed at China poses a risk to British businesses and must be addressed

The UK government’s EU reset summit will be delayed again unless the bloc agrees to discuss legislation that could lock British business out of parts of EU industry, government sources have said.

The “Made in Europe” legislation – formally known as the Industrial Accelerator Act – is designed to curb China’s increasing presence in European industry, but was not on the reset plan agreed by the former prime minister Keir Starmer and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, in London in May 2025.

House votes to hold Leon Black in contempt of Congress in Epstein probe

The committee accused Black of defying subpoenas as part of its investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein.

Boeing CEO: 737 Max production taking 'a little bit longer' to stabilize than expected

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said wing production at its Renton, Washington, factory is a hold up, adding the company has plans to address it.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles says she's cancer free

Susie Wiles oversaw Trump’s winning 2024 presidential campaign and has wielded major influence in his second administration.

Colin Kaepernick says NFL owners are colluding against Macklemore after Ed Sheeran tour ban

• Rapper dropped from tour after pro-Palestine remarks

• Former NFL star settled case over collusion in 2019

Colin Kaepernick has accused NFL owners of colluding against Macklemore after the rapper was removed from Ed Sheeran’s tour over comments he made onstage about Palestine.

Kaepernick, whose NFL career was effectively ended in the wake of his protests against police violence, says he sees parallels between himself and Macklemore.

Senate Democrats meet with El-Sayed, rallying around Michigan nominee

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed met with Senate Democrats as they look to rally around his candidacy in the final sprint to November's election.

Hegseth avoids impeachment vote with early House election recess

The House won't take a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after House leaders decided to leave Washington a day earlier than planned.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles says she's cancer-free

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had a medical procedure at the Mayo Clinic earlier this week, CBS News first reported.

Is EU’s offer to Canada a blueprint for Britain – or a reminder it is out in the cold?

Ursula von der Leyen has opened door for Canada to become associate member to deepen links in ‘openly hostile world’

Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has been advocating closer alignment with “middle powers” since January in the face of recklessness in Washington.

But what should worry another middle power, the UK, is that it was Brussels that came up with Wednesday’s big reveal in Strasbourg.

Charli xcx Music, Fashion, Film tour review – an electrifying and deafening pop evolution

Barclays Center, Brooklyn

The tireless star brings her latest, somewhat over-explained album to the stage for a dazzling and euphoric show

For more than a year now, I have often returned, when seeking a bar for which to measure true pop transcendence, to the memory of Charli xcx taking the Other Stage at Glastonbury: the unofficial headliner, a year out from her culture-shifting opus Brat, commanded a dizzying 60,000 people with an imperious “don’t fucking play with me” and the stunning brute force of a performer at peak power. It was surreal, as a longtime fan, to witness an artist who was as recently as 2022 playing to cult followings in 2,000-cap venues convert thousands more in real time, to see years of hard-earned pop instincts and artistry collide with the zeitgeist in a career-defining, you-had-to-be-there achievement.

But life goes on, of course, and Charli, like the rest of us who surfed the high of Brat summer 2024, found herself on an inevitable comedown. A lesser artist may have confronted the question of what comes next with blunt commercial logic – more, again – but Charli, a self-professed workaholic and tireless interrogator of one’s own image, proved to be creatively restless, if scattered. A cinephile rebrand, three films at Sundance, an Instagram-dominating celebrity wedding, a defanged satire of her own sudden ubiquity, a windswept soundtrack that more or less saved the otherwise dreadful Wuthering Heights – all suggested a self-aware ambivalence with mainstream success that threatened to corrode all that came after. With the release this July of Music, Fashion, Film, her eighth studio album, I worried that she had succumbed to a seemingly manic drive to stay visible. The album, a deceptively vulnerable and winking pivot to rock that was either self-aggrandizing pastiche or genius, depending on what angle/substance/context you beheld it, did not seem to stand up the scrutiny and over-explanation of relentless celebrity promotion.

House cutting week short before adjourning until after midterms

House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled votes in the chamber that were planned for Thursday ahead of a six-week recess.

English far-right extremist who discussed killing Jews, Muslims and migrants is jailed

Ivan Jennings, 46, sentenced to five years after pleading guilty to encouraging terrorism on social media

A rightwing extremist who discussed poisoning Jews and Muslims and called for the killing of migrants and minority communities has been jailed.

Ivan Jennings, 46, called for the murder of hundreds of people he labelled “subhumans”, saying it was “justified and actually needed”, in extreme far-right groups over a period of three months in 2024.

Nato leader warns of ‘most dangerous and complex security environment in a generation’

Mark Rutte asks UK and Europe to ‘provide hard power Nato needs’ in face of geopolitical uncertainty

Nato needs “more UK and more Europe” to deal with the most dangerous security environment faced by the west in a generation, the secretary general of the 32-country military alliance said this afternoon on a visit to the UK.

Mark Rutte praised Britain for promising to increase defence spending in line with US demands after a meeting prime minister Andy Burnham – but argued that the military and financial effort must continue into the future.

American Airlines says 30% of seats drive half of revenue as premium cabin rush heats up

American says a minority of its seats now accounts for half of its revenue.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had medical procedure at Mayo Clinic

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles was diagnosed with breast cancer in March.

The Liberation review – Carrie Coon joins all-female cult in unsettling drama

Toronto film festival: Director Guy Nattiv draws on personal experience for an 80s-set tale of a woman abandoning her family for a creepy commune

We remain fascinated and horrified by the hows and whys of cult narratives, how someone could be so seduced by something so unknown and why they would then risk everything for it. Oscar-winning writer-director Guy Nattiv has been personally affected by these questions for most of his life, his grandmother joining a cult when he was a child and never coming back.

His attempt to try to understand who she was and why she acted in such a way has led to unsettling drama The Liberation, a fictionalised tale that acts as a form of therapy for him and a mostly successful antidote to more sensationalist cult stories for us. Enough Netflix docuseries and schlocky horror movies have given us a more extreme and often violent idea of how cults infect and destroy vulnerable people but Nattiv opts for a more thoughtful slow-burn. He’s recruited a suitably thoughtful actor in Carrie Coon, no stranger to this particular psychology having broken out in The Leftovers, one of the more intelligent cult dramas in recent years.

The Liberation is screening at the Toronto film festival and will be released later this year

Here is what changed in the new Fed statement under Warsh

This is a comparison of Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed's previous policymaking meeting in July.

Sen. Blumenthal urges AI oversight: 'We're on the verge of losing control'

The Trump administration argues that beating China in the race to AI dominance is an all-important goal.

Women with same health conditions as men ‘less likely to be offered active treatment’

Men with heart, kidney or liver conditions more likely to be offered intervention compared with women, global analysis finds

Women with the same medical condition as men are less likely to be offered treatment such as surgery, a stent or a strong painkiller, research has found.

A review of global research found that for several health problems, including cardiovascular conditions, kidney disease and Parkinson’s, women were less likely to receive the same treatment as men, revealing the extent to which women have significantly unequal care.

Fossil fuel advertising contracts at all-time high in 2026

In year of extreme weather, ad agencies found to be building Big Oil’s image as integral to family life and security

“It’s that time of the year again,” the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company told Emiratis in a Ramadan advertising campaign. “Where tanks are always full – for night after night of majlis hopping.”

When you think about fossil fuels, you might think of offshore oil platforms flaring gas in rough seas, the US/Iran war or the greenhouse effect heating up the world’s climate. A new report argues, however, that what Big Oil wants you to think about is family, friends and faith instead.

No conspiracy, no mystery, just a gift from a Russian oligarch

A ‘generous wedding gift’ from a ‘dear friend’ raises questions not entirely answered by Bettina and Don Jr’s Instagram caption

• This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday

Anyone who has gotten married knows how the costs can rack up. There’s the venue, the photographers, the flowers, the cake, the napkins, the DJ (can you tell I got married earlier this year?), the disco ball that costs a barely believable $700, the outfits for the flower girls, the knives and forks, the tuxedo socks, which you previously didn’t know existed, the gifts for the best man and maid of honour, the events that you decided to throw before and after the day itself (honestly, it’s just a never-ending stream of people with their hands out), the seating chart that despite you making it yourself somehow ended up costing three figures, the chairs that you paid extra for because your now-wife didn’t like the colour of the ones the venue would have provided for free, the tanning moisturiser that you had to buy in two different shades because the first one made you look like a corpse, the teeth whitening, the Uber credit that you have a sneaking suspicion your best friend turned a profit on, the honeymoon and more (for the record, it was a lovely day and worth every penny).

It almost makes one wish they had a recent acquaintance who is a Russian oligarch and a close Putin ally who is willing to spend, for no particular reason, hundreds of thousands of dollars to defray some of the costs.

In response to detailed questions, a spokesperson for Trump Jr did not dispute the wedding payments from Kremlev. ‘Umar is a personal friend of Don,’ he said. The spokesman said that Kremlev is ‘not someone he has a business relationship with’ and that the men met through a mutual friend in the hunting world and bonded over their love of boxing and the outdoors.

Suspect in ‘Putney pusher’ case found dead at his west London home

HSBC director Nicholas Brandram, 44, was found unresponsive by emergency services on Tuesday evening

A senior city banker suspected of pushing a woman into the path of a moving bus in the “Putney pusher” case has been found dead.

Nicholas Brandram, 44, was discovered at his home in Chiswick, west London, on Tuesday.

OpenAI backs measure that would require independent audits of AI models

Top OpenAI executive endorses plan that would require AI companies to submit their technology to third-party reviews to assess their safety.

Body found in search for three-year-old Noah Woods

Body found in pond in Suffolk village of Brantham, where Noah was last seen on Tuesday afternoon

Police searching for a three-year-old boy who went missing from a playground on the Suffolk-Essex border have found a body.

Noah Woods was last seen at 3pm on Tuesday in Merriam Close, Brantham, near Manningtree, before becoming separated from a relative.

Pentagon CTO says U.S. government shouldn't take stakes in tech giants, questions adding AI rules

President Donald Trump has angrily pushed back on the calls from industry and lawmakers for an AI slowdown or greater regulation.

The Guardian view on the Houthi advance in Yemen: another vital Middle East artery becomes a battlefield | Editorial

The extraordinary success of the rebels, and Saudi counterstrikes, threaten economic havoc. But the country’s civilians are paying the highest price

Even in a region beset by turmoil and learning to expect the unexpected, the lightning advance of Yemen’s Houthis along the Red Sea coast has shocked observers. More than 100,000 people have been forced to flee in a country where immiseration and displacement have become routine and half the population depend on humanitarian aid. But outsiders are paying close attention, because by claiming thousands of kilometres in a matter of days, and seizing strategically important islands, the Iran-backed rebels now control the Bab al-Mandab strait – the other major regional energy chokepoint after the Hormuz strait.

The Iran war has forced Saudi Arabia to rely on moving oil via its east-west pipeline to Red Sea ports. Now drone strikes – blamed on an Iran-backed militia in Iraq – have shut the pipeline: on one estimate, a month-long closure could cut global crude supply by 120m barrels. The halt to shipping through the Bab al-Mandab strait could be much more protracted. Taking the oil north is a far slower and more expensive route to Asian markets, and does not preclude attacks by the Houthis, who are also targeting oil facilities.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

The Guardian view on Sweden’s election result: an opportunity that progressive parties must not squander | Editorial

After a desperately tight race, voters rejected the prospect of the far right in government. A potential centre-left coalition needs to seize the moment

European progressives searching for reasons to be cheerful have been finding them hard to come by this autumn. In Germany, the dramatic rise of the Alternative für Deutschland party is threatening the liberal values that underpin the identity of the federal republic. In France, polls continue to point to a likely Marine Le Pen victory in a presidential election, which is months away. Across mainland Europe, centre-left parties are failing to muster an adequate response to nativist movements that have colonised swathes of the working-class support that they once relied on.

In such an ominous political landscape, the outcome of a cliffhanger Swedish election provides a much‑needed source of optimism – albeit one that comes with heavy caveats. Prior to last Sunday’s poll, the outgoing prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, was explicit that if his rightwing alliance won the largest number of seats, he would invite members of the far-right Sweden Democrats party (SD) to become ministers in the next government.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Congress is under pressure to act on AI — here's what that could look like

Lawmakers are expressing broader willingness to regulate AI development, but the path forward may not be a quick one.

AI is making it easier for adversaries to target U.S. military, experts say

An Iran-linked adversary used Claude AI to try to target U.S. naval forces, Anthropic revealed in a recent report.

DOJ charges Russian agents with plotting attacks, including in US

The indictment says the defendants belong to a network that "is one arm of the Russian Federation's apparatus used to carry out external attacks" worldwide.

No matter how deranged and delusional your podcast is, Liz Truss can go further | John Crace

In the Trusster’s latest appearance, she says Blair and Brown had a plot to dismantle civilisation and the Tories were part of the woke establishment

Some things you can set your watch by. Like every time small boats are in the news, the shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, will manoeuvre himself in front of a camera to suggest that all male migrants are either murderers or rapists. Probably both.

But some things feel older than time itself. Like Liz Truss trying to persuade the world she was right all along. Most former prime ministers leave Downing Street relatively quietly. Lord Big Dave, the Maybot and even Boris nurse their grudges in private. Rishi lives in semi-retirement – almost a recluse – and only attends parliament when it suits him. Keir has been almost totally airbrushed out of history in a couple of months.

USA exit U-20 World Cup on penalties as tournament’s timing draws criticism

• Brazil advance to quarter-finals in Poland

• Americans have not won tournament since 2012

• US youth teams have struggled in recent showings

The United States were eliminated from the U-20 Women’s World Cup in the last 16 on Wednesday, falling to Brazil on penalties after playing to a 1-1 draw after extra-time. Brazil goalkeeper Thaís Lima made a crucial save on Emeri Adames’s attempt to begin the shootout, opening the eventual 5-4 finish in Katowice, Poland.

The result extends a difficult run of form for US youth national teams across the men’s and women’s programs. This is the third time since last October that a US youth team have failed to win a knockout game at a World Cup: the U-17 boys and the U-17 girls both exited in the last 16 of their respective tournaments in shootouts. The U-20 men fell in the quarter-final of their World Cup in October 2025.

A tumultuous congressional primary season closes with record departures and defeats

Already, close to 100 lawmakers who started this Congress will not be around for the next one, according to an NPR analysis, driven by record-setting retirements and primary defeats.

Girls creator Lena Dunham welcomes baby girl delivered via surrogate

Writer and actor, 40, had long struggled with endometriosis before undergoing total hysterectomy at age 31

Lena Dunham has welcomed her first child with her husband, Luis Felber, via surrogate.

The 40-year-old writer and actor, known for her creation of and role in the HBO television series Girls, revealed her daughter’s birth in a Vogue op-ed published on Wednesday.

Ed Sheeran wants to stay out of politics. By quitting his tour, his support acts have exposed the hollowness of neutrality

By standing behind support act Macklemore, who was removed from the tour for his vocal support of Palestine, these artists are demonstrating the self-sacrifice necessary to stand against those crushing free speech

In a statement about Macklemore being dropped from his US stadium tour for making pro-Palestinian comments, Ed Sheeran defended his own publicly apolitical stance: “If we only ever focus on shouting the loudest, nothing will ever change. There are different approaches to being an advocate for change.”

Every other musician involved with the tour – support acts Finneas (Billie Eilish’s brother), Danish band Lukas Graham and Irish songwriter Aaron Rowe, plus Sheeran’s Irish backing band, Beoga – has made their approach to advocating for change clear, pulling out of the remaining dates to protest against the censorship of Macklemore and to express support for the Palestinian people.

Ferritin face: the new health scare taking social media by storm

Seeing a pallid, washed-out face in the mirror? Prepare to be diagnosed …

Name: Ferritin face.

Age: The name is new, but the symptoms are old.

Maye Musk says son Elon "just wants to do good" but steps "on a lot of toes"

Maye Musk has described her son Elon as a genius even as a child, and said his efforts have led to insults and unfair treatment from the public.

Labour holds No 10 drinks party for donors amid growing calls for donations cap

Labour has also increased fundraising from members in response to Reform’s £72m donations from crypto billionaires

Labour has hosted major party donors at No 10 for a drinks reception, as the party comes under growing pressure from MPs and unions to consider a donations cap.

The Guardian understands that high-level donors, including business leaders and philanthropists, were hosted by cabinet ministers in Downing Street for an evening reception on Tuesday. Donors from the party’s Rose Network give thousands of pounds a year to the party.

Cassandra Wilson obituary

American jazz singer and songwriter who was inspired by the Delta blues and gospel sounds of her Mississippi childhood

Cassandra Wilson, the double Grammy-winning jazz vocalist and songwriter who has died aged 70, was described in 2001 by Time magazine as “America’s best singer”. Superlatives accompanied Wilson throughout her career; her vocal skills supported them.

Wilson’s ancestry was West African and European, and the Delta blues and gospel sounds she heard in her Mississippi childhood affected her deeply – but so did the guitar harmonies her father taught her, and the early instruction in classical piano she received from her music-teacher mother. Both her parents were Miles Davis and Motown admirers, too.

Location-tracking apps have turned me into a gibbering wreck – but I just can’t look away

When my loved ones are on the move, I can’t rest until I know they’ve got from A to B safely. How I long for the ignorance of the olden days

I’ll call it compassionate surveillance. It’s what I do when I’m worried about a loved one who is on the move. I’m not sure it’s a good thing. Be they travelling by plane, train or automobile, I will keep tabs on them. I can’t help myself. If my daughters – who are highly competent grownups – make a long car journey, by means of some smartphone hocus-pocus I’ll know where they are. I should point out that this is done with consent: they know that I know where they are. In my mum’s case, this is less true, if only because she has long given up trying to make head or tail of location sharing and other such sorcery.

I cross my heart and hope to die when I swear to you that I only do this when they are in transit. Honestly, I never look up where they are on a night out or whatever. That would be weird – or weirder, anyway. But when they get in a car, I get the fear. The catastrophising begins. It’s a big world and their car is small. A million other cars, buses and lorries share the roads on which they are motoring. In this, as in all things, overthinking is calamitous. The more you think about what could go wrong, the more your imagination obliges with a steady stream of ghastly possibilities.

How Jared Kushner is mixing U.S. diplomacy with his billion-dollar business

The New Yorker's Dexter Filkins says while Trump's son-in-law is a U.S. special envoy negotiating peace, he's also working on private business deals, raising billions in some of the same countries.

Are you cleaning your cat litter box correctly?

How often should you clean your cat’s litter box? Plus three other tips for peak cat cleanliness

Throughout history, people have revered cats. Ancient Egyptians worshipped feline deities. In Norse mythology, the Viking goddess Freya rode around in a sled pulled by two cats. And my father regularly takes his cat on walks around town in a little bubble backpack so she can see the sights.

As anyone who has lived with a cat knows, we serve them and not the other way around. This includes the messy and malodorous task of tending their litter box.

Resident Evil review – Zach Cregger’s rebooted action horror is a wild rollercoaster ride

The Weapons director delivers a seat-edge thriller with a standout lead performance from Austin Abrams as an everyman navigating chaos

Typically horror fans react to blatant on-screen stupidity with vocal derision. Don’t go in there! Girl, get out of the house! Guys, ignore that distress signal! But genre aficionados may find themselves falling a little bit in love with Bryan (Austin Abrams), the hapless de facto hero of the new horror film Resident Evil. It’s not that Bryan is traditionally hunky, or even a caricatured version of a square-jawed warrior, like Bruce Campbell in his later Evil Dead outings. But Abrams is in possession of a Campbell-ish charm, even in the face of his character’s repeated blundering, as well as an everyman relatability that makes this wild carnival-ride movie play a little closer to the ground.

Bryan is a courier – a glorified Postmates driver, in his own estimation – who postpones the end of his shift to take one last night-time run, driving an important item from one hospital to another in a snowstorm without the proper tires or four-wheel drive. After all, the distance and urgency means double pay. When he hits a mysterious woman who emerges suddenly on to a slick road, he’s drawn into a hellish outbreak that will look familiar to fans of the Resident Evil video game series (or maybe the previous six-movie Milla Jovovich franchise, which apparently drifted afield from the games’ storylines).

Amazon raises starting pay to $20 an hour and adds Whole Foods perks

Amazon said it is increasing its minimum pay for operations workers by $1 an hour and adding grocery discounts for all U.S. employees.

Annie Dillard, Pulitzer prize-winning author of nonfiction and nature essays, dies aged 81

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, published when Dillard was 28, skyrocketed her to become one of the most prominent nonfiction writers of her generation

Annie Dillard, author of the Pulitzer prize-winning book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, died aged 81 at her home in South Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on Tuesday.

Maggie Nelson, Dillard’s literary editor, confirmed her death to the New York Times.

Former French culture minister goes on trial over corruption charges

Rachida Dati accused of lobbying for carmaker Renault-Nissan when she was member of European parliament

Rachida Dati, a former French culture minister, has gone on trial in Paris on corruption charges linked to dealings with the Renault-Nissan carmaking group.

Dati, 60, is accused of illegal lobbying when she accepted €900,000 (£770,000) in lawyer’s fees from a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan while she was a member of the European parliament. The court will have to decide what the money was for.

Sweden voted against more power for the far right – but are centrists listening?

Even as the ‘extremist’ AfD seeks further election gains in Germany, Europe’s leaders can learn from Sweden’s dangerous embrace with far-right ideology

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Europe’s focus turned nervously to Sweden on Sunday, after an explosive election in Germany just a week earlier placed a far-right party, officially classed as “extremist”, on the brink of power in a German state for the first time since the Nazi era. A party with neo-Nazi roots has been pulling the government’s strings in Sweden for the last four years. Would the country’s general election put the far right formally in government? Or would enough Swedes opt for a gear change, having seen the Sweden Democrats’ hardline (some would say poisonous) agenda in action?

Votes were still being counted on Wednesday but it was immediately clear that the far-right Sweden Democrats had suffered a setback; their first loss of support among voters since entering parliament for the first time 16 years ago. The party slipped from being the country’s second biggest party to its third.

Kim Kardashian gets €1 in damages for being victim of Paris armed robbery

Kardashian received the compensation she requested, lawyers said, after eight people were found guilty last year for their role in the robbery

A Paris court has awarded €1 to Kim Kardashian for having been the victim of an armed robbery in the French capital in 2016, the amount of compensation she had asked for, according to a lawyer involved in the case.

The court last year found eight people guilty for their roles in what Kardashian described as “the most terrifying experience of my life”. She and the stylist Simone Harouche, who was present during the robbery, expressed gratitude to the French justice system in a joint statement.

Scientists create mice with part-human brains

Researchers hope to shed light on conditions such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability and rare forms of dementia

Researchers have created mice with half-human brains in an effort to understand and develop new treatments for disorders such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability and rare forms of dementia.

The scientists transplanted lab-grown human brain cells into animals that were engineered to be born without a cortex or hippocampus. This made space for the human tissue to grow inside the rodents’ skulls.

I have faced abuse, assaults and death threats because I’m an MP. It’s making politics a no-go zone | Dawn Butler

A new report highlights the dangers experienced by those who seek to serve the public. People are being deterred and your democracy is suffering

There is a rising tide of abuse in our politics and I feel it every day. This week, the Electoral Commission warned that harassment and intimidation are changing how candidates campaign, what they feel able to do and whether they stand again. This is a threat to our democracy – and we cannot ignore it.

The figures are stark. Commission research into the May 2026 local and mayoral elections in England found that 55% of candidates said harassment or intimidation was a problem, up from 47% in 2025. Women, ethnic minority candidates and those with disabilities were most likely to encounter abuse. The experience was so unpleasant that a third considered not standing again.

Dawn Butler is Labour MP for Brent East

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

The secret of Mozart’s genius unlocked – has a teenager succeeded where generations of musicologists have failed?

US student Linus Chen-Plotkin has analysed music by four canonical composers looking for patterns. Turns out Mozart’s music moves in the least predictable way

It’s a question that has taxed musical thinkers for centuries: just what is it about one composer’s music that makes it more distinctive than anyone else’s? Entire disciplines of academic thought, of music analysis and historical musicology, as well as the formation of classical music’s canon of “great” composers, have been given over to this single idea: can it be proved that Mozart, say, was measurably “better” than other composers?

Our instinctive feeling about the sensual magic of Mozart’s music is part of the equation, but accounting for precisely how his pieces can sustain a lifetime of listening, why their pleasures never seem to pall and are still capable of seeming to surprise us even when we know them inside out: that’s the million-dollar musicological question.

Fed rate hike expected on Wednesday. See what it means for your money.

The Federal Reserve is likely to raise borrowing costs on Wednesday, and more hikes could be in store, according to economists.

‘Godfather of AI’ says tech regulation is nearing Covid-style pivot moment

Safety crisis makes it more likely that governments will be spurred into action, says Yoshua Bengio

Concerns over AI safety are reaching a point where governments realise they must act to protect the public, similarly to in the Covid pandemic, according to one of the “godfathers” of the technology.

Yoshua Bengio said recent events, including a “swarm” of OpenAI agents hacking a startup and tech insider warnings of an existential threat, were cutting through – making government action more likely.

Mice with human brain cells offer a tool to study disease. Ethicists ask: What's next?

Neuroscientists have made a major advance in modeling the human brain in mice, offering a new way to study conditions like cerebral palsy. Ethicists ask if it changes how these mice should be treated.

US opts not to back Saudi Arabia in Yemen after meeting Houthi leaders

Iran-backed militants have offered Trump administration assurances over safety of Red Sea shipping

Officials from the US met Houthi leaders over the weekend at the country’s embassy in Muscat, Oman, it has been confirmed, leading to the US decision not to intervene to help Saudi Arabia drive back a Houthi advance inside Yemen.

The Iran-backed militant group reassured the US that the ceasefire agreement between the two sides struck in 2025 still held and the movement had no intention of attacking US shipping in the Red Sea. Only Saudi-linked shipping was regarded as a target owing to its blockade of Yemen, the Houthis confirmed.

Canada invited to become EU’s first ‘associate member’ as Trump trade war intensifies

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc wants to open the door for Canada to become its first associate member, signaling a major deepening of ties.

Football Daily | Madrid endure an awkward night after T-shirt trouble and Elche scare

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Anxious to sample some traditional Spanish culture while taking in a La Liga match years ago, Football Daily and some friends decamped to Gran Alicant. As we prepared to leave a quaint bodega (the Dick Turpin), where we’d been sampling the local hooch (Guinness), to travel to the nearby stadium, an elderly local resident with an unmistakable mackem accent informed us that the Elche home game to which we were heading was not being played until the following evening. It had fallen victim to Spanish TV’s infuriating habit of rescheduling random top-flight matches with little or no notice or consideration for Johnny-come-latelys who might have travelled from afar to watch them. We never did get to see Elche play in the flesh but did get to watch the current La Liga basement-dwellers give José Mourinho an almighty fright on TV on Tuesday night, as they went this close to snatching a point from Real Madrid.

I almost wish I was a West Ham fan. As an eternally suffering Spurs supporter, I find myself looking enviously towards the London Stadium these days. The Hammers are top of the table, banging in goal after goal (already 20 more than Spurs’ tally in the league). They score even when they lose and seem to have bought a proper No 9. My Spurs, meanwhile, continue the tradition of the last two years in style, sitting comfortably in 17th with 1,047 wingers on contract, and getting knocked out of one of the competitions they could ‘conceivably’ have won, the only competition they seem to be able to score goals in as well. In hindsight, West Ham made the right choice to go down. Hammers fans, you are welcome!” – Yannick Woudstra (and no others).

Hugh Fordham’s idea [Tuesday’s Football Daily letters] has some merit. But it reminded me of a pithy comment by Bill Nicholson. ‘Do you think he was interfering with play?’, he was asked. Nicholson responded: “If he’s not interfering with play, what’s he doing on the pitch?!’” – Harry McDonald.

In support of Hugh Fordham’s suggestion, I remember discussing the idea of interfering with play while on a training course for referees back in the 1960s. We were told that unless someone was ‘lying injured near the corner flag’ any player should be treated as being involved in play. Not a lot of room for subjectivity in those days. And obviously no thought of stopping play for the hypothetical injured player!” – Trevor Field.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. 

Mike Rogers speaks out after skipping Michigan Senate debate

The Republican says the event was a town hall he never committed to and was never on his schedule. He also faulted the moderator, saying you can't hold a "two-on-one event in a TV studio."

‘Very authoritarian, very brutal’: three decades after the UK’s anti-rave crackdown, why is France doing the same?

With tear gas, grenades and a new law, French authorities are targeting unlicensed music gatherings. Those in the rave scene explore the parallels with the UK in the 90s

When Spiral Tribe fled England in 1992, they left behind an indelible mark on rave history. The itinerant sound system collective are best known for their involvement with Castlemorton Common festival, an unlicensed free party drawing more than 30,000 people and lasting nearly a week. After a drawn-out and notoriously expensive trial for public order offences, Spiral Tribe were acquitted of all charges. They decided to drive their repurposed military caravans out of the UK and never look back.

Their documented history often stops there. But little known is the fact that they then kicked off “the biggest illegal underground movement that Europe had ever seen”, says Spiral Tribe associate Sebastian Vaughan, AKA electronic musician 69db.

House votes to limit Trump's power to strike Iran for 3rd time

The previous votes have failed to stop President Trump from waging war with Iran.

Smile at Last review – photo-love-story style parable of a teen abandoned at a tough Soviet youth facility

With handheld camerawork, this unsentimental rite of passage film follows Mari, who tries to escape from a residential home in Estonia

This intriguing 1985 film from Estonia uses nonprofessionals and handheld camerawork, which brings faces looming up to the screen. It is directed by Leida Laius and Arvo Iho and based on the YA novel Stepmother by Estonian author Silvia Rannamaa. The Estonian title Naerata Ometi is translated here as Smile at Last; perhaps it should be Give Us a Smile as it is what a boorish, bullying guy tells a shy, unhappy young woman.

It is at one level a kind of coming-of-age story, but entirely without that genre’s usual, sentimental sense of something finally learned or gained from an emotional rite of passage – something finally to smile about, in fact. Actually, it is more of a mysterious parable, couched in the language of soap opera or photo-love story, depicting the Soviet state and its gruesome pretension to be caring or nurturing.

Small but mighty! Remembering the GameCube, Nintendo’s purple bundle of joy

The first console I ever bought, it was hyped as a threat to the PlayStation, then mocked as a flop. But now, as it marks its 25th anniversary, it’s looked back on with misty-eyed reverence

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Nintendo GameCube, the first console I ever bought with my own money. I vividly remember getting on the bus after school with a year’s worth of savings safely zipped into the pocket of my bag and going to a branch of Currys, where I dumped a bunch of notes, coins and vouchers on the counter to collect my pre-order. (It turned out that some of the vouchers from the previous Christmas had expired, but the guy at the checkout clearly felt so sorry for me that he redeemed them anyway. If you’re out there, Currys guy: thank you for taking pity on a desperate 13-year-old.)

If it hadn’t been for the ill-fated Wii U console, whose failure to take off in 2012 resulted in the first unprofitable periods in Nintendo’s game-making history, the GameCube would be remembered as the company’s biggest flop aside from the infamous Virtual Boy, from 1995. Released in Japan this week in 2001 (and in May 2002 in Europe), this surprisingly powerful purple cube sold less than the Xbox and the PlayStation 2. With its squat, colourful form and unusual controller, arranged around a big traffic-light-green A button and small analogue sticks designed for small hands, it had a hint of Fisher-Price about it.

Reddit co-founder says tech industry has been 'tone deaf' in explaining AI: 'Misinformation flying around'

Alexis Ohanian said AI risks are more mundane than the "Terminator and Skynet" scenarios some fear.