Trump won spending promises from NATO last year. This week, he'll try to enforce them

President Donald Trump is heading to Ankara, Turkey, for the annual NATO summit. Last year, he pushed NATO allies to spend more on defense. This year, his mission is to try to enforce those pledges.

World Cup 2026: England set up Norway quarter-final after Mexico thriller; Trump lobbied for Balogun red-card reversal – live

⚽️ World Cup news and reaction as last 16 continues
⚽️ Mexico 2-3 England | Player guide | Email us

It was a big night for Thomas Tuchel, who masterminded an England restructure after Quansah’s red card that proved crucial to his team’s success.

“It took a collective effort from England to dent Mexico’s daunting record at the Azteca,” writes Jacob Steinberg. “But it comes back to Tuchel.”

Likely origin of mysterious ‘space balls’ found on Queensland beaches revealed by Australian Space Agency

Organisation says objects consistent with ‘debris from a foreign rocket body that recently re-entered the atmosphere’

The Australian Space Agency has said the six so-called “space balls” found in north Queensland were likely from a “foreign rocket body” that had recently re-entered the atmosphere after being in orbit.

The six mysterious objects were found by the public washed ashore in the Forrest Beach area, north of Townsville, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and were suspected of containing hazardous chemicals.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup schedule and how to watch

With 104 World Cup games being played in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, it's like "a Super Bowl every single day for five weeks," U.S. team captain Tim Ream told CBS News.

Mexico's World Cup run ends early again with loss to England at Estadio Azteca

Playing at altitude with the passionate backing of 80,824 fans at Estadio Azteca, and with a man advantage for most of the second half, Mexico scored twice but could never equalize and lost 3-2.

Jordan Henderson’s wrist injury in celebrations sours England’s win in Mexico

• Unused substitute Henderson fell over advertising board

• Midfielder given oxygen and taken to hospital

A historic night ended for the England football team as they beat Mexico 3-2 in their World Cup last-16 tie was soured by an injury suffered by Jordan Henderson from falling over an advertising board in the post-match celebrations. The former Liverpool captain, who was an unused substitute, has been taken to hospital with a wrist injury that puts his participation in the rest of the tournament at risk.

Shortly after the full-time whistle, as England’s players went to celebrate in front of their fans, medical staff were seen rushing to the vicinity. Henderson was given oxygen and carried off on a stretcher.

‘Don’t mention the special relationship’: how should UK’s next PM handle Donald Trump?

Little-known abroad, Andy Burnham has a chance to define a new era of US-UK relations. Should he seek to charm or bargain with the bully in the White House – or treat him ‘like a poorly informed constituent’?

If, as expected, Andy Burnham becomes the British prime minister later this month, one of his first telephone calls is likely to be with Donald Trump.

Trump’s mother was Scottish and he has a nostalgic fascination with Britain. But managing a relationship with the erratic, transactional and demanding US president has been a diplomatic minefield for Burnham’s predecessors.

How BT’s ‘no nonsense’ first female chief helped turn company around

The firm’s share price has risen 80% under Allison Kirkby’s leadership – but pressure remains for her to deliver further growth

If timing is everything, then Allison Kirkby may have judged it perfectly.

Since becoming BT’s first female chief executive more than two years ago the company’s share price has climbed 80%, an investor-pleasing turnaround that has seen Kirkby well-rewarded with a pay and bonus package of £5.6m last year, the largest for a boss of the telecoms company in well over a decade. However, there are questions over how much credit Kirkby can take for the apparent revival of the business.

Inside the Telegram ‘drug rape’ chat group that shocked Germany

The men, who drugged and secretly filmed their victims, were members of an online gang targeting mainly women of Chinese heritage

Early last year, Ivy*, a Chinese student living in Germany, got a phone call from the police. At first, she thought it was a scam. An officer said they needed her help with an investigation involving someone she once knew. What followed turned her world upside down.

The police told her that her former boyfriend, identified in court documents as Tong Z, had been investigated for sexual assault and covert photography. Then came the tougher blow: police showed her a number of nude photos Tong Z had secretly taken of her while she was asleep. Ivy, now 27, recognised herself, though she had no memory of the moment.

Sabzi and thoran: Maunika Gowardhan’s recipes for Indian-style runner beans

The distinct spices of their respective regions make these approaches to runner beans uniquely different, but equally flavourful

I always look forward to runner bean season, and especially to cooking them in stir-fries with Indian spices. Today’s recipes are very different from each other, not least because they hail from two very different regions, namely Rajasthan and Kerala, respectively, both of which have their own distinct spices and flavours.

'NATO 3.0': Defense spending pledges face the Trump test

Leaders are expected to focus on whether Europe can turn higher defense spending into military power as Washington pushes allies to shoulder more of the burden.

Ukraine hopes to sign ‘drone deals’ with seven Nato countries by end of year

Kyiv offers expertise on how to develop radar systems and ground stations as it turns from buyer to security provider

Ukraine hopes to sign major defence deals with at least seven Nato countries by the end of the year, according to a top official, highlighting a new aspect of Kyiv’s foreign policy intended to show it can be a provider as well as a recipient of military hardware and expertise.

Kyiv has signed “drone deals” with six countries in recent months. Three are Middle Eastern states, who became eager for Ukrainian support after being targeted with Iranian long-range Shahed drones after the US-Israeli war on Iran began in spring. These are the same weapons that have targeted Ukrainian cities relentlessly over the past four years. Azerbaijan has also signed an agreement with Kyiv, as well as the Nato members Latvia and Lithuania.

‘I was there!’ Writers remember legendary gigs by Beyoncé, Brian Wilson, Britney, Oasis, Daft Punk and more

What’s it like to catch a gig so great it goes down in history? Our writers relive incredible performances by everyone from Amy Winehouse at the North Sea jazz festival to Kanye West at Glastonbury

Talking Heads, the Rock Garden, London, 13 May 1977

‘It was pretty depressing when Stranger Things ended’: Finn Wolfhard on growing up on TV – and his new life in music

The actor spent almost a decade fighting monsters – and making friends – on the hit Netflix show. Then, last year, it all came to an end. How’s he adjusting?

Finn Wolfhard is remembering his first experience of celebrity. It was 2016 and he was 13. The first season of Stranger Things had aired that summer, and he returned to his high school in Vancouver as if nothing had changed. But things had changed. “People didn’t know how to treat me, especially the teachers. Kids that didn’t even look at me before were paying attention to me or wanting to hang out.” He remembers a girl in the year above who really wanted a photo with him. “And I was like: ‘Oh, I can’t really take photos at school.’ And she wasn’t listening to me and pulled me into, like, a side hug. I remember thinking: ‘Shit, man. I have no control over this. This seems crazy.’ So, it was definitely weird at first, and something I still haven’t totally grasped.”

How strange it must be to have spent such a large part of your life playing a character that half the world knows, and has watched grow up on screen, turning from a wide-eyed, gawky, nerdy kid to a sharp-cheekboned (but still quite gawky) action hero. Nobody could have predicted how huge Stranger Things would become or how long it would last, fuelled by popular demand, then stalled by the pandemic. It concluded a decade later, at the end of last year, having reached the point where it was no longer sustainable for twentysomethings like Wolfhard to pass as high schoolers.

The EU that the UK left no longer exists | Mujtaba Rahman

Andy Burnham’s rise has stoked talk of the terms for a future British return – but this is the wrong question

The question of the UK’s relationship with the EU has resurfaced with Keir Starmer’s premiership drawing to a close and Andy Burnham, his likely successor, preparing to enter No 10. Wes Streeting, until recently one of the contenders for the top job and now a possible future chancellor of the exchequer, went as far as to say recently that Britain should be back in the EU.

The “rejoin” debate in the UK has focused squarely and, parochially, on two things. The first is the cost imposed by Brexit on the UK economy, the second is the price of rejoining – in other words, whether the UK would be able to win back its previous opt-outs from the Euro and Schengen areas.

Mujtaba Rahman is the managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm

Learning another language appears to slow brain ageing, scientists say

Study finds those who speak two languages have brains that appear around six years younger than those who speak one

Learning another language could slow ageing in the brain by up to 13 years, according to research.

People who speak more than one language seem to have younger brains and the more languages you speak and the earlier you speak them, the better, according to findings from a study being presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies conference in Barcelona.

Australia and Fiji sign surprise defence alliance amid push to limit China’s influence in the Pacific

The Ocean of Peace Alliance says the nations will ‘act to meet the common danger’ in the event either country is attacked

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Australia and Fiji have signed a major new defence alliance, further advancing the federal government’s strategy to limit China’s influence across the Pacific region.

In a surprise move, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and his Fijian counterpart, Sitiveni Rabuka, elevated Australia’s ties with Fiji to a formal treaty alliance.

Russia launches deadly missile and drone attacks on Kyiv

At least nine killed in the Ukraine capital in the second major assault on the city and its surrounds in less than a week

Russian missiles and drones ⁠struck Kyiv early on Monday, killing at least nine people and heavily damaging apartment blocks and other buildings, officials said, just a few days after ⁠the deadliest assault ⁠on the Ukrainian capital ​this year.

“Nine deaths and 46 wounded have now been confirmed as a result of the Russian attack (including five wounded children),” Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv region’s military administration, said. “Sadly, this is not the final toll. Rescue operations are still ongoing.”

England’s 10 men hang on after Kane penalty to beat Mexico in World Cup thriller

File it as England’s finest World Cup knockout phase victory since 1966. There have not been a huge number of them; only nine previously, each a gripping drama in its own right. Yet it was the context of this one that set it apart.

England stepped into the mayhem of the Estadio Azteca, a venue that contains a very particular ghost for them, to face the full force of the Mexican nation. Plus a team that almost never lose here. Javier Aguirre’s men brought flawless form to the showpiece; four wins out of four so far at the tournament; their tournament. It was the cohosts’ grand send-off from their own turf, arguably the biggest game in their history. An unofficial final for them.

Balogun's red card suspension lifted after Trump called FIFA chief, sources say

Balogun's reinstatement came after President Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino last week to ask whether the organization was going to review the situation, sources told CBS News.

Trump asked FIFA to review Balogun's World Cup game suspension: Reports

Folarin Balogun was surprisingly cleared by FIFA to play for the United States Men's National Team in the World Cup against Belgium on Monday.

Charlie Kirk's alleged killer will have his preliminary hearing this week

Prosecutors will present their case this week against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Annin Flagmakers: The oldest, largest flagmaker in the U.S.

Jericka Duncan visits Annin Flagmakers' factory in South Boston, Virginia.

Money for repairs to national parks going to D.C. beautification projects

About 400 sites managed by the National Park Service are facing a maintenance backlog estimated at more than $24 billion, but the money aimed for repairs is being diverted. The Washington Post reports the Trump administration has used at least $90 million from national park entry fees to help pay for beautification efforts in the nation's capital ahead of the America 250 celebration. Caitlin Huey-Burns reports.

Critical hearing this week for suspect in Charlie Kirk murder

Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, will be in court for a major hearing this week. Jonah Kaplan reports.

Millions brace for flooding after deadly heat, storms damper July 4th celebrations

While millions of Americans across the Northeast experienced record-setting temperatures, thunderstorms in the Midwest downed trees, ruptured power lines and made transportation treacherous.

Trump attacks Democrats in 4th of July speech marking 250 years of America

President Trump's speech marking America's milestone founding stressed patriotism and partisanship. He branded Democrats as communists after a series of victories by democratic socialist candidates across the country. Taurean Small reports.

Extreme weather mars 4th of July weekend; seaplane makes hard landing in NYC river

A number of cities broke temperature records over the Fourth of July weekend. In storm-ravaged New Jersey, authorities say at least 19 deaths are blamed on the heat. Meanwhile, a seaplane was forced to make a hard landing in New York City's East River on Sunday. Shanelle Kaul reports on it all and meteorologist Andrew Kozak has a look at the forecast.

Folarin Balogun will play in U.S. World Cup match against Belgium after FIFA suspends match ban

Folarin Balogun will play in the U.S.-Belgium World Cup match after FIFA suspended his one-game ban following a red card. Nicole Valdes reports.

Sara Duterte: why is the Philippines vice-president facing an impeachment trial?

Duterte – the daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte – has previously denied charges against her

The impeachment trial of Philippine vice-president Sara Duterte begins Monday, in a case that will determine whether she can run for the presidency in 2028, and which comes amid rising public anger over alleged government corruption.

Sara Duterte is the daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is awaiting trial for alleged crimes against humanity at The Hague. She is facing allegations she misused public funds, amassed unexplained wealth, bribed officials and threatened the lives of the nation’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, and the first lady. She has previously denied the allegations.

China wants to solve the hardest problem in robotics – making hands

Race to develop ‘embodied AI’ focuses on creating dextrous hands to transform humanoid robots from gimmicks into useful products

Human hands – nimble, nerve-filled appendages that are the most flexible part of the human skeleton – are exceptionally complex. Many tasks that most people can do largely without thinking, from tying a pair of shoelaces to buttoning up a shirt, in fact require a complex set of neurological instructions and precise choreography. In thousands of years of human history, no machine has been able to truly replicate human’s greatest tool.

But now, as artificial intelligence (AI) races forwards, some companies think they are close to surpassing this final but most difficult hurdle in robotics. Most of them are in China.

Mallory McMorrow suspends Senate campaign in Michigan

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow announced on Sunday that she is suspending her campaign for Senate, narrowing the Democratic field ahead of the competitive August primary.

‘Nepotism and bias’ rife in England and Wales police leadership, report finds

Inquiry co-chaired by David Blunkett uncovers loss of focus on fighting crime, plus low standards and need for reform

Police leadership in England and Wales is plagued by “nepotism and bias” and too many chiefs have lost focus on fighting crime, a government-backed report has found.

The inquiry, co-chaired by former home secretary David Blunkett, found a reset was needed at all levels, with scores of top officers facing misconduct inquiries.

Ministers to crack down on political donations as Farage faces calls for second inquiry

Measures to be announced to make funding more transparent amid new revelations about Reform UK leader

Ministers will launch a crackdown on large political donations on Monday, as Nigel Farage faces a possible second investigation into gifts he received from a convicted fraudster before becoming an MP.

The government will announce a series of measures to make political funding more transparent, including restrictions on donations from foreign-based benefactors.

Mobile internet coverage in UK worse than any EU or G7 country, Which? says

Analysis finds services cheaper but country ranks 57th in network performance and 70th for download speeds

British holidaymakers watching online videos while they sit on a European beach this summer are likely to be pleasantly surprised: the signal should be better than at home.

Mobile coverage in the UK is worse than in any of the 27 EU member countries, and every other member of the G7 group of large economies, according to analysis by consumer group Which? of data from Opensignal.

7/5/2026: Elemental Crisis; The Knowledge; Banana Ball

First, a report on the only active rare earth mine in the U.S. Then, London's cabbies skeptical about robotaxis. And, a look inside the world of Banana Ball.

7/5: CBS Weekend News

Folarin Balogun will play in U.S. World Cup match against Belgium; extreme weather mars Fourth of July weekend.

Anthony Albanese apologises ‘unequivocally’ for podcast comment about Kylie Minogue

Prime minister picked pop singer in game of ‘shag, marry, date’ on comedy podcast

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Anthony Albanese has apologised “unequivocally” for his comments while playing a “shag, marry, date” game on a comedy podcast when he nominated Kylie Minogue for all three categories.

The prime minister issued a statement on Monday morning after receiving criticism at the weekend for his appearance on the Bush Deep podcast with the comedian Nikki Osborne.

Jannik Sinner swats aside Mochizuki to reach Wimbledon quarter-finals

• World No 1 eases to 6-3, 7-6 (0), 6-3 victory

• Sinner building momentum in title defence

By the latter stages of the second set in his first-ever meeting with the best player in the world, Shintaro Mochizuki’s kitchen sink had already been tossed into the arena. The Japanese qualifier twice found himself down a break point while trailing 3-4, with Jannik Sinner prowling as he tried to snatch the decisive break.

Mochizuki saved the first break point by throwing down a cunning serve and volley, ending it with a majestic high backhand volley winner, then he scuppered Sinner’s second chance with two more beautiful volleys in succession, effortlessly executing an outlandishly-angled lunging volley to kill the point. He somehow survived the breathless 12-minute service game to keep himself in contention.

Haaland’s heroic double stuns Brazil and sends Norway into World Cup quarter-finals

We’re going to need a bigger longboat. Norway are into the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time, progressing thanks to the man whose smile, and choice in cowboy apparel, has charmed the US. Erling Haaland delivered again for his country, scoring two goals in the last 10 minutes – his sixth and seventh of the tournament – to send Brazil home and keep the Viking invasion rolling on.

The result is a massive vindication for Ståle Solbakken and the team he has built over the past half decade. Norway set out to dominate Brazil in the first half, without much in the way of success. A double substitution at half-time changed all that, with Norway able to carve open a Brazil side who had their chances but failed to take them.

Trump lobbied Fifa to lift Folarin Balogun suspension for World Cup game v Belgium

• US striker was shown red in last-32 match

• Fifa announced suspension of ban earlier Sunday

• Belgian FA ‘astonished’ by decision

Donald Trump lobbied Fifa to lift the US striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game ban for a red card received in the team’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, preceding Sunday’s stunning announcement that he would be available for the cohosts’ last-16 clash against Belgium in Seattle on Monday night.

Sources have told the Guardian that Trump made three calls to Fifa, starting from Wednesday, to ensure that the change was made.

Astonished Belgium vow to ‘defend football’ after Fifa’s shock Balogun reversal

• Rudi Garcia likens decision to April Fools’ Day joke

• Belgian FA says it will investigate all potential options

• USMNT reaction to Fifa flip: ‘Thought it was AI at first’

As a Fifa media officer read aloud the statement confirming the governing body’s shock reversal of US striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension on Sunday, Belgium coach Rudi Garcia and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois put their poker faces to work. Garcia stared straight down the aisle of the press conference room at Seattle Stadium. Courtois’s eyes fluttered about, perhaps masking some rolls as he faced a press pack eager to make sense of an unexpected World Cup twist.

Balogun’s reinstatement came across as a joke to the Belgian boss, though he hardly seemed ready for a laugh.

Rodríguez defends Venezuela’s emergency earthquake response as number of bodies expected to soar

Interim president says unrest will not break out despite anger at official response to the 24 June disaster

Venezuela’s interim president has defended her country’s emergency response to the twin earthquakes that have killed more than 3,000 people, vowing the country would not descend into social unrest.

Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at what they see as the US-backed government’s inadequate response to the 24 June disaster before international teams arrived.

Y si sí: the phrase uniting Mexico during the World Cup

Mexico's World Cup run has inspired a phrase heard across the country: "Y si sí." Or in English: "What if we can?" Anamaria Sayre reports from Mexico City.

Thunderstorms, heat and wind will hamper efforts to contain Colorado wildfires

Thunderstorms with high winds could make it more difficult to contain a massive wildfire that has scorched parts of southern Colorado.

‘They’ve tried to kill me for 23 years’: Cristiano Ronaldo says this World Cup will be his last

• ‘God has been generous to me,’ says 41-year-old

• Portugal face Spain in last 16 in Dallas on Monday

Twenty-three years, 232 games, 146 goals and six World Cups later, at 41, this really could be the end, and Cristiano Ronaldo will depart at peace. The day before potentially the final match of his extraordinary international career, the truth that everyone knew but Portugal’s captain had tried not to actually express, eventually came out. “This will be my last World Cup; God willing tomorrow is not my last game,” he said. And if it is, well, it is. If he has to go without lifting the only trophy to resist him, so be it.

“I’m not missing anything; God has been generous to me,” Ronaldo said. “I won’t be more Cristiano or less Cristiano if I win the World Cup or not.”

Tour de France 2026: third stage to go ahead without spectators; Del Toro wins stage two

• Wildfires in eastern Pyrenees had put stage in doubt

• Isaac del Toro lands debut stage win in Montjuic

The third stage of the Tour de France to Les Angles will go ahead, despite the threat posed by wildfires ­raging in the eastern Pyrenees, but without spectators.

“The setup will be limited to the passage of the riders only and the vehicles essential to organising the event,” Pierre Regnault de la Mothe, the prefect of the Eastern Pyrenees, said.

7/5: Face The Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Ed O'Keefe speaks to NCAA President Charlie Baker. Meanwhile, Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Carlos Gimenez discuss immigration and their American stories.

National Guard troops fatally shoot a man in downtown Memphis

Memphis police say National Guard troops fired their weapons in the early morning hours of July 5, killing a man who was armed with a handgun. State investigators will handle the case.

Mooney leads charge as Australia regain T20 World Cup and crush England’s dreams

• Final: Australia, 153-3, bt England, 150-4, by 7 wickets

• Mooney strikes half-century in final for third time

Well, it was fun while it lasted. Eight months is the time Australia spent without holding a global trophy – a period which ended on Sunday, when they strolled home in the T20 World Cup final with a seven-wicket win against the hosts England.

A 16-0 whitewash in the Ashes. A 3-0 record to Australia in all previous T20 World Cup finals between the two teams. Both sides tried to claim that none of it mattered – “Tomorrow is a new day,” Sophie Molineux said on the eve of the final – but even in front of a sell-out English crowd, even with Alana King on the bench, and even against an England side who have vastly gained in confidence over the past 15 months, Australia made this look like a walk in the park.

Osaka’s inspired win leaves Sabalenka wanting ‘to get drunk and forget’ Wimbledon

• Japanese No 14 seed wins 6-2, 7-6 to make quarter-finals

• Sabalenka blasts ball out of Centre Court after losing

Naomi Osaka arrived on Centre Court wearing the outfit that has been the talk of Wimbledon: part Japanese ceremonial dress, part homage to Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. She was dressed to thrill. But ultimately it was her tennis that spoke loudest of all.

On the other side of the net was Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1 and the biggest slugger in the women’s game.

At least 25 people die in US as record heatwave scorches swaths of country

More than 20 states reported temperatures above 100F as heat dome sits over eastern US during holiday weekend

At least about two dozen people have died amid the perilous climate crisis-driven heatwave that has scorched swaths of the US with record temperatures.

As a huge heat dome sits over the county’s eastern half, extreme heat gripped millions of people in the days leading up to the US’s semiquincentennial on Saturday – and beyond it. More than 20 states experienced have reported stifling temperatures more than 100F (38C), marring celebrations. And more than 140 million people remained under active heat alerts across the US on Sunday.

Folarin Balogun's ban is lifted by FIFA, allowing U.S. striker to play Belgium

In an unusual move, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee announced that it would delay Folarin Balogun's one-game red card ban. It came after President Trump spoke to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," July 5, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Carlos Giminez join Ed O'Keefe.

EasyJet suggests it will agree to £5.5bn takeover by US investment firm

Agreement in principle with Castlelake follows several rejected offers and means UK’s biggest low-cost carrier will be taken private

The airline easyJet has said it intends to accept a £5.5bn takeover offer by the US investment firm Castlelake that would take Britain’s biggest low-cost carrier private.

The companies announced an agreement in principle on Sunday evening in a statement, and requested an extension to a deadline to complete the deal formally. The agreement came after weeks of negotiations and several rejected offers.

NASA administrator: "We are very much in a space race right now" against China

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the U.S. is "very much in a space race right now" against China, as the two countries vie to land astronauts on the moon and secure a near-permanent presence.

Last Goal Wins review – challenging and funny debut asks important questions about the beautiful game

Broadway, Catford
Justice Ezi tackles racism, belonging and the sometimes-shadowy business of sport in this well-paced and plotted drama with a genuinely nail-biting final shootout

Entering the small studio tasked with containing this ambitious livewire of a football drama, the action is already in full swing. Charlton Athletic’s Victory and Youssef, in Nigeria to try out for the last two spots on the country’s World Cup squad, are doing drills, while their coach (a buoyant Jerome Ngonadi) collars audience members to take penalties. I miss spectacularly; the production does quite the opposite.

Part of the Ryan Calais Cameron season – the Olivier-nominated playwright chose three early-career Black and Global Majority writers to receive financial backing and mentorship – its writer, Justice Ezi, is a clear talent, asking expansive questions about racism, belonging and the sometimes-shadowy business of sport through the experiences of three men and, in particular, their relationships to their Nigerian heritage.

D.C. air quality drops to "very unhealthy" levels after July 4th fireworks

A "purple" air quality alert was issued for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas, meaning pollution reached levels considered "very unhealthy."

Super Typhoon Bavi brings intense winds to Guam and surrounding Pacific islands

People in the Northern Mariana Islands — remote U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean — are dealing with intense winds and potential flooding from Super Typhoon Bavi.

Springbok thrashing leaves England praying Fiji don’t topple Borthwick project | Robert Kitson

Defeat at the hands of the world champions is no shame, but where is the evidence that Steve Borthwick’s side is improving?

In many ways England should be grateful for small mercies. On an old‑style summer tour there would still be two more Tests to come against the formidable Springboks with scant prospect of a happy ending. As they prepare to regroup against Fiji this weekend, they have at least been spared a potentially grim 3-0 thrashing at the hands of the world’s strongest team.

Is it not reasonable, however, to expect the best resourced union in the world to be aiming significantly higher? On Saturday night there was hopeful talk of fine margins and South Africa being rattled in the second quarter. Given the final scoreline of 45-21 with England outclassed in many areas, it was not a conclusion universally shared back at home.

The Guardian view on private equity in the public sector: children’s services must be freed from debt-fuelled takeovers | Editorial

New analysis by the Guardian has revealed the disturbing extent of these firms’ influence in highly sensitive areas

Children’s homes and care placements are not ordinary commodities. Yet Britain has allowed some of its most sensitive public services to become assets in private equity portfolios: bought, loaded with debt, restructured and sold, while the state continues to fund the contracts and vulnerable people carry the risk when things go wrong.

Private equity’s role in public services is not notional. The year after Compass Community was sold by its owner, Graphite Capital, to another private equity group, Cap10, the poor state of some of its children’s homes was made plain by Ofsted reports. Inspectors who visited two homes in England – which had previously been rated good and outstanding – found “high levels of distress” and staff as well as children feeling unsafe. Cap10 denies that standards fell following the change of ownership.

The Guardian view on gene-edited humans: darker uses must be acknowledged alongside medical ones | Editorial

Polling shows that the public supports this new technology, but the conversation must move beyond simple questions of safety

Ever since Crispr-Cas9 gene-editing technology emerged in the early 2010s, ethical questions around genetically altered humans, so-called designer babies, have become increasingly urgent. There is already a worldwide legal prohibition. No country currently allows human germline editing (meaning genetic changes to an embryo that could also be passed on to its children), and 70 have laws against it, including the UK. But a series of recent discoveries and a new poll suggest that scientists and the public believe gene-edited humans are likely – even desirable – in the near future.

Two new studies use base editing – a more precise next-generation Crispr tool – on human embryos to study early development or disease (this research is legal in the UK and US as long as the embryos are destroyed within 14 days). The lead author of one study, Dieter Egli, said that the technology wasn’t yet ready for the clinic, but the advances would “guide responsible research to achieve its ultimate safe and effective use”. This encapsulates the view of many scientists, who believe the regulated use of germline editing to eradicate hereditary conditions is inevitable, and the main objection is around safety.

Leclerc holds off Russell and Hamilton to win chaotic British F1 GP

• Russell second; Hamilton third after safety car finish

• Antonelli back in 16th after mechanical problem

The record-breaking crowd at Silverstone may have been unhappy in being denied a grandstand finale, as the British Grand Prix ended in the anticlimax of a flag waved to declare Charles Leclerc the winner under a safety car to a chorus of booing. But worse still, the unedifying finale was not helped by confusion reigning as an expected final-lap showdown turned out to be but the ghost of an FIA software glitch.

Yet, after all of which resulted in a damp squib close to what had been an intriguing race, the result has invigorated the Formula One world championship.

Is it unhealthy to suppress sweat?

Sweat has important functions, including cooling you down when it’s hot outside. Here’s what science says about using antiperspirants and deodorants

Every day, 5 billion people around the world reach for deodorant. Many of us assume that managing, modifying and hiding sweat is an absolute necessity – and not just in your armpits.

Routine underarm antiperspirant and deodorant use are unlikely to cause harm. But do you know what sweat is actually for, and what these products actually do?

Nicola Jennings on Trump and the US’s 250th anniversary – cartoon

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This week on "Sunday Morning" (July 5)

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

Paul McCartney performs I Want to Hold Your Hand for first time in 60 years at Taylor Swift wedding

McCartney reportedly played Beatles No 1 hit at star-studded reception at Madison Square Garden

Paul McCartney performed the beloved Beatles No 1 hit I Want to Hold Your Hand for the first time in 60 years at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding.

McCartney performed the number at the star-studded reception at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday, People magazine reported. The track was the Beatles’ first American No 1 hit, sparking Beatlemania in the US and the wave of British bands’ success nicknamed “the British invasion”.

It must be bad for Nige and his finances if it’s Honest Bob Jenrick to the rescue | John Crace

‘Nothing to see here,’ says the man who once overruled council planners in favour of Richard ‘Dirty’ Desmond

How unlucky can one man get? You have to feel for Nigel Farage. Why does it keep happening to him? There he is, just minding his own business, trying to make a decent living – those five houses won’t pay for themselves, which is why other people may have done – and yet there’s always someone trying to drag a good man down. Isn’t the “Man of the People (TM)” entitled to have a few multimillionaires as friends to bankroll his lifestyle? Who hasn’t pined for crypto and gold bullion?

First there was the £5m from the British-Thai crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, revealed exclusively by the Guardian. Months later, the stench won’t go away. Even Nige has been at a loss to explain what exactly he was given the money for. Unsure whether it was a payment to cover security or just a little “thank you” for a lifetime’s work in the service of making the country an easier place for grifters to make money. Even now, Nige has gone to ground as he tries to get his story straight.

NCAA president says he hopes to "dramatically limit" prop betting

NCAA President Charlie Baker said he hopes to "dramatically limit" prop betting at the collegiate level and beyond.

Bomb the Arctic, dam the Mediterranean and build a second moon: five outlandish plans to remodel our climate

Humans have long sought to geoengineer the Earth’s environment. Tim Flannery outlines a few of the wildest ideas from the 20th century

An increasing number of scientists think we have let the climate crisis fester for so long that our only hope to stave off ever-intensifying catastrophes is to use technological interventions. Cloud brightening, injecting sulphur into the atmosphere and the use of tiny mirrors in space – all of which might reduce the amount of sunlight reaching Earth’s surface – are among the concepts being promoted by entrepreneurs and governments alike. Geoengineering, they argue, is now inevitable.

Ever since the God of the Old Testament granted our species dominion over the Earth, ideas of remaking the world to better suit us have been a dominant thread in human thinking. We have for centuries toyed with grand ambitions to alter and re-form the climate and environment, many of which – in retrospect – seem doomed or absurd.

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Gaza’s musicians reopen bomb-shattered conservatory – in tents

Even though most of their instruments have been destroyed, teachers are restarting classes, using music to give relief to traumatised people

The three tents line a stretch of overcrowded, windswept sand, their windows open on to a view of the breaking waves of the Mediterranean. From inside comes the sound of singing, a strummed guitar, a violin and then a flute.

But if the music evokes calm and harmony, the surroundings do not: rows of crowded makeshift shelters swelter in Gaza’s summer heat, young children picking their way through rubble, battered cars and pony carts clogging a potholed road. Above, Israeli military drones hum and buzz.

Wild horses and a pirate takeover: photos of the weekend

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

Nature: Bison on Catalina Island

We leave you this Sunday among bison grazing on California's Catalina Island. Videographer: Russell Nickerson.

Trump’s $2bn bonanza heralds the rise of political grifters across the west

With voters embracing leaders who brazenly monetise public office, experts say an ethical code is breaking down

Donald Trump came to office in 2017 after decades of bankruptcies and business failures. Yes, he was rich, but his latest financial disclosure, published this week, suggests he will depart billions richer.

In the first year of his second term, he made more than $2bn from Trump hotels, Trump golf courses, Trump cryptocurrency, Trump watches, Trump cologne, Trump Bibles and more.

Weather woes impact July 4th celebrations as National Mall briefly evacuated

Americans celebrated 250 years of independence this Fourth of July, although severe weather put a damper on the proceedings in several parts of the country.

Fire up the grill for a yearly ritual: Communing over BBQ skills (or lack thereof)

Do you have the "right stuff" when it comes to barbecuing? Lots of people believe they do, and they're more than happy to share their wisdom with you, even if unsolicited. Luke Burbank is not one of those people.

Construction is a man's game. These women are demolishing the barriers

Women make up a miniscule 3% of construction workers in Kenya. But a nonprofit group is offering them a way to get into the game ... and to get ahead.

Communing over BBQ skills (or lack thereof)

Do you have the "right stuff" when it comes to barbecuing? Lots of people believe they do, and they're more than happy to share their wisdom with you, even if unsolicited. Correspondent Luke Burbank is not one of those people.

At least eight shot, including four children, in New York’s Coney Island

Incident took place late in the evening on Independence Day, reports say, with woman said to be in critical condition

At ⁠least eight people, including four children, were shot and wounded on Saturday during the Fourth of July holiday in New York City’s Coney Island section, according to police.

The shooting happened ​at about 10.35pm on the Brooklyn neighborhood’s West 30th Street – not far from a boardwalk where a fireworks display had been set less than an hour earlier.

Pioneer of ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism now says phrase unhelpful

Exclusive: Prof Simon Baron-Cohen says his language was misunderstood and it is a myth that autistic people lack empathy

The scientist who pioneered the “extreme male brain” theory of autism has said he regrets characterising the condition in this way because the phrase lends itself to misunderstandings.

Prof Simon Baron-Cohen’s theory that autistic people tend strongly towards systemising over empathising has been hugely influential in shaping the popular perception of autism over the past two decades. The underlying science had stood the test of time, he said, but he now views the “extreme male brain” label as unhelpful.

‘In stories like this, the data and the methodology are key’: when private equity meets public service journalism

A team from across the Guardian set out to investigate the full extent of private equity’s stake in Britain’s public and essential services. The scale and opacity posed many challenges

When Carmen Aguilar García began investigating the involvement of private equity firms in England’s childcare sector with her fellow data journalists three years ago, she didn’t imagine her efforts would one day be scaled up to examine private equity’s role in the entire UK economy. That ambitious undertaking by Carmen and colleagues from across the Guardian was published earlier this week.

“The initial investigation into the childcare sector in 2023 was already challenging and a big team effort,” says Carmen, a data projects editor at the Guardian. “Extrapolating it to the whole economy did not seem realistic back then.”

The battle over Stars and Stripes

The newspaper for the American military has long taken pride in its editorial independence. But under the Trump administration, restrictions have been imposed, and the Pentagon's chief spokesman has vowed to rid the paper of "woke distractions."

Readers reply: Are there places on Earth where humans haven’t been?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions takes a deep dive into the unknown and untrodden …

This week’s new question: Why put solar panels on green space when we could put them over car parks?

Are there places on Earth where humans haven’t been? And if so, why? Aaron Jones, New York

Send new questions to [email protected].

What’s Kylie’s favourite masking tape? How does Lena Dunham train pigs? It’s all out there – and I’m loving it | Emma Beddington

The more I learn about celebrities and their odd passions, the more encouraged I am. So much for AI drowning us in a flood of bland ‘tasteslop’

The internet, as we know, is now a depressing hellhole where everything is a terrifying shot of cortisol straight into the eyeballs or AI slop, interspersed with adverts for protein. So may I offer a recommendation for a modest corrective? It’s called Perfectly Imperfect.

It is a daily newsletter about stuff people like. That’s it; that’s the whole concept. The people in question are public figures, but only up to a point – the mostly US artists and musicians featured aren’t household names for a 51-year-old British woman (though there is the occasional megastar: Francis Ford Coppola likes Hawaiian shirts and halva; Kylie likes washi masking tape and fresh wasabi). Whoever is featured, their likes are deeply idiosyncratic and often unappealing: cracking your knuckles against your jaw; an unhinged cocktail comprising Aperol, milk, creamer and olives; a sporting self-help book or cold-calling people.

The Story of Documentary Film (The 1980s) review – Mark Cousins educates and intrigues once more

Karlovy Vary film festival
The film-maker and critic traces a decade of documentaries, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to Michael Moore, via Klaus Barbie and The Wombles

The unmistakable film-making voice of documentary-maker and critic Mark Cousins is raised again, to educate, to intrigue, to challenge. His histories of the movies are invitations to a seance, a chance to participate in the kind of ecstatic trance or dream-state that Cousins himself goes into, almost free-associating from film to film but with an overarching but discreetly emphasised theme – or maybe motif – and always with something shrewd, pertinent and humane to say. I have never watched a Cousins film without feeling that I have learned something new, and so it has proved again.

At Karlovy Vary, he is presenting part of his monumental new The Story of Documentary Film, which comprises 16 hour-long chapters, and of these he is here giving us numbers Eight and Nine, about the 1980s. The first of these begins and ends at the site of Checkpoint Charlie on the Berlin Wall which came down at the end of the decade; Cousins subtitles this episode with a line from Robert Frost: “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” His theme here is empathy, surmounting the obstacle (or wall) of indifference or ignorance; and he talks about the films that questioned the existing order and which pulled away the bricks that caused the Soviet wall to collapse. The second part (chapter nine) is subtitled “detectives”, about the investigative documentaries that demanded answers, particularly to questions about the wartime past, by people like Marcel Ophuls, Claude Lanzmann and Michael Moore.

7/5: Sunday Morning

Hosted by Jane Pauley. Featured: The military newspaper Star and Stripes, actor J.K. Simmons, "Little House on the Prairie" returns to screens, Founding Father Thomas Paine, a visit to George Washington's Mount Vernon, and hifi listening bars.

‘The risk is Russia becomes desperate’: the Swedish Baltic Sea island preparing for invasion

Civilian resilience initiatives and young military conscripts are being readied should Putin hope to test Nato’s resolve

Only four months ago, Ella Adman had just finished school and had never before held a gun. Now, standing in the shade in between drills at a military base on Gotland, the strategically important Swedish Baltic island where she grew up, the 19-year-old conscript is carrying a powerful assault rifle. In a matter of days, she is due to carry out her first official mission in Stockholm, guarding the royal family.

At first, Adman was taken aback by the length of her 15-month compulsory military service and the gruelling 16-hour days in which she trains and lives alongside her male peers. Now she is getting used to it. “You find out what you are capable of and how strong you become as a group,” she said.

On America’s 250th, Mamdani called for unity – while Trump rewrote the past | Moustafa Bayoumi

In dueling speeches this weekend, the New York mayor faced a ‘nation of contradictions’ while the president offered a stump speech

If Donald Trump’s address on 3 July from Mount Rushmore will be remembered at all, it will be because that was the day of competing speeches, and competing visions, of the United States. Earlier on 3 July, the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, delivered a speech that was about half as long as Trump’s 28-minute address, but one that offered a far different assessment of the challenges facing his city and our nation.

“We see a city of contradictions within a nation of contradictions,” Mamdani said, while seated at George Washington’s desk and flanked by newly naturalized American citizens. “We see the wealthiest country in the history of the world – one where children go to sleep hungry while the world’s first trillionaire hungers for more.”

Moustafa Bayoumi is the author of the award-winning books How Does It Feel To Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America and This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror. He is professor of English at Brooklyn College, City University of New York

A new law in California will clarify 'sell by' dates to reduce food waste

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Nick Lapis of Californians Against Waste about the new law that standardizes food label "use by" dates and how that reduces consumer confusion and tons of food waste.

Pennsylvania's proposed data centers are bringing strangers together in protest

Proposals to build six data centers in the small community of Archbald, Pennsylvania, have brought strangers together to fight the plans there — and elsewhere in the state.

How to make cobb salad – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

Its origin story may be full of holes, but there’s no disputing this American classic’s status as a world beater when it comes to a tasty, satisfying salad

According to the US Institute for Culinary Education, the cobb salad is an embodiment of “the spirit of American ingenuity”, thanks to a strangely familiar creation myth involving a restaurateur (in this case, at Hollywood’s Brown Derby) throwing it together for a late-night snack. It’s also perfect game-day food: satisfying, flavour-packed and, crucially, easy to eat while all eyes are on the pitch.

Prep 30 min
Cook 30 min
Serves 4, and easily scaled up or down

Majority of UK smokers wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as cigarettes, experts find

Analysis shows public understanding about vaping, which is far less harmful than smoking, has plummeted in past decade

More than half of adult smokers in the UK wrongly believe that vaping is as harmful or more harmful than cigarettes, making them less likely to switch to vapes and quit the deadly habit, research has found.

Evidence from scientific studies shows that, while vaping is not risk-free, it is far less harmful than smoking tobacco, which produces thousands of chemicals, including toxic metals, poisonous gases and substances that cause cancer.

Feeling stuck? Try ‘productivity snacking’

Whether you’re learning guitar or trying to get fit, short bursts of effort can work wonders

You could call it the tamest of mid-life crises, but as I turned 40 last year, I decided to devote myself to a long-neglected ambition – learning the guitar. I dutifully set myself the task of practising for 30 minutes a day, with the aim of strumming my way through the Bob Dylan songbook by my 41st birthday.

What stood in the way, of course, was life. With work and family commitments, I was lucky to find a free half-hour time more than once or twice a week. Each day that went by without practice left me feeling more demotivated, and the guitar soon started gathering dust next to my piano.

Dining across the divide: ‘I had an idea he was a Tommy Robinson fan and was thinking, Oh my God’

An English Democrats voter and a retired university tutor had different ideas about whether it’s OK to fly flags, but could they find something to agree on?

• Want to meet someone from across the divide? Click here to find out how

David, 70, York

Occupation Retired modern foreign languages tutor at a university

Americans declared independence from a tyrant once. And we must do that again | Claire Finkelstein

America’s founding 250 years ago was a warning cry against leaders like Trump. Our past is a guide for how to handle our present

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, marking the official birth of the new nation, it is worth remembering some of the reasons the document offers as just cause for making war on the British monarchy.

“No taxation without representation” is the slogan that is best known as the core complaint of the colonists, a reference to the colonists’ objections to the 1765 Stamp Act and a series of taxes levied by the British crown thereafter over which Americans had no means of objecting in parliament. But such taxes were not the only provocation to war.

Sleuthing sheep, Young Sherlock and a new Poirot: how amateur detectives took over our screens

From the Sherlock Holmes spin-offs to The Sheep Detectives, DIY sleuths are on the case all over TV and cinema. But where did the trope of the outsider who outsmarts the professionals come from – and how do these depictions compare to reality?

On Television you don’t have to be a cop to solve crime; the police can just hire you as a consultant. All you need is the uncanny ability to solve each and every mystery in time for the next episode. You might be a retired detective (Monk, Ridley, the many Poirot spin-offs) or a bestselling mystery writer (Murder, She Wrote, Castle) or a vicar (Grantchester) or a convicted fraudster seeking redemption (White Collar, Wild Cards). You could be a faux psychic (Psych, The Mentalist), a human lie detector (Lie to Me), or a private investigator (all the Sherlock Holmes adaptations and spin-offs, and Shonda Rhimes’s The Residence). Or even, in the case of Death Valley, a retired actor widely known for playing a detective on TV).

The trope of the “consultant”– a hyper-talented investigator who isn’t part of the police, but teams up with them to solve crimes – is widespread, so much so that the pop-culture website TV Tropes gives it its own page: “No badge? No problem!” But recently the evergreen character has enjoyed a boost.

‘Attack on civil society’: why Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank is in crisis

MCC Brussels received lavish funding from Budapest, but Hungary’s new PM is launching an investigation

Under glittering chandeliers in a neoclassical ballroom, guests took their seats. It was 10am and scores of people had gathered at a private members’ club in Brussels for a conference to mark 250 years of American independence, organised by Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank in the EU capital, MCC Brussels.

Opening the one-day event, the MCC director, Frank Furedi, said the 250th anniversary had “really escaped the attention of a European audience” in a speech that lauded the founding fathers before launching a sweeping attack on Europe’s “incompetent political class”.

A footballing deepfake: how Bruno Fernandes fell victim to an unlicensed betting operator

Illegal online casinos are producing fake BBC stories and AI-generated videos in an attempt to deceive customers

Respect of copyright law has never ranked highly in the list of priorities for unlicensed sports betting operators. Crests of famous clubs and ­photographs of star players are routinely used to promote brands that could not care less about image rights and trademarks, because these operators know any kind of enforcement is impossible.

Illegal gambling platforms ­operate almost exclusively from offshore jurisdictions where the anonymity of their ultimate beneficial owners is protected by local regulations and, to further darken the picture, the use of multiple shell ­companies that exist only as entries on a ­registry hidden from public view.

Oche addicts: how Kenya fell back in love with darts

Darts development organisations and win for David Munyua at PDC World Darts Championship have turbocharged a resurgence in interest in the sport

Peter Wachiuri pumped his fists as he sensed victory at the Jacaranda showground in the Kenyan city of Nakuru. Leading his opponent, James Kamama, in the final of the main event, Wachiuri approached the oche again, picked a dart from his left hand, leaned forward with an intense gaze on the dartboard, and threw double 10.

“Game shot!” the announcer’s voice boomed across the hall. Cheers erupted in the crowd, gospel music played out of the speakers and Wachiuri launched into a celebratory on-stage dance.

Peter Wachiuri and James Kamama pose for a photo after the final of the main event

‘He hadn’t been trying to scare us. He’d been trying to kill us’: how stalker neighbours turned our dream home into a nightmare

We were busy doing up a dilapidated Welsh farmhouse when a young couple bought the land next door. They seemed odd yet basically harmless – but their increasingly troubling behaviour soon escalated into a full-blown campaign of terror

Richard: Bryn stood under a dripping hedge, waving like we were long-lost cousins reunited at a funeral. “Welcome to paradise!” he shouted as I stepped out of the camper, my raincoat flapping in the wind.